A/n: I just had to write up this idea, though reviews will make me decides whether or not to continue this. How does… Five reviews sound for a second chapter, huh? –Shakes tin can labeled 'reviews.'- Pwease give some love to this writer?

Disclaimers: I do not own Detective Conan, sadly. If I did, well… I dunno.

Withered Orchid

Chapter one: Withered beginning

By: Kat-Chan

How long had it been since he had laid eyes on the classrooms in Teitan High school or even Beika? He couldn't recall nor did he care. He knew a long, long time had passed and he had long since grown out of his child body, however, not by means of the antidote he so badly wanted at one time. He had given up on it. There was no reason for Kudo Shinichi to return when she was gone.

Kudo Shinichi, in a way, died with her and he was only Conan now.

He was now the same age as before his shrinking into a child. He was much older mentally, though. Heh, it was funny how things had turned out. How differently they had ended up from how he always imagined them to be after the fall of the crows. Not that it bothered him anymore; lots of things were still blanked out from after that experience.

He moved on too or so he told himself. The present was now and the past was just memories, right? Edogawa Conan, as he was now and forever, would be a semi-average teen who would probably be considered a genius. "Introduce yourself to the class, Edogawa-san."

Glancing up at the teacher, he moved his eyes to the chalk board and proceeded to write his name on it. Conan turned to the class after his task. Many curious faces peering up at him stuck out as familiarity flooded him, but four faces really stuck out among the crowd. 'So even in high school they're together. I was hoping I wouldn't be in any classes with them,' He thought bitterly.

"I'm Edogawa Conan," He hesitated. "Nice to meet you all." 'Again.'

The teacher pointed out a seat for him to sit at; unfortunately it was in the middle of four all-too-familiar faces. Reluctantly, he walked over to the desk and flopped lazily into the chair. Adjusting his glasses out of habit, he jumped when a familiar, though slightly matured voice made its self known. "Conan-kun? Oh my god, Conan-kun, is that really you?"

'Damn.'

"That is indeed my name, who are you?" Maybe if he pretended not to remember them, they'd leave him alone.

"It's me, Ayumi! Remember? Mitsuhiko-kun, Genta-kun, and Ai-chan, we played together in elementary school! The Detective Boys wasn't as fun after you left… Be we're real detective now, Right?!" Did she even take a breath during that sentence?

"Yup!" Two male voices, Mitsuhiko and Genta, chorused.

"Still call ourselves the Detective Boy too," Mitsuhiko pointed out, matter-of-factly.

"We will never be as good as you are, Conan-kun! You were a great detective as a child, imagine how good you are now," He had turned around aiming a hard glare at the matured Ayumi. "You're probably better than Holmes now!"

"I'm afraid you're mistaken. I. Hate. Mysteries. You have the wrong guy," Was the cold, blunt reply as he turned around.

"…"

"But…!"

"Shut it, whatever-your-name-is! Stop acting like you know me, because you don't! It's Edogawa-san, I'm sure you learned formalities when you were children. I'm trying to listen to the lesson," He snapped, low and cold, never looking back at her. He could hear faint sobs as she tried not to cry and murmurs from behind. He tried to pay attention to the teacher as she yammered on, but failed. Her sobbing distracted him. She still cried so easily. It reminded him of…

His forehead slammed into his desk. His vision was flooded with imagines of her beautiful smile and how crying never suited her. They faded to a memory that pained him and still tore at his heart to this day. Unwanted tears threatened to spill. It made him wonder…

'Why did I come back? I knew I'd meet with them someday and I know they'll bring unwanted memories…'

The reason he left was to stay away from all the people he once knew in his town. He didn't even need a high school education so he didn't see the reason he was in this class. He was home schooled after he left, his parent made sure he'd learn high school material and not the same stuff he already knew. So why did he let his mother talk him into coming back and going to high school again? He really wished he knew.

It was to late anyways.

"Can I go to the nurse?" He sat up; feeling people give him strange looks which he ignored them.

"… O- Okay, Edogawa-san. Do you need-" Whatever she had to say, he didn't care, Conan was out of the room before she could finish. Many of his 'new' classmates were probably just as confused as the teacher, to bad. He made his way down the halls, passing the nurses office; he never really planned to go there anyways. He found himself on the roof, pulling himself to the top of the roof's entrance. "Heh, I still know my way around…" The reminder of who he was before stung at his heart; the clouds he gazed up at seemed to form into her beautiful face.

"This isn't the nurse's office, Kudo-kun," He nearly jumped almost three feet, gaze switching to the strawberry blond staring up at him, She had let her hair grow out a bit so it nearly brushed her shoulders.

"Sorry, but I'm not this Kudo person, I'm Edogawa Conan." He corrected, harshly. He wiped his face, realizing that tears had spilt down his cheeks. Hopefully she didn't notice, but if he knew her as well as she did, she probably already did. "Go away, Haibara."

She opened her mouth ready to say something, but she stopped, changing her mind. He swore he found a glint of concern in her blue eyes. "Edogawa-kun… Mouri-san… Do you still blame yourself for what happened? You still mourn her?"

"I shouldn't have come back," He was a little surprised at the genuine concern she was showing for him, but… It agitated him too. "Go away, damn it! I want to be left alone…"

"It's not your fault she's gone, why do you continue blaming yourself?" Said Haibara in that tone which seemed to agitate him more, it was the same know-it-all attitude but it was kind and soft somehow. "Why can't you move on and be happy for Mouri-san? Wouldn't she want that?"

"It was my fault, Haibara! If it wasn't for me-"

"GET OVER IT!" She hissed.

He jumped down, scowling. Conan turned his back to her, facing the doorway. "I don't know how…"

He made his decent down the stairway, disappearing from the stunned woman's view.

As the day dragged on, Conan could easily conclude that his 'first' day of high school was a complete joy. There were many reason he hated his 'so-called first day. One would be the persistent memory of that day. The day she left him all alone… The day all his misery should have ended.

The other reasons had to do with his old 'friends'. The whole day they followed him around trying to force him to 'remember' them. Trying to make him rejoin the detective boys and trying to make him their friend again. Haibara left him alone, but she kept looking at him with that annoying look in her eyes. Why couldn't he be left alone?!

'I really shouldn't have come back…' A sigh escaped from his lips, his gaze shifting to the sky. It had seemed to get his attention a lot today, but it was very unwanted. The clouds always seemed to form into her face and caused that memory to be replayed through his mind. The empty pain in his heart was something he wished to escape. Now that he had returned, he knew it was impossible…

The commotion of pedestrians filled the air, but only his footsteps seemed echoed in his ears. His sneakers slapped along the side walk, taking him along a familiar path. To bad he wasn't paying attention to where he was going. Conan walked into something, recoiling back onto his behind. Seeing a pair of shoes before him, he realized it was a 'someone' that he ran into.

"Sorry, I wasn't looking where I was-"

"You!" The venom in the voice sent chills down his spin, but the familiarity of the voice sent fear pouring through him. He eyes traveled from the shoes, up the stained, navy pants, and to an unkempt face of one Mouri Kogoro. The look in the man's eyes was something he never though he'd see coming from that man… Every instinct told him to run, but he knew whatever this man wanted to do, he deserved it. It was his fault that Kogoro's only daughter was dead…

"Ojisan…" His voice came out weaker then he had liked.

"You!" He repeated, pointing an accusing finger at him. He was lifted to his feet, suddenly, thrown against a wall. "It's all your fault!! It's your fault she's gone! If you never came into her life, she'd still be alive! You damn brat! She dead because of you!"

While still clasping Conan's shirt, Kogoro pounded his free fist at whatever part of the teen he hit. Pain flooded each time the older man's fist struck. One after another, each blow made with every ounce of strength in the older man. All his anger and sorrow aimed at Conan and Conan wasn't going to flinch or attempt to get away from him. He took every hit even when he started to tastes blood in his mouth and knew some areas of his body had been hit so much they started to bleed.

All the while, Kogoro repeated 'It's all your fault' while thumping his fist on the teen. When the man's anger seemed to die down and his hits became less painful, Conan looked up at him. He looked at Kogoro with eyes that looked as dead as he felt. "I know…" His voice even sounded lifeless. He slumped to the pavement as he was released, eyes cast up at the sky, tears spilling down his stinging cheeks. "It's all my fault…"

A sigh.

"Self-pity and anger won't bring her back," The sudden gentleness in Kogoro's voice surprised him. Conan's eyes darted to his face to find the anger and hatred replaced by something Conan didn't want to see, a fatherly caring. "It's not your fault… I was just angry… Ran always had an urge to protect people and you always got into trouble… I'm sorry, Conan."

The teenaged boy stared up at him, surprises erasing the dead look in his eyes. "O- Ojisan?"

A hand was extended out towards the battered boy. He stared at it, debating whether to take it or not. After a few long moments, he took the offered appendages and was pulled to his feet. "Let's go get you cleaned up."

"I- its okay, Ojisan… I can clean up at home…"

"It's the least I could do for pounding on you," He insisted, smiling at Conan.

"I don't deserve it…" He muttered, stumbling away from the wall.

"Stop with the self-pity, brat," A sharp pain split through Conan's head, adding to the pain he was already feeling. "What would Ran say if she heard you?"

He rubbed his unfortunate head, following the older man obediently. He never said another word after that…

Flopping into the covers of an all too familiar bed, the bandaged boy let a long sigh escape his lips. Reviewing the day's events made a well-known question arise in his mind, 'why did I come back?' Between the annoyance of old friends and being beat up by Mouri Kogoro (which he felt he deserved, but it didn't help his mood any), Conan could deduce it was his third worst day of his life. With another sigh, he curled up on his side, two picture frames captivating his gaze. "Ran…"

In one of the picture frames, a beautiful, brunette young woman knelt beside a child with black-rimmed glasses, both had huge smiles on they're faces. The second was of two young adults, one of them was from the first photo (the young woman), and the other was of a rather familiar young man. He snatched up the second picture frame, looked it over, and threw it back onto the nightstand.

"I hate you, Kudo Shinichi…" Conan rolled over, turning his back on the nightstand with the pictures. "I hate you…"

'Sorry, Ran'

The barrel of the pistol took aim. The trigger squeezed until it clicked and the gunshot rang out. The boy closed his eyes, preparing to feel a bullet rip through his flesh. Instead, his back met the ground as the boy was knocked down, something warm and sticky splashing onto his clothes. Opening his eyes, he saw her laying over him… Her blood spilling over him.

"Ran…-Neechan! What are you doing here?!" The child asked urgently, fumbling with his words.

"I followed you…" A smile slipped onto her lips. "I- I'm glad I did… Y- You… Co- could… have been killed… I- I cou- couldn't stand… to… lose… Y- You…"

"Ran-neechan! You shouldn't have… Hold on! Please! I- I can't lose you! Hey!" He squeezed onto her hand; feeling her grip loosen, then tighten. "Ran-neechan… Please… No, don't die. Please, hold on"

She took off his glasses, looking closely at his face. Her smile grew, but knowingness filled it. "Ran-neechan…?" She cupped his cheek with a shaking hand, the other still clenching his tiny hand. Ran held herself up with her trembling elbow. The young woman lowered herself down, her lips brushing against his forehead.

"I love you…" The light in her eyes slowly faded, the life draining from her like her blood. "Goodbye…"

"Don't say goodbye! No! You have to hold on… DON'T GO, RAN! DON'T LEAVE ME!" Tears spilled down his cheeks, her limp body falling on top of him. "RAN!!!"