Author's Pre-Note: Okay, so I sincerely apologize for the late update; circumstances made it impossible to upload this chapter before now. I managed to put some time from plotting the end to this however just to present this next chapter to you! Now if you'll excuse me, I have to finish that conversation of realization...(wow, I have writer's block lol)


Surprise Twenty-Eight: Heartbroken?

Even if Shinichi was so weak and ill he couldn't sit up, he still wanted to go back to class the next day. Kaito looked at him, his mouth agape. "Shin-shin, you're kidding! You really think I will let you go like that?" Crossing his arms, he huffed and returned to his seat at Shinichi's bedside. "Honestly, you're so stubborn sometimes…"

"But I have to!" Shinichi's throat was so sore and raw that his protest came out in a high-pitched squeak. "I only have a bit of a cold!"

Kaito rolled his eyes—he was getting fed up with Shinichi's stubbornness to stay home and recover. "Shin-shin, I told you already that your immune system just crashed! You need to stay home and let it heal."

Shinichi coughed a bit. "It already crashed, so I stayed home yesterday. All I have is a bit of a cold; I should be going back today!"

"Fine then, get worse," Kaito snapped as he jumped up. "Then you'll realize how much you need my help." He stormed out of the room before a shocked Shinichi could stop him.

What the heck is up with Kaito?! Shinichi had never heard anything mean come from Kaito before and knew he wasn't normally that kind of a person. It was too late to consult Aoko about the matter, so he decided it was best to do as Kaito requested and wait for it to blow over. He turned over and fell into a doze, unable to hear the quiet sobbing coming from downstairs.

Why did I have to show my anger like that? Kaito sat himself on the bottom stair and tried to stop the tears. He doesn't deserve this with his illness and the cases he's dealing with! Maybe I should—no, I can't; even Aoko doesn't know the whole story! I should just apologize, and we can forget the whole thing happened. He crept back to Shinichi's room and saw the dozing detective.

Tears began to form again as Kaito returned to Shinichi's bedside and placed a wet cloth on his forehead. He knew something was wrong with me, didn't he? He knew something was up, and he chose to comply and stay here for today…for me.

Shinichi could faintly feel something wet falling onto his cheek, but his foggy brain couldn't process it. His eyes slowly opened, and he saw Kaito crying and trembling. "What's wrong?" He shakily placed a hand over Kaito's.

Kaito hastily wiped away the tears. "I-it's nothing, Shin-shin, just go back to sleep."

Even with his muddled thoughts, Shinichi knew Kaito was lying. He slowly sat up, ignoring the dizziness and nausea, and tightly hugged Kaito. "It's fine if you won't tell me exactly what's going on, but please don't act reckless, okay? I'd hate it if something happened to you when I'm in this condition."

Kaito sniffed. "Thank you, Shin-shin…" A peaceful silence fell between them for a few moments until quiet snores came from Shinichi's mouth, his head rested on the magician's shoulder. Kaito smiled. "Well, now you can spend today for resting, and I'll see what I can do about my situation." He carefully placed Shinichi in bed and tiptoed out of the room before pulling out his phone and calling Takagi.

"Hello? Is this Kuroba-kun again?"

"Yes, it is. I was wondering if I could somehow see that body you found a couple days ago. Since it was two days ago, are you able to send me a picture?"

Takagi gasped. "Are you saying you may know the victim?"

Clenching his fists, Kaito quietly agreed.

Takagi sighed. "Well, I suppose I could send you a couple real quick. Let me know if you recognize him, okay?"

Kaito thanked him and ended the call, taking deep breaths and hoping it wasn't who he thought it was. A couple moments later, the pictures arrived. Kaito clicked on the message and stared at the pictures before falling to the floor in a faint. It was indeed as he feared—he knew the victim quite well and never thought he would see this person again, let alone at a murder scene.

X

Shinichi awoke three hours later in need of food. It was quite the odd feeling—his stomach rumbled, yet his mouth was full of bile. He slipped into a robe and began to make his way downstairs before noticing a large object on the floor. His eyes focused for a moment before he realized that object was Kaito passed out on the floor. "Kaito!" He approached Kaito and shook him. "Kaito, get up! What in the world happened?" He glanced over and noticed a phone opened to a picture. He snatched it and saw it was the victim from the murder he encountered two days ago. Hang on…does he know this guy?

Kaito slowly rose and groaned, a hand at his head. "Ugh, what happened?" His gaze moved to Shinichi holding his phone, and he blanched. "S-shin-shin, give that back!" He quickly grabbed it and put it in his pocket.

Wiping away sweat, Shinichi took quick, shallow breaths as he leaned against the sofa. "Why were you passed out over here, Kaito? Did you know that person in the picture?"

Kaito immediately began denying. "N-no, Shin-shin, I didn't! I'm just not really a person that can stomach a dead body."

Shinichi raised an eyebrow. "Then why did you ask Takagi-keiji to give you pictures?"

Kaito looked away, a blush rising to his cheeks. "I wanted to help you, Shin-shin. I was told by him that it hasn't been solved and that no one has identified him, so I wanted to see if I knew him. I didn't though." It was a partial truth, so he didn't think Shinichi would see through the lie.

Shinichi hummed a bit but said nothing more of the subject. He instead sat up enough to plop on the sofa. "Do you think you could get me something to eat? I'm starving, but I can't move anymore."

Kaito snickered. "Sure! Just wait here, and I'll make you something." He went to the kitchen to do just that, noting how much Shinichi was coughing. He rummaged through the medicine cabinet before coming across yet another pill from Ai with a note attached to the bottle.

Kuroba-kun:

This is a pill I just made that can help Kudou-kun with his after-crash cold. I also included some ingredients that will help him sleep since he usually has some excuse to stay awake during this time.

Don't keep your eyes off that nosy detective,

Haibara Ai AKA Miyano Shiho

P.S. I doubt you've told me he's crashed, so you better leave me an email—I have ways of finding out information.

Kaito smirked. "Well, she sure can predict when my Tantei-kun needs something!" He dissolved a pill in a glass of water and carried a small tray to Shinichi. "Here you go!"

Shinichi thanked him and quickly ate, only pausing to cough. Ten minutes after eating, he noticed that he was yawning a lot. "Man, I guess I'm tired…"

Kaito ruffled his hair. "Then get some sleep; I'll stay here next to you." With a flick of his wrist, a blanket appeared in his hand, and he gently placed it over Shinichi.

Shinichi placed an arm over his eyes, and his breathing evened out within less than a minute. Kaito came close to dozing off in the recliner but jumped when the doorbell rang. "Who could that be?" he wondered aloud. Luckily, Shinichi was still in a deep sleep, so the magician went to the door and was surprised to see none other than Ran.

"Hello, Kaito-kun." She gave a deep bow. "I was wondering if I could see how you and Shinichi are doing after what happened on the cruise ship. Do you mind if I come in?"

Kaito gave her a rose and fully opened the door, gesturing inside. "Shin-shin is sleeping on the sofa since he had a bit of a crash yesterday after insisting on going back to class even though he had used a lot of energy to do a full day's worth of class and another murder. Since it couldn't be solved, he was up all night long that night, and I made him stay home for morning class so he could rest up."

Ran shyly approached the sleeping Shinichi, a faint smile on her face. "He's always like that, isn't he? Always reckless and doesn't think of what may happen when he goes off after dead bodies like he does."

Kaito could only laugh and agree. Ran turned back to Kaito with a frown. "Kaito-kun, you look pretty tired yourself. How have you been sleeping?"

Kaito shrugged. "I get enough that I don't get sick or anything, but I will admit it'd be nice to not feel that lethargy pulling me down…" He let a yawn escape his throat.

Ran giggled. "Well, you can go upstairs and rest for a little while then; I'll stay here and take care of Shinichi for you."

Kaito's eyes widened a bit. "Wow, thank you." He lightly hugged Ran and made his way upstairs before collapsing into the closest bed, quickly falling asleep.

Ran quietly sat in a stool beside Shinichi and began stroking his hair. "Shinichi…you go through so much, yet you don't tell me anything anymore. I pray that you're just depending on Kaito-kun now; I know deep inside that you need someone to help you when you're struggling or else you'll fall into the dark depths of insanity."

Shinichi, even in his deep sleep, could recognize the soft touch. "Ran…" He stirred and moved closer to her before returning to his slumber.

Ran smiled. "There, just keep sleeping, and you'll recover soon!" Maybe then you can tell me what's been going on lately.

X

Shinichi heard his phone go off. He groaned and groggily sat up, seeing it was from Ran. What's wrong with Kaito? It asked. He seemed a bit down when I came to visit.

Not sure, he responded. I'll try and ask again tonight.

What do you mean again? Ran inquired. Did you try asking earlier today?

Shinichi hesitated to reply. Yeah, I did. I could tell something was up when he showed his anger and frustration to me and tried to ask him what was wrong, but he pretended like nothing was wrong and was crying.

Crying? Now Ran was becoming concerned. Do you know of anything that happened that would make him act like this?

Shinichi didn't respond.

Shinichi, please tell me—I worry for him too.

Shinichi relented and told her of the most recent murder but not exactly what most likely was making Kaito uneasy.

Shinichi, I can tell you're trying to avoid my question. I know he doesn't like dead bodies, but what was it about that particular one that is throwing him off?

Shinichi's hands shook as he typed the message. That body…looked exactly like him.

Ran stared at the message in shock. She wanted to continue the interrogation with Shinichi but chose not to when remembering that he was recovering from a crash. Well, I know you're unwell right now, so try and keep an eye on him as best as you can. If you need anything, let me know, okay?

Shinichi's nerves relaxed. Yeah, I will. Thanks. He put his phone away and paused when noticing the silence. "She made you go to bed too, didn't she?" Shaking his head with a smirk, he slowly made his way upstairs to see Kaito curled up in his bed and snoring softly.

The detective's eyes brightened as an idea struck him. Grabbing a red bowtie from his nightstand, he turned a few dials in the back and bent down beside the magician, lightly placing a hand on his shoulder. "Ohayō, Kaito-niichan!" Conan's voice came out happily.

Kaito groaned sleepily. "Kenichi-kun, what is it?" he mumbled. "Did Tou-san put Kaa-san to sleep on accident again?" He turned away from the surprised Shinichi and returned to sleep.

Shinichi stood up, his face pale. No way… i-it can't be! He glanced at the clock, and, seeing it was late enough, dialed Aoko's number.

"Ah, Kudou-kun, it's you! How are you feeling? I noticed you weren't at class again. Did Bakaito make you stay home?"

Shinichi gave a nervous laugh. "Yes, Kaito managed to persuade me to stay home. As for how I feel, I should be okay in a couple days. I didn't call about that though—I have a question for you about Kaito…"

Aoko raised an eyebrow at the darkening of Shinichi's tone but hoped it would still stay happy. "What, did you want to know about Kaito's experiences with fish?"

"Who is Kenichi?" Shinichi cut to the chase and could hear Aoko gasp.

"W-where did you hear that name?" she stuttered as she tried to not drop her phone. "How do you know his name?"

"I heard it from Kaito while he was sleeping," he whispered. "He's been acting real strange lately and won't tell me why."

Aoko bit her lip. "I know why," she spoke quietly. "He does this every year around this time—I'm not very surprised. You see, Kenichi was kind of important to Kaito…he was Kaito's younger brother."

Shinichi felt his mouth go dry. "He had a younger brother? What happened to him?"

Aoko sighed. "If I remember right, tomorrow marks the ten-year anniversary of when it happened. He was seven at the time and would always follow his older brother around and try to learn the same magic tricks. Kaito had been sick with the flu at the time, and his parents were out for a dinner date. Kaito was going to go to the store a few blocks away and buy more medicine, but Kenichi insisted on going instead." Her voice broke off as she struggled to contain her tears.

"He didn't return, did he?" Shinichi could easily figure out the rest on his own. "So no one has known since then where he is or if he's alive?"

Aoko quietly denied. "They searched everywhere for him or at least a clue…but nothing could be found. Kaito felt so guilty—he felt that he was the one that caused Kenichi's disappearance and possible death. His parents took him out of school for a few months and toured around Europe to try and cheer him up, but he came back changed. He would always wear a mask over his face if he felt sad or upset about something.

"Every year around this time while we were both still in school, he would always leave for a few days without telling the teachers, but they knew what had happened and let him. I visited him on the first year since I was worried and saw him collapsed in Kenichi's room and crying. I didn't know what to say, so I just sat next to him until he calmed down."

Shinichi was speechless. After a moment to go through his thoughts, he spoke again. "Aoko, would it be best if I tried to cheer him up now, or should I leave him be until day after tomorrow when it's over with?"

Aoko thought for a moment. "Well, I guess it would be best if you tried to cheer him up right away; maybe then he won't feel near as bad when tomorrow comes." She paused. "Oh, I need to go. Let me know if anything else happens to Kaito, and I'll call him later!"

Shinichi thanked her and ended the call, looking down at Kaito with a sad expression as he gently stroked his hair. "Kaito…I can't believe you went through something so traumatic…and kept it to yourself the way you did for so long." With a quiet sigh, he tore a piece of paper from his notebook and wrote a note before leaving.

Kaito-

I am going to be taking a short walk outside to get some fresh air, so don't worry if you can't find me. You can text me when you wake up, and I'll try to make my way back as quickly as I can.

Also, try to stay positive, okay? You were saying things in your sleep that made me call Aoko, who's a new student in my class that knows you, and she told me what happened ten years ago. It's sad hearing that story—I wish there was some way I could change it. The only thing I can do is take a look at the case file when I recover and see if I can find anything I can go on.

Take care; you know I worry too.

~Kudou Shinichi


Author's Note: Well, another chapter! So now you know of poor Kuroba Kenichi, whom is another character I made up along with Fujiko and...oops, that's for a bit later. Anyway, what did you think of Kenichi from what you heard so far? Do you like that I keep making up new characters to fit in the story? I might be doing that in my next project as well, but that's still a little ways away and wouldn't really feel right...

Okay, I have to bring this up. On the 19th of this month (February), it marks exactly one year since I started watching Conan! My goal is to have watched 479 episodes by then (yes, I haven't watched every single one yet because I don't want to be caught up), but I'll have to see and update you on it. Oh, speaking of annoying characters, I have a huge poster board that has a drawing of the UK on it (geography assignment), and I can't look at it without thinking of HAKUBA...In case you didn't know, he's my least favorite character in the series with Haibara being the top, Shiratori being third, and Mitsuhiko being fourth. I surprisingly like ones such as Yamamura, Yokomizo (both), and Sonoko-they're hilarious to be around! [Later note: I only watched 470, but I saw Kaitou Kid-sama!]

Anyway, I digress. As a final addition to this however, I must thank all of you faithful readers for putting up with me and my writer's block! I'm really happy (and surprised) that you're enjoying this story, and I can say with hope that I'll make a sequel for this when the Time is Right (ooh, Septimus Heap reference?).