DISCLAIMER: I do not own Detective Conan (also known as "Case Closed"). Detective Conan was and still is made by Gosho Aoyama.

Rendezvous of Purification

Prologue

"Hah ...", Hitomi sighed while looking at her watch annoyed. It was already way past 11PM. Over one hour ago she already was done with her shift and by now she should have been home already. Her boyfriend was also waiting. But it should not be. After already missing the next possible train as she always did, the one right after should also not come due to a delayed schedule. She would not have any choice but to wait longer for it to come. "I'll be late, sorry", she told her boyfriend, calling him from a phone booth. He was not happy hearing this, by far more worried than anything else. "Be careful", he told her. That she was all alone at night was something he always hated. However, he also could not pick her up as he was still sitting on his obligatory report for his boss. Hitomi had no money left to get a taxi that would bring her that far.

So she waited in the station hall. Eventually the train would come but she was far from pleased. Not just that her work was a long way from their apartment, it also was located incredibly inconvenient. She always lost time that she would have wanted to spend with her beloved one.

Hitomi rather wanted to take a quick walk instead of just sitting around doing nothing. There was no problem for her to be outside at night. She was not afraid but as her boyfriend always was laying on her ears about being careful she always had a spray to protect herself as well as a mobile phone. The phone was out of power but at least she would be able to still use the spray for emergencies.

It was dead silent with the only thing she could hear being her own steps. Her legs were sunken in thick fog and her eye sight was also heavily influenced. The lanterns' shine pierced through the fog showing her which way she had to go. After a while she reached some store windows that were displaying clothes, electronic devices and other stuff. When reaching a theatre building she noticed a movie was already running for a few days by now. She had already convinced her boyfriend to watch it with her. Once she would come home she would also arrange at which time and day they would go.

Then she checked time again. Having totally forgotten about it she was turning around to be on her way back and get the train in time. Now to save some though she decided to not take the long way but some shortcuts she had remembered from the last few years.

A slight feeling of regret was approaching though as she immediately noticed what she did not think about: The first alleyway she was walking through was far from being as lit up as the normal street. For a while she tried to find the right way, trusting her own orientation as much as she could. Then she started getting nervous. Time was running out.

Suddenly Hitomi could hear something.

Steps were getting closer.

Now she was frightened a bit actually. Not sure if she should carefully say "Hello?" or just retreat, she stood there for a few seconds.

To be safe though she was holding the spray inside of her handbag, ready to use it. Maybe it is just another person on their way home, she thought. But it was very unusual to meet someone around this time. That much she already knew and that was why she could even go out this carelessly. Hitomi was shivering now.

Finally a person came out of the fog. A person, wearing a pitch-black cloak and a mask as pale as corpse. The head was crowned with a classic looking top-hat to match the rest of the noble looks. The right hand was holding a knife with a long, sharp blade in which the eyes of the girl were reflected. Eyes that were giving the unknown one a gaze, petrified in fear. For a moment that appeared like an eternity for her she could not think clearly. Then, when she began thawing and was able to move again, she got out the spray right when the masked one was reaching her. Same moment though was used by the person to cut her hand and make the can fall down into the sea of fog. Hitomi was staring in those cold eyes before her. For a moment she was trying to forget the burning pain in her hand, turn around and run for her life.

But in vain.

The person was grabbing her shoulder and was pinning her against the wall.

While he was finishing what he began, all that Hitomi could think of was the time of the last seven years she had spent with her boyfriend.

Like a candle her life's light was blown out.