Disclaimer: "Detective Conan" belongs to Gosho Aoyama, and "Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon" belongs to Naoko Takeuchi.

This is an alternative story to my other fanfic "Encounter in Venice" and one of the possibilities of what could have happened if Ai had taken the antidote before Shinichi brought down the Organization.

Thanks a lot to my friends and betas Rae (Astarael00) and SN1987a and the Aicoholics on LiveJournal, without whom I would never have started this fic.

FS

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Ghost at Twilight

(edited version)

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On the way back to…

On the way back to Paris, you suddenly became aware of the fact that Tenoh-san and you were racing on a slippery road through the heavy snowfall, which painted your surroundings white and obscured your view. If Tenoh-san got into an accident now (if she carried on like this, she would get into an accident before long!) the whole operation would be over in an instant. One didn't survive a crash at this speed, especially not on a motorcycle, without a helmet. But since you knew she wouldn't listen to you, anyway, you refrained from pointing it out to her.

You thought you'd be happier about this, you admitted, breaking the silence. But you doubted that you could celebrate your victory after your forthcoming revenge even if you two succeeded.

"We're not hurting innocent civilians, koneko-chan!" Tenoh-san sighed, exasperated. "We're not even targeting the bad guys at the bottom of the ladder! We're putting ourselves in danger to eliminate the bosses in one clean swipe so that there won't be any collateral damage! And we're actually avoiding the messy aftermath which Kudo's pacifism will cause. This is counterterrorism at its best!"

If Kudo took the crows to court and used the information in Pandora's Box, he would spend his whole life on the run, she reminded you. His girlfriend, his parents, the Professor, and the detectives who supported Kudo would most probably be watched, be kidnapped to be used as a lever, or even be murdered unless they gave up their identities and went into hiding. Some people would do anything to silence your detective! Not only the Yakuza, the Italian Mafia, the Russian mafia, or one terrorist group but all of them would want Kudo's head. To make matters worse, most governments were going to search for Kudo as well—not to protect him but to 'neutralize' him, mind you, which was the usual answer of the secret services when they failed to see another solution to their problem. The few FBI agents who were known to have worked with Kudo would suddenly get into an 'accident'; the agents motards would be forced to back down. In that case, you couldn't count on Tenoh-san's help since she, too, would lean back and pretend to busy herself with another problem so as not to get her own family into trouble.

Of course a few scapegoats would get out of jail, a few politicians would have to resign, a few codename members would commit suicide. But even a drunken idiot like Mori Kogoro could see that eliminating the crows and their 'families' would produce a more desirable outcome at a smaller sacrifice…

"In case you count on Jean's help: He once swore to protect my mother and love her until 'death do them part'. He only kept his second promise, as we all know. How well is he going to protect your detective if he couldn't protect his own wife? If he hadn't waited until she received the last red card but listened to her and killed Anokata and the crows before they could strike, she'd have had a chance to survive."

In fact, you knew that all the things Tenoh-san said was true—but knowing that a sacrifice was necessary didn't make you feel better about the act. You shifted uneasily on Tenoh-san's passenger seat when your thoughts once again drifted to the four 'children', whose only known crime was to have been raised by a syndicate, people who were just like you. While you didn't care about Anokata and the crows, you felt sorry for yourself, especially now when you had the premonition that your life would forever be divided into the phase before and the phase after you gave Tenoh-san the twenty-five pills, no matter how justified your actions had been.

"Do you know what I find extremely sad about this world?" you remarked as the sun disappeared and the afterglow of twilight remained the only light on the horizon. There was nothing one could do to regain one's equilibrium. There was no way to make atonement since there was no redemption, no boundless, eternal, universal love, no appropriate punishment, no divine forgiveness. At the end of your life, the white mice and the strangers you had murdered would stay a scar on your conscience, whose ugliness would have grown exponentially with time. In Andersen's fairy tales, there was a sense of closure, a purpose even in death. You had always liked the ending of "The Little Mermaid"—as tragic as it was…

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"Has Jean recognized you?" Tenoh-san asked after she had refilled her tank at a petrol station and you two had returned to the centre of Paris. To soothe your tattered nerves, she had slowed down a bit although she was still weaving through the traffic at the maximum speed allowed. The ex-racer didn't seem surprised by her father's speeches and patiently listened to your account of the talk between Jean Black and you until you were finished. To all appearances, it didn't faze her a bit.

"Jean has always loved to keep up appearances," Tenoh-san said, indifferently. "He also loves to cling to the past." She gazed into the distance with a mocking smirk as she continued to drive, steering her bike with somnambulistic ease as if it were a part of her body. "Do you know why he can't accept Michiru? Not because he hates lesbians—hell no! Jean has a few gay friends and likes them as much as his straight friends, and I'm sure he wouldn't even have minded having a gay son. But he couldn't bear that his darling daughter, who once resembled her lovely, feminine mother so much, would suddenly cut her long blonde locks and turn butch once she hit puberty. It was useless to explain to him that I had never, ever, liked boys and that I had only cut my hair and bound my breasts to prevent them from chasing me!" Jean also felt obliged to stay true to his old principles and the agents motards, who wanted to see the Organization's leaders in court—Tenoh-san claimed—but it was glaringly obvious that Jean was pining for the same sort of revenge which she wanted.

She dropped you off at a street corner near the same perfume and cosmetics store on the Avenue des Champs Élysées where she had picked you up. Before you could turn and leave, however, she held you back by your hand and contemplated you in silence.

"Jean knows me," she said at last, swinging her red helmet, which you had returned to her, back and fourth instead of putting it on. "He already knows we're going to take them out and steal a backup of Pandora's Box—but I bet you he won't even move a finger to prevent us from executing our plan. If Jean were in my shoes, he'd be much more vicious!" Her eyes darkened. "We aren't torturing them, koneko-chan! We're only putting the clock forward and shortening their time on earth a bit, giving them a much quicker and more pleasant death than what they'd have received if God existed! Twenty-four hours of pain are too short a time to atone for their sins. It's absolutely nothing compared to what a normal person who dies of cancer has to suffer."

What Jean really meant to say was that he could usually tell who was who on his chessboard, Tenoh-san claimed. Kudo Shinichi was his rook or tower (the promising, naive, young detective who would always keep strictly to the straight and narrow) while Haruka was his queen (his ruthless and efficient girl, who would avenge his wife's murder and win the game for him). Kudo would convince Interpol and the FBI and the rest of the world that Jean Black had honestly tried to secure Pandora's Box and catch the seven crows alive but failed while Haruka would bring justice to all the victims of the Organization in a roundabout way. Who Jean didn't need in his game was you: an unpredictable knight of no clear colour, who could ruin all his schemes.

"It's not like we're stealing the files to sell them, koneko-chan! We're going to help the victims by forcing the judges to release the wrongly convicted and make amends to the victims' families. Looking at it from this angle, you're not betraying Kudo at all. Tonight, you can go to bed with a clear conscience. Twenty-five plus one… Is it too high a price for all the people we're going to save? Would you really feel better about this if you, like Andersen's mermaid, could wander the world trying to make random children happy until you had earned your eternal soul?"

It wouldn't change anything for you or the people you were going to kill—although she believed that finding a sense of closure would be helpful since you were the only person whose judgement mattered when it came to your own peace of mind. "But we aren't living in Andersen's romantic Christian universe but in a cynical post-modern world—so a Royal Flush would probably solve all your problems," she jokingly added. "Also, I'm sure that our Greek Gods like to gamble. If people were cards, you'd already have made Hotaru-chan, Jean, Michiru, and me happy with your latest creations." She gently patted her pocket, in which she was hiding the jewellery box with the twenty-five pills. "You only need an Ace of Hearts—your Professor?—for the best possible Straight Flush, which is, at least in Poker, unbeatable!"

It took you a beat to grasp that she had just assigned everyone in her family and also her father, whom she no longer viewed as a family member, a card. Hotaru-chan must be the Ten of Hearts since the girl was turning ten in January while Kaioh-san was, obviously, the Queen. Knowing how narcissistic she was, you also suspected that Tenoh-san had assigned herself the King and her father the Jack instead of vice versa.

"Is your father the Jack?" you asked her nevertheless and gave her a doubtful look when she nodded. "But you two and Kaioh-san resemble Clubs or Spades much more than Hearts, in my opinion." Since all the suits had to match in a Royal Flush—you pointed out—you doubted that having three Clubs or Spades would be very helpful.

Tenoh-san only sighed in response, and you changed the topic by asking her to thank the seventh crow in your name.

"Why are you so interested in the guy?" She eyed you in palpable mistrust. Tenoh-san clearly didn't want you to know too much about her allies lest you mess up and she had to sever all the links to you.

"You said he was the only one who voted against my sister's execution," you explained. It was, no doubt, an impressive act—especially since the crows didn't use secret ballots, as Gin once told you. Even though it didn't save Akemi-nee-san in the end, his gesture impressed you nevertheless.

To your surprise, hot colour suddenly suffused Tenoh-san's face while her eyes were glowing with something akin to embarrassment and pride, convincing you that the seventh crow and she must be closer to each other than you had thought. It was indeed a courageous albeit foolish act—she agreed. Imagine all of them crouching around the fireplace in silence, eagerly ticking off the "yes" box to please that person. All the six crows naturally expected the seventh to go along with the flow since he had already received a red card. Much to their dismay, the third-generation rookie dared to vote against it—citing the Organization's policy not to carry out unnecessary assassinations and to let the insignificant members buy themselves out of the Organization…

"Anyhow, my family and I are Hearts!" Tenoh-san winked at you, interrupting your train of thought just when you began to wonder how the crows had become so bloodthirsty if they had once sworn to avoid unnecessary bloodshed. "Because everyone has two faces if you look at them closely! Michiru and I don't take pity on our enemies but you know you can trust us!" She leaned in to cup your face. "I also suspect that I'm your King of Hearts although you'll never admit it to yourself."

She impertinently stole a kiss before you could react, shocking you with the unanticipated sensation of her warm lips against your cold ones, and laughed when you vehemently pushed her away.

"Do you want to know a secret? Jean called me last night and told me to take care of you because he thinks you're too emotional for this." She casually started the engine. "We have his blessing, koneko-chan—if we don't mess this up. Just remember what they did to my mother and your sister, don't be too nice, and don't disappoint us!"

Tenoh-san raced off before you could reply, and raised her hand, which was still holding the red helmet, to wave you goodbye as she sped along the Champs Élysées. Her fair hair glimmered in all shades and colours in the city's multitude of lights and flapped in the wind until it was finally covered by her red helmet. Gazing after her slender figure until it disappeared, you distractedly noted that the sight of her retreating back looked oddly familiar—as if you had already seen her narrow waist and her relaxed shoulders on a bike before although you couldn't recall when and where anymore.

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