Hi everyone, sorry for the shortness of this chapter.
I have some bad news: I am going on a short Hiatus. I am really, really sorry, but there is a big assignment for school where you write you own origional story, writing a new chapter every week and my chapters are usually about twenty pages long, also I'm going on a missions trip, entering a writing competition, have normal school and basketball... not to mention drama... Therefore, there probably won't be any more of this story until after new years... I won't forget though! I have outlines made up and everything! In fact, if its into the second or third week of January, feel free to yell at me for not posting. I may do occasional oneshots, but this will be on hold.
Main reason is I feel like the restriction of time are hurting my writing. Hattori was ooc a while ago, and now I think Satou is in this chapter, so...
Aslo, don't worry, no cliffhangers (kinda) just a filler-y chapter.
Also, I'm sorry if I didn't reply to your review, I wanted to but only got to some of them.
Time Line:
Sat: Kidnapping
Sun: Everyone searching, questions the men in jail, Mind games and hunger starts
Mon: DB go back to school, Question the man who tells them of first kitten, Takagi stabbed
Tues: Hattori arrives, Conan actually accepts food.
Wed: Hattori stops guy from stealing from police, The two meet Kinkalow/Vermouth
Thurs: Abyssinian dies, Satou worries, contacted by murderer
Fri:
Sat: Date Takagi is supposed to be found dead
Ran felt a silent tear fall down her face as her eyes locked down on the date on the calendar. There was no label, no writing in the small blank square, only the large red X's leading up to it. Yet even without any reminder she knew precisely what would happen this day. Another tear dribbled down her face and she let out the quietest of sniffles, trying hard not to wake anyone. It was still early in the morning, the sun hadn't even risen yet, but she hadn't been able to sleep. She couldn't see how any of the others could, especially knowing what was going to happen today. Today would be the last day of hope for Conan, for Takagi, for anyone finding them. She knew that they only knew that Takagi would be killed today, but they knew absolutely nothing of Conan. Takagi was their only link, only hope. Now he was going to be gone. What hope was there that Conan would survive?
The distraught girl opened her phone silently, gazing at the screen. She wouldn't call Shinichi though, not again. If he hadn't answered any of the other dozens of calls she'd made, he wasn't going to answer this one. It was like he just didn't... didn't care. No. The girl shook her head slightly. Stop that, you're starting to sound like Sonoko. He probably hasn't even looked at his phone in weeks, stupid detective geek. She closed her phone silently, her eyes locked on the calendar once again. She shivered slightly, looking down to the futon beside her bed where Kazuha had been sleeping while she stayed in Tokyo. Ran had tried to offer her bed, but the Osakan had flat out refused and Ran had been too worried and sad to really argue. Now Ran looked down to her friends bed, she was surprised to be met with a pair of large, open eyes. Her friend was awake.
"Hi, morning." The usually pony-tailed girl said softly, knowing better than suggest that the day was at all "good".
Ran allowed a small, half-felt smile to peek out on her face. "You're up?"
The other girl nodded. "I can't see how anyone could sleep tonight."
Ran nodded and sat up on her bed, Kazuha quickly mirroring the action. The Osakan smiled at her friend, knowing how much the girl would need support today. "Hey, if we eat now we can start looking sooner."
The half smile on Ran's face fell, and she glanced at the calendar once more before nodding and rising to her feet. The two silently left the room, not wanting to wake Heiji if he was still asleep in the living room. When they came into the room however, they found that he was nowhere to be seen, only a pile of blankets showing that he had been there at all.
"Mao, Heiji." Kazuha scoffed. "Of course he'd be gone before the crack of dawn, not even seeing if we were awake to go with him. On a school day you have to pry him out of bed with a fork lift."
Ray smiled slightly, exactly what her friend had been hoping. The two went into the kitchen to prepare a small breakfast. As they went past Kogoro's room a deep snoring was heard within.
"Geeze, good to know that someone is sleeping." Kazuha mumbled, but Ran said nothing, her face distraught. After the two ate the sun was rising in the distance, not that either of the girls was really looking at the sunrise.
"So, do you think Sonoko-chan will be up yet?" Kazuha asked, and Ran shook her head.
"Sonoko isn't exactly a morning person, besides she's probably really tired after all of this. I wouldn't be surprised of she wasn't up for a few more hou-bzzt." Ran's phone buzzed, breaking into the girl's answer. She looked down at the device, surprised to see that the very girl they were talking about had sent her a message.
Hope I didn't wake you up. I couldn't sleep. If you're up, wanna start early?
Tears began to fall from Ran's eyes as she saw her lazy, spoiled friend offering to get up and search at this time of day. They continued to fall even as she texted back. Yes, thank you. As she sent it, the last two words replayed over and over in her mind. She looked up to a confused Kazuha.
"She's up, and wants to start out early too." A face splitting grin appeared on the other girl's face.
"Well then what are we waiting for? Lets go!"
The teens left, leaving the house quiet until a few hours later Kogoro awoke and stumbled into the kitchen, surprised to see that he was alone. He called Eri, asking if she had found anything while going over the cases of those known to have been copied, only to be met with: "No, but I'm still looking." He ended the call and let out a long, despairing sigh before trudging out the door, dreading what would happen that day and the next.
The group of thee girls wandered for hours, but this day's search held no more news than any other's. Finally they rested on a park bench, the place nearly deserted because it was a school day. Each of the girls were silent, even Sonoko, and an air of despair hung over them. Ran's eyes glanced over the play equipment, her mind's eye seeing Conan and his friends playing, scheming, having fun. Sure, Conan had never seemed to particularly like the park, but he and his friends had visited it so often, the place seemed to have a permanent imprint of his presence.
"Don't worry Ran, we'll find him. I know we will. He's been in worse situations before." Sonoko said suddenly, trying to cheer the sullen girl up. Kazuha quickly joined forces with the wealthy girl.
"Yeah, and just look how many people are looking for him. We can't give up!"
Ran said nothing for a moment, then: "Dad came home drunk last night." She whispered. The two friends shared an uneasy glace at that, a chill going through them at their friend's quiet words.
"S-so, your dad is drunk all the time, he-"
"Not when he's really serious about a case. Not when someone he loves is in danger. If something like that happens, then he's completely serious, completely sober. He hasn't had a drop since the kidnapping... then last night he... he comes home completely drunk. It means he gave up. He lost hope. He'll probably go out again tonight but- but he's gone out every night and hasn't found anything! He doesn't expect to find anything anymore." Ran closed her eyes as tears threatened to fall down her face. Her father never gave up when the case was something important to him. When he really cared, he was an incredible detective. For him to just give up showed her how hopeless everything was.
"T-that can't be true!" Sonoko yelled, but it was useless, they all knew it was.
"It doesn't matter if your dad gave up," Kazuha exclaimed, a fire in her eyes. "Because I know Heiji didn't, Conan-kun, wherever he is you know that he hasn't, and we won't either." She jumped to her feet. "I'm not giving up until its all over, and it won't be over until Conan-kun is with us because I know we can find him. So lets go!"
Ran forced a false smile onto her face and rose, silently following behind her friends. Sonoko squeezed her friends hand slightly in comfort, smiling at her slightly as they continued their ever fruitless watch.
Haibara groaned as the teacher droned on about multiplication, her attention truly on the phone she had hidden under her desk. The Detective Boys sat around her, fidgeting with just as much uneasy energy, however they had no knowledge of the device the girl had. She was to the point where any information to be gained could be gotten through her phone, and could do little help at home. She was running out of leads anyway, the only information she had was already known by the police.
Her eyes glanced around at the children who had befriended her. She probably would've stayed home anyways, especially today, if it weren't for them. Hattori had shown up extremely early and convinced her to head to school. The kids didn't know about the size of the group, or about the officer murders, and certainly not about the deadline. As far as they were concerned, this day was the same as any other after Conan's disappearance and Haibara intended to keep it like that. The officer's had worked hard to keep the children oblivious, to keep them from knowing the deadline, and she was going to do everything possible to keep them from discovering the truth. That meant she had to try to keep them out of the investigation today. She didn't want them heading over to the police department and overhearing something. At the moment the mini-scientist wasn't sure how she was going to achieve that, but she was sure she was going to figure something out.
Finally the teacher concluded the lesson and announced that it was time for lunch. The shrunken girl closed her phone and stood following her younger friends to their usual table.
"I'm telling you, there was something weird about that guy! We should have followed him." Genta was saying loudly as they readied themselves for their meal.
"For the last time, someone isn't suspicions just because he can eat more eels than you. Besides, we didn't find any clues when we searched that way." Mitsuhiko argued back.
"We haven;t found any clues anywhere!" Ayumi cut in, making the two boy's share glances of worry. Mitsuhiko was the first to recover.
"Well, maybe if we went-"
"Um..." A voice spoke behind them. The group turned to see one of their female classmates looking at them shyly. Genta groaned in irritation.
"For the last time, we can't check out that haunted house. We're on another case right now. One That's really important."
"But this is important too! Please! I thought I heard something from it the other day, I'm really scared."
"We'll look at it after this case is over. I promise, you'll be the very first person on our list to help."
"Please! Mommy and daddy don't believe me, but I know something is over there."
"We can't just-"
"Whats going on?" Haibara finally asked, and all eyes were drawn to her.
"That's right!" Mitsuhiko said suddenly. "You haven't been at school all week. She thinks the house across the street is haunted, and wants to hire us."
"Yeah," Genta cut in. "But we have-ta find finish this case first. We can't just leave Conan and-"
"I think we should do it." The scientist interrupted. The girl looked up with hope, and the boy's in shock while Ayumi simply looked close to tears.
"Ai-chan! How could you say that? How could you just abandon Conan-kun like that?"
"I'm not abandoning him. I just think we may need a slight break from this case. Think about it, doesn't Edogawa-kun sometimes figure out something crucial to a case after he's walked away or started doing something else? Maybe we should do that and clear our minds." The kids still looked dubious, so she added. "Besides, imagine what happens when they do find him and he hears that we solved a case all on our own."
That struck a cord, the worry in everyone's faces turned to excitement as they realized: Yeah, Conan-kun'll probably be found or escape soon anyways. How excited will he be when he finds out we solved something all on our own! The girl was thanking them over and over, giving them the adress and everything.
Haibara, seeing that she had suitably distracted them and kept them out of the investigations for the day, sighed in relief. Part of her heart ached to know that she wouldn't be looking for Conan as much as she wanted, but she knew that she had to protect these kids.
Satou sat up in her bed, a slight scream at the tip of her lips. She felt a few shuddering breaths rip through her as her nightmare abated, only to feel panic swell up in her again as she realize how close to the truth it was. Today was the day. Today was the day. Today was the day. The mantra repeated in her head. Today was the day that yet another man she loved would die, and once again she would be powerless to stop it. For the first time in a long time she dropped the bravery and strength she wore so casually and let the fear course through her. Don't get me wrong, she was strong, she was brave, but she was also human, and was faced with the death of someone she cared for. Now she had to face what the world would be like with the knowledge that once again, she had failed.
As her torrent of emotion abated, she slowly got dressed and made it to the kitchen, where her mother was already up making breakfast. The woman, usually overbearing and insistent that she get a boyfriend, had been strangely subdued for the past week, sensing her daughter's turmoil. She heaped some food on a plate and set it out for her exhausted daughter to eat.
"Here you are honey, your favorite."
"Thanks." The younger woman mumbled, barely glancing at her mom. Midway through the meal the elder spoke again.
"Don't fear, sweetie. I know you'll find him. And if your father was here, he'd say the same thing."
Satou's hand clenched on the fork in her hand at the mention of her dead father, but she forced herself to relax. She nodded, and her mother's comforting grin turned slightly impish.
"And when you do find him, I expect you to invite this special lad over sometime. I would love to meet him and discuss your future."
Satou nearly choked on her food, looking at her mother in horro. "Mom!" Her mother smiled, happy to get a normal response from her usually vibrant offspring. Satou smiled slightly as well.
"Yeah, maybe I'll do that." Finished eating she left for work, sighing as she silently hoped that today, something would finally show up.