Declaimer: I don´t own Detective Conan (nor the lazy joke I almost made)
A/N: I am sick... Sick with Bibber Fev... Na, that´s not even my joke. But no, really, I am sick. Enjoy. XD (I´m not even sure I wrote the name right..."
Fault
"Kudo, wake up!"
It was to this loud, obnoxious and truly horrifying greeting that Shinichi woke up the next day, her eyes flying open as her body jerked at the sound, ready to fled or fight the intruder. Because of her sleepy mind, she couldn´t recognize the voice, thinking it was just some stranger, probably an enemy, who came to kill her off. Obviously a part of her brain wondered why the enemy would wake her up first, but it was only a small part, the rest too caught up on its task to identify the intruder and finish him off.
As blue eyes opened, and the bright cursed light hit them without mercy, Shinichi ducked under the blanket, rolling towards the edge to hide on the side of the bed, hopefully as far as humanly possible from the intruder. She couldn´t remember opening the curtains, but maybe Haibara had done it, just to annoy her.
"I said wake up, Kudo!" The voice stated again, and something in it made her frown deeply. She felt like she knew that voice well enough to feel annoyed just by hearing it so early in the morning, but usually that voice was more feminine and belonged to her mother. No, this was a male… a young male too, someone from Osaka… "I know you are awake, no need to pretend that no one is here."
Alarmed, Shinichi looked up, as the intruder seemed to gain ground, glaring immediately as she identified him, groaning.
"Oh, why are you here? Go back to Osaka, you stupid detective!" Hattori was actually the last person she wanted and expected to see at the moment. That stupid detective seemed to have an ability to annoy and lift her spirit at the same time, and at the moment, she wanted neither. "Go away; I was sleeping so well…"
"Don´t be like that, Kudo." Hattori grinned even more, obviously enjoying the opportunity to annoy her to no end. Why was he there again? "I came here all the way from Osaka and I had to change trains three times! The least you could do was pretend that you are happy to see me."
"I don´t remember asking you to come here." She knew that the battle in Osaka hadn´t ended yet. Some major players had been residing in Osaka, and the police had decided to take matters slowly, capture them one by one, in order to avoid casualties. So far, almost everyone had been caught, only two were left, but those were already walking into the trap. Therefore, she couldn´t understand what he was doing there, since this time she had actually involved him in her plans, expecting him too be too busy to meddle in her affairs.
However, there he was, standing before her with that annoying grin of his, as usual wearing that stupid cap of his. She had to admit he looked rather nice in black jeans, a white t-shirt and a black vest, but the cap destroyed it all, and while usually she would make a sarcastic remark about it, at that time she was too tired to even be angry with him.
"Yea, but then again, you never ask for anything." Suddenly, the smile was gone, and dark green eyes regarded her fiercely. "You could have asked me to come here, and I would have. Haven´t I shown you again and again that I am worthwhile of your trust; that I am your friend? But every time something happens, you just keep it to yourself and shut everyone else out. You cannot go on like this, Kudo."
Gulping, Shinichi wreaked her brain to say something, but for some reason, it was all blank. "Hattori, I…"
"No, Kudo, listen…" As he kneeled near her, his hand made his way to her tiny shoulder. "We are here for you. Me, science-neechan, Hakase-san… When you are sad, down, or depressed, anything really, you can count on us. We are not going to leave, even if you try to send us away. The organization is down, you will regain your body, and you know that I know that it will not be easy for you. It never had been, but maybe if you just rely on us a little, it´ll be easier. We are here, Kudo, and we always will be."
For a moment, neither of them said a thing, as they looked each other in the eyes. The silence was rather awkward, and Hattori wondered if maybe he should say something else, when suddenly the little detective threw herself into his arms, crying uncontrollably while holding his shirt as if it was the only thing keeping her grounded. For all he knew, maybe it was, Hattori reflected as he gently hugged her, allowing her to cry her eyes out.
Ai was sitting in the kitchen, gazing at the window were the birds flew up the tree. For a moment, she though she saw a dove, but before she knew it the bird disappeared, leaving her to wonder if it was her imagination.
Hattori approached her from behind, his expression rather grim as he all but collapsed on the chair, sighing loudly. "So, how did it go?" Ai asked innocently, not that she needed, it was clear by his body language. Without a word, Hakase gave the teen a glass of cold water, sitting beside his adopted daughter.
"Better than you think, actually. She tried to act normal at first, if maybe grumpier than usual… but then when I told her that well be here, she started crying." Drinking the cup of water as if it was his last drink, he sighed again. "After she calmed down we talked for a while. There is a lot of guilt down there, for those she couldn´t save, for those who ended hurt, especially that magician. I knew I should have kept her away from him… that bastard, when does he plan to wake up? Anyway, I think it´ll take a while for her to realize it was not her fault… I don´t think she ever took a chance to forgive herself, not even for your sister´s death."
"I feared that much." Ai nodded, cringing at the memory where she blamed the detective. "I have never really noticed, she always appeared to be so strong, sometimes her strength was what kept me going. It´s not easy to live afraid someone is going to come and kill you, but somehow she made it seem almost easy. It´s only recently that I noticed how much everything hurt her, but I never had a chance to do anything about it. I think with the organization gone, she doesn´t have a goal, so she feels like it doesn´t exactly matters if she keeps her mask on. Good for us, since we finally have a chance to help."
"Shinichi had always been like this, she learned it as a way to survive her parents. Yusaku and Yukiko are not easy to live with and they never had much time for her… It was not unusual for them to leave for a week or more, and I believe it affected her more than they think." Hakase had always wondered how sane would the little girl end up in the hands of her eccentric parents, and now he had his answer. "We cannot change the past, but the future is our to make."
"Exactly!" Hattori stated with a smile, finishing his water. "Anyway, I am taking her out for lunch and dinner. I think she needs some air before… before she takes the antidote and becomes grounded for who knows how long. We´ll be back before midnight, for sure, but in case anything happens, I have my phone with me."
"Oh, so that´s why she suddenly went to take a bath." Haibara remarked, nodding. "I was planning on starting after dinner, but we can wait. It´s not like any of us will be sleeping this night anyway… she told about the circumstances?"
Nodding, Hattori sighed. "To think she was actually dying… I swear, Kudo has the worst luck of us all, and yet when it comes to surviving, not even Kid can beat her. Anyway, what about you? Kudo said nothing about the effects it had on you."
"It´s not exactly apotoxin´s fault, so I am fine. When she was first captured, that idiot actually ingested another poison that would have killed her 24 hours after the ingestion. Even though she took the antidote, it reacted with apotoxin, starting to slowly kill her. However, as you said, she´s lucky. If I didn´t have the cure, Kudo Shinichi would be dead for real in less than half a year." Shaking her head, Haibara went through the nights plans mentally. "However, she is not safe yet. The cure will not miraculously make everything right. If everything goes well, she will be unconscious for few days and it´ll take months before she´ll be able to live normally."
Hattori made a face, already imagining how horrible it would be, and how much of a pain Kudo would be once she recovered enough. Since he currently had no school, he could keep Kudo company until April, but once school started… the detective would be on her own. Nevertheless, that wasn´t what she needed. No, Kudo needed someone to be with her, take care of her and to be away from the cases and everything bad that had happened. Some time to relax, put her thoughts together, find a new goal… what Kudo needed was to be away from Beika, probably even Japan, for some time.
"When do you think Kudo will be able to travel?" The dark skinned detective asked out of nowhere, receiving a glare from the young scientist. "I think that she should take some time out from being a detective, and since she will be recovering, some holidays at a warm place would do wonders."
"Hm… I have not thought about that. Indeed, there´s not much Beika can do for her in terms of recovering. I´m not sure she would be happy to see anyone while so weak… I know someone who could arrange us to leave for a few week to Hawaii… No, I want to go to Greece. Kudo´s parents can pay for the trip, I don´t think they will mind. We can move next week I think, but first I´ll need to contact everyone and find appropriate transportation for Kudo and a nice place to stay. Now this a great idea."
"What is a great idea?" Shinichi asked warily as she entered the kitchen, dressed to go out in, staring at Haibara apprehensively. The scientist was smiling like a devil she was, and it was giving her creeps. "Good morning, everyone."
"Oh, nothing, nothing, I was just having a chat with Hattori-kun here…" Jumping from her seat, Haibara grinned even more, already imagining everything. Of course, Kudo would know nothing until they arrived there, otherwise she would try to talk her out of it, and she felt that everyone deserved a rest. "I need to make some calls, so don´t bother me. Enjoy your day out, you two."
Not moving from her spot until the scientist, the crazy scientist obviously, was gone, Shinichi rushed to drink some coffee, eager to go out and put some distance between herself and the scientist. "I would ask what that was all about, but I feel like I don´t want to know… So, Hattori, where are we going?"
"First, lunch, I am starving." Shinichi just rolled her eyes, already having expected that. "After that, we will go watch a movie. I have been waiting to watch a certain movie and now I have company. Since I´m not sure how long it will take, I think we can go to the arcade or something before we dine out… Was there a place you wanted to visit?"
Giving him an uncomfortable look, Shinichi shook her head, her hair still slightly wet. "Not really a place… well, a place but… I wanted to visit Kaito." Her voice was slowly growing smaller, until it was nothing more than a whisper. The last memory she had of him was the moment when he had been rushed to the operational block, and it certainly was not a happy one. Since she would be grounded for who knows how long starting that night, she wanted just one more look at him…
"Kaito? Oh, you mean Kuroba. Yea, we can do it. After all, we have a whole afternoon to spend." Grinning, Hattori stood up, starting to pull her after him. "But first, lunch! I am starving!"
Laughing at his silliness, Shinichi nodded, stepping out of the house with a light heart for the first time in weeks.
"Did you see that last part? No, really, did you? I mean, it was awesome! Like… like… Wow!"
The child near the dark skinned, green eyed, cool looking teenager rolled her eyes at her brother's silliness, and the people around couldn´t help but laugh at them. The movie was supposed to be for children, but apparently, the teen was more excited than his little sister was.
"Yes, yes, I saw it. Yes, it was awesome. Now, can you stop acting like this? You are embarrassing me."
Blinking, Hattori looked at her, almost pouting. However, he was a grown up man, he did not pout. "I am acting perfectly normal. There is something wrong with you since you cannot understand how amazing that movie was. All you care is about your stupid football and Sherlock… I bet if it was a Sherlock Holmes movie you would be hysteric."
"Excuse me?" Resisting the urge to hit that idiot, or kick him, Shinichi looked ahead with her head held up high. "I would do no such thing. While I admit I would be happy, I would behave as normally as I am behaving right now…
"Please, remember who you are talking to, idiot. In case you don´t remember, you spend three hours talking to me, none stop, about London, Sherlock Holmes and even more Sherlock Holmes when you found out you were going there." The girl swiftly ignored him, receiving her ticket to the bus with a polite smile. "Or should I talk about the time when your favorite team lost a game. I seem to recall someone was so upset that they called me and complained for who knows how long… Or should I…"
"Okay, okay, I got it, no need to continue!" Shinichi almost screamed, starting to blush. Hey, it was not her fault she loved football and Sherlock Holmes, those two were way better than some movie… "All I meant to say was that there is no need to behave as a child on public. I understand, you loved the movie, so shut it for the moment and wait until we return home."
Grinning, Hattori felt like he accomplished something important that day. First and furthermore, Kudo wasn´t depressed anymore. Sure, it was only a temporary solution, but he was certain in the long run everything would be fine too.
"We are going to visit Kuroba now, alright?" The girl deflated slightly, but it didn´t discourage him. "The visiting hours are almost over, but I am certain we can make it on time. If we arrive late, we can always ask his mother, I believe she stays there all day."
Chikage-san was there? Shinichi froze, suddenly scared. Kaito had been hurt because of her… what if Chikage-san thought it was all her fault too, and stopped her from seeing him. Or worst, told her that she blamed her. Even though Kaito´s mother didn´t seem to mind that Kaito was in danger before when she first stayed with them, it didn´t mean that she hadn´t changed her mind. After all, Kaito was all she had left, her last family, and to think she could have lost him so easily because of Shinichi…
"Kudo, stop overthinking." A cold hand touched her chin, lifting it slightly so that green and blue could met. "His mother does not blame you. She already asked after you many times, asking if you are alight. It was his decision to help you. Only his; and you are not to blame for anything. She understands; she knows her son the best. Do not blame yourself, Kudo."
Nodding, unable to stay anything, not that there was much to say, Shinichi relaxed slightly. Hattori had a… point. There was no use to think about it, it's not like she could change the past. "It´ll be fine, Kudo, I´ll be with you all the time."
Chikage was reading another book when the door opened, and a certain little detective walked in clearly uncomfortable, her eyes slightly wide with badly masked fear. Without allowing her to say a thing, the older woman ran towards her, pulling her into a tight hug.
"God, Shinichi, you worried me so much…" She stated, refusing to let go of the child. "Why did you leave? Do you know how worried I was? You gave me and Kaito a heart attack, young lady. Don´t ever do that again, understood? Am I clear?"
Against her chest, she felt the girl nod, smiling slightly despite everything. Finally, the things were falling back together. "I´m sorry… I´m so sorry, Chikage-san." Shinichi mumbled, and the ex-thief knew she was apologizing for more than just worrying her. Probably she was blaming herself for Kaito too, but it was not her burden to carry.
"It´s fine, Shinichi. It wasn´t your fault. Obviously I am angry you left, but nothing else was your fault. Kaito would have gone after you anyway even if he hadn´t been kidnapped, and I bet it would end the same way anyway. He is known for his rash decision when someone important is in danger." Hugging her tighter, Chikage finally let go, giving the teary child a smile. "No permanent damage was done. Kaito is on the mend, he´ll wake up once he is ready, and I´ve heard you are receiving your cure too. So, in the end, everything end up pretty good, don´t you think?"
Since Shinichi said nothing, diverting her gaze to the floor, the person who accompanied her jumped in the conversation. "That´s what I have been telling her all this time, but her head is too tick, I think I´ll have to repeat it many times fore she finally gets it." A young teen with dark skin and dark green eyes stood before her, flashing a grin. "My name is Hattori Heiji, I´m Kudo´s friend from Osaka. Nice to meet you, Kuroba-san."
"Nice to meet you too, Hattori-kun. Shinichi doesn´t talk much about her friends, but I believe I have heard your name once or twice… You usually invite her to Osaka, right?" She heard about him from Kaito too. A high school detective such as Shinichi. Well, he appeared to be a nice young man, and Chikage couldn´t find something to dislike about him at the moment, as long as he reminded only a friend with Shinichi.
"Yea, and when I come to Tokyo, I usually stay either at her house, when I´m alone, or at Mouri´s when Kazuha, my friend, comes with me." Kazuha, a girlfriend or love interest. Well, Hattori-kun didn´t seem to be in love with Shinichi, so everything was all right. "How is Kuroba doing?"
"Kaito´s fine." Chikage answered with a small smile, gesturing Hattori to follow her towards the chairs while Shinichi rushed to her son. "The operation was hard, but the prospects are good. He should wake up this week, but who knows. He needs the time to rest, so I don´t mind much. When he wakes up, he´ll have to stay at the hospital for a while."
"Good. Kudo had been driving herself crazy wondering how he was… but well, I don´t think she´ll be able to come to visit him after today. At least not for a while." He quickly added, noticing the glint of something in his host's eyes. "She is taking the cure today, and after that she´ll be in a bad condition… The scientist-neechan said it could take months for her to heal, so…"
"Oh my… I see; it sure is bad." Kaito had told her about Shinichi´s condition when she took the cure and it certainly was bad. "Once Kaito wakes up I´ll tell him, or else he´ll think she ran away again, and neither of us want a wounded Kaito running around the town."
While those two giggled like girls, Shinichi was busy staring at Kaito, feeling her heart relax for the first time in ages. He was fine. A little bit wounded, and sleeping, but fine. His heart still was beating, there was no brain damage, Kaito would live.
Sighing for the hundred time that day, the detective thanked all existing and imaginable gods for this. She knew that she wouldn´t be able to forgive herself if something went wrong.
"Hey Kaito." She mumbled into his ear, smiling slightly, as her hand found its way to his hair, playing with it slightly. "I am fine. A little down, but fine… Haibara, Hakase and Hattori are taking care of me, not that I need them to, but as long as it makes them happy. I… I´m sorry that this happened. I didn´t… I never wanted it to go down this way, I shouldn´t have underestimated Gin´s stubbornness. He is dead, you know, Gin. Vermouth finished him… I… I didn´t even stop her."
Going quiet all of sudden, Shinichi closed her eyes, before taking a deep breath and continuing. "I wished I could kill him. When I though he killed you, my mind went all blank with rage and… Anyway, he won´t be hurting anyone anymore for sure. On a happy note, I finally have my cure. I´m going to take it tonight so I won´t be visiting you again but… but I´ll come when I am all better. Hopefully, you are at home, awake, and not at a hospital, but… I´ll come again, alright, Kaito?"
Looking at Hattori, noticing he wasn´t paying her attention, and neither was Chikage-san, Shinichi bended forward, kissing Kaito´s forehead gently. "Until next time, Kaito."
Hattori was describing one of his cases with Kudo when the little detective approached him, saying it was time to leave. He had expected her to stay longer, but obviously, it was already hard enough for her as it was.
"Thank you for allowing us to visit." Shinichi said with a smile, and Chikage smiled back.
"Anytime, dear. It was nice of you to come, I wish Kaito was awake, but he always liked to sleep longer than others did. That is, when you finally got him to sleep." Giving the child a kiss, and Hattori a smile, she watched them go. "See you next time!"
Shinichi was lying down awkwardly, wearing only a large robe, not sure what to do. Haibara would soon come and the painful process of becoming Shinichi would commence. Not that she was afraid, but she certainly was not happy at the prospect of pain. After all, she wasn´t a masochist.
"Calm down." The stern voice of her friend, and now doctor, made her shudder slightly, and not only from the cold. The room in the basement was already cold enough when you were properly dressed, but without any clothes, it was freezing. "You remember everything, right? Try to keep calm no matter what happens. I´ll be here always from now on, and I won´t allow you to die. Do you trust me?"
Grinning, Shinichi nodded. "I trust you as much as I trust myself. I remember; don´t worry. No panicking, no running away, no moving around. I should never try to stand up or even lift myself until you allow. If something is hurting, I should tell. Actually, I should tell you everything, I can´t hide anything… did I forget something?"
"No, you didn´t." Rolling her eyes, Haibara prepared the antidote, gazing at the bloody red substance. This was it. Once Kudo took it, there was no going back. The antidote would either cure her, or kill her.
"I´ll be fine." The girl interjected, grinning shapelessly. "I only have luck when it comes down to life or death situations, so judging by the earlier examples, I should survive. Now do it before I change my mind and run away. You know, even knowing that I am going to be pretty much out of it for the next days, agreeing to use an adult dipper took a lot of me."
"Oh, certainly, because compared to the pain and the probability that you´ll be completely on machine support for a while wearing a dipper is way worse, right?" The worries were still there, Haibara knew, but something about her patient's easy going words made her relax slightly.
"Of course it is worse! Dippers! I didn´t wear those since I was a baby… But I am an understanding human and I understand that sometimes, you have to do what you have to do. As long as I´m not the one changing them…"
"No need to remind me of that…" Ignoring the cheeky smile, Haibara took one last deep breath, approaching the lying child. "Ready?"
Eyeing the syringe with the antidote, Shinichi smiled. "As ready as I ever can be. Do it."
Administrating the antidote, Haibara watched as the red substance disappeared into the body, preparing herself for the inevitable. Not that they had other choice but to do this, Kudo would die otherwise.
Seconds went by slowly, before the first scream pieced the silence. That was going to be a long night.
A/N: I can´t breathe properly! I was sick for few days, and while today I am all better, my nose is killing me... I´m not sure how I´ll sleep today. -.-
Maya5392: Thanks :) I first wanted to make it Yoko, but we all know Kogoro would have died... XD My sister was with me, and so was my friend. We were planing on watching fireworks, but we could only take the train there and it suddenly was canceled... So in the end we celebrated at home, drinking champagne. Oh, we did see firework, our neighbors bough some small. In the end it was fun. Everything is fine at home, I guess I was depressed after all. My grades were horrible and I neglected writing, so now I need to make up for everything. However, I am all better now XD Thanks for asking
Moonlily13: I know, I know, I have some chapters half written, I think I´ll finish by the end of the week (along with another story...) Thanks for reading.
Seliniaki: I´m not sure if you will even remember, but you put a review reggarding my bad use of grab (nor garb)... I know, I notice sometimes, but when I am writing, I sometimes don´t notice. Then, when I read it again, usually at night, everything appears normal. I am making an effort to read twice before posting, bust since it is at night, I am half asleep. Anyway, from today on I´ll pay more attention. Thanks :)
ShinjiTousaka: Thank you for liking :)
Mai-chan63: I know what you mean... when I find a story I love, and suddenly they drop it, I feel like crying... But no, I have no plans on dropping my current stories. It may take a while, but I´ll finish them! Anyway, thanks for reading!
Angel: Muahahahahahahaha *coughs* *wipes nose* Muahahahahaha Don´t worry, I won´t torture you much longer... XD
Guest: Hello, Guest-san. Well, every story needs a little drama XD But don´t worry, soon they´ll be reunited again.
Thanks everyone for reading, favoring and reviewing. I´ll keep doing my best... *wipes nose* Until next time.
Kaggami-chan
