Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan.

Oneshot Eleven

Murder is My Favorite Flavor

"Come on, Conan-kun, ice cream!"

The not-child turned to stare at the enthused girl yanking on his arm before noticing the storefront behind her. One of the windows was emblazoned with glossy posters advertising the treats within in garish colors, while the other was bare and allowed a glimpse of the counter and the tubs of ice cream.

"Really?" he deadpanned, but allowed himself to be tugged along with his only resistance being to set the pace.

The shop bell tinkled merrily as they entered, Ai trailing behind the two and smirking at Conan's back. He resolutely ignored her amusement at Ayumi's antics.

"I'm not a huge fan of ice cream," Conan professed, albeit he had to admit that the cool interior of the store was a relief on that summer day, even if the sugary smell that permeated the entire place seemed enough on its own to give him diabetes.

"How can you not like ice cream?" Genta bellowed, hopping down from the stool he sat upon to accusingly shove his face into Conan's. The shrunken teen supposed it might have been threatening, if he were an actual child and not faced with criminals on a daily basis.

"It's not that I don't like it, but it's too sweet," the detective said, nose crinkling up.

A chuckle followed by an unfamiliar voice interrupted them.

"What's this; a child that doesn't like ice cream? Now I've seen it all!"

Conan looked up to see that an adult dressed in the shop uniform had approached him and his young friends while they were distracted by his claim. The man's eyes were closed and he was smiling widely.

"They have mystery flavor," Ai, who had wandered off to examine the option of flavors, told Conan.

"Oh yes, those are fun! It's become a popular selection as of late. A lot of flavors are exclusive to it, and you never quite know what to expect," the employee beamed at him.

"Well, I do like mysteries," Conan relented, "I'll have a small cone."

A few moments later he received his treat and money had exchanged hands. Conan took a seat at the counter and scrutinized the flavors chosen by the other Detective Boys. Genta had a large bowl that was mostly chocolate, Mitsuhiko had a vanilla ice cream cone, and Ayumi's ice cream was an eye-watering pink that he might have guessed was strawberry had he not noticed the chunks of bubblegum embedded in it. He then looked to his own, an eyebrow quirking upwards.

His was a purplish-red with darker swirls going through it, and he had no idea what flavor it could possibly be just by appearance. It certainly did not look like something that a kid would order. With a shrug, he took a tentative bite. Immediately afterwards he took another one, much larger this time. The flavor was rich and smooth, with an almost tangy taste to it that left an almost bitter aftertaste tingling across his tongue.

"Enjoying your ice cream?" Ai asked, taking in Conan's reaction as she ate her own.

"Mm. Best I've ever had. Although . . ."

"What is it?"

"I could swear it's almost familiar, but I don't know what it is," Conan admitted almost grudgingly.

"Shocker; something that the great detective can't figure out?" Ai mock-gasped, the glare that Conan leveled at her deflected coolly.

"Shut up," he wrinkled his nose at her, taking another bite of his ice cream as he turned away to observe the man behind the counter. He was the only employee in the shop that they had seen yet, and his eyes were still closed with that perpetual smile on his face. Conan idly wondered if the man's face was stuck like that.

As he drew near the not-child detective addressed him,

"Ne, what flavor is this?"

The ice cream man stopped in the middle of cleaning the display glass, directing his full attention at Conan.

"Murder," he stated, eyes opening marginally to permit a red gleam to escape through, lips parting in a broader smile that pulled his cheeks back inhumanly far and revealed jagged teeth (which he could have sworn were normal when the man had spoken earlier). A shudder passed through Conan and he whipped his head around, only to find that the only other people in the store – his companions – were too absorbed in their ice cream or interactions with one another to notice the sudden change. When Conan snapped his head back the employee had returned to normal and was giving no indication that anything strange had happened.

"Did you see that?" Conan hissed, elbowing Ai in the ribs. She frowned with displeasure at him.

"See what?"

The not-child sighed, wondering if he was going crazy.

"Nothing."

The strawberry blonde girl stared at him for a couple moments longer before returning to her small cup of ice cream.

"Say, what flavor is yours anyway?" she inquired after a pause, filled with the sounds of the real kid members of the Detective Boys jabbering excitedly to one another and the clicking of the shopkeeper's shoes on the tiled floor as he bustled about. Conan's head jerked up in a startled fashion and, rather than answer, opted to take another bite of his ice cream.

Mmm . . . murder. It really was good despite his doubts.

Shortly afterwards everyone finished their treats and started out. Conan was the last to file out, and as he left so he could have sworn that the man attending to the store called out to him,

"Our kind has to take care of one another. Have a nice day!"

But when he looked back the ice cream store was just gone. In its place was a vacant lot that opened into three alleys in addition to the street they were on. Not even a hint of the eye-wateringly colorful posters was to be seen.

"Hey guys, where did that store go just now?" he hurried up to rejoin the rest of the group.

"What store?" Ayumi's head tilted in a display of her bemusement.

"Yeah, what are you talking about? We were just heading to the professor's place from school!" Genta exclaimed loudly.

Mitsuhiko and Ai were just staring at him, the first as if he was crazy and the latter in a scrutinizing manner.

Pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration, Conan told the others to forget about it, and the matter was still dropped.

As they walked on though, he couldn't help but hear a bell chiming in the breeze and taste the ghost of murder dancing over his taste buds.

A/N: Because Ten-Faced told me to write this. It was meant to be uploaded yesterday, but eh. Also, check out my poll? It could influence future updates to Collection.