A/N: Late again :(
Thank you, two Guests, jB-the Deaf Bunny, Kudo 2315, purebloodragdoll, Potatoes, Icie911, ran0neechan, and Diabl0s for leaving reviews! Every single one of them meant a lot for me, and I really hope to keep up your interests :)
Doomsday
By: GenuineProdigy
Mountain
Green is the color that the doctors use to disguise the color of blood.
-0-
Ai turned her eyes back to the book.
"Hmm."
"What?"
"You're acting kinda weird."
"Me? Why?"
Conan recalled everything he did in the last 10 minutes. He had told her that Ran was actually thinking of inviting Kudo Shinichi to a diving show at Osaka and make him spend some time off the so-called case. He had told her that she invited Edogawa Conan to the show. He had told her that he would have to take her, only her, to the show. And he had told her he was sorry about that, when she said 'that's too bad.'
So, what was wrong?
"Think about it."
"What, the trip?"
He heard multiple gasps behind him and jumped. Conan's face read here it comes as soon as the three kids shouted. "What?"
Ai still didn't even take a look at him.
"A trip, you say?" Ayumi asked.
"Y-Yeah..."
"Why couldn't you have told us earlier, eh?" Genta grumbled.
Haha. Because I wanted to save this for the last possible second.
He thought it'd make Ai annoyed or something, like the last time when she could've stabbed him with a mechanical pencil. So he thought he'd tell her on the departure date, but...her calm reaction was completely unexpected.
Ayumi broke into his thoughts. "Great! There's something to do in the weekends."
"Sorry, guys. I-It's just that I didn't know till this morning when Ran told- Ran nee-chan told me that. And-" His eyes automatically switched to Ai for a second before saying. "-And there aren't enough tickets for the show."
"Yeah, but I think I heard you say Haibara-san was invited." Mitsuhiko muttered.
"W-Well,"
"I get it!" Genta shouted, his mouth turning into a sneer. "You wanted a secret date away from us, didn't you?" He crossed his arms, as if saying, 'I can read your mind.'
"What? Really?" Said Ayumi, who had been gazing in awe till now.
"Okay, that's enough." The kids looked up, while Conan sighed in relief. It was Kobayashi. "So, Conan-kun, you are going on a trip? When?"
"Well, tonight, I'll have to get to the airport and go to Osaka."
"Oh, that's great!" Kobayashi gave him a warm smile, and then said, looking at Conan and Ai, "Have a good time."
When Kobayashi walked away, Conan avoided the annoying expressions on Genta and Mitsuhiko. Ayumi stood behind with a glum face.
"Yeah, have a great time, Conan-kun."
"Maybe it's a good thing I'm not invited to get goosebumps all over my skin."
"Hey, hey."
The bell rang, and Kobayashi ordered them all to take their seats.
"So." Conan started. "What's weird about me?"
Ai snorted. "Still worrying about it?"
When he didn't say anything, she added. "It's nothing."
Conan examined her smooth face, looking for any kind of clue, and failed. Losing a bit of patience, he glared at her.
"It wasn't nothing."
"Maybe it wasn't."
"C'mon, Haibara."
Ai walked away, while he exhaled, frustrated.
You could easily guess, detective.
Ai thought, glancing at his annoyed expression.
Normally you'd ask for the antidote...
-0-
"Huaa..."
Conan yawned hugely. It was only 5 a.m. in the morning, and they were driving in the middle of a highway. It didn't really help that they all arrived at Osaka at 12:00 a.m. Although the rent van was as uncomfortable as it was, he knew it'd be matter of minutes before he fell asleep. He could hear the professor snoring at front, and Ai's steady breathing. Not bothering to open his eyes properly, he looked out the window.
"-Anyway, that transfer student is something, isn't he? Maybe I could ask him out someday!"
"Sonoko...Do you even remember Makoto? You should really know what's the right thing..."
Still not there yet. Conan yawned again.
"Dad, when are we going to arrive?"
"Well..." Kogoro hesitated. "I don't know...I haven't been to Osaka for some time."
"You mean we're lost?!"
"No-Not exactly, erm-" Kogoro scratched his head.
"We are!"
Kogoro sighed. Ran opened her phone and began to dial.
"Who are you calling?"
"Kazuha."
.
And soon after, two teenagers got onto the van.
"I told you! Someone has to sit in the trunk because there's no space!"
"Idiot, how can I even fit in there?"
"Whatever. It's too uncomfortable, so move a little!"
"It's because you're fat..."
Conan sighed.
Maybe he'd have to catch on his sleep later.
.
Click-
Conan woke up at the brief noise.
...Camera?
Quickly, he sensed for any kind of liquid near his mouth. Cleaning his lips with his right hand, he opened his eyes just a little.
And no wonder, there were three girls staring at Sonoko's cell phone, satisfied. Conan could even see Heiji smirking at him next to the girls.
"Aw- How cute..."
"It looks so peaceful!"
Heiji sniggered and moved towards the back of the van. He whispered at the ear of the sleepy Conan.
"I doubt I'd show this to my girlfriend if I were you."
"Shut up." Conan muttered, and yawned. "I didn't even drool..." However, he wiped around his mouth, just to make sure.
"See? Clean."
Heiji snorted. "I'm not talking about that, fool." With that, he jerked his head towards his right, to Conan's left.
Then, Conan almost jumped when he turned his head to the right, because his face was instantly buried into a mass of strawberry blonde hair. The honeyish sweet and dazzling odor dazed him for a second."What the-"
Wait a second, the steady breathing I heard before-
He slowly pulled his face out, taking in the little girl sleeping on his shoulder.
As much as he hadn't really thought of her positively, he had to admit it. When her cold lines that alerted the others of her cold features were gone, when her lips were not smirking in sarcasm but parted in a little circle, when her eyes were no longer frowning but closed into a peaceful line, she did look...
...Better.
"I don't think it's time to enjoy what you're seeing, Kudo." Heiji whispered, and Conan jumped slightly.
Wait a second, then that means-
Conan's head whirled towards the girls again, who were still too busy with the cellphone.
"They look so cute together!"
"Yes! And it's even better because they are real couples!"
Although he did not want to believe it, it seemed like Ai had been sleeping on his shoulder since much before, and Sonoko had taken photo of them sleeping together.
Without needing to hear more of Heiji's taunts, Conan tried to snatch the phone. Sonoko noticed him looking at them and turned her phone around. "Hey, look. Already a married couple, aren't you?"
Ah...Shi...t.
On the screen, he saw Ai's head resting on his shoulder just like now, and him sleeping while leaning onto her head.
Conan made a quick movement. However, his hand only grabbed the empty air. It seemed like Sonoko already anticipated his reaction. "Not too fast, twirp."
"A-Ah, Sonoko-nee-chan,"
"Don't even think about it." She snorted, while the other girls giggled at Conan. "Well, although there are like eight photos already..."
"Hey, we're finally here!" Kogoro shouted at the teens, satisfied with the arrival.
"Happy new girlfriend, Kudo!" Heiji whispered and winked once before leaving with the girls.
Conan, momentarily stunned, shouted after him. "Hey, you-you could've tried to stop them!"
However, Heiji pretended not to have heard him.
"Man...!" Conan ruffled his hair. Beside him, Ai looked at him with a curious look.
"What happened?"
He disregarded it.
Maybe she'll never know.
-0-
"This...is...too...much..." The old man muttered, before putting his hands on his knees.
"C'mon, old man..." Heiji complained, who also had a bead of sweat running down his neck at the moment.
"Just...a bit more..." Conan managed to mumble through his teeth.
He and Heiji had been helping the professor walk up the 150 stairs on the way to the 'big show' Sonoko introduced earlier. The fact that there were hundreds of people walking up and down the stairs just made it worse.
"We're not even halfway through, though." Sonoko stated, looking at a map at a side.
Conan sighed. He was jealous of Kogoro, who instead wandered around the region.
"Maybe we should rest there." Ran and Ai appeared, pointing at the left side, where masses of large rocks and two benches in front could be seen.
Sighing in delight, the professor began walking again. Conan frowned at him, while Ai smirked.
Not bothering to sit on the bench, Conan sat at the edge of the rock, away from people taking pictures of the mountain scenery. Sweeping his front with his hand, he sinked into the sounds of the river flowing beneath him.
Then, he heard hesitant footsteps behind him and turned around. It was Heiji.
"What is it."
Heiji smiled at the annoyance in Conan's voice. "It's something serious, Kudo."
After taking a look around, he sat down next to Conan and sighed. Conan glared at his closed eyes.
"Kudo...When are you going to come back?"
"Eh?" The sudden question caught him off guard. He stared at the water instead. Slowly, he opened his mouth. "I'm not sure yet."
"But when?"
"Well." Conan glimpsed at Ai's figure at the bench. "The antidote is still in progress..." Then, he added, "Besides, it's not like I hate the life I got for now."
Heiji's eyes opened. "Still. Don't you miss anything...of Kudo Shinichi?"
"Of course I do! I..." He immediately answered. "...friends, my family..."
"I don't know, Kudo." Heiji toyed with his cap.
"What?"
"I don't know what would happen if you kept lagging behind in this body-"
Then, they heard a gush of wind. In less than a second, something, long and dense, came flying into Heiji's head.
He turned his body just in time, but it did not stop the object from smashing his shoulder.
Heiji gasped in pain. "What the-"
Conan instantly stood up. However, the stairs were still full of people and he could no longer see anybody fleeing or suspicious.
"Damnit!"
Heiji breathed heavily, holding his shoulder. "What the hell was that?"
"I don't know. You okay?"
He nodded once, but swore under his breath after fidgeting his arm.
Conan frowned. "Wait here."
.
X grunted.
"Shit!"
He took one more look at the boy holding his shoulder, and then started to walk up the stairs.
.
In a few minutes, Kazuha was helping Heiji descend the stairs along with the emergency medical technicians. Conan gazed after them.
Ai approached him. "What happened?"
"I really don't know..." Conan muttered.
Ai sighed.
Looks like the kid brought another case here.
-0-
-End of Mountain-
A/N: Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be able to write the next chapter any time soon (important stuff) Maybe two to three weeks, so cya till then.
