"And what?!" Kudo Shinichi's heart sank, a bad premonition rising within him.
"And... below the timer... two more wires suddenly appeared! One red, one blue! Is that on the blueprint?!" Ran's voice trembled, full of tension.
"How could this be...?"
Kudo Shinichi's mind went blank for a moment as he frantically flipped through the blueprint in his hand.
Red and blue wires below the timer?!
They weren't on the blueprint at all! It's completely unmarked!
That Moriya Teiji, the blueprint he had was fake!
He had anticipated that the blueprint would be confiscated and deliberately left a trap on it.
The real detonating wire was among these last two wires!
"Shinichi! Shinichi! Say something! Is it on the blueprint? Which one should I cut?!" Ran watched the countdown shorten, gradually falling into despair.
Kudo Shinichi's hand, holding the phone, trembled violently.
Listening to the ticking of the timer from the other end of the line, he too fell into despair.
He couldn't tell... he really couldn't tell!
The blueprint was fake, he had no clues.
Whether it was the red wire or the blue wire, either could be the detonating wire.
It was even possible that both wires were detonating wires! No matter which one she cut, it would explode.
"Shinichi! The countdown... the countdown is only three minutes left!"
At the last moment, Ran calmed down instead, saying with a choked voice.
"...While there's still time, Shinichi, hurry and leave here! Don't worry about me! Just go!"
"No!"
Kudo Shinichi leaned against the passage closest to Ran, which was blocked by rubble.
"I'm not leaving, Ran! This time, I'm not going anywhere! If the bomb explodes..."
He took a deep breath, speaking word by word.
"I'll be here, with you!"
... Meanwile at The Beika Building, 6th floor, directly above the cinema exit passage.
Alice watched the raccoon, Kama, as it squeezed into a gap and installed the bomb, and couldn't help but advise a very excited Ukinami Yuzuha next to her.
"Yuzuha, are we... going too far with this? That detective will be scared stiff, won't he?"
"Haha~, that's what makes it fun."
Ukinami Yuzuha bent down and secretly grabbed Alice's tail, pulling it back.
Caught off guard, Alice immediately shrieked, then reacted and covered her mouth with both hands.
"Yuzuha!" Alice glared at Ukinami Yuzuha.
Yuzuha laughed and reached out, allowing Kama, who had completed its task, to climb back onto her shoulder along her arm.
"Don't be angry, you're always so easily startled."
Yuzuha opened her umbrella to block the falling dust and continued.
"Experiencing life and death, then regaining what was lost, that's how you get big emotional fluctuations! My purpose in doing this is all to help Rin get more Film!
Besides, we've already helped that kid replace the bomb with a model, so no matter which wire Mouri Ran cuts, it won't explode. It's only fair that he pays us a little compensation."
"For Rin?"
Alice's gaze sharpened, and she clasped her hands in front of her chest, as if she had made some kind of decision.
Then she took small steps towards where Kama had previously installed the bomb.
"Hm? Hey! Where are you going? We need to leave quickly!" Yuzuha reached out, asking with some confusion.
Alice replied without looking back.
"That bomb earlier was too weak, I'm going to get the detective a more powerful one!"
"Ah? No!" Yuzuha quickly tried to stop her...
At the Bomb location time passed minute by minute.
The countdown on the bomb in front of Ran felt like a heartbeat with every passing second.
The countdown was nearing its end.
01:00... Tick-tock
00:59... Tick-tock
00:58... "Ran,"
Kudo Shinichi made his final decision, his voice calm as he said to Ran.
"Now... just choose your favorite color red, and cut it."
"Wh-what?" Ran was stunned.
Kudo Shinichi's gaze seemed to penetrate through layers of rubble, falling upon Ran.
"Since it's a choice between two, why not choose the color you like?"
"But... what if I cut the wrong one...?" Ran's voice was hesitant.
"If you cut the wrong one, you cut the wrong one."
Kudo Shinichi's voice became gentle.
"When the time comes, the bomb will explode anyway. At least... we tried our best. Cut it, Ran. No matter the outcome, I'm here."
The world seemed to turn grayscale at that moment.
Ran looked at the red and blue wires in front of her, and in the second before the countdown ended, she cut one of them.
Click!
The crisp sound of the wire being cut clearly reached Kudo Shinichi's ears through the phone.
Immediately following was—
Boom!!!
A deafening explosion!
Kudo Shinichi had no time to react before he was violently thrown backward by the immense impact from behind him.
He crashed heavily onto the ground several meters away.
"Ran—!!!"
Kudo Shinichi was heartbroken, the pain of heartbreak more intense than the pain from all over his body.
On his birthday, Ran had left him forever... "Why?!"
Kudo Shinichi knelt on the ground, tears streaming down his face, pounding the floor heavily.
Just then, Ran's voice came from behind him. "Shinichi... Shinichi! Are you alright?"
Kudo Shinichi struggled to lift his head, half-doubting if he was hallucinating.
But the touch of her hand on his was real.
Kudo Shinichi's crying stopped abruptly, and he looked at Ran, who had appeared before him, in disbelief.
He looked back.
The concrete blocks that had originally blocked the passage were now blown open, creating an opening just wide enough for one person to pass through.
He instantly understood.
The explosion just now wasn't from the bomb Ran had cut the wire of, but from another bomb hidden in the rubble and debris.
The power of this bomb seemed to have been precisely calculated.
It only blew open the passage connecting to the cinema, and did not trigger a secondary collapse.
Even he was only thrown back, suffering only minor superficial injuries.
Was this bomb also placed by Moriya Teiji?
Kudo Shinichi found it hard to believe.
But now was not the time to delve deeper.
He suppressed the surprise and doubt in his heart, and his gaze returned to Ran.
"Ran, it's so good that you're alright! What about the bomb in the cinema? Which wire did you cut in the end?"
Ran forced a smile in response.
"I cut the blue wire. After I cut it, the bomb's timer went out, it didn't explode, and then I heard your side..."
"Blue wire?" Kudo Shinichi was a little confused, "Ran, isn't your favorite color red?"
"Mhm,"
Ran nodded, her gaze falling on the twisted and deformed poster for "The Legend of the Red Thread" nearby, and she extended her pinky finger.
"My favorite color is red, that's right, but... I didn't want to cut it. That red thread, it might just connect me and Shinichi..."
Ran's voice grew softer and softer, eventually becoming inaudible.
"Shinichi, your birthday..."
Ran suddenly remembered something, and a blush appeared on her dust-covered face.
She awkwardly pulled out a crumpled, equally dust-covered paper bag from behind her.
The paper bag was already torn, and the red Polo shirt inside was dirty and had several holes.
"Shinichi, Happy Birthday. Although... although the clothes turned out like this..." Her voice was full of regret.
Kudo Shinichi didn't hesitate, he didn't even brush off the dust, directly taking off his original jacket and putting on the tattered red Polo shirt.
"Thank you, Ran. This is the best birthday present I've ever received."
Kudo Shinichi paused, reaching into his pants pocket.
Soon, he pulled out something palm-sized, wrapped in a clean handkerchief.
He carefully opened the handkerchief, revealing a charming brown squirrel plushie.
"This... I originally intended to give it to you when we met..."
Kudo Shinichi scratched his head a little awkwardly, handing the small squirrel plushie to Ran.
"Conan told me that you've been really fond of this squirrel plushie lately... Mhm... Anyway, it's for you."
Ran looked at the small squirrel plushie, the only bright and clean item in the messy surroundings, and carefully clutched it in her hand with the handkerchief.