Summary: In which a mistake is made.

A/N: Thank you to everyone who's left such kind reviews on the fic! I'll be updating the fic monthly for the forseeable future, so I hope you'll enjoy this months update!

Leaving the station with her heart beating heavily against her ribcage, Ran finally lets herself breathe. She glances up at the sky, cloudy but with a faint sheen of gold where the sun manages to peek through small gaps of cloud and forces her shoulders to relax.

It hurts to have her shoulders so bunched like this, agitates the cuts from the glass.

"Ran-san?" Saguru says, glancing towards her as they walk down the steps. He's moving more slowly now, a clear indicator that she's going to have to force him to sit down for a while and take some more painkillers.

Knowing him though, Ran wouldn't be surprised if Saguru insisted they return to Sonoko's like they'd planned, before taking anything else.

"Are you alright?" She asks, rather than answer his unspoken question of whether she's okay.

"I'm fine," Saguru says, even as he pales, failing to hide another wince as he stumbles slightly on a step. "Nothing that I can't handle."

"It's hurting again, isn't it?" It's phrased like a question, but they both know it's nothing less than a statement. "We can just go to a store and grab some drinks, you can take them now…"

Saguru shakes his head, frowning. "Not yet…"

"Saguru-kun…"

"Let's get back to the station," Saguru says, "I'll take them there. But not so close to…"

To the station. Where people might be watching, where people know that this would be out of the norm for Hakuba Saguru.

"Alright," Ran says. Leaving behind the police station, they make their way down the street towards the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications building. Glancing to her left down the road, Ran takes in the lush green of Hibiya park nearby. "…Was it just me, or did the station feel different today?"

Saguru falls quiet, considering. When she glances at him, he's frowning, deep in thought. "It did," he agrees, "it felt more oppressive. Less… safe."

"How odd," Ran notes, her tone falling quiet, "that a police station no longer feels like a place of safety."

"Quite odd," Saguru agrees. He shakes his head, the thought away. "Knowing what we do though… it does make sense. After the murders and especially after yesterday."

"I can't help but wonder how deep it goes," Ran says. "It's difficult to know who we can trust."

Saguru's frown deepens.

Ran supposes it's natural for them to worry. Knowing now that there's corruption within the police force, there's more difficulty in getting their case listened to. To know who to go to about the trouble they've found themselves trapped within.

She's not used to mistrusting others. There's a limit to her distrust in others that Ran finds is slowly becoming larger and larger.

If only Shinichi were here by her side, maybe then with Saguru the three of them would be able to figure out who's worth trusting, which members of the force they could turn to. Until then though… Ran supposes that she and Saguru are stuck on their own–

"Ran-san," Saguru says, voice dropping to a whisper as they continue walking down the street. He practically pulls her from her thoughts, from how she's been staring at the cracks in the pavement as they walk.

It's not a tone that suggests things are alright. It's the kind of tone that implies something is wrong, a tone that floods her system with instant adrenaline. She'd look around to look for whatever must have happened to illicit such a tone, but that'd give them away.

"What is it?" She asks, keeping her gaze straight ahead instead and trying her best to keep any rising worry from showing on her face. It filters into her tone though, leaving the ends of her voice shaking.

"There's a car parked nearby us," Saguru continues, and if it weren't for the whisper, his voice would seem entirely conversational. It contains a calm that she can't replicate. "If my memory serves us correctly, it was parked outside the apartment yesterday."

Ran has to force her body not to freeze over, to keep moving despite the slosh of slush that her blood becomes. To act like she's never felt cold in her life.

"I.. I don't remember taking note of any…" Ran stumbles over the words. Walking past another building, she moves her gaze towards the window, scanning cars in the reflection that meets her.

There's a car nearby that could look similar, but most of them look like cars she's seen before. She recites the plate number, unable to keep from shivering as Saguru nods.

"That's the one," he says. "Now, it could just belong to the waitress that we saw earlier, but…"

But the car isn't empty.

Ran's relieved she thought to look at the reflection in the window and hadn't turned. Details may be hard to make out of who is inside the car, but at least neither of them had blatantly given away the fact that they knew.

"You think we're being watched?" Ran asks. "Followed?"

"I think," Saguru says, "that I don't want to weigh anything up as a coincidence on the off chance that we're wrong. And… that anyone smart enough to frame Kudo-kun for his crimes, would also be thorough enough to know the identity of his girlfriend and close friends."

Ran breathes in deeply. At her sides, she balls her hands into fists, nails digging into her skin before loosening them again. She repeats the movement, the sharpness of her nails against her palms reminding her of the glass Sonoko had removed from her back.

"So," Ran breathes, "we should probably try to lose them when we reach the station."

"No," Saguru says, voice low. "We should lose them now."

Ran turns to him – the paleness of Saguru's face doesn't look like it's caused by pain, but rather, by rising anxiety and a sense of impending doom. Like something's about to go entirely wrong.

"They'll know we have something to hide then."

He shakes his head, walk picking up in speed. Ran, naturally, speeds her footsteps to mimic his. "I don't know if it's simply paranoia, but I think I saw a glint of something from the car."

It could easily be just the sun's reflection on the metal bonnet of the car, or the rearview mirrors of the vehicle. But… it could just as easily be something more sinister.

"They wouldn't do anything in broad daylight," Ran reasons. "Would they?"

"I don't know," Saguru admits. "But I find that I'd rather not risk it again. All it takes is a few seconds and we're not in a dark room beneath windows now, Ran-san. We wouldn't see any targets on our backs."

Again, Ran shivers.

"Alright," she breathes. "The park. We can cut through Hibiya park and head to a different station. We should be able to lose them there."

"How exactly are we going to find a motorbike?" Aoko asks as they begin to head closer to the outskirts of Osaka. She doesn't doubt that Kaito has a plan, and that there's a high likelihood that they'll be able to find access to a motorbike in no time at all, but she is curious.

"Magic," Kaito says, letting out a low laugh when she punches him on the shoulder. "Hey! I'm injured you know."

"I don't care," Aoko says, "you deserved it."

And it's not like she'd punched him anywhere close to his injury, she's not a sociopath or anything.

"You monster," Kaito complains, and Aoko offers a faux innocent smile in response, letting out a sharp laugh as he offers a pout. Always so charming, isn't he? "Now I refuse to tell you."

"Come on," Aoko whines. "I just want to know."

"I know a guy," Kaito says. "Or well… Jii knows a guy, and I helped him out in the past. If I phone Jii, he'll be able to smooth things over."

"No questions asked?" Aoko asks.

Kaito's grin is sharp, cunning in a way that makes Aoko think of heists and being able to lead people around in circles with hardly a thought. She feels her lips tugging up in response as she waits for his response.

"No questions asked."

They make it into Hibiya part with little issue. Obscured by the sight of trees and shrubs, Ran feels her heartrate begin to settle slightly.

"If they're following us, they'll either be watching the exits," Saguru breathes, "or they'll come after us on foot."

Ran feels uncertainty slither into her bones. "Or both."

"Or both," Saguru agrees.

Maybe they're overreacting, but Ran doesn't want to run the risk of what could happen if they're not. There's a certain appeal to being wrong, of being able to laugh about how paranoid they'd been later, but right now it's too dangerous to pretend otherwise.

They should've been more careful. At the apartment, with Shinichi's case in general.

"So, what now?" Ran asks. "We could double back before they surround us, head to Kasumigaseki station like we were originally planning…?"

Saguru considers it, before shaking his head. "If we double back, we're nearer to the station, and even if we could trust them, we have just stolen a lot of case files."

Ran sighs.

This is true, she knows it is – but still there's trepidation at the thought of everything building more and more.

"For now, lets head to Shinji pond," Saguru says. The pond sat past the park's fountain, opposite to a flower garden. While the idea of being in a more open space only adds more nervousness, Ran knows that the typical crowd would help them lose any potential tails that might follow them in.

"And then?" Ran asks. "Hibiya station is right there, we could get on a train there… Or… Yurakucho station is only a minute or two away from Hibiya station."

Saguru nods. "Yurakucho station has a direct connection to Tokyo station. We should head for there and catch whatever train out of here that we can."

Ran falls quiet, only offering a nod as Saguru notes that they should move faster. The first train out of here, meaning… Tokyo?

It makes sense – they're well known in Tokyo; police know their faces and now they've been faced with the likelihood that the people who framed Shinichi know who they are as well. Staying in Tokyo makes no sense, not for them.

But still, Ran feels guilt well in her at the idea. Her dad would worry, would lead himself into panic and can she… can she really do this to him, without so much as an explanation?

It seems almost like they might not have a choice – she'll phone him when they're somewhere safe, somewhere hidden, but for now, Ran will just have to live with the fact. Of all the things to be worried over… how silly for her to be worrying about this.

"Come on," Saguru says, leaning back to grab her hand and pull her forwards as he breaks into a run. His breathing sharpens, small gasps as he moves that leaves Ran frowning – there's no doubt that he'll have reopened his stitches once this is over, but… she supposes that's something they'll have to deal with when they have a moment of calm.

Running leads the pair to receive many strange looks – Ran is carrying a backpack, neither of them are in sportswear – but there's little point in taking notice of these things. Instead, Ran looks for any signs of red, anyone looking suspicious, or focusing too heavily on them.

It's hard to take that sort of information in when running so quickly. Ran isn't used to processing so many people, registering them as potential threats and trying to see whether they're to be immediately worried over or not.

It doesn't take them long to reach the fountain plaza. They weave their way through the crowd, heading closer to the fountain, slowing in their movements as they take a moment to catch their breath.

"Notice anyone?" Saguru asks, voice strangled as he curls in on his side, arms protectively going over the wound he'd received the day previously. "Anyone worth remembering?"

She wishes that he would take the prescribed painkillers – he looks like he had when they'd made their way to Sonoko's, ghost-like with an almost feverish sheen to his face, looking like he'd pass out from the pain but was holding on purely for her sake. Ran wouldn't be surprised if he is.

Despite her wishes, she also knows he'll refuse again if she mentions it. That he would claim the situation 'too urgent' to take even a few seconds for himself. She sighs.

"I don't know," Ran admits. "There's… there's so many people, it's hard to take note of all of them. To know who we're looking for."

There's some benefit for them in a crowd too, but they don't have the luxury of not being known the way that their captors do.

"I know," Saguru breathes, "we'll… we'll figure this out, Ran-chan." He straightens back up, trying to keep the hurt from blending into the rest of his features. "Let's keep going."

Ran nods. They continue towards Shinji pond.

The sun sets with a kaleidoscope of pink and purple hues, the night sky illuminated by stars twinkling in and out of existence. Sitting on the bank and watching the road for any signs of Kuroba and Nakamori, Heiji's fingers tap against his motorcycle helmet in an unsteady rhythm.

After the paranoia had ridden itself from his system, purged by logic and rationality, he'd returned home long enough to drop his school bag off before heading out.

Driving had helped settle his nerves. He's always enjoyed having the freedom to go wherever he wants when on his bike, being able to survey the area around him, feeling the force of the wind against him as he drives.

And it's not like it hadn't been useful, either. It'd given him the opportunity to scout out the roadblocks that have been set up around Osaka to catch Kudo. Knowing which routes were cut off where, and which back streets were blocked off.

Heiji would've marked off the blocks on a map if the act of being caught with something so suspicious didn't leave him nervous of being caught. He glances at his watch – they're not exactly late, considering their leeway of thirty minutes, but Kuroba and Nakamori haven't showed yet.

"If they've run into some sorta trouble…" Heiji mumbles, shaking his head. They've still got twenty minutes.

He's lucky that it's not too cold – the path is obscured by trees that keep the wind from assaulting him, and his bikers jacket keeps any remaining cold from creeping in.

Another five minutes pass, and then there's the outline of two figures coming into view. Heiji pushes himself up, reaching for his helmet as he watches the motorcycle come to a stop.

It looks second hand – nothing particularly flashy about it. The body isn't heavy, capable of reaching higher speeds, something that can easily help them get away quickly if the need arises.

"Hattori-kun," Nakamori says as the motorcycle comes to a stop. She lifts her visor, and beneath it, is a face more recognisable, previous mask removed. Her eyes crinkle with faint amusement. "Sorry we're late."

"It's time to go meet Shinichi," Kuroba says.

Shinji pond isn't too far, but as they keep moving, Saguru's movements become more unsteady and pained. Ran bites the side of her lip, considering whether he'd be offended by any offer to help.

"Saguru-kun," Ran says, as she tries to catch her breath.

"I can keep going," he hisses in response. "We have to keep moving, just in case."

Ran isn't happy about it, but she agrees. She pauses, before making her way to his side, and lifting his arm to rest over her shoulder. "This should help."

Saguru lets out a small sigh but otherwise makes no effort to protest. It's easier to move together like this, they can move quickly while Ran is aiding him like this, keeping him balanced whenever a footstep sends a small spasm of pain rushing through his body.

"I told you," Ran breathes, "that you should've taken those pain killers."

"Wouldn't have kicked in yet anyway," Saguru protests, just as breathlessly. He shakes his head. "Doesn't matter now anyway."

They don't quite continue sprinting, but they do manage to fall into a faster jog. Again, Ran ignores any looks they might gain, keeping her focus on Saguru and their immediate surroundings.

Saguru stumbles again, letting out another gasp as the pain wracks through his entire core.

"Shinji pond isn't too far now," Ran says, an attempt at reassuring him. Seeing him in so much pain, unable to help, makes it hard to focus on anything else.

"I know…"

Another step forwards and Ran's back feels like it's burning. Not a physical sensation, but as if there's a weight of someone watching her, following them. Her speed slows slightly as she turns, glancing around the path they're heading down.

Nothing.

"Ran-san?" Saguru asks.

There's no one in this area – it's entirely quiet compared to the other areas of the park they've passed. No tourists, no one sitting at the benches that they pass.

The route seems altogether wrong. Unnaturally quiet.

"Doesn't this… feel too empty for how the park usually is?" Ran asks, scanning for any signs of movement in her peripheral vision. Saguru pauses, going still as he glances around too.

"…It does." He agrees, after a brief pause. "Let's keep going before anything–"

It takes less than a second for Saguru to yank her to the side. Despite her initial response, Ran falls into the movement, moving out of reach as dirt explodes in a plume around them accompanied by a sound that ricochets inside her ears.

Ran catches herself as they fall to the side, rolling into the movement to return easily to her feet. Saguru, less graceful, doesn't find his feet as easily. He collapses in the dirt with a pained yelp and Ran barely manages to pull him up to his feet before the next shot fires towards them.

"Shit," Saguru hisses. "Ran-san, he's on your left. Eight o'clock."

Ran turns, moving from reach of a third shot, to look towards their attacker. She supposes she should be less surprised by how unrecognisable they are to her – a man with shaggy brown hair hid beneath a black cap, eyes covered by shades.

She doesn't know why she'd been expecting them to be known to her.

His expression is blank as he swings the gun to follow after their movements.

"Saguru-kun," Ran whispers, "promise me you won't get hit."

Not again.

"I'll try my best," Saguru whispers back. Ran releases the fabric of his clothing, side stepping away from him as she glances towards their attacker. She doesn't know much about guns – but there's some things that Ran has picked up after years of surrounding herself with detectives.

Most traditional handguns hold five to six bullets – So far, they've used three.

That means they just need to dodge three more.

Ran rushes forward. The fourth shot seems to go wide, missing her completely as she begins to move in a zig-zag formation, trying to keep it hard for any aim to hit her. It'll be harder, she knows, the closer she gets towards him.

Saguru moves behind her, but Ran doesn't pay him notice – trust that he'll keep himself safe.

The fifth bullet takes a second longer to fire. The gun moves in her direction and Ran lunges to the side, hoping to avoid the bullet. A sharp searing burn forms in her thigh, but adrenaline seems to be a temporary balm soothing it from setting her leg alight.

"Ran-san!" Saguru shouts, and he's closer than she'd been expecting.

The sixth shot is aimed higher – aimed towards her chest.

Ran dodges, throws her body to the left, twisting in an attempt to keep her body from being a larger target. She can practically feel the bullet brushing past, just millimetres from her body. Their attacker takes a step back, lips pressing into a tight line, brows furrowing down beneath the curve of his lenses.

He doesn't say a word.

They both know he's out of bullets.

"Wait–"

Ran takes a millisecond to ground herself as she gets even closer. She begins to lift her leg, tensing her muscles for a kick–

"That gun has eight rounds," Saguru cries as he pushes her to the side.

A seventh gunshot bursts through the clearing.

Ran turns just in time to watch Saguru stagger backwards, falling to the ground. His hands lift up to his head, quiet, silent.

"Saguru-kun!" She cries, voice choked and raw.

It feels like she's living in slow motion as she rebalances herself. The gun raises, aimed solely on Saguru, and Ran feels a guttural scream building in her throat.

"No!"

She brings her leg up – quickly, harshly – to the man' s side. Caught off guard, he doesn't move with the momentum, taking a second to reorientate himself.

Ran realises that a lot can happen within a single second.

Her leg returns to the ground. With the momentum, Ran propels forward, hands going up around the man's wrist, tightly as she begins to bend the joint back. There's a faint grunt of pain from her attacker, but Ran's ears are still vibrating from each gunshot to make any notice.

The gun clatters to the ground before he can take another shot.

Ran kicks it away, before bringing her foot back and using it to swipe the man's feet out from beneath him.

It's not enough to get him to fall – not until Ran throws herself forwards, pulling on the back of his shirt to skew his balance. He falls back, and Ran falls down with him, moving to pin his wrists against the floor.

The hold doesn't stick. The man bucks beneath Ran, knee moving up into her side as he proceeds to throw her to the side. Ran rolls at the impact, wheezing slightly as she pushes back up.

"Fucking kids," the man hisses, as he pushes up to his feet. Ran rises to a crouch, before advancing again, each hand balled into a fist that strikes out. He just barely manages to dart back from each one.

When it comes to speed, it seems they're evenly matched.

"Never understood Gin before," the man mutters as he darts back, eyes narrowing. His hand disappears behind his back, towards his waist – reaching for something. Ran narrows her eyes. "Why he always said to bring a second."

Ran freezes, waiting. She knows not to take any sudden movements when there's an unknown variable. If something shows up now…

Well. Ran doesn't want to make any other mistakes.

"Didn't need to understand to follow orders though," he continues, pulling out an identical handgun to the other. Sunlight catches the end of the barrel in such a way that Ran winces at the brightness, at the sight of it.

She's beginning to feel the blood trickling down her thigh.

Ran grits her teeth, lifting her chin up as she considers. The gun moves quickly in her attacker's hands, arms straightening preparing for the recoil of the weapon. Finger hovering over the trigger as Ran prepares to jump away from the aim of the barrel.

Another gunshot.

Blood spurts onto Ran's shirt, her eyes widening as she stares. Her attacker staggers backwards, neck blooming with red as he crumples down to the ground. Ran stumbles back, horrified, turning towards the origin of the sound.

Staring at the body, eyes blown with dread, Saguru lowers the handgun, letting it drop into the dirt. Ran doesn't know where she should be focusing – the body twitching on the ground, not dead but dying, as blood spurts from the neck. Or at Saguru, as he slowly pushes himself up.

"He… was going to kill us both," Saguru says, quietly. He's entirely too ashen, the colour only further highlighted by the red of his blood dripping down his chin from just above his ear. "It… I didn't know how else…"

Ran's voice is caught in her throat. It's like each bullet, each deafening gunshot has left her unable to create sound in the vacuum left behind. She turns back to the body. Takes a step closer.

"I didn't…" Saguru continues, barely breathing. The panic hasn't just entered his voice, it's consumed it, leaving him shaky. "I'm – I'm sorry. I… he was going to murder you."

Ran blinks tears from her eyes, turning to Saguru. Away from the body – she can't keep looking at it, doesn't want to burn the image even further into her mind. She's going to have nightmares of this moment. Ran just knows she will.

One step closer to Saguru. Then another, until she's basically stumbling with the way she's running towards him. Her arms wrap around him, and if the faint stutter of his breath is any indication, she's squeezing as she hugs him close to her.

I thought you were dead, she doesn't say.

"I know," she whispers, instead. Ran closes her eyes, leaning into him, trying to catch her breath as the adrenaline and shock begins to subside. "I know."

Saguru falls quiet, leaning into her. She can feel his exhaustion – despite her own pain, from both new and older injuries, she's exhausted too. She wants to lie down and sleep for a lifetime, but she can't. They can't, not yet.

They shouldn't be here.

Ran pulls back, glancing back to the body. "Saguru-kun… we need to go."

Saguru glances at the corpse, flinches, and focuses back onto Ran. "Yeah… Here… wear this – it'll… it'll cover the blood you have on you."

He unzips his jacket, shrugging it off awkwardly as he tries to keep from twisting too much. Ran takes the offering, shrugging it on over her shirt with a faint sigh.

"Thanks…" Ran turns, looking to the handgun that Saguru had dropped. His fingerprints will be on it – they… they shouldn't leave it behind. Collecting the gun, she pushes the safety on, before stashing it at the very bottom of her bag.

"Ran-san?" Saguru asks, quietly.

"Everything they did to Shinichi," Ran says, "they did with no evidence. Imagine what they could do with this."

The only possible way Saguru could grow paler than he is now, Ran thinks, is through exsanguination. He nods, slowly.

"We'll… have to find a way to get rid of it," Saguru mumbles.

"Later," Ran says. "Come on, we… we need to get out of here."