- Like a Gun. -
- o -
He had everything prepared, everything planned out.
All he needed now was to prepare his emergency back up.
It had started to rain a little, but that didn't really matter.
He took out his mobile phone and started to compose a number...
Then he heard the rustling.
- o -
- Chapter Four: A Confession. -
-iv-
Shinichi Kudo stared at the puddle of water on his entry hall floor. His face remained neutral as he related the events of that night to his trusted friend and neighbour. The professor looked at him slightly worried, noticing, as all who cared for Shinichi would, that the spark of youth and ambition was no longer glistening in his eyes.Conan and Haibara had, some time back, -Agasa already knew this part,- found and successfully acquired, some pills of the Apotoxin responsible for their size. Agasa and Haibara had worked hard on making the antidote for the best part of a month, during which time Agasa had also tried, unsuccessfully, to create new gadgets for Shinichi. Conan, meanwhile, had started seriously thinking of a way to bring the organisation down.
Once the antidote ready, the three had gathered at the professor's to discuss strategy. Conan had refused point blank to involve Hattori. If their enterprise were to fail, (he wanted to be realistic about their chances,) there had to remain someone in the know who could pick up the pieces and continue their battle. Hattori was far enough geographically not to be directly investigated by the organisation, and Conan had already shared most of his information with him. Same went for Kogoro Mouri. Conan had no wish to involve Ran's father, and, if possible, would much rather face members of the syndicate in his true guise. And what about the F.B.I. ? Could they not provide help? After all, it was thanks to them they had managed to get their hands on the Apotoxin, was it not? No, had said Haibara. In an operation such as this, the less people involved, the better. The F.B.I. had been led astray before due to too many agents being involved. Haibara, Conan and Jodie had all risked their lives that one night. There wouldn't always be an Akai to save them at the last second. They should act alone, inconspicuous, and by surprise.
But how were they to do this? How could they insure fail safes?
Aha. Conan had a plan.
Conan kept the details of the plan mostly secret, at least as far as the professor was concerned.
Conan had come to the professor's that fateful morning to put his plan into action. He took the antidote, which, despite Haibara's worries, worked beautifully, and soon was back to his good old self. Haibara had already made clear she was not going to take it until their plans succeeded. If Shinichi were to fail and survive, having an adult Shiho Miyano around Beika would only serve to condemn him.
And then, Shinichi had left, in disguise, by the back door, taking out his mobile phone and dialling. He was out of sight by the time the professor had shut the door.
Then there had been the wait. The long, anxious wait, made even more agonizing by the surprise visit of the detective boys. They were sweet and innocent, but what the Professor and Haibara wanted was to know whether Shinichi was safe, whether his tactic had been successful, whether that day would spell the end, once and for all, of the Men in Black.
And here, Shinichi picked up the tale, telling his neighbour of how, using that compromising e-mail he had discovered, he managed to arrange a meeting following his terms, where he should, if all went well, be able to subdue and safely arrest the main top members, as well as the head of the syndicate.
He managed to reach the meeting place without being shot or spotted. There, Shinichi had inspected the area and then prepared his tools. Then everything had gone wrong.
Some "idiot " from high school had somehow followed him, for a purely stupid reason, accidentally bumped him on the head, destroyed some of his preparations, by accident of course, and nearly blown his cover! After an argument and a quick compromise, Shinichi managed to make the high school student hide in a safe place and promise not to move.
Agasa couldn't help but notice how exasperated and annoyed Shinichi seemed when he mentioned the other boy.
"But what about Ai...? " asked the professor. "When did she get involved? I recall it must have been around then that she vanished from the house... "
"I haven't reached that bit yet. " sighed Shinichi. The youth ruffled his wet hair with his towel again, before continuing. "Anyways, by the time I managed to get rid of that idiot, it was already time for the 'meeting'. I no longer had the time to fix my prepared tools, nor call Megure as had been my attention, so I crossed my fingers and prepared myself to meet them. "
There had been eight of them, all together. Several important members and the boss in person. Shinichi still managed to smirk in his superior fashion as he told the professor that he had guessed right both on who the boss was, and on what would bait such an important figure to come out in person.
"I see now why Haibara never wanted to tell me of him. He is quite the Moriarty... Or was. He's dead now. " And with that Shinichi stared at his feet.
"Has that anything to do with the explosion? " whispered Agasa, dreading and yet still wanting to hear the answer.
"Oh yes. Sadly. "
Once confronted with the youth who had so cleverly manipulated them, the raven-clad criminals had been furious. And doubly furious when they realized who the youth actually was.
"'Kudo Shinichi, private detective!' " quoted Shinichi. "'One you had thought dead and long buried in silence. You were so preoccupied with Sherry, you didn't think to question why my body wasn't found after I'd been given that product of hers, did you?' Maybe that was my biggest mistake. I shouldn't have mentioned Haibara so soon. "
"What do you mean, Shinichi? " The professor had completely forgotten that he was supposed to dry himself.
"Gin was there. And so was Vermouth. Upon hearing my mention of Sherry and realizing that he had failed in eliminating me, he... He tried to shoot me. "
"What! " The Professor was startled. "Shinichi! "
"Don't worry! I said tried. Vermouth prevented him. " He said.
'By taking the bullet in her leg' he added mentally.
"Gin, the Boss, and the others questioned Vermouth about this strange behaviour. Apparently, Boss put aside, she had gained a lot of dislike among her peers. She argued that they didn't want me dead until they figured what I knew, who else knew and where Sherry was. "
A short silence followed, as Agasa tried to picture all this in his head.
"But you didn't tell them anything, did you? What happened then? " he asked, prompting the young detective to continue his tale.
"She stepped forward. " Seeing that his neighbour seemed to have misunderstood who 'she' was, he corrected himself. "Not Haibara. Vermouth. "
"Huh? "
"She stepped forward, as cool as anything, despite her bad leg, and said she had a confession to make. Both to me and the syndicate members. " Shinichi nervously rubbed his hand against his arm, where it had been wounded. "And the worse is, I believe Haibara heard all of it. "
"What do you mean? " asked the professor.
"Vermouth's confession, amongst other things, had a lot to do with Haibara. A dreadful lot. I guess it's a blessing she's amnesic now. I have no idea how she would otherwise have stopped Vermouth's words from tormenting her."
Shinichi looked so serious and sad as he said this. Agasa was now extremely worried.
"What... What was it Vermouth said? "
-iv-
"You've had amnesia too? ""Yes." Answered Ran. The tall teenage girl was now seated opposite Ai, at the kitchen table. "If you weren't amnesic, you would probably remember. You and the other four Detective Boys were all saying you'd protect me. "
Ran blushed slightly, as she remembered how protective Conan in particular had been.
"We said that? But protect you from what? " Asked the small girl.
The broken plates now lay in a plastic bag on the counter, ready to be put in the bin. Any cuts the child had received from her fall had already been cleaned and band aided.
"It was another one of those dreadful murder cases... " sighed Ran. "I'd witnessed a murder attempt and, thinking it was my fault the murderer had managed to hurt inspector Sato, my memory just blanked out. It's kind of embarrassing really... " She brushed her bangs out of her eyes before pausing.
Ai Haibara said nothing.
"When mom and dad found out, they were so shocked. Mom even decided to come home, despite her wish not to live with Dad anymore. If I hadn't been so out of it, I'd probably have been overjoyed. But fact is, I was completely unable to remember anyone. Be it my parents, Sonoko, I remember she spent a lot of time crying because of that, Conan or even Shinichi. Who I'd been, what I'd done or liked... It all escaped me, and I spent most of my time staring into nothingness wondering, trying to remember. "
"It was kind of painful really... The worst was when I seemed on the brink of remembering something, but it was all so painful and dark and horrible, I'd just clutch my head in pain. But what was really worse, was being surrounded by all these people who loved you and who were worried about you, and not being able to reassure them, or remember anything about them. Not remembering whether or not you had loved them too... "
Ran sighed, as the memory of those moments when her thoughts about her amnesia had tormented her...
"But you remembered, didn't you? " whispered Ai, somewhat uneasily. She didn't know what to think of all these names Ran had mentioned, and that she knew she should remember.
"Yes, I did. " Ran smiled. "And thanks to the silliest of things. "
"Huh? "
"Well... " Here Ran hesitated. But then decided there was no reason to. After all, there was no harm in saying it really. "It's thanks to Conan in fact. "
"Conan? As in the boy you were looking after? "
"Yes. I asked him why he was being so determined to protect me from the murderer. And he answered with the exact same phrase I'd heard my mother say before, a quote from a phrase my dad had told her to show how much he cared. And his face as he said it suddenly seemed so familiar. And then I remembered Shinichi, and then that I cared for him, that he had been my best friend since childhood and that Conan was just like him. I could suddenly remember everything about the ones I cared for. I realized that there was this stupid man who was trying to hurt us, to hurt me, and all those who cared for me. Whatever had caused my amnesia had just been blown away, and I took charge. I was back to normal again. "
"Really back to normal? Just because you remembered someone you cared for? " Ai's eyes were large and questioning.
"Okay. I've got to admit I didn't remember everything in one go. " Ran leaned forward across the table, her long hair falling from her shoulders. "But it was all coming back, in a steady flow, within the following days. I'd look at something and suddenly I'd remember all about it, as if a tap had been turned on. " She winked, and sat back.
Ai looked back at the elder girl, slightly suspicious. It was all very nice and interesting, but she didn't see how it would help her. She still didn't remember a thing, and all it had helped her was to discern better who Ran was. She sighed, before looking down, slightly miserable. Had she actually hoped all this talk would help her remember? But she didn't want to. Every time she thought back to that dream, to the feeling of dread, horror and sorrow she had felt upon awakening, she was that much sure of it.
"Ai-chan." Ai looked up at Ran. "There's a reason I told you all this. It's because I truly hope you'll be able to remember your special someone soon."
Ran's face was so full of compassion.
Ai couldn't stand it any more.
She unconsciously schooled her face into an expression of cold detachment, and looked up at the teenager.
"But what if remembering that one person brings me pain? What if they were the reason I had tried to forget? "
"Ai, what..? What do you mean? " Asked Ran, suddenly surprised by these questions.
Ai continued on, knowing by saying this she was expressing the thoughts she'd had about that dream. Knowing she'd probably have to go and lock herself away soon, to stop herself from crying in front of this woman again. This knowledge filled her both with anger and self loathing.
"What if remembering that person meant remembering something bad that happened to them? What if it meant remembering that they were dead! "
Suddenly Ran seemed to realize what Ai meant. Surely she must have known something about Ai's parents. After all, they hadn't shown up at the hospital, had they?
Ai jumped off the chair, no longer daring to look at Ran's face, no longer caring that by doing so, her leg ached in pain. She ran up the stairs, and into the room where her bed and things were. There, she closed the door and locked it. It wasn't long before she heard Ran's steps following hers up the stairway, before she heard her knock at the door and call out her name. She couldn't care less.
She sat huddled on the floor, her back to the door, drowning in feelings of misery and painful ignorance. She knew that what she'd dreamed about had held some truth. She knew that what she remembered about it was pain and sorrow. She remembered the word 'dead', and the notion that there had been a girl involved, just like Ran, for whom she had cared. She was certain about only one thing. Whatever had caused her pain in that dream had been so terrible that she wouldn't be able to let herself remember it. She had no wish to relive such sorrow...
And why was she called Ai? Why!
Why did her name have to mean sorrow!
-iv-
The door banged as a gust of wind knocked it against the wall. The two men walked in, and while the slimmer of the two closed the door, the elder cried out to the house in general as he put down his bags and took off his coat."I'm home! "
Helping him with his bags, Shinichi followed the professor towards the kitchen area. The house seemed so quiet. Shinichi couldn't help but brood as the patter of the rain on the roof ate away at his already unhappy mood. They came upon the kitchen area to see Ran at the table. She was softly crying, wiping away the odd tear and looking miserable.
"Ran!" exclaimed both Shinichi and Agasa.
Realising that they were there, Ran bit back her tears and wiped her eyes. She looked up, slightly embarrassed and went to took the bags from the professor, in order to put their contents away.
"Sorry about that. " she mumbled, trying to pretend they hadn't really noticed.
"What do you mean sorry about that? Sorry about what Ran? What's wrong?" Asked Shinichi. He was suddenly rather worried, and so was the professor.
"Where's Ai? " he asked.
Shinichi tried to ignore the new undertone of worry he could detect in the old man's voice. Maybe he shouldn't have told him the whole contents of Vermouth's confession. But he had, indeed, owed him an explanation. There wasn't anything he could do about it now. His attention returned fully to Ran.
"She's upstairs, in her room. " Ran said. "Look, professor, can I ask you two things? "
"Of course Ran. What about? "
Shinichi leaned forward, curious. Ran finished putting the groceries away, muttering, "2 seconds." before closing the fridge door. She had left out the groceries she was going to use to make dinner. That done, she sat back down into her seat, and looked the professor straight in the eye.
"First of all, have you contacted Ai's parents? "
The professor looked both embarrassed and taken short. Shinichi, who had seated himself as well, lifted his eyebrows.
"You didn't tell her anything professor? " He said, feigning slight surprise.
"Well, erm... " mumbled the professor. He wasn't sure what to say really.
"Told me what? That they're dead? " replied Ran. She looked slightly unhappy about this. Shinichi understood. Ran was a sensitive person, and, having talked with Haibara this evening, she must have naturally wondered why no Haibaras had come to inquire about their daughter.
"Yes. That's it. " Sighed Shinichi.
"But when? How? I thought her parents had placed her in the professor's care just as it was for Conan. They didn't...?"
Ran was waving her hands at a loss. Shinichi caught one as Agasa worriedly wiped his brow.
"Look Ran. They've been dead for years. Haibara never really got to know them. They had nothing whatsoever to do with that explosion. " His blue eyes were sincere, and his hold strong. Ran felt herself calm down.
"You sure about that? " she whispered, as her remaining doubts fought back.
"Certain. I believe her parents died in an accident shortly after her birth. That's partly the reason why her name's written with the character for sorrow. " He lied. But it wasn't really a lie. She had chosen that name after the death of a loved one, had she not? "Her mother was British as far as I know, and her father was a Japanese man who was brought up not too far away from here. She's been staying with various relatives ever since. "
"Yes. " confirmed the professor. He was somewhat relieved at having Shinichi save him from another bout of 'improvising for Ran', but he was also a little sad, as he sometimes was when talking about Ai's parents. Knowing that one's little charge had no real family left was saddening.
Ran smiled, with a sad glint in her eye.
"Hey, maybe someone should tell her that. " She got up and started reaching for a pot on the kitchen surface. She had promised to cook dinner for the professor after all. "She and I had a little talk about amnesia, and she seemed worried that remembering would mean remembering an important loss. She might not be so anxious about it if she knew it was normal she couldn't remember her parents... At least I hope. "
'Worried about remembering an important loss? Oh shit.' Shinichi suddenly realised what Haibara must have been thinking about. 'She doesn't want to remember her sister's death?'
Professor Agasa shot him a look. He'd understood this too.
"Maybe I should go and check on her then... " The owner of the house stood up and headed towards the staircase.
"Hey, Shinichi? " said Ran. Shinichi eyes reverted from the professor's disappearing figure to his childhood best friend. He couldn't help but notice how similar she seemed to all those times she had seen her cut vegetables as Conan.
"How come you know so much about Ai? "
"Eeh! " He gaped at her, uncomprehending.
"Oh come on, you tell me all that about her parents and you expect me to believe you don't know her? You haven't been around for months, Shinichi! For all I know, you met her the night of that horrid explosion! And yet you know more about her then I do." She turned to look at him, suspicion clouding her features.
'Think fast Sherlock, think fast!'
"Mail." He blurted out.
"Huh?"
"I came back to the professor's to collect my mail every so often, remember? That's why I know her. We've talked, and the professor talked to me about her family. There's also the fact that I've had to deal with a few of her relatives in this case of mine. " He scowled slightly at the mention of his case. The syndicate had been Haibara's foster family after all.
"Right. " Said Ran. Returning to her chopping board, she asked another question. "That case of yours is definitely solved, right? You're not going to vanish again, are you?"
Shinichi smiled sweetly at her.
"My case is solved, I guess one can say that. I am definitely not going to disappear again. Whatever is left to happen, is in between Megure and me, and it happens right here in Beika. "
Ran blushed happily.
Shinichi didn't need to hear any answer to know how glad this made her.
"By the way, you said you had two questions? " He spread out on the table, his mind slowly going numb. Too much thinking today. Too much emotion.
"Yes, but it can wait till the professor's back."
Shinichi cringed. He recognized that disillusioned tone of voice. There was a note of sadness there, and longing. That voice she would get, when she would let slip how much she missed Shinichi within Conan's presence. She was thinking about Conan, and his absence.
Crap. Now that he thought about it, he still hadn't organized some story about that. What had he been thinking of all week!
He sighed and straightened himself.
"Hey Ran. "
"Umm? " She had just put the vegetables into the frying pan. They hissed gently to the patter of the rain, accompanied by the odd howl of wind. She turned to face him as he made her wait for his query.
"Look. Not today, nor tomorrow, but after tomorrow... Some time this week at the latest. I have got to tell you something. Will you be willing to listen to me? " He put his hand an the back of his neck, in a worried gesture so typical of him.
Ran couldn't help but notice that he seemed so serious about it.
'Finally!' she thought, thinking of the only obvious possibilities. 'Finally he's going to tell me.'
At long last, she could hope for the answers to all her questions. To what had happened that dreadful night, to why he had been away and what had taken him so long, and maybe... She blushed and smiled at him.
"Sure!"
She whistled as she turned back to her cooking.
The professor returned from the stairways. He still looked bothered and worried. Obviously he hadn't had much luck.
"So?" asked the young detective.
"She won't talk to me. " He shook his head. "I can't help being worried, but I guess we have no other choice but to wait for it to pass. "
Ran nodded, wisely. She'd had the same response.
"By the way professor, any news from Conan? "
Both Shinichi and Agasa laughed nervously together.
This was going to take some more bluffing, right...
-iv-
- End Chapter Four -
Author's notes: Sigh. My style seems to have gotten heavier over the summer. (Shrugs.)Anyway, this chapter gives quite a few answers, and gives me quite a few more to figure out for future chapters. It's still quite enjoyable.And Romance? What Romance? No, not yet, I'm not a romantic sap, so sorry.
And so the mystery goes on... (Evil cackling in the distance.)