The Conundrum Corporation |Oumasai

Chapter 20

I clenched my teeth and turned around. Rantaro was frowning with an annoyed expression. I crossed my arms.
"What do you mean?" Shuichi sighed. Rantaro took a step closer to us.
"That's exactly why I removed them. I'm not stupid. I know you two have been snooping around. Might as well come clean, I removed some of your memories due to you being a threat to the corporation," Rantaro shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal.
"How would he be a threat?" I pointed at Shuichi. I looked at him up and down. A threat? Nope, not likely.
"That day at the tea party, he was going to tell you the truth. He was going against our code of conduct so I did something about it," he continued.
"You're a monster," I spat. He looked at me and sighed.
"Last time I checked I'm not a Hope-Lie," he smiled. I blinked a couple of times, hoping that he would get rid of his smug smile.
"Hope-Lies aren't monsters. They're just abnormal things," Shuichi spoke up.
"Yeah, some are actually nice," I smiled. Rantaro just shook his head and face palmed.
"You guys are idiots," he muttered and walked off. I stayed standing there for a few minutes until Shuichi interrupted my thoughts.
"Come on Kokichi, we have to get back to Yuri," he murmured.
"Are we just going to completely ignore the fact that we know why he gave you those pills?" I questioned him. Normally, Shu would be ever so happy that we found a bit of new information. However, he looks like he doesn't even care.
"When I thought about why Rantaro moved my memories I had already come to the conclusion that I was going to tell you something," he explained and carried on walking.
"Oh...why didn't you tell me?" I exclaimed at him.
"Sorry, I didn't even think that I was correct," he murmured. I furrowed my eyebrows.
"You're a detective! There's like a seventy percent chance you're correct," I insisted. He laughed and opened the door for me.
"You're back? That took you guys long enough," Yuri sighed. I stuffed the remaining bits of cookie in my mouth and nodded. Shuichi handed Yuri over a cupcake he had gotten. Yuri smiled and gratefully took it.

"So let's get on with it then," I smiled and helped Yuri up. She stood on her own two feet shakily and started walking. We headed out of the hotel and into the elevator.
"Who in the world is she?" a voice gasped. I looked behind me to see Maki.
"Maki, listen to me very carefully. This girl is from the future. She came here on a time travelling thingy and voila!" I laughed. Maki growled at me and hurried into the elevator.
"What's her problem?" I asked Shuichi. He just laughed a small laugh. We stepped out of the elevator and walked outside into the Information Department. I glanced around at the workers. Some new faces and some old. Mostly new though. I walked through the corridors and through the heaps of people and finally made it to her room. Honestly, the Hope-Lies didn't get bad rooms but they weren't great either. They all consisted of a single bed, table and chair. Some Hope-Lies got to have other things like a bookshelf or a radio. However, that was only for the Hope-Lies that have specific traits. Yuri's room had two ballet dresses in a wardrobe along with some trophies on a small table.
"Sometimes life can get so boring here," Yuri sighed. "Nevertheless, thank you for getting me out of the Isolation Department."
"Of course," I nodded and watched her walk around in her room. I wonder what she does all day. It must be boring being here all day. I smiled at her and skipped out of her room.
"Right. Next plan," Shuichi asked me. I put my finger on my chin to show that I was thinking. We're definitely not going to get anything out from Rantaro so we are going to need to have a different approach. I know exactly who we should talk to.
"Shuichi, we need to talk to Mikan," I told him.
"Okay...but how are we going to get any information out of her though?" he asked me. I smiled at him.
"Leave that to me!" I replied.
"Okay, whatever you say," he answered me. I nodded. In order to get her talking, I'll just take something precious from her and tell her that she will get it back if she talks. Simple. Violence is never the answer and I'm way better at stealing.
"Hey Shu, I need to do some stuff relating to Mikan. You good on your own?" I asked him.
"Yeah I'll be fine, don't worry," he smiled at me and pat my head. I crossed my arms.
"Okay," I smiled at him.

I hid behind the door and peered into the medical room. Mikan was cleaning up some of her medical equipment. She got a cloth and cleaned some syringes and then put them into a white box. I sighed, for the past hour she has been cleaning stuff. Suddenly, Mikan held up a purple box with a red, medical cross. I haven't seen this before. She opened the box and in there were some pictures of her and other people, possibly friends. There was, surprisingly, a stapler and some purple bandage wraps in the box too. She also took out a silver ring from the box and put it on.
"N-no, I can't wear this. It m-might get dirty," she sighed. Bingo. That whole box is full of precious things. Now, I just need to find a way to get it. Mikan looked at the clock on the wall.
"Gah! I'm g-going to be late!" she squealed. I quickly jolted back up and walked around as if I hadn't been sitting there in the first place. She ran past me and I stopped walking. When Mikan was out of sight, I snuck into the room and took the ring. Alright perfect. Mikan you better watch out for the Ultimate Supreme Leader!
                                          •
They're lying to you.
—ot ——- ——e