KudoEdogawa presents...

"Everlasting"

***

Chapter 6::

"Where is the boy?" Shuichi repeated, the gun pointing mercilessly at the man named Latte.

"Gate of Heaven," Latte said.

"I don't listen to popular music, sorry,"* Shuichi said, "Now tell me where he is!"

"I've already said it," Latte said, raising his gun, "Gate of Heaven..." He pulled the trigger and fired at Shuichi who dodge the hit in a swift movement and countered the attack by firing from his own gun. Neither one hit each other and they kept firing until they ran out on ammo.

"Damn," Shuichi cursed and dropped his gun, opposite to him, Latte did the same. Shuichi removed his black, leather jacket and his hat, "I guess physical contact is inevitable." With that he charged at the man and threw a fierce punch at his face. Latte flinched and staggered, Shuichi took the chance and attacked again, this time kicking Latte behind his knees, making him fall. Just as Shuichi was about to hand chop the man behind his back, the woman snuck up behind him pulled on his silky black hair.

"Thanks," Latte said, regaining his posture and wiping that blood that's trickling out of his lips. "Now I've gotta repay you," he said to Shuichi and balled his fists.

"No you don't!" Heiji's voice came from behind. Latte turned around and saw Heiji dashing at him, preparing to punch. The muscled man turned to face Heiji instead, and just the moment before the contact, he opened the palm of his hand and blocked the fist, however, Heiji grinned.

"What's so funny?" Latte said, his other hand ready to hit, "I'll make sure you suf-"

Before he could finish it, he fell to the ground, no longer conscious. Heiji smiled and carefully removed something from between his fingers: a small needle from the Tranquilizer Watch. "See what I tell you?" He turned around to speak to Shinichi, who was helping Jodie with her wound, "All muscle; no brain."

Shuichi grinned as well; he's gotta appreciate the two men's help. "Well, time to end this," he said and reached back, "No one touches my hair and gets away with it." His hands found the women's thin wrists, and then, with a monstrous force, he lifted the women off her feet and threw her above his head. The women fell with a rather painful Bang! as she, too, passed out.

"Let's leave the rest to the police," Shinichi said, "Let's go."

"Hehehe..." Came a snicker; Latte had one eye open, looking weakly at Shinichi, "Are... are you sure you're just gonna leave me here?" It seems that the tranquilizer hasn't taken its full effect. "Well, let me tell you one thing: ...It was I who set fired on your house..."

Shinichi's expression changed.

"I hit your wife and sent her flying into the wall, and I grabbed your son and whacked him unconscious... hehehe, and how I enjoyed it." With that he fell, no longer having the strength to resist the tranquilizer.

Shinichi looked away and walked towards the stair solemnly.

"Kudo!" Heiji shouted, "You're not just gonna let him go like this, are you?"

"The police can deal with him," Shinichi repeated, not bothering to stop, "Let's find Hiro... I know where he is."

***

"When you asked him, he replied with 'Gate of Heaven' right?" Shinichi said to the other three once they've gotten back on the helicopter. "There is only one place that fits the description, and that would be Koube."

"Koube?" Jodie said, "How so?"

"The Kanji characterization of 'Koube' means, literally, 'The Residence of God,' which is where 'Gate of Heaven' would lead to," Shinichi explained.

"But Koube isn't a small town; it's going to be heard to search for Hiro-kun when the clues we have are so broad," said Shuichi.

"Not quite, the clue give was the Gate of Heaven, so it's somewhere leading into Koube, not Koube itself, and around Koube, only one entrance is big enough to be qualified as a 'gate'," said Shinichi.

Realization came to Heiji and he blurted out, "The Koube Harbor!"

"Yes, the Gate that connects Koube with the Osaka Bay, that is where we need to go."

"We won't fly directly to the harbor, it might attract too many attention to whoever's there," Shuichi said, "I'm going to land us in the Osaka airport and travel by car from there."

"Sounds good," Shinichi concurred, "That is where we will go."

"Alright, I'll ask my dad to contact the airport," said Heiji. He leaned forward to where the pilot is and reached for the communicator as he dialed Hattori-san's cell phone.

This was going too smooth, Shinichi thought, and he was right. A while after they had landed in Osaka, Heiji received a phone call from a frantic and closed-to-tears Kazuha, "Hei-chan!" came the voice of his wife, "Ran-chan... Ran-chan disappeared!"

Shinichi, who was close enough to Heiji to hear their conversation, froze on the spot.

"W-what?!" Heiji exclaimed. "How?"

"I don't know," said Kazuha through the phone, "I went to visit her this morning in the hospital, but there was no one there! The nurses there said someone came earlier to take her home, but when I went back to Kudo's house, I found no one, and then I asked Hakase, and he didn't know anything either!"

"C-calm down, Kazuha," Heiji tried to comfort her, "Don't worry, we'll sort things out. Yeah... uh-huh... I know, hon.... Yes... It's gonna be okay.... You too... yeah... bye."

"Well, Kudo," Heiji turned to Shinichi, "What now?"

Shinichi did not answer. He had no answer. He had no idea what he should do. Ran would've wanted him to get Hiroichi back first, but if he went to Koube, who knows what'll happen to Ran, and if he went to find Ran, it's only gonna give the other men time to take Hiroichi away from Koube, and they'd have to start their search all over again.

"It's alright," said Jodie from behind them. Shinichi and Heiji turned to face her and she continued, "Shuichi and I will make for the harbor, we'll get your son. You two had better go back to Tokyo before something happens to Mouri-kun."

Although reluctant, Shinichi nodded and agreed. They said farewell to Jodie as they drove away and asked the Osaka Police Department to dispatch a helicopter and take them back to Tokyo.

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*"Gates of Heaven" is the new album of Do As Infinity, the songs aren't bad, try 'em!