Disclaimer: Gosho Aoyama owns Detective Conan. I only own the plot of this story.

Warning: This chapter contains mild violence and occasional swearing. Have fun!

It had been three months since Ran informed Heiji about the truth behind Kudo Shinichi's death. For three months, they had worked relentlessly, searching for newspaper articles and conducting interviews in order to piece the different puzzle pieces together.

At some point, Ran had an epiphany that this was no longer just about Shinichi. She was not sure when it occurred to her, but she regretted not realising earlier. Wasn't Dr. Miyano hinting at it all along?

"You are not allowed to tell anyone about Shinichi's death, nor are you allowed to make contact with Shinichi at any time."

It was not a life-threat – she had gone against the warning, so she knew – despite having told Heiji about the truth, Dr. Miyano had not sent out men to silence her.

No, it was a sincere plea for her not to further involve herself or any other person in this mess, because once you're in, you can never get out.

How naïve she had been, Ran thought to herself. Over the past three months she had learnt new knowledge about the existence known as the Black Organisation, and Ran had to confess that on some days she really could not handle the stress and pressure of unearthing more truths – ugly truths – about human nature and the society that they live in.

Now I know. Dr. Miyano had said that because she wanted Ran to stay safe. It was with her best intentions at heart. During her research, Ran had discovered that people who had unwanted knowledge about the Organisation were hunted down and executed immediately. She was surprised that she and Heiji were unscathed till now – "We just aren't their top priorities," Heiji had replied when she asked him about it.

Once she had understood the significance of knowing the truth, Ran had quit moping around and being depressed. She knew that she had to be her normal cheerful self in order not to arouse any suspicion. After all, people who are close to the victims would also be killed, if the need arises. For the sake of her family and friends, Ran had to put up a strong front and hide the truth. It was draining, but Heiji's company did make things more bearable. Whenever they were not researching, they would go to a coffee shop to relax, or maybe a park to have a casual stroll. Ran had come to appreciate his Osaka accent and small quirks – which made her tingle with warmth.

Today would be one of those days when they would sit on the library floor and discuss things.

"Ne, Heiji," Ran began, hugging her knees to her chest. "Do you think we are ready to see Dr. Miyano? I mean, we've already done all that we can, and the risk level should be quite low."

Heiji nodded. "Yeah, you're right. But we need to figure out where she lives," he pulled out a map that he had been studying for day and said, "It doesn't seem like Subaru Street exists. What's this, a joke?"

Ran frowned. "That can't be…I trust Dr. Miyano. It must be something."

"That's a really weird code, if you'd ask me – well, if it's even a code," Heiji scoffed.

Ran cupped her chin. "Actually, I've been thinking – what if it's actually her number, and not her address?"

Heiji looked at her incredulously.

"I mean, I don't think she'd actually give us an address – what if she has guests and we conveniently knock on the door? It won't end well for either of us. And it's ridiculous to think that there will be a person who would 'see to us personally'."

"I like what you're getting at…" a smile began to form on Heiji's lips. "Wait, I think I've solved the code."

He grabbed a sheet of paper and began scribbling on it. "Subaru Street, Block 323," he muttered, writing it down as he explained. "Each letter actually corresponds to a number according to alphabetical order. So, S is 19, U is 21, B is 2, and so on. You write down the corresponding numbers for all the letters in 'Subara Street Block', and add them up together."

He stared at his fingers in concentration. "Ah, the sum is 194!"

"Anyway," he continued, as Ran stared at him in wonder. "If you piece 194 and 323 together, it would be 194323. That's her number."

"And the code…"

"This is the fun part! I've never understood it, but thanks to you, Ran, I finally get it," he grinned at her. " 'The person who will see to us' refers to the telephone lady who tells you whenever your call isn't successful. It applies here too. After dialling the number, there will be a voice that says 'Please enter the code' or something like that. That's when we enter 313."

Ran let out a breath that she didn't even know that she had been holding. "So that's what it means."

Heiji started laughing. "Thanks for the idea, mate!"

Ran looked at the phone in her hand and drew in a deep breath. She punched in the numbers and waited anxiously for something, anything – and it came.

"Please key in the code," the voice said. Ran frantically punched in three more numbers and counted the number of rings before she finally answered the call.

"Ran-san," Ran gulped; she could never forget this sharp, piercing voice. "Congratulations on figuring out the code. What's the matter?"

The duo sat in silence, tense for different reasons – while Shinichi could not wait to see Ran again, Shiho dreaded her arrival. At last, the doorbell rang. Both swerved their heads to look in the direction of the door, and Shinichi got up from the sofa –

"I'll get the door," Shiho said, grabbing his wrist.

Shinichi pushed her hand off gently. "I'll do it."

Shiho watched in sombre silence as Shinichi jogged to the door. He seemed rather nervous; he had wiped his hands on his shirt before answering the door. However, he was met with disappointment.

"Kudo Shinichi," a tanned boy said with an Osaka accent, "Pleased to meet you. I'm Hattori – "

"Heiji!" a girl chided, running up from behind, "What have I told you? Stay out – " she found that she could not finish the sentence because her eyes were glued to the man standing inside the flat.

"Shinichi," was all that she could manage before she threw herself into his arms. She hugged him tightly, closing any gap between their bodies, so much so until they merged into one. "Is this really you, Shinichi? You're back," she said, hands frantically running all over his body, "You're alive. Very alive."

"Ran, I missed you," Shinichi gave her a tight squeeze, mumbling into her neck. "I'm so glad that you're fine."

"I never thought I would see you again," Ran said, close to tears. She pulled away to take a proper look at his face. "Kudo Shinichi, you idiot! I thought I'd lost you for real, and you spring this on me."

"It's all thanks to Shiho," Shinichi allowed himself to be slapped in the arm. "If it weren't for her…"

"Hello, I never knew we would be expecting one more guest," said Shiho, crossing her arms as she inspected the newcomer. She looked at Ran sullenly, and Ran blushed. "I'm sorry, Dr. Miyano, I didn't keep my end of the deal – I'm really sorry, he's Hattori Heiji, a detective."

"Hattori Heiji?" Shinichi intercepted, pleasantly surprised. "The Great Detective of the West? Nice to meet you!"

"Yep, that's me. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu!" Heiji grinned, and the two boys broke out in laughter.

"Why are you here?" Shiho said, raising an eyebrow at Heiji, not missing the opportunity to glare at Ran.

Heiji straightened. "Ah, we are here to check on Kudo-kun. We also have some questions pertaining to the Black Organisation."

Shiho checked for any suspicious characters before gesturing towards the door. "Please come in." After everyone had settled down on the sofa, Shiho locked the front door and joined them.

"I guess there's no use denying that I don't know about them," Shiho said, pouring everyone a cup of green tea. "The fact you know about them means that you've done a lot of research."

"Good thinking, Dr. Miyano," Heiji smiled. "We have some questions – "

"Have you reported to the police?"

Heiji shook his head in denial. "Police officers don't know what's good for themselves."

"Agreed," Shiho said, smirking. "Well, you have questions, right?"

"I'll be frank," Heiji said, "Where's the Headquarters?"

"You don't waste time, do you?" Shiho sipped some tea.

Heiji merely shrugged. "These people need to be wiped out. I'm already planning a large-scale attack, if you don't mind."

Shiho nearly dropped her cup. "Are you crazy? You have no idea how complex the Organisation is. Even if you manage to arrest everyone at the HQ, there would always be leftover members – "

" – which is why we need to stage a careful attack," Heiji finished the sentence for her. "The problem is, we need to kill the Queen Bee if we want to destroy it completely."

Shiho went quiet. "Do you know who the Boss is?" asked Heiji.

Shinichi detected Shiho's shift in mood. "Yes," he said, glancing at Shiho for permission. She looked doubtful.

"When will this attack be?" she said.

"Three days from now," Heiji said, "if we know who the Boss is. I already have enough evidence for the Police to arrest them. Since we're expecting quite a lot of people, I would also contact CIA and FBI – the more, the merrier."

Shiho stood up all of a sudden. "You can go on without me. I'm fine with anything. Just don't mess up." She then stood up gracefully and walked past everyone, heading for the secluded room down the hallway.

"The truth is…" Shinichi bent down to whisper to Heiji. When he looked up again, there was a trace of sympathy in his eyes.

"Anyway, three days later. 3a.m., probably. When they are asleep," Heiji whispered, looking at his watch. "I need to go. We'll message Dr. Miyano if anything happens. Her device isn't bugged."

He grabbed Ran's hand and headed towards the front door. "Thanks for the tea. I'm looking forward to seeing you, mate."

Shinichi stood up and waved, and his eye caught hers. She seemed sad, for some reason, but she wore the same old smile and said, "See you, Shinichi."

6 May, 1994. 4p.m.: FBI Headquarters

"Have you verified the message?"

"Yes, sir! It was from a reliable source – Hattori Heiji, the famous detective. It seems that this action plan would involve other organisations such as the Police Force and the CIA."

"Target?"

"The Black Organisation, sir."

"Heh," Akai Shuuichi polished his gun, "That rat hole. Haven't visited good old comrades for quite some while. Is this the Final Plan?"

"Yes, it would seem so, sir."

"Very well. Inform the guys. We need to prep soon." Akai Shuuichi looked at his co-workers – James Black and Jodie Starling – and grinned lopsidedly. "The day is finally here – the day that we've all been waiting for."

7 May, 1994. 1a.m.: CIA Headquarters

"Team A, B, C, and D?"

"Here, sir."

"Weaponry? Communications?"

"All checked, sir."

"BO infiltrate?"

"Confirming, sir – " a slight paused, " – oh yes, confirmed."

"We are leaving in 5 minutes. Get ready."

At 3a.m. sharp, a guard standing outside the Headquarters of the Black Organisation was shot in the leg with a tranquiliser gun. He had seen them, reached for the trigger, but they were faster.

"Guard down. Proceeding to Main Hall. Over," yelled James Black into the walkie-talkie. Six armed men crouched behind him, awaiting his next instruction. He swung his arm forward, and stealthily crept towards the front door of the building.

"Team B, are all exits blocked?" he hissed into the handheld transceiver. A nod from him was all that the men needed. Exchanging glances, they counted to three mentally before blasting the door open.

The attack thus began.

For the purpose of this raiding attempt, Shinichi and Shiho were supposed to locate and identify the high-ranking officials and the Boss for capture. They had each been handed a shotgun with tranquiliser darts in case their safety was compromised.

They knelt on each side of the doorway, awaiting clearance. The six FBI agents had been swift and efficient; they wasted no time putting their enemies to sleep. However, they could not deny that they had the advantage of catching them off guard. Otherwise, the outcome might be very much different.

Shinichi and Shiho crept in silently after seeing the grand sweeping motion of one of the men's arms. James Black nodded at them. "Where's the Boss?"

"The top level," Shiho whispered back, looking around nervously. "Let's not linger for too long; they have very good response system."

Bang!

"Fuck," someone cursed, "They're here!"

The duo did not have to be told twice to get moving. In a flash, they were on the second level, eyes predatory, checking for any potential hazards. James Black and another of his man followed them up.

"CIA Team A, we need your backup! We had surprise visitors," Black growled into the HT. Before he could relay all the relevant information, a man had shot the spot two centimetres away from his forehead.

"Their aim sucks," he said, rolling to one side.

"Watch out!"

A group of at least ten people appeared – they were overpowered. "Run!" Shiho hissed, doing a back roll and dashing towards the nearest staircase. Shiho really hope that they did make it, because by the time she reached the third floor, only Shinichi and the other man caught up with her.

"Where's Mr. Black?" she asked fearfully.

"He's okay. He's fighting downstairs. He said that Akai would take over," Shinichi replied. He clutched her hand, "It's okay, we're fine. Let's go."

Shiho could hear the angry hisses of bullets coming from the crossfire below. I really hope they are fine. Nodding, she peeked out of the door, "It's safe." She prepared herself, then started sprinting crazily. She felt bullets whizzing past her ears as she zoomed past the corridors – running, running and never stopping.

"Shiho!" she heard distant screams but she knew that she could not slow down. When you stop you become predictable targets. She would not become a predictable target. Finally, she found a wall to lean on, and looked sideways at Shinichi. It appeared that they had a new companion – Akai Shuuichi.

"Rye!" she cried out, then realised her error. "Shuuichi-san!" Immense relief washed over her and she relaxed slightly. Akai Shuuichi was very good with defence and Shiho knew she could count on him.

"We took out the other guys," Shinichi said.

"We need to hurry," Shuuichi said, bolting towards the staircase. "Two more floors to go."

"Why are the staircases structured in a zigzag pattern?" Shinichi groaned, looking backwards to ensure that no one was following them. Running up the stairs, the trio found themselves repeating the same course of action over and over again. Shiho could still hear the exchange of bullets downstairs, which contrasted with the silence in the upper floors.

"Isn't this almost…too easy?" she whispered, gripping Shinichi's arm more tightly than usual. Shuuichi looked uneasy too.

"We've already come so far; we can't go back now," he replied. They climbed the last flight of stairs before reaching the top level.

Together, they turned right, then left, then right. Once again Shiho found herself standing in front of The Room and recalling the time when Anokata – no, her father – proposed that Shinichi become a member of the Black Organisation. That was three months ago.

"Are you ready, Shiho?" Shuuichi asked. Nodding, Shiho pressed her ID card against the door and it creaked open. The chamber was as hollow as the one in her memory and she could not help but shiver.

"Is there a secret passageway or something…?" muttered Shinichi as he explored the chamber. "I can't really look around whenever I come up here for meetings with Anokata."

"Could this be the one?" Shiho whispered, touching one of the wooden tiles near the white wall. "It feels hollow."

Shinichi and Shuuichi rushed forward. Shinichi lay his palm on the wooden tile to feel the texture before gently knocking on it.

"That's it," he said. He tugged hard at the tile and it fell off. It concealed a red switch. Cautiously, Shinichi pressed the button and waited with abated breath.

Soon, the wall began to rise steadily, revealing nothing but the outside. Shuuichi went forward and stood at the edge of the floor. "Will we fall off…?" he could see cars zooming past the traffic lights, and perhaps some couple bickering, but they appeared so tiny. It felt as if he were standing at the edge of a window.

"Welcome, traitors. We have been expecting you," a voice boomed loudly, travelling from somewhere distant yet close. "You have no idea how excited we are for you to try out our latest game: The Invisible Floor!"

The voice began cackling. Shiho recognised it – it's Anokata. "Father," she shouted loudly, hoping that he could hear it, "I know you. Please stop this, father."

"Sherry, I am disappointed in you. You have so much potential as the Head of Biochemistry, but you do not fully make use of that talent. What a waste."

Shinichi laughed. "Miyano Atsushi. Creator of APTX 4869 along with your wife Miyano Elena. Top student of your batch during your time at the University of Tokyo. Disappeared from the public eye after graduation. However, you were actually gathering people to form the Black Organisation together with you, at the same time working on APTX 4869. In 1963, you were forced to fake your death during an explosion because your cover was threatened – and you have been playing the role of Anokata ever since. Am I right, sir?"

He heard a disappointed sigh. "Sherry, I trusted you when you said that this detective has lost his memory. I do not like it when you lie."

"Knock it off, old man," jeered Shuuichi, holding his gun. "Come out so that we can have a real fight as men."

"Ah, my Silver Bullet, so you have come to deliver my death?" the voice snickered. "I thought that you would have figured out my identity first, but it seemed that Detective-kun was faster. So disappointing."

"Father, please, just stop this," Shiho said. "You are only hurting yourself. Please, come back to your senses."

There was suddenly a blinding flash and a man appeared. He seemed to be in his sixties, his forehead lined with wrinkles. He was immaculately dressed, and despite his old age he still looked handsome.

"Father!" Shiho cried, lunging forward, only to be held back by Shinichi.

"He's not real," he whispered urgently, "It's to trick you into falling to your death."

There, Miyano Atsushi sat patiently in his wheelchair, seemingly floating up and down in air. "Come, traitors, let's all play The Invisible Floor. Don't worry, the floor is safe! It will only crumble when your fear level passes a certain amount."

Once again, Shiho tried to walk towards the empty space, but Shinichi restrained her. "Shiho! Think! He's lying. I have a bad feeling about this."

He looked at Shuuichi and he nodded back. What could cause his image to be cast onto an invisible space? Shinichi thought, knowing that time was running out. Think, Kudo! What are the basic properties of light?

Then it hit him.

Smirking now, he said, "Miyano-san, your game ends here." He spun on his heel until his back was turned towards the empty space, and pointed his gun upwards.

"Very smart trick," Shinichi smirked, "You nearly got me there. Too bad there was one flaw." Shinichi looked at his watch. "It's 7a.m. now. The Sun should just be in the East right now – instead it was in the West."

On seeing Shinichi turn to the back, Shuuichi and Shiho followed suit. The sight of the real Miyano Atsushi greeted them – a thought that scared Shiho greatly. He had been behind this whole time?

"When the white wall rose up, there was actually a mirror behind it. Through some device, you managed to let the light rays reflecting off you to converge on the mirror, hence reflecting back into our eyes and misleading us into thinking that you were at the far end of the room when you aren't," Shinichi rattled off, his smirk never fading. "I have to say, you are a well-trained ventriloquist."

Miyano Atsushi laughed. "Bravo! Wouldn't expect less from a detective as famous as you, Kudo Shinichi. Well, I guess your game ends here too – Gin?"

Gin stepped out from the shadows, carrying a rifle. His silvery hair cascaded down his trench coat, eyes narrowing into slits.

"Now, sir?"

"Wait – let me talk to Sherry first."

Shuuichi saw that slight crack in defence and made use of that opportunity to shoot Miyano Atushi with the tranquiliser gun. He seemed to be surprised to have been caught off guard, his eyes wide with shock before his eyelids drooped close.

Shiho sprang up to shoot Gin but missed. Realising what she had done, Gin had swiftly turned to her, gun poised. "Shiho, watch out!" Shinichi quickly pushed Gin when he pulled the trigger – Bang! - and tried to wrestle the weapon out of his hands. "I should have killed you personally on the day of the transaction," Gin muttered, spitting in Shinichi's face. Shinichi flinched; but did not shy away. Instead, he increased his pressure on Gin's hands, so much so that he felt like his own hands were going to break. He snarled, "Gin, I will never forgive you for what you did to Shiho – "

"Shiho? Who's that?" he chuckled darkly, flashing his stained, yellowed teeth. "Sherry is the only one I fuck."

"You bastard," Shinichi hissed, "You'll pay for it!" He shoved his knee right up into Gin's groin with as much strength as he could muster. Gin released his grip on his gun temporarily, giving Shinichi enough time to grab it and throw it into the corner of the chamber. He smeared his powder-filled hand on his pants, and walked towards Shuuichi, "That guy's yours – "

"Look out!"

"Shinichi!"

" – fucking shit, I'm not done with you yet!" yelled Gin, lunging at him and pulling out his knife, stabbing Shinichi from the back, grin widening every time he drew out the bloodied knife out of the body – once, twice, thrice –

Clank. The knife fell to the ground, staining the green carpet red. Soon, more blood trickled from another body that fell. "What the fuck is up with that man," Shuuichi blew off the dust from the previous shot, casting a disgusted look at the squirming mess on the floor. He was shot near his hip, parts of his silver hair tainted with the dark red blood. It did not hit any of his vital organs, but it was enough to knock him out. "I was out of tranquiliser darts," he explained. "I certainly don't mind killing that piece of trash – " Shuuichi kicked his leg, " – but orders are orders."

Shiho wasn't listening; she was hovering over Shinichi, checking for any signs of breathing. She placed her ears on his chest, felt for his pulse, then his breathing, before finally sighing.

"He's alive," she said, relieved. She went on to examine his wound. It was deeper than any knife stabs, but that was mainly because Gin had stabbed him more than once. Shiho tore off part of her shirt and wrapped it around his stomach as gauze. "Hold on, Shinichi," she whispered, holding up his head, "I will get you there."

"Sir! We need support – one casualty on our side, and two knocked-out officials – we don't have enough manpower," Shuuichi spoke into his walkie-talkie. "Over."

He went over to help Shiho with carrying Shinichi. "Shiho…" it came out as a very soft whimper.

"Come on, we're nearly there!" Shiho urged, squeezing his hand. She suddenly hated the stairs very, very much. She hated the whole layout of the building. She wished she could just teleport Shinichi to a hospital right then and there. "Stay with me, Shinichi!"

The five flights of stairs down to the first floor suddenly seemed like a terribly long journey. Every moment Shiho wondered if Shinichi's heart was slowing down, or missing a beat, or just stopped completely. "We're close, Shinichi, stay strong!" she almost yelled, willing her body to walk faster.

"One more, Shiho," Shuuichi said. "He'll be fine. Calm down."

It might have been at most three minutes, but it felt like an eternity to Shiho. By the time Shinichi was placed on the stretcher, Shiho was already crying non-stop, tears flowing freely down her cheeks.

"Please, doctor, let him be okay!" she begged the woman in white, "Please!" And then Shiho saw her – Ran. She looked so confused, but when she saw the person lying on the stretcher her face went pallid.

The female doctor started conducting preliminary checks on Shinichi. Ran scooted closer to the doctor, her fingers locked in a prayer. Shiho wanted to shout at her – "Go away! You weren't even there with him when he was stabbed. You don't have any right to be here," – but she knew it was irrational.

The doctor continued her work, then stopped. She called out in an ominous tone that worried Shiho. "Is there anyone with the same blood type as this boy here? He needs a blood transfusion right now."

Shiho raised her hand but shrank away when she realised that she had forgotten her blood type. No, she did not even know Shinichi's blood type even though she had worked with his cells before – oh, no, no, no. She looked around desperately, but it seemed like no one was paying attention to the request made by the doctor.

"Does anyone have the same blood type as Kudo Shinichi? His blood type is – "

"I do," Ran stepped forward, rolling up her sleeve. The doctor raised an eyebrow dubiously but Ran simply said, "We're childhood friends" as an explanation. The doctor quickly checked if Ran was healthy enough – she was – and the transfusion began.

Shiho could not tear her eyes away from the scene. It felt like the world had stopped spinning. After the blood transfusion ended, she kept watching the pale boy covered in a white sheet. Finally his eyes opened, and his mouth opened to form a shape – Shiho could not tell what it was – but before she could figure out she was pulled away.

"Miyano-san." It was a police officer. He handcuffed her. "You're under arrest for being a member of the Black Organisation. Please go to the police station with us to assist with our investigation."

Shiho felt herself relaxing. She had been waiting for this all these years. Smiling, she nodded at the police officer. "May I just look at someone for one last time?"

Maybe she didn't seem threatening enough, but the police officer agreed to her request. Shiho looked back and smiled to herself; Shinichi seemed more awake than just now, smiling weakly at Ran as she cupped his cheeks.

Maybe that's what they were meant to be.

Or maybe they were just never meant to be.

Either way, it had been an unforgettable journey. Shiho closed her eyes and imagined: the first time they met, Shinichi attacked her and straddled her hips; the first time they held a civil conversation, she had promised to restore his memory; the first time she performed a memory check on him, he had learnt her name; and there was the first time they had an argument, then he asked if she's okay; the first time she left for work, worrying that he'd escape.

My first kiss with him on my poster bed.

"Miyano-san?"

Shiho snapped back to the present. "I'm sorry."

"Let's get going, shan't we?"

Shiho smiled at the police officer, taking one last look at Kudo Shinichi and the building which used to haunt her dreams.

Thank you, Shinichi.

She stepped into the police car, following the officer.

Even if you didn't manage to change the world, you've changed mine.

The car engine started, and she looked out of the window.

When we meet someday, I'll show you the world I see.

She rolled down the window and enjoyed the morning breeze.

Till then, forget about me.

End.

A big thank you to all my readers without whom I would not have had the motivation to see this story through. Thank you for your criticism, encouragement, patience, and being the kindest readers a writer could ever have. This has been a journey of self-discovery and growth, and I'm so glad that I could share this adventure with all of you. The ending is open to various interpretations - but, really, Shiho was happy.

"Don't cry because it's over,

smile because it happened."

- Dr. Seuss