A/N: Well. This could've turned out better, but I didn't know how. Gosho-sensei! Give me your brain filled with ways to kill people and find evidence that links to it! DD8 Anyways – enjoy? XDDDDD This is, also, the beginning of the Lucid Nightmare Arc. The first arc in the Revolver series! Yesh! We have made it far together, my friends~! (Tunes out into melancholic state)

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan or Magic Kaito in any way or form. (or shape!) Ryukaze Erise is owned by Iriss-sama.

Chapter Forty Two; original case; Lucid Nightmare Arc

I walked out of the bathroom, hand to my chin as I slipped my phone back into my pocket. 'Kay, just one thing to check then. I arrived back at Erise's table and once again took a seat in the booth with her. She was beginning to look slightly pensive, but as I grinned, she relaxed. "By that smile, I'm assuming you figured it out?" She laughed, poking my cheek gently and I nodded brightly. "Yup – you're completely safe, Ri-chan~!" I crowed, stealing a quick hug that startled her before pulling back and ruffling her hair happily.

"One more question, though, just for certainty!" I interjected our celebration of sorts and I lowered my voice quietly, "When you were in the bathroom, was someone talking on their phone outside of the bathroom?" I asked, gesturing to the hall which led to the bathroom and the turn it led to that would hide people from view if they were there.

Erise blinked, "Yeah – it was a woman, by the sounds of it." I smirked. Perfect. I flinched as something crawled onto my lap and I looked down to see Kin staring back up me – how the heck had he gotten in here? I sighed, pulling him up to my shoulder and letting him rest there as he rubbed his face against mine. I hummed, appreciating the feel of the silky fur, before getting back to business.

"Okay, then. It's settled. I know who the culprit is." Internally, I thanked Heiji, before standing and making my way over to the police group, Erise following me with a beckoning hand. Megure glanced at me at my arrival, "Oh, Watanabe-san." He greeted again and I nodded back to him, "Megure-keibu, Heiji-han has figured out who the killer is. He told me over the phone just now."

"What? Who's the killer, then, Watanabe-san?" He asked, eager to get the killer behind bars and to go back to the police headquarters to rest.

I smiled, placing my hands on my hips. "Well, you see, Megure-keibu. The culprit to this case is so cowardly that they set up two false leads." I announced, my eyes narrowing in amusement as one person's expression changed to panic. "The trick to this case was the fingerprints. Erise-chan is completely innocent and was randomly chosen because she happened to be here today – she was an easy target." Erise pouted at the fact and I held back a smile.

"Takahiro-san had no time to gather the fingerprints and Toshiro-san, the waitress, had no reason to kill Takahiro-san's wife. Or, at least, that's what you'd think." I smirked as she hurried forward to protest, face gaining slight color as she grew angry. "You can't just accuse people of having a motive, brat!" She spat out, scowling deeply at me.

One look from the inspector shut her up, though, and I went on. "You had an affair with Takahiro-san, didn't you? When we were talking earlier, you almost called him his given name, but then you changed it to 'Takahiro' as a way to conceal your relationship. You could just be really, really close – which would be strange, unless you've known each other a long time – but since you hid it, there must have been a reason to hide it. You also denied knowing Takahiro-san before today." I pointed out, feeling innately smug as her face paled from its angry flush.

Megure turned to the woman, "Is this true, Toshiro-san?" The stern glare of the intimidating inspector made her spill her guts. "I-It's true. Yoichi-kun and I have been dating for months….," She admitted, ashamed, head bowed down. I frowned – this woman…

I turned to Yoichi. "Have anything to say for yourself?" I prompted, raising a superior brow to get a rise. This time, it worked. "Of course I do! I didn't ever love this girl – she was just for fun! The woman I loved was Yui!" He roared, once again barreling out of his seat and getting all up in my face. A nearby officer put a hand in front of his chest to push him slightly away from me and I sent the officer a thankful nod before going on. "So, you didn't love Toshiro-san…at all?" I asked incredulously.

"No!" The reply was instantaneous and I sent the waitress an unrepentant look – the expression on her face was hurt, but she looked more enraged than anything. She'd probably been using him for his money, then, or hadn't love-loved him if that was the case; though, I could be wrong. Matters of the heart were always a lot more complicated than regular equations, after all, and didn't make as much sense as logical problems did. I admit I was a bit callous when it came to such regards.

"Well, then. There ya go." I huffed with an amused smirk that twisted up unheeded – Erise looked a little surprised and a bit entertained by my blatant amusement at the whole situation.

"So Toshiro-san is the culprit?" Megure-keibu questioned briskly, wanting to arrest someone – he was already heading to the poor waitress. I was quick to clear up the misunderstanding, "Ah, no. Toshiro-san is completely innocent." I grinned sheepishly at the deadpanned look I got in return. "But you said that Takahiro-san had no time to gather the fingerprints and Toshiro-san is innocent! The only other person is Ryukaze-san, and you also said she was innocent!" The inspector sounded thoroughly annoyed.

"R-Right, sorry about that… I'm new at the whole explaining thing…," I chuckled nervously, scratching my cheek aimlessly. Awkwardly, I coughed into my hand, starting back up at the beginning. Now, where was I….right! "Anyways, what I was saying was that Erise-chan was an unfortunate scapegoat, Takahiro-san had no time, and Toshiro-san had a motive, but she also is innocent. She knew that Takahiro-san had a wife and had been fine with it for months – why suddenly act on it, right?" Wow, I really hoped that was right. Once again, matters of the heart were…

"But, the truth of the matter is that the culprit was waiting for this. Erise-chan was just insurance and planned to frame the waitress the whole time. When Erise-chan went to the bathroom – and if she hadn't, the second false lead would've been disproved – and the culprit's plan was set into action. Now, the culprit knew that if the waitress was still hanging around, he wouldn't be able to get the fingerprints…," By now, everybody knew who the culprit was and was staring directly at him.

Yoichi had paled considerably, looking like the coward I had pointed him out to be earlier, and his mouth was gaping like a fish's. "So, when Erise-chan went to the bathroom – at the same time that Takahiro-san's wife got a call; perhaps it was always scheduled for that time – Takahiro-san probably asked the waitress for more coffee or something." I glanced to her for confirmation and she nodded soundless; probably shocked that her boyfriend of a few months was a killer. Couldn't blame her. "So, Takahiro-san was left all alone in the main café for a while. He took Erise-chan's fingerprints at the time while his wife was out of sight along with the waitress and poisoned his wife's coffee. That's why he must have come here – this place is small and doesn't get much people."

I stared at Yoichi, who had suddenly stood once more. "Y-Your evidence! W-Where's your evidence?!" He shouted in a frenzy. Bingo – the cat was in the bag.

I gave him a grin, flashing my teeth for a brief second. "I don't have any."

"What? Watanabe-san, you can't just accuse someone of murder without evidence…," Megure droned from my right in an 'oi, oi…' tone. I swallowed down a snicker, wanting to seem as serious as possible. I crossed my arms, nodding, "I know, I know. But, really, he probably thought that his wife was having an affair and ended up killing her in rage, despite him having an affair, too." I huffed, "People like him disgust me." I laughed out and as expected, I got a rise out of him again.

"She was having an affair – that woman! How could she cheat on me when she told me she'd only ever love me?!" He roared and the vehemence in his voice surprised me – he sounded like a complete loon. Not right in the knocker, if you know what I mean. The police looked startled by his outburst, but they seemed to now know that he was the killer and I wasn't just randomly accusing him.

"She wasn't cheating on you – stupid!" I snapped. "You saw her with a man about yay-tall–" I lifted my hand, "–with black hair and brown eyes, right?" I asked, feeling annoyed by the man. He nodded slowly, as if suddenly dreading what I was about to say.

"That man is Akechi Masaomi – her half-brother. I talked to him on the phone earlier." I informed the Yoichi, who had suddenly gone pale and regretful – it seemed he couldn't decide which mood he'd be in. Maybe he was bipolar? Though, I doubted that. "B-But, that's…," He trailed weakly.

I nodded. "Yup – it's the truth, no lie." For some reason, that line made me want to laugh hysterically, but I once again swallowed it down. "You probably didn't notice his wedding ring – he wore it while–" The ringtone of my phone interrupted me and with a huff, I took it out of my pocket to see who it was. 'Hattori Heiji' was once again flashing on the screen. I sighed, flipping open my phone and looking at the options. 'Answer' and 'Ignore' were pronounced loudly on the screen and I absently pressed the 'ignore' button before turning off my phone – there, now he can't bother me again. I smirked.

"Sorry, where was I…? Right, he wore his wedding ring when he was with her, so I don't know why you thought they were dating."

"His pockets." He croaked. "H-His hands were in his…pockets…," Oh. That explained a few things.

Yoichi slid down to the floor, tears beginning to stream down his face powerfully. "What have I done? Yui is… Yui is… I killed Yui!" With that, he broke down completely, burying his face into his hands as his sobs grew in sound. The sight was overall displeasing to look at and slightly depressing. An officer came forward and helped the culprit up carefully, beginning to escort him out. Megure turned to me. "Thank you, Watanabe-san. Thank Hattori-kun for me, too." He smiled.

I grinned, "No problem~!" My arm swung around Erise's shoulders, "We can go now, right? She can be questioned tomorrow!" I announced in Erise's stead, who looked flustered by the sudden end of the case. "Uh, sure." The inspector blinked and I smiled sweetly. "Well, then. We'll be leaving now. Thank you for your hard work~!"

And with that, I guided Erise out of the café, leaving behind the inspector and the case.

ooOOoo

"That was a close call." I hummed absently, looking up to the sky. The blueness had faded out to the pre-sunset orange of the day. A content smile curled onto my lips. Today had been pretty productive, actually; a day with Mitsuhiko and then a case – if you could call it that. If Shinichi or Heiji had been there personally, it would've had a much more fantastical ending that I gave it and would've been solved in a heartbeat. I couldn't help but be a little put-off by that. It was a matter of the heart, though, and I would never understand such things in a heartbeat.

"Yeah, thanks for helping me out, Midori-chan." Erise thanked me, sounding extremely grateful, but a little distracted. Kin's tail flicked across my cheek as he retreated into my jacket, disappearing behind the fabric. I glanced over to Erise out of the corner of my eye curiously, my bangs obscuring most of her expression – except for the fact that she was staring at me with strangely focused eyes. I flinched at the sudden attention, blinking.

"What is it?" I questioned in interest.

She was silent for a long moment, hair looking like a fiery red in the lighting of the sun as it reflected over her features. It was times like this that I realized exactly how much I would miss her in my world – my stay here was like the sun making a long round around the earth. It was kind of a depressing thought that I immediately shook off. If I started now, I'd start thinking about my family and being depressed was just a no-go! Mentally, I slapped myself – really hard. In the heat of the moment, I swore I felt my actual cheek sting a bit.

Chuckling, I shook away the thoughts, focusing back on Erise. She finally opened her mouth, "Your name. Why…do you have two names?"

My heart froze in remembrance – shoot, she'd heard both! I freakin' forgot! Well, now I feel stupid about forgetting something that important. "Uh – that is…I mean." I stuttered unintelligently, scrambling for an answer. Truthfully, there wasn't really one that sounded…sane. Thoughts whizzed behind my eyes, probably clear as day. I huddled Kin closer, "Um, ya know how it is. Police and things like detective work are dangerous sometimes and…Heiji-han said that I should have an alias…since I'm so young…and shouldn't be getting…too involved in things." I announced pathetically. My gosh, that sounded like a complete and utter lie…

She stared at me with her sky blue eyes for a long – unnerving – moment before smiling faintly. It was obvious she knew that wasn't the whole truth – or even the truth at all. "I see. That's pretty smart~! You never know when detective's apprentices like you will gain enemies and such, right? And by 'Heiji-han', do you mean Hattori Heiji from Osaka?! That's so cool~! I heard he's really smart and has the intellectual knowledge to battle wits with our Heisei Holmes, Kudou Shinichi, who actually lives pretty nearby! He lives in Beika and they're apparently rivals…"

Erise continued chattering and I sighed in relief, feeling like I just dodged a bullet. I rubbed my eyes tiredly, feeling guilt swell in my chest like acid.

Today had been too long, I decided.

ooOOoo

Sun dyed out the sky, hazed an orange-red and white flakes of snow drifted down quietly. Everything was silent, the streets of Tokyo empty, as I stood in the middle of an intersection. Warning signs stood on one end of the road and the stoplights blinked red and green and yellow, reflecting off the surprisingly chromatic pavement. A dream, I decided, feeling oddly cold and warm at the same time – another, more logical, part of my mind decided that it was just a figment of my imagination.

My eyes drifted to the side as I spun around in place, taking in the red-dyed scenery. Tokyo looked very unnerving this way, I decided. Which was also strange – I hadn't been to Tokyo-Tokyo yet, so how did I know how it looked? Was this just the way I would imagine it would look like? Shaking away the pointless thoughts, I paused, my sneakers scuffing against the cement. "A lucid dream, then, since I know I'm dreaming." My voice echoed out, sounding static-like, as if from a radio. Weird.

I sighed to myself, thoroughly unimpressed with the dream – there was nothing going on. This was getting a bit boring, really. And why was it snowing mid-summer (at least, it seemed like mid-summer)? Was my mind just that…strange? I tried to change the scenery, and the scene would flicker in-and-out before once again landing on the strange red Tokyo. I was just getting a bit agitated with it, foot tapping against the ground, before something finally happened.

Drawn the right for some reason, I turned, a freezing breeze ruffling through my untamed hair. I blinked. Erise stood on the other side of the intersection, looking as normal as ever – her non-red clothing made her stand stark against the background. She was dressed, oddly, in winter clothing while I was merely wearing a loose white t-shirt and jean shorts that were also, strangely, white. In fact, my whole body looked white, I realized, gazing down at my hands – they were pale and looked like they'd been frozen. Okay, this was getting a bit creepy.

I looked back up to Erise, who still giving me a carefree smile, looking content. Stepping forward, I raised a brow. "Erise-chan, what are you doing over there?" I asked the dream-Erise, wondering why nothing was fluctuating to my whims like in usual lucid dreams. She didn't answer, just continued smiling. I took another step, beginning to walk slowly towards her, a bit fed up with this weird dream – I was tired, even in this dream.

Finally, Erise moved. However, instead of walking up to me like I expected, her blue eyes blinked before looking towards a nearby alley that she was near, face surprised. I swallowed down the bad feeling I was getting and looked to the alley as well, noting a pale hand offered out to her – I sped up to a jog. "No, wait! Erise-chan, don't go with that man!" I shouted. Somehow, I knew it was a man, even though I couldn't see him completely – something just set off an alarm in my head.

The dream-Erise paid no heed, reaching out and grasping the offered hand and just like that, all the colors faded from her clothing and appearance, changing to a glaring dark red. A heavy, sinking, feeling settled in my chest and I sped up to a dead-sprint, wanting to get her away from the man, dream or not.

She slowly walked into the alleyway, following the man. I passed several street lines – all a bright white – and just as I was about to reach out and grab Erise's arm, the ground caved in with a thundering crack. My balance tipped backwards and I found myself falling down the large pit – all the red was replaced by a depressing black.

Despite the nightmare situation I was currently in, I sighed to myself, allowing my body to just continue falling into the nothingness. It didn't really scare me anymore – once you've experienced it in real-life, it wasn't as scary in a dream; especially if you knew it was a dream – nightmare, whatever.

My eyes slipped shut and the white snowflakes kept me company, chilling my skin.

The dream didn't end.

Review Replies:

To: Iriss-sama – Wow! Such a long review~! I love long reviews~! They make me really happy! 8DDDD (Laughs) That's good. XD I didn't want to make such a bad cliff hanger. And Heiji wants to ask… (Trails off) ((I'm so evil, lol –shot–)) XD My gosh! It sounds like you have to drive a really long way! D8 That sounds really tiring – I hate riding on buses in general, so a long ride would be torture. XD And it's okay – this case was pretty crappy. XDD I didn't work it out too long and I think I forgot a lot of details, but I don't remember them… Next original case will definitely be more thought out and with more man-power and research. XD And as for Haibara's appearance, Revolver's timeline is on Volume 14 – manga-wise – at the moment and Haibara appears in Volume 18. Volume 14 will pass in a breeze and the others, I'm not too sure… (oh, Fallen, why don't you pay more attention to things like this? XD) But, only four more volumes and then she'll be here! I'm really looking forward to that! XD (Laughs) I can see that, too! XDDDDDD And, yeah… That subject of friends and stuff will be touched more upon later on – there will also be more character development throughout the whole of the story. ^^ Conan will have a lot more to think about once Haibara gets there – I feel like her overall appearance will cause a lot more chaos than it even did in the original series with Alice/Midori there. XD And I feel sorry for Erise, too – I'm gonna put her through a lot of other things, maybe… (Thoughtful) XD And yup! Midori is very protective of her friends – that will also be touched upon more in the future! ^^ And that's cool~! That sounds like a really interesting story! 8D (Laughs) Don't worry – I read reviews all the way through. XDD I like long ones, short ones, and even ones that kind of make no sense to me. XD Or critics of the story – those are always helpful! (Nods)Wow~! So many lucky items~! 8DDD (Gathers all lucky items) (Returns Luck Hug) Thank you, Ri-chan~!

To: Kudo Shinichi Tanteisan – (Laughs) Yeah – now he's been dropped three times. XDDD He's probably cursing Midori back in Osaka – "Ah, that aho! She hung up!" or something. XDD Ah, that sucks! Hopefully, you feel better soon – or already do! 8D (Gives you Virtual Medicine and more Chicken Soup) Just in case you're not better yet. XD Ahhh – no, E-chan~! (Dashes to hide in bathroom when Shinichi comes running over) XDD (Grins as snowflakes fall and eats cyber cookie) (Whispers) Thank you, E-chan~! (Goes back into hiding)

To: DDmasters – Me: (Laughs) Gin: (Evil Laughter) Conan: …. [Thank you for your review! 8D]

-Well, that was an unromantic ending to the case…. And not very complex either. I feel like I'm dishonoring Detective Conan. Forgive me, Gosho-sensei! I don't have your intelligent brain full of ways to murder people! (Bows Deeply) TT_TT Anyways, hope you enjoyed just a bit… XD;;; The next chapters will be a bit better – hopefully. It's the rest of the Lucid Nightmare Arc, so it'll be filled with lots of…you guessed it, nightmares! (Cackles and Disappears) XD