My eyes widened, "Wait, are you kidding me?" 

Shinsuke shook his head, looking even worse than before as he gripped Fei and Phineas tight, as if his life depended on it, "I-I couldn't find him anywhere, a-and no one has seen him..." 

"We even did a scan of the ship. His Youki wasn't found..." Enma-daiou gripped his fists. 

"But don't we have guard duties all over the place? How would someone sneak in?" Conan frowned, crossing his arms in thought. 

"About that..." Mao spoke up. "T-They disappeared too..." 

"But weren't all the guards last night sub-heads?..." Natsume spoke up. 

The newbies' reaction varied.

FC Touma's eyes widened, "Wait what?!" 

"That can't be!" Sinae gasped, her drills swaying with her shock. 

"Wait, but isn't Conan-kun the head of the detectives?" FC Choiseung frowned. 

"No, I'm not," Conan shook his head. "That was... Occhan..." 

"Otousan..." Ran's eyes held fear in them. Concern. Worry. It was all there. 

Conan gripped her hands, clearly trying to give her comfort.

Knowing that we had to act fast, especially since there was a golden time for everything, I quickly spoke up, "Can we check Keita's room then? There might be clues to what happened there." 

Rantaro nodded, "Good idea. I'll check the CCTV cameras to see what we can find." 

"We'll check the other rooms," OD Limo added. "There's gotta be something we can find." 

Madoka poked her fingers together, "I-I can try to comfort the ones whose friends are lost..." 

"And I'll try to see if we can find anyone else who disappeared," Elsa offered. 

"I'll go with Elsa. I can skim the ship in my Sirenix form," Tecna quickly joined her. 

"Can I join you, Rantaro? I think I've gotten a hang of magical programming," Steven asked the former Adventurer, who nodded, "Sure!" 

"Oniichan and I will check every room in the ship to make sure that we haven't missed a thing," Genki declared. 

"Sounds like a plan," Conan nodded. "Sachiko, wanna join us?" 

"Of course!" she agreed, eyes lighting up. 

"Then Keisuke and I'll ask around." FC Choiseung offered. 

"Sounds good," I nodded. 

Suddenly, we heard an angry "He shouldn't be investigating." behind us, making us turn to see his friend, FC Akino, looking enraged. 

"Eh? Kino-nii?" FC Ayame blinked, worry in her eyes as she gripped FC Akinori's hand, a bit scared of the rage in his eyes. "What's wrong? You seem... out of it." 

"What do you mean, I'm out of it?" his tone had bitterness in it, which concerned me. What was going on here? Why was FC Akino mad at his own best friend? 

"Woah, woah, Akino, chill," Ran walked over, trying to grasp his shoulder. "What's wrong?" 

He violently shook her off, eyes blazing as he spoke, "Rau's gone. So is Chenhua-san... I don't know who did it... But I saw someone last night. Someone I never expected. Choiseung... What the heck were you doing in your dad's room last night?" 

FC Choiseung's eyes widened, and his fists tightened, "I-I don't know what you're talking about..." 

"Don't lie!" FC Akino yelled, tears falling from his cheeks now as he struggled to keep himself calm. FC Ayame was by his side in a flash, rubbing circles on his back to help him calm down. Her own eyes began to waver as she looked at FC Choiseung. The question was clear. 

What was going on?

"I-I... A-Akino... I-I had my reasons," he finally managed to stammer out.

It didn't seem to soothe the anger he felt, "Choiseung, aren't we friends?! Why would you keep it from me?!" 

"Oi, oi, Akino-san, calm down!" FC Keisuke took a step in front of him, followed by Uju and me, ready to protect him if needed. "Please, he has his own reasons!" 

"Isn't it fishy that when everyone was supposedly taken, he oh so happened to be in the room?" FC Akino hissed out. "Don't you think he at least has something to do with it?"

"Akino, calm down!" Genki held him back, while FC Choiseung's eyes had tears in them. "This isn't the way to solve it-" 

"WHAT IF HE DID THIS BECAUSE RAU AND I LIKED EACH OTHER, BUT NONE OF US SAW HIM THAT WAY AS WELL?!" 

The silence that followed was deafening. FC Ayame's mouth went wide, eyes filled with disbelief, while FC Akinori, Natsume and Touma looked shaken to the core. The LEs were just as surprised at the honest statement. 

However, FC Keisuke seemed to grow angry, shown when he stomped over and got into his face, "Excuse me? So, just because he acts like a lost puppy sometimes, you accuse him of KIDNAPPING his own DAD AND FRIEND?! What is wrong with you?! I thought you would know by now how Choiseung-san is! Have you forgotten that it's not just you and Rau-san? Have you forgotten that Choiseung-san can fight, unlike you?! If you haven't, then stop! Looking! Down! On! Him! Leave him alone! He didn't do anything wrong to you!" 

"O-Oi FC Keisuke!" Kuuka pulled him back, looking a bit alarmed and worried over the tears falling from FC Akino's cheeks. "You need to calm down now!" 

The guy, avoiding Beom and Young's comforting hands, stormed away, pushing away anyone close by. He left his own friend crying as he fell to the ground. 

Uju placed his hand on FC Keisuke's shoulders, drawing circles as much as he could. His eyes relayed understanding, yet the breathing didn't seem to calm down. 

Conan quickly went to FC Choiseung, Genki on his trail, so that left some other people for that. Myself included. 

I closed my eyes, remembering what my OD self had told me when I had arrived, earlier than most. 

"Some of them haven't managed to break out of the pain that pulled them down. It's up to you guys to help them come out of it, okay?"

My feet moved on its own, and soon I was in front of him. 

I closed my eyes. I remembered what I had been until Aruki and Makho had helped me. It had been so painful. 

He was feeling the same pain too. The pain of hiding who you truly are. I had heard the stories, and it reminded me so much of Sukei, but Sukei who hadn't been given closure in time. 

It scared me. 

I had to do something to help.

So, I went down to my knees and gave him a smile, before enveloping him into a hug. One that gave a warmth I hadn't been given until stopping my Acnee. 

"D-Dukun?" his tone held surprise. Genuine surprise that nearly broke me at the edges. 

"You did good, FC Keisuke. I won't say that it was in the right way, but you were honest. Step one to preventing yourself from breaking down. I'm proud of you for that," I truthfully told him. "Hold your head high. We need every person we can get if we want to find out the truth behind these disappearances, and to clear FC Choiseung's name." 

"Yeah," Sukei nodded with a smile on his face. "Come on, FCSuke. We have a case to solve!" 

"We can't slack off, ya know," Rantaro winked. "Keita will have our heads if we do that." 

"Not even a question," Sachiko giggled. 

Despite all his worries, I could see it fading off when FC Keisuke laughed, "Alright then. I just hope that Choiseung-san is okay." 

"Don't worry about me," FC Choiseung walked over, Conan and Genki on either side as he smiled. "I'm good now. Sorry for worrying you, Keisuke, and thanks for standing up for me back there." 

"It's nothing," FC Keisuke grinned. "I was... kinda inspired by someone..." 

At that, his face went a bit red, eyes landing on Uju for a while. 

I had to resist a grin. As nice as this was, we had to focus, "That's good. Now, we need to start investigating. You guys ready?" 

They all nodded, their faces growing serious. 

It was time to start our search.