(Detective Conan disclaimed)

Alright, I'm hoping to continue rolling these out, but you never know…

So, where did we leave off?

It had been an interesting reunion for the Kurobas when Jii had met them, teary-eyed, at the front gates of the tomb, crying and apologizing for leaving them for so long. Thankfully, Kudou, Aoko, and Nakamori-keibu had left them in privacy for awhile. Kaito found the old man to be rather interesting and he hoped that his memory wasn't failing him. He knew that it hurt his mother to talk about his father so he didn't ask. But if Jii-chan, as he had begged them to address him as, was alright with it, Kaito had so much to speak with him about.

It was hard to remember his father sometimes and he hated that it was growing more difficult by the day. If Jii could just tell him a few things then maybe it would make things a little easier for him.

Other than that, it was an uneventful afternoon. They had visited Kuroba Touichi's grave for a long time before the Nakamoris excused themselves to visit their own ancestors. Shinichi mainly just stayed out of everyone's way until Minami got a hold of him and, much to Kaito's exasperation, pulled them into their group. Aoko and her father finally came back, her eyes a little red and puffy, and Minami announced that it was the perfect time to have lunch. They moved away from the graves to a small area of grass where she and Aoko began serving the meal of specially-made sandwiches and rice.

By the time they all finished catching up, it was already late into the afternoon. Minami gasped as she glanced at her watch. "Oh no!"

"What is it, Minami-chan?" the inspector asked.

"It's already 16:00 and I haven't been to the market yet. Mou…"

"That's okay, okaa-san. We'll just grab something at a convenience store on the way home," Kaito added.

"Oh no. We're not having those noodles again, Kaito. Besides, we've already eaten out once this week and my mother would curse me if I allowed us to do it a second time." She got up quickly, brushing the crumbs from her dress and starting to pack up the lunch containers. Kaito began helping her as best as he could and the others followed suit until everything was packed up once again in the bag that Minami was attempting to pick up. Kaito quickly took it from her. "What are you doing, Kaito? I need to hurry up and get to the market before it closes."

"Yeah, and you won't get anywhere if you're lugging this big, heavy thing around. Just take your purse and go. I'll take this stuff home." She smiled and he whined when she kissed him on the forehead before taking off.

"Arigatou, Kai-chan!"

"Hai, hai. Ki ni shi nai de…(1)" he muttered.

"I will accompany you, Minami-chan," Jii added. She smiled and waited for him to catch up.

"That's oddly kind of you, Kaito," Aoko chirped. He frowned at her.

"Yeah, well…it's either that or I don't eat tonight, so…" She giggled and Kaito couldn't help but catch the way Shinichi smiled and he mentally screamed in fury.

"That reminds me…Aoko, I have to get back to the station," Ginzo added as he glanced at his watch as well. "I told them that I would be there around 17:00 to do some paperwork, but if I don't leave now…"

"That's okay, Otou-san. I'll see you when you get home," she said with a smile. He nodded, looking at the boys.

"Kudou-kun." He nodded. "Kaito-bozu." Kaito pouted. "Get her home safely.

"Haaaai…" Kaito muttered as the man turned to leave.

"Alright," Aoko finally said once her father was out of sight. "What now?" The boys just stared at her and she sighed in exasperation. "Okay…How about we go to the shopping district?" Neither of the boys seemed exceptionally pleased with this idea. "I'm sure that they have a book store." Kudou's ears perked up. "AND a magic shop." Kaito's eyes refocused on her. "See? Something for everyone. Let's go."

She led the way to the small market-like street filled with miscellaneous items.

"I don't see no magic shop, Ahou-ko…"

"Nor do I see a book stand of any sort."

"They're here somewhere, I promise. Wait a momen-ahh!" Her butt suddenly collided with the pavement as she was knocked back. The blonde, curly-haired woman who had been rushing through the crowd moments before, stopped upon realizing that she had bumped into someone. She helped Aoko to her feet.

"Oh, I apologize, Miss. I didn't mean to harm you."

"Oh, no! It's alright. I wasn't looking…"

"Y-yamanaka-sensei?"

The woman paused, looking around for the owner of the voice. Her eyes finally settled on an astonished Shinichi.

"Shinichi-kun? My, it has been a long time…"

The woman looked as pristine as ever. Not one blonde curl was out of place, even in her rush. Her fair skin was lightly painted with pink powders and glosses, her dainty neck and wrists were adorned with only the humblest of jewelry, and her matching black jacket and skirt were a nice business-like contrast to the bright, pink blouse she wore beneath them.

"Yes, it has."

"Kudou-kun?" Aoko questioned softly, eyeing the woman. Shinichi started, quickly regaining his composure after seeing the glint in his former teacher's eyes. "Oh, yes! Aoko, Kaito, I'd like to introduce my former etiquette teacher, Yamanaka Sawako. Yamanaka-sensei, this is Nakamori Aoko, the daughter of Nakamori Ginzo, the police inspector. And this is her friend, Kuroba Kaito, with whom I am temporarily living. Our parents were good friends."

"I see. It is a pleasure to meet both of you, even if Shinichi-kun still doesn't yet grasp how to introduce someone properly."

"Geh…Wh-what did I do wrong?"

And as if reading from one of her textbooks, she said, "When introducing someone to a group, you must always introduce the individual to the group first. You did the opposite, Kudou-kun. Also, when introducing and elder, regardless of how small that age difference may be, you should always introduce the oldest to the youngest first. Once again, you did the opposite." Shinichi remained silent after this, scowling.

"Wow. No wonder Kudou-kun has such great manners. You must have been a great teacher to him, Yamanaka-sensei" Aoko said, staring in awe at the woman. She turned to the girl and smiled.

"Please. I would prefer that you call me Sawa-chan."

"Oh. Alright. Sawa-chan."

"Yeah, that's great and all, but you still knocked her down, Sawa-chan, so maybe you should pay compensation," Kaito snarked

"Not you."

"What?"

"You, will address me as Yamanaka-sensei, as Shinichi-kun does."

"Whatever!" Kaito grunted.

"Well isn't this attitude familiar, nee, Shinichi-kun?" she asked with a smirk, glancing at him. Shinichi glared.

"Oi, oi…" he mumbled in protest. "Anyway, if I may ask…"

"You may."

"…Why are you hurrying?"

"Nosy as ever, but I suppose that's the Kudou in you. I am on my way to visit my friend, Kitamura Rima. You should remember her. She was a high school student at Teitan until she entered college and she was also another of my pupils. I paired the two of you together many times for your lessons."

"Yes, I remember."

"Unlike you, she shows great promise and I have continued to tutor her."

"Thanks…"

"I have actually been living in with her temporarily. You see, my fiancé, Kaname, is overseeing the renovations of our house so Rima offered a place to stay. I declined at first, but she was insistent, so I agreed to it in exchange for free lessons."

"So he finally asked you to marry him?" Shinichi asked.

"Yes, Six months ago. Regardless, I have to be off now. Rima-chan sounded awfully distressed over the phone. It was nice to meet you all."

Kaito glared but Aoko smiled and bowed and said, "It was nice to meet you too."

"Shinichi-kun, it was nice to see you again."

"It was nice to see you, as well, Yamanaka-sensei," he replied.

"Au revoir."

They waved and said their goodbyes as she continued on her way.

Aoko nudged Shinichi with her elbow. "I'm surprised that you survived your childhood with your sanity in tact."

"Sometimes I wonder if I really did or not…" Aoko giggled and Kaito saw red.

"Yeah, well, I still don't see any magic!" Aoko frowned but didn't respond as she began to look around the street once more in search of clothes that she might possibly get Shinichi to buy for her. She mentally giggled and grinned, getting that fluttery feeling to reappear in her stomach at the thought.

They spent the whole afternoon with Aoko shopping for clothes, Shinichi buying the clothes for Aoko, and Kaito scowling at the both of them while he carried some of the bags. They didn't decide to leave until most of the vendors were closing shop for the evening. The sky was getting dark and their legs began to ache as they walked home.

"My house is just around the corner," Aoko sighed sleepily. When they reached her doorstep, she invited them both in but they declined, merely resting the bags just inside the door before saying their goodnights and leaving her to rest.

It was silent for a block or so, but Kaito couldn't stand it.

"I thought I told you to leave her alone," he grumbled half-heartedly.

"You did."

"And there you two were, flirting up a storm ALL DAY."

"Kuroba, you should have realized by now that all contact today was initiated by Nakamori-san and not myself."

"Why did you keep buying things for her!"

"Because she kept asking."

"So! You should have said no!" Kaito yelled.

"Why?"

"Because that's my job!" he shouted, stopping in his tracks and facing the other. "Ever since you came here, you've been nothing but trouble for me! No one even looks twice at me anymore! You're taking my mom and Aoko and everyone at school and I hate it! I hate you!"

There was a long silence where Kaito tried to catch his breath while he stared angrily at the sidewalk.

"…is that what you really think?" Shinichi asked quietly. Kaito looked up at him.

"Yeah… It is."

Shinichi looked away for a moment as if wondering what he should say.

"Kuroba. I'm sorry."

"H-hey, don't start with that…"

"I mean it, Kuroba. I didn't come here to make your life a living Hell. I had no intentions of even making friends while I was here, but things changed. I can't say that I regret meeting Nakamori-san - she's a nice girl - but I already have a girl like that. I've known her like you've known Nakamori-san; since we were kids. Not to mention that I already have a whole school that fawns over me and parents that suffocate me. I don't need, or want, anymore."

Shinichi's cell phone broke the silence and he quickly moved to answer it. His eyebrows furrowed at the name of the screen.

Yamanaka-sensei

He was surprised that he still had her number programmed into his phone. He was even more surprised that Yamanaka-sensei still had his number. He flipped it open.

"Hello? Yamanaka-sensei?"

"Shinichi-kun..?" She sounded surprised.

"Yes. What is it?"

"I meant to call your father but…I suppose that you will do…please…hurry to the Rinosa building. Fourteenth floor. Room 1409."

"What? Why?"

"Just…hurry." She sounded distressed. "The police are already on their way."

"What! The police?" Kaito was staring at him with interest now.

"What's going on?" he asked. Shinichi shook his head before continuing.

"Why are the police coming?"

"Shinichi-kun…Rima…Rima-chan is dead…"

(1) Ki ni shi nai de - No problem

Aaannndd scene! Hur hur...Another update!

-DiGi