Note: I'm not exactly sure, but I'm going to assume that Miyano Akemi went to Nanyo College (the one where the real Hirota Masami used to teach). Also, sorry if this seems a bit rushed, but I've lost nearly all inspiration for this story, so I'd just like to reveal all and get it over with.
Chapter 6- Reunion
"Wow! Look at the rides!"
"I want to go on that one!"
"I smell food!"
'Fun' was the word of the day. The three children ran about in circles with excitement, followed by two pairs of less enthusiastic short legs and a longer, more slender pair.
Genta, Mitsuhiko, and Ayumi pointed in three different directions and cried, "Can we go there?"
"Sure!" Ran smiled. Due to the absence of the Professor, the kids had had to find a replacement chaperone to take them to Tropical Land, and of course Ran was the next best thing. At first Conan protested, but as it turned out, she had nothing to do on that day and was in a very good mood.
How strange. Especially since only one night before, she'd been showing obvious signs of stress and insomnia. Haibara glanced up at the teenage girl. She was more cheerful than usual, cheeks flushed pink and eyes bright. She hummed a carefree tune as she watched the children enjoy themselves to death. Something had definitely happened.
Haibara glanced back at Kudo-kun. His cheeks were pink too, and he smiled a little. She followed his gaze back to Ran, and a small sparkle of gold caught her eye. A necklace? So her guess had been somewhat accurate after all.
"I see you've managed to charm your way out of trouble again," she muttered. Conan flushed even darker.
Haibara sighed. She knew she would regret it later on, and she was now. Why did doing something good for once make her feel so ill? Couldn't they just admit their feelings real quick and save her the stress of having to watch this disgusting display over and over? But then that'd mean she'd lose her chance…it was very small, and most likely impossible seeing how devoted they were, but still…just maybe…if only…
Forget it. As long as SHE was around, it could never happen. Haibara turned away. She had no idea how lucky she was…
"Haibara-saaaaan!"
The next four hours were spent being dragged around the amusement park by Ayumi, who insisted on holding both Haibara and Conan's hands. They were soon joined by Genta, who's shirt was already covered with stains of every color, and Mitsuhiko, who insisted on taking Haibara on the ferris wheel.
Soon the day at the park came to an end, and still no Professor. Haibara pointed this out to Conan, and a touch of worry crossed his face. As Ran and the children exited the park, he began pulling his earring phone out of his pocket when—
"Sorry, sorry, was I late?"
Haibara gasped. Professor Agasa squeezed himself out of his yellow Beetle and hurried across the parking lot to them.
"Yeah, you were late." Conan muttered, though he couldn't hide a tiny smile of relief. He quietly slid the phone back into his pocket.
"Professor Agasa, how was your trip?" Ran asked politely.
"Trip? Oh, uh, sure, it was fine. Heheheh…"
"But how—where—why—" Haibara stuttered.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" rang three voices.
Haibara jumped and stared at the kids with a look of uncharacteristic shock. However, this didn't seem to be the reaction they were looking for.
"Aren't you happy?" said Ayumi with a disappointed frown. "You said you forgot your birthday so we decided to make one for you. See?" She took a bracelet from her pocket and put it in the other girl's hands. Genta and Mitsuhiko also pulled out rather squished packages from their pockets and dumped them on the ground.
"I told you you should smile more," Conan winked, while he and Ran added a small package to the other two.
"And here's my contribution," said the Professor, and slipped her a picture frame.
She stared.
Her older sister smiled back at her from the frame. Younger than she remembered, and a bit blurry, but it was her.
"Ah…"
They all peered over her shoulder at it. Conan had a sad sort of smile. "She looks a lot better this way…"
"Is this your mom?" Mitsuhiko asked. "She's pretty."
"She looks familiar, but I can't remember where I met her…" Ran murmured, and turned to Agasa. "Did she visit you once?"
Before he could answer, Haibara pulled him and Conan away until they were out of earshot from the others. "Where did you get this!?" she hissed at them.
"Sorry, I guess I should explain. Remember you told us that the organization erased everything about your sister? Well, a couple of nights ago I was checking the homepage for Nanyo College and looked through the yearbook pictures. Sure enough, all traces that she ever attended the college had disappeared. But I found that the organization overlooked one thing…"
Haibara blinked, and Professor Agasa continued.
"There was a group picture in one of the older pages, and in a tiny corner I found your sister. Immediately I contacted the college and found out that they were going to clean out their files that very night, so of course I had to go right away. I took a raincoat, just in case some of that organization's minions were nearby, and traveled to Gunma by train. I retrieved the photo easily, but by the time I'd copied and enlarged the portion with your sister, I'd missed my train back. I didn't have any money left with me so I had to resort to hitchhiking to come back here just in time for your 'birthday.'"
"I found out about where the Professor had gone when I saw that picture in the webpage he bookmarked," Conan went on. "And after reading the code he'd left me, it all made sense."
"So it was a code!"
"Yup! Though it only looked like dots in the beginning, I started to recognize a pattern. Once I connected them, the message was clear. The Professor had written 'KEEP AIKUNS BDAY SECRET' in the Code of the Dancing Men."
"The Code of the what…?"
"It's from one of Sherlock Holmes's cases," Agasa explained with a grin. "I remembered a period in Shinichi-kun's childhood when he used to write everything in that code, so I used it to write a message back to him."
"You never heard of it!?" Conan looked horrified.
"Unlike you, I'm not obsessed with fictional detectives," Haibara replied coolly.
He ignored that comment and gave Agasa an exasperated look. "But really, Professor, you should have left us a note or something. You got us all worried for nothing!"
"What are you talking about? I'm sure I left one. I even remember writing it down, and then I--" he hesitated, and reached into his pants pocket. "Oh, well what do you know!" The Professor laughed nervously, pulling out a crumpled piece of paper. Conan was not pleased.
Haibara turned away from them and glanced in the direction of the others. The children laughed and chased each other around the parking lot while Ran scolded them for playing in such a dangerous place. Then she looked back at the photo in her hands.
All at once she felt warm inside, a familiar feeling coming from a face she thought she'd never see again. For the first time in a long time, that smile no longer made her feel sad or guilty. Now it promised hope in a new life among new friends in a place where light overwhelmed the dark. "Welcome back, Onee-chan…" she whispered softly.
She smiled.
…The End.
Me: -sniff- I couldn't help it, I HAD to make it a happy ending!
Haibara: Right. If it was a happy ending, you would have paired me up with Kudo-kun.
Conan: What??
Haibara: Oh, nothing…
Me: Well, just be thankful I didn't put any more angst in there! (I'm saving that for The Other End! Mwahahahaha!!)
Conan: HUH?
Me: BTW, the theme for this chapter is "Absolutely (Story Of A Girl)" by Nine Days. Due to its beat, most people wouldn't think it's a song that would fit a dark character like Haibara, but I think it suits her perfectly. ^_^
