My Dearest, Saihara-Chan

Chapter Six: Recovery and Wounds

Shuichi looked at the clock. A quarter of an hour to midnight. He got up from his chair and silently gathered up his supplies and left the room so not to disturb the snoring Kaito, already beginning to feel the effects of adrenaline rushing through his veins. At the doorway, Shuichi wrapped his cloak tightly around him and adjusted his hat before grabbing Kaito's car keys and heading out. Ding! Shuichi glanced at his phone. A message from Kaede. 

  Hey Saihara-Kun? I hate to ask you this, but can you pick me up from my place? My roommates took my car... Shuichi started replying as he was going down the stairs to the first floor. Of course. 

What's your address? After a minute, Shuichi was entering the address Kaede sent him into his phone's GPS, and driving down a nearby street, where he stopped at a small house. Kaede was standing in front of it, wearing her detective uniform, and upon seeing Shuichi, she walked towards the car and got in.

 "Good evening, Saihara-kun!" She greeted him cheerfully. 

 "Good evening, Akamatsu-chan." Shuichi acknowledged her before pulling out of the neighborhood and began driving towards one of the few abandoned buildings and alleyways in the city. A few minutes of silence passed before Kaede noted,

 "Navy blue. A nice color choice, Saihara-kun." 

 "T-this is my friend's car. N-not mine." Shuichi quickly explained. "B-but thank you anyways." Another minute of silence passed. 

 "We're really doing this huh..." Kaede suddenly murmured quietly. Shuichi darted a quick glance at her. She was leaning back in her seat, looking upwards thoughtfully.

 "W...What do you mean?" Shuichi asked before refocusing most of his attention back to the road. 

 "I mean... there's a chance that we'll run into the Phantom Thief.... They have been shown to revisit places they've been before." Kaede hummed.

"Yeah... that might be dangerous." Shuichi agreed quietly, a now-familiar sinking feeling taking hold in his stomach. 

Soon, they arrived at a big abandoned factory. The gray walls and weeds growing around the factory along with the moonlight and silence was unsettling and put both Kaede and Shuichi on edge. The feeling of being watched doesn't help either. They quietly walked into the factory and looked around.

 "We should check for signs that a kidnapping or something has been here." Kaede suggested. "Or maybe, signs that the Phantom Thief has been here~" 

 "M-maybe focus more on the first thing that you said..." Shuichi murmured before pulling out a flashlight and a chemical bottle. "I'll start seeing if there are any footprints. Probably wasn't the best idea to have come here in daylight yesterday..." Shuichi trailed off.

 "Coz the area needs to be dark to be able to use the amido black stuff, right?" Kaede asked. Shuichi nodded, before carefully pouring the bottle's contents around. Nothing showed up. "There aren't any footprints here." Shuichi called out. Kaede turned to him. 

 "Nothing here either." She reported. 

 "Did you happen to find a rose here yesterday?" Shuichi asked. Kaede nodded. 

 "Yeah, I did."

"Where did you find it?" Kaede pointed at a spot where the grime had been disturbed in the middle of the factory floor. 

Shuichi went and inspected the spot. How could someone get in and drop the rose without leaving footprints? Maybe if he found this person's way of entering, he could find where the missing detectives could be, if they were captured. No. Shuichi shook his head. His job wasn't to catch whoever did it. His job was to find the missing detectives. Shuichi pulled out a file from his bag. Inside was information on the missing detectives. There were four in total, and the file had information on where they were last seen, and what they were last seen wearing. Shuichi looked around the factory. This was one of the places the file said one of the detectives were last seen entering before vanishing. So there should be some sign that they were here, right?