Author Note: Hiya everybody! I just want to warn everybody that if you think the writing style changed towards the end, it did. You see, one of us wrote it but ran into computer problems while the other finished it up, so I just want to warn you about that!

No flames please. If you don't like it, don't read it.

Another thing, the end may seem a little weird, and we would like to apologize for that!

That's it!

Discalaimer: We do not own Detective Conan (that right belongs to Aoyama Gosho!) nor do we make a profit off this story. This is purely fan-based!

Enjoy!

Chapter 1: The Reappearance of the Missing Hero

It was a cold night. The winds blew harshly and the sky was dark gray. It would rain soon. Several people looked at the sky and then hurriedly walked down the street, not wanting to get caught in the bad weather. The dry, yellow leaves from the oak trees flew everywhere but no one bothered to notice. On the street, a single dark figure walked calmly, his strides spoke of utter confidence. He wore a black fedora and a dark gray button up shirt carefully hidden behind matching long black coat. The only special feature on the young man's face was his striking blue eyes. They were cold, hard and dark, shifting slightly when he caught sight of a person or a falling leaf. The young man's name was Kudou Shinichi.

Shinichi silently walked, his pace never changed even when the first raindrop fell. He stopped in front of his house and observed it. It seemed like forever since the last time he was here. He took out the keys and opened the door. It gave a soft clicking sound before opening widely, allowing its owner to walk inside. The corner of Shinichi's lips tucked up slightly into a subtle, knowing smirk. He inhaled deeply, missing the scent of his house dearly. It had been a really long year. Shinichi's sharp eyes took in every detail of the house, instantly noticing that it was a lot cleaner than usual. It looked like someone came here very often and cleaned it. The layer of dust was barely noticeable and there was even a fresh vase of flowers on the table.

'Hmm… I wonder…' The young man thought as his hand brushed against the white lilies. Suddenly, his blue eyes hardened when he heard a small gasp behind him. Shinichi straightened and turned around, his smirk never once faltered. "Hello…Ran. It…has been awhile, hasn't it?" The young detective said casually, one hand grasped the fedora and pulled down, revealing his pale face. Shinichi hadn't changed much. Aside from the fact that he seemed…slimmer, leaner, and his skin was paler, like he hadn't been outside for months, his facial appearance remained the same. He put the fedora on the table and opened his arms widely like he expected a hug from the girl in front of him. "What? No welcome back hug?"

"Oh no, I'm late" Ran whispered, looking at her watch as she tried to run faster down the street. The rain was getting heavier by the minutes and she still hadn't visited Shinichi's house yet. The teenage girl panted heavily, not even stopping to take a breath. Arriving at her destination, the girl slowed down slightly, leaning against the wall. Her violet eyes narrowed when she saw the door to her friend's house open. 'Thief?' The girl asked herself as she adopted a defensive stance and moved closer to the door.

"Wh-"Ran's shout stopped abruptly in her throat as she took a good look at the 'intruder'. Standing just a few feet away from her was a dark figure. His long black coat and fedora made it hard for her to see his lean frame but his face and his eyes… they were unmistakable. "Hello…Ran. It… has been awhile, hasn't it?" Ran involuntarily took a step backward, her back pressed against the cool wall uncomfortably. It couldn't really be…or could it? His voice sent chills down her spine. It was smooth, velvety, cold, and utterly dangerous. His stance spoke nothing but confidence. Shinichi…Shinichi had changed. "What? No welcome back hug?" He spoke, finally lowering his hat for her to see his face. 'He has lost a lot of boyish fat…' she realized, as he was now on his way to become a very handsome young man. Ran felt the corners of her eyes water when he opened his arms, doing so casually like it was an everyday thing to leave for a whole year without saying anything and came back, expecting herto welcome him with opened arms.

"You jerk!" Ran half-yelled, half-sobbed and instead of hugging Shinichi, she punched him hard in the face, sending him stumbling on the ground. "You idiot! How dare you come back and act like nothing happened at all?!" The teenager girl cried, tears ran down her face as she hugged him, completely ignoring how Shinichi tensed under her touch, or how his hands fell uselesslyto his sides. "Where have you been? Why didn't you call? Do you know how worried I was?" Ran sniffed, tightening her grip around his waist and burying her head into his shoulder.

Shinichi was feeling very uncomfortable. He hadn't had anyone touching him like this for a long time now. The closet thing Shinichi had to a hug from the time when he was at the headquarters was Vermouth's teasing embraces or the uncomfortable headlocks his Aniki gave as a simple punishment when he didn't do things right. Ran's punch only hurt as much as a slap on the wrist but he still stumbled, mostly out of surprise and when the girl hugged him. Shinichi's mind had already started counting down from 100 in order to prevent him from panicking. His training did not tell him how to deal with emotionally unstable girl. What should he do? Shinichi tensed even further when he felt his shirt getting wet from her tears. Time was running out.

"I'd rather not talk about it…" Shinichi said flatly. His voice was probably a little bit colder than he first intended and he pushed her off him in an attempt to stand up. "What do you mean by not talking about it, you jerk?" Ran said angrily, her sorrow and joy were temporarily replaced by her anger at his cold words. "It's quite a simple straight-forward sentence if you think about it, Ran… I don't…as in, do not want to talk about it…" Shinichi's eyes remained cold and hard when he stood up and dusted his hands.

"H-how can you say that?! You're a heartless bastard" Ran accused him with broken voice, feeling the anger drained out and was replaced by pain. Did Shinichi know how many sleepless nights she had had? How many times she had to assured herself that he would come back? That no matter what happened; he would come back by her side? How could he…? New tears filled her eyes and the girl turned her head away, trying to hide the new wave of raw pain. It hurt… It really hurt.

"Excuse me… I need to go…" Ran whispered and ran out of the house, ignoring the pouring rain, the salty raindrops…and her shattered heart. She just ran and ran… Mouri Ran ran back to her house and closed the door to her room with a strong slam. All that night, the girl sobbed into her pillow, new tears mingled with the old ones ran down her cheeks.

While it all happened, Shinichi just stood there, a lost look on his face. Finally, after two whole long minutes, the young detective moved stiffly and closed his door, his expression was unreadable. Slowly, Shinichi took out the cellphone from his pocket, seriously considering if he should call his Aniki or not. At last, he decided to put the cellphone back to where it belonged, sighing softly. He had forgotten how exhausting the real world actually was. Shinichi walked into his bedroom, observing the familiar sight of the white bed and pale yellow wall. He took off his coat and threw it on the chair, laying down the bed with a soft thump. He strained his ears, trying to listen to the sound of gunshot from the training ground or the gleeful laugh from one of the other members. Of course, he heard nothing. Not even the sound of echoed footsteps that walked bristly down the hall… It was completely quiet. For a while, the silence felt sickly comforting and Shinichi was reminded once again how long he had been gone. It all felt like yesterday though… Closing his eyes, the teenager fell into deep, uneasy sleep filled with a girl's tears and the voice of an older brother.

Today was also another gloomy day. It wasn't raining but the sky was gray and the breezes felt colder than usual. Shinichi was standing in front of his school, earning quite a few looks from his peers and from the teachers. His look had changed slightly from what it once had been a year earlier. Beside his usual school uniform, Shinichi was also wearing that same black coat the day he came back. His eyes remained bored and unchanging; the blue orbs stared deep into the others' souls if they tried to look at him too hard. He had taken the tests just yesterday and was now deemed good enough to start the same class as Ran had…He hadn't gone missing for a whole year without bringing back some knowledge.

Shinichi was on the way to his class when he heard his name being called "Shinichi!" He turned around and acknowledged his friend with a nod. "Ran…" Shinichi said simply. After that little incident, Ran had visited him once again the next morning; neither of them was willing to admit the previous day's event. Ran, for her part, just couldn't openly admit that she had cried like a baby and then left the house in a hurry while Shinichi was being…well, Shinichi. They stood awkwardly in front of each other until Ran cleared her throat and whispered, strangely being timid "Let's go to school together…"

Shinichi just grunted in agreement and walked with her. Immediately, Ran had wished she hadn't suggested that… The ice between them was almost impossible to break. What should someone say to their friend who had disappeared for a whole year? And on the day that friend came back, he was punched by you and then hugged by you only seconds after that punch? Then, once you discovered that said friend had already changed so dramatically that you couldn't realize him anymore, you cried and left hurriedly? On top of that, he was your crush for years. To make matters worse, he wasn't making any effort in speaking at all, your effort was met with grunts as answers. Well, Ran ran out of things to say after the first ten minutes or so and the pair walked to school silently… The idea was a disaster.

And so, today, when Ran didn't come on time, Shinichi had left without her, assumed (correctly) that she did not want a repeat performance of yesterday's failure. Unfortunately, it seemed fate wanted Ran to find him anyway. "Why didn't you wait for me?" Ran asked, huffing at him. Shinichi only looked at her, raising an eyebrow elegantly. "So…you're saying that you didn't mutter under your breaths yesterday that 'I should have thought more carefully before I suggest this…'…?" Ran still had the grace to blush furiously and looked down.

"…thought so…" Shinichi said finally and continued to walk to the class, a bored look on his face. However, before he could go any further, another voice stopped him "Hey, Kudou!" Shinichi titled his head and looked curiously at the one who had just spoken to him. The young detective remembered vaguely that he used to play soccer with the other boy. It didn't really matter anymore though. "Are you up for a game of soccer after class?" Shinichi pursed his lips before shrugging nonchalantly "No…" He answered simply.

"What? I thought you liked soccer… you have never refused a game before" The boy seemed to be taken back by the unexpected answer. "So I did…I just don't play soccer anymore…" Shinichi replied, clearly not caring how the conversation was being witnessed by one-third of the students in the school. "What's in the bloody hell happened to you? You didn't just happen to be kidnapped and brainwashed by an evil Organization, did you?" Narrowed his eyes, Shinichi wore a frown that matched the other student who he used to call 'friend'. "Careful with what you say, Tomoya…One might think you are implying something…youweren't, were you?" He came closer, looming dangerously over the suddenly terrified student.

"N-no" The student, Tomoya, squeaked and took a step backward. "F-fine…There're plenty more people willing to play with us anyway…I don't need to suck you up, you dick!" He said resentfully and ran away, looking pathetically scared. Shinichi's bored look returned and he walked away like he didn't just say anything at all. "Hey, Shinichi…shouldn't you…you know, apologize to him? I mean…he's just kidding..." Ran whispered, edging closer to Shinichi now that everyone had begun to leave the scene. "Why should I? He deserved it…" Apparently, the teenager boy still didn't care about what just happened. "No, he didn't… He was just… shocked… You were being mean to him…" Ran concluded. Shinichi looked at her and answered sourly "So what if I was? He kept bothering me with that damned soccer thing…I told him already that I was not interested in it"

"You're hopeless, you know…" Ran shook her head earning a grunt from Shinichi who couldn't bother to deny or confirm her statement. 'Maybe I am…' the boy thought, snorting softly. "What?" Ran asked but her friend just gave his usual, annoying answer "Nothing…" Ignoring the whispers around him, Shinichi suddenly felt a sense of déjà vu. He missed his training days…

"Who's he?"

"I don't know… I have never seen him before… What a show-off…wearing a mask…tch"

"Yeah, yeah…show off…"

"Geez, you are all so stupid… Didn't you hear about the newest member? Silver Bullet?"

"Yeah, I did hear about it alright! What 's it got to do with this?"

"Stupid! He's THE Silver Bullet!"

"What? Don't fuck with me, man…"

"Yeah, that brat looks like he just finishes puberty…He can't be HIM…"

"Yeah, yeah…like I believe that…"

"That's why you three are the stupidest members of the Organization…"

"Why you…"

"If you're so smart, why don't you tell us?"

"Yeah, yeah, tell us, Mister Smarty Pants…"

"I DID tell you…you just DIDN'T listen… That brat is Silver Bullet, okay?"

"Is there a problem here?" A cold voice asked earning the attention of the four members and they turned their heads to look at the speaker. Immediately, they paled. In front of them, Gin stood in all his glory, a cold smirk on his face as his murderous eyes glared at them like they were just annoying insects. The quartet shivered unconsciously. They hated and feared the man at the same time. The sheer power and ruthlessness in his eyes spoke nothing but the intent to kill. "N-nothing, sir…" The wise member stammered and the others quickly followed his lead.

"S-sorry…"

"S-sorry, too…"

"Y-yeah, yeah…"

Gin still glared at them, clearly not believing their excuses. When he opened his mouth to speak, a calm voice interrupted him. "Is there something wrong, Aniki?" The four members looked at each other in shock. There were only a handful of people who could call Gin 'Aniki' without being punished and of course, one of the prime examples is Vodka. This Silver Bullet isthat closed to Gin? Just who is he? Gin looked at the teenager in front of him, his eyes warmed up just the slightest bit. "Silver Bullet…" He greeted as the masked teen smiled. The teen's right hand was still gripping the gun tightly.

"It's nothing that you need to concern yourself with…isn't that right?" The last bit of the sentence was spoken directly to the four members and they nodded frantically. "Y-yes, sir…we'll be leaving now…" And with that being said, they ran out of the room as fast as they could without trying not to lose too much of their dignity… Of course, they were failing rather miserably with that task. "Why do we have to keep those fools, aniki?" The masked teen titled his head, asking curiously when he heard the loud thump indicating that the door to the training room was hastily closed.

"…Because they're our pawns, Silver Bullet…" Gin answered, taking Silver Bullet's mask off with his left hand. Looking into his brother's cold blue eyes, the now unmasked teen pouted childishly "Aniki…how many times have I told you already…call me Shinichi…Silver Bullet is just my codename…I don't even drink that kind of alcohol…" Gin just chuckled though it didn't contain any malicious intentions. "Sorry, Silver Bullet…I'm afraid you're going to be stuck with that name forever…I admit I'm quite fond of that name myself…" He spoke, patting Shinichi's head. "A-aniki?" Shinichi suddenly whispered, taking back the Venetian mask back from his 'brother'.

"Huh…?" Gin asked absently, taking out his gun and began firing at the target. "…Am…Am I your pawn, too?" Gin stopped and lowered his gun. "What do you think?" He asked, looking at the teenager, his eyes had adopted a serious look. "…well, since you said that… that we're all your pawns…so…I…" Shinichi looked down, fidgeting slightly. "Look at me, Silver Bullet…" Gin ordered coldly and Shinichi automatically looked up "…Everyone may be my pawns…but you, Silv-no, Shinichi, are not…You're my knight…And because of that, I expect you to act like it…" Gin's left hand touched Shinichi's cheek and the younger man suppressed a shiver. Gin's hand was so cold.

"I understand, Aniki…" He spoke silently, feeling both warm and dreadful. While Shinichi might not be as talented in chess as some other people, he understood what it meant to be a knight. A knight was most effective when placed in a weakness in the opponents' pawns structure. Apparently, Gin wanted Shinichi to come back and help the Organization from the inside. Could he do it? But if he couldn't do that, how would he repay the kindness his 'brother' had given him? Looking at the Venetian mask, Shinichi observed it wordlessly. It was a white Mardi Gras Mask with golden outlines and sharp eyeholes. On the cool texture, turquoise patterns were drawn carefully and there was even a matching gemstone in the upper center of the mask. The mask fitted him perfectly. It was as if-

"Stop daydreaming, Silver Bullet…" Gin's voice interrupted his train of thought and he looked up. "I'm sorry, Aniki…" Shinichi said sincerely but Gin just brushed it off. "I don't have time for this…Now, fire again… I want to see how much you have improved…" Shinichi looked into Gin's eyes then looked down at the gun. "Yes, Aniki…" He answered emotionlessly.

"Shinichi, Shinichi..." A voice called his name and Shinichi blinked in surprise when he received a gentle slap. "What?" He snapped, earning a flinch from Ran. "You're spacing out…" his friend told him gently. "Huh? Oh, sorry…" Shinichi apologized though it was clear as day that he didn't feel sorry at all. "…the teacher has been looking at you for a while now, you know…" Ran scowled, feeling annoyed because of Shinichi's new attitudes. The teenager just shrugged and wrote down the lesson half-heartedly before the bell rang, indicating that school was over. Without another word, Shinichi just tossed the notebooks into his schoolbag and stood up.

"Hey, wait for me…" Ran called but Shinichi promptly ignored her. Ran looked at him but then pursed her lips and huffed, turning away "Fine…if you want it that way…" She walked the opposite direction but not before stopping for a second and looked at her crush sadly. "Shinichi…" She whispered.

Shinichi opened the door to his house tiredly. After school, he had stopped by the Police Headquarters to talk to Megure-keibu and clear up some things. He knew the police wouldn't have taken his reappearing act with open arms. Sure, they were glad he was back and all, but they all wanted to know where he was and what he was doing while he was away. They spent months trying to find him after all, and couldn't find anything. Which wasn't surprising to Shinichi really. The Organization was very good at what they did, and with his Aniki in charge of making his disappearance go smoothly, it would have been near impossible to find anything pertaining to the disappearance of Kudou Shinichi. So the police were quite curious as to his whereabouts the last year, and the Organizations considered an investigation on the police's behalf a nuisance and wanted no such thing. Luckily, Shinichi still had the police officers trust so he was able to convince Megure-keibu that there was nothing of interest and the higher-ups agreed to not press the issue further, though they all still had their doubts as to if it was okay or not. But, after all, what would the 'Savior of the Japanese Police Force' have to hide? Shinichi smirked to himself. 'If only they knew' he thought.

Shinichi was in the process of taking his shoes off when he heard a small noise. 'There's someone else here' he thought, as his eyes hardened. Quietly, he walked through the hallway, checking rooms as he went. He opened the door to the library and saw the person, sitting on the couch. Shinichi came up behind the man and assumed a defensive position. Just as he was about to demand the man say who he was, something clicked in his mind.

"A-Agasa-hakase?" Shinichi asked. The man, startled, jumped off the couch and faced Shinichi. The young detective mentally sneered. Such a weak-willed man, so easily scared and startled. He would be dead in an hour if he was targeted by the Organization. 'Oh well, might as well get over it…'

"Ahh, Shinichi-kun! You surprised me." Agasa stated. 'The man hasn't changed one bit,' Shinichi thought dryly. 'Still the bumbling idiot that I remember…' Crossing his arms, Shinichi smirked. He hadn't thought he would talk to the man again so soon. It would be just another challenge though, talking to Asaga without blowing his cover.

"I could say the same," Shinichi said, quietly laughing at himself. 'Getting so worked up over nothing...' They stood there for a while, before Shinichi broke the silence. "Well, did you need something?" he asked, getting straight to the point. As entertaining as startling Asaga was, he was tired and he needed some rest. It wouldn't be good if he went out with a tired head. He could accidentally say things that he wasn't supposed to say.

"Your parents called…" Agasa started. The man fidgeted slowly, taking out his glasses and began cleaning it. Oh, that was right… another problem his Aniki had warned him. He didn't think they would know about his reappearance so soon though. This could be troublesome. He had better play along until he could figure something out.

"Oh? What did they want" Shinichi asked, impatient. What did the man want? Why didn't he just go straight to the point? Playing mind games was only fun when the other player was not stupid, naïve, or the combination of the two. Shinichi quietly sat down on one of his chair, his eyes never left Agasa's face.

"Well, you did just disappear for a whole year, without a word. Then you suddenly show up again, not telling anybody where you were?" Ah… this was the problem… Shinichi thought with an amused smile. Uncrossing his arms, the detective leaned forward.

"And? Your point is?" Simple and straight to the point. Shinichi cared not for the reaction of Agasa. He was bored. Checking his fingernails, Shinichi heard a gasp and Agasa half-yelled at him.

"They are worried about you, Shinichi, I'm worried about you. Where were you?"

"No where of your concern, Agasa-hakase. I was just working a case."

"Without any communication whatsoever? We all thought you were dead Shinichi-kun!"

"I forgot to call, sorry." Agasa was about to say something when Shinichi started talking again. "Do you need anything else? I've had a very tiring day and I would like to sleep." Agasa was completely shocked. How could Shinichi act like this? Everybody thought he was dead. And he just 'forgot to call'? What kind of excuse was that? This must be some kind of a joke… This uncaring young man couldn't be Shinichi. Shinichi was anything but this cold block of ice. Something must have happened while he was gone… Something bad.

"Your parents are thinking that they should visit Japan. You know, to visit you." Agasa tried one last time, hoping to see some reactions. He was sorely disappointed when Shinichi only looked up momentarily before snorting and looking away. He hated puppy dog face and Agasa was doing a very good job intimating it.

"No need to, I'm perfectly fine."

"They want to see you Shinichi-kun. It's perfectly reasonable to understand, too. I mean their son just reappeared after dropping off the face of the earth and all." Goddamnit, why was the man so persistent? Couldn't he just see that Shinichi wanted nothing to do with his parents or anyone else for that matter?

"So?" Shinichi asked "They left me here to further their careers, so why should they start caring now?"

"H-how could you say that? They've always cared Shinichi-kun!" Agasa said, the shock was visible in his face. Shinichi's Father had called once a day to check if Agasa had seen his son or not, his Mother had visited him, tear streaks were still on her face and her reddened eyes spoke all for her. Shinichi's parents did care, why couldn't Shinichi see it?

"Whatever. They don't need to come. I'm going to bed. I'll see you later, Hakase?" And with that, Shinichi left the library and went upstairs. "Oh, please close the door when you get out…" Shinichi called back and slammed his bedroom door shut. He wanted some quiet time for himself.

Sighing in frustration, Agasa went back to his house. The talk hadn't gone as he had planned. Shinichi had changed so much that he couldn't recognize him anymore. He took his phone and dialed very familiar number. After ringing a few times, the person on the other end answered.

"Hello?"

"Hey, it's me. I talked to him."

"And?"

"Something's wrong. He seems… different. I don't know what happened. He wouldn't talk about it."

"I see."

"So what should we do?"

"We'll wait a bit, see what there is to see."

"Okay, we'll do it your way then. He is your son, after all, Yusaku-kun. I trust you."

"Thank you, Hakase." And with that, Kudou Yusaku hung up.

~Meanwhile With Shinichi~

Shinichi looked at the caller ID. Upon looking at the name, Shinichi tensed. He had been expecting this call, ever since he returned. Slowly, he opened the phone and pulled it to his ear.

"Hello." Shinichi said.

"It's time, Silver Bullet," The man on the other end of the line said. Shinichi knew this voice. His voice. "Ready?"

"Yes Aniki."

Author Note:

Yeah, we had a little trouble writing Agasa, so sorry about that!

Also, thank you to everyone who Followed and Favorited! And to our Reviewers!

MConanfan0327, reviewer74, ShizeKerstein, Guest, teyla-nick94, pikacutie25, and hannachuu

We really REALLY were happy to see that you guys liked our story! So thankyou!

I would also like to say that this story is open to constructive criticism! We're always looking for ways to improve our story!

This month Omake: Valentine Special