Four points of the same star Chapter 21: Back to school, a detective conan/case closed fanfic

Four points of the same star

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Detective Conan.

-……- transceiver talk.

FOUR POINTS OF THE SAME STAR Chapter 20: Back to school.

It was Monday morning.

Going back to school after the weekend is always hard and the students in class 2-A weren't different from the others. The bell was going to ring but many desks were still empty and the students that were already in class were talking to each other in small groups.

It seemed to be another normal Monday morning.

Until…

The door opened and Shinichi entered the room.

It was as though a spell had been put on because the low buzzing in the class vanished instantly. The young detective ignored the situation: he had foreseen such a reaction. He walked into the classroom and looked around, trying to remember where he used to sit. Since he didn't remember, he took a seat next to the window.

Everybody stared at him for a second, then the whispers started again, a bit more energetically.

"Look, Kudo is back."
"I thought he had dropped school to work on cases in America."
"Yeah, me too."

Shinichi was looking out of the window, but he could hear all the comments that were flying in the room. He sighed inwardly.

'And this is just the beginning.' he thought, 'The situation will get worse when Ran and Sonoko will come. Not to mention when the others will be introduced…'

He couldn't help to smile slightly as he thought of his three friends' faces when they would come in class. The door opened again and the smile on Shinichi's face faded.

Ran and Sonoko came in.

It didn't take them a lot to notice him. Shinichi gave them a small cordial nod: Sonoko glared at him while Ran smiled slightly. She was going to approach him when the bell rang and door opened again and their teacher entered. All the students went to their desks.

Shinichi nearly sighed with relief.

'Saved by the bell.' he thought. He wasn't ready to face Ran so soon.

Mrs. Akenzai , their English teacher, walked to the desk and put her books on it.

"Good morning class, today we will joined by three new transfer students from the States." she said, looking at her students, "They're all Japanese, so there won't be any language problems. I hope you'll welcome them warmly."

Even though they were four desks away, Shinichi could clearly hear Sonoko talk to Ran.

"They're all from New York and they moved there because of their parents' work." she said, "I'm sure that there is at least a boy among them."

Shinichi smirked.

'Ryu will go against some very annoying trouble with Sonoko.' he thought, 'Anyway, if her spy network had collected this information, then the story we have made up has worked. Everyone thinks that they are only three normal transfer students.'

Mrs Akenzai turned to the door.

"You can come in." she said.

The same silence that had welcomed Shinichi greeted the three new ones. They walked inside and stood in front of the black board. Nearly all the boys' mouths dropped open but many girls were gaping, too.

"Hello, everybody. My name is Reila Ikeda."
"Hello, my name is Ryuji Kazama."
"Hello, my name is Shiho Miyano."

There was a general murmur in the class, now. Ryu, Rei and Shiho had made a good impression. Mrs. Akenzai coughed a few times to get silence.

"All right now." she said, turning to the three, "You can choose a seat."

They looked around the room and finally found who they were looking for.

Sonoko was still staring at Ryu with a dreamy expression and heart-shaped eyes, when she realised that there was an empty seat next to her. She was going to call him but Ryu just walked past her. Slightly disappointed, she turned around to see where he was going.

The rest of the class did the same.

They walked to the back of the room where Shinichi was. To everybody's surprise, the new ones smiled at him and he grinned back. Shiho sat next to him while Rei and Ryu sat behind them.

"By the way, Shinichi Kudo. Besides saying that it's quite a surprise to see you again." the teacher said with a slight smile, " I ask you to show the school to Ikeda, Kazama and Miyano since you already know them. Is that all right?"

"Sure." Shinichi replied. He didn't notice the death glares that the other students were sending him.

But the others did.

"I think that the school tour will be very dangerous for you, Shinichi." Shiho whispered.

"It's your fault." he replied, sarcastically, "You're the popular ones and I risk my life with your admirers."

"Oh, poor thing.." Rei said lowly, making the other three smile.

Mrs. Akenzai had resumed to talk so all the students had turned back to her.

All but Ran who was still glancing at Shinichi. She felt uneasy. He had told her that he was in love with another girl and there were two girls with him.

One was Ikeda. Ran remembered her: she was very close to Shinichi when she was studying here three years ago. The other was Miyano but Ran had never seen her before, even though , she had to admit, that she looked familiar.

Ran snapped out of her thoughts when the teacher started writing something on the board.

'I'll find a way to talk to him later.' she thought and opened her notebook to take notes.

The hours dragged by so slowly that more than once Shinichi checked if his watch was working correctly. He had never felt so bored. He thought that the others must feel even worse than him: he had given the exams for high school only a month ago but they had given them years ago.

When the bell for lunch break rang, they all sighed in relief.

"And this is just the first day.." Ryu remarked.

"I wonder how we'll be in a few weeks." Rei said.

"Well, that's not our main problem now." Shinichi remarked, standing up.

"What do you mean?" Shiho asked.

"It's lunch break and this means nearly an hour and a half of free time in which every student of this class will start to approach us. So, to avoid the annoyance, I think we could pick our lunches, leave the room quickly and eat outside. I will also show you around afterwards."

The other three nodded and they left the room a few seconds later.

Sonoko was the first to notice their absence, well, Ryu's absence.

She looked around and then turned to Ran.

"Hey, did you see where he has gone?" she asked.

"No, I think they all left together." Ran suggested, "Shinichi has to show them the school. Maybe, he'll do it after lunch."

"Oh, why did the teacher choose him? I would have done it immediately. It would have been a chance to know him better."

Ran smiled: Sonoko never changed. If she saw a good-looking boy, she tried to talk to him in every way. She had to admit that Ryu was really cute: blonde hair, light blue eyes covered by thin eyeglasses, well built figure.

'Sonoko will have a lot of competition.' she thought.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Nobody will disturb us here."

Shinichi had taken Ryu, Rei and Shiho on the school's rooftop: it was totally desert. Ryu looked around and nodded.

"What about having lunch?" he suggested, smiling slightly, "We didn't have what can be called a decent breakfast this morning, did we?"

The girls smirked slightly, remembering what had happened that morning.

FLASHBACK

It was only seven o'clock but they were all already up. It was their first day of school after all and they couldn't help feeling a bit nervous.

Rei, Shiho and Ryu were in their rooms: they weren't used to wear a uniform and they were dressing quite slowly. Shinichi that had dressed in a few seconds had gone downstairs to prepare breakfast and get the newspapers.

They had gone shopping on Friday, so the pantry and the fridge were finally full. But they hadn't only bought food: Ryu, Rei and Shiho had used the credit card the Kudos had given them and had bought the school uniforms along with the necessary stationery material but they also bought clothes. Especially Shiho.

Shinichi, on the other hand, bought the so yearned motorbike: a Hornet 900, painted metallic blue. He also took the license the same day. He also bought two full-covered helmets and two leather jackets. They had decided to go to school or anywhere else with their motorbikes: Rei would have gone with Ryu, so…

'Shiho will go with me.' Shinichi had thought with a smile as he paid the merchandise.

Anyway, when they came back home, they were so full of bags that Professor teased them asking if they were going to move somewhere.

Speaking of Professor…

"Shinichi, did Agase show up?" Ryu asked, as he walked into the kitchen, adjusting his tie.

"No, not yet." the other replied, "I suppose we'll have to go and ask him if he has finished." He turned around, "What was his idea, anyway?"

Ryu shrugged.

"I have no idea." he said, "He mentioned that he wanted to help us, bettering our things. He said something like –I want to help you since you don't have the devices anymore."

"What do the devices have got to do with our two motorbikes and four helmets?"

"I told you: I don't know."

"What don't you know?" Rei asked, overhearing the conversation as she came in with Shiho.

"What Agase's up to with our bikes and helmets." he answered.

"It's probably something important." Shiho remarked, "He has been working a lot in the past months: he never left the lab."

Shinichi thought this over.

"You're right." he agreed, "I wonder what's he up to?"

As an answer to his question, the doorbell rang.

"Seems that we'll find out soon." Ryu said.

He went to the door, followed by the others and opened it. Agase came in, carrying a large box.

"Good morning, Professor." he said, helping him.

"Good morning." the old scientist said. Then, seeing the other teenagers, he greeted them too. "I'm sorry if I'm late but I was finishing the last adjustments."

"What have you been doing exactly?" Shinichi asked, taking one of the helmets from the box and examining it carefully.

"I'll tell you later.." Agase replied quickly, "First, I have to give you these.." He put his hand in his lab coat's pocket and drew out a few objects. "All right, these are yours, Ryu-kun." He handed him a pair of eyeglasses, "They have a more powerful radar built in and the usual transceiver."

"And it can also be a good disguise." Ryu added, putting them on, "Thanks."

"This is for you, Shinichi-kun." Agase continued, handing him the earring telephone, "I have installed a more enduring battery that you an charge every 24 hours."

"Great." he said simply.

Professor turned to the girls.

"Rei-kun, these are the x-ray glasses and the mini- computer I gave you last time." he said, "I've bettered them and the glasses have a transceiver, too. Shiho-kun, here's a mini-computer for you, too and an earring telephone like Shinichi-kun's."

The girls thanked Professor with a small smile as they took the devices.

"So this is what you've been working on for the last weeks.." Ryu remarked, "Right, Agase?"

"Well, not only on that…" the old scientist said cryptically, "I worked on another few things."

"By the way, what did you do the motorbikes and the helmets?" Shinichi asked with curiosity.

"Oh yes." Agase said. He took the other helmets and handed them to Ryu, Rei and Shiho. "Shinichi-kun, there is a small button on the right side: press it."

The young detective touched the right side of the helmet and felt two small buttons.

Which one?" he asked, "There are two here."

"The first one." Professor replied. He turned to the other three that were waiting for an explanation as much as Shinichi. "I put a transceiver in the helmets: in this way you can talk to each other while you're on your bikes. But the helmets can also be connected to the transceivers in your eyeglasses and to the earring phones."

He picked up another helmet.

"On the right, there are two buttons: you can choose to communicate to another helmet or to the other transceivers. On the left there are four buttons: if we take Shinichi-kun, for example, he can choose whether to talk to one of you three or to all, pressing a button. And no one will notice the buttons since they are the helmet's same color."

Professor then pressed a button on the right, then one on the left.

"Shinichi-kun, put the helmet on." he said, "Ryu-kun, you put this one on and say something."

The boys did as they were told.

- Do you here me, Shinichi?-
-Yeah and pretty clearly.-

"It works really well." Ryu said, taking off the helmet, "You did a great job Agase."

The old scientist swelled with pride at the compliment.

"What did you do to the motorbikes?" Rei asked, putting her helmet on the table.

"I didn't do much since they're both in excellent conditions. I just added a thin transparent pellicle to the tires: it' not bullet proof but it shouldn't allow the tires to burst easily either."

A blank silence greeted his words. Agase looked around at the four teenagers.

"Something wrong?" he asked uncertainly.

"You remember me the scientist that helps James Bond, you know Professor?" Ryu said.

"Yeah, the one that gave him those amazing devices that always helped him in his missions." Shinichi agreed.

Agase seemed very pleased by the comparison.

"Well, all right. That's all I had to give you." he said, heading to the door, "See you later."

"Bye Professor." they called out as he left.

"Agase has taken Matt's words seriously, hasn't he?" Rei remarked as the door closed.

"Even more than usual." Shiho said.

"Well, it's not bad, isn't it?" Ryu said, "We have a way to keep on touch in every moment now. Even if Matt says that the Organization will not be after us for a while, I don't think we should be off guard. By the way, I was thinking that we should always move in group or, at least in couples. Just in case, you know. We never know what could happen."

The other three nodded in agreement. Just then, a hissing sound came from the kitchen followed by a burnt smell.

"Damn it.." Shinichi muttered under his breath, dashing into the kitchen, "Breakfast…"

Ryu, Rei and Shiho heard him curse loudly a few seconds later.

"I suppose we won't have breakfast this morning." Shiho remarked.

"Good thing we had already prepared our lunch." Rei said, "Anyway, what's the time?"

"Half past seven." Ryu replied, "We should go.

"Let's get Shinichi and then leave." Rei said and the other two nodded.

END FLASHBACK

"By the way, I think we should take turns doing things like breakfast, lunch and so on…" Rei said, as they were eating the sandwiches they had prepared for lunch, "In this way we won't risk to skip breakfast every morning."

"It got all burnt up only because we all went to see what Agase had brought." Shinichi said, defending himself.

"Of course.." she replied, sarcastically.

"Very funny, Rei." Shinichi remarked, making the others smile, "Anyway, if you're finished I'll show you the school now. In this way, we won't waste time this afternoon."

The others got up and they went around the school. Shinichi gave Ryu, Rei and Shiho a quick but complete tour: classrooms, labs, teachers' offices and the grounds.

They came back to their classroom just when the bell rang. By the dark looks he received, Shinichi guessed that his idea to eat outside and do the school tour now had been wise. Otherwise, the whole class would have annoyed Ryu, Shiho and Rei.

"Good guess." Shiho said softly to him. She had noticed the other students look, too.

Shinichi smiled at her.

Sonoko was furious.

She had hoped to talk to Kazama during lunch break but he had gone away with Shinichi and the two new girls. She thought she could have a chance to speak to him at the end of the lessons but he seemed to have left the moment the bell rang and she didn't know where he lived or even where he could have gone.

"I lost a chance today." she said loudly, as she was walking home with Ran, "I'll try to get to him tomorrow."

"Sonoko, he had just arrived." Ran remarked, slightly amused by her friend's firmness, "Why don't you give him time to settle in and…"

"No, I don't want to waste time." Sonoko cut through her, "Nearly all the girls in our class put their eyes on Kazama and, if I wait another few days, the whole school will be after him. He will get as popular as Shinichi: I bet it."

As Shinichi was mentioned, Ran's eyes clouded: she hadn't talked to him at all and she was beginning to wonder if she would ever find the courage to do it.

Sonoko seemed to notice her friend's change so she began to think of a way to help both.

Then the idea came.

"Ran!" she said loudly, making her friend jump, "We can go to Shinichi-kun's house."

"WHAT?" Ran said, looking her friend as though she had gone mad.

"Yes, in this way you can talk to him and I'll ask him everything about Kazama-kun, since he knows him. We can go.. let's see.. tomorrow. What do you think?"

"Sonoko, I can't."

"Why not?"

"Kazuha and Heiji-kun will come to visit me tomorrow."

"Who? Oh, yes, your friends from Osaka: another detective and his girlfriend."

"Exactly. I can't come with you tomor…"

"But that's great." Sonoko cut through her again, "We can take them with us. This detective is a friend of Shinichi-kun, right?

"Yes, Heiji-kun is Shinichi's friend."

"Well, we can go all together to Shinichi-kun's house tomorrow saying that since they came from Osaka to visit you, they could meet him, too."

Ran didn't know how to retort. Sonoko had thought of everything. She sighed.

"All right. I'll call Kazuha and tell her that Shinichi is back and if she and Heiji-kun would like to see him." she said, " Satisfied?"

"Great." Sonoko said with glee, "Well, see you tomorrow, Ran. Bye."

"Bye."

As she watched her friend cross the street, Ran couldn't help thinking that thanks to her she had found a way to talk to Shinichi privately.

'What could I do without her?' she thought. Then, smiling to herself, Ran walked home.

The next day was similar to the previous one besides the fact that Rei prepared breakfast and didn't burn up anything.

The four teenagers went to school pretty early: they had decided to do this so that no one would bother them. They came to school at seven forty, parked the motorbikes behind the school and went to class. They were the first ones to arrive.

"If we do like this everyday we won't have to worry about being annoyed by anyone." Shinichi remarked, sitting at his desk, "Especially you, Ryu."

Ryu looked up as he said this.

"Me?" he asked, "Why?"

It was Rei that replied.

"Didn't you notice yesterday?" she asked with a small smile, "All the girls of the class were gaping at you. Especially Suzuki."

"Who?" he asked.

"Sonoko Suzuki, Ran's best friend." Shinichi said, "Blonde hair, screeching voice and the who-cares-as-long-as-I'm-pleased attitude."

Shiho and Rei smirked as they heard the description. Ryu looked at Shinichi, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, from the way you've described her, she seems like a human bomb or something." he said, "Anyway, if she asks me something, I can just tell her…ehm.. the truth."

He glanced at Rei when he said this and she smiled.

"Uhm.. that would be a good answer for any girl but I don't think it would be enough for Sonoko." Shinichi said, smirking at the look on Ryu's face, "She's very, very stubborn when it comes to a boy she likes."

"And that means always.." Shiho remarked, "The few times I've met her in past, she was always after someone."

"Not to mention that her dislike on Rei will multiply for ten." Shinichi added.

Rei looked up this time.

"Dislike?" she asked, "No, wait a minute… She's still mad with me for what happened last time?"

Shinichi nodded, trying to hide the smile that was willing to spread on his face. Ryu and Shiho looked at the other two with curiosity.

"What happened?" Shiho asked Shinichi.

"Yeah, what did you do?" Ryu asked Rei.

Rei frowned slightly.

"Three years ago, when I came here from Europe, I was assigned to Shinichi's class. That was when we became friends and we spent a lot of time together…"

"And this gave us a lot of problems." Shinichi pitched in, "Rei became very popular in the six months she was here: nearly every boy of the school was after her. So, obviously, I was in a very risky position."

"Hey, I had my problems, too." Rei retorted, "You were and still are pretty popular too."

"We know that." Ryu said, "But why does Suzuki.. ehm.. dislike you?"

"She liked a boy that was a year ahead of us. Well, this guy never showed any interest on her but she didn't give up." Rei explained, "One day he came in our class and Suzuki thought he came for her."

"But he didn't, right?" Shiho said.

"No, he came for Rei." Shinichi replied, "We were talking together when he approached us and asked her if she wanted to meet at a bar near the school. To talk and know each other: that's what he said."

"What did you do?" Ryu asked, turning to Rei.

"I refused." she replied.

"As usual." Shinichi added, making her smile.

"Yes, as usual." she admitted, "He went away crestfallen and Suzuki tried to talk to him but without success. I never understood why but she gave me the fault of it."

"And she's still mad for this?" Ryu asked , "After three years?"

"She's got a long memory." Shinichi replied sarcastically. He eyed the door, "Speak of the devil."

Sonoko and Ran came in, followed by other students. They noticed immediately the four at the back of the class who greeted them with a cordial nod. Sonoko smiled broadly at Ryu, ignored Shiho and gave a withering glare to Shinichi and Rei. Ran, on the contrary, smiled politely at them.

Rei leaned forward to Shinichi.

"She hates me, all right, but what did you do to her?" she asked softly.

"Ran." he replied.

"I see." she said and then, turned to her side, "Ryu, you're her favorite one and , Shiho, you're safe since she doesn't know you."

"For now." Shiho remarked softly. Shinichi turned to look at her as she said this. She glanced at him and then at Ran that was sitting at her desk.

"Don't worry." he reassured her, "I'll find a way."

She smiled slightly at him. The bell rang a few seconds later and everyone went back to his seat waiting for the lesson to begin.

Shinichi, Ryu, Rei and Shiho did the same things they had done the day before: they managed to be alone and avoid the other students. They didn't think it would have been a good idea to draw attention… even though, usually, they drew attention without wanting to.

When the bell rang at the end of the day, they quickly left the class and headed to their bikes. It was only two days that they were there and nobody had still noticed that they came to school with their bikes. They secretly hoped that it would have lasted.

As they drove home, they talked to each other with the new devices Agase had made. They wondered what they would have done that evening. They had homework to do but the thing didn't worry them a bit: English and Mathematics weren't a problem.

-Matt said that he would sent us a few mails, telling us how things are going on in America.- Ryu said, -He said that he would send them either today or tomorrow.-

-Kuroba said something like that too.- Rei said, -He said he would have contacted us after a few weeks. Maybe, he'll show up in these days, too.-

-So, we just have to wait them to contact us, right?- Shiho asked.

-Yes- the two replied.

-Good thing nobody comes to visit us- Shinichi remarked, -Otherwise, we'll have to behave even more secretively than usual.-

How wrong was he…

Four people were walking towards the Kudos' house: Ran, Sonoko along with a girl with shoulder length dark hair and dark eyes and a boy with short black hair, dark blue eyes, swarthy and with a cap on his head.

"Are you sure Kudo-san won't mind if we just appear at his door without even telling him before?" Kazuha asked Ran, "You said that he just got back.."

"Don't worry." Ran reassured her, "He won't mind. I'm sure of that."

"When did he come back anyway?" Heiji asked her.

"He came to school yesterday." she replied, "I don't know exactly when he came back."

"Oh, ok."

Heiji thought this over. He had been surprised when Kazuha had told him that Kudo was back and that they were going to visit him with Ran and her friend Sonoko when they were going to Tokyo. The last time he had heard him, Kudo was still Conan.

'It talked to him only a few months ago.' he thought, 'When did he turn back to normal? And most of all, how did he manage to do it? If he's normal, it means that he has taken the antidote… and that would mean that he has got involved with that Organization again. By the way, has he gone mad? That men want him dead and he goes to school! I think he's up to something: Kudo's not a fool. He knows how many risks he can go against. I'll talk to him…. Well, I'll try. I have to find a way to distract Kazuha, Ran-san and Suzuki first.'

"Here we are." Sonoko exclaimed, snapping him out of his thoughts.

They were standing in front of the Kudos' house. Once again, Heiji was surprised by its size. It could be called mansion not simply house. But then, he quickly noticed a few changes.

There were two motorbikes on the left side of the house: a gray one and the other was metallic blue. He wondered to who they belonged.

'Kudo doesn't have a motorbike.' he thought, 'I'm sure of that.'

The girls hadn't noticed the vehicles and they walked to the front door. Heiji followed them, noticing that the lawn was in order.

'If Kudo came back a few days ago, he couldn't have cleaned this whole place alone. Maybe Agase helped him..'

Ran reached to the doorbell and rang it. They waited for a few minutes but no one came to open the door. She rang the bell again, but still nothing.

"Maybe, he has gone out." Kazuha said, looking at her.

"Yes, maybe.." Ran said. She couldn't hide her disappointment.

Sonoko didn't think the same: she had come here to get information about Kazama and she wasn't going away without them.

"SHINICHI KUDO!" she shouted, pounding on the front door, "Are you deaf? Open this door!"

Ran shook her head incredulously while Kazuha and Heiji were quite shocked by Sonoko's behavior. They didn't know her well as Ran did.

Ran was just going to stop her friend from breaking down the door when it opened.

"About tim…" Sonoko remarked but stopped very suddenly, because she found herself face to face with Rei.

Even though she didn't show it, Rei was very surprised to see Ran, Sonoko and the other two teens, that she didn't know, in front of her. Anyway, Sonoko voiced her thoughts.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Good evening, Suzuki-san." Rei said, ignoring her question and her rude tone, "Good evening, Mouri-san. Then, she turned to the others and smiled, "Hello."

Heiji blushed slightly: Rei's charm had effect once again. Fortunately for him, Kazuha didn't notice it. She smiled at Rei.

"Hello." she said.

"I suppose you're here to see Shinichi, right?" Rei said, letting them in the hall.

Ran felt a pang when she heard her call him with his first name: she had forgotten that she used to do it three years ago.

"Yes, we're here to see him." Sonoko replied, hastily, "Where is he? And what are you…?"

She stopped again and her mouth dropped open.

Shiho came out from the studio, holding a book. She looked up as Rei called her and noticed the small crowd that was with her.

"Shiho, where's Shinichi?" she asked.

"In his room." she replied, in her usual monotone voice. She put the book on the telephone table and approached her friend.

The two girls looked at the visitors and fought back a laugh with difficulty.

The look on their faces was priceless: shock (Sonoko), bewilderment (Ran), confusion (Kazuha) and slight embarrassment (Heiji).

Before the situation degenerated, Shinichi showed up. He had been resting in his room when he heard some familiar shouts and then, the pounding that forced him to get up. He went downstairs slightly annoyed.

"What's going on?" he asked loudly. Then, he noticed Ran, Sonoko, Heiji and Kazuha standing in the hall. Rei and Shiho saw the clear surprise on his face.

"Guests." Shiho replied, as he approached them.

"For you." Rei added.

"Oh.. yes." he said, wondering why they had come, "Hi Ran, Sonoko. How you're doing, Hattori? And you Toyama?"

"Hi, Kudo." Heiji replied, "I'm fine, thanks."

"Me too, Kudo-san, thanks." Kazuha replied.

"How come you're from Osaka?" Shinichi asked.

"Just a visit." Heiji said, "We had some free time."

"Oh, I see and…"

"Hey, wait!" Sonoko cut through their dialogue, "What are they doing here?" she asked, pointing to Shiho and Rei.

"They live here." Shinichi replied and, immediately regretted to have answered so quickly.

Ran, Sonoko, Kazuha and Heiji looked at him with an expression that was half between surprise and shock.

On the other side, Rei, Shiho and Shinichi were fighting hard not to burst out laughing. They had clearly understood the reason of their strange reaction: they thought that Shinichi lived alone with two girls. No wonder they were surprised.

Sonoko was the first one to find the ability to speak again.

"What do you mean with –They live here?" she asked with bewilderment, "How can they…?"

For the third time in less than ten minutes, Sonoko stopped and her mouth dropped open.

Ryu appeared from the living room: he was holding a Mp3 reader. He quickly noticed the crowd in the hall and approached them, leaving the reader on top of Shiho's book.

"Hello, Mouri and Suzuki." he greeted and turned to Heiji and Kazuha with a smile, "Hello.. I don't think we've ever met, have we?"

Heiji shook his head. Kazuha, instead, had blushed deeply as she saw Ryu and didn't answer.

Noticing the strange atmosphere, Shinichi decided that he had to do something.

"Well, since we're all here, I can make the introductions." he said, "Hattori, Toyama, these are my friends Ryuji Kazama, Reila Ikeda and Shiho Miyano: they're transfer students from America. Rei, Shiho, Ryu, these are Heiji Hattori and Kazuha Toyama: they're from Osaka. Hattori is a detective and Toyama is his girlfr… childhood friend. You already know Ran and Sonoko."

He was going to say girlfriend but the look on Heiji's face made him change his mind.

Ryu, Rei and Shiho shook hands with the Osaka teens. Sonoko was still slightly shocked to see Ryu there and didn't talk for a while but Ran, on the other hand, noticed that Shinichi had called the new students by first name. All of them, including the girls… She felt another pang of jealousy.

There was a moment of embarrassed silence: nobody knew what to do. Finally, Shinichi decided to take control of the situation.

"Well, come on. Let's go in the living room." he said to his guests, "It's better than standing here."

The small group went inside the large living room. Kazuha looked around with awe: she had never been in Shinichi's house and was impressed by its size and elegance. Heiji noticed that everything was gleaming. Once again, he thought that Kudo couldn't have done everything alone.

Sonoko, Ran, Kazuha and Heiji sat on a couch. Shinichi, Shiho and Ryu sat on the other couch and the armchair. Rei was standing next to the couch. She looked down at Shinichi.

"Shall I bring something to drink?" she asked.

"What? Oh, yes, thanks." he said. Then, he smiled sheepishly, "I should be the one to think of these things."

Rei smiled back and turned to the guests.

"Do you want something to drink?" she asked, "Coffee, tea, soft drinks?"

"Yes, please." Kazuha replied, "I'd like a soft drink."

Ran and Sonoko took the same while Heiji took a cup of coffee. Rei left for the kitchen, followed by Shiho and, to Sonoko's disappointment, by Ryu. Shinichi had the fleeting sensation that they were trying to escape from 'his' guests.

"Well.." he said, as the others left, "How come you're here?"

"We came to visit Ran-san." Heiji replied, "And she told us that you had come back so we decided to visit you, too. By the way, when did you come back?"

Shinichi heard a strange hint in his question and understood the reason immediately. Hattori knew about the Organisation, about his shrinking in Conan and the dangers he went against turning back to normal.

'He's probably wondering why I didn't tell him anything.' he thought, 'Well, I can't tell him now, in front of Ran, Sonoko and Toyama. I'll find a way to talk to him later. I… we also have to tell him about our plan: his help is necessary.'

"I came back on Thursday." he lied, "I finished working on the cases in America and came back home with others."

At the mention of –the others- Sonoko came back to life.

"Hey, how come Kazama and the other two are living here?" she asked with a questioning look.

'Now I understand why the others went away. They didn't want to go through Sonoko's third degree.' Shinichi thought, wishing he could leave too. He sighed inwardly. 'And this is just the beginning.'

"Well, they told me they were going back to Japan, to Tokyo, so I suggested they could stay here at my place instead of looking for a house." he answered, "There's plenty of space here."

"And you let them all live here?"

"Yes."

"The girls, too?"

Shinichi was getting tired..

"Yes, all. And the girls, too." he said, "What's wrong with that?"

Sonoko glared at him.

'What's wrong with that?' she thought, 'He lives with two girls and doesn't think of Ran! What a jerk…'

"Where did you meet, anyway?" she asked.

"New York."

"How?"

"We helped on a case he was working on."

She turned and saw that it was Ryu that had spoken.

He was carrying a tray with three glasses, followed by Rei and Shiho, both carrying a small tray: one with a cup of coffee and a saucer, the other with a plate of biscuits. They served the drinks and offered the biscuits. Shinichi got up and let Rei and Shiho sit on the couch while he sat on its arm. Ryu sat on the armchair.

Heiji took a sip of coffee and looked up.

"You helped him with his cases?" he asked.

"Yes, we met a few ago while he was working on a case in New York and we helped." Rei said.

"What help could you did you give him?" Sonoko asked, staring at her.

"A bit of everything." Shinichi replied quickly but his answer was too vague to satisfy Sonoko. The others pitched in.

"I'm a bit good with computers, so I helped him with researches."

"I'm.. a bit good in science, so I helped with testing."

"I know New York pretty well, so I helped him go around for evidences."

Shinichi smirked slightly when he heard the girls say that they were –a bit good-.

The guests, especially Sonoko, went on asking details about their meeting, the cases they worked on and so on. It was nearly seven o'clock when they decided to leave.

Shinichi, Rei, Ryu and Shiho said goodbye to Heiji and Kazuha, telling that they hoped to meet them soon and told Ran and Sonoko that they would have met at school.

As he closed the front door when they left, Shinichi sighed with relief.

"That was tiring.." he muttered.

"Good thing, Matt and Kuroba didn't contact us today." Rei said.

"By the way, when are you going to tell Hattori about his role in the plan?" Shiho asked, turning to Shinichi, "If I'm not mistaken, he said he's leaving tomorrow."

"I wanted to do it today but I didn't find the right moment." he said, "I'll have to wait the next time he shows up. And who knows when it will be."

Ryu walked past the living room and stopped abruptly.

"Ehm.. I think we'll see him soon." he remarked, walking in.

The others turned around.

"Why?" Rei asked.

Ryu reappeared again, holding something in his hand.

"He left this on the table." he said, with a slight smile, "On purpose."

"So, he'll show up soon." Shiho remarked.

Shortly after she said this, they heard a knock on the door.

"Here he is." Shinichi said as he went to open.

Heiji was standing there, slightly out of breath because he had run. He looked straight at Shinichi.

"Kudo, tell me what's going on." he said, "But be quick, they're waiting for me down the street: I've got only five minutes."

"Come on, Hattori." Shinichi said, "We'll explain."

"That Baka… How could he have forgotten his wallet?"

Kazuha, Ran and Sonoko were standing near the small supermarket at the end of the street, waiting for Heiji. He had dashed back to Shinichi's house a few seconds ago when he realised that his pocket was empty. A gust of wind made the girls shiver.

"I hope he'll hurry." Sonoko complained, "I'm freezing."

Ran kept silent: she hadn't talked for the whole evening. Even at Shinichi's house, she only listened to the others talking. She felt disappointed to have lost the chance to speak to Shinichi alone today. And, most of all, she couldn't stop thinking of his attitude with his new friends.

'All right, Kazama has become a good friend of his but what about Ikeda and Miyano?' she thought, 'I think one of them has to be the girl he has fallen in love with.'

She remembered that Shinichi was always hanging around with Ikeda three years ago. He said they were just friends but, nevertheless, she felt jealous.

'I don't know them after all. Ikeda and Miyano are strangers for me.' she thought again.

She didn't want to jump to conclusions but the doubts remained..

'They're both pretty… very pretty. Ikeda is always gentle and cordial. Miyano is polite but a bit cold… Maybe she behaved like that because she doesn't know us well… They're both Shinichi's friends and.. one could be his girlfriend.'

The only thought made her heart lurch. She snapped out of thoughts only when Kazuha spoke.

"Finally, there he is. Heiji!" she called, "Hurry up!"

Heiji's mind was bursting with all the information Shinichi had given in only five minutes.

He couldn't believe that so many things had happened to him in the past months.

'Stop keeping an eye on him for a while and look what he does..' he thought, walking on.

He closed his eyes and organised the thoughts in his mind.

'They have put on a plan to bring down the Organisation. Kudo is involved and so are Kazama, Ikeda and Miyano. FBI is involved and their plan has already started in America. When the police will have finished there, the operation will move here. And here I come. I'll have to inform Dad, while Kudo informs Inspector Megure. The police forces of Tokyo and Osaka will work together

to bring down the Organisation here. But they said that it's still early. I.. we have to wait.'

Heiji remembered their faces when he had suggested to start working immediately without wasting time. It was a stern expression. He also remembered their words.

"Hattori, you don't know what you're going against." Ryu remarked, "Believe me, we would like to go and find them ourselves but a mistake or a carelessness, would mean our and others death."

"If we were the only ones to risk, then we would try." Rei said, "But we can't risk to endanger the other people that are involved in this plan."

"If the Organisation even gets the hint of the plan's vastness and of how many are involved…" Shiho added quietly, "..all their lives would be in danger. We have to be cautious and we can't underestimate them."

"That's why everything is going on the quiet." Shinichi said, "Hattori, you have to wait: when we'll tell you that's it's time to act, you can inform your father. In the meantime, if you hear anything.. strange, call us. We'll see what we can do."

'Wait.' he thought, 'All I have to do now is wait..'

Heiji understood the importance of this plan and he also understood the reason of their caution. He also wondered how Kazama, Ikeda and Miyano got involved: they didn't tell him since he didn't have time. He snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Kazuha calling him.

'Oh, well, I'll find out in another moment…' he thought and walked towards the three girls.

-Damn it, we're late.- Shinichi exclaimed, as he turned left with his motorbike.

-And it's all Matt's fault.- Ryu added, doing the same maneuvering, -He and his mails in the morning…-

Matt had sent them a number of e-mails that morning.

Rei had accidentally turned on her laptop and she had noticed them. They had quickly ate breakfast and started to see what he said. Matt wrote them a full account of FBI's operations in order to fulfill MYSTERY: it seemed that the plan was going on well. He also asked help for some computer researching.

They were so absorbed reading his e-mails that they didn't realize that it was a quarter to eight. In less than five minutes they left the house. The thing that bothered them most was not the possibility to be late to class but to be seen by the whole school. Till then, they had gone to school early when there was hardly anyone around. They didn't want to draw attention: unfortunately, their two motorbikes would do it.

-We're nearly there.- Shiho said, when the front gates were visible, -And it's full of students.-

-Let's get prepared for the worst..- Rei remarked.

The two motorbikes sped on.

Ran and Sonoko were walking past the gates, talking cheerfully. Heiji and Kazuha had left that morning for Osaka and Ran was telling her friend that they had invited them to go and visit them if they had time.

"A visit to Osaka?" Sonoko said thoughtfully, "Well, why not? When can…?"

She stopped when she saw two motorbikes speed past them. Ran stared at them, too.

"Who comes to school by motorbike?" she asked. Sonoko usually knew everything that happened in the school and her eyes widened when she said that she didn't know.

Sonoko tugged to her sleeve.

"Come on, let's see who they are." she said, pulling her friend towards the back of the school where the motorbikes had gone. The two girls hid behind a wall and spied...ehm, watched them.

"They're of our school since they wear our uniforms." Sonoko muttered, "Two.. boys and two girls, but I can't see their faces. Those helmets cover them completely."

'Two girls and two boys?' Ran thought, 'Just like.. them. But, it can't be him: he hasn't got a motorbike.'

She had hardly thought this, that the two boys got down from the motorbikes and took off their helmets. Ran and Sonoko's mouths dropped open as they recognized them.

Ryu and Shinichi held out a hand to help the girls down. Ran and Sonoko were not far from them and they could clearly hear them talk.

"Five to eight.." Ryu remarked, looking at his watch, "It's a record."

"I'd say a miracle." Rei corrected, taking off her helmet, "A miracle a policeman didn't see us."

Shinichi grinned. He turned to Shiho, who was taking off her helmet, too: her reddish-blonde hair cascaded back down to her shoulders. She looked up and met his stare with a puzzled look. The young detective blushed slightly, making her smile.

"We should go, shouldn't we?" she asked, taking her bag and putting her helmet inside the motorbike's trunk.

"Yes and let's get prepared to be bombarded.." Shinichi added, picking his bag and walking towards the entrance. Ryu, Rei and Shiho followed him.

Ran and Sonoko came out of their hiding place as soon as the four had disappeared from view.

They were both speechless.

Whispers and looks.

These were the two things that greeted Shinichi, Shiho, Rei and Ryu when they entered the school. Their coming in motorbike had made them known by the whole school. They were all regretting the fact that they had come late: till then, the only ones that knew them (the other three, not Shinichi) were their classmates and the kind of mystery around them had helped them to be left alone. But now, things had become worse. Shinichi, Ryu and Rei were kind of used to all this attention but Shiho wasn't. For her it was a totally new thing.

"I feel as though I was a rare animal.." she remarked, as they put their shoes in the cupboard and walked to their classroom. "How do you stand all of this?"

"Ignore it." was the other three's reply, "It's the only way."

Shiho just stared at them. As they entered the classroom and sat at their desks, their classmates hurtled around them.

"Hey, were those your bikes?"
"Really cool.."
"Did you buy it in USA or here?"

These were the questions mainly asked to Shinichi and Ryu. The girls had their own trouble.

"Is it true that you two live with Kazama and Kudo?"
"That's why you came to school together, right?"
"Oh, you're so lucky!"

Fortunately, the teacher came in, saving the four to answer. As the class settled down, Ryu leaned forward towards Shinichi.

"How do they know that we live together?" he whispered.

"Sonoko." Shinichi whispered back, eyeing the blonde girl sitting a few desks in front of him, "I could bet on it."

"Well, we can forget to pass unobserved without attracting attention." Rei said softly, "Half the school knows us by now."

"And the other half will know us soon." Shinichi said, "Really great… and all because we were late this morning."

"Farewell peace.." Shiho remarked under her breath.

As they had foreseen, by lunchtime the whole Teitan High knew that Shinichi Kudo was back and that there were three new, very cute transfer students. They managed to escape from their classroom and lunch break but, unfortunately, the rooftop was already crowded by "annoyers" as Shinichi called them.

They decided to go around the grounds: it was surely better than going back to class.

They had already ate lunch and were walking near to the soccer field, ignoring the looks from the other students and the frequent whispering. A few members of the soccer team were playing on the field and, seeing them, Shinichi gasped suddenly, startling the others.

"What's wrong?" Shiho asked, looking at him.

"Shinichi?" Ryu called when he didn't answer.

Still nothing.

Then, without an apparent reason, Shinichi turned around.

"Let's go back." he said urgently.

The other three looked at him with a puzzled expression: his behavior was not normal.

"Why?" Rei asked, "Wha…?"

"Please. I'll explain later." He said, cutting through her words.

Rei, Ryu and Shiho looked at each other: they didn't have a clue of what was going on but since it seemed so important to Shinichi, they did as he asked. They had hardly walked a few meters that a voice reached them.

"KUDO!"

'Oh, damn it!' Shinichi thought, recognizing the voice, 'He saw me!'

He began to walk faster, followed by the never so confused Ryu, Rei and Shiho.

"HEY, KUDO!" the voice called again, "KUDO SHINICHI!"

Rei turned around curiously, wondering who was calling Shinichi.

It was a boy, probably older than them from what she could see. A tall burly boy with black hair, wearing the typical soccer shorts, shirt and shoes that was running towards them. The last details stirred something in Rei's mind.

'He looks familiar…' she thought, staring at him and walking at the same time, 'But where…? Of course!'

Rei stopped on her tracks and blocked Shinichi. Shiho and Ryu stopped, too.

"Ni-chan, isn't that, Kojima-san?" she asked, "Your soccer team's captain at Middle school?"

"Yes, it's him." he replied quickly, "And if we don't hurry, he'll reach us."

"Why are you running away if you know him?" Ryu asked.

Shinichi looked up and saw that his three friends were staring at him. He sighed.

"All right, I'll explain. But I'll do it quickly." he said, "That boy is Isashi Kojima: he's in class 3-B. He's Teitan High's soccer team's captain... He's my captain."

"Then, why on Earth are you running away?" Ryu asked, "You know him."

Shinichi looked at him with slight desperation.

"When I joined the team, he already knew how good I was since we had played together at Middle school. Let's say that he expected a lot from me: he always made me train more than the others but that's not the point..." he said, "I disappeared a few days before a very important match and I stopped coming to school and that means also to practice. You don't know him: he'll kill me before I can even come up with a decent explanation."

"Football is so important to him?" Shiho asked.

"Football is his obsession." Shinichi replied, "Oh, damn, he's coming here."

Kojima was a few feet away from them and he looked slightly annoyed.

"Hey, Kudo!" he said, "I've been calling you for a while, didn't you hear me?"

"Hey, Kojima-san!" Shinichi greeted him, as though he just seen him, "How you're doing?"

The soccer captain arched an eyebrow.

"I'm doing fine. But coming to you.." he said, approaching Shinichi, "Where have you been?"

Shinichi backed a few steps: Kojima was intimidating..

"Uhm.. I was in America working on cases..." he said, hoping to sound convincing, "And... ehm.. it took me a long time... Anyway, did you meet my friends?"

Ryu, Rei and Shiho didn't know whether to laugh or to be worried of Shinichi's behavior. Kojima, however, looked only partially satisfied by his answer: he knew Shinichi was a famous detective.

"Well, all right.. If you had work..." he said, making Shinichi sigh with relief, "Anyway, you're coming back to practice from now on, right?"

Shinichi froze.

Go back to soccer practice? That was the last thing he wanted to do but how could he tell it to Kojima-san?

"Ehm... I... really..." he started but was interrupted by Rei that tugged his arm.

"Kojima-san, do you mind a minute?" she asked and pulled Shinichi to the background, followed by Ryu and Shiho.

"Rei? What's up with you?" Shinichi asked.

"I think it's better if you go back to practice." she said.

This was the last thing Shinichi expected.

"WHAT?" he exclaimed, "No, I can't. What about all our idea of being secretive and careful? Of being always together, in case something happens?"

"I doubt we can keep on our act of being secretive after our entrance this morning." Shiho remarked, "The whole school knows us by now."

"And, besides that, if we.. you still want to keep on your act, you have to go back to soccer practice." Ryu said, "You're famous: everyone knows you are and what you do and I guess they probably know that you're a football fanatic. Don't you realize that if you don't go, it will be suspicious? We decided to behave normally as any other student and you have to do the same things you did before."

Shinichi hadn't seen the problem from this point of view. He thought this over.

'He's right... Everyone knows I'm in the soccer team. If I leave it, people will start to wonder why..'

They were still discussing when they heard a shout.

"HEY! WATCH OUT!"

A soccer ball was flying towards them at full speed. Kojima was far from it and he had had only the time to warn them. Shinichi was at the back with Rei and Shiho. Ryu was the only one at the front.

He blocked the ball on his chest, bounced it on his right knee and kicked it with precision towards the soccer field from the ball had come.

"Wow, nice one, Ryu." Shinichi said impressed. Ryu just smiled.

Kojima had seen this last action, too. He approached Ryu with a odd expression.

"Hey, listen, you... ehm.." he started.

"Kazama." Ryu replied, "Ryuji Kazama."

"Do you play football?"

"I played. Years ago. Why?"

Shinichi had hinted where Kojima-san was coming to. He had noticed that kind of maniac gleam in his eyes. He had to warn Ryu before it was too late.

"Listen, why don't you join our team?" Kojima asked Ryu before Shinichi could even move a step.

'Damn it. Too late...' he thought.

"What? Me?" Ryu asked surprised, "No, I don't..."

"Come on." Kojima coaxed him, "Kudo is good and you're good too. The team will be great."

"It's just... that... well..." Ryu stammered, "I'm a transfer student: I don't know how much time I.."

"Well, all right. Play till you can."

Ryu saw that he was in a dead end. What kind of excuse could he make up now?

Rei sighed and looked at Shiho. They're eyes met and they nodded, knowing what to do. Rei approached Ryu.

"Come on, why don't you do it?" she whispered.

He stared at her.

"What?" he said, taking her to the background, "I can't."

Rei raised an eyebrow.

"You're saying the same things Shinichi said." she remarked.

"Well, one thing is Shinichi. I'm another."

"Why?"

"Listen, we have to stick together. Always. If Shinichi went to practice, I could stay with you and Shiho but if we both go..."

"We'll be alone." Rei said simply, "So?"

"So, I... ehm..."

"Don't tell me that you think we're not able to look after ourselves?" she asked, noticing his embarrassment. Ryu coughed and this confirmed her suspects."Ryu... Do you really think we'll get in trouble if you or Shinichi aren't around?"

"It's not that..." he said, and turned to Shinichi for help but he was busy dealing with Shiho's silent but very successful questioning: her stare was piercing Shinichi like a blade.

The boys found themselves in a position from which they couldn't get away. They looked at each and sighed. They turned around to Kojima who was still waiting.

"All right." they said, "We'll come."

Kojima looked as though all his dreams had come true.

"Great!" he said, "Ok, then, practice is every Tuesday and Thursday. See you!"

He went back to the soccer field with a wide smile. As soon as he disappeared from view, the two boys turned around.

"Satisfied?" they asked with annoyance to the girls.

Both Rei and Shiho smiled mischievously, making them blush.

"Yes." Shiho said, walking past Shinichi.

"For the moment." Rei added, walking past Ryu.

The boys stared at them and then, looked at each other.

"We're too weak, Shinichi." Ryu said.

"Yeah, or they're too strong." Shinichi remarked, "They always win."

They followed the girls back to class, thinking that from now on besides school, researches of information, working on their plan and being always on guard, they also had to go to soccer practice.

Hi, everyone! Another chapter is up. I hope you liked it: I wanted to put a bit of humor but I'm not sure that I written it well. Anyway, Sorry, sorry, sorry for the delay. I'm all messed up with classes at university and I can't find spare time. I hope to write the next chapters soon but I'm not that sure..

I hope you'll wait...

Thanks for all the reviews: it seems that many of you have appreciated the last chapter very much. I'm glad for that: it was the first time I've ever written a romance scene (if we don't count the one in chapter.. ehm.. 13? 14? Anyway, among Ryu and Rei..).

I hope you'll go on with the reviews.

Thanks to Spede, Dagron, Milky Neon, Me, Thunder5545, irie hart, clau, Megumi 014, ariasunset.

You have sent the reviews before summer and also after I finally updated in September after my computer's problems. Thank you very much.

Anyway, coming back to the story, I think I'll write another couple of chapters about Shinichi, Shiho, Ryu and Rei's school life. Then, I 'll go back to the main story line..

Ok, here you all soon.

REVIEW!

Bye!

A.N: Corrections have been made