AN: And here's chapter twelve! Things are gearing up to move into Nagano, so I hope everyone's excited for that! On that note, there was only one review last chapter, which was a little disheartening to say the least, so it would be rather nice if people could leave one this time round, maybe? I can't know you're enjoying the story if you don't say anything!

With that said, see you next time! Thanks for reading!

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Chapter Twelve

The Man the Ravens Sent

"Young master?"

"Ah, sorry, sorry, Jii-chan." Breaking out of his reverie, Kaito looked over towards the older man, casting a small smile towards him. "I was just a little bit distracted. What were you saying about the security measures this time?"

"There's still time to call off the heist, young master." With a slight frown on his face, Konosuke Jii gave the young boy who he had known ever since he was a child a concerned look. He knew very well what the source of his distraction was- and it concerned the old man more than a little himself. He was quite fond of the girl in question as well, though he knew his fondness was of a different type than Kaito's. "I know the business with your friend has you quite worried, after all. There's no shame if you just want to concentrate on that, for the time being."

"It's fine, Jii-chan." Kaito was quick to reassure him, only a little bit of his smile being tied to his poker face. "Besides, this is the only chance we'll get to steal the target. After this, it'll be moving back outside the country again. I need to check and see if it's Pandora before that."

His father might have been an international phantom thief, but for the moment, the second Kaito Kid was rather limited to Japan. That might change one day- but hopefully he'd find the location of Pandora long before then.

"Aoko'll be coming with me anyways. I've already arranged it with her father. I think she wants a break from being followed around by a police officer twenty-four seven herself." Kaito told him.

Of course, she would still have a police escort upon arriving at their destination- the upcoming heist was going to take place in Nagano. But at the very least, the officer selected for the task had turned out to be a woman only ten years Aoko's senior, which would be a nice break from the two male police officers that had been shadowing her lately, however nice Takagi and Chiba had turned out to be.

"Besides, she's actually probably a lot safer at a Kid heist than pretty much anywhere else in the world. Nobody would try and kidnap someone with so many police officers around." Kaito added, watching as the concerned expression on Jii's face didn't fade. "Really, it'll be okay. I wouldn't let something like this distract me to the point where I'd be caught by someone, so don't worry so much."

"I can't help but worry. If something happened to you, your father in heaven would never forgive me- nevermind your mother who is very much still here." Jii confessed, before heaving a sigh, knowing that there was very little he could do to argue with the youth when he'd already made up his mind. "But very well, young master. If you say that I have nothing to worry about, then I will take you at your word."

"Thanks, Jii-chan." Kaito told him, giving him a small smile. Really, he didn't want to worry the old man half as much as he knew he did. "Anyways, what were you saying before we changed the topic? Something about the security measures?"

"Ah, yes." Refocusing on the subject at hand, Jii quickly began detailing the measures that had been put in place by both the museum management and Inspector Nakamori in preparation for his arrival the coming Wednesday. The heist would be on the following Thursday, with the Inspector arriving one day early to prepare. Nagano was outside of Nakamori's usual jurisdiction, but being the head of the Kaito Kid task force granted him special privileges in so far as that sort of thing was concerned.

Well, given that Kaito had heard some scary things about Nagano's police, he was almost kind of grateful that by and large they weren't involved with the heist all that much. It was only natural that he would study as much as he could about anyone that he might wind up dealing with in the course of his heists- and everything he read informed him that he really never wanted to cross paths with police officers of the likes of Yamato Kansuke and Takaaki Morofushi, because nothing good would come from it. It seemed that they were busy with some other kind of case, if his intelligence proved correct- although whatever case they were working on, it was absolutely top secret.

"And the mark will be right here, correct?" Kaito asked, tapping a location on the map. "Well, provided that they don't try and fool me with a dummy or anything. Honestly, that sort of plan never works out for them in the first place, so I don't know why they keep trying it. It just makes more work for me."

His mark this time, a large ruby that went by the name of the Phoenix's Heart, had quickly earned his attention from it's name alone. Granted, he didn't quite think that Pandora would be so obvious as to have an immortal creature in it's very name, but it would only be a fool who would overlook it simply for that reason. Besides that, those guys would probably show up as well, if his intuition was on the mark. With a name like that, there was no way that the jewel in question wouldn't tempt them out of hiding.

Well, when they did, he'd be prepared for them this time.

Admittedly, when Vermouth had first mentioned something about keeping an eye on a seven year old boy by the name of Edogawa Conan, Amuro didn't quite understand what it was she was so worried about. Granted, he'd heard of the boy- he was the one who had managed to stop the likes of that showy, flashy phantom thief in his tracks more than once, so he was quite certain that he was no average first grader. The fact remained, however, that however clever the young boy was, he was still a first grader. He might be someone scary in the future, but how could someone who barely came up to people's knees really be enough of a threat that he'd warranted a mention from the likes of Vermouth?

It was only after Amuro met him that he fully understood why Vermouth was concerned. That assessing gaze that had been turned his way- that wasn't the gaze that belonged to an ordinary first grade student, not by a long shot. That gaze didn't even really belong to a child, but rather, someone far older.

It was almost vaguely intimidating, in it's own way. Not that he'd ever quake in fear from someone who he was pretty sure he could sling underneath one shoulder, no problem, but he could understand why he was someone to worry about.

In fact, now that he thought about, he was almost certain that there were details regarding Edogawa Conan that Vermouth hadn't told him, but he doubted that she'd open up about them if he asked- and he knew better than to press his luck. If there was one thing he'd learned about surviving in this Organization, it was to be very careful when and with who you tried such a thing with.

He could hazard a guess as to why he'd been placed here, at Cafe Poirot. Situated right underneath the office of the famous Sleeping Kogoro, it wasn't unlikely that the man himself would become a source of information for Amuro. He'd been less than impressed when he'd actually finally met him, much as he acted otherwise- the man certainly didn't seem like any kind of proper detective, much less one deserving of the title great.

In fact, if he had to say it, that Conan child felt a lot more like a proper detective than the grown man did.

However curious as the child was, Amuro was here to investigate the actions of a fellow Organization member, not him- a woman by the codename of Absinthe. He had, actually had occasion to meet her once, her and her right hand woman- and she'd given him something of a creepy impression. Mad scientist would have been a good way to describe her- the kind of woman who would do anything that she needed in order to obtain results, not caring about anything else. Her right hand woman, Ginger, wasn't all that much better- underneath that smiling mask, Amuro could tell that she was someone who wouldn't hesitate to break your neck, something she looked infinitely capable of doing with her bare hands.

A terrible duo, one that even stood out within the ranks of the Organization.

Ever since Sherry had vanished from the Organization, Absinthe had been tasked with taking over her research- although now it seemed as if she was working on a project of her own beyond that. And it was that research that Vermouth had charged him with investigating. She'd done some ground work herself already, but the rest acquired a little bit of assistance.

There was no doubt that Absinthe was directly tied to the number of teenagers who had recently gone missing- but what she could possibly want with those who had the potential to awaken to abilities was hard to say. If anything, it would have made more sense for her to target the Powered Children who already had abilities, and yet there seemed to be no indication that she was doing so.

At least, not beyond the Saint of Russia. That was a stunt which Amuro considered even more audacious than her actions that followed. Given how tightly guarded that girl was as a living crown jewel of her mother country, he was frankly amazed that she was able to make her disappear so easily. Did she have some kind of connections that enabled her to make such a thing happen? He'd be certain to look into the matter.

Still, he already had a lead of where to start- when he began digging into the matter, one name had come up, a single girl who had in all likelihood avoided being kidnapped herself. Nakamori Aoko, was her name- the daughter of Inspector Nakamori Ginzo, who he knew was the head of the Kid Task Force and was a member of the Tokyo MPD'S second division. He'd already heard that the man who had been following her at the time had turned up dead, probably poisoned with none other than the likes of Apotoxin, judging from the report that he'd read.

Well, speaking to Aoko shouldn't be much of a problem. As long as he properly introduced himself as a detective who was trying to investigate the case, he was certain that she'd open up to him. It wasn't a lie, after all. She was just a teenage girl, so long as he treated her with consideration and a polite tone, he couldn't think of a single reason why she wouldn't be willing to discuss the matter with him.

That said, he only had one day in which to do so, otherwise the investigation would have to be put on hold. She was heading with her father out to Nagano because of a Kid heist that was happening over there, and it would be far too suspicious if he followed her all the way out there. Since he wanted to begin his investigation as soon as possible, and since she was one of the chief leads, talking to her without delay was very much in his interest.

It wasn't just the Organization that was concerned with the current movements of Absinthe- but rather, his other employer had expressed considerable concern into the matter as well. It wasn't often that his two lives intersected in such a fashion like this, which meant he had to be all the more careful to not let them overlap.

Investigating the site of her former lab in Gunma would be wise as well- although he doubted that there was anything left. Had there been, the FBI most likely would have already picked up on it. Wherever Absinthe had moved her current lab to, she was keeping it a closely guarded secret, even from those within the Organization.

There was one other lead that Amuro wanted to follow up on- and that revolved around the scant amount of information that Vermouth had gathered when she had infiltrated the woman's first lab a little over a month ago, when her unusual behavior had first started. She hadn't been able to glean that much from her visit- Absinthe was always rather paranoid in regards to security, so it was no small surprise that her reaction to the FBI having learned the location of her lab was to literally blow it up, with almost everyone who worked underneath her still inside.

There was a rumor, that five corpses had been pulled from the site by the FBI- but when they turned the bodies over to the local police, there had only been four of them.

Where, then, had the fifth corpse gone?

Vermouth had a theory, and that theory centered around a young man who had only been recorded in Absinthe's files simply as Test Subject 001. A human test subject, Amuro thought, narrowing his eyes a little as he dwelled on that for a moment longer than he cared for. Judging the photo of him, he was a young man, probably no older than a teenager, whose dark skin was a shade darker than Amuro's own.

Vermouth didn't have a name to place to the face, but Amuro did- and it was a name that had already appeared in the Organization's records once before.

As someone who was supposed to have died six months ago.

The Osakan high school detective, Hattori Heiji.

"I'm against this, Hattori-kun."

"C'mon, Jodie-han." Clapping his hands together in a pleading gesture, Heiji did his best to assuage that stern look that was being cast in his direction. One could definitely tell that she had more than gotten used to her current role as a teacher. "I promise I'll be careful. There's no way we can't investigate this lead."

"And we will." Jodie said simply, not allowing the high school detective to break eye contact with her. "There's no need for you to go and do it yourself, Hattori-kun."

She was grateful, at least, that he had informed her that he was planning on heading to Nagano to follow up on a lead he'd gotten in regards to Absinthe and the missing Saint of Russia. He could have very well just have not told her, and once again disappeared without a trace. It wouldn't be all that hard for the FBI to lose track of him- he'd simply need to discard his cellphone and leave when nobody was paying attention to him. And that was something her boss very much didn't want, considering he was the only solid link that they currently had to the Organization.

And it was something that she didn't want either, for that, and other reasons.

Namely concern. How had she grown so fond of this impulsive Osakan teenager who was the very definition of 'act first, think later'? She'd only known him for a month, and yet she worried after him as if he were one of her very own students. If only he were as considerate of those around him as Mouri Ran was, then looking after him wouldn't be something that she was almost entirely certain was causing her to go gray early.

"There's plenty of need." Heiji protested, folding his arms in front of his chest. "I've already decided anyways."

He hadn't, of course, told her that he would be going to investigate the matter with Conan. The shrunken detective had already warned Heiji to not let any information about his true identity leak to the FBI, at least not at the moment. Of course, that included that Haibara girl as well, and Heiji had every intention of keeping that promise.

As best he could. He wasn't a complete idiot, he knew full well that even though his skills at lying had developed somewhat over the past six months, he was still lousy at it. Better to lie through omission than attempt to string a story together about why he was bringing the boy from Mouri Kogoro's detective agency with him. Lying through omission he could more or less handle.

Heaving a sigh, Jodie tapped a finger against the table, before she finally relaxed her shoulders somewhat, though her expression grew no less stern. "I said that I was against it. I didn't say that you couldn't go, Hattori-kun. After all, we're not trying to keep you prisoner here."

Sometimes she got the impression that he felt that way, however easy as his relationship was with her.

Watching as his eyes light up like a kid on Christmas morning, Jodie couldn't help but allow a hint of a fond smile to grace her face- before she slid a stern expression back in it's place, as if lecturing a troublesome student. "But," Jodie began, her sharp tone reigning back Heiji's enthusiasm somewhat. "...you have to promise to remain in contact with me, Hattori-kun, and pass on whatever you learn to us as soon as you can. None of this running off without telling anyone where you're going."

"I got it!" Flashing her a wide grin that made Jodie wonder if he really did understand, Heiji all but jumped to his feet. "In that case, I'd better start gettin' ready! Ya got a bag or somethin' that I can borrow, Jodie-han? I'll probably be spendin' a day or two a the very least over there."

"You're leaving on Wednesday, correct?" Jodie asked, watching as he nodded his head. "I don't have anything that would suit your needs right now, but I'll pick up a bag after school. Will a duffel do fine?"

"Oh, thank ya, Jodie-han!" Judging from the way that Heiji perked up, he was clearly grateful for the offer. "But ya don't have ta do that much on my account. I'm already freeloadin' off ya anyways."

"No, it's quite alright." Jodie said simply, casting him a small smile. "Supporting one extra person is hardly a drain on my resources. If anything, I'd like to do something about that ragged looking wardrobe of yours. I could give you an allowance, you know. You could buy yourself some new clothes with it, if you like."

"It's fine, it's fine." Waving a hand, Heiji quickly began gathering up what he did currently own, stacking them on a very small pile on Jodie's couch. It wasn't much, really. He'd had more when he'd set out, but had lost a considerable amount of his belongings in the process. His funds included what money remained from what he'd taken with him from when he'd left Osaka, which wasn't very much, and whatever money he managed to chance across during his travels- which thankfully had turned out to be a little more than anticipated. Thank god he'd discovered his ability was immortality and not just healing really fast pretty early on, or he would have blown a countless amount of cash he could have saved for train fare on food that he didn't technically need to eat.

Well, granted, being immortal didn't mean that he couldn't starve, it just meant that he wouldn't die from it. He'd never disclosed that particular aspect of his previous lifestyle to Jodie, knowing full well that she'd give him the same lecture that Yui had when she learned that he valued money for transportation over money for food.

"I've already gotten used ta it. Just havin' a place ta come back to at the end of the day is already pretty great! Sleepin' underneath the open sky really isn't all that it's cracked up ta be." Heiji noted, glancing over at her with one of his usual broad grins, watching as a look of concern crossed her features. "Well, it wasn't all bad, ya know. S'not like exposure to the elements can kill me, anyways."

"You've really got to stop thinking that way all the time, Hattori-kun." Jodie said, a slight frown on her face. "It's not good for you."

"It's fine, it's fine." Heiji was quick to reassure her. Well, that kind of worry was normal. Rather, it was his way of thinking that had grown too different. He wasn't certain if it was just his immortality in and of itself, or if it was what he had endured underneath Absinthe that had done it, or both, but either way, death had become an increasingly meaningless concept to him.

It probably wasn't the best kind of viewpoint for a detective to have, and he had to constantly remind himself that for literally everyone else in the world, once they died, there would be no coming back. Granted, he didn't think he'd ever forget that fact, but keeping it fresh in his mind nevertheless seemed like a good idea, even if it did give him a unpleasant sense of alienation.

Heaving an exasperated sigh, Jodie rubbed her forehead, before she shook her head, getting to her feet. She knew full well that his ability had probably altered whatever previous relationship he might have had with the concept of death, and it wasn't something that she was going to pretend that she understood. "How do you feel about pizza tonight, Hattori-kun? Honestly I don't feel all that much like cooking."

"Sounds good!" Heiji glanced over at her, his grin only growing. "It's been awhile since I had pizza. Don't put anythin' weird on it, okay?"

There was something about Amuro Tooru that he just didn't trust.

It was hard to say what it was that made him feel that way- perhaps it was just the timing of his appearance, or perhaps it was the assessing way that the young man had studied him the first time that they had met. Either way, Conan got the distinct feeling that there was more to him than just what he let on.

Still, it wasn't enough to make him reconsider his plans with Heiji. The matter regarding Absinthe was far more pressing than any mysterious part-timer who had shown up out of the blue. He didn't even know that Azusa had been looking for help.

Granted, Conan didn't quite appreciate the friendly way that Amuro chatted Ran up. But that was pretty much nothing more than petty jealousy coming from a young man in love, which he very much was, however much he liked to deny it sometimes. He sincerely doubted that whatever Amuro's intentions, he had any interest in a girl ten years his junior. He was just being polite.

It did cause his thoughts to drift towards Heiji's own childhood friend for a moment, briefly wondering exactly how it was that Heiji felt about her. Toyama Kazuha seemed like a rather nice, cheerful girl, from what Conan had gathered, and he liked her well enough, and was more than grateful that Ran had been able to make another friend. Especially with someone who could relate to her on the issue of having a wayward high school detective childhood friend.

Not that he wanted to be missing, exactly, but rather, it was entirely because he had no choice. If the decision were left entirely up to him, he would have probably told Ran that he was Kudo Shinichi a long time ago- but he had to admit, the Professor did have a point. Ran might have super strength, but it wasn't as if she was invulnerable, and he didn't want to put her in any danger.

No doubt Heiji felt the same way about his own childhood friend- all the more so because he already knew that there was someone from that Organization that had been close to them all this time. From the sound of it, they'd even been on good terms before he'd learned in the worst way possible that she wasn't who she said she was, which probably made it all the more painful.

Kurosawa Ayame was the name that Heiji had given him. Thinking back on it, Ran had mentioned the name during their trip to Osaka, describing her as a tall woman who initially gave off an imposing presence, but had quickly revealed herself to be rather friendly. Judging from the fact that she was actually a member of the men in black, he doubted that was her true nature- and if, in fact it was, that only made her all the more terrifying in Conan's opinion.

Anyone who could kill you with a smile on their face was bad news.

Heiji might have had a real name to give to Ginger, provided that her identity wasn't a highly crafted lie, but he had nothing to give him in so far as Absinthe was concerned. He'd kept his ears open for any hints regarding her real name while he was imprisoned at her lab, but he'd heard nothing of the sort. He'd described her as probably being mixed, so even if they started looking into cases where a woman receiving horrible burns on her face from a fire, there was no telling that they'd ever turn up anything on her. It was entirely possible that she had that scar since childhood even, which meant they'd have to try and dig through at least fifty years worth of records- provided that she hadn't gotten the scar overseas to begin with, in which case, they'd never find anything.

Ai had racked her brain once more once he'd passed the new information along to her, but she could only shake her head. Her burn scar probably explained her aversion to smoke, but that was hardly a mystery. Given that she'd blown up her own lab, she either could handle fire itself just fine, or had learned to put up with any ensuing phobia she might have developed over the years- which still wasn't giving them anything to go on.

He'd asked Heiji to try and press Jodie for details of how they had learned the location of their lab in the first place. He assumed that it was in the same way he'd learned about the location of it- from a former employee of Absinthe's, who was probably long dead by now. She seemed to employ a small staff of non-Organization members to work at her lab with her, assisting her with her research- although Heiji hadn't seen much of them at the time, being her 'pet project' so to speak. After what happened, he doubted that she continued with this practice any longer.

There were a lot of things on the mind of the shrunken detective as he started his day. Tomorrow he would head out to Nagano and meet up with Heiji there, and they would promptly head the location where that photo had been taken. His Nagano contact had assured him that the police investigation was already over, though they hadn't been able to turn up anything more. Still, it was worth going to check out for themselves, even on the off chance that it could be a trap.

No, rather, it was because it could have been a trap, that they needed to check it out.

But for today, Conan just needed to focus on getting through the day- and maybe figuring out what that Amuro guy's deal was. Narrowing his eyes a little as he watched Ran laugh at something he'd said, before excusing herself, telling him that she had to head to school now, Conan had to fight to keep the sneer off his face, even as the young man glanced down at him, giving him a rather placid smile.

Amuro had expected that speaking to Aoko wouldn't be much of a problem- what he hadn't anticipated was the aggressive tone he would get from the young boy around her age that was with her at the time.

"What do you want with Aoko?"

"Like I said, I'm a detective. My name is Amuro Tooru." Amuro said simply, holding up his hands, trying to give off an impression of harmlessness. He wasn't planning on harming the girl in any way, of course, he just wanted to speak with her about the matter at hand. "I only wanted to speak with Nakamori-san about the incident that she was involved in the other day. I'm trying to solve the mystery of the abducted teenagers myself."

"It's alright, Kaito." Aoko said lightly, chiding her friend. "If he was really a bad person, the police officer over there would have never let him come speak to Aoko."

Third person? She was a little too old for that sort of thing, wasn't she? Amuro blinked slightly at that, but brushed it aside. "That's correct. I promise, I don't mean your girlfriend any harm."

Watching the way the pair turned a bright shade of scarlet, each spewing out an excuse as to why that couldn't possibly be the case, Amuro frowned slightly. He had been certain he wasn't off the mark, and yet...

"Bakaito's just Aoko's childhood friend!" Aoko protested. "We're not like that!"

"Ah, is that so?" Amuro asked. "My apologies then. I just assumed that from the way he was being so protective of you... but I can see that I was mistaken." He said simply, a rather placid smile crossing his face. "If it's no trouble to you, Nakamori-san, do you suppose you could tell me about the events from the other day?"

"Sure, Aoko doesn't mind." Aoko said after a moment, slowly nodding her head. "Aoko is afraid that there's not much to tell, though. But Aoko is worried about everyone else, so she'll help you any way that she can, if you're looking into this!"

"Thank you." Giving her a polite nod, Amuro carefully listened to her story, unable to help but notice that the one by the name of 'Kaito' was glowering at him the entire time, half waiting for him to make any funny moves. The overprotective type, this one was. It must have chafed at him that his childhood friend had come so close to danger, and that he hadn't been around to help her.

Most likely it was why he was clearly overcompensating now.

Aoko's story was pretty much word for word what he already knew- that she'd noticed someone following her, and had run away. He'd already spoken with a number of people before her, of course, and he couldn't help but notice that she left out a curious detail in her story- that there had been someone who had aided in her escape. It wasn't a detail that was on the police record, of course, likely because she had left it out of her explanation at that time as well. It was something he'd only heard from witness testimony.

For what reason was she avoiding mentioning the boy who had helped her out? As it was, he had something of a suspicion.

If Test Subject 001 really was who he suspected it was, then naturally, he would have been looking into the matter as well. If anything, this entire theatrical affair was part of a trap to lure him back out into the open- that much he'd already been able to deduce, though it didn't give Amuro all the answers that he sought. If she was trying to trap him, there were plenty of other, less attention-catching things that she could have done- for whatever reason, Absinthe had become interested in those who potentially held Powered abilities, and needed them for some reason.

He couldn't help but grimly wonder what would happen after she no longer needed them.

"I see. That sounds like quite the ordeal." Amuro replied, giving the young girl a charming smile, before he reached into his pocket, pulling out a photograph, one that he'd clipped from a news article. "Pardon me for asking this, but a witness I spoke with earlier also described another young man on the scene with you, who appeared to assist you. Do you know anything about him?"

"N-no, Aoko knows nothing." Aoko said, shaking her head. "Are you sure they weren't mistaken?" She really didn't like lying like this, but Heiji had told her that he was a runaway, and there was probably a good reason for that! She wasn't going to say anything that would lead to him being taken back home, especially if he'd run away from a bad situation.

"Are you certain?" Amuro asked, showing her the photograph. "It wasn't this young man?"

From the way she visibly reacted to the photograph, he knew that he had hit his mark. What he didn't expect, however, was her companion, who had otherwise be silently glowering at him all this time, to finally speak up, shoving himself in front of the girl. "She said she didn't know anything, Amuro-san." Kaito spoke up, keeping his voice rather low. "And she's been through a trying time recently. Why don't you let her be?"

"Yes, of course." Amuro said simply, tucking the photograph back away, giving Kaito a rather disarming smile- one that didn't work on him, he noted, as if he could see right through it. "Do pardon me."

Taking that as his cue to excuse himself, Amuro carefully made his way down the street, feeling Kaito's eyes burning into the back of his head up until he turned the corner. What a curious lad, that one was.

"Don't talk to that guy again, Aoko." Kaito said shortly, glancing back towards her.

"Why not?" Aoko blinked, tilting her head slightly. "Aoko thought he was a nice person. You're too suspicious, Kaito."

"Just take my word for it." Kaito said, not relaxing until the young man was out of sight. Aoko might not have been able to pick up on it- but he knew a poker face when he saw one, and that guy? Had one hell of a poker face.

Something told him he was more than a mere detective.

"What are you doing here, Jodie-sensei?" The question was light on Ran's lips, a surprised but pleased tone at seeing the woman who was quickly becoming one of her favorite teachers completely by chance. She had been at the local luggage store, trying to pick a replacement for her overnight bag- the strap had torn while she was in Osaka, and she'd been meaning to get it replaced when she returned home.

"Looking for a bag." Jodie said lightly, smiling at the student that she had become so fond of. Vermouth's photograph of her had been curiously labeled 'Angel'- something that she came to understand a little bit better the more she got to know Mouri Ran. Certainly, she very much seemed to fit that description- a kind and gracious girl- and a strong one as well, given her tournament record. "Are you looking for one yourself, Mouri-san?"

"Yes." Nodding her head, Ran flashed her a bright smile. "The strap on mine broke the other day, so I was looking into buying a new one."

"Is Conan-kun not with you today?" Jodie asked, glancing around her, spotting no sign of the bespectacled boy lingering around her. They usually walked home from school together, she knew, whenever Ran didn't have practice.

"No, he's playing with the other Detective Boys today." Ran told her, shaking her head. "He's leaving tomorrow for a little while actually, to see his mother. He's really excited about it too! It's been awhile since he's been able to see her last."

"His mother?" Jodie asked, blinking a little, before smiling a bit. Given the way that he always acted like he was wise beyond his years, it was actually somewhat cute to hear that he was just as excited as any child would be to see his mother after so long. "I see. That's good. I'm sure he puts on a good face, but he probably misses her."

"That's what I've always been thinking myself." Ran said, pausing to check the price on a bag, before quickly letting go of the tag. That one was definitely way out of her price range. "He always tries to act so grown-up, so it's nice to see when he can act his age for a change."

It was part of the reason why, silly as it sounded, she had sometimes actually suspected that he was Shinichi on occasion. Thinking back on it, her earlier suspicions all seemed so silly. Even if they lived in a world where people like her had been born with strange powers, there was no way for Shinichi to have suddenly turned into a child. She already knew what his ability was, after all, and it wasn't that.

"You won't be lonely without him around?" Jodie inquired, a hint of a grin on her face. She knew that the two of them were rather close- and if she didn't miss her guess, she was almost certain that Conan had something of a crush on the girl who had become his temporary guardian. It was cute, really.

"A little bit." Ran admitted, giving her a small smile. "I've already gotten used to having him around the agency before I even realized it. When his mother suddenly brought him back after arriving to take him back home that one time, I was actually a bit happy."

Well, it wasn't like she couldn't understand that. She didn't know about lonely, but it was certainly going to be quieter without Heiji around her apartment for the next few days. Come to think of it though, he was leaving tomorrow as well...

It was probably just a coincidence. Even if he really had befriended Conan like she suspected that he might have (and was lying about, badly), there was no reason to suspect that he'd be bringing a seven year old boy, however clever he was, with him to investigate something about that Organization. Still, it might serve her well to pay attention to when exactly Conan returned from visiting his mother- from the way that Vermouth seemed to be interested in him, she couldn't help but think that there was something more about him than she knew.

"Well, I'm sure he'll come back soon enough." Jodie said, giving her a light pat on the shoulder, deciding on what duffel bag she thought Heiji would like. "And then things will get noisy around your place again."

"Well, my father will still be there, so it's not like it's going to suddenly become quiet or anything." Ran told her.

"That's certainly true." Jodie admitted after a moment, paying for her bag. "Well then, Mouri-san, I'll see you at school tomorrow. Don't forget about the homework I gave you!"

"I won't!"