Arrival-Part 1

It was a perfectly calm and sunny saturday morning. Shinichi was sitting on the lounge in Mori Kogoro's office and solving crossword-puzzles. It was amazing but he actually caught himself enjoying the peacefull atmosphere and the furthest thing on his mind was to recieve threats against his life. Unfortunately, that was exactly what was going to happen and Shinichi was going to learn soon about it. Very Soon.

For now, anyway, he was reaping the benefit of exercising his mind a little and- not to forget- watch his childhoodfriend Ran doing the same. Of course, if somebody had seen them in that office he never would have figured that they were the same age. For a bystander the scene looked more like brother and elder sister spending time together, not like a couple of unconfessed lovers. Maybe the word 'unconfessed' isn't exactly right here, the best word to describe the state Shinichi and Ran were in would be 'complete denial'.

'Ne, Conan-kun?'

At the sound of Ran's voice he looked up.

'Why is it that Conan-kun is spending his saturday here? Wouldn't you rather be outside playing with your friends?“ she asked.

Shinichi grimassed. In fact he'd rather be locked up in a small room with Hattori Heiji and the Black Organization than facing his 'friend' Mitsuhiko right now. After the last case, that costed the life of his brand new Kamen Yaiba bycicle, the boy wasn't to friendly with Shinichi. In fact, he had called the act that destroyed his precious property a 'unforgivable and despitefull crime against the hero of justice and a betrayal of japans children.'. After listening to further insults about twice as long as the example, Shinichi had decided it would be best not to show his face again until the delict had been deminished to a 'minor breach of a friends trust'. Which could easily take one or two months, considering how much Mitsuhiko loved his bycicle.

Shinichi quickly shook his head.

Ran tipped her mouth with the right index-finger, as she usually did when she was thinking about something. 'You really are weird sometimes, Conan-kun!' she then stated.

Unwillingly Shinichi had to agree with her. Edogawa Conan sure had to look strange all the time, acting all different from children his age. But what should he do? It wasn't easy to play a preschooler while being 17 years old!

The silence returned fast, only to be disrupted by the ringing of the office phone. Shinichi jumped up and crawled up the drawer. 'Detective Agency Mori Kogoro' he said.

'Ah, Shinichi. I need to talk to you.' the voice on the other end belonged to noone else but professor Agasa, an old friend of Shinichi's family and his helper in this time of shortness.

'I got your mail this morning as you asked me to. It's mainly the usual stuff, but there's something strange among it.' the professor continued. Shinichi frowned.

'I think it's best if you come and see for yourself.'

'Yes, sure. I'll be there in 10 minutes!' Shinichi answered and put down the phone. He jumped down the desk and ran to the door. This was something he just couldn't get used to- not being able to reach for random devices like a phone without climbing up some part of the furniture. It really was a pain in the ass.

'I'm going to the professors house!' he shouted while runnig out of the room, leaving a puzzled Ran behind. 'Really.' she said to herself 'he's such a strange boy!'

After arriving at the professors house Shinichi jumped up to ring the bell. Another annoying disatvantage of being short.

It was Agasa who opened the door. Behind him, Shinichi could see Haibara Ai working at the PC. Once more he asked himself how old she really was. She once had told him that they were about the same age but sometimece she behaved like a much older person. On the other hand, being raised by a murderous organization surely could cause some prematurity.

'Shinichi, come in' Following the elderly man's invitation, Shinichi entered the vast fronthall that- like the rest of the house- also served as a laboratory to the professors rather strange experiments.

'What is it that is so important?' he wanted to know after the door closed behind him.

'I'm not sure wether it is really important but it surely is strange' Agasa responded. He walked over to the working station haibara was already sitting at and started to search in a stack of papers. 'Ah! There it is!' he finally exclaimed, handing a postcard down to Shinichi. It was showing a picture of Sherlock Holmes, wearing a cape, holding his pipe in one hand and inspecting a small button in his other. 'It's the small things that count' was written beneath it.

Shinichi turned the card around. Oddly enough the text on the other side was written in english. The letters were formed neatly and pointed hard towards the right. The young detective's first impression was that the handwriting belonged to a woman, but the firm manner of writing and the fact that the letters continued long after the word was finished, following the direction of movement pointed towards a male author. The poststamp was from one day ago.

The text said following:

The game of numbers

the winner was disqualified

the second became last

and last was winner.

To take the price he followed the the steps of truth's first.

The representative of time and the orange maiden

when the last of wine is moved by one

and meets the ancient sun,

driving across the skys in it's carriage

form a union the first time

and bring the girl to full blossom

Are to hand him his price at their palace

eternal sleep that is.

Shinichi gasped. This was...

'So? Is it important?' the professor's voice brought him back from his thoughts. 'Yes, this is vey important!' he answered, still staring at the message.

'Then, what is it?'

'If I have understood this right, then this is a challenge. No, rather a threat.'

With a glance at the professor's confused face he sighed.

'It's a riddle that bases on the phonetic alphabet hiragana. It is written in english so that the reader has to translate it back to japanese. Furthermore it has references to mythology and the meaning of names.' he explained and gave the card back to Agasa. 'Try to solve it.'

The professor stared at the text for a while.'Ah! Now i get it!' he exclaimed.

'The game of numbers is 'SU DO KU'. The winner, the first syllable, has to be removed. The Third syllable, 'KU' takes the first place and 'DO' the last, so you get 'Kudo', your last name. 'The truth's first' referes to your first name 'Shinichi' which means 'first son of truth'. The representative of time is a clock, 'TOKEI' in japanese. But what is the orange maiden?'

'In english, orange isn't just a colour, it's also a fruit. The japanese word is 'MIKAN'. If you put those together you get 'Tokei Mikan', the novelist who commited suicide after being suspeted of murduring her husband 6 months ago.' Shinichi explained.

'That's logical. Right. So the last syllable of 'wine', 'SAKE' in japanese is moved by one place in the hiragana-tabellary, so you get either 'SAKU' or 'SAKO'.'

Shinichi nodded. „The ancient sun that drives across the sky in a carriage symbolizes the egyptian god 'RA'. If you put together you get 'SAKURA', cherry blossom, which is also a girls name. So the phrase sais as much as: 'When the sakura-trees blossom the first time'. That's the first of April.'

'So the whole message sais: 'Kudo Shinichi, Tokei Mikan is going to give you your price at the first of april at her palace, eternal sleep that is.' the proffesor finished. Shinichi nodded again. 'What eternal sleep is, doesn't need explanation, I guess.'

'But, Shinichi...the price...what is that for?'

'That's the easy part. Numerous Detectives accused Tokei Mikan of murdering her husband. The price is revenge for her death.'

Agasa nodded. 'That makes sense. Although, i still don't get it. You weren't involved in that case, so why did the writer pick you?'

This time a cool voice from behind answered. 'I don't think the author of that amusing little riddle really cares. My guess is that he has a grudge against detectives in general and now is trying to kill the most famous ones.' It was Haibara, who had finally looked up from whatever she was working on and turned her attention towards the two others. 'That probably means that...' In exactly that moment Shinichi's mobile phone ringed. After one look at the display he switched on the speaker.

The voice on the other end was very familiar.

'Did you get one as well?!' a boy asked very fast.

'Hattori. Are you talking about a postcard?'

'Yeah, yeah, exactly. So you did get it! Read it out!'

Shinichi grimassed. That boy...always so rash.

' yours first.'

Hattori groaned. 'Alright, here it comes:

The unfinished flower

meets perfect bird.

When Hogen continues.

They ask their eternal equal rival

for guidance.

And the 9 companions meet

where deathgods dwell.

Got it?'

'Barely. Your english is awfull.' A little teasing never hurts...

'Haha, very funny Kudo. Well, if it's too complicated for you, I'll translate. Flower is 'HANA' in japanese, if you don't finish it, you get 'Ha'. Bird is 'TORI' and if you put them together you get 'HATORI'. It's missing a 'T' but still. Hogen is an era in which a rebellion took place that continued in the Heiji-Era. The eternal equal rival has to be you, since we're the same age, thus equal. I have to ask you for guidance to the place where 9 people are going to gather to be killed. Now, where's that place?'

'Here in Tokyo. I'm gonna read you mine now. Here it comes:' Shinichi read out the text on his card once again.

'Hm, I understand. Alright, I'll call you when to come and pick me up!' The phone clicked and the boy was gone. 'Oi! Hattori! HATTORI!' Shinichi squeezed his phone rather unpleasantly. 'Geez, why does this guy always make decisions by himself?!!!' He hissed through gritted teeth.

When he looked up to the professor, he managed to see, how a grin quickly vanished from his face.

'He reminds me of a certain someone...' Haibara stated.

'I'm not like him! I'm a very calm and composed person and he's rash and irrational!' Shinichi frizzled.

'Yes, calm and composed persons usually do behave like you are right now. Anyway, Kudo, you've got a problem.'

He blinked. 'What problem?'

'Somebody is expecting you to come to a place, which you possibly can't...' Haibara answered.

'That's not a problem. I'll just hitch a ride with the old man. He probably got one of these, too.'

'Don't be stupid. This is a death-threat. Even that idiot wouldn't take a child to such a place. Your only possibility is to bail...'

'No way!'

'just wait until I finish, idiot. Your only possibility is to bail, or you could use this.'

The girl held up a vial.

'What's that?'

'I mixed the prototype I created back then and the Paikan-Sake you had me drink. At least elements of it. If I'm right, this should give you at least one week in your original body. I'll have to infect you with a virus though, so it won't be exactly a joyride. And you can use it only once, because after that your body will develope an imunity against that virus. I don't know when I can find another one that reacts with the sake the same way this one does.' Haibara explained. Shinichi snorted. 'One week? That's perfect. Just infect me already!'

He didn't know exactly why he was so determined to solve that case. Maybe it was because of his pride. But maybe it was the immagination of being able to tell Ran things he missed out the last time he had the chance to tell her. Maybe it was both together.

'As you wish. Roll up your sleeve...alright. Ready?' Shinichi nodded. Haibara took the fluid from the vial and injected it into his arm. Then she took out another one and injected it as well. 'The incubation of the virus should be about 24 hours,after that there will occure a reaction between the antidot and the infection. So tomrrow around this time you'll be a big boy again.' She laughed. Shinichi didn't. His arm burnt like fire. Sometimes he really was under the impression that Haibara was evil. Very evil.

The next day he awoke with an awfull headache. His nose was running and his ears were ringing. 'Haibara, some day...some day there will be revenge' he thought gritting his teeth. Clumsy he climbed out of bed. Somehow he had the feeling that a horrible day was about to begin. A feeling that later should find affirmation.

With half closed eyes he tapped into the bathroom to brush his teath. As another bad omen the door was closed. The only response to his knocking was: 'Wait until it's your turn, brat'. No need to say who was the man occupieing the bathroom. Ill tempered he made his way to the kitchen. The breakfast was already on the table, but he couldn't see ran anywhere. Deciding that teethbrushing could wait he sat down and started to eat. It wasn't his fault if the members of this family couldn't get together to have breakfast in time. Then he saw the not on the table. He picked it up and read:

'I'm going to meet a friend. Don't wait for me, could take some time. XXX Ran.'

He frowned. XXX? Was that some kind of hidden code? It had the same amount of letters as Rans' name, but who'd sign with 'Name Name'? Or maybe...ah, no. With this headache he couldn't think right. Who cared what that XXX meant anyway? It wasn't like Ran was some murderer who was sending around death-threats.

After enjoying his meal alone, he went back to his room. The old man seemed to have decided to stay in the bathroom forever, so he wanted to get some more sleep, if he wasn't able to use it anyway. But he hardly had laid his head back onto the pillow when his phone ringed in an awfully loud way. First he tried to ignore it, but the person on the other end was persistent. Throwing his pillow aside, he grabbed for the damn thing and picked up. 'I'll kill you' was the first thing he said. Of course he had first checked who the caller was. 'I'll kill you' wasn't exactly the appropriate greeting if it had been Ran for example. But it was just right for that stubid kansai-ben guy.

'Get in line, Kudo.' answered the annoyingly cheerfull voice of his fellow High-School-Detective.

'What do you want?' he grumbled, while wrapping the blanket tighter around his small body.

'Didn't we agree that you'd meet me at 9 o'clock at Beika Station?'

Shinichi couldn't belive it. 'No, we didn't! First: I didn't agree to anything, you were the one that just decided. Second: You said you'd call me when you arrive. Anyway, i don't undertand why you need to be picked up. If I recall it right you managed to find your way here several times on your own!'

'I need someone to carry the bags.' Hattori replied dryly. Shinichi was about to explode. 'Carry your own bags!!!'

'They are not mine...' Now the voice of the detective sounded amused.

'Not yours? Whos' then?'

'Well, Kazuhas. She just decided that she'd come along...It's not my fault. Now I'm standing here on Beika Station all alone with more bags than I can carry!'

'You're a goddamn Kendo-Master. Why don't you use some of your super-strenght? And why are you alone, anyway. I thought Kazuha went with you.'

'You're slow Kudo, so slow. Kazuha is meeting Ran, as you surely have noticed. They wanted to go shopping. Now are you coming or not?'

'Yes. I'm coming. But when I'm there I'm gonna kick your ass.' With these words Shinichi hung up. Growling he climbed out of his bed- again. Unwillingly he went back to the bathroom. Door still locked. 'Uncle Kogoro! I need to go to the toilet!' From inside he heard a grunt. 'Come back later'. Come back later? Sure, why not. Shinichi thought frustrated. A cewinggum will do it. He grabbed his jacket and left, his one hand in the pocket, his skatboard in the other. No need to tell the old man where he was going.

At Beika Station he frowned. There was Hattori. But he definively was not alone. Beside him was standing a girl with braids. She was talking to him, and judjing from her facial expression, she took the topic rather serious.. It was NOT Kazuha.

Shinichi rolled nearer and shouted in his sweetest childs' voice: 'Hattori Nii-san!'. The dark skinned boy looked up and waved. Shinichi jumped down from his skateboard. 'Yo, Kudo' Hattori greeted him. The girls' eyes widened and Shinichi grimassed. Why was that guy always doing this to him?

'Ne, Hattori-kun...this can't possibly be Kudo-kun, right?' The girl asked. Heiji rubbed his head and laughed. 'Nah, he's not. Conan's a distant relative of Kudo and sometimes runs errands for him.'

Shinichi looked curiously at the girl. He knew her face from somewhere, he was sure about that. 'Ne, nee-san, and who are you?' he asked, putting on a smile of childish innocence. The girl kneeled down so that their eyes were on one level. Pointing at herself with a hand she said: 'My name is Kogami Reona. Nice to meet you, kid.' she shook his hands. Now, when she had spoken a little more, Shinihi noticed the accent. It was a mix of Kansai-ben and something he couldn't really determine. 'Kogami Reona...where have I heard that name before?' he more murmured to himself when he heard a giggle. 'How rude...at least you shouldn't think aloud, boy.' Reona said. 'Well, maybe you read it in the newspapers.' Hattori explained. 'I don't know wether they have reports on her in the Tokyo Post.'

Shinichi hit his open hand with the fist. 'That's it. You're that girl from Kyoto...the female highschool-detective.' She nodded. 'That means...' Shinichi thought.

'Reona-han got one of the messages Kudo told you about.' Hattori continued his thoughts. He pulled out a crumpled piece of paper. 'Oi, Hattori, I'm not sure wether this is the right stuff for a kid' The girl protested. 'Ah, don't worry. Kudo will tell him anyway. Besides, that kid is pretty smart, let's see if he can solve it.

The child of doubled gods

and the lion

The son of Law in Osaka

knows the path to hell.

When they are called for revenge.

friends betray each other

to survive.'

Shinichi frowned. The message was clear...but something was wrong. Something was diffrent from his and Hattoris'.

'Something wrong, kid?' Asked Reona.

'I'm just wondering...Shinichi-niisan explained to me how to solve the riddles and Heiji-niisan read his to me, too...and they follow the same pattern, right?' he asked.

Reona nodded. 'Yes, that's right. First the name of the reciever, then the actions he has to take and finally what is going to happen.'

'But then, your message would fall out of the pattern...because your given name isn't written , there is the reference to some lion, 'SHISHI' in japanese. That doesn't make sense, does it?'

'Wow, boy, for your age your english is very impressive. But my given name actually is the 'lion'.' Reona answered.

Hattoris confused blinking showed Shinichi that he hadn't noticed the breach of pattern and was now thinking hard, how 'Lion' was connected to 'Reona'.

'You have to know that my name actually is pronounced 'Leona'. It's european origin, latin to be precise. It means lion. In japanese, there is no letter 'L' so it became 'Reona'.' the girl explained.

'I see' Shinichi said. That also explained the part of her accent he wasn't able to determine.

'Anyway, Hattori-kun, I have to leave now. I need to take care of some things. See you on Monday then.' she picked up a bag and hung it around her shoulder. Then she shortly waved goodbye and left.

'Where did you pick her up?' Shinichi asked, watching as the girl's figure slowly vanished in the crowd.

'Tokaido Shinkansen Line, Idiot. Kyoto Station lies on the way between Shin-Osaka and Tokyo. She happened to be in the same carriage as us by accident. When she saw me, she asked for the directions so I knew she got a message as well. Now Kudo, tell me. How are you going to participate?'

Shinichi coughed. His fellow detective had reminded him of how crappy he felt. 'Haibara punched something together for me. It'll give me a week.'

'Really? That Haibara-girl is amazing. When are you going to take the antidote?'

'I already took it.'

'Huh? But you're still small, aren't you?'

'It takes some time to kick in.' Shinichi explained. 'So what about those bags of yours?'

'Ah, those. I left them at the luggage disposal, since it seemed to take you a while to come. I payed for the whole day, so we can get them later as well.'

Shinichi moaned. Why did he get up again?

'And what do you want to do in the meanwhile?' he asked.

'That depends.' Hattori answered. 'When is this transformation of yours going to take place?'

Shinichi looked at his clock. 'Haibara said it would take about 24 hours, that was 22 hours ago. That means in 2 hours plus or minus.' he answered. He guessed it would rather be minus, since he already could feel that pain in his chest that was characteristically for his transformations. 'Then let's go to a place where it won't cause problems when a child suddenly grows up to a teenager within minutes.' Hattori said.

'Don't you have anything better to do with your time?' Shinichi asked unwilling. Fact was, somehow he found it a little awkward to transform infront of his Osaka-friend. He'd rather go through the process on his own. He wasn't sure wether Hattori took the hint or wether he really remembered that he needed to do something, but either way the other shrugged. 'In fact there is something I have to do...if you want, we can meet up later.' he suggested. Shinichi accepted the offer relieved. They decided to meet at 1 o'clock at Beika Station again and parted, each in another direction. Once again Shinichi wondered why he had dragged himself out of bed that morning.