THUD!
    
Conan blearily cracked open his eyes. That was weird. These rooms were soundproof, right? Why did he hear a noise like that? The door was locked, and they all agreed to stay in their rooms during Night Time. It didn’t sound like a knock… so it must have come from inside. But the only people in here were him and… Ran?

Conan shot up in his bed, frantically trying to see in the darkness. The figure of Ran was standing before him, facing away. 

“Ran-- Ran-neechan…? What’s wrong?”

She was looking at something - and if he leaned to look around her, there could see a shadowy figure on the ground. Was that… a person…?

Ran couldn’t take her eyes off the figure. Her voice was shaky, and it was clear the only emotion she was currently experiencing was pure fear.

“H-He… T-The door, and I… I…”

She was panicking and Conan knew he should get her out of this room. He hopped off the bed and went for the light switch. With the blinding light, he could say with certainty that, yes, some unknown person was in their room. They were wearing a white coat and a thick mask that had a sinister design. He couldn’t tell who it was, but there was no way Ran would willingly let someone who looked like that into their room. But how did they get in…?

They weren’t moving, so it seemed like they must have been unconscious. Ran likely used her karate to knock them out when they came in. Poor them.

He wanted to investigate the body and discover the identity of the person but he couldn’t stand seeing Ran panic like this. 

...Did she think…? No way, he was just unconscious, right?

“Ran-neechan, let’s go to your room for the night, okay?” Conan took her hand and began guiding her to the door. “We can wake Heiji-niisan up to look into this…”

She nodded, sobbing quietly. Having someone come into the room must have been a horrible shock for her. Certainly it wasn’t the first time they’ve gone through this kind of experience, but the tension was already high in a place like this and probably made it all the worse.

It should have been simple as that - bring her next door, say he’ll get someone to look into it and then start the investigation. But when they opened the door, they came face to face with a surprised Kirigiri. She saw Ran’s puffy eyes and their pale faces and shifted into concern mode.

“...Did something happen?”

Despite the conversations earlier that day, Conan didn’t know if he could trust Kirigiri near the unknown person. But she managed to get a glance to the scene beyond them and her eyes widened. Without so much as an “excuse me”, she pushed through the two and crouched by the body, immediately patting it down and tilting the head gently side to side.

“Has anyone removed the mask?”

It was a really weird question. Why didn’t she ask “what happened”? But Ran answered her anyways with her voice still quivering.

“N-No… They were wearing it… w-when they came in... I-I think…?”

Kirigiri nodded as she dug through the pockets and sleeves of the unconscious person. Conan thought he saw her slip something into her own sleeve, but he couldn’t tell what it was and didn’t have the chance to call her out on it. She stood up and faced Ran and him with stone-cold determination.

“We’ll lock the door and you two can sleep in Mai-- Mouri-san’s room. We will tell everyone in the morning. They’ll need the rest for now.”

Conan rose to protest. “But, if they got into the room, then maybe someone else could get in... or they can get out…”

Kirigiri shook her head, slowly saying the words that no one wanted to hear. “This person is dead. Head trauma. I will guard this room from outside until morning so no one else can get in.”

No way. There was still hours until morning so could she really…? But Conan didn’t have time to question her motives because the brunette beside him was growing increasingly panicked and he had to do something about it.

“D-D-Dead…? D-Does that mean I…?”

“R-Ran-neechan, let’s go, okay?!” He grabbed her hand and pulled her away from that scene. As promised, Kirigiri left the room and shut the door behind her. He wanted to talk to her and stay here because she was either innocent and could become a target, or she was guilty and apparently had a way to tamper with the crime scene.

(Kirigiri was the one who said there were no copies of any keys. Did she lie?)

But. He couldn’t leave Ran alone right now. So all he could say to Kirigiri was:

“Be careful, alright?”

She offered the slightest of smiles in return that told him all he needed to know.

“Don’t worry about me. I don’t die easily.”

Leaving her to stand in the dark corridor alone, Conan helped Ran’s shaky hand open the room next door. Closing the door behind them, it seemed to snap off the thread of tension with a disturbing silence.

The room was nearly the same as Makoto Naegi’s room, except the sheets were purple and there was no flaky wooden sword to be seen. The little detective helped Ran into bed, pulling the covers over her and climbing in beside her.

The darkness was unsettling, and just a few moments later he could hear a trembling voice beside him that spoke in between sniffles.

“C-Conan-kun? Do you want to… sleep somewhere else tonight? Maybe Kirigiri-san would let you use her room…”

“Don’t worry Ran-neechan, I’ll be here all night, okay?” Shinichi wanted to hold her close and tell her that everything was most definitely going to be okay. But he was so small now, and all he could do was let Ran hold him close.

One truth. He would find that truth. And no matter what, he would make sure Ran Mouri would be safe…!