"Please, help me, Shinichi-kun," she begged in a whisper, leaning the phone on her forehead. "She can't die."
＼(^▽^＠)ノ
Five minutes passed. Though Sonoko sat still as a statue, her insides churned with dread. Agitation and impatience made her skin crawl, the rising panic and desperation seeping back into her bones. The shadows closing in on her, her pulse raced and her breathing grew ever quicker as Shinichi failed to respond.
In her mind, Sonoko simultaneously begged Shinichi for help and scolded herself for it. What right do you have, as his acquaintance at best, she thought to herself, to ask him to drop everything for you? He's only come back once for Ran. Ran's cried and told you how any other time they meet, it's coincidental.
He cares about cases and a "mental challenge" so much that he'll all but drop out of high school and cut off contact with all of his friends except for Ran.
Her grip on her phone tightened, knuckles going white. What makes you think he'll do anything for you?
Her phone slid into her lap as Sonoko violently grabbed the back of her head. A scream ripped from her lungs, slicing through the silence all around her and tearing at her throat. Laced with frustration and helplessness, her cry of I'm trapped someone help me echoed off the apathetic buildings lining the street. Within seconds, the echoes faded to silence as if she'd never made a sound.
Tears welled up in her eyes. She lifted her head, her gaze drifting to the broken bottle. I really am nothing. The glass glistened red, still dripping with her attacker's blood.
What is the point? Is there any point in going home? I'm nothing but a danger to everyone I love. She bit her lip, shut her eyes against the yellow light of the street lamps.
You are worthless you're so incredibly stupid why on earth would you trust someone like him you're so stupid he was using you from the beginning just leave ran alone you're so stupid you don't need to shove yourself into her life and background check every guy who comes her way who do you think you are her dad you're so stupid (but I just want Ran to be safe) you're so clingy and stupid and worthless and stupid you're stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid-
With a gasp of breath, one hand on the bleeding cut at her neck, You should take that glass and finish the job.
Her eyes flew open, her breath coming in gasps again. Her jaw dropped open, and from the pit in her stomach came a despairing, horrified, "No!"
Pressing herself against the warm brick behind her, Sonoko wrapped her arms around herself again. Her phone slid to the ground with a quiet clatter, but she paid it no attention. Furiously blinking tears from her eyes, Sonoko held herself as tightly as she could. "I will not kill myself," she hissed, a promise to herself and to the heavens.
Faces floated in from of her eyes. First her father's, then her mother's. Ran and Makoto and Shinichi and Uncle Jirokichi stared back at Sonoko, each with a smile. Her chest ached at the thought of losing any one of them. "I will not be a danger to them," she vowed, taking a deep breath. "I will not be a pawn." Though her courage failed as her words met silence, she continued with false bravado. "I am Deduction Queen Sonoko. I will not let this hinder me."
Lifting her head, Sonoko felt around for her phone. If that idiot won't answer a text, then I'll just have to call him.
At last, her hand found it. She unlocked it with a fingerprint and lifted the phone into her line of sight. Her gaze darting between the screen and the barren street, she gradually made her way to the Contacts list.
Her thumb hovered over Shinichi's number, and she hesitated. The ghost of a knife pressed at her neck again, and shivers ran down her spine. What if the man was still here, waiting to make sure she would do as she was told? If she called Shinichi now, she could lose her lifeline.
With another glance across the street, Sonoko scrolled down to call her driver. She spoke quietly when he picked up. "I'm not far from Makoto-san's house. I'll send you my location. Come as fast as you can."
"Sonoko-sama—"
"Please." A tremor crept into her voice, her bottom lip trembling. "Don't say anything. Just get here."
＼(^▽^＠)ノ (●´⌓`●)
Fourteen minutes later, Sonoko barely gave the car a chance to stop before she reached for the door handle. Tugging the door open, she slid inside and slammed it closed behind her. She yanked on her seat belt, locking her door with the other hand. Hugging herself, one arm positioned to hide her blood-encrusted neck, "Drive," Sonoko said, just short of demanding.
In the driver's seat, Sugihara Ronin turned around in his seat. He wasn't blind, he wasn't deaf, and he most certainly was not heartless. He saw how the young girl flung herself into the car, how she curled in on herself, how the collar of her shirt was stained red with blood. She sounded terrified on the phone, and she stared out the window like a demon was at her heels.
Sugihara watched her for a moment longer than he should have. Professionally, she was nothing more than his employer. But Sonoko was only three years younger than his own daughter. She was shivering and terrified and looked as though she wanted nothing more than someone to comfort her (the desperation in her eyes said she didn't think anyone could). The daring and adventurous young girl he knew had become painfully human.
"Home, I assume? Or to Makoto-sama's house?"
Stiffly, she shook her head. "No. Shinichi-kun. Take me to his house. Please."
He tried to catch her eye without avail. "Will you be okay?" he asked at last.
Sonoko shrugged, moving her head somewhere between a nod and a shake. "Maybe. He won't answer me."
Ah. "It's been nearly a year since he's gone. He hasn't had much contact with anyone, I assume. Please don't take it personally, Sonoko-sama. Kudou-sama has never been the most attentive to his social life if memory serves."
Sonoko only nodded numbly, taking out her phone. "Please, take me to Shinichi-kun's house," she mumbled. "And turn on the radio?"
Soon, the rumble of the engine faded behind blaring music. She called Shinichi, but it went straight to voicemail.
"Answer me, Shinichi-kun. I don't know what to do," she whispered desperately, begged into her phone before she hung up.
＼(^▽^＠)ノ (▼-▼*)╦╤─
Living in a shrunken detective's house, Akai Shuichi supposed that, sooner or later, someone looking for young Kudou would show up.
He didn't expect it to be the middle of the night.
Okay, so maybe it was only 9:30. But, to keep up appearances, Okiya Subaru had enrolled in a couple of classes, and he had plenty of homework to do on a Thursday night. It had been a long day.
Though he had trained as an FBI agent, he had never been to engineering school. He legitimately spent a substantial amount of his time studying for his classes and working on homework. The cover he created for himself became a little more real as Shuichi realized he liked engineering school.
So, at nine-thirty at night, Shuichi was a tad bit mentally exhausted after a long day of classes. He came home, dumped his books on the dining room table, and tossed some leftovers into the microwave. While he waited for them to finish, he threw on some pajamas and started a pot of coffee. It's too late for bourbon, he thought a little sadly. And exams are next week. Coffee it is— the drink of champions.
He plowed through dinner like he hadn't eaten in days and downed the instant coffee in only a few gulps. "Let's get to work," Subaru's voice told Shuichi. While unnerving at first, the voice changer helped to separate the roles of Akai the FBI agent and Okiya the grad student. He didn't have a complex, not by a long shot. It just… made things easier.
As he sat down with his books, the doorbell rang. Shuichi didn't groan, but Subaru did huff a little. He looked down at his pajamas and decided after a short moment that he was presentable. It would take too long to go upstairs and change back into his day clothes, anyway.
Trudging to the door, Shuichi pressed the button. "Kudou residence."
"Subaru-san! It's, uh, me. Suzuki Sonoko. I'm a friend of Ran's? And Shinichi-kun's, too."
"Kudou-kun isn't here, I'm afraid," Shuichi said. "I can take a message for him if you would like."
"No, he, uh, said I could stay here tonight. Please, can you let me in?"
Instantly alert, Shuichi narrowed his eyes. To his knowledge, Kudou was still unconscious somewhere in Osaka. On the other hand, if this girl was desperate enough to lie about such a thing... "If you have Kudou-kun's permission," he said at last, unlocking the gate. "Come in. There are plenty of spare rooms."
When little Suzuki did enter, she looked like death. Blood clotted at her neck, and mascara ran down her face in thick black tear tracks. Blood under her nails and dried on her hands, Shuichi only stared for a fraction of a second. "Before we get you settled, let's clean you up," he suggested, though he didn't offer her much of a choice.
He guided the girl, already unsteady on her feet, to the kitchen. Filling another mug with coffee, he handed it to her and went down the hall. Pulling a large first aid kit from one of the many closets, Shuichi sped back to the kitchen. Sonoko hadn't moved an inch, as if she'd spent all her energy getting here.
Taking a moment to breathe and a towel from a kitchen drawer, Shuichi roused Sonoko from her stupor. "Sonoko-san, I'm going to clean up that cut on your neck. Will you follow me to the living room?" Trance-like, Sonoko stood up, the mug still in her hands, and began walking. Gently, Shuichi took the mug from her and placed it on the counter. One arm around her shoulders, the other holding the medical supplies he needed, Shuichi led Sonoko to the couch.
Spreading the towel across the couch, he laid her on top of it. She glanced at him, meeting his eyes for just a moment before looking away. Crossing her arms, she curled up on the couch, her back to him.
Subaru cracked open the first aid kit. "Sonoko-san, I need to reach your neck. That cut will get infected if we don't clean it." He dug out the hydrogen peroxide, penicillin and Neosporin, some band-aids, and a couple of cotton balls. By the time he looked up, Sonoko faced him, still curled into a ball.
Sighing, he moved the supplies to the table next to the couch. "I'll be right back," he told her, but she didn't so much as blink. He went back to the kitchen, got a bowl of warm water and a washcloth, came back to the living room, and sat down next to Sonoko's head.
She gasped as he put the warm, damp washcloth on her neck. "Sorry," he said quietly. He took one of her hands and brought it to her neck. "The cut has already scabbed over, and we need to wipe off the dried blood before we can clean it."
"Okay." She stared at something in front of her that Shuichi couldn't see.
"Tell me. How was your week?"
She lifted her head to look at him. "My week?" she echoed faintly.
He nodded. "Did you go anywhere fun?"
She let her head fall back onto the couch, speaking slowly and tiredly when she finally opened her mouth. "I guess so. My sister was in town, and since Ran wasn't around, we went to the movies together. It was a horror movie, so she had to leave only a little bit through. We hung out for the rest of the day until she had to go back to her house."
"How much older is your sister?"
"Ayako's twenty-four, so seven years. But she's really nice. We video chat sometimes since she can't visit all the time." Shuichi felt a bit of satisfaction as Sonoko began to smile. "She and Yuzo-san are the cutest couple! She made him the prettiest chocolate for valentines, and he got her a set of makeup with all different shades of white that she's been wanting since college."
Subaru hummed. "What college did she go to? Did she like it?"
"I can't remember which one it was, but she made a lot of friends in the film club. One of them got murdered about a year ago."
"Oh." Subaru let the silence sit for a moment. Shuichi knew he didn't process murders the way a civilian would. He'd seen enough onlookers at a murder scene to guess how he should react, but Subaru was already a little odd. He waited before he asked, "Is she okay now?"
Sonoko nodded. "I think so. She seems like she's okay."
"That's good." Gently, he lifted the washcloth off her neck. "I heard from Ran-san that American teacher came back to Japan for a while. what was her name?" He dipped the washcloth into the water to rinse the blood from it.
"Oh, you mean Jodie-sensei?" She looked up at him again, and Subaru nodded. "Yeah. I saw her at the mall a few days ago. Did you know she's an FBI agent? She's so cool."
"She seems to be," he agreed. Carefully, Subaru dabbed at the cut with the washcloth. "This might hurt a little," he warned. He wiped at the dried blood, Sonoko wincing as he took off the barely-there scab. To his relief, the cut had finished bleeding.
"The bleeding stopped already," he told her, "so all we need to do it bandage it." As he spoke, he cleaned the last of the blood from her neck and dropped the washcloth back into the water bowl. With light hands, he took the edge of the towel she lay on and dried her neck.
"This may sting." Putting some hydrogen peroxide on a cotton ball, he began to clean the cut. Sonoko's muscles went rigid, and her breathing became shallow. He paused. "Sonoko-san, you need to breathe," he said kindly. Nodding, she took in a deep breath, let it out slowly.
"Are you allergic to penicillin?" He set aside the cotton ball and took out the largest band-aid in the box.
"Mm-hmm." She winced a moment later as he rubbed Neosporin onto the cut. "That hurts," she finally whimpered.
"Just a moment more, Sonoko-san. Here." Subaru applied with as little pressure as necessary. When he took his hand away, he gave her another smile. "See? We're done."
Finally, Sonoko sat up, and Subaru began cleaning up the medical supplies. "Thank you," she murmured.
"It's no trouble." He tucked away the band-aids and hydrogen peroxide in the first aid kit, crumpled the rest of the trash into a ball. "If you can pick up the towel," he said, "then I will get the water bowl. Follow me to the kitchen, please."
Sonoko stared at the trash for a moment, then watched Subaru pick up the water bowl. He looked back at her expectantly. "Um, coming," she said, flustered. Grabbing the towel from beneath her, she followed him into the kitchen.
She stood in the doorway as he threw out the trash, dumped out the water, and rinsed the washcloth. She wasn't sure what to do with the towel in her hand and looked around the kitchen helplessly. At last, Subaru came and gently took the towel from her. "Sit down," he told her. "I'll put this upstairs, and then we'll get you something warm to eat. I suspect you haven't eaten?" Sonoko flushed, and Subaru laughed. "Don't worry. It's no trouble. I'll be back." And with that, he disappeared to another room.
Timidly, Sonoko sat down at the counter. Why hasn't he asked me anything? Why is he being so nice? She couldn't deny that it was a little nice, to have someone help her simply because they saw the need. But she was still waiting for him to ask what she was doing here so late, did anyone else know she had a knife wound at her neck, did an adult know she was here?
Sato-keiji, Sonoko suddenly remembered. She looked at the kitchen clock. 9:56. Quickly, she took out her phone and opened up her chat with Sato.
I'm sorry for worrying you, she texted frantically. I got a ride home from my driver.
Suddenly, her phone clattered onto the counter, threats echoing in her head.
"Nothing happened here tonight," the man in black snarled in her ear.
A full-body shiver stormed down her spine. She shut her eyes against the memory as she clutched at her head. "He can't control you," she lied to herself. "He can't control you." Ran will be fine. Ran will be fine. Shinichi-kun is alive. Ran will be fine.
*Ding*
Opening her eyes, the notification light winked at her. She unlocked her phone as fast as she could (Shinichi-kun texted back?) only to find a reply from Sato: Is everything okay? Did you find what you were looking for?
She hesitated. Slowly, reluctantly, she typed out, Yes. Thank you for your help.
Her thumb hovered over the send button. I shouldn't. I can't. If I lie to her, He wins. I become a pawn. Fear wins and I'm weak. (But if you don't Ran dies) I don't want to be weak. (Ran will die) I lose Sato-keiji's help if I lie. (But Ran) I can't lie you IDIOT -
"This is Ran," she snapped at herself. "Nothing is worth losing her." She hit send and shut off her phone. "Nothing."
"What about nothing?" Sonoko jumped a foot in the air, jerking around to see Subaru at the doorway.
"Er, nothing," Sonoko replied pitifully. Subaru shrugged, strolling to the fridge. Without a word, he took out a container and a bowl. "Um, Subaru-san?"
"Yes?" He dished what looked like really good soup into a bowl. "Oh, this isn't too much, is it?"
She shook her head. "No, that's fine." Sonoko tucked her phone into her pocket. "Um, I was wondering."
He nodded for her to continue as he put the bowl into the microwave. "Go ahead."
She fumbled with her words. "Why haven't you— I mean, aren't you— well, worried or something? I showed up out of nowhere, and, well—" Sonoko faltered. "Don't you find it weird?"
He tilted his head to one side, then the other, his glasses catching the light. "You think it odd that I haven't asked anything about what happened to you."
Flushing again, Sonoko nodded. "Yeah."
Again, Subaru shrugged, that little ever-present smile on his lips. "You were visibly shaken by whatever event you experienced. I thought you might want some space. I didn't want to make you think of something you didn't want to."
"But I— I lied about Shinichi-kun."
"I know," he answered smoothly.
"But—"
The microwave beeped, and Subaru turned around. he set the steaming soup in front of her and handed her a spoon. "Sonoko-san, you came here for help. I may not know the reason why, but would you honestly rather I turned you away at the door?"
The steam stung her eyes as she stared down at the soup. No, that wasn't it. She was crying again. She clenched the spoon tighter, her bottom lip quivering, and covered her face. "No," she choked out, tears slipping past her fingers. "Thank you."
For the second time that night, Sonoko completely fell apart at the hands of another. But this time, instead of panicking alone in despair, Shuichi put a hand on her back. He rubbed slow, large circles on her back as she cried.