T.A series volume 1: The Extinction Heist

Chapter 32 - The Talentless Heiress

It was early evening when Ran decided to head home.

After several days of info collecting intel and discussing, Ranran granted everyone a break before instructing everyone to play their part, while the rest of the kids remain back at HQ to rush with their homework.

For Ran, however, her Tousan (dad), Mouri Kogoro, is out on a case as a private Tantei and is very likely to be back home within an hour, so she decided to head home ahead to prepare dinner. Since her mother move out of the house, Ran had always been the one in charge of the cooking, finances, even as far as cleaning up the beer cans and cigarettes cluttered on her father's desk.

Outsiders might assume Mouri Kogoro and Eri Kisaki (her mother) are inept parents to their 6-year-old daughter. After all, they did marry in their twenties and have a kid the same year before establishing their careers. Ran was the one who had to bear the things her mother used to be in charge of before she became a successful lawyer when her mother moved out of the family house, leaving her daughter behind. It's no surprise that people look down on her because her father drinks a lot whenever he doesn't have any clients for his detective firm.

Others may believe this is terrible parenting from afar, yet in Japan, children are expected to be self-sufficient from an early age. Though it is uncommon nowadays, there are children Ran's age that would handle housework and cooking when their parents are not around. You might be startled to see some youngsters their age out on their own at night, hanging out with others. It's no surprise that Ran was in charge of everything. Anyone in Ran's position would immediately believe her parents were awful for leaving their little child to do all of these things.

And there were right in some ways. However, Ran knew better.

She had personally heard accounts from Shinichi about crimes against children their age, where they were continually beaten up black and blue, tormented, and even tortured to such degrees that it gave the parents who did this to the joy. Although her parents were a little reckless, they did consider her wellbeing by not divorcing. Although the kids at their school are tough on kids from broken homes, they are more tolerant of children with separated parents since there is a potential that the parents will reconcile (which Ran is certain her parents still have feelings for one another despite the split).

Moreover, despite being wrong about several things in life, her parents never once struck her. Her mother would make an effort to take time away from work to take her shopping or to dine at a café, as her father had frequently raised her to avoid substances like drugs and alcohol while questioning how her day at school was.

Even though Mouri Kogoro drinks a lot and can be seen hanging out with pretty hostesses in bars, if he ever comes home with sake, cigarette packs, or booze bottles as a gift from his clients (or if he purchases it himself), he would make sure it is 500 percent locked up in a cabinet where he knew his daughter can never reach. If he consumes one of them, he will make sure the can and bottle will not be left with a single drop, and even ensure the cigarettes he uses are so fully extinguished, his 6-year-old daughter can never try any of them out of curiosity. Those were the signs of their love towards their daughter despite how messed up it may look for others, and Ran can see the signs.

Of course, this wasn't fully safe proof because the kids at school still look down on her parents' marriage by gossiping and criticizing her. Ran is thankful that she still has Suzuki Sonoko to accompany her during times like this.

Ran had brought a somewhat fatigued Sonoko home for an early dinner after another day of hiding from an angry riot of children, as Sonoko had been forced to miss lunch to flee from those hostile kids. They walked through the sun-drenched streets to Ran's house, whose apartment is above Tousan's detective business.