What If?
She could feel him watching her.
Those sad little eyes with too much depth, gazing at her back through thick glass lenses. Not for the first time. Not for the last time.
What must it be like? She could hardly imagine. At once suspicious ideas would pop into her head, but they only made sense if it were about someone else. He would never do that. She knew him too well for that suspicion.
Then for what? What could it possibly be that made him take such drastic measures? She didn't have enough information. She only had faith.
The doorbell rang and Conan rushed to get the door. It opened to reveal a crowd of smiling faces and the chorus of "Conan-kun, come out to play!"
He hesitated. Looked in her direction. She turned to meet his eyes and he jolted with some inner conflict.
"I'm.I'm going out, okay? Umm, Shinichi-nii-chan might be calling soon, so don't be sad.please?"
"Don't be too late."
Small nod, tiny smile. "Okay! See you, Ran-nee-chan!"
The door closed and the clatter of little feet could be heard descending the stairs.
If only he knew.
"If only he knew."
Ran jumped. A little girl with reddish-blond hair was resting her backpack beside the couch.
"A-Ai-chan.?" she asked, bewildered.
The little girl whom she addressed sat herself on the couch and crossed her legs professionally. "It must be very hard for you, living like this."
"Y-your friends already left." Ran said, pointing out the window.
"I know."
Ran blinked and sat in the couch opposite from her. "Is there something you need to talk about? Something private?" After all, Mitsuhiko and Ayumi had come to her for advice. Since when did she become a counselor for children's love lives?
Haibara smiled and shook her head, her short hair bobbing with the movement. "Actually, it's about you."
"Me?"
"Exactly."
There was a short uncomfortable silence. By now Ran was completely confused, and who could blame her? It wasn't every day that one of Conan's friends came to have an adult conversation with her ABOUT her. And she had to admit, at the moment Ai-chan was looking VERY much adult.
"M-maybe I should get some tea." Ran stood up and headed for the kitchen.
"You know, don't you?" This simple question was sent from its owner with an attachment of such cold amusement that it made the receiver freeze in her tracks with sudden shock.
".eh?" Ran squeaked. Suddenly that little girl was giving her the creeps.
Haibara had her desired effect. Shock them into silence so that they have no choice but to listen. 'Normal' people were so easy to scare (and of course it helped that she was in the body of an eight-year old). Like a game of cat and mouse.
The girl's sly smile grew marginally wider. "What if I told you I was really eighteen? What if I told you I used to make poison for a secret crime syndicate until I turned traitor and shrunk myself? How would you react?"
"A-Ai-chan? What're you."
Flick of the hair. "'Sherry' is more like it. That's my codename, you know."
Ran took a step backwards. "Are you.are you serious?"
Haibara couldn't help but snicker. "It's amusing how much your reaction is similar to Kudo-kun's. He almost fainted on the spot when I told him I was responsible for his condition. Though I wasn't the one who stuffed it down his throat, since I created that drug, it more or less is my fault."
Ran stared at her, her mouth opening and closing with no sound coming out.
"Oh, did you think he took it voluntarily? Not at all. At this point he would do anything for a full-proof cure, which brings me to the point of this conversation. You must realize I'm being a complete hypocrite right now, having been the one to keep him from confessing to you for the past months since I arrived. But it's most necessary for me to be forward about the matter or we'll never get anywhere. The matter is- oh, you may want to sit down."
Ran fell to the couch like a sack of potatoes.
"The matter is, my past experiments on rats have never given me complete results on the chemical reactions of the drug. In order to create a cure for APTX 4869 that does not have a high risk of death, I must use human samples. There's more than enough DNA that I could offer, but in this case, I need a live specimen. Kudo-kun would probably be more than happy to contribute, but it would prove to be a problem as his body has already created an antibody for the Paikal sake, as well as mine. Kudo-kun's Osaka friend is too far away for testing on a regular basis, and the Professor's experiments are destructive as it is without having him intoxicated. Which is why I need you. Since you still seem to have suspicions over the way Kudo-kun and 'Edogawa-kun' appeared at the same time before, though you probably never guessed that it was I in disguise, I thought it would be best to ask you firsthand. This makes you a definite target of the Black Organization, but once Kudo-kun and I get back to our real bodies we'll all be done for anyway so I thought it was worth a shot."
"In other words, I'm asking you to get drunk on a weekly basis so I can study the effects of the Paikal compared to other forms of alcohol. Any questions?"
She could feel him watching her.
Those sad little eyes with too much depth, gazing at her back through thick glass lenses. Not for the first time. Not for the last time.
What must it be like? She could hardly imagine. At once suspicious ideas would pop into her head, but they only made sense if it were about someone else. He would never do that. She knew him too well for that suspicion.
Then for what? What could it possibly be that made him take such drastic measures? She didn't have enough information. She only had faith.
The doorbell rang and Conan rushed to get the door. It opened to reveal a crowd of smiling faces and the chorus of "Conan-kun, come out to play!"
He hesitated. Looked in her direction. She turned to meet his eyes and he jolted with some inner conflict.
"I'm.I'm going out, okay? Umm, Shinichi-nii-chan might be calling soon, so don't be sad.please?"
"Don't be too late."
Small nod, tiny smile. "Okay! See you, Ran-nee-chan!"
The door closed and the clatter of little feet could be heard descending the stairs.
If only he knew.
"If only he knew."
Ran jumped. A little girl with reddish-blond hair was resting her backpack beside the couch.
"A-Ai-chan.?" she asked, bewildered.
The little girl whom she addressed sat herself on the couch and crossed her legs professionally. "It must be very hard for you, living like this."
"Y-your friends already left." Ran said, pointing out the window.
"I know."
Ran blinked and sat in the couch opposite from her. "Is there something you need to talk about? Something private?" After all, Mitsuhiko and Ayumi had come to her for advice. Since when did she become a counselor for children's love lives?
Haibara smiled and shook her head, her short hair bobbing with the movement. "Actually, it's about you."
"Me?"
"Exactly."
There was a short uncomfortable silence. By now Ran was completely confused, and who could blame her? It wasn't every day that one of Conan's friends came to have an adult conversation with her ABOUT her. And she had to admit, at the moment Ai-chan was looking VERY much adult.
"M-maybe I should get some tea." Ran stood up and headed for the kitchen.
"You know, don't you?" This simple question was sent from its owner with an attachment of such cold amusement that it made the receiver freeze in her tracks with sudden shock.
".eh?" Ran squeaked. Suddenly that little girl was giving her the creeps.
Haibara had her desired effect. Shock them into silence so that they have no choice but to listen. 'Normal' people were so easy to scare (and of course it helped that she was in the body of an eight-year old). Like a game of cat and mouse.
The girl's sly smile grew marginally wider. "What if I told you I was really eighteen? What if I told you I used to make poison for a secret crime syndicate until I turned traitor and shrunk myself? How would you react?"
"A-Ai-chan? What're you."
Flick of the hair. "'Sherry' is more like it. That's my codename, you know."
Ran took a step backwards. "Are you.are you serious?"
Haibara couldn't help but snicker. "It's amusing how much your reaction is similar to Kudo-kun's. He almost fainted on the spot when I told him I was responsible for his condition. Though I wasn't the one who stuffed it down his throat, since I created that drug, it more or less is my fault."
Ran stared at her, her mouth opening and closing with no sound coming out.
"Oh, did you think he took it voluntarily? Not at all. At this point he would do anything for a full-proof cure, which brings me to the point of this conversation. You must realize I'm being a complete hypocrite right now, having been the one to keep him from confessing to you for the past months since I arrived. But it's most necessary for me to be forward about the matter or we'll never get anywhere. The matter is- oh, you may want to sit down."
Ran fell to the couch like a sack of potatoes.
"The matter is, my past experiments on rats have never given me complete results on the chemical reactions of the drug. In order to create a cure for APTX 4869 that does not have a high risk of death, I must use human samples. There's more than enough DNA that I could offer, but in this case, I need a live specimen. Kudo-kun would probably be more than happy to contribute, but it would prove to be a problem as his body has already created an antibody for the Paikal sake, as well as mine. Kudo-kun's Osaka friend is too far away for testing on a regular basis, and the Professor's experiments are destructive as it is without having him intoxicated. Which is why I need you. Since you still seem to have suspicions over the way Kudo-kun and 'Edogawa-kun' appeared at the same time before, though you probably never guessed that it was I in disguise, I thought it would be best to ask you firsthand. This makes you a definite target of the Black Organization, but once Kudo-kun and I get back to our real bodies we'll all be done for anyway so I thought it was worth a shot."
"In other words, I'm asking you to get drunk on a weekly basis so I can study the effects of the Paikal compared to other forms of alcohol. Any questions?"