Chapter 5 - Rescue Mission & Redistribution

"Help, anybody, help!"

Ran raised her head again. She could've sworn she heard someone call for help. And not just someone, this time she was relatively sure that it was Shinichi's voice. Which was enough to make her look around again, even though she risked getting teased by Sonoko again. Again, nobody seemed to notice, nobody reacted. But Ran was sure she heard Shinichi scream for help. If that was true, she needed to help him, but she wasn't sure if she didn't imagine things...

"Ran, help me! Ran!"

There it was again! And he even called her name. Now Ran was certain that she didn't imagine things, even though nobody else reacted yet again.

"Sensei? Can I go to the toilet?" Ran asked and raised her hand.

"Hmm...?" Her teacher turned around. "Sure, Mouri, feel free. You don't need this lesson as much as your classmates anyway."

Ran slightly bowed and hurried out of the room. She needed to get to the infirmary as quickly as possible. Running through the empty hallways, as all the other students were in class, she reached the infirmary in record time. Ran wanted to open the door, but it was locked. She banged on the door. "Kurara-sensei?! Is everything alright?"

"Mouri-chan?! Y-yes, everything is-..." Kurara-sensei started, but she was cut off.

"Ran! Help, she tied me up and-...mmphf..." Ran heard Shinichi scream, but his voice was suddenly muffled by something.

That was all it took for Ran. She used her karate to kick down the door. What she saw in the room shocked her for a second. Shinichi was tied to the bed with medical restraints, his shirt was open, exposing his chest and his pants were pulled down, exposing his boxer shorts. He also had an towel stuffed in his mouth. Oh, and also, perhaps the most important thing, Kurara-sensei was sitting on him, who was stunned by Ran's sudden entrance.

Shinichi used this opportunity to spit out the towel. "Ran, help, she's insane!"

Ran stepped toward the bed. "Get away from him!" She growled.

Kurara-sensei climbed off him and moved backwards. "No, no, no, Mouri-chan, this is not what it looks like." Ran continued to get closer to the bed, while the nurse moved toward her desk. They both got to their targets at the same time; Ran and Kurara stared at each other for a moment before Kurara lunged towards Ran. Behind her back, she had grabbed a syringe from her desk and was now using that as a weapon against Ran. An useless effort, as Ran's reflexes were far too sharp for Kurara to compete with; Ran easily blocked the syringe strike, knocking the medical equipment turned weapon out of Kurara's hand at the same time and sent her sleeping with a single, swift karate kick. Kurara was out cold.

"A-Amazing..." Shinichi muttered, before his mind went back to him being tied up. "Ran! Help get off these restraints, please." Ran turned back to him and hastily worked on getting the restraints off. After he was free, Shinichi quickly redressed himself, except he didn't bother to put his tie back on. "Thanks, Ran. Talk about a last second save."

"What...what was she even trying to do...?" Ran asked. "It looked like she was about to...well..."

Shinichi grimly nodded. "Yes, it was what it looked like. And I'm apparently not the first one. She amused herself with several other boys already. Remember how I told you about some boys behaving strangely anxious around women?" He asked, to which Ran simply nodded. "It's connected. She described similar behaviours from the boys she amused herself with. Kurara, she...she traumatized them, you understand?"

Ran gasped and covered her mouth in shock. "It couldn't be...that's horrible! Shinichi, we have to get some teachers!"

"Agreed. We have to make sure that this was her last attempt ever." Shinichi said.

On the same day, Kurara was arrested by the police. After Shinichi and Ran told the teachers everything, they still had some doubt, but after Shinichi spoke to students, who showed the weird behaviour he had noticed before, they also confessed what Kurara had done to them. As soon as some of them broke their silence, every single one of them joined in. It seemed like all it took for everyone to forget their fear, was a single brave one. Kurara smiled and waved at Shinichi as she was taken away. Nobody but Ran noticed that he slightly flinched under the gaze of the nurse. All of her victims were offered psychological therapy, which all of them but Shinichi accepted. He wasn't traumatized since she didn't complete the act, he argued. Since that therapy was voluntary, nobody could stop him from declining. He was right, he wasn't traumatized from the events like the other boys were, but Ran saw and felt that he wasn't completely fine either.

In the next few days, Shinichi was pretty wrapped up in assisting the police with sorting this case out, helping the other boys make it through their testimonies, so Ran didn't find quite the right timing for something they had planned to do: talk about what happened in Shinichi's bedroom, the day before the incident with Kurara. She also wanted to talk to someone else: her mother, Eri. However, the famous lawyer was gone on a long business trip and wasn't contactable right now. Even if she were, Ran didn't want to have such a conversation over the phone. She thought back to the other intimate talks she had with her mother and in retrospect, face to face was the only way.

So, Ran had to turn to the only other woman in her life, that came close to being a second mother. Good thing: that woman was available for a personal talk. Bad thing: she was also the mother of Ran's partner, which would make things a bit awkward. Still better than not talking to anyone for at least two more weeks.

Yukiko Kudo had returned to Japan immediately after she heard what happened at her son's school. He didn't show it, but Ran knew that he was happy about that; deep down inside of his feelings, he was. On one afternoon, when Shinichi was out running some sort of errand, Yukiko and Ran were busy with washing some dishes. "Uhm...Yukiko-san..." Ran started.

"Yes...?" Yukiko said without looking up from the dishes. "Something the matter, Ran-chan?"

"Y-yeah, there is something I wanted to talk about..." Ran continued.

Yukiko gave her a warm smile. "Don't be shy, you know you can talk to me about anything."

"Well, I wanted to talk about..." Ran hesitated for a moment, but her determination was stronger. "...sex."

That made Yukiko halt all of her movements. "Let's sit down for a moment, shall we?" Ran only nodded as the two of them sat down at the kitchen table. "Sooo..." Yukiko started. "You and Shin-chan... no, I should stick to Shinichi for this one... did you two already... ?"

"N-no... " Ran stuttered.

"Oh... "

"But almost... " Ran continued.

"Ohhhhh... " Yukiko thought for a second. She asked Ran, if she shouldn't rather have this conversation with Eri, so Ran explained to her, why that wasn't possible at the moment and her reasons to talk to Yukiko now. "I see... so, why didn't you two do it then?"

"Well, you see... there is this girl at my school and she told me and a couple of other girls how horrible the first time is; she made it out to be terrifying, life-changingly bad and stuff." Ran explained. "And the day she told that just happened to be the same day on which we almost did... that... in the evening, but with what she told me... "

"You got cold feet, huh? Well, words can have great effect on the mind... so, now you are worried because you backed out and worried because you don't know whether or not she said was true?" Yukiko concluded.

"Yes." Ran nodded again. "And some talks are needed to get these things out of the way."

"Alright. So, tell you me what this girl... Kamiko was her name, right? Anyway, tell me what kind of stuff she spouted and I'll tell you how much of it was accurate." Yukiko said.

Two hours later, Ran and Yukiko were done talking and Ran was feeling much better. The former actress had to suppress some laughter during the retelling of Kamiko's advices and sometime she couldn't help herself. She also shook her head a lot of times and Yukiko seemed really glad that she could correct Ran's imaginations, because they were based on some really misinformed advice from a girl who lived, as Yukiko agreed, in a pretty abusive relationship.

Ran would've also talked to Shinichi on the same day, but Kogoro demanded some attention from his daughter, since Ran had spent even more time with Shinichi ever since the incident at their school. 'No matter,' Ran told herself. 'Tomorrow after school will be fine. And maybe I should talk to Kamiko again; I have to tell her that her relationship is really not good for her...'

In the first break between lessons at Teitan High on the next day, Ran slightly sighed. This day already felt like a drag and it was far from over. She wanted to seek out Kamiko and talk to her (it still wasn't an option to talk to Shinichi about the stuff she wanted to talk about at school), but before Ran could do so, Sonoko came over to her desk.

"Hey, Ran. Got a minute?" Her best friend started.

"Actually... nevermind, go ahead, Sonoko, what's on your mind?" Ran answered.

"I've got a problem. The actress who was supposed to play the lead role in our school play next week has fallen ill. And her replacement too and now we have no Princess Heart anymore." Sonoko made some dramatic gestures with her hand. "We can't have a play without the female lead."

"That really sounds like the trouble." Ran said, when it made click in her head. "Wait, don't tell you want me to replace her?!"

Sonoko clapped her hands together for a pleading gesture. "Please... ?"

Ran was a bit shocked. "But, Sonoko, the play is next week. How am I supposed to learn all the text in that time? And then you'd need to adjust the costume of the princess for me and we'd have to rehearse everything in this short amount of time... ?"

"Please, Ran! We'd have to do the other things with any replacement, but you also really like to act. We both know you didn't get the role only because you were sick on the day when roles were distributed. And Shinichi-kun's famous actress mother is currently in town, she surely has time to help her future daughter-in-law with learning the text for a school play?" Sonoko continued to beg.

"Well, sure, she could help me I guess... but I still don't know if... " Ran argued and Sonoko started to give her a puppy eye look. "... fine, I'll do it... " Ran sighed.

"Yes, I knew I could count on you, Ran! Here...", Sonoko took a script from her bag and handed it to Ran. "You should probably start reading right now, we're really short on time."

"You don't say... " Ran mumbled. "Which are the most important scenes? Just wanna get some oversight... " She said, flipping through some pages. Sonoko proceeded to show her some of the key scenes that Princess Heart had (there was certainly no lack of those). Ran read through one in the middle when her eyes widened. "W-wait... ?! A kiss scene between Princess Heart and the Black Knight?!"

"Yes, it's a romance play. Of course there is a kiss scene." Sonoko explained. "Is that a problem?"

"Well... I don't know if I can do that now that I'm in a relationship... " Ran said.

"Aw, come on, it's all just an act though." Sonoko raised her hand to her chin. "Hm... but still, the kiss will be a real one and a deep one at that... since it needs to convey the emotions between the princess and the knight properly, so no scotch tape or anything... true enough, it was easier with having the actors be in a relationship, but since the actor had to be replaced because of the recent incident and the actress is sick it can't be helped I guess..."

"W-w-what...?! A real kiss?! A deep one?! Sonoko, I can't do that, not in the current situation... " Ran pleaded in panic.

"Please, Ran, you can't leave me hanging like this." Sonoko was back to begging and pleading. "I just need you to help me, our I can't realized my the play of my dreams! I will do anything for you... well, I'd already do almost anything for you as you're my best friend... but if you do this, you can cross out the almost in that sentence. Anything! Please, please, please, Ran!"

Ran was overwhelmed by the pleas of her best friend. "Fine, fine, I'll do it... "

"Great!" Sonoko clapped her hands together. "Alright, I'll the others and you can continue to read through the script. And don't worry about Shinichi-kun, he'll understand that it is just for the art of acting... and if he doesn't, well, a little bit of jealousy will make sure he doesn't get too lazy as your boyfriend!"

Ran looked after her friend leaving the classroom without saying another word. She didn't have a good feeling about this.

The roof of the school was almost completely empty when Ran entered it. Shinichi was currently enjoying some fresh air up here, holding an open book in his hand, although he was currently busy talking to Eisuke. Ran knew that she needed to talk to him about her new role in the school play; he was there at the reading of the script, while Ran was sick and didn't get the role and proper knowledge of the scenes. He would know the kiss scene, while Ran simply didn't when she accepted. Okay, she knew when she accepted again, but that was not the point. But really, how bad could it be in the end? Shinichi would surely understand, he grew up as the son of an actress; he'll know that it's all just an act.

"Hondou-kun, I can only repeat myself." Ran could hear Shinichi say. "I'll gladly help you find a missing person, but you've got to tell me at least some information. Just borrowing my luck, as you put it, by accompanying me to some cases won't do it, you know?"

"I know, I know, but I want to find more info first... anyway, maybe I'll talk to you later." Eisuke said and left the roof.

"If he doesn't want to tell me yet, why did he bring it up at all at this point...?" Ran could hear Shinichi say to himself.

"Hey, Shinichi." Ran said, after she went over to him.

Shinichi gave her a smile. "Ah, hey. Was your home and the agency still habitable or did Kogoro-san turn it into a quarantine zone by now?"

"No, it's fine... I didn't faint immediately when I entered at least... " Ran giggled, before she got more serious again. "But if you're so worried about my father, maybe I should spend less time at your house then... "

"Oi oi, that's not what I meant..." Shinichi sighed. "Anyway, something on your mind? You look concerned and if it's not about your father, then what is it about?"

"Well, it's just... " Ran hesitated for a moment, but she reminded herself that Shinichi would find out anyway, so it's better if he heard it from her. "Sonoko asked me to play the lead role in our school play as a replacement and now I have to learn all the text in one week."

"The lead actress... ? You'll be the new Princess Heart then? That's great, isn't it? You like acting and you were feeling a little bit sad when you missed the role distribution, right?" Shinichi concluded.

"Yeah, but there's just so few time left... wait, you don't have a problem with this?" Ran wondered. She had expected many reactions, but a happy reaction wasn't one of them.

"Sure, why would I? The time is really a bit short, but you can do it. Don't worry about embarrassing yourself on stage or something, you'll be fine." Shinichi said and continued to read.

He was happy for her, supportive and he also didn't seem to care too much. Something felt wrong to Ran. Why would this be his reaction? Because of the recent incidents? That's probably not it... because... because of that night? Could that be it...? Yukiko said that something like this would be unlikely... but not impossible, right? So, Shinichi doesn't feel even a little bit jealous that she would have to perform a real kiss with another man in front of the whole school? Is he taking her for granted? Or does he actually not care...?

"Ran? Are you really alright?" Shinichi sounded concerned.

"No. I'm fine. Thanks." Ran said briefly and walked away back to the classroom.

Shinichi slightly tilted his head, as he looked after her. "Did...did I say something wrong...?"