Chapter Text
“Heiji?”
“Yeah, Kudo?”
“I have a feeling there’s something we’ve overlooked. If the culprit took the car keys but didn’t leave in that car, maybe he was trying to frame someone else?”
“Someone he could pin here at the same time as the murder? Tha’s a possibility… but who at the party could’a held such a grudge?”
The two boys murmured furiously together in the corner, poring over stacks of evidence, rifling through thick autopsy files and suspect profiles. Some of the more antsy officers guarding the scene were on edge, many quipping that a teenage boy and his six-year-old friend shouldn’t be allowed to investigate a murder, no matter how accomplished they may seem. Others, most looking tired and unimpressed, merely told them to wait and see.
“The front cover of this notebook bears your family stamp. Ishida, right?” asks grade-schooler Conan Edogawa, holding a notebook up to one of the suspects they had been keeping overnight. Tired, but confused, the man – Ishida – asks where they got the book.
“We’re glad ya asked.” Heiji Hattori’s Kansai accent sticks out like a sore thumb in Tokyo, but he wears it with pride. “This notebook was found in the glove compartment of the victim’s car – somewhere ya could’ve only accessed with those keys ya planted on Kenji ta make it look like he did it, right?”
The expression on their culprit’s face instantly sours as he realises he’s being backed into a corner. The two boys observe his reaction with a playful wickedness, their gaze akin to the circling, watchful eyes of vultures. They had won, yet again – the duo of the east’s and west’s greatest detectives remained unstoppable.
As the police cuffed their newest culprit, both boys turned to watch him squirm against his restraints – screaming to whoever would listen about his right to an attorney. The taller of the two finally let his shoulders relax, tension easing from his very muscles at the action.
“Right. Tha’s enough work for me for today. Let’s get outta here – I’m dyin’ for a coffee,” Heiji exclaimed, before hoisting Conan into the air with an arm wrapped around his midriff, carrying the boy like one would carry a particularly unruly handbag.
Conan flailed and struggled to no avail, kicking his too-short legs while Heiji burst into rolls of bright, booming laughter.
“Let me down, let me down!” Conan’s fits of laughter broke through his childish whine. This game was all too familiar to the two of them, and somehow neither ever got tired of it. It felt natural. Familiar. Safe.
Conan Edogawa could finally breathe a sigh of relief. He was free at last.
Free from the shackles of the past that had bound him for the last sixteen months. Free from an ever-looming threat spurred by a chance encounter. It was finally over, and he could put the past behind him and begin to move on. Thanks in great part to a handful of grade schoolers and even more teenagers, as well as some fortunate law enforcement connections and a generous helping of luck, the threat looming over their heads for the past 16 months had finally been bested. All seemed to be going right.
The only problem? Shinichi Kudo was not free.
Shinichi Kudo was still trapped in the body of a six-year-old. Or, as far as the greater world knew, Shinichi Kudo was still missing, and Conan Edogawa still existed. When Conan dreamt of ‘things returning to normal’, it never ended up like this. But, he supposed, some things were nigh-on impossible, and he’d learned better than to get his hopes up.
It only ended in pain and disappointment for all involved. He’d seen it too many times.
“Don’t drink so much of that, Kudo. It’ll stunt ya growth.” Heiji withheld the requested cup of black coffee by holding it over Conan’s head (not that it was particularly hard). “And heaven knows you need more height on ya,” he chuckled at his own joke, grinning that silly, lopsided grin.
That had sufficiently shaken Conan from his thoughts. “Hey! I’m pretty sure I’m taller than you are anyway.” Conan took another sip of his coffee, grumbling under his breath. “Besides, I like the taste.”
“Wha’ was that? You’re pretty sure ya taller than a couple apples stacked on top of one another? Hmm it’s a close call but I think you might be, yeah.”
“Hey!” The boy laughs despite himself. “You’ll be sorry – next time I turn I’ll make sure to tower over you the whole time.”
Heiji’s expression grew more serious. “Ya asked Haibara ‘bout that anymore? Getting’ ya body back, I mean.”
“Hattori, it was a joke. You know it’s no use starting this again…”
“C’mon Kudo, have faith! Hypothetically, when ya get ya body back there’s so much stuff we hafta-”
“Heiji I can’t afford to put my trust in hypotheticals anymore!” Conan raised his voice, but regretted it as soon as the words left his mouth. “Look, I just… I just have to accept this will be all I’ll ever be – those temporary changes have barely worked for an hour the last few times I took them. Maybe there is no way to change this.” Conan turned away, if only to avoid the crestfallen look on Heiji’s face.
“Kudo…” Heiji trailed off. What do you say in this situation? How do you even respond? Neither of them know. It’s not like there’s some sort of handbook for this kind of thing.
“C’mon, Kudo.” Heiji says, finally. “Let’s go home.”
Since taking down the Black Organisation, Conan had attempted to hole himself up in the Kudo mansion. Though, that would have more accurately been the case if everyone he knew didn’t also own a key to the place.
Ran had one; she had ever since she started coming over frequently, and although Sonoko had refused one of her own, she often asked Ran to go with her to visit Conan whenever she pleased. Not to mention how often they brought along Masumi or Kazuha, or both. Heiji had a set, of course; Conan had given him one of the spares once when he showed up in the middle of the night, fresh off the last bullet train from Osaka. Conan had grumbled and groaned about being woken – a growing boy needs his sleep after all – and had offered the keys that very same night, stating if he was going to show up late, he could at least have the courtesy to let himself in quietly. Even Agasa had a set, and therefore so did Haibara, as she felt she was freely able to borrow anything off the shelves and out of the drawers of the scientist’s laboratory.
Heiji, for one, let himself over so often the house was basically his second home. Conan supposed it had started the first time he took a bullet train halfway across the damn country for one case or another – there were too many, he didn’t remember which. Since then, he’d never failed to stay at least one night whenever he was in town.
It had meant that, since everyone had their own way in and out of the house, Conan was barely ever alone. Possibly for the better, he supposed – if he had indeed been left to his own devices for the past two weeks, he likely would have only wallowed in his own self-pity, which was conducive to nobody’s best interest, really. This way he was kept busy. Well, less busy than before, but busier in different ways – he was helping Sonoko perfect her cooking skills, playing lab assistant to help with Haibara’s seemingly countless experiments, and of course working on cases with Heiji, though he supposed that was nothing new. It was nice to have some consistency, and the detective work was one of his favourite things in the world. Even despite such a big shift in his life, there were some things he would never let go of.
He supposed there were some people he would never let go of, either.
Conan dismissed that thought as fast as it came. No use dwelling on impossibilities.
No use.
No use–
The telltale whine of the door’s hinges snapped him from his thoughts – and he has to catch himself from tensing up. He shuddered a deep breath in, holding it in the pit of his stomach before letting it ease out. Though he knows he’s safe – Agasa is in the next room with Heiji, either of whom would notice something amiss immediately if he called out for them – there’s no stopping his persisting fearful reaction, much to Conan’s annoyance. The source of the interruption, however, drags him further from his thoughts. As he sees Haibara's short frame walk through the doorway, any lingering tension in his muscles eases, lending him a sigh of relief.
She crosses the room with a practised gait, not quite indicative of a regular six-year-old – gripping her clipboard, pacing and muttering, scribbling notes as she walks. At first he thinks she’s brought results from one of the week’s earlier experiments to discuss over a meal or a cup of coffee – a common pastime – but the tension in the room has grown palpable. He no longer knows what she's here for, but with her full lab attire; lab coat, rubber gloves, clipboard and tapping pen, he thinks the sinking feeling settling into the pit of his stomach must be a similar sort of dread one feels before a particularly bad diagnosis. He almost laughs at the thought, imagining such a small doctor being taken seriously in any setting other than this, but he’s glad he catches himself when Haibara suddenly stops in place and looks up at Conan.
“Kudo.” She begins. Her voice is sharp, and her eyes are sharper.
“Haibara.” He retorts. Now isn’t the time to piss her off but he can’t help mimicking her – call it a nervous response. Though, she seemingly takes no notice. The longer she goes without saying anything, the more concerned Conan becomes. “What is it? You’ve got something on your mind. What do you need me for?”
“I think... Well, it’s in the very early stages, but I think I may have a way to reverse the effects of APTX.” Conan looks over to her quizzically at this – hasn’t that been her goal all along? She’s succeeded in temporary solutions before, and he can’t lie, he wouldn't mind reverting back to Shinichi again for a day or so, now everything’s over… he had so much to say. To so many people.
Haibara clears her throat, as if she could read his mind. “I’m talking permanently, Kudo. For good.”
Shinichi balks. For good? It seems too good to be true. Like an unbelievable scam – there’s no way she could have something this soon?
“Stop looking so shocked.” she glares at him, irritated that he even thought of underestimating her. Conan shakes his head.
“I just can’t believe you’ve gone and done it so quickly. It’s only been two weeks since the Black Organisation was put away, after all. How did you go and figure it out so fast?”
“It’s true, files from their databases have indeed helped me out – some of those components were things I’d never have imagined, but I've been working to reverse the effects ever since I turned.” She grins, “Though, I don't think I'll go through with it myself. Which is why you're going to be my test subject. I'd like to make sure it works properly before I give it to anyone else. You know. Just in case.”
“You’re giving me untested drugs?” Conan looks at her over his comically oversized glasses, feigning shock.
“What, like you’ve passed them up in the past? Anyway, there’s nothing in there that'll seriously harm you, if that’s what you were asking.” Haibara grins again – there’s something so menacing about those words coming from a six-year-old, Conan has to bite back his laughter yet again.
“So… When is it ready?”
“Well, whenever, really. Though, that's what I really wanted to ask you about.” Once again, Conan feels her eyes burning through him. “I don’t have anyone left from my old life to tell, but you owe the people you love the truth. You owe the people who love Shinichi the truth.”
Once again, Conan is taken aback by Haibara's words. It was true, he supposed. With no reason to be fearful of the Black Organisation, He had no reason to hide the truth from those around him any longer. Sonoko, Kazuha, the detective boys. Ran. He had no reason to keep them in the dark about who he truly was. About what had really happened to ‘Shinichi Kudo’.
“Anyway, I’ll let you think on it. It isn’t a decision to be taken lightly, and I know you know that. Just… put yourself first for once. If you’re going to do this, make sure you do it for yourself.” Haibara steps out the door, pulling it shut behind her, leaving Conan with no shortage of options to mull over.
Perhaps Haibara’s potential breakthrough has afforded him an opportunity to properly come clean. Though the thought doesn’t make him any less anxious of the outcome.
He really had been meaning to reveal the truth ever since that fateful night - he feels grimy and wrong for keeping this from his friends any longer than he had to. They don't deserve this at all. But he can’t help but be terrified. The past 16 months had been long, and he was afraid of how they would all react. How was he supposed to bring it up? How was he supposed to tell the hardest truth of his life? He knows prolonging it will only make it worse. The more time he waits the more suspicious they would get. Plus, it would be better to reveal the information himself, he has to be the one to break the news - it would only be an even worse betrayal if it were someone else who told them. But nevertheless, he can’t help but worry. How would he be received? Would he be despised for keeping something like this from them?
But Haibara’s advice… he had to ‘do this for himself’, he supposed. And of course he had selfish reasons he wanted to turn back. Sometimes it was the only thing he could think of on any given day. The what-ifs plagued him constantly, no matter how impossible it all seemed. What did he want? He wanted…
Heiji chose that moment to all but tear down the door to check on Conan. “Oi Kudo! Wha‘s goin on here? I just saw Haibara walk out, what was she in for?” He exclaimed, ripping Conan away from his thoughts.
“Ah, Hattori-”
Heiji’s face falls a little at Conan’s tone, but picks his tell-tale grin back up so quickly the young boy barely notices. “Hey, what’cha lookin’ all down for? News can’t have been tha’ bad?”
“Ah, opposite really. Well. I’m not even sure, now that I think about it…” Conan trails off, Heiji looking more and more concerned with every word.
“What’s got’cha mind in a meld, Kudo? Anything you can’t tackle, surely we can take on together?”
“ Haibara-said-she-could-get-my-body-back- ” Conan blurted out, unable to hold the news. Though, he barely let an instant pass before his expression sobered to add the necessary context – “Permanently.”
“Tha’…” Heiji’s jaw dropped, barely able to believe his ears, “Kudo tha’s what you’ve been holding out for, right? You have ta’ take it! You have ta’ turn back!” His voice sounded almost pleading as he looked toward the boy to continue, “Kudo, ya gonna do it, right? What’s making ya hesitate?”
“I’m just thinking, y’know, what if everyone hates me for lying? They’ve put their trust in me for so long, and I wasn't able to return the favour at all. I’ve spent the last sixteen months convincing them I’m really six, convincing them that Shinichi is dead!” Conan took in a shaky breath to steady himself. “Maybe… maybe for their sake he should stay that way. Maybe that’s the path of least resistance I’m looking for.” He supposed he’d been thinking that for a while. But it didn’t make it ache any less saying it out loud.
“Hol’ on Kudo. Kudo look’t me. Ya overcomplicating this. Do ya wanna turn back? For good?”
Conan couldn’t bring himself to say it out loud. He merely nodded.
“Then, tha’s all ya need,” Heiji stated simply. “Ya can’t change how people’ll see ya after ya tell them the truth, but ya can do this for yerself . Yer ‘path of least resistance’ is nonsense if it hurts yerself the most. We’re safe, Kudo. There’s no reason Shinichi has’ta play dead anymore – if ya want to stop living as a grade schooler, tha’s the only proof ya need that it’s a good idea to go through with this.” Heiji sighed, long and deep, before looking Conan in the eyes again. “Listen to ya own desires for once, y’hear?”
After a while to stew it over, Conan relented. Heiji was right, there was no use dwelling on things he could no longer control - as much as he wished to control how people saw him, the only thing he could do was influence how the news came out. They would react the way they did, and there was nothing he could do to control that.
“ Shit… I… suppose. I just thought it would be easier now. Less life-or-death situations usually means less things to stress over… but I guess not here, huh?” Conan looked up with a weak grin. “I’ll have to tell everyone the whole story first but… I’ll do it. I’ll take Haibara’s offer.”
At that, Heiji grinned, wide and brilliant. Conan thought he could probably get lost in it, if he stared too long.
“And,” Conan piped up again. “Once I do have my body back there’s something I’m gonna have to ask you.” Heiji tilted his head slightly – like a confused puppy, Conan thinks, the thought making him chuckle inwardly. “It’s nothing serious! Just remind me once everything settles down, okay?”
“Happily, Kudo.” Heiji said softly, with that smile that never failed to melt his heart.
Conan supposed he should let Haibara know of his decision. Talking it over with Heiji had done wonders for his confidence about the whole ordeal, though he couldn’t help but feel nervous about how the others would take the news.
Conan struggled with the heavy door to the lab, just managing to eke it open enough to call out to Haibara, standing across the room.
“Hey, Ai! A little hand over here?” Conan called out across the lab.
“Shinichi, I didn’t think you’d be here so soon.” She paused to pull at the door to let Conan through. “You have a decision?”
“Oh, yeah.” Conan let the door close softly behind him before turning to face the room itself. Shelves stretched high toward the ceiling, filled with vials, bottles and contraptions he’d never seen before. Conan looked up in awe before being interrupted by an impatient Haibara.
“And?” She stared at him quizzically.
“Would your lab be ready tomorrow for your favourite guinea pig?”
She grinned, wide and playfully sinister. “Good. Though I certainly wouldn’t call you my favourite, nevertheless. I’ll see you at one o’clock sharp.” She takes the pen from her coat pocket, scribbles something on her hand, and starts heading for the smaller of the two desks in the centre of the room.
“Could you…” Conan calls out, stopping her in her tracks. “Could you also let everyone know that I have something to tell them all?”
Haibara smiled, her grin shifting to something softer Conan had never seen cross her face before. “Of course, Shinichi. I’ll get them all to come to the lab.”
“Thanks, Ai. I owe you one.” Conan smiled, heading for the door.
There is always one truth. Conan repeated like a mantra in his head. Soon enough his ‘one truth’ would be brought to light, no matter how painful it became.
But then.
Then.
He would be free.
Shinichi Kudo would be free.