-o-

He was young, inexperienced, and often naïve. He was also determined.
His father had died because of them. His sister had been stolen away from him by them.
He'd left the country in the hopes of being able to help his sister once he had received the appropriate training.

And then he had heard the news.

His sibling, who had put her life on the line to protect others and her little brother, had been discovered. He had heard no news of her since. When he had seen Kudo Shinichi stealthily leaving the Beika area, naturally he had followed.

If anyone had answers, it would be him.

-o-

-Chapter 9: Explanation. -

-ix-

Eisuke Hondou had, ever since he had first set eyes upon her, been in love with Ran Mouri. He loved her smile, her bravery, her strength. He understood her weaknesses, her fears, her worries, and all he had ever wished to do was to protect her from them. That was why he had chosen to leave for America, those few months ago. He had already determined what her feelings were: so obviously pining for her missing hero, Eisuke knew he stood no chance if said hero felt the same... And he had confirmed that the day before he boarded his flight. Yet now...

Now something was different.

Something had snapped. He could see it in her face as they had left the Kudo household. The strength with which she was pulling him along by the wrist, he was certain he was going to bruise. And now he could see the tears... They weren't mere tears of frustration. She wasn't sad. He could tell. She was disappointed, highly so. She was furious.

Was Shinichi Kudo really that clueless?

"Enough's enough..." he heard her rasp, between two sobs. She was beautiful. Her face, amok with tragic tears and flustered with an angry glow, was that of a vengeful angel. Her hair kept swaying to and fro, getting in the way of the startling sight. He'd never seen her show such emotion so openly around him. He tried desperately to keep up with her, if only to continue drinking in the vision, while thinking of ways to cheer her up, to bring back the smile he so treasured. Only he tripped. Her legs had always been longer than his.

"Ah! Owe."

"Oh! Eisuke! I..." As suddenly as he'd fallen, she stopped. Ran quickly knelt beside him, helping him to sit up and checking his knees. The fury had left her face, and for that he was somewhat glad... But her tears were still falling. Oh, the pang in his heart had nothing to do with his illness-prone childhood. She whispered softly as she examined his grazed cheek. "I'm so sorry. I don't know what..."

"He hasn't explained anything to you, has he?" Eisuke interrupted. He couldn't help the blush on his cheeks or the sadness in his voice. He felt like an outsider desperately wanting to be let in, included in her world. He felt like he knew too much to be kept at bay much longer.

At the blank look that followed her startled response, he knew that he was right. He also recognised another emotion in her face, one from his childhood: mourning. It shocked him to see it there. It was almost as if...

Her love for Shinichi was dying.

"Let's just skip school..." she said."I think we need to talk... privately. Fancy a coffee?"

-ix-

After a couple of minutes, both Shinichi and Haibara had mastered their emotions enough to terminate the awkward hug. With a sigh, Shinichi stood and went to close the garage doors. Without a word, Haibara went back inside, to the kitchen unit to put a kettle on. Sometimes Shinichi had wondered if this was part of her English heritage that had always caused Haibara to resort to a hot drink following moments of stress... Even if she tended to stay clear of the drink that shared the colour of her hair.

"Tea?" She asked as he strode towards her. She'd just put away the coffee grains she'd used for her own beverage.

"Tea, thank you Ai-chan," he replied. He noticed that she didn't need to ask before putting in the two sugars and milk that were his usual. Trying to keep his anger at himself in check, he gripped his head between his hands as he sat at the counter. He soon had a hot beverage to glare at.

"I take it the professor needs some time to himself?" Came the small voice, the additional question of the reason laced through it by her intonation.

"You could say that." Shinichi was in no mood to elaborate.

After a long pause, Haibara continued.
"I understand... He's been worrying too much." At this, Shinichi lifted his gaze towards the young girl perched on the next stool. "I know, because he's been snacking an awful lot. And you... by the look of things, you haven't been eating enough."

"Huh? I... How do you come to that conclusion?" Baffled by her strange comment, Shinichi somewhat forgot about his frustrations.

"Your skin is looking awful dry; your fingertips are brushing against your mug but hardly seem to react to the heat from the freshly boiled drink inside, and even though it should've healed more than that by now, you still seem overly cautious with the joints in your right arm, when it was the muscle that got damaged." She'd started enumerating the symptoms on her fingers, in a way that sent shivers down his spine. "These are all symptoms of malnourishment. Besides, the professor's been worrying about the amount you've been eating of late, as I got to witness last night. One would think a genius high-school detective would know to take better care of himself... Especially when it is Mouri Ran who's doing the cooking."

Astounded, Shinichi could only stare as he got an astounding reminder of how not like a child Haibara could be... despite supposedly not being able to remember where her knowledge came from. Her scientific upbringing, it seemed, would forever be an intricate part of her, however much Shinichi wished it weren't so. Now he knew for sure what it must feel like to strangers whenever little Ai-chan had let out a cynical remark or overly mature statement.

Noticing the bags under the teenager's eyes, the young girl added. "You didn't get much sleep last night, did you?"

"... No, no I didn't." He answered truthfully. Remembering the cause of his sleepless night, beyond the bad dreams, he stood up. Taking a hasty sip from his burning hot tea, he explained that he had something to check on back at his house. Hesitant to leave Haibara alone, but hesitant to bring her to what had promised to be a compromising conversation, he hesitantly told her to wait here for him. Obviously, with the professor gone and the threat of Gin hanging so heavily over the professor's home, said conversation with Hondou and Ran was going to have to wait.

"I... I won't be long Ha-Ai."

Leaving the amnesic not-child and his tea at the counter, he trotted back out the way he had come in, this time taking his time over the broken bits of wall that had been his shortcut. Haibara's comments about his physical condition had somewhat stung. Returning to the living room, he apologised.

"Sorry for taking so long... I..."

The room was empty. Tears welled up in his eyes. Ran had left, without even waiting for his answers. Had she believed that they would never come...? Had she... Lost her trust in him? Taking some deep breaths, he forced himself to think rationally. Hondou must have left with her. He had no reason to leave otherwise. This meant that she'd probably get half the story from him... Hopefully it wouldn't be half too much. Shinichi would have wanted to hear what was said, but... Just now, life was too complicated. Texting an apology to Ran while sinking into his sofa, he only realised how long he'd been staring at nothing when Haibara appeared at the door, having obviously come through the side door he'd forgotten, once more, to lock.

"Fancy watching some TV?" he asked.

-ix-

In one of the more surprisingly quiet and narrow alleyways of Beika, an unfortunate salary man was doomed to an early grave. His first warning had been the badly damaged Porsche parked at the corner leading to the shortcut he took to work each day. He never noticed the occupant. He was too busy making assumptions about rich youths with no appreciation of how to properly care for such an antique beauty. In fact, Inoue Jiro was so affronted by the state of the car that, despite being a lover of antique vehicles, he could not find it in himself to look upon it any longer. His steps down the lane were so swift, that he nearly would have got away... Had he actually been listening to his surroundings.

A car door clicked open, only to be smoothly slammed shut. A pair of feet made themselves heard: large, deliberate strides, clanging out loud as the soles of lacquered shoes hit the tarmac. As ice cold eyes scout around the alleyway for any possible witnesses, Inoue Jiro shudders when the gaze brushes across his shoulders. Thinking of it as a cold breeze, he pulls his coat on tighter. He doesn't look back. If he had, he would have seen the soon-to-be instrument of his death.

Pulling out the trusted berretta from his tattered long coat, the villain adjusts the silencer and takes aim.

The first sharp snap of super-heated air from the gun puts Inoue Jiro to his knees. Blinking, he drops his case. His legs aren't responding. He feels something wet and warm on his lower back. It hurts even to keep himself upright. He falls down to the ground, his arm an uncomfortable cushion for his sides. He feels dizzy, as the footsteps get nearer. Not understanding, he feels tears come to his eyes. He is afraid. Somewhere within his soul is an animal whimpering, trapped...

The stranger stops, towering above him. All he can see is black birds. Their shapes, oddly still, hover around the face of a man with a sullen, murderous glare, his short, silver hair wrapped in blood-stained bandages.

"God?" Inoue asks. He feels ready to faint at any moment.

"No..." answers the man. His hand comes up from his sides, pointing an object at him with a metallic glint. "Devil."

The second shot puts an end to the questions. Knowing that his time is short, Gin strips his victim of his suit before tossing the body into a large bin at the back of a recently bankrupt restaurant. He returns to the car before putting the clothes on. The unfortunate soul had the exact same build as Gin: the clothes fit him perfectly, even if he disliked shirt collars. The black coat the salaryman had been wearing was, if not perfect, an adequate replacement for the tattered mess his own had become. Bundling up the remains of his long coat and the horrendous tracksuit he had stolen from the twerp's flat into the boot of his car, he proceeded to drive towards the outskirts of the city. He needed to change car, and as much as dumping the Porsche displeased him, his best chance of getting it fixed up again was to abandon it in an empty warehouse somewhere and wait until the opportune time... With the boss now dead, there would be plenty of those. Meanwhile, he had his mission to think of.

"Wait for me, Sherry..." He breathed huskily, while lighting up a cigarette. "I won't be long."

-ix-

"Beep!"

Ran's phone protested loudly at being turned off, but she knew that if she didn't turn up to school, Sonoko would be certain to call her about her whereabouts at the first opportune moment. There was no way she was going to allow an explanation to elude her today.

"So," she said, staring at Eisuke as he sat uncomfortably opposite her. "This explanation?"

She had deliberately avoided the Poirot Café. Sat underneath her father's agency, it was a fairly sure bet that he would be there for an early morning coffee at some point or either. If not to calm his nerves, it would be to meet some client. The last thing she wanted was for her father to be the one to interrupt her, so she'd dragged poor Eisuke all the way to the Haido district, to a small shop called the Black Coffee Café. It was a rather sombre building, empty bar for the odd customer in a black suit and American tourist. No one she knew would dream of coming here.

The teenager opposite her waited for their drinks to be served before beginning. With a sigh as the waiter left them, he began.

"First of all, I want to make this clear: most of what I know is guesswork, things that I have deduced, witnessed or heard of from another party. Kudo Shinichi hasn't actually explained anything to me." He stirred his tea as he took a moment to compose his thoughts. "You remember the time when I first came to Beika Highschool, and I was looking for my sister, right?"

Ran nodded, she remembered well. He had disappeared overnight then too, but unlike this time, he hadn't sent her any message explaining the circumstances. The two had grown closer since then. He had even passed by the agency to let her know when he was going away after that. She had missed him while he was away in the States, and she and Sonoko had both been very glad when he'd returned to the school. All she knew about his disappearance back then was that he'd been visiting various hospital wards looking for his lost sibling.

"Well, in the end, I did find her. I... She..." His voice croaked a little. He took a moment to breathe and compose his self. When he resumed talking, it was in soft, hurt tones. "Turns out you and Sonoko had been right. Rena Mizunashi was my sister."

Ran held back a gasp of horror. Rena Mizunashi, the news reporter she had met once alongside her father in a case, had only died a couple of weeks back. She had been missing from the public eye, presumed on leave, since said case, before suddenly her face had been plastered all over the papers. They had found her body. The press had made a big thing of her death, which in the end had ruled out to be a suicide. It suddenly occurred to Ran that Eisuke's return had strangely coincided with this time.

"But... You'd seemed so adamant at the time that she couldn't be!" She recalled this quite vividly, remembering the time she had spent secretly rooting that his resemblance with the star was anything but coincidence. It had seemed such a sweet story back then. Now it sounded like a sordid tragedy...

"My blood type... Was changed from O to AB. I was too young at the time to realise what was happening but... When my sister shared her blood with me as a child, I'd already been given some of her bone marrow to cure my leukaemia. At the time you and I watched those videos of Rena Mizunashi, I was still convinced my blood type was O. I only got told the truth when I finally found her."

Rendered mute by the revelation, Ran waited patiently for Eisuke to go on, while wondering what his sister had to do with Shinichi.

"It turns out that the reason my sister had kept this truth from me back then, and had made sure to keep her distances from me... was to protect me. She... Before she died, she was CIA."

"C-Cia?" Ran was quickly shushed after her outburst. Clapping her hand over her mouth, she desperately tried to keep herself from interrupting again.

"Not so loud, Ran! And yes, CIA, as in the States' Central Intelligence Agency. Apparently, my father was an agent of theirs too... And both died while trying to infiltrate the criminal organisation Shinichi Kudo has spent the last year investigating."

Suddenly silenced by the seriousness in Eisuke's voice, and the dangers implied by his revelation, Ran thanked the stars that Shinichi had returned to her at all. Taking some time away from his explanation to drink some of his brew, he let Ran sort out her emotions for a minute or two. Her hand shaking, she managed to cleanse her mind of the worse of her thoughts by taking a sip from her own cup.

"And..." She finally prompted him again. "What is... Shinichi's involvement in all this?"

"As I said, I only know half the tale. In fact it was upon finding out his involvement that I found the courage to go to America in the first place. I wanted to become a CIA agent too, and assist my sister in bringing said organisation to justice. Unfortunately it seems she was discovered while I was away. There was nothing I could have done, and nothing Kudo could have done either..." At this, Eisuke wiped away a tear that had been running down his face. "As far as I know, Kudo has his own reasons to be investigating them. He's even been working with the FBI to try and pin them down. He's good. Very good. The night before I sent you that message, I... I got to see just how good."

Warming his hands on his cup, Ran leaned forward the better to hear this part of the tale. His eyes fixed upon the dark auburn liquid in his cup, he recalled that night.

-ix-

"The referee calls foul. Yellow card! Yellow Card!" The voices blaring from the Television are full of adrenalin. "As expected, this is a vicious game between Noir Tokyo and Big Osaka! Let's see that fault again..."

The two leaning forward on the settee winced as once more they saw the nasty kick that had downed one of Big Osaka's players. Another incident like that, and it was likely that Noir Tokyo would be down a player. It was not a pretty game to watch, but Shinichi was somewhat glad of how good a distraction it had been. He hadn't expected to find much on to distract Haibara and himself from their worries, but when the Noir versus Big match had come up on the guide, he'd instantly thought of it as perfect. Haibara had been reluctant at first but...

"I... Vaguely remember watching him play before." She had said while pointing at the Big Osaka's centre field player. Recalling that she'd been a good fan of the player before her amnesia, Shinichi had grinned.

"You probably watched a few matches with the detective boys. Professor Agasa would tell me that he'd taken you lot to see the odd match in town."

The two had soon settled down to watch. It was a repeated showing from a few days prior, and even if he'd already heard the result on the radio, Shinichi enjoyed seeing the energy with which Higo Ryusuke was playing. He'd certainly improved a lot since breaking his no-goal strike at the beginning of his transfer to Big. Most of Noir's players' foul play seemed to be targeted at him, but not only was he scoring goals, he was masterfully avoiding their attacks.

That said, Shinichi's mind wasn't completely at peace. His mobile phone in his hand, he was still waiting for a reply from Ran. As the first half ended and the adverts interrupted the commentary, he sat back and pondered upon his plan of action.

They weren't safe. Neither he, nor Haibara were safe as long as they stayed in his house. It would be the first place that Gin would check, once ready to come after them. The Organisation knew full well his address, and even if Gin had lost access to such information, a quick visit to a local phonebook would provide it readily enough.

It was a dilemma. It would be easy enough for him to convince the professor that he and Haibara should find refuge somewhere, while he attempted to lure Gin into a trap but... It wasn't certain that Gin would start by going after him. He could easily raid Beika Primary's files, track down one of the detective boys, even their teacher, Miss Kobayashi. Whatever would ensue would not be pretty.

Shinichi had made a point of acting alone on that night. He couldn't stop the flashes of recollection: his great deduction, his offer, the trap... Maybe it was time he involved someone else again. After all, the organisation was now beheaded, left leaderless and quickly being dismantled police raid after police raid. Numbers would be anything but a hindrance if Gin was on his own. Yes, maybe he should give Jodie a call... He...

"Shinichi? Kudo? Oye, you okay?"

"Huh? Haibara?" He blurted out, mentally kicking himself for using the wrong name.

"The game's started again. What were you thinking of to have such a serious face on?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing..." He waved her concern away, before coming up with a lie. "I was just thinking about how much of a threat to the Tokyo Spirits Big Osaka might turn out to be after this match."

"Spirits fan, eh?" Haibara leered. "In great trouble indeed, I'd say. Higo just scored a hat-trick."

"Huh?" Surprised that Haibara would remember such a term, he turned his eyes to the screen. Big Osaka had indeed added another goal to their board. He let out a low whistle as the goal got shown again. Shinichi had to admire the dexterity and quick-thinking put into it; he'd have had a very challenging time himself if in that situation. "Nice one!"

He did not notice Haibara's suspicious stare as he returned to his viewing of the match.

-ix-

"After returning here and seeing Shinichi Kudo in the street, I immediately connected the dots and decided to follow him." Eisuke resumed his explanation to Ran, though he had to continue with a small lie. "I had, hm, come across him a couple of weeks before and seen him tailing one of them, a person from the black organisation. I naturally assumed that he was onto something when I saw him going ahead with a frown on his face and a loaded backpack. Secretly I hoped that he'd lead me to my sister again, that her death in the papers had been faked. Only it wasn't. I... I was there when Kudo was setting up to face them. He'd set up some gadgets the professor must have made for him or something. I must've accidentally undone a lot of his preparations when he spotted me, because he was furious. I..."

After a small pause, he confessed. Ran held her breath.

"I was a coward, I'll admit it. When he told me to buzz off and hide in a location he pointed out to me, I did pretty much that. But I couldn't leave without at least finding out what was going on. I sneaked back out and hid behind some trees not too far away from the clearing he'd been setting up in. It was then that I heard them coming. Cars were driving into the woods where we were. One even parked not far from me: a black Porsche I think it was. Thankfully, none of the occupants saw me as they were getting out, but I got a good look at them. They were talking as they got out. Seemed aggravated that they were in the position they were in, whatever that was. They didn't want to be there, that was clear, and the taller man there seemed very keen to get his pistol out to confront what I presumed to be Kudo. There was another man who pretty much followed his lead and a woman... She... I believe she was actually Chris Vineyard, the famous actress from America."

"You must be kidding..." Ran whispered, drinking in all the details.

"No, I'm not, though it was odd that she got referred to as Vermouth. She sounded, looked and acted exactly as the actress is known to. She followed the two up into the clearing. I couldn't follow them to see what was happening but... I did hear some things."

"Such as?"

"Kudo pretty much told them straight out that he knew who they all were, that they were some of the top members of the Organisation. He even called out to some by name, asking that the ones known as Korn and Chianti come down from their perches in the trees. He said something about the area being staked out and having irrefutable proof that would bring them down. Some of them seemed disbelieving, until he mentioned someone called Sherry. That's when I heard the first gunshot. That's also when I saw the small auburn haired girl appear." Swirling around the remains of his cup of tea, he took a quick sip. "She had glasses on, like Conan's. She seemed terrified when she saw the Porsche, but proceeded on anyways. I think upon hearing the gunshot, she must have feared the worst and ran forward. Only it wasn't Kudo that got shot. I think it was Vermouth, because after shouting out in pain, she berated the one she referred to as Gin and started rambling on about some confession."

"A confession?" Ran sounded puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"I'm just saying what it sounded like. I think the wind had started to change at that point, but she went on about angels and demons and how the hells angels' daughters had been her assignment or something. I couldn't make much sense of it: it had started to rain and half her words were obscured. I nearly gave up on my hiding place when shots started to ring out again, and I heard the small girl shout. That's when the explosion happened, a big explosion."

Ran recalled the photo from the papers of the crater left in the forest. Though she was aware that the police were trying to keep the case quiet while they investigated what had happened, she'd seen the hole the blast had left, the wreckage wrought upon the trees and the small building there. Apparently the site had been a fuel station of some sort in the past, or so the journalists had surmised. It would explain the extent of the damage.

"I couldn't hear much after that at all, let alone the rain." Eisuke pushed on. "The force of the blast had blown me out of my hiding place and it took me a minute or two to clear my head. By the time I came to, the tall man who'd been driving the Porsche, the one with silver hair, had me by the neck. He looked in bad shape, but not in bad enough a shape that he couldn't threaten me at gun point. It took me a few seconds to realise why he hadn't shot me dead on the spot... He..."

Horrified at the turn of events that Eisuke's tale had taken, Ran could only listen, flabbergasted, as he finished his tale.

"He forced me to drive him away at gunpoint. He's been staying at my flat for the past week, keeping me on a pretty tight leash, so to speak. I only managed to get away last night, and my phone pretty much died as soon as I finished texting you. I thought about going to the police first, despite his threats to hurt you and my friends, but something told me... Something told me Kduo Shinichi would know what to do."

"Eisuke..." Ran started, worry clear as day in her eyes.

"Agk! Not again." Eisuke fell onto the floor upon tipping over the jug of milk. "Cold! Cold!"

Avoiding Ran's gaze, the bespectacled teenager quickly ran into the Café's toilets. He didn't want to let Ran see his teary eyes. He was worried. He hadn't actually had the opportunity to explain to Shinichi exactly how and why Gin would be after them. He needed to come up with a plan.

-ix-

Eisuke Hondou was not the only one worried. Standing before the Kudo mansion, Jodie Starling, also known as Jodie Santemillion, was worried too. She had spent most of the prior evening hunting down information on the boss of the black organisation and trying to figure out where the threat of the surviving Gin would make himself known.

She rang the doorbell. Obviously Eisuke was not the only one to visit that day.

Upon seeing her, Shinichi seemed to give the first broad smile she'd seen on his face since the start of the entire mess. Obviously, she was more welcome than Eisuke had been.

-ix-

To be continued...


Author Note: After four years, I've finally managed to overcome my blockage with this story. Looking back on it, there's a lot I would have liked to have done differently with hindsight. However I look forward to taking this onwards again!