Chapter 6

By Crystal Snowflakes

Author's Notes: Sorry for the late chapter... I hope you guys enjoy this!

Detective Conan does not belong to me.

Tetsu looked at the two sitting in the front seats, somewhat frustrated himself. This... Kudo Shinichi. Who was he? Why did his name sound so darn familiar, other than that fact that he was a famous detective? There was something else... How had he managed to make us stay at this...professor's house? Kids? When they were kids? Childhood friends?

"How's Ayumi-chan, Genta-kun and Mitsuhiko-kun?"

Shinichi glanced at Tetsu in the back, then at her from the corner of his eyes, "They miss Conan-kun and Haibara-san very much... Especially when the both of them decided to leave Japan at the same time..."

"That can't be helped..."

Haibara? What was with that? And Shiho... He has never called her Mika... Only a forced Shizuma-san. Who is this woman I've called Shizuma Mika? Who is this woman that I've befriended so long ago. Her whole body language has changed... Indifferent, cold...

"How's you and Ran-chan?" She asked.

Tetsu watched her hand clench.

The detective put his hand over hers, a seemingly friendly action, but Tetsu narrowed his eyes nonetheless. "I'm sorry, Shiho."

"It's not your fault." She pried his hand off hers.

That's it! Kudo Shinichi...

...His name is Kudo Shinichi by the way... But it's most likely that Professor Agasa is going to pick it up. It's not Shinichi's house, but he hangs out there more than he hangs out at his own house.

So my friend... She's done nothing but miss this one man that she left... And that man is the famous detective known all over Japan, Kudo Shinichi! What next? Kaitou Kid? Tetsu snorted to himself. Yeah right.

Takagami Tetsu had absolutely no idea of what he had gotten into...

As she stepped into the house, another sense of nostalgia surrounded her... It was so strong that it almost made her fall on her knees... Her eyes drifted towards the kitchen where she had often made food for Agasa, later for Shinichi, Heiji and Kaito. Then they drifted towards the stairs where her room would be...

An old man with a lab coat ran out, yelling the famous detective's name. "Shinichi-kun! You're here!" He paused slightly, studying the visitors. His eyes widened, his mouth dropping open. A second later, a small smile appeared.

"Agasa..." She smiled softly.

"Ai-kun!" His smile kept widening as he rushed over to her to give her a bear hug. "How are you? How have you been? Where have you gone?" Questions upon questions come pouring out of his mouth, non-stoppable.

Shinichi chuckled and laid his hand on the professor's shoulder, "Agasa, let her answer, jeez!"

The professor nodded, "I'll go get us some tea."

Tetsu couldn't help but feel lonely. He had no idea as to what was going on... And it didn't help that his friend had suddenly turned into another person.

As the jolly professor disappeared through the kitchen, the great detective turned around, "He missed you... He thought about you as a daughter, you know... We were so devastated to find you gone..."

"I told you I would be leaving."

"You promised you would wait for me."

"I..."

He shrugged as he talked towards the television, then took the photo stand sitting on the screen. He passed it to her, "Remember Shiho? The last day?"

She gave a weak smile as she studied it, then passed it to Tetsu, who was looking over her shoulder, "Who could I ever forget? It was one of the most memorable day of my life..."

"Except you were held hostage."

Ai chuckled, "We both know that things just happen around you. You have the best luck for murders..."

Tetsu stared at the picture in his hands... The red hair was a dead giveaway. It was unmistakable. He almost chuckled at the similarity of the younger and older version of Kudo Shinichi. Both with those piercing blue eyes and unruly black hair... He frowned as he studied the picture more... Those eyes... The eyes of an adult. His eyes glanced over to Mika and he felt a shiver and the hair of his back stand up... The cold eyes... He studied the other three children, who looked exactly what little kids should look like... But the other two...

He looked up at the two, suddenly feeling that there was a lot of things he didn't know about his friend. At this thought, the hair of his neck stood up dangerously again. Just who are you, Shizuma Mika? Is that even your name? Who is Haibara? Ai? Or Shiho... What have you been hiding from us that you can't tell us? Whatever it is, I'll be damned if I don't find out by the end of our vacation...

Tetsu lifted his eyes up from the picture as he studied his friend's body language again. The eyes had definitely changed... Although not the most joyful person in the world before, she was nowhere this cold. Her eyes were becoming more and more of those on the picture, and it scared him. There was a small amused smirk on her face that looked so absolutely out of place... Where was the tiny and somewhat shy smile on her face? Or was that all just an act? He shook himself out of his reverie when the phone starting ringing.

"Moshi moshi?" The professor picked up, a cheerful expression on his face as his eyes crinkled with laughter. "Ah! Ran-kun!" He exclaimed as his eyes went from Mika to Shinichi, "Shinichi-kun! It's for you."

Shinichi took the phone, "Ran?" He laughed suddenly as he scratched his head, "Yeah, sorry I forgot to phone... I saw a friend during the case... Who? It's Hai—" He stopped abruptly as he realized his mistake.

There it is again. Haibara. Is Mika Haibara? If so, why doesn't she tell me?

"Shizuma Mika." He nodded, "The one you saw two years ago... Yeah... Yeah, the one that looks like Ai-chan."

Tetsu watched Mika flinched at 'Ai-chan'.

"Ai-chan and Conan? The shrimp? He called me a few days ago. He said he was having fun and that he and Ai-chan were at the top of his classes, but that's nothing new..." He paused, "I'll get him to call you next time. Yeah, I'll make sure, I know you miss him. Ai-chan's living with him, yes. Hey Ran? I'll talk to you tomorrow, all right?" He paused again. "Yes, I know Hattori's coming over this Saturday. We'll go pick him up and yes, I'll call Kuroba up tonight to tell him. And Aoko-san. I'll talk to you later though." He nodded, "All right, good night, love you too." He finally hung up and looked sheepishly at the three of them.

Mika only raised her eyebrow at his antics. "Hattori-kun? Kuroba-kun? Saturday?"

The detective scratched his head again, "Yeah... Hattori's coming over with Toyama-san. Ran wants me to tell Kuroba and his girlfriend as well... Sort of like a reunion thing, you know."

"Oh dear god... Pretend I didn't come back."

He laughed, "Naw... Hattori and Kuroba have been asking about you."

Tetsu yawned as the sunlight woke up him. Groaning and stretching out, he stood up and grabbed a change of clothes. He was surprised at the size of the house... There were so many rooms and bathrooms! And the Professor didn't even have a need for it...

Brushing his teeth and combing his hair, he then changed and began walking down the stairs, surprised to hear children's voices...

"Yoshida-chan! Will you please stop playing around with the cereal?"

A girlish giggle, "Mika-neechan, you could call me Ayumi-chan, you know."

"Shinichi-niichan!" A snort, "Are you cheating on Ran-neechan? Because I'm going to tell her!"

"Genta!" Shinichi yelped. "I'm not cheating on Ran!"

Tetsu walked down, his eyes widening. The Professor was nowhere to be seen, but Mika was trying to get a young girl to stop giggling and playing around with the cereal while the famous detective was having trouble controlling two boys. One was as skinny as a stick, the other... He shook his head, "Morning."

The little girl's eyes brightened and she hopped off her chair and approached him. "You're Tetsu-niichan, right?" She asked shyly.

He crouched down and patted her head gently, "Ayumi-chan?"

She nodded feverishly. "Yup!"

"Don't you have school today?"

She nodded again, "Yup, but we come to the Professor's house once a week to have breakfast, just to see if our friend called us..."

"Your friend...?"

"He moved away two years ago, and we miss him tons, so we always look forward to seeing him." She glanced at him shyly. Suddenly, he noticed that both the adults were quiet. Shinichi's eyes darkened slightly. "You come from America, right?"

Tetsu shook his head, "Not America, but I visit there sometimes... We live in Canada."

She looked thoughtful, "Ca-na-da..." She pronounced cutely. "But you still go to America, right?"

He nodded, wondering where this was going to lead to.

"I'm sure you've heard of him then! Edogawa Conan! He's very smart and intelligent!" She grinned a toothy grin. "He's smarter than Shinichi-niichan, even! And he's only the same age as us." Her grin faltered slightly, "But he moved..."

"I'm sure he'll come visit. Maybe I've seen him, do you have any pictures of him?" Tetsu was almost sure that he's never seen him, but it didn't hurt giving a little child hope... He watched as the other two children pout.

Ayumi somehow climbed on the table and reached for the picture on the television set. "He always calls Shinichi-niichan... But never us... And Ai-chan..." She smiled softly, "I think Ai-chan likes Conan-kun too, so I'm glad they moved together..."

Tetsu watched Mika flush slightly.

"Here you go, Tetsu-niichan!" Ayumi passed the picture to Tetsu. She pointed towards the boy with the glasses, "That's Conan-kun... He looks like a dork with those on." She giggled, "And then..." She pointed to the reddish blond, "That's Ai-chan... I miss her..."

Tetsu's eyes widened as he looked at Mika. "Mika..."

Shinichi cleared his throat, "Ayumi-chan? Genta? Mitsuhiko? I think it's time for you to go to school... You're going to be late soon."

Mitsuhiko nodded his head, "Shinichi-niichan is right." He turned to Mika, "Thanks for the breakfast, Mika-neechan! I'll see you in a while?"

She nodded, her eyes still on her shocked friend.

As the three children left the house, Tetsu put the photo frame where it belonged, but glanced at both Shinichi and Mika. "Correct me if I'm wrong..." He muttered, "But I'm assuming that the two in the pictures... Ai-chan is Shizuma Mika... And Conan-kun is Kudo Shinichi." At their silence, he shook his head, disbelieving, "How is that possible...?"

Author's Notes: I hope you guys enjoyed that... I don't think it was as good as it should've been, but oh wellz... And... next chapter will be a confession... I think.

Crystal Snowflakes

Sunday, March 13, 2005