Afterlife

Disclaimer: I don't own anything right now. (Lawsuit is still pending. Hope to beat Gosho Aoyama. Unfortunately it's also an AU!)

Chapter 4 - Memories

Shinichi just smiled and walked over to her. He bent down low and hugged her. "I promised not to leave you alone. I'm going to make good on that promise."

Oh, yeah. He was definitely alive.

Ran felt her heart race along at 150 mph. Her Shinichi was back. "How's this possible?" she asked, not wanting Shinichi to disappear again.

"I can't tell you right now. Sleep, and I'll tell you in the morning," he told her gently, not wanting to hurt her anymore.

"But…" she pressed, struggling to sit up.

"Sleep. It'll make you feel better." He gently pushed her back down. "I'll still be here in the morning. I'm not going anywhere."

Ran nodded, grabbed Shinichi's hand, yawned, and then fell asleep. Shinichi just stared at the girl. She had waited for him for months, not wavering in the face of constant doubt. When he'd finally told her who he really was, she hadn't gotten angry. She'd stayed by his side through the entire ordeal. His Ran was here. He was here and he wasn't going to let that change. He just sat on her bed, letting Ran first hold his hand and then letting her cuddle him when she had a nightmare. He fell asleep himself listening to her heartbeat.

Next morning…

Ran awoke feeling very joyful. She couldn't remember why, but something had happened during her sleep. When she opened her eyes, a blue suit coat greeted her. She sat up and then noticed it was Shinichi. Shinichi! she thought wildly. He's here! He's alive!

"Shinichi! You're here!" she shouted as she hugged him without much conscious thought.

"Yeah, who'd you think you've been using as a teddy bear all night?" His voice sounded a bit tired.

That was when she noticed that she had her arms wrapped around him. Blushing, she quickly let go. "Shinichi, how is this possible?"

"I'll tell you in a little while. Are Hattori and Toyama-kun coming today?"

"Yes. They come over every morning."

"Good. We get to have a little fun with them. Wanna help?" he asked her, his voice just dripping with anticipation of what they were doing to do.

"Why not? It'll give us a good laugh once it's over."

Shinichi laughed. "That's my Ran." He sat up and kissed her on the cheek. Ran's face turned crimson from his touch but she didn't care. He'd called her 'my Ran'. Everything else didn't matter.

Shinichi rolled off the bed and turned around to help Ran up. They headed down the stairs and into the kitchen, where Ran started breakfast. She was almost done when the doorbell rang. Looking at Shinichi, who nodded for her to get it, she headed out to answer the door. Opening it, she saw Heiji and Kazuha.

"Ohayô Kazuha-chan, Hattori-kun."

"Ohayô!" they both replied.

"You look happy today. What happened?" Kazuha asked as she hugged her

"Come in. I'll tell you over breakfast."

Heiji motioned for Kazuha to go ahead of him and, when she entered, he followed. He stopped in the living room to look around while Kazuha followed Ran. He was looking at some old pictures of Ran and Conan when Kazuha's scream sent him running for the kitchen. When he entered, Kazuha, who was looking as white as a ghost, buried herself in his arms. Sitting at the table was none other than Kudo Shinichi.

"Why, hello Hattori. Didn't expect you to be here," Shinichi said, a grin threatening to break free.

"H…how the hell are you here?" Heiji stammered as he reflexively tightened his hold on Kazuha, not liking this one bit. Heiji wasn't the superstitious type, but right now he thought he might start to believe in ghosts. After all, Kudo was giving him a heart attack. Well, figuratively at least.

Shinichi smiled and Heiji started to come up with ideas to explain the detective's sudden appearance that didn't involve the supernatural. The one that gained the most weight in his mind was that he was dreaming and should wake up soon. The idea was shattered when a sob escaped Kazuha. If she's crying, then it's definitely not a dream, Heiji told himself grimly.

"Shinichi, can you help me with this pot?" Ran asked from the stove.

Ran's voice brought a new question to Heiji's mind. Why wasn't Ran freaking out? Usually she was the one to go crazy around ghosts. She was even worse than Kazuha.

"Sure," Shinichi said as he got up from the table. "Oh, and Hattori? You'd better sit Toyama-kun down. She looks like she's about ready to faint."

Heiji looked down at her and had to agree with Shinichi. He guided Kazuha over to one of the kitchen chairs and sat her down. He sat down in one next to hers due to the fact that Kazuha refused to let go of him. He just sat there letting her calm herself while he came up with crazy solutions for why Shinichi was alive. When Shinichi and Ran came back, Kazuha looked like she had finally gotten a hold on herself.

"Kazuha-chan, you alright?" Ran asked, genuinely concerned for her friend.

Kazuha nodded and pointed to Shinichi, who was currently holding a pot of rice. "H … how's he here?" she asked, her voice wavering.

"Oh, Shinichi? I really don't know." Heiji actually did a face-plant at her words. After he got up off of the floor, he stared at Ran. HER not knowing why Shinichi was back made it definitely seem weird.

"Okay Kudo, spill the beans. How on earth are you back?" Heiji demanded angrily.

"Umm … I really don't know either." Heiji's face looked like it was about ready to explode. He walked over to Shinichi, cracking his knuckles and growling menacingly. "Okay, okay. I'll tell you why I'm back," Shinichi consented quickly and Heiji visibly relaxed. He didn't need Shinichi not knowing why he was alive. "but after breakfast. After all, it'd be rude to waste such a fine meal." They all agreed, Heiji reluctantly, and they sat down for breakfast.

After they finished, and Shinichi and Ran had done the dishes, they all sat down in the living room.

"Alright. Just to let everyone know, I don't remember everything exactly, so my story will be staggered. I'm going to begin after I had taken Ai's cure and most of the pain was gone…"

"…Ran…" I said, very tiredly.

"Shinichi?" she replied.

"Sorry Ran. I'm sorry I can't be there for you," I told her. The world was getting fuzzy.

"No, Shinichi. You will get better. Haibara-san gave you the cure." She tried not to let fear show on her face or creep into her voice but I'm a detective, so she failed miserably.

"Ai-kun? You finished it?" I asked, wincing in pain.

"Yes," she said, not looking at me. "But I don't know if it'll work."

"Thanks Ai-kun. Thanks. Look after Ran for me please."

"NO! Shinichi stop acting like you're going to die. STOP!" Ran nearly hollered, her anger replacing her fear. "You'll get better!"

I took a deep breath, shutting my eyes. "I don't think I beat the odds this time. I'm sorry. Good-bye …Ran..." The world went fuzzy and faded out. I fell into what seemed like a deep sleep.

Sometime later I awoke. It took a little while for me to realize I was in a box. A coffin to be exact. How I got there, I had no idea. I was still Conan, so I had some room to move around. I could feel the coffin moving and, from the noise outside, I figured that I was in the van being transported to the gravesite. It only took a few minutes and, thanks to a skill I learned from a friend, I was out of the coffin. Looking though the window into the cab, I saw that the driver hadn't noticed that he had a living person in the back. Thinking this was for the best, I stayed out of sight until the car stopped. In the time he took to get out of the driver's seat and over to the back to open it, I moved the window between the back and the cab. It took a few seconds to open and then I slipped though the window, shutting it behind me. While my hands left the window, the driver opened the back of the car. I waited until everyone's attention was away from the car to escape it. I sneaked out the passenger's door and headed for the gates of the cemetery.

Once I was out, I tried to find my bearings. Looking around, I noticed that I was near my old house. Heading in that direction, I noticed that I was feeling hot. Given that that is a sign that I was going to change back into Shinichi in a few minutes, I kicked it into high gear. I arrived at my house and made it inside just in time for me to collapse on the ground. Pain washed over me and I felt like I was going to die. It was worse that it had ever been, even when I had taken the temporary cures.

"Temporary cures?" Ran asked. "What are they?"

Shinichi stopped his narration to give her an explanation. "The temporary cures where a pill that Ai-kun had come up with that allowed me to return to Shinichi for about 24 hours. This was the reason I kept popping up every once in a while."

"Then why weren't you popping pills all the time?"

"Because they hurt like mad. Also, Ai said that if I did pop pills every chance I had, my heart would fail and I would die."

"Oh…" Ran said. She was suddenly very glad he hadn't.

"Alright, anymore questions so far?" Shinichi asked.

I think that was the second twinge. Heiji thought to himself, deciding not to voice his opinion. Everyone else shook their heads.

"Good, now back to my story … "

As I lay on the floor, sweating up a storm, I realized that something had happened. I felt my body start to grow. My clothes were ripped apart and I hurt everywhere. Before I finished transforming, I lost consciousness. When I awoke, I looked at a clock. After spending some time finding my normal clothes and getting used to my larger body, I tried to find out how long I had been out. The result startled me to say the least. According to the news, I had been out for 8 days. I walked over to Agasa's house and rang the doorbell.

"Shinichi?"

"Hello Agasa. What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Maybe I have," the doc replied, still very pale.

After assuring Agasa I was alive and me, he allowed me in. He called for Ai to come down and when she did, I think her poker face was destroyed. She took one look at me and ran screaming down the hall. I had to chase after her in order to stop her from doing something stupid. I finally caught up to her in her room.

"Ai-kun! Stop this right now!" I shouted at her as I held her down on her bed.

"Y… you're dead!" she wailed, not looking at me.

"No I'm not!" I replied, trying to stop her from grabbing her gun. "I'm just as much alive as you are."

"No, no, no, no, no!" she cried, still reaching for the weapon. "You're dead and you're back to haunt me for making the pill!"

"Ai! Stop this silliness right now. You never believed in the supernatural before. Don't start to now."

I think dropping the –kun from her name finally broke her out of her fear. I hadn't meant to do that, but it was too late to do anything about it. "Ai, I'm alive and I'm back. I think your pill did the trick. The cure worked. Look at me, I'm not Conan anymore. I'm Shinichi."

"W…why did you die, though? I saw you die. I went to your funeral two days ago."

"At the funeral, they buried a empty casket. I escaped when they were transporting me to the cemetery."

"So why did you choose now to come back?" she asked, still visibly shaken.

"Well, being out of it for most of the time has something to do with it. I managed to get to my house and into the living room before I lost consciousness. I don't know how long I laid on the floor, but when I came to, I was very hungry and very thirsty. I spent most of this morning eating what food I had left."

Ai calmed considerably at my explanation. "So what are you going to do? Everyone else thinks you're dead."

"I really don't know." I said. I was rather surprised when my mind finally registered that I was holding down an 8-year old girl. "Ai, why aren't you back in your old body?"

Ai looked at me strangely and laughed. "Think about it Kudo. If I was back in my body, how long do you think it would take for them to find us." I nodded, seeing her logic. "So when I changed back, I decided to take one of the pills again. I ran some tests before hand to make sure this time it would be permanent. I don't know why the first time wasn't, but now I'm stuck it this form. I really don't care. I actually have friends now, and so I want to stay with them. I thank you for the new life you've shown me, Kudo-kun. If not for you, I'd have been part of the Black Ops again. You've sheltered me even after all I've done to ruin your life. I can't say what that means to me."

I smiled and nodded again. "I think I know how you feel. Without you, I'd have died and not come back. I think that I need to see Ran, though. She's probably very depressed."

Ai laughed. "That's an understatement. Go Kudo. She needs your support. Go to her." She 'pushed' me out the door and down the hall.

I laughed and then decided that I needed to go home for awhile. I was very tired from the transformation and so I need to sleep for a time. I arrived home and immediately headed for my room. Glancing at the clock while I changed out of my normal everyday clothes, I noticed that I had most of the morning left. I decided to take a few hours nap.

When I awoke, though, I realized that I had overslept. It was already 1:30 am. Not wanting to wait any longer because of a dream I had had, I headed out the door and down the street. I got into Ran's room by climbing a tree and opening up her window. Once inside, I quietly shut the window and stood over by the door, not wanting to wake her up. After a few minutes, I accidentally kicked the desk and not so silently cursed. As I held my foot, I noticed that my talking had woken Ran up. I was wearing my school clothes, and so I stood up straight, looking right at her. It took her a few moments to realize that I was there.

"Shinichi?" she asked, sounding scared.

I smiled. "Hello Ran. Nice to see you again."

"How?" She looked like she wanted to jump up and run screaming down the hall. Well, either that or come running at me.

I just smiled and walked over to her. Bending down low, I hugged her. "I promised not to leave you alone. I'm going to make good on that promise."

I told her to sleep, for she looked very tired. She finally agreed, but ended up using me as a teddy bear. I didn't mind and I tried to get some sleep…

"…This morning, we decided to have some fun with you so I sat myself down at the kitchen table while Ran answered the door, acting like nothing was wrong. That brings us back to where we are now." Shinichi looked very tired as he finished his narration. He had talked for a long time. "So, now what shall we do?" he asked the group.

Heiji looked at the detective funny. "So what you're saying is that Ai's cure worked, but not the way we thought it would?" His mind was still working on an explanation for the twinges he'd felt since Conan's death and was having some trouble absorbing it all. He decided that he needed to talk to Shinichi privately about it later.

"Yeah, I guess so. That's the only thing that I can contribute my being alive to. From what happened, I think the cure gave me a death-like look and almost killed me. Other than that, I really don't know."

"Fine, fine. I think now we should make plans to take down the Black Ops."

"Who's the Black Ops?" Ran asked, looking very confused. Kazuha had a similar expression on her face.

Shinichi sighed. "The Black Ops are the ones who made me Conan. Hattori and I have been working to bring them down, but we haven't been able to do much right now."

"Oh…" the girls commented in unison.

"Well, I say we celebrate Shinichi's return." Heiji commented and was met with cheers. "How about the new museum in Tokyo? I've heard they've got a great display of jewels."

Shinichi smiled. He knew what Heiji was really planing on doing, even if the girls didn't. "Why not? It's not everyday someone who's supposed to be dead shows up alive." And gets to pull one on the Kid.

It took a few minutes, but the couples were soon ready to go. They decided it was best if Heiji rented a car, for they wouldn't all fit on his motorcycle and Shinichi didn't need to be seen just yet. Once Heiji returned, they were off on another adventure.

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Kuroba Kaito walked into the display area at the new Tokyo Rare Artifacts Museum. Instead of looking at the jewels, his eyes were watching the roofs and doors, looking for escape routes. He'd taken advantage of his class field trip to the museum to plan for his next heist.

"Kaito! Where the heck is your brain? I've been talking to you for over 5 minutes, and you haven't responded once!" Aoko, Kaito's classmate, told him angrily.

OPPS! Kaito thought. Got sidetracked. "Aoko, give me a break. All I'm doing is looking at the jewels." Among other thing, he quietly snickered to himself.

"More like contemplating stealing them," Hakuba's voice sounded from behind him.

"Give it up, Hakuba! I'm not Kid!" Kaito angrily told the detective for the umpteenth time that day.

"Who says your not?" Akako asked, her voice soft but very audible. At museums, Hakuba usually stuck to Kaito like glue, hoping to find a way to prove that Kaito was the Kid once and for all. Because of this, Akako usually tagged along, hoping for some entertainment.

"I DID!" interjected Aoko. She hated Kid, and so couldn't believe that Kaito was the Kaitou Kid. After all, they'd been friends ever since they were seven years old. There was no way that Kaito would become Kid without him telling her about it. They never had secrets between them before.

Thanks Aoko. I'm sorry, but I can't tell you yet that I really am Kid. Not just yet, Kaito silently thanked his best friend or, as people said, girlfriend.

"Why don't we go get refreshments? I want some ice cream!" Kaito said as he shot off energetically. The rest of the group had no choice but to follow if they wanted any chance of seeing Kaito again within the next few hours. He could run so fast; almost no one could keep up. Especially if he didn't want them to.

Kaito laughed as he rounded a bend and suddenly stopped, causing the rest of his group to crash into him. Kaito didn't care. Standing a little ways away was Kudo Shinichi. He's dead! Kaito thought immediately. I know he's dead. I went to his funeral! Yet there he was, holding hands with Mouri Ran, chatting animatedly with Hattori Heiji and Toyama Kazuha.

"Kaito? What's wrong? You look like you've just seen a ghost?" Aoko's voice was lightly flavored with concern.

Yeah, I think I just did. "Um… just doing a brake check," Kaito answered and silently thanked his dad for teaching him to have a poker face. Hakuba groaned at his response. Kaito put on a happy grin and shot off again towards the ice cream parlor. His mind, on the other hand, never stopped wondering who was doing such a good job at impersonating Shinichi. He resolved to find out after school.

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The four teenagers had returned to Shinichi's house from their trip to the museum and were talking in the living room when the doorbell rang. Ran got up to answer it and was surprised to find boy looking almost exactly like Shinichi standing in front of her.

"Where is he?" the boy demanded angrily.

"Where's who?" she asked, not understanding completely.

"The guy impersonating Kudo Shinichi."

Oh. "There's no one impersonating Shinichi."

"Yeah there is. I saw him at the museum with you. Shinichi's dead. I know that."

"How?" Ran was getting a little scared. Who was this boy?

"Hello Kaito," Shinichi's voice came from the living room. Apparently he'd heard the conversation. "Why don't you come in?"

Kaito walked in slowly, like he was looking for traps. Ran led him into the living room.

"Who are you and why are you making this harder on Mouri-san?" Kaito demanded when he saw Shinichi.

"My, my. Kaito, I'd have thought that you of all people would've recognized me," Shinichi replied with a smirk. "After all, we've spent so much time chasing one another."

Kaito was floored. How did this person know about that? Both he and Shinichi had kept it a secret from anyone else. "Don't tell me, you think you're Shinichi reincarnated?" Kaito asked, jokingly. He hoped the boy would mess up somehow and then Kaito could prove that he wasn't Shinichi.

"Nope, I'm just Shinichi."

"Kuroba-kun, I know this is hard to believe, but that's Shinichi. He's not dead anymore," Heiji told the thief very seriously.

Okay, there's something going on, Kaito thought nervously. Heiji being serious is like me marrying Akako. It never happens.

"Hattori, I'd thought that at least you didn't believe in the supernatural," Kaito shot at him.

"I don't. Kudo's back because of the cure Haibara-san gave him."

"I saw Shinichi dead! I went to his funeral!"

"He told us what happened. Believe me, he surprised us all." Heiji looked at Shinichi, who promptly sighed, and reluctantly agreed with Heiji that Kaito wouldn't believe him until he'd heard his story. "Sit down Kaito. I'll tell you how I survived." Kaito sat down and Shinichi told him the same story that he'd told the others.

When he'd finished, Kaito was stunned. Just then the doorbell rang, freeing Kaito to try processing the information some more. Shinichi got up to answer. When he opened the door, the girl outside grabbed his jacket and pulled him outside.

"Kaito! We're going home right now! Next time, I'm not going to cover up for you," she told him as she started to drag him down the street.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Shinichi feebly tried to tell her. "I'm not Kaito! You're mixed up!"

"Stop playing games or I'll get my mop!"

"Aoko! Whatcha doing with him?" Kaito's voice came from the house and not from the boy she'd been dragging down the stairs.

"Uh? Kaito?" She looked up and saw Kaito standing in the doorway. "If you're Kaito, then who's this?" she asked, now very confused.

Shinichi pulled himself out of her grasp. "I'm Kudo Shinichi. Hajimemashite." He stuck out his hand.

Aoko gulped. "The Kudo Shinichi? The famous detective that disappeared without a trace almost a year ago?"

Shinichi nodded. "The one and only. Why don't you come inside? We've got some discussing we need to do with Kaito and you're welcome to join us."

Aoko just stared at him. Eventually she turned and started to walk back to the house. Just as she was about to enter, a shout came from down the street.

"Nakamori-chan! Kuroba-kun!" It was Hakuba Saguru running towards them, being followed by none other than Koizumi Akako.

Kaito and Aoko turned around at the sound of his voice. "Hello Hakuba-kun, Koizumi-chan!" Aoko joyfully answered them as she waved.

Shinichi sighed. The day was turning out to be a very long one. Oh, well. They're here, so might as well. "Hakuba-san, Koizumi-san. Will you come in?" he asked as they reached the house. Both looked at him funny, but then nodded.

After everyone was situated again in the living room, Shinichi spoke. "Alright, since we're all hear, why don't we get down to business. I think it's time we took down the Black Organization for good."

Kaito stared, Heiji nodded, Hakuba looked confused and Akako laughed quietly.

"I think if we work together, we can do it. At least the one in Japan. Any questions so far?" Everyone shook their heads. "Good. I think since we're going to need to depend on each other for our lives, we should have no secrets between us. That includes me too. To let everyone know, I was once Edogawa Conan. The same boy who's funeral most of you went to." Hakuba looked white as a ghost, while Aoko was shaking her head. Akako, surprisingly, nodded.

"That's not possible," Aoko stated. "People don't just change into little kids and back again. And for another, you'd be dead if you were Conan-kun."

"He was dead," Heiji told her. "Haibara-san saved his life without knowing it. Oh, and Kudo? Don't die on me again. That hurt."

Shinichi laughed. "Try being the one who died. That kills." While every one was laughing at his joke, Shinichi looked over at Kaito. Kaito looked back, and then shook his head. Shinichi nodded, respecting his decision. Kaito would tell Aoko and the others later about his 'other self'. One day, they would all be able to tell their special someones all of their secrets. For now, they were going to have to trust each other. It was this trust that they would need to survive the fight.

3 detectives, 1 thief, 1 tomboy, a karate champion, a sorceress, and the daughter of a police inspector all forming an unstoppable unit. The Black Organization won't stand a chance.

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Japanese words:

Ohayo - Good morning

Hajimemashite - pleased to meet you