Hi all,

Here's another chapter of this story! What happens when Haibara is away, and Shinichi is SUPPOSED to take care of the house for her? Sit back and enjoy! Disclaimer: I own none of the characters.

CHAPTER 4: THE WOMAN IN BLACK'S SECRET

Shinichi Kudou

I took another spoonful of cereals as I watched her squeezing one dress after another into her tiny luggage. For sure, some force would be needed to close that luggage later on, but that doesn't stop her from placing a few other things inside. I've always wondered why my mum took a long time to pack for our trips, and I think I found out why.

As she struggled to zip up the luggage, I couldn't stand to watch anymore. I stood and walked up to her, pushed the top of her luggage, and was about to zip it up when she opened her mouth to complain.

"I told you I don't need…"

"…my help?" I finished her sentence as I zipped up her luggage. Her lips are pursed as she glared at me.

"Fine, pay me back then. Get me some football-related souvenirs. After all, it's the UK. It won't be hard to find. Alright, Haibara?" I said. She turned away – her brunette locks looking beautiful as always.

"Alright, Kudou-kun. I'll do that. Then we are even."

I sank back to the dining chair and gobbled the rest of the cereal. It got more comfortable as we are back to "Kudou-kun" and "Haibara", and that she was back to her not-so-cute attitude. But that's the girl I fell in love with, and I did not wish for her to change. As I washed the dish, I heard Agasa-hakase opening the front door, dragging his own luggage.

"Are you going already, Hakase?"

"Ah, yes Shinichi. Please help me look after this house. You can sleep over here if you want to, or if you want Akai-san to stay over that's fine with me too…"

"NOT FINE WITH ME! Let him stay in your place if you want to, and you can stay here," Haibara startled me with her sudden remarks. I guess she still couldn't trust on the man who used to date her sister completely.

"Alright, okay. I can watch two houses together, that's fine with me. Oh by the way, I can use anything that is in your house, right?" said I, as I walked towards the door to give a proper send off to Haibara and Hakase.

"Touch my computer and you are a corpse, Kudou-kun," Haibara said. I smiled at my partner in crime.

"That's a very comforting good bye, eh?" I gave her a small peck on her cheek which startled her. Her eyes widened, and her cheeks reddened slightly as a little smile tinged her lips. For some reasons, that little smile made my cheeks felt warmer.

"Get lost…" she said, with the smile that couldn't seem to leave her lips. I waved my hand as she and Hakase entered the cab.

"I love you too, Haibara!"

Afternoon, Agasa-hakase's house

Who would've thought that her tireless research on APTX 4869 would bring Haibara and Agasa-hakase to the UK for a new medicine presentation? Haibara managed to modify the drug and made it into a soon-to-be popular ingredient in most anti-aging cosmetics. I told her to give me some credits as I played a big part in the creation of both APTX 4869 and its antidote. She told me to get lost. That's my girl, indeed.

Ding…

Hmm…seems like an email came in, I thought as I stood up to check on Haibara's computer. So much for telling people to not touch her computer when she didn't even switch it off. I raised my eyebrows as I read the email's subject.

"'A letter from...one year ago…me?'"

Completely forgotten about Haibara's warning, I clicked on the mail. And, to my dismay, her computer was password protected.

Of course, Shinichi. This is Haibara we are talking about…

I clicked on the "Password Hint" option, and to my surprise and delight, it says "Sherlock Holmes. 4 letters 4 numbers". Ha! There's nothing that I didn't know about Sherlock Holmes!

Just you wait, Haibara. I'll find out what cheeky thing you are doing such as writing email to yourself!

I began trying out combinations after combinations. From easy to remember dates to the smallest details that only a Sherlock Holmes major fan knew, I tried them all. However, none of them worked. Before I knew it, I was already at my ninth try. Should I get the next one wrong, her computer would be locked forever and Haibara would've found out that I tried opening her personal email. She would not hesitate to murder me on the spot when that happened...

Ding dong…ding dong…ding dong…

Someone rang the bell to my house. I walked up to the window that looked over my house, and saw a dark-skinned high school boy ringing the bell continuously.

"Oi, Hattori! What are you doing there?" I called up to him. He craned his neck and gave me a surprised look.

"What are YOU doing there, at someone else's house?"

"Hakase and Haibara are both away. I'm taking care of this house. Wait up; I'll open the gate for you. Come over…"

As Hattori walked around the house, he gave small exclamations at the unique, weird, and cool inventions scattered around the house. I served him some tea, and looked back at the computer screen.

"So? What are you here for?" I asked.

"Just to visit you. What, now that you are back to Kudou Shinichi I can't even visit you? I bet you are now enjoying your honeymoon with Ran-neechan, right?"

That's when I realised that I haven't told Hattori that I'm currently dating Haibara instead of Ran, "Actually, Hattori...I, uh...I'm dating Haibara now..."

The tea cup stopped halfway as it made its way to Hattori's lips. He stared at me blankly, as if he couldn't believe what he just heard. I grinned as I told him the entire story of how I found out that I fell in love with Haibara, and how my relationship with Ran had gone cold in the past two years. The tea cup made it back to the table for Hattori was afraid that he would drop it in astonishment.

"EHHH?! So you are now dating that little-neechan? What kind of plot twist is this – Kudou Shinichi is dating a former Black Organization member?!"

I let out a dry laughter at his remarks.

"Tell me about it…When I first met her 2 years ago, all I knew was that I had to protect her so that she can give me the antidote. Who knows that it develops into something else entirely different…"

Hattori went quiet as he sipped the hot green tea. I looked back at the computer screen, and I had a sudden idea.

"Oi Hattori, can you help me out with something? I have a mystery that I can't seem to solve…"

The word "mystery" definitely perked him up. I explained about the email to him, and about the password. He sniggered at the end of my explanation.

"In conclusion, if you get the password wrong one more time, your little-neechan girlfriend will murder you when she is back on Saturday?"

"Thanks for concluding the obvious, but yes, that's what's going to happen."

Hattori and I proceeded to list a few possible answers, but one was less likely than the previous. I had also tried most of them in my nine tries and of course, none of them were correct.

"Wait, Kudou. Does this little-neechan like Sherlock Holmes in the first place?" asked Hattori.

"Well she knows about Sherlock Holmes, but not as crazy over it as I do. That's why I was surprised when her hint...was...Sherlock…OH!"

Hattori stared at me, confused, as I quickly typed the 8-character password. At last, I unlocked her computer and able to access the damn email.

"Didn't expect anything less from Hattori Heiji, indeed…"

"Huh? I don't get you. What did I say that serve as a hint? What's the relationship between that password and Sherlock Holmes? I don't get it…" said Hattori.

I minimized the email's window, planning to read it in detail later on.

"It hits me when you asked if she is even a big Sherlock Holmes' fan. All the passwords we have been trying on are those that are well-known to Sherlock Holmes' big fans. Now, her hint was Sherlock Holmes, but she is not a big fan. That only means the password is something that she LEARNED about Sherlock Holmes, most probably from me, because she doesn't even read the books…

"So I remember when she was stuck inside Haido City Hotel, she tried to copy some data from the Black Organization, and it was password protected. Back then, the drug was incomplete, and the organization called it the "incomplete detective". I told her to key in "Shellingford", as that was the name given by Arthur Conan Doyle before he eventually named it Sherlock Holmes…

"Thus, I deducted that "Sherlock Holmes" here means a complete drug, which she is going to present in the UK – and that's why the password. APTX4869."

I smiled triumphantly as Hattori looked at me, his jaw dropped.

"Didn't expect anything less from Kudou Shinichi, indeed…"

"That's my line, isn't it?"

I invited Hattori for a dinner at a nearby café to thank him for saving my life, literally. As I walked out the door, I looked back at the computer one last time, not able to contain the excitement of reading an email I wasn't supposed to. That's a detective instinct, after all…

So, what is the email about exactly? Next chapter is coming up soon! Once again thanks for the reviews, keep them coming! :)