With the exception of the plot and the original characters that are depicted in the story, the author makes absolutely no profit off of this work of fan fiction, and no copyright infringement is intended on the franchise of Detective Conan that rightfully belong to its owner Aoyama Gosho.

I would like to thank both OnyxKatana and J0kersGirl for their assistance with this chapter, they have helped me so much with their keen eye for detail and characterization! For these two authors, and everyone else who have stumbled onto the stage of Paper Faces, let the fourth act in this story commence! :)

Once Nakamori Aoko and Kudo Shinichi were properly introduced by their mutual classmate, the two of them could been almost seen every day together during or after school. The coffee-haired sleuth found her new friend to be a sweet girl with a plucky disposition, and in turn Aoko found Shinichi to mostly keep to herself as well as being a little shy around their peers. Yet, when they were in the company of a certain mischievous magician, the inspector's daughter saw a dry sense of humor emerge from her normally quiet companion. The conversations between Shinichi and Kaito were intellectual and usually held two types of meaning: an "upper" meaning - one where Kaito worshipped magic and KID - and another meaning that was thickly layered with sarcasm as Shinichi cynically kept him grounded. It was weird, but at the same time funny.

While Aoko had no doubt in her mind that Shinichi-chan was brilliant in her own right as a detective like Hakuba-kun, it did not take a genius to deduce that the transfer student needed help adjusting from the hustle and bustle of Beika to the tranquility that was unique to Ekoda. Furthermore, Shinichi had almost been mauled at a supermarket just to purchase some coffee beans and cabbage after their lessons on Saturday; when the young woman explained what happened the following week during lunch break, Aoko decided right then and there that she was the best one for the job. From an early age, Aoko knew everything there was to know about navigating through the local grocery stores to get either the best bargain, avoid the rush hour and which places cut down the prices on certain products for a span of seven minutes or less.

So what was the harm in taking Shinichi under her wing until the brunette was more than certain that such a horrific event will not occur again? Hardly any. Regardless that people always sought out a change of pace in their surroundings, there was always a crowd of vicious housewives pacing around Japan. Even in a quiet city like Ekoda.

And so, the private investigator was made to follow Aoko around the neighborhood with the behavioral pattern of a lost kitten as they ventured through both grocery and clothing stores. However at this point, Shinichi really did resemble a lot like one since she almost got cheated on the purchase of a varsity jacket at one department store. Luckily, Aoko quickly pointed out another place a few feet away sold the exact same item, though for a much better price.

Through her classmate's "teachings" Shinichi learnt a whole new concept about daily life as Aoko gave the detective more than a few helpful hints about anything and everything. While their lessons stretched from one day to almost two weeks, their lessons soon included more visual aids as Aoko simultaneously began showing Shinichi an extensive tour around the inner areas of Ekoda.

By three weeks Shinichi knew that the ramen stand that stood at the intersection of Oomura Ave and 5th Street was the best place to grab a quick, hot and affordable meal. The pastry store precisely four blocks away from school, Sakura Mochi, was a popular hangout for students and served the best dango with a limited discount on their tiramisu on Tuesdays.

However, these frequent shopping trips and random tours around the area quickly came with an almost constant variable at inopportune moments as soon as they started: a dead body.

Even after shrinking to a child through ingesting an untraceable poison and regaining her original body, thanks to Haibara's antidote, Shinichi's 'curse' - bringing only death and pain to those around her, even complete strangers - seemed to remain active. The first time that she had to solve a murder in Ekoda began on April 8th, exactly one week after the semester began and her very first day of shopping lessons.

Aoko had led them to a grocery store, which was crowded with women who were rushing to get dinner ingredients in their baskets to head home at a nearly inhuman speed. Shinichi almost got into an argument with a particularly aggressive housewife who was hell bent on taking the red snapper that the detective aimlessly selected until Aoko pulled her friend and the fish away from the hissing woman before things got worse. The brunette was about to ask if Shinichi was all right until a loud scream broke through the chaos in the supermarket. Aoko looked around frantically around the source of the sound while her companion only released a heavy sigh. Shinichi really should have known better than to place too much hope that her 'curse' had been lifted after moving to Ekoda for a fresh start.

A scream as loud and familiar as that one could only mean that someone had found a cadaver. Again.

Tracing the source of the scream, the two girls soon found a beautiful young woman staring in horror at the remains of a middle-aged man in Aisle 8. Shinichi grimaced at the sight, and looked at her companion with an almost pitying expression on her face. Judging from the shock and raw horror on Aoko's face, this was the first time that her classmate stumbled across a corpse. Yet fortunately, at least there was no blood surrounding the crime scene, much less the body. Being a self-proclaimed veteran from Division One, Shinichi wrapped an arm around Aoko's quivering shoulders and led her a vendor that was handing out free samples of strawberry-kiwi flavored juice. Once a large cup had been purchased and asking Aoko to please stay with the sweet old lady running the stand until everything was over, Shinichi immediately went to work.

After she collected all of the contact information from witnesses on a notepad and calmly ask the panicking store manager to contact the police as soon as possible. Once those objectives had been accomplished, Shinichi carefully observed the scene as she took photos with her phone, taking mental notes of anything unusual while the young woman tuned out the excited hubbub around her. However, the peace was shattered at the moment she heard Inspector Megure call out "Kudo-chan!" in a pleasantly surprised voice that echoed throughout the less than ten seconds, everyone and their gossip-hungry neighbor knew that the famous Detective of the East was present.

Resisting the urge to tell the ogling civilians to politely leave unless they were witnesses to the crime itself, Shinichi focused on the case. She and Inspector Megure exchanged information, talking softly to each other without any flair or theatrics that the coffee-haired woman used to display at the beginning of her career. Satisfied with the conclusion that they both reached, Shinichi excused herself and went to retrieve Aoko from the punch vendor.

The lively girl was still there, quiet and being fretted over by the wizened woman. Some color had returned to Aoko's cheeks, after some of the initial shock had been erased and replaced with an expression of queasiness. Shinichi tentatively approached them before she placed a hand on Aoko's shoulder.

"Oi, Aoko-chan. Are you alright? Do you want me to ask someone to give you a ride home?"

Widened blue orbs just stared vacantly at the concerned detective, unable to completely register her presence until Shinichi snapped her fingers in front of Aoko's face. The sharp sound made the young woman almost jump in surprise. Aoko looked at her friend in surprise.

"Huh? Shinichi-chan?"

Shinichi had to resist the urge to rub her face in exasperation. The coffee-haired classmate was by no means miffed at Aoko's behavior whatsoever, but she was absolutely tired of being a corpse-magnet. Was it really too much to ask for some normalcy in her life? Apparently there was no rest in Japan's criminal underbelly for the Detective of East. All Shinichi wanted to do is spend a little more time observing her new community.

"Yeah, it's me. I think we should call it a day for now. I don't really need groceries today anyway. I have enough food in the apartment until Sunday."

Aoko just nodded before she stood up from the bench. With an apologetic grin, Shinichi took her hand. "Come on, let's get out of here."

Shinichi thanked the elderly store associate for looking after Aoko and gently pulled her out of the crowded store, and onto the busy avenue that acted as the main artery from their current location to Ekoda's business district during rush hour. The two girls barely walked a few meters when they heard someone calling out to them.

"Kudo-san! Aoko-kun!"

Both of them turned around and saw a young man with blonde-brown hair waving at them as he jogged in their direction, a surprised expression etched on his face. Shinichi internally released a small sigh of relief at seeing the well-dressed teenager. Besides a certain sleuth hailing from Osaka and herself, Hakuba Saguru was probably the only other person who knew how seriously a crime scene can affect someone who was not used to witnessing such a tragedy, much less see a corpse with little to no blood.

"Hakuba-san! What brings you here?" Shinichi asked. He was in the United Kingdom for almost a week due to an emergency, but the dark-haired sleuth heard through the school's grapevine that Hakuba was all caught up with his classes because Aoko was helping him via video chats.

Hakuba graced Shinichi with a polite smile, and turned his attention to Aoko as his jovial mood became even brighter at seeing the inspector's daughter. However, the tranquil moment shattered and his smile was replaced with an expression of concern when he analyzed Aoko's pale and withdrawn face. He then looked at the Detective of the East with a questioning gaze.

"Well, I was on my way home from the bookstore when I heard there had been a death in this supermarket. I just came to investigate. However, from the looks of it, I see a different detective already beat me here," Hakuba explained with a small smirk.

Shinichi's face remained neutral as she stared at him. While she had not been able to know him as herself, Edogawa Agatha remembered that the sleuth from the United Kingdom could be just as territorial as Hattori when it came to handling criminal investigations on their turf. "Not exactly. Aoko-chan and I were in the store looking for a few things when the incident happened. Hardly the ideal shopping experience, in my opinion."

Shinichi discreetly cocked her head towards Aoko. Thankfully, Hakuba was able to quickly connected the dots on why her friend was not acting like herself. If he had not, then the young woman would have lost all faith in him as both an investigator and supposed admirer of Conan Doyle's detective stories. To his credit, Hakuba acted as if nothing was out of the ordinary while he addressed the ladies.

"Oh, that's too bad. However, since we're all here, why don't we go grab a bite to eat? There's a very good restaurant nearby. Aoko-kun, you know the one I'm referring to, don't you? The one where Kuroba pulled off that trick and made the cutlery turn into flowers?"

Shinichi decided not to ask how the magician managed to pull off that peculiar trick. When Aoko asked if she would be coming with him, Shinichi declined and said that she had some work to do at home. "Maybe next time, Aoko-chan. You two have fun. Bye!"

Just as she was about to walk away from the pair, Hakuba mouthed a silent message to his fellow detective: Don't worry, I'll take care of Aoko-kun. Shinichi nodded and left, feeling more at ease to leave her new friend with the young man.

Shinichi's wayward feet led her down the street and passed through the entrance of a local park. She felt incredibly guilty for making Aoko witnessing something as thoughtless and wretched as as an act of murder. After making her first friend since settling in at Clyro Villa, Shinichi wished with all of her weary soul that the darker side of her budding career as a detective would remain unseen for as long as possible.

Perhaps...it would be better, for Aoko's sake, that they should not be associated with each other anymore.

So lost in her thoughts, that Shinichi unintentionally bumped into a lean man with messy brown hair. When she looked up to apologize, her widened sky-blue orbs made contact with equally large, indigo ones.

"I'm so sorry for - Kuroba-kun! What are you doing here?"

Kuroba Kaito rubbed his shoulder with a wry smile. "I could ask you the same thing, Kudo-chan. Though in lieu of answering your question, I was just on my way home from the playground."

The detective's brow shot upwards. "The playground? Aren't you a little too old to be playing on slides and throwing yourself off swings in midair?" A combination of stress and her guilty conscious made the words she spat come out harsher than she intended them to be. Shinichi almost immediately apologized until she saw her classmate just roll his eyes.

"Now, now, Kudo-chan, who said I was there to play? I'm a magician!" The messy-haired young man spread his arms in a dramatic manner, confetti and doves suddenly appearing out of nowhere. "And what sort of a magician would I be if I didn't put on a show once in awhile?"

Shinichi's eyes unintentionally brightened as soon as those words reached her ears. Even though it was an element of her part-time occupation to exploit any tricks that a killer, or magician, used to deceive their audience, that did not exclude the sleuth from at least enjoying an occasional spectacle. KID was an entirely different class compared to the half-baked ones she used to see on the stage. Their tricks bored Shinichi to tears.

With the Phantom Thief, he did not cease to astound the crowd, coming up with new tricks each time he answered his calling card to steal a precious jewel. Ever since she had reverted back to being Shinichi and leaving the identity of Edogawa Agatha behind, the coffee-haired woman had not attended a heist since KID tried to steal the Clock Tower three years ago.

Before Shinichi realized it, she blurted out, "Can you show me something?"

To say that Kaito was surprised would be a gross understatement. He had not expected to cross paths with his classmate outside of school, much less on one of the few days he has off from homework and planning another KID heist. As a testament to the traits of his alter ego, Kaito could easily pick up on certain subtleties within the the blink of an eye. Furthermore, his instincts were telling him that Kudo-chan was upset about something. Her angered tone moments ago spoke volumes, even when she was trying to hide it from him now. One way or another, Kaito was going to get to the bottom of this unexpected mystery.

Besides, it was not everyday that he could display a few new magic tricks with a detective that was not a certain British prat for an audience. It might cheer up his gloomy-looking classmate, plus serve as a diversion from changing Hakuba's hair color. That trick was starting to get a little boring, including the...accessories he added.

"Yeah, why not? However, do you want to go sit somewhere, rather than stand the middle of the street? I'm pretty certain the experience will be better that way." Kaito answered with a smug grin. "The show I'll be putting on might even be too much for you to handle, Kudo-chan!"

Now it was Shinichi's turn to roll her eyes. This guy's smart mouth was going to get him in trouble one of these days. The detective was certain about it. With a inclination of her head, Kaito smiled mischievously before he grabbed her wrist. "Come on! I know a pretty good place not too far from here. Not too big or small for a magician to put on his act for an audience!" And away they went, walking down the street until Kaito led them to a billiards hall called The Blue Parrot.

Shinichi looked at the establishment with a contemplative expression. Aoko had not mentioned anything about this particular part of Ekoda, but the private investigator decided to just go along with whatever plan Kaito had up his sleeve. Worse case scenario, Shinichi could find a soccer ball and use it kick him in the head during class tomorrow as retribution.

Kaito strutted towards the billiards hall with the majestic grace of a peacock, as if he owned the place, with the detective cautiously following him inside. Standing behind a dimly-lit and stocked liquor bar was a bespectacled old man with short white hair, cleaning wine glasses, his back facing the two underage customers. "Jii-san!" Kaito called out. The stranger, whose name Shinichi now knew as 'Jii-san', turned around and looked at the class clown in surprise.

"Bocchan! What brings you here? I thought you were going to come here at the end of the week?" The man asked as he watched Kaito take a seat on a leather stool by the counter. The magician shrugged his shoulders.

"Nah, I thought I'd show a friend around. Oi, Kudo-chan, why are you standing there near the door, being all awkward? Come on!" Kaito said, gesturing the sleuth to the bar. "Relax, he won't bite!"

Jii-san shook his head and politely introduced himself to the young lady as Konosuke Jii, the owner of The Blue Parrot. Shinichi returned his salutations with a polite bow before she took a seat next to Kaito at the bar.

After showing displaying a few tricks that he performed earlier at the park as well as getting Shinichi a cola on the house and a little prying, Kaito learned the story behind her recent behavior. He felt a prickle of annoyance when the detective suggested that maybe it would be better to keep her distance from his childhood friend. Aoko was a really nice girl, and has helped the coffee-haired teenager with settling in her new neighborhood. Even when doing something as mundane as grocery shopping or going to the public library to study, Shinichi still came across more dead bodies than the average Tokyo Metropolitan officer would see in a single year. In the very short time that the magician had known her, he had seen a wide variety of emotions on her face, but defeat was something he had never seen. He immediately decided that it wasn't an expression he liked to see on her. He'd much rather see that smug smile or the dry smirk she usually wore. This had to be rectified. Now.

Once she finished her spiel, Kaito addressed the detective in a slightly irritated tone of voice. "Of all the idiotic decisions you've probably made in your short life this has to be in the top ten, or pretty damn close." Indigo orbs watched the puppy-dog look on Shinichi's face be wiped away with a slightly angered look. That face definitely suits Kudo-chan more than that the expression she was wearing a few moments ago. Kaito thought smugly behind his Poker Face.

"E-Excuse me?" Shinichi sputtered.

Kaito waved his hand in a dismissive fashion. "Oh, you're excused. Just tell me if I'm talking to the normal Kudo Shinichi now, or is the defeatist persona still there?" Again, the Detective of the East uncharacteristically croaked a single syllable as she stared wide-eyed at her classmate.

"What?"

Kaito ran his fingers through his already-mussed hair. "Sheesh, and I thought detectives were supposed to be smart. Kudo-chan, I'm seriously doubting your intelligence now. First of all, why would you assume that Aoko would be better off not hanging out with you anymore? If she really stop being friends just because your little shopping trip took a detour, then I would have been blacklisted years ago. Next, what has compelled you to think that keeping your distance from Aoko will make things better? You're a detective! Detectives are supposed to follow the physical evidence they see and use it to solve crimes, right? What happened today was purely coincidental. And it isn't your fault that Aoko saw the crime scene when she did. Because, unfortunately, this is not the first time Aoko has seen a corpse."

"Look up an infamous KID heist on the Internet, with the word 'Nightmare' typed in the search engine. She was there when it happened. Definitely shaken up like any normal person would be in her situation, but at school the next day she was just fine. As much as it pains me to say this," Kaito swallowed his proverbial pride as the next sentence almost made him choke, "I know that Hakuba helped Aoko at that time, and I'm pretty damn sure he's helping her right now. By tomorrow morning, she will be a lot better. So, please, stop beating yourself up over this, and get back to being yourself. Pulling away isn't going to solve this, Shinichi!"

The mischievous magician had not even noticed his voice had risen until he finished talking. His shoulders were heaving as he took deep breaths to calm himself down. Shinichi was silent as she looked at him with wide, unblinking cobalt blue eyes. Kaito waved his hand in front of her shell-shocked face.

"O-Oi, Kudo-chan? Are you still with me?"

Shinichi jerked out of her trance, though remained silent for a few seconds until she asked if Kaito was sure about Aoko in an unsure, squeaky voice. Kaito felt any remaining anger died out and nodded, an earnest expression stretched across his face as he spoke.

"Definitely. I've known Aoko for a long time, and I can guarantee that she'll be bright-eyed and plucky as usual when I flip her skirt in Homeroom!" He added cheekily. Kaito's smile grew larger when he saw Shinichi roll her eyes.

"I still find it hard to believe that you still get full marks in every subject with that devil-may-care attitude of yours."

"It's all part of my charm! Oi Jii-chan, put another cola on my tab! Actually, make that two!"

Even though Shinichi rarely indulged herself in carbonated drinks filled with processed sugar and other harmful chemicals that made up the fizzy beverage in front of her, the sleuth decided to take the plunge and have a sip while observing Kaito's lively interaction with the billiards owner. What Kaito had said just now was true. Until now, she was truly worried that she had blown all and any chance of making a friend in Ekoda after what happened in the supermarket. Perhaps...trusting Kuroba-san this one time wouldn't be such a bad idea. Shinichi thought.

xPFx

True to his word, the inspector's daughter was back to her normal self when Shinichi arrived at school the next morning. When the sleuth apologized for what happened the other day, her friend jokingly said that she could make it up by joining her at a KID heist.

Four weeks later Shinichi was returning Aoko's favor by standing outside the Haido City Hotel with an anti-KID poster propped against her shoulder, anxiously waiting for the Moonlight Magician to make his appearance.

Shinichi continues to adjust being in Ekoda while trying to be a normal high school student, though today's performance has included an unexpected murder, advice from a magician, and joining Aoko at a heist with the few but proud anti-KID protesters. What could possibly happen to the Detective of the East now that she has returned to the place where Edogawa Agatha first met Phantom Thief 1412? Decisions, decisions. :)

Please feel free to review or PM me with any questions, comments, or constructive criticism. Thanks to everyone who has favorited, reviewed, and added Paper Faces to their alert lists.

I hope everyone has enjoyed the show and reached your expectations. See you next illusion. - (KID caricature)