Chapter ten
Process
ooOO-OOoo

Two days had passed without any noteworthy process.

Two days.

Shinichi and Heiji buried themselves under their workload to get at least some distraction, but the search for the right place was slow and consumed all their patience and by the end of day two it also began to nag at their confidence.

Dread was beginning to overwhelm them and made it hard to concentrate or think at all. And then there was the possibility that their theory was wrong all together but they blocked that one out for now or they wouldn't be able to function any more.

Shinichi was back at Shiho's office that had become their place to meet and discuss ideas before they would present them Megure and his team. He also used it as a hideaway whenever he needed a break from the pitying glances.

He sighed in his coffee. He had accompanied Satou and Takagi on five investigations today - all without results. Just five more places they could cross out on the list. Who knew what was happening to the victims in the meantime? To Ran and Kazuha? Would they be too late in the end? Would he fail her again?

His head sunk against the table, arms crossing over it in an attempt to hide from reality.

The small package with pills in the pocket of his jeans felt like a lead-weight, and he knew he had to take another one in the morning. It would be the sixth. To get through the nights, he took a strong tranquilizer that made his sleep heavy and dreamless.

After all, who was asleep couldn't zone out and he wanted to keep the number of pills he had to take as low as possible, so he maybe would have a chance of getting away with it unscathed.

Though if they didn't find something soon, he sure would be busted before the week was over. Heiji was already giving him funny looks as if he expected him to explode any second or something and he was positive that Miyano knew already; probably had known from the start.

She was subtle with it, but he had felt her searching mind tapping against his own and that had been an awkward sensation, because while he could faintly sense her presence, he had no means to interact in any way, as if a translucent wall separated them. He wondered if that was what it felt for Neutrals when a Guide's mind brushed theirs or if they weren't aware of it at all. Or maybe it even was because his mind slowly but surely began to break through the drug's effect.

Whatever the case, it was safe to say that she had noticed his lack of response and now was checking from time to time to see if he was taking the drug constantly or not. And probably to get a little heads up should his senses go haywire.

She never said anything about it and he didn't need her to. She had made clear what she thought about it and if he decided to take the drug anyway, she would just accept it. His life, his risk, but he knew she would be there if push came to shove.

It was nice to know that there was someone looking out for him in that regard, and if she weren't needed at the center, she would have helped him out as a Guide. But with Ran gone and not really another Rank A Guide available on short notice, Shiho had to take care of the connections for Level 4s and if needed 5s, as the Rank B Guide was still not back from his vacation.

Shinichi wondered if he had been one of the victims as well, but he hadn't been reported as missing. Then again, the guy lived alone and wasn't known to be very social, so maybe there just wasn't anyone who had noticed his disappearance. A sad thought but unfortunately not that uncommon.

But it didn't help him with finding the girls, and the longer the search dragged on, the lower the chances to find them unharmed.

Or find them at all.

He quickly banned that thought, refusing to give up just now. They could do this! They had to!

He wasn't alone in this. Heiji was frantic as well, getting by with taking Senes-1 or 2 and keeping close to a Guide on the police force. It wasn't ideal either, but Shinichi envied him. If it was helpful or not right now was questionable, but Heiji still had access to at least two of his senses, sometimes even three.

Speaking about the police force. Shinichi was sure that he had discovered Kaito among them during a meeting, disguised as a young officer, Hiragawa Takara, who had just recently joined. Shinichi hadn't interacted enough with the man to detect any unusual behavior, and it would have been a perfect illusion if Kaito had not winked at him when he had walked passed him while leaving the room after the meeting had ended.

Kaito had wanted to let him know that he was searching as well and was keeping tabs on the results of the raids. Because even though Megure had assured them that no one would arrest the thief for now, Kaito had preferred to stay undercover. Shinichi was grateful to know that he was working with them. His skill set was one of a kind and nothing to sniff at and being a criminal himself might open him sources the police couldn't reach out to.

The door behind him opened and Shiho walked in, shoving something wrapped in cellophane into his hands.

"Eat. I know you don't feel hungry, but it won't do to neglect the needs of your body."

She sat down on the other side of the desk and placed a second package in front of herself.

He stared down at the foil that held a sandwich that most likely stemmed from the vending machine in the MindCenter's entrance hall and slowly unwrapped it.

Without feeling any appetite but knowing that Shiho would force him to eat anyway, he bit into it and chewed without tasting anything. At least it felt that way with his taste buds almost completely shut down.

After a few seconds filled with just the two of them eating in silence, Shinichi put his food down again.

"How did you do it?"

Shiho stooped to eat as well and tilted her head, inquisitive. "What do you mean?"

"Your sister, Akemi. How did you cope with it?"

The woman sighed deeply and rested her chin on her free hand. "Akemi was- she and Ran-san are very alike. Kind, gentle, and feeling like home – very different from me. She was the only family I had after our parents died in an accident when I was five. I don't really remember much of them, but I remember how Akemi did everything she could to fill our life with joy and laughter. She never wanted me to be sad," Shiho smiled in reminiscence. "She also was my Sentinel."

Shinichi let out a small "Oh," surprised at that fact. It explained why Shiho as a Rank A Guide wasn't bonded to someone. It was courtesy not to ask a Guide whose Sentinel had passed away to bond with a new one if they didn't offer it on their own accord. It also must be the reason why she only chose a few to guide at all and didn't usually participate in the new connections.

Shiho had always been very discreet about her life and anything personal, and back then they hadn't known each other very well, so Shinichi hadn't pressed the matter and over time it had become so normal that she wasn't paired up, that he didn't even think about it nowadays.

That she was so open about it now, spoke volumes about their friendship that had developed and deepened over the years.

"To be honest, I don't really know how I did it. The days went by and over time the pain lessened somewhat, but it never left me. I fought to not forget her face, her scent, the tone of her voice, but they faded nonetheless. Not that they are gone completely, but they are more of an echo than the real thing. At some point, maybe half a year after her death, I made the choice to live the life she had wished for me. I slowly began to sort through her things and decided what to keep and what to give away. It was a really slow process and sometimes I thought that it hurt more than it helped, but I pulled through. I realized that I didn't need her clothes or favorite brand of shampoo to remember her."

She chuckled lightly. "It's kind of nice to talk about it actually - who would have thought - but…" She took his hand and he almost flinched at the rare display of affection. "Kudou-kun, you don't have to worry about all this stuff right now. Ran-san is still out there, and she is waiting for you to come and get her."

They held eye-contact for an intense moment and then she gave his hand one last squeeze before letting go.

"You should stop hiding in my office to mope around, really. Oh, by the way – you have to get going now if you don't want to be late"

"Late? Late for what?"

She held up a small white card with something written on it. Shinichi couldn't make out the words from this distance thanks to the Senes-5, but the little caricature in the corner made it clear who the sender was.

"For your meeting with Kaitou KID."

ooOO-OOoo

Shinichi sprinted down the street to the meeting point, Kaito had given him on the note. Of course it had been in riddles, and of course he hadn't been able to get Heiji on the phone because he was with Megure at yet another old, rundown hospital.

Cutting a corner, he now could see the park in front of him. There weren't many people to take a stroll that late, but many used the park as a shortcut to get home from work, so two more people talking while walking wouldn't be strange, and the area was wide enough that they could avoid being overheard.

After passing the gates, he slowed down and headed to the near fountain, were he could see a teen sitting on the rim of the water basin, waving at him. As Shinichi had never seen this face before, he could only guess that it was the thief, who was hidden behind the facade of a boy his own age with features that weren't standing out much, but also weren't too plain. Very short brown hair, brown eyes, slender built, no glasses and a wide smile, paired with sportive everyday clothes.

Shinichi sometimes wondered if Kaito catalogued all the identities he used and if he sometimes came up with new characters just for fun. He was just thankful that he had opted for a male disguise, because Kaito could pull off a woman just as well, but Shinichi would have felt weird talking to him like that, so this was much better.

"Hey, Kudou-kun, glad to see your little scientist delivered the note in time."

"Barely," he panted, catching his breath. "Anything new?"

"You could say that," Kaito answered, gesturing at him to walk for a bit. "After you came up with the idea that they would need some sort of medical support and in which possible areas, I subtly used my contacts to get information about anything related to that. Learned more than I ever wanted to know about the underground drug-scene in Tokyo," he shuddered. "You might want to let your Megure-keibu have a look into that once we've got the bad boys responsible for this mess."

"I'll make sure to let him know," Shinichi answered tersely and feeling just a little bit guilty for not caring the least about some drug-addicts right now. "What did you find?"

"Someone was hiring people who didn't care much about their working environment and who had no problem looking the other way if need be. Quick money, no questions. Also, I had to call in a lot of favors to get this..." He pulled a folded sheet of paper out of his jacket and handed it to Shinichi whose eyes skimmed over the lines of what seemed to be a list of purchases from different people at different places.

Syringes, disinfectants and bed sheets as well as more hard to get medical equipment like heart-rate monitors or such.

"Do I want to know what kind of contacts those are?"

Kaito laughed. "I don't think so, but the stuff I need for my smoke bombs and sleeping gas aren't exactly over the counter substances so…" he shrugged.

"Yeah, yeah, alright - what makes you think this is connected to the case? Anyone could have use for these and the purchaser are varying."

They passed a bench with a couple sitting on it that obviously had forgotten about the world around them and were engrossed in kissing each other senseless. Shinichi turned away, partly out of politeness and partly because it hurt to see a couple when he knew that Ran was in danger and might be suffering right now.

Kaito fished out another list after they had left the bench behind them. "True, but I got this list not because of the person buying it, but because of the delivery address. I asked my contacts to send me everything they got and it might still be incomplete, but with the data they sent me, I was able to play with different filters and after some effort, I stumbled over an address that came up frequently over the last half year. At first I was a bit puzzled about the different names for every purchase, but a bit of digging showed that all of them have been paid from the same account overseas. A distraction of course, and I'm sure the holder's name for that account will be a fake as well."

Shinichi had stopped and now stared at Kaito. "We have an address? We know where they are? Where is it?" From the excitement, adrenaline rushed through him, making him giddy. He could finally do something.

"Well, not the exact address as this is an empty apartment. I've checked that already and there is nothing, but there are three of the possible locations you've had on your list in close proximity. I think it's worth a shot to look there next."

Shinichi's thoughts were already a mile away. "We will strike as soon as possible. Tonight! We can't leave them there any longer! I have to call Megure-keibu. And Hattori."

Kaito watched how the detective punched the screen of his phone with more force than necessary to speed-dial the Inspector. If their cases really were connected and the Syndicate was the one taking the Guides, maybe his own search would come to an end tonight.

He briefly closed his eyes.

'Tou-san, maybe it's over soon.'

ooOO-OOoo

Ran opened her eyes very carefully. She felt strange, somehow disconnected from her own body, and her eyesight needed a moment to regain its focus.

Around her, everything was held in a monotone white with a single blue stripe crossing along the walls horizontally. She realized that she was lying in a bed with only thin sheets covering her body, what explained why she was shivering slightly.

She shifted a bit to get a better overview of the room. Nothing was familiar and fear began to rise in her chest.

Where was she?

From the windows shone a thin ray of light through the thick curtains and she saw dust dancing through it. The air smelled stale and the heaters obviously weren't running.

Around her were three more beds located against the walls, all of them unoccupied.

She was alone.

Trying to remember how she got here, she came up with a blank. The last thing she remembered, was speaking to Toda at the MindCenter and sitting down on his couch, searching for her connection to Shinichi. After that everything was a blur.

Did something go wrong with the connection? Had she been hurt? Because the room looked like a hospital room, even though the usual background noise of rushing nurses and chatting visitors was missing.

A frightening thought pierced through her. Had she maybe hurt Shinichi as well? Was he here too?

Shakily, she put her feet on the cold linoleum floor and another shiver ran through her. She was only wearing a short-sleeved nightgown that ended shortly above her knees and her feet were bare.

Ran stood up very slowly, testing how stable her balance was, and after a few seconds she was confident enough to walk over to the door.

Hopefully someone was out there who could tell her what was going on.

With a creak, the heavy door opened, reinforcing the impression that this wasn't a normal hospital. It seemed as if it hadn't been used for quite some time, and again, she wondered why she was here.

If really something had gone wrong, she should be at the official wing for mind injuries at Beika General Hospital, and that looked nothing like this. She had been there after Shinichi and she had come online, and even though that has been some time ago, there was no way that it was looking like this now.

The corridor she walked through was empty and gave off a spooky vibe. Ran had never been fond of horror stories and this corridor looked exactly as if it came directly out of some creepy shocker movie. If now the lights began to flicker, she would run screaming.

She peeked into the room next to hers but it was empty as well.

Despite knowing better, she tried for a tentative „Hello? Is anyone here?"

No answer.

Yes - straight out of a splatter flick.

Collecting her courage, she moved on to the end of the corridor where it made a turn and she came to a halt in front of a reception counter, where actually a woman sat and uninterested flipped through the pages of some kind of cheap novel. One of those you would buy at a train station just not to be bored during the upcoming trip.

She didn't seem to notice Ran at all, so the girl shyly cleared her throat. "Um, excuse me."

The woman slowly looked up from the pages with an annoyed expression, tucking a stray strand of her red hair that was cut into a bob behind her ear.

"Oh please, not again," she groaned and her hand grabbed for a button to her left.

"Professor, one of the subjects is up, it's our newest addition, so I thought you might want to take care of it yourself… Yes, of course."

During the short conversation, Ran had taken a few steps back - this was absolutely not how a receptionist should talk about a patient.

Something was definitely wrong - very wrong, and she had to get out of here. She looked around frantically for a door or any other exit, she wasn't picky.

"That won't do, dear," the flat voice from the woman held her back. "I'm sorry, but I have to insist you wait here until the Professor arrives. It shouldn't take long, he is in the house already. Take a seat, will you?" She gestured to a line of chairs at the wall to the left of the counter.

Ran just stared at her with wide eyes. Sitting down and waiting for whoever was to come was the last thing she wanted to do right now. She wanted to know where she was, to call Shinichi or her father and go home.

Another step back and she collided with something solid and warm. She didn't want to turn around and see whom she had bumped into, she really didn't, but years of training kicked in and her body acted on its own as she swiveled around and took a fighting stance, just to gasp in surprise and relief.

"Toda-san, thank god! Please, you have to help me! This woman called for some Professor to 'take care of me' and I don't think I want to wait to find out what that means."

Toda smiled at her and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "It's alright, Ran-san, you can trust me."

She relaxed a bit and nodded, giving the receptionist a last suspicious glance and followed Toda's lead, who never took his hand from her shoulder, the pressure grounding her somewhat. After they had turned the corner again, she got a bit more confident.

"Toda-san, what is this here? What happened at the MindCenter?"

Wordlessly, he continued to steer her in the direction she had come from and soon they stood in front of the room again, she had woken up in.

Questioning, she looked up at his unreadable face. It scared her to see him like this. He normally was all smiles and warmth, making her comfortable in his presence. Now, nothing of that was left. Just a cold, stoic gaze that refused to connect with her eyes. "Toda-san?"

The grip on her shoulder intensified.

"I'm very sorry, Ran-san. I never intended to use you for this, but I lack alternatives and time."

"What? Ouch!" Her voice was a mere whisper and ended with a small outcry when she taken by surprised by a small pinprick on her left arm. When she stared at it, stunned, she saw that Toda retracted a small needle that had pierced her skin there and had injected whatever it had contained into her bloodstream.

"Please, don't be mad at me, Ran-san, I swear it's for a greater good and I will do everything possible to spare you any harm."

Her brain tried to decode his cryptic message - she didn't understand what was happening to her. It didn't matter anyway, because soon she felt how she lost focus and felt light-headed. Then the feeling of two hands catching her and… nothing.

A/N: A kind reader pointed out that some of my quotation marks were off, so I went back through the earlier chapters and fixed that. I hope I got all of them XD. Thanks, Hebiaczek :-)