Special dedication to my little sister. Who is a brat.

Running away

"Ah! Found you at last..." That cheeky grin was on his face, but the sweat on his brow and sheer relief in his eyes said it all. He'd been hunting everywhere for her.

"I told you. Don't come looking for me." Ai pulled her hood down lower over her face. The young girl started walking away once again. She didn't want to have this conversation. She didn't want to have anything to do with him anymore. "Go away, Kudo..."

She had meant for there to be a lot more venom in her request, but she couldn't help it. She was doing this to protect him, after all. She wanted him to lead a full and happy life, even if he remained shrunken. It was better for him to have lost his old life and live, than for her to let her presence kill him once more. May her feelings of endearment towards him be damned.

"Why?" He sounded like a lost boy himself. She stopped. He repeated his query. "Why, where will you go?"

"..." Silence, she didn't know yet. It was something she was hoping to come up with on the fly. She was adaptable. She would find a way.

"What are you really running from?"

Stunned, she swung around. Eyes wide, she searched his face for any sign of his meaning. This little boy, this young detective in disguise was asking her why... when he was always the one to accurately read her intentions. He always seemed to understand her motives without needing told. Of all the people in the world, he was only second to her sister when it came to knowing what she thought and felt. And her sister had died because of it...

"What do you mean?" He wasn't letting any emotion slip. Not a hint could be found from his posture or face. It confused her. She had grown so accustomed to reading his every move.

"I..." Conan Edogawa began slowly, hands in his pockets. He never let his eyes off her own. The two pools of bright blue held her there, entranced, as he lay out his deductions. "It's not guilt. You're no coward when it comes to facing your own mistakes. We both know that."

A small pill, yes, she remembered swallowing the very same poison that had caused him to shrink. She remembered the reasons why.

I had failed you, sister... The thought came to her, a truth in her mind that she had made peace with.

"I don't think it's only for our protection either. You're not that altruistic, there's something more."

A dry chuckle escapes her throat. If only he knew... He raises an eyebrow in irritation but goes on.

"I think it's fear." Yes. He was probably right. Fear seemed to be the one thing that ruled her life since they gave her her codename... No, even before, she had been living in its shadow. She sees him falter, even though he has no doubt in his words. "But the fear, of what? I cannot tell..."

Yes, spot on detective, she thinks. Right on all accounts. She can feel the fear burning in her breast now, both hot and cold, soothing and painful.

"What are you afraid of?" There he goes, the immortal knight in shining armour, the hero hellbent on rescuing the damselle. All she needed to do was name the enemy, that he might defeat it.

Fair enough, she might as well grant him this final answer before dissapearing from the billows of his life.

"What I'm afraid of?" She smirked, fighting the tears that threatened to swell in her eyes. She turns to walk away for one last time, giving him a lingering look as she departs. Her answer fills the divide. "Love. Nothing more."

FIN

Inspired by the following online chat. With sister dearest.

Foxy_the_sly: by the way, I was wondering last night how Ai would react
Foxy_the_sly: if on one of her "guilt trips / I should leave, I will only endanger them" moments, he were to say to her :
Foxy_the_sly: Is that guilt, fear or altruism?