Disclaimer: I don't own these characters or settings.

Conan struggled a bit under the dead weight of the unconscious Genta's body, while the girls carried Mitsuhiko between them.

Ai shifted nervously under the boys glare. "Don't look at me like that." She said, "How was I supposed to know they would both feint like that? It was only a kiss."

Ayumi glanced at Ai's face for a moment before blushing and looking away.

Conan rolled his eyes. "They have not been spending time in America." He said, "In spite of what anime would have us believe, Japan is more traditional and repressed in some ways then the United States."

Haibara let the conversation drop as they reached their destination.

Ayumi looked cautiously at the flight of stairs, ascending into the darkness. "Where are we?" She asked.

Conan smiled. "This is an emergency escape tunnel that Professor Agasa and my parents had built in secret years ago, just in case the Black organization ever caught on to Haibara's presence or mine during one of the times I was home." Conan explained, "It leads to a place they called Site B, a warehouse the Professor owned a dozen blocks from our houses."

The darkness and silence of the warehouse beckoned invitingly to the slightly freaked out kids. Dozens of boxes and racks loomed in the shadows, loaded with skateboards, shoes, watches and other gear that they were all familiar with as well as much that they were not.

Conan chuckled. "I always wondered where he kept all of this stuff." He said.

He was about to go on, when the sound of a motorcycle approaching began to echo through the building. They waited for it to fade, but, to their dismay, it died immediately outside.

They scattered into the shadows, seeming to melt into the darkness, as a shadow approached the door, silhouetted in its frosted window. The lock clicked and the door opened, revealing the tall form of a man in the light of the street lamps.

"Oi, Kudo, you in here?" came a familiar voice in an Osakan dialect.

"Heiji-nichan!" Ayumi piped up, stepping out from her hiding spot, followed a moment later by Conan. Haibara maintained her out-of-sight position, along with the unconscious boys.

Heiji smirked at the girl and boy. "Ayumi-chan, it is good to see you again. Kudo, it has been a while." He said. "You guys seem to be making quite a bit of chaos. Is the rest of your crew hiding in here?"

Ayumi nodded. "Ai-chan is keeping an eye on the boys… they feinted." She said, blushing again.

Heiji raised an eyebrow and looked at his former Rival. "Feinted?"

"Don't look at me." Conan said. "It was Ayumi and Haibara's doing."

Heiji looked back at the girl, who blushed even harder. "Do I even want to know?" he asked.

"Probably not." Haibara said, from her Shadowy hiding spot.

"Y-yeah…" Ayumi agreed, trying to will her cheeks to stop burning. "Especially not after Kasuh…" She stopped mid-sentence, realizing that this was not the best topic.

Heiji fixed the girl with a glare. "After what?" he challenged.

Ayumi covered her mouth with both hands.

Conan arched an eyebrow. "Did something happen with Kasuha?"

Heiji turned his glare on the young detective. "Nothing that matters… She is back in Osaka, probably hanging out with her new girlfriend." Heiji huffed, trying to make a show of not caring and failing miserably.

"Girlfriend?!?" Conan asked, "When did that happen?"

"Well," Heiji said with irritated huff, "after the fall of Kaito KID, Kasuha met this girl named Aoko Nakamuri, the daughter of Inspector Nakamuri, who had been the lead on KID's case. The girl had apparently just gotten her heart broken, and Kasuha identified with her for some reason. They hung out a lot, until not too long ago, they shamelessly announced their new relationship. It is totally disgusting how much they hang on each other whenever I am around."

Conan sweatdropped. He wondered if this was not some elaborate ploy that both girls had come up with to snare their respective loves.

"Not that I care, of course." Heiji said, "Kasuha is her own person and can do whatever she wants." His tone said he was done talking about it.

Conan wondered if he had been that obsessed… Then he looked at the girl next to him, and the one in the shadows, and thought of the one that had kicked in his door twenty minutes ago, and sighed. Why did love have to be so complicated?

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Eri would have glared at her old friend if they had not been talking over the phone. "What do you mean, 'no', Yukiko?" she demanded, "You can't just let him wander around in Japan on his own."

The beautiful actress on the other end of the phone line laughed. "The US Government recognizes Conan as an emancipated minor, Eri-chan; I have no control of his actions, nor do I wish to." She said, "Besides, the whole thing is just stupid, with the restraining order and all that. If you and your husband had not been so stubborn, the two of them might have been engaged by now."

Eri almost growled. "I am not going to let Rina anywhere near that… that… Detective!" she said vehemently, "If you won't stop him from coming near her, I will. After all, I kept him from communicating with her all these years…"

"Honestly, I don't see how you can stop her." Yukiko said, her grin clearly audible through the phone. "You lack the resources, since from what I have heard, your daughter's martial arts skill rivals the best in the world, and you cannot hide the truth from her forever."

Eri cursed at her old friend and slammed the phone down, stalking away.

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Yukiko heard her old friend slam the phone down, and then waited a moment.

"Did you hear enough, Rina-chan?" she asked conversationally, "You know, it is impolite to listen in on others' conversations, but given the circumstances, I can understand your curiosity."

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AN It has been a while since I updated this fiction, and I am not promising any additional updates anytime soon, though you never know.