Chapter 15: Cards on the Table
Conan's face froze, then relaxed into casual skepticism. Heiji bristled, while neither Masumi nor KID looked particularly surprised—they had both known already, then. Alex was staring as if he was having doubts about Saguru's sanity.
"I first suspected when I saw you playing football here with the others," Saguru said. "I had noticed how much you resembled Kudo before, of course, from your physical appearance down to your deductive abilities, as well as how many of the people you were close to also knew him. All that could have been explained by his being an older cousin whom you idolized. But what that couldn't explain was how the way you moved in that match was almost identical to the way Kudo Shinichi played football, in a fan video I'd seen before."
The boy raised his eyebrows. "I wouldn't have thought you'd put stock into such an outlandish theory, Hakuba-niichan."
Saguru thought of Akako bringing down vengeance in the form of vipers, of Kaito pulling off miracles as if they were rabbits out of a white hat. "Let's just say that my horizon for what is and is not impossible has vastly expanded since a year ago."
"All ya have to go on is how he plays soccer like Kudo?" Heiji scoffed, but his eyes were darting panicked glances at Conan.
"No. After I thought of the theory, I called my Baaya before dinner and had her look up Kudo Shinichi's fingerprints. I received them this afternoon and compared them against ones I discreetly lifted from Edogawa-kun's drinking glass earlier. They were a perfect, if slightly shrunken match." Complete silence. "That is pretty definitive proof, I would say, even though I admit I have no idea how you became like this," Saguru finished mildly.
Conan closed his eyes, and sighed. After a long pause he opened them again and took off his glasses, staring back with that deep blue gaze.
"Yes, you're right. I am Kudo Shinichi."
Alex's jaw dropped. Hakuba looked pleased but also puzzled. "I know this is an extremely obvious question to ask, but how on earth did you turn from a teenager to a child?"
"I would like to know the details of that as well, tantei-kun," KID said. Masumi remained silent.
Shinichi looked around at them all, and grudgingly realized that he wasn't going to be able to get out of explaining this. "To make a very long story short: around two years ago I got force-fed an experimental poison by a member of the same organization Vermouth works for. Only instead of killing me without a trace like it was supposed to, it shaved about a decade off my age." Each word felt like it was being prised out of him with a crowbar. Like something long buried deep, now suddenly torn out of the earth and left exposed in the open air. When was the last time his secret had been revealed like this, and to so many people?
"Wait, you're telling me that some pill shrunk you down from a teenager to an eight year old?" Alex stared.
"I know." Shinichi waved his hands in front of his short child's body. "I would never have believed it if it hadn't happened to me. It's, well, it's like something out of a bad science fiction novel. Yet here I am."
"It's the truth," Heiji affirmed. "I figur'd it out too — the second time I met 'Conan'," he added a little bit smugly.
"Yes, but you also saw me as Kudo briefly," Shinichi pointed out. "Hakuba deduced it without that, even if it took him longer." He looked between KID and Masumi.
"I was eavesdropping," the phantom thief admitted. "And of course, I remembered Kudo Shinichi from the clock tower heist."
"I met you once before, years and years ago, when you were…well, around the same age as your current form," said Masumi. "At the beach. You've probably forgotten by now."
"No…I think I remember now," Shinichi said slowly. "A case happened there too. You were with your family…"
"So that's how everyone else knew about you," Alex said, still looking rather dazed. He gestured between Kudo, Hattori and KID. "I have so many questions, but before we move on, I'd like to go back a little. Hakuba deduced my past with MI6 after a kidnapping incident in London, but how did you all find out about it?"
Shinichi and Hattori looked at each other, and Shinichi shrugged. "Haibara knew there was something going on with you after your adventures in London and Lymstock, so she asked me to investigate you. I have some contacts in intelligence services, and well, we ended up getting an incomplete version of your intelligence file."
"How does Ai—ohh, she's like you isn't she?" Ai's un-childlike behaviour and maturity was suddenly and entirely explained.
"Yes, though I would rather she told her story herself."
"I would like to meet her again as well," Masumi piped in.
"…She's not going to be happy this many people found out about us, but I'll see what I can do." Kudo turned to Kaitou KID. "You found out about Alex through eavesdropping as well, I suppose?"
"No. Tantei-san is very diligent about his bug sweeps." KID looked at Saguru, and hesitated. Reluctantly, he said: "Koizumi-san told me about it."
Saguru sputtered. "How on earth does Akako know about Alex?"
"How does she know you?" Alex wondered aloud at the same time.
Conan's—no, Alex corrected himself, Kudo's—eyes suddenly brightened. "She helped you out at the Tiffany heist, didn't she KID? The two of you swapped places."
Saguru looked like he wanted to throttle KID. "No wonder you didn't have any scars the next day. She was the one who got shot. Why on earth did you let her get involved? Why didn't you stop her?!"
"Have you met Akako?"
"That's all very well, but how exactly does she know about me?" Alex interrupted. "As far as I know Akako doesn't have any connections to the police or to intelligence services … does she?" At this rate, he wouldn't even be surprised.
"Koizumi-san knows a rather disturbing amount of information she's not supposed to." KID exchanged glances with Saguru. "As for how… perhaps we should wait until she's back to tell them?"
Saguru still looked angry, but he nodded. "I agree. It is rather difficult to believe without seeing it in person."
Heiji narrowed his eyes. "What on earth are ya guys talkin' about?"
Saguru pinched the bridge of his nose. "Akako-kun has a…unique method of acquiring information, which may very well take us the entire night to explain convincingly. I'd rather wait until she's present to demonstrate, if that's fine with everyone."
"Okay, fine." Shinichi refocused his attention on Kaitou KID. He had caught the familiar way KID and Hakuba spoke about Hakuba's girlfriend, and mentally filed away the possibility that Hakuba knew KID's civilian identity. "So KID, what's your interest in Spider?"
"Little bit of this, little bit of that," the phantom thief responded blithely. Then his voice hardened. "But it comes down to this: I want the organization that he works for destroyed. That, I believe, we all have in common."
"The sniper at the heist, is he a part of it too?" Masumi asked. KID nodded. "But why would they want to kill you?"
"I've been trying to find something that they want before they can."
"I thought so. Your heists are actually a highly publicized search." Shinichi narrowed his eyes. "But why would the Black Organization be interested in jewelry?"
"Not jewelry; one specific gem. As for why…" Kaitou KID paused. "I would like to defer that until Koizumi-san has returned as well. It falls in the same domain, and she may have more information about this matter by then." Hakuba frowned upon hearing that.
"That organization…you seem to think that because Vermouth and Spider were allies, they belonged to the same Syndicate," Heiji spoke up. "But the one Kudo and I know of, all their top ranked agents have alcohol based code names. Spider doesn't fit."
"They could be different branches," KID said. "One with names derived from alcoholic drinks, one from animals. I know of another agent called Snake."
Hakuba stirred. "There is a drink called snake wine."
"And 'the spider' is what they call the last shot out of a bottle of liquor," Masumi added. "I agree that different branches is more likely, though." Her eyes narrowed. "Vermouth mentioned my brother Shu-nii."
"That Akai person she was talking about?" Alex asked.
Masumi nodded. "He's an FBI agent. They told me he died, but I don't quite believe it." She looked expectantly at Shinichi.
Hakuba blinked. "Kudo-san, you called in some FBI agents to try and capture Vermouth. What are they doing in Japan? It's outside their jurisdiction."
"The Black Organization also has significant presence in the United States. The FBI most likely started their investigations there, and then…followed it here."
"Like my brother," Masumi said excitedly. "He's alive, isn't he? Where is he?"
It took Shinichi a great effort to keep his voice flat, but he did it. "I can't answer that."
"Kudo-kun!"
"You remember seeing someone who looked like your brother on board the Bell Tree Express train, right?" Shinichi asked her. "That was actually Vermouth in disguise. She had been going around to people who knew Akai Shuichi, testing to see what they would let slip when they saw her."
Masumi bristled. "You're afraid I wouldn't be able to keep a secret?"
"That is rather harsh, Kudo-san," Hakuba agreed.
"Am I?" Shinichi looked around at them. "Vermouth is just as skilled at impersonation as KID, and she specializes in reconnaissance and infiltration. Can you be sure you wouldn't accidentally reveal something if someone who looked like your brother—or even one of us—came and asked?"
Alex stared. "Has anyone told you that you're just a bit paranoid?"
Heiji barked out a laugh. "Heh, you know what they say: it's not paranoia when they really are out to get ya."
Shinichi huffed and crossed his arms. "You all saw her in action here. Can you blame me for being cautious?"
"And you've been pretending to be Conan this entire time because you want this organization to believe they succeeded in killing Kudo Shinichi?" Hakuba frowned. "Why not go to the police?"
"And what makes you think," Shinichi asked flatly. "That they're not in the police?"
Hakuba's gaze widened, then shot to KID. Interesting. "Still, between Hattori's father and mine—"
Heiji saw the same opening Shinichi did, and took it. "And are ya absolutely sure that yer father is clean?" Heiji drawled.
"Yes!" Hakuba said reflexively. Kaitou KID gave him a questioning look (okay, the two of them definitely knew each other outside of heists), and he continued more carefully: "At least, I am reasonably sure."
"That's not good enough."
"Then I'll investigate until you're satisfied, one way or the other. Will that do?" Hakuba said, his voice clear and cold.
"Of course." The Superintendent General held the highest police rank in Japan. Shinichi wasn't blind to the powerful advantage he could be—he just needed to be sure it wouldn't be turned against them first.
Masumi shifted. "You say you know some people in the FBI, Kudo-kun. I...know someone in that area as well. And of course there's KID-san."
"Now we're talkin'." Heiji cracked his knuckles. "Kudo and I have some info on the higher members of the Org, and contacts in some intelligence agencies who also have hands in this big black pot. Once we shake out the rats in the police we'll go after them together."
Shinichi begun strategizing in his head. They could coordinate efforts between the police, the various intelligence services and KID, and start going on the offensive. Ai also seemed to be making progress with the antidote, and if Hakuba was willing to help her with equipment and research from Hakuba Labs, it could considerably speed up her progress. After two long years as Conan, he finally glimpsed a light at the end of the tunnel.
Then Alex, who had been listening silently, sat up and said in the same deliberate tone Shinichi and Heiji had just used with Hakuba: "You really think it'll be that easy, don't you?"
"Not easy, no." Shinichi said. "But possible."
"This won't be like another one of your cases."
Shinichi blinked. "Of course not. The take-downs will be handled by the police and FBI; they have the necessary resources and manpower. But we'd be able to help with the investigation aspect: finding the moles in the police and searching for other high ranked members of the Org and their Boss."
Alex crossed his arms. "And once you do, you want to lead them away in handcuffs, like Raina here?"
"I doubt they're going to come as quietly. But yes, I want to toss every single one of them in prison and throw away the keys."
"In the missions I've been involved in for MI6...the masterminds in charge were like the super-villains from James Bond. More than a little nuts, and willing to kill anyone who crossed their path. I'd guess the head of this Syndicate is the same?" Alex looked at Shinichi, who shrugged and nodded. "And there's another thing: none of these people have been arrested and put on trial, because none of them lived long enough to do so. They were all killed while or shortly after their plans were defeated."
From the look on Saguru's face, he was starting to understand the purpose of Alex's private talk with him before this meeting. He gave an uneasy cough. "Alex, I think I know what you're trying to say. None of us expects this to be easy. But don't you think you're being a little too pessimistic?"
"You guys are talking about going up against a global crime organization, Hakuba. It doesn't hurt to know exactly what you're getting into. Speaking of which: you mentioned intelligence agencies. Plural." Alex stared at Shinichi. "As in, more than just the FBI is investigating this Syndicate."
Shinichi shot an irritated glance at Heiji.
"So there are law enforcement and intelligence agencies already actively investigating this," Alex said. "Then why aren't you leaving this to them?"
Heiji snorted. "Like ya left it to the proper authorities in all yer missions?"
"Listen, I don't know how MI6 spun it in that file you read, but during my missions I would have given my right leg to have the kind of backup and info like what you're taking for granted. These agencies are both competent and above the level?" Shinichi and Heiji both nodded, Heiji looking indignant. "Then why can't you guys let them do their jobs? I mean, I know primary school probably isn't as fun the second time around, but how is chasing down a crime syndicate preferable?"
Alex didn't get it. There were already multiple intelligence agencies tackling this problem, and unlike his situation with Yassen and MI6, it sounded like they could actually count on these agencies. As far as he knew, there was no doomsday emergency requiring their immediate help. Saguru and Kudo and Hattori and Masumi and Kaito were free to be the high schoolers they were—so why weren't they dumping this and running away like any sensible person would?
Then understanding smacked him right between the eyes with all the subtlety of a two by four. The five figures standing in a loose circle about him didn't want to be normal teenagers. They were all here, after all; ordinary teenagers didn't investigate murders or commit grand larceny during their summer break.
"Because I've been stuck in the body of a child for two years!" Shinichi answered. "Because I want to go back to my friends as who I really am, back to my old life, and as long as They are still around I can't. Even if ignoring the Organization doesn't go against every tenet I hold as a detective, I don't want to keep hiding as Edogawa Conan. If there's anything I can do to end this charade I will."
"Shu-nii won't come back until this Syndicate is destroyed, and he's not the only member of my family they've hurt," Masumi said. "I'm in."
"An' like hell I'm gonna sit still when my friend's throwin' himself into danger," Hattori said. "I'm not a coward."
Alex groaned. "That's not what I'm implying!" He leaned forward and spoke more slowly, trying to turn the jumble of thoughts inside him into something that was not only coherent but cogent. "Look, I admit that I am not the best at looking before I leap, but I want to make sure you—all of you—are prepared for what the costs of doing this could be." He thought of Egypt again — the explosion and the gunshot which together had taken the last of his childhood. "What you could lose—not just your own life, but the lives of those you love, and the rules you never thought that you would break."
"MI6 has told me that I've saved the world before. But I still don't know that someone else couldn't have done it instead." He had lost Jack, and any hope of a normal life. "I just want to make sure that you won't regret it."
"I don't know about that," Saguru said softly. "All I know is that if I decide not to do anything, I will regret that choice."
Masumi raised an eyebrow. "You don't have a personal stake in this, Hakuba-kun."
"My reasons are the same as Hattori's," Saguru answered her. Hattori grunted in surprise, while KID went still.
Shinichi had been assessing Alex with narrowed eyes since his speech, matching the boy's words with the dry black-and-white precis of his intelligence file, getting a shape of exactly what those files had left out. The picture he built… "I will not kill," he said simply. "No matter what happens. Everything else…I'll take it as it comes."
Alex wasn't surprised, but he felt something bittersweet wash over him. "I hope that you will be more successful in keeping what you value than I was," he said sincerely, and sighed. "Well, once we get back to Tokyo I should probably inform MI6 about the Syndicate and see if they have any intel about them."
KID blinked. "After all that talk, you're still planning to work with us?"
"Much as it pains me to say it, I believe that I am the subject expert in this area." Alex said. At the others looks: "Unless any of you guys have also taken down a global crime syndicate before, in which case I am perfectly happy to step out."
A part of Alex could not believe the irony. If Blunt were here to see him now, he would surely remark on how willing Alex was to jump into this—trying to take down yet another criminal organization—when MI6 had to twist his arm every single time.
But Blunt and MI6 were adults who blackmailed a teenager to do their job. These five were more like Alex himself: far too young to take on such a dangerous and difficult endeavor. Alex couldn't let them take it on alone—it would make him as bad as Blunt.
Shinichi frowned. "Won't MI6 view this as you deciding to return to the field?"
"They can view this however they like; I'm not working for them, and they don't have a hold over me anymore."
"Quite the reverse, it sounds like, actually," Masumi said, sounding pensive.
Heiji punched one fist into another. "Oh man, this is going to be amazin'."
Saguru scowled at his enthusiasm. "This is not what I had planned to do during my summer break."
The enormity of it all struck Alex then. They were really going to do this. The six of them were really going to try to take down an entire crime syndicate, one that multiple intelligence agencies have been attempting to destroy for years. How would they be able to succeed where so many others had failed?
And yet Saguru was right: Alex could not choose to step back and do nothing. He wasn't capable of being a bystander; not anymore, maybe not ever.
The six eyed each other—new allies, and maybe something more. "Well then," Alex said, "How do we begin?"
He'd meant it to be rhetorical, but Shinichi answered anyways. "We'll pool all our information together once we get back to Tokyo. Then we can start looping in the FBI and others as well."
Kaito shook his head solemnly. "Before that, there's something even more important we need to do first."
He paused until he was sure of everyone's attention, and grinned. "We're a team now. Don't we need a name?"
A/N: Well, I think I've learned never to make bets about my update speed, because life will take that as a challenge. For all of you who have waited so patiently, thank you and I hope you enjoyed the ending!
As for part three, I have the title and a bunch of ideas, but after my experiences with writing the first two parts I don't think I'll start posting unless I complete a full draft first. I do also have some other ideas in different fandoms/genres that I want to attempt writing as well. In the meantime, feel free to check out my fav list!
Once again, thank you all for reading!
