Words: 910

A/N: Tsundere!shoujo!Conan warning. *face-palm*


I can't take…

Chapter 7: Betrayal

Edogawa Conan had been feeling unsettled ever since his 'escape' from Shibuya an hour ago. He was mindlessly wandering around Shibuya's shopping district (it had nothing to do with Ai's nagging about the importance of getting a proper Valentine's Day gift for a certain kind-hearted thief), and to his surprise, he coincidentally bumped into Kaitou KID– or who he thought was Kaitou KID anyway. If there is yet another Kudou Shinichi clone in Japan other than KID (and that Kendo user Hattori mentioned) he'd really need to tear his family tree apart to investigate.

Conan thought he was lucky to have this great opportunity for gaining more information on KID (no, it had nothing to do with being curious about what KID might've liked), so he decided to tail the magician. When he got closer though, he noticed the magician wasn't alone – in fact, he was accompanied by a teenage girl who oddly reminded him of a messy-hair-version of Ran. The street was overcrowded and the surrounding noises were too deafening for him to eavesdrop on their conversation, but judging from the way they interacted, they seemed to be enjoying each other's presence.

He didn't want to admit it, but when he saw KID hug the girl, his mind was overwhelmed by a strong sense of jealousy and perhaps… betrayal? The next thing he knew, he had already boarded the train to Beika. And now he was currently burying himself under the entire collection of Sherlock Holmes in the Kudou's library.

The sounds of tiny footsteps had hit his ears. It was obvious the approaching person was the shrunken scientist who had been "offering sound advices as an older sister" (her words, not his) the past month. He knew that she was just trying to help and she probably felt responsible for what she did (he never blamed her, though), but he just needed to be left alone now.

"Nice book castle you have made here. But I'm not sure if Doyle would appreciate it." Said Ai as she plucked the novel away from his face.

"Go away Haibara. And give that back."

"Before that, could you explain why this was sitting in the dust bin over there?" Ai held up a small bag of four-leaf clover shaped cookies that he made during cooking class that morning. He had no idea how Ai managed to talk him into making cookies for a certain stupid thief when Kobayashi-sensei announced that the theme of the day was Valentine. Anyhow, it's not like the cookies have any use anymore.

"It was sitting exactly at where it should be until you picked it up." Knowing that Ai wouldn't buy it, he proceeded to bury his face under a different novel.

Ai twitched at Conan's childish response and plucked the novel away again. "Really? What's with that sour face? It's either you be honest now, or be prepared for an extra dose of laxative with the next cup of coffee you could get hold of, and I mean it."

"Geez, why are you so nosy lately?"

"Because you've been acting like an immature brat and it's irritating. You're worrying Hakase and the kids. Now answer my question."

Conan growled but decided to give in. There was no point arguing with a determined and authoritative Ai. "I saw him today. With another girl."

Ai raised an eyebrow at the implication of his tone. "So you thought they were on a date, you got jealous, and you ran home?"

"…who the hell said anything about getting jealous?" He couldn't help but winced at her words. The girl was annoyingly observant as usual.

She narrowed her eyes as if she thought it was deadly obvious. "Whatever. Anyhow, she could simply be a friend, right? Or it could be a similar stunt to the one I pulled?"

"I'm pretty sure he didn't know that I was there, so there was no reason for him to pull anything like that." The bespectacled boy took his glasses off as he sighed and flopped back on the couch he was occupying. "Now if you could excuse me, I would like to spend some quality time with Holmes."

"But the heist is gonna start in a few hours, aren't you going?"

"No. Why should I?"

"Well, if I were you, I'd go and get a definitive answer. You know, why he kissed you and what not."

He could hear Ai snicker as his face flushed into bright red and he nearly fall off the couch. "WHO SAID ANYTHIN–"

Ai pressed her palm right at his mouth to stop him from blurting anymore nonsense. "Save it. Stop being indecisive, face this dilemma like a man and make Holmes proud. If KID was really just messing around with you, then go get your revenge and kick his rear. I'm sure Nakamori-keibu'd appreciate it too." Her expression softened as she released her hand from his face and bent down to pick up the scattering books. "But if he wasn't… Anyhow, I don't want to see you dwell on this matter anymore. I won't tag along, so promise me you'd get it resolved tonight, okay?" Without another word, Ai put the novels away and left.

Conan blinked as the girl disappeared from the library. It seemed there was something else she was trying to say but didn't. She was right though – his mind had been occupied by this for way too long already. It's about time to wrap it up. He knew that sour feeling very well and there was no point lying to himself – it felt just like whenever he saw Ran with another guy back when he still loved her. If KID was truly just messing around with him, he'd make sure that the damnable thief would get a piece of his mind. With that thought in mind, Conan proceeded to plot for strategies to ambush KID tonight, and his first stop is gonna be at Hakase's lab.

TBC.


Afterword: Thanks for reading! Please review and tell me your thoughts! Big thanks to everyone who fav-ed/alert-ed/reeiewed, as well as everyone who put me on their author fav/alert list! \^q^/ I reply to all reviews except guest reviews (because I can't PM you ;A;) so if you want a respond from me, please leave a signed review! x3

The word count for chapter 6 and 7 were intentionally 968 and 910~ ;D

I'm not sure if cookies made by Conan would be edible, but since everyone made cookies in class together so I guess it should be okay? *gets bricked* And I have no idea if they actually have cooking class in Japanese elementary schools, but for the purpose of this fic, let's assume they do, lol.