Once Upon a Time Chapter 1: part I, a detective conan/case closed fanfic

Author's Notes: Mental note: First week of school - not a good time to write a story. It makes your parents kinda annoyed if you stay up late (especially if the aforementioned parents are the ones taking responsibility for your safe and timely arrival to school. Whatever).

-UPDATE-: This fic has been slightly edited... if anyone is wondering why I'm reposting it. I got dissatisfied with the layout and stuff... proves how fussy I am, ne?

And, peoples, this is a VERY IMPORTANT announcement - I love you all, reviewers. :) Okay, that's IT. :P

Disclaimer: Detective Conan belongs to me! Yeah, totally. (Note the sarcasm)

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~ o n c e . u p o n . a . t i m e ~

part I

Once upon a time…

There was a girl. She met a boy.

He could always cheer her up, he was her best friend.

There was a girl. She met a boy.

He protected her, comforted her, and was there for her.

They both [-----] him…

To Ran, Shinichi was her best friend, a friend that no one could replace, ever.

To Ai, Conan was her best friend, a friend that no one could replace, ever.

To Ran, Shinichi was her soul-mate, at the least, she couldn't imagine life without him.

To Ai, Conan was the only one that she felt so strongly about, since her sister died.

To Ran, Shinichi was the only one who could understand her as well as he did.

To Ai, Conan was the only one who could understand her as well as he did.

To Ran, Shinichi was the one and only person who could feel her pain how she does.

To Ai, Conan was the one who spent too much time worrying about other people's pain.

They both [loved] him…

Once upon a time…

There was a school.

Its name was Teitan Elementary, and it housed the classroom of Class 1B.

Is this important? you may ask.

Yes, it is. It is very important. And you will find out why, soon.

And so now, let the story –the fairytale– begin.

"Ohayou, minna-san!" Kobayashi-sensei chirped at her students, sitting at their desks. It was the start of a brand new school day. Oh, what joy for that!

Rise and shine!

… Not.

"Sensei, ohayou gozaimasu," the children in class 1B dutifully replied.

"Today, we will be learning about fairytales!" Kobayashi-sensei smiled as the students in her class perked up (slightly). "Right now, which fairytales do you know?"

Many hands shot up, and (some of) the kids began calling out names.

"Cinderella!"

"Snow White!"

"Alice in Wonderland!"

"Jack and the Beanstalk!"

"Goldilocks!"

"Yes!" Kobayashi-sensei clapped her hands. "What about native Japanese ones? Do you know any?"

The flow of the fairytale titles didn't cease as the children called them out eagerly.

"Kaguya-hime!"

"The Snow Fairy!"

"Kachi Kachi Yama!"

"The Peach Boy!"

"And what about foreign fairytales?" Kobayashi-sensei suggested.

"Ali Baba?" a timid girl in the front row called out.

"Yes, yes!" Kobayashi-sensei grinned. "That's an Arabian fairytale. Any more?"

"The Boy Who Cried Wolf!"

"Spanish," Kobayashi-sensei smiled with satisfaction. "And what happens in all these fairytales? Can anyone tell me?"

Yoshida Ayumi put up her hand. "They all have happy endings!" she announced gleefully.

"That's right!" Kobayashi-sensei told everyone. "All fairytales have happy endings!"

The class was in silence as they digested this fact.

"And what if they don't?"

A voice interrupted the stillness. Everyone turned to look at the student who had spoken those words. The student by the name of Haibara Ai, who tilted her head to the side.

"They don't always have to have happy endings, do they?"

She had this look on her face, and although Kobayashi-sensei couldn't tell exactly what it was of, she could almost swear it was disbelief, or maybe boredom. No, it must be mind tricks, she told herself, but nevertheless, her mood had been dampened.

"Well, if they don't, then I guess that they're not called fairytales, are they?"

Once upon a time…

There were two little kids. A boy and a girl.

They weren't normal children.

They were special.

Did they like being special?

Time will tell…

"Yeah," Edogawa Conan said sarcastically. "You really had to go destroy all those innocent kids' happiness and fantasies."

"Well, well," Ai said mildly. "That's exaggerating. Happiness? Anyway, after all, as soon as I finished my comment, Kobayashi-sensei cheered them all up again, didn't she?"

They were in Professor Agasa's house. Conan was reading a mystery book (which he had already read twice already, but that was beside the point), and Ai was, well, flicking through a fashion magazine. Vogue, by the looks of it. Latest edition.

"Hmph." Conan made a sound that sounded half like a snort, half like a sigh. Conversation dissipated into thin air.

"And anyway," Ai said, interrupting the silence yet again. "I couldn't stand it. I couldn't stand all the talk about fairytales and happy endings. When in real life it's so much different."

Conan glanced up involuntarily. "Huh?"

Then he sighed. "Well, yeah, I guess. Life is harsher than stories. Especially for teenagers shrunken into children."

Then Ai laughed.

"What's so funny?" he asked her, confused. Don't tell me that it was something I said?

"It's like a fairytale, is it not?" said Ai, a smile playing on her lips.

"Fairytale? What's like a fairytale?" Conan asked, bewildered.

"This. Our lives. Like you said. After all, who would think that two adults would be shrunken into children? It's exactly the thing that would happen in fairytales."

In her psychotic mode again… I wonder if all scientists are like that? Conan thought to himself. And because he actually didn't want the wrath of Haibara (who know what she'll do?) he kept his face straight and mouth shut.

(No one wants a crazy scientist on their trail, right? It's only logic.)

But… it might be true. What she was saying, that is. Who would think that that could happened if it, well, hadn't happened?

He wouldn't have believed it himself.

"Hmm… I guess Mouri-san's the princess. And you're the handsome prince who's been cursed, and trying to get back to your princess and protect her, save her. It makes sense, doesn't it?"

"Well, if I'm the prince, and Ran's the princess, then what does that make you?" Conan blurted out.

"Me? Hmm… well, I guess I'm the ugly evil witch. There's one in every fairytale. It's the one who casts spells on innocent people and turn them into frogs, if she doesn't kill them first."

"No! I mean, you're not evil… just… led astray," Conan argued. It was true… it was, it was…

Was it?

"No," Ai shook her head. "Not led astray. Just pure poison."

"Haibara…" Conan laid his hand on her arm. She smiled at him, whether it was a smirk, or a sad smile, a self-pitying smile, a grimace, he was not sure.

"It's true," she said. "I'm the evil witch who'll be killed somehow, in some ghastly way. No matter what."

She says it calmly, as if she was telling someone else's story instead of what she was meaning – hers.

"The witch's sub-ordinates will find her somehow. And kill her. Or they'll betray her to everyone else. She'll be punished. She'll get killed.

Or she might even be killed by that good handsome prince, who's tried so hard to get back to his princess. He might decide that it's all too hopeless, all for nothing, and he kills her to get back at what she's done."

"Hey, Haibara!" Conan spluttered. "Snap out of it! This fairytale thing's gone too far! There's no way the prince will kill her!"

"Or is there…" Ai said, devoid of emotion. "Don't worry. Eventually, all fairytales have happy endings, so you need not worry…

But in the end, the witch will have no comrades, whatsoever. She'll be alone.

And she'll fade to nothing."

Once upon a time…

There was a syndicate. An organisation. It's name…

… the Black Organisation.

They rose. Able to evade detection, they were invincible.

But all glory must come to an end somehow. And so then…

They fell.

He couldn't believe it.

He couldn't believe it, as he stood on the top of the building, of the Metropolitan Police, staring down, across the vast city of Tokyo, the blocks of buildings shining in the light of the morning sun.

Morning sun – new beginnings, he thought, and smiled with satisfaction.

He couldn't believe that the organisation had fallen, finally, eventually. Of course, he had always been determined to bring it down… but, well, he had been losing hope day by day.

Because really, what chance does a seventeen-year-old boy have to take down an enormous organisations with extensive contacts and networks all over the world?

But it seems like the impossible had become the reality, and the police all around the world rejoiced at such a dramatic decline in crime ever since the members of the Organisation had been brought down.

It was really fantastic, he thought. Almost surreal. Almost like… like…

"A fairytale ending."

He spun around, and was greeted with the sight of Ai. "How did you know I was here?" he demanded.

Ai rolled her eyes and walked towards him, leaning on the railing next to Conan. "It wasn't hard to guess. Not fit for the Sherlock Holmes of the twenty-first century."

They stayed in silence for a few moments.

"So, I guess you want it?"

Conan blinked at Ai. "What? What do I want?"

She sighed. "For someone who's supposed to be the greatest modern detective ever, you sure are dense.

It's the antidote, baka. The one thing that will make your magical fairytale complete. The one thing that will return you to your beautiful princess."

"Oh. Yes. That. Have you finished it?" he looked at her eagerly.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I have," she sighed. "Before I got the second pair of your glasses and tracked you down – again. What makes you think that you can bring down the Organisation single-handedly?"

"I'm sorry," he grinned at her sheepishly. "I just saw Gin and Vodka… so then I decided to tail them… and then they met Vermouth… and, well, you know the rest."

She rolled her eyes but didn't say anything.

"So… the antidote?"

"Here." Ai fumbled in her pocket a bit. Not because she was looking for it, but because she didn't want to give it to him.

Not now. Not yet.

Because she knows that when she does, he'll go back to his princess, his angel. He won't remember her, won't want to. There'll be nothing left for her, here.

Suddenly, her eyes felt prickly, and she could feel tears filling up. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly.

Don't cry. Not here. Not now. Not ever.

Close your heart!!

"Haibara…?"

Suddenly he was there, hand on her arm, peering into her eyes.

She couldn't take it any more.

"Here!" she gasped, and tossed the small flat cylindrical container at him.

Then she ran, ran out of his life…

Forever…?

She didn't know…