Darkness Off shots.

Because the original fiction did not intend to have a sequel! Thank you Luna-kitsune-blu! (smile)
Second of three. (Name changes not at the bottom of first part will be under the part they first appear in.)

- Off shot two: Dark night. -

Another hot summer's day is over. Comes the usual hot stuffy night that follows.

There is no moon tonight. The stars, though no longer out shone by the silver orb, are not easily seen.
The air is not clean and sharp, like those winter nights where the stars would sting your eyes like diamonds.
The air is heavy, slow. It settles itself as a burden on your shoulders, it is a presence felt.
The summer air has no interest in showing you stars.
It basks in the light of the city lamp posts, content in saying "I am here, and you shall sweat."

It is late now. The streets are empty.
The last people to have come out for a bit of 'fresh' night air have all returned to their acclimatised rooms...

Except for one...

He, for at such an hour it is certainly not a woman, walks alone.
His forehead is beaded with sweat. His hair is sticking out at odd angles and his shirt is quite sodden.
On his shoulders the hot air lies a happy burden. He does not seem to mind. He has other things to worry about...

But, wait a minute?
It is a small boy! Should he not already be in bed !

He smiles sarcastically, looking up at the gate he is facing.
The name plate, conveniently placed in the light of a street lamp, reads 'Kudo'...
Some things never seem to change.

Without hesitation, he confidently climbs the metal gate so as to reach the handle.
He pulls it down, and keeps it there as he swings his weight.
Feeling the gate slide forwards, he pockets the key he had, just in case, in his hand, before jumping to the ground.
He steps into the property, pushes the gate back into it's closed position and goes for the door.
This time it is locked. No bother. He uses his key and slips in quietly.

Inside, it is dark.
The street light doesn't enter through the heavy curtains or closed shutters.
It feels nearly as if the dark night that should have been outside had come in to take refuge from the artificial brightness of the lamps and the mugginess of the heat.
He is used to the dark. He does not fear it, never has.
He takes confident, and cautious steps into it's depths.
When he reaches the bottom steps of the staircase, he flicks on his wristwatch-torch more out of habit than of need. It's circle of light forms a solitary moon in a very dark night indeed.

Once upstairs, the small boy sighs as he opens the door to a bedroom.
His bedroom, to be precise, or, more accurately, Shinichi Kudo's room.
He stands still in the doorframe, recollecting the times when he really could think of this as his room, and use it as such.
He recalls the time when he made the cupboard fall. He had barely turned five then, and his parent's had had quite a yell at him for that.
There was also the slumber party he'd had with all his mates for his eighth birthday. Ran had been there too. They had spent the night pillow-fighting and story-telling, and had not got the slightest wink of sleep. Now that he thinks about it, perhaps that was why Ran was so scared of ghost stories... He had made quite a convincing tale of the " falling of the cupboard ".

There are so many other memories he has of this one room. Normal memories, fitting to any boy's room...

But now the room is empty, abandoned. It's owner has left, and it has stood empty ever since.
The shelves must be full of dust, and the air gone stale.
He's not even sure if he made the bed properly the last time he came here...

He scans the room with his miniature lamp torch... And draws a sharp breath.
What the... !
Oh, of course... Why hadn't he thought of it.

The room certainly doesn't look 'dead'.
By all means, it looks expectant. Not a speck of dust to be seen, the sheets on the bed are immaculately clean and ironed. The air, instead of being stale and muggy with heat as he expected, is wonderfully fresh and cool.

" Parents... " he mutters, as he walks in. The door closes with a smack as he approaches his bed.

Oh well... At least that was the cleaning out of the way.
Turning his small light off, he dresses down and crawls in between the sheets.
Today has been a long and eventful day... And extremely challenging.
He needs time to think about all that happened.

After they had been " found ", the 'Detective Boys' had accompanied them on the long trek back to Beika.
At first, they hadn't said much at all. And then, as the shock wore off, they had started " catching up " with the others, asking about so and so, and who had won the last world cup.
The girls, seeing that the conversation had turned to 'oh so male' issues, excused themselves for some 'girl chat', saying they'd get in touch tomorrow.

Conan didn't mind... In fact, he was enjoying himself more than he thought possible.
He had forgotten how good talking about soccer felt, and the other two boys seemed to have forgotten the difference in size.
When they got out at Beika station, Mitsuhiko and Genta impulsively offered to go and kick a ball around the old patch. He surprised himself by accepting, and gave the two boys quite a hard time with the ball. It took them a while to realize he had his power shoes... And even when they did, they still wanted to play.

It was only when the sun went down that they realized how late it was... and how hungry they were.
Despite the heat, Mitsuhiko went to buy them all some sandwiches and cool drinks, which they consumed on a Park bench.
Conan's mood had darkened visibly, as he thought about where he was to go. The other two, noticing this, shifted uncomfortably, until Conan came to a decision. They argued a bit, but in the end relented, before going home. Conan smiled sadly as he watched them go... So many things to catch up with...

He spent the following hours just walking around, finding his bearings, seeing what had and hadn't changed.
But now he needs to think about what will change... And Ran? Should he really go and see her tomorrow? What should he tell her?
His mind begs to ponder on these questions, but his body won't have it. Within a few minutes of his head touching the pillow, he is already sound asleep.

-

As his breathing slows to it's slumber pace, a muffled patter of feet is heard.
It is coming down the corridor and, presently, the door to Kudo Shinichi's room slides slowly open.
The person at the door stares with wide disbelieving eyes at the form in the former teenager's bed.
They hesitate, for in such darkness it is so hard to be sure. How many times already have they believed...?
Yet they don't step forward or tear their eyes away from the sleeper, their jumbled thoughts are merging in their brain.
After a long, long moment, the person at the door jerks out from their paralysed stance.
Not really knowing what to think, was it a dream? A nightmare? Could this be true, they silently close the door.
It is not long before the feet shuffle back to where they came from, and silence returns.
If it is the truth, it will still be there in the morning...
No need to wake the other before then.

-

- Dark Night gap.

-

The twitter of birds, the rumble of some van... and something wrong with the darkness under his eyelids.
It isn't dark enough... It is morning.

Slowly the boy named Edogawa opens his eyes.
He stares at the ceiling. The room that was so dark the night before is now slowly filling with light...
Obviously, his bedroom curtains were no match for the rising summer sun. Another hot day has began.

The boy groans when he looks at the digital clock. Imagine that still stating the correct time after 10 years of disuse.
It proudly states four thirty AM.

Oddly enough, although his sleep was dramatically short, he has slept better than he has for years.
This puzzles him... And it puzzles him so that he can not go back to sleep.
Of course, there are also the other issues that he needs to think about... Eyebrows furrowed, he slides out of bed, and rummages in his drawers for something clean, and really old, to wear.
It is not long before he slips into the garden, a child's ball under his arm and with a determined air.

-

Eight o'clock, a tall and handsome young man is found standing in the kitchen.
Yawning imperiously, he scratches his jaw.
You would need to look closely, for his tan-coloured skin hides it quite well, but there are bristles on his chin. Feeling this, he mumbles something about having to shave after some breakfast.
He quickly finds himself a bowl, a packet of cereal and some fresh milk in the fridge.
Scratch the 'traditional' breakfast today, he feels like he is starving. He helps himself to a satisfactory amount of deliciousness before sitting down to 'eat' at the kitchen table.

He has gobbled down a third of his bowl's contents by the time the lady of the house walks into the kitchen...

" G'morning'! " he says.

" Oh... " Her face a bit pale, she turns an abnormally dishevelled head towards him. " Good morning Heiji. "

" Hmm? " Something is wrong, he thinks.

Yukiko Kudo, who he always knew to be a cheerful and well groomed actress, looks as if she has just learnt the worst news in the world...
This was not normal behaviour... Even for someone who's just climbed out of bed and has yet to put her make-up on...

" Is something wrong? " The twenty-eight year old man stands up, disregarding his morning meal for what definitely looked like a mystery.

" No, no... Nothing at all. " And as if to forestall any more attempts at conversation, she settles herself to frying up some breakfast for her and her husband.
She even tries, although one must admit it isn't with much success, to hum as she usually does.

Seeing that she obviously does not want him to pry any further, he sits down once again to finish his cereal... But not without keeping a weary eye on her.
Did this have anything to do with Kudo perhaps?
No. Impossible.
Even though Kudo had stupidly decided to cut his parents out of his life, that had been ten years ago already... There was no way he could be at the root of this sudden change in behaviour, could he?

Perhaps it has something to do with Yusaku's latest novel. It has had quite a bout of sour criticism.
Heiji can't fathom why. The book was extremely well written and the plot had swallowed him up whole when he had read it...

" Morning, Hattori... " The Night Baron's creator in person now enters the kitchen. Heiji can't help but notice, as the bespectacled man sits down opposite him, the grey tinge his hair has taken.

'Stupid Kudo,' he thinks. 'Look at what you've done to your old folks.'

Yusaku doesn't even seem to be paying much attention to his wife's strange behaviour either. He frowns in a pensive manner as he starts to read the morning paper.

'How come they're so weird this morning? This isn't funny...'
And as Heiji ponders the married couple's odd behaviour, a fourth person enters the room...

" Hattori! "

Startled by the interpellation, Heiji turns around to see who called out his name with such surprise.
It is a small scruffy boy, staring up at him with large eyes.
One of the neighbourhood kids perhaps? What was he doing at the Kudos? And...
Wait a minute, that face is familiar...

" What are you doing here? " The boy asks.

Now it's Heiji's turn to open his eyes wide.
" Kudo! Hey! That's my a line! What are you doing here? I thought you'd decided to seclude yourself in some remote place because not only there isn't an cure for your condition, but you're stuck as a midget! "

Conan winces.

Heiji blanches as he feels two very angry glares at the back of his neck.
-Oh dear... You've really done it this time wonder boy...-

And while Yusaku is giving Heiji the 'should be patented' " YOU KNEW! " look, Yukiko has come around to wrap her arms tightly around her miniature son.

" Shin-chan... Why didn't you tell us? " Her eyes are gleaming with tears, her voice trembles with real emotion. Conan looks up at her with a pained look.

" Nice to see you too, mom... " He hugs her back, fighting back the humidity in his eyes.
Remembering how old he really was, she draws back, sitting on her knees, and wipes at her already falling tears.

" Shinichi... " whispers his father.

Conan shrugs... Obviously, even his parents had trouble taking it in the hard way...
" What Hattori said is true... " He mutters.

Heiji would have expected him to be glaring at him, but he isn't.

" As for what I am doing here... "

Okay, now he's glaring at him.

" It has more to do with some clever teenagers that Hattori obviously underestimated. "

Was that a smug look on his face? Wait a minute... The Detective Boy threesome? No way!

" Oooooh Crud... "

All three Kudos turn to look at the Osakan detective. The dark-skinned man was positively looking pale.

" What is it, Hattori? " asks Yusaku.

Heiji looks down towards Conan.
" Kudo-... "

" Could you please stop calling me that. "

" Kudo, " repeats Hattori. He notices this time how Conan winces each time they say his real name.
" Have you seen Ran yet? "

At this, both Yusaku and Yukiko blanche. They know where this was going...

" No. " answers the boy, climbing onto a kitchen chair. He frowns at his parents' sullen expressions.
" I was thinking of going to see her today, why? "

Perhaps he is worried... Perhaps he should worry... But no, Conan is merely annoyed at the three " adults' " mysteriousness.

Heiji is just glad Kazuha isn't there. This would have been so much harder to explain with his wife around.

" Kudo... "
The boy winces.
" The reason I am here, is because Ran is... "

Okay, now Conan is fearing the worst.
He listens, hears the words, but does not comprehend.

" Come again? " he says, a hopeful smile on his face, hoping he heard wrong.

He didn't. He had heard it true and clear.

" Oh no... "

Something in his heart strains painfully. A feeling he thought he could no longer feel.

No, Shinichi Kudo hadn't died ten years ago. He had wilted, yes, but he was still there in his heart, an insane hope, a half-forgotten dream...
Shinichi Kudo doesn't merely die when refused his dreams, plunged into semi-darkness.
No, he dies there and now.
He has been refused his last hope.
He dies in the dark night as he sees his last star fade out.

" Ran... "

- Dark Night End -

Remember, there is another off-shot after this one!

Name Changes:
-Yusaku and Yukiko Kudo are respectively Booker(!What kind of name is that?) and Vivian(or was it Lilian) Kudo, famous crime novelist and (now retired) actress.
- " Shin-chan " is Yukiko's endearment nickname for her lovely son.
- Heiji Hattori! The great detective from Osaka is known in the US dub as Harley Hartwell. His 'potential' girlfriend Kazuha Toyama (who, in this fic, he has married) has yet to appear in Case Closed, but rumour has it her dub name world be Katie Thompson.

For the Confused:
- Heiji did not help the Detective Boys to find Conan and Ai, and he was pretty surprised to find out they did. He knows what happened to them (Conan and Ai), and respects their choice to live in hiding. He just made sure to keep his mouth shut, and annoy the Professor so he could know if anything happened to the two. As for his knowledge of the Kudos, I guess he's been visiting them pretty often, since Kudo/Conan was gone. As a footnote, he was staying at their place for what's coming next, with Kazuha. Kazuha just happened to (conveniently) be at a sleep over with girl friends that night.
- The night time visitor was meant to be Yukiko. I'm afraid my caracterisation of her and her husband might be off for this off-shot. She went to check on Shinichi's room because she heard his door slam. She didn't get Yusaku straight away because a) He needed his sleep. and b) She was afraid she was dreaming again. She mentioned the incident to her husband when they got up, which 'explains' the two's abnormal behaviour that morning.