DISCLAIMER: DO NOT REUPLOAD MY STORIES! I regularly reverse search all my stories and when I find just a single one reuploaded somewhere else, specifically Wattpad, I will file DMCA takedowns and hunt down the original authors of any other work that is reuploaded on the same profile or site, then I notify those other authors who have had their work blatantly stolen. I don't go beyond filing the DMCA takedowns, but other authors may not be as kind. Entire accounts have been shut down this way, so don't steal shit. Write it yourself.
– Haunted Mansion –
"Do you really think this is okay, Mitsuhiko-kun? What if we get caught by someone?"
"You don't have to worry, Ayumi-chan. After all this house is empty, no one lives there."
"But Mitsuhiko, the professor's house is nearby," Genta replied. "And shouldn't we call Conan?"
"We won't call Conan!" Mitsuhiko retorted. "He doesn't believe in ghosts anyway. Don't you want to solve a case once without Conan helping us?" The boy had already made up his mind.
Unlike Mitsuhiko, Ayumi was starting to get scared. "But what if we get eaten by the monsters that ate the boy, living there?"
"Don't worry, Ayumi-chan," the freckled boy assured her. "If there really are monsters in, there then I'll protect you."
"Me too!" the larger of the two boys exclaimed.
"Alright then, let's do this. Detective Boys, let's go!" Mitsuhiko shouted excited.
"Yeah!" the other two exclaimed cheerfully as well.
Apparently the three first graders were standing in front of a large house with the name 'Eto' on the gate. They finally had found the courage to investigate the scary mansion, whom they had heard creepy rumors about from people in the area. Supposedly the mansion was filled with scary books and the boy that once lived there alone had been eaten by monsters.
When they had told Conan about it several months earlier, he had only told them it was a normal house and that monsters didn't exist anyway.
So after a couple of months they were entering through the gates of the huge mansion, trying to find the truth behind the rumors. Equipped with their Detective Badges and their Wristwatch Flashlights they entered through a hidden entrance on the back of the house – they had found it after loitering around the mansion at daytime. After entering through the secret entrance they found themselves in a huge library. The walls were covered with bookshelves, reaching the ceiling. All of them were filled with mystery novels and some of the shelves were sealed by a glass door.
"Oi, Mitsuhiko, why is there light here?" Genta asked confused. "Didn't you say no one lives here?"
"Um… well… maybe…" the freckled boy stuttered.
Then suddenly Genta started to shout. "It must be the monsters! Maybe they're reading the books!"
"Genta-kun, why would a monster read a book?" the other boy retorted dryly.
"Those books are all about killing people! Maybe they want to improve their killing skills in case kids like us come here!" the boy replied.
"Is that true? Are we going to be eaten by those monsters like the other boy?"
"Of course not, Ayumi-chan. Don't forget why we're here: We wanted to find the truth behind those rumors," Mitsuhiko assured the girl again. "Let's look around a bit."
The other two nodded in agreement, before the three of them split up and each looked at a different part of the large library. What they found were indeed only mystery novels and books about crimes.
Their searching was suddenly interrupted by a loud, growling noise.
"W-What was that sound?" Ayumi shouted.
Again the growling noise was heard.
Mitushiko the pointed his finger to were Genta stood "Ah! I think it's coming from behind Genta-kun!"
Said boy then turned around in panic, only to find nothing.
Again the growling sound echoed through the library.
"Oh, wait a minute!" Genta interrupted their frantic searching for the source of the noise. "I think I know what it is."
"What is it?" Ayumi asked scared.
"I haven't eaten anything for two hours already, so my stomach goes wild right now."
Sighing in relief, Mitsuhiko walked back towards his corner. "Jeez, Genta-kun. Can't you eat something before we get here?"
After the little shock, they all continued their searching.
Several minutes passed in which the three children looked through mystery novels and books containing bloody murders.
"Ah, look what I found!" Ayumi suddenly exclaimed.
"What did you find, Ayumi-chan?" Mitsuhiko asked, while approaching her together with Genta.
"Look at these books! Those are the ones Conan likes so much!"
"Oh you're right, those are all Holmes books!" the skinny boy realized. "But why do they look so used? Most of the other books seem pretty normal. Why do only these look so used?" He placed his left hand under his chin in thought. "Maybe the boy who lived here used to read them!"
"That must be it!" Ayumi stated. "You're almost as good as Conan-kun, Mitsuhiko-kun!"
Said boy then blushed, while rubbing the back of his neck. "It wasn't that hard to figure out."
Genta just gave him a jealous glare, but soon after he was looking through several books. Most of the contents he couldn't understand because they were wether written in Kanji, he didn't know, or in English. When he opened a book with a gray cover, he realized that it wasn't a normal book. What he found inside the book caused him to drop it in shock. "Th-Th-That book!"
"What's wrong with the book, Genta-kun?" the other boy asked, while picking up said book. When he as well looked inside the book, his eyes widened in shock. Unlike Genta he couldn't let go of the book and when Ayumi as well looked at it she just blinked in surprise.
Then she screamed.
But her scream was suddenly muffled by a hand over her mouth.
"Be quiet, Ayumi-chan, or do you want anyone to know we're here?" Mitsuhiko asked her.
She just shook her head, since her mouth was kept shut.
Mitsuhiko then pulled his hand away slowly, again looking at the book he had dropped after Ayumi's scream. He bent down to it and picked it up. After opening it he ripped something out of it and placed it in his pocket. "We might need that later."
Suddenly a crashing sound was heard, almost as if glass was breaking.
"What was that?" Again Ayumi started to panic.
"M-Maybe someone threw something through a window and b-broke it." Though Mitsuhiko was scared he didn't show it. He wanted Ayumi to feel save.
Genta on the other hand didn't really care if he showed his fear or not. He was obviously shaking. "But it came from inside this house. I think it even was behind that door." Still shaking he pointed at said door.
It was the only door in the large room and it probably led to the other rooms.
"We should check it out," the other boy whispered.
"But what if the monsters are behind that door?" Ayumi replied.
"We won't find out anything if we back out now. So let's go." The freckled boy marched to the door quietly, forcing the other two to follow him. When he extended his arm to reach for the doorknob, he couldn't prevent his hand from shaking. With his shaking hand he carefully wrapped his fingers around the knob and then turned it. A creak came from the wooden door as he slowly opened it.
As soon as it was far enough open, the three children peeked through the small gap. There was a long corridor with many doors. All of them were closed, except for one.
Faint, bluish light was shining out of one room, of which door was wide opened.
In quiet anticipation they waited for something to happen. Each of their hearts was racing, the blood rushing through their veins. Desperately, they tried to cease their hitched breaths, while watching the lit corridor.
Suddenly the light in the room seemed to shift. A weird noise, similar to dragged steps, was heard soon after. Then a low moan.
The light shifted more and more, seeming to near the opened door. The three children now held their breaths, fearing to make a noise.
Then the light exited the room and shone right into their faces.
Their screams were heard through the whole mansion. Still screaming and yelling for help they ran towards the secret entrance – now exit. Even as they reached the outside they kept running, scared that the light might still be following them.
The next morning Conan was awoken by Kogoro's snoring, as always. After he had eaten breakfast and had gotten ready for school he exited the agency together with Ran.
"What do you want for dinner, Conan-kun? I can go shopping after school if you want something special."
"I don't really mind. Everything you make tastes good, Ran-nee-chan."
"That's great to hear. You're so much more agreeable than that idiot Shinichi, Conan-kun."
"You really think so, Ran-nee-chan?" After a little chuckle he turned his head away so she wouldn't see his sweat-dropping. So as Conan I'm agreeable and when I'm myself I'm an idiot.
The two of them continued their walk until they had to part ways, each of them going to their school.
Conan arrived in his class still thinking about Ran.
He was greeted by Haibara, who shot him a knowing look. "Problems with your girlfriend again, Kudo-kun?"
"She's not my girlfriend. And besides: Everything's fine." With a thud he placed his bag besides his desk and then sat on his chair. As soon as he was seated, the rest of the Detective Boys arrived.
Genta, Ayumi and Mitsuhiko stepped into the classroom, appearing shaken up. They were greeted by both Conan's concerned look and Haibara's still unchanged glare.
"What happened to you guys?" the boy with glasses asked worried.
Before Mitsuhiko answered, he glanced back at Genta and Ayumi, then averted his gaze towards Conan again. "Conan-kun," he started with a firm voice, "last night we were in that 'Eto-house'"
The two boys and the girl watched Conan's face change from a concerned look to a look of utter panic.
They were in my house!
His look confirmed their suspicions.
Mitsuhiko then continued. "Conan-kun, we want you to tell us the truth. You're hiding something from us aren't you? A dark secret you've been keeping away from us for all this time."
Conan's look became more and more panic-stricken. Did they find out that I'm actually Kudo Shinichi?
"We found something in that house, that made us suspicious about your true identity, Conan-kun. If that's even your real name."
The look on Conan's face was now one of pure shock and panic. Just what did they find in my house?
Now even Haibara couldn't hide her shock. Did the children really find out Conan's true identity?
"Ai-chan, did you know about it too? Did you knew it all along and never told us?" Ayumi was obviously hurt. "Conan-kun, are you really… is it true that you're actually…" She trailed off.
The three children had their gazes towards the shocked Conan again, waiting for an answer.
The tensed Conan then relaxed and slumped into his seat. With a sigh, the shocked look left his features and was replaced by an emotionless mask. "I don't know what you guys mean."
Mitsuhiko's features turned into a scowl. "We told you not to lie to us! We even have evidence." He started to rummage trough his bag and then pulled out a picture. He slammed it onto Conan's desk. "That person looks exactly like you, only without glasses! But the date says that this picture was taken ten years ago!"
On Conan's desk now lay a picture of himself from ten years ago, when he really had been seven years old. He was scowling into the camera, obviously not wanting to be photographed, while he was reading a Holmes book.
Several tensed moments passed until a long sigh escaped his mouth. "It's true."
Ayumi sucked in a sharp breath. "So you're really–"
"Don't say it out loud. It would be dangerous if anyone else knew," Conan whispered in a low voice. "Don't tell anybody or we all will get into big trouble."
Mitsuhiko looked at his friend in utter shock. "Conan-kun… then you're really… a ghost?"
"Eh?" Now Conan was really confused.
"Are you really a ghost, Conan-kun? But things like ghosts don't exist, do they?" Mitsuhiko asked again in a serious tone.
"Y-You guys think I'm a ghost?" the shrunken detective asked in disbelief.
Ayumi as well seemed to be dead-serious. "Of course! What were you thinking we were talking about, Conan-kun?"
"I-I-I… was making a joke," he answered, laughing nervously.
Now Mitsuhiko was confused. "Then you're not the ghost of the boy that was eaten by monsters in that Eto-house?"
"Of course I'm not!"
"Then what about the picture?" the skinny boy demanded to know.
"That's not me, that's Shinichi-nii-chan," Conan tried to explain.
"Ran's boyfriend, that high-school detective?"
"He's not her boyfriend!"
"But, Conan-kun, he looks exactly like you. How do you explain that?" Mitsuhiko kept asking.
"I'm related to Professor Agasa, but also a distant relative of Shinichi-nii-chan, so I resemble him."
But Mitsuhiko still wasn't satisfied. "Then why was Shinichi-onii-san's picture in that creepy Eto-house? Last night we were attacked by a strange light, after we heard weird noises. How do you explain that?"
"First: That Eto-house doesn't belong to a person called 'Eto', but to Shinichi-nii-chan's family. You simply misread the sign on the gate on which stands 'Kudo' not 'Eto'. Second: Those weird noises were probably caused by Okiya-san, who probably went out at night to eat something in the kitchen. That light was most likely a torch he used, since he wouldn't have found the light switches anyway. And didn't I already tell you guys months ago that house isn't haunted or anything? I also told you that Okiya-san recently moved into Shinichi-nii-chan's house."
"We didn't know it was that house." Apparently Mitsuhiko was satisfied now, since the scowl on his face had disappeared. Instead he and the other two looked pretty dumbfounded.
"So, that's what it was." Ayumi as well had calmed down again.
From Mitsuhiko's mouth a long sigh was heard. "So our ghost hunt last night was completely pointless from the beginning."
Sleepily, Genta rubbed his eyes. "I could have stayed in bed."
With a smug smirk plastered on his face, Conan crossed his arms over his chest and casually leaned back in his seat. "Next time just listen to me when I tell you there's nothing wrong about something."
"Alright," the three children replied with a sigh.
