"I don't know if we can pull off the funeral tomorrow." Edogawa Aya worried as she watched her pink pajama clad reflection brush her insanely long brown hair in her bedroom mirror.
Dropping the brush, she turned to face her friend Hondou Eisuke. "We're burying frickin empty coffins for pete's sake, half of tomorrow's attendees know that!" Aya pressed her annoyingly small hands to her face, shaking her hair around her, "Eisuke-kun, how am I going to go and mourn the death of a life that never existed, and three lives that haven't even come close to ending, one of those lives being mine!" Aya slid forward on to her knees, amber eyes staring blankly at the ground. "I just can't do it."
Eisuke crossed the few feet of green shag carpet with an uncommon grace (for him), sinking down to the form of the stressed out eight year old. Grasping his equally small hand to his dear friend's knee, "It needs to be done. After all that you and Shinichi-san have done, there needs to be some kind of conclusion for the public and our friends who weren't involved in the take down of the Black Organization. Think of Ayumi-chan, don't you think she needs some kind of answer. Even Ai-san needs this closure. You too, Aya-kun." Aya turned her head up to look at his pale face contrasting with the blue bedroom walls. "This is your, Haibara-san, and Shinichi-san's chance to stop living two lives and begin living one; and this funeral is not a lie, it truly is the burial off the lives you guys are letting go of. Besides, if anyone can put up a good performance for tomorrow it's you, I know for a fact that your mother schooled you in acting as a child, and from what I hear; Genta, Ayumi, and Mitsuhiko are being told that Conan is going into hiding with the FBI and that his grave will be fake tomorrow, but the others are real."
"Shin-chan didn't want them to see them get too upset over him."
"I wouldn't have been too bad with you and Haibara-san there to help them."
"I wish we didn't have to fool them at all."
"Would you rather tell them three of their best friends have really been seventeen and not seven?!" Eisuke jeered. Standing up, stretching, and pulling the small girl to her feet.
"Then again, one little lie never hurt anybody, … and it is for the best."
"Hm, I thought so."
"Eisuke-san! Akira-kun!" a voice yelled around the hall, "You guys should go to sleep already! Hakase and Haibara will get upset if you two aren't ready to go by six."
"Thanks Shin-chan. Goodnight!"
Eisuke walked over to his bedroom next door while Aya picked up her brush and placed it on her white dresser. Pausing on the way to bed, she knelt down and called goodnight to Eisuke through the wall vent by the floor. Hearing a mumbled response she climbed into bed, pulling her blue and green coverlet around her, and wondering if she really could make it through tomorrow's event.
Four weeks ago the Black Organization had officially been shut down with minimal death of the Anokata and one called Vermouth who had both helped and anguished each side. Now left the big question. What should the three APTX victims do. An easy decision for Shinichi/Conan and Shiho/Ai, for Shinichi could not live without Ran and Ai had no life left as Shiho but had just begun a happy life as Ai. It was a bigger question for Akira/Aya who had friends and family for both of her lives. Her decision was made when it turned out the Eisuke who had been forced to take APTX not long before the battle, would not be able to survive taking the antidote. The four APTX victims were able to get finalized documentation on their existence through the FBI and the Japanese Police Force. With the knowledge of the APTX event out to those in the need to know file (Ran was pissed, but Kogoro was ready to kill)
all that was left was to end the existence of Edogawa Conan, Kudo Akira, Miyano Shiho, and Hondo Eisuke (his alter ego was that he was the son of his sister Hidemi who had named her son after her younger brother) thus leading to the quadruple memorial (since it was reported that the bodies were too mangled to have a wake and there would be no traditional cremation ceremony, so the memorial ceremony was to be linked with the grave ceremony, which means that tomorrow they would be going to bury the urns at the neighboring grave sites) .
"Wake up Aya-chan!" a grinning woman known as Kudo Yukiko shouted, shaking her sleeping daughter awake at a dastardly hour known an four in the morning!
Aya responded by bolting out of bed and falling face first to the floor. Or she would have if Yukiko hadn't snatched the child mid fall and carried her over to the dresser top where a large array of cosmetics was spread out.
"Wha- What are we doing?" Aya yawned. Usually good at waking when woken, just not when scared awake at unreasonable and evil hours like four in the morning.
"Getting you ready for your memorial Aya-chan!"
"Thats not till six!"
"I know," Yukiko began rubbing a damp wash cloth of her daughter's annoyed looking face. "But we need to make your face look convincing." Yukiko's grin widened, she loved it when her kids needed her skills.
Aya looked in the mirror, the face staring back had an slightly paler face than her own, red eyes, and multiple tear-stains running down the cheeks. The face looked both pitifully sad and irresistibly adorable, especially in the tiny black blouse and fluffy skirt combo and black hair ribbon it was dressed in.
"... This is what took you almost two hours to do!" Aya steamed, "You're lucky Otosan brought me breakfast an hour ago or I would have quit already!"
"Don't you mean occhan, now that you are staying as Aya-chan." Yukiko grinned.
"Only if you want me to call you Obasan."
"Otosan and Okasan work since were adopting you as Aya-chan." Yukiko quickly stated.
Thought so! Aya grinned back at her Okasan.
"Aya-kun," Eisuke burst through the door, tripping over the hem of his black suit, "Hurry up, Ai's outside and she's getting impatient!"
Knowing the last thing she needed today was to piss Ai off, Aya booked it down the stairs, past her dad and Shinichi, and out the door, dragging Eisuke behind.
Ai was standing in Hakase's driveway, having just loaded up the rest of the Shounen Tantei-dan into the yellow Beetle.
"You're late. Just get in." Ai sighed and followed Eisuke into the front seat while Aya crawled into the back between Mitsuhiko and Ayumi.
Hakase began to pull out of the driveway and on to the road.
Ayumi glance at Aya on her right,"Oh my gosh, are you okay Aya-chan?!"
"Huh...," Aya didn't get it for moment, "Uhh..., I'm okay."
"You look like you've been bawling your eyes out."
"Genta-kun!" Ayumi and Mitsuhiko berated Genta for his rashness.
"Ohh...," Aya realized the problem, "don't worry about it, I'll be fine."
"Okay..." Mitsuhiko shrugged his disbelieving face.
Things stayed quiet the rest of the trip to the cemetery.
"Aya-kun!" As Hakase and the Shounen Tantei-dan exited the yellow Beetle, a screaming Edogawa Fumiko ran up to grab Aya and squeeze her to death, "My baby, my only baby left, my poor baby, are you okay baby?!"
Edogawa Fenji walked up behind his wife. "Don't squeeze her like that Fumiko, or we'll have another funeral to plan."
"Don't even joke about that barro!"
"Gomenasai."
"Aya's parents are weird." Genta mutters.
"Genta-kun!" Ayumi and Mitsuhiko fell into the usual lull of berating Genta.
The gathering was rather large, including: Most of Metropolitan Police department, Kobayashi Sensei, Heiji, Kazuha, Sonoko, Yusaku and Yukiko Kudo, Hondou Hidemi and Eisuke, Edogawa Fumiko and Fenji, the Shounen Tantei-dan, Mouri Kogoro, Kisaki Eri, Aride, Sera, Hattori Heizo, the Yokomizo brothers, Yamaura, Kansuki and Yui Yamato, Kaito, Aoko, Nakamori, Akako, Saguru, Makoto and Jirokichi.
The four graves were side by side and covered in incense, especially Conan's and Akira's.
Memories were shared of Conan's help on cases and his friendship with the
Shounen Tantei-dan. Akira received memories on her cases with her brother. Eisuke's memories of him were given by his sister Hidemi, Ran, and Sonoko. And good wishes were given to Shiho's spirit.
Everyone left after the incense lighting, with the Shounen Tantei-dan and Eisuke leaving with Hakase with plans to all sleep over at his house.
This time Aya sat in the front seat with Eisuke.
"You were great at the memorial today Aya-kun."
Continuing the whispered conversation. "Thanks Eisuke-kun, but we still need to finish the services."
"What do you mean?"
"In another month or so, we'll have to fake the deaths of Edogawa Fumiko and Edogawa Fenji, my ''parents''."