Disclaimer: I own no anime associated with this piece of work. Thank you and come again.

Conan had no idea why he had been led to the Kudo mansion that morning. It was risky. Ran thought he was at school, and the Shounen Tantei thought he was sick in bed. Even Hakase and Ai were unaware of what he was truly doing this morning. It was a truly careless move, for if he were to find himself in some kind of trouble, he would be stuck without backup. Still, no amount of common sense stop himself from opening his door, and against his better judgment, locking it once he had fully entered his old home. As always he was met with a pleasant sense of nostalgia. This house never seemed to age on, even though its owner could not visit it much. Aside from some dust here and there, it still looked the same as it had when he last stepped out the door as Shinichi Kudo. It still smelled the same, the pipes and workings still sounded the same, and, thankfully, it still felt the same. It was still home sweet home.

But today something was different. It was faint, and had he not been looking for something out of place he would have missed it, but there was a new odor in the air. Some kind of foreign cologne if he wasn't mistaken. It was a semi familiar scent that his memory informed him he had been at the mercy of before. It also gave him this resounding feeling that he had somewhat enjoyed the meeting with the figure this smell was associated it with. As to whom it was, his mind was still trying to piece together. He had a feeling he knew. He just needed to dig up the memory. It would have been smarter to wait until he was sure, but again, today his sense was blocked out by a strong need to follow gut instinct. This feeling led him up the stairs, past countless doorways, into his bedroom, and there the smell hit him full force.

It was also then that he realized that there was a man sitting on his bed, reading a newspaper dated about a year ago, with his teenage picture on the cover. Arsene Lupin the third was in his home, in his room, reading about his life, and Shinichi could not help but stare. The older man was humming a tune, the detective was unfamiliar with the song, seeming unaware of his new company.

"You know, I wasn't expecting you for another few hours." Or at least Conan thought he was unaware. "You kiddies don't usually get out until around three."

"Mr. Lupin" Conan said calmly, despite the whirlwind going on in his mind. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

He heard a chuckle as the paper was placed down before the thief. For some reason the sound made Conan frown. It had not been like what he had remembered. In fact that laugh, that smile, that supposed happy demeanor, it all seemed so fake. "Please call me Lupin. Mr. Lupin is my father."

Conan usually would have made a sarcastic comment to that overplayed joke, but something told him he would regret it if he were to try. "Lupin then."

This time the smile he received was slightly mischievous. "Great. You can call me by my name, and I'll call you by yours, Shinichi."

It was then that the miniature detective felt his blood run cold.

'How did he...'

His first thought was that it was all over. His secret was out and the Organization would be hearing about it momentarily. His entire life, and all things dear within it, were about to be destroyed. All his hard work had been for nothing. In fact he was as good as dead. His hand twitched, ready to put his stun watch to work, until he noticed a true smile meet his gaze. It was still slightly cunning and sly, but Conan figured that was the way all thieves smiled. Kid did that too, and at least this one was honest.

"Why are you here?"

Lupin threw his legs over the bed and slouched forward slightly. On his lips an impish smirk looked back at Conan with false innocence. "Come on, aren't you going to congratulate me on my brilliant work? I mean it wasn't easy figuring out that Conan Edogawa was really his older "cousin", the great detective Shinichi Kudo."

Conan could not help but feel a bit pleased. "You've impressed me." Let the thief take that bland response as he wanted.

He seemed to take it as praise. "Why thank you my good man. You're kind words have truly eased my soul."

The frown deepened. Even that simple phrase felt half assed. There was something utterly fake about it, something…fabricated. The worst part, was that he could tell that it was all just an act. Lupin was a good liar, one of the best the detective had ever seen. There had to have been something seriously wrong with this situation if his skill was slacking so much that Conan could tell he was being fooled.

"Surely you didn't come all the way over here to have a grade-schooler tell you how cool you are."

Lupin tisked as his index finger began to wave back and forth. "Technically you aren't a grade-schooler, and we haven't even begun to express how cool I am!"

What was going on with these fake emotions? They were starting to become a bit frightening. They did not belong here. Not in this room, not in this man. It was too odd for words to explain. When he opened his mouth to try he was interrupted.

"All nonsense aside though," Suddenly the thief was looking at him with stern eyes. Heated determination mixed in with a heavy batch of pure seriousness was aimed at Conan so intensely, that the detective found he had forgotten how to breathe. Never had he remembered seeing that expression on the other man's face before.

"I need your help."

"My help? With what?"

"A case, if you will, that only you are capable of solving."

Now that was a bit of an odd request. What could be so puzzling that the great Lupin the third could not decipher it? "What kind of case?"

"I need you to solve a murder."

A murder? "Whose?"

"My girlfriend, Fujiko's."

AN: Yes I killed her. It had to be done for the sake of the plot. I apologize in advance to any Fujiko fans. Fang warned me that you would be angry.

On another note, I found that I fell in love with the concept of a Lupin the third and Conan/Shinichi team ever since I saw bits and pieces of the movie online. Being the crossover gal that I am, I found I could not resist trying it out. After all, I've mixed together stranger stories than this before. So I thought, why not? This is basically just a little prologue. I'll see how it fares before continuing it.