Act 2 Scene 1 – 悲しい記憶 [Kanashii Kioku] 'Bad Memories'
Conan was roused by his cellphone. He didn't check the caller ID, and answered, his head still in an antihistamine fog.
"Who is it?" he croaked.
"It's Haibara. Professor and I are at a… no… the only coffee shop in town. Can you make it down here?"
He rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "I'll need a little help. I found out that I'm allergic to bees yesterday."
"Should I look for the Stay Puff Marshmallow Man?"
"Ha. Ha. It's just my foot that's swollen. And I almost died yesterday."
"Anaphylactic Shock, eh? Sounds fun. When do I get to see Ambrosia?" Conan rolled his eyes. Sarcasm didn't translate well into Japanese.
"I'll have him take me to you. He goes by Areku now, by the way."
"Well hurry up. It'll be our turn to order pretty soon."
"Rodger." He ended the call.
Areku was dozing on his cot. Conan carefully slid off the bed. Putting weight on his foot sent a bolt of pain up his leg. Slowly he limped over to the teen and shook his shoulder.
"What?" he grumbled.
"I need a lift to town. Sherry's arrived. She's waiting at the only coffee shop in town for us."
Areku sat up like he'd been dowsed with cold water. "Let's go!" he whispered, in order to not wake Kogorou. He crouched on the floor, and let Conan climb onto his back. Like thieves under the hot sun, they slipped out of the cottage and hurried through the forest to the town.
When they got to the coffee shop, Areku slowed down, then stopped. "Is… is this really a good idea?" he asked.
"You already said you would, so you might as well. You can always run away and disappear again if you want."
"Right. It's just been…" he took a deep breath, and opened the door. He looked around, for a moment, then whispered to Conan, "I don't recognize anyone."
"Let me down," Conan whispered back. "I can't really see from here."
He gently put Conan down.
Conan scanned the faces, and spotted Haibara and the professor in darkest, farthest corner. They'd already been served their food. "See the old fat man and the little girl with brown hair beside him? That's them."
"Are you sure?" Areku hissed.
"I'm sure. Now carry me over there! The old man's name is Dr. Agasa."
Areku crouched and let Conan climb on again. Slowly, he walked past all of the empty tables to Dr. Agasa and Haibara. They didn't notice Areku coming.
"Um…" Areku said quietly, like he was trying to build his confidence. "Pardon me, but are you Dr. Agasa, by any chance?"
Haibara looked up, and dropped her fork. Her mouth hung open. "Ambrosia?" Her voice shook a little, and got high-pitched. Then she jumped off her chair, ran over, and hugged Areku by the knee.
"Who are you?" Areku asked.
She stepped back, put her hands on her hips and said, "Kneel. Take a good look at my face!"
He obeyed, giving Conan a chance to slide off and climb on a chair.
"Impossible!" he said suddenly. "Sherry? How is that possible?" He fell forward and gave her a big hug. "I'm so glad you got out!"
"Kudou," she snapped. "You didn't tell him about the side effect of the poison, did you?"
"Nope."
Areku touched a lock of her wavy brown hair that hung over her ear, and tucked it behind her ear, gently touching her cheek. "He said it changed your appearance, but I never thought that… wow."
His inspection over, Haibara suddenly snatched Areku's wrist and measured his pulse. Then she pulled apart his teeth to look at his gums, and his eyelids to look at the whites of his eyes.
"What are you doing Sherry?" he mumbled, jerking his head away from her little prodding fingers.
"You're healthy! I just had to make sure." She turned around and climbed back onto her chair. "Take a seat Amb… You go by Areku, right?"
He plopped himself down on a chair. "Yeah, just call me Areku. Or Alec. Whichever you like best."
"It's really weird speaking with you in Japanese."
"It's really weird speaking to you when I'm fully conscious." Haibara frowned and looked down. "What name do you go by these days?" he asked quickly.
"Ai Haibara. I'm 8 years old, and I live with my grampa." She grinned at Dr. Agasa who smiled warmly back under his mustache.
Areku stared at her for a while. "You… you're so happy."
"You too. You're healthy. None of your internal organs are about to fall out. Island boy looks good on you."
They clammed up as the waiter dropped by to hand Areku and Conan menus. Conan read the menu to Areku. The two escapees couldn't take their eyes off of eachother.
They ordered, and when the waiter was gone again, Conan suggested, "We should speak in English, so that no one we don't want to hear will be able to follow our conversation."
They all nodded in agreement, continuing in English.
Areku asked, "When did you escape?"
"Almost two years ago. They hunted me for a while, but now they think I'm dead, thanks to Conan. They kicked up a huge ruckus when you escaped. No one could figure out how you did it or who helped you. Someone even started a rumor that you're telekinetic when you're hibernating."
He laughed at the idea. "Samantha, or rather, Vermouth helped me. Has she escaped yet?"
Haibara frowned.
"She's on the border," Conan interjected. "She tried to kill Haibara a few times, but I think she's given up now. She hasn't told anyone about the side-effects, or about our identities, but she's still working for Them."
Areku frowned too. "Conan… you never told me what Samantha does for them."
"Mostly, she's a spy," Conan said, realizing how bad this was going to be for him to hear.
"She also kills people," Haibara said. "She's one of the most cold-blooded women I know. She hates me, and hates that when I'm like this, she can't go after me."
"That doesn't sound like her." Areku fiddled with his silverware. "She must have really not wanted me to know. Do you think…" he slumped in his chair and covered his face with his hands. "…that they were threatening to make things worse for me, to keep her in line? I know that they threated your parents with you and your sister, so it'd make sense since Samantha doesn't have any other family."
"Then why is she still working for them?" Haibara snapped. "If she wanted out, she could have gotten out as soon as she rescued you."
"Like I said," Conan interrupted. "We don't know what she's after. I know that she doesn't want me or Ran to get hurt, and she is willing to lie to them in order to protect us."
Areku took the hint to change the topic. "So, how is your sister doing?"
"Doctor," snapped Haibara. "I'm going to need extra chocolate for dessert to make it through today."
Reaching for his wallet Dr. Agasa said, "Yes ma'am." He went towards the pastry stand on the other side of the room.
"Did I say something wrong?" Areku asked, looking at Conan.
"Her sister died right before she defected. She was killed by the organization."
Areku sighed. "Sorry Haibara, I didn't know. This isn't going as well as I thought it would."
Haibara echoed Areku's sigh. "Apology accepted. Almost everything from that time is tied to some painful memory. I suppose we should have expected it."
Dr. Agasa returned with another slice of chocolate cake, and placed it before Haibara. She took a few greedy bites, then set her fork down. "I should also apologize, for what I did to you. I could say that I was young, stupid, and hadn't been allowed to study research ethics, but I still knew we shouldn't have been doing those things to you. I did them anyways, then lied to myself that it was okay, because you could be completely healed, with no lingering scars, so easily. Having done those things hurts, and I'm never going to let myself heal from it, because it reminds me to never do it again. Therefore, I swear, upon this delicious slice of chocolate cake, upon the death of my sister, that if they ever capture me and try to make me do that work again, I will kill myself." With that, she took another bite of chocolate cake.
Areku covered his face again, and silently wept until their food arrived. Then he spent a while blubbering out various versions of "thank you" into his soup.
After the waiter was out of the way, Conan continued the conversation.
"I think this gives us a perfect opportunity to go on the offensive," his wicked little grin spreading across his face. "If you give me a list of every agent and member that you know, and as many real names as you know, I can coordinate with my own intelligence network and get them all brought in by the FBI. They're going to know there's a leak, so I'm thinking we should set up a dummy target for them to aim at. While they're aiming at that, we can take out the militant criminal sides of the organization, at least the sides in Japan. If we get lucky, someone will know something that can lead us to Anokata, or we can get someone high enough to turn traitor, someone who's already hiding information from them and protecting the people who she knows can do a lot of damage."
"Vermouth? You're planning on turning Vermouth?" Haibara glared at him. "That's like trusting a boa constrictor to not squeeze the life out of you because you're holding a feather. Why do you think she'd turn if you asked her to?"
"Mostly, because she hasn't continued to go after you since we tricked her on the train. Add that to the fact that she hasn't revealed my identity or killed me, and has gone to some lengths to keep me under the radar – even not killing you – she has something special planned for me. As for what that is, I think she wants me to take down the whole organization, because of Areku's story. She hated you and your parents for being part of the experiments, on her and on Areku. She probably hates the organization by proxy. She helped Areku escape, so she's probably been getting ready to do the most damaging defection she can muster."
"You're way too optimistic, Kudou." She sighed and pulled out her purse. "I've been holding onto this for a while. Don't get yourself killed." After shuffling through things in her purse for a moment, she snatched something and dropped it on the desk. It was a blood-stained floppy disk. "This is one of Pisco's. I snatched it when the whole place was going up in flames. It looks old-fashioned, but it's got a nasty virus on it, and you probably can only open it on a computer on the organization's network."
Conan rubbed his chin, thinking. It'd be really difficult to get his hands on an organization computer, especially one old enough to run a floppy. It might have to wait until after he'd busted one of their headquarters, but they were a long way from doing that. "That'll have to wait, I guess. When the FBI pick up one of the researchers or scientists that you will list, we'll be able to get our hands on a computer. Who do you think should be the dummy target? I was thinking that recently deceased Sherry is a good choice, because these people will all be clearly linked to you."
Haibara shook her head. "Then who would be acting on dead Sherry's intel? We need someone who would be capable of acting on it, someone that they could believe would do that."
Who would the organization think enough of a threat to pull off such a thing? Especially if it required the FBI's help, which was likely. Shuuichi Akai was a possibility, but they believed he was dead. They'd watched him die even, so that was a poor choice, especially if he wanted to keep Akai as a trump card. Then it struck him. An idea so simple, elegant, and fitting.
"Shinichi Kudou could be the one orchestrating their downfall."
Haibara gaped at him. "But, don't you want to return to your life? What about Ran?"
"Ran and I," he choked back the pain rising in his chest, "are over. She broke up with me yesterday. There isn't really a reason for me to hold onto my old life."
She reached forward to touch him but pulled back. "I'm sorry."
Dammit, he was going to start… scratched that, he'd started crying again. He took off his glasses to wipe his face. His eyes stung. "I told Ran who I am, and she still broke up with me."
"You idiot!" Haibara hissed. "What possessed you to make you think that was a good idea?"
"She was leaving me for someone else, and I had to do something. I confessed, and she dumped me anyways."
"Jeeze, Kudou, just because you broke up with your first girlfriend doesn't mean that you should kill yourself." She slapped her forehead and groaned. "When it comes to Ran, you're dumber than a bucket of boiled gravel."
"She said that she'll help me fight the organization, and that she'll stay by me as a friend and a bodyguard. I haven't had a chance to tell her everything, just who I am, that's it." He took a shaky breath. "She suspects that you're like me, Haibara. Can I tell her?"
Haibara scowled. It seemed to Conan that the room was suddenly a swirling pool of her demonic miasma. "How high is her pain tolerance?" she asked.
"She's into karate, so pretty high, I think…" he said, shrinking back.
"So if she gets caught and tortured by Them, she's not going to squeal?"
"I don't think she would…" The little hairs on his arms and legs stood at attention.
"Fine." The miasma vanished, or at least lessened. "But I'll have to meet her too. By the way," a sinister smirk seeped out the side of her smile. "Who'd she leave you for?"
"Sonoko." Head, meet table. Ouch.
Everyone else at the table choked on their food. "I did not see that one coming!" Haibara giggled.
"The headband girl, right?" Areku asked.
"They have been friends for a long time," Dr. Agasa said. "Best friends do make the best lovers…"
"Eww, Agasa, not helping," muttered Conan. He wanted to hate Sonoko or hate Ran, but the only deduction he could make was that it was all his fault. "I should have told her right after it happened, that first night. I guess I was hoping that this would be over with before I had to tell her. I've put her through so much pain, it's a wonder she waited this long for me."
"So how do you go from there to 'I think I'll kill myself by evil organization?'" Haibara insisted.
"I won't be killing myself," Conan said with a sigh. "I'll be killing my old identity. Conan will still be alive, while Shinichi will be dead after his two year long battle with APTX 4869. A battle he lost because Sherry, who was keeping him alive until then, had died and no longer could slow the progression of his deterioration. After Sherry's death, he puts together all of the data he gathered, and gets it to the FBI. It's a believable narrative."
"I don't think so," Haibara said, her arms crossed. "It works as a poison because it enters the blood stream so quickly, and only a small amount is needed to be fatal."
"What if someone were to spit it out before much of it got absorbed?"
"You'd still die, but it'd take a few days." Her eyes brightened suddenly. "And I went to inspect your place not long after you'd disappeared! They could think that I slipped an antidote that I'd been working on in secret to you, and then you helped me escape to keep yourself alive! This could work." Her face darkened, and she frowned. "Are you really ready to give up Shinichi Kudou completely? This isn't just first-break-up angst?"
"Yes, I'm really sure about this," he grumbled. "What would you know about break ups anyways?"
"I'll have you know," Haibara huffed, "I've had several lovers and had my heart broken several times. I know what you're going through."
"I… didn't want to know that," Conan mumbled. "What about you Areku? I bet you've got loads of break up stories to cheer me up."
"Not really," Areku said, shrugging. "I'm asexual. I've broken a few hearts by not being able to return people's feelings, so I've watched other people go through it."
Haibara's eyebrow raised. "Really? Is it linked to the level of maturity you're stuck at or to whatever made you what you are?"
"No idea."
"Have you tried-" she started.
Areku cut her off sharply, clenching his fist. "Never of my free will. Now drop it."
She looked down, and clenched her own. "Sorry," she answered quietly. "I should know better than to ask about things like that."
He looked back and forth, at the gloomy pair, noting a change in topic was needed. "So… what are the goals of the organization?" he asked. "According to Alec, you were trying to make people immortal, just like him."
"That's partially correct," Haibara said. "They tried that early on, before they learned of some of the nastier side-effects of his condition.
"If you've heard Alec's story, it sounds like he died and was buried. Then hundreds of years later, when the people of his village had died off or moved on, something reanimated his corpse, which may have been preserved as a mummy in the cave. They – we were trying to figure out what or how that could be possible.
"But, the organization is older than discovering Alec, and our goal predates us. It's a process begun when the first hominids used their first tools. We continue that legacy to this day, by adding to and modifying our bodies with our tools and medicines. These days, it's getting more and more complex. We're making machines that can think, simulations that look real, and extending lives long past the capabilities of our bodies. Our goal was to be at the forefront of pushing ourselves farther and faster in our specie's evolution."
"So," Conan said, carefully thinking it over, "you were trying to figure out how to raise the dead or become immortal because you believe that's where humanity is already headed?"
"Exactly. If it can happen by chance to one person, we may be able to figure out what happened and duplicate it. Unfortunately, that meant torturing that one unlucky person." Haibara looked at Areku, who shuddered. "It was all a waste of time. Not even Zombie seemed to know the reason behind its existence in Alec."
"You talked to Zombie?" Areku asked, raising his eyebrows.
"Not personally, but they have records of interviews with it. I've read them – they're terrifying. It doesn't think of itself as human, and doesn't care about other humans. It only cares about Alec, and it'll erase or modify Alec's memories."
Areku nodded. "I've noticed that before. I've lost entire decades of memories that way. I was surprised that didn't happen this time. Zombie probably thinks I'm still in danger."
"How do you know any of your memories are real? If it changes your memories whenever it feels like it, how do you know that you ever lived before the organization found you? What if you were made by the organization?" Conan thought out loud.
"I suppose that's a possibility, but if I were to think like that, I'd be unable to function. I just trust my memory until I find something contradictory about it, because I have no choice but to do that. You too… you could be figments of someone else's dreams or simulations in a computer, but you also have no choice but to act on what you believe is real," Areku said. "Someone I respect a lot gave me the same answer when I was frightened by that possibility," he added, noticing their faces. "I'm not actually much of a philosopher."
"What were the Zombie-conversations like?" Conan asked.
"They're really confusing. I've no idea whether it's being metaphorical or literal, because it seems to have a bit of difficulty communicating in human language. It'll take the speech patterns and language from someone it's touching, but when it only has Alec, the stuff it says sounds like word salad. It uses words from all of the languages that Alec speaks, and the grammar will end up a conglomeration of whatever it thinks is best suited to get the meaning it needs. It takes a team of researchers months to decode anything it says."
"Why didn't you let someone touch it so it can speak clearly?" Conan asked.
Haibara polished off the last of her chocolate cake. "Anyone who touches Zombie dies. Only Vermouth has managed to survive it, and the reason it stated made no sense. It said Vermouth was Alec's older brother. As far as I know, researchers are still trying to figure that one out. Vermouth was too busy to come by often, and whatever Zombie said wasn't helpful enough to continue."
Conan thought back to his conversation the previous day with Areku. "Did Gin ever talk to Zombie?"
"I don't think so," Haibara said. "If he did, I didn't see it, and there's no records of it."
Conan's cell rang. Kogorou's name illuminated the screen. "We didn't tell anyone we were going out, we'll have to go back," he hissed to Areku. Then he answered, switching back to Japanese.
"Where the hell are you?" Kogorou bellowed.
"Areku and I just went for a walk into town. We're coming back now, I promise!"
They left the restaurant in a hurry, with Kogorou screaming abuse into Conan's ear 'til they reached their cottage.
Author's Note
So after the past two chapters, there was a bit of hubbub over there being a lesbian relationship in this story, and I'm not sure why.
I understand that LGBT rights are controversial right now. In fact, in Japan, lesbian couples are discriminated against pretty badly. In the US, gay men face more discrimination than lesbians do, but in Japan, lesbians face more discrimination. That's part of why Sonoko's grandparents are overreacting so much. Anyways, I get that acknowledging that lesbians exist can be controversial. Kinda stupid that it could ruffle feathers, but that's the world we live in.
There are a few differences between most slash and femslash fanfics and this fanfic.
1. It's not fetishizing Ran and Sonoko's relationship. This story isn't porn.
2. Ran and Sonoko's relationship is a subplot. The main plot is about the organization's downfall, and the main character is Shinichi.
3. It's from Shinichi's perspective, not Ran and Sonoko's perspective. He's the protagonist, not them.
I think that part of why Shinichi is so cruel to Ran in the main canon is because he views her as his love interest, as though that means he has some sort of ownership over her, or he's supposed to be her guardian. (i.e. He's trying to fill the role that the patriarchy thinks men should hold. It's been mentioned before, many, many times before, but Shinichi is extremely sexist. I wanted that to backlash and challenge his idiocy.) He doesn't trust her, and he sure as hell doesn't respect her. There is no way this is a healthy relationship. So, in order to repair their friendship and give Ran a greater role in the story, I broke them up, and paired Ran with someone who in canon loves and supports Ran no matter what.
As for Ran being OOC – I only changed one thing. I made her bisexual/pansexual. She didn't realize it right away, not until she and Sonoko were confronted, and they had to sit down and reanalyze their relationship. As I mentioned before, Ran and Sonoko are already extremely close and have a loving, honest, and equal relationship. It's pretty easy to see them getting together.
In some ways, I modeled Ran and Sonoko's relationship off of a crush I had on one of my friends in highschool. I never let it develop because I was in small-town Montana with very religious Christians all around me, who thought that gave them the right to control everyone's lives. I'm kinda ashamed I let myself be intimidated away from even letting her know I liked her, but if I'd gone through with it and found it was mutual, and we'd started dating – she could have ended up being disowned by her parents and thrown out of her house, or worse. I didn't realize I was crushing on her at first. We got quite close before I figured out what was going on in my heart and pulled away. Thing is, I started crushing on her while I still had a boyfriend. He went to a different school, so we didn't see each other much, and our relationship never really went anywhere. Meanwhile, she was there. Hers was the shoulder I cried on. She was the one I laughed with and hung out with. That's the idea that I built Ran and Sonoko's relationship off of. They fall in love with the person who is really there.
また来週!(See you next week!)
dreamingfifi
