February 9th, 1996

Japan was a wondrous country. No matter what part of the year left enough time on your hands for a vacation, you could find a spot there with the ideal weather. Even while slicing through a winter morning on her motorbike, the breeze ruffling her platinum locks felt comfortably warm, strongly contrasting the brusque shacks lined up strictly by the abandoned roadstead. Briny air brushed her neck as she took a sharp turn into the gap between two buildings numbered sixty-one and sixty-two, only to compensate her with the finery of the morning sun over the sea reaching beyond the horizon. Distorting the picturesque sight, there stood a man unable to appreciate beauty.

Her leather boot stepped on wet sand as she set a foot on the ground.

"Gin."

A motorboat was rocking slightly on the waves crashing into the concrete dock. Decades of experience allowed her to guess what kind of cargo laid under the sheets waving in the morning wind. Its back sank a bit when his partner finally managed to get an additional tank of gasoline on board. Even though the man was overworked to the point of sweating buckets upon buckets into his trench coat, he would never dare to risk finding his boss in a bad mood.

Considering a certain incident, though, the chances of that were high until the responsible party sported a few extra holes.

"Kudo Shinichi. It was that damn brat. It had to be!"

Another unhinged perk of his. While building a reputation on objective decisions, he never truly left behind his obsessive self. Once he picked on someone, especially if the unfortunate individual found a way to piss him off or he considered them a threat to the organisation, they were as good as dead. Worse if both, just like the one that left him stare at the ceiling for weeks, unintentionally giving him more than enough time to make up the graphic details of their impending execution.

More platinum locks fell on her shoulders as she took off her helmet.

"Anokata really approved killing someone that famous?"

"Someone leaked our information to the brat. I have permission to act on my own in case of potential danger to our organisation." A butt of cigarette landed in the dirt. "I will catch him, get the other name and kill both. No more future predicting."

"In your head. How do you explain all the other cases?"

"Some big dogs are probably backing him up. One more reason to get him."

Trying to convince him was futile, which stirred something unfamiliar in her. Had it been any other person, she would not have bat an eyelash. Had it been any other person instead of the one whose photo decorated the edge of her darts board, she would not have bothered to initiate a conversation with his soon to-be killer. Her cool guy was an idealist genius, a breath of fresh air in their rotten world who managed to get himself on their radar before even blossoming into adulthood.

Gin had practically announced his plans to the organisation, and she was no slouch to recognise the real intention behind the seemingly unconnected actions. Moving up those four crooks, some drug dealers who broke their contract with the organisation if her memory served her right, on his hit list was a choice of place rather than person. His plan was ideal for getting to someone who favoured controlling everything from the distance but would never fail to intervene on the behalf of others. It would have been worthy of her praise had the intended target not been her favourite detective, someone tangled up in their business because of the obsession of their ace assassin.

It felt unfitting, for someone that young to die without knowing what hit him, only to satisfy the paranoia of a maniac.

"Do you know why detectives are easy to get rid of?"

Not that he expected her to answer.

"Because nobody turns a head if they die in action."

It was just another afternoon spent in the detective agency. It was just another attempt of convincing himself to spill the truth weighting his conscious for almost a month. However, no matter how many times had he comfortably showed up on their doorstep to serve with some good advice regarding the old man's detective work, the ambiance of their everyday life, the sense of normality in his former home always stifled the words into him before those could disrupt this fleeting peace.

It would be much easier, he was aware, if he just decided to get over with the confession that was inevitable on the long run. It was not even concern towards their safety that was holding him back, but the knowledge that he would strip away any chance at a normal life from them. As much as he liked to think that he was capable of handling everything, that it was his duty to take the brunt of this case, reality had slapped him in the face once. While it would undoubtedly hurt to crush the world they had known, if doing so spared them from the same suffering that they had gone through in his timeline, he would do it in a heartbeat.

Reaching for the steaming hot tea on the table, the mug cracked.

"Leave it, Shinichi. I'll bring another one right away."

Ran, at the very least. He was running towards repeating his mistakes at this rate.

Storming upstairs to take care of the broken mug, she left him with the other resident of the house. The old man was sitting by his desk in the same slightly stooping pose that he spent the majority of his everydays in. Not even the cold breeze coming from the window opened to a gap, rustling the stacks of paperwork around him, broke him out of his trance. Every bit of his attention was concentrated on the letter written with letters cut out from a newspaper.

While seeing the normally easy-going detective taking a case, or anything, so seriously was amusing, he reminded himself that this version of him did not know of any supposedly paranormal ability backing him up whenever he was stuck with an investigation. Nor would he think of asking for help.

"I hope you enjoy freeloading on us, Kudo."

At least his presence registered.

"Fussing over a mug of tea, geez. You got a tough nut?"

It was about time. While that case had nothing to do with his personal investigation, it was not something he recalled with good feelings. Not being able to stop a series of murders despite the warning and letting the culprit commit suicide in the end had made him feel like a failure as a detective. A detective who drives the culprit into taking their own life with their deduction is not better than a murderer is. It would be different this time around, if he could help it.

"Ran found it in the mailbox the morning after the day you came over for dinner, over a week ago now. The text is put together from letters and words cut out from a newspaper. It says 'On the next full moon, the shadows of Tsukikage Island will once again begin to vanish. Your investigation is required. Asou Keiji.'. Yesterday, a call came from a person of the same name telling that they had transferred about five hundred thousand—you talk about self-hiring customers."

Ran returned with his tea. "It sounds kinda threatening though, doesn't it?"

"That's right. Whatever this letter refers at will happen on the next full moon, which means tomorrow." Again, if he had finally decided to involve them, he could have just told them about the murders instead of having to tiptoe around the topic. "I suggest us to start with the only certain fact, the location."

No sooner had he finished his sentence than the old man spread out a map on the table about the eastern coast. His index finger pointed at a tiny piece of land far from the mainland with a caption telling 'Tsukikage Island'. "Naturally, that was the first thing on my mind too. However, apart from some skirmishes in connection with the upcoming mayoral election, nothing interesting turned up. I also found nothing about this so-called Asou Keiji. I could be a prank for all we know."

Nothing about Asou Keiji. Those four had cleaned up well.

"It would be quite an expensive prank then, for five hundred thousand. What mediums did you check?"

"Local newspaper and registration documents, mostly. Remote places like that have few reliable sources to investigate."

"What about criminal records?"

From the old man tapping his chin thoughtfully, probably not. It took him an annoyed frown to swallow his pride. "You have this one. I'll ask the inspector to look into it. Hence the area belongs to Kanto region, the metropolitan department should have a copy of it."

While the old man dialled the police, Ran took a better look at the map.

"Tsukikage Island. There are so many small islands out there that we never even hear about."

"Right, though the majority of those are not or very sparsely populated. Compared to the city, it's like a different world. Everyone knows each other there and, unfortunately, police supervision is often too light or biased. If you ask me, that is the perfect place to get away with something illegal as long as the locals are supportive towards the cause. Most likely the only reason the yakuza is not hiding out there is that the telecommunication is next to non-existent—"

Hold on a moment. Not only the yakuza took that badly—

"What? There had been two incidents before supposedly tied to Asou Keiji!?"

Both of them snapped towards the old man who was tensely listening to what was being told to him. Soon, after thanking the inspector for his efforts, he placed the receiver back to its place. "It looks like there really was an Asou Keiji on Tsukikage Island. He was a famous pianist born in the island. One evening twelve years ago, after his public concert at the community centre, he suddenly locked himself and his family up in his house and set it on fire. According to the four people who went to save them, by name Kuroiwa Tatsuji, Kawashima Hideo, Kameyama Isamu and Nishimoto Ken, he stabbed his family to death then played a piano piece over and over as he burnt to ashes."

Ran let out a faint squeal while he just folded his arms.

"There's more to the story, right?"

"Apparently, there is. Two years ago, the secretary of Kuroiwa, the current mayor, walked past the community centre one night when he heard the same piano piece being played that had been during the twelve years old incident. Since the piano there was the same one that Asou Keiji played on at his last concert, he went to check it, only to find Kameyama dead on the keys. The cause of death was a heart attack, which is not surprising considering that the deceased had heart problems."

"So the one to die then was amongst those involved twelve years ago. It seems suspicious."

"Unless you can kill people with heart attacks, that case was obviously not murder."

"There are several ways to induce a heart attack. Drugging them or exposing them to a scary experience, to name a few."

Ran eyes the letter warily. "I think the letter is also strange. Who would send something like that in name of a dead person?"

It was finally getting on the right track. "Probably someone who would like us to investigate this Asou Keiji, like a close friend or remaining family member. You said that his family died in the fire twelve years ago, but what if someone happened to avoid the tragedy and wants justice?"

"Then they would hold a grudge against a dead person. Asou killed his family after all."

"Unless this case is not what it seems."

Their staring match ended in the old man dialling the inspector again. "Excuse me for bothering you again. Ah, no. This is unrelated. I just wanted to ask if this Asou Keiji had any relatives aside from those deceased in the fire—what? He had a son, named Asou Seiji, who was hospitalized in Tokyo at that time!?"

He waited until the old man placed the receiver in its place.

"What about this, then? Twelve years ago, Asou Keiji and his family was actually murdered by those four who claimed to witness his brutality. Since the local law enforcement found no reason not to believe them, the case was closed as first-degree murder and suicide committed by the victim himself. However, they missed to calculate with the absent son, who became suspicious of his father's death and returned to the island under an alias to investigate."

"Wait, that would mean—"

"Then two years ago, he accidently revealed his identity in front of one of the actual culprits, who died of a heart attack upon hearing that. He presumably spilled everything before he died though, confirming the suspicions the son had. The piano piece heard by the secretary was played by the son as a showcase of twisted irony. He came up with his current plan then. Once he was no longer considered an outsider, he would take vengeance on everyone responsible. Remember what the letter said, 'On the next full moon, the shadows of Tsukikage Island will once again begin to vanish.'. It can refer to another murder, or multiple murders, taking place on that island."

Dismissing the horrified looks on their faces, he snatched the paper with the relevant landline numbers.

"In any case, I'll contact the islanders."

Not a peep on the first number. "I—Idiot, nobody will believe you without evidence."

Not a peep on the second number. "Everyone believes the prophet though."

Not a peep on the third number. "That guy has the privilege. Who knows, maybe he's the one keeping the line busy."

Putting down the receiver interrupted the two behind him. "No. The line is not busy. Something's up with the landlines."

Forgetting everything for a moment, his carefully maintained mask slipped as he tensed in anticipation. During this case in the previous timeline, they had been able to contact the police through the landlines when the first corpse turned up, meaning that those should have been working this time too. It had finally started then. Divergence happening this soon could only be written off as him catching attention, the wrong kind of that. Considering the circumstances, it could only be—

Stuffing a few documents into his suit, the old man headed for the door.

"Tsukikage Island is out of mobile range and the landlines are dead, which means that currently nobody, not even the prophet, can contact the locals. Being the only detective who knows about this case, it is my task to handle. I'll get us tickets to that godforsaken place." Typical old man. Once he got a name to work with, his sense of responsibility multiplied beyond reasonable. His eyes locked on his figure from the doorframe. "Fishing for compliment, Kudo?"

"Not at all. Just for a third ticket."

Haido city was like a suburb compared to the proximity of the detective agency. Instead of a maze of concrete buildings and narrow alleyways, it resembled more a leisurely housing estate with some heathy green vegetation between the properties. As she followed the teenage detective further against the reddening horizon, the more that housing estate turned into an expensive-looking mansion district with richly decorated family houses and huge gardens lining up on both sides.

If not for occasional moments like this, she would forget whose parents were world-famous celebrities.

Shinichi had always been humble about his family. Never once had he brought up his parents to boost his reputation, not even before his recent change of attitude. It had changed, that much was for sure, and she knew that those standing close to the famous teenage detective spotted it too.

He was less about the fanfare and theatrics, putting more emphasize on swiftness and stealth. Instead of low-key enjoying the attention focused on him and that unbeatable intellect of his, he newfound preferred to slip under the flimsy cover of appearances and cut straight into the harrowing depths of the situation with the ease of a professional, as if he had been in the field for tenfold more years that he could possibly have, and that was only the tip of the iceberg.

Trailing his footsteps on the sidewalk, she could see in the way he walked how tense he was. Behind his attentive gaze laid a hidden restlessness, making him constantly watch his surroundings. Despite knowing well that she was a self-defence expert, he still kept her in arm's reach. If something, that coming as natural as breathing from someone whose only sport interest was soccer was not making any sense. While being admittedly inferior to him in deduction skills, she was not fully unobservant either.

After years of detective work not causing any notable changes in his behaviour, something capable of suddenly leaving such an effect on him was highly concerning. Ever since he had gotten entangled in those future prediction cases, his wariness strengthened to the multiple of normal.

It was a divisive case. While the majority loved their mysterious prophet often to the point of worshipping him, many feared his power. With no official statement about him after a tight month, even the countless conspiracy theorists and fans could only make guesses about his true identity or the nature of his apparent supernatural abilities. Everyone had an opinion on the matter though, be it student, police or street vendor, it depended on who you asked.

Everyone, expect the one who stood the closest to the fire.

Shinichi always dodged the topic each time he was asked. As if he wished to avoid talking about that person no matter what, which was, again, not making any sense given that he was one of the head detectives in the specialized task force. It looked like this particular fiasco involved him on more than one level. Ever since their first outing, a strange sense of difference was hiding under a masterfully crafted mask of his, which only peeled off a bit when they were amongst themselves.

"What? Is there something on my face?"

"Ah, nothing."

Menacing two storeys of western design towered above her on the right with a neglected garden surrounding it, the growing shadows licking the edges and corners giving off that creepy haunted house vibe. Upon hearing the keys rattle in the lock, however, the intimidating pressure faded and nostalgia took its place.

It had been a while since the last time she visited his house. Back when they had been in elementary, his parents used to invite her over for an afternoon's worth of playtime, even if that mostly entailed her dragging him all around the place. Her memories were vivid, as if their child versions were still playing tag on the same ground she was walking on. After his parents moved out, he gradually stopped inviting her. It made her wonder what made a change so suddenly after all those years.

Gloom lingered in the still air of the corridor, coming from the rooms on the side. Even without a definite source of light to put them in better illumination, the furniture looked like they had been collecting dust for years. Had she not known better, she would have been positive that the house was abandoned. As her mouth opened to question his dubious living conditions, he turned on her to close the door. His hand rested on the knob for an additional moment.

"Listen, Ran. I have something that I have to tell you."

"Shinichi, what are you—"

"I just need you to hear me to the end before doing anything, okay?"

When he looked at her again, she knew that it had finally shattered. Each mask he had been showing to the world, to his friends and colleagues, cracked and crumbled into pieces in front of her. Each shade of lie and deceit fell off the person she claimed to know, letting the enigma she had seen on that roller coaster back then, memory she had buried deep into the back of her mind, take his place. At least this time, no trickery or wordiness would cover the truth.

"Do you remember that day, that one we spent in Tropical Land?"

Her head dipped into a nod as she waited tensely for whatever revelation may come.

"It happened during that ride on the roller coaster. You must have realised it too, it was not hard to spot. I believe this is the correct thing to do, to gather the necessary willpower and properly explain my condition. Ran, I came from the future."

Whaa—?

"You mean like in those sci-fi movies?"

"I can hardly blame you for not believing such a ridiculous claim. It took me this long to give up on understanding how can something like this be possible. I only know that in one moment, I was in the future, and then in the other, I was sitting on that roller coaster and saw that person having his head chopped off. I knew about that case, though unluckily, even having the necessary mental presence wouldn't have been enough to prevent it from happening on a roller coaster moving at full speed."

She recalled him looking at the culprit with confident conviction even before the investigation had begun.

She recalled the burning vengeance in his eyes towards the ones in black.

"You know what happened after that, I helped the police wrapping the case up. However, the serious part only started after you were shipped home. Those two black-clad figures on the backseat, even though they had nothing to do with the actual case, were part of the greater evil. A crime organisation with ties to the largest multinational companies and famous public figures, having almost everyone from city lowlifes to influential politicians under their thumb—influencing the third of the world."

Unadulterated hatred was dripping from every syllable.

"I vowed to bring them down or die trying. I almost did on several occasions in the previous timeline. Thinking to be good enough to take on a case stumping seasoned agents for decades by myself was a mistake, especially when some members could wipe out entire cities without heartache, as it turned out later."

"This is—"

More the conversation progressed, more her hope faltered that this confession was a bad joke. It should have been nothing but a bad joke. Time travel was scientifically impossible, only existing on pages of novels and cinema screens. Accepting such a concept, however, would have explained everything, starting with the strangely mature behaviour he showed. Every piece of unknown seemed to line up behind that incomprehensible idea so perfectly that the truth was imminent.

It scared her. Even the mere possibility that all of what he said was real.

"You're—telling the truth."

It was visible in those eyes of his, looking away sheepishly beneath his tousled bangs. It was audible in that voice of his, carrying a deeper tone than before. Moving shadows crept across his face in the dimness, revealing a worn expression wordlessly telling that the future he had seen was not sunshine and rainbows. A look like that did not belong to the face of the teenager having the life ahead of him, but rather of an adult tired of it.

"I know this is unfair to you, to have your friend replaced by this me. I tried to be a good substitute, but—"

"I bet it never even occurred to you to share this load."

"It did, actually. I have to be very careful though. While that decade in the future taught me who can be trusted, I have to make sure that the information is not leaking. Your father is a good example. I know he doesn't have a treacherous bone in his body, but does he remember what he told to whom whenever he gets home from a drinking party? I trust the first division with my life, but they are obliged to report to their higher-ups, and they—Ran, this is large. Larger than you can possibly imagine."

"One more reason not to cut your ties with everyone. You need help with whatever you have in mind."

He walked past her. "I have already started up my business, if you can call it such."

It was like a bucket of ice water to the neck, even though it should not have been so surprising after everything that went down in the past seconds. Back pressed to the wall of the corridor, her mind was clouded by foggy thoughts revolving around a realisation that she did not want to consider.

"You—You're—"

"I left it at those black-clad figures. A deal of theirs was going on nearby and they used the roller coaster to observe the spot beforehand. I sued the police on them without thinking much, before coming to terms with my time travel. I was saying and doing things that were not normal, even by my standards. I had to face the resulting questions at the meeting afterwards, the one your father attended too, and shifting the blame was the most effective way keep my cover."

"You were that person. At the kidnapping case, the one who saved the girl."

His mazarine uniform suit slid off his shoulders before he neatly folded and placed it onto a commode nearby. A necktie soon landed on the pile of hard textile before he forced his right arm out of the long sleeve of his shirt. Her fluster vanished when she realised the true intention of his actions.

An upper arm wrapped in bandages appeared from under the cover. Tainted yellow on the edges, those torn pieces of clothes had obviously not been changed in days. In any other case, she would have taken her time to reprimand him for not taking care of himself properly, but being well aware of what that particular wound proved, she was not in the mood of lengthy speeches. Her breathing was audible as the hard facts finally sank in.

"You're the prophet. All this time, you've been—"

He took back his shirt wordlessly.

"Does anyone know about this besides me?"

"Agasa-hakase only. I plan to tell your father too eventually."

It was too much for one day. Not only had they uncovered an evil plot in motion on a laidback island, but she was also confided in a secret that everyone, including several important people, wanted to know. Shinichi, her classmate and childhood friend, was a time traveller preventing crimes all over the city, no, the entire country and the whole law enforcement was on his heels because of that. He was going out of his way to defeat a greater evil than any of them could possibly comprehend.

And he was not even done.

"Until now, everything has gone according to my future knowledge. However, when I tried to call the community centre on the island, the landlines should have worked. This is the first time since my arrival that something unexpected happened. I can guess what, or who, could cause a divergence this soon and that idea is not pretty. Ran, you have to sit this one out. I have no idea what will go down there and I want you to stay safe no matter what."

"You expect me to let you rush headfirst into danger again?"

"If that means I can spare you from the same danger, then yes."

"Bullshit. You need someone to watch your back."

"You have absolutely no idea of what they can do. I want it to stay that way." Had it not been evident that he had pulled her into a hug, she would have thought she simply tripped. Reddish blush tinted her cheeks and the top of her ears as she snuggled into his comforting shoulder, careful not to hurt him accidentally. Her nose resting on the curve of his neck, she did not fail to notice the protectiveness in the embrace, the fear on her behalf. "Life is so transient. It takes one stray bullet to end it."

"Yours included, Shinichi. Yours included."

Her childhood friend, or perhaps something more than that, was silent.

February 10th, 1996

Wind whipped his bangs across his vision as he took a step to the deck. His eyes wandered around in search of someone, someone who was standing by the fence, gazing the foamy waves they were cutting through at a high speed. Her fuscous locks danced in unison with the loose edges of her jacket to the rhythm of the wind. Stepping next to her, he followed her eyes focusing on a tiny piece of land in the distance, crowned in gold by the rising sun.

Faint fuzzing from an opening can of coke snapped her attention back.

"Do you want one too?"

Before she could answer, he put another can under her nose. Her fingers hesitantly wrapped around the drink saved for especially her, opening and slowly tasting the iconic flavour in small sips. Having nothing in mind to share, they observed the scenery in silence while enjoying the presence of one other.

"All these unbelievable things—why did you tell them to me?"

Elbowing on the fence, he exhaled deeply. Even a fool could see the unbearable weight he had placed onto her shoulders. Her distant gaze and slow movements were telltale signs of the overwhelming thoughts he had planted into her mind, the sign of too much. With his characteristically quick thinking, he rarely encountered the same feeling, save from the occasions something beyond normal understanding happened. He had been going through that exact same period weeks ago, faced with time travel being possible. He could relate to her sudden need of confirmation of even the simplest of things and time to process the myriad of heavy information.

At least, though, she would have someone to lend a helping hand with that.

"I was selfish. I knew that telling you would, if nothing else, convince you to get involved in this madness." His grip tightened at the iron fence. "I knew it would be nothing different this time around. I just wanted to get this off my shoulders, to live without repeating my greatest regret."

"Your greatest regret?"

While he wished that he would just shut up, nothing could stop the words flowing out of his mouth. It was just going to confuse her even more, add on the frenzy in her mindscape with more unbelievable details, but without the cursed obligation of keeping silent for the sake of others, he forgot who was supposed to play the therapist for whom. He just basked in the unfathomable freedom of discussing the forbidden questions of the world before.

"You know, my situation was quite similar in the previous timeline. I ditched you after the case at the roller coaster to follow those organisation members. You know, the black-clad figures from our talk yesterday. I never came back," A terrified gasp came from his side before he could continue. "I survived, even though I was not supposed to. They shoved an experimental poison down my throat that de-aged me with ten years."

"You're kidding me! So you became—"

He showed a height around the middle of his thigh.

"Cuuuute!"

"Add my father's glasses to the mix." His old appearance was nostalgic, no denying that. "It was not that nice though. I lost everything, my identity, friends and prestige in a single night. Agasa-hakase was my only confidant for a very long time. He convinced me not to tell anyone, including you, about my condition to keep them away from the danger. Neither of you knew it was me when your father generously took me in."

"You lived with us?!"

"I used the detective agency to gather information on the organisation. I put your father to sleep with a tranquilizer dart each time a case happened and made my deduction in his voice using a voice-changer made by the professor. I have no idea how, but nobody seemed to catch on and your old man quickly became a famous detective."

Eyes hanging on her features, he curiously watched her reaction. Despite having known her for over two decades, there was always an endearing element of surprise in her actions, keeping him on his heels all the time. It was only one point on the list of the questionable decisions on his account, but undoubtedly the most personal out of the bunch. Her reaction in the previous timeline was harsh, as expected from the result of years of accumulated lies and heartache.

"My father as a famous detective. Your timeline is weird."

"Your old man lived well, blind to the big picture for a long time. I guess he deserved something nice for being my puppet. You, on the other hand," He had to shove away a whole lot of painful memories to keep himself together. "I used a fake identity to keep everyone, to keep you, from finding out my secret. From your perspective, I disappeared without a word. You were suffering, thinking that you were not worthy enough and many other things you never told me. I was there, right next to you, unable to do anything worthwhile. I made you a broken mess with that ridiculous façade. I regretted many things in ten years, but that takes the fucking cake."

"You got a second chance. Not many can say that."

All he could see on her face was a warm smile. "You forgive too easily."

"Not that your life was easier. I mean, you were chasing down a dangerous criminal organisation and solving cases in the body of a small child, not earning anything in return while having to isolate yourself on years' end to keep people safe. I can see where that crazy streak of yours came from."

"If it takes a bit of insanity to free the world from them, I'll consent to that."

A wry smile crossed his face, as the troublesome island was getting closer with each minute they spend gazing the horizon. Newfound they could make out some white buildings in front of the green vegetation on the piece of land. Nothing out of ordinary could be seen that raised alarms. Even though the island appeared completely harmless, he knew better than that. It was in the breeze, in the taste of the salty air, the suffocating pressure of their presence always setting his instincts off.

His reaction triggered hers. "Is—Is it that organisation?"

No words were needed to answer that question.

Not more than ten minutes after the regular ship ported at the island did the commotion at the town hall increase. More specifically, due to some incomprehensible reason, each of the locals wanted to see him checking the phone lines by the reception. His two companions were standing nearby, already having an idea about what he would find in mind, while he could catch a glimpse of some people peeking through the gap between them. While it was certainly unusual to see a random teenager mooning about behind a desk in public, especially in a place where weirdos were not as common as in the city, not being able to conduct his investigation in peace was getting on his nerves.

Attention on him not being a good thing was one of the first lessons those ten years had beaten into him.

"Did you find it, Kudo?"

Instead of a verbal answer, he held up a piece of wire. It started from the phone only to come at an abrupt end in his fingers.

"Indeed, this looks like a clean cut, probably made by a sharp tool." Stating the obvious with a thoughtful expression on his face, the old man turned to the unsuspecting receptionist. "This can be troublesome. Have you reported this to the police?"

"Well, no. I noticed that the lines were not working, but I would have never imagined that someone cut them. I thought it was a technical error." The receptionist started to worry. "Not like this is the only phone in the entire island though. If anything happens, we can always contact the mainland from the community centre or the police box. Talk about police, there is one officer assigned to this island who can get in touch with the headquarters if needed."

"I doubt that. I called every number in this island but heard nothing. Whoever is responsible for this, they took care of every communication device." Climbing out from under the desk, he was confronted by dozens of concerned faces. "We need someone who can repair at least one phone as soon as possible."

An old lady spoke up: "My son is a mechanic, I'll call him here."

"That would be most helpful."

While that diffused the situation for the time being, rumours were soon spreading like wildfire.

"How did this happen? Who could have done something like this?"

"Bet that dirty Kuroiwa has a hand in it—"

Dismissing the chatter at hand, he leaned to the desk. Head lulling back for a second, he allowed himself a moment of rest before forcing himself to focus his attention on the case and take account of the pieces of information lying in his mindscape, waiting for placing together. While cutting off the communication was an obvious trap, he did not have much of a choice aside from going along with it for the time being. Letting people die when he could do something about it or sending the father and daughter he considered family into the line of fire alone, without any knowledge on the actual situation, were not options in his books after all.

It was curious though, what made them believe that he would come to this remote piece of land in the middle of nowhere. His only ties with this island was a potential case with no connection to the organisation whatsoever, but all this setup was telling that his presence was expected.

Not even that was clear whether they targeted him personally or his future-predicting alias, or, god forbid, they somehow found out. Scanning his memories from the past month, he found nothing that could have tipped them off. His only contact with the organisation was the night of his arrival, when he chased after his archenemy. It clicked then, the person in question was notorious of his obsessions, even if those were very loosely based on reality.

Gin was testing him, trying to find evidence—no, that guy cared little about evidence.

Massaging his temple, he was mentally preparing for the ordeal of having to investigate while keeping the innocents out of the way of the assassination attempts on his life. It was something he wished he could leave behind in the previous timeline, but unfortunately, the world wanted to screw him over once more. When his sharpened senses caught a strange fellow stealthily observing them from the doorframe, he knew that it had started.

A game of hide and seek, organisation style.

"Aniki, you were right. He's really here."

Published: 08/07/2022

...uh, I'm still here? It has been while since I updated this story, but without further ado, here goes the first bigger storyline, Tsukikage Island arc. This chapter has a prologue feel to it with tons of Shinichi and Ran talk going down (which is necessary setup, but still). While this already screams 'screw canon' pretty well, the actual development will happen in the next chapter, where all possibly ambiguous points will be explained and things will clear up.

So far, keep following this story and review, as many of you have already done.