After being on vacation for a week, I can finally update this story. This chapter is pretty cute, and has some pretty funny dialogue. I also keep Conan and Haibara in character for the dialogue portion, although you can see fluff if you squint. Thanks for the reviews, too, and thank you also for bearing with me during the long update intervals. I should be updating more regularly in the future, or at least I hope I can.
Chapter Two
The next day was, coincidently, Valentine's Day. Conan knew that he would be swamped with all sorts of chocolate from all of his many fans, both of his detective work and of his soccer skills. However, Conan had his letter to deliver, too. He knew that it wouldn't be easy with all the fangirls swarming him, but he knew he had to try. Walking alone to school, Conan knew exactly what he was going to do. He would slip the note into her bag during class, when everyone was distracted by the gift giving. He was counting on the fact that Haibara was going to be giving out her famous homemade chocolate and wouldn't be around her desk at the time.
As Conan had predicted, the moment he entered the school grounds, he was instantly swarmed by a ton of girls. He was fully aware of guys everywhere looking at him jealously, but he was too preoccupied to care. Conan calmly accepted all the chocolate that was thrust on him, all the while keeping an eye out for Haibara, although he figured she was already inside the school with the rest of their friends.
When the bell rang, everyone scurried into their classrooms, leaving Conan to deal with all the chocolate. He dumped some of it in his shoe locker to save himself the trouble of lugging it around, but the rest he stowed away in his bag, his desk, and anywhere else he could, just to get rid of it.
Luckily, the teacher was late for personal reasons, so Conan didn't get in trouble for being late himself. He went right to his desk and sat down, aware of all the eyes on him. Then the teacher, Mr. Tanaka, rushed in the door, apologized for running late, and started the lesson, oblivious to the fact that all the girls were holding chocolate and glaring at him. When it became clear the chocolate exchange was not going to occur in Class 3-B that Valentine's, the girls resolved to give their crushes their chocolate later on.
Conan didn't receive a chance to plant his letter until much later on that morning, during gym class outside in the courtyard. As part of a special Valentine's Day event, the instructor divided the class into girls and boys to play dodgeball. The teams were uneven, but nobody cared about that. They just wanted a good old 'battle of the sexes'. However, since it was a 'special event', there was a twist to the rules. Besides the normal dodgeball rules, there was one extra: if someone threw a ball and their lover on the other team caught it, the entire other team was back in the game. This rule made sure that the game would go on for longer, preventing it from being won in a timely manner.
When the whistle blew, the game soon turned into an all-out war. The guys might have had more strength on their side, but the girls were more agile and could dodge more easily. Plus, there were more of them. Conan stalked up and down the guys's side of the yard, throwing a ball every now and then. He regretted not being able to kick anything. Soon, however, he was the only guy left. He stood in the middle of his half of the yard, surrounded by dodgeballs and glaring at the eight girls still remaining. He noted that both Haibara and Ayumi were still in. Then four of the girls pelted him with their balls, and Conan barely dodged them all. Then both Ayumi and Haibara threw theirs. Conan threw himself out of the way as the two streaked towards where he'd been. Then Conan, in an impulsive action, caught Haibara's in midair. With a roar, Mitsuhiko ran back into the game and took up the challenge with Conan as Haibara sat down on the sidelines, breathless.
Ayumi threw another ball at Conan, which this time he was too slow to avoid. Shocked, he sat down with the rest of the guys a minute before making up his mind. He muttered to Genta that he was heading to the bathroom and went into the school, heading straight for the locker rooms. Taking a look around, he snuck into the girls' locker room when the coast was clear and immediately gagged from the mixed smells of sweat and old perfume. After making sure that no one was going to walk in on him, he began systematically opening and closing lockers, looking for Haibara's stuff. It wasn't long before he found it. He slipped the letter into a small outside pocket, knowing full well that she wouldn't find it until later, since all that pocket contained was her calculator and her house keys. Satisfied with his progress, he returned to the rest of the class, just in time to see Mitsuhiko get creamed by Ayumi.
XXX
The rest of the day passed smoothly. The girls that hadn't been able to give out their chocolate during class gave it all out during lunch, prompting Genta to roam the cafeteria for abandoned lunches, from which he stole the grilled eel. Many other people were also exchanging chocolate, making the entire room a madhouse.
The first person Ayumi gave chocolate to was Conan. When he accepted it, he knew at once that the chocolate was special. It was clearly homemade. Ayumi was also looking at Conan with a look of nervousness. Conan played along, unwrapping a corner of the chocolate; he took a bite from the exposed corner. Not finding a thing wrong with it, he gave Ayumi the thumbs up, making her face light up in joy. When she showed no inclination of sitting back down, Haibara stepped in. "Don't you have some more chocolate to give out, Ayumi-chan?" she asked, not unkindly.
Ayumi jumped. "Oh, sorry Ai-chan," she apologized, picking up her bag of chocolate and scurrying away. Then Haibara stood over Conan, glaring at him. She held her chocolate hostage in a plastic tote.
Conan, wary of the smart girl, put a cover on his bento so he wouldn't find his face in it should Haibara be mad for what happened earlier. "Are you nervous about something, Edogawa-kun?" she asked sweetly, ignoring the curious glances coming from all directions.
"I'm just wondering why you're standing over me like that," said Conan truthfully.
"I'm testing you," she responded cryptically. At his confused look, she elaborated, "I'm testing you to see whether I should give you some of my chocolate or not. After all, it took me two hours of my private time to make, and I only have fifteen pieces. It comes at a price. That's why I'm testing you."
"Since when do you test someone for candy?" asked Conan cheekily, grinning at her as if he knew more than she was letting on. He could tell by her attitude that something was up, although he couldn't put his finger on exactly what.
Haibara glared at him, making him flinch as if he'd been stung by a whip. "After all the work I put into this, you dare to call it candy?" she asked, her voice rising by the second, which was yet another aspect that was out of character for her. Then she sighed and said, "Either way, you passed my test; here." She reached into the plastic tote and pulled out a large piece of chocolate, wrapped in a red wrapper. Conan took it and stared at it as if it was made of gold. "Are you just going to sit there looking dumb or are you going to eat it?" she asked exasperatedly. Conan jumped, before removing the wrapper and trying it.
"It's great!" he exclaimed happily, cramming large bits into his mouth. Haibara smirked before walking away to give away the rest. Then Conan was swamped by more girls, and he saw her no more.
So the letter is planted, the chocolate is exchanged, and now for the waiting. Not on me, but on the characters in the story. Next chapter takes place a few weeks after this one. Hopefully I'll be able to update before too long.
