"miss mystery"

originally published: jul. 25, 2016

edited: oct. 18, 2017

ORIGINAL AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm pretty sure many people have forgotten about this story, since it has been last updated over two years ago. I know, I know, what am I doing, suddenly showing up with an update? To be honest, I just want this collection to have a nice, actual ending. Since 10 chapters is a nice place to stop, this will be the last chapter to this small collection of ConAi one-shots, My Sweet Partner. If I ever have any more ideas, maybe I'll give an update, but who knows? Now, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter!

Conan did not dream of Ai Haibara often, and this dream was definitely was first.

Even if the brown-haired girl did appear in his dreams, she would be linked to giving him the antidote for the APTX-4869. Those dreams did not focus on her. They were focused on Conan returning back to his usual self as Shinichi Kudo and rejoicing with Ran. These dreams occurred often when he first became Conan, but they started to appear less and less these days.

And now, there was this dream.

Conan would rather not speak of this dream. He did not want anyone to find out about it, and he wanted it to be buried deep in the back of his brain forever. But alas, he couldn't stop thinking about why he had it and what it meant.

In his dream, he was standing in the Kudo house's study. He wondered why he was there while taking a look around. There was nothing unusual about the study; everything was perfectly in place and nothing was out of order. The study was lit with candles, strangely, instead of lights. The scent of roses filled the air. He was about to take a mystery novel out of its place and start reading it when he realized the size of his hands. They were no longer the size of an elementary schooler's.

He was Shinichi Kudo again.

He took a few steps forward before he realized someone else was also in the study. Parts of her shoulder-length, slightly wavy brown hair were pinned to the back to form a princess-like hairstyle. She wore a wine-red halter dress that showed her curves well, and a silk black shawl was let loose at her arms. She turned around upon hearing him approach her. In her hands, she held a wine glass that still had the leftovers of a brownish wine. A wine bottle, labeled "sherry", was placed on the desk beside her, next to a flower vase with seven red roses. Her lips had been painted a daring red. Her piercing icy blue eyes stared at him, and Shinichi was sure his heart skipped a beat. He had never seen someone as beautiful as her before.

"...Haibara?" he asked, unsure of himself. Was this beautiful woman the same girl that always teased him and was not cute he knew? She smiled, sending shivers down Shinichi's spine. Her black heels clicked on the ground as she came close - dangerously close - to him.

"Shinichi Kudo." she said, smiling.

Shinichi felt his face heat up. This is weird. This is definitely not normal, he thought. There's no way this is Haibara...!

"H-Haibara? Are you okay? Are you drunk?" asked Shinichi, stuttering. "Do you want me to get you some water?"

"Then I guess you really don't know anything, Mr. Detective. You really are dense." said Ai Haibara - no, it would be better to call her Shiho Miyano, wouldn't it? She got closer and closer, and Shinichi fell onto the couch, his face now a mad red.

"W-What are you talking about, Haibara?" he asked.

Shiho pulled a strand of her hair back behind her ear and put her mouth close to Shinichi's reddening ear:

"Have you really not realized them? My feelings..."

Conan woke up with a nosebleed and a burning red face.

He lay there in shock for minutes until Ran came into the room and told him to get ready for school. Conan thought about telling Ran he didn't want to go to school today or faking sick, but when he thought of Ran's karate kicks and punches he quickly dismissed the thought. He quickly got ready for school, forgetting all about the weird dream he just had.

When he went downstairs, the Detective Boys were already waiting for him. Conan's face heated up the moment the two pairs of blue eyes met. This was the reason he didn't want to go to school today...

"What happened, Kudo-kun? You're not really yourself today." asked Ai. The two of them always walked side by side, while the other kids walked in front of them. This was one of the times they could speak alone. Conan suddenly realized that he would have no way of hiding from this girl for the whole day; they sat next to each other during classes, and the Detective Boys were not willing to leave any member alone. He never even realized how much time he spent with the girl named Ai Haibara.

"Kudo-kun?"

The sound of Ai calling his name brought Conan back to reality. He looked at her, and he found himself staring at her lips - no, don't go there, Conan Edogawa! - and he slapped himself mentally as his face blushed red for what seemed like the millionth time today.

"N-Nothing!" he said, walking faster. It was weird; he never thought about the possibility of Ai Haibara having feelings for him. His mind was always filled with cases and deduction, along with getting back to his normal life.

But what will happen to her when he returns to Shinichi Kudo?

He realized this in a flash, just like when he finds the truth during cases. That's right. What will happen to Ai Haibara if, when, the antidote is finished? Will she take the antidote? Or will she choose to remain as Ai Haibara? What if she decides to continue her work as a scientist somewhere far away?

It was then he realized how important Ai Haibara was to him.

Just like how people always say, "You only realize how important someone is to you when you loose them", Conan only realized the importance of Ai Haibara in his life when he thought of the possibility of her leaving him. His fists clenched without him knowing, and he turned to her.

"Haibara..." he said.

"Yes?" she asked, looking slightly confused and amused at the same time.

Conan gritted his teeth. "Do you... Do you lo... Do you think I'm dense?" And there was it. He chickened out at the last minute. Damn you, Conan Edogawa, man up!, he scolded himself mentally. Were you always such a coward? You're the Detective of the East and the Savior of the Police Force, and you can't even ask the girl you grew to love over the course of this year if she likes you? To his surprise, Haibara smiled, even laughed a bit. She was like a blooming flower, an innocent child, and it made Conan's heart race.

"Yeah... Yeah, I do. In fact, many other people think so too. It's stupid, you know, how low your EQ is, considering how high your IQ is, Kudo-kun." she said.

Conan sighed. "You're always teasing me, Haibara..." he said. "Sometimes I wonder if you actually despise me.

Ai stayed silent, which drew Conan's attention.

"Haibara?" he asked.

"Then I guess you really don't know anything, Mr. Detective." she said. "You really are dense."

Conan's eyes widened at her words. "H-Haibara?" he asked.

Ai looked at him, her icy blue eyes focusing on him as if she could look through his heart.

"Have you really not realized them? My feelings…"

ORIGINAL AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is definitely my favorite story I've ever written for ConAi. I'm such an idiot (sighs). There are so many details in this, I swear, and hints and stuff. Go ConAi! I haven't watched or read Detective Conan in such a long time, I really hope the two of them are doing well T-T They're one of my first ships and I really really really want them to have a good ending T-T

This story is inspired by the song Miss Mystery by BREAKERZ, the 33rd opening of Detective Conan. I am in love with this song, I tell you. Although the opening art may make you think it's a ShinRan song, go search up the lyrics of the whole song, and I guarantee you'll notice something. The English translated lyrics are pretty bad to be honest, so if you understand the Japanese that'll be better. I mean, it kind of does the job, but not to the best. (I guess you can PM me if you don't see anything about the lyrics?) Thank you so much to every single reader I've had for this collection, I love you all, and you're the best. Thank you all, and I hope I'll see you around!

~Chinnie Ai