~⟡⟡⟡⟡⟡⟡⟡⟡⟡☆⟡⟡⟡⟡⟡⟡⟡⟡⟡~
Y/n POV:
After several attempts of me slamming my fists and feet against the door, I knew it was pointless to continue to try to break free by force. My phone also wasn't working; something or someone was jamming the signal. I went over to where Atsushi was and sat beside him, placing his head on my lap so he could rest a little more comfortably.
~
Ranpo POV:
"Atsushi-kun has been abducted," Tanizaki says while I stare out the window behind my desk.
"The brat? Now, of all times. The Agency's in a total uproar due to a recent ministry staff escort job. We don't have enough hands on deck to look for him. Do we know where he is?" Kunikida asks.
"Oh, yes. Based on eyewitness statements, he was assaulted on the street in broad daylight and shoved into a truck, along with someone else. Their destination remains unknown," Tanizaki states.
"That's not good. They have many dedicated smuggling routes. Transporting an individual stealthily would be child's play for them," Kunikida says.
"We must help him somehow, or they'll..." Tanizaki begins.
"Help him? Why? He was abducted because he's a weretiger and they want the reward, right? So, it's not personal. We're not his foster home. He didn't join us looking for protection either," I state, turning around in my chair to face everyone.
"But Atsushi-kun is one of ours. And there's another person in need of saving," Tanizaki explains.
"Wait. Another person? Who is it?" Kunikida asks.
"Eyewitnesses stated that the person had short, slightly wavy, dark brown hair, and dark brown eyes. They were also dressed in mainly dark colors. The eyewitnesses weren't able to label the person as female or male, meaning they probably looked androgynous," Tanizaki explains.
'Wait...'
"...Y/n hasn't come back yet, has she?" I ask, knowing that my statement is true.
"That's right... I had her go with Atsushi to take that little girl to the military police outpost. She must be the other person that the witnesses saw," Kunikida says.
"So, what do we do?" Tanizaki asks.
"Um... It sounded like you wouldn't make a decision in a million years if you kept to your 'shoulds' and 'coulds,' so I called him!" Naomi says, revealing the president who was standing behind her.
"President!" Me, Tanizaki, and Kunikida exclaim all at once in shock.
"I am so sorry. As soon as our work is done, I'll gather intel with Tanizaki, and—" Kunikida starts.
"That won't be necessary. Listen up, all of you. Our newest members have been abducted. Everyone, work on finding them. I order the current task suspended until they have been safely returned to us," the president says, interrupting Kunikida.
"Suspended?" I ask softly.
"But what about the escort job?" Kunikida asks.
"I'll contact the client. Don't worry. They owe me enough that I can afford to let a minor official wait," the president says.
"President, are you sure about this?" I ask.
"About what, Ranpo?" he questions.
"...Well, if you think about the rationale behind it—" I begin but the president intterupts me.
"Two of our own are in danger. We must help them. What greater rationale do we need in this world?" the president says, causing me to slightly pout and turn around in my chair. "Kunikida," he says.
"Sir," Kunikida responds.
"Bring them back to us within three hours," the president commands.
"Understood!" Kunikida responds.
~
'What's wrong with me? Why am I feeling this way? Why do I feel guilty about not wanting to prioritize this rescue? Why do I feel like I want to save them? To save her? I'm so confused...'
'...What's happening to me?'
"Analyze the city's security camera footage! Everything from the past six hours! Oh, right!" Kunikida says into the phone, turning to Kenji and asking, "Where's the Chamber of Commerce ledger?"
'I'll just distract myself with the newspaper.'
"Here," Kenji responds to Kunikida, handing him the book.
"Oh, this won't do. This doesn't have any comic strips. Kenji-kun," I say.
"Yes?" he responds.
"Can you look into whether there are any good homicide cases nearby?" I ask.
"Sure, but the president won't be happy with you later," Kenji says, causing my nerves to tense up.
"Never mind, then," I say, feeling a little defeated.
'I'd rather not upset the president.'
"Here!" Kunikida shouts, holding onto a photo before taping it up onto the board as everyone sits down at the meeting table. I simply leaned my head back, not caring for the meeting. "This photo was provided by one of the tourists who witnessed the abduction," Kunikida says.
"That's a common type truck," the president says.
"Yes. The license plate was fake as well. But there are few places in Yokohama that can work on this kind of vehicle. After Kenji went around to all the repair shops we could think of, they were more than happy to tell us more," Kunikida says.
"The truck's owned by Karma Transit," Kenji says.
"They're mules who started off in the smuggling business," Kunikida says.
"So they can tell us where they were taken," the president says.
"Yes. They're the only ones outside of the Port Mafia who might know anything about the abduction. Tanizaki is on standby at the site. He can go in at anytime," Kunikida explains before bringing his phone to his ear. "Status update," he says into the phone.
"It's quiet, like the bottom of a lake. There are no signs of anyone. No way! We've been had. They were one step ahead of us!" Tanizaki says through the phone.
"Hey, what's the matter?" Kunikida asks.
"They were silenced. They're all dead," Tanizaki says.
"It's Akutagawa," Kunikida says.
"What are we going to do? Our only lead just went up in smoke," Yosano says.
The president then walks up to me and says, "Ranpo. It's your turn."
'Ugh, but I don't want to. Do I really have to?'
~
"It's a real honor to have you working on my case, Mr. Greatest Detective"
~
'Huh? What was that? Why did I hear Y/n's voice just now?'
My confusion must've been made visible, since the president asked me, "Are you alright, Ranpo?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm fine," I say, wondering why that happened.
'Why does my chest hurt? Am I sick? I'll ask Yosano-san about it later.'
"Ranpo-san. Please, just this once!" Kunikida pleads.
"...Fine," I finally say, everyone looking at me shocked.
"What?" I asked, confused as to why they're surprised.
"It's just... We didn't expect you to agree that quickly. Not unless you got something in return, that is," Yosano says.
"Whatever. I just so happen to be feeling generous today. You should be grateful," I say before getting up and taking my glasses out of my pocket.
"Ability: Super Deduction! Hmm, I see. Atsushi-kun and Y/n's location is here," I say, pointing my finger at a waterway on the map in front of me. "The vessel's traveling at 20 knots towards the open sea. They're still alive... at least for now."
"The sea..." Kunikida says.
"They're shipping them overseas, then," the president says.
"That's not good. Once they're out of the country, we can't touch them," Kunikida says.
"Kunikida, use this," the president says, throwing a key at Kunikida. "It's the Agency's high-speed vessel docked at the port. Bring them back, no matter what."
"Understood. I will now go rescue Atsushi and Y/n!" Kunikida says before heading out of the office.
"Yosano-san," I say, calling Yosano over to me.
"What is it, Ranpo-san?" she asks me.
"I'd like to have a small discussion with you in the infirmary," I state.
"Oh, sure," she says, leading me to the infirmary and closing the door. "Is everything alright? Do you need treatment?" she asks me.
"I feel... strange. Earlier, my chest felt tightened and my thoughts were all scrambled. I've been doing things that I wouldn't normally do, thinking things I don't normally think. There must be something wrong with me," I explain, receiving a slight chuckle in response. "Why are you laughing? This could be serious."
"I'm sorry. It's just that, for a detective as smart and amazing as you, you really are oblivious to certain things," she says, continuing to laugh. "Okay, let's do this. What happened right before you felt your chest tighten?" she asks me as her laughter slowly died down.
"Well, the first time it happened was a while ago actually. It was when I wasn't able to prevent Y/n from getting kidnapped the first time. Since I've never experienced something like that, I just brushed it aside, assuming that I was just upset about not seeing it coming. But then it happened again today and... I don't know why. All that happened was the president asked me to assist with finding Atsushi-kun and Y/n. Shortly after that, my chest started to tighten," I explained.
"I see. I think I can see what the situation is now, but I can't guarantee anything, other than the fact that there isn't anything wrong with you. You're probably just experiencing unfamiliar feelings, but you must uncover them on your own. This isn't something that I can help you with," Yosano explains.
'I have to uncover them on my own? But how? How can I figure out what these feelings are if I've never felt them before?'
~
Y/n POV:
The container we were thrown in seems to have reached its destination, or at least, for now it has. We weren't driving anymore but I could still feel that we were moving, meaning we had been transported to a ship, based on the rocking motion I felt.
The doors had finally opened, Kyouka's small figure appearing on the other side of the doors.
"Kyouka-chan?" I question, wondering how she got here.
"Huh? Did you... come to rescue us?" Atsushi weakly asks as he attempts to sit up.
Suddenly, the same black cloth from before grabs Atsushi and drags him outside before I could get the chance to nullify the man's ability.
"Atsushi-kun!" I shout, exiting out of the container to see the man throwing Atsushi against another container that was on the ship, raising his leg up to step on him.
"I struck to kill, but it seems the tiger's healing power is in effect, even if it's an incomplete form," the man says.
"Get away from him!" I shout, the man not bothering to turn around to face me.
"You're on a smuggling ship that carries weapons and munitions, though it's been reserved soley for you today. The girl was just a bonus prize," the man says.
"I am NOT a prize to be WON!" I shout, coming up to the man and swinging my foot at the him.
He jumps to the side to avoid my kick, while I take that opportunity to help Atsushi stand up.
"The weak will die. Die, and make way for others," the man says while slowly approaching us as we back away. I then notice Kyouka raising a gun to the man, causing him to stop.
"Did you find yourself moved by being in the outside world, Kyouka?" he asks her.
"Let them go," she says, only for the man to slice her gun and grab her by the neck, lifting her up off of the ground.
"Do you know what it's like to be at the nadir? There is only the mire, a foul stench, and self-pity. At times, someone will look in from an opening far above, but no one will notice you. With every breath, your wretchedness burns your lungs. That's what's waiting for you out there, Kyouka," the man says.
"You're wrong," I say, the man finally turning to face me. "I won't allow her to suffer like that, not after everything she's had to suffer through. I'll protect her."
"You're quite amusing, and ridiculously stupid. You believe that you can save people when you can hardly even save yourself. The reason why we were able to capture you twice was because you're weak," the man said.
"But I escaped, didn't I?" I ask, the man only giving me an annoyed glare in response. "And I'll escape again."
"I've had enough of you. Weretiger, teach them what it's like. To help no one, to be counted on by no one, and to live in hiding, trembling like a worm," he says to Atsushi before turning his attention to Kyouka. "Continue killing, Kyouka, as the Port Mafia's assassin. If not, stop breathing. Worthless human beings don't have the right to breathe."
"You may be right, but the crêpes were delicious," Kyouka says.
'Kyouka-chan...'
"Where are you, brat?! Y/n?!" I hear Kunikida's voice shout, coming from the side of the ship, probably at water level.
"Kunikida-san?" Atsushi says, turning to where Kunikida's voice is coming from.
"So the Agency's found us already?" the man asks.
"Run while you still can. This ship isn't going to reach the meeting spot," Kyouka says, dragging the mans arm down so her feet could touch the ground.
"Where else is it going?" the man asks.
"The bottom of the sea," Kyouka says, a bomb going off on a lower level of the ship.
"Hey!" Atsushi shouts as we are thrown off balance from the impact of the explosion.
"Run!" Kyouka shouts.
"Kyouka-chan!" I shout, but as I did, another bomb sets off right in front of us from below, launching us backwards as a mountain of smoke separates me and Atsushi from the man and Kyouka.
~⟡⟡⟡⟡⟡⟡⟡⟡⟡☆⟡⟡⟡⟡⟡⟡⟡⟡⟡~