Disclaimer: Anything taken from DC or MK doesn't belong to me.

One Truth

By: mysteriousangelgirl

Chapter 5: Coming home

"Kudo."

"Didn't I tell you before? You shouldn't be calling me Kudo anymore, because I'm not a Kudo-"

"Kudo, will you shut up and let me explain?" Kaito cut in. He put his head in his hands.

The two were in the guest room. Conan had taken the antidote and finally regained his body as Kudo Shinichi, but he was still depressed about being a Kuroba.

"Kudo, let me explain the whole thing alright? Sandra told me she had suspicions about us being brothers, and so I decided it was time for the whole and REAL truth to come out. I asked my mom and she broke down, explaining everything. This is what she said....."

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That day, Kaito walked into the kitchen at 12am, where his mother was still roaming around.

"Mom."

Meimi whirled around to find her son looking at her with sad eyes.

"Kaito! You should be in bed! There's still school tomorrow!"

"Mom, what I have to talk to you about is a lot more important than school......also, what are you doing in the kitchen this late?"

"Well, I.....I was just thinking of your father, and I couldn't fall asleep....and so I decided to get up.....and then I felt kind of hungry.....and......"

"It's alright, Mom. I was thinking about Dad too. If he.....if he was still here today, things......would be so much better......" Kaito tried hard to keep back tears.

"Kaito, oh Kaito....." Meimi walked over to her son and hugged him. "It's alright.....we all miss him...."

"Mom," Kaito pulled back from his mother slightly. "I have something that I really need to ask you." He looked at his mother. "It's VERY important, so I need you to answer truthfully.....please?"

"Kaito....is it.....about your father?"

"No only him, but you too......"

"Me too?"

"Yeah," Kaito mentioned to the kitchen table. "Let's sit down first."

Meimi sat down in the chair that Kaito pulled out for her. She was worried, worried about what her son had found out. Of course he knew that Toichi was Kaito Kid.....but what else was there that they needed to talk about? Anything about Toichi was always unspoken, sort of like a discussion of their thoughts, there wasn't anything that needed to be said out loud...

Kaito took a seat next to his mom. "Mom, do I have a brother?"

Meimi was silent, except for the gasp that escaped her tightly closed lips.

"Is that a yes, Mom?"

"Oh no, no, no. Whatever made you think that?"

"Mom, there was a site.....that linked to the hospital records that stated that you and Dad had a child called.......called......."

"Called Shinichi?"

"Mom!"

"Kaito, that was all a misunderstanding......."

"Misunderstanding?"

"Let me explain. I did get pregnant a year after you were born...but I miscarried that child before he was born. You were only one, Kaito."

"Mom, I don't get it, then how come the hospital records say....."

"Kaito, Shinichi belongs to Kudo Yukiko and Yusaku."

"But how....how is that possible?"

"Yukiko gave birth to Shinichi, but they the hospital thought that I gave birth to him, and that Yukiko-san miscarried. It all got mixed up."

"But what about the story of finding Kudo on the bench of the park?"

"That was me. I knew I miscarried, so I didn't have the heart to keep Shinichi."

"So, Kudo's not my brother, and he does belong to Yukiko-san and Yusaku-san!"

"Yes, and your father and I tried telling the hospital but they didn't understand."

"I have to tell Kudo that! He's all upset and confused about this....."

"I never knew that Shinichi-kun himself would know...."

"He read his parent's file."

"Oh, well, pretty smart...."

"He's a DETECTIVE, Mom."

"Oh, well. That would explain things."

"Mom, thanks for letting me know. This, well, I hope will help, Kudo," Kaito said as he got up from his chair.

"No problem, if it helps. I don't think I can keep anything from you, Kaito."

Kaito smiled and bent down to kiss him mother on the cheek. "'night, Mom."

"Wait, but your father and Yusaku-san ARE very distant relatives.....so......"

"So I'm not surprised that even distant relatives look alike, ne?"

"And I was wondering why you and Shinichi-kun look like twins......"

"Hmm, 'night Mom."

"'night, Kaito," Meimi said as she kissed him back."

Kaito disappeared into the darkness of the house, but not before he said, "Thanks, Mom."

Meimi smiled as she got up, turning off the kitchen light and wandered back to her room. Just before she fell asleep, she knew her husband was watching her.

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"You get it now, Kudo?"

Shinichi remained silent, not knowing what to do. He stared at Kaito, who looked right back at him. Then, out of no where, he laughed. Kaito was obviously surprised because he leaned back in his chair, almost toppling off of it.

"Kudo?"

"Sorry, sorry....." Shinichi said, trying to be calm again. "It's just that we've been so serious and tense all this time, that when I realized how completely stupid I've been, I just can't help but laugh. And no wonder my parents didn't say anything, they were MY parents."

Kaito smiled. There we go. The old Kudo. "Well, now that we've solved one thing, our relationship, now let's-"

"But technically, we're distant cousins?"

"I guess you could say that."

Shinichi smiled. "That's nice to know."

"Kudo, I'm not meaning to destroy your light mood now, but there are other things we need to talk about."

"What? You mean......about.......'them'?"

Kaito nodded, not knowing how his news would affect his new best friend. "Promise me, you won't go crazy?"

"Kuroba, either way, with the way you're talking, I know I'm going to go insane." Shinichi's tone was back to being soft and serious.

"Alright. I got a call last night. It was from the FBI."

"FBI? And you didn't tell me?" Shinichi's eyes nearly popped out.

"Kudo, listen. They said that the organization branch in America has been brought down. And that branch was closely tied to the one here in Japan. As a result, the organization will no longer be a threat to us, or anyone in the whole country."

"There's still bad news, I can hear it in your voice."

"And I thought you might celebrate first......alright. The bad news. It's Sandra."

"Is she hurt? How badly?"

"No, Kudo. She died. She was killed in a four-way car crash."

"What?" Shinichi's voice was nearly a whisper.

"She.....they were chasing her. Still thinking that you were in that car, they had four cars go after her. She knew, she knew that even before she let you go. But to save your life, Kudo, she kept driving, and went right with their plan. As she went through an intersection, three cars coming from all different ways came at her. The last came from behind. No one in those five cars survived." Kaito was having a hard time keeping his eyes from watering.

Kudo sat there, on the bed, speechless. When he finally uttered a few words, he said, "It's my fault. If she, if she had never chose to save me, she could have saved herself. Her job was only to get me the antidote......but why? Why does so many people die because of me?" Kudo didn't have any expression in his words, but he had tears streaming down his face. "How can I face anyone anymore, Kuroba??" He turned to look at his friend. "I'm a killer, I let her die!"

Kaito touched his arm lightly, causing Kudo to flinch, but not draw back. "I know, it's," he sniffled, "very sad, and......well, the FBI doesn't want it going to public.....so let's forget it......"

"Forget it? How can I forget it?? She-"

Kaito cut Shinichi off by placing a finger to his lips. "You can stay here if you want, or you can go back to Mouri-san. Your choice. She'll be expecting you tonight, though." And with that, Kaito walked out of the room, closing the door for privacy behind him.

Inside the room, Shinichi cried silent tears. Tears for his protector, a friend who willingly sacrificed herself for the lives of millions of innocent ones, and tears for himself, angry tears for not being able to do anything, and for leaving his love behind for so long. He knew he wanted to go back to her, but he had to speak with Kaito one more time before he left.

Silently, outside the guest room, Kaito let the tears he'd been holding in for so long, finally fall. Tears for Sandra, that girl with the bright smile, who sacrificed the most important thing to her for the safety of those around her; she made a difference, and tears for himself, for not being able to prevent such a tragedy from happening, for never telling his friend his true feelings for her, for lying to her, and for not being able to comfort his new acquired friend. Kaito finally shook his head, wiped away the tears, and disappeared to his room.

Kuroba Meimi watched silently from the kitchen. I'm sorry, Kaito......and Shinichi-kun......I'm sorry for not being able to comfort you........Toichi, please watch over them....

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That night, Shinichi walked up the stairs to the Mouri Detective Agency and nodded softly. He could hear Ran inside, washing dishes, and her father snoring on the couch. After hearing the knock, the running water stopped and soft footsteps told him she was coming. He shifted nervously from foot to foot, fingering the small box in his pocket.

As she opened the door, and saw who was there, her eyes widened. "Shinichi!"

He smiled. "Ran."

"Co, co, come in."

"Thanks."

Ran looked at him as she closed the door.

"Are you back for real?"

Shinichi smiled. "Yes, this time, I'm back for real."

"Where's Conan-kun?"

"He met up with his parents in America, and they took him with them. He says he's sorry he didn't get to say good-bye, and for making you cry." Shinichi took out a box from his pocket. "And he sent me this to give to you." He held out the small red box and a piece of paper to her, watching her expression turn from shock to even more shocked.

Ran took the paper, and opened it. She gasped as she read, in Conan's unmistakable handwriting:

Dear Ran-neechan,

I'm sorry I had to leave so unexpectedly. I know I'll always miss having you as my neechan. Thank you for taking care of me, and thank ojisan too. Maybe ojisan and I don't always get alone well, but he's a nice guy. I'm really sorry for making you cry just before I left. I hope that you'll be happy again, now that Shinichi-niichan's coming back, so take care!

Love,

your little brother, Conan

P.S. I hope you like the small gift.

Ran put the letter down on the coffee table and opened the small red box. It was a locket, with the name "Mouri Ran" engraved on the front. When she opened it, she found a picture of Conan and her, both smiling and having the time of their lives, and the second was just a picture of Ran. She was smiling, and she knew that Conan had taken it when she was daydreaming about Shinichi. Ran put the locket on, with tears in her eyes.

"Thank you, Conan-kun...." she whispered.

Shinichi smiled, holding back tears. "And now something from me."

Ran looked at him in surprise.

Shinichi took out a second small box from his pocket, but this one was pink. He got down on one knee, holding the box open to reveal a beautiful gold ring, a red ruby diamond in the middle, and said, "Will you marry me?", all in one moment.

Ran gasped, and when she reached out to touch the ring, she said, "Of course, baka, I've been waiting for a long time now." As Shinichi got back to his feet and Ran was going to slip the ring onto her finger, she noticed an inscription on the inside of the band. She tilted the ring to read it and gasped again, when she read the words "We will be with you forever" inscribed on the inside.

She looked at Shinichi. "We?"

"Conan-kun and me."

Ran smiled and slipped the ring on her finger. She smiled at her fiancé, frowned down at her dad, who had slept through all of it, and then threw herself into Shinichi's arms. "I love you, baka!"

Shinichi smiled, and whispered, "I love you too."

-to be continued-

Alright, so how as that? I know you're all thinking 'what else is there to write?' but I'm going to have an epilogue, and that will be up ASAP. Please review!!! And sorry if you didn't like what I did in this chapter, at least Shinichi and Kaito are still DISTANTLY related. Well, I'll see you all in the next chapter!!! And please review!!!!