Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan. Everything belongs to Gosho Aoyama.
The dull whirring sound of the air conditioner drifted into his senses followed by far-away chatter. First, he noticed that his vision was black. His sense of touch kicked in next as he felt his forehead was against a smooth material of what he could only say a jacket or a blazer. His sense of hearing amplified and the chatter seemed to pick up several octaves in loudness. His eyelids parted open and he came face to face with the smooth surface of a desk.
Shinichi raised his head off the table. Sitting back in his seat, he looked around himself while rubbing his eyes drowsily. He definitely felt more in the pink ever since morning. The familiar white board that was on the wall in front of him, and familiar chart boards to his right told him he was in class 3-E of Teitan High.
"That exam sure was tough..." The detective heard someone groan from behind him. It was followed by several other similar noises, most likely in agreement.
That's right... Exams. Second term was coming to an end soon and it was finals at the moment.
Although on second thought, he wouldn't agree with those whining students at the back. He turned to cast a silent smirk at the group of slackers. With that motion, he caught sight of two of his friends.
The first he could make out was a girl with strawberry blonde hair, a few seats behind him, who had her face buried in her crossed arms on the desk, seemingly asleep – just like he had been a few moments ago. Turning his eyes towards the other figure, he spotted a dark-brown haired girl twirling her pen idly between her fingers and staring at the desk with a helplessly bored expression. As if on cue, said girl looked up and met his eyes. A smile curved her lips.
"Shinichi!" She said brightly as she jumped up from her seat.
"Ran." He returned it with his own as he got up. "How did you fair?"
Ran grinned at him. "A breeze."
He definitely agreed with her. After all, he knew he wasn't the only one that had to sleep away half of the duration of the exam, stuck in their seats with nothing to do, after finishing off the paper. He grinned back as he stretched.
"Let's get something at the cafeteria. Wake Miyano-san up and let's be on our way." Ran suggested.
That sounded appetizing the moment it reached his ears. Turning over to his other friend's spot he called out.
"Miyano." He refrained from calling her 'Haibara' in front of Ran. The strawberry blonde stirred slightly but did not wake.
Frowning, he moved towards her desk, stopping just at the edge to look down over Shiho's figure, Ran right at his side. A smirk enveloped his face as he dropped his bag on floor.
"Up up, sleepyhead." Shinichi said tauntingly and without missing a beat, he dunked Shiho's head further into her arms.
That jerked the girl awake. Letting out a low growl, she looked up with a disgruntled and displeased look only to be met the smirking face of Shinichi in front of her desk. On her part, she never had anyone wake her up like that. And so with a fluid motion, she swung a foot under the desk, kicking the detective right at shin.
Shinichi hopped away immediately, crashing against a chair that added to the already dull throbbing pain in his leg. An annoyed frown displaced the smirk on his face as looked at Shiho.
"You could have just stepped on my toe." He offered sarcastically as he bent over and rubbed the sore spot. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see Ran looking at him strangely. Shiho could cause damage to him more than intended, he would think.
Shiho just shrugged, hiding a yawn behind her hand.
A soft laughter sounded from Ran at the antics of the two. "Let's get going, you two."
"Fine..." Shinichi grumbled as he picked up his bag.
"Well well..." Shinichi heard a voice drawl from behind him as he stood up straight. "Detective-turned-playboy... How are ya doing?" Several laughter from the group of boys and girls echoed in the room.
Turning around, he was met with a grinning face of a fellow classmate. From the girl's expression, he knew she was only joking around and trying to mess with him – tension from the exams have to relieved somehow.
It still didn't mean that he liked the comment, though.
"Shove it, Satonaka-san." He replied.
"Hey, you better decide which one of them you'll pick." The girl that he called Satonaka said in a seemingly conspiratorial whisper but with an intended loudness so everyone could hear, as she leaned closer to Shinichi, ignoring his previous comment.
Shinichi scowled silently. To his right, Shiho just stared at the girl blankly while Ran seemed a little surprised.
None of the trio replied to the comment and Satonaka sweat dropped comically.
"Eh... Forget I said anything." She waved a nervous hand dismissing it lightly and the group behind her laughed, much to her chagrin.
Shinichi sighed. "Detective-turned-playboy..." He muttered under his breath sarcastically as he hoisted his bag over his shoulder. "Let's get going." He suggested this time, with a yawn.
The three slipped out of the now-laughing students of the classroom, cutting off the trail of loud laughter as they slid the door shut behind them. It was past noon time and normal recess period for school days but it, being exam days, was pretty much a vacant day for whomever did not have any tests to attend. The corridors and halls of the building were abuzz with students chatting and roaming around idly, probably waiting for other friends to finish up their exams.
Looking back at the classroom, he caught the eyes Ran and Shiho, as the former smiled at him. That classroom was the last one they would enter for the term, before a short break. He just felt that the last exam had practically saved him from anymore cases of trying to fight boredom by sleeping in his seat. At least, that was over with.
Now hopefully, he could find something to do when school's out...
Shinichi stirred his drink with a straw, a bored expression on face, the clinking of ice cubes against his cup being drowned out by loud chatter. Looking around, he could see he was in the middle of a sea of blue. The familiar aroma of food told him that he was in a packed cafeteria. Each and every stall and table were occupied. Ran who was beside him, scrunched up a sandwich paper wrap as she wiped her mouth with a napkin. Shiho, who sat from across them, was idly finishing her drink. The three of them had just finished discussing exam matters and were now silently resting, enjoying the aftermath of a tense week.
"Hey, do you have anything to do later?" He asked them both, suddenly, casting each of them a glance. The usual shrug from Shiho and the shake of her head from Ran that he both took as a 'no', were his reply.
"That's great." He grinned. "Why not watch the football match?"
"Match?" Ran asked.
"Yeah" Shinichi nodded. "The football club had arranged one to start at 2:30 this afternoon just after the third year students' exams. I've decided to join in, for old time sake."
"Oh, I get it." He heard Shiho's voice as she spoke into the cup to her lips. "Sounds like you're trying to impress your fan club." Lowering it, she revealed the smirk.
"Are you sure you're sane today?" Shinichi replied sarcastically with a question.
"Much more saner than I've been." Shiho made a shooing motion with her hand as if to dismiss the subject and simply went back to her drink.
Shinichi shrugged and turned to Ran as he stood up. "Well, better be there soon. I need to get ready."
Shiho opened mouth to protest.
'I'll pass' That's what she had wanted to say but before she could form a word, Shinichi was already up and jogging towards the exit, bag slung over a shoulder. She watched him with a frown but she supposed she didn't have anything better to do at Agasa's, either. Watching the match and trying to relax for once might do her good. Looking down at her wristwatch, it told her that a little over twenty minutes were left until the scheduled time for the launch of the match.
Standing up after Ran, she followed the long haired girl through the hallways and out to the open field.
Several voices of people – some she knew and some she did not – merged together among the screams and shouts, cheering for either of the opposing teams on the field. Some were sitting on the grass, some standing on their feet pumping their fists in a rhythm to their cheering and of course, the field was not devoid of some squealing, on the girls behalf. Overall, whichever angle a person would take to look at the situation, it had a light and happy aura accompanied with soaring laughter coming from every direction.
"Nice shot, Kudo!"
Ran looked over at a group of students to her right, who jumped up to their feet and started cheering collectively at a deafening volume.
Looking back out at the field, a smile enveloped her face as she spotted the familiar figure of Shinichi, in his light green jersey and contrasting dark green shorts, run across the field back over to his team's side. He cast a look over his shoulder at the opposing team's goalkeeper, who kept hammering his fist into the ground in frustration. Shinichi had just scored a third goal for his team. She could practically imagine the triumphant smirk on his face as he looked at the opposition's goalkeeper.
"He's pretty good."
Ran turned towards the source of the voice to find her strawberry blonde companion sitting by her left, looking out at the field. Even the seemingly emotionless girl couldn't contain a smile that made her lips twitch slightly.
"Yes, I agree." Ran replied to Shiho's comment. "He used to be in the school team up until our first year in high. He quit at the start of second year." Ran let out a laugh. "You'd think the captain would take it as bad as he did when Shinichi asked to be taken off the roster."
Shiho turned to Ran, giving off a slightly restrained smile. She didn't know that. It wasn't because she didn't wish to find out but because she didn't know how to ask of such trivial things. Turning back to look out at the field, she spotted Shinichi at his assigned spot as a center-midfielder. The chants of 'Kudo! Kudo!' seem to reach him for a moment as Shinichi looked about at the audience for a brief second with a smirk before focusing back on the game. It was as if the match was the only thing that mattered to him and nothing else.
"He seems pretty free on that field..." Shiho whispered with some sort of admiration that she haven't realized would slip into her voice.
Ran glanced back at her, about to say something but then stopped. There was a slightly sad look on her face that peeked out under the smile. What was that...?
Suddenly, Ran found herself staring at the figure of a small girl that resembled Shiho, but with a blink of an eye, the figure was displaced. Her curiosity towards Shiho came rushing back unexpectedly, all of a sudden.
It can't be just a coincidence, can it? Siblings or relatives who share almost the exact same expressions and behavior. She didn't believe that. Make no mistake, Ran had tried to approach Shiho ever since the beginning of the school year. She had noticed the way she would act and behave in class – it was just like that little girl, Ai. She had tried, but the girl was practically unreachable. If it wasn't for Shinichi who seemed to be gluing the three of them together, she didn't know if she would be in the girl's company at the moment.
She would only talk when talked to and reply when asked.
"Hey, Miyano-san..." Ran started. There was a short humming sound from Shiho that she took as a sign of permission. The cheering and voices all around seemed to be distancing themselves away from her until it was some sort of a dull chirping sound.
Whether it was a good idea or not, she wasn't sure but before she could decide, the words flew out of her mouth.
"Do you know anyone by the name Conan Edogawa...?" Hesitance was evident in Ran's almost silent timid voice.
Shiho felt as if a strong jolt of electricity ran through her body. Her shoulder stiffened and her jaw clenched. Whatever question she had been expecting from Ran was definitely nothing to do with a certain Edogawa. She bowed her head silently.
Ran observed Shiho for a moment. From the flash of reaction on the other girl's behalf, she could tell that she chose the right name to ask of. She thought of asking about Ai Haibara but that question could easily be brushed off with a reply of 'Yes, she's my sister' or 'Yes, she's a distant relative of mine'. But hadn't Shinichi already told her that Shiho was one of the people he worked along side with in taking down that syndicate? It would only make sense that the strawberry blonde was, at one point, the Ai Haibara she had known if she had known a person called Conan Edogawa here in Tokyo.
And her reaction seemed to point to acknowledgment, however surprised it seemed to be.
Shiho raised her head and shot a cold look towards Ran. She didn't mean to respond as such – it was her nature of trying to stay secure and collected. Her eyes prodded the younger girl's face as if searching for something. And finally she smirked coolly.
"Finally caught on, have you Mouri-san?" Shiho replied with a question of her own. "Kudo's observational skills must be rubbing off on you."
Ran blushed slightly but remained silent. Either Shiho knew what she had wanted to ask from the very beginning or she was good in observing the subtlety behind people's actions. Ran hadn't even thought of asking her if she was Ai Haibara straight out, although she knew it would have sounded stupid, if she were to do that.
"In regards to the question..." Shiho's voice tightened with security again. She had intended that to shoot her down with a provocative 'Why should I tell you, anyway?'.
But...
"Yes, I know him."
She wasn't sure Ran would be the best person that would be able to understand what she felt. She didn't know what drove her to answer truthfully.
Maybe it was because of how Ran resembled her sister, Akemi.
Or maybe the kind, gentle and understanding aura that she carried, which also reminded her of Akemi.
Maybe it was the way the girl would try to approach such sensitive things. She felt some kind of connection with Ran although she never tried to acknowledge it. The kind of a connection she had had with her sister.
Was that enough to trust in her though...?
'Who am I fooling...?' The pessimistic side of her would think whenever that thought came to her mind. No one could replace Akemi. There was only one Akemi Miyano and only one Ran Mouri. And simple logic told her that the two were different people despite the resemblance in appearance and the feeling they radiated in their presence.
One thing is for sure, she wasn't talking to her sister. The question was could she trust her?
Or maybe it was just a desperate attempt to let it all out...
In the end, one thing would always come to mind. Ran deserved to know. Shiho owed the girl that much at least. And so, she told Ran her side of the story.
Whether she would be grateful or regretful of such an action, she didn't know yet again. She just said her piece of how she had worked with the agencies and Shinichi in taking down the syndicate and a few events that happened before that when she was among the Black Organization ranks.
Although, maybe she would say she was grateful because she did not delve too deep into incidents and certain moments – she just said them as they came to mind. Emotionless as always as if skimming over details.
Who would want to hear the things that she left out, either way? No one would be interested in lending an ear to her problems.
To them, it probably would be something unnecessary to hear about, but to her she would rather not say anything and keep them to herself. The moments which seemed to drag her feet under, the moments where she was helpless and pained and the moments which, albeit very rare, were the ones during which she felt unrestrained and free.
Moments she had shared him. The person whom she stuck with by his side through to the end... or was it him who stuck by her side?
Out in the distance, she heard a prolonged whistle that seem to reverberate in the air. The cheering which was growing progressively louder reached her ear, and Shiho suddenly blinked, as if coming out of a haze. Looking up, she could see a group of football players in green attire hoist another fellow teammate on their shoulder to the chants of 'Kudo! Kudo!'.
Him.
Glancing down at her watch, it told her that it was 3:30 in the afternoon. The match was intended to be a short forty-five minutes long, but it seemed to have taken a little extra time over the set limit. An hour had already passed by and she hadn't even noticed. Was this how normality is like?
Ran stared at Shiho for what felt like hours. So, she was Ai Haibara, that little girl who went to Teitan Elementary School, the girl that was part of the Detective Boys not more than a year ago. Just a year ago...
She always noticed Ai was distant to people, always very quiet. To be honest, she was playing with the idea that the girl's young age was a lie in contrast to her appearance and looks like she wasn't far off. She never thought that there was another person in a similar predicament of what Shinichi had faced.
'My parents were killed one night while driving back... I was barely a year old.'
'My sister was killed. I'm sure you do know someone by the name Masami Hirota connected to the one billion yen heist, right? That was her.'
'They decided to come after soon after I escaped from them. A traitor they labeled me as such.'
Ran felt an involuntary shudder run down her spine at the icy cold monotonous voice she spoke with. As if she was devoid of any happiness.
'How can she say such things so... bluntly?' She wondered how her psychological condition could take the loss of her entire family to a single organization that she used to be part of, and yet speak of it like it was something of a daily routine.
Was the organization that disgustingly horrible that it stoned each of it's members hearts?
Shinichi told her of it's cruel ways of conduct. But to make people devoid of feeling any emotion at all was... - she didn't know how to describe it as. Many thoughts circled around in her head, making her feel lightheaded, yet she still couldn't understand.
There was one more question she needed to ask.
"Miyano-san...? Who was the inventor of that 'apple-toxin' drug that shrunk Shinichi?"
It was just plain curiosity – an innocent and curious question. But it was one thing Shiho did not expect to hear from Ran at all. She would have laughed at the name by which the drug was called if it wasn't for the question. The question that struck a chord in her heart – the chord of guilt. Had Shinichi never told her a thing about Haibara or Sherry...?
She hated him now... She hated him but she also felt grateful to him at the same time. Something she didn't know that was even possible. She hated him because she now had to reveal the fact – the truth behind their condition and also reveal herself as the one responsible, the one who separated Ran and Shinichi from each other. She hated him because she was being forced to say the truth however much she desired it to be hidden from everyone else. Wouldn't it have been better if Ran had known so she wouldn't be beating around the bush for reasons and just hate her completely?
Nevertheless, she also felt grateful. She felt grateful that Shinichi had kept her secrets that she confided in him. Even from his childhood friend that he pined for ever since she met him. He would never know how much that action meant to her.
'She has the right to know.'
Shiho fisted a hand in the grass and she bowed her again, hiding her face behind the curtain of reddish-blonde.
"I..."
Ran's body tensed in anticipation. Whatever she was about to be told was something she wouldn't like, she was sure. She trained her eyes on Shiho as if urging her to go on and stop leaving her hanging with that mysterious aura that she radiates.
"Hey, you guys!" A voice broke through Ran's haze of thoughts and suddenly, she was aware of where she was - the surroundings and the voice and sounds.
Glancing sideways, she spotted Shinichi jogging away from the gym and his teammates, and heading towards her and Shiho's spot on the green slope overlooking the field. Out of his football jersey and shorts and back into his school uniform, she could see that his hair was slightly wet and unruly fresh out of the shower, the unbuttoned blue blazer trailing behind him in the air as he ran over to them. The refreshed grin on his face told her that he was completely oblivious to the exchange between herself and Shiho.
All of a sudden, she was torn between wanting to learn more about Shiho and wanting to greet Shinichi, the latter being the way to effectively wave off the question. Awkwardly, she looked between the two. What was she to do? One was staring at the ground as if she was hypnotized by something and the other was running towards them with a grin on his face.
"Hey, what's with the gloomy faces?" Shinichi snorted out jokingly as he came to a stop by their side.
"Huh?" Ran started with an unintended presence of surprise in her voice. "N-No, Shinichi... It's-"
"It's your observational skills that I think are going haywire, detective." Shiho interjected.
"Geez, cut me some slack." Shinichi huffed simply with a mock-offended look.
"You never know..." Shiho replied blankly. Standing up, she strapped her bag on to her shoulder and moved to walk away. She didn't know if Shinichi's timely intervention is something she should be grateful for or yet another reason she would add to her book.
Shinichi scratched the back of his head with a disgruntled look on his face, silently cursing the shift of his refreshed mood. What the hell just happened? The absence of a taunting tone in Shiho's voice with her last comment tipped him off.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Ran looking at the retreating back of Shiho with a strange look of sympathy. "Ran?"
No response.
"Ran." He called out firmly.
The girl turned to him blinking away a startled expression.
Shinichi looked at his friend with a suspicious look. "Are you two hiding something...?"
Ran shook her head 'no' gently. "Let's get going, Shinichi." And with that she took off after the strawberry blonde, with an attempt to avoid his prying eyes.
The detective frowned. Something's happened, and he just hoped it wasn't what he was thinking.
Looking up skyward, he noticed the gray clouds that roamed the sky, shutting out the afternoon sunlight. He mentally groaned. A short burst of gusty wind blew around him and from the temperature, he was sure it was going to be pouring down in buckets soon. The rainy season was approaching fast, it seems. Shinichi made to follow after Ran and Shiho silently.
A single dried brown leaf fell from the branch of the tree by the school walls. The lone leaf seemed to drift in the air gently, as if it was trying to stay afloat and away from the ground. Just a few inches before it lands on the grass, the wind picked up once again and with it, the leaf as it was granted its wish. Weaving about just above the grass, like a person among a crowd of people, it was only for a few seconds before a shoe-cladded foot stepped on it and crushed it into the ground with a barely audible crunch.
All that was left behind on the soil and green grass were black fragments of what used to be a leaf that was barely recognizable. Like a piece of glass that was shattered into smaller shards that could not be pasted back together.
And just like that, it was forgotten.
A/N: I have to say, this one took a toll on me. I had a few difficulties writing this one. I've made several drafts tweaking the scenes here and there, trying to make it flow... right, I think (?) but it didn't seem right to me. *sweatdrop* (I'm not making sense, am I? .)
Anyway, I've got nothing to say about this one. To those who reviewed the last chapter, I thank you. I'm hoping I did not disappoint with this.
Laters.