Chapter 10: Conan dies.
I'm so sorry! [gets on the floor and bows, banging head of the floor]
I've just reread my previous chapters and realised how bad my spelling and grammar has been so far. In chapter three I was even missing words out. I'm such a bad author. I'm in the process of rereading them and correcting it. Thank you for reading such poor work!
"You need to stop running Shinichi" says Kaito, serious for once. Hearing his name rather than a nickname, Shinichi raises himself up on his elbows to look over at Kaito. There is no smile on Kaito's face, and his eyes are strong and defiant. "You have to do it sooner or later. You said so last week. There's no better time than now to do it." Shinichi sighs, drops back onto the bed and returns his gaze to the ceiling. A ceiling that is providing no answers. They are in Shinichi's room of the Vongola Mansion. They had new rooms in the Underground, since they weren't part of the family, nor were they Guardians. Hearing a click and a clop, Shinichi fully sits up and looks at Kaito.
But instead of Kaito, it's Conan's mother standing there, dressed in that purple dress, her heels tapping impatiently on the floor. "Come on Conan, it's time to return to America" She says sternly, no give in her eyes.
"I know, but… I don't want to see them all cry. Both the kids and Ran will cry. I knew that sooner or later Conan would leave… I knew it." Shinichi looks away and whispers the last line to himself, trying to reassure himself that he knew this would happen. Another click and a clop, and a hand reaches over to rub his shoulder.
"Wouldn't you rather seem them cry than get harmed looking for you." Kaito leans forward and grabs Shinichi's shoulders, shaking him lightly. "You are Shinichi the Mafioso now. It's better for them if Conan left for America. They won't worry, nor will they try to find you. But Conan missing for weeks on end whilst you are on a mission? They will certainly start looking for you then. Do you want the kids and Ran to get hurt looking for you in this world? You have a great relationship with Ran and the Detective Boys' as Conan, so leave it as it is. Drag this on any longer, and the relationships you have between you will start to strain. Leave now, whilst the consequences are a few tears, rather than arguments and pain."
Shinichi looks down for a few moments, thinking about the consequences. "You are right Kaito. It's better this way. Let's go see Boss, we need to sort it out." Shinichi walks out of the door and starts down the corridor. Looking back a few seconds later, it was once again Kaito, rather than Conan's mother, who was following.
They walk down the corridor filled with paintings, and knock on Tsuna's door. Gokudera opens it, glasses perched on his nose, hair tied back.
"Oh, it's you guys. What do you want?" he asks, still standing in the door way.
"We've come to see Boss, we need to ask him to help us with something. Does he have a moment?" replies Shinichi, remaining polite.
"Let them in Gokudera" comes the rushed reply from further inside. Gokudera nods, and steps aside, opening the door. Tsuna is finishing the last of a small pile of paperwork. He signs the last document, puts it in a folder, and looks up at the two. "Are you guys fitting in okay?" he asks, concerned for their wellbeing.
"We're doing just fine, Tsuna, thanks" replies Kaito, absently shuffling a pack of cards. "We need your help with something though" he gives Shinichi a light push, making him take a step forward. Tsuna looks over to Shinichi, eyes attentive
"It's about Conan." He starts " I want to tell Ran and the Detective Boys', Conan's friends from School, that he's going back to America. I don't want them worrying about him, and trying to find him. It's better for them to think he's innocently in America."
"Hmm, that's a good idea, Shinichi. We don't want to worry them. Since you are Shinichi rather than Conan now, he really does need to go. So how are you going to do it?" Tsuna agrees.
"Well, I was hoping that Kaito would dress up as his mum again, and tell Ran that he needs to go home." He looks over his shoulder, and gets an affirmative nod from Kaito. "My excuse for leaving last week was my grandmother was in the hospital. We can say she died so we don't have any more relatives in Japan, therefore, they want me to go back to America. It's just that they would want to accompany me to the airport and see Conan off. I'm not sure how to get around that. They are a persistent bunch"
"Is that all, well that's easy. Gokudera?" Tsuna smiles at Shinichi, before looking to his right.
"I'll get on it Juudaime. It's easy enough for one of my team to create fake tickets. Vongola has contacts in the Airport, we can have them go through the check-in procedure. Once they go through the Gate, the others can't follow them, and we can have our men pick them up from there, and return to the base. Is that alright with you Shinichi?" Gokudera explains, drawing the proposed route on a white board, with little doodles representing Shinichi, Kaito and the plane. A little blue square represents Ran and the others. Tsuna smiles at the drawings, finding it cute the way Gokudera does this. As long as he's not on the receiving end. Luckily enough there were no theories or angles involved. Those always made his head spin. Kaito nearly burst out laughing when Gokudera started to draw on the materialised Whiteboard, but an elbow in the ribs quickly stopped any of that.
"That's perfect Gokudera. Thank you" comments Shinichi. "How quickly can we begin?"
Gokudera thinks for a moment. "Well my team isn't busy at the moment. Add in time to contact our men in the airport… We can have Conan leave on Monday morning. Is that enough time for you?" He scribbles some numbers, names and contact details on a piece of paper for a later reminder, before looking up at Shinichi.
"That'll be enough time. Boss, can we borrow a ride? Preferably one with a privacy window. If I go and tell Ran and the kids today, that'll give them time to say good bye. We won't be back here until after the operation on Monday." Shinichi informs Tsuna.
"A privacy window? Are you planning on changing back in the car?" asks Tsuna, worried about Shinichi. He heard the scream Shinichi gave out last time. "Surely it would be better to change in the house"
"It's better if we leave right away. By the time we get back home, it'll be the afternoon. Plus Spanner said the transformation will be less painful than ever before. So I should be fine." Shinichi assures, hoping Spanner's words were true.
"Well, if you are sure. I'll get one of the guys to drive you over" offers Tsuna, knowing that Shinichi would feel better with one of them in the car, rather than a strange Mafioso. Gokudera looks at a PDA.
"it's alright I can drive" offers Kaito.
Tsuna bursts out laughing at this offer. "Sorry Kaito, but you would be too worried about Shinichi in the back of the car to be able to drive at all." He giggles. " I don't even need my intuition to tell you that!"
Kaito looks startled, before turning slightly red. "You're right… Send someone with us then."
"According to their timetables, Yakuu-baka's free at the moment. He's only doing some minor training, nothing important. It's more to keep his skills fresh than preparing for anything." Supplies Gokudera, looking up from the device.
"He'll be fine." Agrees Tsuna before picking up the phone on his desk and dialling a number on speed dial. Shinichi takes a closer look at the phone console. Instead of a number, he had actually pressed a button with a blue raindrop on it Well that makes it simple thinks Shinichi. "Yamamoto, I'm fine thanks. I'm not disturbing anything am I?.. Oh good. Can you do me a favour? I need you to drive Shinichi and Kaito back to Beika. I can't just give it to anyone since Shinichi will be transforming into Conan whilst in the car. Yeah, that's right, I thought I'd entrust it to you. You can drive straight back, though, they are staying until an operation on Monday. .. Thank you. We'll meet you out the front in ten. Cool, see you." Tsuna put the phone back down "Well there you have it. Yamamoto can take you. We'll call you with further details later on tonight, once everything has been sorted."
"Thank you Tsuna, for all of your help." Says Shinichi, turning to walk out of the door.
"Shinichi" says Tsuna, Shinichi stops, but doesn't turn back "You've done the right thing. Lying to those you love is hard, I know personally. But we sacrifice a lot for those we love.-"
"Ha, you're preaching to the choir there Tsuna. I'll see you out front in a moment, I need to get some stuff. If you'll excuse me Boss" He walks out of the door, and down the corridor, out of sight.
"Sorry, Tsuna. He gets really touchy about lying to Ran for so long. It's been a big point of turmoil and sadness for him for a very long time. She's confronted him about being Shinichi many times, and she even cries over Shinichi every now and again. It literally breaks him to see her like that. Just give him a little bit of time, he'll be fine once all of this is out of the way." Kaito gives a small bow to Tsuna before following after his friend.
Shinichi walks into his room, and grabs Conan's backpack. He puts in some Conan sized clothes, along with his usual gadgets, before walking out of the door, and riding the elevator to the house part of the mansion. Walking outside, he takes a breath of the clean cold air, before walking around to the garage. He sees Yamamoto waving at him by a car, so he walks over. "Thanks for driving us Yamamoto." he says as he reaches the baseball player.
"Don't worry, it was no problem. Where's Kaito?" he laughs, waving a hand in the air, before looking around him.
"I'm right here," comes a voice from the entrance. Once again, Conan's mother walks towards Shinichi, looking perfect as usual.
"Hello, ma'am, are you lost?" asks Yamamoto, not realising who he's talking to.
"Yamamoto, meet Conan's mother" sighs Shinichi. "It's actually Kaito dressed up, rather than my real mother." Shinichi feels the need to explain this, before Yamamoto gets the wrong idea.
Dropping the woman's voice, Kaito says "You know how good I am at disguises, Yama-chan. You can't tell I'm a guy, can you."
Yamamoto's jaw drops, not believing that this woman before him is Kaito. There is nothing to suggest she is a he. "Wow, you are good, got the voice down and everything." He gasps.
Kaito smiles as he walks around the car and gets in the back. "Let's get going shall we, before Shin-chan loses his courage"
"Shut up Kaito. I'll be fine. I may not be as good an actor as you, but I think after three years, I have Conan down." scolds Shinichi, also getting in the car.
"Maa, maa, guys. Now's not the time to be fighting. " interrupts Yamamoto, falling into the role of mediator immediately. He turns the car on and starts the drive back to Beika.
Once they are on the main road, Shinichi takes in a deep breath "Okay, here we go."
"Don't worry Shinichi, the windows are blacked out. No one will be able to see you as we drive through." Assures Yamamoto. Shinichi nods before looking at Kaito
"I hope this works" Shinichi whispers. "Command C"
For about 5 seconds, nothing happens. But then starting at his feet, Shinichi can feel a wave of heat. It slowly climbs up his legs, through his chest and right up to his head. His heart beat picks up, his breath hitches. Knowing that the pain should come next, he clenches his eyes shut and grits his teeth. But when the pain does come it's not as bad as he first thought. It starts off as a light feeling of pins and needles that slowly builds up
Spanner was right, it does hurt less than the first time. I'm still conscious for one thing. The pain builds up so slowly that it doesn't hurt as much as usual, even though I'm sure that the pain is at the same level.
Instead of screaming in pain, or making any sound at all, Shinichi breath just deepens. Kaito watches in amazement at Shinichi. There is no obvious sign that he is shrinking, apart from the larger fit of his clothes. It seems smooth and seamless, as if he's watching one of those science videos of a plant growing up, but in reverse.
The pain drops off as slowly as it came. His heart rate slows back to just above normal, his breathing becomes shallower and quiet again.
"That wasn't that bad" whispers Shinichi in amazement. He flexes his muscles and moves his limbs, finding nothing wrong. He kicks off the over large shoes and socks, pulling his feet up to his chest. Grabbing his bag, he pulls out his clothes. "Kaito, a little privacy please" Kaito is staring at him, a wide grin on his face.
"That was a lot smoother than when I saw it for the first time. Last time was rather jerky, as if you gained years at a time. This was really smooth." Conan gives him a stern stare. "Oh right, sorry." Kaito turns to face the window, and stares out at the scenery. Behind him he can here Conan shuffling about, and the sound of cloth against skin. A few moments later, Conan tells him he can look again.
"So everything alright, um Conan" asks Yamamoto from up front. He had been going through the city of Nanimori at the time. The last time he looked, it was Shinichi, now it was Conan in the back seat. "There was no screaming"
Conan huffs and crosses his arms "I only screamed during that last transformation, thank you very much. I have never screamed during a transformation before that. It was a one off, okay" Conan scowls at the back of Yamamoto's head.
"Haha, my bad kid. Sorry, sorry." Yamamoto just laughs it off as usual.
Conan yawns "I am a little tired though. I usually black out during the transformations, so my body must regain the energy then." Conan stifles another yawn and blinks owlishly.
"We've still got a little while yet" supplies Kaito. "Why not catch a nap. I'll wake you up when we get to Beika. That should give you enough time to prepare"
"There's still something I have to do" Conan pinches himself, willing his body to become more alert. He grabs his bag again and starts to rummage through it. "I only want to do this once." he finds his phone- at the bottom as usual- and texts the Detective Boys:
Meet me at my house. I need to tell you something.
A few moments later, he receives a text from Ayumi.
Okay, we'll be there. You've been gone for a week. Are you okay?
Conan sighs at her predictable question. Why couldn't they wait?
Yeah, I'm fine. I'll tell you about it later. See you soon.
With that taken care of, Conan lets his eyes drop shut, lays his head on the seat between him and Kaito, before catching what fitful sleep he can.
"Co-chan, we're here." Whispers Kaito, shaking Conan's shoulder. Slowly mumbling, Conan opens his eyes, and sits up. Like Kaito had promised, they were on the outskirts of Beika- enough time to fully wake up and mentally and emotionally prepare himself.
"A left here Yama-chan" supplies Kaito- this time they are going to the detective agency, rather than Shinichi's house. Kaito continues to direct Yamamoto until they arrive on the right street. Parking a little way off, the pair gets out.
"Thanks Yamamoto" says Conan as he gets out
"Good luck." Shouts Yamamoto through the glass, before pulling off and returning home.
Conan's mother grabs Conan's hand, and they walk the last couple hundred metres down the street. Conan stops at the bottom of the steps, and takes a deep breath. Piece by piece, the mask of Conan goes on. The voice becomes slightly higher, a child's grin finds its way onto his face. His muscles loosen up, and Conan becomes more energetic and active. Taking a better hold of his Mum's hand, he drags her up the stairs shouting "Come on mum, we're here."
The others inside of the house hear this childish proclamation and Ran beats the kids to the door. Flinging it open, she kneels down and hugs Conan tightly.
"I've missed you Conan." She whispers into his ear. "Welcome back" On the inside Shinichi stiffens up at this display.
Not to be left out, the Detective boys' crowd around too and hug Conan from all angles. "You're back Conan!" they all shout.
"Wow, what a nice greeting." Exclaims Conan's mother. "But why don't we move this inside, it's too cold to stand out here all day."
They all blush in embarrassment at their too enthusiastic greeting, and move inside the house part of the building. The children soon situate themselves on the sofa.
"Where are my manners? Would you like a drink, Mrs Edogawa?" Ran asks, walking over to the kitchen
"A cup of hot chocolate would be lovely" She replies, before going and sitting down next to her son. Ran looks slightly shocked, expecting the answer to be coffee instead, but quickly moves on.
"And what about you Conan?" she asks, turning to face him.
Conan bounces in his seat, excited to see his friends again "I'll have a glass of orange juice Ran-neechan." He chirps, looking as cute as usual.
A few moments later, Ran comes over with a tray full of drinks; juice for the children, a hot chocolate for Conan's mother and a coffee for her.
Whilst the others start to drink their beverages, Ran sits with hers and fidgets slightly, looking nervous.
Finally plucking up the courage she asks "So is everything okay now? The children told me you left school because a relative of yours was in the hospital. I hope that everything went okay."
"Yeah you were gone for ages," Booms Genta "The Detective Boys couldn't take on any more cases without you there." A small dagger of pain lands in Shinichi's heart.
"Genta, you should be more considerate" scolds Ayumi. "One of his family was in the hospital. He needed the time off." She stares at him until he apologises.
"Yeah, about that…" starts Conan looking at his glass. He starts to shake very slightly, creating ripples in his drink. His mum places a comforting hand on his knee. "Nana… Didn't make it" tears spring up in his eyes, and one trickles down his cheek. There is a collective gasp from the others at the bad news.
"I'm afraid that Nana died on Tuesday after going through an operation. Conan took the rest of the week to recover after the loss." Explains his Mum, giving his knee a squeeze
But Shinichi knew what he was really doing. Trust Kaito to see. He's already seen through my mask. He can see how much their greeting has affected me. What he really said was ''You changed on Tuesday, after going through the Nano-bot operation. It took the rest of the week for Shinichi to recover his body, and draw up the courage to get here'. He's reminding me what I have to do. He's being harsh, but it's what I need to hear at the moment.
"The thing is, Ran-neechan, that she was my last relative in Japan. So Mum and Dad want me to come back home to America." Tears that had formed with the news of a death, leaped out of Ran's eyes with this news. Hands fly to her mouth as she deeply inhales in shock.
"C-c-c-Conan, you're leaving us?" Stutters Mitsuhiko, face blank.
"Now look what you've done. You've made Ayumi cry" states Genta, pointing a finger at the girl. Ayumi burst into a loud sobbing fit. Vehemently denying the fact under her breath, she draws her knees up to her chest and hides her face on them. Conan jumps off the sofa, and comforts her first.
"Ayumi, don't cry. We'll still be friends. I'm not abandon-… going to be unreachable" he changes. For in a way he is abandoning them. For his new life, he's got to leave them behind. But they will be protected. He will make sure that the Organisation never get their hands on them. From the shadows, he'll keep an eye on them, and watch them grow. Who knows, in 10 or 15 years, they may be in the police force, and he'll meet them then, on a different side of the law. Another dagger pierces his heart at the thought. With what Conan has taught them, it's highly likely they will join the police force. That future isn't as unreachable as it seems.
"Y-You [sniff] promise" she snuffles, looking at him. Her eyes are red and bloodshot, her face blotchy, her bottom lip trembling. Conan smiles a small sweet smile.
"I'm sure. We are family aren't we. We are more than friends, we're family. And family always sticks together, no matter how far apart they may be. Even though I'll be the other side of the world, if you are ever in danger, I'll come and save you." He looks at the boys too, including them in that promise. A heroic statement like that is what Ayumi needed to hear. She wipes her eyes and sits back up normally.
"Yeah. We'll still be connected." She holds out her pinkie finger, and Conan shakes it. Conan and the boys bump fists. Ayumi jumps up, a sparkle in her eyes. She leans over and whispers into the boys' ears. A roar of 'yeah' is heard before they get up and run for the door. "We've just thought of something. We'll see you tomorrow Conan" waving she follows the boys out of the door and down the street.
Haha, it seems as if Vongola has rubbed off on him. 'We'll still be family'. He's talking about the deal he made with Tsuna. His loyalty in return for keeping them safe. Kaito muses, looking at the small boy before him.
Conan walks over to the other sofa, and sits next to Ran. Leaning over, he takes out a tissue and wipes the tears from her eyes. "Ran-neechan, please stop crying. It's been really fun living here with you… and your father" Ran gives a small giggle at this, knowing how much her father knocks Conan about. "I have loved every minute, and I don't regret anything." Ran looks up to see Conan openly crying too. No sound, only a stream of tears running tracks down his cheeks. "I want you to know, that you've become the sister I never had. I couldn't ask for a better one. I've had so much fun learning to be a detective from your father too. Just you watch, I'll be better than Shinichi-niichan one day."
Again Ran laughs at the determined look on Conan's face. "I'm sure you will beat that Homes-freak one day Conan. It'll serve him right for teaching you so well." Her tears finally stop.
"I wish Shinichi was here… to see you off" she quickly adds "It'll be so lonely without you here" Shinichi can feel his heart tear in half.
"I called him earlier. He's at an important part of his case and can't come to see me off, I'm afraid." Warns Conan. "You'll still have Sonoko and Kazuha-neechan though. You won't be all alone."
"Yeah I suppose so." she sighs
They talk over their time together, sharing their favourite moments, interesting times, and cases from their point of view. Kaito finally sees a lot deeper into the relationship between Ran and Conan. It is very different to the relationship he believes Ran and Shinichi have. More drinks are brought in, as well as food, and they talk until Kogoro comes home.
"So the brat's finally going home." He says in a gruff voice. "It's about time, now I won't have anyone getting in the way of my cases." These words are opposed by the caring ruffle of Conan's hair as they walk out of the door to leave for the night.
"I'll see you tomorrow Ran-neechan!" Conan shouts from the bottom of the stairs. He waves before following his mother.
They return to Shinichi's house. Conan is too tired to complain about Kaito entering the house without the use of keys.
"Kaito, you can use this room here. The bathroom is the door across from you." He mumbles, showing Kaito in. Kaito thanks the small boy, before telling him to go to bed himself.
Conan lays on his bed for a very long time. No matter how tired he feels, his mind is whirring with too many thoughts to fall asleep. Every time he closes his eyes, he sees Ran's crying face.
It's not until after a few hours of restlessness, that a particular thought hits him.
You won't be all alone is what he had told Ran. But what about him? He would be leaving Ran behind, and most likely never see her again. He was even less likely to see the Detective Boy's anytime soon. He wouldn't be able to work with Division 1 any more either.
He was about to lose everyone he knew.
Conan couldn't help the tears that fell down his cheeks. He put his face in his pillow in an effort to stop the noise. But these tears kept coming, and the more he thought about it, the louder his gasps and sobs became. He didn't have any control over it, the quieter he wanted to be, the louder it became.
A shadow blocked the moonlight from the window. A cool breeze of air brushed across his face. He looks up, and sees KID standing infront of the window, cape by his side due to the lack of wind.
"KID, why are you here? You should be asleep in your room. Did I wake you up? You could have come in through the door" Conan mumbles through his tears, a look of confusion in his eyes.
"I am here, like this, because I care more about Conan than Kaito does. You are my Tantei-kun after all. And I don't do doors; they are too boring for someone like me. But rather than worrying about a thief like me, it's you I am more worried about. I don't think that I've ever seen you cry before, Tantei-kun." KID walks over and kneels next to Conan's bed, before drying his eyes with a handkerchief. But it's little use, since the tears still fall, and sobs still wrack the small body before him.
"It's alright, today has just caught up to me, that's all." Conan lies, trying to stop the tears.
"Tut-tut-tut, Tantei-kun" goes KID, wagging his finger "You shouldn't lie to me. That may be part of the reason, but it's not the reason I have found you here in tears now, is it?"
"Damn it KID" Conan growls "I'll be fine"
"Is it to do with Ran? Ayumi? Genta? Mitsuhiko?" on and on KID rattles off names of people who Conan knows. But this only makes it worse. Since there is no one on that list that he can keep. Everyone on that list will forget about him once Conan leaves. Everyone on that list is someone he will have to leave behind. Finally, the list becomes too large for Conan to want to hear anymore
"It's me KID!" Conan shouts, finally lifting his head from the pillow. KID nor Kaito have ever seen such a pitiful look on the boy's face "I'm going to be all alone!" At first KID looks shocked, but then Conan continues. "I know how stupid it sounds. I knew when I made the offer that I would be leaving them all behind so that I could protect them from the Organisation. But I can't stop the tears. The tears keep falling, my body keeps shaking, and nothing I do will make it stop." Conan places his head back on the pillow, hiding the new wave of tears from KID. But KID can still see his body jerking with each cry.
KID quietly laughs "What a silly Tantei-kun. He can't see the answer to this case, even though it's literally infront of him" Conan looks back up at him. "You won't be alone. There are two people here that will make sure of that. Me and Kaito will be by your side, in one form or another, for every step into the darkness you take. I promise that you will never be alone for a moment." KID brushes some hair out of Conan's face, a small smile on his lips.
"Thank you." Conan smiles. "I feel a lot better now. If only my body would stop shaking." He laughs slightly.
"Don't worry Tantei-kun. I can fix that." Conan stiffens slightly at the KID grin that appears on his face. But instead of some magic show, or some other KID-like trick, there is a small cloud of white smoke. KID walks out of the smoke and around the bed. He's wearing KID pyjamas, covered in his little doodle. Conan laughs and shakes his head at them. KID lifts the covers and makes a flicking gesture with his other hand. Absently Conan follows the unspoken command and wiggles over. KID climbs into the bed and hugs Conan to his chest. "You won't be alone now" he whispers. Conan had stiffened at the action first, but after hearing that, he relaxes and finds a more comfortable position.
"You had better not snore" he says, before closing his eyes. Within minutes, his body has stopped shaking, his breath evens out, and he falls asleep.
Poor Tantei-kun KID thinks to himself I didn't realise it would affect him this bad. I suppose there is a human under all of that deduction. But then again, I've been alone for a long time already. Kaito may lose Aoko and her Dad, and maybe Hakuba, but compared to Tantei-kun, that's not a lot of people. But he's doing this for them. So that they won't get harmed by the Organisation. So that the Organisation never harms anyone again. What a burden for those shoulders. He tries to protect everyone but never thinks of himself.
The next morning Ran calls him to say not to come to her house until later on this evening. Conan and Kaito found this strange, but they didn't want to incur Ran's wrath and get karate chopped if they did go over there. Instead, once again dressed as Conan's mother, they went over to the school to sign any official paperwork. His teacher was sad to see him go, and even gave him a hug.
"Please look after the others for me. They like to get into trouble" Conan says, smiling up at his teacher.
"Haha, of course I will Conan. Have fun in America." She pats him on the head before they leave the school
Once outside and away from the school, Conan scowls and pats his hair back down. "Why does everyone pat me on the head or ruffle my hair? I'm not a dog you know"
"Of course you're not Tantei-kun. But you are adorably cute, so it's hard not to. You're the right height too." KID leaps aside to avoid the kick, and continues to laugh- admittedly a woman's laugh, got to stay in character.
Conan called a few people up, wanting to go see them and say goodbye, but they all seemed to be too busy to talk at the moment. Conan just sighs and puts the phone away. "I'll call them from 'America'."
Wanting to cheer the poor boy up, Kaitou KID takes him for a day of fun around the town. Just as the night is drawing in, Conan gets a call from Ran, telling him to come home.
As they are walking up the steps of the detective agency, they can't hear any noise. The lights are turned off too. Slowly Conan opens the door, wary of an attack. It's not like Ran to have the lights off.
Bang! BANG!
The lights flick on to reveal streamers falling to the ground. Everyone has crowded around the doorway, and shouts "Good Luck Conan!"
Conan blinks at the crowd before him, before breaking out into a smile. "Thank you guys"
Looking around him, there is quite a crowd of people in the room. Heiji and Kazuha are here from Osaka, as are the members of Division 1 he's close with. The Detective Boys are here as well, as are Agasa and Ai. Ran and Sonoko are standing to one side with Ran's mum- Kogoro is the other side of the room, next to Megure-keibu.
"Guys, you didn't have to put on a party just for me" Conan says, looking from face to face.
"But you're leaving for America, Conan, we wanted to do something special." Says Ayumi.
"it's not going to be the same without you at murder scenes" Admits Megure gruffly, the rest of the police nod in agreement.
After a little more chatting the party starts, and people break off into groups to have conversations. Food and drink are spread around the room.
"Ku-Conan, let's have a chat" stumbles Heiji. Even after three years he still wants to call him Kudo.
So Heiji is first. Not surprising. Analyses Conan, waving his mother back into her seat, he follows Heiji into the kitchen, where there is no one else.
"Spill it Kudo, why are you going back to America? Have those bad guys done something?" interrogates Heiji
"Haha, no Heiji, the Organisation haven't done anything to me recently. The reason Conan is going back to America is because I've found a cure. In fact I'm cured already. I'm just here to tie up a few lose ends." Conan smirks at the look on Heiji's face.
"W-w-wait, you're cured. You mean, you're Kudo full time now." Heiji stutters, not quite believing the news. Plus he's really happy for his friend. Conan nods an affirmative, smiling broadly at the Osakan.
They walk back into the living room, and Heiji is called away by Kazuha. Conan pales however, when he sees who's walking towards him now. Their cold analytical stare turns him to ice. Conan's mother sees the scared look on Conan's face, and excuses herself from her conversation. All four people walk back into the kitchen.
Conan's mother stands behind her son, providing a little moral support. Even she's scared of that gaze.
"Before I start on the important thing, I want to know who is standing behind you, Edogawa-kun. From the way they have been acting, I'm sure it's not your real mother." Demands Haibara, hands on hips, a sceptical look on her face.
"Hmm, you're right Yukiko is more active than this" Conan shudders thinking about the antics of his Mother. He looks back up wondering how they want to play this. Conan thinks he sees a change in their eyes, almost a lightening, the colour becoming more blue, rather than the dark almost purple they have been recently.
"Ahh, I was trying so hard to restrain myself too, Co-chan. You should have told me your mother was more eccentric, that way I could have hugged you all day" wines Kaito, using his normal voice.
"Kaito, please don't say that. You're acting has been fine so far. You are acting as Conan's mother, not Shinichi's." Conan places a hand on his forehead, not wanting to think about a mix of his mother and Kaito.
Kaito takes a step around Conan to face the small girl infront of him. Producing a rose, he offers it to her. "Kuroba Kaito, at your service" he smiles. Haibara takes the rose, notices the lack of thorns, and places it in her hair- the colour matches her outfit. Instead of a rose, he offers a handshake to the Hakase.
"Haibara, don't worry, he's a very important friend of mine, and has been for a very long time now. He knows about me, and about us." Conan says, bringing the conversation back, before Kaito can start anything. He had told Kaito the full story a couple of days ago.
Haibara stiffens, before shouting "What do you mean knows about us? You never told me about him. He could be part of them for all we know."
"Haibara, don't you think that if he was, you would have seen him around more often. You've never seen him before, correct. Being my friend would have given him the perfect alibi. I know he isn't part of them. I promise you Haibara, he won't tell anyone else." Reasons Conan, giving her a serious stare right back
"Ojou-chan" says Kaito, drawing the attention to him. Haibara flicks her head around, giving him a mistrustful glare. "I have known Shinichi from childhood; His mother was taught by my Dad. Both Shinichi and Conan are really important to me. I wouldn't want any harm to come to him. So don't tell him off. This is supposed to be a party after all." Kaito gives a disarming smile, whilst pointing a hand towards the door.
"Fine." She humps
"Shinichi, why is Conan going to America?" asks Agasa, since it's the real reason they came over to talk.
"Conan needs to return to America. There is no more use for him anymore" states Conan, looking up at the large man.
Haibara takes a few steps backwards, not believing what Conan is insinuating. "That can't be possible. I haven't found a cure yet."
"Well, I have some 'unusual' contacts, who have found a rather weird way to cure me" Conan tries to explain, without giving away who these contacts are.
"Do you know how they cured you Shinichi?" asks the professor, a little more composed than the young girl.
"What they told me was that they were using an experimental technology. You've heard on Nano-bots, Hakase." Conan lies.
"Well of course. They are machines that work at a cellular level. They are about the same size as one of your cells, to allow them to do delicate work that we humans cannot do ourselves."
Conan nods to say this is right, before looking back at Haibara. As a scientist too, she also understands what they are.
"Well apparently, they couldn't remove the Apotoxin from my system without it killing me. So these Nano-bots monitor the level of the drug in my blood, and remove enough of it for my body to remain as normal." Conan tries to keep the explanation as vague as possible. He can't tell them about the flames since they wouldn't believe him. Plus they are a Mafia secret.
" But Nano-bot technology isn't that advanced yet. We can barely make machinery that small, let alone have it contain the complex programming it must need." Argues the Professor, understanding the mechanics better than Haibara can.
Conan sighs. "That's why I said it's experimental technology."
"It works." Comments Kaito, his first real comment for the whole conversation. "I've seen it work. Twice. Once growing up and once shrinking back in the car yesterday. It takes under a minute, he stays conscious and it hurts a lot less." He explains, looking at Haibara since she is the creator of the drug.
Haibara raises her eyebrows at this. "I would ask you to change, but here there is a chance Mori-san will find you, or any of the others. So I have no other choice but to believe you for now.
The party runs late into the night. It's the sight of three sleeping children (the Detective Boys) that signals to the adults it's time to end the party. With last goodbyes and wishes of luck, as well as reminders to stay in contact, the adults leave and return to their homes.
With a couple of suitcases containing all of his stuff (being pushed by Kogoro- the only act of kindness Conan will see from the old man), Conan walks into the airport. They sit in the departures lounge, making small talk, and trying not to broach the reason why they are all here.
However, that moment shatters when the call for Conan's flight comes over the speakers.
"So this is it Conan." Says Ran, kneeling infront of him to be on his level. "Remember to stay in touch okay? Come back when you're a better detective than Shinichi, alright?" She smiles, tears in her eyes. Conan hugs Ran, rubbing her back soothingly.
"I will Ran-neechan. I promise" Conan hugs her very tightly for a moment, before letting go and turning to the Detective Boys.
"This is for you Conan." Says Ayumi, giving him a small bag. Conan looks at the bag, and realises it's a good luck charm. Inside are their Detective Boys' Badges. "This way you'll have a little bit of us with you in America." All three smile at him, tears in their eyes too. "We'll see you soon, Aniki" Conan looks at Ayumi, wondering over the use of that word. Brother.
"Stay safe, Aniki" says Mitsuhiko, smiling and giving a thumbs up to Conan
"Good Luck, Aniki" says Genta, smiling stupidly too.
"Stay safe too, guys. I won't be there to bail you out anymore" laughs Conan touched.
After saying goodbye to Kogoro, he and his mother grab their hand luggage and walk to the check in, showing the fake tickets Gokudera brought round early this morning. They walk past the desk and Conan waves one more time before turning the corner.
They walk towards the bright light of the runway, since the tunnel is quite dark. As they walk into the sun, they blink. Once he can see properly, Conan sees Reborn, standing before him pointing a gun at him. Forgetting for a moment that the gun is green, and blinking at him, Conan brings his watch up and aims at Reborn. But Reborn has already shot. But instead of a bullet, it's a rubber arrow. It sticks to Conan's chest, above his heart. With a bang, some paper unravels itself, hanging like a banner from the arrow. It says "You're Dead"
Kaito too had brought out his gun, but lowers it once he sees the banner.
Conan takes the arrow off of his clothes and looks at the banner.
"Remember, Conan no longer exists." Explains Reborn, eyes in the shadow of his Fedora. "As far as the world is concerned, he is dead. As far as you are concerned, Conan died on Tuesday, the moment Spanner injected the Nano-bots. Conan is no more alive than one of KID's disguises is. Hear it, remember it, live it. You are Vongola now."
"You are right Reborn. So Kaito, let's go home. We need to tell 'Daddy' everything went okay"
For those of you who don't know, in this context Aniki means brother, but not related through blood. It is also used to show respect to those above you in organisations like the Yakuza. Here they are going along with what Conan said about still being Family. Plus Conan is kind of the head of the Detective Boys , no matter how much Genta says he is.
Do I need to explain who 'Daddy' is? There is only one person who Shinichi would need to tell that the operation went okay (yes I did say operation).
I'd written quite a bit of this, with Kaito telling Shinichi Conan was dead. I had it once when Kaito was trying to convince Shinichi to do this, and once when he said that Nana had died- literally Kaito telling Shinichi that Conan has died. But then I had this idea of Reborn fake shooting Conan to say he's dead, and thought it would have more impact if I didn't mention the idea beforehand.
Are there any Detective Conan characters you want to appear in the story? I'm not as good at writing them as I am KHR characters. Plus they wouldn't appear as much as Kaito and Shinichi- obviously. They don't even have to join the mafia. It could be that members of Division 1 find out, or are under the pay of Vongola too. Or that someone like Takagi finds out about Shinichi's new life but doesn't tell anyone, so they become rivals. Anything like that. Being the detective side of the world, they are more suited to being Shinichi's rivals, and creating angst that way, rather than joining the mafia.
This is another chapter that was longer that I expected it to be lol.
Phantom Hitman 1412
First published 12 Jan 2012