Disclaimer: Detective Conan & Magic Kaito belong to Aoyama Gosho.

Ship: Kaitou KID (Kuroba Kaito) x Edogawa Conan (Kudou Shinichi)

Words: 1412

Chapter 1: Familiar Occurrence

"My dearest Meitantei…"

"Please don't be reckless again... be happy with Mouri-chan and be safe..."

"–ichi."

"–Shinichi!"

"SHIN-I-CHI!"

Kudou Shinichi snapped open his eyes as a sharp voice pierced through his ears and a strong hand slapped his left shoulder. "Ow!" Shinichi let out a yelp and turned to the source of the voice. In front of him was a very furious Mouri Ran.

"You're unbelievable, Shinichi. You managed to fall asleep on a bench in an amusement park of all places. You were supposed to hang out with me to celebrate my karate championship!"

"Sorry, Ran. I pulled an all-nighter reading mystery novel last night…" Shinichi scratched his cheek in embarrassment, while trying to laugh off the fact that he just fell asleep in a noisy public area.

"Hopeless detective geek. Come on! Let's try that roller coaster. That oughta wake you up." With determination, Ran dragged him off the bench towards the nearest attraction.

Shinichi sighed and hurried his footsteps as Ran yanked his arm forward, secretly praying that he won't end up with a pulled arm muscle or two tomorrow. Well, might as well have fun since he was at an amusement park after all, and he did promise Ran that he's going to hang out with her at Tropical Land.

"The murder weapon was the pearl necklace she had." Shinichi proceeded to explain to Megure-keibu his deduction while carefully laying out all supporting evidences and rationales. Eventually, the mortified murderer was reduced to a crying mess, telling the world why she felt justified to kill the man she once loved and to pin it on the woman who stole him from her.

Shinichi let out a sigh as the culprit was handcuffed and taken away. His mind drafted back to the two suspicious men in black coat, who were also on the same roller coaster. One of them had long blonde hair while the other was wearing shades. There was something about them that really bothered him, like it wasn't his first time seeing those men. The two men left the scene immediately after the culprit admitted her crime, and that raised some red flags in Shinichi's mind. Just when Shinichi was about to take off to look for those men, he felt a tug by his shirt.

"Shinichi…" Shinichi turned around and found Ran appeared to be rather pale, upset, and terrified. It's understandable; after all, Ran doesn't get exposed to crime and murder scenes on a regular basis like he does. The victim from the roller coaster murder case did had a rather gruesome death – beheaded with blood gushed out all over the roller coaster track and what not. "I don't feel very well… can we leave and hang out somewhere else?"

"Okay. I suppose we could go to a café or something so that you can rest for a bit." Ran smiled and nodded lightly at Shinichi's suggestion while Shinichi released a sigh of relief, internally feeling guilty about how Ran's day was ruined by a murder. They were here to celebrate her karate championship! Shinichi followed Ran as Ran began to head to the exit of Tropical Land, forcing his mind to forget about the two suspicious men that caught his attention.

It's as if he was destined to muddle into those men in black's business.

Shinichi was just leaving the men's washroom before him and Ran head for the long train ride, and he noticed the two suspicious men from earlier talking, more like interrogating, a shorter man. The other man seemed to be a businessman and had a frightened expression on him. That's when Shinichi noticed an irregularly shaped bump by the blonde man's hip, which alarmingly resembled a gun. A voice nagged in Shinichi's head, telling him that the businessman might be in danger and he should try to find a way to help him, while another voice in his head told him to mind his own business and how he needed to stop making Ran wait. Shinichi winced at his train of thought – did he make Ran wait for him all the time? He was just going to the washroom, so it's not like it'd take a decade. When they went out together he was usually early, so why would that nagging voice insisted that he had already made Ran wait long enough? His thought was interrupted as Ran grabbed his arm.

"Shinichi? Are you okay?" Ran looked at him worriedly.

"Oh, Ran…" Shinichi turned his head towards the direction where the men in black and the businessman disappeared to, and decided that he should follow them to find out more. "Ran, I'm sorry. There's something I need to do right now. Will you be able to head home yourself?"

Shinichi noted that Ran's expression suddenly darkened, and she started staring at the floor. "Shinichi, what do you intend to do?"

Shinichi blinked at Ran's expression and the rather obscure question. Following those men might be dangerous and he didn't want Ran to come with him, though. "It's nothing much, Ran. I don't think it'd interest you."

Ran closed her eyes momentarily before opening them again, and her eyes were gleamed with determination. Strangely, it appeared that her eyes had flashed a light shade of violet briefly, Shinichi mused. "If it's nothing much, then why don't you leave with me? You promised to hang out with me today, Shinichi."

"Well…" Shinichi now felt torn between fulfilling his sense of righteousness and keeping his childhood friend from getting more upset. It was also rather weird that Ran was being much more persistent than usual. He figured that he'd have to tell the truth to convince Ran to let him go. "Ran, you see, I just spotted these suspicious men over there and someone might need help. I need to go check it out to make sure nothing bad happens."

"What if something bad happens to you by following them?" Ran countered.

"I will be fine! I–"

"No, Shinichi. Don't go. Please." Ran continued to plead, and at the same time, grabbed both of Shinichi's arms to get her point across. "If you think that someone might be in danger, why don't you give Megure-keibu a call? He might still be in the area. It's not safe to run off– argh…" Ran suddenly kneeled down and pressed her right hand on her forehead, and sweat started to dribble down her face. "Dizzy…"

Shinichi immediately caught Ran to make sure she doesn't fall to the ground. "Ran! Are you all right? Here, let's set you down first…" He then carefully helped Ran up and walked her to a nearby bench, while supporting her via her shoulders. As Ran rested her head on the back rest, Shinichi proceeded to phone Megure-keibu and explain what he saw to him, in hopes that something can be done to help the businessman. After he finished the phone call, he turned to Ran and Ran opened her eyes again, appearing to be less pale than she was moments ago. Sweat was no longer dribbling down her face. "Ran, are you feeling better now? What happened?"

Ran looked at him with a soft smile on her face. "I'm feeling okay now. I just suddenly felt dizzy earlier, that's all. I guess the dead body from earlier was getting to me."

"I think we should get you home instead so that you can get some rest. We will hang out again next time." Shinichi helped Ran get up, allowing her to regain her balance and to steady her feet. The two of them then slowly headed to the exit of Tropical Land, yet Shinichi couldn't help but glance back at the area where the two suspicious men and their supposedly victim probably still were. He had this nagging feeling that he really should've gone after those men despite Ran's protest, and he couldn't explain why. It's as if he somehow knew those men, and going after those men might provide him with information that he had been eagerly looking for– Shinichi shook his head to get rid of the thought. He was being silly, he mused. It's the first time he had ever seen those men, and he already asked Megure-keibu to follow-up. He could just ask the inspector for an update later. Right now, his primary concern should be getting Ran home safely. He'd have to make it up with her later for ruining her day.

TBC.

Afterword: Thanks for reading and please review! If there're any mistakes, please let me know. Big thanks to everyone who fav-ed/alert-ed/reviewed my other stories ^_^

This story feels rather ShinRan right now, but I assure you it's KaiShin. Next chapter will be up in hopefully two weeks (if school didn't kill me, that is). There will probably be three or four chapters max.

Story name "Illusion" came from GARNET CROW's 23rd single Maboroshi (Illusion). While the lyrics don't fit this fic, the music certainly does, so check it out if you have a chance! =3 Maboroshi has been one of my personal favourites for years.