Rukia Kurosaki

A girl wearing headphones and an indifferent expression slipped into the bathroom at Kansai Hotel, tugging a change of clothes from her duffel bag. She exchanged her collared shirt and tie for a tee shirt displaying a popular band and a jacket, covering her dark red hair with a black baseball cap turned around backward. She threw out the brown contacts that had been left for her, but set a pair of thick-framed glasses at the bridge of her nose. The mp3 player from her pocket was dropped in the bag, swapped for a paperback book titled, "Best Collected Horror Stories." After depositing the duffel bag behind the baggage claim counter, she opened the book to the most worn, dog-eared page within its covers and began to read as she walked. 'The "Red Death" had long devastated the country. No pestilence had ever been so fatal, or so hideous.' Shinichi read over the letter twice, his hands shaking. The black organization had introduced another member. Amontillado... Someone was following him around, or had planted a tracer on him. He glanced around quickly, but didn't see any familiar faces. With a relieved sigh, he headed outside, following the flow of traffic down the sidewalk and letting his mind wrap around the case. The caller who had forced him to participate in the 'deduction contest,'... presumably that person... wanted him to find the "Pigeon Among the Cats..." He knew that The Cat Among the Pigeons was an Agatha Christie mystery, and the metaphor and hint led him to believe that he was being called upon to do someone else's recon work. There was a mole in the Black Organization; someone aside from Akai Shuuichi and Hondou Hidemi was leaking information to the police or another enemy of the Organization... When he found out who it was, Shinichi knew the Organization wouldn't just let him be... The informant would most likely be killed, used as an example to discourage others from thinking twice about their alignment. I can't let that happen... but- what about the prize he was so keen to tell me existed? What is it that he holds which could compel me to throw another human being's life away? Shinichi was convinced that there was nothing, but a sense of dread gnawed at his resolve... Impulsively he drew the cell phone from his pocket, dialing the number he needed with shaking fingers. His heart beat louder with each second, the ringing driving blind hope into his heart. 'Please, please pick up...' After five eternally drawn out seconds, the call connected. "Shinichi?!" He almost couldn't find the words, but he managed to whisper, "Ran? Where are you? Are you safe?" A laugh, then a heartfelt reply assured him that she was in no danger. "Shinichi, I'm fine. Dad hasn't been on a dangerous case in weeks, and you know he'd never let me get involved... is something wrong?" Shinichi sighed, then replied, "No, nothing at all... I just met the kid with glasses at the train station, and we decided to play some soccer together." That would explain his absence, and the call... "Train station...? Are you able to come to Beika?" Shinichi let out a mirthless breath. "I don't know... I have a short break right now, but not enough to take the train to the city..." He paused, thinking of what he meant to use the emergency antidote for, and added, "But if I solve this case within twenty-four hours, I promise, I'll come see you." Ran was quiet for a moment, then she responded to the words she had hoped to hear for months, a smile countering the tears in her eyes. "Okay... I'll hold you to that, Shinichi." With a grin, Shinichi said, "I've got to get back to work now so I can get that case finished, okay? I'll just bring Conan with me, since it's nothing dangerous." Just as he was about to hang up, Ran asked, "Will you bring Conan-kun with you when you come? I'd rather he didn't take the train back by himself." Cornered and with no excuses, he grasped at straws, trying to come up with a lie that wouldn't hurt anything. "Ah, well... we finished soccer a little while ago. He said he was actually here to visit Hattori on a surprise visit, so he'll be coming back in a day or two..." He didn't add 'as soon as I get out of your sight and change back.' Ran seemed satisfied with the reply, though her response wasn't exactly happy. "Conan-kun's always running off without telling us. Tell him to call me, okay?" "Alright..." Shinichi smiled, adding, "Bye, Ran." After hanging up he realized he was standing still in the middle of the sidewalk, and immediately began walking. At the intersection and to his right was a trolley, ferrying tourists about Osaka on a sightseeing venture. On a whim he jogged up beside it and scanned the vehicle. The old man from the train was sitting at the back, studying the brochure he still held. With a smile, Shinichi climbed the short stair to the cab. "It's nice to see you again, sir," he said. The man looked up from his booklet, then returned the smile and the greeting. "Hello. Are you enjoying the city?" With a nod, Shinichi replied, "Yeah, it's a great place-" The trolley pulled away from the corner, turning just as a teen in a grey jacket and baseball cap was boarding, which threw her across the laps of a couple of passengers. Shinichi was knocked over as well, and he told himself to remember that trolley floors were really uncomfortable to land on. "Oi, watch it!" the girl called, picking herself up and jamming the cap back down on her head. She glared at the driver as she fixed her glasses. The man turned his head slightly. "Sorry, I didn't see you..." With a frown, the girl picked up her book from the floor, situating herself beside Shinichi, who had managed to stand back up. "Sorry 'bout that," she sighed, dusting off her pants. "My fault I almost missed it." She held out a hand. "I'm Natake," she said. "Ah, Kudou," he replied. Then he froze. Great, I just told my name on a crowded trolley... If somebody is watching, I'm a wide open target now... "Kudou-kun, huh? Nice to meet you." She returned to her book without another word, and Shinichi sighed in relief at the dumb luck that for once, someone hadn't recognized his name. Natake, meanwhile, smiled as she finished the story she'd been reading. 'And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all.'

Don't worry about it~ ^^ I'm just glad somebody's reading it. If I have enough time and my medicine doesn't knock me out xD I'll write another chapter today~

This is one of my tons of comics... This one features Natake Erru, my Detective Conan OC and the Black Org. member known as Amontillado. She becomes a classmate of Ran, Sonoko, and Sera, and is the youngest member of the BO at seventeen. She has short cropped hair, dyed the color of blood, and normally wears collared shirts and sometimes backward baseball caps, and constantly listens to and reads Edgar Allen Poe's stories and poems.

Thanks Ari~ ^^

Here's what my pm said:

(You can control the black org. members~ That way, I don't have most of the shooters on my side of the rp, even if they work against your gang guys) Hidemi pauses, watching Erru. "And if I let them go, will you release her?" Her expression darkens. "Or will you shoot her like you did that other CIA agent?!" Erru smiles, "Hondou-san, just leave the bastards to their own devices... This isn't our mission to take. I sent security to where Eisuke is to protect him, and Jodie and you-know-who are monitoring the prisoners." She glares up at Petrov. "You could loosen your grip a little, ya know~" With a smirk, she whistles the opening of Nanatsu no Ko, making a motion at Hidemi to tell her to leave. Hidemi nods and runs off in pursuit of Eisuke. "And in case you didn't know, I've got allies on both sides of the law..." Several figures appear, surrounding Petrov's men. "FBI knows me as Erru, but my friends call me Amontillado..."

Shinichi blinked, then whispered back, "Are you sure? Who is it?" After a second, he added, "Then you're the ally?" With a wink, Sera grinned, replying, "Yup~ And I figured the second I saw you that you were on my side... The guy who called said there were two others: a rival and a 'third.' The rival is Bourbon." Shinichi froze. "Ah- y- you know about the Black Organization? How-?" Sera sighed, "Ya know, you're pretty dense. I'm not gonna tell you how I know who they are, but I will say that Amuro Tooru was following me on the way here. He's definitely on this train somewhere." Shinichi twitched. "And... you know that Amuro is Bourbon... is there anything you don't know about the situation?" For a moment Sera frowned, thinking. "Yeah... I'm not sure who the third person is. I have no clue whether they're an enemy or an ally... I don't even know their gender or age. All I know is that they're either in Osaka now, or on this train." The two stood together cautiously until the train halted, looking out for anyone acting suspiciously. When there was no development after most of the other passengers had left, they stepped out onto the platform, studying the station. Sera walked straight up the stairs and headed outside with a confused Shinichi in tow. "Where are you going?" "A little while after I got on the train, I found a paper in my motorcycle helmet telling me where to go next. Sorry, I forgot to mention it..." She crossed the street the moment the 'walk' signal appeared, adding, "This baggage claim ticket was wrapped in the message, for number thirteen at Osaka's Kansai Hotel." Sera pointed up at the building before them; sure enough, the huge Kansai Hotel was there, looming over their path. "C'mon, Kudo-kun." Shinichi nodded and followed, annoyed that he was being led around by the other detective, but relieved that he at least knew who his enemy was. "Amuro..." Sera marched up to the counter, setting her claim ticket in front of the woman at the desk. "Oh, number thirteen..." She pulled a slender envelope from a cubby behind the desk, sliding it across the table to Sera. "Here you are, sir..." Sera's shoulders dropped. "It's... ma'am." The woman blinked. "Oh, I'm so sorry ma'am, it's just that, well... You're a bit petite, and with the short hair and the hat, I just thought..." Sera waved it off with an awkward grin. "Don't worry about it, that happens all the time..." She shuffled back to where Shinichi stood waiting and tore open the envelope. After reading the instructions she handed him a folded sheet of lined paper, said, "The hint is 'double-agent...'" and walked off. "Oi, where're you going?!" Sera shrugged. "My instructions said to give you the hint and the paper, and go investigate whatever I thought was relevant. I guess we're supposed to work separately, but toward the same end..." She waved and disappeared through the front doors of the hotel. Shinichi sighed and opened the paper he'd been given, reading it silently. 'Kudo Shinichi, no doubt you have discovered the names of the enemy and ally by now... Your other opponent is the one who will be monitoring you for me on an initiation mission. The third is my newest acquisition: Amontillado.' From across the lobby, a girl with blood-red hair watched Shinichi's movements. The smile returned below her blue-grey eyes as from her headphones, a voice finished its recital. "In pace requiescat."

The bullet train into Osaka left the platform at 9:37 am. From within the crowd of passengers a pair of eyes locked onto Shinichi, and the lips below them curved into a smirk of recognition. Feeling the pricking sensation between his shoulderblades, he glanced around, but no one appeared to be looking in his direction. With a sigh of relief the detective tugged his hood down further over his face. It's crazy to go out in public as myself... but if the Organization already knows I'm alive, there's no way to avoid it. He stood there amongst the other seatless riders, his thoughts occupied and his palms sweating. Shinichi gripped the cell phone that sat in his right pocket, which was set on vibrate in case the caller decided to contact him. Without knowing why, he felt that he wouldn't be called until he left the train in any case. Whoever organized this is watching. Most likely he planted one of the passengers. He studied the other Osaka-bound men and women, looking for someone who was alert, secretive, out of place... Like myself, he realized. I'm an easy target to spy on. I make it so simple to pick me out of a crowd... With a sigh he turned his attention back to the people around him, studying everyone's movements and expressions; An old grey-haired man with glasses stood quietly reading a brochure. When he noticed Shinichi, he smiled. "Good morning, young man," he said brightly. Shinichi blinked, replying, "Ah good morning, sir." The old man held up what he had been reading; "This is a map of all the places I'm going to visit in Osaka today~" Shinichi couldn't help but smile at the chipper personality of the fit, positive elderly man. With a nod, the old man returned to his reading, and Shinichi allowed himself another careful look around. A neatly dressed businessman favoring his left foot was leaning against the wall and checking his watch impatiently. He shook his head and tapped the watch impatiently, but didn't seem to notice Shinichi. Three teenage boys in baseball uniforms stood together, talking animatedly and high-fiving from time to time. One had buzzed black hair and glasses, and another close-cropped blonde hair and expressive brown eyes. The third, who was tall and muscular, snickered and slapped his friend on the back. As Shinichi studied them, the blonde one turned and gave him a thumbs up. "You goin' to the game too? It's us against Osaka's minor leaguers." Shinichi paused before replying, "Yeah... A friend and I are coming to watch." As they broke eye contact, he bit his lip. A baseball stadium would be a great place to meet with his 'ally' and discuss the contest in confidence. That was, if the caller didn't bug them or send someone to trail them. He shook his head and continued searching. A mother and son stood together, the mom trying to fix her child's messy brown hair. Neither of them even glanced his way. A girl in a collared shirt and tie stood staring out the window, a pair of headphones in her ears. Shinichi stared at her hair for a minute, which was cropped short and dyed a dark, blood red. She glanced his way, then smiled lightly, turning her attention back to the scenery and mouthing the words coming from her mp3 player. Shinichi could just make out the word, 'Nevermore...' He raised an eyebrow at the strange girl's actions, then shrugged. As he turned his head, a pair of swamp-green eyes locked on to his. "Kudou Shinichi..." "Ah- I..." Sera grinned. "You're Ran-chan's boyfriend! Kudo-kun, right?" Shinichi froze. "Masumi Sera-san?" The shorter detective nodded. "I guess Ran-chan told you about me!" She held out a hand. "It's nice to finally meet you, Kudo-kun." Shinichi took her hand and shook it. "You too, Sera-san..." He sighed... No one's observing me. I'm too worked up. Sera frowned and grabbed the sleeve of Shinichi's jacket, pulling him close enough that she could whisper, "The rival of the game is on this train, as is the third..."

^ my role was gunman xD and KKLT was my partner in crime <3

\o/ Yay! Kaito-chan got MVRP~ ^^ *high fives*