Chapter 8
"The Song Stuck In My Head"

Christi lay wide awake in her futon. She glanced at the bed beside her where Ran, lucky her, was fast asleep. She checked Shinichi's phone.

1:42 AM.

She exhaled slowly. It was already tomorrow, but there was no reply from Subaru—not like she expected to get one so soon. But she had to do something while she waited. . . her finger hovered over another conversation. At the last second, she put her phone down and turned away from the other bed. Focus, she scolded herself. Last night's events were already banging on her head, demanding review.

The woman who called herself Chikage and pretended to be Kudo Yukiko was Vermouth. She was the only one with the skill set and inside knowledge to even think of attempting such a stunt. As to why she did it. . . Vermouth's goal had to have been reconnaissance, and not the death of Nozomi, like Christi initially considered.

Which meant Vermouth knew something was happening. She didn't know everything, seeing as she mistakenly picked her mother as a disguise, when both her parents were busy overseas with the favors she asked of them. So how much did she know? Was it enough to compromise them?

It bothered her plenty that Vermouth left so abruptly, and seemingly with nothing. Even if she got spooked by the police or realized Christi figured her out, wouldn't she still have tried to get information?

Then there was that unexpected element: Kuroba Kai. The name could have been an alias, yet she was nearly sure his face wasn't a mask, since she didn't see any ripping when Vermouth grabbed him by the ear. Perhaps plastic surgery. . . Another impersonator less-than-satisfied with one of her past deductions, or a member of the Organization? Either way, she couldn't see why Vermouth felt the need for a partner.

Argh, this guy was throwing her off. Did Vermouth finally give away her true identity? Something told her that she wouldn't. No, she couldn't trust her. . . if something had happened. . . if this was a special case. . . he had called Vermouth 'Mum' after all. . . or maybe she had a long-lost twin. . .

She shook her head. She could just hear Ai reprimanding her: "Your thought process is fine until you go overthinking down the rabbit hole like that. Do you even hear yourself?" She wasn't overthinking, she argued. Just got a little side-tracked.

Christi found herself wishing she could actually talk with Ai, even just to bounce ideas off each other. However, she didn't regret putting Ai on a need-to-know basis. She didn't want to give her any unneeded stress. She ran through the possibilities a couple more times, to no avail. Eventually her eyelids grew heavy, and she drifted off into a white, snowy dream.

o~o

Christi woke to a muffled buzzing. She had just begun to sit up when the bedroom door flew open, revealing Okiya Subaru wearing Ran's apron and holding a cooking spoon. He looked like he'd rather be holding something much deadlier.

"Could you pick up the phone already? It's been going off a while."

She stared at him. Something about this wasn't right. Her phone kept on screaming, much louder and closer now.

"Just answer it!" he barked, then stormed out the room.

"Okay, okay!" She fumbled for her phone. "Hello?"

"Oh, so you're finally awake," came an unamused voice.

"Haibara?" She quickly tied her hair back and got up to follow Subaru. "What's wrong?"

"Excuse me? 'What's wrong?'" Ai scoffed. "Do you even know what time it is?"

She found Subaru stirring something in a pot in the kitchen. A crock-pot hummed away to the side. "Huh?" Her eyes flickered to the wall clock and she stiffened, now wide-awake. "It's eleven-forty? I must have overslept!"

"Excellent powers of deduction, Shitlock."

"I thought I didn't do that anymore," she murmured, pushing her bangs out of her face. "Should—should I still go to school?"

"You want my honest opinion?" Ai snapped. "Get a better alarm. Or refrain from getting involved in side-cases and learn to sleep earlier. Do you know what rest means, Edogawa-chan?"

"I know, but—"

"I don't think you do! Non-stop for a month and you're still not satisfied? Do you have something to prove? You think you're some kind of—of machine? You could get sick!"

Oh, interesting. "Are you. . . worried about me?"

"Please, don't flatter yourself." Christi could practically hear Ai's eye-roll. "It's merely in my best interests that you and your. . . friends succeed." There was a pause, then, "I'm dropping by later with your homework."

Christi was grinning now. "Aw, you're so sweet! But can't you just do it for me, seeing as you're so concerned?"

"There's something seriously wrong with you," Ai said then ended the call.

"Rude," Christi told her phone.

Over at the stove, Subaru turned off the heat and began ladling soup into a bowl. "The princess seems well."

"Well, of course you'd know." She sat at the table and asked as casually as she could, "Is it just you?"

"Last I checked," he replied. He paused to reach up and switch his voice-changing choker off.

Christi nodded, a little relieved. That was their simple code for communicating that their location was free of unwanted eavesdroppers. 'Do you see anyone else?' meant uncertainty, or a lack of time to survey the area. And naturally, 'It's just me' meant the complete opposite. Proceed with utmost caution.

"I didn't expect you to come here in person. How'd you manage that?"

"Well initially, Ran-san left you in Mouri-san's care." Subaru set the bowl down and started on another one. "But then he said you were 'fine anyway' and had to leave for an 'urgent matter'. Which, going by his mood and the state of his clothes, was a chance date with his wife. He called the Professor, who for an unknown reason was unavailable, before reaching out to me to baby-sit you in his stead. Chicken soup?"

She accepted the bowl. "That's irresponsible of him."

"You're not qualified to speak on that matter." He sat across from her, wearing a glare that rivaled Ai's. "When I heard you overslept. . . I thought it was some kind of distress signal. Tell me: why is your idea of a break to attend a thief's magic show, and solve someone's murder?"

"First off, attempted murder," she corrected. "Second, your idea of a break is to cook all day and get a dog."

Subaru looked down and plucked a stray piece of fur from his clothes.

"And finally, Haibara's got the unnecessary lecture covered. We have more important things to discuss."

She told him the whole story, including her speculations and unanswered questions. She took care to leave out some of the more embarrassing bits. When she finished, her soup had gone cold. The ingredients had settled to the bottom.

Subaru leaned back, arms crossed. Focus replaced the irritation on his face, with no waver in intensity. "I checked up on them like you asked. With your parents, as well, for good measure. Nothing seems amiss. The strategy is still working."

"Okay, that's good, but if she's already trying to get info—"

He held up a finger. "Not 'already', but 'still'. She's still trying to get information. You said it yourself—whatever intelligence she's gathered isn't nearly enough. She also left before she could figure out anything more."

"Well. . . " Christi expected he might say something like that. Still, she stirred her soup until it was as muddled as she felt. She knew the risks, but. . . "We still have time to send someone else in. Just to make sure."

"Isn't the whole point to not have to do that? You were the one who devised this, so I'm sure you haven't forgotten that time Gin found your bug on Kir, and the consequent mess."

"To call that a mess is an understatement."

"You know what I mean, then."

She scowled. "It's not like it's a guaranteed win."

"There's no scheme that is. The odds are—"

"Fifty-fifty," Christi finished automatically, then sighed. "I know."

"Which is why we know what to do in case of contingencies like this. But trust me when I say I have confidence in you."

She blinked. "Um."

"Don't look at me like that," he chided. "You've proven yourself countless times."

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I've gotten used to you acknowledging it."

"I feel like I tell you often enough."

"Eh. . . "

Subaru shook his head. "Listen, my guess is you're a bit wound-up—"

"—I'm fine—"

"—which is understandable, given what you have to shoulder. It's good to keep working, but know when to slow down." He stood. "I'll get the word to 221B, how's that? Haven't seen Mother in a while anyway. . . I'll even do a background check on those two names."

She tapped the table, thinking. "Fine. Okay. Get them to triple-check everything. But I think I should deal with Vermouth myself. . . "

He frowned. "Absolutely not. This situation doesn't call for unnecessary risks."

"Oh, I'm not going to do anything," she reassured him. "I was also thinking of having our other friend downstairs help with the background check. I mean, unless you want to—"

He raised his hands in surrender. "Alright, I understand. Is that all?"

"Now that you mention it. . . " she gave him a sweet smile. "I have a couple case files on KID in my library. Mind bringing over the advance notices?"

Subaru took a moment to look at her like, seriously? "Which ones?"

"Oh, everything from after his eight-year hiatus until now."

He might have snorted, but evidently decided not to argue. "I'll try to be back before the Mouris get home. There's curry in the crock-pot, but I don't want you anywhere near it."

"Ha. Ran told you about my reputation?"

"Close. Your parents did. I heard you practically burnt down the—"

"Have a safe trip!" She shut the door in his face.

o~o

A quick peek into Café Poirot yielded nearly nothing. Amuro Tooru had the day off, much to Christi's dismay. She reluctantly returned to her shared bedroom to wait.

It was quiet.

It was too quiet.

She found herself pulling out Shinichi's phone and opening her conversation with Ran. Ran's latest messages to her read: I waited again today. I can see you're reading my texts, and I hope that means you're okay. I'll be waiting there again next Saturday, so please come like you promised.

She steeled herself and typed, Hey, I know it's been a while—

She shook her head and deleted it.

I'm back. Sorry I left you on read—

No, that wasn't it either.

Hi Ran. How are you? I'm fine.

Christi back-spaced furiously and groaned. Texting didn't feel right. But she couldn't go and see Ran either. Not even if she had promised it in the first place. It's not like she could have predicted at the time of their last phone call how complicated things would get.

The landline downstairs rang faintly: a welcome interruption. She shut down Shinichi's phone and all but sprinted down to catch it.

Focus.

Note:

Whoooops it's been more than a month. Tell me what you thought about this chapter! I thought it was a bit wordy, but necessary. I also tweaked the dynamic between Christi and Subaru, but I hope it's believable given the situation they're in. I'm also trying to write more in advance to ensure everything connects, which is the other reason I've been taking a while to churn these out.

How's everyone? I hope you're safe. If you ever need someone to talk to, you can always shoot me a PM here. I can't do much else but listen though, sorry.

Anyway, thank you to user EAS-MysteryThief for reviewing Chapter 7 on October 23 :)) Your commentaries give me life. I especially enjoyed the little joke at the end c:

This chapter's title comes from Favorite Record by Fall Out Boy.

"You were the song stuck in my head
Every song I've ever loved
Played again and again and again
And you can get what you want but it's never enough"

-Solanaceae Piperita