When Ran and Sonoko exited out of Teitan High School after a hard day of work, they saw a sight other then the shining sun that was rather confusing at first.

A gaggle of girls mobbed against something or someone they couldn't see. Oddly enough, upon closer inspection they could see that there was some boys that part of the throng as well. They were all sophomore and up, not a single one of them freshmen.

"What's going on? Sonoko asked, just as perplexed as Ran.

An invisible lightbulb lit up high above Ran's horn. Sonoko was probably the only one who could see it, given the groan that was emitted from her mouth.

"Could it be Shinichi?" Ran wondered out loud, her fiery temperment showing. I'll-

"Let me guess", Sonoko exclaimed rolling her eyes but with a clear jovial smirk on her face. She clutched her hands together and looked up at the sky with a pretend look of worry on her face. "I'm totally gonna say I'm mad at that Holmes Otaku but in reality I want to marry him and make sweet lov-"

"So-no-ko!" Ran said embarresed, blushing and shaking her head while trying to cover her ears.

Sonoko chuckled and put a hand on her shoulder. "C'mon I doubt it's Shinichi. If he was here and had drawn that much attention to himself, he probably have a heart attack."

Ran shrugged. Shinichi did avoid crowds like the bubonic plague. "I don't know maybe he his hair is all spiked up like that one time he got bubblegum in his hair."

Sonoko pulled out her phone, obviously ready to take a picture of Shinichi because of his resemblance to Kaito Kid, probably going to claim that she and him were boyfriend and girlfriend.

Makoto would beg to differ.

Suddenly, Sonoko pupils became as wide as saucers and her jaw went slack. Ran quickly turned her head to where Sonoko's attention was being kept, seeing that the crowd was now encircling the front of the building. Ran's eyes ensconced on Sonoko's direct line of vision, secretly praying to see Shinichi.

Ran's hopes were in vain. Though he looked like he was around their age, his brown hair, his different uniform made it obvious he wasn't Shinichi.

Wait… It took a while for her to recognize that face as Light Yagami.

"Yagami-san!"

Though he had a stretching smile and was trying his best to keep up a cool visage, it was clear that he looked rather uncomfortable. Light had always been popular, his decision to transfer schools as a result of his fathers promotion had broken a lot of hearts, but singularly the girls who were looking forward to going to highschool.

Light had went to Teitan Elementary with her, Shinichi, and Sonoko. Even then his charisma was off the richter scale. He and Shinichi had been rivals as long as she could remember, always the overachievers of their homeroom.

Though Light appeared confident, he darted his eyes to the pair of them, looking guilty. Ran knew why.

Before leaving he had not gave them any warning that he was leaving and never tried to contact them before now. Ran's fist clenched. Light better have had a good explanation as to why he suddenly showed up now.

Before they could refuse, Light grabbed the both of them by the hand, causing both Sonoko's and Ran's face to redden like a cherry from the personal contact.

Student faces were full of jealously and loathing but said nothing as they sauntered away. Before long Light and the girls reached a back alley, hidden from the any passerbys or lookyloos.

They should probably have told that to Light. After ducking behind a wall, Light poked his head out from both directions. Satisfyed, Light was back to being all smiles again.

Wow, I didn't think people remembered me after all this time! Light chuckled nervously, making the act somehow look cool and collected. I'm going to have to talk to them pretty soon.

Light looked Ran and Sonoko straight in the eye, somehow unaware of the awkward suffocating atmosphere clogging up the scene. "So how are you guys! It's been a while hasn't it? How bout I walk you two home-"

SMASH

Ran punched the building wall directly next to Light. Light dodged it, unsmiling but unafraid. "You know that it against the law to destroy property right?"

Ran was fuming. How dare he comeback after three years without contacting them! And to rub salt on the wound, Light has just got done acting like everything was normal.

Light looked at Sonoko for rescue, but got none. Despite being excited to see Light, she had decided to take Ran's side.

"Light-kun…" Ran said dangerously, low and growly. "Why are you here?"

Light genuinely appeared confused. That was enough for Ran to through a kick as his face. This time he didn't dodge it, just taking it as he finally realized why Ran was angry.

"How can you act so normal? We having seen you for so long, yet you're acting like everything is fine! We missed you! We set you letters and emails but you didn't even respond! Why, Light-kun…"

Despite her best attempt, Ran was crying. She always had trouble keeping her emotions in check and was unable to ignore and suppress wounds for long periods of time. This particular scar had festered for almost four years…

Ran's shoulder was suddenly clutched. She winced, thinking it was Light but it was just Sonoko giving

Ran something to lean on for support. Ran wasn't the only one hurt by Light's disappearance, Making Ran feeling worse for acting like it all about her.

She couldn't help it though. He was just like that baka Shinichi! Both disappeared for long periods of time and acted like it was the most normal thing.

Maybe Ran was ultimately displacing her anger for Shinichi on Light, though it wasn't entirely undeserved. At Shinichi called every once in a while. Light had done none of that despite having been a close friend.

For the first time in Ran's life, Light had guilty look on his face. "Look, I'm sorry… It's just…"

Ran exchanged a suspicious glance, guarding herself from any attempt by Light to charm them into forgiving him. He was somehow quite adept at doing that.

"I never realized how much I missed everyone. I've been so busy with cram schools and endless mind numbing tests that it finally made me understand that I never got a chance to say goodbye. Either to the both of you or Shinichi. Honestly I was too scared to ever apologize until now."

"Why?"

"Because I didn't think the three of you would forgive me. I was acting like a jerk when I learned that we were moving to Tokyo-fu. It was… Stupid and childish, I know now."

Light's face fell, and Ran then understood why he had came here. That cocksure attitude he showed at the school was a facade. It was truly rare to see him like this.

"Light..." Ran and Sonoko simultaneously began...

"No, it's fine, you guys had a right to be angry." Light chuckled sadly. "Leaving here was the only time me and my dad fought. In the end I knew I was being harsh to him. There aren't many detectives with the integrity and skill to become head of the NPA. So if you guys don't want to for-"

"No. It's okay Yagami-kun. I understand."

Light rolled his eyes, bemused. "When are you two going to start calling me Light? Were close anyway and even if we weren't I'm not important enough to deserve a honorific."

Just like that he was back to his old self again. Before Ran could object, Sonoko laughed. "In yours dreams! Now Light-kun, you promised to walk two hot young women home didn't you?"

Though there was a brief hint of annoyance, Light smiled warmly, his eyes sparkling and shimmering with newfound joy. "I think Ran is more then enough of a deterrent to any freak out there. Still… Light glanced to the side, At least we can catch up.

A crying Ran was now a smiling Ran. Light, his face serious at the look of residual sadness on her face, pulled out some pocket tissues. "Don't worry I won't run away this time."

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They were talking it up just like old times.

Sonoko and Light were doing most of the talking, though Ran chimed in every once in a while to point out a shop or area that wasn't. It wasn't that she was shy or didn't want to though. Sonoko always had a gift for out socializing Light was just as polite as she remembered, listening closely and answering happily.

Though it seemed even his patience was starting to fray at this endless explosion of small talk.

"Who names their son, LIGHT?" Sonoko roared, as the two talked amongst each other.

Light shook his head from side to side, frowning. "Have you always been this obnoxious? You starting to sound like a ganguro girl."

Sonoko's face took the color of a Plum, her nose curved upwards and her mouth snarling as if Light had just said a particularly nasty swear word. Funny thing was, she had dressed as a ganguro girl for a while… Until it became unfashionable of course. Surprisingly she recovered quickly.

"Well just so you know, Mr. Yagami, if you had stayed, you might have learned that the heiress of the Suzuki Corporation had a crush on a handsome boy like you."

If Shinichi was here it would have been just like old times. Just with less flirting that made Ran uncomfortable.

Light visibly blushed. "You had a crush on me?" Ran giggled, failing to stifle it. Though Light never had a problem with attracting admirers, actually acknowledging he had them was a different matter. It was a running joke in middle school that Light was both the perfect and worst date. He always was the perfect gentlemen, always knowing exactly what to do to make the ladies swoon… Except actually knowing he was swooning.

Sonoko playfully elbowed Light. "I'm sorry but you missed your chance buddy! I'm with Makoto-kun now."

Light didn't take heed. Instead he smiled back. "I don't really have time for a girlfriend anyway. I've been taking classes at Tohto. Light lit up when he saw the countenance of surprise and awe on the girls faces. "I'm all but a shoe-in to get in."

Nobody knew what to say to that. Ran could imagine that Sonoko was inwardly cursing her average but still low academic score compared to her best friends. Her face was a great indicator actually, as she huffed and puffed like a frog.

Though she was proud of Light, Ran was more worried about Shinichi. It was almost the end of the second year and he hadn't shown except for the school play. He always was a lazy genius, but now it seemed that he was going to be held back another year.

To distract herself, Ran asked Light what he intended to be.

Light smiled. "A detective. Like my dad."

A stunned Ran thought that this was a delightful idea. Though Light wasn't a amateur but brilliant detective like Shinichi, always disliking and avoiding the sight of dead bodies like her, he took it to a new extreme cowering away and refusing to look. Despite this, his deductive skills were almost equal to Shinichi's.

Sonoko was less impressed. "WHAA!" Sonoko exageratedly yelled out. "You are going to become a detective like that Holmes otaku?"

Light rolled his eyes. "Not a P.I a real detective. I wont be able to make a difference in this rotten world that way…" A dark sad look passed through Light's face. Ran was the first to notice.

Ran knew something wasn't right. "Yagami-kun? What's wrong?"

Just like that it disappeared and Light was all smiles again. It's nothing! Really… Speaking of which hows my friendly rival?

Ran's face fell. In middle school, Light and Shinichi were bitter rivals approaching to the example of Moriarty and Holmes. Though both were some of the kindest people you would ever meet, their stark differences were almost akin to yin and yang. Shinichi was aloof and shy while Light was friendly, easygoing and quite sociable.

And while the cult of personality surrounding Light was based on his sheer likability, Shinichi's popularity was more based on his cool and detached manners, giving him a era of mysticism and-

God Sonoko was starting to imbed her schoolyard popularity ethics into her, wasn't she?

So she explained almost everything that had happened in the last year, how Shinichi had vanished before explaining that he been caught a case and had only made infrequent visits since. Light listened carefully, never interrupting her even once, only asking questions

Light laughed, There was no hint of mockery in it, like but his eyes were sympathetic, showing Ran his confidence and sincerity. "Ran-san I wouldn't worry about it. Shinichi doesn't seem like the type to lie. I'm sure what ever case he poked his nose into will be solved in no time!"

Ran smiled wanly, appreciative of Light. Though he was certainly older, in the end he was the same Light they knew and loved in grade school.

"Just make sure to invite me to the wedding, Mrs. Kudo."

Ran's face was as red as a strawberry, utterly perplexed as to why he said. It wasn't like she liked Shinichi or anything… Right?

Before she could think about it further, Sonoko crossed her arms and huffed indignently Hey! Teasing Ran is my job.

Light made a faux apologetic gesture with his hands. "Okay, I'll leave it to you. You are better at it after all!"

Before long they had made it to the Mouri residence. Ran at looked Light sadly, She didn't want him to leave just yet. He still hadn't met Conan yet, who somehow had similarities with him…

Somehow, as if reading her mind, Light knew exactly how to reply. "Don't worry Ran, we'll meet again. All of us, even if I have to drag Shinichi out of hiding."

Ran could imagine it quite well. Light and Shinichi had gotten into hundreds of schoolyard fights with the scrapes, bruises and scars to tell the tale.

Right now she was imagining them as kids dressed in their current trademark adult oversized clothes trying to pin each other down. Pint sized Shinichi in his blue suit gangly, pockmarked Light Yagami in his brown uniform, arguing over who spoke english the best. Ran had always hated it when they fought but the mental image was so comical that she decided to forgo it for a moment.

"When can I see you again?"

Light gave out a sigh of defeat, suddenly nonplussed. "It has to wait until summer vacation. As smart as I am it will still take days of studying for me to pass the entrance exam. After that, as an apology for not talking to either of you, I'll let you pick the place."

Light smiled as Sonoko waved goodbye, and left.

When she got into the house, to her surprise it was cleaner then usual. At first she naively thought her father had gotten off his lazy butt and cleaned for once… Until she found him sprawled on the floor, all twisted like a pretzel, his open mouth drooling onto his red cheeks.

Conan must had done it. Ran felt a mixture of emotions. One was gratitude at how adorable and sweet Conan-kun was but also anger

Sighing, she carefully put a blanket on him and went to her room, promising to beat him up later. It was probably good that she didn't wake him up, considering that dad made it perfectly clear that he hated Light Yagami worse then Shinichi Kudo, accusing him of trying to "seduce her" and of being a "pompous psycho", despite never being anything but courteous to him.

Pushing that unpleasantness to the side, Ran picked up her phone, giddly dialing Shinichi's number. She would love to be a fly on the wall to see his reaction. And of course she had to tell Conan-kun! He was always a great listener and he was sure he'd take to Light-kun like a moth to a flame!

Smiling, happy, and for once not stressed, she gazed through the starry night, cuddling one of her kawaii stuffed animals as Shinichi picked up, the both of them unaware of the coming horror of the incident that would shake the foundations of humanity and envelop the entire world in a dark valley where innocence and light escaped.

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Two Weeks Later

Shinichi figured that today would be rainy. The past few weeks had been nothing but windy, overcast days full of color and life but yesterday had been a sodden mess of silver gray and aqua blue.i If Shinichi was superstitious, he probably think Susanno'o-no-Mikoto was was arguing with Amateratsu again. But right now the sun was setting early, a glow of fire and gold that mixed with the palpable heat. At least for Kogoro, since his

Then again it didn't really matter how sunny or bright the past two weeks were. Kira was all everyone talked about in school. Both of his schools because apparently, his elder peers were as easily impressed and superstitious as six year olds.

Shinichi had to learn about that from Ran. Only instead of hearing about as Shinichi, Conan got a rather shocked surprise when Ran appeared outside Teitan Elementary, smiling and waiting to walk him home.

Embarrassing as that was, at least he wasn't alone. A few of the tykes were so frightened that they had to go home, making Kobayashi-sensei (Hopefully, it would be san soon enough) forbid all talk about it the next day.

When they were walking, Shinichi felt that he had no choice but to tease her.

"So Conan-kun did you have a great day?"

The way she looked was so cute, that Shinichi almost regretted saying it. But before he could stop himself Ran jumped up, clutching him to her chest.

It was times like this where Shinichi wondered why she just didn't get a teddy bear given how much she used him as one. Though for a moment it didn't really matter. Nor was the fact was that he was suffocating as Ran's body spun around, as if she was afraid that Kira was just around the corner.

Shinichi probably would have been more annoyed if Ran hadn't shoved his face into her chest, with Shinichi too flustered to care about the loss of his circulation...

Eventually, she did put Shinichi down. Though she felt guilty for giving him a bloody nose due to her "immense strength", Shinichi felt too bad to not accept her offer of ice cream, and instead used his little kid voice to ask her what was wrong.

"N-nothing Conan-kun! I wouldn't worry about Kira. After all your Nee-chan doesn't believe he exists!"

Liar. As soon as Ran had heard about the rumors, she had rushed to the nearest Shrine and now the entire house was covered and enveloped in charms. Sonoko enjoyed teasing her about it but for now she thankfully was not on the Kira bandwagon. Shinichi knew Sonoko too well however. It was only a matter of time and Kid was enough.

When the day came when Shinichi could return to his adult body, there would be one hell of reckoning to those who frightened Ran with a glorified chain letter.

And if that wasn't enough, fate seemed to enjoy making his plate heavier out of some sick divine amusement. Light Yagami had returned.

All excitement to seeing his old rival again was drained when he called on Shinichi's phone. Shinichi just couldn't be as vague with him as he was with everyone else. Light saw right through his lies instantly and Shinichi was on the defensive half of the time.

And to make things worse, Shinichi had a feeling he was deliberately testing and provoking him. To be fair they had enjoyed doing to one to another as children but he had gone too far this time by including Ran…

Shinichi sighed. He simply didn't have time for this anymore. It was vapid indulgence at best and childish at worst. Still, Shinichi had to be on his toes around Light while he was Conan. Though he knew Light enough to know he probably wouldn't tell, he felt that this would be a more irritating repeat of Heiji's jibes and he would almost certainly want to tell Ran.

Plus, his dad was fucking frightening. A traditionalist who took his job more seriously then he did his family, he was less then impressed with Heisei Holmes.

That was an understatement: there was more then one time Shinichi could recall that Soichiro Yagami's cold dead scare made him nervous, his booming yell in one of the few times he came to a crime scene to see Yusaku with Shinichi in tow, and his reaction to Shinichi being hailed as the Savior of the Police Force…

Shinichi gulped.

Now back to something he could understand; crime.

Despite Ran's fears Shinichi was skeptical that some supernatural force were behind the murders… If they were murders they certainly baffled Heisei Holmes. And that was a feat that hasn't happened before.

Shinichi was sure there were murders but the question was how and why. All of the murders either occurred in Prison where they were all watched 24/7, or the murderers locations had been unknown until they had died. Shinichi's first thought had been the Black Organization but that didn't make any sense.

The reason had been solid, only a complete fool would ignore it. Some kind of vigilante or avenging organization was killing criminals. Shinichi had nothing but contempt for whoever or whomever was doing this. By killing them, they didn't give their victims a chance to confront them and make them agknowledge the wrongs they had done to them. Only then could they get true closure.

And even if that was false, what exactly made "Kira" better then them?

"Whaa!" Kogoro jumped out his couch, slobbering all over the place. "Where's Yoko-chan?"

At first Shinichi though that Kogoro in his drunken super had accidentally turned off the T.V. But instead, a black screen with English and Katakana inscribed upon it. Shinichi could make out what the entire message, the television cut to a middle aged man with a comb over hurridly taking out notes while news crew shouted on landlines in the background.

"We apologize for the interruption. As of now we are bringing you a worldwide announcement from the ICPO."

Before Shinichi could ponder why the ICPO was doing this, having been much too dumbstruck by the idea that Kira was a real organization or individual, the scene cut to a sharply dressed man in his mid twenties to early thirties.

"Allow to introduce myself as the head of a international taskforce. I am Lind L. Tailor also known as L."

L? Shinichi gasped all at once shocked and excited. L was considered the greatest detective in the world and not without good reason. The annals of the crimes he solved were widely reported, though his identity was top secret. His accomplishments were vast and extraordinary, having solved cases that even his father thought he wouldn't be able to do.

Now Shinichi was interested. L only took cases he was interested in, a fact that prevented L from receiving idolization in Shinichi's eyes. Still he listened, bewitched by the spectacle before. It took Ran to bring him back to Earth.

"Conan-kun don't sit to close to the T.V." Ran scolded before beginning to pay attention to what L was saying. All three were too engrossed in the broadcast to notice the sun starting to set.

"Kira, I have a pretty good idea of what your motivation might be and I think I have a feeling of what your goal is." Ran winced and straightened her shoulders at the mention of his name. "Let me tell you what you are trying to achieve is evil."

Lind L. Tailor paused, almost reluctant. He was sweating bullets and looked like he has swallowed something he couldn't quite digest. Shinichi realized that he was done talking but somehow the camera was still rolling. It was as if he was waiting for something to happen and Shinichi has a sick feeling as to what.

And they waited. The pixels focused on the sickly man before them, unblinking but Shinichi could detect a air of nervousness eminating from his body language. It appeared that it was going to hold on a extremely awkward pause.

Shinichi rolled his eyes. This is ridiculous. This has to be some kind of prank. Is Sakura TV behind this? This seemed like the kind of publicity stunt they would pull...

Shinichi's attention was drawn to the clock as it clicked out the seconds. It had been twenty seven exactly

Then against all reason and probability, Lind L. Tailor clutched his heart, a expression of utmost pain ingrained on his face, before falling face first into the desk. Attendants rushed to his still body. He wasn't breathing.

Somewhere the woman of his dreams screamed, not the yell of a martial artist but like a frightened little girl. Out of his peripheral vision, he saw Kogoro jump up and curse. Shinichi registered this all numbly, with what was left of his blown mind shot into space.

Shinichi couldn't believe what he was seeing. Blinking didn't help. No it can't be. That did not just happen! There's no way that's possible. Shinichi was overcome by fear. Not fear for his life or his family and friends but fear of the irrational.

Just then the TV cut to a white screen with a capital L in the center, boldly contrasting the emptiness.

I never would have believed… If I didn't just see it myself. A distorted voice spoke out, high pitched. Shinichi listened, now drawn to the spectacle before him.

Shinichi's fear was gone. His anger would return after the broadcast. But all he could muster was that he was stumped beyond belief.

For once, Shinichi was looking for someone to tell him what the hell was going on.

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Enjoy and review! Don't feel like talking that much sadly.