Here is the third installment of this story. I'm glad there are actually people reading and being interested in this story. I was a bit worried at first that my title and description might make people not want to to read it, but I am pleasantly surprised and grateful to the readers so far. Thanks for your interest, and your comments!
I do not own Detective Conan.
Chapter 3: The Place He Shouldn't Have Been
Ran had never been a light sleeper, so she was very surprised when she was awoken by sounds in her father's office. She sat very still in bed until she heard the sound of a bag being zipped up. Then she pulled back her covers and set her feet on the floor; only to gasp audibly at how cold it was and yank her bare feet back up into bed. Dad forgot to turn up the heat again.
The irritated teen wrapped a blanket around her shoulders, and quickly made a beeline for the thermostat so she could turn up the heat. Then, she heard a sound again. Whoever is down there is going to get my freezing cold FOOT in their FACE for making me get up like this. With that thought in mind, she went down the stairs in her slippers. Despite the fact that she was unarmed, she felt ready for anything. ...Except what she found when she opened the door. It was Conan, who was just sliding his phone into his backpack when she opened the door. They frightened each other so much that Ran ended up in a Karate stance; ready for a fight, and Conan ended up falling on the floor near her discarded blanket.
As soon as she recognized him in the darkness, she grabbed her blanket and shut the door behind her as she joined him inside. "You scared me half to death Conan-kun," she stage-whispered as she pulled the blanket back around her shoulders. "Why are you down here? It's four in the morning."
I could ask you the same question Ran. Normally you could sleep through a train wreck and an earthquake if no one shouted loud enough. "Sorry Ran-neechan," he whispered in reply. "Professor Agasa said he would be here around four because I have to get something from his house before I go."
"Oh." Once again, Ran didn't seem convinced to him, but she nodded in response anyway. On the inside though, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. She knelt down and was suddenly about to ask Conan not to leave when his phone vibrated, and he glanced at it quickly before putting it back in his pocket.
"Well, I'm off," he said as he practically threw his bag over his shoulder. Ran sighed heavily; trying to see him off with a smile. Just as he was about to cross the threshold though, she grabbed his arm. She didn't say anything, and he gazed at her quizzically. Why does she seem so upset? Before he could say anything, she pulled him into a hug.
"Take care of yourself, ok?" she murmured. Then she released him, and he gave her a final crooked grin as he closed the door behind him. Ran slid her legs out from under her, and pulled her knees up to meet her chest. She held onto herself like that as she listened to his echoing footsteps going down the stairs. Wrong! It's all wrong! Don't let him leave. This is wrong.
Finally unable to take the stress of her feelings, she jumped up and hurried to the window. Breathing a sigh of relief as she watched him board the professor's car, she gently returned the wave he gave her. She couldn't get rid of the feeling though as she watched the yellow car disappear into the night, and it remained like a cloud over her mind as let herself flop back down on the floor. A sudden chill went down her spine. However, it was not from the cold.
"Sorry Ran! Go on ahead of me! ...I'll catch up with you right away!"
Shinichi's words suddenly stuck out in her memory, and she knew she was experiencing the same feeling on the cold floor of the detective agency that she had felt in Tropical Land. Filled with worry, she eventually fell asleep on the floor; curled up into a tight ball to keep warm.
Conan took a deep breath as he stood in his bedroom. Even though he had just been to his house yesterday, he was happy to know that he would be leaving as himself again. He had really wanted to sleep in his own bed that night, but he hadn't really thought out his plan until after he had spoken to Hattori. He pulled the note from his pocket to read again as he threw his shirt across the room. He had decided to leave early to get his clothes and change back into his older self. Then he would pay Ran a visit before meeting Hattori. The other teen had sent him the name of the place where they would rent a car, and from there they would go on to the manor.
Conan wondered what they would be in for at the manor. He had done some research on Ran's laptop during the night, and he new that the mansion was actually not too far away from Tokyo, and it had gotten its nickname from a murder that had occurred there ten years before.
The story was that a young woman had been found dead in her room. She appeared to have been beaten to death, and was propped up against a wall with tears still going down her cheeks. No one had caught her murderer. It was often said that people could hear her crying in certain rooms, and the reason she cried was to serve as a reminder that no one had heard her cries when she was killed.
Ten years later it had been converted into a simple tourist attraction, where people spent nights just to try and see her ghost. In other words, what was an intriguing mystery, had been twisted into a legend that helped to run the manor as an inn. Conan sighed. He wasn't sure why, but the story of the woman's murder didn't seem to grasp his attention the way he thought it might, and he suddenly thought that the notes could've been written by the owner just to have two famous detectives come in to make tourists more interested.
Oh well. At least I get to be myself for a couple of days. Suddenly happy again, Conan took off his shorts and grabbed one of the blankets from his bed. He didn't want Haibara or Agasa to find him basically naked on the floor. Haibara would never let him live it down.
Haibara of course stood peeking in his door. She felt like something terrible would happen; that she had made a mistake and the so-called "temporary antidote" would in fact kill him. As she watched him clinging to the blanket around his body like a lifeline as he tried to contain the pain, she felt deathly afraid. It occurred to her, that she had never actually watched him grow back up before; only shrink. She knew it was over when she heard the dull thud his body made as he hit the floor, and terror took over as she waited for any sign of movement.
Just as her hand was on the doorknob, the blanket began to move with the teenager beneath it. Haibara drew back as if she'd been slapped; feeling stupid for being so fearful. Kudou-kun may be reckless, but he is also strong. The tiny scientist crept away silently; making her way downstairs to go back to sleep on the Kudous' sofa. The moment she had heard about his plans, she had snuck in so she could make sure he was ok. She hadn't slept at all though. As she lay for another hour listening to him rummaging through his closet and eventually leaving the house, she felt a sense of calm finally wash over her, and allowed herself to drift off to sleep.
Shinichi walked back to the detective agency with a grin on his face. For once, he didn't care who saw him or recognized him. He was too busy thinking about what Ran would say when he walked in. She was always up early to make breakfast for her dad, so it surprised him when he didn't find her in the kitchen. What didn't surprise him though, was the sound of Kogorou's snores.
He went back to the agency's main office, and his happy mood lost some of its potency when he finally spotted her. Ran lay curled up on the floor near the front window with her blanket. That told him she hadn't moved since he waved to her as "Conan." What is she so worried about? Shinichi crouched beside her, and reached out to tuck her hair behind her ear. He let his hand hover though as he furrowed his brow in thought.
She had done so much for him without knowing it. She had even saved his life when he had been shot. He had seen her crying for him and hating him, and he had only been able to offer her the comfort of a child. He didn't deserve her, and she deserved so much more than someone who couldn't be there for her the way she wanted. I need to do something for HER. Shinichi gently slid his arms under her knees and back, and lifted her up off the floor.
Then he placed her on the sofa and put his coat on top of the blanket she was covered in. He wouldn't let her feel alone in Conan's absence; especially not when he had two extra days he could use to spend time with her after investigating the manor. He felt the weight of the container in his pocket as he sat down in front of the sofa. Sorry Haibara. Looks like the second antidote can't only be for emergencies.
"I told you to come straight to the car after school every day," the man holding fifteen-year old Shiho by her throat said. They were in an alley not far from the school, and she couldn't help but wish someone would help her. However, she knew he or she would most likely be killed for it. "I have given you the chance to have your education, and you have disappointed me yet again. Would you rather be schooled back at our facilities again?"
Shiho was not afraid, but she could feel his looming threat in her mind almost as clearly as she felt his fingertips on her neck. She had been delayed in going to the car by Takashi, but she could never blame him. He was the brother she never had, and she could never bring herself to be angry with him about anything.
"Why don't you just kill me then?" she murmured; finally saying the words she had been longing to say for so long. She was tired of it all; exhausted with the harsh words and cruelty of the Black Organization that had basically raised her. The man who was in charge of her smiled maliciously, and tightened his grip.
"Is that what you want?" He laughed without any real humor in it, and then he let her drop onto the ground. "I can't give you that, but I can teach you a lesson you won't learn in school." That was when he began to kick her. She let him do it too. She had lost the ability to care.
Suddenly, when she felt her consciousness slipping away, the man cried out loudly, and the kicking ceased. It was instantly replaced by a frightened voice. "Shiho! Shiho, come on. We have to go." Warm hands pulled her to her feet, and she gripped one of them in her own as she was quickly led away from the alley.
She was dizzy from all the kicking though, and soon she had collapsed on her knees. "Takashi," she mumbled distantly as he knelt before her. "You...shouldn't have come. They'll kill y-"
"I'm not leaving you here. I can't just sit by and let them hurt you." She raised her head to meet his soft brown eyes, but instead she was met with piercing blue ones. Suddenly his eyes changed to brown, and just as quickly, back to blue. Then a shot rang out, and he fell to the ground beside her. His eyes remained blue and open wide to match the expression of his shocked face. His hair was much darker than Takashi's should have been, but he was not Takashi, and at the same time he was. The name she screamed though, was not his.
"Kudou-kun!" Ai Haibara cried as she bolted upright on his sofa. The little girl sat gasping for breath; unable to fully comprehend what had just happened in her nightmare. She held her head in her hands as she tried to convince herself that it was just a dream.
But it wasn't a dream. It was a memory: a place where Kudou Shinichi should not have appeared.
Wow. That actually didn't turn out quite the way I had planned it, but it moves us a little further into the story. Sorry if this story is moving too slow for you. Soon though, we will get to the craziness! For now, could you please leave a review. They really help, and I want to read your opinions. Thanks. (By the way, sorry for that lame excuse for a dream sequence. I did not do a good job with it and I am sorry.)