Disclaimer: Detective Conan is not mine. This fanfic is a translation.
Enjoy Reading!
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Bang! Bang!
Bang bang bang!
After five consecutive shots, not a single one hit the target.
Jinpei Jinpei stared wide-eyed at the revolver in his hand and complained, "What the hell is going on? I can't hit anything!"
Finding the situation rather amusing, Onizuka suddenly appeared behind him with a mischievous grin.
"What's wrong, Matsuda? You like fighting, but you can't handle a handgun?"
Convinced his shooting couldn't possibly be this bad, Jinpei fiddled with the revolver and said, "Did someone drop this gun or something? Revolvers aren't meant to take a fall. Could the cylinder latch be broken?"
"Stop talking nonsense! Hurry up and shoot!" Onizuka snapped, assuming Jinpei was making excuses for his poor performance. "Honestly… always coming up with crooked logic."
Ignoring the instructor completely, Jinpei didn't care about the dust on the ground and simply plopped down to start disassembling the revolver.
Ritsu, who had already finished shooting with a perfect score, looked over in surprise.
"Matsuda… what are you doing?"
"Checking it, obviously!"
Jinpei's hands moved skillfully. It was obvious he was very practiced at this.
After taking the revolver apart piece by piece, he shouted,
"Whoa! Just like I thought, the cylinder latch is damaged! The barrel and the cylinder axis aren't aligned. How could anyone hit the target with this? I knew it wasn't my fault!"
Onizuka never expected Jinpei to be this bold. His blood pressure instantly shot up.
"Matsuda!!! Put it back together right now!!"
"Huh? But the gun malfunctioned and ruined my test."
"Handgun training is suspended! Everyone return your equipment! And… Matsuda, stand at attention!"
Jinpei lazily stood up from the ground.
'If I'd known the training would get canceled, I wouldn't have taken it apart for fun,' he thought.
Meanwhile, an assistant instructor responsible for collecting the equipment suddenly ran up to Onizuka in a panic.
"Um… Instructor Onizuka, one bullet is missing…"
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. After all the guns were returned to the armory, I counted again. One live round is missing."
The assistant instructor glanced toward Jinpei. "Well… actually one gun hasn't been returned yet. Matsuda's is still disassembled."
'That brat again.'
'Not a single student in my class gives me peace.'
Clenching his fist, Onizuka walked over to Jinpei.
"Matsuda, why haven't you put it back together yet?"
"Huh?" Jinpei replied, hands in his pockets. "You told me to stand still, remember?"
"…Forget it. Hand over the bullet you're hiding, or you'll be punished."
"I didn't take any bullet!"
"Then who else could it be? Stop lying!"
The two were practically nose-to-nose, shouting at each other, when Ritsu stepped forward.
"Matsuda didn't take it. I watched him fire all his bullets."
If it wasn't him, then who?
Onizuka frowned deeply. Hiding live ammunition was a serious matter. If that bullet caused an accident, his career as a police officer would be over.
Just then, two workers in orange uniforms walked over.
"Instructor Onizuka, we're repairing the roof. Could we come inside to check the work?"
"Sure. I'll guide you."
Onizuka turned to Ritsu. At this stage, he could only trust the most reliable student in the class.
"Sasajima, please find out who hid that bullet."
"Understood."
"So that old geezer isn't suspecting me anymore?" Jinpei muttered irritably.
"Yeah. Matsuda, please help me find the real culprit."
"Tch. What a pain."
Ritsu carefully replayed the scene in his mind.
He could rule out several people he had observed closely, because while they were shooting he had been mentally tallying their scores. He knew for certain they had used all their bullets.
That meant the culprit had to be among the remaining students.
But who?
Just as he was about to observe the dozen or so students' reactions—
CRASH!
A loud noise came from above.
A hole suddenly appeared in the roof, and a worker wearing a safety harness fell through.
"Watch out!"
Onizuka, who had just reached the second floor, didn't hesitate for even a second. He vaulted over the railing and lunged forward.
Trying to steady the falling worker with his hands, he didn't notice the loop of rope swinging in midair.
By sheer bad luck, it slipped around his neck.
"Ugh—!"
"Oh no! The safety rope is wrapped around the instructor's neck!"
The students erupted into chaos.
Unlike the panicking crowd, the members of Onizuka's class remained remarkably calm.
Date looked at the accident and said,
"Hey… you guys know what to do, right?"
"Of course."
Rei looked at Ritsu.
"Ritsu, can you handle the shooting? I'll catch the instructor and the worker."
"Your shooting is perfectly fine too. Leave the heavy lifting to me."
Ritsu maintained his usual expressionless face but cracked a rare joke.
"I'm taller than you."
"You… fine. Got it."
"Alright, guys, let's move!" Date shouted.
He ran directly beneath Onizuka, slightly bent his knees, and stacked his hands together in front of him.
"Morofushi!!"
"On it!"
Morofushi sprinted forward and leapt upward. His left foot landed on Date's stacked hands.
With perfect coordination, Morofushi boosted himself up and landed on Date's broad shoulders.
He stretched his arms upward and supported the unconscious worker.
"Instructor, this should make it easier. Hang in there, my friends will save you soon."
Date gritted his teeth under the weight on his shoulders and laughed.
"Just don't die before then!"
Seeing Onizuka struggling in pain, Rei looked back at Jinpei, who had begun reassembling the revolver.
"How much longer?"
"One round."
"Three minutes? That long?"
Holding a screwdriver, Jinpei replied,
"Assembling it only takes thirty seconds. But the gun's malfunctioning, I need to recalibrate the accuracy."
After a brief pause, he added.
"After all… we only have one bullet."
Meanwhile, Hagiwara quickly crouched among the group of students and suddenly exclaimed,
"Huh? Looks like a bullet dropped here!"
The crowd immediately stirred.
Hagiwara carefully observed everyone's reactions. When he noticed one student instinctively reaching toward his pocket, a smile crept across his face.
He stood up and walked straight to the student.
"You're the one who hid the bullet, right?"
"I—I'm sorry… I just wanted to keep it as a souvenir from my first handgun training."
Hagiwara took the bullet and ran toward Jinpei.
"Here. The bullet."
"You should give it to Furuya," Jinpei said as he handed over the revolver. "The gun's ready."
Looking at Rei seriously, he added,
"If you miss… I'll kill you, Zero."
"He won't miss," Ritsu said firmly.
Then he walked toward Onizuka's position, preparing to catch them when they fell.
'Come on.'
'Aim for the rope, Rei.'
'Shoot.'
Bang!
The instant the bullet fired, the rope snapped cleanly.
Ritsu quickly stepped forward, catching the red-faced Onizuka in his arms while grabbing the worker's safety harness with his other hand.
"Safe—"
"Instructor, you're alright now."
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