I've been wanting to save Akemi-san for a long time. I just hope that this is plausible... It's different from the original plan, but this one seems much more realistic.

I don't own the DC series, Aoyama-sensei does.

"Talking"

Thinking

"Talking in English only"


Chapter Two - Rescue Mission


My name is Candice S. Fay, but the Detective Conan universe knows me as Satou Haruka. "Sa" for "help" and "tou" for "wisteria", "Haru" for "spring" and "ka" for "flower". A few days after I resigned from school attend online classes instead, my only friends, Lea and Helena, told me to meet them at the abandoned treehouse in the uninhabited area of the city. Once I arrived there, I witnessed the twins falling from the treehouse and being sucked into a portal. I was pulled in as well and when I regained consciousness, I discovered that I was in the Detective Conan verse upon meeting Miyano Akemi. Since we were a couple of days away from her scheduled death, I decided to arrange a plan with the Kuroba family in which her death will be faked.

Oh yes, I almost forgot! Before I left for Ekoda, I borrowed some of Akemi-san's hair dye, a headband and a hairband. My previously jet black hair is now light auburn and all I needed to do was pull it into a ponytail. Truth to be told, I have no true reason to disguise myself that way. It wasn't as though the Black Organization was after me, yet. Well, landing in a different world is a chance for new beginnings.

oOOo

The Plan has finally been finalized two days ago. Though Akemi-san didn't contact Chikage-san and Kaito-senpai –they insisted on dropping the formalities – we went over it many times. Failure was definitely not an option. As much as Helena cradled the idea of Gin actually being a good person under the murderer he is (she always believes in the antagonists if she see the slimmest chances of them redeeming themselves), I am not so confident about it and – I thought back to his brutality and eagerness to kill Sherry – with good reason. The only members that just might turn around are Vermouth and Bourbon, but even then, I still don't trust them at all. Well, maybe Vermouth a bit more than Bourbon who is still a recent character.

Anyways, back to the Plan. Once Akemi-san left the hotel room where her partner was currently residing, she will leave the money at the hotel reception desk. Afterwards, she will quickly head to the ladies' restroom where Chikage-san will be waiting for her. With Chikage-san disguised as Akemi-san and vice-versa, Chikage-san will head towards the docks on a taxi while Akemi-san will head towards the Kuroba residence after Jii-san picks her up. From there, we will have to count on Chikage-san acting skills. She may be no Kudou Yukiko or Sharon Vineyard, but she should be able to fool Gin and Vodka.

What about Conan and Ran, who will have heard the gunshot? That's where Kaito will come in play. His goal is to distract them. Doing so at the hotel would be too risky, so it'll have to be at the docks. Since Akemi-san's meeting place with Gin and Vodka is in a warehouse (the manga seemed to have combined with the anime…), maybe an explosion or two would suffice. Nothing more than flash bombs, but more than enough to attract someone's attention. Gin and Vodka will only think of it as delinquents or something along those lines, but it will urge them to pull the trigger and get away faster.

Of course, Chikage-san will already have a vest and a bag of blood under her disguise so she wouldn't be harmed. Once the two crows will have left, Chikage-san will bring out the flask of petrol and the corpse she had somehow managed to steal (I don't know the details and I don't want to). We have to make the fire seem like the work of whoever made the explosions earlier, so there will be some dynamites on the scene.

That way, it will make the news so there would be no doubt about Akemi-san's "death". The corpse in question already has a wound where Gin will shoot Chikage-san, so that's covered as well. The only thing that would make a dent was the corpse's dental marks. Luckily, it was the charred body of a woman they found some time back and it was already in bad shape though there were no odors or bugs flying around… (I learned that there are some things about the Phantom Lady that a person really doesn't need to know.)

And me?

I am responsible for keeping the Kuroba residence.

ooOOoo

It was already past eight and I was pacing inside the living room. Akemi-san had left the apartment to see her other partner in Haido Hotel over three hours ago and I left to come here an hour later. Due to the preparations, both mother and son had already left as well, leaving me alone in the house. There had been no specific time for Conan's arrival at the hotel or when Akemi-san was supposed to meet with the Organization, but it shouldn't take this long!

"Honestly, what's going on over there?" I asked as I looked towards the television. The news were on and nothing had yet to be said about the fire. At this rate, I'll begin to panic soon.

Ding-dong! Ding-dong!

"They're here!" I exclaimed as I went to open the door. Sure enough, both Akemi-san and Jii-san were there, safe and sound. Part A of the plan is officially successful.

"Please come in," I stepped aside. "I was really getting worried, you know. I swear that you've shortened my life by a decade!"

"I am very sorry for that," Jii bowed. "There was some construction going on so we had to take a longer route."

"Well, as long as the two of you are all right," I shrugged. "I already fixed some dinner for everyone but you'll have to wait while I heat it."

"Arigatou, Haruka-chan," Akemi smiled brightly.

"No problem, it's been a long week for all of us," I replied as I entered the kitchen.

I heard the two guests sit in the living room, watching the news, as I turned on the cooktop. After spending four years alone in a house, you learn to quickly polish your cooking skills amongst others. I still remember the first few weeks I spent with overcooked or pretty much raw meat, burned food and others. At least I wasn't as dangerous as Tendo Akane inside a kitchen (insert shiver here). I would have died a long time ago if that were the case.

"Breaking news," announced a news reporter. "The perpetrator of the billion yen robbery has committed suicide after killing one of her partners in the Haido City Hotel. The woman in question, Hirota Masami, had burned down in the warehouse you see behind me. Even now, the firefighters are trying to put out the flames, but to no avail. Two passerby had claimed to see explosions nearby, so it is highly possible that some criminal caused the flames after Hirota-san took her own life."

"The police has found the stolen yen in the hotel's reception desk as well as a suicide note," he continued. "I will now ask the passerby for details of this affair."

Bzit!

Akemi-san turned off the screen.

"It seems that Chikage-sama and bocchama have succeeded," Jii commented as I began putting out the plates.

"I'm glad," Akemi-san declared as she stood up. "It seems that we can finally have a bit of rest after all of this chaos."

I smirked. Chaos indeed. Not only did we plan Akemi-san's fake death during the past five days, but new identities for Akemi-san and I as well. Chikage-san had managed to take care of the official papers (I suspect that it's actually Kudou Yuusaku's doing) and within the next few days, the both of us will begin living together as sisters.

oOOo

"I have good news for everyone!" Chikage-san exclaimed the next day as we gathered for breakfast. "All of the necessary documents have been taken care of. Akemi-chan and Haruka-chan can move in their new home today. Also, just as Haruka-chan suggested, Akemi-chan will become a new teacher in Teitan Elementary starting next week. As for Haruka-chan, since she is a genius, she will be attending Ekoda High with Kaito this coming Monday."

"N-Nani?!" I exclaimed, nearly dropping my bowl. "But... the test I took... Masaka..."

"Yup!" Chikage-san smiled mischievously. "It was actually Ekoda High's entrance exam!"

"No wonder those questions seemed harder than the average middle-school work..." I mumbled under my breath. How could I not have noticed?

"Oh yeah," Kaito-senpai said, trying to lighten the mood. "How old are you anyways?"

I sighed. "I will be fourteen on October 31st."

"So your birthday is on Halloween then?" Akemi-san asked. "Mine is on July 7th."

"Tanabata, if I remember correctly," I smiled. Her birthday is a happy occasion for two reasons, now that she has Akai.

"I'm born on June 22nd," Kaito-senpai pointed at himself, grinning. "So what is the back story exactly? I haven't had a good chance to hear it."

"My name is Satou Haruka and this is my onee-san, Satou Hinata," I gestured towards Akemi-san. "We've moved here from the United States where we had been staying with relatives since our parents died a long time ago. I'm actually a cousin who has been living with her family, so that should clear the age difference problem. Hinata-nee-san wanted to come back to Japan where she lived in when she was young, so I followed her and here we are."

"That was all Haruka-chan's idea," Chikage-san chirped. "She decided just about everything."

"So you're a born leader, huh?" Kaito-senpai grinned. "That's Haruka-chan for you."

I blinked in surprise before smiling. A born leader? Oh, Kaito-senpai, you couldn't be any more wrong…

oOOo

Akemi-san – I mean Hinata-nee-san – and I had chosen our apartment due to its proximity to Beika-cho and the Kuroba's residence. It was a nice apartment complex, to be honest. Just like the ones we always see in manga and anime… Wait, I am in a… Please disregard that last comment.

The apartment had a two bedrooms, a living room, a dining room, a kitchen and a bathroom that was connected to the master's room. We didn't have any annoying neighbors and it was a calm place. Since Chikage-san and Akemi-san have ordered the furniture, appliances and everything else, the only things missing were personal belongings such as clothes, toothbrushes and so on.

Despite our protests, Chikage-san allowed us to use her credit card to buy everything we needed. She didn't even tell us how much we were allowed to spend, she just pushed the card into our faces! Well, it did make the shopping trip worthwhile, so I can't really complain.

Once we've settled down, it was already time for supper. Hinata-nee-san and I have already set down a schedule for the chores including cooking. Unfortunately or fortunately, I was adverse to eating the same meal, spaghetti for example, twice for a lapse of three to five days. It was a habit that was kind of drilled in when I was small.

"I had hoped to live like this with Shiho," Hinata-nee-san told me as we ate the curry she prepared. "Thank you… for saving my life."

I did not reply. I may have saved the elder sister, but it will take some time, a few months to be precise, before she can reunite with her sibling. And even then...

"Ne, Haruka-chan," she spoke. "What about your family? Aren't they going to be worried about you?"

"Family, huh? My family and I… We aren't really on speaking terms," I replied sadly. "I don't think we've ever been."

Hinata-nee-san remained silent. I didn't know what her expression was, as I had lowered my face, but I think that she was somewhat shocked.

"My father was the lord of the family. When he died, about four years ago, our family broke apart," I went on. "Mother is most likely traveling around the world for her company and my brother has either immersed himself in studies or gotten a job or something, not that he's ever told me what he was doing… Neither have returned home for at least a year now. I've been living alone ever since the incident. I'm already… used to it, you know."

I smiled, hoping that it was enough for Hinata-nee-san, hoping that it was enough to show everyone that I was all right with all of that, but I really wanted to cry. Suddenly, two arms wrapped themselves around me tightly and… I buried myself in her chest. My whimpers echoed through the room as the meal remained on the table forgotten. Tears wouldn't come out, no matter how hard I tried. It was as though three years' worth of frustration was not enough for water to flow from my eyes.

Somewhere, deep inside, I can still picture the four of us smiling happily for the camera. The perfect picture of a "perfect" family. A family that lost its only support and fell apart like some broken toy. A family that has lost a second member, one who may never return home.

Then again, they've never cared about what happened to me, did they?


So... that was a bit of insight on Haruka/Candice's background. There's more to it, obviously, but I won't be revealing any of that anytime soon. I have some trouble writing Akemi-san - probably because she died early on and most of what we know about her is from flashbacks.

Please comment (constructive comments, please), favorite or follow!

Next Chapter: A New Beginning