Four points of the same star

DISCLAIMER:I do not own Detective Conan .

A.N: Minor errors and corrections have been made.

FOUR POINTS OF THE SAME STAR

Chapter 10

Working together

-:-

Kogoroh was in front of the television screen, waiting for Yoko's show with a pair.. pile of beer cans in front of him.

Ran was clearing the table from the remaints of dinner and Conan was helping her. The boy turned around when he heard a few shouts from the other room: Kogoroh was cheering Yoko's entrance on stage in his low drunk voice.

Conan looked past the kitchen door and took in the man's state. Messy hair, cigarette in mouth, unshaved, messy shirt, tie undone and the room was full of smell of alcohol mingled with smoke.

As usual.

He sighed in disbelief.

'I feel so sorry for Ran.' he thought, looking up at the girl, 'No wonder Eri-san left him. Who wouldn't have? to think that he has got famous in these months thanks to me. I wonder how he'll carry on once I'm gone...'

This last thing made him realize that he, Conan, might really leave the agency soon.

If the data Ryu had casually saved were really about the APTX-4869, Haibara could be able to make the antidote. At that point, he would return to be himself again.

Shinichi Kudo would be back while Conan Edogawa would have disappeared the same way he had mysteriously appeared.

'I'll have to find a way to tell this to Ran.' he thought, 'She really cares a lot for Conan.'

"Conan-kun?"

"Yes, Ran-neechan?" he said, snapping out of his thoughts, and turning towards the girl.

"Why are you always down at Agase's house in this days?" she asked.

"Er.. It's just... that.." he stammered and quickly came up with an answer., "He just shows me his new inventions."

Ran finished to wash the last plate and dried her hands. She looked down at him with a suspicious face and with her arms folded.

"You're not hiding me anything, right?"

"What? No, Ran-neechan. What should I hide?" he said in his best 'childish-innocent' voice, but his mind was racing furiously.

'She suspects something! What am I going to do now? I can't tell her of Rei or Ryu!' he thought, getting frantic, 'How am I going to get out of this?'

Suddenly, Ran began to laugh and Conan looked at her with surprise.

"Don't worry, Conan-kun." she said, smiling at the now astonished and not worried boy, "I was just joking. I know you would never hide me anything."

The statement hit Conan deeply.

"Of course, Ran-neechan." he replied, smiling in his childish way as he felt a wave of guilt in the pit of his stomach. He had just realised an uncomfortable truth.

Conan had never been sincere with Ran.

Everything he had told her about himself was a lie. His name, his parents and his life, if he could call it like that. Everything.

And even when he showed up as Shinichi, he wasn't honest with her either. There always lies.

Only lies.

Ran didn't seem to notice his inner struggle.

"Are you sure that you're going to Agase's house only to see his inventions and not to see.. a certain person?" she asked with a teasing hint in her voice.

"What?" Conan asked, looking up with a puzzled face.

"Well, there is a cute little girl living with Agase now, right? I noticed that you've been visiting his house more often since her arrival." Ran looked at him knowingly, "Let me guess? You have a crush on Ai-kun, right?"

The boy turned the deepest shade of red possible.

"Wha.. what?" he stuttered, "N.. no, I'm not.. love.. Haibara.."

Ran laughed again.

"Oh, how cute. You're blushing!" she said This made the boy turn even redder if that was physically possible.

After a couple of minutes, she had mercy of him.

"Come on, Conan-kun." Ran said, heading to her room, "It's late. We have school tomorrow."

As they walked to their rooms, the girl stopped at her door.

"Goodnight and sleep well, Conan-kun" she said with a smile to boy.

"Goodnight, Ran-neechan." he replied and went to his room, closing the door after he heard Ran close her own.

'First Rei...' he thought as changed his clothes, 'And now Ran..'

"Am I really falling for Haibara?" he whispered.

No one answered his question.

Nevertheless, he blushed and then, he went to sleep.

-:-

Conan stole a glance at the girl and went back to his reading. It seemd that the background racket didn't seem to reach him.

Mornings in class 1-B were always chaotic.

Some children chatted and laughed loudly, some were trading cards of their favourite cartoon hero and a group sitting at the back of the class was desperately copying the day's homework. They were carefree and happy as every kid of their age.

Only two didn't join the general mayhem.

They were sitting at their desk, reading silently as usual.

Conan turned a page of his novel and, casually glanced at Ai. Red lines appeared on his face as he remembered what had happened the night before when he had gone back at the Mouri's agency.

His musings had gone on during the minutes before he finally fell asleep.

He realised that he wasn't too oblivious to the awkward situation he found himself in. He had noticed this a few weeks before Rei's arrival.

He found himself staring at Haibara for no reason, at least a few times during the school hours. He didn't bother to think about the reason behind his action. All he cared about was looking at the cool, intelligent girl next to him. It made himself... pleased for the day.

'Am I really falling for Haibara?' he thought again.

"Kudo, do you want to ask me something or are you just going to keep your eyes fixed on me for the whole day?" Ai asked without taking her eyes off her magazine. There was a faint trace of annoyance in her tone.

Conan nearly jumped out of his chair. He didn't think she had noticed him stare.

"Er.. it's nothing." he replied, going back to his novel, "Sorry."

Ai glanced at him and then turned back to the page she was reading, shaking her head.

'I wonder what's going on with him?' she thought, 'He's been behaving strangely in the past weeks.'

She had had felt his stare many times and every time their eyes met, he would turn around pretending to look at something else or just mutter a quick apology, blushing slightly.

She felt both pleased and uncomfortable under his piercing gaze. He had those instinctive eyes of a detective that could look right through you as though you were made of glass and the simple thought that he had some kind of interest on her made her feel a strange, uncomfortably warm and pleasurable feeling.

'Who do I want to fool?' she thought, 'His heart's already taken. I am just the one that will make him go back to his life. Nothing else. Maybe I am also a friend for him.'

Ai nearly laughed at herself. How could she even think that he liked her in the same way she cared for him. He had Mouri and he didn't need anyone else.

She remembered what Professor had said the day before: fate had brought them all together.

Kudo, Rei, Ryu and herself had met because they were involved with the Organisation. Different lives entwined because of a common fate. Maybe, it was also because of fate that she had to fall in love with someone that she could never have..

"Haibara?"

Ai turned to her right.

"You've decided to speak at last, Kudo." she remarked sarcastically.

He arched an eyebrow.

"Strange sentence coming from you, Haibara." he stated, "By the way, did Rei tell you when we're going to pick up Ryu?"

"This evening around five o'clock." she replied, "He said that he finished working at that time."

"Ok, but do you know where this bar is?"

"Ryu gave Rei all the details when he called. Yes, he called this morning." she added, guessing Conan's next question, "He said that he wrote down Agase's number before leaving yesterday."

"Oh, all right." he said.

Just then the teacher entered and all the kids got back to their places.

Conan sighed, putting his novel away.

Another day as a first grader had began.


Conan and Ai were walking together to Agase's house.

They had to make up an excuse to tell the Detective Boys who had invited them to go to the park and play together. Every now and then, they controlled if the kids were following them.

"Those kids' imagination doesn't have limits." Conan said, looking back for the fifth time, "We said that we had some work to do and they immediately thought that we had to solve some case or find some treasure without them."

"It's your fault, Kudo. You shouldn't have solved all those cases with them around." Ai said, "It made them think that they had detective skills, too." The boy grimaced. "However, as soon as you.. we will turn back to ourselves, we'll have to keep an eye on them. They will surely get in trouble, investigating on their own."

Conan looked up at her: this was another thing he had forgotten.

If they turned back to their real state, they couldn't stay with the little kids anymore.

He felt sad at the thought. Even though they were annoying at times, Ayumi, Genta and Mitsuhiko were his friends. Friends with whom he had enjoyed himself.

'They will miss me even more than Ran.' he thought.

Ai was thinking on the same lines.

That three kids had given her something that she had never had before: friendship. Pure and innocent friendship. She owed them a lot.

The two continued to walk silently. Agase's house was getting closer.

"Haibara?"

"Yes?" she replied, turning to him.

"If the data Ryu has found are really about the APTX, how much will it take you to prepare the antidote?" Conan asked, "The definitive one?"

"I can't give you an exact date but I think it should take one or two months between the preparation and the testing." she answered in her usual flat-tone. Deep inside her, under the cool façade, it hurt to think that the bond between them would probably end when the antidote was ready.

"I see." he said shortly.

They reached Agase's house and rang the bell but nobody opened. They waited a couple of minutes but it seemed that no one was in the house. Conan and Ai looked at each other.

"Did Rei or Agase tell you that they were going out?" he asked but she shook her head.

"No, Agase didn't say anything." she replied, "And Rei.. well, she never left the house since her arrival."

"Where are they then?"

They both started to feel uneasy. What if one of them had come and...

Suddenly, they heard a car approaching. They turned in unison.

It was Agase's car. Conan and Ai sighed in relief and went towards it.

"Professor, you could have left a note to tell us that you were out." Conan remarked, "We thought something had happened and.. " He stopped when he saw who the driver was.

"Sorry but I thought I'd be back before you two came here." Rei said, closing the car's door. She looked down and noticed the surprised expression on their faces.

"Are you two all right?" she asked, "I didn't want to make you worry: I just went to get the gas tank filled up and took the wrong way coming back. I don't know all the streets of the block very well. Mind you, I've forgotten most of them."

"Rei since when do you know how to drive?" Conan asked at last, managing to put a few words together.

"So this was the problem." she said, understanding, "I took my driving licence a year ago with Ryu and Matt." She looked at the two with a slight smile on her face. "By the way, shall we go? Ryu gave me the address but I still have to figure out where that bar is. You must show me the way."

Conan and Ai nodded and they all went in the car.

"Rei, where's Agase?" Ai asked as they were going.

"He told me that he had to buy a few for his new invention and also something for dinner. He said that he wanted to prepare something special for Ryu's arrival." she replied smiling slightly as she did a manoeouvre. "Professor hasn't changed a bit in these years. He's still kind and helpful with everyon. And he's always working on one of his inventions."

"Yeah, his great inventions." Conan remarked sarcastically.

"Come on Shinichi, the devices he gave you are brilliant. And you also said that they have helped you many times"

"Well, his inventions are great now. But what about that transceiver-pen...?" he retorted with a frown. Rei stifled a laugh.

Ai looked at them with slight curiosity, wondering what they were talking about and Rei noticed it through the rear view mirror.

"While I was here in Japan, three years ago, Agase was working on a special pen with a transceiver built-in. He wanted it to work as a radio but it also had to write as a normal pen." she explained, "One day, while we were both down at his house, he asked Shinichi to try the pen and see if it worked and when he tried…well, the transceiver worked perfectly but the pen didn't."

"Yes when I bent down to write, the refill burst and I got showered with ink." Conan muttered, "Green ink"

The thought of Shinichi Kudo covered in green ink nearly made Ai laugh out, but she controlled herself and only snickered.

"Well, accidents can happen." Rei said, hiding a smile with difficulty, "His inventions work perfectly now."

"Yes, they are really useful now." he agreed. Then, he turned to the girls. "Hey, don't tell this to Agase or he'll start to show off and, worst of all, he'll start to ask me to experiment all his new inventions."

Conan grimaced at the thoguht and the two girls couldn't help but snicker.

In the meanwhile, a certain old scientist was shopping in a supermarket. He sneezed suddenly.

'I wonder who's talking about me?' he thought, pulling out a handkerchief from his pocket.

-:-

Conan, Ai and Rei reached the Beika Hotel after twenty minutes.

Rei parked the car and they all got out.

"So, where's the place, Rei?" Conan asked, looking around.

"Ryu said that it's a bar behind the hotel and it's called... ehm.. "Queen of hearts"." she replied and looked at the time, "Well, it's nearly five o'clock. Let's find that place soon."

They walked around, trying to spot the bar but it wasn't as easy as they thought. There were many bars and cafés on that street.

'If only we had a clue..' Rei thought, looking around and avoiding to bump into two girls that were talking to each other. She overheard a bit of their conversation.

"He's gorgeous, isn't he?"

"Yes! If I had known that "Queen's" had such a cute waiter, I would have gone there everyday."

"Me too. Too bad that he has to leave today."

"Yeah."

They both sighed.

Rei stopped and watched the two walk away. She then looked down at Conan and Ai.

"Did you hear that?" she asked. "Cute waiter.."

"That works at "Queen's".." Ai said.

"And that leaves today." Conan finished.

"It's him." Rei stated.

They looked around and noticed a crowd of girls in front of a bar on their left. They looked at each other and walked towards it. Rei stopped before going in and turned to Conan and Ai.

"Guys, one last thing. Everyone here knows Ryu as Ryu Misaki so be careful when you call him all right?" she said and the other two nodded.

They were greeted by a young man at the counter, probably one or two years older than them. He smiled at them apologetically.

"Welcome to the Queen of hearts." he said, "I'm sorry but you will have to wait to get a table. We're full as you can see."

The three looked behind him and saw that the bar was full of people.. no, full of girls. There was a young waitress running through the tables, getting orders but they couldn't see Ryu anywhere.

"Excuse, we're looking for Ryu Misaki." Rei said, "He works here, doesn't he?"

The man looked up and got to his feet. The three noticed that he had a pair of crutches next to him.

"Misaki-kun? Yes, he works here. He should be around, taking or bringing the orders." he said, "Who are you?"

"Oh, sorry. My name's Rei and these are Conan and Ai." she replied, gesturing to the kids, "We're here to help Ryu pack up his things and take them away."

"Oh, right. He mentioned that some of his friends would have come. By the way, I am Tetsu Oshino and this is our family's bar."

"Pleased to meet you, Tetsu-san." the three said.

"Pleased to meet you too." he replied with a smile, "Now, let's see where Misaki-kun's gone." He looked around. "He might be in the kitchen with my parents.. Hold on... Hey, Shizuka!"

The waitress turned around and came towards them.

"Yes, Oni-chan?" she asked.

"Where's Misaki-kun?"Tetsu asked.

Shizuka frowned.

"That's the same question that every single girl I've served has asked me." she replied, " Anyway, he's down in the storeroom to get some soft drinks. We've finished all the bottles that we had in the kitchen. Why do you ask?"

"Well, his friends are here to help him pack up. He must have told them to come at this time because there's hardly anyone here but I don't know what's happened today. There's never been so much business."

"It's all because of Misaki-kun's leaving. Everyone has come to see him for the last time." Shizuka replied with a bit of annoyance.

She glanced at Conan, Ai and, then at Rei, studying her from head to foot. Rei felt the rather uncomfortable feeling of being x-rayed with a stare. She cleared her throat.

"I am Rei and these are Conan and Ai." she said, "Pleased to meet you."

"I am Shizuka Oshino. Pleased to meet you." she replied, not meaning the last statement at all.

Conan arched an eyebrow, noticing the coolness in her tone but both Ai and Rei had also noticed the jealous glint in her eyes. Ai smirked while Rei groaned inwardly.

'Great!' she thought, 'Another of Ryu's admirers.'

Just then Ryu showed up, carrying a crate of bottles. He went and put them in the kitchen and then noticed them at the entrance. He walked towards them, ignoring the girls from the tables.

"Hi, when did you come?" he asked.

"A few minutes ago." Rei answered.

"I'm sorry but I haven't finished yet. Why don't you sit and order something? I'll try to hurry up." he said with a smile, "I'll pay: order what you like."

"All right, Ryu." Rei said with a smile and Conan and Ai nodded.

Shizuka had been watching them and she frowned seeing how close Ryu and Rei seemed to be.

"Excuse me but I have to go to work." she said and left them at the entrance.

Ryu looked slightly surprised by her behaviour.

"What's wrong with her?" he asked Tetsu but he just shrugged.

Rei shook her head in disbelief.

"Here's another clueless one." she muttered.

"What?" Ryu asked, turning to her.

"Nothing." she replied and looked down at Ai, who had heard her. The little girl smiled. They walked to a small table at the back of the bar and sat down. Ryu took their orders quickly.

"I'll be back in a minute." he said, flashing his smile to them and all the other customers, well all the other girls shot jealous glares to Rei (The other two were just kids and they didn't count).

"Oh God, it will be a miracle if I leave this place alive.." Rei muttered under her breath noticing what was going on. Ai smirked and Conan looked at the two with confusion.

"Here you are." Ryu said, a few minutes later carrying a tray with their coffees.

"You're good at this, you know?" Rei said, "Ever thought of doing this work permanently?"

"Very funny, Rei." he replied with annoyance. The girl smirked.

"By the way, Ryu..." she stated, "You're the usual heart-throb: all these girls are here for you. It's good to see that some things don't change."

Ryu grimaced.

"I don't how long I can stand it." he said, "I've never been in such an embarrassing situation."

"Well, you don't look that embarrassed." Ai remarked.

"I know how to act." he replied, smiling slightly.

"Misaki-kun! Come here, the orders are ready!"

Ryu turned around.

"I'm coming!" he called and quickly turned to the others. "I'll try to be quick; just wait a bit, please."

"How does he do that?" Conan wondered loudly once Ryu was out of sight.

"Does what?" Rei asked, taking a sip of her coffee.

"Turn around when he's called with his other names and also control his emotions so much."

"He knows how to act."

"That's what he says too. But.. what's his true character, then?"

"Yesterday, he was himself with us. He only manages to change a bit when he has to be another person. It isn't a great change of character, just some tweaking here and there on your own personality." Rei looked at Conan and Ai, "You're doing the same after all, aren't you? Being yourself only with some people and acting to be different with the rest."

The two nodded. She was right.

"Rei, how did you and Ryu meet?" Ai asked after a moment of silence.

"How we met?" she repeated, mildly surprised by the sudden question. "Well, we met down in New York during our first year at university. We bumped into each other. Literally." She smiled. "And we found out that we attended physics and computer basis together. We became friends pretty soon. We were both the youngest in our year, among the few Japanese in the campus and both Sherlock Holmes fan. Shortly after, Ryu introduced me to Matt and the three of us started to go out together whenever we didn't have classes or other things to do. Sometimes, we went out with other fellow students but it didn't happen often. It was mostly the three of us. They became the only real friends I had there. The other students treated me differently either because I was too young or because of Ryu and Matt."

"Why?" Conan asked confused.

Rei looked at him.

"Come on, it had been the same when we went to school together. Ryu and Matt were very popular at college. You know, good looking, brilliant, youngest final year students. Girls just swarmed around them and they didn't really like that I went out with the boys all the time." she explained with annoyance, "You don't know how many times I've being hassled by them."

"Look that we were in the same position, too."

Rei, Ai and Conan looked up and saw Ryu standing in front of them.

"Sorry?" Rei said.

"Matt and I were in your same awkward situation." He repeated, "You were pretty popular too, remember? And since you always rejected every admirer, all the boys at college started to think that you dated me or Matt." Ryu grimaced, "You don't know how many times we were hassled by them."

"Yeah, that's true. I've been confronted by your admirers too when you were here." Conan added.

"See, Rei. Your charm makes good impression on boys, you reject them and they come and confront us." Ryu said, pointing to Conan and himself. He put on a fake suffering face, "We're the ones that pay at the end."

Ai snickered while Conan chuckled. Rei, on the other hand, arched an eyebrow.

"Oh, poor thing." she remarked sarcastically, making Ryu smile.

"By the way, Ryu have you finished?" Conan asked.

"No, I'm sorry. I've never seen so many people here. I don't even know if I'll finish." he replied.

"Well, they're here for you." Rei remarked.

"Good point." he stated, "I'd like to know how they found out that I'm leaving today. What are they? Secret agents or something? Even FBI doesn't have such a spy network!"

His look of disbelief made the others stifle a laugh.

Just then, Shizuka came to their table.

"Misaki-kun, can you help me please? I can't handle all the orders alone." she said, "Your friends can wait, can't they?"

She said this looking straight at Rei and with a frosty expression.

Ryu finally realized what was going on and mentally slapped himself for having been so blind.

'Shizuka-san... likes me?' he thought, 'And she's jealous of Rei! It's better if I do something.'

"Sure, I'm coming." he said quickly but he turned as Rei got up.

"Er- do you need any help?" she asked.

Shizuka looked at her with astonishment.

"You want to serve at the tables?" she asked. Rei nodded.

"Rei, wait it's not necessary.." Ryu began to say, noticing the glare on the other girl's face but Rei stopped him.

"No, really. It's not a problem and it will be better than sitting down without doing anything." she remarked.

"Well, why not?" Shizuka said, making Ryu look at her in disbelief, "I'll go and tell my parents. By the way, you need to wear something white or the customers will not see that you're a waiter."

She pointed to herself and to Ryu. Shizuka was wearing a white waitress uniform while Ryu had a white shirt over his blue jeans. She was sure that Rei wouldn't be able to do the work well.

'Let's see what she'll do when she writes down the orders with mistakes or takes the wrong order to the tables..' she thought, 'I made thousands of mistakes the first days I worked.'

As soon as Shizuka left, Ryu faced Rei.

"Why are you doing this?" he asked her.

"Don't you understand?" she asked in return.

A few thoughts leapt to his mind.

'Because of Shizuka-san's behaviour? No, Rei's not the type that accepts this kind of.. challenges. Then what?'

He looked at her and shook his head.

"I haven't got a clue..." he said at the end.

Rei sighed and looked down at Conan.

"Shinichi, when do you have to stay at the Mouris place?" she asked.

"What? Well... between six and seven o'clock." he replied in puzzlement.

"You can't be late, right?"

"No, I can't." he said with a frown, "Ran's getting suspicious of my often visits to Agase's house."

Rei turned to Ryu.

"You see, we three, Ai, you and me, can go home late if it's necessary but Shinichi can't." she explained, "And the last thing we need is getting Mouri suspicious. She could start asking questions or worse limit his coming to our place. That would be a problem. We need Shinichi's help as well."

Ryu, Ai and Conan looked surprised of her reasoning.

"Well, you're right, Rei." Ryu agreed with a nod, "I understand that you want to help so that we can hurry up but.. do you know how to serve at the tables and take the orders?"

"I've been looking at you while you were around the tables and I've done a couple of jobs as a waitress in US." she replied, "I think I could manage to do it without mistakes."

"And the white clothes?"

"Don't worry."

She took off her denim-jacket and put it on her chair. Ryu felt a blush creep on his cheeks at the flattering way her white blouse and pair of blue jeans fit her.

Rei took off her baseball cap, making her hair tumble back down on her shoulders and put it on Conan's head.

"Do you two mind staying here?" she asked, "We'll try to be quick."

"Don't worry, Rei." Ai replied while Conan nodded.

Rei turned around, casually brushing her bangs out of her eyes.

"What shall I do?" she asked Ryu but he didn't answer. The boy was still staring at her.

"Uhm.. Ryu? Ryu?" Rei called waving her hand in front of Ryu's face.

This made him come back to senses.

"Huh? What?.. Oh, yes, go to the counter." he said, "Tetsu-san will explain you everything."

She nodded and walked to the counter.

Ryu looked down at Conan.

"Has she always been so resolute?" he asked.

Conan grinned.

"Yes, always, and I don't think she'll change." he said.

Ryu looked at Rei again and a smile crept on his face. Conan noticed it and then, at last, something clicked in his mind.

"Ryu-nichan, shouldn't you be working?" Ai asked, hiding a smile.

The boy nearly jumped up at these words.

"Er.. yes, it's better if I go." he mumbled embaressedly.

She couldn't help but smile when she saw him go away.

"Haibara?" Conan said thoughtfully.

"Yes?" she said and turned around to him.

"Is it possible that Ryu and Rei like each other?"

"Well, you're improving, Kudo." she replied," I thought you would have never noticed it."

"So, am I right or wrong?" he asked, ignoring her sarcasm

"I'm not sure but I've thought the same too." she replied, "At least that's what it seems judging by the way they talk about one another."

True to her word, she didn't mention her talk with Rei.

"Oh, I see." he said and looked around to see what was going on.

There were still a lot of people and Ryu, Shizuka and Rei were rushing up and down, taking and bringing orders. Conan's stare was fixed on Rei. He smiled seeing how she had changed in three years. Ai noticed his smile.

"Why are you smiling?" she asked with her casual tone but it hid a hint of curiosity that Conan noticed immediately.

"I was only thinking that Rei has changed in these three years. It's the first time that I seen her being so spontaneous with somebody that isn't either me, my parents or Agase. When we went to school together, she was always gentle with everyone but she didn't seem to trust the others enough. She didn't make friends with anyone besides me. But now, she seems different.. more confident. I think it's thanks to Ryu and to you."

"Me? What did I do?" Ai asked with a bit surprised, "I met her only two weeks ago."

"Yes, I know but she talks with you, right?" he remarked, turning to her, "For all I know, you're the only friend, female friend, that Rei has. I think that she can talk to you about things that she can't tell to me or to Ryu."

"Well, you have surprised me Kudo. I didn't think that you could have understood this."

Conan frowned.

"Who do you think I am?" he asked, "A stupid fool or worse? I always notice what happens around me. It's the first requirement for a good detective."

'Yes, you notice all except...' she thought.

"Baka." she whispered.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Speaking of school, how were you at college, Haibara?" he asked curiously after a moment of silence.

"What do you mean?" she asked, looking up.

"Not your grades. I know you went brilliantly well. The rest of it.. I don't know.. your friends."

Ai thought it over.

She always sat alone, near the top of the seats, where little people would choose to sit.

She was always quiet, waiting for the lesson to begin. Maybe it was for her age: she was the youngest one to be studying in the university, yet one of the cleverest ones there.

Maybe it was her personality: she was so quiet and independent that no one ever got near her. But it seemed as though she didn't expect anyone to ever get close to her either. (1)

"There isn't much to say, Kudo." she said shortly, "By the way, why did you ask?"

"I was just curious." he replied with a shrug. "You know nearly everything about me while I.. well, I don't know much about you. That's all." He turned to her and smiled slightly. "Just curiosity."

Ai felt her cheeks redden and lowered her head so that her hair could hide her face. He had taken her by surprise even though what he said was true. She glanced at him.

'Shinichi Kudo: seventeen years old.' she thought, 'Attends second class at Teitan High School. Fanatic of soccer and Sherlock Holmes. Famous detective of great skills, helps the police and very popular among girls.'

She smiled slightly.

"Well, that's not correct." she said, "You do know a few things about me."

"Yes, I know but it's still little compared to what you know about me."

Ai turned around and looked at him.

"How come you're suddenly so interested to know the details of my life, Kudo?" she asked.

Conan looked up and saw her light blue eyes fixed on him. He felt a strange jolt in the stomach and a wave of heat on his face. He suddenly remembered what Rei and Ran had told him the day before.

"Do you have a crush on Ai?"

He blushed.

"I was just curious." he replied, "Nothing else, Haibara."

Ai shrugged and sipped her coffee, not noticing that the boy was glancing at her with different feelings storming in his heart.

-:-

It was nearly a quarter to six when all the customers left the bar.

Rei's help had been precious because Shizuka and Ryu would have never managed to do everything alone. She worked well and, much to Shizuka's disappointment, she didn't do any mistake. When the last customers left, Ryu sighed with relief.

"Finished at last." he said and then turned to Rei who was standing next to him, "I think we can go and pack my things, now."

Rei nodded and went to their table.

"Conan, Ai, we can go." she said, picking up her jacket. The two kids got up and followed her.

Ryu, in the meanwhile, was saying goodbye to the Oshinos. Mr and Mrs Oshino came out of the kitchen while Tetsu and Shizuka stood by the counter. They all had to stay to clear up.

"Oshino-san, I don't know how to thank you for have given me a room and a job when I moved here." Ryu said, "And I also apologize for my sudden leave but my friends have offered to make me stay with them." He gestured to Conan, Ai and Rei.

Mr. Oshino just shook his head.

"Don't worry, Misaki-kun." he remarked, "You have already helped us enough: if it wasn't for you, we could have never managed to handle the work in the bar after Tetsu broke his leg. We were a waiter short and you offered to help even if the pay was low."

"Yes, Shizuka couldn't have done everything alone." Mrs. Oshino added, "As for the room, it has been a pleasure to let you stay with us. You were the perfect guest." Then she turned to Rei. "We have to thank you, too, my dear. You helped us and we don't even know your name."

"Oh, sorry. I forgot to introduce you. Well, these are Rei, Ai and Conan." Ryu said, pointing to each when he said their names.

"Well, Rei-kun, thank you for your help." Mrs Oshino said.

"No, I didn't do much." she answered with a smile. "I just helped a bit."

Tetsu came towards them on his crutches.

"A bit?" he said in disbelief, "We have never had so much business in a day! All the customers that we had today were here either for Misaki-kun or for you. You two are real heart-throbs, do you know that?"

Both Ryu and Rei laughed with embarrassment while Conan and Ai smirked.

"By the way, Rei-kun.." Mrs Oshino turned to Rei, "Are you Misaki-kun's girlfriend or are you two relatives? You two look awfully alike as in taste in clothing and personality."

Rei, taken back by the the question, quickly turned her head from side to side, face glowing red.

"No... No... We're just friends..." she stammered and turned to Ryu who had blushed deeply, too.

Mr. Oshino chuckled.

"Well, this is the first time I've ever seen Misaki-kun get embarrassed. Are you sure there's nothing between you two?" he asked teasingly, making the two teenagers blush even more.

"What about these two kids? Are they your younger brother and sister?" Tetsu asked, "The little girl looks a lot like you, Misaki-kun while the little boy's like you, Rei-kun."

Rei and Ryu looked at Conan and Ai with a small smile on their faces.

"Yes, we're like brother and sister." they replied and the two kids smiled.

At last, they headed to the Oshinos house to get Ryu's things. It was right next to the bar. They went in and headed to Ryu's room: it was small but cosy. There was a large sports bag on the bed and three unsealed cardboard boxes in a corner. There was also a guitar on the table next to the motorcycle helmet.

"Ryu, how did you bring all this from America? I managed to bring only a bag like that and nothing else." " Rei asked, after having looked around and pointing to the bag on the bed.

"I did the same too." he replied, "I bought most of the things here."

Ryu walked to the table, opened a drawer and took out a roll of scotch. He looked around the room.

"Well, all the clothes are in the bag. The rest in the boxes.." he said to himself, "Then..oh, yes.. that. Ai, can you lock the door, please?"

As soon as she did so, he bent down and took a metallic box, the size of a brief case, from under the bed. Conan, Ai and Rei looked at him with curiosity.

"When I escaped, I managed to take all the things I had in my.. in Martini's apartment." Ryu explained, noticing the other's looks, "All the clothes, notes, and, most important of all, my work."

He opened the metal box and the others approached him.

Inside the box were screwdrivers, cutters, wires, a box of screws, lots of floppy disks and cd-Roms and, covered in a plastic covering, a computer hard disk and a transparent Plexiglas box full of what seemed to be small buttons or sequins.

"Ryu, is that..?" Rei asked pointing to the last object.

"My father's project." he remarked with a nod, "The invisible devices that can show where the subject is and that can also let you hear what he says." He took one of the devices out of the box. It was extremely small and transparent.

Conan now understood why the Organisation was so interested on them. Nobody would notice one of that devices. Ryu put the device away and closed the box.

"It's better if I finish packing." he said, "We're late and it's my fault."

"Ryu, what's inside those boxes?" Conan asked, pointing to the corner

"A printer, a scanner, my laptop, notepads and books and also the radar I'm working on." he replied.

"The what you are working on?" Rei asked.

"The radar." he said and smirked, seeing her confused face. "Well, it's a thing I decided to do after I escaped. Since I couldn't contact anyone once I was here and since I didn't want to wait without doing anything, besides trying to decode the files and seeing if anything strange happened, I started to work on a radar that could be linked to a computer or a laptop and that could work well with the devices. It's a bit like the radar that Conan has got in his glasses with the difference that mine is more far-reaching."

"Ryu, have you ever slept in these months or have you only worked night and day?" Rei asked and Ryu laughed.

"Ryu, can I ask you a question?" Ai asked.

"Sure." he said, turning to her.

"How did you buy all these things?" she asked, looking inside the unsealed boxes, "It must have been pretty expensive."

"Well, not too much. I found the printer and the scanner in a store at a cheap price. Maybe the laptop was the only thing that was really expensive... and the parts for the radar, too."

"I think she meant how you paid for them." Conan remarked dryly.

"Oh.. Before leaving America, I took all the money I had saved till that moment and I also took all the money that was in a account my parents had opened for me. I didn't know how much time I would have lived in the shadows so I decided to take all the money I could find at the moment. This work, besides being a good way to hide, was also a way to earn."

"You decided to manage in some way." Rei said with a smile, "As usual."

"Well, I had to." he replied, "I didn't think that I would have found you here, Rei or that I would have met Conan and Ai. I thought that I had to work alone and thought of a way to do everything on my own. By the way, speaking of work.." Ryu got up and started to rummage in one of the cardboard boxes. The other three shared a puzzled look. At last, it seemed that the boy found what he was looking for because he turned around.

"Conan? Ai? How much do you know about computering?" he asked.

"Hardly anything." Conan replied sincerely.

"Not much." Ai said.

"Ok, then these might help you." Ryu said, tossing them two books. "Since you have to help us, you must have a general idea of computering and those are the books I used to study back in my first year of university."

"Thanks, Ryu." they replied. They were both determined not to be a burden for Rei during her work and it seemed that Ryu had understood how they felt and had wanted to help them.

"Study hard." he said with a smile.

"Ryu, when did you start playing again?" Rei asked, touching the guitar.

"The Oshinos gave me that." he said, "They found out that I liked music and that I knew how to play some instruments. And so, since no one touched that guitar, they gave it to me."

"You can play the guitar?" Ai asked.

"Yes, and also other stringed instruments. My mother was a music teacher and she taught me how to play them. By the way, Rei plays the violin so I'm not the only musician here."

"We're in three." Rei remarked, "Ai plays the piano."

"Really?" Conan asked, turning to Ai. He didn't know that.

"Yes." she replied, smirking at his astonished face, "It's one of the few frivolous activities I've done in my childhood."

"What about you, Conan?" Ryu asked and Rei and Ai stifled a laugh. He turned around to them in confusion, "What did I say?"

"Shinichi's tone-deaf. He and music are incompatible." Rei said.

Conan frowned.

"Ok, I don't know how to play or sing but I like to listen to music." he retorted with a bit of annoyance.

"Why don't you try to learn?" Ryu asked.

Conan sweat dropped.

"Better not." he said.

"Why not? My mother used to say that if you really want to, you can do anything. She said that it's impossible to do everything perfectly but it's possible to do a bit of everything well. That's what I always try to do. It's only willpower."

"I'll think it over." Conan replied.

"Ok, I think we've talked too much." Ryu said, standing up. "We must hurry or it will be dark when we finish." He tossed the roll of scotch in air and then caught it in mid air. "Shall we start?"

The others nodded and they all set to work.

It was a quarter past six when they finished to pack up Ryu's things and put them in Agase's car. They said goodbye to the Oshinos and left: Conan, Ai and Rei on the car, Ryu on his motorbike. They dropped Conan close to the Mouri's and then went to Agase's place.


"Good morning, Haibara-san!" Mitsuhiko and Genta said cheerfully.

"Good morning, Ai-chan!" Ayumi chirped happily.

"Good morning." the miniature chemist replied in her usual flat tone. She glanced at her side and saw Conan who looked pretty tired.

'I wonder what's happened to him?' she thought.

The five children walked to school. Three talking loudly as usual while the other two trailed behind, silently. Conan stifled a yawn.

"You look tired, Kudo." Ai stated.

"Huh? No, I'm not." he said shortly and Ai stared at him. Under her piercing gaze, Conan couldn't bring himself to lie to her. "Oh, all right. I was reading that text book Ryu gave us and I went to sleep late."

"Since when are you so interested in computering?" she asked.

"Since I'm the only one that doesn't understand a thing of it." he replied, ignoring her sarcasm, "Rei and Ryu are experts and you said that you know a few things. I want to help you three with that files and I don't want to be a burden. That's why I want to learn quickly."

Ai looked at him.

'Typical of Shinichi Kudo.' she thought, 'The moment he heard that there was a way to bring down the Organisation, he decided that he'd do anything to help Rei and Ryu.'

"What about you, Haibara?" the boy asked, looking at her. "You look tired, too."

"Aww... caring for me, Kudo?" she asked mockingly while watching him blush. "Just kidding. I went to sleep late too but for a different reason from yours. I helped Ryu and Rei with their things."

"Oh, right. Did Ryu put his things in my house?"

"Yes, he only took the necessary things and put the rest in your house but I think it will be a temporary arrangement."

"Why?"

"We're in four now and there's not a lot of space so Agase has decided to empty the room where he kept all his old inventions and give it to me and Rei while Ryu would move in Agase's room. In this way, Rei and Ryu can keep all their things in their rooms. It would be more practical for them, instead of going back and forth from your house to Agase's house."

"I see. When will they do that?"

"Probably, today. Rei and Ryu will be helping Agase this morning. By the way, Kudo, they said that they won't start working till our arrival, so you still have time to... learn about computering in class."

"How do you know that I've brought the book with me?" he asked in surprise.

"I know nearly everything about you, Kudo." she replied and smirked, seeing him blush again. Then, she opened her school bag and drew out a magazine.. or at least what seemed like a magazine. Conan looked at it carefully and saw that it was the text book Ryu had given them with a magazine cover on it. He looked at Ai.

"In this way, nobody will notice what I'm reading." she explained.

Conan opened his bag, too. He drew out his text book, disguised as a novel.

"I thought the same, too." he said with a smile, "It seems that we've found something interesting to do in class today."

Ai smiled slightly at him and they walked on to school.


After waving goodbye, the Detective Boys split to go home. Conan and Ai quickly went to Agase's house and were there a couple of minutes later.

"Welcome back, Ai-kun.", Agase greeted them. "Hello, Shinichi-kun."

"Hello, Professor. Where are Ryu and Rei?" Conan asked.

"They're in the lab. They were waiting for you."

"Thanks, Professor." they said and headed to the lab. As they went in, they noticed a few changes in the room. There was another desk inside and many of Agase's old inventions, all the broken ones, were in a cardboard box that was on top of it.

Rei and Ryu looked up as the two kids came in.

"Hi, how are you doing?" Ryu asked, "We were waiting for you."

"Rei, what's happened in here?" Ai asked, pointing to the new desk.

"It was Agase's idea. He said that we four would probably spend a lot of time working here and that we couldn't use only one desk. Since you and I are already sharing this one, he told us to bring that one here so that Ryu and Shinichi could use it."

"We tried to tell him that we could have managed in someway but he was adamant, saying that we couldn't have worked well." Ryu added, "We gave up at the end."

Conan and Ai smiled slightly, knowing how stubborn Agase could be at times.

"But I have to admit that he was right." Ryu added, "I can keep all my things here in this desk." He had put the printer, the scanner and his laptop on the desk; all his notepads and notebooks were in a drawer while the other was empty. He pointed it to Conan. "This one's yours."

"By the way, Ai, I have taken all our things to the other room." Rei said, turning to the girl. "I took your laptop and brought it here. I thought that it would have been more practical for you."

"Thanks, Rei." Ai replied with a smile.

Ryu got up from his chair.

"Can we start then?" he asked. The others nodded and he took his metal case from under the desk and opened it. "Ok, I have to divide everything... Information from Sherry's hard disk.. here it is. This is for your, Ai." He handed a few cd-Roms to the girl.

Ai took them, feeling nervous. The information necessary for the antidote could be there. Conan felt nervous, too.

"Strange files... here there are. These are for you, Rei." Ryu handed her some floppy disks and a set of cd-Roms. Rei set to work immediately: the key to get all the information was there.

"Information regarding the Organisation that has already been decoded or that is partially decoded. This is our work, Conan." Ryu said, pointing to the hard disk, a dozen of floppy disks and some cd-Roms.

Conan's eyes widened.

"All that stuff?" he asked.

"Yes, and there are also some things in my laptop." he replied, "But don't worry, it's not that hard. Rei will help, too. Have you already read the book I gave you?" Conan nodded and Ryu smiled. "I knew it. By the way, do you have a laptop?"

"No, but I've got a computer at my house."

"Come on, we have to bring it here. You need it to work." Conan nodded and followed him.

"See you in a minute." they said to the girls.

Rei nodded and smiled, seeing how the boys seemed to get along together.

Ai looked at her. There was something she wanted to ask her but there had never been the moment, but now, maybe...

"Rei?"

"Yes?" Rei looked up from her laptop's screen.

"Can I ask you a.. personal question?"

"Sure, tell me everything."

"Why don't you tell Ryu that you like him?"

Rei blushed.

"W.. why do you ask?" she said.

"Well, I think that he likes you, too.. so, I was wondering why you don't just admit it to each other."

"I don't know what he thinks but, for me.. well.. I think I'm afraid."

"Afraid?" Ai looked at her in surprise. "Of what?"

Rei glanced at her.

"Don't misunderstand. I'm not afraid of a rejection." she said, "If he rejected me, I would accept it but I know that something would change in our relationship. Change it forever. I'm afraid of what would happen to our friendship. It's too important for me and I don't want to ruin or loose it." Rei looked at Ai who was staring at her. "I know that I'm acting as a coward but.. I prefer to hide my feelings and stay with him as a friend than loosing him." She smiled slightly, "You understand what I mean, right? Your behaviour with Shinichi is similar to mine with Ryu."

Ai smirked when she heard this.

"Your relationship with Ryu is different. I could never be so natural with Kudo, either for my personality but also for his." she said, "We are friends but in a very detached, cool sort of way."

"Yes, but when one is in trouble, the other helps him out." Rei remarked, "That's what you two did every time you faced a danger. You helped each other. So, there's no difference between our relationships. Ryu and I are only more spontaneous while you two are more introvert. That's all. Friendship means supporting one another. And it's the same for love."

Ai thought this over.

'She might be right, after all.' she mused, 'We.. he always helped me: can we consider each other friends?'

"Since we're talking about it, why don't you tell everything to Shinichi?" Rei asked.

Ai blushed.

"I can't." she said quietly.

Rei looked up with surprise.

'Shinichi gave me the same answer..' she thought.

"Why not?" she asked.

"He already likes another person."

"You mean Mouri?"

"Yes. I don't want to ruin their relationship, so it's better if I keep quiet. I will make the antidote and they will be happy together, at last."

"Is that really what you want?"

"It's my fault if he's in his present condition. All because of the poison I created. The least I can do is make the antidote and give him his life back."

Ai stopped abruptly. It was the first time that she voiced this thought aloud. Rei stared at and a tender look made its way on her face.

'She feels guilty.' she thought, 'And she probably thinks that Shinichi has not forgiven her. But it's not her fault. She has been forced by the Organisation. I know she didn't want to do it.'

Rei was sure that Ai was a good person.

It was something that she couldn't explain. They had met each other only two weeks ago but for some reason, she knew that Ai's cool expression was only a mask, something she had created to protect herself from the darkness that she had faced since she was only a child. It could be instinct or maybe simply observation skills, but Rei had always been able to understand another person's personality with a few looks. And when she met Ai, she knew that she was good. Beneath the cold façade and the silence attitude, she was good.

Rei was sure of that. She had felt the same when she had met Shinichi and Ryu.

"Ai, do you mind if I tell you something?" she asked.

"No."Ai replied, "Tell me."

"I'd be a hypocrite if I told you that I understand how you feel. I don't know and I can't tell you what to do. You will probably find out a way-out yourself but I want to tell you only this one thing. Don't torture yourself for your past. It's not going to change. Think of your present."

Ai nodded slowly. She knew that Rei had understood her feelings.

"I want to tell you something about Shinichi, too." the dark haired girl added, "You know, when he investigates, it seems that he can read the criminals' hearts and minds but when it comes to his own feelings, he gets confused." Rei smiled, "I know him well and he's always been like that. His own heart is an unsolvable mystery to him."

Ai smiled, too.

"Brilliant detective but clueless when it comes to feelings." she said.

"Yes and, believe me, Ryu's not better than him. It seems that we've fallen for two clueless detectives."

The girls looked at each other and muffled a laugh.

Just then, Ryu and Conan came in carrying a computer central unit, a monitor, a keyboard, a mouse and different cables. They both stopped and the door, looked at the girls and raised an eyebrow.

Conan was especially surprised.

'Haibara's laughing?' he thought, 'It's the first time I've seen her laugh since we met.'

"What so funny?" Ryu asked.

"Nothing. Women's talk." Ai and Rei replied together with a smile on their faces. Conan and Ryu looked at each other and shook their heads.

-:-

They spent the rest of the afternoon working in the lab.

Rei and Ai were busy with their own things while Ryu and Conan worked together. Ryu explained Conan what to do. They had to read all the files, save them in different groups in their computers and then try to decode the ones that had not been already translated.

Without damaging them, obviously.

The room was silent, except for the clicks of the mouses, the tapping on the keyboards and the boys' quiet whispering.

"Damn it!"

Conan, Ai and Ryu looked up from their computer screens and turned to their sides.

Rei was holding her head with her hands.

Ryu approached her, slightly worried.

"Rei...?" he asked uncertainly, "Is there something wrong?"

"Yes." she replied, frustration deep in her voice. Ryu's eyes widened a bit. Conan and Ai were staring at her. What was going on?

Rei seemed to notice the strange silence and looked up. She smiled apologetically, seeing their concerned faces.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to be so.. cold." she said,"I'm just... frustrated."

"What's wrong, Rei?" Conan asked, getting closer.

"Problems with those files?" Ai asked, looking over at her screen. She was sitting next her.

"Yes, this." she replied, pointing to the screen and the others came closer to her. They saw a page full of numbers.

"What's so special of this file?" Ryu asked, "Nearly all the ones I've given you are like this."

"Yes, I know. I've given a quick look to all of them." she replied, "But I think that this one is the key that I have been looking for. The one that can help us decode all the files easily."

"Really?" Ryu said, taking his chair and sitting at her right. "How can you be so sure?"

"Look at this." Rei picked a notepad that was next to her, flipped a couple of pages and showed it to him. Ryu took it, studying it carefully and Conan and Ai looked at it, too. It was full of notes, written in pencil.

"Oh, I see. So, that's how they did it." he stated, understanding what she meant. He looked up and noticed Conan and Ai's blank look. "Er.. Rei, I think that you'd better explain them. I could make mistakes. You're the expert of the subject."

"Sorry, I forgot." she said, turning to the other two, "You know what programming languages are, right?" Conan and Ai nodded. "Ok, there are many programming languages: Fortran, Basic, Pascal, Perl and many others. Each has a determined set of rules and instructions. A computer programmer has to be careful not to get confused because the instructions are specific. For example, if you write a program in Basic and then you put in an instruction in Pascal, the program will never work."

"You have to be careful not to get mixed-up." Ai remarked.

"Yes, very careful." Rei said, "However, the scientists of the Organisation have found a way to protect their programs from intruders using different languages, especially C."

Conan looked up.

"C?" he asked, "Isn't that a programming language, too?"

"Yes, Shinichi." Rei said, "Seems that you've studied Ryu's book."

"Well, yes, I read about it but.. it doesn't seem so hard. I mean, I studied it a bit and there are only a few things to learn. It should be easy for you, Rei."

"You got the point, Conan." Ryu said, "Language C is the most used and most common of all programming languages. And, as you have remarked, it's also easy to learn."

"Then, what's the problem?"

"It's too flexible." Rei replied and Conan looked at her blankly.

"I'll give you an example." Ryu said, "Let's say that Rei and I have to write a program in C. I don't know -er.. yes.. one that adds numbers together. Well, this simple program can be written in four different ways at least."

"Four different ways to say the same thing?"

"Exactly." Rei said, "In C, you can play with the instructions in every way you like. That's the clever part and most problematic of it. Every programmer can create his own instructions."

"In this way, no one can change your work." Ai remarked.

"Yes, but that's not the main problem." Rei said, "I can understand the programs written in different languages. It's not not hard. I just have to remember the rules of every language. My problem is this file. It's partially written in C and I understand that part, but the rest is.. only a mix of numbers."

She sighed with frustration. Ryu looked at her with a slight smile.

"If you don't understand then we're done." he said, "You're the computer expert."

"What about you?" she asked him.

"Your explanation cleared the confusion I had in my head." he replied, "But I know what to do.."

"Great." she muttered. She glanced at Conan and Ai. "Why don't you two try to see if you can figure it out?"

The kids looked at her as though she had gone mad.

"How can we understand what you don't, Rei?" Ai asked.

"Yes, we didn't study computer science." Conan added.

"That's the point." Rei said, "Maybe this file is written in a way that doesn't have anything to do with my studies. Maybe it's only a code that has to be worked out. Since both Ryu and I haven't understood it, you two could try. Ai with your scientific skills, Shinichi with your detective's ones."

"It's worth a try." Ryu said, nodding. He turned to them, "Come on."

Conan and Ai glanced at each other and set themselves in front of Rei's screen. They could only see numbers everywhere.

"Let's see, the first line is: ." Conan muttered to himself, "What does that mean? Maybe the numbers are the position of the alphabet letters. In that case, it would be: G-e-a-a. No wait, it could be k. Again: G-e-k-d-i-i-a.."

"Wait there's also 0." Ai retorted, hearing him. "That can't be a letter."

"A full stop then or a question mark."

"So what does the first word mean, then? G-e-k-d-i-i-a. Even changing the letters' position, it doesn't give a word. It's only nonsense."

"What do you suggest, then?" Conan asked her slightly annoyed.

"Well, I thought of the chemical table of elements." she replied simply, "But those numbers don't correspond with the atomic number of none of the elements."

"Great." Conan remarked sarcastically, "We don't have a clue of what these numbers mean."

"Hey, we told you that it was hard." Ryu said, "You can't expect to solve this mystery immediately."

"Kudo is used to solve cases in a few minutes. He probably won't sleep till he understands the meaning of those numbers." Ai remarked, making Ryu and Rei smile slightly.

"Very funny, Haibara." Conan stated, rolling his eyes. "This code, if it is a code, is illogical. It's totally incomprehensible."

"Well, codes usually are incomprehensible, Kudo." Ai shot back.

"I wonder how the scientists of the Organisation learned to work with it." he wondered, ignoring her sarcasm.

Ryu looked up.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Well, only one of them must have made this protection or code, right? The other scientists must have learned it in a second moment. Otherwise, how could they work while this was running? They would have been in trouble like us now."

Rei looked up, too. Conan and Ai's words had made her think.

Then, something clicked in her head.

"Of course!" she exclaimed loudly, making the other three jump.

"Rei?" Ryu asked, "What's wrong with you now?"

"What a fool..." she said absently.

"What?"

But Rei was not listening. She placed herself in front of the laptop and started to type quickly.

Ryu, Ai and Conan looked at each other. They didn't have a clue of what was going on or what Rei had in her mind.

"Er.. Rei?" Conan called her tentatively, "Do you mind telling us what you're doing?"

"It's an idea... I had it just now." she mumbled without taking her eyes off the screen, "Your words.. they made me wonder... The other scientists must have learned how to work with this code otherwise they would have been in trouble like us now."

"Yes, that's what he said." Ai remarked, "What's so special about that?"

"Follow my reasoning. This code has been used for a long time; the file concerning my parents' death had parts written in it. So the Organisation might be using it since its birth or nearly." Rei looked at Ryu. "Am I wrong?"

"No, it's a possibility." he replied, "While I was there I noticed that some of the programs they used had been written decades before."

"All right." Rei turned back to Conan and Ai, "Yesterday, you said that the Org. is gathering talented computer programmers, right?" They nodded and she continued. "All these new scientists probably have to work with files written in this code and their work must be written in the same way too. So, they have to learn it."

"So?" the other three asked.

"So.. I don't think that there is a scientist that teaches them how the code works. I think that they find everything in books."

"You mean that the famous code, the one that is used to hide all the information concerning the Organization, can be found in every computering text book?" Ryu asked ironically.

Rei looked at him.

"Exactly." she answered, taking them by surprise.

"What?"

Rei stopped working and looked at them.

"All this code business is just a way to confuse the intruders." she explained, letting her hands leave the key board. "At least, that's what I suppose. Think of what happened right now. Shinichi and Ai looked at this file for the first time and they tried to work it out but without results. I think that the mistake we all did was to start to decipher it with the assumption that these numbers hid a code."

"Wait a minute, you mean that.. the code is not a code?" Conan asked with puzzlement.

"You and Ai said this code's incomprehensible. Well, that's illogical. If you write a code there must be a reasoning behind. And that supports my theory that the Org. wrote this numbers only to confuse intruders."

"What are those numbers then?" Ai asked, "What's the meaning of them? If there is a meaning..."

"There is a determined alphanumerical code used in programming languages. It's called ASCII: American Standard Code for Information Interchange." Rei glanced at the other three. "And C uses it as well."

"Wait a minute, Rei." Ryu said, "You mean that they used ASCII to hide all the information regarding their activities?" He seemed completely unsure. "I think that you're making a mistake. That coding is too elemental... It... It's just... It's too easy."

"Exactly: it would be too easy." she agreed, "I discarded the idea myself when I began to work on the files. But what if the Org. was counting on this reaction?" Rei looked at them and saw only confusion on their faces, "I'll explain myself better. All the files have a series of protections. What should I do to see the contents of the files?"

"Force all the protections." Ai replied.

"Right and here I come against the first difficulty. The protections are written in different language programs. You have to be careful: one mistake and you risk to damage, or worse, erase the file's content. It took me nearly six months but I've found a way to force all the protections without damages. Now, what do I have to expect?"

"Another protection?" Conan asked uncertainly.

"Yes that's what I expect and I also expect that it's the most complicated to work out. That's what I thought, seeing all those numbers. But what if the Org.'s scientists counted on this assumption?"

"Who would think that the last protection would be the easiest to force?" Ryu said, understanding at last what Rei meant.

"Exactly. After all the difficulties you had to go against to force the previous protections, who would think that the last one would be the easiest? No one."

"It was just a trick to fool intruders and make them waste time." Ai said understanding.

"So, they could track them down and get them out of their way." Conan added, nodding.

Rei smiled.

"It seems that everybody has understood now." she said, "That's probably the way they tracked me down back in America."

Ryu approached her.

"So, what are you going to do now?" he asked.

"I'm going to write down a simple ASCII program in C and try it with this file." she replied, "I am sure that all the files are linked together and this is the starting one. If we work it out, we can work out all the other ones."

Rei resumed to type down the program, flipping through the pages of her notes when she didn't remember something.

Conan, Ai and Ryu waited in silence, not wanting to disturb her but, most of all, too nervous to speak. If Rei had really found the way to decipher all the files, they would be able to know everything about the Organisation and bring it down with all its members.

A few minutes later, Rei stopped her work and looked up.

"I've finished to write the program." she said.

The others came closer to her. They were all looking at the laptop's screen.

"I hope my theory's right, otherwise we risk.." she stated nervously but Ryu stopped her putting his hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry." he said reassuringly, "Your reasoning was correct and we won't blame you for anything." He turned to Ai and Conan for support. "Right?"

"Yes Rei, we have to risk if we want some results." Conan answered.

"And we won't blame you: you tried your best." Ai added.

Rei smiled at them and nodded.

"Thank you." she said softly and then turned to the screen, "It's now or never."

She pressed the "enter" button and the program started.

Silence fell in the lab. The four teenagers didn't even dare to breathe. They just waited...

Then a window appeared on the screen.

They all got closer to look at it and read the first line.

"Archives (1975)"

Under were all a series of names, dates, places and short paragraphs.

No one spoke. They couldn't believe what they were looking at. Then, Ryu broke the silence.

"I.. it wor.. worked." he said softly. He turned around to the others, "Oh God, it worked!"

"I..I don't.. believe it." Rei whispered, staring at the screen.

"Rei, you're a genius!" Ryu exclaimed turning to the stunned girl. He put both his hands on her shoulders and looked at her straight in the eyes, a smile creeping on his face, "We can have all the information now. You've made it."

She looked at him still in shock.

"I've made it." she repeated slowly. "My idea has worked!"

Rei looked at Ryu, a smile spreading on her face, jumped from the chair and hugged him. Ryu blushed, slightly taken aback but the girl didn't even notice. She didn't even realize what she was doing: she was just too happy.

Conan and Ai looked at them and smiled for Ryu's embarrassment but most of all for Rei's happiness. Months of work and trouble had finally given a good result.

They glanced at each other.

"Haibara, the Organisation's hours are counted now." he stated, smiling.

She looked at him and gave him a small smile.

"For once, I agree with you, Kudo." she said. "They are in trouble, now."


Two weeks had passed since Rei had found the way to force all the Organisation's files.

After a short discussion, she and Ryu had decided to work out all the files, print them and then call Matt and decide their next move. They kept working night and day in Agase's lab and they had found a good amount of things.

Ai was with them, too. The cd-Roms Ryu had given her were really the files that were inside her computer back in the Organisation. She had read everything and had set to work to prepare the antidote. Conan, in the meanwhile, spent every afternoon at Agase's house, helping Ryu and Rei; they had taught him how to work on the files and he had become pretty good on it.

Even though they didn't say it aloud, they all knew that they were close to achieve their goal.

It was not impossible, anymore...

-:-

Rei and Ai got up at seven o'clock, as usual. They were both tired; they had been working in the lab till past midnight and they had stopped only because Agase had forced them and Ryu to go to sleep.

"You know, it's a good thing that Shinichi's not living with us." Rei said, as they walked downstairs, "Knowing his impatience, he would probably lock himself in the lab to work on his own without even bothering to rest."

Ai smirked.

"We're not very different from him." she remarked, "Look what happened last night."

"Good point... but I think that if Shinichi was here, he would pass his impatience to us as well."

"It won't happen since he comes here only in the afternoons. Ryu has managed to convince him that Mouri would get even more suspicious if he suddenly moved here."

"Good for us." Rei remarked smiling slightly, making Ai smirk again

When they entered the kitchen, they found Ryu preparing breakfast, humming a tune. The girls looked at him with surprise; they thought that they were the first to be awake.

"Good morning." Ryu said, noticing them by the door.

"Good morning." they replied together.

"Ryu, when did you get up?" Rei asked, approaching him.

"Er.. at six o'clock." he replied.

She raised an eyebrow.

"You got up that early after going to bed at nearly one in the morning?" she asked.

He shrugged.

"I didn't feel like sleeping so I got up, got dressed, checked if the files I was working yesterday were still on my laptop and then took the box with Agase's old, broken inventions and put it on my table." he said, "I thought that I could work on the radar, today. Conan's doing well with the files: maybe he can work alone today."

The girls stared at him with amazement. Suddenly, Rei placed her hand on Ryu's back.

"Re.. Rei?" he asked, turning around and blushing, "What are you doing?"

"Checking if you really are a human being or some kind of robot that goes on with batteries." she replied with a serious face. However, the corner of her mouth was twitching.

Ryu frowned.

"Very funny, Rei." he said with slight annoyance, making her smile.

A muffled chuckle reached their ears and they turned around to see Ai shaking with mirth.

Ryu and Rei glanced at each other with a small smile. It was rare to see her smile or laugh; she was always so self-composed with her emotions. If she was doing that now, it meant that she considered them friends, or at least trustworthy enough to let her be relaxed in front of them.

A burnt smell came across the kitchen from the toaster's location. Ryu rushed to it.

"Damn it." he muttered, taking out what were two pieces of bread.

"Well, your breakfast's not looking good." Rei remarked sarcastically.

"I already had breakfast." he replied and turned around, hiding a smile. He pointed to the burnt bread. "That should been have yours, girls."

He laughed when he saw the looks on their faces.


"Conan-kun, Haibara-san! See you tomorrow!"

"Bye, Ai-chan! Conan-kun!"

"Bye!"

Conan and Ai were walking together to Agase's house after having said goodbye to the Detective Boys. They were walking silently, when they heard someone talk behind them.

"Hi, guys. How was school?"

They turned around and saw Ryu, carrying a bag.

"Hi, Ryu." Ai greeted him, "What are you doing here?"

"Nothing." he replied, "I just had to buy a few cables and some wires."

"For the radar?"

"Yes, Agase told that I could take some parts from his old inventions but I've used many of them and I have to buy some new parts."

"You're going to work on the radar, today?" Conan asked.

"Yes. I thought you could work on your own." he replied, "I'll be there anywhere so if you had any problems, just ask."

"Of course." he said with a smile.

Conan and Ryu had become good friends. Rei was right when she said that they had many things in common. Soccer, Holmes, mystery novels, motorbikes and other passions but, most of all they had similar characters.

The three were walking on the street when Ai stopped suddenly. Ryu, who was walking behind, nearly tripped over her.

"Ai, what's wrong?" he asked but she didn't reply.

Conan glanced at her and studied her face when no answer came. Her facial expression had changed: it was exactly like the one she had...

'On the bus...' he thought, 'What..?'

Pale face, eyes wide and she was shivering, too.

Something was wrong.

Very wrong.

Then it clicked and he understood.

They were there.

Conan turned pale.

Ryu noticed the expressions on their faces. He stepped in front of them and bent down, putting his hands on their shoulders.

"What's wrong?" he asked with concern, "Ai? Conan?"

And then he felt it and he froze.

He felt that stare on him That cold stare.

Ryu felt cold sweat clamp his forehead. He had already felt that stare on him before. He looked up slowly and looked around, his cap hiding his eyes and then he noticed something.

A shadow hidden far from him but yet close enough to make him feel every ounce of danger and fear. The shadow with cold metal grey eyes.

He knew who it was.

'It can't be..' he thought feverishly, 'What.. why... Why here?'

His thoughts were flooding his mind as fear was slowly overcoming him. He forced himself to settle down when he realized that Conan and Ai were with him. If he had found him, it didn't mean that he had recognized them. He put his arms around the two kids' neck, bringing them closer to him in a hug.

This took both by surprise.

"I know." Ryu whispered, "Just follow me and be natural. Conan give me your earring phone."

They nodded. Ryu got up with a small smile on his face and held out his hand: Conan slipped the phone in it. Nobody could have noticed this; then they started to walk towards a bar and entered in. They went towards the bathrooms and locked the door.

Ryu took out the phone and dialled a number. Conan and Ai looked at him, hearts beating faster every moment.

"Rei? It's me." he said, quickly," Listen, carefully. One of them is here. He has recognized me. Yes, and Conan and Ai are with me. Do as we have planned. Yes, inform Agase and do all the rest but.. Rei, be quick. We can't wait: we're all in danger."

He hung up.

-:-

In the meanwhile outside, a dark figure was waiting next to a lamp post, an evil smile plastered on his face.

"Your hours are counted, Martini.."


(1) From Shiniki Kudo's "The Unexpected."

Corrections have been made. Here's a short explanation of programming.

Code ASCII is not hard: you just write numbers instead of letters and symbols.

A-Z : 65 - 74.

a-z: 75 - 122.

( , ) : 40, 41.

"space" : 32.

0-9 : 48 - 57.

and so on..

For example the words I wrote:

Archives (1975).

It must be read like this:

A 65; r 114; c 99; h 104; i 105; v 118; e 101; s 115;

"space" 32;

( 40;

1 49; 9 57; 7 55; 5 53;

) 41.

Please, read and review!

BYE!