QVR: Light's POV at the park. Conan ignores phone calls but Kaito is persistent. They agree to meet at the park but Conan's gonna be a little late since Ryuuk is roaming the streets, presumingly for him. Also Love.

A/N: A huge thanks to cor tenebris, Mullkkkkkk, ShimmingCrimson, Fluehatraya, Grisia, Carottal, Aguna, OCF, SakuraKoi, Lucathia Rykatu, and damncritic. Your reviews make this all possible. Seriously.

Now please excuse my characterization for it has been a long time. Also, excuse my attempts at cases.

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iv: Cherry Lollipops

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Conan Edogawa was late. He was late; he was late for a very important date.

Err, rendezvous. Whatever.

Not that it was his fault. That stupid… thing was probably wandering the streets looking for him. He didn't know how he knew that. He just did.

He knew somewhere along the line he fucked up big time.

Conan's making his way down the stairs, with a cap and hood just in case, and is about to walk out the door when someone clears their throat.

Conan just ignored it, but when he turned the knob the throat is cleared again. Now Conan turned, pouting because he was already late as is and did not need this, and wasn't so sure if that it was for the best and that he should have just pretended to not hear anything.

It was a client obviously. But he didn't look like the type to ask for help. He was staring straight into Conan's eyes, searching for something. Conan stared right back, not getting a good feeling about the person. He had long disheveled dark hair that went to his shoulders, and was dressed in a long sleeved white shirt with faded blue jeans. He was sucking on a red lollipop, cherry flavor if Conan had to guess.

The client spoke. "Conan-kun, I presume?"

Conan can hear the very faint tracings of an accent, but it's not strong enough to be that noticeable. Still, he must not be Japanese then. He neither confirms nor denies. "If you would excuse me." He turned back to the door, about to leave.

"I must insist that Conan-kun come along."

This stopped Conan in his tracks. He slowly turned back to the party, frowning. He had to be half an hour late at this rate.

Ran shook her head and Korogo came to Conan's defense. "Really, Ryuga-san, it's not necessary -"

"Would you really allow a child to go unsupervised outside into the streets? I must insist that he come along for this case, for his safety if not anything else." He said this without lifting his eyes from Conan; both back into a staring match, trying to assess the other.

"I have plans," Conan tells the three. He's not going to say with who and where but he does need to get going if he doesn't want Kid to think that he bailed on him. "It's fine."

"Ryuga-san is right, Conan-kun," Ran said, coming over to the young boy. "We always let you wander around and that isn't good of us. Even though I think you've seen enough dead bodies for a lifetime, we're still responsible for you and your safety."

"Does that not include my sanity?" Conan muttered, hoping to appeal to the fact that he has seen too many dead bodies to count.

Ran was about to reply but Ryuga added, "If Conan-kun doesn't come along I will take my business elsewhere."

Only now does Conan see the large briefcase of money on the table.

This gets Korogo worked up. "No no no no no no!" He smiled at Ryuga. "We will gladly take the kid with us if that's what you insist, Ryuga-san. You're the client after all." He looked to Ran and Conan in turn. "Ran, take Conan-kun so we can leave."

Ran reached out for Conan, who has no choice but to come along. Conan let her take his hand and walk him to the door, but not before sighing and taking out his phone to text Kid that he wasn't going to be able to make it.

"And what's your name?" Conan asked, since it wasn't right for him not to know.

The client smiled. "Ryuga Hideki."

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"So, Conan-kun," Hideki said, staring straight at the boy who's playing with his phone. "Do you like coming to cases?"

Conan ignored him in favor of his phone. i won't be able to make it :U

The reply was immediate. WHAT?

i got dragged into a case. :p

"Conan-kun, Ryuga-san is talking to you," Ran chided, laughing nervously. With the three of them in the backseat and Kogoro driving, it was more than a little awkward. Especially since Hideki seemed fixated on Conan, who wanted nothing to do with him.

"Hmm?" Conan looked up, looking right into Hideki's eyes. "Sometimes, but not when I have other plans," he replied as he looked back to his phone, texting away.

don't you like going to cases?

well yeah but not when im supposed to meet up with you

aww tantei-kun, that's sweet (heart)

shut it im pretty pissed off right now. i don't have a good feeling about this guy.

"What's the case about?" Conan asked, slightly curious. do you want me to meet you at where you're going?

"We're heading to Shino Dentistry," Hideki replied. "My family owns it and a death has taken place there."

shino dentistry

shit that's at the other side of town. "And what makes you so sure it was a murder?" Conan asked.

you don't have to come if you don't want to. i can handle it. "Well, that's what you're here to investigate, is it not?" give me twenty minutes

alright, i'll wait here by the cafe for you. The car stopped. "We're here," Kogoro said. All four of them stepped out of the car, Conan placing his phone back in his pocket. Following Hideki's lead, they made their way inside. There were about four people inside, three of them assistants and the fourth the dentist most likely. Hideki led them to the body inside one of the rooms inside.

"These are the things we know," he said, giving them background information. "The victim's name is Yamada Tarou. He is – or should I say was – 24 years old. Cause of death, unknown."

Conan had given himself a time limit. He needs to finish this case in about ten minutes then make it to the other side of town in the other half. He tuned everything out in order to concentrate. A passing thought was that Yamada Tarou was a pretty generic name. The cause of death had to be through poison, since there was no indication of any rough housing or injury through physical means. He listened to the testimonies of the witnesses/suspects. There were really only two people that interacted with the victim: the secretary and the assistant. The obvious suspect was the assistant since she was the last person to actually see Tarou when he was last alive. Now all he needed to do was examine the crime scene. Everyone else was so slow; there wasn't any time to give them any helpful hints.

Conan was too busy investigating he didn't notice the scrutinizing gaze of Hideki.

Finally, with two minutes overtime, he figured it out. Now all he needed to do was get Kogoro and then with his skateboard conveniently in his backpack he could probably make it to the park in about seven minutes. Which gives him a minute to spare.

Kogoro is in the prime position and Conan is aiming his watch when there's a hand on his shoulder.

"So, Conan-kun," Hideki whispered in his ear. "Have you figured it out yet?"

Conan looked to him and laughed nervously. "What are you saying, Ryuga-san? I'm not the detective; Mouri-san is."

Hideki curled his lip into a smile. "Right." He pat him on the back then walked away.

Conan looked at his watch. Five more minutes. He doesn't have time to really dwell on what the weird client was saying. He hid behind a desk, took aim, and fired.

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"Wow, Tou-san! Who would have thought that the victim was framing Ahiru-chan for his death when really it was a suicide?"

"You know, I'm not entirely sure…"

"Okay the case is over gotta go bye!" Without waiting Conan made his way out the door, passing by Hideki on the way out.

Not noticing Hideki watching him.

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A/N: I was going to continue with the park scene but I think this is a good place to stop.

Anyway, thanks for reading! If you want me to update this rather quickly, be sure to leave a review!