Disclaimer: I do NOT own DC. Gosho Aoyama is the real owner, I am just an amateur.
A/N: Special thanks for danny-longstride, Aeryia, faiz1996, holmesfreak1412, Eternal Prodigy. Also, jB-the Deaf Bunny, FS, juniperfalcon17, Claude le noctambule, Questionable Answers, Part-time Dreamer, all the guests who waited for my updates and all other reviewers whom I forgot to mention, Just let me know your opinion. :D I really hope I don't disappoint you and you won't quit reading this. Thank you for encouraging me in proceeding with the story since I was quite nervous about writing into a new genre. And I'm sorry if this chapter seemed a bit of OOC. I really tried my best on picturing their characters. So please leave a review. :)
PARTNERS IN THIS
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Chapter 7
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On The Run
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Ai kept running in the plain nothingness around her. Her breaths are betraying her, cutting up the serene silence around. She tried to keep her silence as long as she could, in order to get rid of that killer who's out there and only God knows who his next victim is. But it was all in vain. Ai got back to her feet, after she had stumbled and fell to the ground for more than three times.
"Da...Dammit!" she sputtered, catching her breath for a few seconds. Laying down her hands on her knees, she looked around to see where she had proceeded after all the miles she had cut.
"Oh..."
Ai was lost for words when she had discovered the astounding truth.
"Did I just…"
She didn't need to complete her question as the breaking lightening had already answered her, revealing the dead body drowned in blood again.
"What in Hell is that?"
Thousands of questions were running down her brain as she held her drenched her with her trembling hands.
"J-Just calm down, Shiho... Where did I come from again?" Trying to focus regardless her anxious nerves, Ai studied the area around. Suddenly, she remembered the scarf she had tied onto the branch of a big tree on her way.
"Oh," her eyes brightened as her memory clicked on, remembering the helpful information. She must have been in a great shock that she had forgotten about it completely. Finally spotting the mark, Ai decided to take the left route. As soon as she had started running, she heard a low sound coming from behind. It was something heavy being dragged or something, she speculated. She didn't hesitate but ran as much as she could.
Finally, she arrived at the weird cave they had first fallen into. Holding back her tensed nerves, she tried to keep her tone as calm as it could but unfortunately, her trial failed and nothing came but a clearly panicked low voice came out.
"Hey, Kudou-kun!" She stopped her breathing, waiting for a reply.
Suddenly the world stopped around her. What if he was actually dead? He was shot by that serial killer while she was outside, leaving him in there. But something inside her heart never approved of the idea. How could he just die and leave her alone in this.
"Damn... Kudou-kun, you still there?"
"You idiot! Where have you been? I told you-" He stopped mid-sentence, feeling the unusual tone of her voice.
"Haibara, are you okay?"
"I will j-just get you out, 'kay?"
Even though she wasn't in front of him, he nodded briefly. Ai never showed her weakness to anyone. But her voice now reveals that she had been through a lot in the past minutes, or hours. He didn't even know how long he had been there since she came out.
"Hold onto that rope."
She lowered the end of the rope to him, and made a knot to its other end with a hard rock close.
As he reached the surface, Ai held his hand to help him out. They both collapsed on the ground as Conan eventually, managed to do it.
"Hey, you okay?"
"Yes." she pushed off some strands on her head nervously.
"Where did you get that rope from?" He looked back at the rope spontaneously, seeing the blood over it.
"Haibara, what is this blood?" He noticed that all her clothes and hands were full of blood. Her hands were trembling along with her pale face.
Something about her made him anxious, he just wanted to pull her in a huge hug to reassure her everything was okay back again, but will she let him without pulling off a death glare, if not a mark on his cheek. Even he didn't know what was going on around them. Everything was just creepy, and he admits it was quite frightening.
"It-It's nothing. I just saw... it was a dead body hanged and then it is blooded. I mean, why somebody would shoot it after it... it.." she trailed off her words.
He looked earnestly into her aquamarine eyes which radiated that grey enchanting glow in the darkness.
Ai pulled his hand strongly, speeding up their pace. They kept running until she felt her knees unable to withstand her weight anymore. She collapsed down, panting really hard.
"It's okay, Haibara. We can hide here for a while." Conan found the place was suitable for such an aim as they were behind a tree.
"..." She tried to get back on her heels, but her legs betrayed her this time. As Ai closed her eyes tightly, she breathed in hardly, getting back on her knees, supporting her body on her hands.
Conan stroke her cheeks with his hands removing the remaining blood which seeped on her beautiful face, lifting her chin up. He whispered, "Look at me, Haibara.."
Ai looked up at him, preventing the cool facade which seemed to fall off completely enough for him to sense her instability and flushing face.
"It's okay. We're gonna survive this just as all the times we've been through together, I promise."
"We're partners, remember?" he smiled genuinely despite the sweat rolling over his face. She nodded briefly.
He couldn't stand seeing her in such a condition. It was like she had a trauma or something. He pulled her into a deep embrace, covering her face in his chest. Conan felt her shiver under his body. Ai was taken aback by his cordial action. His warm body -despite the cold weather- consumed her. She felt her racing breaths calming down and getting back to normal again.
"We're partners in this.", he whispered. His chin rested over Ai's wet hair calmly. However, something else caught his attention, other than her heartbeats. Another sound was getting nearer to them.
"Do you hear that?" She whispered, trying to get off his embrace.
He held her tighter not to make any possible way of chaos, trying to hold his breath, listening to whatever he had heard, "Shhh.."
The sound was gone eventually.
It was probably just their hallucinations from over anxiety and less sleep, he decided. However, Conan knew he was wrong with speculations this time, when suddenly he heard the hoarse voice coming from behind, "Are you lost, little kids?"
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TO BE CONTINUED...
