Chapter 24: Collapsing Theory

The two men stood in the dim light that choked through grime covered windows, their black clothes seeming to disappear in the darkness of the rest of the lobby. Vodka paced impatiently, kicking up dust as he went. Gin was very still; the only evidence of his discontent was a small frown on his face.

"He's late," snapped the stocky man. Gin only nodded, frown deepening.

"Call him again," came the low, chilling voice Shinichi often heard in his nightmares.

Shinichi pulled back, pressing himself flush against the wall behind him. He really didn't want to lose visual, but he didn't want Gin to glimpse him, either. He closed his eyes, straining his ears as if that would increase their ability, and listened to the sounds of phone buttons being pushed. The sound of the door opening interrupted the attempted call.

"You're late," came Gin's voice, dangerously calm.

"You're the ones who changed the meeting place!" hissed a man's voice. He sounded very nervous, with a faltering speech pattern.

"We gave you an extra ten minutes to make up for that—you should have had plenty of time." Gin chuckled darkly. "It's hardly our fault if you don't even check your messages properly." The nervous man spluttered a little before snapping back,

"I'm here now, aren't I? Why'd you change the location anyway? This wasn't what we'd agreed—" He cut his comment short, and Shinichi could just imagine the cold glare on Gin's face.

"… Unfortunately, some lost little sheep wandered into the other building and died. That place is crawling with cops now."

At those words, Shinichi blinked and shot an alarmed glance up at Ran, who returned his horrified expression with one of her own. Did they kill someone already?

"Does it matter?" asked Vodka impatiently. "One empty building's as good as another, right?

A dead person in an empty building—they could only be talking about the abandoned apartment complex. Shinichi relaxed a little, only to have a new chill run down his spine; if they'd tried to come in later in the day instead of early morning, they'd most definitely be dead right now.

It took everything he had not to swallow around the lump in his throat.

"… I suppose so," came the timid reply. Shinichi strained to hear over his pounding heart.

"Pleasantries aside," said Gin, tone only slightly amused, "I hope you brought what we asked for this time."

This time…?

"… You can't threaten me," came the timid, slightly unsure reply. "What you need is important, right?" Shinichi wished he could knock some sense into whoever this idiot was. Vodka scoffed.

"You really think you're the only one who can get this information?" he growled. Now the other man scoffed, feeling more confident for some reason.

"Naturally," he said. "You came to me after all."

Someone took a step, the sound echoing. If the man's tiny squeak was anything to go by, it was probably Gin, advancing with his blood thirsty glare.

"I don't know who you were dealing with before, Kitanabe-san," came the tall man's icy voice, "or what obnoxious flattery you may have misunderstood, but understand this—" As he spoke, steps echoed dreadfully in the empty halls. "The fact that we were called means you won't get another chance. You can and will be replaced; quite easily, I might add. We approached you simply because it was convenient for us to do so."

Vodka snickered, and Shinichi could imagine the sort of expression the man—Kitanabe, apparently—was wearing.

"Y-you—If you replace me, I'll report you—EEK!" There was the subtle rustle of fabric, followed by a metallic click.

A gun… He shouldn't have been surprised.

"As I said," came the fridged, emotionless words, "you won't get anymore chances after this. Now: we brought the money, so where is the list?" Frantic rustling sounded. "The money is the original amount agreed upon, of course."

"What?! But I—" He cut himself off as Shinichi heard what sounded like the safety switching off. "R-r-right. It-it's here—that list of biologists you wanted."

Biologists…? He supposed it made sense, especially if they hadn't yet found anyone to replace Haibara and her team…

He glanced up at Ran, who had her eyes closed, and her jaw set firmly as if it took all of her energy to be as silent as she promised him she'd be. All things considered, she was doing rather well.

Based on what they'd overheard, it seemed highly unlikely Ran's case was connected to the Black Organization. At the very least, he knew for a fact that they wouldn't kill anyone in the same building they planned to do a deal in. And since Gin and Vodka were utterly unconcerned about the dead woman (beyond viewing it as a minor annoyance), it seemed like whoever was behind Ran's change really was someone else.

The sounds of rustling papers and a light tapping on something solid tuned him back into the current deal.

"Pleasure doing business with you," said Vodka, and Shinichi could hear the smirk in his voice. Kitanabe quickly muttered something and the sound of shuffling and a door creaking signaled him scampering away. Silence dragged on for around ten seconds.

"… Are we really gonna let 'im go, aniki?" asked Vodka, tone more solemn than it was before. "He caused a lotta trouble, and he could still squeal on us."

"The boss seems to think we can still use him," came the detached reply. "And if he's foolish enough to cause more trouble, we'll be there to silence him for good." There was a rustling and a click. Shinichi smelled fresh cigarette smoke.

"Well, if that person says so, there's nothing we can do, huh?" Vodka clicked his tongue. "This building's even worse than the other one," he grumbled. "They should've torn it down ages ago."

"It's an expensive endeavor, doing it the legal way," chuckled Gin. Two sets of footsteps could be heard, and their voices got farther away. "Perhaps it would be best if…"

Shinichi didn't hear what Gin's thoughts were because the front door opened and closed, bringing deafening silence with it. More than anything, he desperately wanted to collapse with the relief that they hadn't been caught, but he didn't dare move for several minutes, lest the crows come back.

After what felt like an eternity, Shinichi finally let out a shaky breath, shoulders sagging. The surge of relief left him lightheaded. He looked up at Ran again, more than ready to get out of there. She was shaking. He cautiously tapped her arm and she nearly jumped out of her skin.

"They're gone," he half-whispered, unsuccessfully trying to keep his voice from shaking. Ran pressed a hand to her forehead.

"… Do you…" Her voice cracked and she cleared her throat. "You don't do this sort of thing a lot, do you?"

"'This sort of thing'? Eavesdropping, you mean? Because that happens whether I do it on purpose or not, since no one seems to care much if a small child overhears them." She gave him a flat glare. "I-if you mean following the members of the Black Organization, then no. No, I don't"

"Really?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at him in suspicion.

"Of course not!" he said. "In the first place, it's next to impossible to even find them. I usually only come across them the same way we did today—by coincidence." She stared at him for a few moments, searching his face for some sort of deception. Satisfied he was being truthful, she finally relaxed, shoulders slumping forward in belated relief.

"That was really scary," she managed to breathe out.

"… Yeah," agreed Shinichi. He peered into the now empty lobby area. "Let's… Let's get out of here." Ran nodded, and they began retracing their steps to the back door, since either were much inclined to risk going out the front.

"We didn't learn much, did we?" lamented Ran as she looked dolefully at the peeling wallpaper they were passing. Shinichi glanced back at her.

"On the contrary; we actually learned quite a bit." He chuckled at her confused "eh?" and continued. "We learned that they're not responsible for the kidnappings related to your case, for one. I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing, though," he admitted in a low voice, "since it means we still have no idea who's behind it."

"But we didn't learn anything about your case, either."

"Sure we did!" He stopped walking and turned to face her. "You heard them making a deal to get a list of scientists, right?" She nodded slowly. "More precisely, they're looking for biologists. I can't imagine them needing to look unless they're still trying to find a good replacement for the one they lost—Haibara."

"Wait—didn't you say she was working with a team?" she asked uncertainly. "What about the rest of them?"

"She was their head scientist," he clarified. "And from what I understand, they blew up the lab she was working in after she disappeared from their confinement." His expression turned grim. "Knowing them, that means they probably also killed everyone who worked with her, just in case."

There were a few moments of silence as the weight of that reality settled around them. He cleared his throat.

"A-anyway, normally I'd follow them out, but…" He grinned weakly at her. "Since Kid gave me that traffic footage, there's no need to risk it." At those words, she looked significantly more relieved. He cleared his throat again and started to turn back around.

"Let's go ahead and get out of—" !

Ran abruptly scooped him up, covering his mouth when he tried to protest. She pressed her back against the wall right before the corner they needed to turn.

"Shh!" she hissed. He stopped his struggling and kept quiet to see if she would explain herself. She didn't have to.

"—dunno why we even agreed to tag along this time," came an irritated woman's voice. It sounded familiar.

"… I wanted to shoot, too," replied a man bluntly. That almost sounded like… A cold chill ran down Shinichi's spine.

Chianti and Korn! Why are they here?! They hadn't heard him and Ran talking, right?

"This isn't even our expertise—why're we doing this?" grumbled Chianti. Shinichi frowned behind Ran's hand. What were they doing? He could hear them moving around and fiddling with something, but since Ran was gripping him so tightly, he couldn't peak around the corner. Not that he'd want to risk it, with a loose cannon like Chianti there—she was already complaining about being denied a target, and he wasn't too keen on providing her one.

There was some incoherent mumbling, followed by a grunt and a click. Shinichi just hoped that when they left, they wouldn't come in this direction. He glanced around the hallway for the nearest door, just in case, and hoped it wasn't locked.

"That should do it," huffed Chianti. "Let's get the hell outta here." The sound of retreating footsteps could be hard, getting fainter as the two crows left—thankfully, towards the back door, rather than the front.

Once the footsteps were long out of earshot, Ran finally sagged against the wall she'd been pressed against, her knees giving out underneath her. She let go of Shinichi and clutched at her chest, trying to get her pounding heart under control. Shinichi, too, needed a few moments to settle his nerves. He'd almost walked right into… He shuddered.

"I'm sorry, I…" He choked on his words as he gasped for breath. "I di-didn't know they were here." It was a huge oversight—one he wasn't going to forgive himself for.

"Th-they don't know we're here, right?" breathed Ran. "How—shouldn't they have seen us come into the building?"

"… It's possible they were waiting for orders in one of the empty rooms," he replied. "But they definitely would have disposed of us if they knew we were here." Ran shivered, looking very sick at his words.

"What were they doing?" she asked, after nervously clearing her throat. Shinichi cautiously peered into the room.

"I'm not sure…" he replied as he swept his eyes across the empty hallway. His gaze landed on a black box that rested at the foot of a support beam. A tiny red light shone at one corner, looking like a beacon through all the dust in the air.

He had only half a moment to process that before the light started blinking with an ominous BEEP.

"Go, go, go, go!" he cried as he whirled around, and grabbing Ran's hand. Startled by his urgency, she ran after him without question. They didn't get very far before the explosion blew through the opening, knocking some of the walls out along the way. The explosion was small, but the force of it made Ran stumble, and it knocked Shinichi off his feet completely. He scrambled up and kept going.

"A bomb?!" asked Ran between panting breaths. "Why would they—are there more?!"

"I think they only planted one," came Shinichi's breathless reply. "But that's not the problem right now—just keep going!"

The building groaned loudly around them, the walls splintering with the weight of the unsupported part of the structure. Shinichi kept his eyes peeled, mainly focusing on the ceiling—just in case. Large cracks were already forming. He picked up his pace.

"Wh-why… is this happening… with just the one small bomb?!" huffed Ran as she followed him back towards the lobby.

"They took out one of the support beams—and since the place was already practically falling apart, one was all they needed to—"

A crash sounded just as he rounded the last corner. A large piece of the ceiling fell right behind them, narrowly missing Ran by several centimeters. She shrieked in surprise. Shinichi quickly assessed their surroundings, looking for something sturdy enough to—there!

The closest room's door had been jarred open by the shaking. He grabbed Ran's hand and pulled her towards it.

"Stay in the door frame!" he ordered as more of the building crashed around them. "Cover your head and don't move until I say so!" Ran nodded, hunkering down with her arms over her head. He did the same in the other side of the frame, their knees bumping each other. But he kept his eyes open, trusting his glasses to help shield him from most of the dust and debris.

He had a clear line off sight to the front door. As he waited for the danger to pass, his mind was abuzz with questions.

Why did they set a bomb in the first place? The few times he knew of that they did such a thing was when they were erasing evidence after a plan had gone south. The deal today went through, so why? If this was just a replacement meeting place, the only thing they'd have left was footprints. And those could be from anyone passing through, given enough time.

Did they want the lot the building was on? He couldn't imagine it being very expensive given the state the building was in. But Gin had said it, hadn't he? That tearing it down legally was too pricey for the government to bother with. But if a bomb had been planted, they wouldn't be able to buy the lot for a while, lest suspicion fall. So why? It didn't make any sense!

A beam crashed to the ground right next to them, cutting his thoughts short. He nervously eyed the doorframe they were under, hoping the wood wasn't too rotted to serve them through the collapse.

The building continued falling, and there seemed to be no end to it. The loud roaring of crashing debris effectively kept Shinichi's mind focused only on the present. His view of the front door and most of the surrounding areas was obscured by heavy clouds of dust, dirt, and more falling debris.

After what felt like an eternity, the destruction finally subsided. Shinichi squinted through the dust as what was left of the building groaned dangerously; it almost sounded like a warning. Through the haze, he could roughly make out the now ruined lobby, and immediately realized the front entrance was completely blocked. Very slowly, he stood up, looking around at the chaos.

"Is it over?" asked Ran in a small voice. She peeked out at him from her arms. He nodded, and she cautiously lowered her hands.

"I think so," he said, carefully surveying the area. "It'd be wise not to touch anything, though." Just from what he could see, the building fell sideways, and was probably leaning against the building next to it. So they had enough space to maneuver to some sort of exit. "We should leave while the building's still standing."

"… Are we going out the back…?" asked Ran hesitantly as she slowly rose to her feet. Her head bumped against the top of the now broken and warped doorframe. She winced, and immediately froze as the surrounding structures rumbled dangerously in protest. Once it died down—thankfully without incident—she nervously sent Shinichi an apologetic expression. He let out a small, relieved sigh.

"If there's no other option, we'll leave through the back," he said, helping to guide her to a safer spot to stand up in. "But since Chianti and Korn went that way, it should be a last resort." She paled at the mention of the two snipers, then nodded, following Shinichi's lead.

"So, where…?" She glanced at the front door, but immediately discarded the idea as Shinichi had done upon seeing it blocked.

"I'm going to see if there's an opening on… that side of the building," said Shinichi as he located and pointed towards the structure's lean. "If I remember correctly, there's an alley over there that we should be able to sneak into without people realizing we were in here." He grimaced. "The last thing we need is to get onto the news as a 'miraculous survivor' story, where the crows could see it."

Ran grunted in discomfort as she followed Shinichi through the rubble, making absolutely certain she didn't accidentally bump something like she had earlier. Shinichi felt a strange pang of something like guilt. Even if he'd rather be his normal size, it was pretty useful being small in this situation. He wasn't sure if he should be thankful he had been poisoned, or if he should be wishing Ran were small enough to maneuver the area. It was a confusing feeling, and he forcefully discarded it in favor of escape.

"Shinichi," said Ran as they maneuvered around, "we're especially filthy, you know? Won't people ask questions?"

"Normally, I'd agree with you, but in this case it's fine," he replied without looking back at her. "Since this place's located on a busy street and it's the afternoon, there should be a sizeable crowd outside who got caught up in the building's collapse on that side… We can slip into the crowd and blend in fairly easily."

So they went on, freezing every time the building protested, and praying they could make it out safely. When they made it to the other side, Shinichi had to scout ahead, looking for an opening to his immense relief, he found one He gestured for Ran to follow, and led her under some fallen beams, into what used to be a room.

He'd expected a window, but was more than happy to use the jagged hole in the wall near the corner. It was just large enough for Ran to squeeze through. He peered into the alley on the other side of the opening, confirming it was void of people.

It looked almost as bad outside as it did inside. Rubble and ruin crowded the narrow alley. It would take some careful footwork, but they should be able to safely make it to the main street. He could hear the noisy hubbub of a surprised crowd, but thankfully this alley was, as near as he could tell, empty.

Despite his protests, Shinichi went first at Ran's insistence. Since he was so small, he could pass through the opening without any difficulty. Ran had to work harder for her freedom—she got momentarily stuck despite contorting herself into the best position. A little pulling freed her, but the panic that had briefly crossed her face would probably haunt Shinichi's dreams for a while.

He breathed a sigh of relief—they were almost there. He led Ran towards the sound of the now deafeningly noisy street. Perhaps it was all the noise that he didn't notice it, or perhaps it was just that he'd tuned out the sound of the constantly groaning building, or it could even have been the slight ringing in his ears that persisted since the initial explosion; whatever the reason, the loud CRACK didn't register with him until a second too late.

"WATCH OUT!"

Ran rushed forward and swooped over Shinichi to grab him just as a huge chunk of the wall fell top of them.

Everything went dark.