Disclaimer: "Detective Conan" belongs to Gosho Aoyama, and "Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon" belongs to Naoko Takeuchi.

This is an alternative story to my other fanfic "Encounter in Venice" and one of the possibilities of what could have happened if Ai had taken the antidote before Shinichi brought down the Organization.

Thanks a lot to my friends and betas Rae (Astarael00) and SN1987a and the Aicoholics on LiveJournal, without whom I would never have started this fic.

FS

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Ghost at Twilight

(edited version)

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Sunsets in Paris…

Sunsets in Paris start earlier and end later than sunsets in Tokyo—a fact you've known before but had yet to see with your own eyes. As insignificant as the difference might be to other people, it impresses you so much that you could almost forget how disappointing Paris was in the beginning.

You were underwhelmed by the city of love, to say the least. At its best, Paris was a conglomerate of tree-lined avenues, skyscrapers of tinted glass, decaying historic buildings, and exclusive shopping districts with a distinctive cosmopolitan atmosphere. At its worst, Paris was a cold, dirty, stinking, drab grey mess. No tint of blue could be spotted on the monochrome grey sky, which was almost completely covered by a veil of dull brown smog. In December, the broadleaved trees were already naked, sporting only a few dead leaves, which flapped erratically in the biting wind like Kalima butterflies before they flew away.

The omnipresent dirt was most distracting, especially to a person who could be described as being "spotlessly clean" even by Japanese standards; and you wondered whether the Parisians were so accustomed to the grimy look of their city that they could no longer see it or whether they had simply resigned themselves to the inescapable dog poo, which was pasted in heaps against lampposts and tree trunks like provocative installations of modern art. To your sensitive nose, the air smelled vile even in winter. All sorts of smells assaulted your nose at every street corner: the complex fragrance of expensive perfume mingled with the odour of unwashed clothes and sweat, the scent of fresh crèpes tempered by the stench of smoke and trash—evidences of human laziness, greed, and inefficiency blended with manifestations of nature's cruelty and unstoppable decay.

Hattori, Kudo, and you spent your first night in Paris near Quai Montebello, where Kudo and you—committed to your disguises—shared the queen-sized bed while Hattori made himself comfortable on the single bed at your feet. In contrast to Hattori, who tossed and turned and sawed logs in his sleep (and who wouldn't stop even after you got up twice to shake him!), Kudo was perfectly still. Just like his younger alter ego, Kudo liked to lie on his back with his legs crossed and his fingers interlaced—as though he were trying to shut himself off from the world and keep up the appearance of being accessible and open at the same time.

"Scientists contend that back sleepers who cross their legs have relationship problems," you teased him the following morning. You were making the bed while he was still lolling in the armchair to which you had ordered him, waiting for Hattori to leave the bathroom so he could shower and shave. His hair, though still uncombed, didn't point in all directions but was astonishingly smooth save from the one cowlick which—defying the laws of gravity as well as the power of combs—was perpetually standing up on his head like an antenna. Perhaps—so you speculated in one of your rare juvenile moments—this was the secret why he was always alert whenever the situation required him to: Even when he was asleep, his magical cowlick was awake!

Still lethargic in the morning (meitantei-san was a night owl like you and seldom looked like a living being before eight o'clock), he shot you a dark look, in which you could detect a flicker of insecurity.

"The same scientists would claim that it's impossible to shrink a human being." He rolled his eyes. "Arrogant as they are, they just can't admit to themselves that they still don't know anything about the human brain."

It was odd to hear him out of all people rant about arrogance and the limits of science. But even in your slightly distracted mood, you could tell that he looked strangely vulnerable. You had hit a nerve, you realized, and immediately made an effort to forget what you had just learned so that you wouldn't act on silly ideas, which you were going to regret later.

Now was definitely not the right time to pursue a man who was still in a relationship. His annoyingly nice girlfriend and her terrific karate skills aside, you could never reconcile your plans for your post-Pandora's-Box life with a future by Kudo's side even if he were romantically interested in you. If anything went wrong at Pandora's Box (and you knew from experience that things seldom went according to plan), you would have to stay away from Kudo for his and your own sake, living abroad for a few years until the situation had calmed down. Initially, you had planned to await your inevitable assassination with aplomb. Tenoh-san, however, had kept her intransigent attitude when it came to your safety.

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"If our scapegoat doesn't take the bait and you end up opening Pandora's Box yourself, I'll need to make sure that you get out of this alive," Tenoh-san mused, knitting her brows. "Since you told me yesterday that your detective is rather attached to his pretty girlfriend and isn't in love with you—"

Although the calendar claimed that it was still autumn, a harsh winter had already crept up on this part of Japan. To fight the gloom and dreariness of the first days of winter, which was worse than the cold, Tenoh-san had lit a small fire, in front of which both of you were now crouching, sipping water and cocktail while discussing your emergency plans and modus operandi.

"He isn't in love with me! He cares about me just as he cares about the Professor and the kids—"

"—Then I'm sure it won't hurt him too much if you change your identity and start a new life in another country."

At first, you had been appalled by her suggestion. Running away was, in the eyes of all your friends, an act of cowardice. It also cost so much energy to start anew, so much emotional strength you no longer possessed. It would also hurt the people you cared about most, disappointing them and putting them into a state of constant anxiety.

"I can't do that to the Professor!"

Tenoh-san had only thrown you a long look—the type of look people usually threw total imbeciles—before she got up from her pillow, let herself fall into the armchair in front of the fireplace, stretched out her slender legs, and took another sip of her cocktail.

"I never said that you should run away and leave all of them hanging! Kudo would frantically search for you, which would only create new problems for us. I think you should leave your detective and your Professor a message, which I'm going to deliver myself. After opening Pandora's Box, you can go with me to Venice for a few years. Michiru and I each have our own apartment there." Noticing your lack of enthusiasm, she sighed. "Why are you so attached to Beika out of all places? Your Professor could live without you before you two met. He will survive without you just fine. I'm sure everyone will benefit from the arrangement: I can protect you better if you stay in my vicinity, you won't put your Professor in danger, and your detective will be able to focus on his girlfriend without distraction. In Venice, you could start again from scratch: new language, new career, new loves, new messes to clean up." She gave you a suggestive wink. "You're very easy on the eye as a grown-up, and Kudo and you are on the same intellectual level… You also told me you liked his girlfriend. You don't want to separate the couple by accident, do you?"

Although you had given up the delusion that Kudo could possibly feel more for you than friendship, it still hurt to imagine his inevitable engagement and marriage once his struggle against the Organization was over. The very thought of having to congratulate him on his wedding cut you to the quick, and suddenly the idea of going to Venice with Tenoh-san and Kaioh-san looked like a very desirable alternative.

"Don't worry. To Kudo, I'll always be 'one of the kids'… But Venice sounds fine to me," you accepted, much to Tenoh-san's delight. The former "Serenissima" was a singularly beautiful lady, Tenoh-san enthused, especially at night when she was quiet—when her teeming streets were devoid of tourists and only roamed by cats and lovers and the odd gamblers and burglars. Tenoh-san and Kaioh-san had two very beautiful apartments there. Kaioh-san considered selling her small apartment, where she was presently staying, to a friend. But Tenoh-san's apartment was spacious enough to accommodate a dozen people.

"Hotaru-chan would be thrilled to have you around, and you can have lengthy, tedious science talks with Setsuna-san whenever she visits us!"

"Listen, I don't mind accepting your hospitality for a few weeks or even a few months, but you can't expect me to live in your private apartment with your 'family' for years."

"Why not?" She looked genuinely surprised. "Michiru and I have enough money to spend for the next two hundred years, and you can't expect to make a living in Venice, where prices are only topped by human stupidity!" As you knew, money was always distributed unfairly—she declared—and rich people would always grow richer as poor people grew even poorer in the course of their lives. It was only fair and natural that the rich helped out the poor whenever they could. And since you didn't own anything but children's clothes and a few elementary school books while Tenoh-san was rolling in money, it was Tenoh-san's duty to provide for you when you needed her help. Apart from that, she adored you—and you couldn't deny that you liked her, too. She and you were going to get along extremely well.

Even though you understood the logic behind her explanations and knew that Tenoh-san's generosity was not in the least calculated, you were still uncomfortable with the arrangement, preferring not to be burdened with another debt you could never repay.

"Can you help me find a job or give me something to work on so that I won't feel like a freeloader?"

"Michiru has a small academy in Venice. She will surely find a fitting job for you," she distractedly agreed, her eyes already brightened by a new idea. "But your talk of you being 'one of the kids' to Kudo actually gave me an epiphany! Say, do you plan to take the antidote before opening Pandora's Box?"

"I do," you gingerly placed your empty glass on the bar next to the fireplace, "since it will be much easier to shoot in an adult's body if one really has to defend oneself. In a child's body, it's strenuous for me to hold a weapon for long unless I use both hands. As an adult, I can use a Beretta with either hand, which makes it easier for me to react in time."

"Well, since no one knows about APTX but a bunch of people—most of whom will be as dead as a doornail by the time you open Pandora's Box—"

You knew what Tenoh-san was suggesting even before she had finished her sentence.

"You think I should open Pandora's Box in my child form and take the antidote afterwards? Or—"

"Or open it in your adult's body and take APTX again afterwards, which sounds smarter but is actually more risky. Will you shrink again if you take APTX for the second time? Or will you only die from the second dose?"

"Most probably, I won't die. I've already tested it on the few mice and rats that survived the first dose of APTX after I finished the antidote. They all shrank again although a few of them would shrink slightly less than the first time."

"Then this is our best bet in case you have to open Pandora's Box yourself." Tenoh-san beamed. "I'm going to adopt you after you take APTX for the second time. Hotaru-chan will be happy to have a sister, Michiru and I will be happy to have a second daughter, and you can start anew under the best circumstances. It's a win-win situation!"

You took a moment to contemplate the option. Accepting Tenoh-san's offer would mean to begin a new life in Venice as Tenoh-san and Kaioh-san's child. You would have gorgeous lesbian celebrity foster parents (never mind that they were part of a group of prodigy vigilantes in their spare time!) and a foster sister, who was frail and taciturn but just as adorable as Akemi-nee-san once was. Knowing your future foster parents, you would be tutored at home—in other words: be left to do whatever you pleased. You would probably take up dancing again—a pastime you greatly enjoyed at Infinity—and trade your chemicals for oil paints and brushes. And Kudo would continue solving cases in Japan, would get married to Ran, would visit you with his wife and kids once in a blue when you, too, had grown up and started a new career as… As what? A musician? A painter? Very unlikely! You didn't have the ambition for either.

Contrary to Tenoh-san's speculations, you wouldn't have any lovers. You were through with that aspect of life, too weary of love to be willing to go through the hassle of adapting yourself to another person again. You would pursue a career, partly for the sake of having it, partly because you needed to provide for yourself and for the Professor when he got older and, as you would expect, poorer—for he sucked at planning and tended to overspend his budget…

You couldn't picture your life in ten years, couldn't see the Miyano Shiho or the Haibara Ai of your future, even though you could see thirty-year-old Kudo very clearly. When he visited you in Venice (or in another city?), he would be wearing the new pair of jeans Ran had bought, as he would always find himself too busy to go shopping for clothes when there were so many more important and more interesting things to occupy himself with during the day. He would also be wearing the new pullovers and cardigans and scarves and hats she had knitted, much to your exasperation. He would eat very little in Venice because he was so accustomed to his wife's wonderful cooking, and he would have to squint or wear glasses because he had been reading voraciously in his free time, preferably in bed at night when his wife was fast asleep. When you met, he would cite Sherlock Holmes from memory as he always did, and you would laugh at him and tell him your impressions of him, which he would find annoying and unpleasant, even a bit insulting (although he would have to admit that everything you said was true). You would tease him and mess with his mind without him ever realizing that you never teased other men in the same way. Hotaru-chan, brilliant and intuitive, would immediately notice how differently you always behaved whenever he appeared. But, considerate as she was when it came to other people's private lives, she wouldn't ever mention it…

"I'll consider it," you murmured while your future without Kudo was spreading in front of you like a scroll of parchment filled with ancient scribbles you couldn't read, on which the illustrations—the only things whose meanings you could grasp—all featured Kudo and his unavoidable marriage.

"You're not going to regret it." Tenoh-san smirked. "I'll be the greatest daddy you can imagine."

"Very funny!" You tried a chuckle and then gave up. "I do hope we won't have to resort to this, though. After three years of pretending, I'm sick of mimicking the Professor's cute little girl during social occasions."

"Not when our scapegoat walks into our trap," Tenoh-san agreed. She languorously took another sip of her cocktail, a curious drink whose intense shade of blue looked peculiarly soothing in your present state of mind.

"What's the name of this?" You indicated her glass.

"Blue Lagoon." Tenoh-san smiled. "Do you want to try?"

You didn't, you told her, as you had stopped drinking long ago.

"But I know a non-alcoholic version of this. Wait a minute." She retreated to the bar next to the fireplace while you rearranged the pillows you were sitting on and continued staring into the fire, watching the elaborate dance of the flames and their flickering shadows. In only a few weeks, the whole situation would change. You were going to meet up with M Jean Black while Tenoh-san was going to lure the Organization's informants into a trap, "that person" and his seven—well, six—loyal crows would pay for Akemi-nee-san's death, you were going to secure Pandora's Box for Tenoh-san, and your stay in Beika would be over if Vodka didn't open the door to "Pandora's Box" before Kudo, Hattori, and you arrived…

"Your Blue Lagoon!" Tenoh-san presented you with the blue drink, whose lustrous glow shifted between turquoise and azure depending on whether you held it in your left or in your right hand, near the daylight lamp beside the desk, on which the maps of Paris, Osaka, and Kyoto were lying, or near the fire.

"Thanks."

After mixing herself another Blue Lagoon, Tenoh-san sank into her armchair again, sipped at her drink, and effortlessly glided into her business mode.

"When are you going to give me your undetectable drug?" she asked. If you couldn't come to her before you went to Paris without arousing your detective's suspicions, she could contact you in Paris although you would have to smuggle the pills through customs in that case. "I'll need at least twenty-five of them, preferably in a small jewellery box, which fits comfortably into my pocket."

"Regarding APTX, I've changed my mind."

A deafening silence fell upon the room, punctuated only by the crackling sound of fire, before time resumed its course.

"Great!" Tenoh-san put down her glass. "If you're trying to lecture me on how your drug was supposed to lengthen life instead of ending it, our deal is off."

Her words shocked you—albeit for reasons she couldn't guess. She had just made you realize that you had completely forgotten about the true purpose of APTX. The "Silver Bullet" had been used as a poison for so long that you failed to remember that it was once supposed to bring humankind the childhood it needed—the basis for a happy and meaningful life, which would make people more capable of love, empathy, and altruism.

"I didn't want to say that."

"What did you want to say then?"

"I can't take the risk of shrinking them," you admitted. "What would you do in such a case? Adopt the Boss or one of the crows? What should we do if not only one of them shrank but three or four of them? You can't possibly adopt them all!"

"I wouldn't even consider the option," she coldly stated. "They would only look like children, and their small size would make it much easier for me to take them out without leaving any clues behind."

Even a real, innocent child—if it functioned as a walking bomb—would have to be eliminated in order to save all the people who would end up as victims if you spared the little one, Tenoh-san proceeded. In such a case, she, too, would suffer from her guilty conscience for months, cursing the choice she had had to make. In this case, however, she would have no qualms about finishing off criminals who had wreaked havoc on the world. If this was the only reason why you denied her your drug, you were an absolute fool.

"We can make do without APTX!" you insisted.

"No, we can't!" She defiantly crossed her arms. "Unless you can give me another undetectable drug as replacement, this will be our last conversation about Pandora's Box. I wish Kudo and you luck on your little trip. Please do give the crows you meet my love… if you survive long enough to do it!"

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