Hey, readers! I'll be updating frequently~ R&R

Chapter 3 Research and Encounters

"R-Rena? What are you doing out there?" Shinichi uttered, the words coming out in a silent whisper as he stared at the pitiful figure of Rena as she stood under his window.

She stared up at him, eyes wide with fear and some other emotion, he couldn't quite tell because it was dark. She pounded on his window again.

"I'll go get Heiji." He said, and he rushed to Heiji's bedside, shaking the Osakan tantei awake. "Hattori! Ryuuguu-san's outside!"

"What, Kudo? Rena? This late at night?" Heiji uttered, getting out of bed.

"I'll show you. She's right- Rena?" Shinichi said, confused.

There was no sign of Rena. She was gone.

"You must have been imagining things, Kudo. She wasn't there in the first place. Now, why don't you try to get some sleep?" Heiji said tiredly, yawning as he went back to bed.

Shinichi scratched his head in confusion and stared back down at the window where Rena had been. Did I imagine that? No, it felt real. Why did Rena follow me?

He thought these things as he went to bed.

"Satoshi. Satoshi-kun, wake up." Shion urged, pushing her blond-haired husband.

His eyes opened. "Shion....what happened?" he said groggily, sitting up.

"You tried to scratch your neck again, Satoshi. Is it because of what those teens were asking us yesterday? Or is it because you don't like hearing about Hinamizawa?" Shion asked seriously.

Satoshi thought about it for a moment, then said, "Shion, I think that was probably it. I just don't like talking about Hinamizawa." he said.

"You miss Satoko, don't you?" She said softly.

"I miss all of them. Rena, Mion, Satoko, Rika. I wish I could have been there for her. I failed her as an older brother. I wasn't there for her when she needed me most. And then she died." he said, tears again threatening to spill from his eyes.

Shion wiped his tears away with her hand. "Satoshi, I miss them all as much as you do. There was another boy who came to Hinamizawa a year after you left. His name was Keiichi. He was a good friend. I miss him and Onee to this day. I miss all of them. But, I heard that Rena also survived." Shion said.

Satoshi's eyes widened. "Rena? She's alive?" He whispered, not believing it.

"I think. But, she disappeared around 23 years ago. So, I think she's probably dead as well. We're the only ones left. I still remember the day it all happened." She said, tears also threatening to fall down her cheek.

"Doctor Irie gave up his life to save both of us, Shion. We have to move on. We've made a new life. We should leave the past behind, Shion." He said, and some of his old happy self started to show through.

Shion blushed. "Now that's what made me fall in love with you." She teased.

Satoshi blushed. "Yeah..." he said, his voice a still whisper.

"Hey, Shinichi. Wake up! Shinichi!"

Huh? Oh, it's just Ran. I must have overslept.

"Ran? Did I oversleep?" Shinichi said, groggily, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

Ran frowned at him, her hands on her hips. "Yep, detective otaku, you sure did. Everybody else already left to explore around town."

Shinichi felt a sense of dread. "Umm...Ran?"

"Yes, Shinichi?" Ran said.

"How long did I sleep? And what time is it?" He asked.

"You slept for 10 hours Shinichi. It's nearly noon." Ran said disapprovingly.

"WHAT? NOON? KUSO! I"D BETTER GET READY!" Shinichi screamed, running off to take a shower.

Ran rolled her eyes. "Baka. He's acting like he always does."

Twenty minutes later, Shinichi came out of the bathroom, dressed. "Ran, where did Hattori and Kazuha go?"

"They went down to research some more about Hinamizawa. Apparently, Hattori-kun said he wanted to find out more about Ryuuguu-san." Ran said, a curious look crossing her face.

"And Shiho?" He said.

"She's waiting for you in the lobby. She said she wanted to talk to you about something." Ran said. "Is it about the incident?" She said.

"No, I bet it's about Sonozaki-san and Hojo-san. The people we met the day before. Apparently, they were residents of Hinamizawa as well as Ryuuguu-san. But, Ryuuguu-san didn't mention anyone by that...." His eyes widened.

"What's wrong, Shinichi?" Ran asked.

"Rena mentioned a girl who survived, but said she thought she was dead. Do you think it's possible Sonozaki-san was the one she was talking about?" Shinichi said.

"When was that, Shinichi?" Ran said, confused.

"Baro. You showed up a few minutes later. I met her when some police chiefs were harassing her. I made them stop and I asked her a few questions. She said that when I talked to her." He said.

"What do you have in mind?" Ran asked.

They said nothing for a moment, then a smirk crossed Shinichi's face.

"What do you say we reunite those two?" Shinichi said.

"I think that would be very cool. Let's do it!" Ran said, agreeing with Shinichi.

As Shinichi and Ran walked down the stairs and entered the lobby, they saw Shiho was waiting for them. "There she is." Shinichi said, pointing to a small table where she was sitting.

"Kudo, Mori. Over here." She said loudly.

The two of them sat down, next to each other, of course.

"So, what was it you wanted to talk to me about?" Shinichi said curiously.

"Kudo-kun. Hattori and Toyama were scanning Hinamizawa's residents, and we found some rather....." Her expression turned somber. "Startling info on Ryuuguu-san. Here's the copy we printed out."

Shinichi took the paper and scanned it, his blue eyes reading the information. His eyes narrowed as he read, then a few minutes later, he said, "This is some rather interesting information, Haibara."

Shiho said curtly, "Kudo, call me Miyano, please."

"All right, all right."

"Shinichi, what's the information on Ryuuguu-san about?" Ran asked.

"Well, it says she is a native of Hinamizawa. Her father and mother separated when she was young. Her mother had an affair with someone else and just left. That's why she moved to Ibaraki. She did well there. But that's not all." He said.

"So, what else?" Ran said.

"Well, it says that before they moved, and after Ryuuguu-san's mother left, she apparently left her furniture and possessions behind. Ryuuguu-san apparently broke all of her mother's furniture in a fit of rage. Rena transferred to Ibaraki Junior High." Shinichi said.

"Ryuuguu-san did that?" Ran said, startled.

"But that's not the end. It says that after she went there, she apparently broke all the glass in the windows of the school with a baseball bat one day. She also hit three boys in the face with the same bat. She blinded one of them. None of the parents pressed charges." He said seriously.

"How could someone so nice be so.... violent?" Ran said in shock.

"Looks aren't everything, Mori. To go through trauma at such a young age must have left Ryuuguu-san pretty unstable mentally." Shiho pointed out.

"She must hate her mother a lot, I assume." Shinichi said. Suddenly, he looked up, and saw Rena standing across the hotel.

"There she is! Shinichi, let's go talk to her. As long as we don't bring up that stuff, she won't get mad, right?" Ran said, wanting assurance from her crush.

"Yeah. Just don't mention it." Shinichi said. He got up and called, "Ryuuguu-san!"

Rena's head snapped up at the sound of his voice. She looked around, and saw them. A smile flitted across her face. She waved at them. She then pointed to them and gestured for them to come to her.

"She wants us to come. Kudo, let's go." Shiho said.

A minute later, Shinichi, Shiho and Ran were talking animatedly away with Rena. "By the way, Ryuuguu-san, I have something to tell you. You have a surprise awaiting you. Someone wants to talk to you on the phone. Someone you haven't heard from in a while." Shinichi said.

Rena's eyes took on a hopeful gleam. "Really? I'll take the phone call, then." She took Shinichi's cell phone, and put it to her ear. "Moshi-moshi?" *

The person on the other end said in a surprised tone, "Rena-chan?"

Rena's eyes widened. "Shii-chan?"

A happy cliffie!

*-In case you didn't know, Moshi-moshi is the word for hello that Japanese use when they answer the phone.