CHAPTER 2: DETECTIVES' LIFE OF DESPAIR

    Kyouko stared at the long table before her. Everyone was off investigating the new parts of the school, so the cafeteria was empty right now. However, she stayed behind to wait for one person…
    
...Where should she start?

During Mouri’s execution, Edogawa managed to climb over the barrier and run onto the scene despite the thirteen pairs of flailing arms and the protests. Kyouko managed to follow him, but--

They both got to see it up-close: Ran Mouri’s death. Her guts and organs and insides yanked out from the back. Perhaps if it all had been in pure black and white, it would have looked like her vengeful spirit being released from its shell. Perhaps it would have looked almost beautiful - like art - had it been viewed as a silhouette.

Kyouko didn’t have any sort of appreciation for art.

She couldn’t drag him away from that. The small detective collapsed beside the empty shell until many of the others came over and carried him away.

During that, she managed to get the key to the room she had been holding. The one that she probably didn’t sleep a day in. While they were in the elevator, she slipped it to the poor boy without anyone noticing. It was the only thing she could do. 

...Immediately after the trial, Conan Edogawa had holed himself up in Sayaka Maizono’s room. Everyone knocked routinely on Makoto Naegi’s room, but no one would ever respond. She knocked once at Maizono’s door when no one was around, but the boy didn’t answer, so she left him alone for the night.

...Only for a moment, she worried about his state, because she remembered they agreed to keep the weapons in there. But she had faith in Edogawa that he wouldn’t do anything rash. 

...Even if he did, nothing could be done unless Monobear unlocked the door.

(Or, they could use the multi-purpose key, but she wouldn’t force his wall of privacy to collapse. That thing got her and Naegi in enough trouble last time - they had to use it sparingly this time.)

They had waited a couple hours for him to arrive, but he never did, so they agreed to search the newly opened parts of the school without him. So, Kyouko stayed behind. 

Some time had already passed since everyone separated - it was actually almost time for everyone to gather together again. Kyouko stared at the two cups of coffee she had - the one in front of her was nearly empty, but the one she put in front of the seat beside her was full and going cold. She thought she might have to pour it down the drain, but a single pair of heavy yet light footsteps made their way into the hall. 

Kyouko watched as Edogawa silently made his way over to the table - instead of taking the seat beside the detective, he took the seat beside that (Mouri’s seat, Kyouko realized). He looked so… lost. Broken. Despairing. He didn’t say a word to her, and she wasn’t even sure if he noticed that only the two of them were here.

The two detectives didn’t say anything to each other for awhile. But eventually, Kyouko nudged the filled cup in his direction.

“Would you like some coffee? I haven’t taken a drink of it, although it’s starting to get cold…”

He hesitated, but he grabbed the cup without a word and took a long drink. Kyouko couldn’t hold back her relieved smile. The last time someone reacted like this to the results of the trial… they didn’t eat or sleep for days… and then…

“Edogawa-kun?” He didn’t look up at her, but Kyouko continued on anyways.

“...At this point just over a year ago, Naegi-kun lost the one person he knew and trusted with his life in our situation. I had believed… he was the type of person who could move past the death of others. That he could forget about them and continue on.”

“I won’t forget Ran.”

“No, I know you won’t.” Kyouko had to keep a stoic face - she wouldn’t be disturbed by that hateful voice. “Naegi-kun was the same as you. He told me he would keep his friends with him… and the memories of them would make him stronger. I think you are capable of doing the same.”

He looked up at her curiously - maybe she was imagining the light returning to his eyes. He didn’t say anything in response, so Kyouko decided to continue speaking.

“If it makes you more comfortable, you can call me ‘Kirigiri-san’ - or merely ‘Kirigiri’ -  instead of ‘Kirigiri-neechan’. I consider everyone in this situation to be in equal or superior position to me. ...Whichever you prefer.”

The two elementary students here seemed awfully mature for their age, so she wanted to give them the choice. Still, he didn’t answer her, so she decided to leave him alone for now.

Shortly after they both finished their cups of coffee, Heiji Hattori entered the cafeteria. He originally insisted he stay behind to wait for Edogawa, but Kyouko managed to convince him that he would do more good for him if he had information to share when they met up. So he lingered around the first floor and the edges of the second, coming back to the cafeteria every now and then to see if the younger detective had arrived yet.

“Hey, glad ta see yer awake.” He offered a grin as he made his way to the table, but when he realized it wasn’t having much of an effect, he abandoned the facade.

“You feelin’ alright?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. What happened while I was…?”

“Everyone’s jus’ explorin’ th’ new areas tha’ opened up. It’s almost time fer us ta talk about our discoveries - but I think there’s time fer y’ ta see one room…”

Edogawa blinked in curiosity as the Osakan broke into another grin. Kyouko had a good idea what room he was talking about, so she stood up with them.

“You’re talking about the public bath, correct?”

“‘Course. ...Yer joinin’ us?”

“I don’t see why not. Is there a problem with that?”

Hattori shrugged and gestured for the two to follow him. The public bath was right across the hall, so it didn’t take long. Kyouko watched as Edogawa warily glanced around the room. She didn’t need to take a look for herself. She knew the room due to the events from a year ago. She knew the room from events that occurred last night. Hell, she knew the room from just a couple days ago - she snuck in and relaxed in the bath after talking down Monobear, who didn’t have a rule to keep her out of a room that wasn’t necessarily locked. There was nothing new for her, but that didn’t diminish the room’s importance.

“...There are no cameras in this room…”

“Tha’s right!” Hattori became cheery, proud of his discovery. “We can use this as a base’ve operations when we don’t want th’ masterminds ta hear us.”

Edogawa seemed eager to scour the room but first he looked up to address Kyouko. She was relieved to see his spirit was returning.

“...Was this room like this last time?”

She nodded. “The previous mastermind knew about it, so I’m sure this one does too. We still have to be cautious in here.”

“Y’ think th’ masterminds’re different?”

Kyouko wasn’t restricted by threats anymore, so she felt a bit more comfortable with speaking about the truth. Only a little bit, however.

“I watched the previous mastermind die. They had a bit of a cult following behind them, however, so I can only imagine the ones behind this are among those followers.”

An uneasy silence fell over them, as if ideas and theories had been ruined and needed to be reworked. Edogawa sat down on a bench in the room and idly swung his legs.

“...Kirigiri-san, you didn’t actually kill anyone, did you?”

Hattori raised an eyebrow at the change in how he referred to her, but Kyouko stayed calm and watched the boy carefully.

“...Depends on what perspective you’re looking from.”

“I think it was five or six years ago, right?” Conan looked up at her, and there was a spark in his eyes. She could only look back at him silently. He glanced at his friend to address him quickly. “Hattori, have you heard of the Detective Shelf Collection?”

The Osakan hummed, putting a hand to his chin. “Sounds familiar. What is it?”

Edogawa stared at the ground and kicked his feet.

“Every detective used to register themselves into a Detective Library and would receive an ID number. It was all public information so clients could look at a detective’s files and see if they would be good for their case.”

He looked up and exhaled as he recalled the facts. The other two listened in anticipation.

“It was only active for about fifteen years. There was an organization who took advantage of this… I believe they said they were… ‘Salvation for Victims of Crime Committee’ or something. For money, they would help people get revenge on… criminals who ruined their lives or whatever. They would give them untraceable supplies to carry out a murder, and the perfect situation to carry it out. But they would also hire a detective to present a risk. To solve the case.”

Hattori let out a low whistle. “Wha’ happened ta them? I mean, they’re not active anymore, right?”

Edogawa shook his head. “Nah. They were taken down by a young detective. It sorta happened all at once and was covered up pretty fast. I only knew about it because my dad told me about it a few years ago.”

There was a hint of a smile on his face - the thrill of a conclusion. Kyouko wouldn’t look away. She wouldn’t flinch no matter what.

“I remember now… The detective’s name disappeared after that, but I remember… ‘Kirigiri Kyouko’. That was you, wasn’t it? You got into this school… as the ‘Super High School Level Detective’, right?”

Hah. He did it. She couldn’t believe it. And she tried so hard to cover up that incident, and yet, someone who should have been one or two years old at the time knew.

Impressive.

“H-Hey…” Hattori had never heard of this case before, so he was hesitant to believe this. “I thought y’ were a detective, but… tha’ means yer tha best detective outta us all…”

“Yup, looks like we’ve met our match, huh, Hattori…?”

“Stop that.” Kyouko glared at them both. She wouldn’t let this go on. Wonderful detectives that she admired from afar... she couldn’t let them believe that someone like her was any better…!

“My former title means absolutely nothing. I needed to get into this school and I saw the opportunity. So I took it. I’m not proud of that decision, so I won’t have the rest of you think any better of me. I told this to Hakuba-san as well, so I ask that you continue to regard me as your equal.”

They both looked surprised at her reaction and Kyouko wondered if she said too much. The boys shared a look, and it seemed they agreed to drop the topic - for now.

“Since I figured it out, are we going to tell everyone else about your talent?”

Kyouko sighed and let her eyes roam the room. “If you like. If they ask, I’ll answer truthfully, but otherwise it’s up to you.”

Edogawa pondered the decision as Hattori moved the topic back to an earlier point.

“Since we know all th’ rules now… Tha’ means ya didn’t kill anybody, yeah? Since we know yer not th’ only one t’ escape if what Hakuba said was true...”

“If you ask me, I killed at least eleven people,” Kyouko snapped, and she soon regretted it. The two looked ready to protest or comfort her, but she wouldn’t accept their words.

“I wasn’t directly responsible for anyone’s death, of course. But, as a ‘Super High School Level Detective’, why couldn’t I see the problem before it began? Why couldn’t I see the evidence as it appeared? I should tell you, at that time, it was a student in my own class that started all of this. Why didn’t I stop it?”

Sometimes she thought she must be unfair on herself, because she still didn’t remember those high school years. Her memory wouldn’t return no matter how much time had passed, it seemed. So all she saw was a detective watching on as the symptoms of despair ran rampant among them. She could have tried - but clearly not enough, right?

“...That’s why I can’t accept my title. There are others just as qualified - perhaps more. And it’s interesting, is it not? That most of the candidates are in this situation?”

She smiled, as if it was some funny joke. But her speech was actually making her feel panicked. This was the kind of stress that she would experience when she remembered all her regrets while alone. And she wouldn’t let anyone see that despair within her.

“Anyways, it’s almost time for everyone to meet in the cafeteria. Go ahead without me - I have somewhere I’d like to visit first. But first, I’d like you to know...”

Bits of memory rolled through her mind and Kyouko smiled sadly.

“...I wasn’t the only detective to bring down the Committee.”

Without waiting for a response, she left the room at a moderate pace. She wouldn’t look back to see if they watched or called out to her. She had to stay focused - she had to check… that one place…