File Eighty: Kudo Shinichi's True Face

"This guy is the culprit!"

A collective gasp marked the beginning of an uncomfortable silence that nobody wanted to break, and immediately all eyes fell on the teenage detective that had been out of the blue accused for murder.

Slowly, Shinichi turned to Hattori, white-faced and sweating profusely now. Unbothered by his bewildered gaze, the high school detective's eyes didn't stray away from his prime suspect ─ they observed his every movement closely, as if they could easily pierce through the web of lies and deceit he had built around his person.

For the rest, however, time had frozen still. Definitely, none of them had seen that coming.

Hey, hey. Not even the young boy standing beside him, looking up at him with wide eyes behind thick glasses. What is he doing?

"In other words…" Conan's eyebrows were brought together, shock now long gone, as the other detective continued. "I mean, there was no trick used in this crime at a- A-Ah!"

Under the confused eyes of everyone else, Hattori felt himself roughly pulled to the corner of the room by the hem of the shirt. Barely having the time to wave at the rest, a nervous grin on his face, he crouched down and faced the kid that was urgently demanding his attention.

Conan's arms were crossed in front of his chest and was giving him that look ─ that one that basically spelled 'how stupid are you?' to him.

"Why are you looking at me like that? You solved this first." It had truly disconcerted him "I'm just wrapping up the case."

"By making my brother a suspect?" The clueless look he received stole an irritated sigh out of him. "Evidence. The evidence, you idiot."

Hattori didn't answer that.

"All we have is circumstantial evidence, and this guy isn't going to admit it that easily," the kid continued, looking even more exasperated. "It's our word against his."

"Don't worry, I got it covered," he said that with such certainty, that momentarily made Conan falter. "I will have a talk with that detective and-"

"And tell him what? That you felt it?"

"Well..."

"Hattori!"

When his hand landed on top of his head, Conan was honestly tempted to bite him or something. "I'm telling you, I know what I'm doing," he said, messing with his hair, much to the kid's displeasure. "Let me handle this."

Conan didn't know what to make out of it. He just stared, motionless in his spot, as the teenage detective stood up and walked back to the group who were still baffled at the previous statement.

"H-Heiji!" This time, it was Kazuha who whispered at him. "What the heck is this? Some kind of tactic?"

"It's no tactic. Like I said, this guy called Kawauchi-san over here on the phone, and this guy was the one who stabbed her."

"Wait a minute!" Kogoro took a much louder approach. "Wasn't it just this morning that you were so insistent about it? You said this guy would never stab anyone!"

"... I was scared." Shinichi's voice came out in a soft, almost inaudible, whisper. "The newspaper reporter… She said she'd expose the error I made two years ago."

Tears rolled down Shinichi's face ─ a sight that was more than disconcerting to the young boy that was silently watching. "All the prestige and pride I'd built up to this point... She threatened to rip it all to shreds." No matter how much he wiped them, the tears wouldn't stop. "Though I didn't understand exactly what she meant… I was scared, so scared. And without thinking..."

The police detective couldn't believe his ears when Shinichi confessed right after that ─ that he was only human, that he could hate, he could make mistakes and, while Conan generally agreed with that somewhat, he found it hard to believe that his anger would result in first-degree murder.

As it was now, however, Kudo Shinichi would most definitely be charged with attempted homicide if this kept going. Yet Hattori seemed none of the worried ─ just strangely pleased. As if everything was going according to plan. Then, why? Conan's eyes narrowed. Why is he that sure that everything is going to work out?

Wait. Then he realized it. He has proof.

What kind of evidence could he have? His eyebrow twitched, annoyed. And why doesn't he tell me?

"Just like in that case two years ago…" Shinichi sobbed. "When I called Mayor Hinohara a criminal, even though he hadn't committed a crime..."

"Ah, no…" the police detective tried to get him to see reason. "It seems you've lost your memory and can't remember it..."

"There… There's no way!"

Everyone looked at the kid, who was facing Heiji with an innocent look in his eyes. "I remember you said that Shinichi-niichan didn't try to kill her!" The teenager's eyes widened, alarmed when the child frowned, unwilling to let this go. "You said you had proof of that, right?"

What is he doing? Hattori was speechless. That idiot…

"Why don't you tell us?" He seemed to have forgotten his childish facade by now. "What your evidence is."

Conan's gaze never wavered, even as he watched the detective's shock gradually vanish from his face, giving way for a solemn, resigned one. His entire expression hardened, and his eyes closed.

When they opened again, they were focused on Shinichi, who flinched at the intensity of his stare. "Take out your shirt," he orderer, and the culprit froze in place. "Now."

"His shirt?" Kazuha spoke out, confused. "Hey, Heiji, what does that have to do with anything?"

For some reason that escaped the little detective in the room, Hattori looked troubled ─ reluctant to answer her question.

"Four years ago..." But a deep, hoarse voice rang and caught his attention away from the Osakan detective to the window. "... Kudo Shinichi got involved in a complicated case."

The window opened, giving way to a mysterious person ─ white long hair, and black clothes, observed the boy. "Something was left behind ─ a mark that would linger forever. That nobody but him would have."

A mark? Conan stared at him for a moment more than needed, before his words slowly sunk in his mind, Could it be? He glanced at Hattori ─ he was strangely silent, offering nothing else besides what it had just been said. Of course… Since it hadn't been made public, there's no way anyone would know about it...

The mark that only the real Kudo Shinichi would have…

His head dropped, hand unconsciously reaching to his shoulder.

A scar.

"T-The Shiragami-sama?!"

He saw Shinichi's eyes widening in horror, and in a split of a second the Shiragami had blocked his view. "Stay back," he said, shielding the boy and Ran with his body.

A tearful Ran nodded, and Conan's mouth opened to ask something, when Shinichi suddenly took out a gun, alarming everyone.

"It's no use."

The Shiragami opened his hand, and bullets slipped from his hold and fell into the ground. Astonished, Shinichi's eyes darted to the weapon in hand, and was perplexed to see that it was still charged.

A split of second later, the gun was whisked away from his hands, and heard it falling a distance away from him. By reflex he looked up and was shocked to see the Shiragami frozen in place, as if he had been about to go to him, but something else beat him to it.

The soccer ball bounced twice before it deflated ─ and was he seeing things or there were sparks coming from that kid's shoe?

Not that he had time for such observations ─ his hand quickly darted towards the discarded gun, but it was held away from his grasp. "Give it up." Hattori stood up, smirking at him with his weapon in hand. "It's time for the curtain to close on this costume-" Another soccer ball came out of nowhere and hit the criminal straight in the face. "... ball..."

Groaning, he tried to raise from the ground. When he raised his head, however, his lung froze in his lungs ─ in front of him, there was that little boy, looking down at him with a malicious sneer in his face.

Despite everything, Hattori couldn't help but grimace. Hey… It was hard not to sympathize with the culprit. That was a bit too much...

"Don't make me laugh," Conan drawled, eyes burning with such fury that actually made him shiver. "Did you really think that anyone would buy that? Kudo Shinichi would never, ever stab anyone, you hear me?!"

Everyone else looked at him, confused about his words. Sensing that the kid wouldn't do anything but glare at the criminal, Hattori moved forward and crouched next to him. He placed his hand on top of his shoulder.

Immediately, he regretted it when his fiery gaze suddenly settled on him

"I-It was clear when we were investigating the culprit's cabin in the forest." He did his best to ignore it, though, just focusing on Shinichi. "The place with chopped up pictures of Kudo affixed to the wall and where mirrors had been smashed into little pieces and scattered on the floor."

"Of course, the chopped up photos are because you hate him." Conan frowned, showing Shinichi a harsh glare. "But to smash mirrors? That could only mean that you couldn't stand the reflexion they would show you every single day."

Kogoro's eyes widened, slowly beginning to understand what was going on. "Then, you don't mean..."

"Exactly. He's had plastic surgery." The Shiragami took a step forward. "To become this great detective..." His hand rested on top of his white hair and removed the wig. "... To have this stupid high school student's face."

Kudo Shinichi's confident smirk met everyone's eyes, who couldn't help but gape at the unexpected appearance. Hatttori's lips curved into a satisfactory smile, and turned to glance at the little kid beside him whose eyes, now free from all that anger they held before, glimmered as they just stared at his older brother.

A smile touched his lips. Yes, yes. He rolled his eyes, arms crossed behind his head. Splendid entrance, as always.

"He requested that I come to that cabin to lock me in," he explained, standing in front of 'Shinichi', who refused to look at him. "I think probably so that he could pretend to me and commit some sort of crime. Most likely one that, for me, Kudo Shinichi, would obliterate me personally and socially."

Conan watched him kneel in front of him and blinked without understanding what he was doing. "Well." That was until he placed his hand on top of his head. "I guess he didn't expect this little guy to meddle into other's affairs and get locked inside instead."

The child's mouth opened to speak, but when no sound came out, Shinichi chuckled. For a brief moment, yet long enough for them both to appreciate, the high school detective's sharp gaze softened and smiled.

Welcome back. Conan didn't realize he was doing the same. Stupid detective.

As if reading his mind, Shinichi nodded and stood back up.

"The reason he pretended to have lost his memory was..." So he continued, serious again and facing the fake Shinichi. "... In order to get by without answering any questions put to him by those who might come with me." 'Shinichi' was getting paler and paler by the second. "Even though he could mimic my face, it wouldn't be possible to have my voice. So, he pretended to have a hoarse voice." As in cue, he let out a cough. "Though I fell in the water as well… Looks like I've developed a bit of a hoarse voice myself, huh?"

"Then it was you who called the police and ambulance this morning?" questioned the kid, looking bored. "We were told it was a teenager with a hoarse voice."

"Yeah, it was me. I'd seen him and Kawauchi-san go into this house… I then considered that the worst possible outcome would be."

"In that case," Kogoro spoke up. "Why didn't you go in and stop him?"

"That's because I couldn't make myself known. When he was coming out of the house last night, I noticed a bulge on the back of his clothing. I was convinced from then that he was carrying a gun."

So you really were there, thought Conan, recalling the mysterious figure he had seen in the woods. Stalking us the whole time, huh?

Considering the words carved into the desk in that cabin, it wasn't so difficult to imagine what would happen if he were to get discovered. So he had stolen the bullets from Officer Shiroyama's gun to make hesitate before he could do something crazy.

"At that point when I appeared before him, that was when he intended to do it." Shinichi's eyes narrowed, settling on 'Shinichi', whose gaze wouldn't deviate from the floor. "Isn't that right, Okuda… No, Hinohara Makoto-san?"

By drawing a sharp breath, he confirmed the suspicions about him. As Heiji explained it, it was the most logical conclusion considering he had enough money from his inheritance, and had been missing for half a year. The reason he tried to kill the reporter was that he thought she had found him out, therefore it was necessary to silence her as soon as possible.

"But I still don't understand… This morning when we came running over to his house, why didn't you say that you had stabbed Kawauchi-san yourself?"

Closing his eyes, Makoto took a deep breath. "It was a test," his voice ─ his real one this time ─ echoed in the room, before he settled his gaze on Heiji, a malicious smirk crossing his face. "Of you guys. As detectives."

If there was any room of doubt that this one wasn't Kudo Shinichi, it was evident now. His glare, full of repressed hate and anger, fell on Shinichi, and let out a sardonic laugh.

"If the circumstances all pointed to this guy, Kudo Shinichi, as the culprit… I wanted to see what kind of deduction you would come up with."

For a beat, it was silent before Kogoro smirked. "Well, it seems we've seen through that quite splendidly."

Conan's eyebrow rose. We?

"Then, what happened in that case two years ago?!"

"Mayor Hinohara killed his wife, then took his own life," answered the child with an even tone. "I'm sure it was already solved."

"It was a robbery-murder! Things were stolen!" Makoto argued heatedly, pointing at Shinichi. "How could this guy, Kudo Shinichi, have missed all that?!"

Shinichi just stared back, impassibly.

"Kudo wasn't wrong," Hattori intervened. "It was a forced double suicide."

"What?! The culprit shoes, the murder weapon, his wife's jewelry-"

"Were all thrown to the river," interrupted the little boy. "Heard he was good at hammer throw."

The ribbons from the medals and a ring from the ring toss game had also been gone. The rest was clear ─ if he put the missing statue as a weight with the weapon, shoes and jewelry in a sack, used the ring as a handle and tied it together with the ribbons, it was possible to make it thirty meters from the house to the river.

"T-That's stupid… Something like that would never make it because of the air resistance..."

"No, it made it," the police detective said. "They were all recovered from the river. Of course, the wife's blood was found on the knife's blade inside the sack, and Mayor Hinohara's fingerprints were detected on the handle."

Despite denying it, again and again, the evidence was right there ─ Mayor Hinohara had really killed his wife, and made it appear a robbery to hide it from his son Daiki. The reason wasn't an illness, however, but what it came out to light was that his blood type had been AB, even if his son was type-O ─ therefore, he was not his child.

"But… If that was the case, why didn't anyone tell me?! I was a member of the family too!"

"I'm sure I told you. Kudo-kun asked me to do so," Officer Shiroyama stated. "But, when I think back now… You'd just been told the truth about Mayor Hinohara's forced double suicide. You might have been too far into shock… and not been paying attention to me."

"N-No way..." Slowly he took a step back, letting the words sink in his mind, and the implications of them. "If that's true..." His hands raised to his head. "Why did I…? For what reason? Even my face… What was it for?!"

A lone tear traced down Makoto's cheek, and soon another followed, then another. Just like that, the floodgates opened ─ a thicker flow of tears bursted out of his eyes, dropping onto the floor with a hysterical wailing that silenced everyone else into just staring for hours to an end.

Shinichi solemnly closed his eyes, away from the sight of his own face covered in tears ─ which, he knew, would be carved into his heart, forever.

"So..." But he opened them again when he heard Hattori's voice. "I think that settles it, huh?"

His fellow high school detective was talking with the little boy, Shinichi noted right away. Conan's response was vague ─ just a small hum, blue eyes stuck in the sobbing teenager a distance away from him ─ yet it was enough for Heiji to sigh, and kneel next to him.

Quietly, Shinichi inched closer ─ Conan was whispering something.

"It's… disturbing." Shinichi was surprised to see that the boy had spoken on his own, despite looking more than unwilling to open up. "Quite stupid, though, considering I know it's not him... But…"

"Well, he fooled us for almost an entire day." Heiji shrugged, turning to look at Makoto again. "And it is a bit unsettling. I don't think I have ever seen Kudo cry before."

"Neither have I."

"Eh?! You have never seen him cry?"

"Why are you so surprised? That guy has the emotional range of an ice cube."

… Hey.

"I have even considered the possibility that his tear glands have gone non-functional by disuse."

Hey, hey...

"I'm telling you. I doubt there's anything in this world that could make him shed a tear, that insensitive idiot detective."

Hey!

Gulping down any kind of comment, he forced himself to look away when Hattori turned to glance at him ─ he worried he had been caught eavesdropping when he paused and gave him a long stare, but calmed down when he looked back to Conan again.

"Well, look at the bright side. Kudo still remembers you."

"Yeah."

"Well?"

Conan gave him a questioning look at that, to which Heiji sighed, and gently nudged him. Rolling his eyes, the kid complied and approached Shinichi, who instantly turned his way, giving his every attention.

Both brothers stood beside each other, awkwardly ─ Hattori sighed, and decided to join Kazuha and the others for the meanwhile.

"So, have you always been hiding that?" It was Conan who broke the silence.

After needing a moment more than usual to understand what he meant, Shinichi let out a sad smile, hand unconsciously reaching for the spot where that old scar decorated his side.

"Well, it's exactly what I would call pretty…" he said with a weak chuckle.

That weak chuckle did nothing to help in his case ─ if anything, it made the little kid frown.

All the while, Hattori carefully observed them.

You're wrong, Conan. Kudo is not as untouchable as you might think.

Slowly, Conan's hand reached forward, little fingers stretching towards his brother's side. Seeing what he was intending to do, Kudo's eyes widened ever so slightly.

He is only… human. A normal human being of flesh and blood.

In a swift movement, Kudo took a step back and away from his reach.

"It's okay." Kudo's smile was forced. He was sure that even Conan could easily see that. "It's not like it hurts anymore."

With the right amount of pressure, even the best of detectives can shatter.

Conan said nothing, just stared at him, a frown still pinching his face, before he sighed, resigned.

If someone hits in the right place… In that weak spot...

Closing his eyes, Hattori forced himself away from the conversation he was intruding into, turning back to Kazuha and replying to whatever she had just asked him.

I sincerely hope it never, ever comes to that.

"Eh?" Hattori said, impressed. "So that Makoto guy was the Shiragami-sama?"

"Yeah," Shinichi replied. "He was the second generation one."

"Then, who was the first?" Conan asked, looking up at his brother curiously. "His father?"

The teen nodded in response, a satisfied smirk crossing his face. "How did you deduce that?"

"Didn't. Just guessed," he stated, with a plain tone, looking back ahead. "He went missing right after his daughter got lost in the woods and died. Then, a mysterious creature appears and scares everyone into staying away from there..." He glanced at him from the corner of his eye. "And there's a tombstone next to the cabin which leads me to believe that whoever lived there died."

"That's Makoto-san's father's grave," he confirmed. "He died from an injury four years ago."

Kogoro gave him a surprised look. "You seem to know an awful lot about it."

As it turned out, back when Shinichi had come there two years ago, Kawauchi's daughter had wandered into the forest and hadn't come back until much later, crying and claiming that the Shiragami had chased her around, and before she knew it had come out. Curious about it, Shinichi had tried to investigate, only to find out that Makoto was behind it all.

"Still..." Ran said, softly, when the teen finished his story. "I feel sorry for Makoto-san."

"It'll be alright. It seems Kawauchi-san wasn't as badly injured as we thought," Shinichi reassured her, turning to glance towards Conan, who blinked confusedly. "And thanks to the quick thinking of a certain, little someone we know, she didn't suffer from severe blood-loss."

Immediately, Conan looked away, pretending he didn't listen to any of it. Shinichi chuckled at the sight.

"Well, if he explains the situation to her later, I think she might forgive him," he turned back to Ran. "She was extremely grateful to the Shiragami-sama for rescuing her daughter, after all."

Then a smile touched his lips. A real, bright smile she had longed to see so much ─ that filled her heart and warmed her all from inside. And it wasn't a dream ─ no, he was there.

Unknowingly to Ran, she did the same.

"That's stupid." A young voice broke them from their staring contest to glance at the child, whose arms were crossed behind his head and an annoyed look had taken hold of his eyes. "Makoto-san should have been charged with attempted murder, and frame-up. A crime is a crime."

"I'm sure that Makoto-san already learnt his lesson..." Shinichi's smile took a more nervous turn. "Besides, even without a sentence, that guy has enough on his plate."

"True. Having your face for life must be the worst sentence ever."

The teenager sighed in response.

"You little-"

Shinichi didn't get to end his sentence before a groan escaped from his lips. "Oh, please." Conan rolled his eyes. "I'm pretty sure you have heard worse from me-"

Another groan, louder this time, caused the boy to cease talking, and a faint, barely bitten back, cry of pain to spin around. "Shinichi?" The concern lacing Ran's voice registered in his mind a fraction of a second faster than the scene before him. "Shinichi, what's wrong?"

The sight of his sickly pale brother, leaning forward and gripping his chest tightly had unfortunately become one he had already grown used to witnessing, yet it didn't fail to make his stomach turn upside down. Unlike Kazuha, who was overall shocked about what was developing in front of her, the other three had apparently also realized what was happening, staring at the agonizing boy with horror in their eyes.

The child was the first one to wake up from his stupor. Where is it? And hurried to his side, patting him over, only to realize that his Shiragami clothes, which he hadn't had the time to change out of, had no pockets. Where does he keep-?

His eyes fell on Shinichi's bag, the same one that they had found before in the cabin, that he was carrying over his shoulder. Is it there? He reached to snatch it from him. Though I don't remember it being there when I checked earlier…

"C-Conan..." The child halted before he could reach it and gave his wheezing brother a startled look. "Don't worry. It's unnecessary."

"But..."

With a weak chuckle, he stood back up, and Ran was instantly at his side, supporting him just in case. He smiled at her, grateful, before reassuring her he was alright now ─ not that she was entirely convinced, though.

"Well..." Despite his bright smile, Conan was sure he could still see sweat rolling down his temple. "I need to go get changed from this, and I think I'll get going."

"Eh?" Kazuha was confused. "Aren't you going to tell the detective the details of the case?"

"Ah, no, I'll do it after I get home. I'm going to lose the bus, and..."

Hattori raised an eyebrow. "You're taking a bus all on your own?"

Conan silently agreed with the detective from the West. He looks pale, he noted, even if Shinichi was obviously trying to brush it off. What is that idiot thinking? To get to Ekoda you need to take a bus to the station, then take the train.

… Does he really think he can make it looking like that?

Kogoro gave him a long look, watching him trying to reassure his incredibly worried daughter for a moment, before shrugging. "The car I rented is not that small," he said, stunning the young detective. "Can you make it back to wherever you're staying from Tokyo?"

"Touto Circular Railway," the child answered before Shinichi had the chance to. "We can drop him off there on our way, right?"

Just like that, the choice was made for him ─ he didn't get a word out before Ran had placed her hands on his shoulders and gently pushed him so that he could walk and 'stop lazing around get changed for once, detective freak,' as she had kindly put it.

"... You didn't see them, did you?"

"Eh?"

"I mean, when you were treating my wounds..."

"Ah... When I was wrapping the bandage around your thigh, I did catch a glimpse of something white..."

"AH! You did see them! You're the worst!"

"I-Idiot! I didn't look on purpose! They just happened to come into view."

"Well, excuse me! For letting you see something you didn't want to see."

"... Ran-chan?" They both froze right away when a smiling Kazuha, who sat in between the two, pointed at herself and quietly continued. "Would you like to change seats? It'll be easier for you two to talk that way…"

"It's okay! You stay there, Kazuha-chan-!"

"Ouch!"

Blinking, the girls exchanged puzzled looks before turning to the source of the sound. Instead of any answers, however, all they found was Shinichi glaring at the little child that sat on his lap.

Unlike him, Conan was smiling cutely at them, as if he hadn't heard anything.

"Hey, hey, what was that for-?"

Shinichi grimaced in pain, unable to complete his sentence, while Conan's innocent expression remained the same. "What..." so he wisely chose to ask, in a lower voice, motioning to his hand ─ the child was pinching a silver of his skin, away from the sight of the other two. "... is all this about?"

Conan gave his brother a long look and promptly twisted his hold on his skin.

Hattori watched the screaming detective bite out a cry of pain and barely held himself from rolling his eyes. Moron.

"Ow, ow, stop it," hissed Shinichi, pulling Conan by the ear, causing him to release him with a pained squeak and hold his sore spot. "That hurts a lot, you know."

"Don't be a child." The older Kudo would have laughed at the irony. "Just make sure to run as far as you can and you will be fine."

Confused blinking made the kid sigh and point at the front. Following his gaze, Shinichi found himself cringing at the glare Kogoro was giving him from the rear mirror ─ a glare that promised him a judo throw as soon as they stepped out of the car.

"Hey, isn't that Ran-chan?"

The brothers were brought out of their dispute to watch the girl in question lowering the window to greet Sato and Takagi, who were driving in right next to them. A few words later, the two had driven away. Well, thought Conan with a shrug. Guess that's better than actually running into a murder-

"Hey, what's with that car?" Kogoro's startled exclamation brought the kid out of his thoughts.

Right in front of them, a driver was driving their car against the guardrail so, thinking that he was asleep, the man sped until he was right at his side, and loudly shouted to him to wake up.

But he wouldn't wake up. He just sat there motionlessly, lifeless eyes staring back ahead.

"That guy…" Conan pointed out with a gasp. "He's not asleep, Occhan!"

"Get the car out in front of his!" Shinichi ordered right away, and Kogoro complied. "Now that we're in front, lower your speed bit by bit."

"Idiot! I can't do that with a rental car!"

"Just do it!" he was startled when both brothers snapped at him. "Hurry!"

The car shook upon contact, stealing a sharp cry from the girls and causing Conan to cringe. This won't be cheap from Occhan, for sure, he remarked in his head, looking over Shinichi's shoulder to the other car. Eventually, it came to a stop and immediately after, the kid opened the door and rushed there.

"Hey, Gunpei!" A pink-haired woman was shaking the driver, frantically. "Gunpei!"

"Wait!" Heiji cried from behind him. "Don't touch him!"

Shinichi gently pushed her away. "Please step back."

The woman tried to argue with them, but hardly succeeded. The two teenagers pointedly ignored her, in favor of checking on the driver, leaving her to grumble to herself by herself.

Conan tried, too. Tried. Hey. His eyebrow twitched when he realized he couldn't see a thing from his spot.

"It's bad."

"He's no longer breathing."

Well, that was pretty obvious from when they had first seen him ─ but still. Huffing, Conan tried standing on the tip of his toes, yet it made little difference.

"Look!" Hattori then said. "There's been hemorrhaging in his eyelids!"

"Could that mean…?" Shinichi frowned. "Line marks!"

"Then, this guy was..." Conan's eyes opened slightly wider, then without waiting for an answer, stepped out and ran closer to the rest of the group. "Ran-neechan, call Detective Sato and ask her to set up a blockade there!"

"Eh?" The girl blinked. "Why?"

Slowly, Hattori stepped out of the car. "He's dead," he declared, a serious expression taking hold of his face. "He's been strangled."

"Yeah, while he was driving," Shinichi aided right away, his sharp gaze wandering around the place. "Inside the closed environment of this car."

"Say, what are you keeping in your bag?"

Startled, Conan's head snapped to his side to watch his older brother arching an eyebrow, gaze stuck in the object in question. Instinctively, the child's hands gripped the straps and looked away.

"Stuff," he said, unhelpfully, hastening his pace until he walked right past him. "It's actually not that weird to carry a bag around."

"It isn't," Shinichi agreed, appearing again at his side. "But you didn't leave it back on the car with the rest of our things."

"Your observation skills are amazing as usual."

"So you're not going to-"

"No." His lips curved into a smirk which didn't bode well for the older detective. "Unless you want to share."

Confused blinking was all that followed ─ Conan could only roll his eyes.

"What are all those things you want to ask and tell Ran-neechan?" Shinichi's reaction to his comment did not disappoint ─ red face, startled jump and eyes flickering anywhere but his form made him laugh, just a little. "You were all lovey-dovey there. And am I mistaken or did I overhear you saying things along the lines of..." Conan's hand raised to his chin, and with a deeper voice mimicked him: "… 'I suspect that what we would like to ask each other is one and the same,' was it?"

"I-Idiot! It wasn't like that!"

The usual nervous, incoherent stuttering that reached his ears after that, only fueled his amusement even further, so he couldn't help but grin at it ─ it only grew wider when Hattori, who was walking right in front of them, turned around after hearing the conversation and gave him a thumbs up, and mirrored his expression.

Well, I still have time, he thought, glancing at his watch. All that was left was to make sure he didn't pull out one of those disappearing acts ─ it had to be done today. Not only for him, or me.

They still had to solve this case, though ─ Conan sighed mentally, unsurprised that they had managed to run into a murder after all that Okuda Makoto fiasco. Though, he had to admit that, despite it all, this wasn't all that bad. With Hattori and Shinichi there, this weird case would be solved in a couple of hours, at worst.

Besides ─ he had to fight back a smile since he was in a murder investigation and that wouldn't be nice of him at all ─ working alongside the Great Detectives of the East and West was something he had never believed he would ever experience. In less than an hour, they had narrowed all suspects into three people:

Mizunashi Riko, the pink-haired woman from before and the victim's girlfriend. Both had gone out with their own cars because they both loved to drive. Claimed that he had suddenly felt exhausted, so he had decided to rest for an hour, forcing her to kill some time at the rest stop restaurant before waking him up.

Chooda Atsuo, who had gotten hungry and went to the rest stop to have a bite. Turned out he was the leader of Gunpei's racing rival team, according to a furious Riko.

And finally, there was Shimodori Futoshi, father of Gunpei's team member that died recently. He had a sudden terrible stomach ache while driving therefore had to go to the restroom in the same place.

Of course Conan had helped, but he was sure that it would have made little difference even if he wasn't there. Shrugging, he looked up and watched the two teenagers, who now chatted lightly with each other.

Shinichi was pulling the baseball cap that Hattori had forcedly put on him since he had lost his hat in the previous river accident. Hattori was smirking at him, saying something Conan didn't really pay attention to.

Guess I have to work a little harder… Nodding to himself, Conan jogged right past them and crossed the distance to the victim's car. So that one day, I...

Even if he tried his best, however, the bigger problem still lingered. Conan huffed in utter irritation when he realized he still couldn't see a thing, and that feeling was only fueled when he heard the detective from Osaka laughing from behind him.

"Maybe you should consider actually bringing a stool wherever you go," teased Heiji at the glowering boy, and promptly raised him from the hood of his shirt.

"Not going to thank you," Conan grumbled, eyes instantly scanning every bit of the car. "Just letting you know."

"Wouldn't expect else from an ungrateful midget."

Probably Shinichi stared at them both for a moment too long, he didn't exactly know, but he suspected he did because when he noticed Sato and Kogoro giving him an expecting look. Oh. Then he realized he had begun to explain them something before trailing down into silence.

"Anyway," so he continued, as if nothing had happened. "What caught my eye are these scratches on the window molding… It almost looks like something was pulling on it from outside..."

"Hey." Kogoro's eyebrow rose. "Don't tell me you're saying someone fastened something like a cord around the victim's neck and pulled it while driving a different car-"

"Don't be stupid," the kid scoffed at him, now sitting on Heiji's shoulders. "If they used the strength of the car to pull the cord, his neck would be broken before he could even be asphyxiated."

The glare he received after that was obviously ignored. Though visually exasperated with the brat in question, the man let it go in favor of pointing out how weird it was to have the window all the way down. Sato suspected it was because the victim was a heavy smoker, evidenced by the ashtray full of spent cigarettes they could see from their spot.

"But see, at high speed, the wind is pretty strong. You'd only be able to keep the window down just a bit out here."

"And how much is 'a bit'?" questioned Hattori.

To show him, the older detective pulled out a handkerchief and opened the door, so that he could pull up the window. The three other detectives held their breath, shocked about what had been revealed in the process ─ two small holes drilled into the bottom of the glass.

I see… Hattori realized.

So that's how it was… Shinichi smirked.

"This doesn't make sense," and Conan stated, then sighed when both teenagers gave him a clueless look. "Look, there." He pointed at the cigarettes and lighter up above the instrument panel. "You're telling me he didn't notice something around his neck?"

Conan didn't miss the way Hattori's gaze dropped to the ground in realization, eyelids sliding closed as he took into what had really happened. "He did," but it was Shinichi instead who replied. "Without a doubt, he noticed it."

"Then, why-?" His words came into an abrupt halt when he realized it. "Oh."

If Hattori noticed that the kid's hand had curled around a tuft of his hair, he said nothing ─ to which the little detective was more than grateful. Lips pressing against each other, his gaze turned to contemplate the lifeless man inside the car.

Once dead, you can't make amends with the errors of your past. He frowned deeply. It doesn't make things better. For anyone.

It's just… game over for you.

"What's wrong, Kudo?" His attention instantly went to the situation in hand. "You're sweating."

Indeed, he was ─ Conan found himself unable to look away from his older brother's pale complexion. "... Don't..." Shinichi's voice came out in a strangled whisper, yet he still did his best to step out from the car he had been heavily leaning against. "Don't worry about it."

… How? It was so incredibly obvious that he was desperately making his breath even. How are we supposed not to worry?! True to Hattori's observation, he was sweating up a storm, even Conan could see from his spot.

It hasn't even been four hours since last time!

Shinichi's head raised, and it was so clear to Conan's eyes that he was trying to hide it ─ the same searing pain that would strike without warning ever since that fateful day at Tropical Land ─ that he didn't even realize that his eyebrows were creasing, furrowing together as he struggled to see.

To see why he was trying his earnest to hold it in.

"... Detective Sato." His eyes flickered away from the little boy and to the woman, who had been standing a distance away, discussing the case with Kogoro. "Please bring those three people here."

For the entire time they waited for Takagi to bring the suspects alongside with Kazuha and Ran, Conan's eyes didn't stray away from the older detective. You never tried to hide it before. His gaze narrowed, and the boy wished he could figure it. Why are you hiding it now?

After lowering the boy on the floor, Hattori's hands slid inside his pockets, watching closely the brothers. The younger was staring, trying to pierce through the truth and the older one, doing his best to pretend nothing was wrong ─ and failing miserably.

Looks that, in the end, you are the toughest case to crack, Kudo.

Though it's a matter of time… He turned to look at his side, noticing that they were arriving. Until those young eyes finally unravel whatever you hide so carefully in that secluded heart of yours.

… And I can't help but wonder what will happen once he succeeds.

"What?" Atsuo exclaimed once he was told about what had happened. "He was strangled while he was driving?"

It took a moment more than usual for Shinichi to nod.

"Then, wouldn't it have been impossible for us?" questioned Futoshi.

"It… is possible." Conan noted his brother was panting slightly now ─ for all that he didn't like him hiding it from him, it was far more concerning that he wasn't doing it now. "So as long as you ensured Gunpei-san did something while driving-"

"Hey, Kudo!" He stumbled forward, causing Hattori to quickly hold him from his shoulders back upright. "Don't push yourself!"

The three suspects, however, wouldn't just back off. "This is nonsense." Especially Mizunashi, who looked angry about what the detective was just saying. "With him driving so fast, what are you proposing we could have done?"

Taking a deep breath, Shinichi opened his mouth to reply.

"Are you blind?" To everyone's surprise, however, the youthful voice rang through. "Take a look at that window. I'm sure you can see those two holes, right?"

Conan walked in front of him, a serious expression plastered all over his face, and hands inside his pockets. "Come on, you aren't going to say that you can't, are you?" He shrugged, as if he wasn't saying anything important. "Since you drilled those yourself."

The offended gasp that followed only caused Conan to smirk.

Conan? Had Shinichi tried to deny how strange was the sight of the usually apprehensive boy stepping out and actually explaining the trick to the group in front of him, he would have been blatantly lying. Is that you, really?

Indeed, he was ─ Conan was actually giving out a deduction in front of people, looking so confident about his words that made the older brother smile a little. How did I miss this? Before he could help it, the thought entered his mind, to not leave ever again. You have…

You have really grown a lot.

Of course, Heiji also spoke up, explaining that the woman had most likely pretended to ask for help so that the victim would open the window, thus activating the mechanism. Like that, it was evident that the culprit, the one that had driven in front of her and slowed down enough for him to worry, was none other than Mizunashi Riko. Proof was the chloroform and ammonia bottles she surely was keeping in her car to put the victim to sleep, then wake him up.

Once cornered, she had no choice but to confess. She had executed her revenge because of her boyfriend, who had died because of a race challenge issued on a stormy day. He hadn't even regretted what he did, she had said on the verge of tears.

"... No," spoke out Shinichi, hand raising and clenching his chest ─ and action that instantly set off all alarms in Conan's head. "I believe he truly regretted what he had done."

"How… How can you possibly know that?!"

"Up above the instrument panel in front of the driver's seat, there are cigarettes and a lighter, right? Given the dampness of the cigarette filters in the ashtray, it's clear he was smoking before he was strangled." His fingers gripped his shirt, unconsciously. Conan took a step closer. "If he leaned forward to get the cigarettes, wouldn't he have noticed that something strange was around his neck?"

"Then why?! Why didn't he just cut the line?!"

"I think he had already resolved himself that his crimes could be atoned for… with his own life."

It's happening, isn't it? The kid took another step closer. It's happening again...

"Nonetheless, I would never consider sympathizing with his decision." His right eye closed shut tight, and his entire face grimaced in pain. "Just as you had killed him… He made you into a murderer… That's something I can't accept… No matter what-"

"Hey, Kudo!"

"Takagi-kun, get an ambulance!"

"N-No! He can't get to the hospital!"

It had happened too quickly for Conan to properly process it, but before he knew it, he was on his knees, beside his panting brother whose legs had just buckled under his own weight. Is… The child observed, wide eyed, as the high schooler opened his eyes just a slit to look at him, mouth opened to draw in a raspy breath. Is this normal?

In the background, he could hear Kogoro trying to convince Takagi and Sato not to get an ambulance, and Kazuha arguing to Heiji, audibly mad for agreeing with the man ─ Kudo-kun definitely needed an ambulance.

Of course, Ran was beside him, hands on his best friend's shoulder. But he wasn't even looking back at her.

Damn it, he cursed inside his mind, forcing a smile to the astonished young detective. Of all people, I didn't want you to see me like this.

"Onii-chan," Conan whispered, inching closer. "What…?"

Taking a moment to recover, he sat up straight. "Sorry about that," he apologized, trying to stand, only to have Ran to hold him up. "Guess that I forgot to take those pills this morning. Ai-chan is going to be so mad..."

Ran frowned, undoubtedly worried. "Shinichi..."

"I'm okay," he flashed her a hopefully reassuring smile. "I just have to rest a little... Your dad can take me to the station, right?"

"Yes, but..."

With that, the two teenagers made their way back to the car. Conan stood back, watching as Ran fussed over him, even when he shrugged her off saying he was okay. Just as if nothing had just happened.

But it did.

Conan could swear on that ─ even now, his chest still hurt from a heart pounding so heavily against it. Yet, despite how much he wanted, he remained silent the entire way.

Wishing he was just a bit braver ─ wishing he had the courage needed to hear the answer to his unasked question.

What are you hiding from me this time?

"Here."

"Conan? What's this?"

"You said you wanted to know what is in here, right?" Thoroughly confused, Shinichi still accepted the bag that the kid was offering him. "Satisfy your curiosity for once, Detective-san."

Slowly and carefully, Shinichi's hands opened the mysterious bag and peered inside. "And also…" The oldest Kudo was surprised with what he saw. "Could you please stop forgetting this every single year?"

"May 4th…" A pleased smile crossed Conan's face at the barely audible whisper, especially when he pulled out a small box wrapped in gift paper. "Seriously…" Shinichi teased the kid. "Another book?"

Conan wasn't really surprised to see that he had realized what it was before opening it. "It's Line-Up in the Dead of Night by Shinmei Kaori." He shrugged. "You better appreciate it. It was the last one when I bought it, and I didn't even read it yet."

Shinichi's smile dropped at that. "Eh? Is it okay-?"

"If I'm giving you it's okay," he interrupted him. "I will just buy the complete version when it comes out at the end of this month. Oh, and by the way. That's only the first volume, I'm not going to buy you the other. That is, of course, if it turns out to be as good as they say it is. Well, considering Shinmei-san's other works-"

A hand on top of his head caused him to halt and open his eyes wide. "Thanks, Conan." His brother was smiling at him, much closer than he remembered him a couple of seconds ago. "I really like it."

"... Really?"

"Really."

After hearing the confirmation that his gift was appreciated, Conan couldn't help but sigh, relieved. "What?" Shinichi's eyebrow rose. "You were worried I wouldn't like it?"

Looking away with a scoff, the kid crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Go and make a fire with that, I don't care."

"Yeah, sure…"

"A-Anyway, you should check further inside." Even if he had looked away, Shinichi was pretty sure he could see the tips of his ears reddening. "Ran says sorry she couldn't buy you anything better. She didn't know she was going to meet you until the day before."

Just as he pulled out a small bag, Shinichi felt as if he was being watched, so he looked that way, and wasn't disappointed to see that Ran was looking at him, from the corner of her eye, a distance away while talking with Kazuha.

It was a phone strap, with a small soccer ball hanging from it. He couldn't help the smile that blossomed on his face when he saw it.

Ran avoided his gaze when he grinned at her direction, silently thanking her.

"So you didn't tell her your deduction in the end, did you?"

Jumping, Shinichi looked back at his brother, who has that mischievous face again. "... She didn't ask."

Conan sighed, loudly. "You two are hopeless…"

Don't want to hear that from you, little brat. Rolling his eyes, Shinichi went to give the bag back to Conan, but he shook his head. Confused, he stuck his hand inside and was shocked to see that there was something else inside ─ a tiny, baby pink box.

"Ai-san told me to give this to you." Shinichi's eyes widened when he heard that name, watching incredulously at the little boy who huffed in utter irritation. "She just showed up out of the blue in front of the agency when we were about to leave..."

"What are you looking so stupidly at?" she said to him, eyebrows raised far above her hairline at the blinking boy. "Give that to Shinichi-san."

Confusion soon drained, and annoyance took hold of his features. "Get a pigeon or something."

"Why get one if I have you?" She couldn't help the amused chuckle that escaped her at his furious grumbling. "Just do as I said… and don't peek inside."

"And how would you know if I did?"

"I most definitely wouldn't, but Shinichi-san would." He wouldn't doubt it. "And I will ask."

Conan opened his mouth, ready to say something back to her.

"I'm sure Shinichi will appreciate it." But suddenly, he couldn't see her anymore. Instead, Ran had moved in front of him, crouching before the girl. "Are you sure you don't want to come along?"

"Pass. Thank you."

Shinichi didn't respond at first, just stared cluelessly at his younger brother for a couple of seconds, before turning to gaze at the small box between his fingers. Gradually, his shock dimmed and lips drew a thin line, as realization dawned on him.

I see.

"So?" Shinichi's eyes fixated back on the boy who stood there, arms crossed in front of his chest and eyebrow raised expectantly, and tilted his head at the odd sight. "Aren't you going to open it?"

The high schooler said nothing, just stared back at him, before his lips twitched upward.

"You want to know, don't you?"

Conan scoffed, head whipping away from his direction. "I couldn't care less about what it is in there..."

Shinichi's eyebrow rose, watching him as he gave him a look from the corner of his eye.

"You aren't going to…?"

"Nope."

"Okay, whatever."

With a small wave, the child promptly turned away and jogged to the rest of the group, apologizing to them for taking so long, and rolling his eyes when Hattori said that they would lose their flight if he kept idling around. The rest of the conversation fell on deaf ears, since they were slowly walking away.

But Shinichi still watched. Ran was smiling at the kid while she leaned forward slightly, and Conan mirrored her expression. It changed immediately to annoyance when Kogoro muttered something, and became more prominent when Hattori ruffled his hair, playfully. Throughout it all, Kazuha laughed, for whatever reason.

I wonder if you realized, Conan. That you so have many people to lean into.

Without fully meaning to, a relieved sigh escaped from his lips.

Even… Even if the worst were to happen someday… Even if I'm not there, at your side…

You will be okay.

Just as he was about to leave, he noticed Conan turning his head, looking at him from over his shoulder. A gentle, bright smile touched his lips, which Shinichi returned right away.

And I'm truly glad for that.

A/N:

CherryGirl 21-6: Well, while I have a general idea of what I want to do with that movie, I don't have everything thought out in such detail… But I'll keep it in mind when I write it.

Lemon1412: Actually, for when it will end, sorry, I still haven't got a clue XD And yeah, Conan's birthday is on November 13th, and is eight years old at this point of the story. From this point on, Shinichi is eighteen, as you said. And for the rest, well, guess you will see soon lol.