The Contingency Plan

Chapter 2

Inertia

There was something sleek and menacing in the eyes of the combatant as they took up position. A calm sharpness that spoke to an experienced, calculating mindset. The kind of disciplined bearing forged in years of training and required to accurately unleash their fury.

The fight had been hard. Kicks and fists fell like lightning in a storm but it was nearly over. Ran's mind was too clouded to focus. She could feel her reflexes growing more and more lethargic under the weight of each block. Her heart wasn't in this one and it cost her dearly.

Watching wide eyed, her opponent darted in for a final assault, fainting left and twisting midair.

She should have been able to easily dodge the flying tornado kick leveled at her. The attack had been telegraphed well before there was any actual danger. A simple change in distance would have been sufficient. But Ran's legs failed to move in time.

There was a hazed moment of confusion before Ran found herself lying on the floor with a bloodied mouth piece and trying to make sense of the spinning ceiling above.

She jolted her head and tried to focus. What was that metaphor Holmes used about a cluttered mind? She'd heard it often enough from that mystery freak. By osmosis alone she should know it. The brain is an attic and a fool furnishes it with every scrap of knowledge they come across? That sounded about right. Yeah, it crowds out useful information and jumbles everything up so you can't lay your hands on what you need when needed.

With the makings of a black eye, she was ready to accept that her mind was too busy with random scraps for sparring practice. Conan, despite his attempts not to show it, could get very upset when she had to explain overt injuries like this.

Hina Wada appeared upside-down in her static-fuzzed vision. "You okay, Mouri san?" She offered a hand and pulled Ran to her feet.

"I'm alright." Ran smiled weakly. "That was a really good kick. I think I'll sit down for a moment, if you don't mind."

"Sure thing. Sorry if I got carried away there."

The two bowed and Ran made her way to the gym bleachers. Her head throbbed with an unbelievable pain. She buried her face in a towel, trying to convince herself that the pain was only the result of a sloppy block.

Sonoko hopped down with a bottle of water to sit next to her. "What's wrong, Ran? You've been acting weird all day."

"It's nothing. I'm just a little distracted. That's all."

Sonoko slapped her on the back. "Come on. Spit it out! You can tell me. Your hubby do something stupid?"

"No! It's not that, it's..." Ran trailed off into a sigh. "You know that math assignment we have to do? I had Conan kun print it out for me last night but the graph on page 4 was messed up. So I went to the Professor's house on the way to school this morning to reprint it. I just assumed it would be the first thing in the print history. But it wasn't. This came out instead." She reached into a duffle bag and produced two sheets of paper.

Sonoko took them and read aloud, "Admission: you are cordially invited to the 13th annual winter charity gala and dinner at the Berkeley University Museum of Natural History. Formal dress is required." Then she saw the name. "Kudo Shinichi!? He's going to a party in San Francisco?"

"I guess so. He didn't say anything about it. I wish I would have known." Ran bit her lip. He had been so close. She must have missed him by mere hours. Why didn't he want to meet? Why had she been sidelined again?

Sonoko flipped to the other page. It was a mirror copy of the first except above the QR code, a different name appeared. "Who's Miyano Shiho?"

"I have no idea."

"You haven't talked to him about it yet?"

Ran rested her arms across her knees and looked dejected. "And say what? 'I was snooping around and found this'? I don't know what to do."

"Honestly, I don't know why you bother with that geek. Detectives are the worst."

Ran nodded her head absently. She'd spent her entire life surrounded by detectives and was all too aware of just how dangerous the breed could be.

They have to be.

There are, of course, the typical perils requisite to the vocation. Detectives hunt a vicious game, all while paying little heed to the fact that those they pursue and corner into desperation are no strangers to violence. Their business entails largely of making enemies of the ruthless and cunning, with pledges of vengeance or retaliation serving only as the hallmark of a satisfactory job.

Then there is the strain. In order to catch their quarry, a detective must be willing to descend into the depths of madness; to understand intimately an insane psyche predicated on justifying evil deeds and resolved to carry them out. Like the corrupting force of radiation seeping into one's DNA, a special kind of constitution is needed to linger there long.

But such a constitution comes at a price. Paranoia, depression, and rabid zeal are never far from winning. Dragons can only envy the way a detective can hoard their treasured trust. And, most vexing of all, while their instinctive insight into the criminal's soul can border on the preternatural, by some strange quirk of character, their understanding of those most dear to them can often be the most baffling mystery they'll ever face.

Yet despite all of that, Ran couldn't deny the feelings a certain detective could inspire. The fire of joy when she saw him smile or the chill in her spine when he confronted some criminal. The flutter of her heart when...when... she stopped herself, knowing tears were forming.

She steadied her breath and looked back to Sonoko. "You know in the movies when they say, 'I can't imagine my life without him? I don't have that problem. I know exactly how it feels. And I hate it. I feel empty inside. It's so stupid. And now this? He didn't even tell me he was in town."

"Ran"

"I'm sorry. I don't mean to vent. What about you? How are you and Makoto doing?"

Sonoko refused to be distracted like that. "You've always been such a wonderful friend to me. Let me help you. I'll get us some tickets and we'll confront him in person."

The idea that their friendship could be based in any way on money, terrified Ran to the core. She knew better than most what simple want could do to a person. She refused point blank. "You can't! I won't accept!"

Sonoko placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "It's not a gift. It's an opportunity to see your boyfriend. And beat some sense into him."

Ran couldn't bring herself to meet her eyes. More than anything on earth she wanted to go along with it. But not at the risk of becoming a burden. She had always made it a point to avoid such charity. Even if it meant going hungry.

Sonoko tried a new tactic. "Y'know, we're getting to the point where we're going to have to pick a college pretty soon. And the more I think about it, the more I want to attend Berkeley. So I'm going to call up uncle Jiro tonight and see if he can't arrange a little tour of the campus. Now you wouldn't have your best friend travel to another country without a bodyguard, would you? America can be very dangerous, I hear."

"Well that is true I suppose so."

"And you'd like California. With your grades, any school would be lucky to have you. I'd bet you'd find exactly what you're looking for there."

"You think so?"

"Absolutely!" Sonoko cheered. "So what do you say? Join me for a little scouting mission?"

When put to her that way, there could be no other answer. Kudo Shinichi and Mouri Ran were on a collision course.