Sera-kun the mystery detective: Thanks for the review! I'm sorry I haven't updated this story in so long, but I had way too many things going on (college and personal life) where I couldn't update it (chapter 8) until now.

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan, Unmei no Roulette Mawashitte or The Little Peachling legend that all belongs to Gosho Aoyama, Garnet Crow, and Japan.

Ch 9 The Little Peachling

"What on Earth could this mean?" Kogoro asked as he rubbed his hand through his hair. Everyone had been staring at the code for a minute, and they still could not crack it. The only ones who even had a clue were Conan and Rishou, who were talking amongst themselves. "I think he's referring to a legend. But which one?" Conan asked Rishou, as he ran his hand through his hair. Kogoro stood up and looked at the group. "Okay, I'm supposed to meet with Inspector Nakamori in twenty minutes. All of you are going to stay here, or go to Dr. Agasa's house. Do not even think about following me!" Kogoro said as he pointed to himself. He then started to hum to himself as he closed the door to his office.

Conan and the others waited until Kogoro's footsteps faded before saying anything. He was about to say something before Genta interrupted with, "What a dimwit! Does he really think we're going to listen to him?" Genta said as he closed his eyes. He then crossed his arms over his chest. Ayumi's eyes were as wide as saucers. She stared at Genta for a few minutes, and then she told Genta how he shouldn't talk about his elders like that. "But I still can't believe that he would leave us alone in his office!" Mitsuhiko exclaimed in disbelief. Addy knew why her father left them there. She was wondering if Conan caught onto what her father meant.

Conan looked back at her as though he had just read her thoughts. He then pulled out Kogoro's desk chair. He climbed onto it until he stood up completely in the chair. He then climbed on top of the desk. The three youngsters were talking amongst themselves, while the three vertically challenged young adults already had Conan's attention. "Hey guys!" he shouted. His efforts were in vain. Genta and Mitsuhiko were talking about a way to sneak into the museum and foil Kaito Kid's plans. Ayumi looked at the two enthusiastically. "Hey guys!" He shouted again. They still were not giving him the time of day. He looked over to his friends in the back. He then noticed Rishou trying to get his attention. Conan looked at him. Rishou first pointed to his blue bow tie, and then took his index finger and thumb and started to twist clockwise in the air. Conan nodded as Rishou let his intentions be known. Conan grabbed his bowtie and turned the volume up as loud as it would go. He took in a great big breath of air and yelled, "hey guys!" at the top of his lungs. Genta, Mitsuhiko and Ayumi abruptly ended their conversation and had their eyes on Conan. "Let's go to Dr. Agasa's house!" Conan exclaimed as he threw his arms up into the air in an encouraging gesture. Everyone ran out the door. Conan, being the last one out, locked the detective agency. He then ran to catch up with the rest of the detective league. "So, you're planning on catching Kaito Kid?" Ai asked Conan. They were a yard behind the rest of the group. "Of course I am, I'm not going to let that thief get away!" Conan said as he threw a fist in the air.

Ayumi started to get a spring in her step, and she started to sing, "Unmei no ruuretto mawashite Zutto kimi wo mite ita!" Genta and Mitsuhiko looked at each other mischievously and then started to sing along with Ayumi. "Naze na no konna ni shiawase na no ni

Suiheisen wo miru to kanashiku naru

Ano koro no jibun wo tooku de mite iru sonna kanji.

Unmei no ruuretto mawashite

Arekore fukaku kangaeru no wa Mystery

Hora Unmei no hito wa soko ni iru

Zutto kimi wo mite ita

Addy and Heiji looked at each other, and then shrugged their shoulders. Even though mentally they were adults, they were still trapped in a child's body. Since everybody saw them as children, should they not be allowed to act like children? The two also belted along:

Aozora wo miagete uinku hitotsu de

Kono takai tokoro kara demo tobesou jan

Supiido age Bouenkyou wo nozoitara

Mirai ga mieru yo

Addy ran back towards Conan and Ai. "But what does the dog have anything to do with the museum?" Conan asked himself. Addy nudged herself between Addy and Conan, and held both of their hands. She then started to swing them back and forth. Addy looked nonchalant, while Conan cheeks were as red as tomatoes. "Come on you two, let's sing!" Addy said as she started to skip. Her hands have not softened in their grip of Conan and Ai's. On the contrary, her grip tightened and dragged the two up to join the rest of the group. Conan rolled his eyes, and then shrugged his shoulders. He couldn't think straight with Addy acting like this. He grinned from ear to ear. She should have remembered that he makes the common crow sound like Madame Butterfly.

Unmei no ruuretto mawashite

Doko ni ikeba omoide ni aeru?

Aoi chikyuu no chippoke na futari wa

Ima mo shinka shi-tsuzukeru

Addy looked in horror at Conan as he belted his lungs out. He was having way too much fun with this. She shouldn't have asked him to sing. She stood as high on her tippy toes as she could, and planted a kiss on the middle of his right cheek. Conan flustered, and he turned and glared at her. She covered her mouth as she tried to suppress her giggle. He smiled, but his hold on her hand never faltered. He pulled her away from Ai as they continued to walk hand-in-hand. Ai shook her head. "Trust Conan to want to keep Addy all to himself," Ai thought to herself. Everyone sans Addy and Conan sang the last stanza.

Unmei no ruuretto mawashite

Tabidatsu toki no tsubasa wa bravely

Hora Donna toki mo kouun wa matte 'ru

Zutto kimi wo mite ita

Zutto kimi wo mite ita

When their song ended, they found that they had ended up at Dr. Agasa's house. Everyone ran into the house, without ringing the doorbell. They took off their shoes and they all sat on the sofa. Dr. Agasa walked calmly inside the room, he noticed everyone staring at him. He closed his eyes, and with a great smile exclaimed, "Good afternoon children!" He said as he clasped his hands together. He opened his eyes and there was a big sparkle in them. "What riddle do you have for us today doc?" Rishou asked, and everyone save Dr. Agasa glared at him. Conan grumbled into the pint-sized Osakan's ear, "Way to go, you just had to encourage him?"

"But dude, he only looks like that when he wants to give us a riddle!" Rishou complained back. Rishou could not understand why Conan had something shoved up his ass. He looked over at Conan and whispered again, "What's got your big boy pants in a knot?" Conan decided to ignore Rishou and put his arm around Addy. "If you answer this riddle correctly, I will take you to see Detective Mouri in action." Everyone started cheering, while Rishou had a sneer on his face, 'Oh sure, now you're not mad at me.' He thought. "Okay, here it is: What has four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three legs in the evening?"

Everyone looked stumped. Conan and Rishou simultaneously shouted, "I've got it!"

"Let's hear it you two!" Dr. Agasa answered gleefully. "It's man!" Conan answered. Rishou nodded and then looked up at everyone. "The parts of the day represent the parts in a person's life. Morning is the beginning, noon is the middle, and evening is the end." Conan finished.

"Yeah, and four legs is because a baby crawls, two legs is because we stand on two legs, and three legs is because when you get old, you use a cane to support yourself." Rishou said, as he completed the explanation for everyone. Addy smiled as she said, "Oh, I remember you telling me that joke when I was a-." Addy did not have time to finish her sentence because of Conan. He grabbed her arms and pulled her into a crushing liplock. Addy's eyes were wide with surprise. But before she could act, Conan broke the kiss, and started to breathe in deeply. "Dang, so Conan has a thing with Addy." Genta said teasingly. Conan looked flustered as he looked from the right to the left, and back to the right. He rubbed his head as he laughed nervously. "There was a roly-poly stuck to her lip!" He exclaimed as he waved his hands in front of himself.

"Of course there was," Ayumi said sadly. She got up and started to walk toward the door. "Ayumi, where are you going?" Ai asked. She was walking behind her, but she pushed her away. "I-I just want a breath… of fresh air." Ayumi said as she looked up at Ai. Her eyes were full of tears. She walked out the door without closing it. Ai shook her head as she looked at Conan. When she was halfway to the couch, Addy sprinted toward the door before anyone could stop her. She ran down the pathway toward the entrance gate, and then she started yelling for Ayumi. "Ayumi-chan! Where are you Ayumi-chan?" She saw Ayumi sitting on a bench. She cautiously sat down next to the dejected girl.

She slowly put her arm around Ayumi. Ayumi responded by putting her head on Ayumi's shoulder. She then started to let her tears out. Ayumi took ragged breaths as her body shook. The tears fell without yielding. Ayumi took her sleeve, and wiped it across her nose. Addy turned around and held the poor girl's face in her hands. She took her thumbs and wiped the tears away. She then gave Ayumi a full body hug. "I'm sorry," Addy said as she rubbed Ayumi's back. "I should have known."Addy said as she pulled away to look at the girl. "I should have stopped him." Addy said as she tried to cheer the poor girl up. "No, I shouldn't be so naïve." Ayumi responded as she let out a sob. She then took her hand and wiped away a tear threatening to fall. "I saw the way he looked after the kiss. He likes you Addy." She said softly. Ayumi stood up, and so did Addy. "Let's go back to the doc's house!" Ayumi said with a smile. They both walked back towards the house. They walked into the house to see everyone standing where they had left them. "Is everything okay Ayumi?" Dr. Agasa asked as he put a hand on the girl's shoulder. Ayumi looked up as she nodded and smiled.

"Everything's a-okay!" She looked around to see everyone seemingly frozen to their spot. "What are you guys doing?" Ayumi asked, "Let's go meet Detective Mouri!" She exclaimed. Everyone instantaneously uprooted from their spots and cheered. Everyone walked out the door, and Dr. Agasa locked the front door. Ayumi was between Mitsuhiko and Genta and they were talking about the new Gomera movie. Addy walked next to Rishou and she was twiddling her thumbs. "Hey Rishou, I need to tell you something." Addy said. Before Rishou could let out a reply, Conan took Addy and kept an unwavering hold on her hand.

He looked at her and said, "You've got to be careful Ran." Ran looked at Shinichi and she looked down. 'I ought to feel ashamed of myself!' Ran thought, 'I could have put everybody in danger.' She shook her head and looked at him. "I'm sorry Shinichi. I could have put us all in danger." Ran whispered in his ear. "It is very unlikely that we would have been danger." He said with a laugh. He was trying to cheer her up. "It would have just been shocking for them, that is all." He said. "Oh, and Shinichi about that kiss…" Ran said as she looked at him to Ayumi. "She has a crush on you. You can't just kiss me when you feel like it. Her feelings were hurt." Shinichi looked down, and then he looked back at her. "I'm sorry, but I had to make sure you didn't say that word." Shinichi said. Ran looked into his eyes and laughed. "Shinichi, all you had to really do was cover my mouth. I would have gotten the message." She then gave him a grin, and looked down. She batted her eyelashes and looked back up. "Unless…" she said as she put her index finger next to her lip. "You wanted an excuse to kiss me." She sang and let out a flirty laugh. He blushed and waved his hand, his palms facing her. "Ran, let's not get carried away!"

Rishou came over to the two and said, "Ya wanna say that a lil louder? I don't think America heard ya!" He then walked over to Ai. Ran and Shinichi blushed and looked at the ground. They then went over to join Rishou and Ai. "Hello lovebirds, are you two done flirting with each other?" They both smiled and let out a nervous laugh. They all took a right and they saw the building.

It was at least twenty stories high. It was a beige color, and the left side came out further towards the street. They walked into the building and went straight to the elevators. There were six on each side. They went to the left one, and waited for the door to open. Luckily for them, the elevator was empty. They entered and went to the tenth floor. The elevator looked new, with twelve light bulbs shining bright. The wall was a platinum color. It felt cold to the touch. It was a tile floor with a grey design. "I guess the police department renovated their elevators." Dr. Agasa said. Elevator music was playing, and they arrived to the tenth floor. They got off, and went to the big conference room.

Conan could see Inspector Nakamori standing at the podium. He had a vein bulging out of his head. Dr. Agasa opened the door and walked in as quietly as they could. Inspector Nakamori stopped talking, and everyone looked at them. It was so quiet that someone could hear a pin dropped.

"You brats!" Kogoro shouted as he got up from his seat. He walked towards the kids, but Inspector Megure blocked him. "Mouri-kun, let them stay."

"But Inspector, why?" Kogoro asked in a whiny voice. "You have always been talking about how Conan is your lucky charm." Conan formed a smile so big it could be compared to the Cheserie cat. The Junior Detective League and Dr. Agasa took seats in the back. "Okay, where were we?" Inspector Nakamori asked. A police officer raised his hand and said, "We were in the middle of decoding the Kaito Kid's message." Inspector Nakamori said. The door opened, and in walked Toyama Kazuha. Rishou's face went blank. He looked at Conan and Addy. He noticed Addy looking down. She had a sheepish expression on her face. He took his arm and went behind Conan to poke Addy. Addy bent so she could see Rishou. "You knew?" Rishou demanded as he pointed at Kazuha. "I was going to tell you." Addy said as she looked down and then looked back up. "But Conan grabbed me." Conan had a shocked expression on his face. He looked at Addy with a betrayed look, and he saw that Rishou looked angry. "Listen up here Ku…" Conan put his hand on Rishou's mouth. He then removed it and Rishou took in a deep breath of air. "Why is she here?" Rishou asked Addy.

"Honestly, she thought you would be here."

"Well that's great." Rishou whispered as he threw his hands up in the air, "On account of that I'm sitting right here."

"Well, by the time I called her back, she was already over here." Addy whispered back. Kazuha walked over to Kogoro and said, "Detective Mouri, is Heiji here?"

"No, he's not." Kogoro said as he looked back to the board. "Toyama-chan," Inspector Nakamori said as he stared at her. "Please sit in the back." She blushed and ran to the back and sat next to Dr. Agasa. "Hey professor." She said as she sat next to him. He waved back. "You know," Kazuha said as she looked at Dr. Agasa, "that message sounds a lot like a legend I have heard of." Everyone in the Junior Detective League looked at her. She opened her satchel and pulled out a big book of legends. "Why do ya carry a book of legends?" Rishou asked. Kazuha looked at him and asked, "Are you from Osaka?" She asked as she looked at the boy.

"Kyoto." He said as he sank back in his seat. If he kept this up, Kazuha would find out who he was within the hour. Kazuha was flipping through her book until she got to page 47. "Okay guys, I'm going to read what it says:

Many hundred years ago there lived an honest old woodcutter and his wife. One fine morning the old man went off to the hills with his billhook, to gather a faggot of sticks, while his wife went down to the river to wash the dirty clothes. When she came to the river, she saw a peach floating down the stream; so she picked it up, and carried it home with her, thinking to give it to her husband to eat when he should come in.

The old man soon came down from the hills, and the good wife set the peach before him, when, just as she was inviting him to eat it, the fruit split in two, and a little puling baby was born into the world. So the old couple took the babe, and brought it up as their own; and, because it had been born in a peach, they called it Momotaro, or Little Peachling.

By degrees Little Peachling grew up to be strong and brave, and at last one day he said to his old foster parents: "I am going to the ogres' island to carry off the riches that they have stored up there. Pray, then, make me some millet dumplings for my journey."

So the old folks ground the millet, and made the dumplings for him; and Little Peachling, after taking an affectionate leave of them, cheerfully set out on his travels.

As he was journeying on, he fell in with a monkey, who gibbered at him, and said: "Kia! kia! kia! where are you off to, Little Peachling?"

"I'm going to the ogres' island, to carry off their treasure," answered Little Peachling.

"What are you carrying at your girdle?"

"I'm carrying the very best millet dumplings in all Japan."

"If you'll give me one, I will go with you," said the monkey.

So Little Peachling gave one of his dumplings to the monkey, who received it and followed him. When he had gone a little further, he heard a pheasant calling: "Ken! ken! ken! where are you off to, Master Peachling?"

Little Peachling answered as before; and the pheasant, having begged and obtained a millet dumpling, entered his service, and followed him.

A little while after this, they met a dog, who cried: "Bow! wow! wow! whither away, Master Peachling?"

"I'm going off to the ogres' island, to carry off their treasure."

"If you will give me one of those nice millet dumplings of yours, I will go with you," said the dog.

"With all my heart," said Little Peachling. So he went on his way, with the monkey, the pheasant, and the dog following after him.

When they got to the ogres' island, the pheasant flew over the castle gate, and the monkey clambered over the castle wall, while Little Peachling, leading the dog, forced in the gate, and got into the castle. Then they did battle with the ogres, and put them to flight, and took their king prisoner. So all the ogres did homage to Little Peachling, and brought out the treasures which they had laid up. There were caps and coats that made their wearers invisible, jewels which governed the ebb and flow of the tide, coral, musk, emeralds, amber, and tortoise shell, besides gold and silver. All these were laid before Little Peachling by the conquered ogres.

So Little Peachling went home laden with riches, and maintained his foster parents in peace and plenty for the remainder of their lives.

Kazuha had just finished reading the story and she looked up. Every single enforcement officer was looking at Kazuha. "Well, that explains the second part of the letter. But what about the first part?" Inspector Nakamori said as he put his hand underneath his chin. "Hey Dr. Agasa, isn't the dog a part of the Chinese zodiac?" Conan nodded at her. He then looked at Rishou, who was also grinning. "Not only did he give us the date, but he gave us the time too." Conan said as he figured it out.

"Why is his riddle so easy?" Rishou asked, "Is he losing his touch?"

"Do you know when the Kaito Kid will strike?" Kazuha asked the two boys. She especially looked at Rishou. "For some reason, I feel as though I know Rishou. But where have I seen him before.' Kazuha thought. "Yeah, he'll strike on October 7th." Conan said. Inspector Nakamori heard this and went over to where Kazuha and the gang were sitting. He put his hand on the seat closest to the aisle, and leaned over slightly towards the group, "And how do you know this?" He asked confusedly. "You see, even though in the Chinese zodiac it represents the year, there are also certain times where you can see it in the sky."

"Like the western zodiac?" Inspector Nakamori asks.

"Exactly!" Rishou exclaimed as he made his hand into a fist and hit his open palm. "It starts on October 7th and ends November 4th." Inspector Nakamori nodded as he took notes. "There are also certain parts of the day known as ruling hours." Conan said. "The dog rules from 7pm-9pm. Since he said that he will strike at the last hour, which means he will strike at nine o'clock." Inspector Nakamori looked at his watch and said. "Okay, we have a week until that happens." Everyone nodded and the meeting was adjourned. Inspector Nakamori put his hand on Kazuha's shoulder and said, "Thank you Toyama-chan. If it wasn't for you and your legends book, we would still be at square one." He looked very appreciative of Kazuha for showing up.

Kazuha, Dr. Agasa, and the Junior Detective League walked back to his house. The Junior Detective League sat on one side, and Kazuha and Dr. Agasa sat on the other side. "Why Kazuha, that is impressive that you brought your book with you. It helped the police department solve the case." Kazuha gave a little smile and said, "Don't mention it, I carry this baby everywhere with me." She said as she pointed at the book of legends. "I don't mean to sound rude, but why did you bring that book?" Addy said as she looked at Kazuha. Kazuha looked at her and said, "Oh, I never introduced myself to you, I'm Toyama Kazuha, and you are?" She asked as she looked at Addy. "Miyabe Addy." She said with a smile. "Okay Addy, I will tell you. Our class went to a ski resort, and I was in the same class as Hattori Heiji. He is a really brilliant detective. One day there was a murder case, and he couldn't solve it. The key to solving that case was within a legend. So ever since, I've been carrying this book around." Addy smiled. It was clear to her that Kazuha had a crush on Heiji. Of course, she would never admit it. Conan looked at his watch, and said "Conan, isn't Detective Mouri expecting you home in five minutes?" Conan looked at his watch and nodded. Conan and Rishou stood up and was about to leave until Dr. Agasa said, "Kazuha, why don't you go with them?" Kazuha gave a confused glance. "I mean, do you have a hotel room?"

"No, I was planning on staying with Ran, but she's not here."

"I'll call her and let her know the details. I don't think she would mind letting you stay in her room." He then looked at Addy, "Can you call Ran?"

"Of course." She walked into the other room, and pretended to talk to Ran. Of course, there was nobody on the other line. She 'hung up' the phone and went back to see Kazuha, "She said that she doesn't mind if you stay in her room."

"Arigatou!" Kazuha exclaimed. Kazuha, Conan, and Rishou all walked home in silence. 'That's weird," Kazuha thought, 'usually children would be talking to each other nonstop.' Ten minutes after that thought, they had reached the Detective Agency. When they opened the door, they got an unexpected surprise. Okino Yoko music was blaring from the television set on Kogoro's desk. He had grabbed one of Ran's round brushes, and was using it as a microphone. Kazuha, Conan and Rishou just stared at him for two minutes. They then went upstairs. Rishou and Conan went to their room and Kazuha went to Ran's.

Kazuha put her suitcase and her satchel on the floor, and lay down on the bed. She looked over at Ran's desk and saw a picture frame. Curiosity got the best of her, and she walked over to the desk. She took the picture frame off the desk and held it. Ran and Shinichi were at Tropical Land. They were standing in front of a castle. Shinichi had both hands doing a 'victory' sign. Ran was leaning forward and had made one 'victory' sign. The two of them looked very happy. Kazuha pulled out her big legend book and read a few stories out of it. By the time she had looked back up, it had been two hours. She would have had her nose in her book still if it wasn't for her phone. It was a text message from Ran. She opened it and it read, "Money is on the counter. Please go pick up some food at Donburi across the street. Order two packages of rice and a bowl of teriyaki and edamame." She went downstairs, and sure enough, there was money on the counter. She closed the door behind her and went down the stairs.

She went across the street and went a few doors left. She opened the door, and the place surprised her. There were designs of Japanese anemones painted on the wall with a blue background. On the tables were white tablecloths with a pot of fake cherry blossoms in the middle of the tables. The place was not very crowded. There were these two men ahead of her. She could not tell much about them. There was one thing for certain, however, and that was because the two men gave her a bad vibe. They were wearing black coats, and one had long silver hair. They finished their order, and the two men turned around. Kazuha had never felt so scared in her life. She desperately wished that she had Heiji to hold onto. Wait, why would she want to cling to Heiji? I guess it was just a nervous reaction. She went up and ordered her food. She sat down at a table to wait for her order to be ready. She looked down at her phone to check the time. It was a quarter past six. When she looked up, she jumped in her seat.

In the booth opposite her sat one of the men in black coats. He had on a top hat and some sunglasses. Why a person would wear sunglasses inside a restaurant was beyond her. "Oh, hi." She said timidly. She didn't want to talk to him, but she didn't want to come off as rude. He stood up, and leaned towards Kazuha. He used hhis hands to steady himself. He looked her straight in the eyes and said, "Did you know Hattori Heiji?" Kazuha didn't know what to do. But something sounded wrong about what he said. She believed that right now as a good time to play dumb. "I'm sorry sir, but I've never heard of him." As soon as she said that, the man's order came up. The two men left the restaurant, and Kazuha let out a breath of air that she didn't realize that she was holding.

Not soon after, her order was ready. She got up from the booth, grabbed her food, and went back to the Detective Agency. She called everyone down, and they ate dinner. "I can't wait to catch that Kaito Kid next week!" Kogoro said as he took a bite of chicken. Kazuha sat down quietly, and did not say a word to anyone. Conan and Rishou looked at Kazuha, "What is wrong with Kazuha?" Conan asked Rishou.

"I have no idea." He whispered back. The dinner went without incident. Because the restaurant used plastic bowls to place their food in, Kazuha washed them. She placed them in the cupboard above the sink. She then went upstairs, and her façade fell. Tears came pooling out of her eyes. She locked the door, and pulled the telephone out. She sobbed as she looked for the number of the person she wanted to call. She pressed the dial button. While she waited for the call to pick up, she kept telling herself, "Kazuha, he's alright. Heiji is going to be alright." The phone did not answer. She only got Heiji's voicemail. Kazuha had a hiccup and the tears continued to fall. She then decided to call the next best person. She needed the assurance. She needed to know that Heiji was alright. Someone had picked up the phone. "Kazuha, it's ten thirty at night. Is everything okay?" Ran asked.

"Yes. I went to Donburi and got the food just as you asked for it."

"I thank you Kazuha." She said appreciatively, "I knew I could count on you." Kazuha nodded. "Ran, I need to tell you something."

"Of course, you can tell me anything." Ran said reassuringly. At this moment, the dam broke. Kazuha's tears cascaded off of her face like Niagra Falls. "Ran…I think…I think… there's some…thing…wrong with…" Kazuha did not know how to form the words. "Kazuha, what's wrong? You can tell me!" Ran's voice said in alarm. "I think that…someone…wants to….kill….Heiji!" She exclaimed tearfully. She then let out some sobs that she had been holding back. "What happened Kazuha?" Ran asked. Ai was standing next to Ran so she put it on loudspeaker. Kazuha then relayed everything that happened at Donburi. "Don't worry Kazuha. I will talk to Shinichi. He will handle it. I want you to make sure all the windows and doors are locked before going to sleep."

"Thank you so much!" Kazuha said as she went and double-checked the doors and windows. "I really miss you Ran."

"I miss you too Kazuha. Please get a good night sleep."

"I will, bye!"

"See you later!" Ran said before hanging up. Kazuha crawled underneath the covers. Ran said that Shinichi would handle it. That made her feel ten times better. The last thought that went through Kazuha's mind is Heiji's safety.

Ran gave Ai her cell phone. "Why would they be after Heiji? I thought they already got him?" Ran asked with worry. "There is only one reason that Vodka would talk to Kazuha about Heiji. "Hey Kudou, this is Haibara."

"What's the big idea? It's ten thirty at night!" Shinichi replied. Sleep was starting to claim him.

"It's an emergency." Ai said, "I wouldn't be calling you this late if it wasn't for the fact that it was an emergency."

"Is Ran alright?" Shinichi asked in alarm. He became completely awake after the word emergency was said. "It's not Ran you should be worrying about?" Ai said to him. "Hey Shinichi!" Ran said. She hoped this would get Shinichi to stop worrying about her. "Ran, what's going on?"

"It's Kazuha. Gin and Vodka know about her. Vodka talked to her." Ran said tearfully.

"What do you mean by that?" Heiji replied. He was woken up by Shinichi who shook him up. "What do you mean god dammit?" Heiji exclaimed.

"Vodka sat down to talk to Kazuha while she picked up dinner. She believes that your life is in danger. What she doesn't know is that they are after her now." Ai exclaimed.

"Perfect, just perfect! I wanted to keep Kazuha out of this. Why the fuck was she dragged into this shit!" Heiji exclaimed. "Calm down, you're going to wake up the neighbors if you keep this up." Shinichi said as he put a hand on Heiji's shoulder. "What does she need to do?"

"Bring her over here tomorrow. We're going to tell her everything. I have one capsule of the poison available. She has to shrink."

"This is bullshit!" Heiji exclaimed.

"Don't make me tranquilize your ass!" Shinichi seethed. Heiji shut his mouth right then and there. "Is there any other way to handle this?" Shinichi asked. "Kudou, Vodka personally talked to her. He wouldn't do that unless there wasn't a plan to kill her."

"How long will she be like us?"

"Until the black organization is taken down." Ai said. Shinichi sighed in defeat as he hung up the phone. "I'm sorry Heiji, but there is nothing else I can do." Shinichi said, "we need to get ready for bed." They both agreed and turned out the lights. Thirty minutes later, Heiji crawled out of his futon. He snuck down the hallway until he had gotten to Ran's room. He opened the door, and Kazuha was already asleep. He tiptoed to her bed, and looked at her. The moonlight shone through the window. Heiji could see traces of tears as they fell down Kazuha's face earlier in the night. He took his hand and brushed away some of the hair in her face. He continuously stroked her hair while he whispered to her, "Kazuha, I will do anything to keep you safe: No matter what it would cost me." He took his hand from her hair. He leaned over towards her and kissed her forehead. He walked quietly out of the bedroom.

Please R&R. Constructive criticism welcomed, but please, no flames.