"The Music Is in my Heart" by Kumatenshi
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Disclaimer: All characters (aside from original ones) are derived from "Detective Conan" and are copyrighted to Aoyama Gosho. The original version (which is very different from this one) was posted on a Conan Mailing List on New Year's Eve a year or two ago.
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* * *
1.1 Chapter One: Discovery And Loss
1.2 29 December, Friday
* * *
Once again, the clock struck. At other times of the year, I would usually be so indulged with my other duties that the cries of the old clock could hardly be heard. However, today, my world suddenly became completely silent. For a moment, I even had the feeling that the whole world paused, just to give me the precious time I needed to reflect on my life. This feeling vanished instantly when a voice dashed through the chilling air like an arrow and headed right into my nearly frozen ears.
"Mirai, look what I have found!" That was my twin brother, Natsuki Hikaru, son of Natsuki Ken and heir to the gigantic Natsuki Electronic Corporation. Gorgeous looking, rich, sociable, and a skilled kendo player, my brother was the idol of almost every girl at school. We might be siblings but our personality differed tremendously. What my brother had was a burning passion and an endless stream of energy that flowed through his body. What I, Natsuki Mirai had at that moment was a calm temperament and an icy heart that froze my emotions. I was an introvert and could accomplish nothing more than day dreaming. For some miraculous reasons though, we managed to get along extremely well. Probably it was because we both shared the nostalgia for our mother who was sleeping in the beautiful garden just outside our mansion. Or probably, it was something else that I would not even dare to think about.
"Hikaru, you don't have to scream." I said as I observed him rushing toward the window sill where I was comfortably resting on. "I see that it is a key. Where did you find this?"
"It was in my room, lying in the narrow space between the wall and the T.V. cabinet. By the way, Mirai, I think you should either turn on the heating or at least light a fire. Your room is freezing."
"You can turn on the heating if you want but I do enjoy the cold. It enables me to organize my thoughts more efficiently."
"I think you will catch a cold before you can even think of anything". Hikaru said as he grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around my weak body.
"Back to our previous topic, why would you suddenly look in that place?" I asked after he had settled comfortably into the arm chair and had a good sip of his cup of green tea.
"Well, I left Taisuke's paper last night on top of the T.V. before I went to bed and forgot all about it. This morning, when I opened the window, a gust of wind sent the paper dancing in the air and one sheet landed in that peculiar spot. I tried to pick it up and that was when I found this key. Who do you think this belongs to?"
"How should I know", I casually replied as I toyed with the small key in my hand. The key was covered with a weathering layer of silver coating and about an inch long. It had a small sunflower logo on the surface in the space right beneath the small hole. I closed my eyes as I searched for anything with a key hole and a sunflower logo.
"It is quite unlikely that a key that small is a house or car key. Hence, it should be a locker key or key that unlocks a chest or drawer." I deduced.
"What about music box?" Hikaru asked.
"That is possible." I replied.
Hikaru retracted to his realm of thoughts for the next half an hour, briefly diverting his attention only for the cup of tea in his hand. I knew that once my brother was absorbed in his thoughts, he would not care if the world stopped spinning. When he finally put down his cup of tea, he took the key and left, saying he had some errands to run and he would be back at around 10 o'clock in the evening. However, he did not show up, not that midnight or the midnight after. On the 31st of December, I could endure the feeling of uncertainty nomore. So, I decided to pay a visit to the famous high school detective Hattori Heiji, who was Hikaru's friend and just a year younger than us.
* * *
1.3 31 December, Friday
* * *
The cold that I would normally enjoy had suddenly become unbearable. I reckoned that could be due to my heightening worries about my brother's disappearance. At around 9:30 in the morning, my driver dropped me in front of a decent sized house that was guarded by a pair of sturdy wooden doors. I rang the bells and a few moments later, an old lady appeared. I told her my name and she smiled, saying the young master was expecting me. She then shoveled me through the traditional Japanese architecture into a large room, where Hattori Heiji was again arguing with his girl friend Toyama Kazuha. As soon as they saw me, they stopped and their face turned as red as apple.
"Natsuki-senpai, what is this business about Hikaru senpai vanishing? Can you tell me a bit more? You said very little over the phone." Hattori asked.
"Heiji, Natsuki-senpai is barely sitting down!" Toyama said in a lecturing voice. Then, she turned to me and said in a much softer voice, "Natsuki- senpai, would you like something to drink, is tea okay? Or would you like coffee or juice?"
"Tea will be fine, thank you very much". I said smiling. "Hattori kun, what a wonderful girlfriend you have got."
"Kazuha is not my girlfriend, not such a bossy girl. She just happened to be growing up with me."
"That's right, there is no way such an insensitive guy is my boyfriend!"
I laughed a little, remembering how Hikaru used to refer to them as a pair of lovebirds who just would not admit they were in love. Sometimes, I would not understand these people. Why would they not want to enjoy the pleasure of being in love? Why would they want to deny it? Well, I guess probably that was because they had never been cursed with the ill fortune of not being able to whole heartedly love another person. When my body finally warmed a little with the tea, I related to Hattori and Toyama the incident about the key and my brother's subsequent disappearance.
"And after that, you did not see or hear from Hikaru senpai?" Hattori Heiji asked when I completed my story. Probably unintentionally, I felt that he was carefully studying me, my movements, my tones, my thoughts. His pair of sharp, dark eyes seemed to look right pass my natural brown hair, my anxious brown eyes, and right into the hidden section of my heart. Could that be the natural instincts of the so-called detectives? I could not tell for up until then, I was never acquainted with any detective. In fact, all my past encounters with Hattori were not more than a few minutes, and usually after kendo matches. Even then, I always faded into the background for he was primarily talking to my brother over kendo, a topic which I knew nothing about.
"Did you call the police?"
I shook my head.
"Why?"
"Because my father said Hikaru could not possibly have disappeared. He must have changed his mind and went with Ogata-kun, his friend, to Hokkaido."
"But you did not believe your father?"
I shook my head again.
"Why?"
"Three reasons. First, I don't think Hikaru will suddenly change his mind because he was quite firm about not going to Hokkaido at this time of the year. He did not like cold weather in general and he was already complaining how cold Osaka was. I cannot imagine him going to Hokkaido during the winter. Second, when I checked his wardrobe, I found all his large coats still in place. He could not have gone to Hokkaido without at least bringing his coats. Finally, it was so unlike him not to tell me if he had decided to go to Hokkaido. Even if he were just going out, normally he would have let me known where he was and when he would be coming home."
"Natsuki-senpai, you have great reasoning skills. Have you ever thought of becoming a detective in future?" Hattori asked, half-jokingly but I decided to take the question seriously.
"No. I have neither interest in staring at lifeless bodies nor tracking lost properties."
"Well, actually the work of detectives could be a lot more complicated than what many people commonly think". Hattori laughed as he shot a quick glance at Toyama, who was obviously not too pleased.
"Natsuki-senpai," Toyama asked in an effort to drop the topic of detective work, "have you called Ogata to confirm if your brother had been to Hokkaido?"
"I called his mobile phone but he must be in an area where reception was very bad and I could not get to him. I tried to call the inn where he was supposedly to be staying but the number I got from his parents did not work". I sighed.
"What about calling the other people who were going with him?"
"Besides Ogata-kun, I did not know the other people who were in this trip to Hokkaido."
"What about your father, why would he think Hikaru-senpai would be going to Hokkaido?" this time, Hattori asked.
"Well, Hikaru once mentioned to my father about the trip to Hokkaido and my father said he could go if he wanted but my brother said he was not too interested. My father seldom cared about what Hikaru and I were doing. He was either too busy with his work or with drinking to be bothered with us."
"Drinking?"
"Yes. Since my mother's death my father changed into a completely different person. Although he was still a workaholic, he also became an alcoholic. Consequently, he was not as reliable as before. He even made a terrible decision a short while ago about a project. Luckily, Nohara-san was there to help clear up the mess. I doubt the corporation could continue without Nohara-san".
"But your father never considered other possibilities, such as-"
"Kidnap?" I said without waiting for Hattori to finish his sentence.
"Yes. After all, your father is very rich and it would not be surprising if anyone would want to kidnap your brother."
"That's true, but we have not received any phone calls as yet. Besides, my father hated the police. Even if Hikaru were kidnapped, I doubted my father would call the police."
"Why does he hate the police?"
"That I do not know. I only remember that once some robbers broke into our house and stole some jewelries and antiques. My father strongly refused to report to the police and said he would deal with it himself. A month later, the items were recovered even though how I did not know."
"Could your brother be still in Osaka but just staying at his friend's place for a few nights?" Toyama asked.
"I doubt it. I rang every single friend of his that I knew and none said he had contacted them. Besides, there is no reason why Hikaru would not return home or would not at least have called me if he were staying at his friend's place for the night."
"Maybe he is staying with his girlfriend? If so, he may not want to call his sister in front of his girlfriend." Kazuha suggested.
"I…I am not aware Hikaru has…has a girlfriend." I replied in a small voice.
"Hikaru-senpai doesn't have a girlfriend, and Kazuha, why don't you just let me ask the questions! You should really go back home. Your mother will be worried." Hattori's face sounded a little annoyed.
"Okay, I understand. I'm going." Toyama said reluctantly and a bit upset. I watched her rise and left with such a high degree of concentration that I did not hear Hattori until he elevated his voice.
"Natsuki-senpai, I am sorry, Kazuha was just trying to help".
"I understand. In fact, she has a point there. It is possible that Hikaru is staying over at his girlfriend. After all, he is 18 now and we are no longer kids. Sooner or later, we shall have to go on our separate ways. So, there is really no reason why he should tell me everything."
"So, the only clue to the disappearance of Hikaru-senpai seemed to be the key. Do you know where it is now?"
I had to shake my head again. "It vanished with Hikaru."
"Do you remember what it looks like?"
"Yes, I do. In fact, I sketched it out so that I would not forget it". I said as I opened my handbag to get the sketch of the key.
"Have you asked anyone in your house about this logo?"
"I have asked father but he dismissed me saying it was probably one of those keys in the house that the servant misplaced. I also asked the servants but none of them said they had seen the key before."
"Nastsuki-senpai, can I keep the sketch?"
"Certainly, by now I doubt I can forget how the key looks like". I said confidently but that was the truth.
"If it is not too much trouble, could I also take a look at Hikaru-senpai's room?"
"Normally that is not possible."
"Why?"
"That's because my father did not like having strangers in the house, not anymore after our mother's death. Today, besides my father's best friends, Ogata-kun and my good friend, Satsuki, almost no one can enter our house".
"It will be very hard for me if I can't at least see Hikaru-senpai's room".
"But that's normally. You can come to take a look at Hikaru's room tonight."
"Why?"
"Because we shall be holding a New Year party tonight. It is extremely rare that my father would concede to a New Year party but somehow, Nohara- san managed to persuade him, saying it would a good chance to improve his relationships with his business partners as well as to promote his public image, which declined rapidly in recent years. There will be a lot of guests in our house tonight so bringing you to Hikaru's room would not be a problem".
"That is perfect!"
"I'm afraid there is one problem though."
"Yes?"
"Since my father hates the police, I am afraid I cannot introduce you as the son of a high ranking police officer. That means you will need a new identity. Here." I said as I took out a bottle of whitening fluid and a wig. "With this, I think no one will recognize you. It's around 11 o'clock now, I have to go home. If possible, Souga-san will come to pick you up at 6:30 tonight. Is that alright?"
"Yes, it's fine with me. I will see you tonight and Natsuki-senpai, I really think you should reconsider a career in the police. You will be an excellent officer."
I smiled and turned to leave. Suddenly, I remembered the last question I have for Hattori, well, at least for the moment.
"Hattori-kun, I need a name for you since I can't introduce you as Hattori Heiji."
"Name, let me think". Hattori stared at the whitening fluid and the wig. "Kudou…Kudou Shinichi."
"Kudou Shinichi?" The name rang a bell but I could not recall where it came from. "I shall inform Nohara-san to put that name into the guest list. Thank you very much, Hattori-kun. I will be waiting for you tonight."
As I was following the old lady on my way out, I felt Hattori Heiji's eyes were following my back, all the way until I vanished from his sight. Though I did not turn to see those eyes, I somehow felt they were dwelled with sadness simply from watching me. 'Hikaru' and 'Mirai', together, our names meant light and future or a bright future. However, at the moment, I could neither see light nor the future. All I could see was myself frozen in the darkest moments of the present.
To be continued
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Author's Note:
This revised version is very different from the original version. In fact, it is so different that I can almost label it as a different story. If you have read the older version before, you will be surprised. This was one of my earlier fictions and it was really badly written, with a lot of problems. I hope you will enjoy this newer version.
Credits:
I would like to give a special thanks to all the members of the Conan Mania mailing list, especially those who have contributed extremely constructive comments.
I would also like to thank Victor (also on the mailing list) for he was the one who inspired me (even then) to rewrite this fiction which I think is a good idea.
Finally, I would like to thank you all for reading!
+++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer: All characters (aside from original ones) are derived from "Detective Conan" and are copyrighted to Aoyama Gosho. The original version (which is very different from this one) was posted on a Conan Mailing List on New Year's Eve a year or two ago.
+++++++++++++++++++++++
* * *
1.1 Chapter One: Discovery And Loss
1.2 29 December, Friday
* * *
Once again, the clock struck. At other times of the year, I would usually be so indulged with my other duties that the cries of the old clock could hardly be heard. However, today, my world suddenly became completely silent. For a moment, I even had the feeling that the whole world paused, just to give me the precious time I needed to reflect on my life. This feeling vanished instantly when a voice dashed through the chilling air like an arrow and headed right into my nearly frozen ears.
"Mirai, look what I have found!" That was my twin brother, Natsuki Hikaru, son of Natsuki Ken and heir to the gigantic Natsuki Electronic Corporation. Gorgeous looking, rich, sociable, and a skilled kendo player, my brother was the idol of almost every girl at school. We might be siblings but our personality differed tremendously. What my brother had was a burning passion and an endless stream of energy that flowed through his body. What I, Natsuki Mirai had at that moment was a calm temperament and an icy heart that froze my emotions. I was an introvert and could accomplish nothing more than day dreaming. For some miraculous reasons though, we managed to get along extremely well. Probably it was because we both shared the nostalgia for our mother who was sleeping in the beautiful garden just outside our mansion. Or probably, it was something else that I would not even dare to think about.
"Hikaru, you don't have to scream." I said as I observed him rushing toward the window sill where I was comfortably resting on. "I see that it is a key. Where did you find this?"
"It was in my room, lying in the narrow space between the wall and the T.V. cabinet. By the way, Mirai, I think you should either turn on the heating or at least light a fire. Your room is freezing."
"You can turn on the heating if you want but I do enjoy the cold. It enables me to organize my thoughts more efficiently."
"I think you will catch a cold before you can even think of anything". Hikaru said as he grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around my weak body.
"Back to our previous topic, why would you suddenly look in that place?" I asked after he had settled comfortably into the arm chair and had a good sip of his cup of green tea.
"Well, I left Taisuke's paper last night on top of the T.V. before I went to bed and forgot all about it. This morning, when I opened the window, a gust of wind sent the paper dancing in the air and one sheet landed in that peculiar spot. I tried to pick it up and that was when I found this key. Who do you think this belongs to?"
"How should I know", I casually replied as I toyed with the small key in my hand. The key was covered with a weathering layer of silver coating and about an inch long. It had a small sunflower logo on the surface in the space right beneath the small hole. I closed my eyes as I searched for anything with a key hole and a sunflower logo.
"It is quite unlikely that a key that small is a house or car key. Hence, it should be a locker key or key that unlocks a chest or drawer." I deduced.
"What about music box?" Hikaru asked.
"That is possible." I replied.
Hikaru retracted to his realm of thoughts for the next half an hour, briefly diverting his attention only for the cup of tea in his hand. I knew that once my brother was absorbed in his thoughts, he would not care if the world stopped spinning. When he finally put down his cup of tea, he took the key and left, saying he had some errands to run and he would be back at around 10 o'clock in the evening. However, he did not show up, not that midnight or the midnight after. On the 31st of December, I could endure the feeling of uncertainty nomore. So, I decided to pay a visit to the famous high school detective Hattori Heiji, who was Hikaru's friend and just a year younger than us.
* * *
1.3 31 December, Friday
* * *
The cold that I would normally enjoy had suddenly become unbearable. I reckoned that could be due to my heightening worries about my brother's disappearance. At around 9:30 in the morning, my driver dropped me in front of a decent sized house that was guarded by a pair of sturdy wooden doors. I rang the bells and a few moments later, an old lady appeared. I told her my name and she smiled, saying the young master was expecting me. She then shoveled me through the traditional Japanese architecture into a large room, where Hattori Heiji was again arguing with his girl friend Toyama Kazuha. As soon as they saw me, they stopped and their face turned as red as apple.
"Natsuki-senpai, what is this business about Hikaru senpai vanishing? Can you tell me a bit more? You said very little over the phone." Hattori asked.
"Heiji, Natsuki-senpai is barely sitting down!" Toyama said in a lecturing voice. Then, she turned to me and said in a much softer voice, "Natsuki- senpai, would you like something to drink, is tea okay? Or would you like coffee or juice?"
"Tea will be fine, thank you very much". I said smiling. "Hattori kun, what a wonderful girlfriend you have got."
"Kazuha is not my girlfriend, not such a bossy girl. She just happened to be growing up with me."
"That's right, there is no way such an insensitive guy is my boyfriend!"
I laughed a little, remembering how Hikaru used to refer to them as a pair of lovebirds who just would not admit they were in love. Sometimes, I would not understand these people. Why would they not want to enjoy the pleasure of being in love? Why would they want to deny it? Well, I guess probably that was because they had never been cursed with the ill fortune of not being able to whole heartedly love another person. When my body finally warmed a little with the tea, I related to Hattori and Toyama the incident about the key and my brother's subsequent disappearance.
"And after that, you did not see or hear from Hikaru senpai?" Hattori Heiji asked when I completed my story. Probably unintentionally, I felt that he was carefully studying me, my movements, my tones, my thoughts. His pair of sharp, dark eyes seemed to look right pass my natural brown hair, my anxious brown eyes, and right into the hidden section of my heart. Could that be the natural instincts of the so-called detectives? I could not tell for up until then, I was never acquainted with any detective. In fact, all my past encounters with Hattori were not more than a few minutes, and usually after kendo matches. Even then, I always faded into the background for he was primarily talking to my brother over kendo, a topic which I knew nothing about.
"Did you call the police?"
I shook my head.
"Why?"
"Because my father said Hikaru could not possibly have disappeared. He must have changed his mind and went with Ogata-kun, his friend, to Hokkaido."
"But you did not believe your father?"
I shook my head again.
"Why?"
"Three reasons. First, I don't think Hikaru will suddenly change his mind because he was quite firm about not going to Hokkaido at this time of the year. He did not like cold weather in general and he was already complaining how cold Osaka was. I cannot imagine him going to Hokkaido during the winter. Second, when I checked his wardrobe, I found all his large coats still in place. He could not have gone to Hokkaido without at least bringing his coats. Finally, it was so unlike him not to tell me if he had decided to go to Hokkaido. Even if he were just going out, normally he would have let me known where he was and when he would be coming home."
"Natsuki-senpai, you have great reasoning skills. Have you ever thought of becoming a detective in future?" Hattori asked, half-jokingly but I decided to take the question seriously.
"No. I have neither interest in staring at lifeless bodies nor tracking lost properties."
"Well, actually the work of detectives could be a lot more complicated than what many people commonly think". Hattori laughed as he shot a quick glance at Toyama, who was obviously not too pleased.
"Natsuki-senpai," Toyama asked in an effort to drop the topic of detective work, "have you called Ogata to confirm if your brother had been to Hokkaido?"
"I called his mobile phone but he must be in an area where reception was very bad and I could not get to him. I tried to call the inn where he was supposedly to be staying but the number I got from his parents did not work". I sighed.
"What about calling the other people who were going with him?"
"Besides Ogata-kun, I did not know the other people who were in this trip to Hokkaido."
"What about your father, why would he think Hikaru-senpai would be going to Hokkaido?" this time, Hattori asked.
"Well, Hikaru once mentioned to my father about the trip to Hokkaido and my father said he could go if he wanted but my brother said he was not too interested. My father seldom cared about what Hikaru and I were doing. He was either too busy with his work or with drinking to be bothered with us."
"Drinking?"
"Yes. Since my mother's death my father changed into a completely different person. Although he was still a workaholic, he also became an alcoholic. Consequently, he was not as reliable as before. He even made a terrible decision a short while ago about a project. Luckily, Nohara-san was there to help clear up the mess. I doubt the corporation could continue without Nohara-san".
"But your father never considered other possibilities, such as-"
"Kidnap?" I said without waiting for Hattori to finish his sentence.
"Yes. After all, your father is very rich and it would not be surprising if anyone would want to kidnap your brother."
"That's true, but we have not received any phone calls as yet. Besides, my father hated the police. Even if Hikaru were kidnapped, I doubted my father would call the police."
"Why does he hate the police?"
"That I do not know. I only remember that once some robbers broke into our house and stole some jewelries and antiques. My father strongly refused to report to the police and said he would deal with it himself. A month later, the items were recovered even though how I did not know."
"Could your brother be still in Osaka but just staying at his friend's place for a few nights?" Toyama asked.
"I doubt it. I rang every single friend of his that I knew and none said he had contacted them. Besides, there is no reason why Hikaru would not return home or would not at least have called me if he were staying at his friend's place for the night."
"Maybe he is staying with his girlfriend? If so, he may not want to call his sister in front of his girlfriend." Kazuha suggested.
"I…I am not aware Hikaru has…has a girlfriend." I replied in a small voice.
"Hikaru-senpai doesn't have a girlfriend, and Kazuha, why don't you just let me ask the questions! You should really go back home. Your mother will be worried." Hattori's face sounded a little annoyed.
"Okay, I understand. I'm going." Toyama said reluctantly and a bit upset. I watched her rise and left with such a high degree of concentration that I did not hear Hattori until he elevated his voice.
"Natsuki-senpai, I am sorry, Kazuha was just trying to help".
"I understand. In fact, she has a point there. It is possible that Hikaru is staying over at his girlfriend. After all, he is 18 now and we are no longer kids. Sooner or later, we shall have to go on our separate ways. So, there is really no reason why he should tell me everything."
"So, the only clue to the disappearance of Hikaru-senpai seemed to be the key. Do you know where it is now?"
I had to shake my head again. "It vanished with Hikaru."
"Do you remember what it looks like?"
"Yes, I do. In fact, I sketched it out so that I would not forget it". I said as I opened my handbag to get the sketch of the key.
"Have you asked anyone in your house about this logo?"
"I have asked father but he dismissed me saying it was probably one of those keys in the house that the servant misplaced. I also asked the servants but none of them said they had seen the key before."
"Nastsuki-senpai, can I keep the sketch?"
"Certainly, by now I doubt I can forget how the key looks like". I said confidently but that was the truth.
"If it is not too much trouble, could I also take a look at Hikaru-senpai's room?"
"Normally that is not possible."
"Why?"
"That's because my father did not like having strangers in the house, not anymore after our mother's death. Today, besides my father's best friends, Ogata-kun and my good friend, Satsuki, almost no one can enter our house".
"It will be very hard for me if I can't at least see Hikaru-senpai's room".
"But that's normally. You can come to take a look at Hikaru's room tonight."
"Why?"
"Because we shall be holding a New Year party tonight. It is extremely rare that my father would concede to a New Year party but somehow, Nohara- san managed to persuade him, saying it would a good chance to improve his relationships with his business partners as well as to promote his public image, which declined rapidly in recent years. There will be a lot of guests in our house tonight so bringing you to Hikaru's room would not be a problem".
"That is perfect!"
"I'm afraid there is one problem though."
"Yes?"
"Since my father hates the police, I am afraid I cannot introduce you as the son of a high ranking police officer. That means you will need a new identity. Here." I said as I took out a bottle of whitening fluid and a wig. "With this, I think no one will recognize you. It's around 11 o'clock now, I have to go home. If possible, Souga-san will come to pick you up at 6:30 tonight. Is that alright?"
"Yes, it's fine with me. I will see you tonight and Natsuki-senpai, I really think you should reconsider a career in the police. You will be an excellent officer."
I smiled and turned to leave. Suddenly, I remembered the last question I have for Hattori, well, at least for the moment.
"Hattori-kun, I need a name for you since I can't introduce you as Hattori Heiji."
"Name, let me think". Hattori stared at the whitening fluid and the wig. "Kudou…Kudou Shinichi."
"Kudou Shinichi?" The name rang a bell but I could not recall where it came from. "I shall inform Nohara-san to put that name into the guest list. Thank you very much, Hattori-kun. I will be waiting for you tonight."
As I was following the old lady on my way out, I felt Hattori Heiji's eyes were following my back, all the way until I vanished from his sight. Though I did not turn to see those eyes, I somehow felt they were dwelled with sadness simply from watching me. 'Hikaru' and 'Mirai', together, our names meant light and future or a bright future. However, at the moment, I could neither see light nor the future. All I could see was myself frozen in the darkest moments of the present.
To be continued
+++++++++++++++++++++++
Author's Note:
This revised version is very different from the original version. In fact, it is so different that I can almost label it as a different story. If you have read the older version before, you will be surprised. This was one of my earlier fictions and it was really badly written, with a lot of problems. I hope you will enjoy this newer version.
Credits:
I would like to give a special thanks to all the members of the Conan Mania mailing list, especially those who have contributed extremely constructive comments.
I would also like to thank Victor (also on the mailing list) for he was the one who inspired me (even then) to rewrite this fiction which I think is a good idea.
Finally, I would like to thank you all for reading!
+++++++++++++++++++++++