Shinichi let it ring for a few minutes, too invested in drinking his coffee to bother picking it up. Then it rang another 4 times before he got annoyed and finally picked it up.

"Who is-"
"Oi Kudo! Where are you right now?!," Hattori yelled into the phone.

"I'm at a cafe a few blocks away," Shinichi answered. "Why? You wanna eat with us or something?"

"No, someone was trying to kill you! The coffee that the dead guy got was originally meant for you and the killer guy just ran off! The police are chasing him but lost him! Get out of there Kudo!" With that Hattori cut the call, leaving Shinichi staring at his phone for a minute before gathering his stuff

"Kaito, we have to go," Shinichi said quickly, grabbing the magician by the hand and pulling him farther from the crime scene but let Kaito take a moment to slam a few bills down before leaving.

"Shin-chan? What happened?," Kaito asked, following the panicked boy closely. Shinichi was paling and Kaito didn't like that, not at all. He gripped Shinichi by the shoulder and turned him sharply, forcing Shinichi to look at him. "Shinichi. Please, answer me."

"The k-killer. The one that killed the m-man was trying to k-kill me and, and-"

"Shin-chan. Calm down. Even if that man did come for you, I wouldn't let him. Okay?" Kaito pulled the other boy into an embrace. "This isn't the first time you've had a criminal after you, but even with the amnesia, this is a severe reaction," Kaito mumbled into Shinichi's hair softly. "What happened to you?"

Shinichi did nothing to answer, just pulling the other closer for comfort. He tried to control his breathing slowly before detaching himself from the hug and continued to walk farther until they got to a more quieter part of the city. Kaito followed behind him quietly without a word, almost bumping into Shinichi when he had stopped abruptly.

"I feel like I should run. Whenever I hear killer, I think of those men in black, and then it feels like a wave of emotions just washes over me from before this amnesia incident," Shinichi whispered quietly. "I don't get whats happened to me, but I know it was something that somewhere sub-consciously, I'm trying to keep hidden away from my own self. That it was something awful that I really shouldn't try and pry into, but these emotions; it's just a lot of fear and panic and sadness and I don't know what to do with it." Shinichi sighed, running his hand through his hair and attempted to soothe the headache that was starting to pound.

Kaito hugged the boy in front of him and whispered, "I prefer your blushing face to this one." Before Shinichi could register these words, Kaito turned him around sharply and kissed Shinichi. Shinichi had froze, but a second later, Kaito felt the detective wrap his arms around his neck and kiss him back. The magician smiled into the kiss and gripped his ass slightly, making him yelp. Kaito took this opportunity to deepen the kiss and take control, tasting the remnants of coffee and lemon pie, just as Shinichi could taste the lingering chocolate from the croissants. They broke for air after a moment and Shinichi finally realized they were still in public.

"You perv," Shinichi muttered angrily, but Kaito knew that the anger was just nothing but a small act.

"Admit it Shin-chan, you loved it~," Kaito answered back and yelped in surprise when he felt himself get dragged away again and out of the ring of people that were staring, seeing that some of them was the printing press that probably saw this as big news. What a surprise this was going to be when they got back. Kaito couldn't wait to see everyone's reaction to this.

They continued going farther, remembering that they were still trying to get away from the killer, not trying to attract more attention to themselves. And all too suddenly, they ran into Hattori who seemed to have been running around looking for them.

"Oi Kudo!," Hattori called, completely out of breath and leaned forward, hands on his knees. "Ya' know...maybe next time, you should jus' stay where ya' are instead of runnin' away. Besides, even if a killer caught ya', I think da' all too protective KID would be very willing ta protect ya' anyways." He grinned when he caught Shinichi blushing.

"So, now that Hattori has found us, what do we do now?," Kaito asked with a grin. "We've kind of been wandering around and trying to avoid (even more, Kaito added silently) attention without any clue where we were going anyways." Shinichi grinned sheepishly at the last part and scratched his head.

"Well...what time is it now?"
"It's 'bout 3 PM right now. The killer is still on the loose and we still have to try and avoid attention until that person is caught."

"Oh yeah Hattori-kun, speaking of the killer, what does he or she look like?," Kaito now asked, his playfulness going sharp.

"Er, well. The thing is, we don't know if it was really the person's face. They had on something like a mask on. It was a chubby man, but they walked and acted strangely, just enough for me to see. Kinda looked like a shut-in otaku ya'know?" Kaito thought for a second. Whoever this person was, they were good at disguising most likely. And Hattori, although hot headed, was very good when if came to finding little strange things. So his "just enough" meant the person was on the same level, if not maybe a little better, than him. And that was a hard thing to be.

"Well, let's get moving before people start recognizing you or Shinichi," Kaito said, glancing around to see that some people were silently listening into their conversation. "I don't think we want the killer to find us just yet." Kaito muttered the last part, Shinichi only able to catch onto a few of the words. Hattori nodded in agreement and started walking them back to the Hattori household.

"Oi Kudo," Hattori started, "why is it that even with amnesia ya' seem to have bad luck just trailin' after ya? I dunno if even Kazuka's lucky charm collection is enough for ya' with yer luck." Kaito agreed, nodding his head vigorously.

"Yeah! Honestly Shin-chan, think about what I have to deal with," Kaito pouted playfully. "Every time you get knocked out, you wake up slamming your hard head into this poor thief you know? The amount of brain cells I'm losing each time is horrible." Shinichi grinned apologetically at the thief. It wasn't like Shinichi was trying to bash his head into the thief. It just...happened. In fact, he had lost his own fair share of brain cells too. (If he even had any to spare with the whole amnesia thing.)

"Well, I bet Nakamori-keibu would appreciate his losin' his brain cells. He's too darn cocky anyways," Hattori commented with his own little grin. Shinichi laughed alongside his Western counterpart, Kaito mock pouting behind he two. And for a moment, they were able to forget about the killer, the amnesia, the Black Organization.

Then he saw a head of light blonde rush past him, glancing at him once before going on her way.

And too soon, that moment was broken, a flood of memories starting to rush in Shinichi. The cold green eyes that seemed to see right through all your lies and masks no matter how good. The familiar blonde hair he had seen as a child and that same blonde hair reappearing in a later time of his life. Her calling him Cool Guy or Silver Bullet, calling Ran an Angel. Knowing Shinichi's secret, and a name burning in the back of his mind. But it was still just out of reach, the flood starting to stop and then name so close, yet so far.

"-in-chan? Shin-chan, are you okay?"

"Kudo! Snap out of it! What's wrong?"

Shinichi felt strong arms on either side of him, looking up to find two pairs of worried eyes.

"Sorry, I just kind of zone out there I guess," Shinichi laughed, but neither of the gazes lost their concern, knowing when Shinichi was holding up a front.

"We'll talk about it later alright?," Kaito said -commanded- rather than questioned. Shinichi nodded and Hattori gave him the you-better-not-run-away look that would have quite a few people feeling weak. Maybe his detective part of him was catching up because the first thought was, oh, this is how it feels to be on the other side of our gazes.

They continued back to Hattori's home, making small talk on the way back. They talked about food, how Hattori was still starving, love interests (mainly Hattori's), and trying to jog Shinichi's of his friends and family. Jogging his memory got Shinichi close to nowhere because the first thing he remembered was about an old case. But, who could blame the mystery-otaku? His love of cases was just that big.

Shinichi was trapped when they finally got back. He had been forced into a seat, both the magician and dark-skinned detective staring down at him expectantly. The doves fluttered around them as if feeling the tension in the air. (Hattori tried to avoid the birds, he was still uncomfortable about living with a dozen of them) The tension built up and Shinichi merely stared back. After all, what was he going to do? Run away and possibly get himself killed by a killer that was probably still out to get him?

"Shin-chan, we're worried about you you know?" Kaito sighed and slumped into the seat, right of Shinichi, Hattori following on the opposite side.

"Kudo, can ya' please tell us whatcha saw?," Hattori edged on. It was one thing for his best friend to have amnesia, find a love interest, and not tell him they were keeping a dozen birds in his own house. It was another thing to know that same best friend was being chased by a very experienced killer that could have potentially taken his life if not for his extreme luck when it came to not dying.

"I... Well, I remembered something," Shinichi started and saw Hattori's eyes go wide. Shinichi continued. "I don't really remember who exactly is was that I saw in my memories. But i do know she was important in my life; probably not in a good way though. All the memories came with waves of fear. Green eyes and blonde hair." Hattori's eyes grew wider (if that was even possible), his mouth parting in a small gape. "And Kaito said a quote that she said often, is what I'm going to assume."

"A woman makes a woman, woman." Hattori said it with slightly broken English but the other two understood. "Your talking about Vermouth." It wasn't a question and all of them knew it. Kaito was still confused though, and instead cocked his head to the side. "Right right, ya' dunno who dat is. Vermouth is an alias fer the Organization she's in. Ya' might know 'er as Chris Vineyard."

Kaito's mouth went dry. Oh, he knew that women perfectly well. Vermouth -Chris- was, after all, a very famous actress. But that wasn't the only thing he knew. She was one of his father's students that had learned the art of disguise from him. After Touichi's death, she moved on to become the world famous actress she was now.

"So, ah. I guess I'm just not getting it," Shinichi commented after a moment, breaking the silence. "So...believe it or not, I may or may not have bumped into her when we were walking back. I don't really know who's side she's on, but if she's a bad person, I don't know what to do." Shinichi looked from one boy to the other and nearly screamed when he was tackled to the ground.

"Oi Kudo, stay still and don't mave. Don't say anything," the Osakan whispered out in a harsh manner, patting his clothes down in a rush just as the magician was. Shinichi froze still like a statue.

"There's no bugs, thank god." Kaito and Hattori sighed in relief but Shinichi had thoughts streaming through his head in a rush. Definitely the detective side of him showing it's head from it's shell. Vermouth didn't bug him, but why? It was a perfect opportunity, especially since she was aiming to kill him. When Vermouth had bumped into him 'coincidentally', she barely gave the other two a glance meaning she knew who they were and was probably thinking of them more as pests rather than humans. She knew the other two, she didn't bug him at all, yet gave him the small hint to tell him she was there. And it all clicked into Shinichi's mind.

"She knows who I am, and know's I'm staying here," Shinichi barely whispered, the other boys barely catching the words. "That's why she didn't bug me but still showed her presence. But she doesn't know about my amnesia accident or else she wouldn't have gone after me. Or maybe I know something that I can't tell others? It would make sense since I seem to just blurt everything out because of the amnesia." Hattori seemed to understand the situation, and paled as the realization dawned on him.

"Shit. Dat's not good. Not good at all." Hattori stood up abruptly, pacing around the living room in a hurry. "Dammit, I shoulda known the Organization might still be lurkin' in da shadows. It was too good fer it ta be true anyways." The detective bit at his nails, giving his Eastern counterpart a few glances before going back to nail chewing. And it was putting the Kaito on edge.

"Can you please explain to me what the hell is going on?," Kaito asked, barely able to control himself and seal a poker face onto himself. He needed to know what was going on. Shinichi could be in danger and get hurt, and if Kaito could've somehow prevented it by knowing, he was going to blame it all on Hattori. But he didn't want to do that. Hattori was a good man.

"I... I'll tell ya' but..." Hattori glanced at Shinichi, worry cloaking his face and Kaito finally understood. Connecting the dream about Shinichi's 'other self' and the story Hattori wanted to tell him was no big feat. And he realized that the Osakan detective didn't want to make Shinichi remember this particular memory.

"Right, we could talk leave this conversation for tomorrow, alright?," Kaito said, brightening the conversation up a bit. "For today, lets try to relax. After all, I have a feeling that we won't have many other times to relax."

"Yeah," Hattori answered, visibly relaxing and Shinichi made his silent agreement. "Ya' guys wanna watch a movie? I have some Sherlock Holmes ones..." Shinichi stood up abruptly at the famous name and nodded in approval.

"We are definitely watching Sherlock Holmes." The other two laughed at Shinichi's antics and huddled up on the couch in front of the TV.

"Alright then Shin-chan, let's see how many movies we could watch in a day..."

The three ended up watching movies until the sunset, having short bathroom breaks and eating lunch while doing so, Kaito's doves relaxing on the couch around them. Hattori had started warming up to the idea of living with the birds. Just slightly. By the time they had watched their 4th movie (or was is the 5th?), Shinichi was struggling to stay awake to watch the movie, leaning his head on Kaito who had fallen asleep leaning on one side of the couch. Hattori had fallen asleep on the other side, his bottom half laid across the other two's legs. The fourth (fifth?) movie continued playing.

The movie had screaming, crying, and gunshots ringing out from the TV and the speakers. There were FBI yelling at each other desperately in English, trying to save as many people as they could, dragging the shot people out of the guns sight. There was a helicopter flying around, a machine gun loaded at the door of the chopper.

And suddenly Shinichi realized this wasn't the movie anymore. He saw himself in the center of it all, still watching it as if in third person. He heard screams and cry's, everything too vivid to just be a simple dream. He saw himself covered in other peoples blood. Too much blood.

Shinichi wanted it to stop but the shooting continued. Shinichi's 'other self' picked up a gun that had fallen to the ground and aimed at the people that were dressed in black and shot.

The bullet seemed to slow down, going in slow motion as it hit one of them in the chest. But the 'other' Shinichi's heart was already too heavy to feel the extra weight of having to have killed yet another person, good or bad. The 'other self' continued shooting, his accuracy startlingly good from when he had to use soccer balls to take down criminals. The 'other' Shinichi dodged as many bullets as he could, but still felt the sting of hundreds of bullet grazing his skin, and the Shinichi that was in third person could feel it. It wasn't the pain where you winced when you saw another person get hurt that many times. It was real pain, and it flared up in his body and all he could do was grab at the places where it hurt the most.

The only thing Shinichi could do was writhe in pain, screaming a voiceless scream while watching his 'other self' seem unaffected by any of it through his teary eyes. He tried desperately to wake up, but his brain refused to cooperate. The guns kept firing. The blood kept pooling and a familiar burning sensation biting at every bit of his body.

He wanted to wake up.

He couldn't wake up.

He was drowning in pain.