Detective Conan
Closure
by
sgamer82
She walked at Shinichi's and the Professor's pace until they closed in on their destination. When it came within sight she looked to them. As soon as they nodded, and she picked up speed and ran off ahead. Shinichi and Professor Agasa didn't follow. Today was for her. Instead they looked for a bench and sat down.
Having come straight from her middle school entrance ceremony, she was still in her school uniform. Shinichi suspected this was deliberate. What she had come for was too serious to dress casually, and the only appropriate option other than a uniform was black.
She hated black.
Shinichi watched as she examined the stones and markers for several minutes before finding the ones she sought. Shinichi couldn't tell due to how far she was, but could imagine her eyes widening in surprise when she noticed there were three names on the marker she found instead of the expected two. She looked to Shinichi, then back to the stones.
Her assumption was right. Once Shinichi had found this place he had immediately arranged for the third name to be engraved.
Once she got over the shock, she went to work with the supplies she had brought with her from the car. She laid the bouquet of flowers at the foot of the stone inscribed with the family name of "Miyano," then took a bucket and found a nearby spigot to fill it with water. Once everything was prepared, she began diligently cleaning the stones.
In truth, there was very little to do. Shinichi had also arranged to make sure the place was maintained regularly. She wasn't doing this because it needed to be done so much as because she needed to do it.
Once the tedious task was done, she lit a stick of incense and placed it in front of the stone. Finally, she knelt down, clapped her hands together, and closed her eyes. Shinichi wondered what she was thinking. He knew she had put off coming here for a long time, but had never asked her why and, if she had confided in anyone, it hadn't been him.
If she had done so, it most likely would have been Ayumi. Being best friends since first grade meant there were few secrets between them, Genta, and Mitsuhiko; and even fewer between her and Ayumi in particular. They even knew the big secret she and Shinichi had alone shared so long ago. Even now, five years after, they called him "Conan-kun" in private.
Fear was the most likely reason. At first of the Organization, of which scattered remnants had still skulked about. Yet she had hesitated long after she knew that they were no longer a threat to her. Perhaps she feared what those she'd come to visit would think of her, of the choice she had made. Or simply feared how she herself would handle finally visiting this place
He watched as she knelt in front of the stone. Shinichi could tell she wasn't speaking aloud, but was just as certain she was telling those she had come to see all about her life. For one, it would just be the last five years. For the other two, perhaps her whole life. Both of them.
He could imagine her recounting the life of Shiho, who turned on her employers when she had lost her last living blood relation. How her attempt at joining them had instead given her a whole new life. From there came the life of Haibara, a girl who had struggled to learn not to let her fear control her and, as a result, had been a part of the destruction of that which had cost all the Miyano family so much.
Shinichi shuddered when he thought of the aftermath. None of them had escaped unscathed, though Shinichi counted himself fortunate that the worst of his scars had been physical. For her, recovery had begun in the form of adoption. Where she had been born the second child of Atsushi and Elena, she was now the second child of Yusaku and Yukiko.
Shinichi smiled as he thought back to that awkward first year and to Yukiko Kudo constantly admonishing both of them whenever they failed to address each other as a brother and sister should. Her efforts paid off, as it eventually became habit enough that calling each other anything besides "Ai" or "Onii-chan" had become out of place.
That was how he knew she was serious when she asked "Kudo-kun" to bring her here today.
It was nearly an hour later when she returned. Her legs and the hem of her skirt were dirty, and Shinichi saw tear streaks down her face, but the face itself had a content expression. After so many years she had at last allowed herself to mourn properly at her family's grave.
Professor Agasa got to his feet and held out his hand. Shinichi took it, and the Professor helped Shinichi to his feet and keep his balance until he got his cane into position. They all returned to Agasa's car, the other two slowing to match Shinichi's limping pace. No words were said until they had put everything away and Agasa drove away from the cemetery.
"Onii-chan," Ai said from the back seat of the car. "Thank you for adding Onee-chan's name to the grave."
"You're welcome, Ai."
"Also, when you can, Kudo-kun, there's one more name I want to add..."
And that, Shinichi realized, was the thing that had kept her away for so long. The fear of truly moving on and moving forward.
In coming to this place, Ai Kudo was finally acknowledging that it was time to put her past behind her... and to put Shiho Miyano to rest.
Author's Notes: Hey, there. It's been a long time since I last wrote a Detective Conan fanfic. Probably longer since I last really focused on the series. But I've gotten back into it thanks to Haibara's antics in the "Birth of a Big Couple" arc (chapters 925 - 927). Along with this quick fic, I've also been working on new chapters to my old work, Friendships of Sorrow, and will likely be cleaning up the existing chapters too. That story was intended as a series of one-shots in which Haibara spends one-on-one time with a specific character. I'd gotten Ayumi and Ran but never got further than that. But now I've nearly finished a chapter in which Haibara spends the day with Yukiko Kudo.