A/N:IT'S ABOUT TIME I UPDATED THIS. This is the final chapter.

Chapter 9 Finale

"You mean...Sonozaki-san and Hojo-san...were behind this?" Shinichi stuttered, in utter shock and disbelief. To him, those two had seemed like kind, ordinary people, but to think that they were capable of such horrors such as locking them up and trying to prevent them from seeing the truth...either Rena was lying or else telling the truth. Something in her eyes conveyed a message to Shinichi that she was being genuine.

Rena nodded her head slowly. "Yes...at first, I did not think they could be capable of such a horrible deed, but then I did some research on their activities after the Great Hinamizawa Disaster-which was not a disaster, I assure you-and discovered that they have gotten in trouble with the law before. The good, loving people I once knew and cared for died long ago in that tragic accident on the third day after the Watanagashi Festival, and I think the trauma of losing their friends caused both of them to go insane."

Ran seemed to be thoughtful for a few moments, and then she spoke. "You mean...that those two...were hiding their insanity from us all this time?" She asked, and her eyes were wide with shock, and tears. She had thought of Sonozaki-san and Hojo-san as being nothing more than a pair of genuinely kind, caring people, and now they were murderers?

Shinichi noticed her reaction, and put a hand on her shoulders. He was used to seeing this sort of thing happen all the time-he was a detective, after all, and detectives had a rough life seeing the best of people degenerate into the most hideous killers imaginable. Anyone who was pushed to the extreme would commit heinous acts, he supposed, to try and survive, but even he would never think of killing anyone...right? As a detective, his job was to protect people from the bad people who were a scourge to society, but what if he was just a hypocrite?

"Kudou-san, I must tell you the truth about these people. This will also involve me digging up some of my old secrets. Twenty-three years ago, I discovered my father was getting ripped off by a pair of thugs who were after him for his money. I couldn't think of anything else, so I lured the woman to a dump and beat her to death and then killed the man. They were so despicable that they deserved the fate they got. I started to bury the corpses but then my friends found me and we all swore to bury them in a place where no one would ever know where they were. But then, something strange took a hold of my mind, and I started to think that my friends had betrayed me, and I did crazy things. I ended up taking my school hostage, but then Keiichi-kun stopped me from going through with it. Shortly after...you know what happened. I ended up being cooped in that mental asylum for years until you showed up and stopped those people from taking me away."

Shinichi, Shiho, Ran, and Kaito were all silent as Rena's words all sunk into them. She was an impassioned speaker, and her high intelligence stunned them all, though Ran was staring at her in abject horror, as if she couldn't believe that such a woman would be capable of such horrors. Kaito looked more curious than anything else, and there was a serious look on his face. Shiho's blue eyes were full of sympathy, and her face was still a mask.

Shinichi stared at all of them and then his gaze went to Rena, who was staring at him intently. Would he judge her to be nothing more than a murderer, and arrest her? He shook his head. "I'm not going to judge you for the actions you took so long ago. I don't think what you did was wrong, but I'm sure you have atoned for it by bearing all of this loneliness and isolation for years...right? In a way, I know how it feels to be all alone..." His gaze went to the ground.

"Kudo..." Shiho whispered. She knew where he was going with this conversation. Ran's eyes widened in surprise. Kaito merely looked saddened.

"Shinichi, you don't have to think about that. It's over now." Ran said comfortingly. "I'm just shocked that such a nice girl like you can be capable of such horrifying things."

"...Mouri-san, there are people who can grow used to such things if they are exposed to them enough times and over a period of time. Do not forget that I am acquainted with the sorts of things that Ryuuguu-san has gone through. I do not intend to divulge those things right now."

"What kind of lies are you keeping from me, Kudou, I wonder?" Rena whispered. "I hate liars..."

Shinichi's eyes widened slightly. "I'm not a liar."

"Yes, you are. Tell Rena what you are hiding." She whispered, coming closer towards him, her blue eyes full of interest...and madness. She then started to laugh loudly, which scared him.

"...All right, I guess now is the time where I spill the beans." Shinichi said, staring at Rena with serious blue eyes, eyes that like her, had seen many sad and disturbing things. "I have been keeping a few things...notably, what happened to me a year ago. I saw something I shouldn't have seen by some men in black, and they attacked me from behind and fed me some poison that was supposed to kill me. Instead, I wound up reverting to the age of seven physically and escaped, still retaining my adult mind. I took on a pseudonym and had to lie to her all the time about where I was, what I was doing, all the while still watching people suffer through murder after murder...I suppose I've become desensitized to such things, though Ran still hasn't. I could return to my adult self only when I had a cold, and even then, it was horrifying. The first time, it felt like my heart was going to explode out of my chest, and I felt as though my bones were melting away into nothingness...it was very horrifying to have to go back to being Conan...sometimes, it would only take a few hours and then I'd be forced back into that little, weak, powerless body. Eventually, I made Miyano, who made the drug and was raised in the organization."

"When her sister was killed, she had enough and stopped making the drug. They decided to get rid of her by gassing her, but she had other plans. She took the same poison from her pocket in order to kill herself, but instead she wound up shrunk like me and escaped, until she was found by a close friend of mine. She kept a close eye on me for a time, and then we started trusting each other some more. It's tough for her to try and live a normal life." Shinichi finished.

"What you went through was terrifying. What I went through was terrifying...but we both pulled through it, didn't we?" Rena said, and then she extended a hand to him. "If we all work together, we can stop them, right?"

"I forgot about Hattori and Toyama-san! They're on the other side of town!" Shinichi exclaimed.

"We've already taken care of them." A female voice uttered, and then all of them turned around and saw Shion and Satoshi standing there, looking menacing. Behind him were the limp bodies of Kazuha and Heiji. They weren't dead, just unconscious, but it looked as though Kazuha had been tortured somehow.

"What the hell did you do to them?" Shinichi demanded.

"Simple. They got in the way because they knew too much. You also know too much, Kudou-and as a result, you have to be annihilated. You as well, Rena-chan. I can't believe you all fell for our little act. All we had to do was make up that little sob story...and then you guys were all on our side and suspecting Rena-chan..." Shion said, grinning evilly.

"Who caused the disaster?" Rena demanded. "Was it any of you?"

Satoshi shook his head. "No...it is true that Shion evacuated me...but we never saw any of the bodies of our friends. We escaped into the mountains of Gifu and fled further east. The only reason we knew about that was because...someone went in to talk to Rena years ago, disguised as a nurse. Actually, that person was Shion dressed up as a nurse, because she needed information out of Rena about the disaster. Rena wouldn't talk, though, so Shion provoked her into attacking her and then she disappeared just as the actual doctors showed up. Rena didn't have the slightest clue that we, her friends were aware of her existence...and were spying on her for twenty-three years. We're the ones who put her in there in the first place. Once you say the right words and honeyed messages, everyone falls for it sooner or later. There was already an existing record of her having attacked her classmates with a bat, so we knew no one would raise any doubts about this arrest."

"....You bastard." Rena said, clutching her fist tightly.

"We didn't have anything to do with the killings, but we did manipulate most, if not all, of the little tricks here in Hinamizawa Village. The cutting of the bridge was Shion's doing, because we like to keep some things hidden. Both of us slammed the door on you four and shut you in. Then, we ran into Rena and pretended that we had just been down here looking for you guys. She didn't suspect anything until we heard the whistle from that stupid kid. He and that girl were too easy to knock out. They aren't dead. Now, we're going to kill all five of you, so the secret you just heard goes with you to the grave." Satoshi declared, raising his metal bat up, but then a pink ball rolled on the ground near his feet, and suddenly smoke filled his lungs, and both of them gagged.

"Damn...a smoke bomb!" Shion screamed. "I'll go this way!" She cried, pointing down the opposite way. Satoshi nodded.

Shinichi was positioned at the end of the hallway when suddenly Shion approached, waving her taser and grinning maniacally. "Hi, there." He said, and then he kicked a soccer ball in the air and then hit it with his right leg, which had been charging up its power, and it flew at Shion and hit her square in the head, knocking her out.

"Score for the meitantei!" Kaito cheered. "I'll take care of the other one."

Rena stopped him. "This is my job. I'll kill them."

"No need to." Shinichi said.

"I have to." Rena said sternly. "They aren't my friends...at least, not anymore. They're nothing but aliens possessing their disembodied corpses." She said seriously. "Let me do it."

Shinichi reluctantly nodded. "I suppose..."

Rena smiled. "This could be the last time we meet each other, detective. I'm meitantei Rena next time we meet, in another universe..." She trailed off.

Then she darted away.

Satoshi was not expecting to see Rena come, wielding a Japanese hatchet. "So, you're all by yourself, huh?"

Rena didn't make a sound. He never expected her to come flying at him from behind and slice through his back. Blood spurted out as Satoshi dropped the bat where it clattered on the ground and then fell, limply. He fell, dead.

Shion was still unconscious. Rena went over to her friend, and put the machete over her friend's chest, but she couldn't do it. She couldn't kill her...

Shinichi came over to her and let her put the machete aside. Then, the police arrived a short while later and charged Sonozaki Shion with attempted murder and for murdering her husband, Hojo Satoshi. Rena was acquitted of all previous charges thanks to Shinichi.

A little purple-haired girl sat in a field, sniffling. Then another purple-haired girl came up to her and took her hand in her small hand. "It's time to go, Hanyuu. We have one last chance to make things right."

"Hauu...you're right, Rika."

THE END