"Jimmy, are you absolutely sure about this? There is no turning back after this."
"I know all that, Dr. Agasa." The window rattled against the pane, the storm making its presence clear. Outside, only the faintest of light could be seen from the flickering street lights, the rain poured heavily into the streets. Currents of water swept down the road kicking up mud and debris onto the sidewalk.
Peering at the young boy, Dr. Agasa felt the faint trickle of sweat slip down his brow. Wiping it away with a handkerchief, he sighed. He peered into the fireplace, the soft warmth of the fire a starch contrast to the pounding of the rain outside. He turned towards his young friend, Conan Edogawa, and frowned. "Are you absolutely sure this is how you want it?"
Looking up from the desk, young Conan's eyes glistened, his smile peering through the dancing light of the fire. "This next moment is what I have been holding in for the past two years doctor. It is about time I opened the door." He kicked the chair around and peered out into the rain. He flinched at the brutal thunderclap that echoed through the neighborhood, the bookcases rumbled from the shock. "It's about time, don't you think? My friend?"
"I suppose. One way or another, I knew this would happen." Dr. Agasa slumped down into one of the chairs. "At least turn on a light, Jimmy. The fireplace isn't that bright, you know."
"First its disapproval and now complaints…what will satisfy you? I prefer it-"
"I'll be satisfied when you forget this whole thing and go back to the way things were."
"I can't do that, doctor." Conan sharply replied. "It's now or never."
"Stubborn…just like your father. Well, this is your decision; it is now out of my hands, Jimmy. Looks like your time's up."
From the interior of the household, the creaking of the front door echoed through the chamber. The wind whistled through the open doorway as the door closed.
"Jimmy? You there, Jimmy?" Rachel called, her voice echoing in the darkened house. "Where are you? You called me and told me there was something you had to tell me."
The dancing flames through shadows against the wall, cautiously, she stepped towards the study. It had been a while since she was last in here, Christmas two years prior, Rachel recalled. The last time she saw Jimmy. Even without her shoes on, Rachel winced at the sound her footsteps made in the manor, it seemed to be even bigger than before. Stopping at the entrance to the study she peered in. Dr. Agasa was sitting in one chair, his head bowed. The chair at the desk was turned away from her, but she could see the figure of someone sitting there, his shadow dancing against the wall with the fire.
"Is-is that you, Jimmy?"
Dr. Agasa sighed. "It's all yours, my friend." He stood up and walked from the room. Once again, the door creaked open and then shut once more.
"Jimmy?" Rachel called out, voice wavering. She held in the tears that wanted to be shed. "Answer me…please."
A pause. The longest moment Rachel ever felt, the silence felt like an eternity. A tear escaped her and slid down her cheek.
"Rachel."
That voice. That wasn't Jimmy's voice. No, she knew this voice, the voice of a child's, but yet, not. The same voice she heard time and time again, during the past two years. It felt the same, the same as her father's deductions to cases, and at the same time, the same way that child spoke to with his friends in their mini-cases. The same as when Jimmy solved cases.
The chair spun around, there sat a young boy. The boy she had been taking care of for the past two years, or was it the other way around?
"Rachel." Conan searched for the words. "There's something I need to tell you; something I've meant to tell you for the longest time. The truth is…"