PART TWO

"Conan-kun!"

The call woke me up, and I blinked groggily. For a moment, the world was fuzzy, and I couldn't remember where I was. "Jii," I mumbled, "you will never believe the dream I just-"

"Shhh!" hissed a voice close to me, and I jumped. When I looked up, Tantei-kun was glaring down at me. "Do you want her to hear you?" he demanded in a whisper.

"Her...what..." I blinked again, and then I remembered. I'd been shot, shrunk, and left in the rain. I'd come to Tantei-kun's. I was now his "brother." Rubbing my eyes, I sat up on the bed and Tantei-kun crossed his arms. I had slept in his bed due to my injury, and he had taken the floor.

I yawned before finally saying, "I've got to meet her sometime, Conan-oniisan."

Tantei-kun's face looked disgusted. "Really? 'Oniisan?'"

"You're the older twin." I smiled, and he rolled his eyes. "When are you going to introduce me to Ran-neechan?" I asked cheerfully, and he looked further horrified.

"That's even weirder!"

"Well?"

Tantei-kun sighed and shook his head. "Too much trouble," I thought I heard him mutter, but I wasn't sure. Then he gave me a look. "This would be much easier," he said with an accusatory tone, "if you just 'showed up' randomly at the door! Not if you just come walking out of my room suddenly."

"Do you want me to crawl out the window now like this?" I questioned, gesturing to my leg. It'd already bled through the shorts he'd lent me, and I'd have to borrow another pair.

Even though I said it sarcastically, he looked as though he were seriously thinking the idea over. "Maybe..."

"No," I deadpanned. "I was joking."

"Conan-kun!" There was a knock at the door, and we both jumped. "Wake up, Conan-kun! You'll be late for school!"

"U-Um, coming!" he called out quickly, then looked back to me like What do we do?

"I can not crawl out that window," I told him decisively.

"Co-nan-kun!" She was emphasizing each word, each syllable laced with exasperation.

"Coming!" he shouted, and Tantei-kun put his forefinger and his thumb to the bridge of his nose as if holding back a headache. "Oh, God."

I sighed a little. "Do I always have to come up with a plan?" I demanded, then reached forward and pulled his glasses off his face. He sputtered an "O-Oi!" but I'd already shoved the glasses onto my face and thrown back the covers. "Get me some new shorts," I told him. "And some shoes...Oniisan."

"What are you-"

"It's time I become part of the happy family." I winked at him. "So I'm going to spend a day in your shoes. So hurry and get me my school stuff so I can go."

"I thought you were my twin," objected Tantei-kun, "not me!"

"I thought you were Kudo Shinichi," I retorted, "and not a first grader, but look how that turned out. Look, it's just for the-"

"Conan-kun! Hurry up!"

We both jumped again, and I heard him mutter a fine, "Fine, you deal with her."

I grinned triumphantly.

"Conan!"

I turned, and I saw four kids heading down the sidewalk towards me. They looked familiar, and then I realized I'd seen them with Tantei-kun before. And then I realized, when they yelled Conan, they meant me. I'll have to get used to that, I thought, then put on my best Conan expression. "Hey, guys," I said. I paused for a minute, thinking back-

"You'll meet four kids along the way," Tantei-kun had said. "If you don't, I'll be very surprised. The big one is Genta. The skinny boy is called Mitsuhiko. Ayumi-chan is the small, black-haired girl. And if you want this trick of yours to work, you'll have to fool Haibara, the other girl." He grinned at me. "Have fun with that."

"Did you watch the soccer finals last night?" asked the skinny one-Mitsuhiko-as he got closer. "Did you see Hide and Naoki?"

Oh, crap. I didn't watch soccer. Sports weren't my thing. I spent my childhood learning how to pull a dove out of a hat! I racked my brain for a Conan-like response. "Of course I watched it," I said finally. "Naoki sure did great, didn't he?" And then I waited for their reactions.

The black-haired girl, Ayumi, grinned. "That's what I told them!" she said happily. "But they said Hide was better."

"I thought you liked Hide better than Naoki," frowned Genta, and I scrambled for a response.

"I just like soccer," I told them. Then, quickly, "Aren't we going to be late for school?"

Mitsuhiko checked his watch and his eyes widened. "You're right!" He looked back at the others. "Come on, we got to hurry!" And the three took off down the sidewalk.

Three? questioned my brain, and I looked over my shoulder to find the last one, Haibara, looking at me with a funny expression on her face. You'll have to fool Haibara if you want this to work, Tantei-kun's voice told me, and I frowned at her in a very Conan-like way.

"Oi," I said, imitating his voice, "what's up with you?"

She didn't say anything, but one side of her mouth curved up in what I thought was a smile. Or a smirk. I couldn't tell, because then Ayumi was calling, "Hurry, Conan-kun," and my focus slipped to where the other three were far down the sidewalk already. "We'll be late!" Ayumi shouted.

I took a couple steps forward, then glanced back at Haibara again. She was still standing there, watching me with that odd smile. "You coming?" I asked impatiently, and she silently started walking behind me. When she couldn't see my face, I knew my expression slipped into one of concern. This might be harder than I thought.

"Aren't you going to come play soccer, Conan?"

I looked back and offered a small, apologetic smile because they really did look disappointed. "Sorry, guys," I said, "but I promised Ran-neechan that I'd help her make dinner tonight."

"You can cook?" asked Mitsuhiko incredulously.

I frowned at him. "What's that supposed to mean?" Then I shook my head. "Never mind. I got to go. See you tomorrow!" And before they could question me further, I ran off down the street towards the detective agency. Second worst day ever, I thought to myself, because I'd spent the whole day going over things like five times seven or the water cycle, things that had been beaten into my head since my own elementary days. Jeez, Tantei-kun, I feel bad for you. Because he'd spent almost a year like this, those "Detective Boys" as his classmates. How did he survive? Or at the very least keep his sanity?

I ran down a couple more blocks, then burst through the door and started to jog up the stairs, then halted with a cry of "Ow!" I looked down at my leg and saw blood beginning to seep through my shorts. I muttered a swear-I'd reopened the wound running. I went up the stairs at a snail's pace from there, knocked on the door, and waited for someone to open it. When Tantei-kun finally unlocked the door, instead of 'hello,' I said, "I need new shorts."

"What? That's your second pair!"

"I know. I need another one."

"Jeez." He stepped aside and let me in, and I slung his backpack onto the floor by the couch I'd rested on the night before. "You really need to get that checked out," he insisted, shutting the door behind me.

"Once I come up with a believable story besides getting shot," I replied. "For now, I need some more pants before someone comes home and sees the blood."

Tantei-kun shook his head, then hurried into his room. I heard him rummaging around and he called out to me, "So? How'd it go?"

"Your life sucks," I answered. "How can you stand learning your fives all over again?"

"I started with the ones." He came out and tossed me my third pair of shorts, and I stripped the bloody ones off and threw them back to him to put in the washer. As he did that, he asked, "Did anyone know it wasn't me?"

"Don't think so." I paused, one leg in my new shorts, and remembered the girl Haibara's funny smile at the beginning. She hadn't acted strange the rest of the day. In fact, she hadn't talked at all. But that one smile... "That Haibara friend of yours gave me the creeps, though," I admitted after a minute. "She may know, but I can't really tell. Does she ever talk?"

"More than you think," he answered, and the washer door slammed shut. He turned back to me and raised an eyebrow. "So?"

I finished buttoning the shorts and raised an eyebrow right back at him. "So what?"

Tantei-kun sighed like I was driving him mad, which I quite possibly was. I specialized in that. "So," he said slowly, like I was stupid, and I made a face at him, "how do we explain you to Ran and Uncle? How would I never know I had a twin brother?"

I smiled, but since it was from me, I knew it didn't reassure him. "Don't worry," I told him, "I'm great at acting. And lying."

"That's not a good thing."

"No, being an actor is great." I grinned at his expression. "Don't worry," I said again. "I know what I'm doing." Biggest. Lie. Ever. Told you I'm good at lying.

I knew he wasn't reassured anyway. Nothing I said would make him feel better until this all actually worked itself out. If it did. "How long do we have until she gets home?" I asked.

"Any minute now," he said. "I don't know where Uncle-"

The door slammed open, and we both leapt backwards, startled. A man with a moustache and cheeks stained with a drunken flush staggered in, a bottle clutched in one fist and a girl in a school uniform holding him upright on his other side. "Jeez," she said irritably, "it's not even dinner time yet and you're already drunk!"

"Beer's good at any time of time!" the man replied loudly, hiccupped, then stumbled forward with her before tripped and falling onto the couch. There was a moment of silence that was soon filled with loud snoring, the bottle in his fist dangling over the edge of the couch and dripping alcohol onto the carpet.

"Jeez," she said again, putting her hands on her hips. Then she turned and saw me. "Conan-kun," she said, "will you go get me a towel..." She trailed off, catching sight of Tantei-kun on my left. "Conan-kun?" Her voice sounded confused.

"U-Um, Ran-neechan," Tantei-kun stuttered nervously. "This...This is..."

I searched my brain quickly for a name, any name that wasn't Kaito, then held out my hand with a friendly smile. "My name," I said cheerfully, "is Lupin. Nice to meet you."

Tantei-kun gave me a look of disbelief, and Ran smiled a little back and shook my hand. "Very proper. Nice to meet you, too, Lupin-san." Ran looked from me to Tantei-kun, then back again. "You and Conan-kun look very much alike..."

"There's a reason for that." I kept my smile pasted on my face despite the butterflies in my belly, then pulled the handwritten note I'd forged earlier at school out of my sweater pocket. "This is a note...from our mom."

Ran frowned, confused still, but took the note. "Um, all right," she said uncertainly. "But, Conan-kun, can you and your...friend get me a towel to clean up Dad's mess?"

"O-Okay." Tantei-kun looked at me. "Come on...Lupin."

I grinned at him, and as we walked away I looked over my shoulder and saw the look of shock on her face as she read the note. "No way," I heard her mutter.

All according to plan.

Tantei-kun and I were seated at one end of the couch, Ran perched on the arm of the other end. Detective Mouri was pacing with a cigarette and a lighter, fumbling to light the tobacco. When Ran had shaken him awake with the news, he had almost instantly sobered up with the shock.

He finally got his cigarette to light, took a deep breath of smoke, and exhaled slowly, the smoke drifting into the room. Ran must've really been shocked because she didn't say anything about it. After a moment, Mouri finally said, "Twins? You are kidding, right?"

"No, sir." I smiled. "It's all true." I glanced over to Tantei-kun, who looked entirely uncomfortable, and my smile widened. "Isn't that right, Oniisan?"

He blinked at me. "I-I guess." He paused, then chuckled nervously. "To be honest, I didn't know either."

Mouri swore and took another drag of his cigarette. With a sigh and a puff of smoke, he said, "Jeez, I'm getting sick of your crap, Conan," and Tantei-kun just chuckled again. "Every day, something weird happens around you," he continued. "I dunno if you're good luck or bad luck sometimes."

"Dad," snapped Ran warningly, and Mouri looked at her like What?

"It took me awhile to find you, Oniisan," I said to Tantei-kun, distracting them from their quarrel. "But once I finally found our mom, it was easy. She even paid for my flight here from America."

"How do you not know about having a twin brother?" demanded Mouri. "I mean, you were born at the same time!"

"Mom couldn't keep us both," I explained, and I began spinning the tale I'd spent all gym thinking up. "You see, our mother was very young when she had us and couldn't afford us, so she had to give one of us up for adoption, but she couldn't bear to give us both away. She felt bad about separating us later, and just decided not to tell us about the other so we wouldn't feel sad. But my foster mother let the detail slip one day, and they helped me find my mom, and she got me here to find you." I grinned in a happy, childish way at Tantei-kun, and he made a slight face back at me like What kind of story was that?

"That's so sad," said Ran after a moment. She smiled next. "But now you got to meet!" She seemed to be getting over the bombshell I'd dropped on her. She turned her smile to Tantei-kun and said, "Isn't that great, Conan-kun? You have a twin brother!"

"Y-Yeah." Tantei-kun, however, did not seem to be quite over it. He still looked nervous like we'd be found out at any moment, shifting anxiously on the couch, and I realized he must be a horrible liar. What was his saying? One truth prevails?

Ran seemed to notice his nervousness and laid a hand on his shoulder. When he looked up at her, she said gently, "Conan-kun, how about you go make us some tea while we talk to Lupin-san?"

"Both have weird names," I heard Mouri mutter. "Definitely related."

"Sure," Tantei-kun said, looking relieved for the chance to get out of the room, and he hurried off into the kitchen.

I felt my grin widening on my face. Time for phase two. Which I had developed during the time I suffered through repeating "five times 3 is fifteen" for the hundredth time. I turned to Ran and tugged on her sleeve. "Mouri-san," I whispered. "I have to tell you something."

She blinked down at me. "Um, all right."

"It's important." I made my voice as serious and demanding of attention as a seven-year-old's voice can be, and she frowned curiously at me. "Please listen."

"What is it, kid? Spit it out," said Mouri, and I shushed him. I didn't want Tantei-kun hearing this. Not yet, anyway.

I took a deep breath like this was very hard for me to admit, then said, "When I found my mother, she told me the real reason Conan-kun decided to stay here after she and my father recovered from their accident."

"Real reason?" asked Ran. "I thought he liked it here."

I nodded. "Yes, he does. But, also, he's a genius. A child prodigy."

Mouri instantly snorted. "That brat?" he demanded disbelievingly. "He only knows useless stuff."

"But would you know any of that 'useless stuff?'" I retorted, and Mouri stammered something like, "Well...Well, I..." But I interrupted him. "He knows more, of course. Lots of stuff. Like me," and I smiled here. "But in America he was bullied a lot because of it. It got so bad that he started failing tests on purpose to be 'normal.' So when he came here, he used that same act, so he could start anew. So he wouldn't be bullied."

"Poor Conan-kun!" said Ran, her voice full of sympathy.

Hook-line-sinker. I fought back a triumphant grin and went on with the rest of my story. "In fact..." I paused for effect and cast the detective a solemn glance. "I think he may be the reason beside your sudden success."

Mouri nearly spat out his cigarette. He choked for a minute, then managed to say, "No way! You don't know what you're talking about!"

I frowned at him. "It's true!" I insisted. "Think about it. Your deductions made no sense until Oniisan showed up. Then, suddenly, you would black out, and when you'd wake up you'd have no memory of the case you supposedly solved. Except the last thing you remember is Oniisan telling you something like, 'Look at what I found!' or 'Come here, Uncle!'"

"Th-That's because...!" sputtered Mouri, and when I glanced out of the corner of my eye, there was a funny expression on Ran's face, almost like she was seeing the sense in what I was saying.

"That's because," I went on, "we really are relatives of this Doctor Agasa, and he made Oniisan a watch with a tranquilizer. He's always loved Sherlock Holmes, and when he saw the chance to repay you for taking him in, he took it. He solved all those cases and gave you the credit." I finished solemnly, "He made you the famous detective, with all this work, that you are today."

"I don't believe you," said Mouri, but he didn't sound as confident as his words.

I smiled a little. "Then why don't you call that precinct you're always helping out and ask them? They've probably noticed his strange habits and actions. Just ask and you'll find out everything." It was a challenge, and he stared at me for a moment before diving for his phone and jabbing in the police headquarters' number.

"Do you really think that's true?" asked Ran quietly, and I looked at her curiously. "That Conan-kun's been solving all Dad's cases," she elaborated.

I nodded firmly. "I know it." And I did, much better than they actually knew. I turned back to Mouri, who had answered to someone by the name of Takagi.

"Officer Takagi," he was saying, "I was wanting to ask you a few questions. No, not about that case, about..." He paused as if embarrassed, then finished, "About Conan."

"Conan-kun?" came the officer's confused voice. "Why are you asking me about Conan-kun?"

"Well, I, uh..." he stammered for a moment, then snapped, "Just answer the question!" At the officer's startled "Y-Yes," Mouri asked, "Have you...Have you noticed anything strange about Conan? Like, that makes him different some other kids?"

At that, I could hear the officer start laughing. When Mouri demanded to know what was so funny, Takagi said, "Everyone's noticed that. Everyone who sees him at a crime scene can tell he's a little unusual. In fact, do you remember that case a while back? About the bomb me and Conan-kun were trapped with?"

"Um, yes," answered Mouri.

"Well, he was the one figuring everything out," admitted Takagi, and I saw Mouri's mouth drop open. "He was the one clipping wires, who saved everyone, actually. I remember asking him, Who in the world are you?"

"And? What'd he say?"

"He said, I'll tell you in the next life." Takagi laughed again. "He's a bit of a morbid kid. Very strange. But I like him, don't you?" He laughed for the third time, and Mouri wordlessly hung up.

"Dad? What'd he say?" asked Ran.

"He said," Mouri said in a strange voice, "that Conan was the one who saved everyone at the bombing a while back. With Takagi."

Just then, Tantei-kun came in with a tea tray. When we all turned to stare at him, he paused in the doorway and frowned. "What?" he asked nervously. "Is there something on my face?"

I tried to make this as believable as possible, but for some reason I feel like I botched up their personalities...I hope you like it! -Wynter Fyres.