Chapter 4: Roses and thorns

This chapter contains a huge dialogue and some monologues… Maybe the longest I ever wrote in English, so pls forgive me if there are some wrong or strange parts ^^ Anyways enjoy reading, from now on I will slowly bring up some romantic parts :3

Btw seems like I'm quite fast ^^ since I caught a cold I've a lot time to write, so the next chapter will most likely be published by tomorrow!

[Ai]

She reached the garden some minutes ago and really enjoyed being there. Every inch was covered with different flowers, trees or other plants, even in this cold time of the year everything seemed to bloom.

She walked through this cold, green paradise and then, when she walked around the corner of the huge mansion, she could see him, Conan.

He was kicking up an old looking football in the gateway of the mansion, looking thoughtful.

"What are you doing here tantei-kun?" she asked, walking up to him.

He seemed a bit surprised, but of course he didn't drop the football, he caught it with his foot, cleverly as always.

"Oh, Haibara, I didn't recognize you, gome" he said looking at her, still having that thoughtful look in his eyes.

"You're charming as always" she responded "but that's no answer to my question, really".

Conan kicked up the ball and caught it with his head and started to balance it there "What I'm doing here? Nothing really, just killing the time with this ball I found till Ojisan is done with his investigations, if you want to call it like that."

"And what's about your investigations?" she asked and smirked, pronouncing "investigations" just as derogatory as he did before.

Conan stopped groping around to keep the ball in balance and grip it as it fell down.

"Done" he said without a trace of emotion and as he saw Ai's surprised look he added "Mr Shouta isn't madder than anyone else, he gets really stalked".

"B…but why… how do you know that?" Ai finally asked; she got used to tantei-kun's skill to solve any case, but this? They were in this mansion for maybe half an hour and he already knew what was going on!

Conan's answer was just another sneer "My, my Haibara his whole room was filled up with hints, how could you overlook them?"

Ai felt the anger crawling up her through, he was oh so brilliant and she was the dumb little girl again? She really wanted to say something mean to wipe away this stupid smile of his, when she saw his sapphire eyes sparkling up to her. The same sparkles which came up to them every time he could prove that he was much cleverer than anyone else. It seemed to be a 180° turn to the expression she saw in these eyes some seconds ago… this foreign look that was somewhere too far for her to reach.

"Are you… ok?" she asked hesitantly.

He raised an eyebrow "Sure, why should I be not ok?" He threw up the football again and started catching it with his foot and kicking it up again.

"Yeah…" Ai though "why should he be not ok… He… No!" Ai finally plugged up some courage.

"He really behaves strange. No matter how often he pretends to be ok, something is wrong, I can feel it and now it's my turn to find out about it."

"It's just that" she begun and hugged herself against the cold „sometimes it looks like you're somewhere else, in your mind…" she felt stupid, this was nor her cup of tea, neither was it like her to talk about his or her feelings to Conan, but she just had to make sure what was happening here.

"You know" she started out again "you looked worried and not worried like you worry about a stupid case, no I mean worried like a normal person."

The Ai within her, the Ai that wanted to make sure about Edogawa-kun being ok, sighed "well done" this Ai seemed to say "of course he will open up to you know that you had to tease him again".

But to Ai's very surprise he smiled "funny that you mention that now…" he said and turned his face away from her „I just felt a little… bored, you know? But now that I could tell you about that new case, I feel better".

Ai couldn't see the look in his eyes, his face was still turned away from her, was he honest about that, or was he just making fun about her? His voice sounded serious…

"Go on!" her inner Ai seemed to push her "if you could be nice to him, just this time, he'd maybe tell you what he's worried about."

"Typical" she replied and shrugged "just a solved case rubbed in the face of someone else can cheer ya up".

He looked up to her again "yeah, yeah maybe" he said smiling. Ai turned around, walking away.

"Gome" she murmured as she was sure he couldn't hear her anymore "that's just a lot more like me".

[Conan]

His eyes were still glued to the place where Ai stood, while she was already gone. He thought; again.

But this time about something else.

He had told her the truth, the moment he could tell her about the case this horrible boredom let go of him. Some minutes ago he was just waiting for Kogoro to go back home but now… he even felt a little like walking back into the mansion, helping Kogoro to see what Conan saw. But first he had to figure out what was going on.

Ai was right, of course; something was wrong, the things that he could feel where really happening…

Even Ai recognized.

But it was too early for him to talk to her about it, she would be scared and he didn't want anyone to become scared. Yeah, it was definitely too early… "or too late…"

He wasn't even talking about it to the hakase. He wanted… yesterday eve, but then they got interrupted by this strange sound and he decided to tell the hakase a poor excuse to get out of it.

"This sound" he suddenly wondered "was that Haibara, too? How long did she know that something is wrong? Maybe… longer then myself?"

He rolled the football from one foot to the other. But there was something that really made him think.

More than the strange things happening during the last month, while he talked to the short-haired he felt better, just like nothing ever changed…

Conan stopped the ball with his feet and smiled "that" he thought "is at least very interesting".