Here's the big reveal! You all finally get to know what happened to Shinichi in the past! (I tried to leave out all the gorey details that my mind so enjoys coming up with. So you just kind of get a general overview of what happened instead)


Yuusaku could easily tell his son was fighting sleep, with the way he was swaying slightly and how his eyes were sliding closed every few moments. It wasn't the first time the blue eyed teen had blamed himself for the deaths that happened that day, and no matter how many time he and Yukiko told him that wasn't true, Shinichi never believed them.

They'd tried everything to help their son get past the incident, but the writer knew some of their attempts had only made things worse. He'd been so relieved when Shinichi had met Kaito, Saguru, and Heiji. The three had been able to help their son more than anyone else. He'd give anything to take the pain in those blue eyes away, and to see his son happy and smiling once again.

Yukiko gently tugged and guided the sleepy teen back towards the stairs, waving off Kaito's help. Yuusaku sighed as his wife and son disappeared around the corner. "As I said before," He stated softly, "Shinichi never truly recovered from what happened. He still blames himself for it, and no matter what we say or do, he refuses to accept that it wasn't his fault."

The three were silent, still staring at where their friend had disappeared to, before Heiji stated slowly, "Ya might wanna start from da beginnin'."

Setting his elbows on his knees, the writer leaned forward and rested his forehead against his interlaced fingers. "It is true that everyone in that town died." He remembered clearly what happened that day. He doubted anyone could have predicted that outcome.

"Yukiko and I wanted to get Shinichi's mind off what had happened with his classmate back in elementary school. We'd gone up to the ski lodge above where the town used to be, however on the way back there was a small rockslide that blocked the road. We were forced to stay in that town until the road was cleared."

The writer smiled, but there was no humor to it. "Not even halfway through the first day there and Shinichi had sniffed out a mystery. There was a story going around that small children disappeared if they misbehaved. Some of the people in that town had even had their own children go missing.

"Shinichi seemed so happy to have a mystery to solve. We didn't see any harm in letting him have his fun, but we warned him not to pry too deep if it made someone uncomfortable or cause trouble. We were only supposed to be there for a few days. I never thought…"

Yuusaku paused and sighed. The three teens were quiet as they listened, not wanting to interrupt him. "Had I known what was happening, I never would have let him investigate."

As the writer fell back into his memories, Saguru gently prompted, "Did he find out who was behind it?"

"Yes and no." Taking a breath, the elder Kudo male continued. "Shinichi had his suspicions, but he didn't want to make any accusations without proof. Unfortunately, he got too close to the truth for comfort, and the culprit found him.

"It turned out to be the officer stationed in the town who had been taking the children. The man was a pedophile with a preference for children around the age of six. It was a small stroke of luck that Shinichi was older than that." Yuusaku watched the teens relax slightly, though it was easy to tell they were still on edge. "What Shinichi hadn't figured out or foreseen was that the head of the village was the one who got rid of the children."

The writer's face darkened. "That man was a monster. What he did to those children…What he made those townspeople do…" Taking a deep breath, he grimaced slightly. "I'll spare you the details."

"As much as I hate to ask," The blond cut in, "I'm afraid it's the details we need. If we don't know exactly what happened, we won't be able to help Shinichi."

"What did da guy do?" Heiji asked.

Yuusaku stared at the three teens before him, and closed his eyes. "He was a cannibal who believed consuming young children would grant him immortality." Opening his eyes again, he found the three teenagers pale – Kaito holding a hand over his mouth as though he were about to be sick. "He was also in charge of feeding the community every Sunday." When the implications sunk in, the last bits of color drained away from the three and Heiji slammed one fist onto the coffee table, his head bowed.

"He didn't."

"I'm afraid that's exactly what he did."

"Did you…" The blond seemed hesitant to ask.

Yuusaku shook his head. "None of us touched it. It was for the people who lived in that town only."

"What about Shinichi?" Kaito seemed to have regained control of his stomach. "What did they do to him?"

The writer shook his head. "We don't know exactly. We could never get Shinichi to talk to us – or anyone – about it." He closed his eyes again. "I have my suspicions, but I've never been able to prove them right." Looking back at the three before him, Yuusaku knew their guesses were similar to his. This time Kaito made his way to the bathroom, being unable to hold it down anymore. Saguru seemed as though he were barely keeping it down. Heiji was doing a better job at it, though the elder Kudo male hadn't ever seen anyone so angry as the Osakan was at that moment.

When Kaito returned, Yuusaku continued. "We don't know what happened, or how Shinichi got free, but before we could stop him, he told the townspeople everything. At first, nobody had believed him. They went to confront the two, only to find both dead and that Shinichi had been telling them the truth.

"Everyone spent the rest of that day in a horrified silence while they tried to figure out what to do. When we got up to leave the next morning, we found their bodies. They couldn't face the truth. Parents murdered their children and then killed themselves. There was nobody left. We searched every building. I had Yukiko take Shinichi home when the police arrived. We worked out the cover story and buried the townspeople. We were afraid if word got out there'd be a mass panic."

Yuusaku squeezed his hands and closed his eyes sadly. "Shinichi never stopped blaming himself for it. He was admitted to the hospital the first time because he wouldn't eat. It got to the point where even the smell of food made him nauseous. It was after he was released that I made a bad situation worse."

"What do you mean?" Saguru asked softly.

The writer took off his glasses and stared at the floor. "I thought the best was to show Shinichi that it wasn't his fault was to try and get him back into solving cases. I took him with me and talked the lead inspector into letting him look around. The wife had died and all signs pointed to the husband as the culprit."

He pinched the bridge of his nose as he closed his eyes. "I was more concerned with making sure Shinichi was alright that I didn't pay much attention to the actual investigation. The police arrested the husband and we went home. I thought it had helped, since Shinichi had calmed down a little bit and even willingly ate little bit.

"A few days later the newspaper came and we learned they couldn't hold the husband due to lack of evidence, and he'd wound up killing his son before committing suicide."

After a few beats of silence, Heiji asked, "How did dat make things worse?"

Sighing, the writer answered, "Shinichi had found the suicide note the wife had left behind for her son. It talked about the abuse she and her son had suffered and how she hoped with his convection that her son would be safe. Rather than bring it forward, Shinichi didn't say anything. He was probably thinking about how the last time he told the truth, so many people had died." Yuusaku shook his head. "In the end it wound up being two more deaths Shinichi attributed to himself. It was after that things took a turn for the worse."

There was silence as the three teenagers digested what they'd been told. The writer watched their emotions play out and felt a little more at ease. These three really did care for his son.


There you go. That's what happened. Well, most of what happened. There's one more big part that only Shinichi knows. I'll probably get to that later.

Don't forget to let me know what you thought!