Hey everyone! Here's part V of The Mysterious Truth! Also, since there was, like, one person who responded to my question in part III, apparently no one is interested, so it's closed. The title DID come from Fushigi Yuugi, The Mysterious Play, because I was listening to the opening theme while thinking of a title, so I came up with The Mysterious Truth.
Okay, enough babbling. Enjoy the story!
Disclaimer: I don't own Detective Conan. As if you didn't know that already ^_^
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Part V ~ Plans"Neechan, Kazuha, we're home!" Heiji called as he and Conan stepped inside the house.
"You guys are FINALLY back!" Ran said, running to greet them. "Oh my gosh, Kazuha-chan and I were SO worried about you. Why in the world did you take so long? Oh, never mind. Let me get her. Kazuha-chan!" she called. "Kazuha-chan, they're home!"
"Really? Heiji, I'm going to beat you for making me worry like that!" Kazuha called. But despite her angry tone of voice, she breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm glad you two came back safely. You guys sure met for a long time. It's 11:55 already. How was the meeting, anyway?" she finally asked.
"It went very well, actually," Heiji replied. "We met Kaito Kid—he actually revealed his true identity to us. We're still going to keep an eye on him, since we can't be sure that he's telling the truth, but he claims to be on our side."
"And…?" Ran asked anxiously.
"And I think that he's telling the truth," Conan said. "Something tells me that he's definitely with us on this one."
The girls nodded. "Well, I'm just glad that you're all right," Ran smiled. "I thought I was going to lose you again…Shinichi."
Conan's eyes widened. He had never heard her speak that way before. He smiled and blushed slightly. Heiji smirked, and Kazuha beamed at Ran.
"Well," Heiji yawned. "It's been a big day for all of us, I think. We should all get some rest. What do you want to do tomorrow? We ARE on vacation, after all."
Ran suddenly thought of something. "Well…" she said slowly, "let's go see a movie!"
They looked at her. "A movie?" Kazuha repeated. It was an unusual suggestion. Ran usually wanted to do something active, like shopping or taking them sightseeing.
"Yeah, a movie! I heard that [Voices of a Distant Star] is in theatres right now. It's supposed to be REALLY good. And there's a theatre close to here. We can have a light breakfast at home, go to the movie, and then eat lunch at a café or something. How does that sound?" she asked.
They nodded. "Sounds great to me," Heiji replied.
"Oh yeah, Ran," Kazuha suddenly said. "I forgot to ask you. Where's your father? I haven't seen him at all during this trip."
"Oh, otousan?" Ran asked, suddenly excited. "Well, I arranged for okaasan's law firm and the police department to go on a cruise together. I made sure that Inspector Megure invited otousan." She giggled. "It's one of my more brilliant plans!"
Conan sweatdropped. When is she going to give up on her parents? He wondered. Does she just not see that there's no hope for them?
"I know what you're thinking, Shinichi," Ran said softly, reading his thoughts. "But trust me…there is always hope."
Conan just stared at her, completely amazed.
~ * ~ * ~
"Ohayo, Ran, Toyama-chan," Conan said and yawned. "Hattori is still sleeping. What are you guys making for breakfast?"
"Toast with marmalade," Kazuha replied. "Good morning, Conan—I mean, Kudo-kun." She grinned. "Gosh, I'm not really used to calling you that," she admitted. "I'm sorry."
Conan shook his head. "Don't worry about it," he replied. "It'll take a while for me to get used to just calling her 'Ran' again." He smiled. "Remember that time, when I had the temporary cure, that I called you 'Ran-neechan'?"
Ran giggled. "Yeah, I was kind of confused. But I was just so happy that you were back, I didn't even think twice about it."
They laughed.
"Ohayo," Heiji spoke up. "Is breakfast ready?"
"You lazy ahou!" Kazuha said sharply. "You expect us to just have everything ready for you as soon as YOU wake up?"
He glared at her. "Yeah, so what, ahou?"
"Never mind. It's no use talking to you," Kazuha said huffily and turned back to Ran and Conan, who were smiling at each other. "Okay, lovebirds, time to eat breakfast!" she teased.
They blushed and quickly sat down at opposite ends of the table. Kazuha and Heiji snickered.
"Anyway, I'll need to run over to Agasa-hakase's for a little while afterwards," Conan spoke up. "I have to tell Haibara about this. She might be upset…"
Ran looked at him with concerned eyes. "Will you be all right, Shinichi?"
He smiled at her sweetly. "Don't worry about me, Ran-neechan!" he declared in his childish voice. The four of them cracked up.
~ * ~ * ~
"So, Ran-san now knows everything?" Ai asked quietly.
"Yeah," Conan replied. "I just…can't lie to her like that anymore. I can't live like this, Haibara." He looked at her. "My motto is 'there is always only one truth', Haibara! I don't deserve carrying the title of a truth-seeker if I'm living in a lie. Don't you see? It's ripping me apart, even more than the Apotoxin." He smiled ironically. They were quiet for a moment.
"I'm glad that you told her," Ai said suddenly. "To tell you the truth…I was really tired of living like this, too. Now…perhaps…we can have a burden off our chests."
Conan nodded in agreement. Ai continued, "Kudo-kun, this is what I'm thinking. After we defeat the Black Organization—and we will, and after we get you back to your true form…I will take this pill." She walked over to her drawer and pulled out a small pillbox. "Inside here is a pill that will erase all my memories…permanently."
"What?" Conan gasped. "But—"
"Listen," Ai cut him off. "All I live for right now is to find them and expose their deeds—and to find the antidote. After that…after that, I will have nothing more. Just—promise me," she said softly. "Promise me that you won't push me away. You'll re-introduce me to the Detective Boys, Agasa-hakase, Ran-san…everybody."
Conan smiled. "Of course I will, Haibara."
Ai smiled genuinely. "Thank you, Kudo-kun…"
~ * ~ * ~
Ring, ring.
"Moshi moshi," a man with long, dirty blond hair answered.
"Are you ready to carry out our plans?" a cool female voice asked.
"Ready whenever you are."
"Good…we will gather at the meeting place in two hours. I have new information that will make new plans necessary…"
"Got it," he said and hung up. A grin appeared on his face.
"Finally…we will be rid of that woman forever…"
~ * ~ * ~
"O-tousan, you're very quiet, are you all right?" Aoko asked softly. The Nakamori family was sitting at the dinner table, although no one was enjoying the meal very much.
"Hmph," Inspector Nakamori grunted. "Kaito Kid has been very inactive lately," he said gruffly. "Wonder what he's up to…?"
The family fell silent.
"O-tousan…" Aoko finally spoke up.
"What?"
"Can't you…can't you, just for one meal, forget about that thief?" she burst out. "I…can't stand it anymore! Everything you do is focused around HIM. It's like…catching this Kaito Kid is more important than being with US. Than being with your family." She looked down. "O-kaasan and I…we miss having you around. You're always figuring out some coded message or doing a wild-goose chase. Can't you just be a normal father again?"
"Aoko, you must understand! This is my job. You say that you want to have a family meal. Well, I must work to provide this meal for us! If you can't appreciate that, then I have nothing more to say."
Tears formed in her eyes, and she ran from the dinner table.
Inspector Nakamori sighed and looked at his daughter. "Forgive me, Aoko…" he murmured. "I…lost my temper again. I promise…one day, we will all be a unified family again…someday…"
~ * ~ * ~
"Oh, so your father lost his temper after you asked him to forget about Kaito Kid?" Kaito asked, feeling a stab to his heart.
"Uh-huh," Aoko replied between sobs. "Kaito, I don't know what to do anymore!" She cradled the phone between her shoulder and her ear. "I'm contemplated running away SO many times, but I couldn't bring myself to leave o-kaasan and…well, leave YOU behind, Kaito." She blushed, glad that he couldn't see her expression over the phone.
"Oh really? I'm just SO hard to leave behind, right?" he teased, hoping that it would make her feel better.
"Baka!" she automatically replied. Then she smiled to herself. "Yeah…you are."
Kaito was surprised by her soft reaction. Usually she would slam down the phone. But nevertheless, he was pleased. She's just stressed, that's why she acts like that, he reminded himself. She would never go for someone like YOU. She HATES you, remember? You're the one who's causing her pain, after all…
They talked for a few more minutes and hung up. By the end of the conversation, Kaito has already gotten an idea…
~ * ~ * ~
Beep beep.
"Another text message?" Conan asked. Heiji nodded.
"From you again," Heiji chuckled. "Let's see…"
Hattori—
A plan needs to be formulated. Meet me at the same spot in half an hour. Do NOT be late.
--Kudo
"A plan?" Conan asked. "To catch the Black Organization?"
"Apparently so."
"Well, we'd better get ready. It takes about twenty minutes to get there." Conan said, reaching for his jacket.
"Yeah, let's go."
A/N: Okay, so we did some time-skipping . This is AFTER they've been to the movie and lunch…I skipped detail since there wasn't anything interesting going on.
"Ran, Toyama-chan, we have another meeting with Kaito Kid!" Conan declared as he and Heiji were walking toward the door.
"Hold it right there!" Kazuha said. "What?"
"Kaito Kid sent us another message, Kazuha," Heiji said impatiently. "So, are you going to let us go or not? Because if you don't, we'll go anyway."
"Heiji…I just worry about you, that's all," Kazuha said softly.
Heiji startled. Then his expression melted into a warm smile. "Ahou," he said. "I worry about you, too."
With that, they walked out the door, with Kazuha completely stunned.
~ * ~ * ~
"So, Kuroba, what's the plan?" Conan asked, addressing the thief by his real name.
"Well, first of all, I have a question for you," Kaito replied. "How is the antidote for the apotoxin coming along?"
Conan sighed. "Haibara still needs a sample of the apotoxin first."
"That's what I figured," Kaito said with a nod. "We can fix that. Now, for the plan…"
And for the next hour and a half, the three genius boys sat under the bridge and went over every detail of a plan.
"Wow," Heiji finally said. "This is…almost flawless."
Kaito nodded seriously. "The most crucial part is the timing," he said. "We MUST have the perfect timing. Tomorrow, seven o'clock sharp, is the first operation. I am trusting the two of you to tell Haibara-san about this, as well as Mouri-san and Toyama-san. As for me…I will be getting ready."
"Okay," Conan replied. "We can't screw up this one…all of our lives are on the line."
"Yeah…well, Kudo, we'd better get going. They're going to kill us again." Heiji began walking away. "Oh yeah…Kuroba, you're pretty decent."
"Thanks," Kaito said with a grin. "You're not too bad yourself."
~ * ~ * ~
"WHAT? That's the plan you guys came up with?" Ran exclaimed. "I can't believe that you came up with such a thing!" She turned to Kazuha. "Kazuha-chan, are you agreeing to this?"
Kazuha shrugged. "It doesn't seem to be that dangerous. They seem to have perfect timing."
Heiji and Conan looked at each other. "Yup," Conan said proudly. "That's why it took us so long, after all."
~ * ~ * ~
Next Morning
"Oi, Kazuha," Heiji said. "Wanna go down to the café for breakfast?"
"Sure. Where are Ran-chan and Kudo-kun?"
"I don't know. They went out, I think. Come on."
The two of them locked the door and descended down the stairs. There was a man wearing a black suit and sunglasses at the bottom of the steps. A wicked grin appeared as he watched them.
"Hey," he said to Kazuha and Heiji. "You're coming with us." He motioned to the black car parked by the sidewalk. He lifted his jacket to reveal two guns.
Heiji was about to punch him when another man grabbed Kazuha and pointed a gun to her temple. "Get in," he growled. "NOW."
There was no choice. Heiji climbed in the car and was immediately bound and gagged by the first man. Kazuha then was forced in the car and tied up as well.
The second man got into the driver's seat and grinned at them. "Heheh…this is where the fun begins…"
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That's all for this chapter! I know, I'm an evil author. First I don't tell you the plans, then I leave you on this cliffhanger…BUAHAHAHAHA! Ne, don't worry, keep reading & reviewing and I will update more! Thank you so much for reading!
More random ramblings…(that was an alliteration, did you catch that??)
My friends and I had a Christmas Party on Friday, and it was so much FUNNESS! I got Spirited Away playing cards! YAYNESS! Oh yeah, I had a dream last night, that I was in an Anime shop, and they had TONS of Detective Conan playing cards. I bought like all of them! It was exciting…
Shironu-chan said that I'm too nice to her…but really, don't believe her. She's just as nice to me ^^
Anyway, responses to reviews:
Kari Ishikawa: Thanks for being such a faithful reader and all your compliments! I am very encouraged by your reviews ^^
Thalia-wong: Yes, Neechan means older sister. It's a bit more affectionate than oneesan.
Ispreno: Thanks, I will ^^
I am Sango: Thanks for reviewing ACTION! Yeah, right after I typed that part I thought, "Hey, this is like Miroku in Sango's fic!" Anyways, great funness on Friday!
drackony: Vous parlez français? J'apprends français à l'école! Votre anglais est très bien! Thank you so much for reviewing! And yes, Heiji will eventually realize his feelings…hopefully ^^
Eulene: Heehee, sorry, I'll have to make you die of suspense again…sorry about the cliffhangers, but I luv 'em! It keeps people reading…
Well, that's it for the review responses! If you've read this story but not reviewed, well, you need to! Thank you for reading this, and please continue your support!
Please~
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