We Are the Men in Black

by Velgamidragon

AU inspired by DragonlordRynn's "Black". The Organization is secretly the Japanese branch of the Men in Black and APTX-4869 was intentionally made to shrink its victim. Kudo was shrunk for his own protection, and Sherry shrunk to protect Dr. Agasa and go into hiding. Vermouth was behaving suspiciously as of late, and Gin was determined to find out and expose her secret agenda.

27. Operation: Reset

Author's Note: Guess what? It's done! This is the last chapter of this story, and I'm ecstatic! Before this story, I have never written a long-fic that I hadn't already tried to pre-write in advance before posting onto the site. Once this story started developing from a series of connected oneshots into a proper story, it became a test for me to see if I could write a novel-length story, because it would be proof that I had the stamina to write an original fiction novel if I wanted to. Since most of my work is oneshots or maybe twoshots, writing something long like this was a massive learning experience for me, and if I were to write this story now, I know exactly what I would do to make it more polished and tidy. However, since this is only fanfiction and not something I want to be paid for, I will not be doing a rewrite of this story. For my first proper long-fic, I'm satisfied with it and what I learned in the process.

So, I believe I mentioned it in the last chapter, but there will be a sequel fic to this story. It won't be a long one, and it will feature various characters dealing with things for up to a year after Vermouth's attempted takeover. I have not decided on a name for the new story, but whenever I upload the first chapter, I will add a new "chapter" to this one informing readers of the title in case you're all interested in reading more.

Now that being said, the sequel will exist for my own sake whether anyone wants to read it or not because I love writing, but are any of you guys interested in me writing out scenes or character interactions that I've hinted at that occurred in the past? It could be an interesting writing exercise for me, but I'm curious what the reader interest would be if any.

I believe those are my last notes, so please enjoy the last chapter of my longest work. Thank you everyone for reading, favoriting, and reviewing over the past 3.5 years that this story has existed.

---

Operation: Reset

"Now that Kir is safely in the surgery suite, you wished to speak with me?" Karasuma said while turning to Conan.

Conan nodded sharply. After Karasuma had regained consciousness, one of the first things Conan had done was ask to speak to him privately once Kir received proper medical attention.

"Very well, this way," Karasuma said and led Conan to a room across the hall.

It appeared to be a break room. There were two tables and enough chairs to line all sides. At the back was a counter with a sink, dish rack, microwave, coffee pot, and hot plate. Above and below the counter were brown cabinets, and to the right of the counter was a normal-sized refrigerator. On one wall was a poster detailing worker's rights and a corkboard full of paper, brochures, and post-it notes.

"Can I get you anything to drink? Water? Tea?" Karasuma offered.

Conan shook his head. "No thanks, I'm fne."

Karasuma nodded and took a seat at one of the tables, choosing one that put his back to a wall. Conan took the chair opposite him and stared unflinchingly into his black eyes.

"I suppose you want an apology for everything you've been through at the hands of my Organization?" Karasuma said. "You are more than deserving of one, and I am truly sorry for all the distress and hardships you suffered from my interference."

Karasuma's bowed head accompanied the apology, and Conan shifted a little in his seat, both surprised and uncomfortable.

"Gin explained it all earlier. He said it was done for my own protection because I angered someone dangerous, and then you took advantage of my situation to make sure Hai- sorry, Sherry was protected too," Conan said. "I don't mind so much what happened now that I know why, even if it was done without my knowledge or consent. What I wanted to ask you about though was the Sunset Villa."

Karasuma tilted his head and his brow furrowed. "You know of my old mountain residence?"

"I do, and I want to know what happened there forty-one years ago. What's your explanation for why the whole mansion was covered in blood?" Conan demanded.

Karasuma's brow was still creased as he leaned back in his chair and his eyes took on a distant expression. "Forty-one years ago…" he murmured. "To be honest, I don't really have one. I wasn't present when the, I presumed, massacre took place."

Conan frowned at the copout answer, but Karasuma continued to speak.

"I was dying. I had lived to be one hundred through shear stubbornness more than medical technology to reach that milestone, but I had no reason for existing. I was rich, but what can I do with money after I die? I had no living family or descendants, and everyone I had considered as friends had already passed on," Karasuma explained. "The only pastime I still actively participated in was information gathering. I have always found knowledge to be a powerful weapon, and so I discovered that the very first alien contact had been made in America with a budding new organization at its center. I was incurably fascinated with too much money and nothing better to do, so I traveled to America and helped fund this private government sect that would eventually come to be known as the Men in Black."

Karasuma sighed and a reminiscent smile stole across his lips.

"I was enthralled and the MiB became my little passion project. I decided to start my own branch here in Japan, and thanks to the assistance of some new alien drugs I had access to, I could extend my life far beyond its normal tenure to ensure my organization would have a good foundation and leadership past my death. I had already decided to fake said death of my public persona before I returned to Japan, you see. It would mean selling off the Sunset Villa, but I had no use for it. Its mountainous location was too isolated for what I needed."

Slowly, the fond expression faded and now Karasuma stared at his hands with a somber air.

"I returned from America to the Sunset Villa and I was… stunned… to say the least… when I opened those front doors and saw the entire foyer drenched with blood. I had employed a few house servants, but there was way more blood present than the number of people I had employed, and there wasn't a body living or dead anywhere in that mansion. I never did find out what happened there or why, no matter how I tried to tackle it, but the morbid homecoming seemed to be a sign confirming that I should seek the obscurity of death. I'm sorry I don't have more to tell you."

Conan studied the wizened face carefully. He couldn't get much of a read on Karasuma, but he seemed… weary. Not at all like the force of nature Conan had just fought against. Was he just tired out from the fight or were his burdens more mental in nature?

Eventually, Conan came to a decision and nodded. "I believe you, Mr. Karasuma."

Karasuma's lips twitched minutely, and he bowed his head in gratitude.

Conan slipped off his chair as Karasuma stood, and he was halfway to the door when Karasuma said, "Ah, and Kudo, would you mind letting Akai know that I wish to speak with him as well?"

"Right now?" Conan asked.

"Unless it's inconvenient. If he can, you can send him here, but if not, I'll arrange to meet him in my office," Karasuma said.

"Okay, I'll let him know," Conan agreed and continued out of the break room.

()()()()()

Karasuma had returned to his office and was currently waiting for young Akai. When he had first arrived in the room, his office was a mess. He'd managed to have all the blood cleaned up and Vermouth's body contained for R&D's biology department to poke around with, but now his office smelled of cleaning chemicals and lemon. It figured that the lemon scent didn't mask the chemicals used. He made sure to open all the secret air vents that existed for such room maintenance purposes so that he didn't pass out in his own office from the fumes.

The time spent had given Karasuma plenty of opportunity to think and plan. He was getting old. Ironic as it was to say when he was 141, he felt old too. Vermouth's hostile takeover should not have been possible, but it happened, and he was at fault. He had so many more people he needed to apologize to apart from Kudo for how things were handled.

There was a knock on Karasuma's door. "Come in," he invited.

The door opened and Akai entered cautiously, his nose and brow wrinkling at once.

"I apologize for the smell," Karasuma said. "There was a lot to clean, and the room hasn't had time to ventilate properly."

"I'm impressed the room already looks spotless," Akai said while scrutinizing every surface.

"Our cleaners are very thorough," Karasuma said. "You may sit if you wish, but I'll remind standing if you don't mind."

Akai's green eyes zeroed in on one of the recipient chairs and he stared at it intently like he was expecting something sinister from it. After a long moment, he must have decided it was safe, and he sat on the edge straight-backed and stiff-necked ready to spring to action at a second's warning.

"I'm afraid I have much more to apologize to you for than just the smell of this room," Karasuma said.

"You mean about Akemi?" Akai asked.

Karasuma wilted. "Her too, but no. What was your original motivation for infiltrating the Organization?"

Akai's brow furrowed. "My father's disappearance," he said eventually.

Karasuma nodded. "Eighteen years ago, Rum was going to meet your father to recruit him as a liaison for the FBI just like Ethan and Kir represent the CIA and Bourbon the PSB, but… the meeting went wrong. It was interrupted by an alien that trailed devastation on all fronts from its passing. Rum lost his left eye, Koji Haneda and Amanda Hughes who had nothing to do with the meeting were both killed, and your father was kidnapped." Karasuma hung his head, unable to look at the young man further, and his bony fingers tightened on his cane. "I'm afraid… that by the time Rum was able to track down where your father was taken, it was already too late. It… the alien didn't leave anything to save."

"But…"

Karasuma looked and noted Akai's pursed lips and puzzled eyes.

"But my mother received a message from my father telling us to go to Japan shortly after he disappeared and told us to think of him as dead," Akai said.

"That was Rum's doing," Karasuma said. "I gave him permission, but he sent that message to your mother posing as Tsutomu before he'd even confirmed Tsutomu's fate to get you all as far away as possible from the alien that had gone after your father. He didn't want to take the chance of it taking you as hostages to make him talk."

Akai leaned back in his chair and stared down at his knees. "I always figured he must have died. If not at that moment, then sometime during the intervening years. It was the most logical conclusion to make for his continued absence and lack of further communication, but still…"

"I'm sorry, Akai," Karasuma said with a solemn bow. "Your family has suffered greatly from my Organization and all I can do is beg your forgiveness."

"No, it's… it's not like the Organization actually caused my father's death or anything else. If I were to blame you, then I would also have to blame the FBI for all the disasters we have failed to prevent," Akai said.

Karasuma smiled a little. "You're as unfailingly logical as ever, Akai. Anyway, there was another reason I called for you apart from wanting to apologize. I will be enacting several major policy changes to how this Organization is run, and I will be announcing them at a meeting I will schedule for next week. I wish to invite you to this meeting as well, but on a condition."

"Alright."

"Current MiB policy is that no one not in the MiB's employ may be allowed to retain their memories of it or aliens. In ordinary circumstances, I would thank you for your assistance in reclaiming the MiBJ's headquarters, then erase your memories and send you on your way," Karasuma said.

Akai tilted his head. "These are not ordinary circumstances?"

"By chance or fate, you have been influenced by the Organization's very existence since you were a young teenager. If I were to erase all of your memories of the Organization, there would be significant yet sporadic gaps in your memory and, knowing you, you would find such a loss unusual, perhaps even suspicious," Karasuma said, then smirked. "In fact, I believe your investigation would only lead you right back to us, and our efforts would have been for naught."

Akai bobbed his head, accepting such a scenario was likely.

"So, rather than let that play out in real time, I have a proposal for you. Knowing everything you do now about aliens and the true nature of the Organization as the Men in Black, I formally offer you a position among our ranks as the official FBI liaison for the MiB with full codenamed agent status and your old codename reinstated upon hiring," Karasuma said.

Akai sat up straighter and his lips parted with surprise. "This is the condition for my attending the meeting next week?"

"It is, for you would be officially employed by the MiB and thus allowed to keep your memories," Karasuma confirmed.

Akai closed his mouth and sat in silent contemplation. After a while, he said, "I accept the position, but I don't wish to reclaim my old codename. Rye was… a person I'm not proud of."

Like another green-eyed half-Japanese young man Karasuma knew, Akai was not typically expressive of his emotions, but Karasuma could plainly read the guilt and regret in the young man's countenance.

"Very well, if that's what you wish, I can accommodate you. It's hardly the first time I've had a confirmed liaison reject a codename," Karasuma said.

Akai bowed his head. "Thank you, sir. Now since we've been talking about the Organization and my family, can I ask why my mother was dragged into all this?"

Karasuma frowned. "You mother? No one has involved Mary with- unless you think Vermouth did something to her?"

Akai grimaced. "Ah, yes, she must have for some reason because right now, my mother is even younger than my little sister."

()()()()()

Vodka sat on one of the benches in the waiting room hunched forward staring down at his hands, twiddling his thumbs. He was alone in the room, and he was too anxious to try reading any of the magazines while he waited for the doctor – or more likely one of the nurses – to give him an answer. He felt guilty for both not visiting sooner and for coming at all. He wouldn't even blame her if she-

He heard the sound of a knob turn and the recovery ward door opened. Sure enough, it was one of the nurses in black scrubs with her long black hair in a ponytail, Arashima Keibano, who smiled reassuringly. "Kir says she's willing to see you."

Vodka stood and bowed his head to her then silently followed her into the recovery ward. Unlike the waiting room, the walls here were vibrant and colorful depicting cartoonish animals and beautiful landscapes. He guessed it was to give patients more to look at than plain white.

Keibano stopped in front of one room and gestured for him to enter. "She's in here."

"Thank you, Miss Keibano," he said with another head bow and entered the room.

Kir was sitting propped up in bed wearing standard light blue patient hospital clothes, but he could still see the white bandaged wrapped across her shoulder and chest where the shirt didn't cover them.

She gave him a wan smile. "I've been in hospitals quite a lot this past year. I think that means I'm about due for a long reprieve after I recover."

Vodka removed his hat respectfully and sat on the very edge of the chair at her bedside. "I heard 'that person' came by earlier to offer you an early retirement from the MiB as an apology gift for everything you've been put through," Vodka said.

Kir nodded. "He did, but I turned down the offer."

Vodka startled. "You did?"

"Yes. When you get right down to it, my job here at the MiB isn't any more dangerous than that at the CIA or even what a normal police officer must risk," she explained.

"I suppose so," Vodka admitted.

Kir cocked her head to the side with an amused smile on her lips. "Did you come here thinking you would need to say goodbye?"

"Vodka blushed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, that was one reason, but I also didn't want you to leave without apologizing to you first," he said.

Kir's brow furrowed. "Apologizing? For what?"

Vodka shifted in his seat and looked down, not meeting her eyes. "You know… about what happened at the warehouse."

"Oh…" she said softly.

He glanced up and saw her eyes were on her left shoulder while her fingers brushed the place where the bullet struck her. Gin's bullet.

"I'm sorry," Vodka said heavily, squeezing the brim of his hat tightly in his hands. "I shouldn't have stood back and let Aniki mess with you and Bourbon the way he did. Even if either of you were traitors, we still could have done something different to determine the truth, and I should have insisted on it. I know Aniki is paranoid, I know he was worried about his sister, and I know he had concerns about traitors, mind control, and Pandora, but that doesn't give him a free pass to lose his morals and hurt innocent people. I know it doesn't really help much after the fact, but for what it's worth, I'm truly sorry for my inaction, and I hope you'll be able to forgive me one day."

Still holding his hat and sitting in the chair, he gave her a full ninety-degree bow.

"Thank you, Vodka," she said, and only then did Vodka straighten. He could still see the pain in her eyes, but her smile was grateful. "You really are a good, kind person, Vodka, no matter what anyone else says about you."

"Well, I try to be, but I don't think I succeed that well," he mumbled.

"On the contrary, I think you succeed better than you realize, and even Gin's a better person for your company," she said.

"Oh, I don't know about that," Vodka said, his cheeks warming at the compliments. Hardly anyone had ever spoken to him like this.

"Hmm, Vodka, while we're on the subject, may I ask you a personal question? You don't have to answer if you don't want to or don't know; I'm just curious," Kir said, and her brow was furrowed again.

"Uh, sure?" Vodka said.

"Do you love Gin?"

Vodka's mind went blank, his cheeks went dark red, and he spluttered incoherently. "W-what? No, I- I mean as a friend, of course I do, and he's already in a relationship besides."

Kir shook her head. "No, I don't mean just friendship love, and not desire either or whether you would take action, but just feeling romantic love for him," she clarified calmly.

Vodka didn't know how to respond to that though his heart was still pounding fast. "I… I don't know. Maybe? I've never really thought of all that as separate before, just… Aniki is really important to me and… sometimes the fear of him one day deciding he no longer wants me around keeps me from speaking out against some of the more questionable things Aniki does."

Kir reached over and covered one of his hands, giving it a firm squeeze. "Do you really believe that? Deep down, do you truly believe Gin will abandon you if you stood your ground against him over a moral issue?"

Vodka considered for a moment and eventually shook his head. "No… No, Aniki wouldn't do that."

Kir nodded with a satisfied smile. "The kind of loyalty Gin admires most isn't blind obedience, but trust. The little voice in your mind that whispers of abandonment is a liar, so don't listen to it. In this instance, your heart knows better, so don't be afraid to stand up to Gin the next time he goes off the rails and loses his sense of reason."

Vodka gave her a bemused smile. "I came here to apologize and make you feel better, but instead, I got an impromptu therapy session. I feel like I should pay you."

Kir's smile broadened. "I like helping where I can. Though if Gin doesn't come visit to give me his own apologies soon, I might have to ask you to drag him here so I can ream him out for being rude and an asshole."

Vodka chuckled a little. "There's been a lot going on, but I'll remind him. 'That person' has a big meeting scheduled in two days, so I'll drop by to visit and fill you in on what he says after it's over if Aniki doesn't do it himself."

"I appreciate that, thank you. And also, thank you for visiting," Kir said.

"It's no trouble at all," Vodka said as he stood up. He bowed again and replaced his hat then walked out of the room.

()()()()()

"It looks like a funeral," Conan muttered to Haibara as they entered the large conference room that Karasuma had designated would be the location of the post-attempted takeover meeting.

All of the executives of the various departments and other codenamed agents were in attendance all dressed in black, of course, but Haibara still winced at the statement because it had been only a little over a week ago that Curaçao died, and the funeral date hadn't been set yet.

Haibara bowed to Karasuma at the head of the table, Kudo and Dr. Agasa copying and following her to their assigned seats. They were closer to the door than hers was because they weren't members of the Organization, and after they were settled, she took her seat next to Chardonnay, the Director of Research and Development and her own direct supervisor. The older woman had her black hair pinned up in a bun with a jeweled butterfly clip as usual, and she smiled warmly down at her.

"Welcome back, Sherry," she murmured.

"Thank you, Chardonnay," Haibara whispered back and turned towards the doors to see the FBI crew consisting of James Black, Akai, Ms. Jodie, and Mr. Camel entering the conference room. All of them bowed to Karasuma too, and Akai found their seats opposite Kudo and Agasa but still near the doors.

When everyone was seated, Karasuma stood up and addressed the room. "Everyone, thank you for coming. I realize there's been a lot going on this past week, so I'll start at once. As you all know by now, last week, the MiBJ was temporarily taken over by Vermouth who was an alien shapeshifter whose abilities were so thorough that her very DNA registered as human to our tests. Fortunately, there were no casualties resulting from her takeover, but several people were injured, two severely so, and the original MiB location in America was destroyed. What you may or may not have heard yet, depending on your personal information sources, is that this was made possible by use of a mind control serum – the base compounds of which were apparently secreted from her own body – that she spent many years improving to obtain the effects she desired. I… regret to say that Sherry discovered in my most recent medical exam that I had traces of the serum all throughout my body as opposed to a localized area, so it's probable that I was so lenient with her over the years because of the mild, basic version of this very same drug persuading me to keep her around."

Murmurs did not break out, but the tension increased as everyone in the room sat straighter, leaning forward almost imperceptibly. The only ones expressing no surprise in the slightest were Karasuma, Rum, and Haibara herself.

"I was warned of her recent abnormal behaviors as of late, but I ignored them and as a result, she made enemies of myself, Rum, and Vodka, and took control of the Organization. Were it not for the foresight of our guest, Dr. Hiroshi Agasa, we three would likely be restrained and locked in cells instead where we could harm no one while waiting for an antidote to be made," Karasuma said with a wave towards the aged scientist.

There was polite applause around the room and Agasa bowed his head with an embarrassed smile.

When the room had subsided, Karasuma continued. "However, the fact that this state of affairs occurred at all is an indication of something that has been long overdue. I have delayed out of pride, but this event is proof that I'm not longer capable of leading the MiB as I have done the past forty odd years. So it is with humble resignation that I announce before you all that I am stepping down and retiring from the Men in Black and promoting Rum to the position of Chief."

"What?!" Gin exclaimed, leaping to his feet, and the room burst with noise.

Haibara sat there, mouth agape. Karasuma? Retire? Such a concept was unthinkable. He was… He was Renya Karasuma! 'That person', the founder, the eternal fixture at the heart of everything in the Organization. He couldn't just… retire! Yet he was, and Rum would succeed him as his replacement. Karasuma raised his hand and though it took a while, the room eventually quieted again.

"Rum has been training to take over from me for years, but there will naturally be adjustments as the switchover to Rum's administrative preferences are made, and I ask for everyone's patience and support during this time. New leadership will mean changes, and change can still be stressful even when it's for the better. It is for this reason that I have three more announcements to make today," he said.

Haibara's eyes widened. Three more? She hoped they weren't as drastic as his retirement declaration!

"First, to further support Rum during his transition from Vice Chief to Chief, we have decided to halt the NOC recruitment program for the foreseeable future. Chief Zedd of Prime has declared that the MiBJ is the new temporary Prime and as such, we will follow Prime's example and erase all memories and traces of the rumored crime syndicate known as the Black Organization," Karasuma announced.

For most of the staff, this didn't affect them but Haibara glanced over at Conan down the table and saw his eyes were wide behind his fake glasses. She was concerned too. If everyone's memories of the 'Organization' were to be erased, what did that mean for them and their child aliases?

To her surprise, Bourbon raised his hand. "Sir, permission to speak?"

"Permission granted, Bourbon," said Karasuma.

Bourbon stood and bowed his head then straightened and said, "Sir, will this also include the heads of our home organizations?"

"Yes. We have decided that the liaisons will continue to act for the interests of the MiB if they wish to remain employed by us, but as your superiors are not thus employed, their memories of the MiB and the Organization will be erased, and they'll be kept in the dark."

Bourbon nodded. "Then you won't have to worry about my new boss with the PSB. I have a new one that only recently transferred to Tokyo and with everything going on, I haven't had time to fill him in on the full extent of my work."

'Well, that's convenient,' Haibara thought as Bourbon resumed sitting.

"Thank you, Bourbon. Now, with that announcement made, it leads right into my next one for this meeting. Shuichi Akai, please stand."

All eyes turned to the FBI agent as he rose and met Karasuma's gaze evenly. Haibara couldn't tell if he was surprised to be called upon or not.

"You are well known to many of my agents in the Organization even though it's been three years now since you were excommunicated. You have always been skilled and tenacious, and it was your impatience that informed my initial decision to let you go rather than recruit you. After hearing how well you handled the crisis we found ourselves in and how instrumental you were in its resolution, I felt that I would be remiss to let you go a second time without an offer of employment."

Haibara's eyes widened, and she tensed. Was Karasuma… saying what she thought he was?

"Agents of the MiB, may I present to you our new NOC liaison from the FBI, Shuichi Akai. He has chosen to reject the use of his former codename, so he will be addressed as Ethan Hondou was, and he will be assigned to General Oversight until further notice," Karasuma said.

Everyone clapped as Akai bowed, but Haibara couldn't help glancing at Gin and smiling. He looked absolutely dumbstruck that he and Akai were now coworkers and Akai was his subordinate.

"And now for my last announcement," Karasuma said after the clapping stopped again. "Due to MiB Prime's destruction, many of the agents who worked there are being transferred to other locations around the world. We here at the MiBJ will also be receiving an envoy in the coming weeks. Rum or I will update you on the specifics as we receive them via the news bulletins, so be sure to check your work emails and distribute the information to your subordinates. I will now open up the floor for questions and any new reports."

Several hands rose into the air, but Haibara was distracted. American MiB agents were coming to live in Japan soon. That meant Kay and maybe even Jay would be visiting sooner than she'd hoped!

()()()()()

Rum looked across the office covered in boxes and panicked when he saw Karasuma standing on a step stool reaching for one of the bottles on the top shelf of his wine and spirits cabinet.

"Sir, please allow me to get those," Rum insisted. "I'm much taller than you."

"And less likely to throw out your back?" Karasuma added with a raised eyebrow. Rum bit his lip but stared back. Eventually, Karasuma relented. "Oh, very well. Can't pretend I'm not old," he sighed and climbed down the step stool.

Only when both feet were safely back on the ground did Rum breathe easier. "Thank you, sir," he said and took the older man's place on the stool.

"It'll be strange for others to be calling you 'sir', won't it?" Karasuma asked.

"I've been trying not to think about it," Rum said softly.

"Well, I expect I'll likely have everything moved out by the end of the day, so it'll be sooner than you think," Karasuma said.

"Any time is too soon," Rum said and glared at the Italian wine he'd just picked up. Vermouth.

"I'd appreciate if you didn't break that one. As much as the name hurts, that particular wine bottle is an excellent vintage and played no part in last week's events," Karasuma said with a subtle edge, just enough to make Rum calm down and relax his features. He was riled by a bottle of all things.

Rum gave the bottle to Karasuma who took it in two hands, and Rum made the mistake of locking eyes with him. Those black abyssal depths sucked him in and reflected sympathy.

"You are ready, Rum. I've made sure of that. There will be hiccups and yes, things I didn't specifically train you on how to handle because they never came up, but you have the tools to handle them," Karasuma said.

Rum swallowed and forced himself to look away, his eyes landing on the desk instead. "It's not really so much that I don't think I'm qualified or capable as it is that I just can't imagine the Organization without you here. You have always been here and this…" He gestured around at all the boxes. "… feels very much like a final goodbye."

"I see," Karasuma said softly. Rum heard a shuffling box and glass clinking noise. After the noise stopped, Karasuma said, "I suppose this is more a symptom of my final goodbye. The MiB is my last Earthly responsibility and once it finishes passing out of my hands, there will be nothing tying me to this world."

Rum grew cold and looked over at his mentor kneeling on the ground next to his designated alcohol box. "Sir?"

Karasuma idly stroked the neck of the bottle with one of his thin fingers. "You know I've been keeping myself alive these extra decades with alien medicines. They keep me alive, but they take a terrible toll on my body since they weren't designed with human physiology in mind. I bore it because the MiB needed me, but I have no more use for them now. I have decided to stop taking them and will go the way of Urashima Taro."

Rum's heart seized and his throat went dry. Urashima Taro spent three days in Princess Otohime's underwater Dragon Palace and when he left to visit his family, 300 years had passed. In his grief, he opened the box Otohime had given to protect him from harm, and he rapidly became an old man and died for the box had contained his age.

"Sir, you can't!" Rum protested. "So many of us here respect and care about you, you can't just give up on life so easily!"

Karasuma looked up from the wine bottle and gave him a sad smile. "Save your words instead for a young man or woman on the brink of despair, Rum. In my lifetime, I've seen empires rise and fall, and technology advance to heights beyond my wildest imaginings. I am a relic of another time and place, and I'm a client long overdue on Death's registrar." He cocked his head and turned thoughtful. "Hm. Perhaps I should offer an apology gift for the trouble when they come to visit."

"But…" Rum started, words failing him.

"Oh, I have no intention of hastening my imminent demise, but it will come for me in time as sure as the world turns. Ah, but I hope I'm fortunate enough to be alive for Gin and Sherry's wedding," Karasuma sighed.

Rum did a sharp double take. "Sorry, the what?"

Karasuma gave him a half-smirk. "She'll be turning twenty next year or do you not think they'll want to get married as soon as Sherry's a legal adult?"

"I suppose…" Rum admitted.

If, after a year of them being apart and Sherry experiencing a life outside of the Organization, she still wanted to be with Gin, he supposed it was only natural they'd marry quickly, though he'd heard of no such proposals made by either party yet. Rum resumed removing the alcohol bottles and handing them off to Karasuma.

After several minutes of silence save for the occasional scraping and clinking of moving bottles, Rum asked, "So, where are you moving all this to? The Sunset Villa?"

"Certainly not. Young Kudo informed me that my old mansion lost all of its exterior coatings and is now solid gold. Reasonable for an art project, but entirely unsuitable as a habitable residence. Besides, it's far too isolated and out of the way for you youngsters to drop in to visit," said Karasuma.

Rum perked up as he handed down and Irish whiskey. "You don't mind if we come visit you, sir?"

"Of course not. What's the point in my having lived another forty years if my end is just as lonely? I'll be retired, not dead," Karasuma scoffed.

Rum didn't bother pointing out that Karasuma had said in this very conversation that his retirement would mean he would die not long after. He shoved the thought aside and instead said, "So if not the Sunset Villa, then where?"

"Ah, I was planning on moving into Vermouth's penthouse."

Rum nearly dropped the bottle of sherry he'd just picked up. "Vermouth's penthouse!" he exclaimed.

"Careful with that!" Karasuma scolded. "And yes. It's based here in Tokyo, and I already have to redistribute her possessions and smooth over famous actress Chris Vineyard's sudden disappearance, so I might as well make use of the available space. It just needs some redecorating towards my own personal tastes, and then I'll feel right at home."

Rum supposed it was a logical way to look at it, though the mentioning of possessions and sudden disappearances made him think of Curaçao and brought a fresh stab of grief. In this one regard, Rum was glad they had not lived together permanently. It was hard enough seeing objects of hers in his own home; it'd be even worse if they'd shared the same home full-time. He knew some of his stuff was at Emma's place, but he didn't know if he wanted them back. Gin as her only kin was responsible for sorting through her possessions and deciding what to do with them. Did Rum want those objects of his returned because of the memories attached to them? Or did he want them thrown away because those memories hurt? He wasn't sure, but Gin hadn't gone through it all yet. He could hardly blame him though; it was an unenviable responsibility to deal with the belongings of the deceased.

()()()()()

Gin would rather be anywhere than here, doing this: 'here' being his sister's apartment and 'this' being deciding what to do with her stuff. Everywhere he turned, he saw shadows and memories lurking at the edges of his vision, and it distracted him terribly. He'd known it would be hard which was also why he had been putting it off even after he was released from the medical ward with a walker and a warning to actually use it before he overexerted himself and had to be readmitted. For once, he was listening because walking without the walker hurt too much to ignore if he did it too much. He still resented how it made him feel like an invalid though.

Even with the walker's assistance, Gin's progress was slow. He'd decided he would only try sorting things into groups today. Like hell was he making final decisions on where to send things his sister had owned. One of Gin's biggest troubles was figuring out what not to keep. Ideally, he would keep all of it to preserve his sister's memory, but that wasn't realistic. He could just imagine her in Heaven laughing over him deciding to keep her microwave or her coffee pot. Gin had wanted Sherry to come with him, but she still had school. She hadn't taken the antidote yet for some reason, but she couldn't come after school either because she had a meeting planned with Kudo to discuss said antidote. It couldn't be helped, but he still would have appreciated her company.

So far, he figured that most of the furniture and appliances could be either given away or donated to a thrift store. The smaller things like all Emma's knick-knacks and figurines were going into a probably-keeping pile, and he'd made an initial perusal of her bookshelf to decide which books he had absolutely no interest in holding on to. Gin also made a pile for things that looked like they might be Rum's. He wasn't sure what Rum would do with them, but Gin wasn't going to be an asshole and throw them away just because he didn't personally like the man.

He had to steel his nerves before entering the bedroom. It wasn't because he expected to see something indecent, but because the bedroom would be the most personalized with more mementos and special items that Emma would have cherished but wouldn't keep on display in one of the public rooms. In contrast to the living room and kitchen, Gin went straight for the items he knew he wouldn't be getting rid of. On Emma's dresser was a tightly-wove whicker box that Gin removed and carried to the bed. He set it down and opened the lid with reverent fingers.

There weren't many things in the box. There was a rainbow opal necklace that Rum must have given her, a miniature toy car of one of the models Pisco's company used to make, a flower crown made of plastic violets that looked like something Akemi would have made, a silver button engraved with 'that person's' stylized crow insignia, a small fuzzy pink scarf Gin couldn't recall the origin of, and in the center of it all lay two picture frames. The photos inside were creased, but they were unbearably precious to Gin for these, along with the two he owned, were the only non-utilitarian personal effects he and Emma had brought with them when they ran away from home after he nearly murdered the landlord in a meeting where he'd gone to beg for more time to pay the rent due to their father's sudden comatose state.

Gin lifted both frames from the box and held them gently. He and Emma had taken to switching which two photos they kept and the two she had were of their parents' wedding day and his and Emma's graduation from high school. His eyes lingered on the latter the longest. His hair was much shorter, only shoulder length, and his face still had some lingering squishiness to it. That had been sucked out with the months of homelessness that followed shortly after. He'd almost forgotten how lean and scrawny he used to be too. He looked even thinner because of his height and like all it would take was a stiff breeze to knock him over. Emma, on the other hand, was mostly unchanged. Oh, there were some superficial differences such as her being cropped just below her ears and wearing a black headband for her bangs, but that was still the same playful face smiling back at him from the photo. Gin only noticed he was crying when he saw drops splat against the glass covering.

()()()()()

Conan hurried down the steps as fast as he dared until he reached the sidewalk where Haibara was waiting for him.

"Alright, I let Ran know I would be staying over at the Professor's place for dinner tonight; can we go now?" he demanded.

"Yes, we can go now," Haibara said and started walking, too slowly in Conan's opinion. He scowled and jogged up beside her.

"So are the tests finally done yet? You finished the antidote in the week leading up to that meeting; how much more time do you need?" he asked.

He'd wanted to take the antidote immediately, but she'd shut him down hard by pointing out that they wouldn't know if it was the permanent antidote until they tested it first. He'd sulked over it but agreed. Didn't stop him from being anxious to return to his normal body quickly though, especially now that he knew there was no danger in doing so.

"The tests are done. I finished them last night which is why I wanted to meet you to discuss it this afternoon," Haibara said.

Conan couldn't believe his ears. "Really! They're done? They worked? Haibara, why didn't you tell me sooner?! I can be back in my real body tonight and regular school tomorrow!" he exclaimed.

And Ran would finally have the chance to give him an answer to his confession back in London. No inconveniently timed side effects would stop him this time.

"No, you can't because there are some side effects to this antidote that we have to discuss and plan around first," Haibara said.

Some of the happiness inside him deflated a little. "Like what? Am I going to end up with cat ears or something?" he said.

Haibara turned and gave him a flat look. "No, as soon as you take the APTX antidote, you'll be knocked unconscious for a week."

"What? Unconscious!" Conan gasped.

"Yes, unconscious," she said firmly. "Fortunately, all of the rats that I tested it on reverted to adults and resumed their original weights from before the experiment. They have all maintained adult forms for at least a week now since waking up from their brief comas and further good news is that their individual weight differences appeared to have no effect on how quickly they recovered which should ideally mean we'll also be knocked out for only a week despite being much larger. That's the long version to emphasize to you that no, you can't take the antidote now, so let's wait to discuss it further at the Professor's house."

Conan reluctantly let the subject drop for the moment. The unconsciousness was a little worrisome, but it would be worth it if he got the rest of his normal life back in exchange. He didn't press Haibara to talk more, and she offered no other subjects for discussion, so they finished the walk in silence. As they approached the Professor's, Conan stared with longing at the western style mansion next door. It was even more empty than it had been recently. No longer needing to pretend to be dead or guard Haibara from the Organization, Akai, as Subaru Okiya, had made a big show of packing his things to move out for the kids' benefit. They'd been upset, of course, but threw him a going away party at Dr. Agasa's to wish him well. That'd been about four days ago now, so the house – his house – was uninhabited again. Instead of going straight on ahead to it though, he turned at the Professor's and followed alongside Haibara up the sidewalk.

"I'm home," she called as she entered.

"Welcome back, Ai. Oh, hey there, Shinichi. I was just making tea, do you want any?" Agasa asked.

"Sure, I'll have some," Conan said with a shrug.

"Me too. I'll definitely end up needing it before we're done," Haibara said.

"Sounds good. I'll be tinkering on that game over there if you need me," Agasa said, pointing vaguely in the direction of his current workstation.

Haibara smiled at him. "Thanks Professor. If you have any suggestions of your own, you can share them too."

She set her school bag down by the door and walked over to the kitchen island to help with the tea. Conan meandered over to the computer where the aforementioned game was. It looked no different from any of the previous games and computer hardware that Conan had seen the Professor play around with, but he could never forget that his old friend's true form was that of a tiny bald alien in a robot body.

Except he could. He'd secured a promise from Karasuma that his memories of the Organization and aliens wouldn't be taken from him unawares but he would lose them. How would that work out though? Even if he lost his memories after he got his normal body back, he would still be sporadically missing a whole year of his life with no explanation.

"Here you go," Haibara said, interrupting his thoughts and handing him the tea.

She took her own and the two coasters to the living room and set them on the low table. She took a seat on one couch, and Conan sat on the one opposite her. Haibara took a sip of her tea then set it down.

"Alright, so the situation is this: we both have lives that we want to get back to and we now have a permanent antidote that will let us do just that. Yes, it'll knock us out for a week, but that's something we can work around and a minor issue in the grand scheme of things. The problem we need to resolve is what to do with our aliases. I know you see Conan Edogawa as just the disguise you wear to stay hidden and protect yourself, but to everyone else, Conan Edogawa is a real boy separate and distinct from Shinichi Kudo. Then there's also the fact that you'll still need your memories of the Organization erased," Haibara summarized.

"Yeah, about that, if I forget the Organization exists, what explanation will I be given for how and why I was shrunk?" Conan asked.

Haibara gave him an odd look, and he felt cold dread clench his stomach. "You're not going to make me forget the whole year, are you?"

"Rum suggested it, and it would be the simplest way to-"

"No!" Conan yelled, jumping to his feet. "You can't do that! I went through so much this year, you can't just… take it all away and make like it never happened."

He thought back to last year, before the Organization and the APTX when he was just a high school student with aspirations of becoming the greatest modern detective of all time. He'd been arrogant, full of himself, a braggart, and increasingly callous towards Ran's feelings. He'd seen the adult version of that kind of teenager in the form of Kogoro Mouri, and he didn't want to be that kind of person. Ten years later, he didn't want to be estranged from Ran: still in love with her but unable to spend any significant amount of time in the other's presence without getting on each other's nerves. He hated being Conan Edogawa, but he hated that person he'd been more.

Strangely, Haibara gave him an understanding smile. "I told Rum it was impossible. Conan Edogawa is too widely known across Japan for him to simply be erased from your memories without you hearing about him and being too curious. I instead suggested that we erase your memories of being Conan. It'll save us the trouble of erasing the memory of every police officer you've come in contact with, focusing instead on a handful of people, and will also help us reclaim the Organization's secrecy."

Conan frowned slightly. "That doesn't sound good for my mental state."

"I can see why you'd think that, but what I mean is we'll be erasing your life of physically being shrunk, but the lessons, failures, and bonds you gained over this past year should still be intact, and any lingering weirdness you may experience can be explained away by the trauma that caused your coma in the first place," she said.

Hearing that, Conan relaxed and picked up his cup to drink some of the tea. "It seems like you've got everything all figured out, so there's nothing else we have to discuss apart from figuring out who will take care of us while we're comatose, right?"

Haibara grimaced. "Not exactly. As I said earlier, Conan Edogawa is too widely known for the Organization to just erase everyone's memories of him, but that also means he can't just disappear out of the blue without explanation."

Conan slowly lowered his cup without drinking. The air felt heavy somehow and his jaw tightened. "I don't suppose you're going to suggest I tell everyone I'm moving to America with my parents or something similar?"

Haibara shook her head. "In this day and age, even that distance wouldn't be an acceptable excuse for not keeping in contact with the kids. If you stopped communicating with them, they would wonder what happened to you or if you even wanted to be friends with them anymore. They may even start to doubt if you were their friend at all, but you can't string them along pretending to be Conan to them forever. You won't be able to keep it up."

"So I should fake my own death instead?!" Conan burst out.

"With everyone's memories of Conan intact, there's no way resuming your old life won't hurt those closest to him if your secret is kept to the very end," Haibara countered, her tone cold and sharp. "If you tell everyone you're moving to America, they'll be hurt and worried when you inevitably stop contacting them. If you disappear without warning, they'll be even more worried thinking you'd been kidnapped or worse, and they'll never get closure on what happened to you. Faking your death is ironically, the kindest thing you can do for them given your circumstances and available options. They'll be upset, yes, but they'll know what happened, and Conan Edogawa's life will have an ending, albeit an unhappy one." Her expression softened, and she continued. "If it'll make the pill less bitter to swallow, this would be the last lie Conan Edogawa ever has to tell."

Conan winced and looked away as he sat heavily back on the sofa. She knew how much the constant lying bothered him, and it did seem less cruel in the long run, but damn it, he'd already made Ran cry enough over him being gone, and now he was going to make her cry over him as Conan. And the kids! They had seen way more than most would ever see in associating with him and his cases, but this would be a different kind of traumatic experience and one they certainly didn't deserve.

He sat there idly rubbing the cup with his thumbs for a while before he deflated with a sigh. "Alright, I'll do it. Whatever the Organization decides to do to help us fake our deaths, I'm on board," he said and finally too a drink of some of his cooled-down tea.

"Kudo, I'm not faking my death," Haibara said.

Conan finished swallowing and gave her a puzzled look. "You're not?"

"I have no reason to," she said simply. "Unlike you, I actually tried to keep a low profile, avoid the media at all costs, and hide in the background. Far fewer people are aware of a girl named Ai Haibara even exists, so we'll just be erasing peoples' memories of her. The list isn't too large; only Beika elementary school, the Tokyo MPD, anyone who knew my true identity, and people around Haido and Beika city that I would have interact with regularly enough for my absence to be noticed and remarked upon."

"Conan's jaw dropped, and his hands shook. "You're having everyone's memories of you erased?" he said quietly.

"I am," she agreed. "You don't have that option, but it's the most humane method to ensure a clean, painless parting."

"That's bullshit!" Conan growled and slammed his cup back on the table, making her jump. "Do you even hear what you're saying? By erasing yourself, you're stealing away peoples' choice of how they're allowed to feel."

"That's the protocol, Kudo," Haibara said tightly. "Any human not affiliated with the MiB is required to have their memory purged of all unauthorized exposure to MiB or extraterrestrial activity."

"As far as I understand it, that protocol is in place to protect the secrecy of agents at work, but are there any subheadings that cover these specific circumstances where hardly anyone knows you're a child as a result of a drug or that it came from a secret organization involved with aliens?" Conan countered.

"What else would you have me do, Kudo!" Haibara snapped. Would you rather I fake my death so that the kids have two dead friends they have to grieve over? Erasing their memories is the only other alternative I have to minimize the pain they're going to feel."

"Do you really think they won't notice the hole your sudden absence would leave behind?" Conan demanded. "Sure, the memories might be gone, but they're a perceptive bunch, and they'll feel that something is off, like there's a fifth person who's supposed to be there even if they can't remember her."

"Don't make this any harder for me than it already is," Haibara said. "I've already decided to return to the MiB even if it means I have to leave everyone behind, and I'd be happier knowing that at least they won't miss me when I'm gone."

Conan didn't realize she had a choice in that regard, but that wasn't important right now. "And you should already know that the pain of losing someone is often worth having had the chance to get to know them at all," he said then pointed an accusing finger at her. "You have ready access to neuralyzers that will instantly make you forget any memory you choose, yet you haven't used them on yourself to forget about your sister."

Haibara glared at him. "Even if I wanted to, I couldn't because my sister was present throughout my life and her absence would create holes that might cause true psychological damage."

"Fine, how about a different example. You use the nerualyzer on us, and we'll be all but dead to you, but for us, you'll be less than dead because you'll have never existed and you'll never have a reason to meet us as Shiho Miyano either because we had no bond with her. We knew you for less than a year, not long in the grand scheme of things, so there's no logical reason for you to not go ahead and erase your memories of us too, but you won't do it. You won't do it because even though those memories will hurt, they're important to you."

Haibara set her jaw and stared hard down at her cup. "Further evidence that you all would have been better off never knowing me," she muttered bitterly.

Conan's temper flared. "Say that again. Look me in the eyes and say that directly to my face."

Haibara didn't rise to meet his challenge but shrunk into herself and didn't look up.

His point made, Conan sighed. "Geez, you always pride yourself on being cautious and thorough, but you can't throw yourself under the bus fast enough if you think it will spare your friends pain."

"I need to think about it and talk it over with the others first," she said softly. "If we end up deciding to fake my death too, it will make the most sense for them both to happen in the same staged incident."

Conan rubbed the back of his head feeling guilty. Haibara usually presented herself as stoic and aloof, but she could be surprisingly fragile at times, and he hated making her feel that way.

"Well, if there's nothing else we need to discuss tonight, I can help with making dinner," he said.

She looked up and her clouded, thoughtful expression became a smirk so fast he would have suffered whiplash.

"Oh my, you're actually offering to help with the cooking? You must be feeling remorseful," she said.

"Shut up," he grumbled, though he was glad to see a more normal expression from her.

He didn't think for an instant that she was done fretting over the issue, but for now, she was distracted and teasing him like usual. He hoped she didn't decide to have memories of her erased. As wrong-footed as she made him feel when she was messing with him, he would miss the camaraderie they'd shared over the past year.

()()()()()

Karasuma tilted his head in mixed puzzlement and curiosity when he heard a knock on the door of his new penthouse suite home. He hadn't expected company quite this quickly. He set down what he'd been reading – the tabloids, much to the bafflement of the hotel staff since such trashy low-bar 'news' writings hardly seemed to be the kind of thing Chris Vineyard's polite, wealthy, respectable gentleman of a grandfather would be interested in.

He opened the door and frowned when he saw no one. The sound of a cleared throat drew his eyes down and he saw none other than Sherry still in her Ai Haibara form giving him a pointed look.

"Why Sherry, this is an unexpected delight. Please come in," he said and stepped to the side.

"Thank you for having me," she said with a bow and entered the suite, switching her shoes for the smallest but still way-too-big slippers.

"I'm surprised the hotel staff let you all the way up here without an escort," Karasuma commented as he closed the door.

"Why? Do I really look that dangerous?" she asked.

"No, you're so cute that someone might kidnap you," he said.

Sherry pouted and Karasuma couldn't help chuckling. She really wasn't improving her case for not being considered cute.

"I was stopped at the front desk, but I told the staff that I'd been invited to come play with my friend who lives in this hotel and started walking like I knew where I was going, so they didn't question it," Sherry said.

"Ahh, so that's how it was," Karasuma mused. "Can I get you anything? I wasn't expecting to have guests though I appreciate the company nonetheless."

"No, I'm fine, and I'm afraid this isn't a social visit," Sherry said. So grave for one so young.

Karasuma sighed and retreated to the living room with Sherry following alongside. "No, I suspected it wasn't. You want something from me and my guess would be advice on a difficult matter relating directly to the Organization, presumably not of a technical nature or you would be seeking Chardonnay's advice instead," Karasuma elaborated. He reached his favorite chair and sank down onto it with deliberate slowness for his increasingly aching joints. "So, I presume you feel conflicted about your new friends' memories of you being erased?"

"I- yes, sir," Sherry said, looking surprised as she sat down on the black leather couch positioned diagonally from his chair. "I was talking with Kudo about it when explaining how we'll have to fake Conan's death, and he got mad at me when I said I was just going to make everyone forget I existed instead of letting them think I was dead. I don't want any of them to suffer because I'm gone, and Ai Haibara being dead would definitely hurt them, but Kudo said that was preferable to completely forgetting me. He eve claimed it still wouldn't prevent them from missing me, it would just make them clueless as to why they felt that way. I…" She bit her lip and looked down at her lap. "The selfish part of me wants them to still remember. I tell myself they'd be better off without me, but what if I'm wrong? We could also miss someone during the memory erasure sweep, so would it be easier to just make everyone think I'm dead anyway?"

Karasuma laced his fingers together on top of his cane and rested his chin on them. "First, a question: do you wish to continue seeing the children and Shinichi Kudo after you return to your original body?"

Sherry cocked her head and looked puzzled. "I would like to, but I can't-"

"Why not?" he interrupted.

"Because they don't know Shiho Miyano," she said.

"They didn't know Ai Haibara before this year, yet they still became friends with her," he countered.

"But I'm so much older than them!"

"These children are on friendly terms with members of the Tokyo police, are they not? I believe they're all closer to Gin and Vodka's age than yours," he said.

"I guess that's true," she said.

Karasuma smiled a little. "You're allowed to have a life outside of the Organization. In fact, most operatives do. Gin has chosen to become entirely dedicated to the Organization, but Vodka has a mom, older brother, and younger sisters that he checks in with regularly, and Pisco owned a car manufacturing company. Bourbon multitasks as an MiB liaison, PSB officer, and part-time café worker. Korn enjoys being an interior designer in his free time, and even Vermouth became a famous actress wile also being the Intelligence Executive. You're allowed to spend time with your friends. In fact, I would even encourage you to spend time with them. I know you love Gin, but he cannot and should not fill all of your social needs. Having friends is a very good thing, and I don't want you to think returning to the Organization means you have to give them up.

Sherry fell back against the couch looking stunned. "I thought… I can really continue to see them?"

Her eyes were so hopeful but wary that it made his heart hurt. She kept losing people that were important to her, starting with her parents when she was only a baby, so she had a hard time believing she could keep any of her positive relationships.

"Yes, but if you wish to continue seeing them, then we'll have to erase their memories of you first," he said.

"Eh? But why?" she asked.

"Let's pretend you've taken the antidote and the children believe their Ai died but still have their memories of her intact when you show up," Karasuma posited. "Kudo in particular might recognize some of your behavioral quirks as being like Ai's, but the other kids might recognize them too and wonder if there's some connection between you and Ai apart from your appearances. Alternatively, you may say or refer to something that Ai Haibara was present for, but not Shiho Miyano. Such a slipup would be odd or confusing if they don't remember Ai, but it could be damning if they do which could put the Organization at risk of exposure if Kudo and the kids start investigating you too closely. That would not be an issue if they kept their memories of you, but you never sought them out again. Just as Conan Edogawa must die to free Shinichi Kudo, so Ai Haibara must also be excised in order to give Shiho Miyano a clean slate."

"I think I understand, sir," Sherry said, her expression turning thoughtful. "Kudo said he and the others would feel my absence from their dynamics, but if I'm there, then they would ben torn over the loss of a friend they can't remember because I'm still myself. I didn't suddenly become a different person when I shrank and being an adolescent again won't change that either."

Karasuma leaned back with a satisfied smile playing on his lips. "It seems like you have your answer then, Sherry."

()()()()()

Haibara held the white capsule between her fingers, spinning it around in loose circles. From the corner of her vision, she noticed the Professor sidle up next to her.

"You called the ambulance?" she said.

"Yes, they're on the way to pick you up," he said.

"Guess I better be unconscious for them when they arrive, huh?" she said dryly. "Hope everything's going alright on Kudo's end."

"Akai and Amuro are there with him though, right?" Agasa said.

"Yes, they're all competent and I'm sure they'll be able to pull it off. Certainly helps that we'll be using the Cephosanguines' host clones to create the appearance of genuine corpses," Haibara said.

"They modified the teeth for each individual, right? It would be such an easy thing to overlook," Agasa said.

"Those three are thorough. Amuro even manage to procure an unfinished clone to be the double for Edogawa's corpse," Haibara reassured him. "I'm still glad that I don't have to participate in that level of theatrics."

"Having any last second regrets about anything?"

Slowly, Haibara shook her head. "No… As much as I dreaded it at the start, I've enjoyed this past year of being treated like a normal kid, and I'll miss it, but I'm ready to return to my normal life. You make sure to take care of yourself, Professor."

Dr. Agasa chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. "I'll try, Shiho."

She smiled at him, then closed her hand in a fist around the capsule and walked into the bathroom. She changed into the red dress she'd worn on the night she first shrunk and sat down on the floor. The dress was obviously too big for her as a child, but she didn't want to be naked when the ambulance came for her. Haibara took a deep breath then swallowed the capsule. As usual, nothing happened for the first few seconds. Then a force like a semi collision burst out from her chest and she blacked out instantly.

()()()()()

At a warehouse by the pier, a fire raged hot and fierce. It had consumed the large building well before any fire trucks had arrived, and while they fought the voracious element, their efforts so far had only managed to prevent the fire from spreading to other warehouses nearby.

Some police had also arrived on the scene in response to the emergency call as well as an ambulance because the caller was Tooru Amuro, and he was with Shinichi Kudo who was currently unconscious. Officers Sato and Takagi had arrived first thanks to the former's insane driving skills and what they saw was the massive blazing inferno, firefighters connecting hoses or already aiming at the fire, a prone figure lying on the ground being attended to by another firefighter, and two more holding back a blonde man struggling to push past them shouting that Conan was still in the burning building.

()()()()()

Ran couldn't think. Her feet were moving of their own accord once she got out of the taxi and her feet hit the asphalt. She was torn between two extreme emotions, and both drove her to the same goal: to find Mr. Amuro and hear from his own mouth what had happened. She didn't care that she was making a scene when she burst into the hospital lobby and beelined for the front desk.

"Excuse me, I'm so sorry, but did an ambulance arrive recently with a high school-aged boy and a blonde man with dark skin?" Ran asked breathless.

"Miss, please calm down and-" the office assistant started to say.

"Please, I have to know! It's urgent!" she exclaimed.

"Miss Ran!"

Ran whipped her head around and saw the very man she was looking for. "Mr. Amuro, I- Are you alright?" she gasped once she jogged over and took in his haggard appearance. Some of his clothes were burned and sooty, and he had a few dark bruises coloring his face.

"I'm fine, I could have fared worse," he said with a wince, and there was no trace of a smile on his face. "Where's your father? Did you come alone?"

Ran shook her head and pointed towards the entrance. "No, he's coming in now."

Sure enough, the lobby doors slid open for Kogoro and after a quick search, he found them and hurried over.

"Amuro, tell us that what Inspector Megure told us over the phone wasn't true!" Kogoro begged and Ran could remember very few times where her dad had done that.

When Amuro lowered his eyes, Ran gasped and clapped her hands to her mouth. "I wish it wasn't true," he said gravely. "I'm not sure how much Megure told you, but I can tell you what I was present for."

"Y-Yeah, that's fine," Kogoro stammered, looking stunned.

Amuro led them into an empty examination room off the main hall and remained standing while Ran and her father took seats in the only two chairs available.

"I was in the area doing some recon on a criminal gang that seemed to be illegally transporting weapons and explosives," Amuro began. "I intended to find out what I could and deliver the information to the police to save them some groundwork, but I unexpectedly ran into Kudo while I was there and learned he was tracking the same group. In fact, this very group was the reason he's been out of the public eye this past year. He got in too deep, and they noticed, so he disappeared to both protect himself and his friends and family from being targeted."

Ran's breath hitched in her throat. "His big case!" she breathed.

Every time he got off the phone abruptly, or she asked when he would be coming home, he would often tell her he was working on a 'big case' or a 'big case' just cropped up. It was a big case, but not one he'd ever finished solving when they talked over the phone. She remembered even suspecting a while ago that something like this had happened to him. She'd been right all along, and he'd never said a word about it to her.

"Unfortunately, the warehouse was not empty like we thought," Amuro continued. "We were ambushed and captured. We were trying to figure out how to break free and escape when Conan showed up as timely as a superhero. I'm afraid I have no idea why he was there or how he knew we were trapped inside, but he broke us out and we tried to escape. I say 'tried' because we were noticed, the alarm sounded, and we found ourselves in a firefight. I don't know who was responsible, but in the chaos of the melee, a stray bullet struck the armament stash, and it must have caught just right to cause a spark because the entire thing exploded. Shrapnel flew everywhere, walls and rafters caught fire, and the flames spread fast. Kudo was hit in the head by some of the thrown debris and was knocked unconscious instantly. I carried him on my back with Conan keeping pace alongside me, but…"

Amuro paused, wetting his lips, his brow furrowed with pain and Ran was holding on to his every word with the same horrified fascination one might watch a car wreck.

When Amuro resumed, his voice was even lower and grimmer. "The fire had already become so strong and all-consuming that parts of the structure were starting to collapse. One such section… separated Conan from myself and Kudo. I tried to find a way through, but I still had an unconscious Kudo on my back and couldn't free up both hands. He told me to get out and get Kudo to safety while he tried to find another way out. That kid's been through so much and always come out on top against all odds that I believed him. Even so, I still fully intended to go back inside and get him out. I called in the fire and called for an ambulance as I brought Kudo a safe distance from the fire. Then…Then right as I was about to go back in, the…"

Amuro broke off again and swallowed hard. Then, in words barely above a whisper, he said, "The front entrance collapsed completely. It had become a wall of fire and burning support beams I couldn't navigate past, and no one else came out after us."

"B-But you said it yourself; that kid's always come out of dangerous stuff mostly unscathed," Kogoro protested. "Maybe he got out a different way or-"

But Amuro shook his head and the words died on Kogoro's lips. "No, after the fire was put out, the firefighters searched the wreckage. There were lots of corpses, all of them burned so badly beyond recognition that the only chance of identifying them is by their dental records. All but one of them were large enough to be adults, so unless there was another child in that building…" Amuro broke off with a soft hiss and covered his face with his hand, but it didn't hide the stray tear that trickled down his cheek. "I'm sorry… I shouldn't have let him stay behind, I- I'm so sorry."

In the face of Amuro's emotional display and hearing the confirmation from his own mouth, Ran finally couldn't hold back anymore. The tears burst forth, and she collapsed to her knees with an anguished wail. She'd gotten Shinichi back like she'd always wanted, but the cost of his return had been Conan's life.

()()()()()

Shiho was aware that she was awake. She could feel the sheets, the pillow, and the hospital gown. She also felt very heavy, like weights were tied to every part of her body, including her eyelids. She heard noise but couldn't make any sense of it and eventually tuned it out. After a while of drifting in that weird limbo, Shiho forced her eyes open. Her vision was blurry and the first thing she noticed was a white-and-black object in the foreground.

'No, not white. Silver,' Shiho thought as her vision sharpened and the object resolved into a familiar figure.

"Gin?" she said.

"Good morning, Sherry," he answered back.

"Is it really morning? Wait, hold on, you haven't been sitting at my bedside since I was admitted to the hospital, have you?" she asked, her brow furrowing.

"In answer to the first: no, it's a little after noon, and as for the second: I wanted to, but I knew hovering at your bedside making myself sick with worry wouldn't help anyone," Gin said.

"Well, you're lucky you got here before noon to be able to see me wake up," she said.

Gin gave her a smirk. "That wasn't luck. I knew you'd be waking up today, so I decided to come as early as possible and stay until you awoke."

"Gin," Shiho sighed fondly and stretched her hand out towards him.

He leaned forward and she was able to cup his cheek. He stroked the back of his fingers gently across her own then closed the remaining distance and kissed her lips. She brought her free hand up to his other cheek and held him close, reveling in the joy of knowing she could do this again whenever she wanted without a time limit hanging over their heads. She could even kiss him in public now, and the very thought had her blushing. She probably wouldn't… often… but now she could without Gin getting in trouble for it.

She stopped kissing him, and Gin made to pull back, but she moved her hands from his cheeks to around his neck and pulled him down on top of her. "I love you, Gin."

He hummed and pressed his cheek against hers. "I love you too, Shiho, although… this position isn't particularly comfortable."

She released his neck and as he sat up, she could see why. One arm had been stuck between them and the other had sprawled sideways. Shiho pushed herself into an upright position as well and leaned back against the metal bed frame.

"Has Kudo woken up yet?" she asked.

"Technically, but he wasn't lucid yet last I heard. That was almost an hour ago though, so maybe something's changed since then," he said.

"Do you have your neuralyzer?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Always."

"Then help me up and take me to Kudo's room," she said. "I need to erase his memories of being Conan now if he's conscious."

"Sherry, take it easy, you just finished waking up yourself. Kudo's not going anywhere anytime soon, and we're keeping tabs on his parents and the Mouris to make sure they don't get here before his memory is modified," Gin said with a steadying grip on her shoulders. Additionally, it wouldn't be fair to erase Kudo's memories while he's not even lucid and can't say goodbye to you."

That was part of why she wanted to do it now. She wasn't sure she'd be able to keep it together saying goodbye in the same moment she made him forget about her and the Organization. It was selfish of her though, and Gin was right, so Shiho let herself lay back in the bed to recover her strength. Gin stayed with her, holding her hand and filling her in on everything that had happened earlier in the week.

A nurse came in at some point to take her basic health metrics, and the doctor came in afterward to follow up. Since Shiho had only been comatose for a week, she had no muscle atrophy and with no other apparent negative side effects, she was released from the hospital and very grateful to Gin for bringing some of her clothes along. By the time all of that had been sorted out, Kudo had regained full consciousness, and Gin received word that the Kudos and Mouris were on the way. With no time to lose, Shiho borrowed Gin's neuralyzer and sunglasses and made her way to Kudo's room.

He was sitting propped up by pillows and still wearing hospital garb. He turned sharply when she entered, and she was surprised that his eyes brightened when he saw her.

"Hey, Haibara, er- I guess I can't call you that anymore, huh?" Kudo said.

Shiho gave him a cheeky smile and bowed her head. "I'm Shiho Miyano, pleased to meet you."

"Haha, very funny," Kudo said dryly.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

"A little weak and still somewhat fuzzy in the head, but otherwise great. Although…" He tilted his head, and his cheery expression grew more somber. "I'm guessing you're not here just to check up on me."

Shiho lowered her eyes and nodded. "Your parents and the Mouris are on their way to come see you now that they know you've woken up. The Organization is mobilizing to modify Hattori's, Hondou's, and your parents' memories, and Akai is dealing with his sister and mother," she said.

And hadn't that been an unexpected surprise to learn Vermouth had used the APTX on Akai's mother. Nobody could figure out why Vermouth had done so, and they would likely never know.

"I'm keeping my promise to you that you'll never have to lie about Conan Edogawa again," she said and put on the sunglasses.

Kudo stared at her with resignation as she fiddled with the dial on the neuralyzer. When she finished, she held it upright and showed the glowing red light.

"What you need to do is look at this red dot at the top here. When I press the button, a white light will flash like a camera, and your memories of me and being Conan will vanish in an instant. Are you ready?" she said.

"Mostly," Kudo said. "I just want you to know first that even if I won't remember you anymore, you'll still be my friend, Miyano."

Her eyes stung and throat contracted, but she refused to let tears fall. Not yet. Instead, she gave Kudo a small smile.

"I hope you still feel that way afterward," she said and tapped on the red dot. "Look here please." Kudo obliged, and Shiho took a deep, shuddering breath, her thumb hovering over the button. "Thank you… and goodbye."

She pressed down, white light flashed, and the tears started streaming down Shiho's face as the light faded and revealed Kudo's now vacant expression.

"You never got entangled with a crime syndicate referred to as the Black Organization… you've never heard of the Men in Black… aliens don't exist… you don't remember shrinking and taking on the alias Conan Edogawa, but you do remember that boy and he saved you from an armed gang you've spent the past year tailing and evading… and you never met or heard of a girl who went by the names Ai Haibara, Sherry, or Shiho Miyano."

As soon as she was done, she bolted out of the room and unexpectedly crashed into Gin who'd been waiting just outside. He didn't say a word; he just held her and stroked her back while she buried her face in his chest and sobbed. By the end of the day, Conan Edogawa would be nothing more than memory, and Ai Haibara would cease to exist altogether.

()()()()()

Shinichi let out a deep sigh. "Man, this sucks. There's no way I'll be able to makeup an entire year's worth of work in the span of a few weeks to pass second year. I'll either have to repeat it entirely and be a year behind you and the rest of our class or somehow convince the school to let me do both second- and third-year classes at the same time," he groaned while he and Ran were walking home from school.

He'd only been back a few days after recovering from his coma and being released from the hospital. Needless to say, he was completely overwhelmed by the amount of material he'd missed being in hiding this past year, and he didn't think it was all because of his fuzzy, disjointed memories. The doctors said it was a normal side effect and he may have permanent retrograde amnesia at parts, but at least he was still alive and fully conscious.

"You don't have to graduate with us, you know," Ran pointed out. "Compressing two school years into one and also planning for what to do after graduation will just wear you out, and you'll have no time for anything outside of schoolwork."

It was a good argument, yet in spite of her words, Shinichi could tell from her face that she really wanted him to graduate with them too.

"Yeah, I don't know, maybe I can try to cram a year's worth of studying into the next few weeks leading up to finals and then if I pass, I can use that as leverage to advance to third year? I wouldn't have as good a foundation on the material as I would like, but I'd still graduate on time. I'd just have to work harder as a third year," he mused aloud.

"It sounds plausible, and I'd be happy to help you with any studying and giving you my notes. Maybe you should run the idea by your parents and see what they think?" Ran suggested.

"You know, I think I will," Shinichi said, liking the idea more and more, and he and Ran fell silent, each consumed by their own thoughts. Except that for Shinichi, the silence was the awkward kind.

His memories were still wonky, but he distinctly remembered how upset Ran had been during his absence. She'd put up a brave front only to cry at night when no one could see, sick with worry about him, and he remembered all the times he'd tried to confess his feelings to her. He also remembered the one time he succeeded in London. He was pretty sure this was his first time seeing Ran in person again since then, but she hadn't brought it up yet. He wasn't sure if she was just being considerate of his adjustment, or if she was still coming up with an answer – a somber thought struck him – or if she just had other things on her mind right now that were more important than answering a love confession.

"How's your dad doing?" he asked.

Ran stiffened then smiled too widely. "Oh, he's doing fairly well, all things considering-"

"Ran. You don't need to lie for my benefit," he cut in, holding her gaze, his words firm but gentle. "You both lost an important member of your family recently; I don't expect either of you to be okay."

Ran's smile faltered and she looked down at her feet. "It's not okay. For all Dad complained about Conan being a freeloader, he's taken it hard. I remember the first night I brought Conan home and Dad solved the case, he called him his good luck charm, and now that he's gone, Dad's struggling with cases again. I think it's just grief preventing him from doing his work well, but Conan was always so good at noticing obscure little details that nobody would think twice about, and Dad could always use those details to solve his cases. Maybe Conan really was a good luck charm."

Shinichi chewed thoughtfully on the inside of his cheek as he studied Ran's downcast profile out of the corner of his eye. Of course she was worried about her dad, and why wouldn't she be? As a detective, Kogoro was quick to make judgements without further investigation and often tried to make the facts fit his pet deduction rather than crafting and modifying the deduction as the clues were gathered. In short, he sucked, but he was still Ran's father, and Shinichi had seen the old timer solve cases on his own when he was serious.

Abruptly, Shinichi's brow furrowed. Hold on, when had he seen that? He was sure he must have, but he couldn't actually remember an instance of such off the top of his head. He tried to recall something specific, but his head started hurting so he stopped. It was probably one of the memories he'd lost to amnesia, so he resumed focusing on the original intent behind his question: checking in with Ran.

"And you? How are you doing?" he asked gently.

Shinichi noticed her hands tighten on the straps of her bag and her brow scrunched up. "You're going to think it's very heartless of me," she muttered.

His eyebrows rose. "Heartless?"

"Conan's gone forever, violently ripped away from us, and I am sad that he's gone but it's not… it's wrong somehow. I should feel devastated and unable to function, but… I don't. Somehow, with you back, I don't miss him as much anymore, and I feel like an awful, horrible person because of it."

Shinichi had no idea what to say to that, but he tried anyway. "Maybe… maybe since Conan and I had a lot of similarities despite our ages that your mind is coping with his absence by latching onto me to ease the sense of loss and still keep you functional?" he suggested.

Ran scowled at him, and he raised his hands in a pacifying gesture.

"It's just a possibility, that's all I'm saying, but for what it's worth, I think you're not the only one that might be doing it. Conan's friends also seem to have latched onto me subconsciously," he said.

And weirdly, he was happy that the kids liked him so much because he was also fond of them. He didn't have much interaction with kids before he went into hiding, and he was sure he still didn't unequivocally adore kids, but he was very partial to the Junior Detective League kids: Ayumi, Genta, and Mitsuhiko. He could have sworn there was another person in their group but questioning them about it proved he was just imagining it. Their group had only ever been the three of them with Conan.

"Ah, it looks like we're splitting off here," Ran said, and Shinichi realized they'd finally come to the street where they went separate ways to go home. "I'll see you tomorrow, Shinichi. Take care."

"Ah, yeah, you too, and be careful, okay?"

She gave him an amused smile. "Did you also forget that I do karate?" Then her smile softened. "Thank you for trying to make me feel better, Shinichi."

"Oh, of course, no problem. See ya," he said, and they split up.

Shinichi didn't walk directly to his house but passed it by in favor of his neighbor's. He didn't know why, but it felt more natural for him to go to Dr. Agasa's first. Yet another quirk of his amnesia and coma.

He was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he failed to notice the motorcycle parked on the side of the road in front of the Professor's house until he was nearly right on top of it. It was all black, and it had a slim, svelte look to it. He noted the brand was a Harley, but he also found a stylized red 'S' painted onto an empty space on the dashboard. Shinichi glanced from the bike to the Professor's house. Was the owner paying a visit to the Doc? Obviously Shinichi didn't know everyone who knew the Professor, but he couldn't imagine Agasa having any friends who rode motorbikes. Shinichi debated about whether to enter and possibly interrupt a meeting but decided to just apologize for it once he entered seeing as he didn't know if the bike owner was meeting Dr. Agasa. The Professor hadn't warned him in advance that he was having such a meeting, so this likely wasn't planned anyway.

Just as Shinichi was about to enter the front gate, he heard some voices shouting his name from further down the street. He glanced over and brightened. "Hey, you guys! You're coming to see the Professor too?" he shouted.

The kids came to a stop in front of him with ready smiles, just as delighted to see him as he was them. Perhaps this was the real reason he kept coming to the Professor's house first.

"Yeah, the Professor said he'd finished designing his first mobile game, and he wanted us to test it out for him!" Genta said.

"Yeah, it's a mystery game, and he told us he based it off our cases as the Junior Detective League," Mitsuhiko explained.

Immediately, shadows fell across their faces with the indirect reminder that their friend group was one short. Before they could dwell on it, Shinichi quickly pointed to the motorcycle. "Have you guys ever seen this bike before?"

The distraction worked, and the kids crowded curiously around it.

"Nuh-uh, but is it even real? I thought motorcycles were supposed to be big scary things that gangs ride around on causing trouble," Genta said.

"Not all motorcyclists are bad guys in gangs; Masked Yaiba rides one sometimes, remember, and he actually fights bad guys on it," Ayumi reminded him.

"There are some big bikes, but there are also small, simple ones like this, just like with cars," Mitsuhiko pointed out then turned to Shinichi. "But in answer to your question: no, we've never seen this bike before."

Shinichi smirked. "Then what do you guys say we head on into the Professor's and see what kind of person rides this bike?" he said.

Childish curiosity won out over social politeness, and the kids followed Shinichi to the front door.

Shinichi knocked and then called in, "Professor, it's me and the kids!"

After that, he pressed his ear to the door, and his lips twitched when he saw the kids crowd around his legs imitating him. He heard footsteps approaching though, so he stepped back with the kids just in time for the door to open and the Professor to beam at them.

"Oh, hi everyone. This is perfect timing; I actually have a guest I would like you all to meet. Come on in!"

Shinichi exchanged looks with the kids then led the way inside behind Agasa. They all removed their shoes and dropped their backpacks by the front door. They headed to the living room but stopped short. Sitting on one of the couches was a young woman with short reddish-brown hair cut at her jawline. She was sitting straight-backed and poised like a proper English gentlewoman drinking her tea except that she was dressed nothing like a lady. In fact, she was wearing thick black cargo pants and a padded black jacket with a high collar and a red v-stripe from each shoulder meeting at the center of her chest. It was protective gear for a motorcyclist. Shinichi also noticed a thin line cut horizontally across her left cheek just below her eye that looked suspiciously like a bullet scar.

"Everyone, this is Shiho Miyano who's recently moved to the area. Shiho, these are some of my friends who come by to visit me regularly and Shinichi here is also my neighbor," Agasa announced.

In turn, all of the kids introduced themselves ending with Shinichi. The woman looked at each of them directly in the eye as they spoke, and when it was Shinichi's turn, he was struck by a weird sense of familiarity.

She gave them a reserved smile when they finished then stood up and bowed. "Pleased to meet you everyone. As Dr. Agasa has kindly informed you, my name is Shiho Miyano, and I recently moved to the area. I heard there was an inventor who knew my parents, so I tracked him down to introduce myself and hopefully learn what he knew of them."

Shinichi didn't understand what was happening to him. Seeing this woman's face and hearing her talk somehow put a part of him at ease despite his natural reservations. He realized with shock that he trusted her though he had no logical reason for feeling that way.

He only belatedly noticed Ayumi approaching the woman and stopping directly in front of her with the same puzzled emotion he was feeling. "Miss Shiho, I don't know why because this is the first time I've ever seen you, but I feel like I've known you for much longer," she said.

Shinichi watched Shiho's expression soften with warmth – her true face, he realized – as she dropped to her knees to look at Ayumi on eye level. "You know… I think I feel the same way about all of you too," she said.

---

So now that we're at the very end of the story, the reason I decided to write the sequel was because I found I had too many loose threads to be handily wrapped up in an epilogue, and dedicating LOTS of extra chapters to resolving those issues after Vermouth was already defeated felt like it would be drag on. I decided to end this story at this point instead, and then left lots of hints in this chapter for potential stories/scenes/characters I could cover in the sequel.

The two things that surprised me the most about this chapter was Akai's endgame and Vodka's... confession? With Akai, I had originally planned to erase his memory of the Organization like everyone else, but after some deeper thought and character analysis, I realized that wouldn't work because given the Organization's prominence in his life history, he'd just find his way back to them even without the memories, and I get to have interesting interactions between him and Gin working together and not as criminals!

As for Vodka, I had always planned on him visiting Kir and apologizing to her for the warehouse incident, but then that scene kind of... bubbled over and became something more. It may seem out of nowhere, but truthfully, I've been kinda lowkey writing Vodka's relationship with Gin like this since the start. Heck, I may have even been projecting a bit since I recently realized I'm aromantic in addition to asexual (oof), but I guess what I'm saying is that I've been writing my Vodka as asexual and questioning on his romantic orientation without even knowing I was doing that. I suppose that's not really relevant to anyone but me, but yay! Characters making their writers do surprising things!