Case Closed Fan Fiction ❯ When Pandora's Box Is Opened ❯ The Cure ( Chapter 82 )

Chapter Eighty-Two

The Cure

Aoko shrieked in surprise as a bright white flash lit up Kudo Shinichi's room, clutching Kaito's hand in fear.

He'd been surprised when she'd turned up, even more surprise when he'd sat up just in time for her to kiss him. But he was glad to have her there. It was better than spending all day sitting in there in loneliness. His ribs weren't hurting him anymore, but he still had to be careful about movement. Still, it was enough that he could leave tomorrow with everyone...

Then they'd been quite happily talking about- well, everything he hadn't told her during his time as Kid... when some bright white flash had obscured everything, and a moment later Hakuba and Akako had appeared, hand in hand.

“I thought you said your magic would disappear,” Hakuba said, looking around with interest. “Nakamori-san, Kuroba... how are you?”

“Just the dark magic, I think I may have had some naturally in me,” Akako said, letting go of his hand and staring at hers. “From my mother…” She looked odd... different. Her colouring had changed- her purple hair was now a normal raven black, and her glittering ruby eyes had become gleaming emeralds. And she was just... different, somehow. White-light teleportation notwithstanding, she looked... normal.

“Akako-chan... what happened to you?” Aoko gasped. Akako gave her a gentle, beautiful smile, and it was beautiful; not the cold, bewitching beauty that she'd possessed before, but something warmer, something more real.

“I cried,” she said. Even her voice was softer, without the cold pride that had permeated it before.

“I thought if you did that you'd lose your magic,” Kaito said in surprise.

“I did,” she said, sitting down on the end of his bed next to Aoko, while Hakuba pulled over the desk chair. “The witchcraft, anyway... like I was saying to Saguru-kun, I think I may have had some magic in my bloodline naturally. My mother was a psychic.”

“So you're... not a witch?” Aoko said. “Is that why you look so... different?”

“I do, don't I?” she said, staring into a mirror on the wall. “Not as much as I feared... I thought I'd turn into Dorian Gray and age thirty years in thirty seconds... but I guess this is what I really look like. I have my memories back, too...”

“Your memories?” Kaito asked in confusion.

“That's what witches trade for the dark magic,” Hakuba said. Kaito remembered that he'd have to ask when he and Akako had gotten onto first-name terms. “Their soul and memories, bound by a tear... But now Akako-san has her memories back.”

“Yes,” Akako said in that same softer voice, “and first, I just want to explain to you two who I am... I guess I owe it to you, after all...”

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“They know that we're planning to strike the night after tomorrow night,” James muttered, setting the phone down. It had been a day, but he was still a little pale and shellshocked whenever Shuuichi was in the room. “Kami knows how, but they do...”

“So that was Kir?” Shuuichi asked, calmly ignoring how his mere breathing badly freaked out the rest of the FBI.

“Indeed,” James said. “We need to move the strike forwards. Surprise them.”

“Tomorrow night?” Jodie said in surprise. “Are we ready?”

“We have the addresses, we know where to focus on,” James said, nodding to Shuuichi. “Continue telling everyone that the strike will be the day after tomorrow, and to be ready at all times until then in case of developments.”

“Technically, if it's after midnight tomorrow night, you won't be lying,” Shuuichi chuckled. “It'll distract them from attacking the people that you're removing from the country, as well...”

“That's the problem,” James said with a frown. “Yuusaku-kun called. Something's come up... he wouldn't give details, he just asked for a couple of days to “destroy it”.”

“It being...?” Jodie asked. Shuuichi narrowed his eyes, but he smiled.

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“The sketch wasn't drawn by you,” Akako explained that night. Shinichi had gotten the fright of his life when the witch- or ex-witch- had appeared out of his bedroom and called for everyone, saying that she had something to tell them. She looked very different without her powers, with normal colouring and an oddly familiar face. Hakuba seemed to find her transformation fascinating too, if the way he couldn't take his eyes off of her was any indication.

Shinichi wondered how long they'd been there, or what the four had been talking about. Both Aoko and Akako had very red eyes (although only in the sense that they had been crying; Akako's irises were now deep green) and even Kuroba looked a little shellshocked. But whatever it was, the end result was that Akako had apparently regained her own memories- and they contained something important.

“First, I have a confession to make,” Akako said. “I know who I am now. Forty-seven years ago, I was born to a couple named Kurosawa- Hanako and James. Their respective codenames were Cider and Applejack- top assassins for the Syndicate.”

“You were born into Them?” Ai said in shock. “Like... me?”

“Yes,” Akako said. “Like you and your sister and your father... I remember your father. Miyano Atsushi. Five years older than me. He'd just taken over Project Pandora, the last I remember of him. You were raised to be a scientist like him... I was raised to be an assassin, like my parents.”

“You were...?” Shinichi said slowly, feeling shellshocked.

“My codename was Tia Maria,” she said distantly. “And yes, I killed on order. Many times... It was what I was raised to do, and I didn't know anything else. Until... Okaa-sama started telling me stories.”

“What kinda stories?” Hattori said suspiciously. He'd been watching Akako nervously ever since her revelation that she was a born and bred assassin.

“About the Pandora,” Akako said, ignoring his suspicious watch though with slightly less composure than she once bore. “And about its discoverers... Eta and Ushi. She was great friends with Eta, you see... codenamed Vermouth.”

“Of course!” Shinichi yelped. “Kurosawa Hanako, Vermouth- Eta- mentioned her in her story... so you're the daughter of the ones who figured out how to destroy the Pandora... but, Kami, that means you're-” he bit off the sentence there.

“I'm...?” Akako said questioningly. His mind whirred as he sought for an alternative ending to that sentence.

“You're... the only living person who knows how to destroy it,” he finished. If the way Yuusaku, Kuroba, Hattori and Hakuba were staring at him was any indication, they'd noticed his abrupt change in tone. “The ghost hovering around Eta, that I saw in my delirium...”

“Almost certainly Okaa-sama,” Akako said quietly. “She was powerfully psychic. She probably drew the picture.”

“A ghost drew that picture?” Kazuha gasped, going pale and backing away from the photograph as if it would bite her.

“The ghost ain't gonna jump outta the photo,” Heiji grumbled.

“What does it mean?” Ran pleaded.

“Okaa-sama used to draw pictures like this when I was little,” Akako said with a sad smile. “It was all in visual metaphor and imagery... anyway, the cracked doublet in the centre is obvious. It's how to destroy the Pandora.”

“I thought it was just a message that Kid's aim was to destroy the Pandora,” Shinichi said. “That's what it looks like...”

“Okaa-sama thought differently from you,” Akako chuckled. “Eta disliked the Miyano's research, because she... she no longer desired immortality. She wanted them to fail, so it could end. But Okaa-sama and Otou-sama... they realized that the research could be useful. If a liquid giving immortality could be scientifically created, could that same science not be used to create an antidote to immortality?”

“Working on it,” Ai sighed.

“But theoretically possible,” Akako said. “And my mother noted that at one point in the story of Pandora's discovery... well, what happened when the night of the comet's pass ended and sunlight touched the Pandora?”

“The liquid became a protective shell...” Shinichi remembered.

“Precisely,” Akako said, holding out her hand. Kuroba wordlessly placed the Pandora in it. “In other words, this is not diamond, nor any form of jewel. This jewel, aside from the true jewel at its heart, is made of pure, crystallized elixir of youth.”

“That's it!” Kuroba cried, snapping his fingers. “You mean... if Haibara-Hime there-” He had taken to calling Ai this due to her aloof manner, and in the finest traditions of two-year-old psychology, had called her nothing but ever since she had expressed her displeasure at the nickname- “created an antidote to the drug, it might neutralize the shell?”

“Precisely,” Akako said. “The monocle means Kid, the Heisei Lupin... Lupin is the antithesis to Holmes... So it is the anti-Holmes, or Anti-Sherlock. Shiyaroku Antidote will destroy the jewel...”

“That's quite impressively twisted,” Shinichi said approvingly.

“It might actually work,” Agasa mused.

“And if a protective shell is necessary,” Yuusaku pointed out, “the heart inside must be very fragile indeed...”

“I don't mean to burst your bubble, but I don't have the true antidote,” Ai said coolly. “Only a temporary one...”

“It might be powerful enough to neutralize the shell, even if it's only meant to work on a temporary basis,” Hakuba mused. “If you had enough to submerge the jewel...”

“We only need it out of its shell for a few minutes, after all,” Kaito said, cracking his knuckles.

“It'll take me a long time to distil enough of the temporary antidote in liquid form,” Ai said thoughtfully. “Hakase and I will probably be working all night and all day tomorrow too...”

“But you can do it?” Yuusaku asked. Ai slowly nodded.

“That's wonderful!” Yukiko squealed. “It'll finally be destroyed...” her smile faded as she thought of something. “What'll happen to... Sharon-chan?”

“She's dead,” Ai pointed out sharply.

“And if the story is anything to go by, she will not remain so,” Yuusaku reminded her softly.

“I think that she and Ushi were slowly slipping back into the stream of time, so it may simply be that she and Ushi begin aging again,” Akako said with a shrug. “But on the other hand... Eta said often that she sensed the comet's approach. Okaa-sama said that they were linked. So if Eta and Ushi are linked to the jewel, and the link, rather than degrading naturally, is violently broken... then perhaps...”

“We'll see that Dorian Gray effect after all,” Hakuba said quietly.

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“First Bourbon, now Korn!” Chianti raged. “What the hell's going on? Do you think someone's warned them about where we're going to be?”

“Not one of us,” Gin said quietly, his gaze sweeping over her, Kir and Vodka. “Vermouth's body was never found...”

“We saw you kill her!” Kir said in shock. “How could she be-?!”

“And I thought I saw Kudo Shinichi die,” Gin said quietly. “Assume nothing until the body is found...”

“Nobody can survive being shot in the head, though,” Kir pointed out.

“No,” Gin said, watching her dangerously, “they can't, can they?”

His phone suddenly rang with an oddly incongruous ringtone- Nanatsu No Ko. Gin answered without taking his eyes off of Kir.

“Hai,” he said after a moment. “I understand.” He closed the phone again, looking around the rest.

“What is it?” Vodka asked. “What does Anokata want?”

“He's coming to lead the assault,” Gin said with an odd glint in his eye. Kir might almost have said it was joy, if she wasn't quite certain that he was beyond such emotions.

“What's our plan, then?” Kir asked.

“We four are the most trusted remaining members,” Gin said. “We will be accompanying him. But to deal with the police and FBI guards...”

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“Hey, Ran...”

Shinichi was sitting curled up next to Ran on the sofa. Hakuba and Akako had remained in his room, talking to Kuroba and Aoko. The revelations about Akako's past had proven a shock even to herself, and she needed her friends' comfort. Shinichi wasn't surprised. The statute of limitations for all of her crimes had long past, but that was hardly a comfort to one who fully expected- and wanted- to be punished for their sins.

“Is it about what you were really going to say about Akako-chan?” Ran asked perceptively.

“How'd you-?” Shinichi began, but Ran placed a finger over his lips to silence him with a smile.

“It was a little obvious that you were holding something back,” Ran said, quirking a wider smile. “You've been mulling over it this whole time, haven't you? How long have I known you?”

“All right, all right,” Shinichi muttered. “It's just... I know who she is. I think... I know who her brother is, and where. But... I just feel that it'll only hurt her more to know... he'll hardly even recognize her after all this time, and even if he did, I doubt he'd care. Is it... wrong to want to hold back this information, because it'll hurt her?”

“I don't know,” Ran said softly. “You have good intentions, but... well, I didn't hide who you were, just because it would hurt you.”

“I know,” Shinichi sighed.

“But that was different,” Ran continued. “It was something that was coming back anyway, something that was hurting you more because you didn't know it that it would when you did. Akako-chan... if her brother has become someone who'll only hurt her... more than he already has, anyway... perhaps it's better to let her keep her memories of him as they are.”

“From the way she talks about `im, he's as dead as her parents ta her anyways,” Kazuha said, leaning over the couch, lifting up a reluctant Hattori so he could sit on top of it. “So ya know where he is?”

“I've seen the name Kurosawa before,” Shinichi said. “Haibara knows too, I think. I just... I feel bad about keeping it from her. She just seems to be on the edge as it is...”

“Well, her rememberin' was way harder than yours, though she didn't conk out,” Hattori said pointedly. Shinichi made a face at him. “But findin' out that yer a horrible murderer is kinda harder than findin' out yer a shrunken teen, ya know?”

“It's taken her a lot of strength to take these memories,” Ran said sympathetically. “I think... later, someday when her heart is calmer, you could tell her. For now... best not to push it.”

“But tomorrow night they're gonna strike against the Syndicate! Ain't it great?” Kazuha asked cheerily. “You two'll be back ta normal in no time!”

“And this time, I owe you a couple of lumps,” Ran said, glaring at Shinichi.

“C-come again?” Shinichi said, her glare suddenly making him nervous.

“Well, now that you have your memories back,” she said menacingly, “you'll remember at Sonoko's family villa, with the mad-axe murderer...”

Shinichi gulped, going bright red.

“... and Otou-san's school reunion...”

Shinichi went even redder. “Th-that was...”

“What happened?” Hattori asked curiously.

“N-nothing you need to know about!” Shinichi said quickly. Hattori grinned evilly. Shinichi looked from his evil grin to Ran's. “I'm so dead...”

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I love Akako, KageNoNeko. Why isn't she in the DC manga? T_T

His real name is apparently Kurosawa Jin, Nataeiy1… would he care, I wonder? :/ I would totally read that series, BTW… link me if you do write it XD I'm convinced that those two had a plan and are up to something. They have that evil Holmesian mindset, after all… I don't know about masks. I'm not sure how aware they are of Vermouth's skills….

Akako rocks, StargateNerd, and so does Don Tacos! XD

That's good, Marie Ravenclaw ^_^ and yeah, ShiraKoba is cute and all, but WE WANT PLOT, DAMMIT! DX

♥ love the HakAko fluff, eh, Pretztailfan95? XD Well, he's Mexican, so I wondered who he'd fight with… never mind, jokes die with explanation. DON TACOS! XD

I'm glad, Mel72000 ^_^ Love Akako ♥

We're in the final chapters, Desperatembrace… get ready for the showdown…

It's all right, Kayla Edogawa, there's more fic to come afterwards…. ^_- There might not be many left alive who'd recognize her, Org members are not distinguished by being long-lived, Eta and Ushi aside… XD “jingle bells, Black Org smells, Sherry ran away, Heiji smacked Sa-chan with a sword and the Kid got clean away…” XDXD

They're actually the only one of the four teen couples that I haven't made kiss yet, aren't they, virushunter981? Well, they're considerably behind the other three, so we'll see… It's all winding down now…

Human language was simply not designed to say how awesome HakAko are, International DCFanficNut1207… we'll just have to go “awesome like a million hot dogs” XD

Back to school blues, FHP2208? T_T how dare school take away from your fandom time… XD look forward to the showdown chapters, coming soon… ^_-

Arigatou, Yin7 ^_-

I do not claim to own any of the characters in Meitantei Conan. They are the intellectual property of Aoyama Gosho. All characters, couples and locations, if Canon, will be faithful to the manga, so if you're into fics with weird pairings like Shinichi and Heiji, the back button is at the top there. The fic may not make sense if you have not read up to chapter 698, which you can do at a site called (read between the lines) O/n/e/ma/n/g/a, but I advise you to buy the official Tankoban novels (up to volume 30 are out in English at the time of writing) so that Aoyama-sensei can afford to continue gracing us with his imagination. Now, I hope you enjoy the fic! (If you don't, please see my previous comments re the back button).