"Shinichi, where are you?!"
The abandoned apartment building was pitch-black and eerily silent. The air carried the rusty scent of corroded metal.
Ran closed her umbrella and cautiously stepped inside the building. Summoning her courage, she prepared to take another step forward, only to jump and hunch her shoulders from the sudden roar of thunder.
She had always been afraid of the dark.
And after hearing the warning from that unidentified Japanese man, she was even more terrified of running into the Silver-Haired Murderer.
Forcing herself to open her eyes, she suddenly noticed dark liquid dripping onto the floor.
She crouched down to inspect it carefully, and under the illumination of lightning, she realized the liquid wasn't muddy rainwater.
It was blood.
Blood.
'Could it be Shinichi's? What happened? Did Shinichi… encounter the Silver-Haired Murderer?!'
Ran didn't hesitate. Rising to her feet, she rushed up the stairs. The sound of her shoes striking the metal steps echoed through the building, but the worry in her heart had already overcome her fear and transformed into courage.
"Shinichi! Shinichi!!"
Standing at the entrance of the abandoned building, Ritsu lifted his gaze toward Ran's retreating figure.
He hadn't expected a girl who wasn't particularly brave to still courageously search for her companion after learning this place was dangerous.
The indifference gradually faded from his crimson eyes, replaced with concern. He actually found himself worrying about the safety of both kids.
But with his current identity, what right did he have to save anyone?
Focused solely on finding Shinichi, Ran failed to notice the person watching her from the entrance.
As she reached the second floor, her body suddenly swayed. Leaning against the railing while clutching her head, she felt her cold symptoms returning again.
Was it because she had gotten soaked by the rain?
Watching her stagger upstairs, Ritsu unconsciously pressed his lips together. Slowing his footsteps to erase all sound, he quietly followed behind her.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Footsteps descended from above. But there were no responding footsteps.
Mistaking them for Shinichi's, Ran excitedly ran forward. Only to freeze when she saw the figure before her.
Long silver hair.
A beard on his chin.
A Japanese man.
Her pupils trembled violently. Her left hand gripped the railing tightly as she desperately tried to suppress the fear rising inside her.
But in an environment where screaming for help would never bring anyone, facing a vicious serial killer…
How could she possibly stay calm?
She was just an ordinary high school girl. And the murderer before her had a handgun.
Could that blood really belong to Shinichi?
Then did that mean the murderer had already…
Ran didn't dare continue thinking about it. She was afraid she would completely break down.
Hidden around the second-floor corner, Ritsu frowned slightly. He was hesitating over whether he should intervene.
Suddenly, another series of hurried footsteps came from upstairs.
Shinichi leaned over the railing and shouted downward, "Ran, run! This guy is the Silver-Haired Murderer!!!"
Disguised as the Silver-Haired Murderer, Vermouth hadn't expected to run into Yukiko's child here. Along with that kind-hearted girl who believed in gods.
She didn't want to kill people outside the Organization's mission targets either. But if these two escaped, her mission would end in failure.
Worse still, it might attract those little kittens following the scent. And she definitely didn't want to become a dried fish reeking of blood.
"He's right, miss."
The gunshot wound in her abdomen prevented Vermouth from standing for long. Enduring the pain, she leaned against the metal railing and used it as support.
The black muzzle of the gun pointed toward the terrified girl frozen in place.
Chuckling softly, Vermouth said, "I thought I hid myself pretty well. Never expected that brat to figure it out."
She reached into her pocket and took out a suppressor. As though suddenly recalling something, she slowly said,
"If you're going to hate someone… then hate the gods for giving you such a tragic fate."
But the moment the words left her mouth, before she could even finish attaching the suppressor, Vermouth suddenly felt her body tipping sideways.
She never expected the metal railing to have rusted through completely.
It seemed the gods hadn't prepared tragedy for them after all.
The one destined for a tragic ending… was herself. The rusted railing corroded from within silently mocked her life.
Mocked the environment she lived in.
A festering abyss.
A black rose rotten from the roots.
No matter how much blood watered it, it would never take on any color.
Only endless blackness.
From this height, even if she survived the fall, she would lose the ability to move.
And if those FBI kittens caught her, things would become troublesome.
Vermouth tried to shoot herself before falling but what she didn't expect was for a strong hand to suddenly seize her leather jacket.
Looking upward, she saw the anxious expression on Ran's face.
The gaze directed at her held no fear.
Only determination.
How could this girl desperately cling to the criminal who had just tried to kill her? What was she thinking?
Even Ritsu, standing by the stairwell, hadn't expected Ran to do something like this.
He had originally intended to leap down and catch Vermouth himself, but the scene unfolding before him left him frozen in place.
"What are you doing?! Hurry and grab my hand already! If you don't hurry, I won't be able to hold on anymore!"
Ran shouted anxiously.
Her strength was about to give out when another powerful hand reached out.
"Shinichi?"
Shinichi tightly furrowed his brows and gritted his teeth. "Damn it… you really know how to cause trouble."
Despite being seriously injured, Vermouth still possessed the physical conditioning of someone trained as an assassin since childhood.
Grabbing the railing with both hands, she relied on her abdominal strength and endured the pain as she swung herself upward, lightly landing back onto the platform.
Her breathing became uneven as she frowned deeply.
With a probing look, she asked, "Why? Why did you save me? Why?!"
Accustomed to darkness, Vermouth's world contained neither light nor gods. If gods truly existed, she would never have received the codename "Vermouth."
That was why she couldn't understand.
She wanted an answer.
"Why would saving someone need a reason?"
Rainwater dampened his bangs. The childishness had yet to completely fade from his face.
Raising the corners of his lips, Shinichi looked directly at the Silver-Haired Murderer with unwavering eyes and spoke words that deeply engraved themselves into the hearts of everyone present.
"A person might need a motive to kill someone…"
Unafraid even while staring down the barrel of a gun, Shinichi stepped protectively in front of Ran and smiled as he asked,
"But when it comes to saving someone in a desperate moment… Would anyone really stop to think that much?"
"!!"
Killing required a motive. But saving someone didn't need a reason.
Ritsu lowered his head with a faint smile.
Walking forward, he supported the collapsing Ran with one hand.
'This girl really was kind and strong.'
She reminded him of that girl within the Organization who still remained white despite living in darkness.
Then again… the girls he knew all seemed rather extraordinary.
Just like the one before him now. Clearly terrified, yet still forcing herself to be brave for someone else's sake.
"Hey! Ran!"
Shinichi hurriedly turned around, only to discover a white-haired man wrapped entirely in black standing behind them.
When had he appeared there? And who was he?!
White hair.
Crimson eyes…
'Onizawa-sensei? No… impossible.'
'Why would Sensei appear in a place like this?!'
And besides, Onizawa was the police officer he admired.
There was no way he could possibly be mixed up with a murderer!
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