Chapter 13: Reunions- Good or Bad?

The days before the Golden Week went by far too quickly he told himself as he sat outside the windows of the school. It was about 11:00 at night, last time he'd checked- Which was good, since that meant he wouldn't walk into anyone. Koji looked around again however, just in case Maybe he was paranoid.. Hell, he could hear whatever was coming long before he saw it now, but he'd rather not take any chances. Lightly lifting the window up, he slipped inside the empty classroom before shutting the window behind him. Lesse... Hands in his pockets, Koji walked over to the door and into the hall, wandering about as he looked for the office. He really had waited until the last minute to do this though..

Apparently Kira had said to wait until 'Golden Week' because she believed that was when school began- She never went to school herself, hard as it had been to believe, and once Kiyoiri mentioned that her new friends were getting ready for grade 3 starting on the 5th of April, Kira had instantly told them that they should hurry and enroll in that case. So here he was... On the fourth of April, sneaking into the office of the school. It wasn't that hard to find the room though, now that he thought about it. The boy pulled the chair out and turned the computer on, fingers moving across the keyboard as soon as the login screen was fully loaded. Hnn... Cracking his fingers, he looked around the room for some hints to the password, before frowning and looking back at the computer. This... Was going to be a long night...

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-bnnnnnnnn-

Unngg..... Not already.....

-bnnnnnnnnnnnnnn-

A pale hand moved outward from a lump underneath a futon, feeling around before slamming down on the 'off' button of an alarm clock Said hand was soon followed by an arm, a torso.. And lots of hair. Koji yawned, glaring at the clock that he had to set for seven, before nudging Kiyoiri. "Oi... Kiyoiri..." There was a muffled groan, before the girl rolled over. "Hah.... Kiyoiri, we need to shower and eat still..." The bags and lunches were all ready- Money had been 'given' (He had a bad feeling) from Kira for lunch, and the bags had everything they needed otherwise. However... In order to get to the nearest free shower and still grab breakfast in time for the first day of school... Another glare was sent towards the clock, before Koji grabbed his things and left through the curtain to let the groggy Kiyoiri change.

The second day there, Kira had shown them where she showered. A woman who was listed as Kira's 'guardian' allowed her to use her washroom it seemed.. Why Kira didn't simply live there was unknown of course, but he wasn't about to go asking about it either. Sadly, 'Luo Mei' was about half an hour's walk away... And although the woman would gladly give them some breakfast (With a grin oddly similar to Kira's unfortunately), it was still in a direction almost opposite the school. He could actually draw a perfect triangle in his mind with those three points.. So while the shower and breakfast wouldn't take long, it would still take half an hour to get there.

They could cut ten minutes with that shortcut he knew.. Which meant 30 one way, 20 there.. He could eat breakfast on the go- Kiyoiri didn't like showers in the morning, he just had to make sure she showered after school. The two were already out on the street at this point, Kiyoiri having already gotten dressed, and he himself wearing clothes from the day before, which he planned to leave at Luo Mei's. By the time they got left he figured.. It would be about ten to eight. If they ran and took that short cut, they would just make it. Damn. They were going to have to wake up a lot earlier then.. Koji stifled a yawn, jogging a bit while Kiyoiri rushed to catch up to him. Urggg... It was too early for this...

Had they been more awake, they would have likely noticed one of two things, or maybe even both. One, while Kira had not been seen while they were there, turning around the might have caught a glimpse of her heading towards the school. Had they looked yet again 30 minutes later on the other route, they would have spotted a boy who looked almost identical to Kiyoiri heading in the same direction they were. But the boy would be long gone by the time they got there, so it really didn't matter.

Did it?

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Sitting at a desk labeled with his name, Conan Edogawa stared at the chalkboard, eyes almost closed while the others in the room excitedly spoke amongst themselves. 8.. Grade three. Two years since he'd become 'Conan'. A small frown came over his face as he thought of this. Two years, and the black organization not only wasn't taken out completely, but an antidote for the 'APTX' had still not been found. Grade 3... He should have been taking the entrance exams for University, not sitting in a elementary classroom.

And yet here he was, while Ran was off to Kyoto for University, he was sitting here, listening as Ayumi and Mitsuhiko went on about the new friend they'd met early in January. A friend that he had somehow always missed seeing due to a case. What were the chances.. In any case, he thought, he mind as well pay some attention to them.

"...Eh?" Though... He'd honestly missed everything they were saying while he was thinking.. Aha.. "Ahaaa... Ayumi-chan, what did you say?"

Ayumi frowned, Mitsuhiko laughing nervously before speaking rather than subject his friend to Ayumi's angry comments. "Well.. We were just talking about Kiyoiri-chan.. She did something strange last week but..." He paused for a moment, before continuing. "But that's not what we were really trying to tell you.." Mitsuhiko turned towards the door, before turning back and taking his seat in the row across from a desk with no label on it. "See, when Genta-kun and I passed the office, we heard lots of strange comments!"

There was a grunt of agreement from Ayumi, the girl grabbing Conan's attention as she went from where her friend had left off. "That's right! According to Genta-kun, there were three late entries into the class! One was found in two days ago, and the other last night!"

Late entries? Conan blinked, before frowning. "Ah.. So then they'll probably have moved in recently.." The students in the class had stayed relatively the same since he'd come, save for a few comings and goings.. But three new kids at once? "Most likely that's why there are some desks without labels then- They might have to stand up front and introduce themselves too.." A loud buzzing noise came from above, and the others in the class rushed for their designated seats. "Ah! Guess we'll find out then!"

Genta rushed in from the hallway, taking his seat behind Haibara Ai, while Ayumi took the seat in the row next to the girl. Mitsuhiko turned his chair back to the front, while Conan turned around to his friend to mouth 'you okay?'. The two had been away for reasons tied to getting that large black stain off of Japan but.. Most recently, Ai had been a bit withdrawn, almost in a permanent state of 'frozenness'. The response of 'I'm fine' came back, Conan giving a nervous but reassuring smile before turning back to the front as the teacher walked in.

"Good morning class!" She had a slight accent, and as the woman smiled at the resounding 'Good morning!!' from her students, she introduced herself, the reason for the accent becoming clear. "I am your teacher, Ms. Jutte, and I hope we'll have a good year together!" 'Jutte'... That was German, Conan realized, yet the teacher seemed more American than German A glance at a picture on her desk however, which had a group of her and a few other blond, blue eyed and similar to the teacher in appearance told him that she wasn't either of them- The giant nickel was a Canadian tourist attraction. Made sense that her last name was German when he thought about it though- Many Germans had settled in Canada anyway... Ms. Jutte's voice pulled him out of his instinctual way of analyzing people however, as she motioned towards the door.

"Now, before we start, we have some students who weren't here last year. I'd like them to come in and introduce themselves. You first please!" Heads turned towards the front, as a small girl with a hat covering her eyes came in.

Blinded as she was by the hat however, she seemed to have no difficulty in turning to face the class. "Good morning.. I am Nguyen, Kira." She bowed slightly, sleeves and hair shifting slightly as they dangled on and near the floor. "Pleased to meet you."

The teacher stepped in at this point, laying a hand on Kira's shoulder and using the other one to point towards the back- An odd gesture for a blind person, but helpful nonetheless. "Your seat is in the back, alright Nguyen-san?" Kira nodded, and walked towards the back as Ms. Jutte continued. "Now, Nguyen-san is blind, but do not think she can't do just as well as the rest of you- If I see any bad treatment towards her, I will not hesitate to call your parents in!" A gasp came from a few of the students, some muttering towards each other before a hush came over those sitting near Kira. This girl.. Seemed scary for some reason..

Raising a hand as she quieted the class, the teacher made a few 'shh' noises before silence came over the room. "Alright.. There are still two others who need to introduce themselves, so please quiet down!" She stepped aside, motioning for whoever was outside to come in. "You two can come in now."

As the two students walked in, Conan felt his heart stop for a split second, while an odd chocking/gasping sound came from behind him. The girl on the left was introducing herself as 'Matsuda Kiyoiri', and seemed as the kids had told him- Nothing special there. (Though she looked oddly like him...)

But the boy beside her was the exact image of Gin.

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He had already been pretty damn nervous when he'd gotten to the office and spotted Kira there. His first thought originally was to yell and ask what she was doing there of course, but a split second after that thought he remembered that this was Kira- Same person who somehow managed to inflict fear without even trying. Like now.

He'd been even more nervous as an odd feeling of dread came over him outside the classroom. As though something in there would be much better off for him if he stayed out here. And walking in...

It was difficult to just stay calm and introduce himself properly. "Hello..." Right in front of him.. "..My name is Hisoka, Koji.." Was a face that could simply not have been there. "Pleased to meet you." Bow, look up again.. No.. No the face wasn't gone. Glaring daggers at him was the split image of her. And the only seats left were in close vicinity of her. Listening as the teacher pointed towards their seats, he quickly grabbed the one in front of 'Haibara Ai' as the label said, and turned his eyes to the front while Kiyoiri took the seat beside the girl. He soon regretted it however, as later during lunch, he realized that Kiyoiri had very quickly noticed the looks that Koji was getting from said girl (Also the boy beside him, he didn't know why.. Did he know an 'Edogawa'? ).

"Ano.. Koji-kun?" She leaned over on her desk, watching as Conan and Ai quickly packed up their things so they could eat elsewhere. "Do you know these two? They look mad at you.." Ahahaha... He quickly responded 'no', while grabbing around in his bag for his lunch.

"Never met them- I don't know why they'd be mad..." Similar as she looked, it couldn't be her; Unless she'd managed to get her own vat of APTX remnants and miraculously survived. As for 'Edogawa Conan'.. He looked a lot like Kiyoiri, but there was no way he could possibly be that same 'detective' he'd killed. (What was his name again..?)

However, it seemed that both of them disagreed quite a bit with that statement, and as Conan hoisted his bag on to head outside and eat, he instantly turned to respond to that comment. "Really? It figures you'd forget!" Turning back to the door and leaving, Haibara gave him a similar look before following. Kiyoiri in the meantime, looked from Koji to the door, to her friends, before nervously laughing.

"Aha.. Maybe it was in passing then?" Yea.. He doubted that.. "Ano, Koji-kun... I'm gonna go eat with the others ok?" Kiyoiri waited a few moments before Koji nodded and grabbed his lunch, coming out with her.

"That's fine... I'll be by the tree ok?" Watching as Kiyoiri nodded, he headed over to a large oak tree and settled underneath the rather shady branches. Lesse, lunch was.. He opened the lid of the bento box, before grabbing the chopsticks. Rice (Duh), some egg, green peppers and some sort of cookie. Eating the rice, Koji picked up said cookie and stared at it suspiciously. The other day, Kira mentioned cooking something with Luo Mei.. Placing the cookie back, he swallowed the rest of his rice while mentally telling himself to figure out what went into them.

"...What are you doing here?" Eh? Koji blinked, turning around with slight surprise as he spotted Haibara about a foot away, still glaring at him. Weird, he didn't hear her for once.. Silent for a moment, he was pulled from thoughts on how someone had snuck up on him. "Well, Gin?"

G-Gin!?! Koji paled instantly, before standing up and blinking with shock. "H-How did you- ...I mean... Who.."

-smack!- Koji grabbed his cheek, dumbly staring at Ai as the girl spoke, her hand red from the slap she'd given. "That was for my sister! And this!" And other slap, this time the other side of his face, the force slamming his head into the tree. "This is for Kudo-kun!"

"K-Kudo?" That name sounded- Wait, that was the detective's name! But why... He held his head, groaning as he stood back up. "Your sister..." Aw hell no. HELL NO! "Sher-" This time, he received a punch to the jaw. Wiping blood from his cheek as he felt the inside of his mouth heal up, he frowned, before steadying himself with the tree. "......How did you end up like this then?"

The girl's eye's narrowed, before Ai spoke. "Same way you did, Gin." Why wasn't he doing anything, she wondered briefly. Why hadn't he retaliated from the moment she slapped him?

Koji blinked for a moment before shutting his eyes partially. Oh, so he couldn't use her name, but she could use his? Greaaaat... Wait, same way- Mouth hanging slightly open as he realized just what he said, he snapped his mouth shut before taking his arm off the tree. "W-wwwwaaait what!?" He backed away a few steps, almost tripping over his lunch. "I.. I was just drowned in a vat of chemicals. This does NOT tell me how you're here too!" Somehow he'd managed to keep his voice low enough to avoid attracting attention from the other kids.. Somehow.

"A.. A vat of chemicals?" Haibara blinked, caught off guard by both the answer and Koji's general reaction. That was strange... Aside from the fact that he was definitely acting less uptight, not to mention far less 'assassin-like'... A vat? A vat of chemicals? How in the hell did he end up in one full of what was likely APTX? All poisons and chemicals left over had been sent to another sector, that was true but.. "I.. I assumed you took the APTX4869.."

Koji's face deadpanned, the look he was giving Ai rather reminiscent of Jino. "The suicide drug? Why would I- …..You took that??" Now that he thought about it.. When she had been handcuffed to the pipes she had a sample in her pocket.. Oh lovely. She escaped the same way he did! "And 'Megane'?"

Glasses? "'Megane'?" Ai frowned, before following Koji's look over to where Conan had been pulled into a game with the other kids. "...You mean Kudo-kun? ...I suppose you know now that he never really died."

"Huh." Sitting back down, he stared for a bit before glancing at Ai's watch. 5 minutes until bell.. And he still had half his lunch left. "Guess not..." He supposed he'd normally be bothered immensely by this fact but.. In all honesty, poison effects weren't exactly in his control.. Besides, at least he knew why the brat was so pissed off at him. He'd be too if someone almost killed him (and then walked right into the same room as he was.)... Though he'd probably go a bit further than glares...

Watching as Koji began eating the rest of his food, Ai sat down as well, looking over towards the others before speaking. "You've changed quite a lot I see."

"Mmmph?"

"...." She blinked at the sight of 'Gin' stuffing his face to make it before the bell rang before covering her mouth to stifle a laugh. "N-Nothing.. Just wondering what happened.." Taking a small breath, she turned back towards the crowd again before continuing. "That girl though.. Who exactly is she? She can't possibly be a relative of Kudo-kun's..."

-Bzzzzzzzzzzz! Bzzzzzzzzzz!- Before Koji had the chance to swallow in order to answer that, the bell rang, and the two stood up as though their seats had been on fire.

"Never mind then..." Ai looked towards the school, turning back to Koji before frowning, an icy glare still present. "Don't think I'll forgive you for what you've done, 'Hisoka'. We will speak later... Meet me after school." With that she left to join a confused and slightly angry looking Conan, Koji left scratching the back of his head with an oddly straight face.

"....That went better than I'd expected." It was painful, but better than expected. At least she hadn't tried to strangle him or anything. But to think, he thought as he walked back into the building and took his seat next to Conan, that it was the damn pill all along... ….

He still had to meet up with her after school. Crap.

….At least he'd get some sleep before then...

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The walk to Ai's house was rather.. Awkward to say the least. At least for the oldest of the group. Kiyoiri and the three kids were walking ahead, chattering away about 'Yaiba' or something, while Koji, Conan, and Ai simply walked behind them in silence. What was left in silence however, was more than made up for with facial expressions.

Koji, walking in the middle, had a look that far betrayed his former career as assassin. Walking between both his angry, vengeful ex-girlfriend whose sister he killed and an exceedingly pissed off miniaturized detective who was still waiting to pass on a few simple words to a childhood friend, he couldn't do anything more than attempt to steady his breath while switching his gaze between Ai and Conan.

Ai in the meantime stared forwards constantly, an emotionless and focused gaze in place as the girl kept a steady pace. Most likely however.. She was thinking of some 'tests' to do to figure out the differences in effects from the remnants and the pill of APTX. Preferably painful ones.

And then there was Conan. Somehow he had managed to keep a frosty glare fixed on Koji the entire walk, without bumping into a single person, sign, pole.. Nothing. And he'd thought that Ai's stare was bad.. The look he was getting from this kid was making him wonder if he really was as for the law as he stated. (Not to mention the number he was already breaking... )

They couldn't have gotten to the house faster... If it hadn't been for Kira standing directly behind him, he probably would have bolted by now. Thankfully however, they soon came up to the block of large and expensive American styled houses, Walking past the three Shonen Tantei while Kiyoiri asked why they were going to Ai's house. Kira meanwhile walked off with Ayumi and the other boys. (Was that safe?)

Entering the house and removing his shoes, his frightened thoughts were cut off by only one thing. Conan's voice.

"Sit." Conan's voice was by no means kind (At least to him), and really, he couldn't blame him. Taking a seat with Kiyoiri on the couch in the living room, Conan and Ai sat across from them, silence settling before the one with glasses opened his mouth to speak again. "Ja-"

"Hmm? Conan-kun, Ai-kun.. Who are these two?" An elderly, overweight man walked in, wiping his hands with a white (Though now greying) cloth. "You didn't mention having visitors, I could have prepared something.." He paused momentarily, before his eyes froze on Kiyoiri. "...How.."

Ai stood up quickly, sending a look to Agasa before turning to Kiyoiri. "Ah, that would be because we just met them today Hakase! Here, why don't you go make some tea with Kiyoiri-chan, I'm sure she'd enjoy it! You could even show her the lab..." The smile on her face was definitely fake Koji decided, but at least his charge bought it. Jumping up instantly, Kiyoiri grinned broadly before turning to Agasa.

"R-Really?!"

Agasa in the meantime looked from Conan (Who had a relatively emotionless face on), Ai (False happiness) to Kiyoiri, and back to Ai. "Ah.. O-Of course... Right this way, the kitchen is over here.." Walking towards the back of the house, one could hear a steadily fading 'Wowwwww, this house is big enough for 10.. No, 20 of ours!!'

There was a bit more silence for a few minutes. Finally, Ai spoke first. "So," She said, eyes not once moving from Koji's pale face, "How about you start with why you were not at Section I when it was taken out. And then finish with how you got here." Section I? Ah... That was where he was transferred from, that's right...

He swallowed nervously, studying the two in front of him before he could speak. Conan was looking oddly frightening for someone on the side of justice. Though, being on the opposite side most of his life, that could be part of it. There was a slight glimmer of confusion in both their faces however before he managed to get some words out of his open mouth however- But hey, who expected an ex-assassin to act like this? That was probably it... Yea...

"Well..." Cough, before continuing, "For the first part, that's an easy answer I suppose.. I received a transfer to make use of my secondary skills."

Conan leaned forward slightly, a hint of curiosity now present in his eyes. "Secondary skills?"

"Ah.. Y-Yea.." Koji scratched the back of his neck, swallowing. Geeze, why the hell did meeting up with bitter enemies make a guy this nervous? "It's rare, but an agent can be transferred for the use of a second job they have the skills for.. Mine was as a scientist to fill in a spot at Section F-"

"S-Section.." Conan and Koji both turned to Ai, who had gone pale, her eyes widened. "That place..."

"...What's so different about 'Section F', Haibara?" Conan frowned, looking over at Koji with suspicion, as if to say 'This is YOUR fault'. The look was responded too with an instinctual frown that also said 'It is NOT', before being replaced with a small frown towards Ai.

Ai shook her head, her usual indifferent stare coming back into place. "Section F is the only branch of the organization that only the head knows about- It is used mainly for the even darker sides of the organization, and I once heard rumors of human experimentation... We sent the last remains of APTX there, when the poison was labeled as a failure for it's original purposes.." She stared at the ground for a bit, before speaking again. "And you were transferred there? ...I suppose that explains your 'vat of chemicals' statement.."

Koji laughed half-heartedly, eyes half-lidded before a similar stare came his way from Conan. "...You shrank because of a vat of chemicals?"

"....What's it to you?"

There was another short bout of silence before a response came, Conan blinking owlishly for a few seconds. "Ah... Nothing I guess... So, this section F, where is it exactly?"

Ahahaa.. He was wondering when they'd ask that. Koji jerked his head towards the front door. "South of here. Can't remember more than that though." Please leave it at that... He really wasn't in the mood to meddle in the Org's business again.

"Bullshit 'Hisoka-kun', you have the best geographical skills I've ever heard off." Ai put quite a bit of emphasis on Koji's 'name', before pressing on again. "As Kudo-kun asked, where is it?"

"It's on an island!!" The three turned abruptly, looks of shock across their faces as Kiyoiri put some tea on the table. "It's really really far though...." Kiyoiri's cheerful look faded into a sad smile as she drew her hands back from the teapot, removing her oven mitts and putting them under her armpit. "And I don't thing you want to go there, it's not fun at all..."

Koji stood up quickly, grabbing Kiyoiri's shoulder. "K-Kiyoiri... Ah.." He turned towards the back hall, before turning her towards his face and smiling. "Why don't you go talk with Agasa again? I bet he knows a lot of things you can ask him about!"

The sad face was gone instantly. "Ah!! Right!! I was making cookies with him too!" Conan and Ai both sweatdropped. Cookies? Kiyoiri however, was oblivious to this, and ran back towards the kitchen. "I'll bring them out when they're done!"

They stared for a few moments, before Koji took his seat again and Conan poured himself some tea. Turning back to Koji, Ai frowned. "If Section F is on an island south of here, how did you escape without outside help?"

"He used his tiger powers!"

"Pbbbt!!!" The reaction to Kiyoiri's statement was.. Priceless. Ai's mouth practically fell open, wide eyes moving from Kiyoiri to Koji while the girl grabbed her other oven mitt (It had fallen when Koji grabbed her) and ran back to the kitchen. Koji's face in the meantime had simply frozen into the classic 'OSHIT' face, thoughts of very painful experiments courtesy of 'you-know-who' running through his head, having heard just earlier from Kiyoiri about the sorts of tools that Conan and Ai both had at their disposal. Conan however, had just taken a sip of his tea. Said tea was now all over a very disgruntled Koji, while Ai and Conan turned to look at each other.

"She's too naïve to possibly lie about this..."

Conan simply nodded. "Agreed. But how.." He turned to Koji, a nice new glare set in place. "....Hisoka..."

Oh great. Just damn brilliant.. Rubbing his forehead, Koji silently bid all his pain-free days goodbye in favor of a more honest life. Tilting his head back, he breathed deeply and stared at the ceiling for a few moments, hands covering his face before a loud sigh was heard by the other two. He took a deep breath..

..And turned his head back to the others, blue eyes and black stripes showing plainly around white skin and hair, almost as much as the teeth as he bared a rather insane smirk.

….The look on their faces was so worth it in the end... Even if Ai slapped him for laughing about it.