DISCLAIMER: Detective Conan belongs to the rightful owner, Gosho Aoyama. I do not claim ownership of the anime/manga characters used in my story. Other than that - the story and setting are fictitious and are products of the author's imagination. Any semblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

RATED T for minor coarse language. Depending on how the story will unfold, rating may or may not be changed in the future.

PROLOGUE

"I'm afraid it's true," Jodie Starling gravely said, eyebrows creased in her forehead.

"True, what?" said Shinichi, mirroring her solemn expression and suddenly in business mode.

Jodie studied his expression first before she sighed deeply and said, "It's true that Gin is alive." There was no point in beating around the bush. This was a serious matter.

The FBI agent saw a series of emotions pass through the young detective's face. For a moment, he looked shocked upon hearing the news. How could he not? The man was thought to be dead that night seven years ago! Then there was a look of confusion, then worry and apprehension before his face hardened in determination.

"H-how could that be?" Shinichi asked in apparent uncertainty. "He was dead. I saw him fall down. He should not be able to come out of that burning building. How could he be alive?"

Jodie looked distressed herself but there was no trace of doubt in her expression. She was telling the truth. "Believe me, it shocked us too, and as of now, we still have no leads as to how he survived. However, we are certain that it is indeed Gin."

"What makes you say so? And how did you find him?"

"Ever since that case with the Black Organization, we have been given strict orders to be wary of any member of the organization, just in case some of them survived. After all, we have not been able to retrieve all the supposedly dead bodies in that fire," Jodie started. "I had made the agents assigned in Japan to familiarize themselves with the members' profile and faces. Normally, we would run a quick background check on any suspected person, and find that none of them came into contact with the syndicate. But there was this man with a different case." Jodie paused, probably thinking how to word her next statements properly.

"How is it different?" asked Shinichi, a look of impatience and apprehension marring his rather serious expression.

"A month ago, I received an intel of a sighting of a man who looked like Gin in Osaka. But what's strange is that, when we ran a background check, we could not find anything on the man. He had no records in Japan, not even in the US. We've checked from other countries and so far we got nothing. There was no record of his existence at all, not even a pseudonym.

I had Agent Camel and two others tail the man. He was as meticulous and wary as ever. He made sure not to attract attention and not to leave any evidence of him in every place he visited. But one time, he got reckless. He was in a restaurant, and he ordered nothing but a glass of iced tea. He seemed to be anxious of something, he kept looking around.

Suddenly, he stood up and hastily left the place. The agents seized that opportunity to take the used glass and straw for DNA testing. We compared it to the record we had of Gin and it came out ninety-nine percent matched."

Shinichi suddenly looked thoughtful. The gears in his mind working, thinking about the vile man and of possible ways to apprehend him. He should be taken down. That dangerous man did not deserve to roam around freely.

"There's more," Jodie said. Shinichi looked at her and nodded once to let her continue. "On that same day – no, on that same hour since that man left the restaurant, there was a murder case nearby. It was in another restaurant and someone was poisoned."

Jodie scrolled through her tablet and played a certain video before she turned it over to face Shinichi.

"That's the surveillance video of that incident, and Gin was amongst the people inside the restaurant. The woman who was poisoned was not supposed to be the one to drink it."

Shinichi watched the video carefully, taking in all the little details he could find. Despite this seemingly inattention from him, Jodie continued. "Someone else confessed to the crime, but the culprit himself admitted that he had not yet administered the poison, though he definitely had a plan to. Because all evidences pointed to him, he was arrested.

However, Detective Hattori had other thoughts. He was the one who sent us the video when he noticed a suspicious figure in the table next to the victim's."

Shinichi's forehead crinkled in concentration. Jodie was not even sure if he was still listening.

"But we have no evidence that it was him who put the poison to the glass," Jodie added a bit bitterly.

"It was him," Shinichi declared.

Slightly bewildered, Jodie uttered an ineloquent "What?"

"It was that man in a hoodie," the young detective repeated. "Everybody's attention was on that guy at the other end of the table who was giving some sort of toast or speech," he said, as he pointed at a certain figure on the video. "It was convenient that the hooded figure in the video, believed to be Gin, arrived at that exact time. The table was reserved as well, if that reserved sign on his table is to be considered – so I believe it was really a premeditated murder. Look here," Shinichi pointed once more at a particular scene of the video. "It was subtle, but as the man passed between the two tables, his left hand lifted up a little. It's not so visible at this angle, but I believe it was then when he swiftly dropped the poison in the glass."

Jodie looked stunned and impressed. "That's what Detective Hattori said to us as well."

Shinichi may or may not have heard her because he was so concentrated in watching the video; his index finger and thumb were cradling his chin in a thinking manner. Suddenly, his expression changed; his eyes widened in obvious shock. He pointed at a certain part on the tablet screen, unable to form words for a while.

"I-Isn't this-" he started. He was not able to finish because when he looked at the grim expression on the female agent's face, he knew he was right.

Nonetheless, Jodie Starling confirmed what he dreaded to hear. "Yes, that is Shiho Miyano."

Shinichi froze. His heart thudded painfully in his chest and he somehow had difficulty breathing. His hands were gripping the edges of the small square table between them, trembling.

It was her. It was Haibara. He had not seen her in so long. Gods, how he wanted to see her. It had been seven years but even in this low quality CCTV footage, he could still see that nothing much had changed, at least appearance-wise. She was doing fine. At least, she was doing fine.

But Gin was near her.

He was fucking sitting next to her table!

"We have reasons to believe that Gin is out for revenge," Jodie gravely said, effectively cutting the dangerous turn of Shinichi's thoughts. "Particularly against you and her. Especially her. And if that poisoned glass was not really meant for the actual victim, then apparently, he had already made his move. Although he surprisingly failed."

Shinichi, for the first time, felt scared. Not for himself, but for her.

He had to find her. And he had one clue – Hattori.

Author's Note: So... What do you think? Aah! This is actually my first attempt at writing a multi-chaptered mystery-romance fic so it's making me anxious. Please let me know what you think. Reviews are greatly appreciated! Although, I can't promise for regular updates because adulting is hard. :( Still, I hope you'll stick with me.

xoxo

Miss SunnySunshine