They stumble on each other often
Ran learns how to hold a gun
Gin realizes that Ran has a hidden talent and that she needs more praise and confidence
Chapter II: Bramble
Sonoko went off that morning.
As soonest Conan disappeared with his friends to his school, Sonoko made some remarks about him being her secret love child again.
After that, she was raving on and off about a banquet her family was gonna do for her sweet seventeenth birthday. She did everything to make Ran feel inferior.
Like how would someone like Ran know what it's like? You would never get something this great!
You are just the daughter of a cheap detective, she should be glad she has such a rich friend.
When did her best friend start to be so distant from her? So hostile at her? When does Shinichi leave? Or was this her true color and she held cold malice against her for something she did in the past? What did she do to her to be so cruel? Maybe she was overeating, that's what Shinichi told her on the phone yesterday. Deep down she knew the truth. She wasn't, Sonoko has become toxic. Keeping a fake smile exterior she listens to Sonoko. Walking towards the school, she passed by a black Porsche. The driver's window was down but both acted as if they didn't know a thing. It seemed that Gin had his problems too, the Lady on the seat next to him was giving him an earful about something. She wished she could run up there and yell at her to stop. Wasn't she seeing how done he was?
Gin looked tired and sad. This hurt her despite knowing he wasn't a respectable citizen but a criminal. Despite not being close to him she felt hurt for him. Who hurts him?
Their eyes meet, as they walk past by. Only exchanging glances. Their glances were worth many words.
' Keep going I see you at the hideout'
' Hang in there I see you there
School took dreadfully long but it ended before she could complain. Sonoko had drama club, so she went home alone like usual. Sera was doing something on her own. That's when she received a text message that dad and Conan were solving a huge case over the weekend.
Delighted and relieved, she drove a few stations longer and walked into the secret hideout. Gin must be here already since the lights were all on. Exploring to find his location, she came across the old gun room. It had some odd digital panels on the walls and a lot of guns stored inside. Some could store bullets some had these odd red laser pointers she remembered. She wondered if Gin knew how to use them.
" Want to learn how to use one? I could teach you." a familiar voice spoke up. She could smell the cigarette smoke. Grabbing one rifle she asks:" This room is kinda odd. We're the targets? How do you even shoot?"
Smirking at her, the newcomer tapped a tablet on the wall. It lit up and the entire place modified. It looked like a VR video game. Approaching her, he showed her how to use to gun:" You hold your finger on the trigger like that, legs this way so blow bag of the gun doesn't topple you off." His instructions were incredible. It only took her a few minutes to hold the Sniper rifle safely without being blown back by its power. They practiced with standard target practices with red circles. After a while Gin pressed a button.
There were on a hill looking down at a crowd of people. He put on a headset that displayed a number for her and a target. 140 yards was a red dot hovering over a dude.
Gin laughed viciously, waving his hand he grinned:" Ah yes Kevin Brown. Our favorite practice dummy." Holding her breath, she pulled the trigger.
The scene changed. Now on a lakeside. 300 yards. She hit. This continued until 3700 yards. She just couldn't see that far anymore. The simulation closed down.
Was she that bad?
The simulation closed down and she heard Gin make weird noises. Turning around as the room changed back to normal she witness his face morphed into confusion, fear, and bewilderment:" Ran have you ever thought of becoming a professional sniper?"
Did she suck that bad?
" Do you have any idea HOW hard it is for even an average person to hit 300 yards? Let alone kill with no remorse. Your incredible." This was her first praise in months. Her face flushed from the praises.
And it came from a stranger. Still blushing she asked:" Am I good enough for that?" Gin looked like he was about to pass out:" Good enough?! Oh, She is asking whether she is good enough. You're kidding me, you above the wanner be sniper plebs. People would crawl and beg for you. Snipers are hard to train AND to find. 3700 yards, Chianti could never. Akai maybe but Chianti? Nope, she could never... 3700 yards....good gracious... "
Ran blushed at the compliment and watch Gin rubbing his temple muttering to himself.
" How old are you?"
" I'm sixteen and turning seventeen this month."
" Want to join my crumbling Crime syndicate?"
And they laughed. Gin swore to himself to work on her self-esteem and She needs to be praised more often. Her home life must be bad that she would hang out with a criminal willingly. Ran is very much used to blood and violence. So the fact she hid in this run-down place meant she had it bad. For a long time, Gin finally soften. He wanted that girl to be safe. Around her he was safe. Around her, he could be soft.