AN: Well, somehow or another, in spite of last chapter's incredibly discouraging reviews, I managed to pump out another chapter! Seriously, nothing demotivates a girl more than someone casually dismissing out of hand one of the biggest reasons why I started writing this fic- Heiji's lost memories, and the interactions with Paikaru and those that he used to know him, leading up to the Big Confrontation- as filler. Hahahaaha. It was on anon too, so I couldn't even talk to them about it, that was seriously the worst (at the very least I was able to remove it because it was an anon review but still. ha. ha ha ha. sure do love the main reason this story exists being brushed aside as pointless. sure do love that!).

Uh right, anyways, ahhaha, now that I've put that aside (again, wow that's going to stick with me for the longest time hahaha), here's the next chapter! For those of you have kept reading all this time, thanks for doing so! And uh, please be sure to leave a review on your way out that's not uh... that. Actually it would probably really help ramp my motivation back up again since last chapter only got one positive review like at all, ahahaha.

Until next time!

Phantasmal Black

Chapter Fourteen

Eve

Some part of him was almost grateful when Kazuha's planned grand tour of Osaka had been cut short by a phone call from Shinichi, informing her that she needed to bring Paikaru back right away. Even from such a short, concise message, he was able to draw the right conclusion- that they had come, those who he had once been a part of himself, up until recently. He'd be lying if he said it didn't give him a rather familiar itch, the kind of sensation that he got right before going out on a mission- except this one, hopefully, wouldn't result in anyone's death.

He couldn't make any promises though, not really. Perhaps he had held back against the man on the bridge, but the circumstances of that were rather different than the circumstances of the matter at hand. He understood himself too well- and so did Merlot, loathe as though he was to admit it. She understood exactly what sort of person that she had helped give shape to, creating him out of what was otherwise an empty shell without any memories. Better than he knew himself, she liked to think- and there was a part of them that very much wanted to prove her wrong about that.

Maybe he'd changed a little since he had come into contact with Kudo Shinichi, since he had come to understand the truth about himself- and some small part of him would like to put his faith in that. But still, whatever little bits and pieces might have changed, might have softened up somewhat, he knew that the core of his being that had been crafted over the past five years wouldn't change so easily. Not enough so that he could put all of his faith into not being the kind of person that Merlot thought he was- and not enough so that he could put all of his faith that this wouldn't end with more blood on his hands.

The plan that Shinichi laid out was a rather simple one- and hinged on dividing and conquering, hinged on staying one step ahead of the game with information. That was why he had recruited the help of both the Tokyo MPD, to watch things back home for him, where they would surely look for them first, and from Osaka's own police force. At the mention of the latter, Paikaru couldn't help but frown, his thoughts for a moment dwelling on the person that he had been told was his father. He'd spent some time reading up on him, and at the very least, came to the conclusion that he was more than cut out for this job.

And because of that, he got the feeling that even if he wanted to, he could never hide what he was from him. It would be pointless to even try.

Even with their help, he already knew that Merlot wouldn't be that easy to track. Even though he had told them what she looked like, and even though he was certain that she wouldn't make any attempts to disguise herself, she was a professional, on a completely different level than himself. He couldn't really speak for Gin, on the other hand- his interactions with him had always been somewhat minimal, so he didn't really know him half as well as Merlot did.

Gin wasn't his concern though- he was Kudo's. Merlot, naturally, had been left up to him, since he was the only one of them who had a chance to actually deal with her. He'd get backup, of course- he just hadn't quite expected that backup to be Kuroba Kaito, of all people. Just as he thought, there was no way this guy was just a simple magician. He'd seen how nimble and dexterous his fingers were while he showed of magic tricks to pass the time, far beyond the level of the average magician.

A thief, perhaps, and a pro at that. He wondered if Shinichi knew- and came to the conclusion that he probably did. Well, if he was willing to deal with an assassin, it wasn't that strange that he would be able to befriend a thief.

It probably wouldn't take Merlot and Gin all that long to track them down to Osaka- that was something else that Shinichi was counting on. This might very well be the last day they had here to breathe easily. By tomorrow night, it was possible that they would have already tracked them down to this city, if not to their exact location. Once they were in the city, they would fall into the surveillance net that Heizo had set up, at which point, all of their moves would be tracked to the best of the police's ability, and reported back to them. It was an advantage that would give them the upper hand, especially if they were of the mind of hiring anyone to help assist them.

Merlot wouldn't, he knew. She would do as she had done before- come straight to them, looking to do her job. That was how she always worked, always straight to the point. And this time, he imagined that he was also on her list of targets- provided that he didn't end up changing his mind and returning to her side. He knew from the way that Hakuba looked at him that there was still a part of him that suspected that he might once again change his colors. It wasn't something that he could blame him for- really, Hakuba was the only one around here that actually seemed normal sometimes.

Shinichi had gone over the details of the plan one more time after he had gathered them all together. The biggest points were to keep everyone as safe as possible, to separate the two Organization members, and to take Gin and Merlot alive- and even though he had clearly tried not to, his gaze had drifted over towards Paikaru as he spoke. The moment that he caught his eyes, he'd turned back away again, his gaze darting from him as if he himself hoped it had never strayed in that direction.

Well, that too, was understandable.

The other important objective, it seemed, was to prevent Gin from getting anywhere near Ai. Recalling just how deep of a grudge that he bore against the former Organization member known as Sherry, he could more or less understand why that objective was considered just as important as the others. If he had her in his sights, he probably wouldn't stop at anything if it meant that he was able to finally kill her, something he had apparently been wanting to do for a very long time now.

He probably wanted to kill her even more than he did Shinichi, who had brought the whole Organization crashing down, and had seen to the arrest of his partner. There was some pretty deep hatred that ran through his veins towards her. He was always the sort of man who couldn't abide by traitors, from the sound of it.

Come to think of it, that was what he was now, wasn't it? A traitor. He might not have made the choice to join them in the first place, but he certainly had made the choice to leave them- even before he knew who he really was, even before he knew that he used to be their enemy.

"Are ya nervous, Paikaru?" It was Kazuha's voice that broke him out of his thoughts, who had taken one look at the pensive expression on his face, and decided that she didn't like it. "Don't worry! I'm sure everythin' will go fine!"

"I don't get nervous." Paikaru told her simply, shaking his head. Such a thing had been trained out of him long ago- such a thing had no place in his line of work. "Ya sure seem ta put a lot of faith in Kudo-han though. You an' everyone else here, fer that matter."

Well, not that he was any different, as it turned out. He'd been so confident in Shinichi's plan, that he was willing to fight a match that he hadn't been entirely certain that he would win. Was it something leftover from his past life? Perhaps there really was more Hattori Heiji in him than he gave himself credit for.

"Well, he's good at this kind of thing." Kazuha told him simply, a soft smile crossing her face- though there wasn't a hint of joy in it. There was a deep pain reflected in her eyes, a deep regret that was etched into her features. It wasn't hard for him to guess what she was dwelling on- and it was enough to make him turn his gaze away from her, unable to handle it. "At least, most of the time he is. Sometimes, there's things that even he can't predict."

Like summer storms, miscounted bullets, and surging waves.

"Well," Paikaru said simply, getting to his feet, flashing her what he hoped was a decent smile. He didn't like that expression on her face, he decided, and thus he had to try and do something about it. "Maybe this time the unpredictable factors will work ta yer advantage. Who knows, maybe the skies will open up, an' they'll both get struck by lightnin'."

His words seemed to have the desired effect- as a real smile broke out across her face, accompanied by a quick burst of laughter. "After all this time we've spent chasin' 'em, that might actually be a bit of a let down." Kazuha admitted. "But were ya perhaps tryin' ta cheer me up, Paikaru?" Clasping her hands behind her back, she tilted her head, peering up at him slightly. "That's mighty nice of ya, ya know."

"I-!" Almost sputtering out the word, Paikaru felt his cheeks turn a brilliant shade of crimson. Gaze darting away from her, suddenly realizing that while he really liked this sort of expression on her face, as it turned out, he was also physically unable to handle actually looking at it just yet. "W-well, it would be bad if ya let yer feelings distract ya from the task at hand! That's all. There's no need ta read too much into it!"

"Ran-chan's right, ya really are surprisingly shy." Kazuha couldn't help but observe out loud. It was Heiji's face, one she knew so well, even though it changed somewhat with adulthood, but the brilliantly flustered expression that he wore on it was something that was completely alien to it. Still, this one wasn't bad, she decided. It wasn't bad at all. She was almost willing to call it cute, however rooted in terrible things it was. "Don't worry! Once this is all over, I'll praise ya so much, that yer sure ta get used ta it again!"

"I'd rather ya didn't." Paikaru said after a moment, rubbing the back of his neck, still unable to face her eye to eye, though for different reasons now. "I don't really deserve praise."

"Well, I'll be the judge of that." Kazuha said lightly, her smile not fading from her face. "Yer not the one who gets ta tell people whether or not ta praise ya. Besides, I've said it before, haven't I? I don't think yer as bad as ya think ya are."

"This is comin' from the woman who said such cold words about me when she first heard me." Paikaru couldn't help but observe- and almost regretted it right afterwards, watching Kazuha flinch at them as she did. Still, she recovered rather beautifully, all things considered.

"That was then, an' this is now!" Kazuha told him simply, shaking her head. "I know things now that I didn't then. I didn't have the whole picture. That's the only reason why I said somethin' like that. After what I thought they did..." trailing off a little, she cast her eyes downwards, suddenly finding her own feet to be tremendously fascinating, "...I didn't think I was willin' ta deal with them. But it's different if it's you. Because yer still alive, it changes everythin'."

If there was one thing about this situation that ate away at her even more than the knowledge of what Heiji had been made to do, it was the fact that she owed the same people who had taken him away from her. That the same people who had taken Heiji from her had been the ones who had saved his life. More than anything else, she hated that.

"An' ya even kept my charm all this time!" Kazuha almost chirped, looking back up at him, her smile returning. "An' ta think that Heiji used ta complain so much about it before! I'm flattered, Paikaru!"

"Ah... well," glancing away from her once more, Paikaru found a hand straying towards his cheek, scratching it lightly, "...yer welcome, I guess."

"Yeah." Nodding her head, Kazuha couldn't help but let her smile falter once more. She would be lying if she said that she wasn't worried about what was to come. They all would be in danger- but Paikaru- Heiji- would be in more danger than most of them. There was no doubt that if Merlot couldn't get what she wanted from him, she would probably decide to kill him herself- he'd been the one to say that much. "...Ya will be careful though, right? I already endured a funeral for ya once. I would rather not have ta go through that ever again."

Almost not knowing what to say to that, Paikaru found himself searching for words. Each time he thought he had found something fitting to say, he found himself closing his mouth once more, changing his mind at the last second. He'd never had someone tell him not to get himself killed before- at least, not that he could remember.

He got the distinct feeling that it had probably happened many times before.

"You as well, Kazuha." Paikaru said simply, once more breaking eye contact with her. "I'm expectin' you ta fulfill yer promise of givin' me the grand tour, after all. Be careful yerself."

"I will." Kazuha said simply, smiling up at him. "There are a lot of things I want ta show ya, after all. Besides, we have ta start makin' those new memories together, right? I promised ya that too."

"I suppose that ya did." Paikaru said simply, finally managing to cast a glance her way. He wondered what kind of expression he was making right now- it probably wasn't anything that he would have been familiar with on his own face. "I'll hold ya to it, Kazuha."

"Thankfully, I'm a lot better at keepin' promises than ya are." Kazuha quipped lightly, casting him one last smile, before she hurried off to go discuss something with Shinichi in regards to the upcoming plan.

As he watched her go, Paikaru once more found the half remembered words that had bubbled up from deep within his forgotten memories. Words that he was coming to realize were probably his own. Words that he was steadily starting to suspect might have once been directed towards her, though he couldn't remember that much, nor even the context in which they had been spoken.

Words that he could only hope wouldn't echo into the future like prophecy.

"Even if I die, I won't let go."

"We received word from their group."

Although his longtime friend, Toyama Ginshiro, didn't elaborate on who they were, and what kind of word it was that they had gotten, Hattori Heizo already understood who and what he meant. It wasn't just from the near lifetime he'd known the man, a lifetime that had taught him all too well what that kind of troubled expression on his face meant, though that helped- but it was also because given this timing, there was only one thing that he could possibly mean.

Even though their power had waned considerably since their downfall, the less that Organization was discussed in the open, the better. Even now, one never knew what kind of ears they had listening, even if it wasn't nearly as much as it had been before.

"I see. In that case, notify our officers to keep an eye out, and remind them to not pursue either of the suspects." Heizo said simply, opening one eye up, casting it up towards the his fellow police officer. He was no longer in charge of division one, as he had been in the past- he had transferred divisions once his daughter had joined the police force, not wanting to risk any chance that their relationship might complicate matters at some point along the road. Heizo's own position in the police force hadn't changed at all- although after his involvement in bringing down that Organization, he had been offered the chance to take an even further promotion, an offer to switch from the prefectural police, to the national police force.

He'd turned it down. At their core, his reasons for pursing them had nothing to do with justice- at the very least, not the kind of wide-sweeping justice that others were seeking. His reasons were far more personal- after what they had done to his son, there was no way that he could have allowed such an Organization to continue to exist.

He had always been worried that one day, his son was going to do something either foolish or hotheaded, and as a result, was going to suffer dire consequences. It had always been there, in the back of his mind, ever since Heiji had started earnestly pursuing detective work- that one day, he might never come home. He hadn't realized exactly how dangerous of a situation his son was involved in until the news finally broke, that his son was likely dead.

He had pressed the FBI agent that had come to their doorstep for details, and she had readily given them to him. If he had the chance to do it all over again, he would have paid a bit more attention to his son's activities- perhaps if he had noticed what he was involved in a bit earlier, his fate could have been avoided. He wouldn't have ended up burying an empty casket in place of his son's missing body before he even managed to turn eighteen, before he even managed to graduate high school.

His son had lived as a high school detective, and had died as one too.

In an otherwise stellar career with police, his son's death was the only blight that he had on his record- and he'd be willing to exchange his otherwise spotless record just for a chance to bring him back again.

Since such a thing was impossible, moving forward was the only thing that he could do- as was helping to ensure those who had ripped his son from this world far too early would face justice. It wouldn't bring him back- but at the very least, his death wouldn't be without meaning.

In the end, Heizo never did quite have it in him to blame the one who had ultimately lead his son to his death. Kudo Shinichi blamed himself enough as it was already- and he had been no older than his son at the time. He was someone that his son considered to be a best friend, and he knew full well that wouldn't be what Heiji would have wanted- and in the end, even though they didn't talk all that much, he understood his son well enough to know that even if he knew what kind of fate was awaiting him, he would have done the same thing all over again.

That was the kind of person he was.

"I've already informed them." Ginshiro said simply, a tight frown on his face. Heiji's death had shaken everyone hard- and for a time, he had been worried that it was almost too much for his daughter to bare. In the end, Kazuha had managed to recover, and bounced back from it stronger than ever- even though she continued to insist that Heiji was still alive, and was out there somewhere, only unable to come back to them for some reason. If that hope was what kept her going from day to day, Ginshiro wouldn't stop her- and he knew that Heizo felt the same way in regards to his wife.

"Good." Giving Ginshiro a curt nod of his head, Heizo rose to his feet. "Most likely, they'll try and create some kind of distraction in order to divert the attention of the police away from what they're trying to do. Whatever that might turn out to be, we need to try and stay one step ahead of him, and hopefully prevent said distraction from creating any causalities. Even one more person dying by their hands is too much."

"Did that Kudo boy send any other word?" Heizo asked, casting a glance over towards Ginshiro. When he had spoken to him earlier, he had gotten the strange feeling that there was still something that he wasn't telling him- but whether that was just about another part of his plan, or something much larger, even Heizo couldn't quite tell. Although he had managed to mask it well, there had been something strange lingering in his eyes that had lead Heizo to suspect as much.

If there was one thing to note, it was the fact that out of the three active Organization codenames that they knew about, Shinichi had only discussed two of them- Merlot and Gin. Paikaru, who he had certainly heard of before this, given how much Kazuha was determined to help catch him, hadn't been mentioned at all. Given the fact that Kazuha had told him that she thought Hakuba was closing in on him not even all that long ago, it was a detail that had struck him as odd- and he couldn't help but wonder if perhaps, this Paikaru was the catalyst for the current series of events.

Something had drawn them back to Japan after all of these years, and that something couldn't have possibly been Kudo Shinichi's existence alone. He had been here all these years, never so much as even bothering to move from the home that he had resided since he was born. It had to be something else.

For the moment, the most important thing was taking care of the two members who were doubtlessly on their way here. Gin and Merlot had escaped justice for far too long- and if there was anything he could do to help see to their story's conclusion, then Heizo was willing to use as much of his authority as he could to ensure that they were put away, once and for all.

"No, beyond that, nothing." Ginshiro told him simply, narrowing his eyes. Even though he'd already told him what he'd at first suspected was bothering him, that expression hadn't yet disappeared from his face. It was almost as if he was debating telling him something- and after a moment's thought, he seemed to resolve himself to it. "That said, we did get something of an odd report earlier today, from a patrolman working near Ebisu Bridge."

"An odd report?" Heizo asked, sparing him a glance.

"Yes." Nodding his head, Ginshiro quickly recalled the details. "After trying to assist a young man who appeared to be in a great deal of pain, witnesses report that the man who attempted to helped was suddenly attacked by him. Of course, it ended up being nothing serious- the man's arm was twisted around his back, but he apparently didn't end up with any significant injuries, and declined filing a police report about it, claiming that it was purely his mistake. Apparently by the time the police got there, the young man who had assaulted him was already gone."

"Certainly, that's a somewhat odd, but not to the point of putting that kind of expression on your face, Toyama." Heizo noted, opening up one eye, casting an assessing look towards the man. "What is it that haven't yet told me about this?"

"It's the description of the young man in question." Ginshiro told him after a moment's pause, once again considering his words. It wasn't only his description that had caught his eye- if it had only been that, he might have ended up dismissing it as a coincidence after a moment of thought. What had caught his eye even more, however, was- "As well as the woman who came to meet him, and lead him away from Ebisu Bridge. Well, perhaps you would be better off if you read the report for yourself, Heizo."

Accepting the report that Ginshiro extended to him, Heizo paused for only a moment, casting an eye down towards it, before he took it, quickly scanning his contents. From the way his grip on the report tightened, and that familiar way his brows furrowed, Ginshiro knew without having to be told as much that what had stood out to him had done very much the same to his old partner.

"I agree." Heizo noted after a moment, carefully placing the report back down on his desk, deciding that this was a matter he would look into himself when he got a moment's time. "This is quite the odd report that you've brought to me, Toyama. Have you told anyone else about this?"

"No." Ginshiro told him frankly. "Fortunately, the officer who filed the report only transferred here a year ago, and is rather young besides that. For the moment, I'm trying to keep the incident under wraps, if this is what I'm half suspecting it is. It's the timing that concerns me, really."

"So it would seem." Heizo said simply.

It would appear that he might very well have a few more questions than he thought for the former high school detective of the east once this was all over.

"It's open." Barely sparing a glance up towards the person who entered his room, Paikaru instead focused on confirming that his gun was properly loaded. It would be a disaster if something went wrong at a critical moment because his weapons weren't well maintained. That too, was something that Merlot had drilled into him- how to properly maintain a firearm, as well as use one. It had become something like habit now, to check on them every day, and ensure that everything was still in perfect working order.

He didn't need to look up to know who it was that was paying him a visit anyways. He already come to know them by the sound of their footsteps.

"Let me guess- the reason that ya convinced Kudo-han ta let ya join my team is because yer worried I'm gonna turn tail on ya." Paikaru observed, turning his gun over in his hands, before setting it aside for the moment. Aside from Kaito, the other person working with him would be Hakuba- he knew that Kazuha had tried to convince Shinichi to let her join him, but he wouldn't have it. That was probably for the best- if Merlot came across her, he didn't doubt that she would shoot to kill, without a second's hesitation. "What's it gonna take fer me ta get ya ta trust me, Blondie?"

"Your memories returning, perhaps." Hakuba said simply, giving him a rather hard look, a nearly unreadable expression on his face. When he had first started to chase Paikaru's shadow, he never could have imagined what a complicated affair it would eventually become. "Besides that, I can't think of much else. I might have not liked Hattori-kun, but I did trust him. I can't really say the same for you, I'm afraid."

"We're the same person, ya know." Paikaru pointed out, rising to his feet, tucking his hands inside of his pockets. "But well, I see what ya mean. In yer situation, I probably wouldn't trust me either. But I gotta say," tilting his head to the side, he locked eyes with Hakuba, a small smirk creeping across his face. "...ya must care fer this bunch a whole lot if yer still this wary of me even now. Ya afraid I'm goin' ta break 'em apart again?"

"Hattori-kun's loss impacted them all greatly." Hakuba said cooly, an almost warning expression in his eyes. "You would do well to remember that much, Paikaru. I'm not sure if they'd ever be able to pick up the pieces again if you did something to betray them. It may be true that you and Hattori-kun are the same person, but you've lived completely different lifestyles. I don't intend to forget that, until you've proven me wrong."

"What, so stickin' my neck out fer the lot of ya the other day didn't prove anythin'?" Paikaru asked, almost feeling a tad offended. "Yer a real charmer, Hakuba-han. Ya must be real popular with the ladies."

"I fail to see what that has to do with anything." Hakuba said, his voice dry.

"It was a joke, a joke. Seriously, don't ya have a sense of humor?" Paikaru asked, rubbing the back of his neck, quirking a brow. "Even Merlot's got one of those."

"Forgive me if I don't see anything funny about this situation." Hakuba remarked. Well, that ill placed sense of humor was one thing that he still had in common with Heiji, to be sure. He hadn't exactly missed the way that Paikaru had softened slightly ever since he had come to stay with them- but that could still be an elaborate act. Until he was proven wrong beyond a shadow of doubt, he wasn't going to let go of his suspicions- but if he managed to prove him wrong, he'd properly apologize.

If.

"Speaking of Merlot, you've never given us a proper answer before." Taking a step into the room, Hakuba shut the door behind him, casting an assessing look towards the former assassin. "How exactly is it that you feel about her? From my understanding, she saved your life."

"Yeah, so she could use me." Paikaru muttered, gaze darting over towards his abandoned gun, a complicated mix of emotions crossing his face, before he finally turned back towards Hakuba. "I hold a lot of resentment towards her, if that's what yer askin, Blondie. She saved my life, but only fer her own purposes. Well, don't get me wrong though- I am grateful fer bein' alive, even if this is the kind of life that I got from it. If I'm goin' ta die young, it's gonna be on my own terms."

"And what if she asks you to join her again? What if she promises you things that we can't?" Hakuba asked, not breaking eye contact with him. Even he could start to feel that crawling aura that Ai claimed she could sense from him now- he had been starting to give it off in a rather strong way ever since he had closed the door. "You came to Kudo-kun in an attempt to seek freedom in the first place. You should understand by now that this isn't something we can promise you, whether your memories return or not."

Which from the sound of what that Haibara girl had to say, sounded rather unlikely.

"Freedom, huh?" Paikaru asked, heaving a long sigh. "It's true, that above all else, even more than my memories, I desire freedom. Ya don't know what it's like, Blondie. Wakin' up ta a world where ya don't remember anythin', lettin' yerself be twisted into somethin' ya only realize way too late ta change anythin' that yer not. Well, I guess I'll spare ya the sob story, though, it's not like yer the type ta care that much about that sort of thing in the first place."

"An' maybe yer right. Maybe there's a chance that I might really betray all of ya." With a shrug of his shoulders, Paikaru admitted that much rather easily. It had always been something in the back of his mind- that he might abandon them or otherwise betray them in their hour of need, just to save his own skin. After all, he was an assassin- a killer- to think that someone like him would ever develop feelings like friendship, or love, was frankly absurd. Even if he was given such feelings, he didn't know what to do with them when he got them.

"But ya know," Paikaru began, an almost hesitant note in his voice. This wasn't something that he had told anyone yet, and to think that the first person he was talking to it about was Hakuba, of all people- what a joke. "...I don't want that. I don't have confidence that I won't do somethin' like that, but I'd rather not." Giving him another shrug of his shoulders, he tucked his hands back into his pockets, taking half a step back. "Maybe there's just some part of me that's desperately tryin' ta be somethin' that I'm not, tryin' ta be someone that I don't know if I can actually become again, but... frankly, I'd rather not do anythin' ta hurt any of ya any further."

"Ah, except fer you, Blondie. I think I could live with somethin' bad happenin' ta ya." He quickly added, flashing him a rather bright grin.

"Charming." With a long sigh, Hakuba closed his eyes, processing what he had just been told. "For the moment, I'll put my own faith in those words, Paikaru." He said, slowly opening his eyes, locking eyes with the former high school detective of the west. "Don't make me regret it. Once all of this is over, you have to stick around and face whatever punishment you're going to get from the law."

Even if that was death.

"Well," Although his smile didn't falter, the nature of it changed, shifting from something quite natural, to something far more business like, Paikaru shrugged his shoulders once more. "I can't make any promises in regards ta that. But at the very least, I'll stick around ta the very end of Kudo-han's plan. Everythin' after that..."

"Well, without havin' surprises in it, life would be pretty borin', right?"

"Quite frankly, you were a surprise that I could have done without." Hakuba told him frankly, reaching for the door handle, opening it back up. Pausing for a moment, he turned to spare a glance back towards Paikaru. "But I suppose for the sake of everyone else, I'll just have to bear with you. But for their sakes as well- think about them for a little while before you decide whether or not you're going to disappear on them all again."

"To them, your place is here."

"Why are ya tellin' me this now?"

"Because I thought it would be important for you to know before they arrived." Ai kept her words rather simple. With someone like Toyama Kazuha- the direct approach was always the best. In the end, Shinichi had left the decision of what to tell both Paikaru and Kazuha alike in regards to her theory about the former's memory. While she had decided against telling the person themself, fearing that it might lead to an undesired outcome, after some deliberation, she decided that Kazuha probably deserved to know.

She didn't know Kazuha all that well, even after all of this time. The two of them really never had much reason to spend time together, at least not outside of the yearly memorial services for someone who had turned out to not even be dead. To Kazuha, she was simply a brilliant young girl, who was in danger from the Organization. The specifics of how she had come here, and who she was had never been shared with her- as indeed they hadn't been with anyone else. Outside of the Shinichi and the Professor, the only people who knew about her hidden truth were few and far between.

That was how she preferred it. Even once Gin was captured, she doubted that would change. There was no longer any reason for Miyano Shiho to exist in this world, after all.

"So what are you sayin' here, Ai-chan?" Kazuha asked, swallowing a little, before she faced the unusual junior high school student head on. "That Heiji might never remember anythin'?"

"I didn't go that far." Ai told her, shaking her head. "Just that the path to regaining his memories might be more fraught with issues than I initially expected. Even with this handicap, it's still possible for him to slowly being to recall things over time. It's just unlikely to happen all at once, unless something causes the mental wall that he's built up to come tumbling down."

And tumbling down safely, she couldn't help but mentally add. If it came down any way other than him believing it was now no longer needed, she could only imagine that the results would be disastrous. Losing his memories all over again, or developing a spilt personality were all possibilities, though granted, psychology wasn't exactly her speciality. She would have to study more if she really wanted to start to design a working theory as to what could happen in the worst case scenario.

Hopefully, it wouldn't come to that.

"With time and patience, he might be able to slowly recall his past." Ai told her, for a moment wondering if she had made the right choice her. Surely, hearing that the childhood friend that you had been waiting for all this time might never remember you, at least not nearly as quickly as one hoped, wasn't easy news to take. "But forcing it might be dangerous."

"...I see." Kazuha said after a moment, taking in and letting out a deep breath, finally turning to face Ai again. "Thanks fer lettin' me know that, Ai-chan. I appreciate it."

Blinking a little, Ai tilted her head, giving her a rather curious look. "You're not upset?"

"I'd be lyin' if I said I wasn't a little upset." Kazuha told her, shaking her head. "But I already promised him. That even if he doesn't regain his memories, that we would make new ones together." Placing her hand over her heart, she gave her a soft smile. "An' that fer the ones that he couldn't remember, I'd treasure them all in here, fer the both of us. Rather, the fact that ya've confirmed that it might be possible fer him to gradually remember things is a big relief."

"I guess after all this time, an' even after what's happened, I'm still I'm love with him." Kazuha told her, almost seeming a bit sheepish to admit this to someone several years younger than her- even if Ai sometimes felt a little older. She really was mature for her age. "I thought that those feelings might change a little as I get ta know him all over again, but it seems like they're the same as they ever where. Sure, there's things different, but... he really is still Heiji."

"Ah, but sorry. Ya didn't actually ask fer any of that, did ya?" Giving her something of an apologetic smile, Kazuha let out a slightly nervous laugh. "Gettin' told all that by someone over ten years yer senior must be weird."

"I don't mind it." Ai told her simply, closing her eyes. "If anything, I'm a bit jealous about the strength of your feelings, Toyama-san. I can only hope that things work out for you. Well," peeking one eye open, a slightly sly smile worked it's way onto her lips. "...I think there's a good chance that he might still return those feelings for you, even after all of this time. That's Kudo-kun's own running theory, at the very least. He says that he probably spared that girl who lead you to him in the first place because she reminded him of you, on some subconscious level."

"Eh? That's the first I've heard of that! I mean, I heard that he had spared her on purpose, but..." Kazuha blurted out, her cheeks turning a bright shade of crimson. "Is that true, Ai-chan?"

"Well, Hattori-kun's never confirmed it himself one way or another, but it would appear that seems to be the case." Ai told her. "Hakuba-kun confirmed that she looked a lot like you used to when you were seventeen himself." Unable to help but get some amusement out of the flustered reaction that she was getting from her, Ai's smile grew. "It would appear that you've made the strongest impact on Hattori-kun's memories, Toyama-san. I would say that bodes rather well for you."

"Well, we are childhood friends." Kazuha said, trying to do something about the redness of her cheeks, to very little avail. "But I see... that's good, I suppose. But it's probably only because he's kept the charm that I made for him with him all this time."

"I wouldn't sell yourself short like that." Ai said simply, shaking her head. "Well, in any case, good luck tomorrow. You're likely going to need all that and more."

"Do ya really think they're be here tomorrow?" Kazuha asked, grateful for the change of subject, latching on to it as quickly as she could. "I know that Kudo-kun said that much as well, but..."

"I can't speak for Merlot, as I've never met her, but knowing Gin..." Closing her eyes, Ai forced back the cold chill that threatened to creep over her at the mere mention of the man's name. At the very least, she and the Professor wouldn't be alone here tomorrow. Sera's role was to protect the two of them- but most especially herself, it seemed. "...he'll come. And as quickly as possible. Tomorrow's a pretty fair estimate. That's the sort of man he is."

She could only hope that by the day after tomorrow, she would finally be completely free of him. And not just here- but everyone, really. Ever since Hattori Heiji disappeared into the stormy sea, the shadow cast by the Organization wasn't something that only fell over herself and Shinichi- but everyone that Heiji had ever been close with. And even though it was an event that in the end, helped them gain strength that they didn't have before, to once and for all bring down most of the Organization, it was still an event that history could have done without.

"I see." Kazuha said simply. She didn't know what Ai's history was with the Organization, nor with the person known as Gin. It didn't feel right to ask, really. "That's good then." Nodding her head, Kazuha hit her open hand with a fist, narrowing her eyes sharply. "The faster that I can bring justice ta those bastards that did such a thing ta Heiji, the better. I'll make them pay."