Once we reached Kokichi's place, he stayed in the car to make a call. After a few minutes, he looked at us with a huge grin on his face. "Please tell me you've got a plan."
"I have since the beginning. I don't know why you two freak out so much." Although Kokichi said that with confidence I could see his foot tapping the ground in impatience. "Anyways, it's getting late. I was told that the sample will be done by tomorrow so we'll bring everything to the police then start planning on how to find Junko." Although the plan sounded simple, we were dealing with a girl who got away with murder when she was seven. I struggled to sleep for another night only thinking about Kaede.
We headed for the police station in the early morning. "Well, look who it is, the junior detectives." The police officers snickered amongst each other.
"We've got information that you might be interested to see."
"Listen, kid, I already told you this isn't a playground. We're dealing with actual criminals." Kokichi seemed unfazed at this guy's condescending tone.
"It's only a few minutes. You guys clearly have enough time to gossip like kids our age." Rantaro looked away stuffing his pants in his pockets. I tried to break the smile emerging from my lips.
"Shouldn't you three be in school? Or should I call your parents?" Rantaro pulled Kokichi away and we left the building.
"Clearly, we're getting nowhere with them," Rantaro stated.
"Yeah, I had a feeling this was going to happen. No worries anyways, let's go get the evidence and return back."
"What makes you think it'll work the second time?" Kokichi smiled, but didn't answer. The three of us entered the building this time. A middle-aged woman turned to us with a stern look in her eyes.
"Mr. Ouma, I'm going to have to ask where you found this substance."
"It's right on the label."
"This symbol belongs to the Shirogane Hospital and they've never created any substance similar to this."
"Tsumugi did say it was her father's newest creation. Is there something wrong with it?"
"Not necessarily, it's just... to sum up it's butter with a few chemicals laced in it. There's no way a professional company would make such a thing."
"Wait, so would you say it's something to use on burns?" She raised an eyebrow as she turned towards me.
"It's actually the exact opposite. This substance would worsen a burn." All of our eyes widened.
"That's why Tsumugi gave that to Kaede..." Rantaro murmured.
"My friend has been using that for a few weeks on her burn and it hasn't shown any signs of healing. She even said it still hurt," Kokichi informed the nurse.
"Your friend should see a doctor immediately, but I highly doubt it would heal for a very long time. You should've noticed this sooner." I felt ashamed not realizing the abnormal behavior of her wound.
"And it's on her hand..." Rantaro looked at me alarmed.
"Tsumugi did this so Kaede wouldn't be able to play for the competition." Memories flashbacks of my call with Kaede. Is that why she sounded like that?
"Is everything alright?" the lady asked.
"Yeah, thank you for doing this," Kokichi reassured. She gave us one last curious look before nodding at Kokichi and returning to her station. "Let's go." We went back to the car, and all I could feel was shame.
"What if it's too late? Can Kaede play?" I asked. None of us could answer that question leaving the entire car ride silent.
"Let's go back to my place. I think we can go to the police station tomorrow."
"No, we don't have time. We've only got a few days left."
"We've got time, trust me." Rantaro looked at Kokichi in disbelief, but sighed in defeat.
"Let's go then..." He turned around and we drove to Kokichi's place. Although him and Rantaro were relaxing, I couldn't get the guilt out of my head. Rantar entered the room and sat in front of me. "Hey, I know how you feel."
"No. I saw the signs. She always gasped in pain every time she hit something and even after a couple weeks, I just said nothing. I blew off the obvious signs. She even said on the phone..."
"Hey, if Kaede was genuinely hurt she would've told us."
"But didn't she?" We both looked at each other sternly.
"But did she sound like she was giving up?" My eyes widened. "She didn't, right? If she's trying to win this competition, then we can't lose hope either. Her life is on the line and we can save her." I sighed and smiled at Rantaro.
"Thank you, Rantaro."
"Don't sweat it. She's waiting for you, Shuichi." I nodded and felt a surge of confidence fill my body.
"Let's rest up tonight because we aren't giving up until the police take our evidence." He nodded and left the room. I rested on the bed and closed my eyes until sleep took over me.