Hello guys! Here's the 9th chapter, set SEVERAL MONTHS AFTER THE LAST ONE. Hope you like it, have fun reading!
Agasa Residence, 7:40 am.
"Come here, corpse-magnet, give me a hand."
"Here I come!"
Conan stepped into Ai's bedroom wearing a pair of blue swim shorts and a grey t-shirt after washing up in the bathroom.
"What do you need help...", he trailed off as he got to face Ai's bare back. She was wearing her peacock blue bathing suit, or rather the lower part of it, holding the upper part over her chest with her arms to cover herself. He blushed terribly. The weak light coming from the outside enlightened the edges of her body, enhancing its shape and its curves; for a second, he thought he was having a celestial vision. Perfection.
"Help me to fasten the swimsuit top on my back.", she said impassively.
"Y-yeah... sure..."
The flushed detective proceeded towards her and took the two dangling strands of her swimsuit top in his hands. He tried in vain to restore his heartbeat to a normal speed while slowly doing as she had asked.
"Thank you."
He didn't seem to hear her response as his hands traveled from the smooth skin of her back to her hips, his eyes deeply focused on the path they were following.
She didn't move and secretly enjoyed the tingling sensation given by his touch, which was pleasuring and relaxing at the same time.
Reminding to herself that they needed to hurry up, she spoke again, "I said thank you."
He nodded as an answer but didn't pull away, instead, he wrapped his arms around her flat belly from the back and put her in an embrace. She chuckled as she got tickled by his breath when he buried his face into her neck.
"You know what...", he mumbled, sending chills through her spine.
"What?"
"Just now...", he dropped a kiss on her shoulder, "... I'm realizing that... you've become very very attractive...", he seductively praised.
She giggled and closed her eyes, feeling his lips pressing repeatedly on her neck, "Mmmm... Are you saying that I wasn't attractive before now?"
"Well... we've grown up... we're fifteen now... let's say that... your appearance has changed comparing to the one you had a few years ago."
"Mmmm... you're not bad too.", she said as she turned back and kissed him deeply in the mouth, slipping her arms around his neck. In response, he brought his arms around her back and pulled her closer, holding her tightly.
She moaned in pleasure between his lips, "Kinda flirty today huh?"
He nodded while continuing to taste the warm inside of her mouth, "I was thinking..." he muttered, "... it's been... more than a year and a half... since our first anniversary..."
She instantly figured out where he wanted to bring the conversation, "Go on."
"Well... we're teens now... and... taking the proper precautions... we could start doing... what married couples do..."
She whimpered in bliss, "Yeah... we could...", she pulled back a few inches away from his face, "... but not now, or else we'll be late. The kids will be here in twenty minutes, and I still have to put something else on. I can't show up like this even before arriving at the beach."
"Thing that reminds me that I have to make sure that no hormone-ridden boy sets his eyes on you... that bathing suit could drive anyone crazy.", he said before giving her a gentle and short kiss on the lips.
When he pulled back, she drove a hand on his face, using her index finger to trace his moist-and-red-due-to-intense-kisses lips, "First of all, right now you're a hormone-ridden boy too, and secondly, it's not a bikini nor a too-much-revealing swimsuit, I made sure to cover myself sufficiently. I didn't know you were so possessive, husband mine."
"I'm not possessive, I'm just accomplishing my task to protect you."
She smirked sarcastically and narrowed her eyes at him, "Oh really? Then why do I remember you burning with jealousy when Tsuburaya-kun confessed to me two months ago?"
"He was going to kiss you!", Conan protested, unknowingly blushing.
"He wasn't."
"Oh yes he was."
She denied in the most absolute way, "He. Wasn't. And even if he had tried, I would've stopped him."
"However, I'll better keep an eye on him.", he said with distrust.
"There's no need, we're still friends, and I can see he's moving on from my rejection.", she pulled out of his arms and approached the closet to grab a light t-shirt and a pair of shorts.
"But he still likes you, I can perceive that."
She let out a short laugh while dressing herself, "Excuse me? Since when have you become the Great Detective of the Heart?"
He frowned at her pride-killer — and so-right — comment. He wasn't the type of man who could be defined as an 'expert' in these topics.
"And by the way...", her tone became cautionary, "... When we'll arrive at the beach, you better make sure you don't show off or brag about being a handsome guy, Ayumi-chan is still into you."
He put on an annoyed look, "Of course I— Wait! Have you just said 'handsome guy'?"
"Let me reformulate—"
"Oh yes you said it."
Ai spoke louder and more sharply, "I meant, you better not show off because you think you're a handsome guy."
"Yeah yeah yeah, ", he mockingly agreed before taking giant steps towards her and hugging her from behind, "It's always the heart that speaks first, darling.", he teased.
At that, she deliberately stepped on his foot, hard.
"Ouch!"
"I've told you a million times not to call me 'darling'!", a fuming and red Ai blurted out, half because of outrage and half because of embarrassment, escaping from his embrace.
He mentally slapped himself, her mood was compromised now.
Heading out of the room, Ai firmly ordered, "Now hurry up, or else we'll be late."
20 minutes later...
"Hakase, where's the car I told you to rent?", a clearly pissed off Ai questioned.
"Uhm... you see Ai-kun... the fact is that..."
"Don't tell me you forgot about it?"
Agasa started sweating badly, "Actually..."
Seeing that his wife was a assailing the professor too harshly, Conan tried to curb her outburst to help him, "Come on Haibara, the professor is 60 years old, it happens to forget things at that age..."
Ai glared at him from the corner of her eyes, and Agasa pouted a bit because of the age factor mention made by Conan.
Mitsuhiko, Ayumi, and Genta — who had arrived there a few minutes earlier — didn't dare to speak a word, seen the not-too-jovial mood of their auburn-haired friend, so they simply stayed silent near the main gate, a few steps away from the professor and the shrunken adults.
Ai fully faced Conan, who felt a lump in the throat because of the flaming glare she gave him, "And how do you suggest to arrive at the beach, genius?! On foot?!"
He gulped hard and scratched his back, "Maybe we could use... Hakase's car?"
Eyebrows furrowed, teeth and jaw clenched, temples pulsating, Ai pointed her index finger towards Agasa's car's direction, "How do you plan to travel using that jalopy?!"
Meanwhile, Mitsuhiko watched Ai's finger pointing in his direction as the car was right behind him; with a worried look, he lightly moved aside to escape from that trajectory.
"W-what's wrong with that?", Conan reluctantly asked.
"First of all, that car is older than us because a certain someone insists saying that he's too attached to it and refuses to buy a new one...", she shot a rapid scowl at the professor, "... and then how do you think we could fit there!? In case you haven't noticed, we're not kids anymore, you fool!"
Conan gestured her to calm down with his hands, "Relax, Haibara, we're going to the beach to have fun and enjoy our summer holidays, not to stress ourselves more."
"Conan-kun is right, Ai-chan, we could simply huddle a bit. I don't think the beach is that far, the travel will be quite short.", Ayumi friendly suggested.
At that, Ai sighed and her look softened, she could never act severely towards Ayumi.
Conan smiled and mentally thanked Ayumi for melting the attitude of the so-susceptible girl, even though he had something to object regarding her last affirmation, there was something he hadn't told her.
However now the priority was solving the actual problem, "Okay listen to me, we could do this way, ", he turned towards his friends, "Genta, you could sit in the passenger seat, since you take up the most space between us five.", he instructed, earning a slight glare from Genta.
"And us four? We undoubtedly don't fit in the backseat.", Ai pointed out, less harshly this time.
"Actually... there would be a way...", he said in a low and hesitant tone.
It took only a few instants for Ai to understand which was his idea. She blushed slightly and started to grow angry again.
"No, tell me you're not thinking of—"
"It's the only way. You and Ayumi will sit on me and Mitsuhiko's lap."
Mitsuhiko went all red at the thought of him having Ai or Ayumi on his lap. Ayumi's cheeks flushed too.
"NO WAY! YOU PERVERT!"
"But it's the only option we have, stop being stubborn!"
If looks could kill, Conan would already be inside a tomb right now. Nevertheless, she decided to give up because she knew that he was right, they couldn't do otherwise.
"Is it okay for you, Mitsuhiko?", Conan gently asked.
"O—okay... N—no problem..."
"Good, let's load the car now."
40 minutes later...
The car was filled with an awkward silence, none dared to speak a word. Professor Agasa was concentrated on the steering wheel. Beside him, Genta was taking a nap, snoring lightly, a bit of saliva was escaping from his half-closed mouth.
On the left side of the backseat, a blushing Mitsuhiko with an also-blushing Ayumi sitting on his lap, her hands clinging onto the edges of Agasa's seat to switch there some of her weight and make less pressure on Mitsuhiko.
A few centimeters beside them, a bored-looking Ai in the same posture as Ayumi, sitting on top of Conan, whose facial expression was calm and careless, contrary to the look of every awake person in there. He wasn't too bothered by the situation, his legs were quite used to supporting Ai's weight. She, on the other hand, was mentally cursing him for looking so relaxed and making everyone assume that he was enjoying that circumstance.
The only thing that displeased him was the fact that he had to restrain himself from bringing his hands in contact with Ai's body, also because his legs continually brushed against hers, causing him to be turned on a little.
Everything made it a very comedic picture.
"Hakase, how long until we get to the beach?", Mitsuhiko asked tentatively.
Before Agasa could answer, Ayumi turned her gaze back to him, "Maybe I'm too heavy?", she asked shyly, the redness of her cheeks intensified.
"A-absolutely not, Ayumi-chan, ", Mitsuhiko reassured, although he was starting to feel a bit of pain in his legs, "It was just to know."
"Three more hours.", the professor replied.
"THREE MORE HOURS?!", Mitsuhiko, Ayumi, and Ai shouted in unison, their eyes wider than ever.
"Three hours?! The nearest beaches are about less than one hour drive from Beika, then may we know where the hell are you bringing us to, Hakase?!", Ai inquired, threatening as always.
Meanwhile, a loud yawn came from Genta, who got awakened by the noisy screams of his friends, "Did I miss something?", he asked with a gruff voice while rubbing one of his eyelids.
Agasa appeared to be perplexed, "I thought you knew it, we're heading to a beach nearby Shimoda."
Ai started to become nervous and hostile again, "What?! Why the hell do we have to go that far?!"
"I—It wasn't my idea, Ai-kun. Conan-kun told me to head there, I—I thought he had informed you all.", the professor clarified in a hurry to free himself from her dangerous eyes' aim.
Ai's bitter gaze turned back to Conan, "Ohhh... I see know... here's who's behind all this..."
Conan swallowed hard, sweat running down from his forehead, he now knew for sure that was in trouble.
"May you be so gentle to tell us why did you pick such a far destination, and also why didn't you tell us anything, EDOGAWA-KUN?", her voice was politely menacing, losing her politeness at the mention of his name.
"I–I forgot to tell you... you see... Heiji-niichan called me and said he wanted to meet me there–", he didn't have the chance to finish.
"Ohhh... I see... I bet he's got wrapped up in some case and needs your assistance... am I right, Mr. Great Detective?"
"Actually... he has solved the case but he thinks he's done something wrong, so he wants to talk to me..."
"Mmmm... you know... there's this recent invention, a new technological marvel, which is very useful when it comes to talking with people... it's called 'TELEPHONE', does that ring a bell?"
"Y–yeah but... he said he wanted to talk in person and... he said that today he had to go to that beach for some reason, so I thought it would be a good occasion and... I thought that... you guys would also be glad to spend some time with him because it's been a long time since the last time you saw him."
Conan held his breath for a few seconds, waiting for Ai's verdict. Instead of speaking, she used the gestural language: she elbowed him in the chest.
"Owww!"
The strawberry blond-haired girl gazed imperceptibly for a moment at Mitsuhiko and Ayumi, who were watching the scene bewildered, before snorting.
"What was that for?!", Conan complained.
"For not telling us anything, ", she started counting on her fingers, "For being selfish and egotistical, and for trapping us in this position for hours."
"Oi! I'm having a hard time too here; despite looking so good and not weighing that much, having you on my legs for all this time isn't that comfort– Owww!", he got elbowed again.
"Now you better apologize to me for what you've just said!"
"The first part was a compliment– Owww!", and here came the third nudge.
"Apologize, now!"
Conan led a hand to massage the aching part, she was provided with such a bony elbow, he speculated. For the good of his remaining ribs, the detective gave up and submitted to the still-glaring chemist.
"I apologize.", he muttered.
"And?"
"And... I'm sorry."
"And?"
Conan rolled his eyes, his wife could be very hard-headed. Sometimes, obtaining the forgiveness of Her Highness could be very painful and humiliating, he knew that, "And... I'm an idiot."
"Good.", her tone softened. Honestly, she felt a bit sorry for him, but she acted like that also because their friends were looking at them, and she wanted to eliminate all their suspects regarding a possible romantic relationship between her and Conan, also because his indifference and calmness about the awkward position they were in was making easier for them to think so. Another thing she had to consider was that Mitsuhiko had been heartbroken because of her for some time and that Ayumi still had a crush on Conan, so making it look like she had a deep intimacy level with him could hurt her feelings, and this was the last thing Ai wanted.
Obviously, Conan was too dense to realize all these motivations behind her hardness, so he simply remained silent to preserve his physical health.
Meanwhile, Ayumi decided to speak to lower the tension which was still sparking in the air, "Anyway, I heard that Shimoda has got many gorgeous panoramas, I'm sure it will be a nice trip."
"I can't wait to taste the local specialties.", Genta added enthusiastically.
Mitsuhiko giggled, "You never change, Genta."
While the three of them continued chatting like that, Ai took a glance back at Conan, who was now looking out the window. More than pissed off, he seemed to be a little distracted; she stretched up a corner of her lips, just slightly, forming a thin but warm smile, which he didn't notice.
3 hours later.
"Wow! That's beautiful!"
"Ayumi-chan is right, this beach is so huge!", Mitsuhiko merrily added.
"Yeah but there are so many people."
"It's a summer sunny day, Genta, it's normal.", Conan noted.
It was Ai's turn to comment, "If the travel hadn't been so long, we wouldn't have arrived this late and would've found it half empty."
Conan gave her a bored look, from the tone she used, she was clearly upset and nervous, "Could you please just relax and enjoy? Trust me, you'd feel better if you stopped always doing negative remarks."
She just snorted and looked away from him.
"Conan-kun is right, Ai-chan, you should be more optimistic.", Ayumi friendly encouraged.
Ai's face relaxed, not too much though, "Edogawa-kun perfectly knows that I'm not a fan of going to the beach... but I guess that talking about this now is worthless since we're already here."
Ayumi smiled and giggled happily.
"Now let's just move and find a space to settle ourselves.", Ai added with a jaded voice.
The group proceeded towards the largest space they could see and placed there the beach towels, a beach chair for professor Agasa, their respective bags, and three sun shades, settling the latter in a triangle-shaped arrangement to form one large shade.
Subsequently, the five teens wore off their clothes, and glasses, in Conan's case, remaining in their bathing suits, while Agasa accommodated himself in his chair, uttering a sigh of relief as soon as his legs stopped sustaining the heavy weight of his body.
The five teenagers were about to leave their location when something caught Ayumi's attention, she glanced curiously at Conan, "Conan-kun, what do you have there?"
Conan raised an eyebrow and grunted questioning, quickly using his eyes to scan his body, "Where?"
"Right there.", Ayumi pointed right between his chest and his abdomen.
He looked more attentively at the point she had indicated and noticed a light redness on his skin; he instantly linked it to its cause: the deadly elbow of his wife.
"I see... but I think I already know where it comes from.", he said in a low tone, turning his face to Ai and giving her an annoyed look.
She, on the other side, just snorted and looked away, crossing her arms at her chest, "You brought it on yourself.", she affirmed with bitterness to mask the fact that she was feeling a bit guilty for hitting him so hard.
Conan rolled his eyes, while Mitsuhiko, Genta, and Ayumi stared at Ai with a confused look; that day she was being a bit more hostile than usual towards the detective, they thought.
Sensing from their gazes that they were far from suspecting something, the shrunken scientist loosened her hardness, "Come here now, I'll give you something for that.", she told Conan while leaning down and opening her bag to find something.
Conan neared her as Genta spoke, "Let's get in the water guys."
Still searching into her bag, Ai responded, changing her temperament into a nicer one, "You three can start going, I and the fragile man here will reach you in some minutes."
"Okay Ai-chan, let's go guys!", Ayumi said with her trademark enthusiasm as she, Mitsuhiko, and Genta began to head towards the sea.
"I'm taking a nap now, driving for more than three hours has made me tired.", Agasa announced as he let out a yawn.
"Err... sorry again about that, Hakase, get some rest.", Conan told him.
The professor yawned again and closed his eyes, preparing for sleep at the sound of the sea waves and the gulls, "Don't worry Shinichi."
"Lie down.", Ai instructed Conan as she grabbed the rectangular box where she kept her medical stuff.
He obliged and laid his back on his beach towel. She got closer to him and went on her knees, simultaneously taking a small white tube of cream out of the box.
"What is it?", Conan naively asked; he was more relaxed as they could talk more freely now that their friends weren't around.
She put some cream on two of her fingers, "Something for bruises, it should cancel that one in about twenty minutes."
He put his arms behind his head as she began to smear the cream on his light bruise. Conan stared deeply at her; the cold and fluid sensation given by the cream mixed with that of her two fingers drawing small patterns on his skin was refreshing and pleasuring. Although she was still acting rigidly towards him, she looked heavenly to his eyes now. His face flushed as some weird desires were growing into him.
"Sorry about that, my harshness was excessive.", she apologized in a low voice as she finished her fingers' work and stowed the box back into her bag.
"Well, at least I know you're able to defend yourself properly, your elbows can be lethal.", he mocked with his boyish grin.
She turned back to him who was still unmoving from his place, "I didn't mean to treat you like that, you didn't deserve it, not at all at least... but Ayumi-chan and Tsuburaya-kun were looking at us and, seen our position and your weird calmness about that... they could assume that we're in a love relationship and feel hurt, and that's the last thing I want to happen, so I had to do that for prevention."
And there was she, the Haibara Ai he loved. She was always extra careful not to hurt anyone, even though sometimes she would end up hitting him physically, he didn't care that much for that little last particular.
The fresh sea breeze sent a tuft of Conan's hair on his forehead, but before he could move, her hand was there to brush it away from his face.
A wide smile found its way on her lips, "Are we okay?", she whispered.
He took her hand, which was still on his hair, and brought it to his lips, planting a soft kiss on the palm, "More than that."
He wished he could kiss her right now, but there were way too many people around them. Despite being aware of that, his focus was still on her lips, as if he was trying to kiss her with his eyes.
"Good.", she mumbled before lifting her knees from the sand. He did the same, a few moments later, as they both began to reach their friends in the water.
1:20 pm.
"Seriously guys, this is pathetic, we'll be entering High School in a month, we're not kids anymore.", Conan said with disapproval and frustration.
Who could blame him in this state? He was currently buried under a gigantic sandcastle built by none other than Mitsuhiko, Genta, Ayumi, and also Ai, his head was the only thing that popped out of the sand. The first three insisted on doing something like that to recall the past times when they were primary school students.
Everything started from Ayumi's phrase about how funny being a kid can be, which led her to the idea of playing some games they used to play when they were many years younger than now. As two good knights, Mitsuhiko and Genta indulged her desire and Ai also thought that it could be an oddly enjoyable idea.
Conan disagreed with the four of them in the most absolute way and as a result, he got chosen to be the one under the castle. With a childish pout, 'encouraged' by Ai's cynic remarks, which had the goal to make him feel guilty for rejecting Ayumi's wish and making her feel bad, he had to acquiesce.
And that's how he got there.
"'Could you please just relax and enjoy?'", Ai teasingly quoted the words he said to her before. She was now making the final touches on the details of the sandcastle.
"Haibara-san is right, Conan, stop complaining.", Mitsuhiko added.
Conan frowned for the umpteenth time of the last twenty minutes, 'What am I supposed to... enjoy...', his thoughts trailed off as Ai draw near him to fix a part of the artwork situated on his side.
Now he had something to enjoy. Nevertheless, as soon as she perceived that he was staring at her in his pervert-mode, Ai glared down at him. He seemed to remember that his friends were in his immediate surroundings as he rapidly diverted his eyes from her figure.
A few minutes elapsed in silence as the four teens completed their creation and got up to glance proudly at it.
"We did a wonderful job guys.", Ayumi commented cheerily.
"Yeah, the only problem consists of the foundation.", Ai joked glancing at Conan.
Conan gave her an annoyed look while grumbling, "You're not funny at all."
"You know what guys? All of this work has made me hungry, how about getting some take-out food from that beach style restaurant?", Genta proposed, rubbing his hands on his stomach.
"It's not a bad idea, ", Ai approved, "but it'd be preferable if one of us accompanies you... you would be capable of ordering a ton of eel-based food."
"Agree with Haibara-san, that sounds like something Genta would do...", Mitsuhiko agreed, obtaining a sulk from his fat friend.
Conan rolled his eyes from his position and Ai detected that.
"Ayumi-chan, Tsuburaya-kun, why don't you go with Kojima-kun? I need to put on more sun lotion."
"Okay Ai-chan!", Ayumi answered and set off towards the edge of the beach, where the restaurant was situated, with Genta and Mitsuhiko.
Once they were far enough, Ai walked in Conan's direction and gazed down at his indignant face.
"What was that?", she asked.
"What was what?", he asked back, still sounding irritated.
She got down on her knee to diminish the distance between their faces, "That eyes' movement you made when Mitsuhiko agreed with me."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"I saw you."
"You're imagining things."
She waited for a moment to ponder his expression, he was upset, and judging from the slight shade of crimson his cheeks had on, she could tell that the reason wasn't only about the fact that he was buried under a sandcastle. There was only one possible conclusion she could reach.
She smirked teasingly, "Ohhhh... I see now... you're jealous."
"That's absurd!", he promptly denied.
Her smirk went wider, "You're jealous of Tsuburaya-kun, aren't you?"
"It's not like I'm jealous but..."
"But?"
"He still likes you.", he remarked, deepening his voice.
Ai sighed, this guy could be very stubborn and hard-headed sometimes; when he convinced himself about something, changing his mind could be harder than moving a mountain from its place using hands.
"Again, what made you deduce that?", she questioned, almost exasperated.
"He agrees with everything you say."
"Well, that's because I'm always right.", she fiery claimed, "Is that all, Great Detective?"
Conan let out a thoughtful hum before giving up, he hadn't detected any more weird behaviors that could suggest that Mitsuhiko still had a crush on Ai.
She considered his silence as an answer, "All right, so now stop being paranoid."
"Okay... maybe–maybe you're right."
"Good.", she stood up, which caused him to raise an eyebrow.
"Where are you going?"
"I'm gonna ask Hakase to spread some sun cream on my back, or else I could get a sunstroke.", she explained while moving a hand to fix her hair a little.
Disappointment overwhelmed him instantly as she took the first step towards their settlement, which was a few meters away from there, "Wait! Let me do it!"
She stopped walking, "I doubt you would manage to do it from where you are now."
"Just take down this thing and free me.", he struggled a bit trying to come out of his trapped position.
"And breaking our friends' heart in a million pieces? Sorry, but I can't do that.", she said with sarcasm just for the fun of seeing him acting childishly like that.
"That's not fair! How long am I supposed to–", he got interrupted by someone familiar.
"Yo Kudo! How are ya doing?"
Conan and Ai's attention turned to the unmistakable voice's source, none other than the Detective of the West, Hattori Heiji.
"Shhhhh! Will you ever learn not to call me like that in public?!", Conan rebuked in a whisper.
Heiji's eyes widened at the realization that he'd just called him with his real name in the middle of a beach full of people. He awkwardly scratched the back of his head and apologized, "Y-yeah, sorry Kud– I–I mean Conan-kun."
Nervousness was already flowing through Ai's veins as she couldn't stand how stupid the Osakan detective was. Shutting her eyes, she massaged her nose bone with two fingers, her other hand on her hip.
"Anyway, where's Kazuha?", Conan asked.
"Her? She must be somewhere around here, she had to meet some girlfriends of hers, that's why I told you to meet me here... She insisted that I must accompany her but apparently she's already forgotten about me...", Heiji laughed nervously.
"Who could blame her...", Ai mumbled in a barely audible voice, referring to his last phrase.
Still, Heiji heard her and frowned his eyebrows, "Nice to see you too, Haibara-san, you haven't changed a bit."
"Oh, neither do you, unfortunately...", the shrunken woman turned away from the two detectives and reached Agasa, who was still asleep.
It was not a secret that the relationship between Ai and Heiji was kinda spiny, it had always been so for both of them.
Conan tried to calm the dark-skinned man, who was still glaring at Ai's retreating figure and groaning in irritation, "Huh... don't mind her... she tells me worse things..."
"I can imagine...", all of a sudden, Heiji seemed to realize in what position Conan was, "Anyway, what are you doing there?"
"This? Oh... an idea of the kids..."
Heiji laughed hard, inducing Conan to pout and think that maybe Ai wasn't completely wrong about him.
5:00 pm.
"... What do you think, Kudo?"
Heiji and Conan were currently laying beside each other, sunbathing on their respective beach towels. Heiji had just ended the explanation of the case he had solved, but something didn't add up, according to his opinion.
"Well... I need some time to reflect on this. Basing on your description, the case was kinda garbled. Do you have any photos of the crime scene?"
"I've brought some copies, I'll give them to you later..."
"Perfect, I'll let you know in the next days when I'll figure things out."
"Thanks Kudo, I know I can always count on you."
Conan nodded and took a deep breath, enjoying the reinvigorating feeling given by the fresh sea breeze; Heiji did the same. Despite the numerous children running from place to place, their screams and cries, the environment was relaxing. The sounds made by seagulls mixed with that of the sea waves was a perfect lullaby.
Conan threw away all his thoughts about the case and lowered his eyelids, slumber was calling him, but it didn't last long before his friend interrupted that loosening moment.
"Hey Kudo..."
"What's now?", Conan asked, a bit annoyed.
"Do you remember when we used to guess the girls' bathing suits?"
Conan nodded, that game was a habit that they had lost over the years due to evident reasons.
"What do you say if we play this right now?", Heiji stealthily proposed with his typical sneer.
"Hmmm... I don't think that would be a good idea... I think Ai wouldn't approve at all..."
"Come on! She's not here now.", Heiji insisted, using the fact that Ai had gone swimming with Genta, Mitsuhiko, and Ayumi some time earlier.
Conan opened his eyes, putting his arms under his head as usual, "She's not that kind of a jealous wife, but she would insult me to death by calling me a pervert or even get back at me with one of her devilish tricks... You rather, shouldn't you worry about what Kazuha could say if she catches you red-handed?"
"Differently from you, my wife doesn't scare me...", Heiji boastfully substantiated, sitting up straight to glance more easily at the girls who were in the water.
"Hey Kudo, look at that one, I guess she's wearing a red bikini..."
Conan heard him speaking but didn't catch any words, his attention got drawn by something else, or rather someone else, a certain girl coming closer to them.
He blushed as he stared at her slim figure, her without-an-end creamy legs, up to the curves of her hips, her two-pieces peacock blue bathing suit which matched perfectly with the tonality of her eyes, her wet auburn hair which seemed to be adorned with strands of gold as it reflected the light coming from the sun, and her mixed-race and so-pretty facial traits. And finally, there weren't many things in the world that attracted him more than her lips. To complete the picture, the water drops which flowed from the top to the bottom of her body made everything more sensual. An authentic goddess, his goddess, his Ai. She was all his, and the thought was exciting him.
He just remained motionless as he admired her beauty, ignoring the fact that his friend right beside him had been calling him several times. He slightly got his back up from the beach towel supporting himself on his elbows as she approached them.
"A-Ai, w-what are you doing here?", Conan stammered, enchanted by her appearance.
She raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean? We settled our things here, where should I go after taking a bath?"
Heiji on the other hand remained quiet, looking at Ai with disinterest.
"I–I meant... weren't you swimming with the others?", Conan reformulated.
Ai removed her beach towel from under the shade of one of their parasols, rolling out it right beside his, "Yeah, I was... but I'm starting to get tired now..."
Conan didn't respond this time, his eyes still drinking her image.
"Mmmm...", she hummed and gazed curiously at him, "You look guilty..."
"What–"
"I hope you two weren't playing one of your perverted games...", she said suspiciously, also taking a quick and accusing glance at Heiji, who simply frowned, "So, Conan?"
"N–no, obviously not.", he answered hesitantly.
She went down on one knee right beside him and placed a hand between his jaw and his neck, right at the point where she could feel his heart rate, consequently inching her face closer to his. He seemed to misunderstand her movements as he thought she was gonna kiss him, his body heated up.
"Tell me that you weren't doing that."
Conan replied without thinking, he was too absorbed into her gaze, her closeness was making it hard for him to think, "N–no, of course not..."
Although his heartbeat was gaining speed for other reasons, she didn't perceive any fluctuation at the moment he spoke, she knew he was telling the truth. She retracted her hand, "I believe you."
He became dumbfounded when she pulled back and laid on her beach towel as if nothing had happened. It took a few moments for him to realize that she used that method only to find out if he was lying or not.
"Where did you learn that?", Conan asked, a bewildered expression marrying his face. The only people he had ever seen using that method were the CIA agent Mizunashi Rena and her brother Hondou Eisuke.
"What?", she closed her eyes and waited for the sun rays to dry her wet body.
"The thing you've just done."
"You shouldn't be that surprised... I was trained by the Organization... already forgot that?"
That sounded plausible to Conan, although now it wasn't the thing that mattered, his eyes were still stuck on her, who sensed his intense stares.
"Stop staring, it's becoming creepy...", she told him, not realizing the effect she was having on him.
"R-right... sorry...", he tried to restore some composure and laid back again.
Ai changed the topic as there was someone missing in the surroundings, "Oh and... Do you know where's Hakase?"
"He went to the restaurant half an hour ago."
The shrunken scientist got up instantly, taken aback by Conan's answer, "WHAT!? And you didn't stop him!?"
"Why would I do that?", he asked naively and bit his lower lip as he sensed that she was getting mad.
"IDIOT! I bet he went there to eat something he shouldn't! Now I'd better go to retrieve him.", she scolded him and made her way to the restaurant to drag the professor back.
Conan sighed; if he remembered well, this was the second time of the day that he 'accidentally' worsened her mood, or maybe the third.
"Kinda susceptible...", Heiji commented after making himself sure that Ai was too far to hear him.
Conan nodded at his right statement and stood up, "I'll better go with her... or else she could rant against Hakase in front of all the people in the restaurant... see you later."
"Okay, I'm going to search for Kazuha too..."
"Ai wait! I'm coming too."
Ai turned back and saw Conan hurriedly approaching her on the way to the restaurant. She snorted and went on walking, ignoring his presence.
"Sorry okay? I wasn't thinking when Hakase told me where he was going...", he excused himself as he reached her side.
"I had guessed that, thanks.", she coolly answered back.
He chose not to debate, it was better to avoid the possibility of saying something that could upset her more. They silently walked side by side until they were a few meters far from the beach style restaurant's entrance.
A sudden action made by Ai triggered something in Conan's stomach, she adjusted the upper part of her swimsuit which had someway slithered a couple of centimeters down than the standard, lifting it with both her hands.
He felt his heart in his throat, the tension that had started to build up since that morning when they were in her bedroom, the hours of travel she'd spent on his lap, the moment when she spread the cream on his chest to erase his slight bruise, the instant when she checked if he was telling the truth and he misunderstood her action, everything added to the fact that he had the hormones of a boy amid adolescence; his mind went blank as he firmly grabbed her wrist, earning a gasp from her, and started dragging her to the rear of the public toilets which were just beside the restaurant, where he was sure none could see them since it was a well-hidden angle, ignoring her numerous protests and her requests for explanations, a serious look printed on his face.
As soon as he reached the place where he wanted to arrive, he held Ai by her shoulders and pushed her against the wall of the wooden toilet cabins, a bit violently, looking straight at her eyes.
Ai, on the other hand, was flabbergasted because of his manners, her eyes were wide as saucers, her lips slightly parted. She tried to read his facial expression and his eyes, she could see a weird spark into them, as if they were on fire, burning with passion. She had never seen him like this before, this kind of aggressivity was something new; from what she'd always believed, it was her the aggressive one between them two. She was frozen on the spot, feeling vulnerable and impotent, he was having the upper hand this time, she was completely at his mercy.
Anxiety went over her as she didn't know what he was going to do, the main thing that preoccupied her was that there was the possibility of being discovered by someone. She put her hands on his chest, trying to push him away, but he resisted and didn't move an inch. Moreover, the pressure her hands made on his bare skin seemed to stimulate him more, the opposite effect of what she wanted.
His hands slowly dropped down from her shoulders to her hips, flowing more easily thanks to the fact that her body was still humid. His eyes were still deeply focused on hers. She gasped as his hands reached up to her ribs, ending their path just below the swimsuit top.
Her lips remained slightly parted, capturing his eyes' attention; the more he stared at them, the more his desire grew up. And it was when she merely whispered his name in a doubting way that he couldn't hold himself anymore.
Without any warning, Conan leaned forward and pressed his lips on hers in an eager kiss, making her eyes widen even more, if possible.
She was too shocked to respond, but when she felt his lips expertly moving over hers, demanding more of her, expressing all his hunger, she couldn't help but open her mouth and grant him access, which he took immediately without any hesitation. His tongue sneaked itself into her warm mouth, dancing on its elements and activating all of her senses and emotions in an explosion of heat and passion. Years of partnership with her had taught him well how to kiss her in a way that would make her mind go to ecstasy.
Ai felt that the temperature was rising exponentially, not because it was a hot sunny day but because he was now pressing his body against hers, trapping her hands between their chests in the process. His left hand abandoned her ribs and traveled lower, holding the back of her thigh and lifting it slightly, making it brush against his leg.
After a while, he pulled his face back just a few inches from hers, but not before dropping another chaste kiss on her lips. His eyes observed hers deeply.
"Shinichi...?", she whispered.
He could see her vulnerability, but that only made him feel more heated as he whispered, "You make me crazy."
She didn't have the time to react as she felt his lips on hers again, more gently this time. His mouth left hers, running on her jaw and focusing on her neck. At the feeling of the light and affectionate bites on her skin, she could only close her eyes and drop her head back on the soft wooden surface, facilitating his ministrations.
A pleasing sensation was developing in her stomach, rising through the inside of her body and making its way to her throat, wanting to escape from her mouth in the form of a deep moan. She put all of her energy into the task of suppressing it, she couldn't risk someone to hear them. It became even harder when his lips went to nibble on a sensitive spot behind her earlobe, so she had to make more pressure on his chest with her hands, trying to push him away as she couldn't resist anymore.
"Shinichi...", she whined, almost with desperation, "... you have to stop– please– we can't–"
Sensing that he was going too far, he ceased his treatment. However, before pulling away, he began to plant sweet kisses all over her face, starting from her cheeks, then her nose, and her temples, ending with a long-lasting one on her forehead.
Ogling at her eyes again with a serious look as she stared back, he placed his index finger on her nose, almost as if he was going to rebuke her, "I'm not finished with you... tonight, we're staying at my house... and you'll be mine.", he seductively whispered.
The only thing she succeeded to do was let out a compliant nod, while the shade of scarlet on her cheeks gained intensity.
He gave her another kiss on the forehead and walked away, exiting the angle where he had shoved them both as if nothing had happened.
She remained in her position and blinked a pair of times, taking her time to try to process things in her mind. She was not even sure if he was the authentic Shinichi; since when had he become such a master of seduction? Maybe hormones had led him at that moment, she hypothesized, although she had perceived sincerity in the way he had spoken.
She grinned and giggled lightly. This time, instead of worsening her mood, he had elevated it.
8:30 pm.
"You look tired...", Conan whispered to Ai.
Everyone was back in their position in Agasa's car, still an hour away from home, it was almost completely dark outside. Genta was sleeping, filling the silence with his heavy snoring. Mitsuhiko and Ayumi had also fallen asleep, right now, to an external watcher, they looked like a couple since they were sleeping hugging each other, forced by the lack of space.
"I am, but there's not a way to fall asleep in this position.", Ai whispered back.
"You can, just lean back on me."
"But the kids–"
He cut her off, "They won't say anything...", he said extracting his smartphone from his pants' pocket, "... And if they will...", he took a photo of Mitsuhiko and Ayumi, "... We'll show them this. I don't think they'll be in the condition to say more."
If their friends could sleep like a couple without necessarily being it, why couldn't he and Ai?
"That's very astute of you...", she playfully commented as she adjusted her posture to her preferences, turning her body 90 degrees and making her flank brush against the cotton of his t-shirt. She rested her head on his shoulder, nestling into the crook of his neck.
He readily adapted to her position, gripping her hand and placing it onto his heart, and using the other one to give her shoulder a loving squeeze, "Sleep now."
"Mmmm... Are you afraid that I could get too weak for the things you've planned to do later tonight?"
He blushed and looked away sheepishly without responding, recalling his earlier little loss of control.
She snickered, "Seriously... I still find it hard to think that it was the real you before, were you drunk?"
He turned his gaze to the window, trying to avoid the smirk he was sure that was printed on her face, "That was your fault."
She suppressed a laugh, "My fault? Really? How then?"
"You seduced me all over the day, and the fact that you were in that bathing suit didn't help."
She couldn't help but chuckle in amusement, "First of all, it's nothing you haven't already seen. Secondly, I didn't intend to seduce you, it's you that only think about one thing."
"You're making it seem like I'm a real pervert."
"Mmmm... I wouldn't say 'pervert' this time..."
He curved up an eyebrow and gazed down at her.
She continued, "... Just a very lustful man... which is not that bad if you consider that we're married..."
Conan could feel his face on fire, he wasn't sure if she was being serious or if she was just teasing him as always.
She giggled at the face he made and reached up to kiss him on the cheek, "Don't worry...", she lowered her voice even more, almost inaudible, "... you'll get what you want... we'll have dinner with Hakase... and then... we go to your house... I'm pretty sure that you can deduce the rest on your own, detective..."
He shivered at the way she pronounced the last word. Opening his mouth to speak, he realized that his brain wasn't managing to form a coherent phrase.
Ai covered his mouth with her hand, "Don't talk now, I have to gain some energy.", she leaned her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes, waiting for slumber to overcome her brain.
Conan searched for something to think about during the rest of the travel, or else he would die waiting. 'The case! Right!', he started to meditate on the case that Heiji had told him about trying not to think about the imminent night of passion that was going to come.
THE END
A/N
Thank you for reading! Comments and reviews are extremely appreciated as always (and also votes if you liked the story). Future updates may take some more time since I'm in my last year of high school and I have to study quite hard for my final exam. Anyway, I'm not abandoning this fic because I love it too much, so see you for the next chapter, stay tuned!