AN: And with this, the twentieth chapter, Blood and Snow finally draws to a close! It's been quite the ride with this story- to be perfectly honest, when it went on hiatus back in 2012, I wasn't sure if I would ever be able to come around and finish it again. But in the end, I was able to, and I'm really glad I picked it back up again, because with it came a whole bevy of other fun Detective Conan fic ideas which I've also really enjoyed writing!

This might be the end of Blood and Snow, but this particular verse will continue on in the future with it's sequel, Bloodsport! It will feature a completely different kind of case from the ones featured in Blood and Snow, so I hope that everyone looks forward to that!

Considering that this is our last chapter, it would please me greatly if people could take a moment and leave what their final impressions of this, my very first Detective Conan fanfic, and the very first fanfic that I've actually been able to finish in ages. It really would mean a lot to me, so please don't be shy!

With that, I'll see you all in the sequel! Unless you follow one of my other Detective Conan fics, in which case, I'll see you again in another update of one of those!

Blood and Snow

Chapter Twenty

Summertime Ghost Story

"I have to say," Ai spoke up, glancing across the table towards Heiji, who was currently busy guzzling down a smoothie the size of his head, stopping every five seconds as he clutched at his head, suffering from the effects of brain freeze. "I'm a little surprised that Hattori-kun is bad with sunlight."

"Ah, well..." Conan trailed off, not sure what kind of response to give to the girl. Given Heiji's dark skin, it was no wonder it had taken Ai by surprise. "It takes all kinds, you know?"

"I suppose." Ai said, taking a sip of her fruit juice, casting a skeptical eye towards Conan. There was something off in his tone, she noted. "But I suppose it was nice of him to invite us to the beach in the first place. I can't really complain."

"And the place we're staying at is huge!" Ayumi broke into the conversation, beaming like a ray of sunshine. "I thought the place in the mountains was big, but this place is even bigger! It's amazing!"

Well, that much was true. Briefly, Conan wondered if the same friend of Mitsuta's owned both the mountain villa and the beach villa. It was hard to say. "Well, I think he really felt bad about breaking up our camping trip before. You all should remember to thank him properly though."

"Yes!" The Detective Boys were practically in chorus, before they dived back into their food. Heaving a slight sigh, he couldn't help but feel that the trip would have probably been more peaceful if they hadn't come along. Then again, Heiji was still here- and being around him was never really peaceful in the first place. Glancing across the table at him, he made a slight face, wondering how exactly a vampire could still get brain freeze in the first place.

"Do you want to do some shopping after this, Ran-chan?" Kazuha asked, peering over at her friend. "There's apparently a nice department store in town that sells all sorts of things! I was going to go look for a souvenir for my parents and Auntie Shizuka."

"Yeah, I'll definitely go!" Ran nodded her head. "I should probably pick something up for dad and mom... and Sonoko too! It's too bad that she couldn't make it." Looking over at Conan, she gave him a smile. "What about you, Conan-kun? Do you want to come along with us?"

"Mm, I don't know." Conan said, glancing over towards Heiji. Shopping trips really weren't his thing after all. "I was thinking about staying behind with Heiji-niichan, actually."

"That's fine with me." Heiji said, finally finishing off his smoothie. "I'll keep the kid here entertained."

"But Heiji, you should really take a break from the sun." Kazuha said with a slight frown. "It's not good for you if you take too much in all at once, especially when it's this bright out. You should probably go back to the villa to rest for awhile."

"It's fine, I don't really need ta-" Heiji began, but was cut off from a sharp glower from his girlfriend, and decided to wisely relent to her wishes in this instance. "Yes, yes, I understand."

"In that case, I'll continue to look after the kids at the beach." Agasa spoke up. "Leave everything to me."

"Thank you, Professor Agasa." Ran said. "You kids, make sure to properly listen to the Professor, okay? No wandering off!"

Another chorus of 'yes!' answered her, the Detective Boys continuing to chat away about all the things that they hadn't yet been able to do at the beach. It seemed like they had a full day planned out ahead of them, that involved not leaving the beach until well after sunset. That earned a grumble from Conan, who frankly, didn't see the appeal of playing on the beach until it was dark.

"In that case, I'll go back to the villa with Heiji-niichan." Conan said after a moment, sending his friend a 'please save me' expression. "I won't be a bother, right, Heiji-niichan?"

"Sure, I don't have a problem with that." Heiji said, flashing Conan a look that told him 'he owed him one'. "Then, in that case, we'll all split up after lunch."

"I'll probably return to the villa as well." Ai noted, glancing over towards Conan and Heiji. "If that isn't a problem with either of you."

"Eh, are you done playing already, Haibara-san?" Mitsuhiko asked, looking somewhat dispirited at this news.

"Sorry. I'm just a bit tired myself." Ai gave him a small smile.

"That's fine, I don't have a problem with it." Heiji said, glancing over at Conan, shooting him a silent look that told him 'keep her out of my room while I'm sleeping or there'll be trouble', something which the pint sized detective understood right away. "The more the merrier!"

"Then, let's all do a test of courage later tonight!" Ayumi suggested. "I heard from the owner of this shop that there's a good place to do one around here! Doesn't it sound fun?"

"Well, I don't know about that..." Ran trailed off. Apparently dealing with vampires like she had in the past month hadn't done much to dampen her overall fear of the supernatural- if anything, the existence of vampires had confirmed for her that other kinds of supernatural things must have been real as well. Ayumi's ghost story from earlier had already given her the shivers, as much sympathy as she felt for the ghost that was searching for her loved one.

"Why not?" Kazuha asked. "I'm sure it'll be fine, Ran-chan! If it's something that kids can handle, there's no way it's actually that scary, right?"

"Well, what you put it that way." Ran said, before nodding her head. "Alright, we'll do a test of courage then. But you kids will have to make sure to pay close attention to where you're going, and you have to go with an adult. It wouldn't be any good if you got lost."

"In that case, I'll accompany them." Heiji volunteered, flashing the pair a grin. "They won't have anythin' ta worry about in that case, right? You an' Kazuha can go together, Neechan. By the way, where's this test of courage location supposed to be anyways?"

"You see that cliff over there?" Ayumi said, pointing towards. "There's a cave that's supposed to have a little shrine inside of it. She said that it's a popular spot for all sorts of groups that come through here."

"Then we can do it after dinner. Ah, we should probably pick up flashlights while we're out then. I don't remember if there were enough of them for everyone back at the villa." Ran frowned, trying to recall. "And some ingredients for dinner in the first place, now that I think of it..."

With their plans for the afternoon set, the group split up, each group going their own way. The Detective Boys sans Conan and Ai returned to the beach with Agasa, and Ran and Kazuha briefly accompanied Heiji, Conan, and Ai back to the villa, where they changed out of their swimsuits before heading out into the town.

"Well, in that case," Heiji let out a loud yawn, feeling a wave of exhaustion hit him now that he was out of the blazing sun. "I'm gonna take a nap. Wake me up in like an hour, Kudo." Waving a hand, Heiji headed back towards the bedroom he'd picked out for himself, and collapsed on the bed, letting his death-like sleep engulf him.

"Yeah, will do." Conan promised him. It would be nice to get at least an hour's worth of peace and quiet, he thought. "What are you going to do, Haibara? I was going to explore the villa, and then read one of the novels I brought along, but..."

"I have my own things to do." Ai noted. "There's a drama I wanted to watch."

"Don't tell me you came all the way inside just to watch a drama." Conan said, arching a brow. When that earned him a venomous look, he quickly retracted his statement. "Not that there's anything wrong with that!"

Carefully excusing himself from the conversation before he could put his foot in his mouth again, Conan headed back towards his own bedroom. They had practically rushed out onto the beach almost as soon as they had gotten to the villa, so aside from picking out rooms and changing their clothes, they had barely spent any time in it. Ayumi had been right, the place was huge- and looked more than a little old, which caught Conan's curiosity right off the bat. It was exactly the sort of place, he thought, that was bound to have a secret tunnel or two lying around.

Well, there was also the fact that they were going to be here for the next three days, so he wanted to get a bit of the lay of the land, so to speak. It never hurt. The others probably wouldn't be back for awhile, so he plenty of time to kill, even with needing to go wake Heiji up in an hour.

"Come to think of it, I wonder if Ran's going to pick up a souvenir for me too." Conan said with a frown, exiting his bedroom again, deciding to start his search of the house with the very top- the attic. He wasn't honestly sure if he wanted Ran to pick him up something or not- it was a bit silly to get a gift from a place he was already at himself, but then again, she had no way of knowing that Kudo Shinichi was actually on this trip with her.

Then again, she hadn't even mentioned his name when thinking of who to pick up gifts for, so he couldn't help but wonder if she'd forgotten about him.

Grumbling a little with that prospect in mind, Conan found his way up to the attic, cracking open the hatch that lead up into it. The first thing that struck him was how dusty this place was- the dust that he stirred up by opening it up had him coughing in no time. Once the dust finally settled, and his cough disappeared with it, Conan made his way properly into the attic, taking a look around.

It was crammed, wall to wall, with old boxes. In the back of his mind, he couldn't help but imagine one of the other Detective Boys declaring that there was certainly some kind of treasure in here.

Well, that said, he was a guest here, so he probably shouldn't nose around too much in other people's things. Taking note of the light that was filtering into the room from the window, Conan made his way over towards it, carefully climbing up on top of a box to peer out of it.

"Oh, speak of the devils." Conan grinned, catching sight of the Detective Boys and the Professor, playing at the beach. He could see it perfectly from this window, watching as the three of them jumped the waves. "I hope they remembered to put on sunscreen again. Oh?" A sly grin appeared on his face as he took a closer look at Agasa, noticing that he was eating the ice cream cone that Ai had previously forbidden him to get at lunch. Just as he was wondering whether or not he should inform her, a glint from inside the attic caught his eye.

"A mirror?" Conan blinked, turning his attention towards it. It was a rather large and rather old mirror- downright antique from the looks of it. Frowning a little, he almost found himself drawn to it in a way, and made his way carefully across the attic towards it. It had partially been covered by a sheet, but curiously enough, the surface that had been left exposed didn't appear to be covered in even the slightest trace of dust, unlike everything else in the attic.

"That's odd." Conan frowned, reaching a hand out towards the surface of the mirror, resting it against the glass. It almost seemed to hum faintly underneath his touch.

It was a decision, he thought later, that he would regret.

The loud slamming sound of his bedroom door being thrown open jolted Heiji rather unceremoniously from his sleep, sending the vampire bolt upright in a matter of seconds. "M'awake! I'm not dead!" He called out, still shaking off the faint traces of his nap, trying to process what it was that was going on. Recalling where he was, and who this rather angry looking little girl in front of him was, Heiji rubbed his forehead, blinking his eyes.

"We have a problem." Ai reported, placing her hands on her hips as she stared up at Heiji. "Kudo-kun's acting strange."

"Strange?" Heiji asked, scratching his head, letting out a faint yawn as he rose to his feet. "How strange we talkin' here, little Neechan?"

"Very." She said shortly. "He's in the kitchen, baking away and humming."

"Yeah, okay." Heiji frowned. "That ain't normal. Give me a quick second an' I'll be right there." Freshening up a little after his nap, Heiji noticed that he'd actually been asleep for two hours- it was strange that Kudo had let him sleep in an entire hour longer than he'd said. Grabbing his cap, he tucked it on his head, heading out of his room to join Ai, who had made her way back downstairs to the kitchen, where she was staring at the scene before her in a mixture of horror and disgust.

Edogawa Conan, as it turned out, was in fact, in the kitchen, making a cake, all whilst humming a very cheerful, chipper tune. More than anything he'd experienced since becoming a vampire, it sent shivers down Heiji's spine.

"That's not natural." He observed, rubbing the back of his neck, trying to figure out what, exactly was going on here. It was probably something that fell in the purview of what was rapidly becoming his area of expertise, he was willing to bet that much. "Kudo doesn't even know how ta bake in the first place."

"And those brownies smell delicious." Ai said, her eyes narrowing sharply. "Too delicious."

"Oi, Kudo!" Heiji called out, frowning when they boy before him didn't respond to his words. He seemed to hear him, but it was as if he wasn't aware that the words were directed at him. "Kudo, I said! You in the kitchen!"

"Hm?" Blinking his eyes upon realizing that he was the one being called out to, Conan looked over towards Heiji, a confused expression crossing his face- before something seemed to click for him. "Oh, I apologize! I didn't hear you there!"

Heiji and Ai briefly exchanged a glance with each other, knowing from his tone alone that something was wrong here. "Do you think maybe he hit his head?" Ai whispered, glancing up towards Heiji. "There's a hospital nearby we could take him to."

"No, I don't think that's quite it..." Heiji frowned, heading into the kitchen himself now, standing in front of a bizarrely placid looking Conan. Leaning down so that he was now eye level with the not-child, something which caused Conan to visibly flinch, Heiji narrowed his eyes, studying the boy's face very closely. "You. Who the heck are ya?"

"W-what are you talking about?" Conan glanced away from him, trying to break eye contact with him and shrink away. "Obviously, I'm Kudo, right?"

"Mmhm." Heiji's voice was skeptical, folding his arms in front of him as he straightened back up. "Then what's yer first name, Kudo?"

The not-child in front of him was clearly at a loss for words, taking a step back from Heiji. Realizing what was likely going on here, the serious expression on Heiji's face rapidly gave way to a bemused grin- which rapidly gave away to the Osakan detective breaking out in a fit of laughter, something which startled Ai.

First Conan was acting strange, and now Heiji was? What was going on here?

"Oh man, this is too much." Heiji choked out between laughs, grateful that he didn't need to breathe since he wasn't getting a chance to as he cracked up at this unexpected development. "Oh man, oh man. Yer not gonna believe this, little Neechan. This guy here, this guy..." He said, fighting against the laughter that was determined to overtake him, one hand pointing towards the fretful Conan. "He's gone an' gotten himself possessed."

Slowly, Ai blinked her eyes, almost not certain that she'd heard Heiji correctly. Did he really just say what she thought he'd said? Perhaps she had heard him incorrectly due to all of his laughter. "...Come again?"

"He's possessed!" Heiji said, finally ceasing to laugh. "Totally, completely one hundred percent possessed! Ah man, I never thought I'd see a development like this. Kudo! Possessed! It's too much."

That was when the other shoe dropped for Heiji, and suddenly, all traces of laughter were wiped from him in an instant, a grave, serious expression overtaking his face instead. "No, wait. This isn't good. Neechan's gonna kill me if she finds out."

"Hattori-kun can you please explain what's going on here?" Growing more and more disgruntled by the second, Ai huffed, glowering at the two boys. "Is this some kind of prank? What do you mean by possessed? Such a thing isn't scientifically possible."

"No, I assure ya," Heiji said, reaching out to catch Conan by the wrist as he tried to slip away from him, holding him firmly in place. "He's totally, one hundred percent, possessed by a spirit. Trust me. Ain't that right, Kudo~?" Turning to look at the spirit, there was a sing-song tone to his voice, one that carried a hint of a threat to it- if this spirit didn't spill everything in the next few minutes, he'd make it do so. Now that he'd gotten over the hilarity of his shrunken detective friend being possessed, it was time to treat the matter seriously.

At the very least, the ghost didn't seem malicious, judging from the sweet, aromatic smell of brownies that filled the kitchen.

'Conan' remained silent for another minute, stubbornly refusing to meet Heiji's eyes, before he finally heaved a sigh. "Very well. You caught me. But if you think I'm going to give up this body I've finally gotten, you're completely wrong! Do you know how long I waited in that mirror for someone to come along?"

"Yes, yes." Heiji said simply, hefting the possessed not-child over his shoulder, ignoring the way he squirmed underneath his grip. "I imagine that's what all of yer ilk say, but I can't let ya just whisk away the body of my best buddy. 'Sides, ya wouldn't want it anyways. Kid's involved in some real crazy stuff."

"Hold on a second here!" Ai called out, stomping her way into the kitchen, eyes sharp as daggers as they bore into Heiji's own. "Are you really serious here, Hattori-kun? This isn't some kind of prank you arranged with Kudo-kun, is it?"

"Of course, I'm serious." Heiji said frankly, blinking a little- before the realization dawned on him. He'd gotten used to dealing with this type of supernatural issue before he'd even realized it, and had become increasingly accustomed to the people he kept around him being aware of the world behind the veil, that it took him a moment to remember that Haibara Ai was in fact, not one of those people. And that she had, in fact, at one point been a scientist- and still was a scientist, albeit a tiny one.

"I can probably prove it to ya too, if my theory is on the mark." Heiji told her with a quick grin, sparing a glance at the possessed not-child still slung over his shoulder. "So? Ya mentioned somethin' about a mirror. Where exactly is it?"

"I'm not telling." 'Conan' huffed, looking away from Heiji. This earned a grumbled of annoyance from the Osakan detective, who in response, plucked him off from over his shoulder, and simply dangled him upside down in the air. "Hey, wait, what are you doing? Put me down already!"

"No way." Heiji said, watching 'Conan' squirm underneath his grasp, trying to escape. "I'm just gonna let ya dangle till ya spit it out already. As funny as it is that Kudo got possessed, I just can't let ya wander off with my best friend's body."

"...fine." 'Conan' conceded finally, folding his arms in front of his chest. "It's in the attic."

"Then, to the attic we will go!" Flipping the not-child back over his shoulder again, he glanced back down at the increasingly disgruntled Ai. "Ya, comin', little Neechan?"

"Fine." Ai said, heaving a long sigh. "But if I find out this is all some kind of prank, Hattori-kun, I'll be having some words with the both of you."

"Well, don't worry yer little science brain about it." Waving a hand, he motioned for Ai to follow behind him, before he merrily headed upstairs and towards the attic. Ascending the staircase, he glanced behind him to make sure that Ai was still there, before looking around, trying to find exactly where this mirror was the ghost was talking about. Spotting it out of the corner of his eye, Heiji grinned, strolling over to it and knelt down in front of it, planting the possessed body of his best friend in front of it.

"Well? There's the mirror, but where's your proof, Hattori-kun?" Ai asked, folding her arms in front of her chest. Honestly, what were these two thinking? Trying to trick her into believing in something like ghosts... and to think they were the ones who were always so quick to deny such things existed!

"Well, just wait a second." Glancing back at her briefly, Heiji focused his attention on the antique mirror in front of him. Giving the surface a light wrap with his knuckles, he tried and failed to keep a hint of amusement out of his voice. "Oi, Kudo. Ya in there?"

The look on his friend's face as it appeared on the other side of the mirror was nothing short of hilarious. And it was more than enough to cause Ai to do a quick double-take.

Not only was the mirror not reflecting the three people standing before it, inside of the mirror was an image of none other than Kudo Shinichi- a rather disgruntled, annoyed looking one at that, whose form rippled whenever he moved.

"I'm just going to assume you can fix this, Hattori." Shinichi's words were straight to the point, glowering down at the form of 'Edogawa Conan' in front of him- who admittedly, looked quite confused at the sight of the soul trapped in the mirror himself. Of course, there was no reason the ghost would have ever suspected that the child he possessed was anything more than a child. "You'd better."

"Now, now, just calm down fer a second, Kudo." Heiji tried to reassure him- but such reassurances fell on deaf ears when the vampire had to turn the other way, covering his mouth in a completely transparent attempt to conceal another fit of laughter. Oh man. He was not going to forget this for a long time, he thought.

"Hattori." Shinichi said sharply, glowering at his fellow detective. It was only then that he glanced behind the laughing Osakan, and took notice of the fact that he and the body of Edogawa Conan were not the only one's in the attack- but in fact, they had both been accompanied by a now flabbergasted Ai. "Oi, oi, you really brought Haibara up here with you?"

"Couldn't be helped. She was the first one ta notice Conan-kun here was actin' weird." Heiji said, finally finished with his fit of laughter. "So ya see, little Neechan? Not a prank, right? That there's the one hundred percent honest, genuine Kudo Shinichi, after all."

"I just..." Ai began, before she put a hand on her forehead, attempting to work out a rising headache. "I'm just going to sit down for a second. Please excuse me." On that note, the miniature scientist turned her back on the group, and took a seat on the floor, pulling her knees to her chest as she attempted to process everything that was going on around her.

"Well, she'll be fine in a few minutes." Heiji said, turning back towards the mirror with his usual cheerful expression, apparently the only one undaunted by this turn of events. "Now as fer you, little ghost, ya wanna hand my friend over here his body back?" He asked, glancing down at the not-child who he still firmly had in his grasp. "Even if ya try an' escape from me, I'll still find ya wherever ya go, so ya probably should just give up."

"I'm not giving it back!" This ghost was obviously a stubborn one. "Absolutely not! Do you know how long I've been trapped in that mirror, stuck in this dreary attic?"

"No." Heiji said frankly, shaking his head. "How long?"

Blinking as if they hadn't been expecting that question, 'Conan' paused to actually think it over for a second. "Well, what year is it now?"

"2016." Heiji supplied.

"Already past the turn of the century then." The ghost muttered to itself, apparently doing some quick mental math. "In that case, it's been a little bit around fifty years, I suppose."

"Fifty years!" Heiji exclaimed. "No wonder yer so damn stubborn about this. Fifty years trapped as a ghost in a mirror sounds like it'd get real old, real fast."

"Don't take it's side, Hattori." Shinichi's tone was as surly as his expression. It was hard to say what he was more annoyed at- the existence of ghosts being proven to him, or the fact that he'd gotten his body stolen away from him. "Hurry up and give my body back already!"

"I fail to see how it's your body in the first place anyways." The ghost said shortly, puffing out his cheeks. "Like I keep saying, no way!"

"Well, how about this then?" Heiji spoke up, lightly ruffling Conan's hair. "Ya give Kudo here his body back, an' we figure out what's keepin' ya chained ta this world in the first place so you can move on. A good deal, right?"

Glowering up at the Osakan detective for a moment, the ghost finally heaved a defeated sigh. "Alright. If you'll help me find peace, then I suppose I can leave this body."

"That's the spirit!" Flashing a grin, Heiji got to his feet, brushing some dust off of his knees. "You'd better hurry though. Any longer in there an' I think Kudo's gonna explode."

That got a distinct grumble from Shinichi, but nevertheless, the ghost fulfilled it's promise. Placing a hand against the mirror, a brief flash of light emitted from the mirror, before a somewhat dazed Conan shook his head, trying to right himself again.

"That," Conan reported, "was not fun."

"Glad ta see ya back, Kudo!" Heiji grinned, flashing his friend a his usual cheerful grin, even as the shrunken detective turned to glower up at him. "Now, now, don't give me that face! Yer the one who went an' got himself possessed by touchin' strange mirrors! Rules of the occult number one, Kudo. If ya don't know where the mirror came from, leave it alone."

"Shut up. I don't need the person who was busy laughing at me to lecture me." Turning away from Heiji, Conan rose to his feet, facing the mirror in front of him. He blinked, slightly, watching as the ghost's image formed in the mirror, as he came to face the realization that he had been possessed by a female ghost- and if her blonde, curly hair and bright blue eyes were anything to go by, she was a foreigner.

"Don't forget your promise now, okay?" The ghost inside the mirror said. She appeared to be a rather young woman, probably not any older than her twenties. "If you break it, I'll put a curse on you!"

"Of course we won't forget!" Clearly taking offense at the notion, Heiji paused, glancing behind him. "Hey, little Neechan. Ya feelin' any better now? I got Kudo back fer ya."

Taking in and letting out a deep breath, Ai rose to her feet, turning back towards the pair with a harsh expression on her face. "I'm fine. I'm just having trouble accepting the existence of something so highly unscientific." Glancing over towards the mirror, she took stock of the new figure that was floating within it now, and heaved a sigh, rubbing her forehead. "But unless this is an incredibly elaborate trick, I suppose I have no choice. I'm surprised the both of you are handling this so well."

"Well, I've kinda've been involved in this sort of thing for the past five months or so." Heiji said with a shrug. "Kudo's probably just puttin' up a front though. He still hates this sorta thing."

"Hey!" The ghost in the mirror called out again, not really caring for the way she was being ignored. "Your promise! You're not even going to listen to what it is I need?"

"Ah, sorry." Turning back to her, Heiji gave her an apologetic look. "So, what was it you needed exactly? Oh, don't tell me- were ya murdered?" He couldn't help but perk right up at the prospect of chasing after a cold case. "Need help findin' yer killer? Ya can leave that up ta me!"

"I was murdered, but they already caught my killer." The ghost in the mirror reported, making a face at the way the teenager lit up at the mere thought of dealing with a murder case. Who exactly was this person? "I have someone that I need to be reunited with, rather."

"A search fer a person, huh..." Heiji frowned, folding his arms in his chest. Well, it wasn't as interesting as dealing with a murder case, but he had promised, after all. "So? Who's this person? A friend? A lover?"

"Both." The ghost told him. "My friend and lover, who I crossed the sea and came to this country to be with. In fact, I was supposed to meet up with her on the very same day I was killed. But then I was murdered by a suitor who crossed the seas in the same way, having not accepted no for an answer." Fifty years after her death, and the ghost woman was still clearly angry- and honestly, who could blame her. "The next thing I knew, I was trapped within this mirror I was murdered next to."

"Are you sure they're still living in this town?" Conan finally spoke up. Of course, he was still mad about earlier, but the scent of a mystery wasn't something that he could pass up. "It's already been fifty years, they might have already moved away."

"I'm sure of it!" The ghost woman insisted. "She loved this town so much. Even if I, her wonderful lover, was killed here, there's no way she would move away from here! I'm certain of it!"

"Then, what was her name?" Heiji asked. "If we have her name, we could probably find her a lot faster."

"Hikaru Miwa." The ghost woman told them, before pausing, quickly correcting herself. "Her first name was Hikaru, her last name was Miwa. She would have been around twenty five years old back then."

"Which means that she would be at least seventy five years old today." Ai finally joined the conversation. "The fastest way to find her would probably be to go to the police station and claim that we have a missing item to deliver to her. If she really still lives her, they'd probably be able to locate her quicker than a group of non-locals who don't know the area."

"Oh, nice idea, little Neechan!" Turning back towards the ghost in the mirror, Heiji grinned at her. "Then, we'll go with that plan! But..." He trailed off, frowning a little as he folded his arms in front of his chest. "How are we gonna get ya out of the mirror in the first place? It would be a little strange if I brought it with me..."

"In that case," Ai began, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a small hand mirror. Now that she had accepted the idea that ghosts would exist, she was adapting to it fairly quickly. If anything, it peeked her scientific curiosity. "Why doesn't she just go into another mirror?"

"Oh?" Ran frowned, pausing mid-step to glance behind her, her brows knitting together in confusion. "That's strange..."

"Is something wrong, Ran-chan?" Kazuha asked, glancing back at her friend.

"No, I just thought I saw Hattori-kun with Conan-kun and Ai-chan for a second." Ran told her, turning back towards Kazuha with an apologetic look. "But they're nowhere around. I must have been mistaken."

Out of the corner of his eye, Heiji watched as Kazuha and Ran resumed their shopping. The moment he'd spotted the pair around the corner, he'd quickly shoved Conan and Ai back around to the other side of it. If Kazuha knew he was involved in any kind of case during their vacation, there was no doubt that she would be furious with him- all the more so since he was supposed to be resting.

"Has anyone ever told you your hands are freezing, Hattori-kun?" Ai asked dryly, slipping her wrist from Heiji's grasp. "I'm surprised you can be so cold in this heat."

"Well, it's nice an' cool, ain't it?" Heiji asked her in kind, eyes briefly daring up towards the sun, narrowing his eyes in it's general direction as if it were his personal enemy. "Good durin' this scorching heat."

"Well, I suppose." Ai said simply, not missing the way that he had danced around her question. Well, ghosts were a big enough headache for her to deal with alone for today, she would leave the mystery of Hattori Heiji and his strange corpse-like body temperature for another day. It didn't seem to be bothering him, at any rate.

"The police station's just across the street. Come on already, Hattori." Conan spoke up, giving his friend a small shove forward. "Let's get moving already so we can finish this."

"Right!" Heiji nodded his head, double checking to make sure Ran and Kazuha were really gone, before he crossed the street with the pair of shrunken teenagers in tow, Ai still holding on to the hand mirror that was currently possessed by the ghost woman. The bright summer sun still blazed in the sky overhead, faintly humming in a vaguely unpleasant way against his skin- but it wasn't as bad as it had been before, now that he'd managed to get some rest.

Entering into the police station, Heiji looked around for someone who could help them. Spotting someone who didn't look very busy, he nudged Conan lightly on the shoulder, motioning towards them with his head. Taking that as his cue, Conan and Ai hurried up to the man, peering over the edge of his desk.

"Excuse me!" Conan spoke up. "We've got a lost item we need to deliver to someone!"

"Oh?" The officer glanced up, peering down at the two children, quickly smiling at them. "What kind of lost item?"

"This hand mirror. An old lady dropped it, but we couldn't catch her before she left." Ai said, placing it on the desk before him. "It's got a name on it and everything. Miwa Hikaru." Turning it over on it's back to show him the name that had been etched into it, Ai grumbled inwardly again about having to sacrifice one of her favorite hand mirrors to something like this. At the very least, Heiji had promised to replace it with a new hand mirror of her choice- and she didn't intend for the replacement to be cheap.

"Miwa Hikaru?" The officer blinked, frowning slightly. "Give me just a second, I'll look up the name." Turning to his computer, he quickly typed in a few things- before a puzzled look crossed his face, and he turned back towards the pair of presumed children, scratching his head. "Well, I don't know what to tell the two of you. It says here that Miwa Hikaru passed away fifty years ago."

There was a faint yelp of 'what?' from within the mirror, that Ai scrambled to cover up by repeating the phrase, flushing a little as Conan looked her way, a slight grin on his face. Coughing a little to cover up her embarrassment, Ai looked up at the officer with a frown. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah." The officer said, nodding his head. "Apparently she drowned in an accident."

"An accident?" Conan asked. "Can you tell us where?"

"Well..." The officer hesitated for a moment. "I suppose so. There's a famous spot in our town used by tourists and locals for tests of courage. It's there. In the past it apparently used to be a popular spot for lovers to secretly meet up. Well," he said, pushing the hand mirror slightly back towards Ai. "Ever since this Miwa-san drowned there, it's reputation has changed, and everyone says it's haunted. Ah, but it's a lot safer than it used to be in the past- after the accident, town officials took measures to ensure such a thing wouldn't happen again."

"I see! Thanks, officer!" Flashing the officer a bright smile, Conan made a show of taking Ai by the hand, heading back outside where Heiji was waiting for the two of them. Without even looking up at his friend, he let go of Ai's hand and headed down the steps of the station. If what the officer had said was true, then it was possible that Hikaru and the ghost from the mirror had planned to meet at the cave, only for Hikaru to coincidentally encounter an accident herself. Well, there was also the chance that she might have flung herself into the ocean after receiving word of her girlfriend's murder- but it hardly mattered fifty years after the fact. "Miwa Hikaru is already dead, fifty years ago as well by the sound of it. It happened at that spot Ayumi-chan suggested for the test of courage."

"Sounds like we're about ta get a sneak preview of it."

The cave itself was easy enough to find and get into. Since it was still afternoon, it was pretty much empty of anyone else, which was likely for the best. Heiji navigated the still slightly dark cave with practiced ease, Conan falling into step behind him. Ai carefully followed suit, having tucked the hand mirror back away in her skirt for the moment, not wanting to lose her grip on it and have it drop into the ocean.

"This is probably the place." Stepping aside to allow the two shorter members of the party to get a better look, he pointed slightly upwards. Just above his head, out of arm's reach, there was indeed a small shrine, built into the cave wall itself.

"What now, Hattori?" Conan asked, switching on his wristwatch flashlight and shining it at the small shrine above, trying to see if there might be anything to allude to Miwa Hikaru's presence in this cave. He caught a hint of something shining from within the shrine, and frowned a little, wondering what it could be. "You're the one who knows this sort of stuff, not me."

"Well, give me the hand mirror." Holding out his hand, Heiji motioned towards Ai for her to hand it over. Pulling it out of her skirt pocket, she gave the mirror to him. "Well, ghost Neechan? Ya sense yer girlfriend here anywhere?"

"I'm not sure..." The ghost woman frowned, her visage manifesting from within the hand mirror. Closing her eyes, she focused her thoughts, trying to stretch out with her feelings. With a sharp gasp, her eyes snapped open, and she let out a cry, one that was a mixture of joy and relief. "Up there!"

Turning his attention back up towards the shrine, Heiji's eyes narrowed, making out the shine of another mirror within the shrine itself. "In there?" He asked, glancing back down at the mirror in his hand. "Right then."

Before Conan could even open up his mouth to stop him, the vampire detective planted one foot on the wall in front of him- and then another. Completely spitting at gravity, Heiji neatly walked up the wall, carefully kneeling down in front of the shrine. He wondered if it were built up this high to protect it from flooding. He doubted people would be allowed to access the cave so easily if the water got up this far during high tide.

Setting the hand mirror down in the shrine, he watched as the mirror that was already placed within the shrine itself shimmered, the visage of another young woman forming within it. Judging from the expressions on their faces, he felt that his task was pretty much done here, and he stood back up, turning around on his heel and neatly walking back down the wall the way he'd came. He probably shouldn't butt into a fifty year overdue reunion between two lovers, after all. That would just be in bad taste.

Tilting his head as he noticed Conan's exasperated expression, Heiji couldn't help but frown at him. "What's with that look, Kudo?"

"Hattori." Conan said simply, locking eyes with him before he wordlessly motioned towards Ai, who had been watching the scene unfold before her, completely stock still as if she were frozen in time. A look of understanding slowly dawned across Heiji's face, before he sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck, laughing a little.

"I've said it once, and I'll say it again, Hattori." Conan heaved a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose. "You are the worst at keeping secrets."

"What, you're still up?"

Glancing up at the sound of Kazuha's voice, Heiji spared her a smile, setting aside the file he had been studying for the past hour or so.

"What are ya doin' out of bed, Kazuha? Shouldn't you be sleepin'?" Heiji asked, nevertheless scooting out the chair next to him, which she carefully slid into. "Ya had a busy day, judgin' from the number of shoppin' bags you dragged back here."

Well, his day had been pretty busy as well. It hadn't been easy convincing Ai to not say anything about what she had witnessed. After the events with Ran, Heiji wasn't so keen on using his mental manipulation to erase people's memories like that anymore, so he'd rather not do it if he had a choice. Conan had blurted out a cover story for the 'trick' she'd just seen, but it was obvious that she hadn't bought it, given the way she'd been staring at the back of his head all day, practically burning holes into it.

Well, that would be a situation to deal with another day.

"Just getting some water." Kazuha said, setting her glass down in front of her. "What are you doing here in the dark?" She asked, leaning over a little, squinting her eyes in hopes of reading what she knew her boyfriend could easily see. Realizing that it was no good, she instead turned her focus up towards his face, something which she could make out even within the dark.

"Just some case files." Judging from his serious expression, it wasn't just any old case he was reading up on. "I wanted to study them thoroughly before I had to a completely different country."

"Is it for that case?" Kazuha asked, leaning her head against his shoulder, closing her eyes. "You know I'm coming with you, right?"

"It's the first I've heard of it." Heiji noted, though honestly, he didn't sound all that surprised. After what had happened in the past month, it was no small surprise that Kazuha didn't want to let him out of her sight if he was going to face anything that might be even a little bit dangerous. "Any way I can convince ya not to?"

"I've already discussed it with my parents." Kazuha said simply. "So no."

"I figured." Smiling a little, Heiji cast his eyes down towards her, watching the steady rise and fall of her chest. Now that he'd actually managed to admit his feelings for her, he honestly had no idea how he hadn't been aware of his own romantic inclinations towards Kazuha for so long.

"Hey, Kazuha." Heiji spoke up again, his smile growing somewhat tempered by other emotions. "I asked ya once before, but I'm goin' ta ask ya one more time. Are ya sure yer fine with me? There's still plenty of time fer you ta find some other nice, perfectly human guy, you know."

"Don't be an idiot." Kazuha huffed, glancing up at him. "I said I was fine, didn't I? My answer isn't going to change, not now, and not later. So you don't need to worry about me, Heiji."

"I just thought I'd make sure." Heiji said finally, reaching his arm around her to pull her a bit closer. Shutting the file folder in front of him, he decided to put studying it on hold, at least for now. "Well, though to be honest, I don't know any other guy who would want ta date an idiot like ya."

"Oh? I happen to not know any other girl who would want to date an idiot like you either." Kazuha said lightly. A faint smile on her face, she cupped her hand in his, peering up at him in the dark. "Let's go back to bed, Heiji. You can read file later, right?"

"I suppose that's not true." Heiji said, giving her a small grin. "Are ya sure ya don't just want ta use me as yer personal cooler though, Kazuha?"

"Well, that might be true." Her voice was light and slightly mischievous, but she leaned up, planting a quick kiss on his cheek. "Come on. Even vampires should sleep sometimes. Especially if they're personally invited to cuddle by a cute girl."

"Really? There's a cute girl around here?" Heiji asked, making a show of looking around the living room- which earned him a jab to the side for his trouble. With a bit of laughter, he rose to his feet, scooping up his file folder- and then promptly scooping up Kazuha as well, laughing as she barely managed to bit back a yelp of surprise.

"I love ya, Kazuha." His words were frank and direct- and that was part of what Kazuha loved about him.

"Yeah." Kazuha said simply, leaning her head into his chest. "I know."