*Idk if anyone still remembers this story, but since I've made a new fanfiction account (I used to be Aeyra), I decided I wanted to repost a new version of this story and finish it this time. (since I've gotten back into the DC fandom, although, mainly just the manga and fanfiction.) Since I'm only rewriting, it'll be quicker than coming up with entirely new material. For those of you who have read this story before, please consider this a vastly improved version with a slightly changed plot to fix holes and my horrible writing. For those of you who are new, I hope you will enjoy! *

Chapter 1

"H-Hey, stop crying already! Please!" said Shinichi, trying his best to comfort his best friend (and hopefully one day girlfriend) Ran. He did know that most people didn't see as many dead bodies as he did, but it couldn't be that bad, could it? "I mean, these kinds of things happen all the time, no need to get so worked up over it!"

"Well excuse me for not being a detective otaku like you!" sniffled Ran, a look of horror still clear on her face. She might have been the daughter of a private detective, but no person in their right mind should have been able to look at that bloody, awful crime scene without feeling even a little bit horrified. Of course, Shinichi didn't qualify as being in his right mind due to his unhealthy obsession with murders and any other mystery on the planet. "You can't think that most people would recover from that nearly as fast as you did!"

"Well, I do seem to encounter murders quite often, so I guess not," he mused, looking relieved that he has momentarily distracted Ran from sobbing her eyes out again. "But hey, I solved this one! There's no need to be scared anymore!"

"That's not the problem, baka," said Ran, wiping the tears away from her eyes. "The problem is that d-dead bodies and a-anything like that sc-sca-" She shuddered as visions of monsters and ghosts appeared in her head.

"You're the idiot. Monsters don't exist, so you shouldn't be scared of them. And once a culprit's been caught, you don't need to be scared anymore! Of course, if the culprit gets away, you should be careful, but being scared solves nothing," he replied, ending his words with an arrogant smirk. "You should grow up a bit!"

"You're the one that should grow up? Who's the one that squeals like a little kid whenever a new detective novel comes out!" retorted Ran, whose face was beginning to turn red from embarrassment and from simply being so close to Shinichi. She waited a moment for his response, but it never came. "Shinichi, what are you looking at?"

He was peering into what seemed like a shady alley, though, Ran could make out nothing in the darkness. His eyebrows were furrowed in suspicion, and his eyes glowed with trepidation and excitement, as if he had spotted a case.

"Um, it's nothing." He quickly turned away, though not without giving the alley another glance. "I'm just going to check something out. Just keep on heading home- I'll catch up with you soon!"

He then ran towards the direction of that shadowed alley, and Ran could feel her stomach knot in dread. She wanted to shout at him to come back, to stay away, but the words simply wouldn't come out. By the time she could manage to speak, he was out of earshot. She longed to chase after him, but he'd probably scold her and make her leave him alone if she did, and besides, who said he was in danger anyways? After all, he always got caught up in crazy murder cases, but always came back unscathed. Nonetheless, she could feel the fear eating away at her- how could she possibly stand still or leave?

She resolved to find the police and have them follow after Shinichi in the alley, saying she thought she saw something suspicious. After all, of there was a criminal there, the police could help arrest them and if there was nothing, as she hoped, she could just say she made a mistake. It was a good, solid plan, and yet, she still didn't feel comforted.

I'm just imagining things, she told herself. It's only my imagination...

When Shinichi took a few steps into the alley, he snuck a quick glance back at Ran, disgruntled about the fact that she still staring in his direction with a worried expression on her face. Psh, he was Kudo Shinichi, a high school meitantei. He'd solved hundreds of cases and never got more than scratches for the trouble. What would he run into trouble now? Besides, he packed a nasty kick, and kept in shape so he could fight or run away! He wasn't as great a fighter as her, but couldn't she see there was nothing to worry about?

Good, she's leaving, he thought, as he saw her turn and walk away. I don't need her messing up my investigation. I think I can hear the voice of that man in black...

"Do you have the money?" asked the man in black, as Shinichi carefully walked forward to the end of the alley. He peeked over the edge of the wall he hid against to see the man he was tailing with a small, fat man holding a large suitcase.

"Y-yes, in here! You can count it up yourself!" answered the smaller man, voice shaky from fear. "Look!"

Shinichi bit back a gasp as the suitcase was opened up. It was packed to the bursting point with wad after wad of money. There had to be a hundred million yen in there, if not more. He grinned- his sixth sense as a detective had been right! He'd found a major blackmailing case, this was great! Fumbling around in his pockets, Shinichi pulled out a small disposable camera he had bought for the day making sure to cover the flash with his finger. He was trying his best to angle it without attracting notice when a harsh, biting voice came from behind him.

"Your detective game is over, meitantei." Shinichi turned around to see cold, expressionless eyes and a vicious smile, but was immediately knocked to the ground by what looked like an iron pipe. He let out a moan as he fell, feeling blood pour down his head from the blow. Drifting between unconsciousness and consciousness, he tried to get up, but the silver-haired man easily held him down with a single hand.

"A-aniki!" That was the other man in black calling, and as Shinichi saw as he ran towards them, he was holding the money-filled suitcase. "What happened?"

"This little rat saw everything." Gin took Shinichi's camera from his hand, disentangling Shinichi's fingers from the device. "I don't think he managed to take a picture, but I'll take this with us just in case."

"Should I shoot him?" Shinichi heard the sound of a gun being cocked, and he shuddered in fear. Was it really going to end this quickly? His life snuffed out in an instant, without even an explanation? What had he gotten himself into?

"No, those police pigs are still around because of that murder earlier. I've got a better method, anyways. Sherry's been needing a human guinea pig for long enough." The click of a case being opened called Shinichi's attention, and he stared out of the corner of his eyes at a small container filled with small red and white pills. "The perfect poison. No police examiner will even find out what killed him. Open wide, meitantei."

Shinichi clamped his mouth shut at the words, willing for some kind of miracle to happen. Now that he knew he was so close to dying, he knew that he had been stupid, foolish, to walk into this alley alone. Why hadn't he at least found an officer to come with him? Been more careful while watching his back? Because I thought I was invincible… he thought, regretting his arrogance and foolishness with every last breath. I thought I'd always be solving murders… I never thought I could possibly be the victim of one.

The silver-haired man pried his mouth open, dropping in a pill as well as pouring a vial of water into his mouth while holding his nose to keep him from breathing. Faced with asphyxiation or poison, Shinichi's body instinctively swallowed, bringing the poison along with it. He could feel it the moment it entered his body. It was if he had caught on fire, as if there were knives being stabbed into every square inch of his body, as if he were drowning, and he knew that there was no miracle that could save him now. He was about to die. He almost wanted to die, just to be rid of this unbearable pain.

He wondered how he could still hear the two men talking, wondered how he couldn't even manage a scream, and then realized that the silver-haired man was holding a hand over his mouth, a glove on his hand, to keep him from making noise. "Looks like it's very painful. We'll find out if its detectable by tomorrow morning. Good thing we got such a famous meitantei as a test subject- this'll make headlines."

"I think he went in here," said a voice, and Shinichi's eyes widened in shock, recognizing that voice even through the haze of the torture he was going through. Ran? No, no, no, no! She couldn't be pulled into this with him. At the very least, not Ran, not Ran….

"Shit, someone's coming. They might have the police with them," said the other man, beginning to inch away from Shinichi, looking extremely nervous. "Aniki, we should go."

"Hmph," the silver-haired man snorted, though, he got up nonetheless. Shinichi tried to yell once the hand was removed from over his mouth, but he found that he was now too weak to even make a sound. "Good bye then, Kudo Shinichi."

The last thing Shinichi saw was that evil grin, the grin of a man who had killed dozens of people and enjoyed every murder, who enjoyed watching Shinichi struggle as he slowly succumbed to death. But he didn't want his last thoughts to be of hatred, not when he had a greater regret left. I just wish I had the chance to say goodbye…

*Chapters will be posted as I finish them. I've had beta readers before, but I feel as though it gets too slow if I have to pass each chapter through a beta. I'll mainly spell-check and fix up chapters as I finish them. If you see any glaring errors, please tell me so I can fix it. ^^ Feel free to leave me a review telling me what you thought. Aurey out!*