Chapter 11

Shinichi's POV

'This is utterly humiliating.' Ran and I were standing in front of Agasa-hakase's house. When Haibara came to open the door she stopped in shock. Then she did she did something I don't think I've ever seen her do. She burst out laughing. Agasa-hakase came to see what was so funny and he burst out laughing too.

'Traitors,' I couldn't actually blame them, if it were anyone else I'd probably be laughing too. I woke up this morning to find that for some 'mysterious' reason all of my cloths were missing, all except for the panda bear pajamas Ran had bought me awhile ago because she thought they were so, quote, 'Kawaiiii.'

So here I stood in panda bear pajamas with the hood pulled down as low as it could go so hopefully no one would recognize me, after having been stopped every few feet on the way by some mother or girl telling Ran how Kawaii her 'little brother' was. If you ask me she was enjoying this way too much.

Finally Haibara and Hakase stopped laughing long enough to move aside and let us in. However they were still chuckling as me and Ran sat down in the living room as Haibara left to get the antidote and Hakase offered us some tea.

Suddenly Haibara called "Hey, Kudo-kun."

I glanced up at her, "Eh?"

'FLASH!' 'CLICK!'

When the spots stopped popping in front of my eyes I saw Haibara holding a camera with an evil smirk on her face.

I glowered at her as she then handed me a pill and a set of more adult cloths (though almost anything is more adult then what I was currently wearing), and I headed for the bathroom while making plans to destroy that picture.

"This is a newer version that you're testing today, it should last twenty-four hours, give or take." She called after me.

I quickly pulled on the cloths Haibara had given me and swallowed the pill. The pain was almost instant, I don't remember anything after that…

_______________________________________________________________

" … Shin …ichi…. Shinichi… SHINICHI!!!"

I sat bolt up right, only to get whacked in the head by Ran.

"That's for not telling me," She said. Then she threw her arms around me in a hug.

After a stern safety lecture from Haibara we started heading to the address that the Hardys had given to Ran. We walked in silence until Ran finally broke the ice.

"Is the only reason you told me because I contacted ATAC about you?" She asked suspiciously.

I was silent for a moment, "No," I said finally, "It's one reason but not the only one. Another reason is what Hiraita-chan said at the KID heist."

Ran looked thoughtful for a moment, "You mean, 'When you pretend to be someone you're not, you'll lose yourself' or something like that."

I nodded, "Yeah, that really got me thinking." I was paused for a moment, "But the biggest reason is because I've wanted to tell you since the beginning, but I was always terrified of the idea that I might get found out and then you would get hurt."

She glanced away so I couldn't see her face, "Why were you so worried about that?" She asked quietly.

I stared at her, 'She has to ask?' "Because I…" I took a deep breath, 'Now or never.'

"Because I love you."

'There, I said it, I finally said it,' Part of me was doing a victory dance, the other part was terrified of what she was going to say next.

She whipped her head around to face me, her eyes filled with tears, "Baka mystery freak." She muttered.

And then to my surprise we were kissing. I don't know for how long but I wanted it to last forever.

"I love you too, you baka," she said when we finally broke apart.

For a long moment we just stood there when suddenly my sixth sense kicked in causing me to whip my head around.

By sixth sense I mean my ability to just know when someone is watching me. And I wasn't wrong, because when I turned around I saw a dumbstruck Hardy Joe standing a few feet away, holding what appeared to be groceries.

Ran and I immediately started blushing, wondering just how much he had seen.

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Joe's POV

So far it had been a typical day of searching for leads on where Shinichi might have gone, when Frank decided I needed some exercise. His idea of exercise, going grocery shopping.

I was still wondering what went on in my brother's head when I turned a corner and stopped dead in my tracks.

'Well if this isn't a lead I don't know WHAT is,' because standing just a few feet away was the teen detective himself, and Ran was with him. What was even more shocking was the fact that the two were kissing.

I knew I shouldn't be watching something like this, but this was the guy we've been looking for I wasn't about to leave until he answered a few questions, if they ever stopped to breath that is.

Finally they broke apart, "I love you too, you baka," I over heard Ran say. The two seemed lost in their own world for a few moments, then Shinichi whirled around as if he had felt my eyes on them, Ran then turned in the direction he was staring at. When the two love birds saw me they simultaneously began to blush.

"Oh, hello Joe-san," Ran said nervously.

"Hi," was all I could say with this awkward situation.

Shinichi spoke up, "by Joe-san I assume this is one of the American detectives that you hired to look for me." He then walked up to me and offered his hand, "Hello, I am Shinichi Kudo, detective, nice to meet you," he said in English.

I grinned and shook his hand, "Likewise, I'm Joe Hardy, but I guess you already knew that." I then got serious, "If it's alright my brother and I would like to ask you a few questions about that case you've been working on."

He nodded, "I thought you might, how about we talk about it in there," he gestured towards a nearby coffee shop.

"Sounds good," I agreed, "Just let me call my brother."

I pulled out my cell phone and hit speed dial, and waited while it rang. I frowned when the answering machine picked up. 'That's weird, normally Frank picks up after the first ring.' I shrugged it off figuring he was burring himself in his research. "Hey Frank, when you get this call me back, I think I may have found a lead," I told the answering machine, while grinning at the thought of how shocked Frank was going to be when he found out just how big of a lead I'd found.

The three of us sat by a window in the coffee shop, we waited till we'd placed our orders before playing Q&A.

Shinichi started it off, "So tell me, just how much have you discovered about my case."

I stared out the window watching a fire truck drive past before answering, "To be honest, not much. We know you vanished about a year ago at Tropical Land, and that you've been in hiding ever since. And from what Ran's told us, you often get sick before you vanishing again. And also it seems that Heiji Hattori knows what happened but won't say anything out of loyalty.

He smiled at that, "Yes, if there were words to describe Hattori one would be loyal." He chuckled, "Another would be hotheaded."

I winced remembering how Heiji had practically yelled at us for prying.

"Anyway, I'm impressed on how much you've figured out." He continued, "Besides Hattori, no other detective has gotten that far. But then, no other detective is really looking."

He fell silent as the waitress brought our orders. During that time it struck me that Shinichi seemed familiar, like I'd met him somewhere before. When the waitress left he got serious and said in a low voice, "I can't tell you everything, but here's what I can tell you. Yes I have been in hiding, I saw something I shouldn't have and was left for dead. I survived and have been investigating ever since."

I leaned in, "What did you see?" I asked

"A blackmailing transaction, but it wasn't what I saw, it was who," Was his reply.

That left me feeling even more confused, "Who?"

Shinichi shook his head, "That I can't tell you, but I will tell you that they are ruthless. Knowing they exist gives them a reason to kill you."

'Woah, harsh' "And you're after people like this all by yourself" I asked incredulously.

He shook his head, "No, the FBI has been after them too for a long time." He paused glancing at the door to the shop, "Speak of the devil."

Ran and I turned to see a woman with blond hair enter. Ran stood up and waved "Jodie-sensei."

The woman turned in our direction, she seemed nice, but the look on her face gave me a very bad sense of foreboding.

End Chapter 11