A/N: Okay, I sort of said to let this rest while I catch up with Leap but... Well, I sort of also wanted this out of the way. To celebrate the new year you get this chapter. Sort of relevant to have read Leap as much as I've written it. Or at least the chapter titled as 'Twins'. I don't remember currently if it was number thirteen or fourteen or something else.

And preferably to have read as much recent chapter as possible because the beach flashback comes here!

Chapter 71.

Tsukiko felt tired. Downright lethargic even. And she felt slightly nauseous. Thankfully she now had a seat at the back of the class but still next to the window so she could take it easy and look outside in the case she felt even worse. The seats had been changed last week and Yuuko's clique had been placed on the front seats and this time they hadn't managed to get out of it. Mai was seated in the middle next to… Hiro while Namida was next to Tsukiko.

"Are you alright?" Namida leaned across the aisle between their desks and asked Tsukiko quietly.

"I… I'm fine…" Tsukiko whispered but wasn't sure herself. And neither was the shy girl who shot her a dubious look. Some rows before them, Mai turned to glance at them too. The bespectacled girl arched her eyebrows and seemed to be mouthing a question/order to Namida who nodded.

The quiet girl got up and raised her hand slightly.

"Sensei, I'm not feeling too well. Could Tsukiko-san take me to the nurse's office?"

Mukudo-sensei looked up from the geography book he'd been lecturing from but nodded then. "Go on then. Shall I mark you two absent for the rest of the day then?"

"That's be great, sensei." Namida nodded. Tsukiko looked up at her friend in mild confusion before gathering her things and getting up too.

"So… Maki Namida-san… and Okiya Tsukiko-san… Go on then, girls. It's almost summer anyways." The man waved the pair off. No one mentioned how it looked more like Namida was holding up Tsukiko rather than vice versa.

They made it to the nurse's office which was empty and Tsukiko sat down on the bed.

"Just lie down. I'll sit right here." Namida instructed. "We'll wait until the nurse comes back."

"Okay." Tsukiko had indeed felt dizzy during the trip to other part of the building and was grateful to be horizontal now. It eased the bounding in her head too. "I think I'll take a little nap…"

And she was falling into unconsciousness.

Ripple of waves. Bright sun above their heads. Hot dry sand beneath their feet. Slight warm breeze to dry saltwater soaked skin.

"Kaa-chan! Can I go back to the water?"

"Not now… It seems Daiki-kun has gotten a bit too much sun…"

"He can rest and get better then. Niichan needs to be in the shadow now, right?"

"That's right. And I need to stay with him so he's alright." The woman tied her long black hair on a low ponytail and sat down under a parasol. Next to her, a blonde boy was lying on a towel. Kagemiya Tsubasa looked up from her son at her pouting daughter. She sighed.

"Hoshi-chan, you can walk around if you want to. Just don't go too far, don't go into water and stick to other kids."

"Alright!" Hoshi chirped and was about to whirl around, her blonde polka-cut hair flying, when her mother stopped her.

"And put on your shirt so you won't burn your shoulders." Tsubasa lifted a lavender-colored, short-sleeved hoodie at the six year old. Nodding, Hoshi put it over her lime green one-piece swimsuit and went to explore then.

"Bye bye, kaachan!"

"Bye bye, Hoshi-chan."

Hoshi walked around the beach, occasionally talking with some beach-goer, especially if they were kids. She was very out-going child. But she was also careful. Her parents worked for the world-wide police (Interpol) and had taught her to be careful.

The girl's stomach rumbled. She paused for a moment before hurrying back to the parasol where her mother was waiting with her brother.

"Nee, kaachan. I'm hungry."

"Do you want to go to buy some little snack then?" Tsubasa reached for her purse and looked for her wallet.

"They have… fries?" Hoshi guessed the word she wasn't sure of in her mother's language.

"Your father would say ranskikset." Tsubasa gently corrected the girl.

"Ah! Ranskan perunat!" A pause. "When are we seeing touchan again?"

"Lucas is on an important mission here in Japan."

"But he was with us in Finland, Italy, Spain, France, Denmark, China…"

"I know, dear, I know. It's hard for us too." The woman dug some coins for her daughter. "Here, it should be enough for some small fries."

"Okay."

Hoshi gave the coins for the seller at food stall and got a pack of fries in response.

"Arigato!" She chirped before bouncing away. She passed another little girl coming to the stall too. That girl had black curly short hair and two-piece swimsuit.

"You have pretty hair." The girl said to Hoshi. The little blonde blinked but grinned then.

"Thanks! I like yours too!"

Hoshi decided to linger around. Maybe the girl would like to play with her when they both had eaten… She munched her fries and watched as the other girl came back and…

"Eeeee!" The black-haired girl stretched her cheeks with fries stuffed into her mouth and nostrils. Hoshi chuckled while…

"Don't play with food." A man lying on a beach chair with sunglasses on and a cap in his head. What a jerk.

"Hey, what are you doing, Masumi?" A woman approached. She was pretty. But not as pretty as Hoshi's mother. But she also had blonde hair that was even lighter than Hoshi and Daiki and father had!

"Mama!" The girl, now named Masumi, said, dropping the fries.

"You're a girl, getting the salt from the chips under your nose like this!" The woman continued, crouching in front of Masumi and wiping the girl's nose and mouth with a handkerchief.

"S-Sorry…" Masumi muttered. Hoshi kept eating her fries. They tasted quite good. But why did that woman say 'chips' then?

"Ah, is such a joke very popular in England?" Another woman joined in. She was wearing a large hat and glasses and had very curly brown hair. She looked somewhat familiar… Maybe from some movie Hoshi's mother had watched…

"Eh?"

"You're from England, right?" England? Masumi-chan was from Europe like Hoshi and Daiki then? "Potatoes cut into sticks, dabbed with salt and fried in oil are called fried potato in Japan, French fries in America and those who call them chips, are from the country of fish and chips, England! So I thought… Never mind that, have you seen my son? A little boy wearing green shorts, and a girl around his age might be with him too."

"No idea." Masumi's mother replied. The other woman turned away then.

"Geez, where did he go?"

"Hm, even in such a 'safe' country, if you're careless, and give away your identity through your speech… No country is safe for you mother." The jerk spoke up. He was Masumi's brother then. Hoshi frowned. Daiki would never be that mean to her.

"There is one missing…" A voice spoke up. Hoshi turned to look at her brother, she'd just been thinking about.

"Niichan, I thought you'd be with kaachan."

"I wanted to walk. And look for you." The boy shrugged before tugging his hat deeper into his head to cover his ears better and shadow his face.

"What did you mean by someone missing?" Hoshi asked then. She was very curious. Daiki had the same ability than their mother but mother rarely talked about what she saw. Said it was all better to be left as secrets.

"A man hovers around them." Daiki pointed at Masumi, her mother and her jerk of a brother. "And around one other guy I saw in one of the stores. It's the same man. I don't know if he is alive or dead but he left on his own volition."

"Volition?"

"It means will. He left because he wanted to more or less. Maybe to protect them…"

"The jerk did say that his mother wouldn't be safe anywhere…" Hoshi muttered. "You want some fries?"

"Thanks…" Daiki took the offered box but looked at somewhere on their right. "I need to go. I'll tell mother you are alright. She'll take me to the hotel soon though."

"Okay."

Daiki disappeared into crowd right when…

"I know your true identity!" A boy spoke up, pointing at the jerk. Hoshi smiled widely. Even if she didn't really listen to what was going on with the family. (It sounded like Spy Kids or something. It was a good movie. Much better than the sequels.) But it was definitely amusing to listen to the other boy prattling about his… deduction? That was the word right?

"Am I wrong?" The kid demanded at the end.

"Heh!" The jerk chuckled before letting out a full-blown laughter. "Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

Okay, maybe he wasn't that much of a jerk. Hoshi needed a new name to call him though.

"It's true that I've visited three countries, but I'm not part of a circus."

"Eh?! Really!" The kid gaped.

"Or do you think that everyone who travels, is a circus member?"

Hoshi nodded mentally. She and her family had also travelled a lot because of her mother and father's work but it wasn't circus work.

"Ah, right."

"Good job noticing the accordion bruise." The guy continued then. "But I played it at a bar. It was a request from one of the clients. It's my part-time job, and they pay well." He removed his sunglasses, revealing the bruise underneath his left eye. "This is not crying make-up, by the way. It's a bruise my mother gave me when we fought."

Hoshi frowned. Why would he fight with his mother with fists? Was it because he was a jerk?

"Who are you?" The guy asked the kid then.

"I-I… I am… Kudo Shinichi! I am… Sherlock Holmes' apprentice!" The kid announced. Who was Sherlock Homes then? Hoshi tilted her head as she tried to remember. She had heard the name somewhere…

"Ahh, Shinichi, there you are! Your kaa-san was looking for you!" A girl came from the crowd with an flower-patterned inner tube with her. And very peculiar hairstyle. Wait? Didn't Daiki say that one of his classmates had hair like a horn? And there was an annoying kid obsessed with Sherlock Holmes? Oh, that's where Hoshi had heard of him! But were these two kids on Daiki's class then? Was that why he left so quickly? Hmm…

"Ran!"

"Are you still playing Holmes?" The girl, Ran, asked.

"I'm not playing! This is my training for when I become a famous detective!" A detective?! That's what Holmes was! But Hoshi's mother and father preferred Poirot and Marple.

"But you'll be in danger if you overdo things like this!" Ran continued. Danger? "Those oniisan's looked really angry!"

"They started it." Shinichi replied when a tall guy came up to the two kids with two of his buddies. Hoshi didn't like them.

"Brat, I've finally found you." The new guy, real jerk, said. He was cracking his knuckles and being intimidating. Hoshi approached 'Daiki's friends' carefully while real jerk continued. "You really made a fool of us back in there, didn't ya?"

"You brought it upon yourselves." Shinichi retorted. "Putting a fly in the yakisoba you were almost done eating and making a scene just to get out of paying for it."

"So it's all your fault then!" Hoshi spoke up. "Shinichi-kun was only doing what is right!"

"Shut up, gaijin no gaki!" The real jerk growled before turning to intimidate Shinichi again. "We'd have gotten away with it too if it wasn't for you!"

Hoshi pursed her lips and darted forward. She wasn't one to stand by idly when other kids were bullied. And the real jerk had called her a foreign brat! She wasn't foreign, she was a traveler! Roots where they needed to be! Mother had said so!

A hand struck the real jerk in between eyes while Hoshi pushed herself off the ground and let her head collide with real jerk's stomach. Real jerk then hit the sand and Hoshi scrambled to hide behind not-so-jerk. Hmm, he needed a new name now.

"Sorry, but these kids are with me… So if you've got something to say to him, you can tell me first." Now, she knew! He was scary-face-niisan! "That is, if you're prepared to lose both your eyes, I'm listening."

"S-Sorry!" The real jerk and his cronies ran away, stumbling. Hoshi stuck her tongue at them.

"Cool, what is that skill?" Ran asked scary-face-niisan.

"It's called finger jab. It's to blind your opponent in a fight. It's one of the techniques of Jeet Kune Do." The man explained. "Sorry, but can you three play with my little sister? She's looking to make some friends."

Hoshi looked at her hand which was clutching onto scary-face-niisan's shorts leg. Shinichi and Ran were already agreeing.

"Scary-face-niisan was really cool!" The girl spoke up then. The niisan looked down at her.

"'Scary-face-niisan'?" He repeated in amusement.

"Ano… I don't know your name after all!"

"It's…"

Screetch

SPLASH

A car drove through the railing at a cliff and fell into the sea. The scary-face-niisan ran into the water and dove towards the car. He was under the surface for a long time. Meanwhile Shinichi turned to address Hoshi.

"Who are you again?" The boy asked suspiciously. "You knew my name."

"Kagemiya Hoshi, nice to meet you." She offered her hand which the boy stared at dumbly. "And I heard your name when Ran addressed you. And her name when you addressed her back."

"Okay…"

The water surface broke and scary-face-niisan was back with the driver of the car.

"That oniisan is back!" Ran smiled with Masumi while Shinichi and Hoshi had a bit more serious faces.

"Hey, can you save this person?" Shinichi asked when the driver was dumped on the sand. Hoshi cautiously followed the boy. She didn't really want to look at the… body but didn't really want to go back to her mother either.

"I don't think so." The man replied.

"So, the bag…"

"Is a clue to identifying who he is. Say, there is a shop back there which sells swimsuits and other stuff, right? Go there and ask them if someone, who was soaking wet, just came in and bought sandals, a t-shirt or a swimsuit. Looks like there was another passenger who escaped from the car and they're mingled with the others. Can you do it? Holmes' apprentice-kun?"

"Yes! Of course!" Shinichi nodded and run off to fulfill his mission.

"Did you come here with that boy all alone?" Scary-face-niisan asked Ran then.

"No, we came with Shinichi's kaasan!"

"Then could you ask his kaasan to call the police? She has to tell them that a terrible incident has happened… That car fell into the sea."

"Ok!" Ran nodded. "Shinichi no kaasan!"

"I… I…" Masumi began. "Can I do something? I want to help too!" She asked her brother.

"Right. If you go to the parking lot, you'll see someone who is in charge. Could you ask him to stop anyone with wet clothes or anyone still in a swimsuit from leaving the beach? Tell them they might be a partner of the bad guys. Can you do that to me?"

"Yes!"

Masumi went on her way and the young man looked at Hoshi then. The girl stood behind him, like keeping him as a shield between her and the body.

"Do you want to help too?"

"… I don't need to. But I want to know your name scary-face-niisan. You almost told it to me." The little blonde girl explained.

"Akai Shuichi." He answered. Finally.

"I'm Kagemiya Hoshi. Nice to meetcha!"

"You're saying a car fell into the sea after crashing through the guardrail over there?" The police inspector who'd arrived, asked Yukiko. Hoshi had heard the curly haired woman introducing herself to the officer. Pretty name for pretty lady in Hoshi's opinion.

"Yes."

"And this man was the driver of the car whom you pulled out of the car and then called the police, is that right?"

Did she really look like she'd dived into the car? But she wasn't even wet…

"Yes, I did call the police but he was the one who pulled him out." Yukiko indicated Shuichi standing behind her.

"And who are you?"

"Just an exchange student from an American university. I've come to Japan after a while, and I was spending time with my family here." Shuichi answered.

"I see. But is it true? You say there was another person in the car, in your report." The officer frowned.

"This oniisan told us so!" Ran said, clutching onto Yukiko's wrap-around-dress. Shinichi and Masumi were still looking for the suspects. Hoshi quite happily remained by Shuichi's side while he explained his reasoning to suspect the involvement of another person. It was all quite complicated but made sense. And so did the explanations of the other things. Like about the victim and the missing person being watch shop robbers.

"Pierrot-oniisan!" Shinichi hurried back. "I've brought them! Clients who bought something right after the car fell!"

The boy had four people with him, one of which had helped in getting the other three. Hoshi tilted her head as the young guy introduced the… suspects. Wasn't this one Masumi's older brother too?

"We have reason to believe the man who died by drowning in the car, had a companion with him. Which is why I'm going to listen to you one by one."

The suspects told about their reasons to shop stuff and in general of why they were at the beach. Hoshi looked at the proceedings with wide eyes and tugged then at Shuichi's shorts.

"Why are all the clocks showing different time?" She asked. The young man smiled.

"All of them?"

"Yes… I think. I don't know the clock that well yet but the hands are all differently in them."

"Well, once I explain you and the rest of the people here how the case is solved, you'll realize it too. Does that sound good?"

"Yes." Hoshi nodded.

"I keep telling you, don't let people who are wet or those who are in swimsuits leave!" Masumi told the local guard who didn't seem to understand the 'urgency' of the situation. "Aah, wait! Another one is leaving!"

"Masumi, stop it!" Mary intervened before addressing her eldest. "Do you understand or not? There are people who are the reason we can't involve ourselves in cases like this."

"No problem." Shuichi stated. "Case closed. The only thing left is to call out the criminal!"

Hoshi looked up at the university student.

"You are going to tell the solution now then?" She asked. Shuichi nodded.

"Precisely. Shall we go back to the good officer and the suspects then?" The young man asked his family members and Shinichi.

They made it back to the police inspector, suspects, Ran and Yukiko who was on the phone.

"The one who says she bought beach sandals. Kitamori Yasue-san, you were in the car that fell into the sea, weren't you?" Shuichi asked.

"Huh?!" Just wait a minute! How did it come down to this just because I bought a pair of sandals?!" The woman argued. "I mean, look at me! I'm just a regular beach visitor!"

"Yes, it might have been so, had you really been wearing a swimsuit."

"Huh? That isn't a swimsuit?" The police inspector peered closer, with a hint of blush on his face.

"That's right. She was originally wearing a skirt or pants when she escaped from the sinking car. When she rose to the surface, she saw the beach and she realized that she would quickly be found out if she was dressed like that. That's why she took off her skirt or pants when she was in the sea, used her scarf as a makeshift pareo, and tied up the ends of her shirt to pose as a beach visitor." Shuichi explained.

"Like a sarong then!" Hoshi realized. When their family had been on a holiday at Bali (Indonesia), they'd bought several sarongs. They could be worn in many different styles and were practically like giant scarves.

"But you see, the other two men could have also done the same." Shinichi pointed out. "Since they bought clothes at the beach store as well and the lady only bought sandals."

"No, it's be more apt to say, she could only afford to buy the beach sandals." Shuichi corrected. "Her purse got wet from the seawater, and thus all her money was soaked, so she could only use spare change to buy anything. That's why, the woman who took off her boots and used 1-yen coins to buy beach sandals is the criminal…"

The explanation continued a bit more but to Hoshi that made perfect sense. Except…

"Nee, Shuichi-niisan… You still didn't explain the watches… Why are they all different time?" The little girl frowned.

"Two of them are the same, are they not? They are Japan's time. And one of the watches is New York time..."

"And the lady's watch then?"

"It's stolen one." Shinichi spoke up. "It's stopped at 10:10, isn't it?"

"Y-Yes, but like I said. It must have broken when it went into sea." 'Kitamori Yasue' tried to squirm away from the accusations.

"Oh, you don't know, onee-san? In order to clearly show the name of the manufacturer, watches on display are usually set to 10:10 or thereabouts!"

"Really, Shinichi?" Ran asked.

"Yeah! I asked otou-san at the watch selling point at the department store!" The boy detective replied.

"Heeh." Masumi blushed in awe.

"The watch is branded, so it will have a serial number. If we cross-check it, we'll be able to know if it was stolen or not." Shuichi then said.

"I see…" Kitamori muttered. "So that's how that man saw through me… And that's when our car hit the railing and fell into the sea. Though it seems the one who actually fell… was me."

The woman was lead away. The situation was resolved.

"Shuichi!" Mary approached. "Are you satisfied? Come back, now!"

"Yeah." The young man replied and looked down at Hoshi who was still standing right next to him. Shinichi and Ran were talking with Yukiko nearby. "Shouldn't you go find your family too? They must be worried."

"Kaachan is taking Daiki-nii back to hotel because he felt ill in the sun. She told me to stick with people I can trust."

"And you can trust me then?"

"Yes. Daiki-nii says to too!"

"…I fully enjoy the taste of solving a mystery, like if I'd be able to catch the guys who erased chichi or not." Shuichi was speaking with his mother. Hoshi wasn't exactly listening as she looked around in the case her mother was nearby.

"It's scary, nii-san. It's like you're possessed by something." The shogi player boy, Shukichi spoke up.

"I'm not possessed. I am affected, by the disease that's called curiosity." Shuichi spoke.

There was a soft gasp behind them. Hoshi turned around.

"Kaachan!"

Kagemiya Tsubasa crouched down and caught the girl when she came running at her. With her other hand the woman pulled discreetly her phone out from her purse. She was wearing a seashell patterned blue sarong over her swimsuit and a wide-brimmed hat was shadowing her face. Greyish blue eyes were obscured by a pair of simple glasses.

"Did you have fun, Hoshi-chan?" The woman asked.

"A lots! And I got a new niisan too!" Hoshi explained.

"Did you now?" Tsubasa lifted the little girl easily on her arms and approached the English-Japanese family then. "Thank you for watching after my daughter while I had to take my eldest to see a doctor."

"It's no problem…" Mary said a bit uncertainly as she was the one directly addressed though she had barely even seen the little girl aside from noticing her hanging with her eldest son.

"This is scary-face-niisan but he can also be called Shuichi-niisan." Hoshi was introducing her new 'brother', oblivious to the awkwardness of the situation.

"Nice to meet you then, Shuichi-kun." Tsubasa played along. "Hoshi-chan has a habit of claiming trustworthy people as their family."

"It was no problem." Shuichi nodded and glanced at Masumi who was still hiding behind their mother. Maybe hanging around the other girl was good practice in handling his own sister…

Tsubasa nodded to them all and urged Hoshi to say goodbye to the other family. The girl waved eagerly before her mother began walking away. The woman was dialing a number from memory. Tsubasa's steps halted only once and her breath stuttered but she continued determinedly towards the hotel.

"Did Daiki-nii really need to see a doctor?" Hoshi asked, trying to distract herself from the words Mary had just said to Shuichi. Words that both her and Tsubasa had heard.

"So go, Shuichi! Before that deadly disease takes your life! Purge the fog that obscures the truth!"

"Yes, the sunstroke was worse than I though. He is resting at the hotel now. Tomorrow I'll take him back to Yamato's."

"Why is niichan with Yamato-san? Is it because of school?"

"Yes. Now shush, I need to make a phone call." Tsubasa pressed the green call button and held the phone against her ear. After the long day at beach, Hoshi began nodding off, still catching a word or two of the English phone call, but not understanding much.

"I saw them. Yes, they were alright… I have made my decision… Daiki-kun is safe. Hoshi-chan will go to my mother's in Kyoto. They can handle separation like they did when Daiki-kun began school… Yes, I'm sure. If it means getting a better future for my children… You did the same decision… You are in sufferable. Just like in college… Yes… No worries, I won't call anytime soon… Bye, bye, Tom-san."

Tsukiko woke up slowly. Namida was still in the infirmary but now the nurse was there too.

"How are you feeling, Okiya-san?" The nurse asked.

"…better." Tsukiko replied after taking a check of what she actually felt like.

"You don't seem to have fever and as the lessons are almost over, I'd recommend you to go home."

"Thank you." The girl sat up slowly and stood up from the bed. Namida held up her school bag and Tsukiko took it from her with a grateful smile. The duo left the office, Tsukiko's thoughts buzzing on the dream she just had.

"Kagemiya Hoshi. The name I gave to Yamato. Which didn't surprise him at all. A Kagemiya Daiki, a brother, who lives with a Yamato. A Midorikawa Shugo who isn't dead according to Yamato." It was all very mysterious. Tsukiko dug out her phone and found it containing one new message.

Rotten Apple

The Machine was blown up last night.
V

Without a word, Tsukiko put the cellphone back to her pocket.

"Ano… Tsukiko-san?" Namida spoke up then.

"Hai?"

"Mai-san spoke with some of your friends from the year above. They know you… felt ill today so…"

"Why did she speak with them?" Tsukiko frowned.

"She has a bit earlier shift today at Poirot and I need to go home. Family matters. So they are waiting for you and making sure you get safely home."

"…" Home. Did that mean Jodie's place or Subaru's? Because the trio from class 2-B still didn't know that Tsukiko lived with Jodie but yet she didn't fancy going to Subaru's after the dream she'd just had. "Alright."

"They are meeting us by the front gate." Namida then said and began walking in front of Tsukiko. The bespectacled girl just shook her head. But maybe she should call Jodie and let her know what was going on.

So Tsukiko ended up walking with Ran, Sonoko and Masumi towards… Well, towards the Detective Agency. Naturally Ran was mother-henning the younger girl while the others remained as emotional support. Tsukiko steadfastly didn't look at any of them. Her thoughts still whirled in her dream. Memory? She needed to know what was going on and unfortunately Akako was probably the only person she could get answers from. But right now going to Ekoda wasn't an option. Not with her three bodyguards and…

"Ran-neechan!"

Okay, make that five bodyguards as both Conan and Ai joined the entourage going towards the second block of Beika Town.

"No, really… I'm fine. I can go home on my own." Even if there was still danger of passing out in the middle of road. But this was important. Where were these memories coming from? Why were they important?

"But the question is where home is, right?" A new voice spoke up ahead of them. A teenager was leaning against the stone fence that was in front of the destroyed Mokuba-sou apartments. The building lot had been already cleared from the fire but the reconstruction work hadn't begun yet. The teenager stepped away from the wall and stood in the middle of the street, effectively blocking their path. "Isn't that right, Hoshi-chan? Or do you prefer Tsukiko nowadays?"

Tsukiko scrutinized the high school aged boy before her. He had black hair on neat but slightly wild locks that were all combed back but not held down with gel. He was wearing the uniform of Ekoda high. The face was familiar. But too old. But Tsukiko knew the face as younger one too.

Ai's head snapped to look up at the girl when she gritted her teeth and with a couple quick steps, the boy was slammed against the wall once again.

"Teme! Ten years and now you come waltzing back! Ten years plus months in coma and amnesia on top of it all!" Tsukiko shouted in the face of… little brother? Older brother? She didn't know. But it didn't matter. She was Okiya Tsukiko. She was Kagemiya Hoshi. She was Jade Ahola. And she was confused and angry and lost. And this person held the key to all the answers.

"Hello to you too, imouto. How's your other brother?" He answered, not at all phased of being held by the collar of his school uniform or the fact that they had audience. What was his name? Lari Ahola? Kagemiya Daiki? Or… Midorikawa Shugo?

A/N: In the flashback you can obviously see that Hoshi is an unreliable narrator, thus the details are skipped quite a lot. But hey! Introducing Shugo finally! And he sort of subconsciously avoided Shinichi and Ran and Masumi at the beach since it took place during his first school year and well... he took off his hair dye for the outing with his family and then dyed it all black again when school continued. But you probably guessed as much from the phone conversation Tsubasa had.

But well... At least Tsukiko will have some answers in the next chapter.

Replies to Reviews:

-Vivian Graythorn:
Thank you. And yes, he is. I think that Akai had never a proper opportunity to be a brother to Masumi. Yeah, Masumi idolizes him but as evidenced from the Beach Flashback case, that was the first time they met and Shuichi went back to America soon after. They kept contact from distance and when Shuichi came back to Japan (mentioned in girl band case) Masumi was surprised. And as I state in this chapter, hanging around Hoshi could've been good practice for him if he'd stayed. And as implied later in this chapter and sort of in Tsukiko's past choices, it might've been a subconscious decision for her to ask Akai's help in order to establish her background. Stay tuned for next chapter where things will be resolved.

-Zeladious:
Yup. You gotta wait a bit though. Around chapter 80 will start the Scarlet Prologue.

-Tsuki:
Eh, it depends really.
But you are welcome.

-Hellfire000:
It will happen relatively soon. For now though I need to resolve the situation between these two siblings... But at least Shugo is here!

-CherriRoseGirl:
Yes, it is... I need to keep her away from AA-series then.
I'm glad you liked the chapter. I hope you like this one too.

-Chi-chan:
Thank you. :)