Date Initiated: April 5, 2010

Genre: Friendship

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan. All characters belong Gosho Aoyama.

(-EDIT- : Majority, if not all, of the simple typos and errors have been fixed.)

It was cold.

It was chill.

But he didn't mind.

Conan Edogawa stretched in his seat failing to contain a yawn as he removed his no-degree glasses from his face and held them in a hand as he rubbed his blue eyes tiredly. Blinking testily, he looked around himself. The room would be cast in complete darkness if it weren't for the lamp shade that was sitting on the desk he sat at. His eyes swept the room barely making out the brown wooden door on the opposite side, several wooden tables with a number of lab equipments and gadgets and a number of carton boxes sitting in a corner across him. He was in Agasa's simple basement-turned-laboratory.

His gaze landed on the digital clock sitting at the corner of his desk. 23:32 it read. The neutrally bored expression on his face shifted to a scowl as his eyes fell on the exercise book that stared back at him from the desk. He gave it a once over, frowning at the questions and at his messily scrawled answers at the side.

Throwing back his head, he shut his eyes with a groan. Honestly, this is getting ridiculous.

Conan looked back at his homework with disdain. Middle school Mathematics material… He had finished that and gone through it - once upon a time. For months on end since he was shrunk, he had put up with grade school work and easily scored straight A's in subjects; it was no surprise to him really since it was like a refresher run over what he had learned so far. But quite frankly for tonight, he just wasn't up for any of this.

"Just do it…" A soft voice interrupted his brooding and suddenly, the sound of typing strokes and clicks that he had shut out reached his ears again.

Conan turned his head slightly, suddenly quite alert, towards the source of the voice and sound. A small girl about his age was sitting in front of a computer typing away on the keyboard without missing a beat along with the occasional mouse clicks.

Conan looked at her. Ai Haibara… The only other person he knew of that was stuck in a similar… 'condition', if he could call it that. He pursed his lips as he scoffed mentally but he supposed she was right.

Leaving his glasses on the desk, he forced himself to turn back to his homework. Just as the tip of his pencil was about to touch the smooth surface of the textbook, his vision suddenly blackened. Startled slight, he blinked once, then twice.

Looking up, he found his surroundings cast in pitch black darkness. Conan let out an obviously irritated sigh as his head slumped down to meet the table, a muffled groan escaping his lips.

Power outage…

This is great. Just brilliant.

Turning his head to the side, he could barely make out the silhouette of Ai shrouded in the dark. Judging from her frozen posture, her hands hovering inches above the keyboard and her still-form staring at the now-blank screen, he could tell she was annoyed.

Ai was still sitting at the desk blinking her eyes to get used to the darkness, her brow creased with a frown. Talk about great timing. This is so going to land her in hot water at school tomorrow; her 'homework' had just gone down the drain with the power outage. Not that she cared about it and it wasn't her fault, to begin with. It was all that Edogawa-kun's fault for sleeping in class.

Still, she knew that does not change the fact that it remained her responsibility to see that it was done, anyway.

…But to be truthful, she wasn't much different actually – she had been asleep in class as well. But at the very least, she tried to hide herself behind a propped book unlike that detective. And since she was sitting beside said detective when he was busted, it was no surprise that she was brought in along into this little mess.

And so, this leads to this particular evening, stuck in this basement, doing middle school level material. Honestly, this was getting ridiculous – she was a college graduate already and she had to put up with this again?

A soft sigh was heard as she heard a scraping against the floor. "I'm gonna get a candle…" A voice trailed off simply from her side.

Her eyes landed on Conan as he got up from his seat, stumbling slightly in the darkness. He left her vision as he walked across the room, casting a momentary glance at the small generator set up against one of the walls. The sound of the door shutting was heard and silence that followed produced a ringing sensation in her ears. Ai got up from her seat and looked around.

The room was empty.

Conan turned the corner and descended down the stairs to the basement with a disgruntled look. Agasa wasn't home, which reminded him that the Professor was out with an old fellow scientist he knew for the evening, probably talking about some crazy inventions right now.

On the other hand, one way or another, he couldn't find a candle stick after rummaging through the kitchen drawers. His frown returned to his face as his mind wandered back to his lame chore of a homework. He'd have to come up with a plausible excuse or else get a long sermon from his teacher, and he wasn't looking for that – it was bad enough as it is and he didn't need an extra lecture about punctuality.

Slipping back into the lab, he was met with a blow of chill air and the still silence. His eyes automatically trailed over to the computer desk but the subject he was seeking was no longer there. Looking around, he finally spotted Ai sitting on the bed that she was carried to by the Professor whenever she fell asleep, working at the computer well into the next morning. The lab had become somewhat of a personal space for her. Sitting on the soft mattress with her back against the wall, he could make out one of her arms stretched forward holding something and she, seemingly staring at it absentmindedly.

He parted his lips to speak. 'Haibara...' he had wanted to say but something stopped him, held him back. He looked at her again, her name dying on his lips. Same blank expression on her face, same guarded eyes and the same mysterious aura around her. Between a person and the next, they would leave her alone to herself always assuming she was a self-secluded person or an anti-social. But to him, he knew there was more to it than what she shows.

Using the dim moonlight that seeped in through the small windows adjacent to the ceilings, he walked across the room and sat at the edge of the bed putting some distance between himself and Ai. He looked down at the bedsheets that was barely creased under his light weight. Pure white, so innocent... He made a face.

"So, how'd your homework go?" He asked.

A short soft humming sound that otherwise clearly spoke 'I-don't-care' was his reply. He glanced at Ai from the corner of his eye but she made no movement. Up close, he could see the object she held – a small circular hand mirror. What's she doing with that, anyway...?

"Did you think of an excuse yet...?" His voice dropped a little.

This time, the little chemist just shrugged non-chalantly. He frowned. Is she going to speak a word?

After a few moments of silence, he couldn't take it anymore. "Okay, what's bothering you?" Conan asked quietly staring down at the floor.

"What's it to you?" Ai replied with a question, with the same monotonous voice he had heard whenever she spoke.

The little detective did not reply, but simply glanced at her again.

Ai expelled a breath still staring at small mirror in her hand. "Just who are you...?" She whispered.

It was a strange question which, by no means, he was sure would only ever come from her. But he remained quiet.

"You know, whenever I see my reflection... I find myself being depressed." A short pause. "Sorry almost..."

Thoughts of his assignment was wiped clear from his mind as he sat in the dark room. "Idiot..." Conan began. "Don't you think a certain 'someone' was responsible for that?"

He meant it to be a light and teasing comment but he went off. He flinched mentally. But instead of the death glare he expected to receive from his friend, it was a just a smile. Just a weak smile as she turned her eyes to him and just as quick, she averted her gaze to the ceiling.

"You're right, I suppose I do feel sorry." She let out another barely audible sigh as she leaned her head back against the wall momentarily.

"Do you believe in Truth as a guide, Kudo?" She asked after a few seconds already knowing what his answer would be.

And she was right.

"Of course." Conan scoffed from his spot, as if it was one of the questions with the most obvious of answers. "You know, I do."

"I guess that was kind of a pointless question..."

"Your point being...?"

He didn't know what she was getting at or where this conversation was going or what her question even had to do with this.

The strawberry blonde was silent for a while.

"Truth can break even the most nimble of persons..." She finally voiced out quietly. "I guess you can also say that I think it forces a person to just simply lose hope and will..."

She finally looked at him for the first time this evening. "Once it presents itself, you no longer have any choice other than denial or submission. It traps. And either way, both choices are no different."

Conan turned slightly on his spot so that he was facing her. It was an uncomfortable position to crane his neck, but he didn't think anything of it. There was another momentary silence but he could feel that this one was actually tense. Casting about for a suitable reply – or even a word – he looked at her again. It was uncharacteristically for her to be like this...

Normally the two would banter about this and that, toss a sarcastic comment here and there. But never had he seen her being open... or trying to. It's just been a little over a year since Conan met Ai, but it seemed only like yesterday she busted into his life with that freaky prank she pulled on him – that suggestive tone she used when she mentioned that Professor Agasa was killed, echoed in his head again for a fraction of a second. She was still a stranger, but also somehow, he considered her a friend.

Maybe even a close friend...

"Forget..." a voice said.

"Forget Sherry..."

Conan blinked once. Only then he recognized the voice as his own when he played it back mentally. Even he was surprised by what he said but he kept a cool and serious face on.

Ai stared back at him with mild surprise written across her features. She didn't quite expect to hear him say that but she didn't know what to expect in the first place. Conan - or rather Kudo – always managed to surprise her with his actions and way of thinking. She thought she would be used to it by now, but apparently she had little ways go.

Forget Sherry...

If only she could, really, she would want to forget Shiho Miyano as well.

Sherry – the by-product of the Black Organization and its ways with the human mind – and Shiho Miyano – the now-shell of its former person that was about to wither and die. She only wished to forget them both and live like a normal person as Ai Haibara – a newborn soul in this 9 year old body.

But she knew better. Sherry would never perish. Shiho Miyano, maybe... But Sherry? She didn't think so.

Still, aside from that thought, she couldn't shake off the calm feeling that she associated with Conan's presence. Vaguely, she registered Conan's voice continuing his little statement.

"Just try and forget Sherry, Haibara... Just live for– "

"I love you..."

Ai blinked as she stared at Conan – the shrunken detective himself was staring back at her with slight bewilderment and surprise written across his face. She blinked again and then recognized her own voice that kept ringing in her ear. It rolled off so naturally that she didn't even realize she spoke them out loud.

Snapping back, her vision was met with Conan's surprised look. The ocean blue eyes she had seen numerous times were wide open as he stared back at her, his lips parted slightly in shock as if he heard someone calling him 'tone-deaf' and... was that a light blush tainting his cheek? She couldn't tell for sure since it was dark enough, she could just barely make out his face.

She pursed her lips. All thoughts of whatever that was bothering her earlier flew out of the window as she fought to keep a straight face, when actually she was bubbling up with laughter inside that just wanted out; Conan's expression was priceless.

And then finally, she couldn't.

Conan stared at her, alarmed as his little chemist friend burst into seemingly unreasonable laughter. Time seemed to start up for him again, as his eyes followed the mirror that landed with a soft thump on the white sheets – the polished surface staring at him reflecting his face. As he caught sight of his expression, his brain seemed to start functioning as he realized that it was another seeming prank by Ai... again.

'What!' He thought mentally, with annoyance, a frown claiming its place on his face. 'How could she joke around with that kinda stuff?' This girl really knew how to catch him off guard and she really did it this time.

But as her laughter reached his ears, his thoughts flew out of his mind as he relaxed again. Unknown even to him, his frown dissipated and a genuine smile claimed its place. Her laughter was soft and controlled but he found himself admiring it... wanting to hear it more often.

And he didn't deny it.

Ai laughed. She just laughed without a single care. It may have been controlled and soft but it was one of the feelings she had never felt in years... maybe even forgotten how it felt. She did not think about what possessed her to say such a thing and quite frankly, it didn't matter right now. And as it finally subsided, she cracked an eye open and saw Conan smiling at her in the dark.

Sitting up straight, she returned it with one of her own – not the forced smile, not the sarcastic or colorless smile she always had been shooting people with.

No, a real smile that made her blue-green eyes sparkle.

A genuine smile of gratitude.

Sherry would never die, she knew. Just as darkness never really dissipates wherever light was present. But for a moment, Shiho Miyano was recomposed out of the broken pieces of tainted innocence. Looking at Conan now, she felt the familiar calm and soothing feeling sweep over her again. She didn't know what he thought of her. But to her, he was a person she secretly relied on. He was her last anchor to earth and a person she could trust.

Her best friend.

It was through him that she understood that hearts could change – he had done that to her, unknowingly. His friendship was all that she would need... for now.

'Forget Sherry...' The words again echoed in her head.

Just maybe...