Disclaimer: Anything or anyone used from Detective Conan belongs to someone who draws a whole lot better than me....

Masked Memories

By: mysteriousangelgirl

Chapter 1: Reunion

"Kudo Shinichi, the most famous young adult detective in all of Japan, solved another impossible case yesterday at the Fasoto Mansion, where Ako Fasoto was killed. He....." the news reporter droned on and on about the recent case that Shinichi had solved.

The tall young man with black hair and deep blue eyes sighed as he turned away from the TV broadcasting inside the store. He looked up at the sky and smiled at the light snowflakes that fell on his face and into his hair. I love the snow.....It reminds me of her.....

Shinichi shook his head. Why am I thinking of her again? It was only a dream........Or was it? Shinichi sighed again as he ran a hand through his short black hair. Then he walked away from the store, crossed the street and got into a blue sports car. He gunned the engine and drove off, all the while thinking of a specific girl with dark brown hair.

He remembered that day. Even though he was only 7, he remembered it very clearly. His childhood friend, with her short chocolate-brown hair, was walking to school with him. It was the day before school let out for winter vacation. He had left early to give her a Christmas present. He knew that she would definitely like it. But for some reason, today, she wasn't very happy. She had on a smile, but to Shinichi's sharp eyes, he could tell it was fake and strained. Shinichi was just about to ask her what was wrong, but she shoved a small packet toward him, her face slightly red.

"Ehh? For me?" Shinichi smiled.

The girl nodded.

"Thanks, and this is for you." Shinichi handed her a carefully wrapped box. "Be careful, it can break."

The girl looked at the box for a bit, then looked into Shinichi's eyes and smiled. "Thanks, Shinichi."

Shinichi nodded. He grinned. "I bet you'll love it!"

The girl just smiled.

"Oh you know, winter is my favorite season. The snowflakes all look so pretty.......I wonder which season Holmes liked the best.....I'm not sure....let's think....oh yeah, I just read another one of his stories......."

Normally the girl would have slapped him for talking so much about his idol, Sherlock Holmes, but today, she just smiled and kept silent, listening to her best friend tell her all about Holmes's adventures. No one knew how much sadness would come to both of them.

---------------------------------------------------

-after school-

"Hey, Ran! Wait up!" Shinichi called to the girl walking down the hall. She stopped at the familiar voice and her name. When Shinichi caught up to her, she smiled and took his hand.

"So, Shinichi, what are you doing for Christmas?"

"Well, I'm not sure, maybe Mommy and Daddy will take me to the ice skating rink. But Daddy's kind of busy trying to finish his book, so maybe not....Hey, if Mommy will take me, you want to come??" Shinichi asked excitedly.

Ran smiled. "Okay, but I have to ask my parents."

Shinichi laughed. "No, Ran. You may not go, it will interrupt with your studies," he said, imitating Ran's mother.

Ran laughed. "Mommy doesn't sound so mean!"

Shinichi grinned. "Oh yes she does!"

"Whatever."

"Come on, I'll race you home!" Shinichi let go of Ran's hand and raced ahead.

"Hey! No fair, you got a head start!!!" Ran yelled as she ran to catch up with her friend.

-------------------------------------------------

-at Ran's house (Mouri Detective Agency, but at that time, it wasn't a detective agency yet)

"Mommy! I'm home!!!" Little Ran cried as she stormed into the house.

No answer, except for the blaring of the television.

"Mommy?"

No answer.

"Daddy?"

No answer.

"MOMMY, DADDY, WHERE ARE YOU???" Ran's voice raised a level as she grew scared and worried. She ran over to the window and saw that Shinichi was still waiting for her. He rubbed his hands together and stomped his feet to keep warm. He was hoping that Ran could sleep over tonight.

Ran turned back to face the empty room. Where was Mommy and Daddy?? Ran sniffled a cry as she ran around the house, looking for her missing parents. "Mommy? Daddy?"

Suddenly, the flushing of the toilet pulled Ran out of her shocked state. "Daddy?"

Her father, Mouri Kogoro, looking quite gruff, came walking out of the bathroom. "Oh, it's you, Ran. I thought I heard someone yelling." Kogoro patted his daughter's head and then walked away.

Knowing her parents too well, she saw a look of sadness and pain on her father's face. "Daddy!" she cried as she ran after her retreating father. "Daddy, what's wrong?" she asked, pulling on his shirt sleeve.

Kogoro looked at her for a second, then bent down and put his hand on her shoulder. "Nothing's wrong....I'm just tired."

Ran looked unbelieving for a second and then smiled. "Good, I thought you were sick or something. Daddy, where's Mommy?"

Kogoro froze, with his hand just above her head. "She left."

"What? What do you mean Mommy left?"

"Ran, just don't ask, please." Kogoro stood up and walked back to his desk.

"But...but....Daddy, I wanna see Mommy!!!!" Ran burst into tears, as she ran from the room. She got outside to where Shinichi was waiting and then buried her face into his jacket.

"Ran! Wait, wha...Ran! What's wrong??" Shinichi put his arms around the sobbing girl. "If you can't come, that's okay, it's no need to cry!"

"No...Shinichi.....Daddy says...Mommy gone...I wanna see Mommy!" Ran managed to choke out between sobs.

"Wait wait wait, what are you saying, Ran?"

"Shinichi....." Ran gripped his jacket even harder.

"Ran, its okay. It's okay." Shinichi tried to comfort his sobbing friend, all the while thinking what could have happened.

Later that day, after Ran had sobbed herself dry of tears, she said, "Thank you Shinichi. I'm sorry for just surprising you like that."

Shinichi smiled. "No worries. It's okay. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

Ran nodded as she watched her childhood friend sprint out of sight. "Bye, Shinichi......."

She didn't know that it would last time she would see her childhood friend.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

-the next morning-

Shinichi knocked on the door to Ran's house. After a few seconds, Kogoro opened the door. "Oh, it's you. You looking for Ran?"

"Yes, sir."

"I'm sorry, but's not here anymore."

"Pardon me, sir, I don't quite understand....." Shinichi thought he had heard wrong.

"I said, Ran isn't here anymore, you got that? She left with her mother, for America, yesterday evening."

"America? She never told me!"

"Oh course not. She didn't tell me either. Now don't bother me anymore. Shoo!" Kogoro slammed the door in his face.

Shinichi walked down the stairs, completely lost in his own thoughts. Ran....gone? To America? No way! Shinichi shook his head as he continued the walk to school alone. Then he felt something wet roll down his cheek. He wiped away his tears and ran all the way to school.

At school, Shinichi couldn't concentrate. He got called on by teachers for his lack of attention, and almost got detention, if he hadn't guessed right. As he walked home, he decided to walk past Ran's house, to see if she was really gone. To his surprise, the building which his childhood friend had lived in, it was almost completely empty. He saw Ran's father, Kogoro, standing outside, talking to man with blue cap and a clipboard. All the while, there were people going in and out of the house with furniture. He ran up to Kogoro and asked, "Where are you going??"

Kogoro glared at him but said, "I'm moving, can't you see?" Then he resumed his talk with the man.

Shinichi backed away. Then he ran home. Once got him and kicked off his shoes, he ran up to his room and buried himself in his blankets and pillows. He must have cried himself to sleep because when he woke up, he was wrapped up in his blankets and pillows, his eyes swollen from crying. He went to the bathroom to clean up and saw how bad his face looked. Thank goodness there's no more school.....Shinichi splashed water on his face and then washed his hands.

He headed downstairs and glanced at the clock in the living room. It was 7. Shinichi sighed as he saw his parents in the kitchen, both with worried looks on their faces.

"Are you okay, Shin-chan?" Yukiko asked his son, setting down her coffee and running over to hug her son. Shinichi nodded as he let himself get embraced.

Yusaku nodded at his son and Shinichi nodded back. Father and son seemed to be able to have unspoken conversations. The day went on without any tears or questions of what happened.

Shinichi went to sleep that night, thinking of Ran, his childhood friend.......

Shinichi sat in his room thinking. Why do my thoughts keep wandering back to her? He sighed again and set down his bag. Everything had happened so quickly. Without Ran at his side, he went through school and sports alone, but he knew that she would have been proud of him, if she was still here. Three years ago, on a date in this amusement park, he had run off on the girl, and then after that encounter with the black men, he was stuck as Edogawa Conan for two years, living with Hagase as his distant relative, until Haibara finally came up with a cure. He had regained his body, took down the black organization with his friends' help, and finally returned to a normal life as Kudo Shinichi.

Now Kudo Shinichi was 21, a senior at Tokyo University, best player of a soccer team, and a famous detective. He wasn't engaged or married, and was at the top of the school. He helped many soccer teams get high ranks, and himself getting a higher rank in the detective force of the police department.

Shinichi fingered the gift that Ran had given to him exactly 14 years ago. It was a small flat circle locket on a chain. On the outside of the locket was engraved the words 'Kudo Shinichi'. Ran had it made personally for him. Inside were two pictures. One was a picture taken at the park, where Shinichi was on the swing and Ran was behind him and she had her arms wrapped around his shoulders. They were both smiling like innocent little kids. The other picture was of Ran herself. She was holding a rose, and Shinichi had recognized it as the rose he gave her when she passed her first karate belt test. Besides from the locket there had been a letter. Shinichi opened the drawer of his desk containing the letter. As he unfolded it for like the billionth time, he felt tears starting to well up in his eyes. In Ran's unmistakable handwriting, it said:

Dear Shin-chan

I don't know if you'll like this gift, but I think it's a good way to remember each other, not that anything's going to separate us, but you know, in case.

Shinichi smiled. It sure helped then. Thanks. Then he continued to read.

Thank you for the rose you gave me. I would have kept it forever, but you know that roses don't live forever. Thanks. Oh, you like that picture that Mommy took? It was so pretty. I have one too. I hope you keep it. We had so much fun that day. Oh, yeah. Don't you remember the promise we made that day? You know, we promised that no matter what happened, you would be my friend and I promised you that if you ever got in trouble, I'll use my karate to protect you, right? Well, I hope that we will keep this promise. Oh yes, there was another promise. A promise to always be friends, right? I hope you don't forget, because you'll always be my friend, Shinichi! I guess I have to thank you for the time the six graders were teasing me and you got them all to go away. Well, I'll ask Mommy about ice skating, but please don't be upset if I can't come. Mommy's been busy so I'm not sure she'll agree. Anyways, I hope you have a merry Christmas!

Love,

Mouri Ran

P.S. Call me when you get time, okay?

Shinichi folded the letter back to thirds and smiled. I'm sorry, Ran. I can only keep the promise of always being friends. He put the letter back in the drawer and stood up from his desk. He wandered to the kitchen and began looking through the mail he had left on the counter when he came into the house. Fan, fan, fan, fan, electric bill, worry later....credit card, later......fan, fan, fan, fan, fan, and no return address, fan, fan....wait a minute.....Shinichi flipped back through the stack a mail until he came to the mail with no address. It was just a plain envelope, but what caught his eye was that the envelope was addressed to 'Shin-chan'. Hmm...no one calls me that beside Mom........but Mom's currently touring the world for the SECOND time, and there's no way she would send a letter when she just called yesterday...

Shinichi tore open the envelope and as he opened the letter, he knew his jaw must have hit the ground. It said:

Dear Shin-chan,

I know that I never call you this, and that's the only way to get your attention. Did you notice that I called you that in my letter about 14 years ago? Well, maybe you did, but I got that from your mom. I think it's cute! Well, you may be wondering why I'm writing to you. I was in Japan recently, so I decided to write you. Maybe you've forgotten me, but I've never forgotten you, Shinichi. Do you remember that promise you made me when we in the park? Since we're not together anymore, I know we can't keep the promise of protecting each other, but I keep our other promise. You're still my best friend.

I thank you now, I know it's really really late, but Mommy wouldn't let me send a letter....for that picture frame you gave me. If you remember that picture that I gave you in your locket, that's the picture I put in your picture frame. I hope you've keep that locket. Anyway, hopefully you don't take this letter as a fan's letter, but most likely you wouldn't have read it, if you did. I can't contact you, but wait for me. I'll be back in Japan soon.

Love,

Who else? Your childhood friend

P.S. I hope you didn't forget me. I'm not putting my name, just in case you did, that way you won't rack your brain too hard.

Shinichi stood there with his mouth open, the letter clutching in his hand for a few minutes. Finally, he got a hold of himself, closed the letter and smiled. As he walked back upstairs to place the letter with her previous letter about 14 years ago, he could feel a grin creeping onto his face. Yes, she's coming back! Then he wandered back downstairs to prepare his dinner, do a bit of studying for the exam tomorrow, and get his bills paid.

The next morning, Shinichi woke up feeling a lot better than he had in 14 years. All through school he had a giant grin on his face. He knew he must have looked idiotic, but he aced his exam, scored 6 goals during the soccer game, and managed to get home without a case. Though normally he would have a bit sad, today he didn't want anything to bother his daydreaming about the girl from 14 years ago.

As he sat in his room, at his desk, with his locket open on the desk and a lopsided grin on his face, he thought about all the time they had been together. It seemed like it was just yesterday. Shinichi finally got up and went to the kitchen. As he was micro-waving his dinner, he flipped through the mail. Nothing interesting....While chewing on some steak, he turned on the TV.

"There was a recent murder case in Osaka that stumped everyone but the great detective Hattori Heiji......"

Shinichi looked up at the screen at the mention of his long time friend. He smiled as the murder case was unfolded and he noticed Heiji's famous movement of solving a case, turning his cap from its backward position on his head to the normal position a cap would be worn.

Then he flipped the channel and laughed to himself as he saw a famous magician's show. The magician smiled at the camera, as if he could sense his friend's eyes watching him. What is with me and finding all of my friends on TV today?? "Hope you're doing alright, Kaito......." Shinichi said before he turned his head to the ring of the doorbell.

"Doorbell, I wonder who would come now......" he muttered as he wandered to the front door, leaving the TV on and his dinner half eaten. He looked through the peephole and was so surprised at who it was that he almost banged his head on the door when his hand slipped from the doorknob. When he finally got the door open, the girl ran forward and hugged him so hard that they both landed on the floor in a heap.

"Ran!"

"Shinichi, it's been SOOO long!!!" she said into his t-shirt.

Shinichi smiled as he wrapped his arms around the girl. "I know......." Then he noticed what she was dressed in when they finally let go of each other. Ran had long brown hair and was wearing a white shirt with a blue ribbon. Her skirt was blue and short and she was wearing blue heels.

"Is.....is that your uniform?"

Ran nodded. "It's obvious, isn't it? Mom made me wear it!"

Shinichi laughed. "Don't worry, its okay. Wow....you haven't changed much....."

Ran blushed. "You haven't either.....thankfully you're so famous now. It was real easy to get your address!"

Shinichi laughed again as he shut the door. "Wanna stay for a while?"

Ran smiled but shook her head. "Sorry, but I have to go meet Mom for dinner with her 'friends' from work....."

Shinichi nodded. "Yeah, your mom is always really busy with work....."

Ran hugged Shinichi again. "I'm really glad I got to see you....."

Shinichi put his arms around Ran and held her for a bit. "Thanks for coming to see me......it's been so long......."

As the two childhood friends let got of each other and parted their ways, Ran turned on last time to Shinichi and pulled out a locket from under her collar. "I have one just like you," and then ran off to her car parked in front of his house.

Shinichi blinked and then waved at the car driving away, playing with his locket with the other hand, as he shut the door. Wow.....it's like a small reunion with all my friend today.....lucky me.....Then he returned to his dinner and TV. The day went by, and neither Shinichi nor Ran knew that the most terrible thing that could happen to them would soon occur.....

-to be continued-

Okay, my first try at an alternate universe, though it isn't COMPLETELY alternate......Anyways, inspired by my friend who said, 'why don't you write a story? Use the title 'Masked Memories' and make it AU!' I was like, 'okay....' Though I'm not completely sure how this is going to turn out, hopefully you like it and you can help by making suggestions and all. Thanks, and please review!!!