Act 2 Scene 6 高校卒業 [Koukou Sotsugyou] 'Highschool Graduation'

Probably the worst thing about all of this was how freaking happy everyone was. Sonoko and Ran were up obscenely early, their cheerful voices echoing down the hall as they planned the elaborate deaths of their "ugly school uniforms." It was graduation day.

The previous week, they'd finished their finals. He'd helped Ran study and let himself become immersed in it, so he could ignore this impending day. Ignoring it, as it turned out, didn't make it not happen.

Now Ran was skipping around the apartment, talking about entering the police academy next month, while waiting for Conan and Kogorou to finish getting ready. Kogorou set down his scissors, having carefully trimmed his mustache to a thin dark line. He looked down at Conan beside him, who was dawdling at brushing his teeth.

"She used to use that step ladder to reach the sink too." He dampened a washcloth, and wiped away the last bits of shaving cream. "I'm glad it's getting good use." He gently tussled Conan's hair, and looked away sadly, lost in thought.

Conan spat out the toothpaste foam, letting the running sink whisk it away. He silently disagreed, and slipped out of the bathroom.

After school, Conan casually said his good-byes to the Detective Boys, fighting the rising fear that brought bile to his mouth. Haibara hadn't been in school. He'd tried to contact her during the breaks, but had gotten no answer, and no answer from Dr. Agasa either. Then again, Agasa wasn't exactly good at remembering to bring his cellphone with him or keeping it charged. When he was sure the Detective Boys were out of sight, he broke into a sprint.

His stubby little legs ached and his lungs burned by the time he got to Dr. Agasa's house. Panting and heaving he tried to collect himself as he rang the doorbell, then rang it again because a few seconds was too much time to wait for a response. Finally, as he reached for the bell a third time, he heard Agasa's heavy footsteps hurrying to the door. He leaned against the wall, his body starting the shake from the exertion and adrenaline. The moment the door opened, Conan yelled, "I've been calling all day! Why didn't you answer?"

Agasa crossed his arms and scowled down at Conan. "We were at the hospital, and only just got back. Ai's been sleeping, and I was in too big a rush to get my cellphone charger."

"The hospital?" Conan felt his knees weakening. "Don't tell me-" he didn't get to finish his sentence, as Haibara's red-brown head peaked around Agasa's legs. She was wearing loose-fitting pajamas over a big red cast over her arm, which dangled from a sling hung off her shoulder. Her face was swollen and purple, and bandages covered one of her cheeks. Her neck had the marks of adult-sized hands wrapped around them.

"Stop gaping like an idiot, Kudou," Haibara snapped. "It's not as bad as it looks."

He closed his mouth and quietly followed them inside, anger and confusion whirling about his head, bottled up and ready to explode. When they got to the living room, he yelled, "Why? Why did you let her do this to you! I told you we'd work something else out, ANYTHING else out!"

Haibara waited until he had to stop for breath to answer him. "Who do you think is responsible for the most murders in the organization?"

Conan felt something in his chest tighten painfully as he realized something he'd forgotten about, after so long seeing Haibara as an ally and friend to be protected.

"I am. I invented an untraceable poison. I tested it on humans. I killed hundreds of people in the first month alone. And after I left, even after I destroyed my research, they had plenty of it already made, and continued to use it. That makes me responsible for more deaths than even Gin could dream of achieving. Hating that I've done these things, hating that they were being done even while I was doing them, that doesn't change the fact that I've done them. When I tried to commit suicide, I felt like it could be some small justice for all of the horrible things I've done, but instead, I shrunk and escaped the justice I tried to deal to myself. All of those people I've hurt and killed, including you, including Vermouth and Areku, I owe you anything I could possibly do to pay the debt of suffering I've racked up. So, I let Vermouth give me her justice until she couldn't hit me anymore. Because of that, she'll never try to kill me again. She's completely devoted to taking down the organization, and has given me directions to a secret stash she'd been building up of compromising documents on all of the organization's agents since Areku's escape. Stopping the people using my poison against others is how I've decided to repay this debt." She closed her eyes and sat back on the comfy couch.

"But, I didn't want you to get hurt!" Conan blurted out. "I don't want to be repaid in blood!"

"You're not," Haibara retorted. "I repaid Vermouth in blood. I'm repaying you with the information you need to take the organization down."

The words sounded impossible to Conan. It'd been two years since he'd found himself face-down in the amusement park, writhing in agony as his body turned back time. Two years of constant danger and setbacks. Could it really be over so simply? So easily?

Her voice shook him from his thoughts. "What are you waiting for? Go end this nightmare, Shinichi Kudou."

Agasa came from his study and dropped a small stack of printed off papers. "What's this?" he asked.

"That woman left these with us last night, after…" Agasa bit his tongue and turned away.

Conan turned the over and examined them. They'd been printed out only moments before. Crisscrossing lines over the first page formed a map of a neighborhood in Shinjuku, from the looks of it. "Professor, could you give us a lift to Shinjuku?" Conan asked, reading over the instructions.

"Shinichi, if it's all the same to you," Agasa said, shaking his head, "I think you should just hand this off to the FBI and be done with it. You seem to forget that you're only one person, and the FBI has been chasing them for decades. They have the manpower and connections to take the organization down; you don't."

Clenching his jaw, Conan said, "I have to see this through. The militant side of their organization will be under much deeper cover than their scientists, and they need to be drawn out somehow."

"At least take Ran with you when you follow this trail. My basement is covered in blood that I'm going to spend the afternoon cleaning up." With that, Agasa turned and made his way back into the basement, picking up some heavy-duty cleaning agents he'd left by the door on his way down.

He had a point. After all, Ran had made it crystal clear that she wanted to help fight the organization, and this trip was going to require a trip into a rather sketchy neighborhood of Shinjuku, where the glamorous lights couldn't reach. A little kid travelling alone would be in danger. He pulled out his cellphone, selected Ran's name, and hit [send].

"Hello? This is Ran's phone, Deduction Queen Sonoko speaking!" In the background, Conan could hear the noise of a graduation party well underway. Music was blaring, and shrieks of laughter echoed about what sounded like a room with high ceilings and hard walls.

"It's Conan; I need to speak with Ran!" he said, turning up his obnoxious kiddy-voice.

"Honey? The phone's for you!" Sonoko called in the sugary-sweetest, tooth-rotting, kill-me-now voice. They were already calling each other "honey?" Conan grit his teeth. Sonoko is a good person, and Ran loves her. Sonoko is a good person and Ran loves her. SonokoisaGoodPerson and RanLovesHer.

Finally Ran answered, breathless from laughing at something that Conan couldn't see. "Ran speaking."

"Ran? I've got a hot lead. Can you meet me at the subway station?"

"Could I go home first?"

"No, we don't want any chance of Them following us."

The mirth from Ran's voice vanished. "Roger. See you in half an hour?"

"Right. I'll explain what's going on when we meet."

They said their goodbyes, and he hung up. This could be the end of this mess, he realized. This really could be it. Butterflies danced in his stomach all the way down to the crowded subway. His enthusiasm diminished when he saw Sonoko standing by Ran, talking with her expressive arms over something… Pretending to tip a top hat? Probably Kaitou KID then. There must have been another heist announcement. Trust Sonoko to know well in advance of anyone else. He slipped up behind them, and tugged on the hem of Ran's skirt.

When she looked down to him, he said in his whiny little brat voice, "Why is she here?"

Ran put her hands on her hips, like a disappointed mother. "Unlike Shinichi, I don't lie to my girlfriend."

Sonoko grinned and blushed, not noticing Conan's horrified expression. He snatched Ran's hand and dragger her away from Sonoko, shouting over his shoulder, "I just need to ask her something really fast!" When they were out of earshot, he pulled her down to his height and hissed into her ear, "Are you trying to get us all killed?"

"Shin-" She stopped, face reddening. "Conan. First of all, I didn't tell her about the poison or what it did to you. All I told her was that you and I are helping Shinichi in a dangerous investigation that needs to be top secret, and that I can't tell her most of the details, so if she's questioned by badguys she'll be able to deny knowledge honestly. Second, Sonoko isn't dumb. She sometimes plays dumb because people expect her to be, like you. She's not going to blab about our investigation to anyone. Third, she's offering to pay for a cab. Fourth, your jealousy is showing. Quit acting like my jealous ex, and act like my little brother. Got it?"

He nodded, studying the grungy floor. He kept quiet, lost in his own thoughts on the taxi ride to Shinjuku.

The taxi skedaddled as soon as Sonoko paid their fare, leaving them standing at the rusty gate. The building the map indicated was a grim 80's era grey concrete box. The windows all had shutters or bars over them, or both. None of them could be seen through. The doors has locks and bolts – including the mailboxes. In order to take or leave anything from the steal boxes, one needed a key. The building resembled a hedgehog rolled into a prickly, uninviting ball. The instructions led them to a set of keys for the gate, door, and bolt lock, carefully hidden behind a loose brick in the brick wall of the alley. Shivering in the spring chill as the sun started to set, they slipped into apartment that had been indicated on the map. Other than there being no wind, it was no warmer inside. The lights hadn't been changed in twenty years, and won't turn on either.

As his eyes adjusted to the murky darkness of the apartment, Conan's heart fell. It was a studio apartment, packed from floor to ceiling with paper, manila folders, three-right binders. There was only the small space they were standing in not filled with documents. Vermouth was older than the proliferation of PCs, he realized. She must not trust digital information. There was no way he and his small network of friends could go through all of this, not without years of time to do it. Like Agasa had predicted, he had to hand all of this over to the FBI. Sighing, he dialed Agent Jodie.

She answered in English, but switched to Japanese when she heard his voice. "Oh, Cool Kid! It's nice to hear from you again. How are you?"

He sniffled, and searched his pockets for his handkerchief. "Cold. Right now I'm in a studio apartment in Shinjuku which is almost completely filled with stolen documents from the Black Organization."

There was a moment of silence before a near deafening, "WHAT?" assaulted his eardrums.

"You heard me. It's probably enough intel to do some serious damage to them, far more than you've ever been able to do before. If you want it, you'll have to agree with some of my demands."

Apparently he'd been put on speakerphone, because James Black's voice answered him. "Anything you want, little detective."

He took a deep breath. This was it. This was it! "The Japanese police, or rather, the ones that I've cleared of suspicion, must be read in. And, I want to help plan the capture of the militant wing of the organization that's stationed in Tokyo."

"Done," Agent Black said, with zero hesitation. "Is that all?"

Conan grinned. This was it!

Author's Note:

I ended up having to do some major revisions to this chapter. Highschool graduation was a huge deal for my family and community. There was a big ceremony that pretty much the entire town turned up to watch. There was a concert, hours of official speeches, 'the walk', and afterwards, hours of partying. I was given my second car. (My first was a junker that had been left to rot in a field. I bought it for $1 and fixed it up. It had no bumper or backseat.) And, I was given hundreds of dollars in cash and other expensive gifts. I had assumed that highschool graduation would be a Big Deal in Japan too. But, after doing some research, I found that it really isn't. There's a ceremony, but it's whenever finals end, sometimes in the middle of the week! Other students don't get time off to watch the seniors graduate, and it's a pretty short, swift ceremony. The Big Deal is made over college graduation instead.

また来週！(See you next week!)

dreamingfifi