Chapter Fourteen
"That blood which thou hast spill'd, should join you closely in an eternal bond."
-Vittorio Alfieri
Ruri's hands covered her mouth as she tried to keep herself from throwing up.
I never expected... the only reason I was able to get through that last murder was because Hakuba was with me...
She had sat for several moments staring on in pure unmasked horror, watching as everyone tried in vain to resuscitate the dead magician.
Now, she was wandering the inner halls of the theatre, attempting to look for the main cast. She came upon a room that had what sound like a recording of the show playing inside. She peered in.
Sure enough, everyone was inside, watching the recording.
Ruri recognized Inspector Megure, Detective Takagi, Detective Sato, Detective Chiba, everyone from Fuyuki's crew (including the crane operator), as well as Mouri Kogorou, Ran, and Conan.
Just as Ruri was about to leave, thinking this wasn't really her scene, Conan turned around to face the door. His eyes bugged a bit, as he wasn't expecting someone to be there, and Ruri put a finger to her lips, trying to signal she wanted silence.
Hopefully he recognized her.
And he did, a flash of understanding passing on his face. But at that moment, Ran turned to look at Conan, effectively giving away Ruri.
"Ah!" she cried out, pointing at the girl in the doorway.
Everyone in the room swiveled around in surprise to find Ruri standing very awkwardly.
"Oh, you're..." Megure trailed off.
"You know this girl, keibu-san?" Takagi asked, worried.
"Aa, she helped out with a case a while back," the inspector sighed, putting his hand on his face.
"Ah, sorry for intruding," Ruri bowed, blood rushing to her cheeks.
"You were at the mall!" Ran cried, her own flash of recognition passing.
Ruri smiled nervously and nodded.
"Do all teenage detectives have to be nosy?" Kogorou grumbled, obviously unhappy.
"I'm very sorry for intruding! I was just getting ready to leave..." Ruri apologized.
She stepped out of the room, leaving.
Ruri sighed, looking around the stage where workmen now were, inspecting the area.
"Of course this is how I end up doing things," she mumbled.
"Oh, why don't I be the silent and mysterious female helper," Ruri's voice changed into that of a mocking tone. "It's such a great idea, why not?"
She snorted once.
Sighing, she took a deep breath and began to look around the stage. The police were certainly being rather thorough. Of course, they end up missing things a lot of times as well...
Ruri idly wondered if she should really be helping out, listening to the rain pour outside.
She spotted Conan come in, looking for clues. She watched, slightly amused, as his face went through different stages of thinking.
Conan looked around, trying to find something to help. The workers were already combing through the stage and the equipment, looking for evidence. Inspector Megure, Sato, and Takagi were there as well.
He briefly thought about the top part of the tank, thinking there might be clue.
"We're going to watch the video again," Megure told Sato and Takagi. They straightened up.
"Yes, sir!"
At that moment, thunder crashed, and the power was out, plunging everyone into darkness.
The lights slowly came back on, thanks to a back-up generator.
A scream had Conan's attention back to the stage in a matter of seconds.
"Hey, Takagi-kun!" Sato shrieked.
Takagi was clinging to Sato's waist, eyes shut and shaking.
"What are you doing, Takagi?" Megure asked.
Takagi opened his eyes and let go.
"I'm sorry, I did it unintentionally," he told Sato.
A push later, he was on the floor.
What are they doing? Conan wondered.
A light went on in his head.
Now that I think about it, it was pitch black when they lowered the curtains!
He ran onto the stage, going straight for the tank's removable top.
Conan squatted next to the top, looking at the hanger.
"Hm? Have you found something?" a voice made Conan look up.
It was the girl from before, Ruri.
"Ah, don't you think that this hanger has changed?" he pointed to the object in question. "Because normally it's in the center and the one outside is longer, right?"
"Really? You certainly notice a lot," she smiled.
"Also, I wonder what that hole is for..." he commented, referring to a little hole in the hanger.
"I took a look earlier, but I didn't notice it until just now," Ruri replied.
Earlier...
Ruri stretched, watching as the police arrested Shingo Shoji, Fuyuki's manager.
"I think my work here is done," she grinned, starting to leave.
"Ah!" a shout of recognition had Ruri stopped in her tracks.
Turning around, Ruri saw Ran and Conan making their way towards her.
"You were at the mall that one time, right?" Ran asked, smiling.
"Ah, hai," Ruri answered a little hesitantly.
"What a coincidence to be meeting you here! Did you come here to see the show?"
Ruri nodded.
"I enjoy watching magic," she replied.
"Really?" Ran tilted her head to the side. "Why?"
Why? Ruri wasn't totally sure how to answer that.
"Well...someone I really admire is very skilled in magic," she finally said.
Ran smiled. "I think anyone that's admired by you is a lucky person!"
Ruri blushed.
"Well, it's time for us to be going," Ran told her as Kogorou came up behind them, yawning.
The two girls shared another smile before Ran and Kogorou were off.
"You certainly make a good detective," she told Conan, who was still standing next to her, trying to size her up.
Shock flickered across his face but was quickly replaced with a smirk.
"You too," he replied, voice a bit deeper than before.
"Conan-kun! Hurry up!"
"Ah, hai!"
"Stay safe, meitantei," she told him before he ran off.
He shot her a baffled look before running to Ran.
"I heard that the magician at the show you went to was murdered!" Aoko cried as Ruri slid into her seat. Aoko was wearing a bright blue uniform.
Ruri nodded. "He was drowned."
"A pity ol' Hakuba wasn't there," Kaito plopped himself onto her desk. "He would've had so much fun."
"Murder is never fun, Kuroba," Hakuba came up behind Ruri.
He was dressed in an offending bright neon green version of his usual school uniform.
"What happened to you two?" Ruri couldn't help but ask.
"Kuroba happened," the Brit replied, sighing.
Ruri glanced around the classroom to find that everyone had been dressed in brightly colored versions of their uniforms.
"I'm next, aren't I?" she sighed.
Kaito grinned mischievously as both Aoko and Hakuba nodded solemnly.
ANNNNND IT'S DONE! I'm sorry for not making Ruri more involved in the case, but she's the type to not really be very proactive. She's more likely to drop hints and stuff rather than go out and confront people. That saying, she was quite proactive in the first murder, but only because it happened right there, and there was a bigger and less anxiety inducing way to go about solving the murder. Anyway, a little more character info on her, she has terrible anxiety talking to people and prefers to follow the rules. Not to the point of being stiff, but to avoid getting into trouble. She used to be an ok singer, but thanks to her reincarnation, it's gotten better. Ruri tends to sing soprano but her strength is in mezzo-soprano.
NEXT TIME: RURI GETS SICK!
DFTBA EVERYBODY!