Started as a response to a ficswap challenge on the LJ manycases1truth
community, but this kinda got away from me, and it's turning into a
multi-part thing, so...I figured I'd go ahead and start posting it over
here, too.

C&C welcome.

Meitantei Conan belongs to Aoyama Gosho, Shogakukan, Yomiuri Television, VIZ
Communications, and Funimation. This work of fiction is not for profit and
not intended to infringe on copyrighted intellectual property in any
significant or harmful way.


TYPHOON
I. Circulation



"Who ARE you?"

"Who am I? Heh...I'll tell you...in the next life."

The exchange, spoken in an elevator with a bomb on the roof so many months
ago, echoed through Takagi Wataru's mind like the bells of a cathedral as he
stared in shock at the grim-faced boy in front of him.

Wrapped in a blue raincoat, hands held firm at his sides, dark bangs
plastered to his forehead, thick droplets of water running down the lenses
of his glasses, Edogawa Conan stood, head bowed, and spoke in a hush barely
audible over the pouring rain. "You DO want to know the answer, right? To
that question..."

Takagi swallowed thickly. "I--"

"I need your help, Takagi-keiji."

Takagi blinked. "My help? But...why--"

"Because I can trust you," the boy said sharply. "There are other officers
I'd trust with this--Satou-san, Megure-keibu--but you're the one I trust not
to get any more involved than I ask you to."

The young policeman frowned, not certain if he'd been praised or insulted.
"Ano..."

The child's face suddenly twisted into a wry smirk. "You owe me your life,
don't you, Takagi-keiji?"

Takagi nodded, brow furrowed in displeasure. "I suppose I do, Conan-kun."
*Though calling me on it like this is very bad form,* his eyes said.

The bespectacled boy seemed to read the unspoken sentiment, because his
smirk evened out into a kinder expression. "I wouldn't be so rude as to
impose a life-debt like this if I wasn't well and truly screwed, keiji-san.
I have more respect for you than that."

Takagi relaxed slightly, eyes softening. "Of...of course. I understand."

Conan nodded. "Now, we need to go someplace we can talk in private. You do
live alone, right?"

A few moments later, a car carrying two detectives drove down the dark city
streets as thunder rumbled overhead.

A typhoon was coming, and there was much work to do to prepare.

* * * * * * * * *

Takagi bought two cans of hot tea from a vending machine outside his
apartment building. "This is the best I can offer," he apologised. "I
haven't been shopping in a few days."

"Don't worry about it, it's fine," Conan replied, shivering from the chill
of the rain.

They entered Takagi's apartment, kicking off their shoes and shucking their
wet raingear at the genkan, and Takagi excused himself for a moment to
procure several thick, fluffy towels, two of which he spread on the seat of
his sofa, one of which he handed to Conan, and the last he kept for himself.
They sat, drying their hair and hands and opening their warm tea.

"So, Conan-kun, what's this all about?" Takagi asked after a moment.

"I need your help to pull off a disappearing act," Conan replied.

"Disappearing...?" the policeman blinked.

The boy nodded, removing his glasses and setting them on the table. He
looked up at Takagi with piercing blue eyes, and the older of the two felt
that same unease he'd felt that day...there was nothing of a child in those
eyes...

"Kudou Shinichi," the boy said, in that not-childlike voice he adopted so
often.

"I'm sorry?" Takagi asked, shaking himself.

"The answer to the question you asked in the elevator that day. I'm Kudou
Shinichi."

Takagi blinked, then laughed weakly. "Conan-kun, that's...just not
possible..."

Conan raised an eyebrow. "Really?" He then began to speak at length, about a
great many things.

And when he was finally done talking, Takagi believed.

* * * * * * * * *

"Otou-san? Have you seen Conan-kun?"

"Hm? Oh, he said he was going to hakase's place. I'm pretty sure he'll spend
the night. He's not stupid enough to wander around in THIS weather."

Ran fretted at the window. "I hope so..."

She looked down at the palm of her hand, where the occasional flashes of
lightning dimly lit a glittering object, and bowed her head.

* * * * * * * * *

The two sat in silence for a long moment, listening to the thunder crash and
the wind howl.

"So...Kudou-kun...what is it you need me to do?" Takagi asked.

The teen-turned-child frowned into his tea. "Like I said, I need to
disappear."

The police detective laughed. "It seems to me you've already done a good job
of that."

Conan snorted. "I mean *really* disappear. I still call Ran, and she has my
cell number, but...I need to disappear, for good, in a way that believably
cuts me off from everyone I know. Well, cuts Kudou Shinichi off. Argh...I
hate being two people." He took a long sip of his tea, grimacing.

"I can imagine," Takagi said, shaking his head in bemusement. "But why all
of a sudden? It seems to me you've managed to keep this mess fairly
controlled..." He paled at the glare the boy shot him. "Well, I mean, you're
handling it better than I think I ever could."

Conan laughed bitterly. "Thanks." He sighed. "The problem...well...it
started at the end of April..."

* * * * * * * * *

"I have a new formulation of the antidote I want you to try," Haibara Ai
said without preamble as Conan walked through the door.

Instantly, he was standing before her. "A new antidote? It'll work? It'll
cure me?"

Ai shook her head. "It's not a permanent one, yet." At his crestfallen look,
she continued, "It's better than the old one, though. For one thing, the
effects are on a measured delay--like 'time-release' cold medication.
Instead of going through the entire physical transformation all at once,
it'll happen slowly over the course of about two hours."

Conan frowned. "That doesn't sound very pleasant..."

"Well, it will be painful, but not as painful as the other one, and it won't
be as dangerous."

The boy nodded. "And? How long will it last?"

"It should last for three days."

"Alright," Conan said. "I'll test it during Golden Week." He smiled. "I want
to spend my birthday with Ran."

Ai smirked. "I thought you might say that."

* * * * * * * * *

"So...Haiba...eto...what was her name again? Sherry...?"

"Haibara is fine," Conan said. "She doesn't like being called her real name
anymore, and she absolutely hates being called Sherry."

"Right. So...she made a drug that let you change back for three days?"


"Yeah, and I took it the day before my birthday..."

* * * * * * * * *

Ran collected the beer cans littered around her passed-out father and
sighed. Here it was, Golden Week, and she had nothing better to do than look
after a drunk. Sonoko was off doing some rich-daughter thing, Conan's mother
had showed up out of the blue to take him to America for a visit, and...

Shinichi, well...

Her cellphone beeped, pulling her out of her reverie. "E-mail?" Scanning the
small screen, she blinked.



      From: K.Shinichi

      Come downstairs.



"Down...?"

Her eyes widened, and Ran flew down the stairs as fast as her feet would
carry her.

And there he was, his usual cocky smile and bright, twinkling eyes greeting
her as though they'd just seen each other that morning. "Yo," he greeted.

She slapped him.

* * * * * * * * *

"Ouch."

"Yeah, well, I deserve it," Conan said, grinning. "And it's worth it,
really. Being with her is worth anything..." He sighed.

Takagi swallowed, thinking of a certain female officer. "...yeah, I think I
know what you mean."

* * * * * * * * *

As soon as he recovered from the slap, he was enveloped in a ferocious hug.
"Where have you BEEN, you...you...JERK!"

He smiled, and took her hands. "I've got a lot to say to you, Ran," he said
softly. He moved quickly, gracefully around her, picking up a shopping bag,
and slipped into the alcove of the stairway that led up to the detective
office. "Will you come with me to my house?" he asked.

"Eh? Y...yes, of course, but...what are you doing?"

A denim jacket, a pair of sunglasses, and a wool cap, none of which the
detective had been wearing moments ago, had found their way onto his person.
"Disguise," he said with a quirky, lopsided grin. "It's not safe for me to
roam around in broad daylight."

"Not safe? But...what? Shinichi!! ...mou..."

* * * * * * * * *

"And then?"

"And then, I took her to my house, and I told her...parts of the truth.
Naturally, I kept certain details from her..."

* * * * * * * * *

Ran's hands flew to her mouth. "Shinichi...! Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
Tears welled in her eyes.

"I couldn't, Ran. I couldn't make you worry. Besides, I didn't really know
how deep a hole I was in until recently." It was partly true. While he'd
known for some months now that the Organisation had feelers everywhere and
could strike without warning, it had only been since the incident with Kir
that he'd fully appreciated just how insidious his enemy was, and how the
entire situation could change in the blink of an eye.

And since they'd very nearly killed Mouri Kogoro on a mistaken assumption,
it was time for Ran to know just how dangerous things had become.

"The truth is, the night we parted at Tropical Land, I saw something I
wasn't supposed to, and they tried to kill me. They couldn't hang around
with all the cops there, so they just left me for dead. Well, I survived."
He chuckled, his eyes hollow and pained. "But I've been in hiding ever
since. Of course, you know me--there's things I just can't resist sticking
my nose into--and I've had to come out of hiding from time to time for
various cases I couldn't handle without being seen. And, of course, I had to
keep in touch with you." He swallowed. "I...I couldn't just go away and not
even call. You mean too much to me."

"Shinichi..." The tears fell from Ran's eyes as she embraced him. "Oh...I'm
so sorry..."

"Don't be, I'm the one who should be apologising. I've screwed up both our
lives with my stupid mystery otaku ways." He chuckled, a bitter and
self-depreciating sound.

Ran pulled back and scowled at him. "You can't help being what you are, so
don't talk about yourself like that. It's not your fault."

Shinichi coughed. "Anyway, that's the situation. There are people out there
who very much want me dead, and every new piece of information I learn about
them is one more bullet with my name on it. I'm not in this alone, but..."

"Damn right you're not," Ran replied fiercely. "I--"

"You're not to get involved," Shinichi replied sharply. "That's exactly what
I've been trying to avoid by keeping you out of the loop. I'm not going to
see these bastards take you away from me, Ran. Promise you'll stay out of it
and let me deal with it."

"But..." At the stern, hard look in his eyes, Ran swallowed, wiping her own
eyes and ducking her head. "...hai."

"Yosh'," Shinichi nodded, taking her into his arms and stroking her hair.
"Now, right now my partners have them tied up in Sapporo, because they felt
like I could use a few days to stretch my legs. I wanted to be with you on
my birthday, and there's something I want to give you--something I was going
to give you at that restaurant that night..."

Ran blinked, looking into his eyes, which were now sparkling with amusement
and mischief. "What...?"

"Back...that day," Shinichi said, his voice catching, "I thought it was all
over. I thought I was free and clear. I found out that night that things
weren't over yet--I should have known it couldn't be that easy. That's why I
ran out without so much as a goodbye. But...the reason I took you to that
place..." He pulled a small, velvet box from his pocket and placed it in her
hand.


Ran's eyes widened. "Shinichi..."

"Ran...I love you, and I've wanted nothing more than to tell you that since
all this started. And..." He swallowed. "I want to marry you. And I was
going to give you this and ask you, that night, but..." Seeing she was about
to speak, he interrupted. "Let me finish. I can't ask that question while
I'm still hiding. My life is still in danger, I can't come back for good
yet, and it'd be really lousy of me to ask you to make that kind of
commitment when I can't guarantee I'll be there, or that I'll even still be
alive tomorrow.

"But I want you...to take this ring, Ran. I want you to keep it. Don't wear
it. Not until I'm able to come back to you. But keep it. As a promise. As a
symbol."

Ran swallowed, fresh tears gathering in her eyes as she looked into his
serious, sober face, and nodded. "Alright, Shinichi. I...I promise. And...I
love you too, you idiot detective."

And their first kiss was salty with their mingled tears.

* * * * * * * * *

Takagi smiled. "So then what happened?"

Conan was smiling too, and his face was rather red. "We...spent my birthday
together." He ducked his head, flushing even darker. "Really together."

Takagi caught the meaning, and turned red himself.

"And then, the next day, I said goodbye and left. And by nightfall, I was
Conan again."

The police detective sighed. "Damn, that must suck."

"Worse than anything imaginable," Conan replied morosely.

"Well, it sounds to me like you have every reason NOT to want to vanish,
Kudou-kun," Takagi said, confusion and uncertainty in his voice. "What
changed?"

"Well, three days ago..."

* * * * * * * * *

"There's no antidote."

Conan stared at the shrunken scientist. Her hair was mussed, her eyes were
rimmed red, and her posture radiated dejection. "What?"

"None of the antidotes work for more than a few days because APTX-4869 is
incurable," Ai said, matter-of-factly. "I thought I could work around it,
find a hole in my own work, maybe notice something I missed, but..." She
shrugged. "If you'd taken the first antidote within twelve hours of the
initial exposure, it MIGHT have worked. MIGHT. But after twelve hours, the
effects of the poison become permanent and irreversible. I'm not going to
give up looking for a way out of this for you, but...I'm going to be honest:
you might as well give up on ever being Kudou Shinichi again. I'm
sorry...Edogawa-kun."

She turned and walked away, leaving him staring at her back.

* * * * * * * * *

Takagi paled. "Kudou-kun, I'm...so sorry..."

"Yeah," Conan said, sighing and kicking his heels against the sofa.

"But...the three-day pill! You have that, right?"

"It turns out it only works once," the shrunken detective said. "We had the
same problem with the Chinese whiskey Haibara based the first antidote on.
It turned me back into myself for about half an hour, but when I tried using
it again later, all I got was a hangover." He sighed. "Any 'safe' pill based
on the three-day pill doesn't work, and the only other antidote is too
dangerous to use except in an emergency, because it could kill me." He
shrugged. "I'm basically screwed."

"So...what is it you're planning to do?"

"Well...I've decided to use what little I've already told Ran about my
situation as the basis for a disappearing act," the boy replied.

"Oi oi. You're not gonna fake your own death or something, are you?" Takagi
asked. "Because that'd be a really cruel thing to do to Ran-san."

Conan shook his head. "No. I don't want to do anything that makes it
impossible for me to EVER come back...in case Haibara comes through with an
antidote after all. But I need to disappear, and that's why I need you."

"Okay, but...why me?"

"You're going to deliver a letter for me," Conan replied simply. "Kudou
Shinichi's final letter to his girlfriend...before he enters the Witness
Relocation Program in America and disappears forever."

* * * * * * * * *

Takagi stood nervously at the door to the Mouri Detective Agency, a plain
white envelope clutched protectively in his hands. *Dammit, Kudou...*

Ran greeted him, and invited him inside, he nodded, but kept a carefully
schooled solemn look on his face.

It wasn't hard, considering what he was there to do.

"So, what brings you by, Takagi-keiji?" Ran asked.

"I...Ran-san, I..." He swallowed. With a quick glance out of the corner of
his eye at the small form watching him sternly from the sofa, he continued,
"I have some...bad news for you."

"Bad news?" Ran asked, instantly alert. Her eyes were clouded with fear and
worry. "It's...about Shinichi, isn't it?"

"Yes." At her expression, he quickly raised a hand. "It's not what you
think. He isn't...they haven't..." He coughed. "He's alive. He's well.
But..." Sighing, he handed her the letter.

Trembling, Ran fumbled to open the envelope, and her eyes grew emptier and
more dim as she read the words that shattered her world:



      Ran,

      I'm in America.

      The FBI is placing me in the

      Witness Relocation Program.

      I may never be able to see

      or speak to you again.

      I've asked Takagi-keiji to

      give you this letter, so I

      could at least say goodbye.

      I'm sorry.

      I love you.

      Shinichi.

      PS - Burn this letter.



"No..." Ran sank to her knees, sobbing, staining the plain white paper with
her tears. Instantly, Conan was at her side, rubbing her shoulder, doing
everything he could to comfort her.

The boy shared a silent glance with the police detective--a glance that
showed his gratitude, his despair, his deep self-hatred, and his remorse for
involving the young officer in his deception.

Takagi gave him a brief nod, made a quick apology, and left, not trusting
himself to stay, not wanting to witness this scene.

The wind picked at his hair, spattering thick drops of rain on his face
which masked his own tears.

*Good luck, Ran...Kudou...*

* * * * * * * * *

//The storm has become extratropical, and is not expected to make landfall.
However, outer bands of thunderstorms from this powerful typhoon, along with
widespread areas of disturbed weather created in the wake of the storm, will
continue to plague the Kanto region for several more days...//

Conan clicked off the television with a sigh. So, there was no end in sight
to the rain.

Really, he mused to himself, it fit the depressed mood of the house just
fine.

It had been several days since Takagi had delivered his letter to Ran, and
he'd begun formulating long-term plans. He intended to stick around for
about another year, just to make sure Ran would eventually be okay, then
finally rejoin his parents in America, and...

Move on, he supposed. It wasn't going to be any easier for him than it would
be for Ran.

Conan sighed. *Dammit, this is all so messed up...*

Ran had not reacted well to the "news", of course. In fact, he was beginning
to get concerned. She'd not been eating well all week, and she'd been sick
frequently. In fact, he occasionally heard her vomiting, and he had to
wonder--even as he flinched from the guilt of causing her so much pain she
became violently physically ill--how she had anything in her to puke up in
the first place, seeing as she rarely ate anything anymore.

That morning her father had finally suggested she go see the doctor. She had
resisted the notion, but between the two of them, Conan and Kogoro had
finally convinced her.

That had been four hours ago.

The storm clouds chasing through the young detective's mind were a perfect
counterpoint to the raging storm outside; the dark thoughts thundering
through his head so consumed him that he almost missed the sound of the door
opening. Ran walked in, slipping off her shoes and calling a weak "Tadaima",
and then dropped next to him on the sofa.

He immediately knew something was very, very wrong.

Ran was completely out of it, her eyes dull and listless, her face ashen.
She made no move to take off her wet coat, or even to acknowledge him. She
just sat there, a completely lost, forlorn look on her face.

"Ran-neechan?" he prompted, leaning around to peer up into her face.

She blinked, and her eyes tracked over to him, barely hinting at
recognition. "Conan-kun," she said in a dull monotone.

"What's wrong? What did the doctor say?" Was she really that seriously ill?
Had something else happened? The detective's mind raced furiously, various
disaster scenarios flashing through his brain like the lightning in the sky.
"You're going to be okay, right?" Right?

"Hm? Oh...yeah, I'm okay." Ran said softly, looking past the boy, out into
the grey-black afternoon sky. "I'm pregnant."



(tbc)

================================
The Eternal Lost Lurker
www.lurkerdrome.com




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