“Rise and shiiiiiine, everyone! It’s a beautiful morning, isn’t it?”
    
Nobody really wanted to tolerate Monobear first thing in the morning. But he had called them all to the gymnasium, so they didn’t have much of a choice.

“Is it?” Kuroba asked. “I didn’t realize since we’re stuck in here, but maybe that’s why I have such a good feeling today!”

Monobear beamed, nodding enthusiastically. “Yes, it’s a good day indeedy! I even saw a deer today! Deers are always a good omen, right?”

When no one responded, the bear continued anyways.

“Right! Actually, it was my secret messenger deer who arrived to bring me news of the outside. I’m sure you’re all eager to hear what’s going on in the world, right?”

Pulling from a stack of newspapers, Monobear cleared his throat and started reading.

“Let’s see… ‘Demons Threaten To Attack The Capital’! ‘Bears Protest For Equal Rights’! ‘‘Cute Fashionista Saves Kittens From A Tree While Donating To Charity’-- ooh, I like that one! Interesting! Hmm, what else-- huh?! ‘Ugly Secrets Of Missing Persons Finally Revealed’?! Yowzers, that’s a real headline for ya!”

Monobear kicked the stack of newspapers into the air to reveal a stack of brown envelopes behind it. The tension grew thick as people realized what they were.

A motive.

“Haha, just kidding! That wasn’t one of the headlines!” He paused and snickered, “...yet.”

“So is tha’ wha’ this is?” Hattori asked incredulously. “Ya got some dirt on all’f us an’ yer gonna tell tha world if nobody dies?”

“What an uncreative idea,” Kirigiri sighed. From Conan’s perspective, it seemed she was one of the people that was the least bothered about this. But she was clearly still anxious. From the stage, Monobear stomped his feet angrily.

“Hey! My undercover deertective put a lot of work in digging up all of your darkest secrets! And you’ve both got that wrong - I’ve put a heart-thumping twist on it!”

He scooped up the envelopes and went from person to person, handing out the motive. Many accepted it warily - Conan included. There was one thing in particular he hoped he wouldn’t find in there…

“Last year, I told my students that they had twenty four hours to kill someone or I would reveal all of their secrets to the world! I mean, I could do that again, but… where’s the suspense in that? We need a bit more build-up so we have a satisfying ka-boom! Ya get me?”

Monobear hummed as he gave out the last envelope. He climbed back onto the stage to address everyone once again.

“Ehhh… Let’s see… There are fourteen of you, right? So I’ll give you fourteen days before your secrets go international! Two whoooole weeks! Aren’t I thoughtful?”

Some people were relieved, but the wiser knew better.

“That’s a pretty generous time limit,” Sera noted, wary. “What’s the catch?”

The bear started giggling to himself. Any good moods were ruined.

“The catch? Every morning your loveable and dedicated headmaster will redistribute these very same secrets to new people! So tomorrow, your secret will be known by someone here. And you’ll have someone else’s secret. This will repeat every day until everyone has had the chance to read all the secrets.”

Conan stared at his own envelope. It looked like no one had been brave enough to open theirs yet. The young boy was already certain there would be nothing in here that could drive him to kill. He would never take a life. He would always find another way.

But… with the twist that Monobear was suggesting, the situation got more complicated.

“I’ll stop sharing your secrets if - and only if - someone dies! In fact, we’ll have a bonfire where we burn all the remaining envelopes I have! Or maybe we’ll put them through a shredder…” He shrugged. “We’ll dispose of them somehow - you’ll see! They’ll never reach another’s eyes… as long as you all start killin’!”

Monobear laughed and waddled out of the room, leaving a layer of dread on the fourteen in the gym. It was silent for a moment and no one dared to move. After all, no one wanted to be the first to anxiously tear into their secret. They would instantly be outed as the one with the most to hide.

“We…” Kazuha gulped. “We should share all ‘r secrets right here! Then there’ll be no surprises an’ no one will hafta die!”

“That’s a stupid idea.”

Haibara was glaring at Kazuha, who faltered at the icy look. Soon she shared that look with the rest of the group. Unwilling to speak further, the small girl made her way out of the room.

“H-Hey! Ai-chan! It can’t be tha’ bad--!”

“Sorry Kazuha-chan,” Sera said with an apologetic smile, “but I think you’ll find a lot of us feel the same way as that girl. My secrets aren’t that bad and I wouldn’t kill anyone over them, but I can’t say the same for anyone else.”

Conan didn’t need to look around to know Sera was right. There were grim faces and anxious hands all around.

“Besides, that won’t erase the motive,” Amuro pointed out as he peered into his envelope. He was probably the least nervous in the room - he even had a smile on his face. “If nobody dies, our secrets will be released to the world. I’m sure that’s a pretty scary thought for some people here.”

“This is ridiculous,” Sato said, exasperated. “Most of the people present aren’t even eighteen yet. I’m sure there are a lot of embarrassing secrets, but that shouldn’t be the end of the world. Is there honestly something you would take a life over--?”

“You forget that the students of Hope’s Peak were mere teenagers as well,” Koizumi said. She smirked and put her hands on her hips - she was looking pretty calm about this situation as well. “We already know one of them was a serial killer. Who knows what the rest of us are hiding?”

“You know what, I don’t think I can wait anymore.” Amuro offered an embarrassed grin. “I think we’re all pretty scared of someone peeking over our shoulder or finding something we can’t let anyone know. We could just agree to tear everyone’s secrets to shreds, but I’m kind of curious, you know? Of what the masterminds are capable of finding…”

Conan was curious too. Admittedly, he was also curious about all the things everyone wanted to hide so desperately. Even if they all somehow agreed to ignore the envelopes every morning, Conan knew he would certainly be peeking. Just in case. Certain others would too, after all.

“Well, I’m going to open mine!” Amuro announced, strangely excited. “Anyone is free to join me!”

Conan watched as the dark-skinned man eagerly plunged his hand into the envelope and pulled out a folded piece of paper. The young boy could hear other people warily looking at their own secret with the rustle of paper.

Amuro was looking at his paper with a strange amount of interest. For a second, he looked taken aback by what was there. But that expression was quickly smoothed over with a short laugh.

“Wow, mine is quite the doozy!” He smiled and folded it back up. “Pretty convincing! I can’t believe they knew about that!”

“I really hope you’re joking,” Sato sighed as she looked at her own. Her face went red as she read the message.

“No, not that…! How could they even figure that out…?”

Conan stared at the envelope in his own hand. Everyone else seemed to be preoccupied with their own, but he still didn’t feel comfortable opening it. Would it seem suspicious if he didn’t…?

After glancing around to make sure nobody was watching him, he quickly pulled out the folded piece of paper. With shaking hands, he dropped the envelope on the ground and unfolded the note.

It was very simple:

“Conan Edogawa is Shinichi Kudo.”

He couldn’t hide the devastation on his face.

“Ehhh, Conan-kun must be so lucky!” He could hear Sonoko’s whining getting closer. The young detective hugged the secret tightly to his chest and stared at the ground, unable to look up to face anyone.

“I bet you have a really cute secret! It’s probably the girl you have a crush on, isn’t it?”

“...H-How did you know…?”

“Ha! I knew it!” Sonoko grinned triumphantly as Conan winced from her voice. Glancing up, he could see that she had read her own secret, so this was probably a way of coping for her. He just wished she wasn’t so loud about it.

“Oh Kuroba-kun! I bet I know what your secret is!”

“Oh yeah? Well I probably know yours too…!”

Koizumi laughed at him - Kuroba was looking pretty defensive over whatever he was hiding and maybe a little paler, but his personality didn't seem too different. But maybe it was just an act, Conan didn’t know.

Most people seemed to have gone pale or red faced. Some weren’t too bothered - or were at least very good at hiding it.

Everyone grew silent when the sound of ripping paper rang through the air.

The sound of ripping paper brought Conan's eyes back to Kirigiri, who was ripping up the seemingly unopened envelope. She determinedly tore it until it was illegible scraps of brown and white. A few scraps fluttered onto the gymnasium floor. She bunched the little pieces into a tight fist and looked around at everyone else.

“...I don’t care what’s written on here,” she explained. The silver-haired detective eyed everyone in the room - despite her words, she still seemed pretty untrusting of those around her. “...I know my worst secrets and I’m certain one of them is on here. But I still won’t kill anybody.” She paused and continued after a moment’s hesitation. “My word likely means nothing, but I have no intention of reading anyone else’s secret either.”

“I’m with Kirigiri-chan!” Kuroba exclaimed after a moment. With a flick of the wrist, his secret had seemingly disappeared. He grinned.

“Mine is pretty embarrassing, but I’d never kill someone!” The magician hummed and thought to himself before continuing. “Hey, I can put on a show every morning from now on where I make everyone’s secrets disappear. How does that sound?”

“Umm, I’m not sure about tha show,” Kazuha mumbled, “but I’m not killin’ anyone either! I’ll make sure ta throw out whatever Monobear brings every mornin’!”

“We can make it a morning ritual,” Amuro suggested. “We can dispose of each other’s secrets instead of reading them. I mean, who cares if the whole world sees them? They can’t be that bad, right?”

He laughed, and it seemed almost everyone could agree on the “not killing everyone” part, but very few people actually said they would refrain from reading the secrets. 

In fact, Conan thought most of the ones who did were most definitely lying. After all, who could resist something like this?

“Y’too, Conan-kun! Yer gonna join us, right?”

“O-Of course!” Conan laughed nervously as a satisfied Kazuha ran off to talk to Sonoko. He jumped when a hand suddenly ruffled his hair but the boy relaxed when he saw it was only Hattori.

“Kids aren’t supposta lie, ya know.”

“Shut up.”

“So,” the Osakan began, crouching close and lowering his voice so nobody else would hear, “what’s yers? It can't be about bein’ Kudou, right?”

Conan pulled back the wrinkled piece of paper to look at the message again. It hadn’t changed. He saw it right the first time. Apparently Hattori had just been joking, because he was genuinely surprised when he caught sight of what was written down.

“...Damn. How th’ hell did they figure tha’ out? ...Wha’re ya gonna do now?”

“I don’t know. There aren’t many people here that secret will be safe with…” Three was the minimum. He didn’t know about most of the others.

It was going to go through everyone’s hands eventually, so there was nothing he could do about that. Conan would do everything he could to prevent a murder from happening, but as it stood…

Worst-case scenario: Shinichi’s secret ends up in the hands of Tooru Amuro. For the first day, there was only a one in thirteen chance of that happening. The odds were in Shinichi’s favour. Anyone else who received his secret was infinitely better. He wasn’t sure regarding a few people, but he felt almost certain that no one would target him over it. A few people might laugh it off as a prank.

He had to worry about Haibara as well and he wouldn’t be surprised if hers was similar to his own. Although, not many people knew who Shiho Miyano was. Again, the operative from the organization among them would be the most dangerous person to know about that. Conan would have to keep an extra close eye on that guy from here on. At the very least, if he or Haibara died, the survivor would be able to tell everyone else the most likely culprit. 

Everyone seemed to be clearing out of the gymnasium now. The atmosphere had improved, but Conan couldn’t shake off his unease.

“Hey Hattori, what’s your secret?”

The Osakan boy laughed nervously as his eyes darted away.

“H-Hey now… Yer gonna find out during these two weeks. Jus’ be patient…”

“You-- I showed you mine!”

“Yers was obvious wi’ tha way yer face changed!” When Conan sternly crossed his arms, Hattori gave in. “Alright, y’ can see it!” ...And he broke into a grin. “...If ya can reach it.”

The shrunken detective jumped for it but Hattori was far too tall. The Osakan snickered - until he noticed Conan reaching for his own shoes.

“Oi, yer not gonna--” Realizing that, yes, Kudou was definitely going to kick him, Heiji cursed and hightailed it out of there. 

Conan didn’t need to know Hattori’s secret since he knew the Osakan would never be driven to kill someone, but it was pretty funny to hear him screech in terror like that as he chased him down the halls.