Chapter 1:

Shinichi flopped down on the couch, exhausted. He had finally managed to get back to his original body after they had managed to bring down the Organization. It had required a lot of collaborative efforts among police force around Japan, as well as international agencies like FBI and CIA.

"Kudo-kun, I told you to tell me when you got home, remember?"

Shinichi managed to bring his head up just enough to look at Haibara, the mini-scientist looking extremely put off at him. Upon seeing his state though, she relaxed her posture enough to walk around the couch to check on him.

"What happened this time, boya?"

Shinichi groaned, curling a little around himself as Haibara placed her hand on his forehead. He answered, "Another murder case. Satou-san and Takagi-keiji was there too, so it was pretty easy-going until the murderer decided to escape. She used to be a gymnast, so catching her was tricky."

Akai hummed in reply, one eyebrow raised. He was worried for the teen's condition; it had only been a few days since he had reverted to his original size, and Haibara was still conducting daily check-ups on him. Though the antidote had worked permanently on the detective, his body was still a bit weak, what with having only eaten enough for a child for two years. Furthermore, his immunity system was shot, and chasing around murderers was not really helping him get any better.

"Well, you have a slight fever, so you won't be moving around anymore for today. I'll tell the Professor to bring the kids here so we can have dinner together later." Haibara told him, pulling out the necessary medicine from her kit.

Akai moved forward, having gotten a blanket as Haibara conducted her check-up. He draped it over the teen, receiving a faint smile in thanks. "Haibara-san, I can cook for the dinner today, then. I planned on making curry, and I'm sure the children would like that."

Haibara gave the man a deadpanned stare. "That's because curry is the only food you had managed to cook to perfection. I can't believe you're still having problems in cooking even after having Ran-san and Yukiko-san teach you regularly."

The man huffed, left hand scratching his cheek lightly in embarrassment. Haibara sniffed dismissively. "I'll let you cook then, I don't feel like grocery shopping for a few weeks anyway."

Shinichi rolled his eyes as he watched the byplay. Haibara, having chosen to bury Miyano Shiho and start anew as Haibara Ai, had been quite incensed upon learning that Okiya Subaru was actually Akai Shuuichi. She had her suspicions, so wasn't entirely surprised, but annoyed at Shinichi for having hidden the truth from her. The last few months before the takedown, it had been necessary to bring the pieces together, and that had included revealing a few truths to those involved in the main plan.

The only FBI agents included in the actual planning were Jodie, Camel, and James, who had already been informed by Akai's non-death. Other agents were surprised, but were pleased, considering how many agents of their own had infiltrated the Organization and the few number that were still alive. The reputation he had built up as one of the deterrents of the Organization had helped him be welcomed with open arms.

Except for Amuro Tooru, or Furuya Rei.

Similarly with Haibara, he had his suspicions, and was only foiled by the plan Shinichi had conducted with the help of his parents. Furuya had still not forgiven Akai for the supposed murder of his partner, and refused to cooperate entirely with Akai. It had taken the intervention of Shinichi, to calm the man enough to listen to what really happened.

It had also taken the reveal of Edogawa Conan being Kudo Shinichi for the agents to listen to a supposed child. The reveal had garnered the expected shocked reactions, but Shinichi was baffled to find the agents taking the reveal seriously.

Jodie explained to him privately after the rest of the agents had gone home, "You can't blame us Boss. This whole time, even just knowing you as Edogawa Conan, we had been putting our trust in you. Learning that you're not really a child eased our conscience for putting you in danger."

She chuckled, "Besides, it's soothing to our pride that we hadn't really been outsmarted by a kid, you know?"

And that had been that. Division 1 had been more than pleased after learning the information, having seriously missed the loss of Conan. Shinichi had been worried that their treatment with 'Shinichi' would be awkward, but they were made of stronger mettle than he knew. Takagi-keiji had been relieved, suspicions finally put to rest. He had later learned that it had been him who had made a separate file for 'Edogawa Conan', when he had stumbled upon the realization that Conan's fingerprints matched Shinichi's.

Shinichi's parents had also come home for those months, providing support whenever he needed it. It had been through his mother that he had been able to get a hold of the Kaitou KID. Yukiko had apparently been friends with the former Phantom Lady, who had joined them after having learned that the same crows he was after were part of the crows that had killed her husband and were threatening her son.

Kaitou KID, or rather, Kuroba Kaito, had not been pleased with the nonchalant reveal of his identity to his favorite critic.

"That's cheating, Tantei-kun." The thief pouted, as he lounged on one of chairs on the library. According to him, his mother had surprised him that morning, suddenly appearing at the kitchen table instead of some country somewhere. His mother, Kuroba Chikage as she introduced herself, had simply threatened him and forced him into the car, before arriving at the Kudo house.

Conan leaned his cheek on his palm as he amusedly observed the teen in front of him. He had been stunned by the obvious similarity the boy had with his appearance, dazedly allowing the enthusiastic Chikage to cuddle him as he stared at the teen who had frozen and was currently avoiding his gaze.

"You won't remember me, but I'm Kuroba Chikage. This is my son, Kaito." She introduced, waving a hand towards the horrified boy who was directing a betrayed look at his mother.

"Chi-chan!" At the squeal, the woman released him, just in time to be glomped by his mother, who simply pushed Conan and Kaito to the library with a warning to 'Play nice!' before linking arms with Chikage and chattering all the way to the living room.

Conan snorted, pleased and a bit surprised that the thief didn't bother refusing his earlier statement of "Of course KID's civilian persona would be named Kaito." He had no physical evidence of course, but being a small kid allowed him to see a glimpse of the face behind the monocle at times. Not to mention, the numerous times the thief had used Kudo Shinichi's face to get through inspection. But the casual use of the nickname 'Tantei-kun' only confirmed the identity of the teen before him.

"It's not cheating if your mother was the one who revealed your identity, KID."

The thief merely rolled his eyes at him, "You can at least call me Kuroba, you know. No need to proclaim to the world that I'm KID. Much less around that Hakuba."

Conan had merely rolled his eyes back, before picking up one of the files and scanning its contents. "Hopefully, Edogawa Conan won't exist after we bring down the Organization, so he won't be able to tell anybody your secret would he?"

Slyly glancing over his fake glasses, he continued, "And Kudo Shinichi had never shown an interest in thieves before, so he why would he know Kaitou KID's true identity?"

The thief bounced to his feet, pushing down the file he was reading as he said, "Seriously?!" At Conan's deliberate ignorance, he grinned, putting his hands behind his back. Conan felt him examine him a few seconds before he said, "Would Kudo Shinichi be adverse to meeting Kuroba Kaito soon though?"

Conan blinked, feeling a blush rise to his cheeks, pleased as he was at what the thief was offering. He smirked, feeling it grow wider at the answering similar smirk on the thief—Kuroba—as he said as nonchalantly and innocently as he can. "Shinichi-nii-san is family friends with Kaito-nii though, didn't you know?"

Aside from KID knowing his identity though, the only other people told about his real identity out of those not included in the takedown were the Detective Boys and Ran. The three children had believed him easily, and Conan had sheepishly agreed that learning he was actually a teenager was easier to believe combined with his previous lame excuses for his knowledge before. It had been his reveal to Ran that had scared him the worst though.

Initially, Conan planned on confessing after the Organization was taken down, to ensure that there would be no danger to her. However, even Ran wasn't dumb enough to believe the constant excuse of Conan to go to the Professor's to 'play some new game he invented'.

"Conan-kun." The call of his name startled Conan badly, one hand automatically flicking his watch open, already posed to shoot the intruder. He had gotten home late after one of their meeting sessions. He couldn't sleepover, as he had promised Ran that he would be home for the morning to join Ran and Sonoko to one of their trips out of town.

Facing him, however, was the concerned face of Ran. He immediately closed his watch and hid it behind his back, but he knew Ran had seen it already. Ran hesitated, "Are you alright, Conan-kun?"

Conan hadn't meant to reveal his identity that night, but seeing Ran look so tired and worried… What was he going behind her back for, if she was going to still worry? He was tired, and tense, plan after plan being rejected as they tried to bring down the Organization that had its roots in deeper than they thought. He was tired.

"Ran." Conan took off his glasses, meeting Ran's gaze. In them, he could see a slight realization and suspicion. He smiled bitterly. "Can we talk?"

So they did. He started from the very beginning, from when he left her at Tropical Land, to what they were doing now. He didn't give many details, simply gave the bare necessities and waited for her reaction.

He was expecting a slap, or a scream, or simply giving him the cold shoulder. He didn't expect hands to embrace him, or tears to wet his shoulder as Ran cried.

"I was so worried! So worried, you idiot!" She cried some more, and Conan—Shinichi—could only pat her back and hug her tighter, murmuring his apologies.

After a while, she calmed down enough to lean back, and asked, "So you're planning on taking down this Organization then?" At his nod, she sighed, wiping her tears. "That's what the late-night activity is all about, isn't it? Then I guess you need more time to stay over there don't you?"

Shinichi gaped at her, "Aren't you—aren't you mad?"

Ran stared at him, eyes warm as they always were. "Baka Shinichi. How many times had I figured out your secret? Sure, you managed to get away one way or another, but have some faith in me! We were childhood friends; some glasses won't hide who you are to me."

"Besides," she continued, smiling softly, "You've been there to protect me the whole time aren't you? I'm mostly relieved that I know where you really are now, instead of worrying that you were dead or something."

Conan's sight became blurry, and pressed the heels of his palm to his eyes, but tears kept coming. "Shinichi. . . It's okay, you know? I guess, subconsciously, I'm just waiting for you to admit it."

"I don't deserve you Ran." He whispered, and Ran's eyes watered at the pain in his voice. "I kept lying to you, kept making you cry. I just wanted to keep you safe-!" He looked at Ran imploringly, begging her to understand why he did what he did. "It's not because I didn't trust you! But these people can hurt you so easily-!"

He was stopped by Ran putting their foreheads together. "Shinichi. I can never be mad at you because you were worried for me." Her eyes opened, and Shinichi felt so free at the acceptance in her eyes. "I love you, Shinichi." His breath caught, and his cheeks felt a bit hot. She smiled, a tiny smile that seemed a bit lonely. "And I loved Conan too. He was my baby brother, and he protected me when 'Shinichi' couldn't."

"We have grown, Shinichi. We separated, and that only strengthened my love for you. But it also made me realize what love I have for you." Her eyes searched his, and Shinichi didn't understand what she was looking for, because his world was breaking-!

"And I think we both know that we don't really love each other like that." Shinichi opened his mouth ready to protest. He did! Ran might not, but he did! Otherwise, what was he fighting for this whole time?

But he couldn't say it. Because he knew it too. He took the temporary antidotes because he wanted to reaffirm his bond with her, the bond Shinichi had with her as a lover, not the bond Conan had as a baby brother. But soon, he became comfortable with his life as Conan with Ran.

At first, he thought he wanted that life as Ran's husband. But Shinichi couldn't keep lying to himself with all the evidences pointing to only one truth.

He loved Ran, but it was a familial love only. Ran treated him like family, and he didn't know how much it supported him until he realized how he was expecting Ran to treat him like that even when he got back to his real age.

Shinichi looked down, knowing that Ran was tired too, and he was keeping her back with his past love for her.

"Will-," he started, eyes meeting hers hesitantly, "will you accept Shinichi, even then?"

Ran laughed under her breath. "Shinichi had always been family." Her eyes glittered, and Shinichi felt an answering smile tug at his lips as he watched an invisible weight drop away from her shoulders, "Just make sure Shinichi won't call me Ran-nee-chan okay? I'll still be the big sister, but even that would be weird for a full grown Shinichi."

And Shinichi laughed with her, the same invisible weight falling away from his shoulders. The idea that he had to love Ran as a lover had acted as a shackle to them both, because expectations from other friends had pressured them to do that. Without that, they were free to love each other as siblings, as they had even when they were young.

Shinichi blinked, unaware that he had fallen asleep. He groaned sleepily, hearing excited voices come from the kitchen. He sat up slowly, covering his mouth as a yawn attacked him. Rubbing his eyes, he became aware of camera flashes behind his eyelids. Opening one eye, he was met with the giggling sight of Haibara and Ran, both carrying phones in their hands.

He flushed, only to be met with more flashes. "Stop that!" he flailed around, still too disoriented by sleep to stand properly.

Haibara snickered one last time, before pocketing her phone. Ran sneaked in one more picture of him as he pouted—glared—before she closed her phone as well. "Ai-chan told me you had a fever, so I came by to check on you." She placed a hand on his forehead, nodded after a while, continued, "I can't eat with you guys tonight, my dad would be expecting me home for dinner. I'm sure you have enough guardians here anyway." She giggled, motioning towards the kitchen, where the voices of excited Detective Boys was coming from as they asked Akai some more stories from when he was an active agent.

"Now, you behave for Ai-chan, she knows best after all." Ran ordered, hands on her hips. Shinichi sighed, "Yes, Ran-nee-chan." Ran merely giggled again, while Haibara snickered behind her mouth. "I'll be going then. Bye guys!" She raised her voice slightly, and three heads poked out behind the door.

"Bye Ran-nee-chan!"

"Goodbye Ran-san."

"Goodbye Akai-san!"

With a final wave, Ran slipped out of the door, and Shinichi was assaulted by three children, who poked and prodded him towards the kitchen, where Akai was waiting with the food set on the table. Life was good.

A/N: Blame Pinterest. It kept on tempting me with artworks and I couldn't resist! So a long background for some of the characters, just in case you're wondering why some would not be mad at Shin-chan later on.

I accept suggestions! I'm just basically writing this because I want everyone to love Shin-chan, though yes, this is mostly shounen ai. I'm sorry. My friend had managed to convert me to the fujoshi side.