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Transparency

Chapter One

Moon Kitty 2005

January 12, 2006

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- 1946, Beika, Japan -

Sixteen-year-old Mouri Ran walked down the abandoned street towards her house, both hands clasped firmly on the handle of her book bag. She had karate practice that day, and she had to return to her house to gather her supplies. She couldn't believe she had forgotten them! After all, she was defending her city championship against the Tokyo city champion.

Mouri Ran was an all-around average girl with expressive indigo eyes and waist-length brown hair. She was extremely kind to everyone in school and was popular, received good grades, and was exceptionally talented at karate.

She lived with her mother and father, who currently bickered every chance they got and were seeking a divorce. Ran tried not to let it affect her. She must've cried a thousand times, but whenever someone asked her about it, she simply smiled and said, "They're adults. I can't persuade them differently."

Ran shuddered at the mere thought of her family being separated as she pulled the squeaking gate to her home, cursing mentally as she dug through her bag for her keys. Finally finding them, she slid the cool metal into the lock and pushed the heavy door open, glancing around the darkened house.

What's going on? Ran pondered, glancing around worriedly. "Mom? Dad?"

There was no response as her call echoed through the still house, and her fear mounted. Why aren't they answering me? Usually Mom is attempting to make dinner and Dad is attempting to solve a case. Lord knows he's the worst detective ever.

"Mom? Dad!" Ran opened her father's study door, glancing around.

What lay on the floor shocked her beyond all comprehension and all the blood drained from her face as she let out a blood-curdling scream. "MOM! DAD! WAKE UP!" she pleaded, frantically shaking the bloody shoulders of her parents. "PLEASE, NO!" Reality set in as her parents still hadn't opened their eyes, and she collapsed, forehead to the floor, sobs wracking her body. "Mom... Dad... please... wake up."

"I don't think anybody's going to be waking up, hon," a voice from behind her uttered.

Gasping, she turned around to face a middle-aged man standing in the doorway. "You!" she screamed. "You killed my parents! I'll kill you!"

With that, she rose from the floor and shot forward, fist ready to make contact with his nose.

The man simply caught her fist in his hand, and a smirk crossed his face before the other hand shot from his pocket and pressed a damp rag against her mouth and nose.

Her world turned to black...

... and she would never wake up again.

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- 1996, Beika, Japan -

Sixteen-year-old Kudo Shinichi sighed and sat back in his seat, folding his hands behind his head. Today was such a boring day. Not only was the substitute droning on and on about arithmetic they had already learned, he was tired as hell and had forgotten to make his lunch in his haste to make it to school on time.

Man, Shinichi thought as he glared at the teacher, all that late night studying for a test that wasn't even going to take place.

Kudo Shinichi may have been just sixteen-years-old, but he was one of the greatest detectives that had ever graced the city of Beika, and the police departments often called him in for the tougher cases. His intellect was unmatched and in a certain amount of time, he would be able to solve any case presented to him.

He was a very good-looking young man, dark brown, almost black hair falling lightly into deep blue eyes. He was adored at school and all the girls fawned over him. He was pretty nice, but tended to be sarcastic sometimes.

"You mean it's really haunted?" he heard an anxious voice ask a couple seats away.

Turning his head towards the source of the sound, he silently observed the two boys talking excitedly in the corner.

"Yeah! My brother went there and spent the night with his friends. He said when he woke up in the morning there was a girl standing there. When he asked her who she was, she smiled and disappeared."

"We should go check it out!"

"Yeah, let's go tonight."

Shinichi turned back toward the board, staring into space. Maybe I should go investigate...

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Authoress Notes:

I can't believe that I actually got some reviews for that, lol... I honestly thought that no one would be interested... There aren't that many AU DC fics out there... anyways, thanks to the people that reviewed "Challenge"... I'm especially proud of that one. Thanks for the reviews!