File Forty-Nine: The Invitation from Hades

"Huh? Co-chan? Is something wrong?"

"I want to ask you something, Mom."

"Ah? What is it?"

"You said you studied under Kuroba Toichi before, right?"

"Yeah, what about that?"

"Did he also teach you how to talk with spirits? You know, mediumship and all that stuff..."

"... What are you talking about?"

"So he didn't?"

"He didn't."

"Then how?" his voice raised at that sentence, his hand clenching against the phone. "How is that you're talking with your son that has died more than four years ago?"

The silence that ensued was almost deafening.

And it only grew more notorious in the quietness of the house he was standing there, all alone. Because he knew he needed more privacy when talking about such a touchy subject, Conan had decided to call from his real house.

So there he was, awaiting an answer from his mother, the woman that had brought him to the world, despite what every single soul in this country ─ sans a few exceptions ─ believed.

"Inspector Megure figured out I was your son," he continued, voice dangerously low, when she fell silent due to her shock. "So I believe an explanation is in order."

"Conan," it was his father. Conan figured his mother had put it on speaker. "You need to calm down."

"How am I supposed to?!" he snapped. "He said I'm dead, Dad. Dead. Can you imagine how I felt when he said that?!"

"You're not dead, Conan," Yusaku pointed out, unhelpfully.

"Oh, really? Thanks, I seriously didn't notice," Conan rolled his eyes. "That explains why I'm able to physically hold his phone so I can listen you two lying into my face, again."

For a couple of seconds, Conan did not speak, solely focused on the silence that had settled between his parents, who were undoubtedly wordlessly debating what to say next. The child took advantage from that time to take deep breaths, in an attempt to calm himself down.

"Conan," his mother was the first one. "You're right."

"I don't like being lied to," slowly sitting in the stairs, the little boy said to them, in a soft, almost audible voice.

"We know," the honesty of her voice soothed, just a tiny bit, Conan's nerves. "That's why we're going to be completely frank with you."

Conan didn't respond to that.

"But you have to know that I haven't said a single lie last time I saw you. Every single thing I said was completely and irrevocably true."

"You changed my last name."

"Certainly," that was his father.

"Then, will you finally tell me what happened four years ago?"

There was a long, exhausted sigh.

"As you know, the case took place in your daycare center," Yusaku began. "At first it seemed to be a ordinary case of child abduction. There was a girl that, one day, didn't come back home."

Conan was slightly surprised about that, but didn't comment on it. He pondered over it, forcing his mind to remember that distant period of time.

He managed to recall something, vaguely. The girl that had disappeared was in Sakura Class, while he still was in Tulip Class. He remembered not talking with her at all.

Partly because they were in different classes. Partly because both of them were unusually quiet, antisocial children. Conan because he was shy ─ at that time he wasn't that much of a rude brat as he was now ─ but that girl was simply... weird. Silent, cold.

Maybe she was actually shy, he shrugged.

"Do you remember what you did?"

"I..."

"I want to be like Dad and Oniichan! I want to be the best detective to have ever lived!"

His eyes opened slightly. "I wanted to solve the case," he recalled. "You two were in a trip for a week, and I didn't tell Shinichi-niichan anything because I wanted to do this without his help. So nobody noticed."

"Except for that teacher."

He still could remember him. Kind eyes and a brilliant smile on his face, loved by every single children in his class.

"Oh, I see you like reading, Conan-kun."

"Yeah! I love mystery novels."

"Ah, really? I'm a bit of a mystery fanatic as well."

Of course, Conan hadn't been an exception. Considering he had always had a hard time making any kind of friends, the company of this fun, considerate and mystery enthusiast teacher had been something that Conan had grown to love. To the point that he would trust him with anything.

"Hey, Conan-kun, what are you doing?"

"Shh!" the child hushed him instantly, before he returned his gaze to the sketchbook he had been writing in. "Don't tell anyone! Please, would you keep a secret?"

"Of course!"

"It's a code! Or at least, I think it is. I haven't been able to solve it yet."

The man leaned over to take a peek of the page that the child had filled with different letters. He could tell, even if from his position in front of Conan he could only see them upside down.

The teacher's smile faltered for some reason, and his eyes opened widely.

His own eyes were wide as well, as he dimly recalled the teacher excusing himself and making a call outside. Then, when it was about time to leave, he had told the little child there was something he had wanted to ask him about.

Little Conan was naive, and had followed him to an empty classroom.

Everything else was a blur. Something about the teacher pressing a cloth with some kind of drug against his nose, Conan kicking him in the shin in order to escape before he had been caught again.

Latching into one of those colourful pamphlets that read 'Nice to meet you!' that teachers would hang on billboards. His Tulip Badge dropping in the ground. His hand stretching forward, in a silent plea of help to anyone that was outside that room. The nauseating sweet smell filling his nostrils again.

"I'm really sorry, Conan-kun."

Then, nothing.

"When we heard what had happened to you, we tried to get back to Japan as quickly as possible," Yukiko continued, her voice tinted with a bit of sadness that those memories brought in. "But there was a terrible storm and flights got cancelled. Thank goodness Shinichi found you."

Oniichan did? he pondered, but wasn't that surprised. The memory he had of his brother, bleeding because of him, was still fresh, and he didn't think he would forget it anytime soon. At least, not again.

"Then," the child demanded to know. "Why did you decide to fake my death?"

He didn't even bother to ask how, since he was aware of the many, many terrifying connections his father had.

A long silence ensued after that question, and that caused the child to grow a bit anxious. It was as if they were having a hard time silently debating if it was wise to tell him all that.

When he father sighed, Conan knew he had given up.

"Your kidnapper was found dead on his cell the morning after he had been imprisoned. The official statement was that he had smuggled a gun in and shot himself."

"There's more to that, isn't it?"

"... The shot had been inflicted on his mid abdomen."

Eyes widening at that revelation, the little boy took a deep, shaky breath as he thought about the implications of that. Naturally, a person who had decided to take their own life wouldn't shoot themselves in such a place.

Someone else must have killed him.

"But there was no proof of anyone doing that, so the case was shut not long thereafter," his mother continued. "So your father and I decided to take you with us to America after changing your identity. That's when we took Edogawa Conan in, so to speak."

"Your brother protested a lot and ended up staying in Japan. At first we thought he simply didn't want to leave Ran-chan, but now, I can only wonder..."

It was clear as day that his reasons for staying were different.

"So, why is that I didn't know about this earlier? I had my name changed way before I came back to Japan!" Conan's overall confusion and shock was shown through a slight angry tone on his words. "I deserved to know that-"

"We know," the soft, slightly somber tone on his mother's voice caused Conan to pause and listen. "But we didn't want you to find out."

"Why?!

"Because you had been through a traumatic experience, Conan," he didn't expect those words. "You had suffered a lot, even repressed some your memories. How would you take it if we just told you we had to change your family name because we were afraid they would come after you?"

She had made a good point, so he didn't say anything back.

"So we told your teacher in America not to say anything about your 'true' parents, because it was still a touchy subject. And there was also the fact that it's common to call people by their first name overseas. Especially if you're only a little child."

After hearing all that Conan felt... drained. All those elaborate fabricated lies that his family had constructed all around him were finally, finally falling apart.

He had thought when, the time came, he would feel relieved, glad. Instead of that, he felt strangely depleted of energy, shoulders dropping a little as he sighed. The emotional stain was a bit too much.

And it seemed like it was the same for his parents, if they way they had also fallen quiet was something to go by.

"If that's true... If all of that is true," it was the son the first one to break the uncomfortable silence. "Why did you sent me back to Japan?"

"Four months after we left, Shinichi called to tell us that the people that worked with him had been finally arrested," Yusaku replied. "Admittedly, we believed his words without any question. We believed it was safe."

"And it was clear to us that you weren't happy here. We didn't know if it was because your classmates were giving you a hard time at preschool, or because you were beginning to distrust people after you were betrayed by that person. But you were becoming more distant, closed to yourself, more... sad."

Conan's gaze fell on the floor, not feeling like adding a comment to that.

"There was also the fact that you were growing more and more apart from Shinichi. And we didn't like that, especially when you two had seemed to get along so well in the past."

"We're sorry, Conan. We really are. You're far too young to be dealing with all this, yet..."

Trailing off into silence, both parents looked at each other from the place they were in, all across the world. Their child wasn't talking, unwilling to make any sound, which rendered them completely unable to understand what was going through his mind ─ if there was going something through his mind.

So, they felt worry tugging their hearts. Concerned about how their young child was taking the news.

But then, in an almost audible whisper, he finally gave them his reply.

"You two are the most irresponsible parents I've ever meet. Probably, the worst in this entire world."

They didn't find the words to answer to that comment, so they lowered their heads, accepting his.

"... But you did your best to protect me," both of them gave the phone a shocked, yet confused, glance. "I suppose it have been hard for you two, not only with my stuff, but having to deal with Shinichi-niichan living in another country as well. And to not let it show. To keep pretending that everything was fine, when it was not... For all that..."

A timid, bittersweet smile appeared on his face.

"For all that... Mom, Dad... Thank you. "

It took more than a moment for his parents to react, but he didn't rush them. He simply waited, patiently, for his words to finally be processed by their brains. He realized his feelings had been successfully conveyed when he heard his father's relieved sigh, and his mother's watery laugh.

"No need to say that, Conan," Yusaku added, with an unusually tender tone on his voice.

"We love you a lot, you know that, right?" he could almost hear Yukiko's gentle smile.

"I know," he really did.

And, even if he wouldn't say it outloud, his feelings were exactly the same.

There was no need to, though. He knew that his parents were already aware of that.

Leaving behind a warm feeling in each of their hearts, the call came into an end without saying much after that. Standing up, the boy stretched out, the ghost of a smile still on his face, and glanced once more at his phone. Well, I guess that I need to call Ran-neechan next, right? he needed to tell her that he was going to stay in Agasa's house a few more days to take care of Haibara.

That fuzzy feeling, however, left suddenly when he glanced upwards, right to the entrance of the big library.

The doors were slightly open.

Horror prompted his eyes to widen behind his thick glasses as he had closed them last time he had been there. Also, he knew for a fact Ran hadn't been there either.

So, without a further word and heart pounding heavily against his chest, the little boy left.

He only could hope against hope that it had only been his imagination.

The feeling of dread from the other time didn't disappear the next day, only got worse, fueled by Conan's ever overthinking mind that simply couldn't let that go. Because of all that, he had decided to check, making sure to be as careful as humanly possible.

Yet, he only got to the entrance. A letter sat on the mailbox, completely untouched, which prompted him to believe it hadn't been there for a long time.

Mostly curious about who had sent a letter to an otherwise abandoned house, he picked it up, partly expecting it to be just fanmail. A small part of him reminded him that, if that was the case, a fan would most likely know that nobody lived there. That Kudo Yusaku was overseas and Kudo Shinichi missing and unable to be traced.

At first sight, Conan couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. That was, however, until he turned it around.

Written in English was a word that caused the air freeze inside his lungs:

"Vermouth"

"Vermouth?" Agasa repeated over the phone. "Sorry, Ran-kun. I have never heard this name before."

Except that he had. The child had bursted open the door to his house so suddenly that the professor had almost dropped the cup of coffee he had been enjoying. Before he could do anything, the letter was shoved in his face.

"Vermouth," the boy had said, pale faced with a frown.

And the word had also filled the scientist's ears, causing her eyes to widen in terror and her body to shiver, violently, as if the temperature had dropped a few degrees out the blue.

Agasa didn't enjoy lying, but the stern look on Conan's face prompted him to make an exception.

"I want to ask for your help," Ran then said, causing him to pause. "Since it was mailed to my father, maybe... Maybe that guy received one too."

"Oh, Shinichi?"

"So could you check his mailbox for me? Because if he doesn't know about it, he'll complain about it later."

"Oh. Okay, I'll call you back if I find one. But I don't think he received one..."

Even though he could clearly read the word 'Shinichi-sama' at the back of the letter that Conan was holding.

"And please," the seriousness on her voice prompted the Professor to focus in her voice. "Keep this a secret from Conan-kun."

Well, it was a bit too late for that, he supposed.

"If that kid goes to that type of place, he'll run into danger. Also..."

"Also, what?"

"Ah, well... Tell him to come back soon... And to stop running around."

He didn't completely understand the meaning behind her words, but he still agreed with them before she had to leave. Once the call was finished, the old professor sighed deeply, then turned to the children.

Who seemed to be having a staring contest, glaring at each other for reasons he couldn't comprehend. He must have missed something, Agasa guessed.

"I'm telling you I have absolutely no idea of who the sender is," Haibara was saying through her facemask.

"And I said that there's absolutely no way I'm buying that," Conan stated, taking a moment to study her further, before speaking up. "Your face is pale, you are sweating a lot. And you're shaking, hugging yourself tightly."

"I'm sick, Kudo-kun."

"Yeah, but your fever dropped hours ago. Besides, I didn't get to mention the way your entire body is tense and your eyes widened when I said that name," the boy's eyes narrowed. "You are terrified. You know who this person is."

Her glare did not subside, it became more intense instead.

"Well, even if you didn't, I have reason to believe is one of them, besides the obvious alcohol-themed codename, of course," his eyes fixed on the letter. "Outside it's addressed to 'Kudo Shinichi-sama', but in the inside..."

Agasa looked over Conan's shoulder, and couldn't help but gasp, terror evident on his pale face. "To..." he barely managed to breathe out. "To our detective and traitor, Singani-sama?!"

"Yeah," the boy merely nodded. "I guess that pretty much confirms he has betrayed the Organization, huh?"

Not that it was surprising.

For the longest moment, Haibara didn't say anything just watched the boy beside her bed giving the letter in his hands a long look, eyebrows furrowed as he focused in the words depicted.

But there was something on his eyes that caused her heart to drop on her stomach, and even more cold sweat to run down her forehead. Her mouth opened and closed soundlessly, unable to get her voice out from the knot on her throat, while helplessly listening Conan telling the professor about the off-season halloween party his brother had been invited.

"This is an invitation from their member Vermouth. Either they're prepared for him, or they can't wait any longer."

"... Kudo-kun," she finally managed. ".. You're not thinking of actually coming along and..." her voice trailed down into silence when Conan did not even look at her, just narrowed his eyes at the letter. He was determined, and she did not like that. As a proof of it, her fingers wrapped around the blankets, tightly. "You will get killed."

"I won't," he said, with such an amount of certainty that she would've actually believed it, if they weren't talking about them. "I have the perfect plan, so I will definitely not die."

"Forget it!" she yelled, angry and terrified all the same. "You have absolutely nothing to do with them-!"

A fit of coughing interrupted her, but Conan expression did not waver, even as he watched intently her curl into herself, in an attempt to recover her breath. Before long his eyes closed and let out a long sigh, setting the letter on top of the desk next to him.

"I promise," she looked up to see an unusually sweet smile drawn on his face, that did not help in soothing her at all. "I promise I will come back, alive."

"You idiot! You have to stop this. This... this is madness!"

"... I'm sorry, Haibara-san."

Before she could even ask what he was apologizing for, Haibara felt the prick on her neck causing her eyes to flicker towards Conan's hands, or more specifically, the wristwatch that he was pointing at her. She mentally cursed the boy, taking into the apologetic look he was giving him before her mind sunk into an ink of black.

Agasa was far too shocked to see the girl suddenly dropping into her bed, like a doll with her strings cut, to say anything.

"It doesn't matter if they kill me or not."

The professor blinked, confusedly, not taking his gaze away from the little boy that arranged Haibara, shifting her body into a more comfortable position and tucking her in, with a serious expression on his face.

"What do you mean?"

His lips curved into an amused smile, even if he was sweating a bit. "Because she's going to kill me once she wakes up."

Agasa couldn't disagree.

"So, you're really going to go?" he asked instead, voice wavering in both concern and fear.

"If we keep running and running away, there will be no progress made."

The professor wanted to argue, but he understood the child far too well for that. He knew that if they didn't do anything, if they let those people have their way, both Haibara and Shinichi would be forever prisoners of their own fear, until they were found and ultimately killed. That, if the drug they had been poisoned with didn't do the work first.

Of course, the same destiny awaited them both and everyone that had any kind of connection with the two traitors.

Yet, understanding definitely didn't mean liking it.

He despised the idea of a eight year-old being so deeply involved in danger, but he didn't have any other choice but to trust his overly-intelligent, young mind.

Yukiko had called the other day. She had said that Yusaku had his hands tied behind his back and couldn't do anything to help.

If they found out that Shinichi, who had been known as Singani, was alive everything would be over.

So, with a heavy heart, Agasa was forced to admit that Conan was the only one who could do it.

"Conan," the child was surprised to see that resolve on the professor's eyes. "What do you need help with? You said you had a plan."

That didn't mean he would just stand back with his arms crossed.

"I have a few things to think about first," said the kid as he began to walk away, the old man in tow. "Maybe I should tell Shinichi-niichan about this," his eyes fell on the house next to the one he was at that could be seen through the window.

There was something he needed to investigate first.

It was deadly silent inside.

Not that it should have been surprising, since nobody has lived there ─ more like actively lived there because he had actually stayed there a few occasions, separate times ─ for more than a year now. Yet, it was something like a different kind of silence.

The kind that would cause his heart to threaten to rip from his ribcage, or a chill to run down his back. To expect something to come and get him from the dark corners of that house.

But he was certain. There was someone there.

He had, after all, checked the water, gas and electricity meter before going inside. They all had changed a bit since he had came by before.

Who is in here?

Conan flickered the light of his wristwatch on, and activated his shoes.

I could deal with them if there were two, but what if there were three?

Silently as he has never been before, the young boy walked up the stairs.

Judging from the water, electric and gas meters, there shouldn't be more than two people, though.

Slowly, he tiptoed his way through the hallways, straining his ears to hear through the unsettling quietness. Approaching a door, he leaned against the wall and paused.

His hand went to the doorknob and gingerly turned it, so the door would open. Taking a deep breath, the young sleuth walked inside, moving closer and closer to the center of the room, being, little by little, swallowed by darkness.

He heard something shifting, so his eyes turned to the source and paled when he noticed a figure standing there, in the opposite corner of the room.

Before he had the chance to react to the unknown presence, the door closed on its own. Terrified, the child spun around. Through the darkness, he saw a gun.

The gun was pointed at him.

And before anything could be done, it hit him.

Something cold hit his face.

It didn't take long for a very familiar giggle to resound in the silent room, to which he could only blink, perplexed upon the realization that his face was strangely wet.

And the figure in the darkness moved, the sound footsteps clear in his ears as that person walked right next to him.

The lights suddenly turned on and he saw his grinning mother, holding a water gun on her hand.

No words were enough to describe how annoyed he was.

But soon, all that irritation vanished, leaving place to confusion as he realized that his mother was nowhere close to the light switch.

When he saw the person responsible for the light in the room, his mouth hang open.

"... Oniichan?!"

Definitely amused by his younger brother's atonishment, Shinichi merely smirked. "Hi, there," he would have been lying if he said he wasn't enjoying the sight of Conan, for once, being the one shocked beyond belief.

"Don't go 'hi' on me! What are you doing here...?" his bewildered eyes fell on his mother, who was still trying to hold back her laugh behind her hand. "What are you two doing here?!"

"Why," the tips of Yukiko's mouth were still struggling to remain straight, but she was failing. Even so, she moved closer and crouched in front of her son. "We were worried, Co-chan."

"So you decided to induce a heart-attack in a perfectly healthy eight year-old?" his shock had long receded, and a plain look took over. "Geez, thanks for your concern."

Yukiko chuckled, seeming completely unaffected by it.

But when his cold eyes fell on Shinichi, the teenager couldn't help but unconsciously take a step back.

"I expected this coming from Mom, but to think that even you were playing along."

"You can't blame me!" the high school detective argued. "You needed to learn your lesson."

"A lesson on what? 'How to survive when having the most irritating family possible'?"

"Better try with 'do not enter a building when you're so certain that dangerous people are inside and, on top of that, alone'."

"That's a bit too long, isn't it?"

An exasperated groan escaped Shinichi, as he rubbed his hand against his face.

"Nevermind that, why did you come?" the child continued, not batting an at his brother's internal conflict. "And with that I mean, why are you that worried?"

"It didn't feel right," Yukiko was the first to answer. "Since we talked over the phone the other day... I just wanted to make sure you were okay after finding out all that."

She turned towards his eldest and smiled.

"But I was really shocked to see that Shin-chan had gotten home a few days before me."

"Same here," Shinichi shrugged. "You really scared me when you arrived. I really thought you were someone else."

"So, the person that was here when I was talking with Dad and Mom..." Conan blinked.

Shinichi simply nodded, and the child understood that he had most likely listened to every single word that he had said to his parents ─ and by the frown on his face, Conan could tell that his brother did not like what he had heard.

But at least it had been him. Unconsciously, Conan's shoulders dropped slightly, a bit of tension vanishing when that realization struck.

"So," Conan, now a bit more calmer, said to Shinichi. "Why did you come? Since you were already here before and all that."

"Because I didn't believe a single word you said the other day, you little liar."

"... Have you ever met a mirror?"

"You were obviously distressed," he explained, ignoring his comment on purpose. "And it wasn't the first time you had to convince Occhan that there's a murder in front of him."

Conan's eyes fixed in a random spot beside his brother, clearly avoiding his knowing look.

"Imagine my surprise when I talked to Ran later that day and she said that, while is true that you met with her at the department store, she was only hanging around with Sonoko and her English teacher," his eyes narrowed. "You're hiding something... and I don't mean just hiding the facts from me."

"Eh?"

"I can see something poking out your pocket. I would say it's a letter. That's an invitation from an off-season Halloween party from Vermouth, right?"

For a moment Conan was shocked, and couldn't figure out how Shinichi could have known about that, until he remembered that Kogoro had also received one. Ran must have told him, the child supposed.

"So, Conan, please. Just this once, for a change, tell us. What is going through your mind?"

Conan's hesitant eyes met his brother's.

"Just promise me you won't freak out."

"Are you absolutely and irrevocably crazy?!"

"You promised you wouldn't freak out."

"Yeah, but this, this plan... It borderlines with suicide!"

"Like you are the one to talk."

"Conan, you're basically saying that you're going to dress up as Ai-chan so you can get kidnapped. On purpose."

"Congratulations, you just proved you can understand basic Japanese."

"But Conan...!"

The child did not seem fazed, in the slightless, at his brother's panic. Simply grabbed a cookie her mother had bought and munched on it, as if they were just talking about the weather outside or another equally mundane topic.

"Are you finished?"

"I'm going to finish you."

"Okay, you can continue. Won't hurry you."

Agasa, who had been called over so they could talk about their next plan of action, laughed nervously as he watched the older Kudo frantically trying, in vain to get the youngest to see reason.

"Co-chan," their mother soothed, seeing that Shinichi was closer to having a mental breakdown than the child's expresion changing. "Your brother is right, this is dangerous. There will be more opportunities, maybe we should-"

"No," she was silenced by the seriousness of his voice. "Those people have found Haibara-san and they are waiting for the moment to strike. We can't wait any longer," he hesitated for some reason. " I can't..." then he sighed. "... I don't want to go back on my promise. My promise to her."

"What did you promise her?"

The way his eyes darted away from every single of their faces did not go unnoticed. He mumbled something, so softly that nobody inside that room heard.

"Maybe you should try speaking up," Agasa pointed out.

All of sudden, a faint shade of pink painted his cheeks.

And the three of them could only blink.

"... I promised I would protect her," his voice was a bit louder now. "That's why... That's why I have to do this. This has to stop and..."

When he looked up, he trailed off into silence and blinked owlishly at the gradually widening grin his mother had on her face. At her side his brother was rubbing his temples while Agasa simply looked at them, equally confused, but the way his lips were tugging upwards he could tell he was ultimately amused about something.

... Did I say something wrong?

Before he had time to do anything about it, he saw his mother standing up and walking around the coffee table. "Oh, Co-chan has gotten so big!" the next instant, he was being glomped in one of those bone-crushing bear hugs. "I'm so proud of you!"

... Eh?

As she hugged him, she focused on his groaning son and let go a bit. "That's right, I forgot," she suddenly said, causing Shinichi to huff.

Conan watched with wide, curious eyes as Yukiko stretched her hand towards her eldest who, in turn, reached for something inside his pocket. The child didn't understand why he had pulled out his wallet, taken a bill then placed it on Yukiko's hand.

The boy only stared, cluelessly.

"You were betting whether he liked Ai-kun or not?" Agasa asked, completely surprised, the woman with the bright smile.

... What?

"Of course not," Shinichi said, rolling his eyes, annoyance sipping on his voice. "We both knew about that already."

"Shin-chan believed Co-chan was far too dense to realize it," Yukiko explained, before giving Shinichi a teasing smile. "When will you understand that not everyone is as slow as you are? You haven't even confessed to Ran-chan, have you?"

"Leave me alone."

"... Hey, hey," the young voice broke through the conversation. "What... Just what?"

Mother and son looked at the little child, blinking twice at his wide, wide blue eyes behind thick glasses, and the bright, lovely blush present on his overall confused, yet equally embarrassed face.

The smile on his mother's face dropped at the instant and Shinichi's smug grin made its appearance.

With a sigh, Yukiko pressed the bill she had just been given on top of the detective's open palm and went to take something else from her pocket.

"Hey!" Conan yelled, now utterly annoyed, face redder than ever before.

A/N:

Dy: Don't worry, I already have plans for a chapter like that. It might take a while until I write it, though.

Guest: That's actually a tough question, since I really like them both! Out of those two, however, I would say I love CoAi more, however XD

ajjr12: I don't know myself XD Hopefully, though, not long.