AN: Okay, okay. So, I'm horrible and insensitive and a jerk for making you guys wait for so long...but damn, I really wanted to live up

to the expectations you've placed on this story and I hope I'm doing justice.

FEEDBACK - please, after so long, I need to know if this is any good. PLEASE!

Do let me know how you liked it!

Enjoy~

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"Dialogues"

'Thoughts'

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TO Disconsolate Mist: Thanks a lot for helping me revise this story! Without your help and constant encouragement, I would not be posting this chapter now! Thank you so much!

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ALSO: To Rockster, if you're reading this story of mine – sorry! For my absence and being unable to reply to your encouraging reviews that I definitely read! It really encourages me to push on and write – so thank you for that! I will try and update as soon as I can! I'm so, so sorry to keep you, and all my other readers waiting!

Chapter 3: A Challenge From The West

It had been hard for Conan to accept the fact that all this could have been avoided if his parents had confronted him normally, instead of setting up that farce of a kidnapping. The anger he felt was justified, and though he knew that his parents would be worrying about him, he could not find it in himself to call them and talk about it.

It was irrational, but as long as the hurt and anger simmered in his veins, it was best to refrain from calling them and let himself cool down first. Besides, the letter he'd sent to Hakase would have at least reassured them that he was safe, even if the reason for all that cautiousness was a moot point, now that he realised the truth.

One thing that he'd realized from the whole 'kidnapping' was that the amount of danger he or anyone close to him could be in. Now, even though he knew that it was staged by his parents, he would be taking this lesson to heart and never letting anyone know his true identity – as Conan or Shinichi – when he was Daichi (Detective Boys notwithstanding).

So, in an attempt to divert his mind from truth of the events that was that fateful kidnapping, Conan had thrown himself into research. The Shounen Tantei-dan, never one to let Conan hog cases for himself, had demanded that they be allowed to help. And with the danger factor now considerably reduced, as well as the fact that this was mere research, he had complied.

Thus, the four primary school students had ensconced themselves in a corner of the vast library in Beika, glancing through newspapers and articles for any odd, unsolved cases in the past couple of years.

"Why unsolved cases, Co – Daichi-kun?" Ayumi had asked.

"Because, this criminal has committed a crime before, and since he has not yet been caught, there must a mention of it somewhere in the papers,"

"Is it a murder case then?" Mitsuhiko questioned, "You usually solve those cases with," he lowered his voice to a whisper, "with Mouri-no-oji-san, don't you?"

Conan chuckled, "Not necessarily, it could be anything,"

And that was true. When Shinichi had encountered the men in black the first time, they were carrying out an illegal transaction at Tropical Land. They had also murdered, undoubtedly, he'd gotten that vibe from Gin almost immediately. Who knew what else were involved in?

Two hours later, the children had had enough. And really, that they had lasted two whole hours was a commendable feat. But in the end, they were kids and staying still in a place to research did not comply with their boundless energy that demanded them to play out in the open. But they did have a few results to show for their work. Sifting through the news articles, all four of them had listed down quite a few unsolved and mysterious cases.

"Yosh, let's go and play football now!" Genta cheered.

"Yes! Let's go!" Ayumi agreed, "You're coming along, ne, Daichi-kun?"

Conan smiled, "Of course, it's been a while since we've played football together. Be prepared, I'm not going to go easy on you."

"That's fine!" Mitsuhiko said happily, "As long as you're playing…"

Tsujimura Toshimitsu had been a college professor in his youth; a decent job with a decent pay. He'd married a respectable woman who had given birth to a son, Tsujimura Isao, who had grown up to be a diplomat.

This much was well known to the public if one bothered to search for it. But when Conan had come upon a case, as he read through old newspapers in the library along with Ayumi, Mitsuhiko and Genta, that listed Tsujimura Toshimitsu as a witness to a bank robbery, he knew he had to pry deeper.

The robbery had taken place five years ago, but one did not forget such traumatic incidents easily. The main point was that the robbers had not been apprehended – robbers who wore all black and carried guns with them. That did not say much really, as most criminals wore dark clothing, but it was something to check out nonetheless, as an unsolved crime.

Those particular robbers may or may not be a part of the organisation, but he could leave no stone unturned. Thus, shedding his Fuyuhiko Daichi persona – and applying a generous amount of concealer all over himself to make his skin look paler than Daichi's yet persistent tan – Edogawa Conan had been revived. He had taken the dusty suit to a coin-operated Laundromat to clean and dry it and worn his complimentary white button-up and grey trouser-shorts to go with it. The red bow-tie was also back on his collar, as were the glasses.

Looking into a mirror at the public restroom, he was astounded at the difference he saw. Conan smiled; it was a perfect. He looked exactly like the old Conan, with no hint of Daichi peeking through. Making sure to place all other important accessories in his coat pockets – money, house keys, detective badge (it was his only means of communication now as he no longer had a mobile, even if it was only with the kids), the suspenders too – he then strapped his watch upon his wrist and walked out of the rest room.

While it was not necessary to carry all his gadgets with him, it gave him a sense of security. That should he be in any sort of dangerous situation, he was not completely vulnerable. Never did he want to feel the amount of helplessness as he had when his parents had decided to play that prank on him.

That had been frightening on a whole other level, something that left him feeling vulnerable even days after the incident. The fear had taken root so deeply in his mind that, had they not been his parents, it was likely that he would never have taken on the identity of Edogawa Conan again.

The reason he went as Conan and not Daichi, was that he wished to keep their lives as separate as possible. He did not want Daichi and his new family, the Tsuchida's, to face any consequences of Conan's actions.

First making his way to the bank; the site of crime; he started a conversation with one of the patrons, childishly inquiring about their purpose here and how long they'd been coming to this particular branch. Out of all those he'd interviewed, consciously enough to not rouse any undue suspicions, only a few of them had been coming since five years. And none of them had been present at the robbery half a decade ago.

After enquiring at the closest police station – which had not yielded any more information than what he'd gleaned from the library – he headed to a café to eat.

"Damn, it's nearly 1:00 pm," Conan muttered, "I should go make that call to Tsujimura –"

Stopping suddenly, Conan realised that he'd never called Ran. Not as Shinichi, but as Conan.

'The need for security had been paramount then,' Conan exhaled, 'but now that I know I'm not truly in any danger, I should call Ran as Conan and tell her that I'm safe…and what about Edogawa Fumiyo?' He scratched his head in frustration, 'Damn it, Kaa-san! Creating unnecessary problems! What should I say now? That I'm living with her? If so, then where? And why am I not in school any longer?'

Conan plopped down on a chair at the only empty table left at the outdoor café – Machiko's Sunday Specials, which boasted the best coffee in the area and the reason Conan had chosen it – and pulled out his notebook. Flipping through the pages to come upon Tsujimura Toshimitsu's number, he decided to let the matter of Ran and Conan rest.

"Hey, kid," a cheerful waiter asked him, "Are you alone?"

Conan looked up, giving the man a smile, "Aa, I'll have an iced-coffee, please. And a large sandwich."

"Okay," the man looked slightly doubtful at a kid ordering a caffeinated brew, but complied to the requests of the customer, "it's lunch time now, and we're in a bit of rush. It will take a while, is it alright?"

"Sure," Conan chirped, "take your time!"

Besides, he planned to sit here and go over his notes for a while; it would be no bother to him at all.

"I'm going to make a call at that pay phone there," Conan pointed at a booth around the corner of the street, "so don't give my seat away to anyone, okay Onii-san?"

"No problem, kid," the waiter laughed.

That done, Conan made his way to the phone and dialled in Tsujimura Toshimitsu's number. Clearing his throat, he attempted to deepen his voice without his bow-tie,

"Hello, Tsujimura Toshimitsu-san?"

"Yes," the old man answered, "Who am I speaking to?"

"This is Edogawa Conan, a detective," the man gave a surprised sound at that and Conan hurried, "please, do not worry. I only wish to speak to you about a bank robbery you were witness to some five years ago."

"Five years?" Toshimitsu asked, "That's a long time…"

"Well, it is necessary for a certain investigation of mine and any details you could tell me about the incident would be great,"

"Well," the man seemed to hesitate before agreeing, "Okay. That's fine, lad. I'll be at my son's place today. Come over at three, is it acceptable?"

"Perfectly," Conan smiled, "thank you, Tsujimura-san. I will meet you at 3:00 pm then."

Taking down the address for Tsujimura Isao's house, Conan set the receiver down. Conan debated over calling Ran, but remembering that she'd still be in school at the moment, he decided against it. Later, perhaps. Now, he had to kill some time before his appointment.

'Man,' Heiji sighed, adjusting his carry bag as his shoulder ached slightly, 'Tokyo streets sure are confusing. Luck is not on my side today.'

Hattori Heiji, Great Detective of the West, had arrived in Tokyo early morning. Speaking to a few random Teitan students had confirmed his suspicions – Kudo was nowhere to be found. He'd spent a while pondering his next course of action, but ultimately decided to take a break and think over it first. If nothing came of it, he'd have to visit the Mouri family – Kogoro's sudden rise to fame had to have some connection with Kudo. Not to mention the Suzuki girl's insinuation that Mouri Ran was Kudo's girlfriend…

"Let's have lunch first," Heiji decided, walking determinedly to the nearest café he'd spotted, "Tha' Mouri girl mustn't have come home from school yet, anyway."

Unfortunately the café was filled. Heiji sighed and wondered if it was worth waiting to see if a table cleared up or if he should just go find another café when one empty booth entered his field of vision.

'Well,' Heiji shrugged, 'Looks like luck is on my side fer lunch at least.'

Okay, so Heiji took back what he said. He was not lucky. When he found out from the waiter that the table was already taken by a young kid, he'd been fine with sharing it. The table could seat four, what was one more kid? Having a six year old in a pretentious blue suit and red bow-tie blink up curiously at him as he gobbled his way through his lunch was creepy though.

Heiji had never been good with kids, but he knew that none of them were ever so quiet. The kid wasn't shy – he conversed quite well with the waiter – but around Heiji, he was surprisingly tight-lipped. And that was a good thing, seeing how Heiji wanted little to do with his accidental lunch companion, but if only he wouldn't stare at him so!

'Geez,' Heiji sighed, 'Kids…I'll never understand them.'

Heiji had just thought he might escape talking to the kid at all, when the brat spoke up at last.

"Did Onii-san find them?"

"Huh?" Heiji blinked, then smirked, "Find them? What makes you think I was looking for someone?"

The boy shrugged, a small grin on his lips that quickly disappeared behind his glass of ice-tea. Oh, this might just turn out to be good, Heiji thought in glee – an aspiring detective? He knew he was quite similar when he used to be a kid.

"Onii-san's accent makes it sound like he's from the Kansai region," the kid began, "so what's he doing in Tokyo? Especially on a school day?"

Then tone changing, he began to speak less childishly, "You've obviously come for a reason. There's a map sticking out of your bag, so you were trying to go somewhere. If you'd arranged to meet someone, you'd have called them for directions. But here you are, wandering about for quite some time, so they don't know you're looking for them probably."

"Spot on so far," Heiji nodded with a grin, taking a huge gulp of his water, "And wha' else?"

At the clear encouragement, the boy perked up, "Might have come early too, since the only trains from Kansai to Tokyo is the one that arrives at 8:am, 10:am and two hours henceforth. This cafe's not anywhere near the station, so you've been wandering. Question is, did you find them?"

Heiji barked out a laugh, "Yer gonna become a good detective when ya grow up, bozu. Ever thought of that?"

Surprisingly, the boy scowled, "I am a detective! I won't become one when I grow up, because I already am…" Then perhaps realizing that it sounded kiddish, he narrowed his eyes, "That's not all I deduced, you know."

"Yeah?"

"Next question is, why? Why come to Tokyo at all? You're in you teens – sixteen, seventeen? – Looking for a relative, an estranged one perhaps? No, not on a school day. You've come by yourself too, no family – you're not here for pleasure, but for work. All the way in Tokyo? Putting that together...an amateur detective, working on a case. And a good one, if you're only in high school. Not a high profile case though, there's no police involved – infidelity, perhaps, or missing person..."

At this, Heiji sat back and stared.

A bit astonished at where his own mind led him, Conan stopped talking. He'd known the moment the dark skinned teen sat down; a puzzle could never be left unsolved by his constantly whirring mind. But, putting words to his subconsciously made deductions and telling them to said teen had just made him realize that it might have not been the best thing to do.

The teen was a detective! He knew detectives – curiosity was their middle name! Show them just a hint of a mystery and they'd follow it to its source. What was he thinking spouting deductions like that?

'Oh, I knew what I was thinking,' Conan sighed, 'We humans, we're such creatures of habit. Without a case, without a mystery, I am so constantly jittery that even the smallest chance to use my abilities...and I pounced on it. I'll have to be cautious from here on…'

The noise of chair scraping against the tiled ground brought Conan out of his thoughts. The other detective was now watching him shrewdly. He suddenly leaned forward in his seat, a hand turning his baseball cap so that its tip faced forward, and he settled down with a calculating look in his eye. Then he spoke:

"That suit of yours; kid sized, fits perfectly and yer comfortable in it. Tha's expensive too, definitely not bought in a thrift store. Rich. Yer used to such comforts. Yer alone here, so yer independent. Parents mus' be away a lot; plus those glasses."

The teen leaned forward then, peering at the spectacles in question with concentration, "Eh, can't really make it out. I'd say ya don't have a number, or ya do but probably in only one eye. Yer six – seven? – so probably genetic or ya read too much. Could be a bit of both. Bow-tie and watch; fancy. Ya like ta show off," here he grinned, clearly understanding the need to be in the spotlight, "and with all tha' deducing ya jus' did. Mystery-lover, geek. Gotta admit I was wrong – yer pretty much a detective already."

Conan quickly closed his unattractively gaping mouth. He leaned behind in his seat, shaking his head with a small laugh, 'Detective, I was right.'

The Osakan turned his cap backwards again and smiled sharply, "Hattori Heiji."

"Edogawa Conan," Conan grinned back.

"Nice seeing ya, bozu," Hattori said, getting up, "I'm off fer now." And he turned away. Without looking back, he continued, "Also, nah. Not yet found him, but won't take me long now!"

'Him, eh?' Conan raised an eyebrow as he watched his fellow detective make his way to the cashier, 'Must be quite the case if he came all the way to Tokyo for it.'

No, no, no! This was not happening!

"Upstairs?" A very familiar voice rang out.

"Yes, please come."

Tsujimura-san got up, "Boya, I'll be back, alright? That's my daughter-in-law just now. I'll greet her and come back."

"Okay," Conan answered, and the old man closed the door to the sitting room behind him.

He'd been questioning the old man with little success since the past half hour, but considering the robbery had been five years ago, he truly hadn't expected much. He'd been about to wrap this whole thing up too, and now...and now, they show up? He was so not prepared for this!

The voice of Mouri Kogoro had been progressively growing louder and Conan was half in a mind to just make a dash for it – politeness be damned. However, only a minute later, the voices faded and the old man returned to the room.

"Conan-kun, would you mind moving this to the guest room?"

The detective smiled up at him, "Oh, it's okay, Tsujimura-san! I'm all done now! I was just going to leave."

The elderly man blinked, but said nothing against that proclamation. Conan trotted down the stairs, where the grandson of the old man and his girlfriend were standing, the man having a mutinous expression on his face.

"Oh, leaving already, Conan-kun?"

"Yeah!" Conan nodded, "I already talked with Oji-san, so I'm going now! See you!"

Conan wanted nothing more to leave. Showing his face to Mouri Kogoro would unravel a whole other ball of yarn – a part of him was curious as to the older detective's presence, but he brushed it off. Could be a simple case of fraudulent activities or something similar. But, what made him truly hesitate, made him want to turn back and run up the stairs, was the second pair of shoes he has at the door.

'Ran!' Conan bit his lip, 'She's here...so close, and yet…'

"Wait, what?! It can't be Oji-sama!" Toshiro cried, "It can't!"

"Ya got proof of that?" Heiji asked.

The vehement denial made Heiji doubt his own words, even though it was the only explanation that made sense at the moment.

Honestly, Heiji did not expect to get entangled in a case. He'd gone to Mouri Detective Agency in the hopes that the girl would be able to give him some clue about Kudo. But no, she'd remained tight-lipped about the entire damn thing!

All he could be convinced about was that Kudo was alive. From the way Mouri was acting, it was like she'd been told to keep her silence – pointedly ignoring all questions about the detective and changing the topic when he was brought up. By whom, though? By Kudo himself?

That would make sense, if not for the fact that Mouri Kogoro seemed to be as clueless and unwilling to give up information on his daughter's boyfriend (something he was starting to doubt now). Would a grown man not worry about his daughter being in a relationship with someone who was constantly absent? Would he even try to cover up for such a person?

No. Heiji was sure there was something else going on here, something – most probably – only the girl knew about. He'd been about to leave the Agency, more questions in his mind than he'd arrived with, when the woman had come in with a case. Then...well, he'd hoped that Kudo would show his face – unless Mouri-han was truly the one solving cases, something which seemed highly improbable so far. Not a shred of genius in the man – but neither the girl nor anyone else was waiting for any such occurrence.

Kudo Shinichi, for all intents and purposes, had completely vanished.

And no one seemed to give a damn.

Heiji turned his attention back to the case then – the old geezer had said nothing to defend himself, but his grandchild had been ready to do so in his stead.

"Yes," Toshiro's girlfriend spoke up, "Oji-sama went nowhere close to Otou-sama's study. Ever since he came, he's been sitting in the upstairs spare room with that little boy."

"Little boy?" Megure-keibu raised a brow, looking over to the Toshimitsu-san, "Is that so?"

"Who was the kid?" Heiji asked, "Also, why were ya with him?"

"A little boy, Conan-kun, he said his name was," the elderly man sighed, "he wanted to ask me something – about a bank robbery that happened five years ago."

Heiji blinked, 'Conan? What are the odds…?'

Heiji doubted there were many kids who'd wander around by themselves, asking old men about bank robbery cases. The "why" though, was pushed away when he saw the Mouri family and the Inspector blink in surprise, taken aback by the answer.

"Oi, Mouri-kun, didn't you say that the kid had returned home?" Megure's hissed question was answered with a silent nod and the inspector turned towards Toshimitsu again, "Describe the boy, please."

"Describe?" The old man parroted in surprise, "Why? The child has nothing to do with the case, does he?"

"No, no! Nothing to worry about. Just routine questions."

Ran seemed to be hanging onto every word the old man said now – Heiji was quite interested in the answer as well – to think that the boy from the cafe had been here...coincidence? What was intriguing though, was that this "kid" seemed to be rather well known, if even the police inspector knew him.

"Young, about seven years old, I'd say," Toshimitsu-san said,using his hand to indicate the child's height, "Had big glasses on. Short, black hair – some strands sticking out in the front– Toshiro, what do we call that?"

"A cowlick," the grandson supplied.

"Ah, yes. That." The man turned back to the inspector, "We were talking for quite some time. He left just after you came though –"

"He left?!" Ran exclaimed, her expression crestfallen.

Heiji turned away from that. Alright, so the old geezer has an alibi. 'Not him then – what have I missed? What clue have I overlooked? I need to go over this from the top once again.' Heiji tuned out the inspector's conversation then, as he went over the case again.

'It's one of them! It has to be...this is not a suicide!'

When Edogawa Fumiyo had turned up at her doorstep all those weeks ago, a part of Ran had been glad. It meant that Conan-kun would be with his family again. After all, no child wishes to remain apart from his own mother for an extended period, right? But not Conan-kun – he'd behaved in a very odd manner – seeming to want to be as far as possible from the woman as he could.

Then, after leaving, the vague promises of calls and visits were totally forgotten. It had been more than two months now, and she'd not heard from Conan-kun at all! Then, all of a sudden, this old man who has been accused of a crime speaks up about him – his only alibi. The singular proof of his innocence.

Ran didn't know what to think of this. What did this mean – had Conan-kun been in the city all this time? Why hadn't he visited? Or called? Children tend to forget quickly, but surely he wouldn't forget them so easily?

'He'd come alone, too,' Ran realised then, 'All alone to visit Toshimitsu-san, regarding a – bank robbery? – Strange...was that something any mother would allow their seven year old child to do?'

But, on the other hand, Conan had always been strangely independent from the get go.

'Something...something is not right here!' Ran worried her lower lip between her teeth, 'Ever since that woman appeared, everything's gone crazy! First Yusaku-san and Yukiko-san, then Shinichi's call. I...don't know what to do…'

And wasn't that the biggest dilemma? What could she do? She was no detective, and she didn't know if she should involve Shinichi's parents in this mess. She remembered though, that Agasa Hakase had said Conan-kun was the nephew of a distant relative. So, perhaps the Kudo's might know something? It wouldn't hurt to ask, would it?

"Ran." The hand on her shoulder jerked her out of her thoughts, "The case is over. Come, let's go."

"Actually, could ya wait a sec?" The dark-skinned detective, Hattori Heiji (Shinichi's self-proclaimed rival, she thought with amusement and a little melancholy) stepped up to them, pointing his thumb over his shoulder, "When that old man said tha' a kid was with him the entire time...ya guys seemed pretty convinced. Mouri-tantei, isn't it correct procedure ta ignore alibi statements without physical proof? All of them could have been makin' it all up. Fictional character, and all tha'..."

"No! Of course not! Conan-kun is real!" Ran seemed pretty surprised at her own outburst, and spoke softer, "I mean...we know Conan-kun. He used to live with us until a couple of months ago. He described him perfectly!"

"Hmm, well," Hattori turned his baseball cap backwards, "just to make sure, could'ja give me his number?"

"Number?" Ran blinked, "I – what? Hattori-kun, I'm sorry, I can't do that."

'Ah well,' Hattori shrugged, 'It was a long shot anyway...besides, there's no reason for me to want that bozu's number aside from curiosity.'

Hattori shrugged off the girl's questions with ease, citing some vague reason as wanting to check up on the man's alibi – but, really, it was complete bull. He'd already found the killer, there was no need for the kid's number. It was also a testament to how distracted the girl was that she didn't even question him as he left.

Honestly, this trip to Tokyo was a waste. He'd hoped to make some headway in his investigation; even the smallest clue about Kudo would do. Naturally, 'Sleeping Kogoro' and his sudden rise to fame had captured his interest, but if he was honest, even the hype around the older detective had died down in the past couple of months – just a small period of fame, and suddenly it was gone.

Why? Was he simply making a mountain of a molehill, or was there truly more to this that he'd not yet uncovered?

'...we know Conan-kun. He used to live with us until a couple of months ago…'

Heiji paused. Wait...Conan-kun! That kid he'd met at the cafe, the kid who'd taken a glance at him and his belongings and immediately guessed what he'd come to Tokyo for!

'No,' Heiji corrected himself, 'not guessed, deduced. And he'd been living with the Mouri's huh? Only 'till a couple of months ago, too… There's something there that is important; the kid and the Mouri's...needs more lookin' into.'

"Move it, move it – don't stand in the middle of the street!"

Heiji muttered an excuse as he stepped away, his gaze falling upon the street sign as he took stock of where he'd ended up, randomly walking as he had been.

Beika District, Fifth Street.

"Heh, back to the Detective Agency. Geez, where do you go from here to reach the station again?" Unfortunately, seeing no road sign, Heiji was just about to pull out his map when a rather fancy car sped down the drive, "Oi! Speed limits, ya idiots!"

Naturally, the driver ignored him. The teen cursed under his breath, stopping when something caught his attention.

'It's heading right towards that lane,' Heiji realised, seeing the car take a sudden turn. His brow furrowed, 'What are the chances that their destination is the Mouri Detective Agency?'

To be honest, Fifth Street was not a high class housing society. The buildings were modest, and many residential areas were above small cafes and shops. A fancy car like that? What would it come here for when its only options were a detective agency, a family restaurant, and a salon? Really, out of the three viable options, the first was most likely, especially with the speed it travelled by.

'Well,' Heiji narrowed his eyes, 'no harm in checking it out. Besides, I just remembered, I've yet ta check if Kudo might have returned home. Tha' girl would know his address, right? Then again, she might not give it ta me.'

"Ran-chan, please!"

Yusaku narrowed his eyes when his son's friend began to look slightly uncomfortable under his wife's constant questions. Also, he could see the stirring of suspicion in her eyes. They were, after all, Shinichi's parents; why would they be completely clueless as to his whereabouts? To come all the way to her home even, to ask her about him.

"Yukiko-san," Ran said, a bit helplessly, "I haven't heard from him since a long time now! Also," she frowned, "I wanted to ask you about something...do you know Conan-kun? His mother – or at least, a woman who called herself his mother," she looked imploringly at them here, "Edogawa Fumiyo, she came to take him away a few months ago."

Yukiko stiffened, pulling her hands out of Ran's as the younger girl started to look distraught. Yusaku suppressed the urge to put a comforting arm around his wife – Ran may not pick it up, but Kogoro, who'd been sitting rather silently in his chair for a while now, definitely would.

"Yukiko-san, Yusaku-san, I haven't heard from Conan-kun ever since he left and today –" Ran turned towards her father then, "Even Tou-san was there, when today...he suddenly came up during the investigation of a case!"

"Ah, Ran-kun," Yusaku smiled, hiding his unease perfectly, "Nothing to worry about, there. We personally know the Edogawa family – it is not what you're thinking. I'm sure Conan-kun will call you soon."

"Oh!" Ran blinked, surprised at the immediate reassurance, "But – but, Conan-kun wasn't very…" she bit her lip, looking away, "Are you sure he's alright?"

"Quite." The novelist faced Kogoro, "Yukiko simply panicked a bit when we'd been unable to reach Shinichi, I'm sure he is alright. We'll take our leave now."

"Yu-chan –!"

"Come, Yukiko, they've just come back from investigating a case. I'm sure they'd like to rest."

"Do you think –?"

"That Shinichi has contacted Ran-kun? Yes, quite definitely." Yusaku said as he walked down the stairs, "It seems that he was making sure no loose ends were left."

"Then...he must know, right?" Yukiko shook her head, "He must! Ran-chan would have told him of our return –"

"Yes," Yusaku sighed, "I'm sure he does."

"But – but! Why wouldn't he call? I've been so...so worried –"

"If I were to guess," her husband gave her sad smile, "he thought it best we get our information about his well being the same way he did about our trick – via the Mouri's." Upon seeing her despondent look, he tugged at her hand, "Come, let's go home. I think it would best to give Shinichi his space, give him time to come to terms with all of this. We can make our amends and apologies later."

The car had been parked a bit further away from the agency, and the couple paused when they saw a young man leaning next to it.

"I'm Hattori Heiji, Detective of the West," the boy said, tipping his cap as one would do with a hat, as a sign of respect, "Yer Kudo's parents, aren't ya?"

"Aa, that's correct," Yusaku extended his hand, which the boy grasped immediately, "A friend of Shinichi's?"

"Not quite," the teen shrugged, "just came up ta Tokyo ta meet him. Not heard of him in a while, ya know, disappeared some time back. Saw ya come up to the detective agency. And, well…"

Yusaku nearly smiled. The kid was sharp. To have figured that something was wrong merely because of Shinichi's lack of media appearance – how else would he have known? – drawn the right conclusions and come all the way to Tokyo to look into the matter; yes, definitely sharp. And quite bold too, to approach them directly about it.

Even if they might not be friends (perhaps only acquainted with each other?); to see that someone had cared for his son enough to go on a man-hunt for him, it warmed Yusaku's heart.

"It was nice meeting you, Hattori-kun," Yusaku said, a hint of warmth in his usually stoic voice, as he ushered his wife to the car, "I wish you luck." He turned to look at the now stupefied teen, "And remember, any good detective must practise this – discretion."

Heiji quirked an eyebrow at the non-answer. What the hell? Kudo's mother said absolutely nothing as she got behind the wheel and sped the car away, and while Kudo's dad might have talked to him – what did he even mean by that?

The Osakan scowled as he started walking towards the station. He'd spoken just what he'd needed to – enough to hint that something was wrong and ask if they knew about it. They did, Heiji thought, after all, they'd come to the Mouri's, hadn't they? Just like he had.

"And what did Kudo's Oyaji say? Nice ta meet ya – and then drove off. Che!" Heiji kicked an offending stone from his path.

'...I wish you luck…'

"No, wait…" Heiji stopped at an intersection, brows furrowed in concentration, "At first, I thought he was just humoring me. Thinking I was a fool to get all worked up, just denying like that Mouri girl, but..."

'...remember, any good detective must practise this…'

"He wasn't telling me ta back off," The signal turned green, prompting Heiji to cross with the other pedestrians, "he was asking fer help!"

Heiji scratched his head. Clearly, this was no small thing if Kudo Yusaku was advising him to be cautious. The man was an intellectual, a brilliant mystery novelist. If Kudo was missing – and that was another thing – why was there no missing report in the papers? There was no reason for Kudo-san to have said what he did.

'...discretion…'

Yes. From his words, this much was clear. The Kudo's wanted him to continue what he was doing; discreetly. It seemed that things were not as straightforward as he'd thought.

"Well, can't do much now. Gotta go home and sleep on this." Heiji sighed, "This Kudo business is fishy. And that kid – Conan – they're all kinda related, I just need ta figure out how."

"Looks like the search was fruitless," Vodka commented as one of the lower ranked members departed after delivering the news.

"Yes," Gin agreed, narrowing his eyes, "the Kudo's seem to be worried and frantically investigating something. I suppose we can safely conclude that Kudo Shinichi's body was found privately and hidden."

"Why?" Sherry asked quietly, "The cause of death wouldn't be found –"

"Exactly," Gin pointed out, "Kudo Yusaku is a well-known genius. One look at the reason of death, when his son was hale and hearty, and he would have easily known that something larger is afoot."

"Then, Aniki," Vodka began, "The police must know, too! He couldn't have realised without an autopsy."

"I agree," Gin said before turning to Sherry, "Mark him as dead. If Kudo Yusaku is on this case, then he will have made sure only select people know of his son's death as he investigates it."

"Alright," Sherry conceded, "What will you do of the Kudo's?"

"Nothing," Gin made to take his leave, "We shall keep our distance. Trying to meddle now will only give Yusaku more clues. We shall be silent and go about our business without interfering with Kudo's. He will have to give up in a couple of years. After all, the poison is untraceable."

Sherry acquiesced. When they had conducted the first search of the Kudo house, all indications pointed that no one had entered it in a long time. With the return of Kudo Shinichi's parents, it only served as certainty of the detective's death. Well, Sherry didn't have to do anything then. It was back to lab work now.

'Perhaps I should give Onee-chan a visit,' Sherry thought as she made her way to her lab to update the status of Kudo's death, 'She seems to have taken up a job in a bank all of a sudden. I wonder…why…?'

AN: So...how was it? Thoughts? Suggestions? Criticisms?

OKAY: All GUEST writers pls leave a pseudonym when you review, at least I'll be able to answer specifically to you. Now, I'm just numbering the guest reviews... where Guest1 is the first guest to review.

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To Guest1 - Thanks for reviewing! Glad to see that my story has caught your interest. About Conan's reaction...I hope this chapter explained it. Also, it's not like he won't ever forgive them, it is just that he feels slightly betrayed; he lived out on streets due to the fear their prank evoked in him! He changed his name, got himself adopted, gave himself a whole new identity. If Daichi had not already begun his life, perhaps he wouldn't have hesitated to return back as Conan. But that prank of thiers had lasting consequences...What I'm trying to show here is the extreme reaction. NOT canon. I hope that answered your queries :) Do let me know if you have any other criticisms!

To Guest2 - Thanks for reviewning! I'm glad you liked it!

To winx club - Thanks for reviewing! It's always heart-warming to see your reviews! Yes, I did want to meet them at a more normal setting...set the basis for a friendship of sorts...Glad you liked the chapter! Hope this one is just as well received!

To Rockster - Thanks for reviewing! And yeah...my exams are a writer's block :/ And, yeah, the kudo's did deserve to worry a bit, but I'll be forgiving them soon enough, even though 'Conan' won't be returning any more. Glad you liked the Detective Boy's deduction! About their revelation, I've tried to do my best here, hope it is satisfactory.

Fan art? I'm not that great at drawing humans. Animals? Secenaries? Still life? Okay. But humans? Noooo! I'll try pestering my cousin for that - she's great at drawing - drew a Kudo Shinichi 'fan art' for me for my birthday (even though I didn't know it was called fan art :P) So, yeah, I'll see about that. Ah, Heiji has made his appearane; with one huge difference of "paikaru". I'm myself unsure about how much I'm going to let him know about... Kogoro, Ran and the others will make their appearances naturally. A little interspersed and when the plot line demads for it. I've got a rough outline of the story in my mind. All I have to do is type it... :) And, yup, I love your long reviews! Hope this chapter is as well received as the previous!

To a FauN - Thanks for reviewing! Oh, don't worry. This story has very less romance, more of friendship. I'm just building flimsy connections after he tried to burn them in Chp 1. So, don't worry about excessive ShinRan. That's going to be minimal :) Plus, believe me, kids, especially young 6-7 yr olds look very similar. Some very obvious changes in colour and lack of glasses, and adults won't really notice the difference. Plus, most children have similar voices, only their tones change. It is after puberty that the voices become distinct. Till, then, disguising a child is actually very easy! Glad you're emjoying the story though! And hope this chapter makes you feel better!

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