Drawbacks of a mind that remembers

A crack

Conan could not stop thinking about the conversation they had at Kuroba Kaito's place. Many of his questions were answered, but it left him feeling more confused and distraught.

First and foremost, he is almost certain he would meet Kuroba and Tsuna in Nagano, he can feel it. He was sure that little speech that he had out of nowhere was going to make them more determined to follow him into Nagano. 

Second, those dreams he has at night. What he saw in Kuroba's house coincides with one of them, in his point of view. Conan was sure the thief is no psychic–he had seen it himself too. Kuroba said that it was his past life's memories. Before all these, he would not have believed in reincarnation, but this was enough to persuade him. Hence, he concluded that those dreams he had were not dreams but memories. 

Memories from his past life.

However, reincarnation is too abstract, too surreal for his brain to wrap around. How can a ring contain a moment of their lives, and how can a ring grant wishes of its wearer? Or more specifically, the gem. 

Also, Aku was Italian. What forced him to migrate to Japan of all places? Why the name "Uehara Shingen"? He knows he had huge guilt of abandoning his family, which caused him to think of something that blocked all of his memories of his past life. Kuroba has them, the others have them too–it's just him. 

Yet, without even know what he did and what he wished, something weighed heavily in his chest. He felt guilty even without knowing what he was guilty of, and that was odd. He could not even shake off that feeling. Suddenly, he felt very cold and very lonely inside. 

Conan looked at his scattered clothes and his empty bag pack. 

He was not done packing for their trip to Nagano, and he dreaded packing to leave for there. Conan was not sure if he wanted to know the truth anymore if the truth will hurt so much. He felt like a hypocrite, like those criminals that found no wrong in what they did until he tore them apart by spitting the cold facts in their faces. 

He remembered one of the most recent dreams (memory, he had to remind himself) he had, which made him even more reluctant to know what he was before. 

"You know, Aku, this flame of yours isn't like any other. It's an abnormality in the tri-ni-set."

"What do you mean by abnormal, Sepira*?"

"It's an unknown variable in the tri-ni-set, both you and your brother."

"My brother and I? What's so unique about us?"

That smile of 'Sepira' gave Conan the chills. It was an all-knowing smile that wanted him to find out what she meant. Whether his past self figured out the difference, he could not remember. He would have continued to wonder in still silence if not for Ran's voice waking him up.

"Conan-kun, have you finished packing–hey! There's nothing in your bag!"

"Geh! S-sorry, I will be in a while. Please tell uncle to give me a few more minutes, I'll be down soon."

Conan cringed that the stutter he made. His caretaker/girlfriend is going to start suspecting something. He looked up at Ran and mustered his most natural-looking smile, but she clearly was not having it.

Ran shot him a look. Various emotions were reflected in her eyes, but worry and concern stood out the most. She walked into the room slowly and purposefully and kneeled next to him. At that moment, Conan could tell it was her instincts moving her. She placed her hand gingerly on his shoulder.

"Is there something bothering you?"

The boy paused to breathe. "No, I'm fine, Ran-nee-chan. Maybe a little tired from running to Ekoda and back."

That was no lie. The trip alone is very tiring. What he learnt from the trip exhausted him further. He promptly crashed upon the sofa as soon as he reached the detective agency. He was physically and mentally drained. He did not even know how he ended up tucked in bed.

That was how tired he was. 

Ran still did not look convinced, but she nodded her head and stood up, moving away from him.

Conan promptly stuffed all the clothes and necessities into his bag and pulled the zipper close. He then pushed the bag to the side of the door and rolled up his futon. He shook his head and slapped his face awake. The sound of something cracking in his head was buried by other thoughts.

There was no point thinking about it anymore. He cannot let this hinder his job. Now, he has to focus on getting to Nagano, solve the case for Mouri Kogorou and come back to where his home is. 

Nothing was going to stop him. 

*I don't know when did Sepira die, but it's clear that Sepira and Giotto did interact. I'm kinda putting off her death now because it's assumed that after she gave the Vongola rings to Giotto, she died... I think.

This story happens AFTER Shinichi confessed, and Ran kissed his cheek. So yeah, kinda-girlfriend now.

A/N: So... Here's the next chapter. I hope you've enjoyed reading this story this far. I'm a little stuck in the next chapter that I'm writing, but hopefully, I'll sort it through soon. Thanks for reading! Cya soon!