Joy, another sick day had passed. Why do these things happen whenever I get a bad cough? Not joking, there isn't much of a fever, and my only real symptom is a bad cough, but because I appear to be sick, school won't allow me into class. I swear, if this persists, Mom's going to be convinced I have asthma or something.
Oh well, enough of my woes, you guys probably don't have much care for me, only the story, so let's get on with it.
The hours that passed since the groups' arrivals varied from group to group. Kaito had done a great job distracting the younger of the group, while Okiya, Conan, Hakuba, and Mico read. Haibara snuck off to work in a more private area of the safe house, not that many noticed. Rey dozed off on the couch as the other teen girls chatted a little around her, tense and occasionally glancing between the parties who were obviously in the know. James arrived about an hour after Rey and was jumped on by the adults, demanding answers that no one else gave. Sadly, he was either extremely tight-lipped or Rey decided to leave a few details out in her reports.
There were a few instances when others were questioned, but the adults were met with as many answers as James had given(ei, none). The most they got was either Kaito eventually being chased by a tuna or Conan melting most of the girls hearts and softening a few of the men by giving his cutest 'I don't know, Ran-nee-chan', puppy dog eyes and all. Once, Kogoro did try to wake Rey to demand answers from her, but was met by a glare earned through her previous occupation. The only luck they got was when Akako turned her charms on Hakuba, but Kaito noticed this and put him out until Heiji was supposed to arrive.
After several hours of attempted interrogations, they gave up. They started keeping to themselves, whispering theories among themselves. A popular one was that each of the teen boys (plus Conan and Rey, obviously) got into some kind of trouble that might get them all killed, though there were those that tried to defend most of them. They were silenced when Mico pointed out they were making almost entirely baseless assumptions (though it wasn't pointed out they were true). Kogoro would have retaliated had it not been for both Ran and Rey, who cracked her eye open to glare at him.
About an hour before Heiji was set to show up, Hakuba started to stir a bit. It took him about five minutes to become full awake, by which, Rey had given up on her nap and convinced Okiya to spar with her, though he was a bit unwilling. Kaito offered to be a moving target for Rey's practice, though when he saw how fast the two were moving in their match, dropped the offer. Akako, while the others were either watching or caught up in their own things, did attempt to question Hakuba again, but Kaito intervened and pulled the blond away from the witch.
After an hour of continuing whatever they were doing, an alarm went off. Kaito checked his phone, seeing that one of the entry points had been disturbed, and not the one that was planned for the Osakan group. Rey shot over to the opening that lead to that specific entry way while Conan and Kaito joined her. Hakuba tensed on the couch, while everyone else watched warily. The FBI agents pulled their guns, and Okiya's hand twitched by his own hidden. Conan glanced at the two beside him and then slipped down the hall. The other two almost followed but froze when an excited shriek met them and a bundle flew out of the opening. They observed the pile before recognizing Yukiko Kudo kneeling there, squeezing the breath out of her shrunken son. They then turned back down the hallway only to be greeted by Yusaku, Agasa, Eri, and Chikage.
"Chika-chan! Yuu-kun! You made it!" Rey called, throwing her arms around the two. They both returned the hug before Chikage went over to her son to check for any damage. Eri quickly met where her daughter and husband while Agasa was pointed to where Haibara went off to. Yukiko refused to release her son, clinging to him like he was a teddy bear, much to his annoyance. Of course, the new arrivals where questioned, but the only one that willingly gave answers knew next to nothing.
"Sorry, Rey-chan, we had to escape Yuu-chan's editors. And then pick up Eri-chan and Hakase," Yukiko explained, holding her squirming, shrunken son. Those who knew the assassin elected to either continue watching with boredom or go back to what they were doing, leaving the police and kids to watch the scene in confusion.
"You two haven't changed a bit," Rey chuckled as Conan just gave up. The four glanced over at the two Kurobas, watching the former Phantom Lady lecture her son about 'being involved in shady groups', much to the latter's finely masked embarrassment. None of them particularly cared for the others in the room, until Ginzo spoke up.
"Ano, can someone please explain what's going on?"
"Ah, sorry," Rey started, rubbing the back of her head, as if embarrassed, "but we can't do that until Hei-chan's group gets here." Those who didn't know who the assassin was referring to glanced back and forth, wondering if anyone else had a clue and was willing to help enlighten the rest.
"Well, nice ta know ya waited," an Osakan accent stated. The room turned to face three people, all appearing foreigners, coming down the hall, followed by the two scientists. The foreigners' faces were hidden by hats, pulled down so that it was hard to make out their faces. The one in the front pushed his up, revealing a cocky grin and familiar green eyes. "Yo, Conan-kun, Nee-chan!"
"Wow, Tantei-han, not a bad disguise!" Kaito exclaimed, slipping away from his mom to inspect the other. "Aside for some minor slip ups on the make up, it's pretty good,…"
"Oh, shut it, Kuroba. This is my third today, and I 'ad to do this in tha car. Sorry that not everyone can be as good as ya," Heiji glared at the magician while the other's took of their disguise, reviling Kazuha and Andre.
"What took you so long, Hattori-kun?" Hakuba asked, beating Conan to it. The shrunken detective sent him a glare before settling back into his mother's vice hold, not sulking, as Heiji pulled of his disguise.
"We woulda been here sooner, if someone didn't send us on a six hour train to Hiroshima," Heiji explained, glaring at the grinning blonde. A few shared his look, though dropped it quickly. "So," Heiji dropped his head with a sigh, "I take it that no one's bothered explainen anythin'?"
"Of course not!" Rey exclaimed, as if shocked at what the Osakan detective suggested. "How can we explain anything without all the star players, Hei-chan?" Said players turned to glare at her, understanding the clear undertones of enjoyment in her voice.
"Yer haven' way too much fun with this, Rey," Hattori stated, the other three unspokenly agreeing with his statement. Haibara just snorted softly as Rey ignored their looks, smiling brightly at them. All but Okiya and Mico switched between staring at the teens and the assassin, which Yukiko kindly pointed out.
"Well, I guess there is no avoiding it now," Hakuba sighed, joined by the others. He turned to face the group of police officers, detective, lawyer, teen girls, and children. "You might want to sit down for this, as it's a bit hard to take standing." The group shared looks with their respective groups before moving to a long table, which was conveniently in the room.
The teen detectives and thief sat at one end, with the FBI agents and Okiya sat opposite of them. The older Kudos and Chikage sat on the same side as their sons while Mico sat next to Okiya. The rest filled in the other seats, picking seats with people whom they were comfortable with. Haibara slipped in a seat next to Conan and to the right of Agasa. The children sat next to Mico as the officers took up a good portion of one side. When everyone was finally sitting, Rey, who had opted to stand instead, started.
"Bon soir, madams, monsieurs, les enfants-"
"Cut it with the French, Suojelija," Jodie cut her off. The two shared an annoyed glare before Rey coughed and continued.
"Most of you are probably wondering why you are here," the assassin was interrupted again, this time by murmurs of agreement from the other end of the table. She sent them a glare, which quieted them, before continuing, "It is because someone, or someones, whom you know, has caught the attention of a certain group, and is now being hunted down, along with everyone they might have had contacted."
"The group," Hakuba took over, not letting anyone interrupt, "is one of the largest groups of criminals in modern history, and has been working in areas from assassination to blackmail and theft. They have been around for at least the better half of the last century, maybe even longer."
"Each of us," Heiji cut in, indicating to the teens around him, "have all had our share of run ins with this group, an' now they're afta us, hopen' to silence us 'cuz we know too much."
"Sadly," Conan called attention to himself, not even bothering to raise his voice up to the normal 'public' octave, "they don't like to leave loose ends, so they have also taken it upon themselves to target our friends and family, to make sure that we haven't spread the word on them."
"That's why you are all here," Kaito finished up, "so as to make sure they don't succeed."
"That's all fine, but why are they after you? I mean, I can understand Hakuba-kun and Hattori-kun, as they are famous detectives, but not the rest of you," Ginzo spoke up, voicing the thoughts of most of the adults.
"Also, if it were just detectives, wouldn't Mori-kun be on of their prime targets, as he is the most famous," Megure pointed out, not noticing the tic in the three detective's eyebrows.
"You're joking, right? There is no way an idiot like him would every catch their attention," Rey stated matter-of-factly.
"What?!" protest rised from the famous detective, which was quickly met with a now familiar glare. He bared his teeth at the assassin for a few seconds before sitting back down, still holding her stare. The rest watched the tenis match the two had with their eyes with tense silence.
"What about Shinichi?" a quiet voice asked. Everyone turned to Ran, who's head was bowed, watching her hands have a thumb war. She gathered a bit more of her courage before starting again. "What about Shinichi? Suojelija-san mentioned he had something to do with this as well." At this statement, eyes rounded back to the assassin, who was currently sharing a bored expression with a glaring Conan.
"Oi, why did you mention that?" he demanded, practically snarled at her.
Rey didn't even blink, only shrugged, "It was the easiest way to get her out of the school. You wanna drag a karate champ out of there without attracting attention?"
"That still doesn't give you a reason to say that!" Conan yelled, standing in his chair to get closer to the same height as the blonde. Heiji tried to calm the psudo child while the rest of the room watched in shock. Never had any of them seen the boy ever react like that, not even when reprimanding the other children. All they could do was think about possible implications when a sight called their attention to the girl next to Conan.
"Kudo-kun got in trouble for snooping around where he shouldn't have been and was poisoned," Haibara explained, ignoring the other's protest. She continued, taking no note of the other's shock, "The poison didn't kill him, thankfully, but because of a certain side affect, he had to go into hiding."
Everyone stared at her, trying to comprehend what she said. "What do you mean, Ai-chan?" Ayumi asked shakingly, unsure how to respond.
"It's exactly as she said," Rey stated, "Kudo Shinichi was poisoned and left to die, but was spared by a rare side affect of the poison. I also happen to be another victim of this, though I was given double the amount accidentally as the poison was still in it's early experimental stage."
"What was this 'side affect'?" Sato asked.
"Extended youth," Haibara stated. "It's original, before being made into an untraceable poison, was based on a chemical that can be found in a certain gem that is rumored to grant immortality."
"The gem has been called Pandora, and of the branches is hunting it down, and they are willing to kill for it," Kaito explained, not allowing anyone to question the shrunken scientist for more information.
"BaKaito! How can you know that?!" Aoko shouted, ramming her fists into the table. Her father nodded in agreement.
"Easy. They asked my father too look for this gem. He refused them, and well, you know the rest…" Kaito explained, solemnly. The near twins' parents bowed their heads, remembering the dear magician thief. The Nakamoris' eyes widened in realization at the implications.
"Why?" Ginzo asked, not taking his eyes of the teen.
"Come on, Keibu, surely you already know why. I mean, I know it's a bit of a shock, but you probably already figured it out, right?" Kaito grinned, poofing a monocle onto his finger. He began to play with it, not caring for the shocked expressions shared on the table. Conan even had to take a few moments to process. Did he just…
"Uso…" Aoko tried, shocked as her father. Somewhere deep down, she knew it, but she didn't want to believe it. Never in her dreams did she want to believe that all this time, the one her father was chasing was her childhood friend. But there was no denying it, not when he was playing with the damned monocle at this very second. The officers at the table were in shock as well, though more due to the detectives around the thief not even reacting to his confession, at least not in a way that would be normal. Instead of trying to catch the thief, they seemed more keen to try and figure out why he was confessing.
"Are you okay, Kuroba?" Hattori asked, not caring that the shock grew in the room.
"Hmm? I just don't see the point of hiding it, as they are going to find out eventually, isn't that right, Metantei-kun?"
Conan's eyes went from shock to death glare in a matter of two seconds. "Shut it, Kuroba. You know I'd prefer them not knowing."
"I'm pretty sure the important people already figured it out, Conan-kun," Rey stated, uncaring. Conan glared at her before glancing down the table, meeting the gazes of those that knew him well growing up the first time around and saw understanding in their eyes. Even the kids, who barely knew Shinichi, seemed to have it!
He met Ran's eyes, who were almost begging him to tell her it was a lie, but all he could do was look down at the table in front of him. "I'm sorry, Ran," was all he said. Her eyes widened, tears starting to well in them.
Rey stood there, watching for a few moments. She was overall impressed at the boys, a little shocked they'd agree to revile what they did, but she figured that Kaito had because of what she told him about a little ability she had learned through the years. She let out a sigh and turned away from the table. "Well, it's getting late, time for bed. Don't stay up too late!" she called over her shoulder.
"Don't you have anything to say for yourself, Bloody Mary?" Haibara's voice rang out through the air, catching all those familiar with law enforcement's ears. They knew of the legendary assassin, named after the British apparition, and all had some sense of how masterful the assassin was. But according to the child, she was this sixteen year old blonde child.
"Shut it, Haibara!" Rey's voice echoed through the room. She then yawned, leaving the room in favore of a darkened hall. "You know I hate that name," as all that was heard of from the assassin, leaving them to question the three full sized teens and two shrunken.
It's in! And I'm tired. It's approaching 1:30 am here, way too late to be working on this. Oh well, the muses visited a few hours ago, so yeah… And damn, I really get distracted easily… This was supposed to be up a few days ago, but then, the internet…
o.O wow… I hit over 1000 views on this story as well… I'm so… HAPPY! THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
*coughs* Anyways, this was explanations. Thoughts? I know Kaito probably wouldn't do that if he had a choice, but, again, I have a trick up my sleeve to make sure we sort of return to status quo, at least for the innocents involved, by the end of this. Also, Heiji's and Hakuba's parents were originally planned to be in this scene, but it was too trouble some, so they were cut, sorry. Instead, the two detectives explain it over the phone after the meeting is done. And I'm surprised no one's taken any stabs at who Yin and Yang are. Please tell me you guys are actually wondering who they are, as they are important, at least to the planned sequel.