Chapter 10
Ran's POV
"Ran-neechan, can you keep a secret."
I turned to look at Conan-kun in surprise. Though the words were spoken in a child's voice for some reason it didn't sound at all childish. And then I was even more surprised to see the dead serious look on Conan-kun's face.
"… Dinner can wait." I said finally walking over to sit next to him.
He looked as though he didn't know where to start. He kept opening his mouth then closing it again, like he was searching for the right words. And all the while his face was set in a serious but incredibly guilty expression, not an expression one would normally see on a child.
"I've lied to you Ran, I've been lying to you since you met Conan, I'm sorry." He stated finally.
I waited for him to continue. I had immediately notice that he wasn't using the same tone of voice he usually did. It was deeper and more mature. Part of my brain also noticed the lack of a neechan at the end of my name. And since when did he refer to himself in third person.
He seemed to be struggling to find words again, "Remember all those times you thought I might actually be Shinichi, and I would always deny it, well the truth is…" He turned to face me taking off his glasses and staring me strait in the eyes, "the truth is you were right, I am Shinichi."
I was in shock, in my head my thoughts were running around like a squirrel on coffee. 'Am I hearing right, Conan and Shinichi are the same person, I had often suspected it but to have it confirmed… But how is this possible? Why did it happen? What happens now? Who made him like this? Who? What? When? Where? Why?' But the most reoccurring question was, 'Why did he have to keep it a secret?'
I was brought back to earth by Conan, no, Shinichi shaking me. "Ran, snap out of it Ran, can you hear me, RAN!"
I stared at him, finally seeing Conan for who he really is, "Shinichi. How?" Was all I could whisper.
He stared at his feet, "It happened that day at Tropical Land after I ran off, I was following one of those men in black that were on the roller coaster. That's when I witnessed an illegal business transaction. That's when I made a really stupid mistake, I forgot to watch my back and I ended up getting hit on the head by the first guy's partner. They didn't want me to tell anyone about them so they used me as a guinea pig for an untested poison. You can see the results."
The shock was starting wear off and I was starting to get angry, "WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME, YOU BAKA!!!" I shouted.
He winced "I wanted to but those men left me for dead. If there was any indication otherwise they would have come after not only me, but everyone around me, and I couldn't risk you getting hurt."
I couldn't stay mad, not at Shinichi when he was so small and (dare I say it) cute. As my anger started to ebb my head began to connect the dots about all the oddities I'd noticed. And I still had questions.
"How did you make it so that 'Conan' and 'Shinichi' were in the same place at the same time? For that matter how did you get big again anyway?" I asked.
"Well, the first time is because I drank that alcohol that Hattori brought…"
And it all came pouring out, how he'd deceived me, about Haibara Ai, how he made my father famous (I wasn't too happy about that), everything. No more secrets.
Finally he said in an almost fearful voice "Are you still mad?"
I wasn't really, but I wasn't going to let him know that. He HAD kept me in the dark for the whole year so I had to have him sweat it out somehow. I couldn't hit him, but I think I'd better dig up those panda bear pajamas I bought him awhile ago. After all there were other methods of revenge.
My thoughts must have shown on my face, because he slowly began to edge away from me with a fearful expression.
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Haibara's POV
"You told her didn't you," I said over the phone.
About three hours after Kudo-kun left, the phone had rung and I'd answered on the first ring.
He had the grace enough to sound sheepish, "Yeah."
"So how'd she take it?" I had to ask.
"Well, she didn't hit me, but I think she's planning something else," at that he sounded nervous. "But on a brighter note we came up with a plan to get the Hardys off our backs."
I frowned, knowing where this was going, "Can't she just fire them and be done with it?"
"If she did it would be suspicious, and then they would poke there noses in even deeper," Was his answer.
I sighed "And I've hung around you long enough to know that that is never a good way to keep a secret. So I guess your reason for calling is because you want another prototype antidote."
"Umm, please."
I rolled my eyes, "and what do you plan to tell them."
"Only the barest details, enough to satisfy them, but not enough to put them in danger, and nothing on shrinking" He said.
We agreed that he and Ran would come over tomorrow for the pill, then we hung up. Even so, I had a feeling that they were heading for trouble.
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Jodie's POV
To the average passersby I would have appeared to be an average foreign woman, enjoying a cup of coffee in a café, but in reality two parts of my brain were having an all-out debate.
On one hand, I trusted Cool Kid completely, and want to tell him what I'd dug up on the Hardy brothers. But the other side argued that I should respect the two as ATAC agents and shouldn't interfere.
It hadn't been hard to get the information. With my status as an FBI agent I was able to learn about those boys's impressive work for ATAC. Now my problem was whether or not to share it.
My thoughts were interrupted by my phone ringing. A glance at the caller ID told me that it was Kir.
I after a quick look around answered it, "Yes."
"It seems Gin and Vodka have a new hit list," she said getting strait to the point.
I frowned, "Who and why."
"Have you ever heard of Kudo Shinichi," she said.
I smiled grimly, "who hasn't. I myself had the pleasure of watching him solve a case a few months ago. Bright boy, he reminds me of Cool Kid."
She gasped, "A few months… but… he's dead. Gin and Vodka killed him a year ago."
Now it was my turn to gasp, "But I saw him, he was alive and kicking. He collapsed for a bit, but that was just from a fever. I'm sure it was really him, Ran-chan insists on it."
Kir was silent for a moment and I could here the clacking of a keyboard in the background. "It says he died after witnessing a bribery taking place, he was force fed poison by Gin himself. The body was never found but he's been marked down as deceased. Wait, hold on, it was marked down by Sherry, and not long after that she betrayed the Organization."
"Sherry?" I said thinking of the brave little girl that Cool Kid was friends with.
"Yes, she was the one who created the poison, If Kudo is alive like you say then she must have been protecting him. They still haven't found her."
That didn't make any sense, but I figured that we were getting too off topic. "If they think Kudo is dead then who are the real targets?"
"Huh, oh, the reason I brought Kudo up is because a pair of detectives have been snooping around his disappearance and the Organization is getting worried." Kir said quickly getting back to the reason she called.
"What are their names?" I asked
"Hardy Frank, and his brother Joe."
I froze my face paling, "Don't worry, I'll keep them safe," I said. And with that she hung up.
I stare down at my now cold cup of coffee. Again I was musing over two different things. One part of me was going over what Kir had said about Kudo and Sherry. The other was wondering how I was going to get these kids out of this mess.
End Chapter 10
A/N Yes Ran is going to extract her cute panda-y revenge,