Hope for Us

Ran pursed her lips in deep thought, tidying up the tables as the latest patrons left. The Blue Parrot was finally quiet, save for Kaito and Shin’ichi bickering in the back. The day had been rather fruitful, with people coming in and out with items to repair and requests to be made, but there was one unanswered that stayed on her mind. 

“We really need a witch on our team.” It wasn’t a question but a statement of fact — Shin’ichi could make the parts Kaito needed to repair nearly any machine someone could bring and Ran could help heal their hearts, but there were some troubles that they couldn’t fix, with just the three of them. 

Kaito bristled at the implication, “I’m deft enough at magic! I can handle anything that comes up at café!”

“You didn’t have the time today, while repairing the automaton for Sonoko.” Shin’ichi interjected, meeting Ran’s eyes. It seemed like he understood where she was coming at. “If you’re registered as our team’s Witch, then we’d need a new Craftsman — which means they’ll need to be able to keep up with the rest of us and meet whatever ridiculous requirements you have. Or Ran becomes our Craftsman, I switch into her Bard role and we somehow convince Sera to become our new Hacker.”

Kaito frowned, bregrudiginly admitting that would be a worse outcome. “Yeah, nope, that’s not going to work.”

“Then we need to find a Witch,” Ran repeated. “Preferably one that isn’t already attached to a team.” The first person she had considered, of course, was Kazuha, but she lived so far away in Osaka and came paired with her own Craftsman that it wasn’t worth even trying to get in touch.

“I… might know one,” Kaito admitted in a small voice. “She’s probably the most powerful Witch I’ve ever seen since my old man, but she’s… a bit eccentric. And I know she refused to team up with Ahouko and Hakubastard in the past, so there’s no telling if she’ll work with us.” 

But even as he said that, Kaito was writing down directions so that Ran could try to find this so called master witch of Ekoda. She’ll convince the Scarlet Temptress to join their team — or at least do the very best.

As dusk settled around town, Ran found herself in a quiet neighborhood in Ekoda. On her way to the woods, Ran passed a plethora of ramshackled buildings, abandoned decades ago and left to disrepair after the great calamity. It’s one of the reasons that made the Scarlet Manor stand out among the trees (the other was the absolutely uncanny resemblance to the Kudo Mansion that she, Kaito, and Shin’ichi called home when they were in town).

The large brass doorknocker was warm beneath her hands as she clacked it against the door — blam, blam-blam! A groan rang as if the house was waking up from a deep slumber before the door inched open, a clear invitation. Ran stepped inside, a blithe “Sorry for the intrusion!” on her lips, only to choke on her words. 

Standing in front of her was a person, tall and imposing, more monster than man and making something cold settle in her stomach. The large man smiled and somehow it didn’t make Ran feel better. “My mistress will see you in the parlor,” he advised, already turning around and heading deeper within the mansion, a nonverbal request to follow after. Ran did, taking care to both remember the way and admire the decor. There was, in Ran’s opinion, quite a lot to be admired — grand showings of wealth and prosperity was rare. Soon enough the man brought her to a door, which he opened with aplomb. 

The parlor was alit with ghostly flames, casting strange shadows around the corners of the room. Ran took it all in with a quick glance, but her attention stayed mostly on the figure in the room. Koizumi Akako — better known as the Scarlet Temptress — lived up to her name, lounging on a chaise, a wine red robes wrapped around her and a snake headband adorning her reddish brown hair. Despite the careless way she sat, Koizumi stared at Ran with a sharp, unforgiving gaze.

“Lady Koizumi, it’s very nice to meet you.” Ran bowed to her. “I’m Mouri Ran and I was hoping to beseech youyour assistance at a cafe I and my friends volunteer at.”

“I’m sure Kuroba-kun told you I wasn’t interested in their dogged do-good agenda. What could you offer that my old friends couldn’t?” Koizumi asked, an elegant brow raised.

Ran wasn’t perturbed by Koizumi knowing who she worked with — Kaito had warned her ahead of time. “Well, friends for one. A reason to leave your house and interact with people for another.” She felt like she had a similar conversation ages ago, when she convinced Shin’ichi to start volunteering at repair cafes with her, instead of chasing down trouble and dead bodies. Kaito, on the other hand, needed no cajoling, but rather a steady hand to make sure he didn’t go overboard. “And honestly? It’s a waste, someone pretty as you hardly getting out there, especially when she can do some good. You’re quite well-known but you’re allowing your talents to waste away like this. I don’t know what Nakamori-san and Hakuba-san said to you, but I can promise that, if you join up with us, you’ll have three people in your corner, willing to go where you’re needed and be there for you.” Just like how she and Shin’ichi helped find Uncle Tōichi’s murderer or the others helped her find her father after he went missing after an investigation in the ruins of Tokyo.

The response made the witch pause, sitting up and doing nothing to hide her inquisitive gaze. A snap of her fingers and a table and chair materialized in front of her chaise. “Come, let us talk.”

Ran took the invitation, striding up and sitting down on the offered chair. Koizumi’s assistant came in with  a tea set and delicate looking cakes before disappearing into the ether of the manor once again. Then the two women hashed out details over the next several hours including frequency (“We volunteer at least twice a week at The Blue Parrot, sometimes more, as we can since we all have other work we do around town. Hours vary, sometimes we only stay for the evening, other times we’re there from sun up to sun down.”), compensation (“So there’s no pay?” “It defeats the purpose of volunteering although we do get free food and drinks and the people who we help are more than happy to help us in turn in many ways.”) and other things.

“I suppose,” Koizumi started, after taking another dainty bite of a cake, “that it would be interesting to spread my influence in town. On a trial basis, of course.”

A trial basis was good enough for Ran! With the other woman’s promise, Ran took the chance, leaning in to leave a chaste kiss on the other’s lips. “See you bright and early the day after tomorrow Akako-chan! You’ll see just how much fun it is helping others!” Ran quirked a smile at Akako’s startled look, although if it was at the kiss or the familiar address she wasn’t sure. With that, Ran got up and made her leave, nodding towards Akako’s assistant on her way out.

It was certainly looking up and Ran just couldn’t wait to get to The Blue Parrot and see the Witch in action soon.