A/N: Thank you so much for you guys who's been supporting me by reviewing or just reading (though I do hope to hear your comments on the review page^^). It's been an incredible experience in writing this journey and I hope you like it too.
Anyway, enjoy this last chapter!
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Detective Conan
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CHAPTER 12 – Quest Accomplished
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"Do you want to see me?" Conan greeted as he took a seat inside a pretty dim lit café in a corner of one crowded street in Beika City. In front of him, there sitting a man in a cap covering his face, a cup of coffee on the table, and a bowl of peanuts. The man's face lifted up and his eyes searching for something behind him in suspicion. Conan followed his sight and noticed as he nodded towards the waitress which she responded by nodding back. Then they two were left alone at the dark room which mostly occupied by empty tables and random coffee images on the wall. After making sure they're secure, Akai spoke up.
"Yes. I'm glad you look well, Tantei-kun," he greeted back and gave him genuine kind of look which Conan could describe as smile, if it wasn't too dubious.
"Good to see you're okay, too," the boy said and took a seat. "And I'm not sure if thanks is enough. But thank you, for saving our lives."
"It's no problem. You can say that it's part of my job."
"I really mean it," he said again and looked him right through the eyes, emphasizing his gratefulness. "We made it safely because of your help, and left the island with no harm. Oh, and she's fine, too, by the way."
"Hmm. Good for her."
Akai said simply and Conan could detect that the FBI agent was lost in thought for a brief moment. The detective kept silent anyway, waiting for him to collect himself and spit the real reason why Akai wanted to meet him in the first place. A car past the street with screeching sound that could be heard through the thick dark glass of the café and he glanced at the passersby, distracted a little. Judging from the place, he admitted that Akai sure had picked up the best for this risky meeting. As expected from him, he guessed.
"I'm leaving Japan today," Akai said after a while, snapping Conan back to face him again.
"What?"
"There's something going on that night. It was much worse than our little party at Shizuma Island."
"You mean at the airport?" the boy guessed almost immediately and Akai only gave him questioning look.
"How do you know?"
"I heard it from Jodie-sensei's phone call with her boss last night," Conan waved his hand as if it didn't really matter and he was just happened to know a little of the news. "It was my quick conclusion. I didn't exactly know what that was about."
Akai relaxed and broke his gaze to the kid. "Oh," he responded. "Well, yeah, that night at the airport. We've been put our ears on this transaction and preparing everything on this operation. But our agent's cover was blown and the target escaped right under FBI's nose and Tokyo MPD. It was practically a slap in the Bureau's face," he paused a little bit and gritted his teeth. "A total mess," he sighed before throwing a glance outside the glass window, squinting and looked really disappointed.
Although Conan could see that he was pissed, he didn't understand where the conversation's going, so he just stared and encouraged him to continue.
"I'm going to put an investigation from where it came from. America, that is," Akai's face softened and he took a glass of coffee in front of him, but he just stared at it as if inspecting something in there. "I'm leaving today."
"Yeah, but," the boy voiced up in confused tone. "Akai-san, why are you telling me this?"
At that point, Akai's face stabbed straight at Conan, sharp and deep. The boy almost winced at how tense the atmosphere had shifted and he had to hold the urge to gulp because it was too sudden. His right hand on the table unconsciously crumpled to a fist as if anticipating something and the other hand held a tight grip on the wooden chair. Why the hell was Akai looking at him like that? Did he say something wrong?
It's unnatural to see the usually-calm agent looking at him with those murderous eyes, so he immediately switched to defensive position.
"You told Shiho about Akemi and I," the man finally said, still maintaining the glare. His words were solid, doubtless, and didn't need to be clarified. He knew it. And as much as Conan was taken aback by this unexpected change of topic, and he was pretty sure that it was irrelevant, the boy could only felt his heart stopped beating once. Akai's simple tone in stating the simple fact had punched him in the chest. But he truly, truly understood that he owed him an explanation.
"I did," he started while letting a good amount of air out of his lungs. He had to stop for a good second and clear his mind to deal with this calmly, carefully, and manly. Because no matter how wrong it seemed, he believed he had done the right thing. "She deserved to know the truth."
The FBI agent only looked at him with the same gaze, the same accusation.
"A-And, look, I know it wasn't my place to tell her," Conan admitted quickly, shifted on his chair to break up the tension, much to himself. "And if I overstepped the boundaries—" he made sure he found his eyes as he's saying this, because he meant it. "—I apologize."
There he said it. Conan felt his chest loosen at his own words and he was ready to take whatever consequences. He even winced unconsciously in anticipation if, say, Akai decided to punch him right in the face just because he deserved it. But such counter he expected never came. Instead, Akai broke up the death glare and took the coffee instead. It was a long gulp, before the agent put the cup on the table and threw his look outside the window again, looking rather…defeated?
"I recognized her right away when we first met. I knew that she was her," he still looked far away as he dig on his mind to find the right way to say it. "But up until now I can't even man up and tell her by myself. Even when I'm hours away from leaving this country and probably never be able to do it anyway."
Conan heard him exhaled and a pause lingered in the space. His detective brain couldn't help but note that there was another change of pace in this conversation. A minute ago, he was mad. But now, even Conan couldn't describe how broken he looked, though he still kept his composure. Conan was debating whether to keep silent or cheer up the FBI agent, which he had completely no idea how to, so he settled for the first option and processed this subject in his mind. This kind of man-to-man conversation rarely happened in his life, so he had to take it slow to handle it properly.
Okay, so. Akai was upset about Conan telling the truth to Haibara. Conan understood it. But after that, Akai was upset too for not being able to tell her all this time, which led to some deduction that she was the main object here. She was the reason of all this. Not him or Akai, just her. He just wanted to talk about her, to him. Why, he wouldn't dare to guess. But as long as there's Haibara involved, he felt that he had to take part in this even if it meant dealing with a certain troubled agent. He had to figure something out of this.
Carefully, he studied the man in front of him and looked him straight. And as soon as his grey mind registered something behind those eyes, it all dawned upon him as if his head just saw a bright light and suddenly everything seemed clear and the fog had been lifted. He knew what this was about. He knew why Akai told him about his leave and told him stuff about Shiho. He knew it, because he's been through it.
"Don't worry, Akai-san," the boy began in the most assuring manner he could manage. "I'll protect her."
Akai's face turned again to him as he spoke because there's something in the way Conan was saying it.
"I know that she's part of your concern. Well, she's part of my concern too and I care about her as much as you do. So, please don't worry about her, because I'll do my best to keep her safe," Conan's voice was certain and so in control, and he wished his message would get through him as he finished. "I promise."
The man only looked at the boy in front of him with whatever expression he had, before his lips were actually smiling. In relief, or gratitude, Conan would imagine. For a moment he felt that the ice in the air had melted. Akai didn't say a word and looked pretty impressed, so he considered the matter settled.
But then Akai reached backward to take something behind him. A soft thud followed later as he put a thing on the table between them. Conan's brows knitted at once.
"Before I leave, one last thing, Tantei-kun. I need you to give her this," Akai said, nodding towards the him to observe the object. It was a neatly-wrapped package in a size of his lunchbox. The cover was plain and looked rather old. He decided that it was nothing special before Akai said the magic words. "I believe it was hers."
"Hers?" Conan repeated. Confused.
"Yes," Akai said lightly with a content smile on his face. "It's what you're looking for, wasn't it?"
Conan took a while to understand before his eyes went wide at the instant he realized what it was.
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As much as he wanted to flee to Hakase's residence quickly after he's done with Akai and wishing him good luck, he realized that he had to come to Kogorou's agency sooner or later. So there he was, greeting lamely at his uncle (which was immediately responded by an impatient bark) and being dragged outside straight away by Ran to have some lunch. Not that he's into the idea or anything. But his particular childhood friend was as cheerful as rainbow as she spotted him and she gave him no time to argue, so he did as he's told. Besides, it might help to kill some time.
He found himself sitting on some fast-food restaurant few minutes later with Ran and wished that everything wouldn't be as bad, until Sonoko sat in front of him and shot him a disgusted face.
"Ran, what's this brat's doing here?"
"Be nice, Sonoko. Conan-kun's just got back home today," Ran said to her best friend and stood up. "I'm going to order. What do you guys have in mind?"
"The usual," Sonoko replied with a shrug. Ran nodded and turned to the sulking boy in the seat in front of her, smiling expectantly. Conan lifted up his face, confused.
"Ah," he snapped back from whatever he was thinking and blurted out. "Just cola, please."
"Don't you want to eat, Conan-kun? I'm buying," Ran offered, but Conan just had lunch from his school and a sandwich from Akai so he didn't feel like it.
"Cola would be just fine, thanks," he settled. And that was the end of argument.
Ran gave up and decided to do her job: excusing herself to the counter and leaving Conan under the annoyed glare of Sonoko from the opposite side of the table. He was considering, for the second time, to just escape from this place but it was too late. The food was served faster than he anticipated. So there's nothing he could do except for grabbing his cola and getting ready for two hours of non-stop ranting and gossiping, or something else he wouldn't care to comprehend.
He sighed. It would be a long wait to get to Haibara's place tonight.
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He watched his step extra carefully when he stepped down the spiral stairs. Once he reached the door, he had to hold his breath while turning the cold doorknob until it's finally opened. Slowly, very slowly, he peeked inside and squinted to identify the object under the darkness. It wasn't hard for him to spot the only illuminating source of light in the room that belonged to the running PC in one corner. Also, he found the little figure in front of the device, facing away from him, clearly wasn't aware of his presence. Grinning, he stepped inside and made sure he didn't make any noise when he closed the door shut.
His eyes inspected the figure once again which, thankfully, was still unmoved. With the same caution as before, his feet started to swing forward. One, two, three, four steps… He winced when he almost bump into one box on the floor, but the figure seemed like didn't hear a thing. So, good. He kept what he was doing until he made half through the room unnoticed.
By the time he was two feet away from the target, however, he halted. Few options crossed his mind about how to make the grand finale, but he couldn't decide what. All he could do was watching as her fingers flawlessly danced on the keyboard, her hair glowed under such radiance that made it looked like shining, and her oversized pajamas instead of the usual lab coat she was wearing. He found it's hard to take off the beautiful sight and he did nothing but just standing there. It was as easy as that: feeling wordless.
"You're staring," the figure commented idly from her seat without turning, almost making the boy jump at the unexpected voice that broke the silence for the first time.
"Y-You knew?" he stammered. "Since when?"
Her fingers stopped in mid air for one split second. "Pretty much since you first came in here."
"Then why didn't you say anything?" he walked past her and grabbed a chair to sit beside the blonde, facing her.
"Don't know," she casually shrugged at the detective and pointed out. "Anyway, I thought you'll be at detective agency tonight."
"Nah... I convinced Ran that this would be my last stay for this week. You know, just to check on my mother," he lied. He's actually well aware that, one, his mother could handle herself. And two, it's Haibara who he wanted to see more than anyone else since the entire day. But he committed to have a less arguable conversation tonight. And he was nervous. So he couldn't help it.
"Mmm. That's very nice of you," she smirked, but never took her eyes off the screen. "Yukiko-san's upstairs, actually."
"Yeah, I know, but…" he trailed off. Of course he knew where his mother was. He just passed her when he's going to this basement while teasing him all the way. And, most of all, he wasn't there to discuss about his mother. He was there for a bigger reason than that and he wished he could just spit it out. So he casted his silent prayer and began. "Haibara, I need to talk to you."
The girl looked at him this time, still with her nonchalant face but seemed uncertain at some point. She stopped at once and leaned back to the chair, crossing her arms. "Okay. What about?"
He had been thinking about where to go when he's asked the question, really. Since he left the detective agency, he never stopped trying to sort his mind out, until suddenly his skateboard hit Hakase's porch. But it hadn't work very well. The answer he expected to say didn't come out easily despite there're so many things bubbling inside his mind, threatening to blow: about Akai, about what happened between him and Haibara at Shizuma Island, about how he wanted her to know how he felt about them… Damn, he even wasn't sure there's such thing as 'them' because he had never officially confronted her about it.
But he was never good at making this kind of confrontation, wasn't he?
"I… Um.." he murmured. One hand stretched to scratch on his hair involuntarily while he spoke. "I'm not sure where to start. So…"
He cleared his throat and that was that. He felt his cheeks burning for some reason because he could sense that she was fixing her gaze to him, and he felt like an idiot. His eyes were looking at somewhere around the wall, looking for distraction. Part of him wanted to curse on himself for not being able to be in control, but part of him just honestly didn't know what to do in this situation.
"Kudo-kun," she decided to speak up after few seconds. "Is it about our little game of treasure hunt the other day?"
The detective blinked. There was something in the way she said it that made him look at her again. Maybe it's the subtle usage of the term treasure hunt to describe what they've been through, or maybe it's how gentle she sounded in that tormenting silence. Either way, there's a truth in her simple words that made him, though hesitant at first, nod affirmatively.
"Yes, it's about that," he admitted while still eyeing on the strawberry blonde, who just shifted on her chair and looked away for a second with a—wait, is that a smile?
"Well, in that case," she uncrossed her arms and put them on the table, leaning forward slightly and staring at them instead. "I think it was wonderful and I was enjoying it. Except for maybe the hide-and-seek part…"
He let himself smiling at the term, but she made her point.
"…And if there finally occurs the time, under different circumstances and less dangerous risks, I'm looking forward to do that again."
She was definitely blushing at this point, proven by how uneasy she acted. But other than that, she tried to look at him when she said it and he looked at her too. To tell the truth, that wasn't what he had in his head exactly, but it's the essence that mattered. Haibara just told him that she was enjoying their moment and proposing the idea of going out together. Well, of course, when it's safer for them to go together once more. And for now, that's the best he could wish for.
"Okay," Conan's face lit up and relaxed. "That'd be great."
"Okay," she breathed out. A hint of red still appeared in her cheeks as she turned to face the monitor again. "Anything else, Detective?"
He was still struggling to suppress his joy by looking away, but he recovered quickly. Yes, he still had something else and he'd better make it quick before she lost the interest and the good mood.
"Uh.. Yeah, actually. It's about the afterschool locker message today," he straightened up in his chair, as if about to bring some big news or something. "It was a code from Akai-san and I've met him in person this afternoon."
The strawberry blonde instantly shot him a glare and suspicious look. "What did he want?"
"Nothing. It was just… He survived the island, and um…" It actually was harder that he thought, after seeing her expression. But he had to continue. "Remember when Andrew-san told us about how he lost your mother's present?"
Haibara winced at the mention of the bartender, but she nodded eventually. "Yeah, somebody threatened him and he had no choice but give it away. Why?"
"Well, it turned out that…" his voice was wary now and he let himself breathe for a while. "It was Akai-san who took it from that bar."
"Wait, what?"
"I know it's hard to believe," Conan tried to as cool as possible to explain. "Over a year ago, your sister went to visit the bar, and that's when Akai-san learned about the present and that you're supposed to pick it up in the future."
The girl could only stare at him in indecisive kind of face, but she clearly demanded more of this so she let him carry on.
"…But then after he's no longer in the org, he thought he needed to secure your present to prevent it being discovered by wrong hands. You know, by them. And he disguised himself to take it from that bar," he finished his story with a satisfied grin.
"Kudo-kun, are you telling me that—" she said it slowly as if her head was trying to process something nearly could be described as irrational. "—that FBI agent stole the present?"
"No. I'm telling you that he had been keeping it safe all along," his grin grew even wider and before she could interrupt him more, he reached for something under his shirt: a rather small box Akai gave him earlier that day, and presented it on the table. "And he decided to return it now."
She narrowed her eyes to the box in a mix between disbelief and slight hesitation, unable to retort or make any kind of response.
"So, come on. Open up," he suggested.
It took her few seconds to move her arm and took the thing off the table. She inspected it first, held it on her palm, but that was it. She didn't look like she's eager to open it as a person would normally react if they'd found a long-lost treasure like that.
"Haibara," he called her name, somewhat worried. "What's wrong?"
"I don't know how am I supposed to feel about this," she finally spoke up, but her gaze still fixed to the lifted box in her hand. "It doesn't change things between him and me, and my sister…"
The boy wasn't so surprised when he heard this. He'd kind of expected that it would happen actually.
"No, of course it doesn't. It happened and nothing will ever change," he stated quickly, somewhat understandingly, while leaning forward to get the view of her better. He wasn't trying to be smart or anything, because he had come to realization that he had a lot to work on his interpersonal side of skill and instinct. But these last few days had taught him lessons that he wouldn't get in any other places, and he knew the only way to experience it was to get through it together. "Maybe you can, um…" his hand gestured between her figure and himself. "Maybe we can figure something out later, until you know how to deal with it. W-Well, of course you do the most figuring part and I'll just help."
She narrowed her eyes and eyeing him from her seat, half-amused and half in disbelief, as if trying to recall something deep in her memory but stuck at him instead. Was there something funny that she eventually smiled? But she didn't say no more, leaving the space with another beat of silence. Only, it was comfortable so he assumed that they could drop the Akai subject for the moment and he made a mental note to bring it out in some other time.
"So, you're going to open it now?" he said expectantly and she gave up. She wouldn't lie that she's actually excited about the present too, so she sat up straight as her quick fingers began to unwrap the neat box under her palm. Conan licked his lips, suddenly felt curious as to what's inside. The present had always been their cause of their journey and since they almost lost their lives and anything, it better be something worth. For her, at least.
Few seconds had past when she finally took something out of the box. His heart threatened to jump out of his throat as she held it out in her hand. It was…
"A tape?"
The girl only smiled and observed the device in front of her, contented. "Yeah. It's another tape."
"Another tape," he repeated and blinked.
"What, disappointing much?"
"Only if it's some other code which leads to yet another treasure hunt," he shrugged, teasing. An instant glare shot right through him and he laughed. "Geez, Haibara. I was kidding!"
The glare didn't stop right away, but he found that the effect wasn't intimidating anymore. Since when did Haibara's glare become less murderous and look rather adorable instead?
"So… I'm going to listen, I guess," she announced and his laugh stopped.
"Alright. I'll just be upstairs, then," he jumped off his seat and was about to leave when she promptly reached out her hand to hold his.
"No," she demanded. "Stay."
The boy studied her for a moment. He was thinking that maybe she needed a space to listen to her mother's tape, as usual, because the subject was quite personal to Haibara and he respected that. But looking at her like this, demanding him to stay while she was listening to the hidden record she never knew existed, really meant something to him as he felt a smile formed in his lips and some warmth flowed through his chest.
"Okay. I'll stay." And he obediently took his seat back while she was busy with the drawer on the table where her beloved tape player rested. Once it's prepared, the tape was inside the player and the headset was on her head.
She clicked the play button and bit her lip in anticipation about what she's going to get from the so-called present from her mother. Even Conan had to gulp down because he also felt the tension.
The unreadable expression on her face soon was replaced by her smile as soon as the familiar voice broke through her ears, greeting her.
"My dearest Shiho…"
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THE END
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A/N: So, yeah. It ends.
I posted it as soon as I finished it. I hope it came out right.
And oh yeah, of course, there will be more. Maybe after I'm done with my homework? Well, hopefully. Finals coming up and I'm haunted with so many deadlines, so it will take some time. So, once again, see you \^_^/
