AN: While I normally write third person from the perspective of the character, I do so with stating their first name. Matsuda is best known by his last name though, so I had a feeling calling him 'Jinpei' would just confuse people. So third person will be dictated by last name and not first.

Chapter 21: Bright New Future

Matsuda knew there was something strange about that boy. He seemed to lead the rag-tag group of people who, against all his expectations, saved him. He couldn't be more grateful for that, half afraid that world had taken something precious from him. Himself.

Once around people again though, he felt just fine. He was sure he'd been happier than he had in a while, but that was because he had time to get over most of his anger and grief. He had time to see the world in a different, darker light, which made him appreciate the sunshine.

The sunshine he'd have to get used to. While he'd always worn glasses before because his eyes were slightly more sensitive, that sensitivity had been turned up tenfold. He was sure it was just something that his body would have to get used to again instead of something permanent.

He found himself at Metropolitan Police Headquarters. It had been three years. He wondered what had happened around him. It seemed that Ran-chan had known several officers that had been brought up in conversation. One in particular had caught his attention and he felt the need to see her.

Matsuda had heard enough about her to know he didn't want to hurt her, not again. He wasn't willing to stay in the shadows though.

Megure looked like he was still inspector. The man hadn't been a bad leader, though he hadn't been a great one. Matsuda had the man's phone number since he'd been put on his squad. He had Sato's as well, though he'd rather talk to her in person. He debated calling one of the two of them before simply putting his phone away and waiting near her car. It was hard to miss Sato's red, rather showy, vehicle. She'd have to come back to it sooner or later.

He hadn't felt that bad about stealing the pack of smokes from the man's place he'd been at. He'd never heard of Mouri-san and the man's fridge was full of beer as it was that he really didn't need both smoke and drink killing him. He lit one up as he stood in the darkness of the garage, waiting and unsure what to say.

It was a few hours before Sato came out, a man following after her. Their footsteps were quick and he had to figure she was called out on something. He stayed where he was, tipping his shades to see her better in the darkened area.

Either his lit cigarette or the fact that he was a strange man standing alone in a police garage was enough to make her stop and look at him. The man stopped as well and Matsuda was able to get a look at him. He had a feeling this was Takagi-kun that Ran-chan had been telling him about.

"Matsuda-kun?"

His name was said with such fragility that it almost hurt. He smiled and pocketed the glasses, the low lights not enough to make the headache spike up again. "I could be, though I feel like a ghost right now."

He watched a large range of emotions fly across her face, mostly sorrow. Her eyes seemed to water up faster than her brain could comprehend what his presence meant to her. To him, she was a long lost friend who very well could have been more. She had cared about him when he hadn't cared about himself.

"You… You jerk! You've been alive all this time?! How!? I saw you… I saw…!" She couldn't seem to get her words straight and he couldn't fault her. He was too far to help her when she seemed to fall to her knees, the man beside her going down with her, saying her name lightly and asking what was wrong.

This was not the Sato he remembered. He had broken her somehow with his disappearance and he felt badly for it. He walked over to her slowly, dropping the cigarette and stepping it out before standing before her and offering his hand. "Sorry about that. A lot of things out of my control happened. I was only able to come back just now."

"It… it doesn't make sense. You can't be…" She was looking up at him, her violet eyes angry and confused and hurt. He could only stare back at her with something close to sympathy.

"Are you really Matsuda-kun?"

Matsuda looked over at the man. It didn't take much and he'd been seeing him out of the corner of his eye for some time. Unlike Sato, the man didn't look as confused. He looked angry and ready to get up and punch him if he answered wrong. It made him smile to himself and he drew his hands back and into his pocket. "I'm afraid I am."

Sato was stuck in some denial phase that involved tears but Takagi, if that was him, nodded and seemed to accept his presence. "What happened? Where have you been?"

"If I told you the truth you'd never believe me." Matsuda doubted anyone but those few he'd come to know recently would. It was why he was going to accept the job with one of the men that saved him. He had a feeling that he might be repressing or something and that he might need someone who understood at least a bit of what he'd been through. "Let's just say I had no way of getting in touch with anyone where I was until just now."

"That's not good enough. Do you know what Sato-san went through? I think she deserves answers."

"Then I will give them to her. Since she'll probably think I'm crazy after this though, know that I would have contacted you if I could. I was in another world. Do you know someone who could have survived that explosion? I know that if I hadn't been thrown into wherever I ended up that I wouldn't have. Maybe it was a good thing though. I think she found something better than me while I was gone." Matsuda put the glasses back on. "Take care of her. I probably shouldn't have come back here but you know me, I can't really stop myself when I want to do something. I'll be gone for a while, I don't know how long."

"Wait, Matsuda-kun!"

Matsuda waited, watching Sato get to her feet. She came over to him, slowly, and reached up to take his glasses back off. She looked him in the eye and he looked back at her. The tears were still there but most of the emotions had faded into the background.

Then she slapped him. He put a hand to his face, knowing that laughing right now at the suddenness of it all was probably not the best thing. He couldn't help a smile though.

"That's the Sato I remember."

"You are the most inconsiderate, complete idiot, reckless, moronic, jerk I have ever met but… it's really you. I know it is."

He nodded, looking her over again. "And you're really you. Different, but you. I'm happy you chose not to forget me."

That made her laugh. His smile grew a bit bigger as he watched her get her composure back, wiping the new tears out of her eyes. "Forget you? As if I could."

"Matsuda-kun." The man walked up beside Sato, extending his hand. He had a smile on his face too. "I don't know what happened to you but I don't think anyone would make up something like that. Whatever happened and wherever you've been, Sato-san really missed you. Don't disappear again."

Matsuda couldn't help it this time. He laughed too. It felt like so long since the last time, and that wasn't even counting the years he'd been isolated from the rest of the world. His apparently new rival was inviting him to stay. He had wanted to give Sato and Takagi their space but it seemed that wasn't going to happen. He extended his hand and shook the man's. "I'm not leaving Japan so I'll be back." His eyes went to Sato's. "If a bomb didn't get rid of me, you won't get rid of me that easily. You know, I still think I have a thing for you."

Takagi choked and he watched Sato blush. He meant it. New couple or not, Matsuda hadn't had the chance to be there for her, and if he was getting another chance, she'd wind up with him if they were the better couple. That was up to fate. If not, he could use his old friend.

"Sorry, I'm spoken for."

"Worth a shot." He held his hand out. "Can I have those back?"

Sato, having been close to crushing the sunglasses, handed them back to him. He put them on top of his head instead of over his eyes. He may have wanted to, but it seemed she wanted the eye contact.

"It's hard to believe you're really here. Where are you going anyway? You made it sound like I wouldn't see you for a while."

"You might not. I'm putting my lot in with somewhere I might be able to help more. I won't be far though, and hey, maybe I could use your help if I need it. We can always get together for lunch or dinner sometime too, if you're up for it and your boyfriend will let you."

"Oh, don't worry about him." Sato waved off Takagi.

"Hey," the other officer spoke up, disheartened. "It's not like I'm your dad or something. I can come too though, right? I know I don't have anything to share about the past or-"

"Of course you can come too, right, Matsuda-kun?" Sato was smirking and raised an eyebrow at him as if daring him to say otherwise.

"Of course. I love inviting other men to dinner with me." He honestly didn't mind that much. It was just nice to be speaking with her again. "We have some catching up to do."

"We do. So what, is your being back some secret now or something?"

"It might be. I won't be around the police much anymore. It's better not to have to explain myself without sounding insane. The people I'm working with now know a bit more about it than the rest of you. If you really want to tell someone, go ahead. I don't see why it has to be a secret."

Sato nodded. "Do you have time right now? Takagi-kun and I were supposed to go watch this man's house but Chiba-kun or someone else can do it. Want to get some early lunch?"

"That sounds great." Having not eaten for years, it seemed that his body being back to normal wanted him to put on some weight. "Megure-keibu's going to let you do that though?"

"What he doesn't know won't hurt him."

Sato really had changed. "Let's get going then."

…

Kaito was beyond tired but he was able to regain enough he was sure he could get rid of the rest of the taint on the others. Conan-kun and the ex-Darkling man were the worst and would take the most energy. It was late at night before he was willing to try fixing them up.

Once done, he was ready to pass right back out again and Hattori offered to buy him food, so he took him up on that offer and stayed awake instead. Food tasted great and it was kind of nice to be around the larger group of strangers that he'd meet recently. It seemed the Darkling guy got a place to stay while he'd been unconscious and everything had sorted itself out.

Most everything had. Akako was still bothering him about his magic but, since it looked like he wouldn't have to use it again for a long time to come, it wasn't anything he was worried about.

Hakuba was mostly back to normal, though it seemed the presence of another world where there could possibly be more people like the Darkling man disturbed him. The chances were so low that Kaito wasn't willing to risk them all just to search around.

He would have to take something from Akako in the next week or so, so that he could un-taint the area as well, apparently, where the darkling had died and first gotten them all. Most explosions were powerful enough that the area was never affected. With how big the taint was in that place, apparently it was best not to let it be. People could accidentally get infected through the small boarder of their worlds and neither of them was willing to risk that.

That was, of course, once he had more power. Currently he was scarfing down a hamburger and watching those new people around them. The guy who could turn invisible wasn't there so he'd have to go ask Conan-kun where to find him so he could remove his taint as well later.

"Jeez, I've been missin' so much school. Kazuha's gonna kill me." Hattori was laying back on the bed Kaito was currently eating on, not really having to rest physically.

"I know." Conan was across the room, on a chair near the kitchen. "But at least you can catch up pretty easily."

"Ain't like no one knows ya missed school."

"Quit talking about school," Kaito remarked angrily. He had Aoko to deal with too, along with having to keep secrets from her and Hakuba now being in on more of his life. He should have kept himself tainted so he could avoid the detective and make heists easier.

Akako smirked. "Unlike the rest of you, I've only missed a day."

"Good for you."

Hakuba shrugged. "I've only missed a day as well. I assume you have it worse, since you would have missed work and been without an excuse." The detective spoke to the other man, Kaito realizing that the guy probably got fired while they were trying to help save his life. That was a low blow.

"I have an understanding boss. I told him more or less that I was indisposed of for the time being and had no way of contacting him. Throwing in a bunch of lies, I made sure I kept my job. My other, well, I've gone out of contact before. They didn't even know I was gone."

"Your other? I was unaware you had two jobs."

"It's more of a side job." Amuro raised his finger to his lips and smiled. "One that I don't like to talk about."

It sounded like something dirty and Kaito was all for not talking about it, though he had heard the Darkling man would be working with him. Having visited Mouri's a few times, he was hoping it was the café job and not whatever 'underground' work the man was involved in. That, or it was that job as a killer. Kaito really didn't want to think about that. The Darkling man liked to hide his eyes and seemed far more intelligent than he had first given him credit for.

"I have to thank you." Amuro walked up to him. "All of you, but mostly you. You saved my life, and some of you went through a lot to try and do it. I appreciate it."

Kaito nodded. "No problem. I don't like people dying when I can stop it."

"Same," Hattori chimed in. "Don't even worry 'bout it."

"I should thank you too but if you don't want it then fine." The Darkling man smirked, dark glasses covering his eyes so Kaito couldn't read him very well at all. "Since I inadvertently involved most of you, I am going to say sorry though. And you. I didn't know that they'd try and kill you." The man tipping his head towards the blond man was the only reason that Kaito knew he was talking to the guy and not him.

"It's okay. You were told a lie that you had no reason not to believe and it did have a positive outcome. I would have done the same in your position."

"Now that all the 'thank you's' and 'sorry's' are done, time for goodbye." Kaito threw what was left of the burger in his mouth and stood up. He stretched. "I have to get ready for school tomorrow and I'm still pretty tired."

"Yes, I think you should get some decent rest." Hakuba was already standing and put his coat on. "While none of us seem to be going far, we do have our own homes to get back to and I find it unlikely we will all end up in the same place once more. It was a pleasure to have worked with you all."

Hattori snickered. "So professional."

"Someone has to be, hot-head-san."

Hattori growled and Kaito had to laugh. "Come on, no fighting you two." He shrugged his own coat on, having not needed it in the other time much, what with no wind-chill to deal with. The wings probably gave him some added resistance against the cold he hadn't noticed. He passed the little detective. "Bye. I think you owe me way more than a little favor now."

Conan scowled. "I think I have enough on you that standing here while you walk out that door is more than enough."

"Stingy," Kaito scowled back. The little guy may have gotten him involved but he had stayed because he had wanted to, so maybe he had a point. "I'll probably see you later. The rest of you, have fun with your lives." He raised a hand and walked to the door.

"I can at least offer you a ride home."

Kaito turned to the man. Bourbon had tried to kill him before. In the last few days he had found himself going far, far out of his way to save that same person's life, all because the little detective seemed to trust him. He had not been alone with him, though he doubted he would be since Hakuba and Akako needed a ride back as well. Did he trust them all in the car with him?

"That'd be great, thanks."

"It's late. I'd also like to have you close by when midnight hits, just to be sure."

Kaito smiled to himself. I think we're all going to be happy when the clock hits twelve o' one. That was a really fun adventure though, even as deadly as it was. Detectives, they always get me into the worst danger and I always have to bail them out of it.

Flying though made it all worth it, as did coming away from all of that unharmed.

Maybe he'd get some of those pills Akako had… just for fun.

Conan didn't know what Kid was thinking but he didn't like that look on his face when he walked out the door. Odds were Vermouth still had this power somewhere. He knew she had been on the train with them and Amuro had made no attempt to get her to come close enough that he could let Kid have at her. That made her a very dangerous foe.

He did have a new ally now though, and if he needed help, Kid had strange friends. He could always find a way to use this to his advantage, somehow. He'd just have to think on it, and he had plenty of time for that.