The Shadow Hunters

by Fragments of Imagination

Hunting down the Crows was a difficult task, and if it wasn't for the Contact that Shinichi had within the Crows, the situation would seem hopeless. It's going to be a long hunt, but Shinichi and his Shadow Hunters wouldn't back down from the challenge. (Naito Shin AU, Sequel of 'Naito Shin' Story, after the Filler. Characters might be OOC. Don't like, don't read)

4. Moonlight Sonata's Sorrow

Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Detective Conan or Magic Kaito!

Thought / Dream / Event from the past

[Voice from the past]

"Dialogue"

Letter

Emphasis

Dangerous tone

Moonlight Sonata's Sorrow

[The answer to your question is what you will see in front of your feet when you turn your back to the light.]

Lucifer's words replayed in Akako's mind as she put on a pair of arm length black gloves.

[Warn the Great Raven: Should he not careful, Izanami will steal him away when the night sky turns red.]

Well, I can't let it happen now, can I? Akako asked herself as she stared into her own eyes while putting on a black long coat on top of her casual red dress, with a black legging under said dress, and then she walked out of her Mansion with the event of the previous day replaying itself in her mind.

"'On the night of the next full moon, the shadows will again begin to disappear on Tsukikage Island. Asou Keiji, requesting investigation'." Koizumi Akako read out loud the content of the letter in her hand, before her red colored eyes locked on the eyes of the person in front of her. "So, why do you give this to me, Kuroba-kun?" She inquired as she put the letter down on the Living Room's table in front of her.

Kuroba Kaito put down the cup of Hot Chocolate that he had been sipping on, before looking at the girl seriously. "Yesterday, that letter arrived at the Mouri Detective Agency, possibly because Shinichi is out of Japan. So it was addressed to Ran and asked her to forward it to the Violet Angel." He explained the situation to her, "Ran, Shin-kun, and I are going to the Island tomorrow to investigate it - with Mouri-san acting as the chaperone, unnecessary as it is - since the client had paid 500.000 yen in advance into Ran's bank account".

"So what's the problem might be?" The girl asked him with a raised eyebrow, "With the three of you and the additional one going, there shouldn't be any problem, right? The Shihaisha Gumi has prevented many disaster from occurring now, surely my Special Ability would not be needed".

"Well, it's both yes and no regarding your Special Ability." Kaito told her, before shaking his head, "Ah no, not really yours as in Koizumi Akako the Red Sorceress." He continued, causing Akako's eyes to sharpen in her seriousness. "The one Shihaisha Gumi no Daitengu (Daitengu of Shihaisha Gumi / Ruler Group) is asking for advise from the Shadow Hunter's Adviser".

"Well, if Daitengu is asking for The Adviser's advise, who am I - Seiryu - to not give it to the Boss?" Akako smiled as she sipped on her tea, "So, what does he want my advice on?".

"The letter." Kaito answered as he looked down on the said letter, "It said the shadows will disappear, and he get a bad feeling from it." He explained further, "While we will investigate it, but it would help to know what to look out for, so he wonder if you can See anything regarding the shadows that will be disappearing".

Akako hummed as she tapped on the letter with her finger, sending her Magic onto the letter through her index finger, but she couldn't read the writer's intention of when he or she was writing it - it was light a constant battle of intent. "Unfortunately, I couldn't get a clear reading of the writer's intention." She admitted to Kaito as she picked the letter up, "I will see if Lucifer couldn't give me a clearer hint or See it in my Dream tonight, and I will relay his answer to Daitengu tomorrow, before you left for Tsukikage Island".

"We will be waiting then." Kaito said before gulping down his Hot Chocolate, "Thank you for your time and for the Hot Chocolate, Akako".

"You're welcome." Akako replied calmly.

XXXXX

"Ah, Akako-chan!" Ran waved to her in greeting as Akako approached them in front of the ship that would take them to Tsukikage Island, "I was wondering when you will give us your reply".

"I will join your trip to the Tsukikage Island." Akako announced right away, causing three of them - Ran, Kaito, and Conan - to go still and looked at her with sharp eyes, while Mouri Kogoro looked at them in confusion. Realizing this, Akako smiled at him. "Good Morning, Mouri Kogoro-san." She greeted the man with a short bow, "My name is Koizumi Akako and I'm a friend with your Daughter, Kuroba-kun, and Conan-kun".

"Ah, nice to meet you, Koizumi-chan." Kogoro grinned flirtatiously at her, clearly charmed by her beauty even though Akako didn't use her Magic to charm him at all, "A beautiful lady like you can just call me Kogoro-san".

"Get a grip, Otou-san!" Ran scolded him as she literally gripped his ear and pulled it, "She is at the same age with your own Daughter!".

"I know! I know!" Kogoro protested as he released himself from her grip, "I'm just complimenting her beauty, that's all!".

"Thank you for the compliment." Akako smiled at him, "Would you mind to go on ahead? I would like to chat with my friends for a bit".

"I don't mind at all." Kogoro grinned at her again, "I will secure us a nice spot to watch the view".

"Thank you again." Akako replied warmly.

With that, Kogoro went ahead onto the ship.

"It must be bad if you decided to come yourself." Conan muttered as he looked at her.

"Yes, very." Akako said in agreement with a nod of her head, before she looked at them seriously, "Lucifer said that the shadows mentioned is the shadow that you will see in front of your feet when you turn your back into the light." She then looked pointedly at their own shadow, causing them to inhale sharply at the implication.

"A person's shadow." Kaito hissed lowly, "Whoever wrote those letter is warning us of a murder that would happen, and possibly more than one because they wrote shadows".

"Precisely." Akako confirmed with a grim smile, "And what's more, the writer is the one who is planning the murders, which would make the warring intent that I read yesterday make sense".

"He or she want to kill, but at the same time not." Ran muttered quietly as she crossed her arms, "Maybe for revenge. He or she want to kill to avenge a crime, but at the same time doesn't want to, so they requested an investigation to be done".

"Then our course of action is clear." Conan told them, "Find out if something had happened in Tsukikage Island, and stop the murder from happening if possible".

"Lucifer also told me to warn the Great Raven, otherwise known as the Daitengu." Akako added quietly, gaining their attention - especially Conan's, "He said, 'Should he not careful, Izanami will steal him away when the night sky turns red.'" She stared straight into Conan's eyes, "Izanami is the Goddess of the Underworld, to be stolen by her would mean your death. When the night sky turns red is when a huge fire happens, so possibly burning to death." She explained gravely, "Please be careful".

Conan stared back at her seriously, then nodded his head in agreement. "I will." He gave his words.

"Is that why you want to go with us?" Kaito asked her for confirmation, earning a nod from her.

"Even though a title would be a mere title for normal human, the act of giving the title of Seiryu to a Magical being like me - especially if it was done by the Champion of Death, gives me additional Power." Akako explained to them as she held out a hand to them, palm up. Then, Akako gathered a few drops of water from the very air itself, forming a small ball on her palm. "If a great fire really is going to happen, then I will make it rain - to give you time to save yourself or be rescued, if not put out the fire completely." She promised them as she pulled her hand back, letting the water dropped onto the ground.

All three of them looked at her, and then nodded their heads. "Thank you." They said at once.

XXXXX

If Akako didn't get an answer from Lucifer, then what they found out at Tsukikage Island's Town Hall would definitely ring a warning bell in their mind. The person whose name was used to sign the letter and called Ran two days ago - Asou Keiji, turned out to have been dead for 10 years now.

"Letter from a dead guy, what a horrible prank." Kogoro grumbled once they were out of the Town Hall, "Well, I'm going to look around, enjoying the view." He said before leaving, muttering about a waste of time as he left.

They didn't stop him.

"It's not a prank." Akako said once Kogoro was out of hearing range, "Lucifer wouldn't give such a warning if it's just a prank".

"And whoever sent that letter wouldn't pay me 500.000 yen in advance for a prank." Ran nodded in agreement.

"And the seal of the letter is from this island." Conan added his point, "Someone from here - possibly the sender of the letter, probably want us to investigate the death of this Asou Keiji, hence why they used his name".

"Why don't we ask the Mayor?" Kaito suggested as he opened the Tour Book, "They said he was a friend of Asou Keiji, and he was at the Community Center".

"Let's just ask her." Ran cut in as she closed Kaito's book, making the rest to look at where she was looking. It was a woman wearing a lab coat, who had just done talking to a little kid who left the woman after that. "Excuse me!" She called out to the woman as she and the others walked over, "Where is the Community Center?".

"Oh, it's just around that corner…" The woman answered before finally taking a good look of them and realized something, "Are you from the mainland?" She asked curiously.

"Yes, from Tokyo." Ran answered her.

"Wow! My house is in Tokyo too!" The woman exclaimed in pleasant surprise, before introducing herself as Asai Narumi, the Doctor of the island.

In exchange, they introduced themselves. Just then, a car drove pass promoting a Candidate to be the next Mayor, which caused Narumi to explain about the incoming election. She said that if they went to the Community Center, they might be able to see the three Candidates since it was the third anniversary of the previous Mayor's death.

So they went to the Community Center, which led them to discover about the Cursed Piano while waiting, and then be told to wait in the lobby until the ceremony was over.

"Spill it." Kaito said to Conan once they were alone in the lobby, making Conan to look at him questioningly, "Something is in your mind ever since we discovered that Piano, so spill it".

"It just feels odd that the Piano sounded perfect even though it should have never been used for years." Conan voiced out his suspicion, "Someone must have been tuning it in secret for some purpose, the question is for what?" He then sighed heavily, "Even more, I'm itching to begin investigating already, but we can't meet up with the Mayor until the ceremony is over".

Just then though, a sound of Piano began to play, and it was the Moonlight Sonata. They gasped as soon as they registered it. "Damn it!" Kaito and Conan cursed as they raced to the Piano Room, with Ran and Akako right at their heels.

They were too late though, for when they threw open the door, they found Kawashima Hideo - one of the Candidates, died with his head on the Piano's keys. Conan checked for the man's pulse, and shook his head to his friends when he didn't find any, causing them to look grim. They failed to prevent the murder, and they could only hope that it was the only one, or tried to prevent the next one if there really were more than one targets.

They heard the approaching footsteps, so Conan got away from the body and nodded at Ran to begin her act, in which she nodded back in answer.

"Don't come in any further!" Ran yelled to the newcomers, halting them from approaching the body, "He's dead, and this is clearly a murder".

"W- what?!" The majority of the onlookers cried out in shock.

"Akako-chan! Call the local Police Station!" Ran gave out an order as she put on her black gloves, and Akako nodded before walking out of the room in a hurry.

"Conan-kun! Find Otou-san and bring him here!" She told Conan next.

"Hai, Ran-neechan!" Conan replied as he also ran out of the room.

"Kaito-kun!" Ran looked at Kaito then, "Check to see if there's anyone else in this building!" Kaito nodded and left, so she looked at the other people in the room. "Everyone else, please don't come near the body, and don't go away from here either." She then locked eyes with the Doctor, "Narumi-sensei (Dr. Narumi), please examine the body".

"H- Hai…" Narumi said as she walked in and approached the body.

"It's the curse!" Hirata Kazuaki - the Mayor's Secretary - cried out as Ran was inspecting the Piano, to find out where the music came from, "This is the Piano's Curse!".

"Yeah, right." Ran scoffed when she spot the source.

"But nobody is playing it!" Hirata retorted.

In answer, Ran picked up the source of the sound, and showed it to the people with a deadpan. "It's not a Curse or a Ghost that makes the music, but this tape recorder." She explained seriously, "It means that the previous two murders have been planned by someone!".

"M- Murders?!" Hirata cried out in shock.

"Hey, cut the crap!" Murasawa Shuuichi - the Fiance of Kuroiwa Reiko, the Mayor's only Daughter - snapped at her, "Who do you think you are?".

"Sometimes an Assistant Detective, and sometimes solving small cases myself. Mouri Ran is my name." Ran introduced herself with back straight, refusing to be intimidated by the man.

"Heh, just an amateur and saying such nonsense." Murasawa sneered at her.

"What my Daughter just said is an easy conclusion that even an idiot can make." Kogoro - who arrived just a second ago with Conan - snapped at Murasawa, glaring at him for making such a stupid and unnecessary comment.

"And who are you?" Murasawa demanded.

"Mouri Kogoro, a Great Detective from Tokyo." Kogoro introduced himself proudly.

"The Astronaut?" Some people question, and Kogoro would fall over if he was in an anime.

While Kogoro explained who he was, Conan and Ran used the distraction provided to speed change into their alter egos, while Kaito sneaked in and disguised himself as Ran - to provide an alibi. The three of them then did some investigation, before discussing it near the window.

"Eh? Where did you two come from?" Narumi finally noticed their presence when she looked up, after she finished her examination of the body, "And who are you?".

"A moment ago." Ran - who was now wearing a long black legging that ended in a pair of high heeled black leather boots, a dark purple casual dress under a short-sleeved black leather jacket, a pair of black gloves (that served to both prevent any contamination to the crime scene, and as a fighting gloves looking from the hard leather part that covered the knuckles area), a black beanie to hide her hair on top of a light brown colored wig that ended just below her ears for better disguise, and a transparent eye visor with dark purple frame - answered with a deeper voice than her real one, "I'm the Violet Angel and this is my current Partner, Naito Shin Nisei".

"Oh! I've heard about you two!" One of the men spoke up, "My Son idolized the both of you, and he idolized Naito Shin as well. But how come you're here now?".

"I called them over." Kaito-as-Ran explained to them, "They also came here to investigate the letter that has been sent to me two days ago, they just went to sight seeing first".

They did? Kogoro couldn't help but think, since he didn't realize that there were other people who went to Tsukikage Island with him and the teens plus one kid.

"Ran, I know you don't like murder case, so go on and send Kaito over here." The Violet Angel addressed 'Ran' then, "Then, you can go patrol the area with Conan-kun. I will sent Kaito and Akako to join you later after the Polices are here".

"I'm already here, and I bring a Police Officer." Akako spoke up as soon as she arrived at the room, "I'm sorry that I took awhile, I couldn't get through to him with the phone, so I have to fetch him up myself".

"Please go on with the patrolling then." Shin Nisei told her with a nod to 'Ran', while Violet Angel explained what had happened to the Policeman, "Kaito-san texted me, saying that there isn't anyone else in the building, so you can meet up with him".

"Which means that the killer is definitely among us here." The Violet Angel decided as she looked at the people in the room while pulling out a notebook from her jacket's pocket, along with a pen.

"How is the result of the examination, Narumi-sensei?" Shin Nisei asked the Doctor, while Akako and 'Ran' used the opportunity to get away from the scene.

The verdict was that the man was killed by being drowned, which Violet Angel and Shin Nisei agreed, and they explained the evidence that they had found as well as the theory of what most likely had happened.

Unfortunately, because it was late, they couldn't question the people as thoroughly as they would like. Thus they asked the people to come back the next day for the questioning, and reminded them to lock their house since there was a murderer still on the loose.

Asai Narumi parted ways with them with the request that they solved the case quickly, because she didn't want to do it again. If Conan, Ran, Kaito, and Akako were looking back to that moment after they solved the case, the teens would realize that the words actually had double meaning.

"Well, let's go to the inn." Kogoro began to say to Kaito and Akako, since they were Ran's friends - he decided that Violet Angel and Naito Shin Nisei would surely be able to decide for themselves.

"We're going back to the Community Center." Shin Nisei said in contrary as he began to walk back.

"Huh? What?" Kogoro stared at the Child Detective and the teens who followed his words, "Why?".

"I - just now - finally know for sure that this really isn't over yet." Shin Nisei answered without looking back.

"So there really is going to be more than one murder?" Kaito asked as he walked beside him, while Akako was walking beside Violet Angel right behind them.

"Wait! Wait!" Kogoro jogged to catch up with them, "What are you all talking about?".

"The letter that Ran received, it told us that there's a murder that's going to happen, that was why we insisted to come and investigate." Kaito began to explain to the man, "Do you remember what the letter said?".

"On the night of the next full moon, the shadows will again begin to disappear on Tsukikage Island." Kogoro answered with a confused look, "Which part tell you that a murder is going to happen?".

"The shadows." Akako told him, "It said that the shadows will disappear. For shadow to vanish would be to be enveloped in light, and considering the stories that we have heard, it probably meant the Moonlight Sonata. So if the song is playing again, another murder would happen".

"Let's not skip the 'begin' part." Shin Nisei spoke up as he hastened his pace.

Violet Angel inhaled sharply when she got it. "Begin, that's mean a start, not the end." She said out loud what she had just realized, also hastened her pace, "This really isn't over yet. There's going to be another murder!".

"And each of the murder happened in the Piano Room!" Kaito cried out in realization just before he flat out running, immediately followed by the others.

XXXXX

The old Policeman of Tsukikage Island thought that there was something wrong with them for wanting to stay overnight with a corpse, but the teens - Conan included obviously - thought that there was something wrong with the Policeman to not adhering to the basic forensic procedures. Not only that the Policeman moved the body before they could even do a formal crime scene inspection yet, he also took the evidence in the form of the music sheet with him, without placing it inside an evidence bag first.

"Hm?" The Violet Angel hummed as she noticed something, before taking the music sheet from the old Policeman gently - so she wouldn't rip it apart - with her gloved hands, "Nee, Kaito-kun. This is the music for Moonlight, right?".

"For Moonlight?!" Kogoro exclaimed in surprise.

Kaito wore his own white gloves and took the sheet from Violet Angel, then he began looking it over carefully. "You're right, it's for Moonlight." He said in agreement, before his eyes narrowed in suspicious, "But there's something strange with the 4th bar".

"Why don't you try playing it first?" Akako suggested to him, "Then you can tell for sure".

So, Kaito did, and he was correct that there was something wrong with the Fourth bar.

"Could this be a Dying Message?" Kogoro mused as he stared at the music sheet, "Then the killer might come back to get it".

"Could a drowning man even left a Dying Message on a music sheet?" Kaito deadpanned at him, "Moreover, without getting it wet and blur everything altogether in the process?".

Kogoro looked sourly at him for that.

Before Kogoro could retort, the door opened, scaring them into action. Kogoro and the old Policeman whirled around to face the door, Violet Angel took a Karate Stance, Kaito pulled out a Stun Gun from one of his many hidden pockets, Akako pulled out a Whip from a hidden pocket of her long coat, and Shin Nisei pulled out his MCG (Mini Card Gun) with his left hand and a Cane with his right hand.

At the back of his mind, the old Policeman wondered how come the teenagers and a kid were better prepared for a fight than a Policeman like him and a Detective like Kogoro.

Asai Narumi, who had just opened the door fully, froze at the sight that greeted her. "Uh, don't shoot?" She said when she saw the gun in Shin Nisei's left hand, "Don't attack please, it's just me." She continued to the rest of the teens.

They all deflated in relief then, and Violet Angel stepped out from her fighting stance, while Kaito, Akako, and Shin Nisei hid their weapons again.

Narumi explained that she came to bring them food after learning that they were still there - and it was a good thing too, for they were quite starving. While they were chatting in between bites of their food, they learned from Narumi that when Kameyama - the previous Mayor - died with a terrified look on his face, and also that when he died in the Piano Room, one of the window was opened. The old Policeman said that the Police Detective that the TMPD sent from Tokyo chalked it up as someone forgetting to close it.

Shinichi - safely hidden behind his Conan mask - made a mental note to send a 'Rant Letter' to TMPD for this blunder, or maybe a 'Howler' like in the Harry Potter novel would be better? Conan though, merely sending a text message to Megure-keibu, telling the Inspector to come to Tsukikage Island as soon as he could because a murder happened.

Meanwhile, just as Narumi showed them which one of the windows was open that time, they saw a shadow of a person listening to them. Kogoro, Shin Nisei, and Kaito all jumped out of the window to give chase, but they lost sight of the person at the forest - and it wasn't safe to pursue into the forest at night, for they wouldn't know when an attack would come their way.

"Just as I thought, the bastard came back to get the music score." Kogoro said out loud, before declaring that it was going to be a sleepless watch that night at the Community Center…

… only for the man and the old Policeman to fall asleep somewhere around 1 AM, earning an exasperated look from Kaito and Conan, a disappointed sigh from Ran, and an eye-roll from Akako.

"Honestly, can't he take any of his case seriously?" Violet Angel muttered to herself in annoyance, before standing up, "I'm going to make Coffee for us, or do any of you prefer something else?".

"I prefer Hot Chocolate, Angel." Kaito said in reply.

"A Mocha for me, please." Akako added next.

"I'm going with you, Angel." Shin Nisei said as he stood up, "It's better to not go anywhere alone in a time like this. Besides, Kaito like it better if I'm the one making his Hot Chocolate".

And with a wave to Kaito, Akako, and Narumi, the Detective Duo left to make the drink.

"Are they going to be alright with just a teenager and a boy?" Narumi voiced out her concern, "Maybe I should have gone with them".

"Oh don't worry." Kaito waved her concern away, "Those two could take on six armed opponents if needed, just one or two murderers on the loose is nothing for them".

"Yes, you have nothing to worry about." Akako said in agreement, "Besides, if you go with them, they would end up having to protect you instead, should an attack really come their way".

"Really?" Narumi blinked in surprise.

"Yup." Kaito nodded firmly in answer, "It's in your best interest not to underestimate them. Angel is a Black Belt Karate Master while Shin Nisei is an Armed Magician, you can hardly see them move before you're knocked out cold".

"Shin Nisei is probably more worried that Angel had to make the drink again if she was attacked on the way back here." Akako added with a chuckle, "That's why he's going with her, so that he could carry the tray while she beat the opponents up".

Narumi sweat dropped there, wondering if that was true or Akako was just joking, before deciding to change the subject. "What about you two?" She asked the remaining teens curiously, "I saw you with a Stun Gun earlier, Kuroba-kun, and Koizumi-san was holding a Whip".

"I'm actually a Magician myself, a snap of fingers and a smoke bomb later, my opponents would be rolled up in duct tape already, so I don't really need the Stun Gun." Kaito explained with a shrug, "I just use the Stun Gun when I feel like it".

"I admit that I can do more damage with my Scythe." Akako went next.

"S- Scythe?" Narumi asked in bewilderment.

"Yes, Scythe." Kaito nodded in confirmation before Akako could, "You know, the big one like the one that Shinigami is said to carry around with them? Akako has one".

"It's more intimidating than just a mere pocket knife, you know?" Akako said defensively, "Well, it's not as though I'm not a Master in using a Whip as well. Stealing my opponent's weapons using my Whip is my favorite, their dumbfounded expression is just priceless, especially when I then uses their own weapon against them".

It was safe to say that the Doctor was speechless after hearing that. Not that she could be blamed, after all, she had never met with people like them before.

"We're back." The Violet Angel announced as she walked in, a tray filled with cups of drink on it, and Shin Nisei being the one opening the door for her.

Their arrival shattered the awkward silence, and - after the drink was distributed - they chatted on something else to avoid the same thing from happening. Until Kaito and Shin Nisei finished their drink.

"Well, we will take the first turn." Kaito informed them as he stood up along with Shin Nisei, "See you in an hour".

"Where are they going?" Narumi asked curiously.

"Patrolling." Violet Angel answered with a smile as she put the used dishes and the tray at the corner of the room, away from the covered body that she ignored.

"Patrolling?" Narumi blinked in surprise.

"Yes, patrolling." Violet Angel confirmed with a nod of her head, "We don't know when the murderer would strike next, so we - as in those two and us two, Akako-chan and I - will take turn to patrol around this building, and it's an hour for each turn".

"I heard that because normally there are only three of you, all of you would patrol at the same time while maintaining communication." Akako said as she looked at Ran for confirmation, earning a nod from her.

"Yeah." Violet Angel shrugged then, "Hence why every time we got caught up in a case that would last more than a day, we would be unavailable for the rest of the day until the next day, our feet felt like killing us".

"Make you wish that someone else would join the team on a permanent basis, right?" Akako hummed thoughtfully.

"The plan is for Aoko-chan to be included." Violet Angel admitted with a sheepish smile, "But Kaito-kun is still building up the courage to confess".

While the girls chatted, Narumi's eyes silently traveled to the sleeping forms of Detective Mouri and the old Policeman, before looking away and shook her head. What has become of this world I wonder? She couldn't help but wonder, a faraway look in her eyes. Three teenagers and a child are more alert and battle ready than the adults…

XXXXX

"Hey, Mouri-kun."

"Mouri-kun."

"It's noon already, would you get up!"

At around 11.24 AM, Kogoro was shaken awake by Megure-keibu.

"Me- Megure-keibu!" Kogoro asked in surprise when he was finally up, "Why are you here?".

"Naito Shin Nisei texted me last night, telling me to come here because of a murder occurring." The Inspector explained as he gestured to where his people were taking pictures of the crime scene, "Since this island is still within Tokyo limits, I decided to come - especially when I learned that there's only one Police Officer here".

"Oh, there's something I must give you, Keibu." Kogoro said as he wake up further.

"If you mean this…" Megure began to say as he showed the music sheet, before gesturing to the area on Kogoro's right side,"Shin Nisei gave it to me earlier".

"Eh?"

Kogoro looked aside and saw Akako slept about a meter away from him, then next to her was the Violet Angel, then Kaito with Shin Nisei in his arms, and finally the Doctor next to Shin Nisei.

"Angel-kun saw us coming an hour ago while she and Koizumi-kun were patrolling, so she called Koizumi-kun and told her to meet us at the lobby." Megure explained further, "Then the two led us to this room, and then together with Shin Nisei, Kuroba-kun, and the Doctor explained the detail of what had happened, including the murder and the state of the body."

He then sent a Look at Kogoro while sweat dropping, "They stayed awake until we showed up, and even then they still wanted to help, but I told them to sleep since they looked so tired even though their eyes were still alert. The only ones asleep were you and this well-ripened Police Officer." He then looked at Kogoro's left side, when the old Policeman was sleeping soundly.

"We're questioning the people at the Town Hall, come help." Megure told him as he stood up to leave.

"B- But if the killer comes here again…" Kogoro protested anxiously.

"Don't worry, I've got my men guarding this building." Megure reassured him with a backward glance, "There will be no more of this silly murders!".

XXXXX

It was only at 5.58 PM that Violet Angel, Shin Nisei, Kaito, Akako, and Narumi entered the Town Hall with a huge yawn. When they arrived at the waiting room, Narumi then sat on the sofa tiredly, while Shin Nisei and the others woke themselves up further by stretching.

"I'm making Coffee." Kaito announced as he was about to leave the room.

"Ah, I will help!" Violet Angel said as she followed him.

"Huh?" Narumi looked at their retreating figures, "I thought Kuroba-kun prefers Hot Chocolate?".

"Yes, he does." Shin Nisei said as he got rid of his hand's stiffness by shuffling cards, and then juggling small balls, before returning to the cards, then balls, and so on.

"But Shin Nisei love the Coffee that Kuroba-kun makes more than Angel-chan's." Akako explained further since Narumi still looked confused.

"Ooh." Narumi responded in understanding.

Not long after that, Kaito and Violet Angel returned, and they distributed the drink - a Mocha each to Akako and Shin Nisei, a Coffee for Violet Angel, and a Hot Chocolate for Kaito himself.

Kogoro came while they were enjoying their drink, and then Narumi left to wash her face in the Bathroom since she would be questioned last. He also said that Nishimoto Ken was in the middle of being questioned at the moment, but the guy acted suspiciously - like keeping track of the time and wouldn't answer any of the questions, especially after the guy ran away the previous night once he saw the music sheet.

Instead of being the culprit, Shin Nisei thought that Nishimoto might be the next victim, so - when Nishimoto left the waiting room roughly half an hour later, Shin Nisei followed him after excusing him self with needing to go to the Bathroom. Unfortunately, he lost sight of the man, and worse - he began to hear the second movement of the Moonlight Sonata through the speaker.

Hurrying over to the Broadcasting Room, he bumped onto Nishimoto, who was on the floor in front of the door to the Broadcasting Room - fearfully pointing inside. When Shin Nisei looked over - along with Megure, Kogoro, Reiko, and Hirata - he saw the Mayor with a back stab wound, and clearly dead looking by the amount of blood the man had lost and still body.

While the examiner squad from TMPD was there, the autopsy squad had left, so Doctor Narumi had to do it again - she said that the man hadn't been dead more than a few minutes. The good thing that came from it was that the list of suspects had grown significantly smaller, while the bad thing was that there was a music score written in blood under the seat where the Mayor was sitting on.

Knowing that it was another message left by the killer, Shin Nisei wrote it down on his notebook. He still had time to glare at Kogoro when he said that it was another Dying Message.

"As we have made clear yesterday, Mouri-san, the music score isn't a Dying Message." Kaito spoke up when he spot Shin Nisei's annoyed look, "A drowning man couldn't write on a music sheet without getting it wet and blur the message altogether, and a man dying from blood loss would sooner call for help through the speaker - since he was in the Broadcasting Room - than took a long time to write a Dying Message with his own blood, especially if it's in the form of a music score." He then looked at the music score, "If it's not from the victim, then…".

"I think so too, Mouri-kun." Megure said with a dry look at Kogoro when Kaito trailed off, "If it's me, I would directly wrote my attacker's name or initials".

"You understand… Your turn is next…"

"Huh?!" Everyone looked at Kaito then, who had just said that.

"It's the message from before." Kaito told them as he showed them the copy of the strange music score from before that he had in his notebook, before explaining how he got the message, "You assign the Alphabet to the Piano Keys from the left to the right, and a message is left by writing down the keys corresponds to the letters. What I said is the message left behind in the music sheet at the scene of Kawashima's murder".

"In that case, the message in the music score on the floor would be…" Shin Nisei spoke up as he looked at his own notebook, "The hellfire's anger has burned away…".

Thanks to the message, Nishimoto freaked out and said that Asou Keiji was still alive, which led to the old Policeman to reveal that the only thing that survived the fire 12 years ago was some sheet music inside a fireproof safe.

Things went downhill from there though, because not only that - while they were waiting for the old Policeman to find the key to the Town Hall's Store Room for the said sheet music - the suspects insisted on going home due to the late time.

Then, when once they rushed back to the store room, Shin Nisei heard a strange sound from the Piano Room and went to investigate, only to find someone - whom he didn't see due to the darkness of the room - searching for something around the Piano. Not only that the person fled by breaking through the window, but Shin Nisei also saw Murasawa on the floor, alive but injured at the head.

And then, Violet Angel reported that Nishimoto was found dead by hanging in the store room. Also, she found a cassette tape recorder due to hearing the sound it made when stop recording, as well as a sheet music that Kaito - who was with her at the time - said to have a message saying 'Will', but it was clearly not a suicide considering the lack of stepping stool.

Honestly, Shin Nisei felt like this particular case would be the death of him - probably literally if Akako's warning came true.

XXXXX

Turned it, it was only almost literally. Almost.

Some important keys to the case made it all click together in Shin Nisei's mind, like the finding of Cocaine's remain below the Piano - where a secret compartment existed under said Piano, finding out that Asou Keiji had had a Son named Seiji from the sheet music that was left behind by Asou Keiji, and the fact that the Moonlight Sonata was actually being played in reverse all those time.

The murderer was actually Asou Seiji, who was the real identity behind Asai Narumi, and also who had ran away after Shin Nisei did his Deduction Show via broadcasting it through the speaker - since he was already in the Broadcasting Room when he figured everything out - and was trying to kill himself at the moment, in the Piano Room while the entire Community Hall was burning ablaze.

"It's over, Otou-san…" Seiji said as he pushed a Piano key, "All over…".

"It's not over yet." Shin Nisei said to him in contrary.

Seiji gasped and looked over, only to see Shin Nisei and Violet Angel there.

Kaito was staying away from the scene - hidden in the forest, and was trying to calm himself after having a flashback of the time when his Father died. While Akako - on the other hand - was with him to both keeping him company, as well as used her Magic in secret to make it rain. She wanted to create a downpour, but she was afraid that the contrast between hot and cold would make the Community Hall collapse sooner.

"Your Father left a message in this sheet music." Shin Nisei showed her the sheet music, "'Seiji, you must live a full life', that's what he wrote".

"Let's get out of here, Seiji-san." Violet Angel offered a hand to him, "We can still make it".

"..." Seiji stared at them, before looking down at the Piano keys, "If I had known about that Will, I probably wouldn't have to do this".

"You mean you never read it?" Violet Angel asked, referring to the sheet music, "Then how did you know about your Father?".

Before Seiji could answer though, Shin Nisei shot at the nearby window, breaking the glass part to pieces. "Talk later!" He ordered as he glanced at Violet Angel, "Let's get out of here first".

"It's too late." Seiji replied softly, "My hands are already soiled by the blood of those four…".

"If you're remorseful about it…" Violet Angel growled as she picked Seiji and carried him over to window, while his protest went to deaf ears, "… then stay alive and atone for it!" With that, she kicked the remaining frame of the window and threw Seiji out of it, then she picked Shin Nisei up before jumping out of the window herself.

"Ah, they're out." Kaito - who had finally pulled his mind away from the memory of the past and calmed down - told Akako.

"Then it's time for a Downpour!" Akako decided as she sent her Magic into the rain clouds, making it pouring down heavily.

While the rain was busy putting down the fire, Violet Angel carried Shin Nisei with one hand, and pulled Seiji away from the slowly dying fire with her other hand. Once they were at a safe distance, Violet Angel let go of Seiji but didn't let go of Shin Nisei. Instead, she ran away with Shin Nisei in her arms, heading for a darkened area.

She and Shin Nisei changed their appearance back into Ran and Conan, before they ran over to where Kaito and Akako were. They checked him over and relieved when Kaito told them that he was fine, before pretending that they have been with him the whole time thanks to Akako who had called them over.

Some statements being taken and written paperwork later, the teens and one shrunken Detective followed Kogoro to the hotel to sleep, and then went home to Tokyo the next day.

The case was closed, but it didn't feel like victory for them, since they couldn't stop the murders from happening. Well, at least Asai Narumi - or Asou Seiji - would live to atone for his crimes.

Line~Line~Line

Aah. Moonlight Sonata case was really hard to write T T

So, in this chapter, it is revealed that Akako is one of the Shadow Hunters - Huntress in her case, with her Codename being Seiryu. She is a Supportive Huntress, so she rarely go out in a mission, unless she's really need - or when she want to join a mission. She has also been given the Title of The Adviser - due to her capable of using Magic and sometimes See into the future, so sometimes the other Hunters or Huntresses would ask her advice on something when they got stuck or needing a Second Opinion.

Seiryu means Azure Dragon, and is the Dragon that said to be Guarding the East area of Kyoto - or the East of Japan in some stories. As a Dragon, Seiryu capable of flight. In some stories, Seiryu's power is to control Water, while in some other stories, Seiryu's power is Electrokinesis - which is an ability to control Electricity. I'm using Both of them in this story.

As Akako had said above: Giving a Title to a normal human wouldn't affect them, but to a Magical being like her, being given the Title of Seiryu had given Akako an additional Power. If she had enough Mana or Magical Energy to spare, she could create a huge Thunderstorm that could cover a wide area now, as wide as the whole of Japan - while previously, she could only cover the area around her own Home, and a whole of Tokyo if she pushed it. (The Forest when her Home was located happened to be the Center location of the gathering of Energy in the air).

Shinichi's Codename is Daitengu, which means Great Tengu. Daitengu's power is just like normal Tengu but far more powerful, and in some stories, Daitengu also said to be able to create a storm or a typhoon.

The reason why Shinichi has a different Codename is to keep the cover of him and Conan being two different people - because they would work together with the FBI in the future, so such precaution is warranted.

I hope this chapter is to your liking. Thank You for reading! I'm looking forward for your review ^ ^

Fragments of Imagination