A/N: And I wrote this. I started this about two weeks ago, forgot, and wrote up til end yesterday. I hope you like this. At first I thought of putting this in two parts but then the whole case just came together in one chapter. Probably because I cut so much of the dialogue.

Hey, we get Amuro here! And Takuya too. About Takuya's reactions... go to read my three one shots: Last man Standing, He was our Zero and Forgotten Time. It has taken a while but finally I caught up with those three plot-wise!

But enough of my rambling, let's start!

Chapter 55.

It took a while but not so long as Tsukiko had initially thought. To get used to her new hair color that is. Maybe it was partially because her class had just let it slide after a few annoying questions from Hanajima. Everyone just thought she was back into her normal looks. Even though Mai had held onto Tsukiko's glasses a week more because the former blonde was avoiding the class president. Tsukiko was annoyed with the brunette. She had made her drunk and made her talk. True later, Tsukiko had felt better but she couldn't shake the feeling that what if it had been someone else who had been there. Or what if she had slipped and exposed some secret… It could have ruined everything! Absolutely everything and that thought terrified the girl.

Mai did apologize. Right on the first day Tsukiko had been back to school. And the girl and accepted apology but requested some time to think everything through. She wasn't ready to forgive the other yet. Mai had – naturally – let her. The brunette had spent more time with Namida then who was miraculously at school once again. The both parties of the… rift decided not to tell the shy girl what exactly had transpired during the weekend.

It was a rainy day. Tsukiko was doing some shopping on the other part of Tokyo. It felt quite good to be somewhere no one exactly knew her…

Walking under her light blue umbrella, the girl had once again time to think about that evening after dying her hair. She was thinking hard about Mai's motives. Had she been trying to get information out of her? If so, why didn't she make her drink more and downright ask questions? Right now Tsukiko could still remember clearly what happened up until she fell asleep.

"Maybe… she was really trying to make me feel better by telling my worries." Tsukiko mused. "And even though she did break in to my phone, it was just to call Jodie to get me home… And she confessed it. I've changed to code now…"

Bang!

Tsukiko froze for a second, looked around. That had come somewhere really close! She began running to the direction of the sound.

Whilst running, the girl pulled her umbrella closed so it wouldn't break. It wasn't doing any good anyways to protect her from the rain anymore. Tsukiko ducked to the left into a side alley. There was a parking lot there… With a car ablaze!

"What…?!" The blue eyes widened. But not because of the car… It was because of the restaurant behind the lot. Restaurante Sundayrino! "You gotta be kidding me…"

But no one was kidding. In fact, there was a man and a kid in front of the car, gaping at it. Kogoro and Conan. With a sigh, Tsukiko opened her umbrella and walked to the duo.

"What the heck happened here?" She asked, making the two jump slightly.

"Tsukiko-neechan!" Conan exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

Tsukiko tilted her head in thought. It was amazing that the boy recognized her immediately. After all, the girl had been avoiding about everyone lately and thus hadn't met the boy at all. Well, maybe he had heard something from Sonoko or Sera via Ran… "I was walking nearby, on a way to the metro station… Then I heard a bang and came to investigate."

"Which way did you come?" The bespectacled kid asked. Tsukiko pointed the alley on the opposite side of the parking lot from the restaurant.

"No one came past me." She added for the good measure.

The police arrived. Tsukiko was delighted to see Takuya there too. The man was complaining about explosive cars and how he always were the one to investigate them as he escorted the girl, Conan and Kogoro back inside once the preliminary investigation had ended. It was time to question the guests in the restaurant and confirm things from the ex-husband-to-be. Tsukiko let a small smile grace her face. It was the introductory case of one Amuro Tooru aka Furuya Rei aka Bourbon. She was giddy. But she was also worried. After all she had come across with Scar-Akai twice. The first time right before the bank robbery although it was doubtful the man would actually connect Tsukiko to that girl. And then the second time as Kage, right in front of the Beika Department Store.

But… Tsukiko's eyes fell on her now black locks that were tied on two low ponytails. Maybe the color-change had come on the right moment. The girl smiled a bit more widely and looked at the crowd assembled before her and Takuya.

"Miyoshi-kun, take the statements from the guests here." Megure told the detective next to the girl.

"Right away, sir!"

Well the good detective tried but everyone's attention just went to the ex-husband-to-be and the waiter of the restaurant.

"This guy's been meeting with Hatsune in secret… He's her lover!" Banba Raita accused the other man with dyed blonde hair and tanned skin. Tsukiko had to hold her squeals inside. The coolest moment of the entire case was about to happen!

"I-Is that true!?" Megure asked.

"Well, I have indeed met with her…" The waiter began removing his glasses The girl noted that Takuya had frozen right when the man began speaking. "After all… she employed me as a private eye… I'm a detective, you see…"

Conan's horrified face was brilliant to see. Tsukiko thought about commenting it to the boy but…

A pen clattered on the floor and Takuya hastily picked it. When straightening up, he young detective made an eye contact with Amuro but… The faces of both of the men were curiously blank, like refusing to acknowledge each other's presence. Tsukiko frowned at the display. No one else seemed to notice though. Amuro turned to talk with the others present, explaining how he had been hired by the victim, Kamon Hatsune and such… The basic stuff. And while Tsukiko usually would make her own input to the case proceedings, this time she decided to stay firmly on the background and observe. And talk with Takuya. He looked like some distraction was in order.

"I heard from Mai-chan what she did…" The detective mused while keeping his back firmly turned towards the proceedings on the other side of the restaurant. "I have to say I'm not even remotely surprised."

"So you knew she'd… make me speak by getting me intoxicated?" Tsukiko frowned.

"Well… Not exactly but let's say that such an action wasn't a surprise. Mai-chan… she never had any proper friends before you and Maki Namida-chan. True, she had some… associates when she was young but they always were either intimidated by her bookiness or somehow scared away by her parents… This results that she doesn't exactly know…" The man trailed off, stopping to listen the deductions being made on the background.

"She doesn't know what?"

"How to act. True, she has a lot of experience about situations in everyday life. She knows whom to trust and whom not to. As you have noticed in your school life, she is fine company if somewhat detached from the rest of your class."

"Yes…."

"However, comforting a friend is something she has never done. So she went with what usually helps her. And while doing so decided to find out more about yourself. To be honest I'm surprised she has been able to date Ishihara Kouki-san this long… and in secret from her parents."

"That she did…" Tsukiko muttered through gritted teeth. "But why wouldn't she ask me without such underhanded tactics? We're friends…"

"Exactly. You are her first real friend even if she doesn't make it any fuzz about it. At least she thinks she doesn't." Takuya sighed before readying his notebook and remarking drily. "I guess I need to actually do my job now. Can't leave everything up to self-proclaimed detectives no matter how much weight Megure-keibu gives to them. Besides… If my hunch is right, a very sad truth will be revealed tonight…"

With those words the police detective headed to the party participants to gather statements he was supposed to get while the 'self-proclaimed detectives' were in the center of the room in the lime light. Tsukiko decided on keeping an eye on them.

"As long as we are not talking about blood relatives, there's no such thing as the genome being 'an approximate match'." Amuro told the suspect. "It's only natural to think that the DNA belongs to the same person, isn't it?"

Banba charged at the waiter, obviously enraged at the comment. Amuro dodged though and the other man fell on the floor.

"P-Please stop with the violence… Mouri-san please hold his legs! He might come swinging at me again…"

"Well, maybe… Just maybe… you should stop provoking him then." Tsukiko huffed, stepping forward. "Not only he suspected you being the person that Kamon-san cheated him with but now it's revealed you were actually investigating if Banba-san was cheating her with someone. On top of that you are accusing him of the murder of his beloved. So maybe you should just take a step back let the professionals handle this."

"And by professionals you mean…"

"For example Miyoshi Takuya-keiji who is doing his job while you are practically hindering the investigation here. I understand that at the moment the evidence might be pointing towards Banba-san but none of it is hardly conclusive yet. Besides… Did anyone even consider the DNA in the fake nail to belong to our unfortunate victim of circumstances, Kamon Hatsune-san?" The last statement was directed to the forensics around. It caused an immediate buzz.

Banba decided to give his own DNA sample and was led away by Takagi. Conan and Ran began discussing about the DNA and making the little boy sweat. Poor Shinichi, if Ran ever managed to hold on a test like that the faux child would be… in major trouble.

"And? Do you two detectives have any clues?" Megure asked Amuro and Haruoka Sanji once he had discussed with Takagi about the possibilities of slipping outside. At that point Tsukiko had also been questioned about her route if she had come across with anyone. But it seemed the police was also convinced that Banba was the culprit. "For example, if those two had any dispute or if she was carrying any burden that was bothering her so much she would commit suicide…"

"Not really…" Haruoka began. "He was quite shocked when I told him that she was meeting with a man in secret, but recently it seemed ha was more bothered by her talking to someone on the phone secretly… Well, at any rate she was just contacting this guy here so…"

"Ah, no… Whenever I contacted her, it was by e-mail." Amuro told in half-panic. Hmm… Interesting role he was leading now. "And as far as meeting in public, it was just that one time when you saw us. Although… There was one thing that darkened her expression…"

"Darkened?" Megure repeated in confusion. Tsukiko noted that Takuya was nearby, listening attentively too.

"As a detective, I investigated everything about him thoroughly and in doing so, I found something out… The two of them were rescues from the same hotel fire. With nothing to identify them, they were taken in and raised by the same church."

Tsukiko glanced at Takuya who was frowning, seemingly deep in thought.

"Then the parents of both parties died in that fire?" Megure confirmed.

"Yes, most likely… It was pretty large fire, so there were many deaths and they were both infants at the time."

"So that means they were childhood friends?"

"No. He was quickly taken in by adoptive parents while she was raised by the church for a longer period…"

"But why would that darken her expression?"

"I do not know… Although she did tell me that she would investigate the rest on her own…"

While Conan talked with Ran and soon dashed outside, Tsukiko went to Takuya. The officer gave her the statements he had gotten.

"I don't need them. I already have a good idea what has occurred here…" The former blonde laughed.

"Sorry, I'm so used to giving information to Mai-chan…" Takuya chuckled but sobered quickly. His gaze flicked around the room and the grip on his pen tightened. "And I guess I know pretty much the outlines of this case too… We just need more evidence…" The pen was close to breaking point.

"Hey, you alright?" Tsukiko's voice woke the young man from his thoughts. The girl was looking at him in concern, her long hair still damp from the rain. "You look kinda pale."

"Ah, I'm fine. I guess I just need some fresh air." Takuya gave out a short embarrassed laugh, looking away from the girl only to have Amuro to catch his attention again. Tsukiko followed his line of sight and opened her mouth a bit.

"Oh…" Could it be? Could Takuya have known Bourbon back in the Police Academy? According to his reactions, yes. "I see. Just go and get some oxygen. I'll keep an eye on the things here." Tsukiko smiled reassuringly.

The police detective smiled back gratefully and headed outside. Tsukiko in the other hand turned her attention to the matter at hand. Conan was heading inside. Soon… Soon was the time to expose the heart-breaking truth.

Accusations were flying in the air. Back and forth, back and forth… Up until Megure received the results of the second fake nail that Conan had found. And when Banba was being led away to the parking lot it was almost too late. And Conan was fumbling with his watch...

"C-Chotto matte kudasai!" Tsukiko called in panic. "Please wait. This case… If you walk out of that door now Banba-san, this case is as good as closed with you implicated as the murderer."

"What?" Banba frowned. Everyone's attention went to Tsukiko, even Conan's who had been preparing to stungun Kogoro.

"I believe I have the necessary information to piece together what has actually happened here, how and why." The black-haired girl told her audience confidently. Now wasn't the time to back down anymore. "And most important point that I have to state right away is that you are not the culprit Banba Raita-san."

The statement got some stunned looks. Ran was looking at Tsukiko in confusion and Megure with skepticism. Amuro was doubtful but didn't let anything show on his face, much. Conan sat quietly under the table and Kogoro was perplexed. Even Takuya had slipped in quietly and was watching the proceedings attentively.

"Tsukiko-kun… Regardless of how well he's following procedure and coming with us on his own accord, saying he's not the culprit… That's quite impossible isn't it?" Megure questioned. "After all, he may not be taking it seriously and think as long as he cooperates and doesn't confess, he won't get arrested."

"Well, I have to just prove you then that it was impossible for him to commit this crime, right?" Tsukiko smiled, her hand on her hips. "Let's begin by assessing the situation we have here, the circumstances of the death of one Kamon Hatsune-san…"

The girl dug her bag for a moment and flipped open her sketchbook with a picture of the blueprint of the restaurant.

"The door leading out from this restaurant to the parking lot was locked because of the rain and even the exit and entry via the restroom window was not possible since there were no footprints from the culprit in the vicinity of the large puddle underneath that window. Those are the facts you already confirmed with Takagi-keiji, right?"

"Yes…"

"That means the only way to exit this restaurant was via the front door but for that Banba-san should've walked through the entire restaurant. In a situation like that not only he would've been noticed by the guests, sudden disappearance of the start of this party would've also raised some questions and…" This time Tsukiko produced the statements of the guests she had gotten from Takuya.

"Here are what the witnesses here have told Miyoshi-keiji about the events of this evening. None of them saw Banba-san leave. None of them saw anyone else apart from Kamon-san leave either. And bar the police officers and me, the only one to arrive at some significantly other time that the rest of the guests, was Haruoka-san whose presence here we have already solved."

"Hmph…" Oh, of course Amuro would want his share of the spot light too… "It was not that no one saw him, but rather that no one noticed… That would be my deduction." Megure's attention snapped to the tanned detective.

"And what do you mean by that?" He disguised himself in the restroom. He had hidden some clothes for that purpose in the restroom beforehand. For example, if he wore a knit cap and a lonf windbreaker, no one would notice that it was him. After all, at the beginning of the party, he greeted everyone, ensuring the way he dressed and looked before disguising was recorded into memory…"

At that point Banba began talk about the phone call he made. Amuro naturally had an explanation to it.

"Did you really make what phone call right before it started burning?" But before the man could continue, Tsukiko had stepped forward.

"Well, did anyone bother check the call log of Banba-san's phone?" She then held out her hand for the phone. "Banba-san, if you please…"

With some grumbling, the suspect handed out the phone. Tsukiko quickly unlocked it since it wasn't passwords protected and went to the call log.

"Here. This clearly shows, Banba-san called to Kamon-san and that the call was answered. The time also corresponds the time when Ran-senpai called to the fire department and when I arrived to the scene." She handed the phone back. "As for the disguise… While the one you, Amuro-san, just described to us is easily disposed of, what about the shoes?"

"The shoes?"

"Since shoes are hard to dispose… I'm certain that there's a decisive evidence at the bottom of Banba-san's shoes that he did not go out during this entire evening after arriving here."

At that Banba removed one of his shoes and… ta-da, stains of chocolate cake were discovered. Ran recognized it and confirmed the time when the cake had been stepped on.

"I-I see… If Banba-san had walked on the wet road surface during the time of the incident when it was raining hard, this cream would've been mostly washed off!" Takagi got it. "And if he had hurried back into the restaurant after lighting the fire in the car all more so!"

"Bingo~!" Tsukiko snapped her fingers and pointed at the detective's direction. "And while someone could argue this cake was a set up by Banba-san… Why didn't he use it as bargaining chip? Moreover he was about to leave the restaurant when this evidence would've been washed away like in our scenario that Takagi-keiji explained to us. Not to mention that it was Amuro-san here who dropped the cake."

"How do you have such accurate account of the events here? You weren't even at the place when all those things you explain happened." Megure frowned.

"It's all thanks to Miyoshi-keiji and his diligent work. He took extra accurate statement from Ran-senpai and Mouri-san since they were with Banba-san most of the time. It's all here." Tsukiko showed the witness statements she had.

"B-But what about the DNA!?" Amuro argued. "There was skin on the tip of her fake nail that approximately matched his DNA, right? Isn't that evidence that he was beside her at the time!?"

Tsukiko gave the Organization member a blank look. "No."

"No?"

"No. I could've began with this evidence but I decided that it was better that everyone had the basics first. That, and I wanted to give more time to for the lab report to arrive. Because if I'm right – and I definitely kind of hope I am – it will be the final proof needed. By the way, if I remember correctly, I asked this before: 'Did anyone even consider the DNA in the fake nail to belong to our unfortunate victim of circumstances, Kamon Hatsune-san?'"

"W-What are you even saying? I told earlier that as long as we are not talking about blood relatives, an approximate genome match is impossible! Nowadays, the chance that someone would possess the same DNA is 4.7 trillion to 1. In the first place, females would not possess the Y chromosome males have so it would be easy to determine!"

Tsukiko just nodded as the man ranted. "You could become a good prosecutor… How about the contamination of the sample? The gender portion was unclear, was it not?"

"Are you saying that two such people would meet by chance, happen to fall in love, and then get married!?"

"Meet, no, fall in love, yes." The girl let out a sigh, walked around a couple of steps while gazing at the ceiling. This was going to be hard. "The two of them were twins. I've heard of accounts were long-lost or otherwise separated siblings have fallen in love with each other. Genetics pull them together. It is also commonly used element in romance novels about forbidden love."

Tsukiko produced yet another paper from her bag. "This is what Miyoshi-keiji got after interviewing Banba-san. And according to him, they had the same birthdate and blood type, and even when silent, they could know what the other was thinking."

"Y-Yeah… But to say we're twins just because of that…" Banba began.

"You weren't here when Megure-keibu and I got this information but… Amuro-san here, when investigating you, found out that when you and Kamon-san were infants, you two were rescued from the same hotel fire and were taken in by a church with your identities unknown… Since your parents were burned to death, no one knew you were twins…"

"However, is it true that the twins have the same DNA?" Megure interrupted.

"If they are identical twins, yes, especially when they're the same sex."

"Furthermore… There are rare cases…" Amuro stated. "If the fertilized egg, before it is divided, has XY chromosomes… Upon splitting into two embryos, one may lose its Y chromosome, thus one will be XY and the other will be X0. They would then be born as opposite sex identical twins."

"H-Hey that's a joke, right? That me and Hatsune are twins…" Banba panicked.

"Do you know what her height was?" The waiter-detective countered.

"She would say is was in the low 140s… Since it always bothered her that she was short…"

"…If that's the case, there's a high probability. For opposite sex identical twins, the female is prone to short stature stemming from Turner's syndrome."

"B-But tell me… Why would Hatsune's own skin be on her fake nails!?"

"You really don't get it, do you Banba-san?" Tsukiko sighed. "Kamon-san said she'd investigate on her own after hearing about the hotel fire. She might've had suspicions already but wanted a certainty. By DNA analysis to compare the DNA of you two. To find out whether or not you truly were twins. Most likely the phone calls she kept secret from you were to the doctor conducting the test. And tonight, when coming back from the nail salon and getting out of her car, that same doctor called her… Informing her about the result thus telling her that you and Kamon-san were forbidden to marry."

"N-No way… No way…"

"Most likely once hearing those news, Kamon-san clawed her own face with enough force to dislodge two of those fake nails… One of which is being analyzed right now…"

At that moment Inspector Megure's cellphone rang. The results were clear. It was Kamon Hatsune's DNA and it was identical to Banba's except for the portion signifying the gender. The poor man broke down. Tsukiko looked away with tears in her eyes and walked to Takuya who tentatively hugged her. Apparently he had experience about though cases and proper ways to comfort others. Unlike Mai.

When Tsukiko was asked about her performance, she just told she diligently followed great detectives, like the Sleeping Kogoro, at work and picked from there clues of how to work. When asked about her knowledge, she only answered it was something she had learnt in her previous school and also read later from a book. All in all she pushed credit aside and broke down only after stepping out of the restaurant and into the pouring rain. Takuya took her home and later on the week, the girl accepted Mai's apology and heard about the new waiter at Café Poirot who was also disciple of Kogoro. Thankfully the Plot had remained the same…

A/N: And done! What did you think? I decided to give some limelight to Tsukiko even though she thought of staying in the sidelines. Conan, you clumsy fingers... But she did good, didn't she? I got some serious Ace Attorney wibes though. Pity Tsukiko isn't a fan. Shugo is though, like I mentioned in Leap to Relatively Unknown.

Alright, next chapter is Detective's Nocturne. I have some ideas for it but I'm completely lost which of them to use. So. I decided to tell you what I had planned so you can comment and I can make my decision then. Meanwhile I'll be writing either Leap or Monochrome.

1. Tsukiko is with Subaru and participates in the chase with him, Ai and Agasa. Stays with them all the time.

2. Tsukiko is with Sera. OR is at first with Subaru but in the 'showdown' goes to speak with her. ('Masumi-nee')

3. Tsukiko notices Vermouth but she doesn't notice her.

4. Vermouth notices Tsuki.

5. Tsukiko is with Yamato as Kage and something or other happens(tell me more)

Those are my ideas. They are not meant to exclude each other but to mash together in a right combination... I'm open for suggestions because I'm completely lost.

And finally is the time some of you have surely been waiting for:

Review Replies!

-Mullkkkkkk:
Disliking Mai? Well, thankfully Tsukiko decided to chat with Takuya then so she can understand her FIRST FRIEND IN TEITAN HIGH better. She has a job. And that's being Tsukiko's best friend.

-Kimmiko T:
Thanks great to hear. Thank you. :)

-Nana von Bldsinn:
Yes, it'll be interesting indeed. I gotta think how exactly use it though...

-Zeladious:
I just realized it was quite good foreshadowing, Gosho does it a lot but ends up trolling us...

-AiConShinXShi:
Great to hear that you liked this.

-RyanSonofApollo:
Tsuki being a boy? Well... No thanks.
But thank you for the review. :)