MORE ESSAYS! UUUUGGGHHH! I am back once again with another chapter, and hopefully after so long I can start to have some sort of regular rhythm again...hopefully...
Chapter 28
Sherry had been staring at the door for what felt like weeks, but when she looked at her watch she realized it hadn't even been a full day. There were no windows in the room Gin had left her in, so she had to trust that the time on her watch was showing night and not morning time. Slowly, Sherry shifted into a more comfortable position, her free hand shaking as she pulled the tiny pill from her pocket. It seemed so harmless in the sparse, electric light, but she knew what it was capable of; what it could do to her. She stared at the pill. She remembered the last time she'd seen Akemi: smiling and laughing, and making over some clever, little boy. The boy's name escaped her, but she could never forget what he looked like. The newspaper picture of her sister's covered body was forever burned into her mind, and the boy in the background bore a striking resemblance to her former roommate.
Sherry took one last deep breath. Then she quickly swallowed the pill before she could change her mind. For a few seconds nothing happened, but a gasp escaped her as the first wave of pain hit her. She covered her face with her hand, hoping there was no one in the hallway outside who could hear her. The pain spread across her body. This is it. She was burning up. Her heart was pounding as if it were trying to leave her body altogether. She was screaming. She was dying. Then everything went black.
The phantom thief walked casually out of the train station, having just borrowed a security guard's identity to watch the footage from the night Shino had slipped away. He casually drifted into an alleyway, changing his clothes and pulling the disguise from his face. He'd decided to walk home, feeling the need to take his time and enjoy the stars. It hadn't been long at all, but he felt as if Shino had just never reappeared; that the time she'd spent with him was merely his imagination and nothing more. His footsteps slowed as he thought about her, concern clouding his mind.
Both he and Saguru had attempted to figure out where she went, but she was better at disguising herself than either had initially thought. They hadn't worked together of course, but when Kaito had come into school exhausted the day after she'd vanished, he couldn't help but notice the British detective flipping through the notebook he'd been using to write down facts about her, the dark circles under his eyes making him seem hollow and forlorn. As Kaito approached his front door he stopped and glanced into the mailbox. He had checked it twice already that day; as he would for several weeks after, hoping for some sort of communication or sign that his friend was safe or even just alive. The house suddenly seemed too lonely and quiet, and he was reminded of when his mother had first left to go to the United States. He flopped down onto the couch, closing his eyes as he curled up fully-clothed under a light blanket. Sleeping was the only way to stop thinking about the people he cared for, and everything he'd lost.
Sherry's wrist ached, and she wondered if she'd accidentally injured it somehow. Memories quickly flooded back to her though, and she pushed herself into a sitting position in the tent that had once been her lab coat. The scientist observed her hands with wonder, wiggling her tiny fingers and flexing her little hand muscles. Her wrist had become smaller than the handcuff, so she'd slipped out when she collapsed to the floor. I don't believe it... Sherry got to her unsteady feet; her first urge to immediately race back to her lab and test a sample of her own blood. She pushed the thought aside though. Now that she'd successfully shrunk, it was time to find a way out. She glanced around the room until she spotted the cover over the ventilation system. Using her fingers, she unscrewed the old bulky screws that held the cover in place. She slipped each rusty screw into her pocket, not wanting them to make noise if they hit the floor. By the time she was finished her fingertips felt raw and dirty.
Sherry covered her hands with her sleeves as she worked the old metal out of the wall. Then she set the piece carefully on the floor. She took one look behind her at the door, and then crawled into the small, dark space. She decided which ways to turn based on the basic layout of the building, occasionally having to turn around and try other routes when she found herself over rooms she didn't recognize. After some time, she finally looked down into a room and froze. One of the many computer rooms was directly below her, and not a soul was occupying it. The shrunken scientist glanced into the darkness beyond, debating her choices. It's only two names...it shouldn't take too long... She opened the much newer metal cover and quietly dropped down on top the computer desk. The floor was too far down to reach. She quickly logged in as another scientist because she knew her own name could only lead to disaster at this point. The scientists always shared their passwords with each other. It saved time, and she was fortunate enough that no one had changed the man's password yet.
She searched through files with her heart in her throat, her eyes constantly drifting over to the door. Once she found what she was looking for, she quickly changed the statuses of the only two "UNCONFIRMED" apotoxin victims to "DECEASED." Then she heard voices down the hall, so she quickly saved what she'd done and unplugged the computer altogether. There was no time to shut it down properly. She plugged the machine back in and hoisted herself back up onto the desk, jumping up twice before she could finally reach the edge of the vent in the ceiling. Struggling until she could finally pull herself back up into the air duct, and almost dropping one of her oversized shoes, she held the vent closed with her fingers as the door opened.
The teen didn't dare to breathe as the nameless shadow prowled the room below her. He shined a flashlight around to make sure no one was around, and then silently left the room. Sherry didn't release her breath until his footsteps had faded considerably, and she sat petrified until her breathing had slowed. When she began to move again, their names seemed to fly around in her head, haunting her and filling her with a sense of hope at the same time. Hope to avenge her sister. Hope to destroy the organization. Kudou Shino...Kudou Shinichi...
Professor Agasa took his time heading home despite the pouring rain. He had his umbrella with him, and he liked the sound of the rain as it hit the umbrella. He hummed a little to himself, glancing down at his watch to see how late it was getting. Then he picked up his pace a little, remembering the invention he had been trying to finish before he'd gotten hungry and gone out. He rounded the corner and froze with a gasp as he noticed that someone was lying on the ground in front of the Kudous' house.
"Shinichi-kun," he whispered anxiously under his breath, quickly heading over to the person-shaped lump on the sidewalk. As he knelt over the small figure, he released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. The child on the ground was not his neighbor, but a little girl. He looked her up and down, her oversized lab coat setting off alarm bells in his head. Shinichi-kun showed up with oversized clothes too... The professor glanced around cautiously, unsure of what he should do. The little girl could be some sort of trick, a way to get him to lure Shinichi out. When Agasa looked down at her sleeping face though, he noticed how her brow furrowed in her sleep, and how her expression seemed troubled; as if she were facing something terrible.
Once again, the inventor glanced around the street. It was pretty late at night and raining, so it was unlikely anyone was around. He carefully leaned over and scooped up the tiny girl, deciding to keep his finding her from Shinichi for a little while; just to be safe.
Saguru stifled a yawn with his hand as he sat down at his school desk, not wanting to draw too much attention to himself. He'd stayed up nearly all night doing research on Kudou Shino and her family, trying to deduce from their personal connections where she would go. His first near all-nighter was based purely on the types of transportation she had access to and the records and times of where she could have gone, but this one, his second, had been concerned with scouring interviews, news articles, and just about anything else he could find that mentioned extended family and friends of the Kudous. The teen detective sighed as he opened the notebook with all the possibilities he'd written down though. The Kurobas had never been mentioned in any news article about the Kudous as friends of the family, so that made it quite possible that Shino had gone to someone else who could also not be traced through her family's known circle of friends.
As the classroom door opened, he could immediately tell Kaito still had not had any luck either. The magician came into the room smiling and laughing at Aoko, but the smile did not reach his indigo eyes, and they lacked their usual mischief. Instead they seemed to be muddled with concern, and perhaps more obviously, loneliness. Kaito must have missed having Shino around, and Saguru couldn't help but briefly wonder what the magician really felt for the mysterious girl. The feeling of her arms around him on the rooftop resurfaced in his mind, and he could feel the heat rising to his cheeks. He quickly shook away his thoughts and smiled at Aoko in greeting as she sat down nearby, hoping she couldn't see how red his face had become as the class began.
He quietly closed his notebook, resting his chin on his hand. Why did she hold onto me so tightly? Did she really feel a need to or was it an act so she could knock me out? Clenching his teeth in frustration, Saguru pushed his thoughts away once more. He wouldn't give up searching, but he wouldn't let the memory of her rule his mind.
Why? The question haunted Conan as he rode with the professor back to his house. The shrunken scientist in the backseat, named Haibara Ai by herself and the professor, sniffled quietly behind him every once in a while. It had taken the professor carrying her to the car to get them away from the murder scene of Masami Hirota, whose name had served as the alias of Miyano Akemi, Haibara's murdered sister. Shinichi frowned as all the information he'd had to absorb in such a short amount of time tumbled around in his head. The girl behind him represented a chance to take down the organization, and a chance to put his life back together. She also posed a risk though. It was possible that the raw grief he'd seen her display had been an act to gain his trust, but the look in the girl's eyes spoke of nothing but despair.
As they finally arrived back in Beika, his thoughts strayed to his own sister. He glanced in the rearview mirror, catching a glimpse of Haibara staring out the window. She didn't look much like her sister, but he was sure if he'd seen them together, he'd be able to tell they were related. He and Shino had always looked alike, and he remembered the way his mother had only been too happy to let people gush over them when they were small. Their situations were similar in a way, but he couldn't help but wonder if there was a reason why Haibara had gone straight to him. She'd told him that she had thought he could understand her because they had both been shrunk, but that answer seemed too superficial. Miyano Akemi had known his sister. She had been the one to tell him she'd escaped. Haibara had not mentioned his sister once. Conan clenched his jaw as they pulled into the driveway, there was something the scientist hadn't told him, and he intended to find out what it was.
The two shrunken teens entered the house before the slower professor, and Haibara immediately went to the basement stairs without even looking up. "I could ask you the same question you know," Conan stated, making the girl freeze with her hand on the doorframe.
"Shinichi-kun..." Agasa started, trying to prevent him from further upsetting Haibara. The detective held up his hand without looking at the older man though.
"You asked me why I didn't help your sister," he continued, pausing briefly only to see if Haibara would react. She didn't even turn to face him. "Your sister told me mine had escaped, but if you had helped her I'm sure Akemi-san would've told me how to find you." Haibara remained silent, and Conan felt his hands curling into fists. "I had no idea who your sister was, but you must've known mine. You wouldn't have just come here because you thought I'd pity you. So tell me...tell me why you didn't help her." He waited once again, but Haibara remained frustratingly silent and still. He opened his mouth to speak again, but she finally lifted her head.
"Martini," she murmured, her voice so quiet he barely heard what she said.
"What?"
"Martini. That was her name." The boy frowned in confusion.
"Your sister's?"
"No," Haibara murmured as she finally turned to face him. "It was Kudou Shino's." Conan's eyes widened in shock, and anger suddenly boiled up inside of him.
"That's ridiculous! She would never become one of them! Why the hell would-"
"Do you really think they gave your sister much of a choice?" Haibara shouted, suddenly seeming exasperated. "Did you ever stop and think about why they let you go, or why they even let you live?" Conan felt frozen to the spot, but Haibara had begun to move towards him as she spoke, her voice seeming to float to him in the strange, monotone way he'd noticed she spoke when he first encountered her. "They have always known where you are, and they have always known what you've been up to. Before they let you go they placed a tracker in your body, which fortunately for you must have burned up when you were poisoned. For six years all it would take was a single keystroke to make the tracker kill you, so for six years Martini had to learn how to become like Gin. She suffered for you, and she could never get out because you were constantly held over her head. That is why I couldn't help her. Martini would have never allowed-"
"Stop calling her that," Conan said quietly, plunging the room back into silence. The professor had sat down in shocked silence while Haibara had been speaking, and the man remained motionless as he waited for the conversation to continue. "If what you say is true, then she wouldn't want you to call her by that name." He took a deep breath before he spoke again, soaking in the guilt that the scientist had just slapped him in the face with. "How do you know so much about her?"
"She was my roommate." Haibara looked at him nervously for a moment, and her stare worried him. "The night I decided to betray the organization, Gin came into my lab looking very smug. Then he asked me to add another name to the list of those who'd been given the apotoxin." The professor was the one who reacted this time.
"You mean they found her?" Haibara nodded solemnly.
"Most likely she survived. If she had been found dead, the media would've had a field day and you would've heard about it." Conan wanted to believe her, but he couldn't help but remember the horrible feeling he'd had that had sent him running to the professor's in the middle of the night. "I marked her as 'DECEASED' as well as Kudou-kun before I left."
"I don't suppose you found out where this happened?" Conan asked hopefully after another brief silence. Haibara shook her head.
"Your information took a couple of days to be updated, so hers probably would be by now. However, that's useless to us since we have no way of gaining access to those files. As I said before, they've moved their operations already." Conan nodded, feeling Agasa watching him with concern.
"We should all get some sleep," Conan said. "It's been a long night." He turned and started to head up the stairs to the spare room he'd always slept in at the professor's.
"I suppose this makes us even then," Haibara called after him. He paused on the stairs, glancing back down at her.
"I suppose it does."
Once he was alone, Conan sat in bed and stared at the wall. Haibara's words haunted him, and though he wanted her to be lying deep down he knew she wasn't. His sister had been suffering to keep him alive for years, and he felt infinitely stupid for not forcing her to get out the window so he could distract Gin and Vodka. The knowledge of everything he could have done weighed down heavily on him. A chill ran down his spine as he imagined how much it would've hurt her to go through so much, and then have to watch him get himself killed. He let his head drop into his hands. It would be a long time before he went to sleep.
I know. This could've been so much better. It also could've been finished last week, but I just wasn't feeling like writing. Sorry. The chapters from the manga I referenced in this without really telling you much about them because I'm a horrible person are files 179-181. I'm not exactly sure which anime episodes those are, but if you look up some of the first ones to include Ai then you shouldn't have too much trouble finding out. Sorry if you find this chapter a little confusing and all over the place. Please let me know what you think.
