With the exception of the plot and the original characters that are depicted in the story, the author makes absolutely no profit off of this work of fan fiction, and no copyright infringement is intended on the franchise of Detective Conan that rightfully belong to its owner Aoyama Gosho.
Once again, I would like to thank OnyxKatana, J0kersGirl, and Vivian Graythorn for all their help. Furthermore, I thank the faithful audience for their patience as to how the end of the fifteenth act shall carry out to this segment of Paper Faces. Please enjoy the show! :)
Today was Tuesday. It marked the fifth day since Kaito had started to discreetly avoid his coffee-haired classmate. He had worked up neither the will nor courage to talk to do so, especially after he he walked away from Shinichi after her mind-blowing confession on the school rooftop. Deep down, he had a feeling what she told him was only half of the truth, or at the very least an abbreviated version as to why and how the Detective of the East became the six-year-old KID Killer. However, his mind had barely registered any of it after her initial words.
"Edogawa Agatha. She is...me."
That was all he knew and yet he could not comprehend it. The dark-haired magician tried to brush off what she said with a small laugh, commenting on how it was a pretty bad joke for even a detective like herself to come up with. However, when his dark blue eyes met Shinichi's, Kaito felt like a rock had been dropped into the pits of his stomach. The Detective of the East was not joking. Silence soon fell upon them for what seemed like an eternity, before Shinichi pulled out two items he had not seen since the Apollo's Chariot heist.
The first was a worn-out watch with an indigo face and a pair of silver hands. She flipped the glass lid upward, and raised it up to her eyes, positioning herself in a very familiar stance that made Kaito's blood run cold. What initially appeared to him as an accessory that Shinichi wore every day without fail suddenly became a weapon that the KID Killer was infamous for carrying at KID's heists: the Stun-Gun Wristwatch. Kaito himself had seen it more times than he cared to admit, and he could immediately tell it was the real one instead of a knockoff.
Lowering the watch, Kaito watched as Shinichi carefully placed the lid back in its original position before she placed a hand in her skirt pocket. She pulled it out moments later, her clenched fist momentarily unveiling a brooch shaped like a deerstalker hat. Kaito also knew this device, and how Edogawa Agatha could manipulate her voice with just a few dials and a small microphone on the back of it. Kaito could not remember just how many times that had saved them in several precarious situations, especially when an unexplained murder crossed paths with the prize that the Phantom Thief wanted to steal.
At this point, his mind had tuned everything out as he struggled to make sense of the situation. The miniature critic he had been searching for all of this time and his best friend...they were one and the same? Ekoda's local prankster didn't know what to think or even say.
Shinichi remained silent before releasing a heavy sigh, running a hand through her messy coffee-colored bangs. "In all honesty, I didn't want to say anything about Edogawa Agatha or even that she's me. But...you deserved to know the truth. I've already lost friends because I couldn't bring myself to let them in. I'm not about to make the same mistake with you, Aoko-chan, or Hakuba-san again. I don't know how you'll explain it to KID...but I'm sure you'll figure out. You always know what to do. Even when a girl was so afraid to go on a rollercoaster because she thought someone would die. But that didn't happen, did it?" She smiled bitterly. "How I became an elementary student for two years and returned to my old self...let's just say the ravens I'd been chasing as Agatha were pursuing something that mankind have desired for centuries: eternal life."
By now, Kaito was experiencing both an information and emotional overload. He had just nodded blankly at her, not really understanding what she just said, before he walked away from the sleuth without another word. The nonplused magician needed to be alone for a while to process everything that had just happened, and he knew that he couldn't think straight with Shinichi around him.
For the rest of the week he used studying as a primary excuse to avoid Shin-chan, on top doing some "errands" he had to run, or be suddenly being asked to help out Jii-san at the Blue Parrot. Following that were a line of jobs he suddenly found himself caught up in, even something in his house that needed fixing immediately. The string of excuses were endless and inconsistent, but they led to the same objective: Kaito was doing everything in his power to avoid facing Tantei-chan. Or was it Meintantei-chan? Or Kudo Shinichi? For once, he did not know what was happening on the world's stage.
This epiphany terrified the hell out of him.
After cleaning duties at school were finished, Kaito immediately went home. However, when he entered the Kuroba household and took off his shoes, the dark-haired teen was caught off guard by a feminine voice in the kitchen.
"Welcome home, Kaito!"
The sudden exclamation made him jump, and he silently cursed in his mind. This debacle with Shinichi was seriously distracting Kaito, especially if he almost jumped at the sound of his mother's voice. Granted, his mother actually being present was shocking enough. But as the Phantom Thief KID, he prided himself on always being alert and on guard.
He walked into the kitchen and saw a purple-haired woman in an apron, smiling brightly at him. "Long time no see! How's class been going? You have been keeping up with your grades since I was here last, haven't you?" Kaito felt a small shudder at the subtle threat in her voice. Even when with the tendency to be flighty and spend Dad's savings on worldly travels, she still wanted to make sure he had a solid future after graduating high school. And the second semester just started for crying out loud!
"I've been doing fine Mom, nothing's changed since last summer."
Chikage raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Then how do you explain this little trinket I found lying around your room while I was cleaning the house today?" Azure eyes widened to the size of dinner plates as the former Phantom Lady suddenly pulled a jewel-encrusted pin in her hand. "An impulsive urge to purchase a memoir from the Rainbow Maiden heist KID pulled off? Or is it for a lucky lady that you haven't told me about~?"
Kaito swore silently in his mind, though kept the Poker Face intact as he calmly answered his mother. "It's a long story Mom, and I've got a lot of homework to do."
"And I have all of the time in the world. And a few minutes catching up with your dear mother over some tea won't put you behind in your studies. Go ahead and make yourself comfortable in the living room. I'll get the tea and cookies ready, okay?" Chikage smiled again, though this time it held an underlying threat towards her son. If there was one thing Kaito he had learned over the years since his father died, "never" deny the Phantom Lady even the simplest request unless there was a very good reason and enough evidence to back it up. Sighing heavily, Kaito muttered that he would be right down after he put his stuff away.
Chikage watched her son go up the stairs, her beaming expression suddenly becoming solemn with melalcholy dancing in her light brown eyes. In truth, she had returned to Japan to check on both Kaito and KID when news about the international robberies had reached her hotel room in Las Vegas. However, when Toichi's former student contacted her at the baggage claim, Chikage was stunned. She had not heard from Yukiko since they had accidentally met up in America almost three months ago. When the former actress informed Chikage about her own daughter over the phone and what had happened in her own corner of Ekoda less than a week ago, the short-haired woman instantly knew something occurred between Kaito and one Kudo Shinichi.
It was a mystery that Chikage was determined to unravel. If not for the sake of her friend, but then to bring back the smiling, mischievous son she was proud of.
xPFx
It was hard for Shinichi to focus on her homework again tonight. The material itself was simple, but every time she moved her pencil across the lined paper, all she could see was Kaito and the stunned expression on his face. Followed by sadness, and anger. Even though it wasn't too obvious to see these emotions as it was to see a killer being cornered when the elaborate tricks behind their crime, but it was those emotions were there, dancing in widened indigo eyes. The Detective of the East feared such a look would always be there whenever Kuroba-kun looked at her.
Why else would he be avoiding her? What other explanation was needed behind the string of excuses he had made when she tried to talk to him at school? It was because she told him the truth, and this was the price for doing such. Shinichi was well and truly tired of it. If she lied, there were consequences. If she didn't, there were consequences. Talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place. She felt a wave of resentment within her, directed towards the BO, the Apoptoxin and Edogawa Agatha - in that order. If she had not followed Vodka to the site of those those shady dealings that day in Tropical Land, none of this would have happened.
Unfortunately, if she had not experienced being shrunk to a kid again and taking on the Black Organization, she would have remained arrogant and still enjoyed the attention she got from all the cases she solved with Inspector Megure and the police department. Furthermore, she would have never realized the leader of the most dangerous criminal syndicate in both Japan and America had been that person, and they would still continue to hurt people in order to achieve a modernized method to gain eternal life.
It was a true situation of damned if she didn't tell the truth, and damned if she did. Right now, these turbulent feelings that washed over her body clouded any judgement on solving the Physics equations in front of her. Releasing a low growl of frustration, Shinichi uncharacteristically slammed the textbook shut and turned off the overhead lamp on her desk, no longer in the proper mind frame to finish her homework.
Deciding that she really, really needed a break, Shinichi looked around for her cellphone. Finally locating the device on top of her dresser, she picked it up and scrolled through the contacts before selecting a very familiar one. The line began to ring- once, twice, three times. On the third ring, someone finally picked up on the other end. A sweet, light voice spoke into the receiver.
"Hello, Mouri Residence. Mouri Ran speaking. How may I help you?"
"Ran? I-It's me. Shinichi. This isn't a bad time to call, is it?" The Detective of the East could pick up J-Pop music in the background that was followed by an exuberant, drunken cry.
"Yoko-chan!"
The dark-haired teen felt her eyebrow twitch.
"He's still watching that all-day marathon on Okino Yoko's movies, isn't he? I forgot today was Tuesday," Shinichi muttered, recalling how hard it had been to ignore Kogoro's cat-calling when Edogawa Agatha was trying to do her elementary homework every Thursday for the last two years, though most likely Kogoro has changed the day of his marathon days since she left his detective agency. This also included purposely writing some incorrect answers so that it would look like that she was smart, but not too bright for Kobayashi-sensei or anyone else to notice.
Shinichi could almost sense Ran rolling her eyes at her father's antics. "You still remember that, huh? Then again it'd be hard not to." The karate champion chuckled a little. "And no, it isn't a bad time to talk. I was actually going to call you."
"Y-You were?"
"Yeah. It's what about what we discussed when I visited Ekoda. Hold on a sec. I know I left here on Dad's desk somewhere. Dad, don't pile up the beer cans in a pyramid, that'll make an even bigger mess to clean up!" Shinichi heard some shuffling in the background. "Sorry. You know how he gets. Ah, here it is. I got a hold of Sonoko a few days ago, and asked her if she knew anyone who might take a look at the chest. I told her that you found it in the storage unit at your apartment and you don't know if it's junk or might be worth something. You didn't have a lot of time to find anyone to look at it because you're still adjusting to Ekoda and going back to school. She wasn't too happy when I asked, but she did it out of the generosity of the Deduction Queen."
Shinichi rolled her eyes before she pulled out a little notepad and a ballpoint pen from the drawer. "She was able to find someone to look at the chest?"
"Yeah, an antique dealer named Ishikawa Mamoru, age thirty-one. According to her uncle, this man is very particular about two things: client confidentiality and what the item is that the client wants him to examine. However, if the item doesn't interest him, then he won't appraise it no matter how much money is offered to do so. But when Sonoko mentioned the chest to her uncle and he informed Ishikawa-san that the chest neither has a latch or keyhole, the man immediately offered to schedule an appraisal appointment three weeks from now at his office in Tokyo. That's the earliest he could see you. Think that'll be enough time for you to a background check on him?"
Blue eyes widened slightly before a small, tired smile stretched across Shinichi's lips. "You know me too well, Ran. And yes, that will definitely be enough time...in light of recent events."
" 'Recent events', Shinichi? You're working on another case?"
"No. Ran...He knows. Kaito knows who I really am. And...he didn't take the news well. He's been avoiding and barely making any eye contact with me in school for almost a week."
A heavy silence fell upon the two girls before Shinichi heard Ran sigh on the other line. "It sounds like you had decided to take my advice and told him the truth."
"That's the problem, Ran! This is all my fault. I'm damned if I tell the truth or not! First, I almost lost you because I decided to hide things. Now, when I decided to stop keeping secrets from anyone, I still lost Kuroba-kun. Now...I don't know what to do now. I-I just don't know!" The Detective of the East took a deep, shaky breath, before she continued to speak to her friend in a much more morose tone of voice. "I just wish everything could go back to how it was, when I was still walking with him and Aoko-chan to class without a care in the world and nothing to hide." The dark-haired teen swore under her breath as she felt tears begin to prick the corners of her eyes.
"Shinichi, you can't go back in time and change what has happened. You told him you were Edogawa Agatha, and that is that," Ran interrupted in a firm, almost motherly tone of voice. "And I'm proud that you told him the truth. In a way, I can understand why he's acting like this now. After all, who could say that they shrunk down to a kid who had helped the CIA and FBI take down one of the largest criminal syndicates in history? No one, except you. And being the deduction freak I've known for a long time, you probably showed Kaito-kun evidence that you are the KID Killer, right?"
"Yes, but -"
"And if Kaito-kun is the type of guy who wanted you to give him a chance on the rollercoaster where a murder had occurred, a case that you solved, then shouldn't you give him the benefit of the doubt? For all you know, he might just be coming to terms with everything. Look at us, Shinichi! It took us months to get back to where we were. At least give the guy a week!"
Shinichi took a deep breath, slowly absorbing Ran's words. "Alright, Ran. I believe you. And I sincerely hope you're right about this."
Shinichi could feel the other girl smile, and it was evident when she spoke. "Don't you worry, Mystery Freak. I'm willing to bet that before this week is over, both of you will be normal again. And then, you can go back to walking to class with your boyfriend."
"H-He's not my boyfriend, Ran!" Shinichi stuttered.
"Now who's in denial~? Anyway, I'd better go. Dad has a client coming in tomorrow morning so I've got to make sure he's at least halfway recovered from his hangover. Take care of yourself, okay? I'm here, and I'm not letting you disappear on me again. Got it?"
Shinichi smiled despite feeling a thin river of water falling down her face, using one hand to wipe them away.
"I got it. See you, Ran."
Once the line disconnected, Shinichi placed the cellphone back on her desk and began her nightly ritual before going to bed. However, unbeknownst to the coffee-haired teen, the probability of making amends with Kuroba-kun would increase tenfold faster before she even realized it.
xPFx
The next day during study hall, Shinichi was asked by one of her classmates to speak to her privately. Confused, she nodded and followed him out to an empty hallway near the cafeteria. "What is it that you wanted to talk about, Ono-san?"
She recognized him from her Japanese Literature class. Ono Hideki, eighteen years old with shaggy black hair and eyes. He excelled in Social Studies and Mathematics, and was the captain of the kendo team. According to an article in the school newspaper, Ono-san was even a candidate in The Top Ten Guys In School that Girls Would Like To Date section that was posted at the beginning of every semester.
Now here he was, looking more like a nervous wreck than the calm and collected classmate whom Aoko-chan or her friend Keiko would occasionally gush over during their lunch period. Did he want her to investigate a case without anyone knowing about it, so it would not threaten his chances of entering Tokyo University on the school's kendo scholarship? Or...was something else entirely going on here? Azure orbs narrowed in contemplation ever so slightly as Shinichi watched Ono-san pull out something from his pocket, holding it out to her with a bright red face.
The item in question was...an envelope with a kitten-shaped sticker on it, holding a red heart in its mouth. An utterly befuddled expression stretched across Shinichi's face as she blinked at him.
"Um, Ono-san? What is this?"
Ono-san swallowed thickly, his fingers having slight tremors as he still held the envelope in the air. "K-Kudo-san will you do me the honor of going out with me a-as your b-boyfriend?" The gears in Shinichi's mind halted very suddenly at those words.
Huh?!
Shinichi tried to regain her composure with a small cough, ignoring the light pink hue dusting across her cheeks. "Thank you Ono-san, I'm flattered but… I'm sorry. I cannot accept your feelings. I don't look at you the same way, and it wouldn't be fair to either of us. You're a great person, however, and I'm sure there is someone else who would be much happier to be your girlfriend."
Heartbreak and astonishment were strongly evidence in Ono-san's widened gaze before they softened ever so slightly in understanding, followed by a bitter chuckle. "Well, at least I've tried. You're pretty, smart, and you take the time to help students who are struggling with their studies. It's hard to believe that no one else has captured your heart, much less be your boyfriend. Unless...someone already has, like Kaito-kun? I've heard the rumors that you like him, but I wanted to least take a chance and tell you how I feel. You do like him, don't you, Kudo-san?"
Shinichi could only look at him with wide eyes, struggling to keep her jaw in place. Certainly, she had heard of the rumours about her and Kuroba-kun floating around the school, but it was the first time that she realised just how widespread the rumours were. Now, Ono-san's words had opened her mind to a very surprising possibility.
Did she like Kuroba-kun as more than an annoying friend who tried to cheer her up when she was at both her worst and best? Was he someone she was more afraid of losing than her parents, Haibara, Professor Agasa, and Ran? Each of these people were important pieces in the life of Kudo Shinichi.
Though despite being surrounded by such precious individuals as Sherlock Holmes had been with Dr. Watson and Mrs. Hudson, he loved Irene Adler above everyone else. In Shinchi's case, however, it was Kuroba Kaito. The only man to ever catch her eye, and hold her attention with intellectual and witty conversation with an occasional prank or even a magic show. Certainly, she had met and befriended other men who shared the same interests in her, such as Hakuba-san and Hattori-kun, but Kaito-kun was the only one whom she considered a true challenge, in every sense of the word.
She met Ono-san's gaze again, this time with conviction and devotion. With two words, she confirmed his suspicions.
"I do."
xPFx
From behind an adjacent wall, a pair of indigo-colored orbs widened impossibly to the size of dinner plates. Shin-chan rejected a confession from one of the most popular guys in their class...because her heart already belongs to someone else? Someone...like him? Kuroba Kaito?! And to think, for a moment he was...he was jealous!
The prankster clamped a hand over his mouth as a white-hot warmth spread across his face like wildfire. This revelation seemed surreal. Almost too surreal. Even after he ignored her...Shin-chan still cared about him?
At that very moment, the aspiring magician recalled the conversation he had with his mother yesterday. It had been difficult enough to comprehend that the KID Killer and Kudo Shinichi were one and the same, yet what his eccentric parent said had next shook him to the core.
"Kaito, by now, you know the truth about your father's accident and what exactly his 'nightlife' was like. However, there was something he didn't mention in those vinyl records he left behind in the secret room. Don't look so surprised, I helped him construct that room, at least with the blueprints! Anyway, your father had an understudy who was interested in acting and the art of disguise. Her name was Fujimine Yukiko. But now after retiring to get married to a writer, she goes by the name of Kudo Yukiko. She's...Kaito, she is Shinichi's mother." Chikage inhaled another deep breath before she continued. "After your father died, she's made sure to keep in contact with me. In turn, she has told me what has happened in her little corner of the world. This included witnessing her daughter take down a criminal syndicate run by men wearing all black as a six-year-old child because of a poison they developed. A poison that was inspired by a certain gem that granted immortality."
He did not know when his mother had stood up and exited the room but it was some time after she had finished speaking. All he knew was his blood had dropped to sub-zero temperatures, followed by the horror at hearing such a revelation. For the second time in so many days, Kaito felt his world execute a perfect somersault.
It's just...it wasn't possible! He knew Shin-chan was capable of looking after herself and others, but she willingly entered an ongoing war with a criminal syndicate? One that the CIA and FBI have been fighting for over fifty years? And in the body a six-year-old child?! It could not be true, and yet somehow it made sense.
And Kaito knew his mother would never lie, especially about an organization whose size and capacity for untold cruelty rivaled the one that killed his father. If this Black Organization had developed a poison that could physically de-age a human being, and it was supposedly inspired by the myth of Pandora, then the theory was not as far-fetched as it sounded. What washed over his mind next was a wave of self-loathing.
If he had found that damned jewel sooner, he might have been able to prevent such a tragedy from happening. Perhaps not, because the poison would have been already developed after over half of a century in research and development, including the rare side effect that Shin-chan underwent. Still, he might have been able to discover the link between the two groups and help out his beloved critic, even disregarding his own agenda to ensure her safety and the destruction of the Black Organization.
Apart from the shock and disbelief, guilt and anger rose within him. The day's revelations had confused him even further and he was truly at his wits' end. All of his thoughts led down the same road, and stopped at the same point. Kudo Shinichi. A stubborn, frustrating, coffee-haired spitfire of a sleuth.
Suddenly shaking himself out of his reverie as an idea struck him like a lightening bolt, Kaito stood tall and walked back to class with a blank expression yet calculating eyes. It was high time that he talked things over with Shin-chan. Avoiding her or the situation was not going to help either of them, and at this point Kaito was extremely close to being driven out of his mind in frustration.
As soon as he left school, the first thing Kaito was going to do was enter the secret passage in the Kuroba household. It was time for Ekoda High's prankster to take a backseat on the world's stage. Kaitou KID had a heist to plan for his faithful and impatient audience. Furthermore, it was time for his dear little critic knew a few things about him as well.
More revelations have been revealed, and it appears that the magician is ready to unveil a few secrets to the sleuth who had been pursuing him since the Black Star heist! :) But what could possibly happen at this particular show? Romance? Another, more direct warning from the Organization to KID to stop going after Big Gems? Stay tuned for the seventeenth act of Paper Faces to find out!
Please feel free to review or PM me with any questions, comments, or constructive criticism. Thanks to everyone who has favorited, reviewed, and added Paper Faces to their alert lists.
See you next illusion. - (KID caricature)