Disclaimer: Not mine.

The lone figure sat huddled beside the gate, partially obscured by the walls, invisible at the moment thanks to the snow. There she stayed, as she had for the past twelve hours, unmoving, uncaring. Completely oblivious to the search party that had been looking desperately for her at the very minute.

She wasn't crying, nor was she mourning. The shock suffered by her poor mother when she found Ran, sitting sprawled on the floor, holding what she thought to be her dead husband's decapitated head to her chest as if her life depended on it, was enough to put her through two months of psychology therapy. Ran herself, oddly enough, felt nothing.

Well, except pain.

That, of course, came right after she found her father, and it would return later. Now, she felt nothing. The cold had mercifully numbed her. She shivered and held her snow-covered jacked closer.

Taking a deep, ragged breath she tilted her head back and looked up into the heavens, a soft almost seraphic expression on her face. Closing her eyes, she stood on uneven legs and walked away, leaving behind a small mechanical device.

The police found it five hours later, lying harmlessly by the detective's mansion, the unsent message still clear on it's screen:

Shinichi, where are you?


'Heiji…' her voice on the phone sounded weak, as if she had just woken up from a nap.

'Ran! Where the hell are you? Everyone's looking for you! We're so worried!' Kazuha shouted, holding the phone tightly in her hands, refusing to surrender it.

'Kazuha, can you put Heiji on the phone please?'

Perfectly polite, unflinching. As if she is without a thought in the world. No, 'Relax Kazuha, I'm fine.' Or even a 'I'm sorry I made you worry.' It sent shivers down her spine to hear her gentle friend talk like that. She handed over the phone with a dumbstruck expression on her face.

'Ran, where are you, everyone's worried sick!' he repeated as soon as he has the phone in his hands.

Silence greeted him. His mind worked furiously, thinking of all the places there could be that would be completely silent.

'Tell me where you are, I'll go get you,' he decided firmly.

'Hattori-kun… Tell me about this case Shinichi's been working on. And…,' Heiji was almost afraid the phone line had been connected when she continued, 'and tell me about Conan-kun…' she paused and added, as if as an afterthought, 'I want the truth.'

Heiji hesitated for a second. 'What do you want to know?' he asked.

He didn't know what made him do it, but he told her everything. There was not a sound from the other end of the phone when he talked. No gasp of surprise, no exclamations, no screams of fury, no tears of anger, no words of acknowledgement, no questions asked.

'Thank you.' And a click when he was done.

The couple never heard from her again.



The man walking purposefully into the bar had a gargantuan bag strapped onto his back, so our inquisitive young detective could've help but be curious about the profession of the man. Shinichi peeked black hair under the ominous looking hat as the man in his mid-twenties (perhaps) scrutinized his surrounding behind thick black glasses. His patronizing gaze, for reasons unbeknownst to Shinichi, paused two seconds too long on himself before the man looked away and continued to survey the bar. He put his heavy luggage down casually on the table before walking towards the piano. Shinichi's curiosity was further evoked when the man, without a warning of any kind, proceeded to force an alarmingly big headphone onto the pianist head. She stopped playing promptly and sat demurely, as if awaiting further instructions, giving him the suspicion that she was quite used to such treatment.

The bartender opened his mouth to protest. He wisely shut up when the stranger pulled a gun from beneath his jacket.

'Tom, I know you're here,' he had a deep, clear voice that commanded attention. A commander of some sort, Shinichi thought.

'Chill it. Keep your gun buddy,' a man in the tux sitting in the back rose and walked towards the armed man indifferently. To the bartender he said somewhat apologetically, 'don't worry, we're both cops. He's just angry I took his fiancée out for a walk.'

'I told you to stay away from her,' his gun was aimed menacingly on his head.

'She was lonely. I just figured she needed company.' Russian accent, Shinichi guessed. He was surprised he didn't feel the least threatened by the armed man. Perhaps all the anger's focused on one man. No… not that… I'm not threatened… because the nobody else is.. And most important of all, the man whose head is being targeted is unworried, so why should anyone else be? True to the fact, everyone seemed quite used to the scene, as if angry husbands and lovers with guns were everyday occurrences.

'She doesn't.'

'Oh, don't be unreasonable. You and I both know she can't be left alone,' he leant against the wall and crossed his arms haughtily.

'I-'

'Don't start on the pet now. You don't expect an animal to keep her company do you? You might as well just leave her to me when you're busy.'

He decided he has a point but choose to glare at the man for a few more minutes before turning away and putting his gun away. He retrieved his bag, heaving the deadweight onto his back easily, 'I'll find a way that does not involve you.'

'Come on now, kid-' the gun emerged out of nowhere in nanoseconds and was pointed at his forehead once again.

'Not a word.'

'Fine… Fine… I'll pretend I'm not here,' he looked mildly amused as the stranger removed the headset from the young lady's head.

'Tom?' she whispered inquisitively, 'is anything wrong?' Her voice was as her melodies were, ethereal and as she walked into the light, Shinichi found himself staring at her. Her beauty was celestial, her brown hair almost cascading down her sides delicately. Her skin was somewhat sickly pale, but it only added to her seraphic appearance. She was wearing a silk-like material that hung to her feebly. He couldn't grasp her accent, nor could he guess her origins by merely looking at her. But the reason he was staring, was the simple fact that she was unsighted.

The now unarmed man responded by bending down slightly, placing an arm beneath her knees and lifting her up, bridal style. She gasped in surprise, but quickly regained her composure. She wrapped her arms around her lover tightly and hid her blushing face at the nape of his neck.

'I'm sorry I made you worry… Tom said you didn't want me anymore,' Shinichi heard her whisper as they walked past him. He saw the man tensed and threw a look of pure contempt at the said man.

'Let's just go home,' his voice was soothing as he addressed the young woman in his arms, not at all like the tone he used when he was addressing the older man just now.


'What do you know about the man whom she lived with?' he questioned through the phone, sounding breathless.

'What man?!' Heiji asked, revealing immediately that he knew nothing of the man.

Shinichi hung up promptly. If Hattori doesn't know, it's safe to assume that Kazuha doesn't either. 'Who the hell are you, Soju!' he shouted.

He's not a chemist, that's for sure.

He walked over to his laptop, plugged in his earphones and continued listening to the recording (previously hidden in her closet, beneath several layers of towels, wrapped in an old t-shirt)…

'And who the hell's Dr. Crawford?'

'Entry one, first day, two three hundred hours. Dr Crawford and I reached the village at oh one hundred hours this morning. The poor children are in dire need of medication. We've been working ceaselessly since. Dr Crawford insisted I do this during my trip, since we'll both be working in different parts of the region with no modern mean of communication available. Why did I forget to bring my handphone?! In any case,, Dr Crawford told me that I wouldn't be able to use the phone even if I bought it. Anyway, the people here don't speak Japanese, so it's kinda weird. Dr. said it'll be quite lonely after a while so he wanted me to record my voice and pretend I'm talking to someone. But we're both no strangers to loneliness, are we, Shinichi?'

'Second entry, third day, fifteen hundred hours. I was done with vaccinating the children by twelve yesterday and had to move on to the adults. They were much less co-operative. Anyway, I met up with dr. Crawford and he instructed me to start curing their symptoms one by one, since we couldn't bring the necessary medication, we had to make do with the ones they have. I really learnt a lot this morning from the doctor. But I'm boring you, aren't I Shinichi? The children are very sweet. They weren't very trusting though, but we'd get through... Eventually.'

'Third entry, sixth day, twenty three hundred hours. At least we're sure the vaccination works. There were no new cases since three days ago. But we're still busy with the sick ones here though. I've been teaching their 'doctors' here how to make do with the limited supply of medication. Dr. Crawford says we would be heading back tomorrow morning. I'm sorry to say I can't wait, I really regret not bringing my mosquito repellent. Dr. Crawford's right. It does get kind of lonely here after a while. I've been thinking, Shinichi… I'm forever worried that you would change, that your personality would be different once you return, that you wouldn't like spending time with me anymore, that you… you won't like me anymore. I'm just wondering… have I changed, Shinichi? And if I did change… would you like the different me? Because I know I will always, always love you.'

'Fourth entry, seventh day, oh one hundred. Dr. Crawford went over to visit me today. We talked. A lot. The world is a very, very ugly place Shinichi. But if we can make the best of it… it is still beautiful. … I'm not making a lot of sense, am I Shinichi?'

'Fifth entry, seventh day, thirteen hundred. The little children here gave me flowers. That's so sweet, don't you think Shinichi? Dr. Crawford decided to stay for a few more days but he insisted I go back first, since I have classes to attend and a test on Wednesday. The boat ride was very exciting, especially when we're driving through the stream on our way back. The nice man let me have one of the fish he caught earlier that day. Anyway, end of entry. Been nice talking to you Shinichi.'


'Sorry fella's. My friend is a little peculiar,' he shrugged as the duo disappeared into the night, 'But you know how young men in love are,' his good humored laughter was soon joined by the rest of the people in the bar.

'How much do I owe you?' he enquired amicably.

'Actually I owe you. Mallory has been great for business,' he bent down and retrieved a bottle of wine, 'here, as I promised, nineteen eighty nine, from my very own villa.'

'Thanks. I'll be needing that,' he laughed affably.

But there was no mirth in his eyes when he turned to Shinichi as he headed towards the door, 'Stop searching.'

Shinichi reacted instantly by gripping his arm.

His hazel eyes were chilly when he turned around and glared at the young man, 'the teenager you were in love with died a long time ago.'

'Who are you? And what do you know about Ran?' his fingernails dug into the stranger's arms painfully.

'All you need to know is that she's dead. Accept that. She's dead, she won't come back,' he whispered into Kudo's ears, 'no matter how hard you search,' then patting his arms lightly as if they were old friends, he pulled his arm out of Shinichi's grasp and walked out of the bar, leaving the dumbstruck detective staring at the door.

He ran out after the peculiar man five seconds later but by then, he was nowhere to be seen. He walked back into the bar. The bartender was slightly taken aback by the determined and slightly murderous look on his face.

'Tell me all you know about the trio just now,' he commanded the innocent bartender.

He looked mildly alarmed at the enraged figure breathing not two inches from his face but years of experience of working in bars where men usually get drunk taught him that panicking is the worst thing to do in these situations. 'Sit down.' He placed a glass of liquor in from of Shinichi.


There was a total of three times in which she got away from his line of sight without his knowing. Once, was when she was lost in the crowd on the way to dinner. Silly mistake to make, really. His co-workers would have been greatly amused by the blunder. He seems to make a lot of silly mistakes when he's around her. Can't seem to understand why. He found her two agonizing hours later, on the grand piano in the middle of all the commotion. He had been wondering why the pianist had been playing those heart wrenching songs in the middle of Christmas season…

He stood amongst the crowd and considered – briefly- on whether he should drop a little something by the piano to destroy evidence. Deciding against it (too many witnesses), he sighed and enjoyed the music with the rest of the crowd, not knowing that the brief two-hour (free!) performance his little angel is giving is going to bring him a lot of trouble in the days to come.

He didn't really understand music. But the pieces must've been really good. He deduced this from these observations:

A number of the people in the crowd were listening with their mouth wide open.

Most of them, however, had their eyes closed.

And people were taking pictures.

Pictures…

A tiny jolt of electricity made the connection and he could think properly again. Climbing onto the stage, he pulled Mallory from the piano and disappeared into the crowd. (A convenient art he mastered long ago).

The second and third time was entirely his fault. He put her under a tree and forgot. Twice.

Believe it or not, on his way to get her a snack, his employer called and the thought poor Mallory waiting for him under the tree in the park slipped right out of his mind. That was one of the few times he was grateful for stalker Tom. The man, who claim to have just finished a job himself and was passing through (coincidentally) when he saw neglected Mallory, decided to take her home. A little bit of persuasion and 10mg of depressant and she was falling into his arms. Literally.

Luckily for Tom, he was quite familiar with this sort of medication. He managed to convince Mallory that he meant her no harm. But she was adamant on going back to waiting for her forgetful (and slightly irresponsible) caretaker. It had been fun terrorizing her... until he fell for her too. There's something oddly compelling about the blind, naïve woman that draws men to feel obligated to protect her from the horrors of the world. He vowed to stop making fun of his slightly demented friend in business dinner parties to come.

Or course, all fun has to come to an end. Mallory disappeared. He wisely left the rest of the matter in his friend's hands and disappeared for the next few months.

He was furious when he saw her picture on the front page the news in Italy two weeks after he remembered he forgot her (which would make a grand total of about four weeks). Some music enthusiast got her to perform in an orchestra apparently. It took him two days to steal her out of the grasps of the overly friendly bunch of lunatics that insisted Mallory was part of their family.

Unfortunately, he had had to beg for forgiveness. Four weeks is a very long time. For the next few times however, he was wise to leave her in the presence of a piano. Time passes quickly when she's playing one of those things. And he allowed her to join in one of those crazy traveling orchestras. Stupid decision really. A beautiful woman guarded by a paranoid man in the spotlight is never a good thing…


'What's the man's name?' he asked, getting somewhat impatient with the long-winded and irrelevant story.

'I'm not really sure. The tabloid has a dozen names for him. But I've heard him being referred to as 'Soju' by the doctor. But for some odd reason, Mallory knows him as 'Daniel'-'

Shinichi felt everything beside him go dark as he made the connections.

Note: I'm so so sorry. I have a credible excuse this time. I dropped out of college and went to a university. And now, my life hangs in the balance. Life sucks. go figure.

(For those of you who knows what SAT is, I was busy with that. And school. And am now busy with SAT II. Damn.)

And to top it all, my stupid school is trying (note: trying) to kick me outta my apartment (apparently, we're not allow to stay here during the holidays for personal reasons). A lady barged into our place this morning and went 'Why're you still here?!'. What happened next is typical of those scenes in those drama series, you know, where skinny, mean, old landladies grab the poor skinny guy/girl by the hair and drags him/her down the stairs, then feed him(let's just stick with him) to the dogs, and proceeds to hang his dead body at the gate as an example to all those who dares to overstay their welcome? …

__ Pray I find a place to stay…

Or this story will never end…

I'm gonna stop blabbering now…

This is all my friend's fault…

She fed me something…

And now I can't stop typing…

Which reminds me. Does any of you read terry prachett by any means? Damn swell writer.

Oh, and a big hug to all of you who've reviewed. I love you guys. :D Thank you~~ keep reviewing please.