Disclaimer - I own no characters.
In Vino Veritas
PyroKid
04.07.04

"The Calvin cycle!" Ai muttered disgustedly. "Of all the topics to cover, she gave us the Dark Cycle to research!"

"It's not like we were even doing anything wrong; we talk every day in class." Conan added.

"That's why we've amassed a collection of 58 extracurricular papers and essays to turn in at the end of school in the three months we've been in school." Ai reminded him.

"Are you sure-" Conan began.

"I've told you ten times, Shinichi... if the topic was the Krebs cycle, we'd be done. We wouldn't even have to leave the lab. But this is the Calvin cycle, and I have no interest in plants."

16-year-old Conan Edogawa and Ai Haibara had chosen a dark corner of the library to research their 59th paper, preferring not to be seen doing something as embarrassing as researching. The Detective Boys had split up years ago, when Conan and Ai began taking higher level classes, and Conan and Ai were the inseparable pair that always managed to irritate the living hell out of every single teacher in Japan with their inattentiveness yet perfect scores. The rest of the DB had failed their general courses, and hit the road for technical school. Ayumi was training to be a recruit for the police force (Conan scoffed upon hearing), Mitsushiko was studying under an auto mechanic (Ai wordlessly raised an eyebrow), and Genta wanted to become a chef (neither commented).

Suddenly, their papers fluttered and they head the library door slam violently into the wall.

"What the hell is up with that idiot?" A voice complained angrily. "He said I didn't align the tires, change the oil, or check the tires' air pressure properly. So he gave me another F!"

"What an insufferable hypocrite!" a second male voice joined in. The voices became louder as the speakers rounded the corner and sat at the table next to Ai and Conan without noticing them.

"Sounds like he doesn't know what he's doing himself- he" the female voice was cut off by an angry swear.

"I can't afford this right now. I can't take another F!" the first voice whined bitterly before unleashing a torrent of curses. The other two joined in promptly.

Angrily, Ai spun around. "Will you guys shut up? It's your own incompetence that-"

"Mind your own business and f-- Haibara?"

Conan turned around as well, and was surprised to see the Detective Boys sitting at the adjacent table.

"Sorry... we were just discussing Mitsushiko's pathetic excuse for a teacher. I..." Ayumi trailed off when she noticed Conan and Ai staring at her. Of course, they were mentally challenging her right to call anyone pathetic.

"Yes! I've found them!" Genta yelled triumphantly.

Ayumi and Mitsushiko turned and immediately began clapping Genta on the back.

"Let's go!" Genta exclaimed, holding the comic books above his head in triumph.

"Hey, Wait!" Ayumi called out. "Let's see if Haibara and Conan want to come. I mean, ever since we got into different schools, we haven't seen them much at all." Without waiting for the others' input, she turned to Conan and Haibara. "Conan, Haibara, you want to come hang out with us? It'll be so fun! Ever since you guys started taking all of the advanced classes, we've had no classes together, and now that we're in different schools..."

Conan plastered what he hoped was a regretful look on his face as he shook his head. "We'd really like to," Yeah, right, "But our teacher has assigned an-" Wait, to admit that we have to do research for anything is way too embarrassing... "That is, uh..." he looked at Ai, and could tell she was thinking the same.

"Come on, screw school! What fun is there in books and papers?" Genta chimed in. "I mean, seriously..."

"Fine, fine." Conan agreed reluctantly.

"All right!" The Detective Boys exclaimed joyously as they turned and lead the reluctant pair out of the library.

"Mitsushiko, it's your turn to host." Ayumi declared, turning and heading in the direction of the Tsuburaya house. They entered and took the stairs to Mitsushiko's bedroom, where Ayumi asked everyone to sit in a circle.

"My parents are out at the lab doing an experiment, as usual, so they won't be back until 1:00 AM at the earliest. Come on." Opening his closet, Mitsushiko tapped a part of the wall. "Genta, Ayumi, and I made this compartment together... we all have one!" he informed Conan and Ai, reaching inside and bringing out a crate of drinks. He reached in again, felt around, and set a tray of shot glasses on the tatami mat. Conan and Ai exchanged a glance.

"This is our new game we've made up, since we're already 16 and everything." Ayumi piped up happily. "It's like Truth or Dare, but you don't have to meet the dare or answer the question if you think it encroaches private grounds. Instead, you have to take a shot. You also have to take a shot if you're caught cheating, and you can't take two in a row unless it's for punishment. You spin a bottle to see who's questioned, so it's all based on chance. Once you're drunk, we don't hold back."

"Yeah, that's right!" Mitsushiko added. "Once when Genta was drunk, we learned that he used to run around with underwear on his head, his mom's skirt as a cape, and a bra pretending to be Superwoman. ...And then we persuaded him to do it in his drunken stupor!"

They all laughed, even Genta.

"Uh, but we... we-" Conan began.

"What he means to say," Ai interrupted, "is that we don't want to play."

"But... you've been passed a shot glass." Genta pointed out.

"More importantly, you've accepted a shot glass. That's the initiating gesture, which begins the game. The game doesn't end until we're all drunk, or you pass out, and you can't leave the room until then."

Huh. Let's see them try to get me drunk, Ai thought contemptuously."Fine, I'm in."

"I... okay." Seeing that he had no other choice, Conan decided to humor the kids and wait for the perfect opportunity to sneak out.

Mitsushiko brought out one last item before shutting the compartment, and placed it in the middle of the circle.

"I'll start us off!" Ayumi volunteered, spinning the bottle.

Mitsushiko grinned as the bottle came to a stop, pointing at him.

"Truth or dare?" Ayumi asked.

"Truth." he replied without hesitation.

"How old are you?" Ayumi asked.

Inwardly, Conan sighed. Wow, and I thought these brats were out for my blood or something. This will be an extremely boring game, but at least it'll be safe.

"16, of course." Mitsushiko answered, spinning the bottle. "Conan, truth or dare?"

I can take a dare, no problem, Conan thought confidently."Dare."

"I dare you to call the girl you like and confess to her right now, in front of us." Mitsushiko winked at Ayumi and Genta.

Conan turned red. "I... I... uh,"

"Hey, dude... don't tell me it's not a girl." Mitsushiko interrupted.

"Of course it is!" Conan glared at the Detective Boys, who hadn't bothered to hold back their laughter. He turned to look out the window, avoiding their stares. "It's just that... I..." Suddenly, he leapt to his feet and bolted madly for the door. The Detective Boys jumped up, and stepped into their obviously well-practiced roles: Genta floored Conan with a flying tackle, and Mitsushiko stood beside Ayumi, leaning against the door.

Hell, they weren't joking when they said they'd protect the rules with their lives. Conan thought disappointedly, accepting the phone Mitsushiko handed him. Punching in the number to the Kudo residence, he waited until the second ring to begin speaking. "Hello, may I speak to Kaida? Oh. Hi... I've always liked you; maybe we could go out someday, say Saturday at 2:00?" Conan said smoothly.

Ai held back her laughter and managed to keep a straight face, but Mitsushiko narrowed his eyes.

"Turn on speakerphone." he demanded, lunging for the phone. Grabbing it, he pressed the 'speakerphone' button, and the sound of Shinichi Kudo's answering machine flooded the room: "-udo, I'm not available at the moment. If you're a current client calling about a case, please press one, and the call will be forwarded to my cell phone. If-" Mitsushiko disconnected the phone.

"Trying to cheat?" Genta demanded, inwardly pleased with himself for having caught on (relatively) quickly. "Rules say that's a shot." he passed Conan a shot of Jägermeister.

Idiots, at least mix it into something good, Conan thought, downing it with no problem.

"Make the call." Mitsushiko held the phone out again.

"I just drank!"

"That was punishment for trying to dupe us," Ayumi spoke up.

"Fine. Pass me another." Conan reached out.

"Sorry. Rules say you can't drink twice in a row, unless it's to meet the punishment." Mitsushiko offered the phone once again.

Conan grit his teeth, glared at the phone as if in hopes of blowing it up, but accepted the phone. Haltingly, he punched in a long string of numbers, and awaited the ring, but a loud clap of thunder sounded, and the phone went dead.

"Fine, you were lucky that time. But once the electricity comes back, you're making that call. Truth or dare?" Mitsushiko asked again.

"Truth," Conan answered, unwilling to risk his neck for another dare.

"Tell us about the girl you were going to call." Mitsushiko demanded with a malevolent glint in his eyes.

"Uh, she... she's really quiet, but when she does speak, it's almost always in the form of sarcastic or derogatory comments. But that's only because she's so much smarter than everyone else around her." (At this point, Ayumi swayed on the spot, thinking Conan was referring to her.) "She used to be distant towards me as well, but we've become better friends since then. "Her brilliance could rival Athena's, and her beauty is a threat to Aphrodite's reputation." (The Detective Boys stared blankly, the allusions clearly lost on them.) "She-"

"Okay, okay... that's enough; shut up." Mitsushiko interrupted.

Face burning, Conan tapped the bottle, which pointed to Genta. He picked truth.

"Genta, what's your favorite book?" Conan asked, clearly wishing to end the game as soon as possible.

"This one!" Genta exclaimed, picking up a nearby comic book from the pile they'd taken from the library before spinning the bottle. "The Ad-ven-tures of Mas-ked Yaiba." Genta read haltingly, then threw it carelessly over his shoulder, exclaiming, "the pictures are great!" Mitsushiko and Ayumi wore expressions of agreement on their faces while Conan and Ai exchanged glances of disgust and contempt.

"Ayumi, truth or dare?"

"Dare." Ayumi replied, unfazed.

"I dare you to count to five." Genta came up with one of the crappiest dares Conan had ever heard.

After complying, Ayumi gave the bottle a spin, and it landed on Ai.

"Truth or dare?" Truth... pick truth! Ayumi prayed silently, still fearing that Ai liked Conan.

"Dare."

Damn. Fine... "I dare you to tell the name of the person you like."

What the hell? What kind of dare is that? Why is the manipulative sneak so concerned with whether I like Shinichi or not? Reaching out, Haibara grabbed a shot glass and swallowed the contents in a single gulp. The Detective Boys stared. They had always been so far behind Conan and Ai in every single imaginable subject, and had finally found one thing they were sure they could beat the pair at: drinking. They reasoned that since Conan and Ai were perfect little children they would have no experience with alcoholic drinks, and thus lose miserably and find themselves subject to the DB's questionings.

The game continued:

"Genta, what's your favorite subject?"

"Uh... recess? Wait, we don't have that anymore. Lunch!"

"Mitsushiko, I dare you to jump up and down."

"Ayumi, what's your last name?"

"Yoshida. Conan, what's the name of-"

Mitsushiko interrupted Ayumi's question with a tap. "Hey, guess what? Electricity's back."