Four points of the same star.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Detective Conan.

FOUR POINTS OF THE SAME STAR

Chapter 29

There is only One Truth (B)

A door opened suddenly with a loud slam and coughs echoed throughout the house.

A wisp of smoke came out from the lab, trailing down the corridor as the round figure of Hiroshi Agase appeared at the door's threshold; wiping his hands on his lab coat and cleaning his glasses with a sleeve, he strolled down the corridor to the living room.

He caught a glimpse of his appearance on the window panel and failed to suppress a curse at the sight of the black streaks all over his once-clean garment. With a sigh, he took it off and headed to the bathroom, ready to throw the coat into the washing machine but found it full with other clothes that he thought he had washed two days ago... but clearly had not.

Muttering under his breath, Hakase stowed the dirty lab coat on top of the machine and turned the washing machine on and walked out of the room. He went to the kitchen and set the kettle on the stove to make some tea for himself. He sighed slightly at the sight of his plate and his glass still in the sink after lunch.

He opened the water faucet and washed everything. As he dried his hands, his eyes strayed to the window and to the Kudo mansion.

He had gone to check Shinichi-kun and Shiho-kun that morning and had brought them a hearty breakfast. He had noticed that Shiho-kun wasn't as pale as she had been the previous days and Shinichi-kun looked fairly well too, despite the wound on his head hadn't still healed perfectly.

'I could go and check them later this evening..' he thought, 'Maybe with something for dinner.'

He truly wanted to help the two teenagers and he wanted to do all that he could do for them. Especially now that Rei-kun and Ryu-kun were abroad.

Agase felt a dull pang of regret at the thought that the four teens that he had been protecting and looking after from afar for all this time could probably take different roads and just leave not long from now.

The thought was so dreadful that he didn't want to think of it.

Maybe Shinichi would be here if he wasn't busy with his work as detective but what about Rei and Ryu? They would head straight to the States towards the brilliant careers they had most worthily created.

And Shiho?

His Ai-kun would stay. He was sure of that.. but was it fair?

Her brilliance would go wasted if she only stayed here with him, an old scientist with a flair for inventions who went occasionally to conventions.
Hakase sighed as his eyes wandered around. The state of his house told him how much he had depended on the girl's presence. Even after she had moved to the mansion with the others, Shiho often dropped at his house, helping him clean and tidy up.

'You got spoiled..' he told himself.

As he walked out of the kitchen, he glimpsed at the calendar and saw that he had marked the coming Saturday with a red circle. He suddenly remembered that he had been invited to a convention at Osaka.

A sudden brainwave hit him.

Maybe, he could...

The ring of the phone startled him. He walked to the hall and picked the receiver.

"Hello?" he said, wondering who it could be.

Ten minutes later, Hakase was back in his lab, ready to try his experiment again and feeling a mixture of happiness and sadness fill his heart.

He would go to the mansion later that evening and see if Ai-kun would accept this offer.

It was the best for her and, he realised with a smile, that every parent wanted the best for their children even if it meant a bit of pain for themselves.

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It was cold.
No, scratch that.
It was bloody freezing.

Matt pulled his scarf tighter around his neck and tried to wrap his jacket more against his body with the hope that a bit of warmth would get to his bones and make him feel less numb.

But, so far, no luck..

Why in the name of God did Christine ask to meet at the park? Why not at a nice, warm bar?

Grumbling under his breath, Matt pulled his gloved hand out of his pocket and checked the time. They had to see each other at ten o'clock and that was ten minutes ago.

'Great time to be late, Chris...' Matt thought darkly, 'You always come ten minutes earlier to meetings and today you're late!'

A sudden gust of wind made the boy shiver and tighten the grip on his jacket. It was nearly March for heaven's sake, it shouldn't be allowed to be so cold! Not when you're so close to spring.

He leaned against the lamppost he was standing in front of and watched a couple of kids far from him pelting each other with snowballs. They seemed to have a great time.

A grin cracked Matt's congealed features as he thought of another couple of kids that had been mercilessly pelting snowballs at each other during a gigantic snowball fight more than -How long ago was it? Five years?

His Dad had been there; so had Uncle James. If he remembered well, it was shortly after Christmas. Matt realised that it had been after the first Christmas that Ryu had spent with the Xanders. The first one after his family's death.

Ryu had been sporting his masterpiece Poker Face during all the holidays. But that day, it had slipped off.. or maybe he just forgot to put it on.

Ryu had been a true, complete twelve year old kid that day. No problems, no pain and most of all, no guilt. He played along with him, his Dad and Uncle James.

Stomping his shoes to keep his feet warm, Matt realised that that had been the last time that they, Ryu and him, had behaved as children of their age. After that, they had decided to carry on Ryu's plan and it had been just studying, training and getting closer to their goal.

Looking upwards to the silvery sky, Matt wondered if now that they had accomplished the task Ryu had decided to reach back then, they could live like any other teenager.

'Probably not..' he thought, 'We have seen too much..'

"Hi."

Matt looked down again and met the hazel eyes of Christine, the only visible features on her face since she was wearing a blue knit hat and a scarf that went up to her nose.

"About time.." he stated, standing straight.

A delicate eyebrow arched.

"Well, good to see you too, Matt." she remarked coolly.

Cursing his tongue, the boy looked down at her.

"It's great to see, Chris." he said, in what he hoped was an apologetic tone.

The girl looked up at him. He stood there with his hands shoved in his pockets, fringe falling on his face, green eyes peering at her through dark strands. And when she thought that he couldn't look more adorable than that, he flashed her one of his trademark smiles.

If Christine's heart and insides had been on the verge of liquefying before, now they had downright melted into a hot puddle that was merrily flowing through her body. Trying to regain a bit of composure, she adjusted her scarf around her neck and looked at him, smiling softly.

He grinned, eyes sparkling and they walked out of the park, side by side.

"Where are we going?" he asked, after they turned a corner.

"Anywhere."

"And where's that?" Chris shot him a deadpanned stare, so Matt reformulated. "Ok, what's that meant to be?"

"It means that you can choose where to go and I'll follow."

"Why?"

"Why I'll follow you? Well, if you rather, you can go somewhere and I'll go the opposite direction."

Rolling his eyes, Matt stopped in front of her.

"What's wrong?" he asked. She looked at him and only then he noticed the tensed line of her shoulders and the steely glint in her eyes . "What's wrong, Christine?"

He used her full name and concern laced his voice; she just couldn't resist.

"Sorry." she said, "I just had a long day."

He raised an eyebrow.

"It's barely half past ten in the morning, Chris." he stated.

"Oh, you're impossible!" she huffed, walking past him but he stopped her, grabbing her elbow. At her questioning look, he smirked and steered her back down the street.

"Where are we going?" she asked as his hand slipped from her elbow to her gloved hand.

"Somewhere." he said, earning another deadpanned stare. "The park." He added.

"Why?"

"To relax."

"What?"

They walked through the park gates again and strolled down the path that went through its length. The path was cleared of snow but the edges were boarded by white heaps of slush.

"M..Matt..." Chris stammered, closing her eyes as a gust of biting wind reached her, "Where are we going?"

"Here." he said, pulling her off the path and then coming to a stop.

She looked in front of her and slowly left his hand.

They were in a hidden niche of the park. Trees surrounded them and a bench was placed beneath the low branches of a large oak. The view of New York covered with snow was mesmerising.

"What do you think?" Matt asked , startling her slightly. Chris turned around to find him sitting on the bench.

"It's- " She sat down next to him. "-great. I've never been here before."

"Not many know this place."

"What? Is this a place where you take girls when you try to hit on them?"

Matt snorted and looked away but Chris noticed a faint blush of embarrassment colour his face.

"I found this place years ago when I was out for a run." he said, "And just to be clear, you're the first person I've ever brought here."

Ignoring the warm tingling that was going through her body, Chris smiled and turned to him.

"Is that a line?" she teased.

"No." he answered and smirked slightly, "Do I look like one that uses lines?"

She shrugged and looked in front of her again. They sat together in pleasurable silence

"So, what's wrong?"

Chris glanced at him. He was peering at her through his fringe.

"It really isn't anything." she admitted, "I was just annoyed."

"With who?"

"My family. Mostly my sisters and my brother."

Matt suppressed the chuckle that threatened to come out of his mouth and coughed lightly to hide it. Christine's siblings were, in her words, walking calamities.

"What did they do now?" he asked, attempting, but failing to mask his amusement. Chris shot him a dark look.

"My parents are still shaken by the whole MYSTERY plan." she explained, "Dad's a little bit more understanding but Mum's completely sure that I'll get myself killed or send her prematurely to the grave. She's trying to convince me to resign and find a nice, quiet job."

Matt looked at her.

"My mother's like that too." he said, blowing his hair out of his eyes and seeing the puff that his breath produced against the chilly air. "She's terrified that something could happen to Dad or me or Ryu. Oh, and also Uncle James." He glanced at her sideways, a smile playing on his face. "Coming to think of it, you and Rei have been recently added to her People-To-Be-Worried-About list."

"What?" Chris asked in surprise. She had seen Mrs Xanders a couple of times till now. No more.

"She knows that Ryu and Rei are an item. She probably found out that you and I are one, too." He looked at her sideways. "We are one, aren't we?" As Chris' face tinged with pink, he grinned. "I'll take that as a yes. Anyway, she knows that we care for you and knowing that, she feels some affection towards you. I suppose it's some crazy thing of my mother..."

"I think it's very sweet of her." Chris said, defending Mrs Xanders. "She probably knows that if something happened to us, you boys would be worried or do something to help us, putting yourself in danger."

"It's a never ending cycle." Matt stated. "Everyone's worried for everyone. I thought that Mum would be used to it by now."

"I don't think that you'll ever be used to the fact that a person you love might not come back after work." she remarked, "It's a reality we all live with."

Silence fell between them. Another cold gust of wind forced them to huddle into their jackets.

"What else?"

Chris turned to Matt in surprise.

"What?"

"What else happened today?" he asked. A sly smile appeared on his face. "What did the oh-so-adorable siblings do to anger the ever-calm Agent Evans?"

"You say that only because you have Ryu as a younger brother.." Chris said dryly, "If you had Ethan as a brother and an elder sister like Alison and a younger sister like Emily then you'd be sympathetic."

"I've seen them a couple of times.." he said, "They're not-"

"You have no idea." Chris cut through his sentence with a firm voice.

"Enlighten me."

She looked at him for a moment and then nodded.

"How long have we been going out?"

"Ever since we came back? No, that's not true.. Ever since I managed to walk without crutches."

"So, a couple of weeks."

"Yes."

"Alison found out today."

"And that annoys you?"

"No, what's annoying is that my twenty year old sister suddenly realised that her eighteen year old sister has a love life and makes it her own, private mission to tell her all there is to know about dating and going out with boys."

Matt decided that he shouldn't dare to open his mouth because he would surely burst out laughing; the thought of Chris cornered by her sister was just too much. He was battling mirth for his own sake but his lips twitched upwards nevertheless. Fortunately, the girl didn't notice.

"She was ranting for hours about a couple of boys she had been dating at high school and this perfect guy she was seeing now at college..." Chris shook her head in disbelief. "I will spare you the details for your own sanity but, believe me, I'm scarred for life."

A low rumbling chuckle escaped Matt's mouth.

"And what else?"

"Emily was in hysterics that we were seeing each other."

"Don't tell me that she started giving you dating tips, too.."

Chris shot him a deadpanned look.

"I found out, just today, that she fancied you." she said.

Matt nearly fell off the bench.

"What?" he asked, looking at her. "But.. I've seen her more or less five times in the past four years!"

"Don't I know..." she said, "I officially introduced you, Ryu and Rei to my family during- what was it? Luc and my graduation ceremony?"

"Yeah... could be.." Matt remarked, "But we did occasionally see them when we hung around together..."

"According to Emily, it was love at first sight. She even had your photo!"

Matt stared at her.

"Huh?"

"She cut you out of a group photo. One with you, Luc, Rei, Ryu and me at college. I honestly thought that I had lost it but turns out that Emily stole it from my photo album."

"Ah.."

"She left for school this morning nearly in tears and swore that she wouldn't talk to me for time being." Chris paused, looking thoughtful. "Well, that wouldn't be so bad..."

Matt shook his head in disbelief.

"And she's... sixteen, isn't she?" he asked.

"Yes.." She turned to him and narrowed her eyes. "Don't get any ideas of hitting on my little sister.." she said threateningly.

Matt shook his head so vehemently that she couldn't help but crack a smile.

"What about your brother?" he asked after a bit.

"Oh, Ethan was the cherry topping of my disastrous morning." Frustration laced Chris' voice again. "He got all shirty with me because I got my name on the papers before him."

"What?" Matt looked at her with a expression that was pure confusion.

"It's a thing he's been ranting of for the last months." Chris explained, "Did you hear of that kid -how old was he? Thirteen, maybe.. However, this kid saved his parents during an attempt of burglary at their shop."

"Oh, yeah.." Matt nodded, remembering the piece of news, "He was in the back room and the thieves didn't see him so he called the police and got them arrested."

"Yes. Well, Ethan's new thing in these months was to do something and get his name on the newspaper and he's angry because I got mine on them before him."

"His new.. thing?"

"My brother's crazy ideas... He's deciding what he wants to do when he will be older and he hasn't got a clear idea yet. He wanted to become a famous football player, then an astronaut, then a fireman and then he read of this kid and now he wants to become a famous twelve year old." Chris shook her head. "I'm dreading to know what he'll come up with once he gets into junior high..."

Matt chuckled softly.

"Your family sounds like fun." he stated, "There's always something new coming up.."

"Oh, sure..." Chris drawled, "Look how happy and content I am."

"Come on.." Matt insisted, looking at her, "You have two sisters and a brother and it's natural to argue over stupid things..." He smirked. "Ryu and I argued over other things.."

Christine turned to him.

"Like what?" she asked. She had never seen the two boys argue.

"When we younger, the main argument between us was maths: partial derivatives and improper integrals, in particular."

The expression on Christine's face was priceless.

"What?" she exclaimed.

"Well.. I can't do maths to save my life." Matt admitted, "Ryu always used to point that out.."

"Whoever would argue over.. mathematics?"

Matt looked at Chris.

"Why do you think I studied Law while Ryu went off to Engineering?" he asked, "While we were studying to get into college after high school, Ryu discovered that I had no interest in scientific subjects such as maths, chemistry or physics and that caused a little rift between us because it didn't suit his plan. He thought that we could both apply for Engineering and be more qualified. When I suggested Law, he didn't seem very sure but then accepted it.. eventually.."

Christine stared at him.

"How old were you then?"

"Er- fourteen, I think. I turned fifteen during my first year at university. Ryu was thirteen."

"You were kids.." Christine sometimes forgot how the whole plan that had led to MYSTERY had been created even though she knew all the details behind it.

Matt stared at her.

"Look who's talking..." he drawled, "You were an undergraduate just like us. By the way, I've always been meaning to ask..." He turned to her. "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why did you choose to go to college before time?"

"You did that as well."

"I had to help my brother."

Christine smiled slightly at Matt's tone. He made it sound obvious that a fourteen year old would abandon his problem-free childhood to start college, graduate and get into FBI in a couple of years' time because his brother needed help. She almost felt ashamed because her reasons were definitely more selfish.

"I wanted a challenge." she said slowly, "I wanted to change."

Matt turned to her in confusion.

"What?" he asked.

"I was always a step or two in front of my class mates when I was at school." she explained, "At the beginning, I found it a bit amusing and ego-boosting to be honest.... I was better than everyone else! But after some time, I started to hate it. I was feeling estranged among my friends at school and didn't like staying there at all. During my second year at junior high, my teachers noticed the situation and called my parents to discuss about it. Weeks after, I had given my exams and was in high school with my elder sister. Months later I gave the final exams and got into college to study computer science." Christine turned to Matt. "You know the rest."

He nodded.

A comfortable silence fell between them as they admired their city coated in white. A sudden gust of wind made Chris shiver with cold and wrap her coat tighter around herself. She felt Matt move on the bench and the next thing she knew was his arm draped over her shoulders. Feeling her face heating up quickly, she glanced at him. He looked at her sideways with sparkling eyes and then looked in front of him again.

"I'm sorry."

Matt's head turned to his side.

"What?"

"I'm sorry." Christine repeated, looking at him, "I didn't mean to vent all my frustration and anger on you." A tentative smile made its way on her face.

Matt smiled back; it was an open, warm smile that made her heart skip a beat.

"Don't worry." he said, "I'm glad that you did."

"You're happy that I got mad with you?" Chris asked with amusement.

"Well.. not exactly..." Matt swept his free hand through his hair in slight embarrassment. "I mean... I like the fact that you're so... open with your feelings.

I've been dealing with Ryu for all these years... believe me, he'd be impossible to understand even for a mind reader. I had to learn how to reach him: read through the lines and see what he didn't say out loud. Loads of work, I assure you.... And Rei! Oh, she was just like him. Clam-like with her emotions. No wonder those two are a couple..

I'm glad that you're not like them. It would have driven me mad! You are definitely more approachable..." He looked at the girl. "Honestly, I'd be happy to have you vent all your anger or sorrow or whatever else on me.. as long as you don't keep it all shut in yo..."

Matt's rant was cut short as Chris leaned forward and kissed him. When she drew back, a couple of moments later, the boy looked at her with mild puzzlement and embarrassment.

"What was that for?" he asked, looking down at her, "Not that I mind... just why?"

Chris couldn't believe that he didn't know the reason. He had been so sweet to say that to her: to say that she could tell him everything. Matt would always be there for her.

He looked so.. adorable: the way he (still) blushed when they kissed, the way his dark bangs fell over his green eyes as he looked at her.

Christine smiled.

"Because it's you." she replied and kissed him again. Matt didn't retort. She felt him smile and that made her smile back.

Another gust of wind swept past them but they didn't notice it this time.

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"Speak."

Shinichi had expected this sort of reaction.

As they walked to his room in silence, he knew that Hattori was inwardly seething; when he closed the door of his room and Heiji closed the windows with enough force to make the glass (and floor, Shinichi noticed) tremble, he knew that his friend was angry. And, as a final clue, when he sat on his bed and Hattori took the chair by his desk, slammed his cap on the desk and looked up at him with icy eyes, saying that one curt word, he knew that this conversation was not going to be pleasant.

Hattori wouldn't be the hot-headed and impulsive idiot he was if he didn't behave like this.

"From where must I start?" the Eastern detective asked with a sigh.

"From what you didn't tell me." Heiji answered sharply. "It seems that once you got help from more... qualified people, my help wasn't essential anymore."

"That's not true, Hattori." Shinichi retorted with equal sharpness.

"Then tell me...." Heiji sat up straight, "Why didn't you say that during that director's service you didn't just see a member of the Organisation but risked to be exposed and killed? Why didn't you tell me who that girl was when I took your place during that masked party on the ship?" The Osaka teens' eyes were fixed on him. "Are we allies.. friends or.. or was all our friendship just an mean to reach your goal?"

Shinichi sighed again but looked up straight at Heiji's eyes.

"We are friends and we are allies." he confirmed, "I never thought of our friendship as a mean to achieve something. I am a better person than that."

"Then, why...?" Heiji was blocked by Shinichi's raised hand.

Shinichi had been thinking of this for a long time. He had wondered more than once how to talk to Hattori and explain his reasons.

It wasn't a matter of lack of trust but... more like doubtfulness.

He knew Hattori well enough to know how he would react. He knew what would have happened if he had told him of Shiho/Ai immediately.

Heiji would have behaved exactly like Shinichi had when he found out who she was. He would have attacked her verbally. He would have judged her.

Shinichi still couldn't forgive himself for what he had done when she told him who she was. He had mentioned their meeting like a moment with initial hostility but that had been the understatement of the century.

He had been harsh, almost cruel to her. He needed to vent the anger that he had bottled up after the n-th failure to get information about the Organisation.

He didn't understand her feelings at all. He didn't realise what she must have gone through nor the fact that she had reached him for help.

As an ally.

A friend maybe.

He realised his mistake afterwards and was still trying to make up for it despite Shiho herself had forgiven him.

As for Hattori...

Shinichi glanced at the boy in front of him.

They were both very similar. They both had this deep sense of justice rooted in their beings and it was what fueled their actions as detectives.

But after the Organisation, Shinichi had changed.

He still believed in his ideals and that truth would always prevail but he had also learned of caution and of carefulness. He didn't go headfirst into things anymore not only because he knew better now but because he wasn't the only one to be involved.

At first, it had been just him. Alone against the Organisation. No, not alone. There was Hakase but he had always been careful not to expose him to danger.

His parents were never deeply involved. Hattori was at a good distance away to be harmed. Ran and Mouri were oblivious to the danger.

He behaved rashly at times but he knew that if something went wrong, he would be the only one to pay for it. And, most of all, he knew that there would be someone to carry on his work.

That someone was Hattori.

With the arrival of Shiho, he learned that his recklessness could be dangerous. He couldn't forget her state after the memorial and the blood oozing from the many shots that Gin and Vodka had given her.

He also learned that she would behave just as rashly as him when she thought that there was a danger. She would run away as soon as she would feel their presence, not out of cowardice but to enable them from harming those around her. She would throw her life aside if it meant the safety of the people she cared for.

He didn't want her to do that; so he learned to be a bit more cautious. In this way, she would be calmer and wouldn't think of escaping or handing out herself for his safety.

When Rei and Ryu arrived, Shinichi realised that there were many people involved with the Organisation and that bringing it down was a work in progress that needed extreme carefulness.

He hadn't said a word to Hattori because he himself didn't know what was going to happen. Only when the final stage of MYSTERY was going to start, Shinichi knew that his friend from Osaka could really help them.

He hadn't told Heiji about his close encounters with the Organisation because he knew that the boy would promptly get to Tokyo. Then he would start to investigate on his own despite Shinichi's protests and that would be a problem.

Hattori could be a genial detective but tact and secrecy are not his forte.

Shinichi hadn't said anything to Hattori about Shiho because he knew that he would judge her. An ex member, creator of the poison and that claims to have betrayed them. Hattori wouldn't have believed her at all. And Shinichi didn't want to put her in that situation. He didn't want her to be judged by people who didn't know her.

Only then, Shinichi realised that he had taken a choice without knowing it. Between Shiho's well being and Hattori's knowledge of the situation, he had chosen Shiho.

"Well..?"

Shinichi was drawn out of his musings by Heiji's irritated voice. Shinichi looked at him. Hattori was a friend: he would surely understand his reasons.

"I'll explain everything." Shinichi said and started to tell him everything from the start. From the moment a little reddish-blonde haired girl sat next to him in class 3-B...

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Ryu shot a look at the clock on the wall and noticed that he had been on the phone for nearly an hour but the conversation seemed to be far from ending.

"So Ryu, what would you like to do?" Rei asked finally.

"What would you like to do, Rei?" he asked back.

"I would like to do something.. that includes computer science, but that doesn't exclude.. you.." Ryu felt a blush heat his face. "..Or the others from my life.. I can't imagine what it could mean to be without seeing you, Shiho and Shinichi constantly."

Ryu suddenly realised that he too, couldn't think of an existence without seeing his two friends and Rei everyday. His relationship with Rei had blossomed during those days when they were living under the same roof. Despite the fact that they had known each other for years, it had been during that period that they had confessed their feelings to each other. Their relationship had gone on smooth and steady probably because they were together nearly all the time and the thought that this intimacy might cease, scared Ryu. The thought that they might, eventually, fall apart was unbearable to him.

"Neither can I, koishi." he whispered.

The line was silent. Ryu waited for Rei to talk but not a sound came from the other part; for an instant he thought that there was a problem with the phone and checked the receiver in his hand. As soon as he was sure that there wasn't any technical problem, he put the phone closer to his ear.

"Rei?" he called tentatively, "Hello?"

"I.. I'm still here. Don't worry.."

"What's wrong?" he asked, hearing that her voice seemed a bit... awkward.

"It's.. er-" Rei stammered, making the boy arch an eyebrow. "You .. never called me like... that before..."

"Like what?" he asked in confusion.

"Koishi.."

A blush, hot and red, made its way on Ryu's face and neck. Had he really...?

"Ah.." he muttered, scratching the back of his head, "I... I didn't really realise.."

A moment of very embarrassed silence fell between them.

"Do you mind it?" he asked out of the blue.

"What?"

"Do you mind if I call you like that? Between us, I mean.."

Rei didn't answer immediately.

"Rei?"

"No.." she said softly, "I don't mind...." She chuckled lightly. "You're incredible, you know? I thought that you couldn't surprise me anymore and here I am, blushing and stuttering..."

Ryu was sure that the grin on his face made him look like a dope but he didn't care.

"Glad to please you. So-" he stated with a smile, sitting up, "What are you going to do?"

"In the future? I told you, I don't.."

"This afternoon, Rei. Let's think of what will come when it will happen."

"Oh.. Well, it seems that I've got to come and rescue an engineer from the evil clutches of boredom."

Ryu could almost see Rei's smile through the phone.

"Ok." he replied with a grin. "I'll be waiting for my.. knightess in shiny armour." Rei laughed. "See you later, Rei."

"Bye.. itoshi."

Ryu blinked at the receiver in his hand. His heart skipped a beat but the feeling was very pleasant.

"And here I thought that you couldn't surprise me.." he whispered.

Rei laughed again.

"See you this afternoon, Ryu."

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To an outsider's eye the scene must have looked quite strange.

Shiho was sitting on one of the armchairs, her crutches by her side. Ran was sitting opposite her, on the other armchair and between them, on the couch, looking as though she was not completely sure what she doing there, was Kazuha.

Heiji and Kudo had gone upstairs more or less ten minutes ago and by the looks on their faces, they would be away for long.

Kazuha fiddled nervously with the straps of her purse as she eyed Ran and Miyano. The Osakan teen wished to be anywhere but there.

Ran was sitting on the armchair with her hands on her lap and her eyes were set on the floor. She seemed to be lost in thought and Kazuha had a couple of ideas of what she was thinking. She might not have Heiji's brains but she wasn't stupid.

After the whole mission at the mansion and the hospital, Kazuha had talked to Ran and had learned the reason of her friend's sadness.

Kazuha still couldn't believe that Kudo had left Ran for another girl. Her green eyes left her friend and averted to the other girl in the room.

The blonde was looking at the window and outside at the garden. Kazuha looked at her.

After all that had been said, she didn't know what to think of Miyano. Was she trustworthy?

Kudo trusted her and so did Ikeda and Kazama. But Heiji didn't and even though she thought he was the greatest ahou on the planet, she had to give his intuitions some credit...

She had been in the Black Organisation, she had created pills that had killed people. What exactly did Kudo see in her that Ran didn't have? Kazuha's eyes lingered on Shiho's figure. The chemist seemed to be oblivious to the scrutiny she was going through.

Well... she was quite beautiful, she couldn't lie on that. She studied the blonde: slim figure, pale complexion, light blue eyes and reddish-blonde hair that framed her face.

Were all ainokos this attractive or was she a particular case?

But, then again, Ran was very pretty too. Kazuha was sure that Kudo was not the sort of shallow guy that would be attracted by a girl just for her good looks. Heiji wasn't this type of person and being his friend and having similar characteristics to him, Kudo wasn't one either.

Then what....?

"I suppose you have questions that need answers..."

Kazuha almost jumped in her seat as Shiho spoke and darted her out of her thoughts; so did Ran who abruptly looked up.

The young chemist was looking straight at her.

"What..?" Ran muttered.

Shiho leaned against the back of her armchair.

"You heard what Shinichi had to say but it isn't enough for you." she replied, "You want to know more and I think that I can give you some answers."

Her tone was calm, collected and even. Kazuha felt slightly intimidated by her. She looked at Ran, wondering if she has been affected likewise but the brunette was sitting straight, her head high and looking quite determined.

Kazuha wished to be anywhere but there again.

This was a sort of... confrontation between Ran and Miyano. What exactly was she doing there?

She was going to stand up, saying that she was going to leave when Ran spoke.

"Why him?"

Kazuha stared at her. Shiho, on the other hand, looked at her evenly.

"I mean... why did you choose him to get help?" Ran reformulated, realising that her question had been ambiguous. "Why did you choose to come to him once you escaped?"

The blonde looked at her; it seemed that was pondering over the answer. Kazuha thought that this was the perfect moment to get out.

"Er-" she stood awkwardly, making both the other girls look at her, "I'd better... er- go."

"You can stay if you wish." Shiho replied off-handedly, averting her gaze back to Ran.

"Yes, Kazuha-chan, I don't mind having you here either." the brunette replied with a small smile.

That obliged the Osakan to sit down again. Escape plan 1 failed.

Silence fell in the room. Muffled sounds from above informed them that the conversation going on upstairs was quite.. vivacious.

"He was the first name that came into my mind." Shiho stated slowly, "I didn't have anyone outside or inside the Organisation once Akemi was gone, so I thought that I could ask for help to the only other person, besides me, that must have undergone to the APTX's side effect."

"But you couldn't be sure..?" Ran pressed on.

"No." Shiho cut through her query, "I wasn't absolutely sure that Shinichi was alive. I had hints that he might have shrunk. Besides.. I was also.. curious."

"Curious?" The blank look on Ran's face mirrored Kazuha's one.

Shiho looked at both as a shadow of a smile made its way on her face.

"It will sound pretty strange to you but I really wanted to see if he had truly shrunk due to the drug that I had created." she remarked, "As a scientist, it would have meant a lot to me. The APTX was a project that my parents had started and that I had overtook, developed and concluded during great part of my life. The fact that it had such a side-effect and that there was a person -well, people actually, since I had shrunk too- that had undergone to that effect piqued my interest."

Noticing the looks on the two brunettes' face, Shiho shrugged.

"I suppose that it's the scientist's particularity. Rei and Ryu understood when I told them. You're both athletes so, maybe, a similar thing could happen to you if witnessed one of your attack or defense moves performed in a different way or more efficiently or modified in a way you didn't know or think of before."

Ran and Kazuha nodded in unison, understanding perfectly.

"But that wasn't the only reason." Shiho's eyes clouded ever so slightly. "I wanted to see Shinichi because he was the last person to have seen Akemi, my sister, alive."

Ran's eyes widened recalling that the girl she knew as Masami Hirota was, instead, Akemi Miyano. A shiver ran down the girl's spine as she remembered that day of nearly a year ago when she ran after Conan's tracks and found him standing by the young woman's corpse.

"I had seen Akemi that afternoon and she told me of a little boy that often came to the bank where she was currently employed. She told me about his sharp remarks, quick intelligence and his rather adult-like behaviour. She said that his name was Conan Edogawa."

Kazuha inhaled sharply, not yet used to the fact that the little bespectacled boy she knew was the same teenage boy that was upstairs with Heiji. Ran felt a painful sting in her heart.

Shiho's glance swept over them before going to the window. Her voice was even but she couldn't control the pain that her eyes could express.

"When I was told that Akemi had died, I found a newspaper and saw her photograph. You were there, Mouri-san, and next to you was..."

Ran remembered it. She had broken down in tears at the sight of Masami's body and had hugged Conan, leaning on his little body from behind for support. The boy was numb. Blood soaked his hands and his eyes, averted to the ground, were hidden behind his fringe and his large glasses.

"Conan-kun." Ran whispered. Shiho nodded.

"It didn't take me much time to realise that the little boy had to be Shinichi Kudo and that he had indeed shrunk." Shiho looked at her and Ran stared back. The blond didn't avert her gaze as she went on speaking. "I have already told you what happened afterwards, how I escaped and how I arrived here."

"And you met that night?" Ran asked.

"No, we met at Teitan Elementary School a couple of days after." Shiho replied as a faint smile made it's way on her face. "I didn't let him understand that I was in his same situation and behaved as a common child before exposing myself when we were alone and giving him quite a fright.."

"You've always known everything about him, didn't you?" Ran asked, unable to hide the pain in her voice completely . "And.. he about you?"

Shiho looked at her.

"Mouri-san, I think that you're misunderstanding how the situation was." she remarked. "Despite the common ground of having shrunk due to the APTX, neither of us were very glad to know each other. I can honestly say that our mutual feelings at our first meeting went from anger to distrust."

Ran looked at her.

"But that was just at the beginning.." she pressed on, "You got over that later. I saw how you two behaved with each other."

"Well, yes." Shiho said, eyes fixed on Ran. "Shortly after our meeting, we understood that we could trust each other."

As the two kept staring at each other, Kazuha fidgeted nervously, realising that the conversation was heading to places that she definitely didn't want to go. Without any further ago, the Osakan teen stood up, startling Ran and making Shiho look at her in mild surprise.

"I.. er- have to... er- the restroom." she mumbled, before dashing outside the door and up the stairs.

Ran failed to hide a smile as her friend ran out of the room. She heard a soft chuckle and turned around, mildly surprised to see Shiho smiling.

"You have a good friend, Mouri-san." the blonde stated, looking at her. Ran detected a hint of sadness in her voice that she couldn't understand.

"I know." she replied, "I suppose that Ikeda-san would have done the same thing."

"Yes, I'm sure of it.. Rei would have left us alone too."

"Miyano-san, you didn't answer my question."

"I knew most of him and he knew most of me. We found solace in each other's presence because only the two of us could understand how it felt to be trapped in the body of a seven year old child." Shiho sighed softly. "It took us some time to trust each other... He accused me of his condition while I accused him of my sister's death."

Ran, who was looking at her hands as she spoke, looked up abruptly.

"What?"

"My pain was still too raw while his anger and frustration had been bottled up for too long. We vented our feelings on each other that very day that we met." Shiho said slowly, "As I said, we began to trust each other and the feeling grew in the following months. We still held some minor grudge against each other: he didn't understand my secrecy while I couldn't understand his recklessness but nevertheless, we got along."

"And.. you fell in love with each other."

Shiho looked at Ran and shook her head.

"He loved you." she said and the dark haired girl looked at her with wide eyes. "He never said it aloud but you had to be blind not to see it. This, added to his shrunken state, just added more guilt to my already guilt ridden conscience. I hadn't only ruined his life with my drug but I had also ruined yours."

Ran didn't reply and just kept looking at her. She couldn't ignore, however, the waves of pain caressing her heart.

"Despite what I had done, he accepted me. He helped me when I was in need: he saved my life more than once." Shiho's mind was a flood of memories. She glanced at Ran. "You saved my life once, too."

"I had to do it." Ran replied, recalling the trip in Jodie-sensei's car trunk and all the worries that had plagued her mind after having seen the photos behind her teacher's bathroom cabinet's mirror. "You were in danger."

"You reminded me of my sister that night."

"What?" Ran asked in surprise.

"You remind me of Akemi in many ways. Your appearance and even your character are like hers." Shiho smiled slightly. "That was one of the main reasons of my behaviour towards you at the beginning."

Ran remembered when they had first met, during an outing at the beach. She remembered Ai's distant attitude.

"You didn't want to talk to me because I looked like your sister?" she asked.

"Partially." Shiho admitted, "I was a bit unsure of being on speaking terms with you because of your role in Shinichi's life."

"So... you were jealous?"

"At the time, I attributed my hesitance to guilt and also cowardice but, thinking it over, I suppose that jealousy must have played a good part too."

"You were already in love with him back then?"

Shiho looked at her for a moment before running a hand through her hair. Ran noticed the lines of bandages around her upper body through her blouse. She recalled her blood soaked state back at the mansion. She remembered Shinichi's despair at the hospital.

"I honestly don't know when it happened." the blonde replied, "But somewhere along the line, when I started to trust him more, day after day, I realised that what I had thought was friendship had turned into something much deeper." Shiho looked at Ran. "I was sure that I would never have a chance. Not when you were still so present in his heart."

Ran didn't know what to say.

"I never did anything to make him notice either. I thought that I shouldn't... couldn't afford that much of attention and care from him; what I had done was more than enough for him to hate me but he didn't. He accepted me. He befriended me; he was the first person, besides my sister, that I trusted and he trusted me back. Being by his side as a friend was sufficient for me. I couldn't hope for more and was content with it." Shiho's eyes met Ran's. "I didn't dare to think of loosing his friendship."

Ran stared at the blonde girl in front of her and her mind went back to her conversation with Shinichi, months ago, when he invited her to a bar to have a talk after so long.

The day he said that he loved another girl.

'He said that he didn't know if she loved him back and he didn't want to confess to her because he was scared of ruining their friendship..' she thought, 'She did the same...'

"You love him a lot." she stated.

"So do you." Shiho said.

"He loves you."

"He loved you and still does."

"But not in the same way I do."

"Yes, it's different but it's just as strong."

"Why are you doing this?" Ran sat up and looked at Shiho in confusion and also hurt anger. "He loves you! He told me so more than once!"

Shiho looked at her; her eyes held a glint of empathy that Ran noticed immediately.

"That doesn't mean that he doesn't care for you." she remarked, "He loves you and I know that he always will. You are a big part of his life and I would be a hypocrite, or blind, to suppose that his feelings for you have disappeared or that he will forget you."

Ran felt an unbidden tear roll down her face but hastily wiped it off. She didn't want to cry. She had come here to get answers and to, finally, decide what to do with her heart.

Shiho smiled slightly at her. She rested her elbow on the arm of her seat and laid her chin on her open palm. The empathy in her eyes was still there.

"I'm not here to tell you that I love Shinichi because those feelings are my own and it's up to me to show them openly." she said softly, "I'm not here to claim that he is only mine because he's not. There is too much good in him to be directed to just one person.

You have known Shinichi for sixteen years. You are his childhood friend and you have always been by his side. I think that you must have had some influence on him, more than his family and friends, to make him become what he is now.

He is like.. a ray of light: luminous, warm and daring to break through the darkness. Being near his presence is enough to bask in that positive emotions.

I'll never be grateful enough for having met him.

He reached out to me, despite my upbringing and despite my creations because he knew that I wasn't like the other members of the Organisation. I had some good in me because I had had Akemi; if she hadn't been there, I doubt that I'd be here now, talking to you. I would have fallen in the Organisation's clutches without any hope of escaping."

Ran couldn't break her eye contact with Shiho as the blonde talked.

"I have known Shinichi for a year and it was the most topsy-turvy year of his life. I was by his side while you couldn't but not by your choice. He chose to let you out and he did it for your safety. You know his character: he would never endanger the people around him, even less those he loves.

I saw him witness the cruelty of the Organisation. You must have noticed that this experience has changed him."

"Yes." Ran whispered. She saw how the whole Organisation ordeal had changed Shinichi.

"As he changed after seeing what was my world, I began to change when he took me into his world. A place where laughter and happiness reigned along with friendship and family and love."

"You have changed a lot too." Ran remarked, "You're different from the Ai I remember."

Shiho just smiled slightly.

"I never had friends before meeting Shinichi. He and the three children were the first ones I had. With Hakase, I learned the meaning of being at home. With Rei and Ryu, the meaning of having a family." Shiho looked at Ran. "I often think that fate has had a great time, playing with me."

"Fate?" Ran asked in confusion.

"It was fate that brought Akemi to Ryu for help; fate that the drug I created didn't kill me; fate that I had to meet Rei, Ryu and Kid who were victims of the Organisation just like me and fate that I had to fall in love with Shinichi while he was already in love."

"It was also fate that he would fall in love with you then." Ran remarked.

"It could be.. We could ask Shinichi but.. it might be possible that he can't give an answer. He tends to be incredibly dense when it come to feelings."

Ran couldn't help it: a soft giggle escaped her lips. Shiho laughed softly. The dark haired girl looked at the blonde one.

"I know why you're doing this." she said. Shiho just looked at her, hand still cradling her chin. "You want me to talk to him and forgive him. You want me to keep our friendship alive."

"That's up to you, Mouri-san. I just told you what you wanted to know."

"And that is?"

"The truth. If there's a thing Shinichi has taught me, it's that truth prevails over anything. There is no reason to lie or make things up. You deserve the truth."

Ran nodded and looked up at her.

"You know, when he first told me that he loved you, I... I hated you."

"Quite understandable."

"But I didn't give up. I kept hoping that he would come back. In the following months, after you came to school, I saw that your relationship was strong but I still held hope.

It wasn't till that day in the forest when you decided to give yourself and then at the hospital that I realised that I couldn't hope anymore. He was yours, his heart belonged to you."

Shiho just kept her eyes on Ran without saying anything.

"Besides.. you love him.. your heart belongs to him. I heard that you got hurt to protect him, right? You wouldn't have done that if you didn't love him."

Shiho nodded and Ran smiled because she saw a faint blush colour her cheeks.

"Were you really willing to stay by his side as friend even though he loved another?"

"Yes."

"You are very strong, Miyano-san."

"Not unlike you. Weren't you willing to wait for him, Mouri-san?"

"Yes.. but it..."

"It was worth it."

"Yes, he's worth it."

"Yes."

The two girls looked at each other and smiled. They heard noise from above: the sound of scraping chairs.

"They must have finished." Shiho remarked, looking up.

"Miyano-san?" The blonde turned to Ran. "What are you going to do now?"

"I don't know." she said, "I never really gave much thought to the future. I will wait for Rei and Ryu to return and see what to do."

"I see.."

"What about you?"

"Huh?"

"What are you going to do?"

"I need some time.." Ran brushed a stray lock of hair out of her eyes. "I hope that I will do the right thing eventually."

"You will." Shiho assured her and Ran smiled slightly.

The sound of footsteps made them stand up. Ran was halfway to the door when she turned around to Shiho. The chemist had stood up slowly and walked to the door on her crutches.

--

Kazuha was standing by the living room door: she had been pacing around, looking at the pictures on the tables in the hall and the paintings on the walls. She turned at the sound of footsteps.

Heiji walked down the stairs followed by Kudo. Her friend had his cap low on his eyes and this worried her a bit. He usually did that when he was upset.

The boys had barely reached the end of the staircase that Ran came out, slowly followed by Miyano. The two girls looked quite calm. Kazuha couldn't quite meet Ran's stare without blushing a bit. She had tried not to overhear the conversation but she had heard them nevertheless; the house had been so silent that their voices trailed to her clearly.

Miyano looked at her and, for a moment, Kazuha thought that she knew that she had overheard their conversation. A blush made its way on her face.

The blonde however, merely smiled and slowly went to the staircase. As she walked past Kazuha, she whispered something so softly that the Osakan had to strain to hear her.

"You could have stayed." Shiho said, "We wouldn't have minded and you would have been more comfortable."

Kazuha didn't reply but just looked at her retreating back as she made her way to the stairs with her crutches. Heiji walked past her, not before casting her a glance. Shiho could see a mixture of emotions in the Western detective's eyes; she wondered how much Shinichi had told him.

The Eastern detective smiled at her.

"You're all right?" he asked as she stepped up to him.

"Yes." she replied, barely avoiding to roll her eyes. "I'll be in my room."

"Ok."

They shared a glance and a smile and Shinichi walked down while Shiho went up.

"So.." he said, facing the three teens in front of him. "Is there anything else I can do?"

Ran looked at him. Kazuha noticed it and decided for both her and Heiji.

"We should be going." she said, grasping Heiji's arm.

"What?" the boy exclaimed, looking down at her.

"Ran-chan, we'll wait for you outside." Kazuha said, ignoring her surprised childhood friend, "Bye, Kudo-san."

"Hope to see you soon, Toyama-san." Shinichi said with a smile, "Hattori." He added with a nod.

Heiji stared at him for a moment and then let out a soft sigh. He turned to the front door and lifted the brim of his cap a bit as his head turned back.

"See you, Kudo." he said with a grin. Shinichi smiled back and waved a hand.

As soon as the Osakan teens were out of the house, Shinichi turned to Ran.

"Ran."

The girl looked at him.

"What else should I tell you?" he asked. She could feel guilt in his voice. Again.

"First of all, stop doing that." she said firmly.

"What?"

"Stop feeling guilty. Stop thinking that everything that has happened is your fault. Although, a bit of it could be."

Shinichi opened his mouth to retort but shut it close when he noticed a glint of mirth in her eyes. He smiled slightly.

"I hid many things to you, Hattori and many other people. You would have every right to hate me."

"Yes.. but then we'd realise that you did it for our safety and it would be up to us to forgive you or not."

"You talked with Shiho."

It wasn't a question and Ran nodded.

"She.. she's a good person." she stated.

"I know."

"And she knows you quite well."

"I know and it's a bit scary at times.." Shinichi leaned on the staircase banister. "She seems to just read me through.."

"And you?"

"Me? I'm just learning to reach her."

Ran looked at him and sighed softly.

"She wants me to forgive you. She wants our friendship to continue."

"I'd hope that too.. but I couldn't bring myself to ask you."

"That's why she asked me instead." Ran smiled slightly. "She knew what you wanted."

"Hmm." Shinichi looked at her. "What will you do, Ran?"

The girl stayed silent for a couple of moments.

"I realised that this year has changed you a lot." she replied, "You have gone through things that I can barely imagine and met people that could understand you. I have changed a bit too but not as much as you. I realised that if you had told me the truth back then, I might have stopped you."

"You'd have done it because you were worried for me."

"Nevertheless, I wouldn't have understood your reasons while Miyano-san does."

Another tear ran down her face. Shinichi straightened up abruptly as Ran wiped it away hastily.

"Ran..." he said, taking a step forward but stopped as she put out her hand, stopping him.

"Shinichi, I need some time." she said, her voice firm despite the brightness in her eyes. "I care for our friendship just as much as you do but.. my feelings..." She took a deep breath. "I know the truth.

You want her like I want you. You love her, like I love you. The only difference is that she loves you back, the same way... and you deserve that. I know you do. And I'm not going to be the one who stands in the way of you getting that... You're free, you can do whatever you want.

As a friend I should accept it but my heart...."

Ran exhaled. Shinichi looked at her: he couldn't help but feel sad and guilty for doing this to her.

"I'm sorry." he whispered.

"Don't be." she replied softly, "I'll move on.. It will just take time."

She looked at him and saw the emotion in his eyes. It was rare for him to express his feelings so openly but she could clearly see the sadness and pain in his usually clear blue eyes. It made her heart constrict because it meant that he cared. She knew he did.

"You often had that look on your face when you were Conan." she remarked.

"What?" he asked in surprise.

"You were always happy and childish but from time to time, you'd have that melancholic and sad look on your face." She smiled softly. "It must have been hard for you to lie in that way."

"It was hard to see you suffer." he replied. "I really wanted to tell that I was there but I couldn't. I tried my best to help you as.. Conan."

"I know." Ran looked at him and smiled. "Thank you."

Shinichi smiled and shook his head.

"I'd better be going." she said, "Kazuha-chan and Hattori-kun have waited enough."

"All right."

They looked at each and smiled slightly.

"See you, Shinichi."

"See you, Ran."

He walked her to the door and watched as she joined the two Osakan teens standing by the entrance. She looked back once and waved a hand. He waved back and closed the door. He swept a hand through his hair and walked back to his room.

He was surprised to find Shiho standing by his door.

"I thought you went to rest." he said, getting closer to her.

"In a minute." she replied and looked a him curiously. "What did you say to Hattori?"

"The truth. He has to decide what to do with it though." He leaned on the wall next to her. "What did you tell Ran?"

"The truth." She smiled at him as she copied his answer. "And I know that she will make the right decision."

"She mentioned something about it. I think I have to thank you, Shiho."

"Wait till she decides." Shiho stood up slowly and headed to her room. "She's very strong."

"I know."

"I wish I had half of her strength..."

Shinichi looked at her in puzzlement but she just shrugged.

"See you later." she said and closed the door of her room behind her.

As she walked to her bed, Shiho kept thinking of Ran.

'She would have waited for him.' she thought, 'She would have undergone the suffering of being apart for an indeterminate time as long as she had the hope that he would return and, maybe, love her back. I'm not so strong... I could put away my feelings for him but I'm not selfless enough to stay away from him. I need him next to me. His presence is my hope.'

She slowly laid down on her bed, hearing Shinichi's footsteps and fell asleep.

--

Shinichi watched Shiho's closed door for a moment and then went into his room. He was going to rest a bit himself when he heard the phone ring.

He quickly made his way downstairs and grabbed the receiver.

"Hello?"

"Shinichi."

"Oh, hi Dad." the boy replied, recognising his father's voice.

"I gathered the information you wanted."

The young detective stood straighter and listened.

"I understand... I'll call you when I want to confirm everything, all right?"

"Yes. I'll wait for your call. Oh, your mother is quite excited about it."

"I know.. Tell her I said hi. Hear you soon, Dad."

"Bye, son."

As he put down the receiver, Shinichi exhaled.

He had been thinking of his future in these days: he had wondered what he would do now. This and the thought of an eventual separation from Shiho, Rei and Ryu had made him ponder.

He had come up with an idea but it needed a great deal of preparation. He had informed his father of it and had asked for some help.

He had the information now and he would wait Ryu and Rei's return to take the final decision.

It was all a question of time..

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Heiji waited with Kazuha for Ran's arrival, before heading to the Mouri agency. He brooded over Kudo's words, trying to grasp the full meaning of them.

He had told him everything. From the moment he met Haibara to the end when he, Kazama, Ikeda and Miyano had come back home from the hospital and the trials.

Heiji had been wrong.

Kudo trusted him. A lot. He trusted him to the point that if something had gone wrong, very wrong, it would have been him, Heiji, to carry on his work.

Kudo didn't think that their friendship was a fake. He cared for him enough to protect him at distance, calling him in his aid only when the situation was safe, at least for him.

And Kudo knew him really well. He didn't say anything about Miyano because he knew that he would have been brash with her. He knew how Heiji would have reacted. It would have been like his own reaction.

They were both similar after all.

Heiji realised that he just knew a small part of Shinichi Kudo. The Kudo he had met and got to know was the one trapped in the body of Conan Edogawa.

He didn't know much of the seventeen year old boy but today he got to know a good part of him.

Kudo was a brilliant detective just like him and they both shared the immense passion to truth and justice. But Kudo had seen a part of their work that he hadn't yet seen. Heiji hoped not to see it ever.

Kudo had gone through a lot and had felt the evil on his skin. He had lived it. Just like Kazama, Ikeda and Miyano.

Heiji had read the reports regarding them and had wondered how they could have found the strength to go on and fight.

Kazama had witnessed the death of his family and had lost everything. Yet he created the plan to bring down the Organisation, he infiltrated in it, was called a traitor by FBI and was hunted by both the organisations. But he didn't give up: he fought till the end.

Ikeda had lost her parents. She studied to gain the knowledge she needed to find their murderers, joined FBI, feigned her death when the Organisation was after her and let all the people she knew think she was dead. And she fought on.

Miyano lost her parents and sister. She had grown in the Organisation but had not been corrupted. She betrayed them and risked her life more than once. Yet she continued to work on the antidote and helped bring them down.

The thirst of revenge couldn't fuel this actions. It wasn't enough.

Kudo said that despite the anger, despair and firm conviction to bring down the people that had hurt them, Kazama, Ikeda and Miyano also had a strong sense of justice inside them.

The good in them helped them go on.

Kudo's words had been enlightening.

"We detectives work so hard on our cases because we want to live in a better world. With more goodness and less evil. It's a our hidden hope that with our help, this will occur. For Ryu, Rei and Shiho, it's the same. They want to live in a better place, a place that has been taken away from them and that they desperately try to get back. It's their hope.
Aren't we all the same after all?"

Heiji sighed.

No bad person would work this hard just for justice. No bad person would put his life on stake just for the hope of a better life.

He had been wrong. He had judged too early.

Kudo had been right to wait to let him know everything.

"Ran-chan!"

Heiji looked up as Kazuha called. Ran was walking towards them.

"Shall we go?" she said, once she was near. He nodded with Kazuha.

Heiji glanced at Ran. She was calm, a small smile was on her face as she walked next to Kazuha.

Kudo cared for her. Heiji had seen it when he spoke of her but he clearly cared more for Miyano.

"Are you all right, Ran-san?" he asked.

Kazuha shot him a look before turning to Ran.

"Yes." she replied with a smile. "I just need.. time."

"Hmm.. me too.."

"What?" Kazuha asked, looking at him in confusion.

Heiji was walking a few steps in front of them. He turned his head, tipping his cap up. And he smiled at her. Kazuha fought back a blush.

"Kudo is a great detective." he said, "I still have a couple of things to learn."

Ran smiled as he said this.

Kazuha looked at him and then at her.

"What did he mean?" she asked.

"Shinichi trusts him and me a lot." Ran replied, "I think that we just need some time to trust him just as much."

Kazuha stared at her.

"You are very strong, Ran-chan."

"Not as much as her."

"That's not true."

"It is. You heard her." Ran smiled kindly as the other girl blushed. "I wouldn't go to the extents of her love. She is truly stronger than I am."

Kazuha didn't reply and just walked along with her.

When they reached the agency, Heiji and Kazuha got on the motorcycle and went back to Osaka. Ran waved them goodbye and went inside her house. Her father hadn't yet come.

She went into her room and sat on her bed.

It would take time but she knew that she would be all right again. Her pain would lessen and her heart would stop aching.

'Miyano would have let him go and would have moved on as long as he was happy. She would have lived by his side a friend rather than loosing him.' Ran thought, lying on her bed, 'I'm not that strong. I can't give up on him that selflessly...'

Tears trickled down and she covered her face with a hand.

Time would tell...

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Rei walked over to the window and saw that it had stopped snowing.

She was at the Xanders' house and had spent the afternoon with Ryu and talking with Mrs. Xanders. Since the weather had gotten better, she realised that she should head back home before it started to snow again.

Ryu had gone to the kitchen to get some drinks and a plate of homemade cookies that his adoptive mother had made for Rei's arrival.

Rei walked around the room, looking at the books lined up on the shelves: scientific books of Engineering, Mechanics and Computer Science were crammed together with the novels of Conan Doyle.

She smiled. It just showed all of Ryu's interests.

As she walked to the bed, she caught a glimpse of her reflection on the window panel.

After the fire at the mansion, she had had to trim her hair since it had burnt a bit. She twisted a lock of her dark brown hair around her index finger, frowning slightly.

"You look wonderful, don't worry."

Rei whipped around, blushing. Ryu came into the room, holding a tray with two glasses of juice and a plate of cookies on it. He smiled at her and put the tray on his desk.

"Don't do that." Rei complained, sitting on the bed with a sigh. "I didn't hear you."

"Oh, I noticed." he said with chuckle and went to close the door.

Rei looked at him. He had healed from all his injuries and wasn't wearing bandages anymore, unlike her with the cast on her hand. As he closed the door, Rei noticed something that she had more than once noticed in the past weeks.

"Ryu?"

He turned around and she felt her heart leap pleasantly.

He was smiling. His calm smile was always on his face but now it's warmth fully reached his eyes. His shoulders were held straight but they were less tense and his gait was more...

"What?" he asked in puzzlement, smile still present.

"Er- nothing.. it's just that.."

He approached her and knelt before her.

"Rei.."

"You look different."

"Do I?" he asked. "Must be the haircut." He raked a hand through his blond hair. "I snipped off the burnt locks on my own and I don't think I did a great job. Matt says that I look like a rocker."

Rei laughed softly and ran her good hand through his blond strands; they stood out a bit more than usual, looking like a series of blonde jags here and there.

"No, you look good." she remarked, brushing a random strand out of his eyes, "I wanted to say that you look more relaxed now."

"I am." he replied, taking a lock of her hair in his hand. She had cut them down to her shoulders and had cut her fringe shorter so that it fell just over her eyes. He let it go and watched as it fell back in a smooth wave. "Why? Aren't you?"

"Yes but I can see the difference in you."

Ryu smiled and leaned into her until their foreheads touched.

"I feel as though a huge burden has been taken off my shoulders." he breathed, "It's been a long time that I've felt like this. I'm really realising that the Organisation is gone."

Rei smiled back at him.

"You know, I 've been thinking of our conversation of this morning." he remarked.

"Really?" she said, gazing into his light blue eyes.

"Hmm. I thought it over and realised that I'd like to start over from a blank page."

"What?" Rei looked at him in confusion. "Start over in which sense?"

"Well, I did what I had to do with the Organisation and now it's gone; I've closed a large chapter of my life. And now I'm wondering what to do with myself." Rei nodded in agreement and he went on. "I have no complaints about my love life-"

"Good to know." Rei said with a smile and he smiled back.

"-but, professionally speaking, I want to start something new. I have my abilities, my knowledge and my experience: I think it's time for me to use them for myself."

Rei leaned back and looked at him.

"Are you going to accept one of those job offers?" she asked.

"I don't know." Ryu said with a shrug, "I've just made up my mind on the subject." He looked at her. "What about you?"

"I thought about it and I would like to have a fresh start again." she admitted, "And I keep thinking that those offers are tempting but.." She smiled almost embarrassedly. "I can't stop hoping that something might pop out and make you, Shiho, Shinichi and me work together again." She blushed slightly. "Am I too naive to think this?"

Ryu leaned up and kissed her softly. He felt her smile in their kiss.

"No." he said with a smile as he leaned back, "I keep hoping that too. Who knows?"

"Yes, who knows?" Rei echoed leaning against Ryu's head, her nose buried in his hair.

He arched a brow when he felt her giggle, shoulders trembling slightly with mirth.

"What?" he asked, looking at her. She didn't answer but leaned down till her face was at the crook of his neck. He caught a waft of her scent, some flowery thing that his suddenly slow brain couldn't identify. He swallowed on nothing when he felt her nose brush against his throat.

"Rei?" he said, hoping that his voice was steady.

"You smell sweet." she whispered in his ear. Ryu felt his throat go dry: did she know how she effected him when she used that soft tone of voice?

"Ah, really?" he said lamely. "It's probably Aunt Yurie's fault. The kitchen's been turned into a bakery. Stay there a couple of minutes and you'll feel as though you had fallen in the cookie dough."

"Hmm." she replied, her breath tickling his skin. She leaned back and looked at him. "You're quite red on the face." she stated innocently.

"And you're quite the teaser." he retorted, standing up.

She laughed and got up.

"By the way, I think I'll be going in a while." she said, stretching her arms above her head. "It stopped snowing."

"No, you can't." Ryu retorted, walking to his desk "You're invited for dinner. Aunt Yurie said so."

"I can't do that! It'd be the third time in a row."

"Come on.."

"I feel as though I'm taking advantage of the situation."

"Oh, don't be ridiculous." Ryu waved a hand at her as though shooing away her worries. "Aunt Yurie adores you: she's more than happy to have you around." He leaned on the desk and helped himself to a cookie. "By the way, I think Chris should be over here too. I overheard Matt's call saying that they should be here in a while."

"How's he doing with all the side work?" Rei asked, taking a cookie herself.

After recovering from his injuries, Matt had got back to work along with Chris and Lucas. They had loads of material to work out, going from laptops to huge archives. So while the FBI inspectors were busy dealing with all the unsolved crimes linked to the Organisation, Matt worked on that material.

Ryu and Rei couldn't help him because they were still recovering from their injuries and had been going through an inquiry. Matt had been very vocal about this but, nevertheless, he always told them what he discovered despite his seniors' orders.

"He's currently working on the material taken from the Bay of Tokyo." Ryu remarked, taking a sip of juice, "Oh, I forgot to tell you this! Remember the laptop that they had found in the American headquarter? The one that received notices about the actions in Japan?"

"Yes. Wasn't it thanks to it that Matt and FBI flew down to Japan and saved us from being killed?"

"Exactly. That laptop had a processor that was linked to Koizumi's personal computer."

"Koizumi?! How..?"

"Matt thinks that he kept some sort of journal, a place where he wrote all the Organisation's activities." Ryu looked at her. "But the best part still has to come.. Guess who was the owner of that laptop?"

Rei shrugged.

"Scotch."

"What?!" Rei exclaimed, "That Scotch?"

"Yes. The one that nearly killed us in Japan. Being a High member, he must have known who the Boss was and -this is Matt's theory- he must have put the processor in Koizumi's computer to see what he was up to."

"You know, knowing how Scotch was, I'm not surprised at all." Rei remarked, "That ambitious.."

"Yeah..." Ryu confirmed, "Trust him to put a stunt like that.. but you know, I never thought that I'd have to be grateful to that murderer's ambition."

"To think that he's the reason that the Japanese headquarter has fallen.."

"I'd have loved to see his face if he had known.." Ryu remarked. "It would have been so... gratifying."

Rei looked at him and saw that his shoulders were tense again.

"Ryu.." she said, putting a hand on his right shoulder. He looked at her. "It's over."

He relaxed instantly and smiled at her. He took her hand from his shoulder and brushed his lips on her fingers.

Rei blushed softly, loving his tenderness.

They heard the front door open and close with a loud thud and then Matt's voice.

"Let's go." Rei said, curling her fingers around his hand.

"Ok." said Ryu, returning the pressure.

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Shinichi was in the living room.

He had dinner with Shiho and Hakase and was going to go to bed in a while. The girl was currently talking with the old scientist in the kitchen. Sensing that it had to be a private talk, Shinichi had excused himself and had gotten out of the room.

He was absently flipping through the pages of his battered copy of A Study in Scarlet when Agase came to the living room's door.

"Shinichi-kun, I'm leaving." he said, "Are you sure you don't need anything?"

"No, thanks Hakase." he replied, getting up from the couch, "I'll call if we do, though."

"Of course."

"Where's Shiho?"

"In the studio. She said she had to take something." He looked suddenly troubled as though expecting the boy to question him about the talk with Shiho.

"Oh, I see." Shinichi said and then grinned at the man. "At what time will you be coming tomorrow?"

Hakase relaxed instantly.

"The usual." he said cheerfully, "Well, goodnight, Shinichi-kun."

"Night, Agase."

He watched the man walk to the door, shut it behind his back and heard the lock go on. Agase still had the spare keys that his parents had given him more than ten years ago.

Seeing the door of the studio ajar, he strolled to it and stopped at the threshold.

Shiho was standing by her and Rei's desk; he noticed that she was holding a couple of thick notebooks.

Frowning slightly, he approached her.

"Shiho?"

She looked up at him and smiled slightly.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"I was wondering if you could help me." she said in reply.

"Sure. What should I do?"

"Could you light a fire in the fireplace?"

Shinichi arched a brow at her unusual request.

"May I ask why?"

"You will understand."

Knowing that coaxing her wouldn't bring him anywhere, and definitely not to the answer, Shinichi went into the living room and worked on the fireplace. It was on the far corner of the living room, next to the dining table.

He was glad that there were still some sticks and a small log in the box near the fireplace; he remembered that Ryu had filled it up after they had used the last batch during the Christmas vacations. Lighting a matchstick and using some old newspapers, he managed to build a small fire.

As soon as he was satisfied by his work and was sure that the sparks wouldn't burn the floor boards, he stood up to find Shiho. He didn't have to go far: she was right by the door.

She approached him slowly, her crutches hitting the floor softly, and stood next to him. She was still holding the notebooks.

Shinichi stood in silence by her side, watching the flames dance in the fireplace and listening to the wood crackling as it burnt. He glanced at her and saw that she was staring intensively at the notes in her hand.

"Hey." he said, brushing his fingers against her cheek. She looked up, blushing slightly at his contact.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

She looked at him, light blue eyes boring right through him. Balancing herself on her crutches, she handed him one of the notebooks.

He took it and absently flipped through the pages. It was full of calculations, formulas and notes written in Shiho's neat handwriting.

"That's all the necessary information to make the antidote to the APTX-4869." Shiho said suddenly.

Shinichi almost dropped the notebook and turned to her.

"What?"

Shiho held up the notebook that she had in her hand.

"This one has all the information to create the APTX-4869."

Finally, Shinichi understood what she wanted to do.

"I thought that you had cancelled all the data already." he remarked, looking at her.

"Rei cancelled all the data out of the Organisation's archives, files and disks." Shiho replied, "Ryu cancelled all the traces of the data so that no backup could retrieve them. I destroyed all the floppy disks and Cd-Roms with Agase some days ago. The last data are this." She gestured to the notebooks. "It's the information I got gathering all the data I found; it's the final research of the APTX-4869. I thought that you would want to help me get rid of it."

Shinichi nodded.

Very few people knew of the drug and it's shrinking effect but only the original MYSTERY team knew of the data that explained how to create it.

And now it would be cancelled forever.

"Ready?" he said, looking at her.

"At the count of three." she replied, looking back.

"One.."

"Two.."

"Three."

They tossed the notebooks into the fire.

Shiho watched the flames engulf the thick wads of paper and felt strangely relieved.

APTX-4869 had been her parents' research.

It had been her working project during her whole life.

It had been her price to pay for freedom.

Freedom that came not thanks to it's development but thanks to a flaw in it.

She watched the pages shrivel at the borders and turn to ash. She saw the flames turn brighter around the notebooks.

Shiho felt Shinichi's arms gently wrap her waist from behind. She hadn't noticed him move and looked up at him.

He was smiling softly.

She smiled back, relaxing and leaning against him as she laid her crutches against the table.

They stayed in this position for a while, content in their silence.

"Shinichi?" Shiho said after a bit.

"Hmm." he replied.

"Have you ever wondered why we shrunk?"

He looked down at her in confusion.

"I thought you said that we were among the one over fifty cases that could undergo the counter-effect."

"Yes, but the reason, the scientific reason?"

"What is it? Did you find one?"

"Remember the blood samples I took after we had that narrow escape with Scotch?"

Shinichi nodded. Shiho had taken a small blood sample from him, Ryu, Rei and herself to be sure that the APTX's effect couldn't be passed through blood transfusions.

"I noticed that we had a particular genetic error. It's not a flaw that can cause illnesses but it has contributed to save our lives."

"We both have it?"

"Yes and it's also rare. But do you want to know the most amazing fact?"

"What?"

"Ryu and Rei have the same genetic error."

"You mean.."

"If they had taken the APTX, they would have probably shrunk too."

Shinichi shook his head in disbelief.

"Wow.." he said, "Fate really brought the four of us together."

"Hmm." she replied.

Shiho leaned more against Shinichi's body, allowing him to wrap his arms more around her.

"Are you tired?" he whispered, resting his chin on her shoulder.

"A bit." she replied, "You?" She cast a sideways glance at him.

"Me too. It's been a long day."

"Yes."

They watched the fireplace again. The notebooks were almost burnt to dust.

"Hakase is going to a science convention next Saturday." Shiho said after a while.

"Really?"

"He told me that a colleague of his has heard of me and wants to offer me a project to work on." Shiho moved slightly so that she could face Shinichi. "Agase thinks that with my competence in chemistry, I could receive many job offers."

"That would be good." he remarked.

She looked at him.

"Do you think so?" she asked. "After all the things that have been written on the papers, I don't know what people would think.."

"Don't worry, Shiho." Shinichi smiled reassuringly. "If Hakase knows them, they must be good people: people that judge your talent, not your history. Besides-" He swiftly kissed her temple. "-you don't have anything to worry about. You haven't done anything."

Shiho felt warmth envelope her as she looked into his clear blue eyes.

"You are incredibly optimistic." she stated.

He laughed lightly, earning a deadpanned look from her.

"What?" she asked.

"I thought that you'd say that I'm hopelessly naif." he said.

"It was understated."

"Very funny..."

Shiho chuckled softly.

"You know, I've been thinking a lot about what will happen from now on" Shinichi said, holding her closer to him.

"I have been thinking about it too."

"I would like to discuss about a matter with you, Rei and Ryu."

Shiho looked at him.

"What is it?" she asked.

"An idea that I have but it's still very vague..." He shrugged slightly. "I'd like some advice from all three of you."

"Oh, I see."

The fire was burning out now. There wasn't anything left of the notebooks.

"It's over.." Shiho whispered, "It really is all over."

Shinichi smiled and kissed her softly.

"Yes, it's really over."

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Two weeks later, Shiho's wounds healed completely and the doctors said that she could stop using crutches. Shinichi's head wound had long healed too.

After more than a month from the Organisation's fall, they could finally savour their newly acquired freedom. The reporters had stopped hassling them continuously and the guard had left.

Shinichi regretted his departure.

A couple of days after he had left, Kojima, his high school's soccer team captain came to the house and ranted for hours about the fact that he had lost two of his most valuable members before the interschool tournament. He didn't seem to understand that Ryu and Shinichi had had other matters in their hands, all more important than some football match. But this was Kojima we are speaking of: he values football more than anything...

Rei and Ryu had kept regularly in touch and had said that they would be coming back soon. They had been very busy with FBI and had also recovered completely from their injuries.

It was spring and the world was slowly moving on after the discovery of the Organisation. Normality was taking over again.

Shinichi and Shiho got up fully refreshed that morning and headed downstairs to have breakfast. Agase still had the habit to check on them and leave something ready to eat.

As they got downstairs, however, they got a pleasant surprise.

"Oi, you're late. Is this the time to have breakfast?"
"Yes, didn't you wake up at the crack of dawn while we were here?"

Shiho and Shinichi's eyes widened.

"Rei! Ryu!"

The brown haired girl rushed forward and hugged Shiho who was smiling as she hugged her back. Ryu held out his hand to Shinichi who gripped it with a loud clap and grinned.

"When did you come back?" Shinichi asked as Rei gave him a hug.

"Early this morning." she replied, beaming at him. "We dropped at Hakase's for a while and then came here."

"You said that you'd be back at the end of the week." Shiho remarked as she hugged Ryu.

"Yes, I know but we finished our business earlier." he replied, "So we took the first plane back."

They all went into the kitchen, talking and laughing as they sat at the table and it felt as though nothing had changed.

It was the four of them again.

"So, tell us.." Shinichi said as he helped himself to some toast. "What have you been doing in the States?"

"Yes, you've been abroad for a month." Shiho added, pouring herself a cup of coffee.

Rei and Ryu shared a look.

"Well, we didn't do much actually.." Ryu said.

"Yes, we recovered from our injuries-" said Rei.

"-went through an inquiry with FBI."

"-showed that we were innocent."

"-helped Matt with the last material he had gathered from the Headquarters."

"-dealt with reporters that wanted to know more about the Organisation."

"And then we quit FBI." Rei and Ryu said together.

Shiho put down her cup of coffee. Shinichi dropped his toast. They both stared at their friends.

"You what?" they exclaimed.

Rei and Ryu smiled.

"We thought about it for a long time." Ryu explained, "We had both joined FBI because it had the means to get information about the Organisation. It is a rather selfish reason."

"We realised that now that the Organisation is gone, we had to think about ourselves." Rei said, "And what we really want to do is to go on with our professions as an engineer and as a computer scientist."

"So you just left?" Shinichi asked, "Like that?"

"Our seniors were a bit hard to convince." Ryu admitted, "I think they took our decision as a consequence of the inquiry; Matt and Uncle Mark didn't take it that well at the beginning-"

"That's an understatement." Rei remarked dryly.

"-but after we explained our reasons, everyone accepted our decision."

"I see." Shiho stated. "But what are you going to do now?"

"We have received many job offers." Rei said, "Worldwide. We have ample choice."

"And this brings us to you guys." Ryu remarked, looking at Shiho and Shinichi. "What are you up to now?"

"Hakase knows some scientists that are willing to let me work with them in various projects concerning chemistry and pharmacology." Shiho said. "If they go well, I could get some other offers from foreign universities."

"Hmm." Ryu turned to Shinichi. "What about you?"

"Well, Inspector Megure said that I could get into the police forces if I wished and would gladly help me enter the Beika district department but-" Shinichi looked up. "-I have different plans."

"That are?" Rei asked with curiosity.

"I'm thinking of moving to LA and study Criminology at a college there." He looked up and saw that he had the others' complete attention. It was the first tme that he spoke of this. "I asked my father and he knows some people at the college there. I could apply and enter immediately if I wanted to."

"You're going to pursue your career as a detective." Shiho commented, sipping her coffee. "Why did you want our advice then?"

"Advice?" Ryu and Rei echoed.

"Well, I have an idea in mind." Shinichi started. "It's a thing that I've been pondering over in these weeks. I.. I think that the four of us work really well together: I saw it while we were dealing with the Organisation. We have many things in common and we're all specialised in one particular subject and that makes us a strong team."

The other three nodded as he said this. He was voicing their own musings.

"I think that it would be.. nice to keep working together. I mean, I can't imagine the four of us separated. I'd like the team.. the family.. to be unite."

Rei and Shiho smiled while Ryu nodded.

"What are you suggesting?" he asked.

"It's just an idea now..." Shinichi said quickly but excitedly. "I know that it would take a great deal of preparation but it could work.. It would be perfect for us.."

"Shinichi, just tell us, will you?" Shiho demanded. She knew that he could ramble for hours before coming to the point when he was talking of something that interested him.

"Yes." Rei agreed. "We all would like to keep working together." Shiho and Ryu nodded. "What is your idea?"

Shinichi stood up, hands on the table. He was smiling his trademark smile.

"What would think of opening a specialised detective agency?"

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*************

Koishi/Itoshi: I think it's the female/male word for love or sweetheart.

Ainoko: referred to a person with parents of different races. In Shiho's case: Japanese father and English mother.

*************

I'm back.

I'm sorry for this big, enormous delay. The year's been hectic and I personally found out that a writer's block is a really nasty piece of work. I had the first quarter of this chapter written er- six months ago?- but couldn't write the rest. Until two days ago.
Being inspirated is the most awesome of feelings...

I hope you'll like this chapter. I think that it's very important because it's the start of what will be the future stories of the four characters. I hope that you'll enjoy my version of the confrontation between Ran and Shiho in this AU version of Detective Conan that is 4Points. I think that both the girls love our detective deeply but depend on him differently. Ran depends on him emotionally, Shiho more on his physical presence.

I don't know when the next, the last, chapter will come up. I hope, hope, before the end of the year. But I can't grant it.

I sincerely thank all the people that have reviewed and that have waited patiently. I haven't logged to ffnet for a while so I couldn't reply to you all but I will (By the way, ffnet has changed A LOT!! It took me a bit to get used to it and know how to do what). For the reviewers that are anonymous, if you want me to reply, send me a mail with your e-mail address and I'll be glad to do it.

Well, I think I've said all that I had to say.

Please, read and review.

Hear you guys soon!

Annitha