from skybluescramble:
hi friends (:
i'm really happy reading your reviews, Tok. Terish, RavenShooter, booklover1209, Anime Lady PIMP, and 48691412! thank you! and also big thanks to my beta, koichii, for always fixing up my messy work. I love you, really! :D
this is the continuation, and from now on i will try to update no longer than once in every two weeks.
enjoy.
DISCLAIMER:
Detective Conan /名探偵コナン
Gosho Aoyama©1994
::Memories in Mozaic::
.
.
FRAGMENT #21:
Meeting
.
HAIBARA Ai looked outside the small window from her seat, admiring the sight of fluffy white clouds floating in the sky. It had been awhile since her last international flight: Teitan Junior High's school trip to Hawaii. She loved the feeling of flying. It made her heart lighter and happier, as though she could leave all her life problems down there, on the ground.
"I see you enjoying yourself."
Her head turned to her right almost instantly, glaring at the boy beside her. "I still don't get it why you must take me along." She hissed sharply, leaning forward some inches more until their nose almost touching. "Shinichi."
Conan grinned sheepishly. He knew she would only call him by his first name when she was deadly serious or very pissed off. "Come on! We're on school holiday, anyway. And believe me, Los Angeles isn't a bad place."
"I've grown up in America, thank you very much." She countered, "You don't need to give me a tour."
"This is my mother's idea," said Conan as he took a sharp intake of breath. "She got three golden tickets of her new film's premiere. She doesn't need any because she is one of the casts, so the rests go to my father, me, and you."
"New film?" Ai tucked a deviant strand of hair behind her ear, her eyes shimmered in curiosity. "Your mother did a comeback?"
He nodded in an affirmative way. "Last year, she told me she missed acting via call."
"Why me?"
"Because I think you are the most suitable person for this vacant ticket. You like reading international fashion magazines and quite update about upcoming movies, so this will be your good chance. It's possible that you can meet a few people you usually see only on screen or in those magazines. Amazing, huh?"
She was still putting on that indifferent face, but Conan knew she started to grow interest. "Like who? Whom can I see there?"
He put a hand under his chin. "Let's see… If I'm not mistaken, my mother mentioned something about Milla Jovovich, Leighton Meester, Logan Lerman, and some others. Oh, we watched Transformers together, didn't we? It seems the actor who played the good guy in U.S military will attend the premiere, too."
She blinked confusedly. "Eh?"
"I'm sure you remember. That kind-hearted captain whom you and Ayumi-chan endlessly talked about on our way home. Captain Something Lennox."
Her eyes grew big the moment this information sank in.
"Y-you mean… Josh Duhamel?"
Although he wasn't sure she guessed right, Conan nodded. "Yeah. Him."
She didn't say anything further. However, he swore he heard her humming happily for the rest of their flight while looking outside the window.
STEPS halted, Ai froze on her ground when she saw two tall figures standing a few meters ahead. She and Edogawa Conan were now in Los Angeles, even though she was practically being dragged here by the bespectacled boy. Her stomach felt somehow nauseous because of the jet lag but she tried not to pay attention to it. They just passed the arrival inspection gate to have their passport and visa checked. Everything seemed to be alright, but then the sight of a couple waiting for them almost made her get a heart attack.
"Ai? What's wrong?"
Conan stopped walking as well. He turned his back to face her with a kind smile plastered across his handsome feature. She gulped nervously, tugging his sleeve and pulled him closer, his height practically blocked her shorter body from being seen.
"Why didn't you tell me your parents will pick us up here?" She whispered on his ear.
"Why should I?" He asked her back, completely clueless about the cause of her uneasiness. "You've met before."
"That's not the problem!"
"Don't worry," said Conan, giving soft pat on the top of her head. "It will work out fine."
Ai sighed in defeat before tailing his steps, walking towards Kudo Yusaku and his wife, Kudo Yukiko, who eagerly waved her hands to their direction. Que sera sera, she thought grimly. If something was going to happen, let it be.
"Shinichi! Long time no see…!"
Being as energetic as usual, Yukiko gave her only son a tight hug it was almost suffocating. Conan smiled sourly. To his mother, it seemed his age had stopped at ten. Would a child stay as a child in the eye of parents? Why couldn't they (at least in public) treat their already-mature kid normally? True, eighteen years old still didn't count as an adult. Not yet. But in spite of that, he was no longer a small boy ordering Happy Meal in McDonald's.
Furthermore, being hugged to death by your mother who was several inches shorter than you felt kinda weird.
"You look more like Shinichi now," commented Yukiko, keeping her son at arm's length and studying him. Conan had pocketed his spectacles because it became foggy when he stepped out of the plane. "Right, Yusaku? With his glasses on, he would exactly look like you. You were really cool, back then."
The novelist snorted. "Back then?"
Unfortunately, Yukiko preferred not to pay any attention to his protest. Her big eyes gleamed gleefully seeing the female standing on Conan's left side, keeping her stare lock onto the floor. "Aaaaaah! Ai-chan! You've grown up, too! How are you?"
The strawberry-brown haired teenager bowed nervously. "I'm fine. Thanks."
Conan cleared his throat a few times (he had just remembered about taking someone along with him—blame his mother's stupid ritual hug). "Ah. Mom, Dad, let me introduce her."`He started, pulling Ai a little closer. "Well… I think you had met her before. Her name is Miyano Shiho. My classmate… and trusted partner. She helped me figuring out so many cases."
Miyano… Shiho?
Three pairs of eyes shot him a quizzical look. Especially hers.
Yet, silently, the corner of her lips twitched upwards and formed a small smile across her face. Admitted or not, Ai felt happy.
Without reason.
Or maybe… there was one.
.
end of the twenty-first fragment.