Satoshi pulled up at a fairly nondescript house in a less... privileged part of Osaka, the two teenage girls in the patrol car with him. He was feeling a little put out after Otaki-keibu had chuckled at his expense. It really said something about either the girls or the police when a senior officer trusted them more than his own officers.

     (Nothing to do with Said girls being martial art champions in their respective fields, not at all. Even Satoshi was nervous around them when the messy haired one began talking to the other about her previous escapades... was it even possible to crack reinforced concrete with a simple kick?)

     The teen with the pink bow in her hair glanced at him with a venomous look that Satoshi didn't want to read into too much, before nodding at the other girl as she left the car. Why did he have a feeling they wanted him to stay in the car?

     ...actually, why was he even still in the car? He reached for the door handle, only for a pair of sharp greenish-brown eyes to pin him to his seat like a physical force as the blue eyed girl vanished from sight around the corner of the property.

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     Shin'ichi heard the police car pull up as he secured the woman with a final piece of duct-tape. (Amazingly versatile stuff, Duct-Tape. Every detective should carry a roll, in his opinion.) Haibara was off the the side, holding the culprits weapon with a terrifyingly happy grin that had the murderer-kidnapper frozen in fear.

     Heiji was searching the rest of the run down property room by room whilst Shin'ichi secured the woman, every footstep loud and clear to him, though Haibara was adamant that she couldn't hear the dark skinned detective, so 'Shin'ichi-Niichan must be imagining things again'. (which was actually Haibara speak for 'No, Kudo-kun, I can't hear that idiot, it must be your freaky supernatural senses.)

     He heard Ran creeping around outside, her footsteps as familiar to him as his own. When he could be bothered to make a sound whilst walking anyway. (Kuroba called it Ghost Step. More like Shinigami-creep, knowing his luck.) Shin'ichi's sharp eyes took in the evidence around him, his mind assessing every detail and filing it away, each thing falling into the picture forming in his head. A picture he didn't like.

     Criminal secure, he asked Haibara if she was ok on her own for a bit (the tape-bound criminal panicked a bit at that, not that the detective could blame her.) to which he received a cheery and enthusiastic 'Hai!'. Satisfied that the tiny predator would be ok, (what else could you call the mini biochemist currently playing with a wicked looking serrated knife?) he left the room in search of Hattori, whom he could still hear tramping about upstairs.

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     Heiji was just heading upstairs to the second floor when a hand rested on his shoulder. If he hadn't heard the soft 'Oi, Oi, wait up!' That followed, he would've probably kicked the owner of the hand down the stairs. As it was, Kudo was clearly safe, and much better at covert searches than Heiji ever could be because of his freaky silent steps.

     The darker skinned detective hung back slightly as Kudo did his thing. Heiji doubted a trained police dog unit could search a building as thoroughly as Kudo could in so little time. But then... Kudo (always Kudo, he couldn't afford to slip up and call him Shin'ichi, not yet.) has always been creepily perceptive like that, even before his latest... gifts came to light.

     Heiji saw Kudo freeze at the last door, hand hovering over the handle, his nostrils flaring. (How Good was Kudo's hearing anyway? Heiji knew his sight and hearing were heightened, but was scent the same?) before the blue eyed detective went stony eyed and stiff in the shoulders.

     Ok. He was just going to back away slowly, his somewhat limited sense of self preservation telling him to do so. Whoever was behind that door -and Heiji was certain there was someone, if Kudo's reaction was anything to go by- was about to be given a very... explosive introduction to the currently furious Heisei Holmes. It wasn't something Heiji wanted to witness, because whoever had the other teen so furious had to be truly reprehensible.

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     Ai smiled at Ran-Oneesan as the older girl hesitantly entered the room, casually tossing the serrated weapon into the air expertly, catching it by the blackened handle in a way that suggested far too much practice. The woman swathed in duct tape made a panicked sound, only for Ran-Oneesan to smile sweetly.

     "Ai-chan. Shin'ichi wanted you to watch the criminal. Not traumatise her." She reprimanded softly, once she'd reined in her mirth. They were in a fairly dull, unassuming detached house in one of the less well off areas of Osaka, the woman secured to a kitchen chair so well that Ai might have suspected Kid's hand in the binding, if she hadn't witnessed judo do it herself.

     Ai was near the door that led to the rest of the house, still casually tossing the knife up in the air when a loud, sudden, familiar sound rang out with a sharp crack. The knife imbedded itself in the wall behind the bound criminal's head. The criminal screamed into her makeshift gag, even as Ran-Oneesan vanished into the house, in the direction of the shot.

     Kazuha's head shot up at the sound of the gunshot, the blood draining from her face. She failed to notice the officer use her distraction to slip out of the car and run towards the property Ran-chan had entered.

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     Nanagia Misao was not having a great day. His sister had run out of most of the basics needed for everyday life, he'd stubbed his toe on the kitchen table, he couldn't find his ammunition anywhere... and then his sister had come home, a little strawberry blonde girl under one arm, her eyes slightly crazed and not exactly there.

     She'd been followed by two teenagers too; one of whom looked frighteningly similar to the little boy he'd dropped out of a twelfth storey window about a week ago. Misao had retreated upstairs, hoping that the two teens would overlook his presence in favour of simply rescuing the disturbingly calm child downstairs. It was almost like the little girl was used to being kidnapped and used as a hostage.

     Only... then a police car had shown up and a familiar teenage girl came stalking round the back, one that Misao knew from following his favourite sport. Which meant that at least one of the teenage boys in his sister's house was either Kudo Shin'ichi or Hattori Heiji. Then the door to the room he was essentially cowering in swung open.

     The moment the teen's eyes fell on Misao, the man knew two things for certain. The blue eyed, brown haired teen was closely related to the boy he'd killed -they were too alike not to be- and Misao was well and truly dead.

     That was before he saw the poisonous, disgusted look.

     There was something almost unnatural about the boy's back as he took two quick, menacing steps forward, blue eyes blazing with furious, unbridled rage, even as the rest of him seemed perfectly calm. A soft, inhuman cry of pure rage escaped the teen. Misao could not move. Those azure orbs pinned him to the spot.

     "How... you.... HOW DARE YOU." A dark skinned teen materialised behind the boy, minus the girl he knew was also in the building. His karate idol must be with the little girl then. The dark skinned teen flung his arms around the blue eyed boy's own, just in time to stop him from flying at Misao.

     The words 'Kudo' and 'Shin'ichi' had Misao confirming his worst fear. This furious, dangerous boy was none other than Kudo Shin'ichi, the Heisei Holmes himself. He wasn't just dead. He was condemned. The raging blue eyed teen shook himself loose of his friend's grip, at the same time Misao, in desperation, pulled his prized gun on them and pulled the trigger.

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    Shin'ichi shook himself loose of Hattori's grip just as the criminal before him pulled the gun. He didn't think, reacting purely on his well honed, conditioned reflexes. Blue cotton fabric ripped with the force as his wings exploded from their confined state, acting as both a shield and distraction as the detective rushed forward.

      A swift kick had the gun spiralling away, a furious, not-quite-an-act snarl pinning the criminal firmly in place as his wings stood proudly behind him on full display. Some small part of his mind regretted that this was not a bigger room, because of the shock factor fully spread white wings would give.

     "Nanagia Misao. I sorely hope you know what happens when you harm one of My detectives. Us Shinigami do not take kindly to our pets being hurt." Shin'ichi let that sink in for a second, before folding his wings back into the small, compact unit they'd been earlier.

     "As it is..." Shin'ichi was calming down at this point, and noted that Hattori hadn't said a word. He wasn't sure if that was because of what he'd said or if it was due to the fact that Shin'ichi was fairly sure there was a bullet hole in his wing now. "I will leave you to the Police and my more... human friend here. For now."

     Shin'ichi may not seek out dramatics as much as Kid or even Hattori, but he was well aware he had a knack for delivering a point in the most dramatic, effective way possible. Ok, so exposing himself hadn't exactly been the plan, but... well, the ravings of one madman hardly translated to hard evidence, as long as he ensured he hadn't left any feathers behind.

     By this point, Nanagia Misao was gibbering a panicked confession to everything he'd ever done, straight into Hattori's phone, who'd put it on record at some point. He just hoped that certain... things were not mentioned, though, if he were being brutally honest, the police would simply write off the being-seen-as-a-Shinigami thing as normal for him at this point.

     Much to Shin'ichi's embarrassment, it took several minutes and Hattori handing him his jacket to realise he'd been about to let the police happen upon him with wings -albeit in their compacted form- exposed. As it was, he'd have a difficult time explaining the shredded cotton shirt.

     He wasn't too ashamed to act angry and upset though. Yes, it was mostly an act, because the bastard who'd dropped him out of that window was on the floor completely defeated, but still... he was sort of in mild shock over the fact that he'd mostly dodged a literal bullet.

     It wasn't until after their witness statements had been taken down at the station that he'd registered the full pain in his wing. (Which shouldn't be possible, the way they were folded, but then, impossible just seemed to be another normal day for him).

     The officers had shot him confused, worried looks when he'd deliberately stumbled into Hattori, acting dazed for a moment before relaying the details of the case for both Nanagia Misao and Nanagia Miwako. The horror on Otaki-keibu's face when he'd heard what should have happened to Conan... Shin'ichi hadn't realised how fond the Osakan inspector had become of his shrunken self.

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     Heiji watched with mixed feelings as he heard Kudo's version of events, the icy blue fire in kudo's eyes chilling even to those that knew him like Heiji did. If he hadn't already been aware of that not-so-fatal fatal drop.... well, he wasn't sure what he'd have done to Nanagia-san.

     It took a bit longer than usual to wrap things up as they'd had to ring Megure-keibu in Tokyo to confirm a few facts, but an entire hour after they'd arrived at the station, they were free to go. Haibara-Han and Neechan walked slightly ahead of Kazuha, though Neechan was still engaging in girl-talk with Kazuha. They were all in front of Kudo, not that that meant much when a huge black crow appeared from nowhere, feathers askew.

     It cawed at Kudo, before hopping from the garden railing it was on to Kudo's outstretched arm. Kudo deliberately stumbled, a soft, weak cry of pain escaping his throat. It wasn't a change, Hattori could tell that much, but it was still freaky, even if he was sure this, at least was an act.

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     /You really are an adult then, Merlin-Falcon-Boy.\ A familiar, non-human voice cawed from where the owner had seemingly materialised on a nearby railing. The red eyed bird hopped onto his outstretched arm the moment he offered it, her feathers all askew as if she'd flown fast and hard to get there. Her beady red eyes seemed to size up the other humans before she opted to half hop, half fly up onto the top of his head, where she perched in his hair, before hopping back down to his other shoulder.

     /You are a pain to track down you know. I had to fly all the way here after searching most of Tokyo for you. I eventually had to ask Al for directions, and he always talks in riddles, just like is master.\ The raven complained, as she began to preen her feathers from her perch upon his shoulder. Shin'ichi noted how she blatantly ignored the others as she grumbled.

     He was a bit amused at her, if only because he'd never experienced an actual grumpy side to the raven before. She'd been sarcastic and unusually intelligent, much like Kuroba's birds, but never overly grumpy.

     /Mistress wanted to warn you that the spell she cast on you won't fully work on an adult, so if you 'plan on growing up too fast,'\ that part was clearly a quote of the witch, /To 'be wary'. She says your change won't work properly, but it won't be dangerous to your health.\

     Shin'ichi sighed, before quietly murmuring a reply. "So you're saying that I can only go full falcon as Conan and that as myself, I'm stuck with whatever part of the shift isn't working?" A soft, huffing sound of agreement. Followed by a sharp click of her beak as she snapped at the had trying to pet her. Said hand retreated sharply.

     "Kazuha, don' touch Kudo's bird. Trus' me, ya don' wanna get pecked." Hattori warned.

     "Kazuha-chan, Raven-chan only likes Shin'ichi. It's best just to leave her alone. If she wants a smooth, she'll tell you, believe me." Ran joined in, shooting a look at Haibara, who seemed to be scheming again.

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     Ran couldn't help but frown at the raven upon her childhood friend's shoulder, even as the bird made adorable little chuff-caw-whistles that were probably actually words, if Shin'ichi's murmured and almost inaudible replies were anything to go by.

     The bird dipped its... her, if she remembered correctly, head and made a few cute sounds in her direction. Ran had no clue what they meant though. She'd have to ask Shin'ichi later.

     (Ran later learnt that the raven had said: /I like this one, she has manners. Mistress's pet hommonculus is much meaner. Also, Mistress is worried about Ghost Guy's mate, though I don't know why? Something about obscured fate like yours?\)

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     Shin'ichi carefully slowed his walk as Raven-chan flew off, having given her warning. He knew Ran and Toyama-chan would notice this. He also knew Hattori would pick up on the fact that he needed an out for this trip, especially now he had nothing but one of Hei...Hattori's jackets covering his back.

     Haibara also seemed to pick up on the 'not-quite-right' vibe, her sharp little glare warning him to find a way to take a break or else. So Shin'ichi crumpled, falling into Hattori so suddenly it took even Haibara by surprise. Since when had his acting been that good?

     "Shin'ichi!" Ran looked panicked, until he tapped out their little code for 'act'. She went along with it.

     "I'm... I'm ok, Ran. Just... Drained is all. Do you... do you think you could go on... without us? I...need to...to ...." He paused, doing his best false-wince before continuing. "I need rest." That wasn't a complete lie; seeing the man who had very nearly killed him again had been both emotionally and physically draining.

     "Mou, you shouldn't push yourself so much, Shin'ichi-niichan. I'm telling Neechan!" Raised eyebrows at Haibara's sugary sweet tones, but she got away with saying it because she looked all of eight.

     "Why don' we stop in a cafe an' get somethin' ta drink? If Kudo-Han is still feeling tired after, we can call a cab for him an' Heiji." Shin'ichi mulled this over before agreeing. If it would help his cover and reassure Toyama-chan, he wasn't opposed to it.

     By the time they reached the nearby cafe, Shin'ichi was doing a convincing if somewhat worrying impression of a man far too stubborn for his own good, because he was now leaning most of his weight on Ran after Hattori had gotten tired of supporting him. He was also stumbling and almost-but-not-quite pitching both of them over.

     Toyama-chan looked relieved the moment Shin'ichi had been helped to his seat. They ordered drinks; Hattori predictably had a hazelnut latte, whilst the girls all had green tea (even Haibara). He chose a strong black coffee, just because he needed the energy.

     (Even if he wasn't as ill as he was acting, being in his teen body was still tiring. Haibara had said it was to do with how he had been Conan for too long and how the temps worked, when he'd brought that up once. Which meant that whilst he could still run and do everything he used to, he would tire far, far quicker. Honestly, he was almost resigned to staying as Conan at this point; It just... it might be easier to let Shin'ichi go at this point.

     Something he sorely didn't want to do, but... well, he'd missed so much as Shin'ichi by this point it would probably be less hassle to just grow up again. Even if he could never go by his real name again.)

     "Ne, ne, Shin'ichi-niichan! Do you share a bed with Heiji-niichan? That's what grown-ups do when they date each other, right?" Hattori spat his drink out, narrowly missing Haibara. She blew a cheeky raspberry.

     Raised eyebrows from everyone within earshot, and Shin'ichi silently cursed Haibara. Of course she could get away with her behaviour, looking all of seven. He could tell those eavesdroppers were waiting for his reply, probably curious as to how he would deflect it.

     "No, I don't Ai-chan." Hmmm... interesting face she was pulling. Probably not impressed with the way he was addressing her. "Hattori and I aren't a couple. And I don't know why couples share a bed either." If anyone here recognised him as Kudo Shin'ichi, they would probably get what he was implying. After all, he wasn't exactly known as a romantic. Rather, people probably thought the only time he ended up in a woman's room was to solve their murder.

     Haibara frowned in confusion before beaming. "Why aren't you a couple then? Didn't you and Heiji-niichan kiss?" Urk! How could he answer this one? The whole innocent little girl act really ticked him off, even if he was want to do so as Conan.

     "Ai-chan, that wasn't a kiss. That was CPR. Shinichi's sick, remember?" Thank you, Ran!

     "Oh. So it's that thing Edogowa-kun does sometimes when the victim isn't quite dead yet. That make sense now, thanks Ran-Oneesan!" Shin'ichi didn't want to know what those listening both blatantly and not so blatantly were thinking at that.

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     Heiji was starting to wish Kazuha wasn't with them as she began shamelessly asking questions that really couldn't be answered in front of the mini-chemist. Both because Haibara-Han was a little girl (in body at least) and so very Haibara-han. That and he had a feeling that Shin... Kudo wanted to get back to the estate to stretch his wings.

Did he actually need to exercise them to keep them fit? It didn't seem so, if the debacle with those Nanagia siblings were anything to go by. That had been... equal parts terrifying and awesome, especially when the bullet had ripped through Kudo's wing only for the visible hole to sort of... shimmer in a blueish witch-fire and vanish.

It was really freaky, seeing Shin...Kudo with wings, but also one of the coolest things ever. Heiji could feel the warm, tight, compact knot of feathers hiding beneath his borrowed jacked, something that wasn't entirely natural to feel under the arm he'd slung around his best bud's shoulder. Warm solid weight that should not be there, but was.

"Remember the last time I was in Osaka, Toyama-chan?" Okay... looks like he'd missed most of that conversation, though he could deduce the topic easily enough, with Neechan's expression alone. Kazuha nodded. Shin...Kudo's voice lowered so as to be difficult to overhear.

"My medication wore off much earlier than anyone expected. Add that in to my already weakened state and the somewhat permanent damage the poison has done to my body..." Shin...Kudo left the rest of that sentence unspoken, but Kazuha seemed to get it anyway. She didn't seem to know what to say to that.

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     Kazuha could see how tired Kudo-Han was as they chatted over hot drinks, despite his clear efforts to hide that small fact. She didn't know what had happened earlier with the kidnapper, but she knew it had to have been messy and bad, for Kudo-Han to be wearing Heiji's jacket and no shirt.

     The eastern detective was pale and skinny, with his shoulders still slightly hunched. Add in the Raven that he seemed to have befriended and you almost got the description of that Shinigami in Conan-kun's (not-so)scary story. Had the child used Kudo-Han as a base then? Said detective coughed quietly, a small but noticeable wince causing both Ran-chan and Heiji to glance sharply at him. Ai-chan just glanced at her watch.

     Kudo-Han looked mostly fine, but she could see he was trying to hide how sick he really was from everyone. It seemed to fool most people. Maybe he should go back to the Hattori Estate with Heiji and rest. Kudo-Han looked better than a few months ago, sure, but that didn't mean he looked well. At least, not to those that knew him. And anyway... she wanted some girl time with Ran-chan and Ai-chan. Preferably in a place with plenty of decent clothes shops.

     (Ai-chan was shockingly sensible and stylish for an eight year old, even one that apparently idolised Kudo-kun as much as Conan-kun did. Even if she was less... vocal about it.)

     "Ne, Heiji..." Her friend cast a glance at her over the rim of his cup as he downed the last of his hazelnut latte. He carefully shifted his weight, as if Kudo-Han's weight was a bit much for him. Was Heiji taking more weight for Kudo that he let on? Was Heiji that good of an actor?

     She did feel a bit bad for Ran-chan and Ai-chan though. They hadn't seen Kudo-han for ages, she knew that, but the eastern detective clearly needed to rest. Whatever poison (she wasn't going to think too hard on that. She wasn't.) was still coursing through his veins had clearly affected him negatively, and he obviously didn't have the energy to be going around the shopping centre with them.

     "Why don' ya take Kudo-Han back ta yers? I wanna go shoppin' wi' Ran-chan an' Ai-chan, an' I don' think Kudo-Han looks well enough ta keep up wi' Ai-chan. Or us. Ya know wha' I'm like when I go shoppin', Ne, Heiji?" Green and blue eyes blinked at her, the former in confusion and the latter in gratefulness.

     (She didn't know that Heiji had been trying to think of a way to get out of this, and that he was as grateful as Kudo was. Heiji was going to protest anyway, just because he could and it would be so normal for them to bicker....)

     "Don't Hattori. Let them go." Kudo-Han warned, seemingly picking up on the brewing bickering. He looked relieved. "She's right. I probably can't keep up with any of you. Not right now. Haibara?" Kazuha watched as the little girl looked up with a pinched expression before he tossed her a little leather coin purse. Kazuha blinked in surprise because of where Kudo-Han had pulled the purse from. His coffee cup was empty! How had he done that??!

     It was spooky, how quickly Ai-chan went from glowering to beaming as she peeked inside the little coin purse. "Really, Shin'ichi-niichan?" Kudo-Han nodded. The girl clapped her hand gleefully as she put her purse in her bag.

     "Really Haibara. Same amount as Conan-kun gets for his trips." By The Look on Ran-chan's face... that was probably a very generous amount of pocket money. "Not that he ever spends it. That kid squirrels money worse than Kaa-san squirrels embarrassing photos." Ran-chan laughed outright at this, so Kazuha guessed that Kudo-han's family probably had blackmail level embarrassing photos. Probably.

     Ran-chan then asked Kudo about when he needed to head back to where he was staying, though Kazuha could guess she really meant 'when are you going back into hiding', before getting up and gesturing for Ai-chan and Kazuha to follow. She could just hear Kudo-han's reply of 'probably not 'til you leave' though she couldn't be sure with how fast Ai-Chen was talking at her about Fusae clutch purses.

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     As soon as Ran was sure they were out of earshot of the boys -even accounting for Shin'ichi's enhanced hearing- she slowed down from a brisk walk to a gentle stroll, Ai-chan following behind like the faithful, demonic little hellhound pup she was. (Normal puppy didn't quite cut it with her really.) she hadn't even needed prompting.

     "Gomen-ne Kazuha-chan. Shin'ichi is too proud and stubborn for his own good. That and wasn't there a sale at the Fusae store that ends in..." she glanced at her watch. "An hour? Ai-chan wouldn't stop going on about it yesterday, and I promised I'd take her." That was both true and a good excuse really. Ai-chan had been excited about the sale, in a cool, silent sort of way, even if Kazuha hadn't known about the sale, it was a good reason to hurry.