Author's Note - Just a short Conan/Haibara one-shot. This idea came to me recently while I was having a slow day at work. There are moments when I'm an absolute fan of Shinichi/Ran, but throughout some of the parts of the series - I just can't help but think that Conan/Haibara are really cute too. But anyway - I hope either way you enjoy this little story. Feel free to give me any feedback! :) I did feel like there were moments that I accidentally went a bit out of character with the two of them, but overall I still enjoyed writing this!
"Would you like to go out on a date with me?"
Conan wasn't sure why the question decided to escape his lips. It was a normal day after school. The rest of the Detective Boys had disappeared up ahead, leaving him and Haibara to enjoy the rare moment of peace as they walked leisurely down the sidewalk. Now, however, she was staring at him as if he'd grown an extra head.
"Huh?"
He expected that answer. Even he was wondering why he'd asked. It'd only been three months since the day Ran had made the choice to move on from Kudo Shinichi. Out of the two and a half years of being Edogawa Conan – their breakup had caused him the most pain. It wasn't as if he blamed her, though. In fact, he'd been the one who had brought it up in the first place. There was no telling when the antidote would be finished – or if there would be a cure at all. It would be selfish to make her wait for something that may never come.
"I asked if you'd like—"
"I heard you the first time, Edogawa-kun," She interrupted, giving him a look that he couldn't decipher, "I'm just wondering why."
He ran one of his hands roughly through his hair, trying to shove the first wave of embarrassment that was attempting to rise in his chest. "Does a guy really need a reason to ask a girl out?" He meant to mutter it under his breath, but he forgot that his companion had ears just as sensitive as his own.
"Yes – typically a guy should have a reason to be asking a girl out," Haibara replied, her expression perfectly blank. He knew her better, though. The corners of her mouth had twitched briefly upwards – she was making fun of him.
Conan sighed. "I just thought it'd be a good change of pace," he glanced away from her, watching a few cars pass by, "for the both of us, I mean. I'm always caught up with cases and whenever you're not with the Professor or those kids, you're usually working in your lab – so I figured maybe a break from it all would be refreshing."
"What about Mouri-san?" She asked him gently, "I know that the two of you have been separated now for a few months, but I highly doubt it would be that easy for someone to move on from someone they've cared about for so long."
"It's not easy," Conan's laugh was bittersweet, "but I know that Ran is trying hard to move forward the best she can – and I thought it's about time I do the same," he offered her a hesitant smile, "it doesn't have to be a date, though – it can just be us going somewhere as friends." A comfortable silence settled in between them for a few moments – neither of them speaking as he left her to her thoughts. During their talk, he'd noticed that their pace had slowed quite a bit, and when he saw her pause in the corner of his eye, he stopped, glancing back at her curiously. "Haibara?"
She looked up, giving him a smile. It wasn't her normal smile, though – there was no trace of a smirk in it – it was genuine and seemed to make her face glow. "A date sounds nice."
He tried to hold back a choke of surprise, "Really?"
This time she didn't hold back that familiar smirk. "Yes, really. Were you that sure that I would say no?"
Yes and no. In all honestly, he hadn't been sure what her response would be, but he hadn't expected her to accept so quickly. Ever since he had met her, Haibara was always the type to think over things very carefully – she didn't like snap decisions if they could be avoided. The embarrassment from before had all but gone away, but now it was being replaced by something else – nervousness. He was hoping dearly that this would be a good idea – especially after seeing such a smile from her. The last thing he wanted was to hurt someone else he cared about. "Yes," he answered honestly as the two of them began to walk once more, "maybe not a complete no, but more of a… I don't know… "let me think about it" kind of no?"
"Perhaps that would have been the case normally," She agreed, "but with this…" She trailed off and he thought he caught a hint of blush on her cheek, "well – let's just say that I've already given it more than enough thought."
Oh. He could feel the heat rising to his cheeks once more. For some reason, at that moment he recalled his mother mentioning something about how girls would often stare at boys for two reasons – either they had something on their face, or the girl liked them. At the time he didn't really take it seriously, but now he wasn't so sure.
"So, Meitantei-san," Her voice broke through his thoughts, "where are you taking me?"
"Eh?"
There was that smirk again. "For our date." She clarified.
That was a good question. He hadn't really thought ahead. In his defense, he hadn't expected her to agree so quickly, but that wasn't really an excuse either. It was his fault for not thinking of all the possibilities – for some reason he didn't this time. He cleared his throat. "How about when we get home you text me the days you're free," He offered her another smile, "then I'll take it from there."
"Ho? A surprise?"
"Yes – don't worry, I'm sure you'll like it."
There was a spark of curiosity in her eyes and before she had a chance to reply to him, the familiar voice of Genta made the pair of them jump. "Oi! Haibara, Conan! You guys are being so slow today – I'm hungry! Don't you remember? Hakase has chocolate cake!" The other boy was suddenly in front of him, his arms folded. Ayumi and Mitsuhiko were standing on either side of him – they didn't seem as upset as they were curious.
Haibara walked past Conan, a smile upon her face. "Gomen-ne – Edogawa-kun was distracting me with his Mystery talk."
Oi, oi. He stared after her in amusement and followed up behind the group. Once they reached Agasa-hakase's house, though, she slowed her pace for a moment as the kids ran up to the door, turning her head back toward him.
"How about three theories?"
It took him a moment, but he quickly noticed the curious glint was back in her eyes. He shook his head, grinning. "You'll just have to wait and see." It was his turn to walk past her and as he stepped through the doorway, ideas began to slowly flood his mind.