Hell Hath No Fury

Death of a Bachelor

from Panic! At the Disco's song
Brendan Urie has one of the best voices on the planet I could listen to him sing all day

(⌐▨_▨)

For what must have been the fifth time in as many minutes, Ran looked at her watch. She paced back and forth behind Conan as he sat on the couch. Though her footsteps were muffled by carpet, her pacing was beginning to annoy him.

It wasn't like they were going to Tropical Land again (she avoided that place like it was water and she was a cat). It was a simple outing for ice cream and maybe a movie-- her words, not his. Sonoko was coming, too, so they were waiting for her before they left.

Why on Earth was Ran so nervous?

It couldn't be Kuroha. She spoke of 'Hikaru' easily once Conan promised her that pursuing KID outside of heists was generally off-limits (it wasn't before, but KID didn't seem to be doing any harm. In any case, he'd saved Ran's life. Conan owed him.)

It couldn't be money, either. Maybe Kogoro hadn't taken any cases in the two weeks Conan hadn't been there (Conan thanked whatever deities were listening that he hadn't tried to solve any cases. Heaven forbid Kogoro accidentally convicted the wrong person for a crime), but Edogawa Fumiyo sent another hefty sum to the Mouri's in apology for "her husband's actions." An early-morning shopping trip with Ran stocked the fridge and put hot food on the table. Every bill from water to electric to the thirteen rental cars that had been wrecked in the past year had been paid. Even if the mortgage was always going to be a problem, the Mouri family and their ward were financially stable for the time being.

Until occhan goes on another drinking spree with his friends, Conan thought with a resigned sigh. The liquor shelf was emptier than it'd been in months. Conan was willing to give it three days before Kogoro took a night off for business and returned home drunker than a raging alcoholic and smelling like the entire bar.

Ran heaved a sigh, looking at the clock on the wall. "Sonoko was supposed to be here ten minutes ago," she fretted. Crossing her arms, she rubbed her arm to soothe herself.

Sonoko. Of course. It was so obvious, so easy to see. Of course Ran was worried about her. The thought hadn't even crossed his mind. Between coming home and discovering his new room, his focus had been solely on Ran and Kogoro. He didn't think to worry about Sonoko simply because he knew how she was doing. It had been what, twelve hours? since he'd talked with her. Every morning and night since he called her, she'd called him as if she was afraid he was nothing but a figment of her imagination. Conan didn't mind, as it always gave him an opportunity to chat with Akai, but he knew Sonoko was okay.

He knew her training with one of the best JKD teachers in Japan was going well and that the wound on her neck was healing nicely. He knew she was safe in his own home and recovering steadily from being threatened at knife-point.

Ran didn't.

Ran didn't even know about the attack. Despite Shinichi encouraging Sonoko to let Ran know that she was okay, Sonoko never committed. Ran had no idea why Sonoko was missing. For all she knew, Shinichi was just the first friend to disappear without a trace.

The cause of Ran's distress uncovered at last, Conan relaxed. If this really was all about Sonoko, everything would be fine. Sonoko's attacker had yet to make a move since she had complied with his demands, and Shinichi quietly called in a favor of Miyamoto Yumi, the woman who worked in the traffic department. As soon as Shinichi explained the situation (and how important it was that Sato didn't find out about any of it), Miyamoto said she was happy to help, even if it meant meticulously combing through security and traffic camera footage to find the face of Sonoko's attacker. Though she hadn't found anything yet, she wasn't even a quarter of the way done.