Case Closed….For Good
Written By: milaneechan
WARNING: This fan fic contains the english dub names. I know many of you hate those, but this story 1. was originally intended for a "case closed" message board, and 2. I, as the writer, feel that the english names flow better with the story. It's not that I don't like the Japanese names (because I do like them), it's just that in an english context, I feel all the "kuns" and "chans" and "sans" sound forced and odd. Though, if enough of you request it, I will post a second, edited version, if you can truely not enjoy this story as is.
Also, this is my first fan fic. It is a 2 parter. But don't expect the second part right away...being as I have not started it yet XD
Also, even though this is about the end of detective conan, it really doesn't contain any spoilers. I think I mention the FBI once, but no specific names or anything.
Ok, I think that's all I need to tell you. Now, just enjoy!
oh wait, if you need a name guide, here it is:
Shinichi - Jimmy
Ran - Rachel
Kogoro - Richard
Haibara - Anita
Heiji - Harley
Ayumi - Amy
Inspector Megure - Meguire
Shiratori - Santos
I think that's it....let me know if I missed any names.
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He did it. He finally did it. After all this time, after all his investigating, he finally took out the Black Organization. "But for what!" Jimmy thought to himself, as he wandered the streets in the rain. "While the BO is finally gone, so are all their samples and research for the poison that shrunk my body! Now I can never return to my normal self, I'm stuck in this pitiful little body!" He turned and punched the wall of the nearest building, and then sunk to his knees. "It's not fair!" he cried out. He sat against the wall, pulled his knees to chest, and stayed there, thinking to himself. "What am I going to do now? I'm never going to get my body back. I'm stuck like this. What am I going to do?"
"Are you ok, little boy?" Startled out of his thoughts, Jimmy gritted his teeth at the mention of "little boy" and looked up to see a young woman police officer standing over him. "It's awfully late for you to be out by yourself, and in the rain no less!"
Knowing the time to be too late to just shrug off his presence, Jimmy put on the works and started crying, "I got lost on my way home! I took a wrong turn somewhere, and now I don't know where I am!"
"What's your name, little one?" asked the woman, a gentle smile on her face.
Mentally rolling his eyes, he said "Co-Conan."
"That's a nasty cut on your cheek there, Conan. You seem to have some scrapes and bruises on your arms as well."
"Oh, I was running, and I slipped and fell. But I'm ok." This was a lie. His injuries were a direct result from his final encounter with the BO, which had occurred only a few short hours before.
"Well, Conan, I'm sure someone is worrying about you, so lets take a walk down to the station and see if we can get you a ride to your house."
Jimmy's thoughts were immediately turned to Rachel. "Okay." He took the police officers out-stretched hand, and walked with her down the street to the station. He listened as the lady police officer radioed in that she found a small boy with black hair and glasses, about the age of 7, and was headed to the station with him. While Jimmy silently thought to himself, "I'M 17!" he heard the radio answer back that their had been a report from a station on the other side of Tokyo of a missing child matching the same description.
"You're quite a ways from home, Conan. What are you doing on this side of town?" asked the woman.
"I was meeting with some friends," Jimmy responded, with a hint of sarcasm.
"Well, I'm glad that I found you when I did. There has been quite a bit of excitement over here tonight, I would have hated to find you caught in the middle of it." Jimmy knew that she was talking about the "excitement" with the BO, and despite still being angry at the out come of it all, he smiled at the thought of telling the police officer that the "excitement" had started with him.
They reached the station, and the police officer told Jimmy to go sit on the bench while she went to get a squad car. He did so, but immediately got up when she was out of site to go call Rachel. With everything that had happened that night, he hadn't even thought about calling to tell her he was "running late" getting home. Truth be told, he had hoped he wouldn't have to tell her at all, hoping that the next time he saw her, it would be in his real body.
"Hello! Officer? Did you find him?!" Rachel's anxious voice came onto the phone.
"It's me, Rachel. I got lost, but a nice police lady found me and is helping me get home! So, it's okay."
"Conan! I was worried sick about you! Are you alright?"
"Yes, I'm fine now. I'll see you in a little bit. Sorry for making you worry."
"Just come home safe. I'll see you when you get here."
Jimmy hung up the phone, and went back to the bench to wait for the police officer. A few minutes later, she arrived with another police officer, one that he remembered seeing on a few crime scenes.
"Conan, this is officer Alex. He is going to take you home in his squad car! Won't that be fun!" the lady officer said enthusiastically.
"Yeah!" Jimmy exclaimed, dying a little inside.
"I recognize you. You are the boy staying with detective Moore, right?" asked Officer Alex.
"Yes, that's right."
"Perfect, I know exactly where you live! Let's hop in the car and get going, we'll be there in no time," he smiled, and then gestured in the direction of the car. Jimmy followed him to the squad car, and climbed into the front seat, and then they were off. "Hey Conan! Do you want to run the si-…oh…" Remembering that officer Alex was one of the more talkative officers on the crime scenes, Jimmy pretended to fall asleep as to avoid more meaningless conversation. He was in no mood to talk. Twenty minutes later, they were pulling up to the Moore's house, and Officer Alex was gently shaking Jimmy "awake" as Rachel was running to the squad car.
"Conan!" Rachel exclaimed as she opened the squad door. "Thank you, Officer, for all your help!"
"No Problem, " replied Officer Alex. "Say hello to the detective for me!"
"Will do," said Rachel, and she waved as he drove off. "You're soaked to the bone! Let's hurry up and get you inside." She took his hand and walked him into the house. Once in the light of the house, she noticed his beaten appearance. "Conan! What happened? You are all cut up!"
"Oh, it's nothing! I was just running to get home, and I tripped on the sidewalk."
"You have to be more careful! It looks like you were attacked! Go sit on the couch, and I'll get the first aid kit."
Jimmy did as he was told, and waited for her to come back. She returned shortly with a bowl of warm water, a washcloth, and the first aid kit. She knelt down in front of him, soaked the cloth, and gingerly began to clean his cuts. He winced, but it was not just from the pain. It had hit him again that he would never get his real body back, and he was just realizing what that would mean for him and Rachel. For so long he couldn't tell Rachel his secret. Now that the Black Organization was taken down, it didn't matter anymore whether she knew his true identity or not. He watched her as she so lovingly took care of his injuries, and wondered whether he should tell her everything or not.
"Conan, what's the matter?" she asked, seeing the dejected expression on his face.
"Uh, I….I'm just tired," he lied.
"I can imagine. It's almost 2 am, and you had quite the scary night, getting lost and all. Why don't you get changed and head to bed. We can talk more in the morning." She hugged him goodnight, and was surprised when he clung onto the hug for a while. "Are you sure you're alright, Conan?"
He was silent for a bit, and then replied, "Yes…It's just been a long day. Thanks for worrying about me, Rachel." He hugged her a little tighter, then let go and smiled up at her.
"Of course I am going to worry about you, don't be silly. Now, off to bed. I'll see you in the morning." She kissed him on the top of his head, and then headed to her room.
That night he lay in bed, just thinking. Thinking about everything that had happened that night, thinking about the last year he had spent looking for the BO, looking for a way to take them down and gain their research so he could he could return to his normal body and life, and how it had all been in vain. Anita had said she would never be able to make a permanent antidote with out her research. He should have known they would destroy all of her formulas and research for the APTX4869 poison after she left the Organization. Why, after all this time, did he keep hoping that he would find something when he finally caught them? And what about Rachel? He has been hiding his real identity this whole time to keep her safe. He had always been so worried about her finding out that he never thought about what he would say when he could finally tell her, but he always figured he would. Especially if he was able to return to being his normal teenaged self, she would want a real explanation as to why he had been gone for so long, and why the whole time he was so mysterious about when he would return. But seeing her face tonight, how lovingly she was taking care of young Conan's injuries, and how good of care she had always given him since that first night when he shrunk and went to live with the Moores….. How would she react to finding out that this little boy she had been taking care of, who she told some of her most intimate thoughts, who she came to think of as a little brother, was really 17 year old Jimmy Kudo? He began to remember all the times he had seen Rachel cry for Jimmy, how much hurt he had been causing her in his absence; how would she react if she found out he had been there, right next to her, the whole time?
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"Hey! Freeloader! Get up!"
Jimmy sat straight up at the sound of Richard yelling. Looking out the window at the bright sun, he realized he must have finally drifted to sleep sometime during the early morning.
"Just because you stayed out all night doesn't mean you get to sleep all day!"
"I'm getting up," Jimmy moodily replied to Richards yelling. He went and got changed, and headed out into the living room where he was greeted by more of Richard's ranting.
"Dad, would you give it a rest! Conan had a pretty rough night, and I doubt you yelling at him is making it any better," Rachel interjected. "Conan, would you like some breakfast?"
"Sure," he replied, and went to the table to eat. Just then, the phone rang, and Rachel got up to answer it.
"Hello, Moore Detective Agency. Oh, hi Harley! I…..what? What would make you think HE's here?! You have some nerve calling here asking for Jimmy! You probably know where he is better than I do!"
Jimmy looked up at Rachel on the phone, panic in his face. "Oh hey Rachel, is that Harley? Can I talk to him?! He lent me a cool video game last time I saw him, and I want to ask him a question about it!"
Rachel tossed him the phone, and stormed back to the table, angrily continuing to eat her breakfast. Jimmy ran into his room with the phone and shut the door.
"Hartwell, are you crazy?!" he quietly yelled to Harley.
"What? I figured with everything that went down last night, you would be back to your old self by now. I didn't see you after all the commotion was over, so I thought you went straight to the Professor's house to get the antidote made."
"No. I wasn't able to get the research or a sample. It was all destroyed."
"You're kidding?!"
"Does this really sound like something I would joke about?!"
"So, this means…"
"It means I am stuck like this."
Harley and Jimmy were silent for a while, both not knowing what to say.
"Kudo…What are you going to do?"
"The only thing I can do. I might need your help, though. Will you meet me at the police headquarters in an hour?"
"Sure, Kudo, but why?"
"I'll explain when we get there. I don't want anyone to over-hear."
"Okay. See you there."
Jimmy hung up the phone, and walked out of his room. He looked at Rachel sitting at the table, still slightly fuming from Harley's call. Then he saw her face go from angry to sad. He knew that the mention of Jimmy would have her worrying about him the rest of the day, and he began to loath himself for what he was about to do.
With a fake smile on his face, and a happy tone in his voice, he ran up to her and said, "Rachel! Harley said he wants to take me to an arcade today! So, I'm gonna go meet him!"
"Okay, but make sure he brings you home before sun set. I don't want you out at night anymore."
"Okay! See you later, Rachel!" He ran to the door of the apartment, put on his shoes, and with one last glance at Rachel, went out the door and headed towards the police station. Once he arrived, he found Harley was already there waiting for him, leaning up against the brick wall of the building. Harley spotted him coming up, and walked towards him.
"Hey….I'm sorry…." Harley started, but Jimmy interrupted.
"Don't bother, Hartwell. There's nothing that can be done about it now. All I can do is move on," Jimmy said, with bitterness in his voice.
"Speaking of which, what is your plan?"
"…I'm going to kill myself."
Nearly falling over, Harley exclaimed, "WHAT?! Hey, Kudo! Suicide isn't the answer!"
"No, no. That's not what I meant. I mean I am going to kill Jimmy Kudo."
"Oh yeah. That made more sense. Oh, and by the way, that's a great thing to say right outside of a POLICE STATION!"
"Some great detective you are. Since I can never return to my normal body, I have to re-grow up. I don't really have a choice. Unless I want to explain to the world what happened, I can't be Jimmy Kudo anymore. I have to grow up as Conan Edogawa."
"Well, sure, but why would you have to kill 'Jimmy'?"
"People are wondering where I have been the last year. They need to know why I will never show up again. I can't keep hiding in the shadows with a bowtie; people will wonder why I never show my face. And in 10 years when I'm grown again, how will I explain how I haven't aged?"
"What about Rachel?"
"She, especially, can never know. It would kill her to find out that the Jimmy she has been worrying about for the last year has been living with her, being cared for by her, lying to her, this whole time."
"Don't you think that letting her think you died is worse?"
"No. If she were to find out my true identity, she may never trust anyone again. I don't think any explanation I could give her would make her feel less violated. I mean, I've been living with her; I've seen and heard things I know she would never want me to know. Trust me. It's better this way. Even if she knew and miraculously forgave me, what could we do? We can't be together this way, and I don't want her to put her life on hold for me, waiting for me to 'be of age.' This way, she can move on and live her life."
"You've really thought this through, haven't you."
"Yes. I thought about it all night. This is what has to happen."
"So, what do you need me for?"
"I'm going to tell Inspector Meguire everything, hoping he will help me. I need you there just in case he needs some convincing."
"Okay. If this is really what you want to do, I'm here to help you." Harley leaned over, ruffled Jimmy's hair, and said in a joking tone, "What kind of friend would I be if I didn't help you kill yourself?"
Smoothing out his hair, Jimmy looked up at Harley and replied, "Thanks Hartwell."
They walked into the station together to find that the station was hectic; no doubt from the incident the night before. Jimmy spotted inspector Santos and ran up to him.
"Hey, inspector Santos!"
Santos looked up from his desk at the mention of his name and smiled. "Oh, Hey Conan. Harley. What are you guys doing here?"
"I was wondering if I could talk to inspector Meguire," replied Jimmy.
"I don't know, Conan. He's really busy at the moment. I don't think he wants to be disturbed."
Harley stepped up to Santos and gave him the most serious look Jimmy had ever seen come across his face. "It's really important."
Santos, taken aback by the seriousness of the usually laid back Harley, said in a hushed tone, "Is it about last night?"
"Yes."
"I'll go get him right away."
Santos started in the direction of Inspector Meguire's office, but Harley grabbed his shoulder and said, "Actually, Inspector, we need to speak to him in private. We'll just follow you."
"Alright."
They followed Santos in the direction of the Inspectors office. Jimmy looked up at Harley, and saw him looking down at him with a goofy smile. "I knew he couldn't keep a straight face for long," Jimmy thought to himself.
They arrived outside of the office, and waited as Santos talked to Meguire. A minute later he came out, told them they could go in, and headed back to his desk. Harley and Jimmy walked in, and took a seat in front of Inspector Meguire's desk.
"What do you have to tell me, Harley?" asked Inspector Meguire.
"Actually, this guy is the one who wants to talk to you, " Harley replied, pointing to Jimmy.
The Inspector looked down at Jimmy with surprise. "You're the one with the information on the Organization caught last night, Conan?"
"Yes. I know that they are the ones responsible for Jimmy Kudo's disappearance."
"What Disappearance? He was never reported missing."
"Well, er, more his absence," Jimmy rephrased.
The inspector thought about it for a second. "Now that you mention it, he has been gone for a while. And when I do see him or hear from him, he never wants credit for his work…."
"He's been on the run from that Organization for a while. The reason he never wanted credit is that he didn't want them to know he was alive."
"Conan! How do you know this?"
Jimmy looked down and replied, "Because, inspector…I'm Jimmy Kudo."
"WHAT?! This is no time for joking around, Conan!"
"It's not a joke, Inspector!" Harley interjected, "He really is Kudo!" Harley ripped off Jimmy's glasses and picked him up by the neck of his jacket. "See, just look at that face. That's the face of Jimmy Kudo right there!"
"HARLEY! PUT ME DOWN!! That's not helping!" Jimmy yelled.
"I don't know what kind of prank you boys are trying to pull, but I don't time for this! I think you should leave now!"
"Wait! Inspector! What if I can prove that I'm Jimmy?" Jimmy thought for a second. "I know, take my fingerprints!"
"Conan, you should know better than to joke around with the police. I'm going to call Richard to come pick you up."
"Inspector! Please listen to us! Just take his fingerprints! If they don't match, we'll leave, promise." Harley said, again flashing that serious look he had given Santos earlier.
The inspector paused, and then said, "Fine. Conan, come with me."
"I'm Jimmy."
"Yeah, we'll see."
Inspector Meguire and Jimmy left the office to go take his fingerprints, leaving Harley there to wait. Fifteen minutes later they returned, a look of shock on Inspector Meguire's face. Harley smiled at him. "Believe us now, Inspector?" Harley asked.
Meguire took a seat at his desk and stammered, "How…..How can this be?"
"Do you remember that decapitation case on the Roller coaster a year ago?? There were two men in black sitting at the back of the coaster."
"Yeah, I remember. Are you saying they had something to do with it?"
"Yes. I followed one of them and discovered they were blackmailing someone. While I was watching him, his partner came up behind me and knocked me out. They gave me a poison that was supposed to kill me. Instead, it shrunk my body."
"This is unbelievable. Why didn't you contact me?! The Police should have known about this!"
"I couldn't let the organization know I was alive. I needed to investigate them on my own to find the poison they used on me to make an anti-dote. If I had contacted the police, they would know they were being investigated. That's why I ended up moving in with Detective Moore, so I could track them without anyone knowing."
"And that's when the old man started making sense in his deductions, isn't that right, Inspector?" Harley added, an amused grin on his face.
"Are you saying that you have been solving all of his cases for him, Con…uh, Jimmy?" asked the inspector.
"Yup. Now you know why he is never awake when he is right," replied Jimmy.
"That…that actually makes a lot of sense. I always wondered how he got so intuitive over night...but Jimmy, why are you telling me all of this now?"
"I need your help, inspector. All the research for the drug that shrunk me has been destroyed, so I can never get an antidote and I can't return to my real body."
"I'm not sure what you want me to do."
"Since I can't return to being Jimmy Kudo, I have to re-grow up as Conan. When you have the official press conference for last nights events, I need you to announce that you found me dead."
"WHAT?!"
'People need a reason why Jimmy Kudo never shows up anymore. Just by judging how hard it was to get you to believe my story, I don't think all of Japan is going to believe that 17 year old Jimmy Kudo is really 7 year old Conan Edogawa. It's better if I just disappear for good. And no one can know the truth, not even Richard or Rachel. This is the way it has to be, and I ask that you please do this for me."
Inspector Meguire sat quietly for a while, thinking. He studied the serious look on Jimmy's face; it was the look of someone who had made up their mind. After a few minutes, he replied, "Okay."
They talked over the details for a while, and Jimmy answered all of the questions the Inspector had about him and the Black Organization. After an hour, Harley and Jimmy left the police station.
"So, now that that's taken care of, what's your next move?" asked Harley.
"I'm going to go live with my parents in America and re-grow up there. I'm going to call them tonight to let them know I'm coming."
"Yeah, I guess you can't live with Rachel forever, can you. In a couple of years, there will be no hiding the fact that you're Jimmy," Harley chuckled, "Glad I don't have to go through puberty again."
"Har Har. I'm glad you think this is hilarious."
"Not so much hilarious…uh, the situation isn't funny, but some parts of it are,…uh" Harley stammered, but eventually gave up and grinned goofily down at Jimmy.
"Well, I'm sure if this were the other way around, I would think the same thing, " Jimmy said, half smiling, and then went silent. They walked in silence for a while, Jimmy deep in thought, and Harley just not knowing what to say. Eventually they found themselves in front of the Moore's house and stopped. Jimmy stared up at the windows to the detective office, not wanting to go in and face the next few days to come. Suddenly everything went dark. He pushed up the oversized hat Harley had just put on his head and turned to see him knelt down to eye level with him.
"Don't worry about it. If you came up with it, it must be the right thing to do. You never seem to be wrong, Kudo." Harley said with a reassuring smile.
"There! You said it again! Why do you always call him Kudo!?" they heard someone exclaim.
Panic lit their faces, and Harley looked up to see Rachel walking up behind Jimmy with grocery bags in her arms. With his usual grace, he sputtered out "Haha, Kudo? No no, Conan was a bit sore about losing at air hockey, so I was giving him a little pep talk and called him kiddo. What I should ask is why do you always think I'm calling him Kudo, haha…ha…."
With a skeptical glare, Rachel replied, "Hmm. Well, you shouldn't play games like that so seriously with Conan, Harley. Sometimes I think you forget he's just a kid and can't keep up with you."
"Ha, yeah," he smiled nervously and patted Jimmy on the head, much to Jimmy's annoyance.
"Well, since you're here, why don't you have dinner with us? I am just about to head upstairs to make it."
"Nah, I was only here to help a friend with a case. I have to head back to Osaka tonight. In fact, if I don't leave now, I'll miss the last flight. I'll see you later Rachel. Ku..Ko…Conan." Harley half waved and started walking away.
Jimmy noticed he still had Harley's hat on, and called out to him, "Hey, you forgot your hat!"
Harley turned around and called back, "Keep it. Something to remember me by."
"Remember me by? What does he mean by that?" Rachel asked aloud after Harley had walked out of site.
"Boy Rachel, I am starving! Let's go inside!" Jimmy quickly said, trying to change the topic. Trying to keep a carefree child attitude in front of Rachel, Jimmy playfully hopped up the stairs, and into the Moore's house. He kicked off his shoes and called out to Rachel, who was still climbing the stairs, "I'll be in my room! Call me when dinner's ready!" He bolted into the room he shared with Richard, and shut the door. He went and grabbed his cell phone from his nightstand and stared at it for a moment. "Ten more years of living with my parents. Fantastic," Jimmy thought sarcastically to himself, as he opened his phone and dialed his parents phone number. After a few rings, he heard his moms voice come over the phone.
"Hello?"
"Mom, it's me."
"Jimmy! It's about time you called! You know when you don't call for weeks I worry about you!"
"I'm sorry. I have just been busy."
"Sorry isn't good enough!"
"Would you cut it out! I have something important to tell you."
"What is it, Jimmy?"
"I'm coming to America to live with you and Dad."
"Oh Jimmy! Really?! It's about time you came to your senses and gave up this dangerous pursuit!"
"I didn't give up! I finished it and I took them down! But I couldn't get what I needed, and now I have to re-grow up."
"Are you alright, Jimmy?"
"Just a couple of scrapes and bruises, nothing to serious."
"While I'm glad to hear that, you know that's not what I meant."
Jimmy was silent for a moment, but finally replied, "What's done is done, and I can't do anything about it. I don't really want to get into this right now, Mom. I need to focus on tying up loose ends. I need you to call Rachel tonight as Conan's Mom and tell her that you have settled into a place, and you want to bring Conan home for good."
"Okay. I can do that."
"And also, Mom, on Sunday, you need to be prepared to be getting calls about…my death."
"WHAT?!"
"On Sunday, it will be announced that Jimmy Kudo was found dead after the incident with the Organization. My friends at the FBI will be taking care of the legal aspect of it all, so don't worry about it."
"Jimmy, hold on a second, what-"
At that moment, Jimmy heard Rachel call out 'Dad, Conan, it's time to eat!"
"Look, mom, I've gotta go. Don't forget to call Rachel tonight." Jimmy turned off his phone and breathed a sigh of relief at Rachel's perfect timing. He then left his room, and went to the table for dinner.
"I've made your favorite, Conan. Curry rice!"
"Really? Thanks Rachel!" Jimmy replied, and sat down at the table. Through out dinner, he kept looking at the phone, waiting for his mom to call. Finally, after they had finished dinner and sat down to watch some TV, the phone rang. Rachel got up and answered it, and Jimmy watched her closely out of the corner of his eye.
"Hello? ….Oh, Mrs. Edogawa! It's good to hear from you! ….Conan is doing just fine! He's watching Masked Yaiba right now; did you want to talk to him? ….Oh, you wanted to talk to me? What about?……Oh really? That's, uh, great. Conan will be happy to hear it. Here, I'll give him the phone so you can tell him."
Jimmy took the phone from Rachel and said in an innocent tone into the receiver, "Hi Mommy!"
"Don't you "Hi Mommy" me!" Mrs. Kudo said furiously. "If you think our last conversation is over, you are sadly mistaken, young man!"
"What? You are going to move to America permanently and want me to come?"
"Are you listening to me, Jimmy?
"But what about my friends?"
"Real cute, Jimmy. Could you leave the room so we can really talk?"
"Oh, you bought plane ticket for me already? Monday? Gee Momma, that doesn't give me much time."
"You are going to have even less time on earth if you don't leave the room and talk to me in private!"
"Ok, Momma. I will see you Monday."
"You are dead when I see you."
"I love you too, Mommy. Bye"
Jimmy hung up on his livid mother, and pretended to continue watching Masked Yaiba. Rachel came and sat next to him on the couch. "So Conan, your parents are bringing you home, eh? Are you excited?"
Jimmy looked up at Rachel, and saw her sadly, but tenderly, smiling down at him. He looked down and replied, "I guess. I'm just….I'm just going to miss everybody."
"I'm sure you will make a lot of new friends in America!"
"Yeah, I guess so." He continued to look away as he told her "I think I will go start packing and then go to bed. Good night, Rachel."
"Good night, Conan," Rachel replied, and a tear rolled down her cheek as she watched him walk slowly to his room.
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Jimmy woke up early Sunday morning. He laid in bed for a while, dreading the day before him. After 30 minutes or so, he sat up and looked at the clock. It was 6:30 am, and Rachel wouldn't be up for another hour, and Richard…who knew when he would wake up. He got out of bed, got dressed and left a note for Rachel, saying he was meeting with his friends to say good-bye. He had called them the night before, and told them he was leaving. They wanted to see him before he left, so he promised he would spend the day with them. Even though he wasn't going to meet them until 8, he didn't want to be in the house when Rachel woke up. He had been trying to avoid her since the call from his mom. If she was upset about Conan leaving, he could only image how hurt she will be when she hears of Jimmy's death and he just couldn't seem to look into the face of the person he was hurting so much.
The day passed though, and eventually the time came for him to be home for dinner. His shoulder wet from Amy's tearful hug goodbye, he walked into the Moore's home. He heard Rachel humming from the kitchen, finishing up dinner. A couple minutes later, she brought dinner to the table and called them to eat.
"Dad, can you turn off the TV while we eat, please?" Rachel asked, annoyed.
"No, they are going to report on some big incident from a couple of nights ago and I don't want to miss it," Richard replied. "Apparently, some big crime ring was caught."
"Whatever." Rachel turned her attention to Jimmy, who was staring down at his food. "So, Conan, how did meeting with your friends go?"
"Oh…fine, It was fine." Jimmy said, taking his chopsticks and playing with his food. It was coming soon, and he couldn't stop thinking about it.
They ate in silence, and listened to the TV. As they finished, the news came on.
"Our Top story tonight is the capture of Japans biggest crime ring, known as The Black Organization. This group, while working in silence for years, has had a huge influence on the crime in Japan. We now take you to a live press conference held by Inspector Joseph Meguire of the Tokyo Police Headquarters."
Inspector Meguire came on to the screen behind a podium, and began describing the events of that night.
Rachel got up and started piling plates, "Well, I'll clear the table."
"…that there had been a crime ring this big until recently. The FBI filled us in on their pursuit of this Organization…."
"Wow, the FBI, this must have been bigger than anyone could imagine. I wonder why no one had ever heard of that organization before if the FBI was even pursuing them." Richard wondered out loud.
"…there were many police and FBI injuries and deaths as a result of Thursday nights events, but the most devastating death being of that of a civilian; seventeen year old High School student, Jimmy Kudo."
A loud crash of falling dishes came from the kitchen, and Rachel came running into the room, terror on her face. As the audience at the inspector's press conference began to create an uproar of questions, the News caster began to speak.
"What shocking turn of events! Jimmy Kudo, famous high school detective who has been rumored missing for the last year, has been confirmed dead."
A picture of Jimmy appeared on the screen, and Rachel fell to her knees. "What….no…. No! This can't….this can't be true!" Tears started pouring down her face as she grabbed onto the sides of the tv and started yelling at the screen. "NO! It's a mistake! Jimmy can't be dead! HE CAN'T! YOU'RE WRONG!!! HE'S NOT DEAD!" Her hands dropped to the floor, and she began to cry out loud. Richard turned off the TV and went to his daughter's side and she turned and cried into his shoulder.
His fists clenched tightly, Jimmy got up from the table and walked into his room, loathing himself entirely.
-----------------------------
He laid awake all night, listening to Rachel's shuddering gasps from her bedroom. He had never felt pain like he was feeling right now; the pain of completely shattering the person he loved most. He would take a bullet any day over this.
Around 4 am, Rachel fell quiet. Assuming she finally fell asleep, he got out of bed and went to get something to drink from the kitchen. When he opened the door to his bedroom, he was shocked to find Rachel standing in front of the living room window, looking out. She turned at the sound of the closing door, and saw Jimmy standing there.
"Conan…" She looked at him, her face emotionless.
"I'm sorry Rachel, I…I was just getting something to drink…"
"You are…so much like him…"
"Rachel."
She stared at him for a while, and then her expressionless face suddenly turned to panic. "You are him!" She ran up to him, dropped to her knees, and grabbed his shoulders. "You are him! You are too much like him to not be! You came the same day he disappeared! You are him! YOU ARE JIMMY! PLEASE! Tell me you're Jimmy!"
Jimmy looked into her red eyes, as tears once again came pouring down her already tear stained cheeks. He felt his heart breaking. "I'm….not..."
"NO!" She stopped him.
Barely finding his voice, he lied, "I'm just Conan…."
"No! Please!" she pleaded, her voice shaky. "Tell me you are Jimmy! TELL ME!"
Jimmy was surprised to feel tears running down his own cheeks. At the sight of this, Rachel quickly let go of him.
"Oh no. Conan! I'm sorry!" She pulled him into a hug. "I didn't mean to scare you! I am so sorry!"
Jimmy hugged her back tightly, and they stayed like that for an hour, until they noticed the sky lightening.
Rachel pulled away and looked into Jimmy's eyes. "Conan, you should go and get some sleep. You have a big day ahead of you." She grabbed a tissue off of the desk in the living room, and dried Jimmy's cheeks. "I'm sorry that I scared you."
Jimmy tried to respond, but he didn't know what to say, so he just nodded his head, and they both went to their rooms. As soon as his head hit the pillow, he was out, physically and emotionally exhausted from the last three days.
A few hours later, Richard was gently shaking Jimmy awake. Jimmy knew that Richard was shaking him awake instead of his usual yelling in order to not disturb Rachel. He slowly sat up and rubbed his tired eyes.
"Come on, get moving. We need to be to the airport by 12 to meet your Mom. I made you some breakfast, so go and eat, then get ready."
Surprised that Richard had taken the initiative and made breakfast, Jimmy got up, and replied with a yawn, "ok, thank you." After walking to the table, Jimmy realized that Richard's idea of "making breakfast" was to set out a bowl, a box of cereal, and a carton of milk on the table. "Haha, thanks Richard," he thought to himself. He poured himself some cereal and started to eat. He could hear deep breathing coming from Rachel's room, and was relieved that she finally got some sleep. He got up from the table and went to her door and peeked in. She was sitting on the floor, with her head in her arms resting on the bed, and picture frame in front of her. Having lost his appetite, he took his bowl of cereal into the kitchen and went to his bedroom to get ready.
An hour later he was dressed, packed, and ready to go the airport. He sat on the couch waiting for Richard to come back with the car he went to go rent. Just as he went to grab a book out of his backpack to read while he waited, Rachel came out of her bedroom looking tired, but dressed.
"Are you almost ready to go, Conan?" She asked.
"Oh, yeah," he replied. "But you don't have to come with us if you aren't up to it."
She went and sat on the couch next to him and gently smiled. "Of course I want to go. You've been like my little brother this past year, and I want to see you off."
At that moment, Richard walked in and started grabbing Jimmy's luggage. "Okay, let's go."
They all got in the car and headed for the airport. Jimmy looked out of the window of the car and watched as the detective office got farther away.
"Conan, sit straight and put on your seat belt!" Richard yelled to him.
"There's something I won't miss, " he thought to himself as he glared at the back of Richards seat and did as he was told. He looked over at Rachel who was staring out the window with a blank expression. Jimmy closed his eyes because it pained him to look at her. Today would be the last day he would see her, and he didn't want to remember her broken.
The next thing he knew, he was looking over someone's shoulder, staring at the moving ground below him.
"You should've just woken him up. He's old enough to walk himself!"
"No, I think I freaked him out last night, so he didn't get much sleep. It's fine. He's not that heavy."
Realizing he must have fallen asleep in the car, he was now very aware that Rachel was carrying him. Usually, he would freak out and demand to be let down, but this time he took advantage of it. He tightened his arms around her neck and nuzzled his head into her shoulder. He felt her then rest her head against his.
"It's strange to think he won't be staying with us anymore. He's lived with us for a year."
"Really? Feels like longer." Richard grumbled in reply.
"Come on Dad. He may have been a bit of a handful, but he's really a good kid. Admit it, you'll miss him."
"…In the broadest sense of the word."
"Oh, you'll miss me when you realize you've never solved a case by yourself," Jimmy thought to himself.
"The real ironic thing is he came here just as Jimmy left, and now he's leaving just as Jimmy…." She couldn't finish her sentence. Jimmy felt wet drops fall onto the top of his head, and he hugged Rachel tighter.
"Here, let me take him," Richard offered Rachel, his Fatherly attitude taking over at the site of his upset daughter.
"No, no. I'm fine. He's got a pretty tight grip on me anyways." She in turn held him more tightly, and they walked through the airport in silence, only the airport PA system talking now.
"Ah, there she is," Richard announced after a few minutes when he spotted the disguised Mrs. Kudo in the distance.
Rachel loosened her grip on Jimmy to wipe her eyes and then called out, "Mrs. Edogawa, over here!" Jimmy took this as his cue to start "waking up" and he lifted his head and let out a groggy "mhmhhm."
"Oh, Conan, good timing. Your Mom is here." Rachel said as she let Jimmy down. He rubbed his eyes, and turned to see his Mom headed towards them.
"Conan!" Mrs. Kudo knelt down and hugged Jimmy. "I'm so glad to see you! My, you look a bit tired."
"He just woke up. He fell asleep in the car."
Jimmy glared at his mom when she replied, "Awe, how cute!"
"We already took his luggage to the check in, so all you have to do is take him," Richard told Mrs. Kudo, a little too cheerfully.
"Thank you for everything you have done for my little Conan!"
"Oh, it was nothing, Mrs. Edogawa. We loved having him," Rachel replied.
"Now, Conan, what do you say before we leave?" Mrs. Kudo said in a condescending voice.
Mentally glaring at his mother, he turned to Richard and said, "Thank you for letting me stay with you." Then he walked up to Rachel, and Rachel knelt down. "Thank you for taking care of me." He hugged her, and said in the most serious tone his child voice could muster, "I love you, Rachel."
"Oh Conan, you are so sweet!" She hugged him back tightly and began to cry. "I love you too! I am going to miss you so much!"
"We are going to miss our flight, we better get going, Conan." Mrs. Kudo said.
Rachel kissed the top of Jimmy's head and then let go of him. "Bye now, Conan. Don't forget to write me, I want to know how you are doing in America!"
"Ok, Rachel." Jimmy replied, then took his mothers outstretched hand.
"Thank you again! Take care, now." Mrs. Kudo said, and with that they were off.
Jimmy turned around as they walked away, and waved goodbye one last time at Rachel. She waved back, and watched them as they headed for the gate.
"Okay, Jimmy, I am going to drop you off with a flight attendant, and she will make sure you get to your correct flights."
"I don't need to be supervised."
"It's not for you, it's for the image. If I just leave a child to fend for him self I'll look like a bad Parent. I am going to go get changed and meet your father, so we can "run into" Rachel and her dad. A friend of ours will pick you up once you get to America, and you will stay with her until we get back."
"What's the story," asked Jimmy, uninterested.
"With Jimmy grown up and having always wanted a second child, but never successful, a month ago, we secretly made arrangements to adopt one."
"That would be me."
"Yup. Unfortunately, your arrival coincided with the death of our first son," she paused long enough to smack him in the head, and then continued, "So we had to fly to Japan, and have someone be there to pick you up and take care of you until we get back."
They arrived at the gate to his flight, and she knelt down. "I really am glad you are coming home! I've missed you so much." She said to him with watery eyes.
A little taken aback, he gentled his tone, and said "Awe, mom, you don't have to cry."
"No, I do! I am about to run into Rachel and her Dad, and my son just died!"
Nearly falling over, he took his Mom's hand so she could take him over to the flight attendant who would be caring for him on his trip.
"Conan, this is Miss Ayana, and she is going to be taking care of you on the plane."
"Hello, Miss Ayana," Jimmy said innocently.
"Oh, aren't you the sweetest thing! Are you ready to get on the plane?" She held out her hand to him. He took it and replied, "Yes ma'am."
They boarded the plane and she led him to his seat. "Here is your seat! If you need anything, you just push this button right here, and I will come help you right away, okay cutie?"
"Okay," he replied, and he took off his backpack and climbed into his seat. Ten minutes later they were taking off. He looked out his window as they climbed into the sky. Watching Japan fall away below him, it finally hit him that his life as Jimmy Kudo had come to an end. From this day on he would forever be Conan Edogawa. A sadness washed over him, and he sat back in his seat and closed his eyes, thinking about how his life would be from now on.