Collection Title: Fleeting Moments
Title (Japanese): 僕を見つめてる、君の瞳
Author: roankun
Pairing: Haibara Ai/Edogawa Conan
Fandom: Detective Conan
Theme: #01 Look at Me
Word Count: 901
Rating: K
Date finished: 01 December 2011
Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Detective Conan franchise.

Look at Me
by roankun

It was an unspecial day, really. Kogoro had a hangover and had been screaming "Date More Minors!" and "Comply or Die!" the whole morning, which, as opposed to what many might think, were names of the race horses that he had betted on (and lost almost fifty thousand yen to). Ran had taken the early train to commute to Osaka for college but had graciously prepared breakfast before she left. The Shounen Tantei Dan had been snooping around the coffee shop directly below the detective agency for murder cases while waiting for Conan to come down, which basically amounted to nothing except a few pieces of free cookies.

And now it was a beautiful Monday morning in April, just a few weeks since they started third grade. Ayumi and Haibara were walking ahead, talking about last night's television drama. Genta was complaining about how calorie-deficient his breakfast was and how the cookie wasn't enough to make up for it; Mitsuhiko was spinning an outrageous (and completely off) tale of how the burglar on last night's news had broken into the high-scale mansion they were passing by. Conan's attention was mostly focused on the latter's chatter, though his eyes were on the girl walking in front.

He watched her shoulder bag sway from side to side with her every step, tuned out the drones of those beside him, and Wondered About Haibara. He'd done it so often that he referred to the act with reverential capitals. Right now, he was Wondering why she had stopped watching him. She had always kept those eyes trained on him before, and he had grown used to the warmth of her gaze on his neck, the prickling sensation on his skin that told him she was somewhere, watching. It might have unsettled him, save for the facts that he had convinced himself she was observing him for research's sake, and that as a boy with parents who had been barely around, he might have been wanting something akin to attention. Instead of disturbing him, he found it strangely comforting to know that Haibara was just sitting beside him, and she certainly wasn't looking at the blackboard.

But since last spring break, the pleasant prickle had grown more and more infrequent. Surreptitious peeks to her seat had found Haibara actually listening to the teacher, taking notes or answering questions in class – all odd occurrences. Conan couldn't blame it on the fact that third grade was more difficult than first; she had been clearly studying postgraduate level material before she shrunk, and multiplying fractions was easier for her than melting ice cream in the middle of summer. There had to be some reason, he believed, and oftentimes unwanted thoughts would invade his mind like moths would to a streetlamp light.

Thoughts like how she wasn't interested in him anymore, even as an experiment subject; how their conversations had taken a turn for the awkward; how he wasn't (and never will be) the prince in shining armor who would save her from the Organization's claws, as he had made himself out to be.

Thoughts that were too byzantine for him and his low emotional literacy, that couldn't be fathomed by his high intelligence quotient. So he'd found the ideal pigeonhole in the corner of his mind to stash all those unwanted notions away, and keep them locked tight except for that moment right before the sleep spindles conquer his senses when all his regrets would flash before his eyes.

Conan didn't like change; he could adapt, yes; but he would rather stick with the peace and the status quo, and that could explain his extreme dissatisfaction. It was an excuse so convenient he almost believed it himself.

But he wasn't one to fall for excuses. Excuses could hardly elucidate his decision to accept the chance to relive his otherwise lone-friend childhood right in front of his eyes when he could have gone back to the life he had once worked hard for. He stared at the gigantic wall clock of the elementary school where everything started and silently asked the edifice to shed light on his own unexplainable actions.

Feeling a soft, warm sensation on his cheek, he snapped out of his reverie and found Haibara watching him with amused eyes. His own widened with surprise and he lifted his hand to his unambiguously heating face. "Did you just—" was all he could force out his dry throat before his three other friends, standing by the campus gate, hollered at them to hurry up.

Shrugging nonchalantly, the girl grasped the handle of her bag and headed for the school. He watched her retreating back, and stopped trying to fight the smile playing on his lips.

The whys and the wherefores weren't so important now, he decided. Nothing could really be important right now, not with the morning sun splashing so pleasantly on the back of his neck, and his friends standing by him with a promise of more exciting days to come, and the cherry blossom petals flying in the wind, and spring stretching out before them full of endless possibilities. He watched the sunlight engulf her in an almost halo-like illumination and the wind play with her short, strawberry blonde hair. So she wasn't looking at him, and hadn't for a little more than a year.

Maybe it was time he started looking at her.

~.~.~.~
I want you to see that I'm looking. I want you to look at me look at you.

Your Eyes, Looking at Me
~.~end~.~

Title (Japanese): 僕を見つめてる、君の瞳
Title (Romaji): Boku wo Mitsumeteru, Kimi no Hitomi
Title (English): Your Eyes Looking at Me

*Schools in Japan start in March.
**A mansion is pretty much a better-than-standard apartment, usually with a security guard or a password-protected system.

Author's Note: I cannot believe myself. Ahem. After more than a year of hiatus, I'm back! ^^; For now, here's another oneshot collection, with 30 entries planned. Will be rated T in the future, to be safe, but most of them range from K to K+. Some chaps have a different feel or writing style, though, since I'm still experimenting, but I hope that you'll enjoy each and every one of them.

Inspired by a fic called "Kick Off Your Shoes". I swear, my English title sucks, but I really like it in Japanese, and I dunno how to phrase it better in English.

Review please!