Epilogue

Two Weeks Later

"Lupin, are you ready to—" Shinichi turned away from the mirror as Hakuba walked into the room. "Oh, you're still changing. My apologizes, I'll just—"

"You don't have to go; I'm almost done." He yanked the knotted mess around his throat and started again. "I just… can't get this tie right."

Hakuba walked up to him. "Have you never tied one before?" he asked, taking the ends of the tie in his hands.

"I've never had to. Our school doesn't have one with the uniform and any time I've had to dress up fancy, Papa would tie it." Shinichi rubbed his head, careful not to mess up the gel that held his hair in place.

"You could probably get away without it." Despite his words, Hakuba began tying the tie for him. "Go for a more business casual look."

"I know, but I want to look my best for today."

Finished, Hakuba allowed him to turn back to the mirror. "You look your best every day, Lupin. So relax; everything's going to be fine."

Shinichi's shoulders sagged. "Ah, you can see right through me then…" And here he thought he'd been hiding his emotions well! "I don't suppose you'd want to come along…?"

"Unfortunately, I cannot. Zenigata dropped off more paperwork I need to fill out. Becoming an Interpol agent is rather difficult." He nodded, trying not to look disappointed. It didn't work as Hakuba rested his hand on his shoulder. "I am aware that I am not very good with emotions, but… things are going to work out. Its going to be alright." He smiled at him. "Now, go see Kuroba before he permanently wears a hole in my carpet downstairs."

Shinichi smiled back, rubbing his neck. "Thanks, Hakuba. For letting me stay here, and… everything else."

"What else are friends for?" He answered with a shrug.

Together, they went downstairs to find Inspector Zenigata and Kaito in the foyer. Kaito was, in fact, pacing back and forth anxiously. Shinichi held out his arms. "Well… I think I'm ready as I'll ever be."

Relief drenched Kaito's form as Zenigata stepped forward. His eyes gleamed, suspiciously wet. "You clean up nice, kid."

"So I've been told. Shall we get going?"

Zenigata nodded, but stopped Shinichi. "I'm… I just wanted you to know… I'm really proud of you, Arsène." He then realized what he said and immediately backtracked, stuttering. "I-I mean, Shinichi! Sorry, sorry, I'm really proud of you, Shinichi."

They—he, Kaito, and Hakuba—had told Zenigata the truth during the aftermath of the Black Organization takedown. While the inspector had been disappointed that Shinichi hadn't confided in him earlier, he was all for their plan and set everything up for today to even happen.

Shinichi smiled, shaking his head. "There's no need to apologize. I'll always be Arsène, just like you'll always be Gramps, and nothing can change that."

Tears really started to fall then, Gramps frantically wiping them away. "Jesus, kid, you really know how to pull on the heartstrings," he groaned, sniffing heavily. Pulling himself together, Gramps smiled ruffled his hair. Shinichi franticly patted it back into place. "Alright, kid. We better get moving if we want to get there on time."

They said their goodbyes to Hakuba and Shinichi climbed into the back of Zenigata's car, Kaito at his side. The drive was quiet to the park, leaving Shinichi alone with his thoughts. Why were they even meeting at the park? Surely a police station would be just as fine, right? But no, he wouldn't have been comfortable in a police station, not with everything that's happened. Not only that, but in certain circles, his reputation proceeded him. By meeting in a police station, they could take it to mean all the rumors were true, that he really was a criminal like Dad and Papa. Had Gramps taken that into account when he planned this?

A hand landed on his shoulder and Shinichi turned to Kaito. "Shinichi… I've been meaning to ask you something… It's about—"

A sharp trill cut him off. Shinichi pulled out his phone, new and untapped since Interpol didn't think he'd contact his family anymore. "I can let it go to voice mail," Shinichi assured Kaito.

"No, no." Kaito waved his hands, a line of sweat trailing down his face. "It might be something important; I can wait."

"Okay then…" Shinichi answered it. "Hello?"

"Hey brat."

"Papa!" Kaito's head snapped back to him. Gramps looked like he was physically restraining himself from leaping into the backseat, snatching the phone, and belting Dad's name into the receiver. What restraint. "Why are you calling?"

"What, a father can't be worried about his kid?"

"No, but… you haven't contacted me before—" in the aftermath of the Organization's fall. Did he consider it too risky?

"I knew you could handle it yourself. Besides, not every member of those people were caught in that one attack. Someone had to hunt them down for the police."

"So, your lack of contact has nothing to do with the meeting today?" Papa remained silent. "I'm right, aren't I? You don't want today to happen." Shinichi couldn't stop the disappointment from leaking into his voice. Kaito placed a hand on his leg for support.

"…Can you really blame me?" Papa sounded tired, past the point of exhaustion. "You've been my kid for the last eleven years and now… you're not coming home ever again."

Shinichi clenched the phone. "Papa…"

"You don't have to try to reassure me; I knew this was going to be the outcome from the start. From the moment you suggested this plan. I thought I was ready for you to leave, but…" A self-deprecating laugh crackled through the speaker. "I tried to start years ago. You never took to stealing like Lupin, or shooting like me. It was always detective work. So I resigned myself to you eventually being on Pops' side when you grew up, but now there's these people…"

"Papa…" Shinichi turned towards the window, an inkling of privacy. "You know I'm not replacing you with them. I still love you and Dad and Auntie and Uncle. You all mean the world to me."

"And you mean the world to us."

Shinichi blinked away a tear. "I know. But I can't leave this hole open anymore." Both in his chest, and in theirs. "It's time to end this. But that doesn't change the fact that I am your son."

A sigh. "You're a good kid, Shinichi." A laugh. "Fujiko says to tell you that we're coming over to their place for Christmas. Also, she says she loves you too."

He laughed as well, relief saturating him. His family wasn't mad at him. Thank God. "I'm sure the Kudos will love having to explain why their house was robbed by the Lupin Gang this Christmas." Gramps' head twitched towards him and Shinichi made note to make sure Gramps got hot chocolate during the eventual stakeout that was sure to happen. Looking out the window, Shinichi didn't recognize where they were, but the car was starting to slow down. "Hey, I think we're nearing our destination. I'll have to get off the phone now."

"Yeah." A moment of silence, then—"I'll see you soon, kid. And if things don't turn out the way you wanted them to—"

"I'll call and you'll come pick me up. I remember." Shinichi smiled. "I love you, Papa."

A quiet choking noise trickled through the speaker. "Goddamn it, kid." Papa sounded like he couldn't breathe. "I love you too."

A beep. The call was done right as Gramps slid into a parking space. He looked around. "Do you think they're here yet?"

"Nah." Rolling down the window, Gramps lit a cigarette and puffed on it. "They're probably not in a hurry; I didn't tell them why we were meeting, after all." And at the park, no less. Even Hakuba wouldn't expect such a meeting to be serious. Though, that was likely the reason why this place was chosen. "I'm going to wait outside, so they'll know we're here. You kids behave in here."

"You have the window down, you'll know if we misbehave." Shinichi rolled his eyes. Gramps left the car.

"Shinichi… about what I was going to say…" Kaito grabbed one of his hands. "I… after this, I want to go on a date with you."

He blinked. "I thought that we'd agreed that I would if meeting the Kudos went well."

"Yes, but," Kaito licked his lips. "Even if this doesn't go well, I want to be your boyfriend. If you want to leave Japan, I'll follow you." Shinichi's eyes widened. "I'm willing to follow you anywhere you want."

"But you have a life here!"

"And I can have a life with you too." He glanced away. "I might be giving things up by leaving, but I'll gain a lot more with you."

He didn't know what to say. Gently, he enclosed Kaito's hand within his own. The only people who have been willing to stay with him… were family. Everything else, every town, every acquaintance, he has had to leave, but now… "Okay. I'd like that."

Kaito's smile was breathtaking. "Thank you, Shinichi."

Shinichi never felt such a burning desire to kiss someone before in his life.

Before he could act on that feeling, another car pulled into the parking lot, not far from them. Gramps walked away to meet it. Out of the car came two adults and one child—the Kudo family. Yuusaku Kudo was a tall man, mustached, with thick glasses glinting in the sunlight. Yuukiko was shorter, wearing a violet sundress, with her curly blonde hair pulled back away from her face. Conan moved behind his father, almost hiding behind his legs.

He sighed, hit by a sudden pang of longing. "I guess this is it," he murmured, squeezing Kaito's hand once more. At least his hands weren't sweating. Shinichi left the car, Kaito behind him but choosing not to trail him. He heard Gramps say, "Ah, here he is," right as he reached them.

"Excuse me for interrupting your day, Mr. and Mrs. Kudo." Shinichi began his prewritten speech. "My name is Arsène Lupin the Fourth. I've—"

"Lupin?" Yuukiko interrupted him. Yuusaku was staring at him suspiciously. "Oh, this must be the same one you were talking about, right Conan?" Conan nodded in agreement, but kept away from his mother. "Is something the matter? Inspector Zenigata was vague on the reason why he summoned us here."

"W-Well, it's…" Shinichi no longer knew what to say, interrupted as he was. "It's about my family."

"I suspected as much. You're the son of that thief, Lupin the Third, correct?" Yuusaku asked.

"Not necessarily…" That caught them off guard. "I was adopted off the streets as a child. I had amnesia and had been kidnapped; combined with him being unable to locate my birth parents, he decided to keep me."

"So, you require our help in tracking your birth parents down?" Yuukiko didn't seem to get it, but from the expression on Yuusaku's face, he was starting to understand the situation.

Shinichi shot Gramps a mildly panicked look. "Well, not really—"

Taking pity on him, Gramps continued. "What Arsène is trying to say is, that we've already found his parents. Yuusaku, Yuukiko, this is your eldest son, Shinichi."

"Shinichi?" The words slipped from Yuukiko's mouth.

"You're certain?"

"Lupin-nii's my brother?"

"Yes," Shinichi answered. "The man who kidnapped me confessed to the crime. O-Of course, I understand if that isn't enough evidence for you; I'm sure there have been people who've tried to pass themselves off as your son, so I'll willingly submit to a DNA test—"

"Shinichi. Shinichi, it's you." Tears pouring down her face, Yuukiko pulled Shinichi into her arms. Clutched tightly to her chest, he flailed around awkwardly in her hug before wrapping his arms around her too. Yuusaku placed his hands on both of their shoulders and even Conan joined in, hugging his leg. "It's you."

"Yeah." Shinichi swallowed down the lump in his throat as relieved tears budded in his eyes. "It's me."

A/N: Ending something is always hard. Especially if it's something that means a lot to you. I think, over the course of writing and procrastinating writing this story, I forgot how much this story meant to me.

But writing this chapter, I remembered. I remembered what I wanted this story to be about and why it was so important to me. And so, I hope this was the proper send off to this story that you all enjoyed, because this is the send off I needed to write.

Thank you all for reading.