Bang!
With a gasp, Conan Edogawa awoke. He was breathing heavily, and his forehead was beaded with sweat. He had had that dream again, the one that was always haunting him. He couldn¡¦t forget it, especially not now. Ai wouldn¡¦t let him forget.
In the dream, he was always riding his solar-powered skateboard, gritting his teeth as he urged it to go faster. He pulled to a stop when he saw the red car. As he approached the abandoned garage, he heard a gunshot. He ran into the garage, but there were no signs of Gin or Vodka. Akemi Miyano lay on the floor. He rushed to see if she was still alive.
¡§I told you not to come.¡¨ he whispered sorrowfully.
¡§Who are you?¡¨ she gasped.
¡§Conan Edoga- no, Shinichi Kudo.¡¨ he answered.
¡§You¡¦re he! The one they¡¦re looking for! You¡¦re not dead?¡¨ Miyano asked in a shocked voice.
¡§So, we have Kudo now.¡¨
Conan spun around, but he knew that cold, evil voice. Gin. Slowly, Gin took a gun out of his pocket and pointed it at Conan. Bang! It was the only dream Conan had had since Akemi Miyano died. He often wondered what would have happened if his skateboard had worked that day. But then, he never would have met Shiho.
Shiho Miyano, or Ai Haibara; just like Shinichi was Conan now, Shiho was Ai Haibara, his classmate at Teitan Elementary School who had also taken APTX-4869. She had wanted to commit suicide but instead, the medicine shrank her too. Now she lived with Professor Agasa, who lived next to Shinichi¡¦s house, and pretended to be his relative. She was a member of the Black Organization. She was furious when they killed her sister, her last living relative, and was determined to get revenge. Unfortunately, she was captured. In defiance, she tried to commit suicide by swallowing one of the pills she had created. Instead of killing her, it shrunk her. Devastated by her present state, she set out to find Shinichi Kudo. She found his now-deserted house, but collapsed from fatigue and was found by Professor Agasa, Shinichi¡¦s next-door neighbor. Shiho Miyano had disappeared and resurfaced as Ai Haibara, elementary school kid.
As his thoughts turned away from the Black Organization, Conan relaxed. He was now thinking about the red-haired girl who was his desk mate at Teitan Elementary School. He had never met anyone like her. At first, they hadn¡¦t gotten along very well; she had blamed him for her sister¡¦s death, and he had blamed her for creating the APTX-4869. Now, however, he knew that Ai wasn¡¦t just a traitorous, cold-blooded murderer. From the way she looked at him now, he knew that she no longer blamed him for her sister¡¦s death, either. If only that could stop the nightmare...
¡§You look worried.¡¨ Ai remarked as Conan slipped into his desk the next morning.
¡§It¡¦s nothing.¡¨ Conan said.
Ai stared at him; Conan felt his cheeks turn red.
¡§What¡¦s the matter, Kudo?¡¨ she asked in a whisper.
Under her piercing gaze, Conan couldn¡¦t bring himself to lie to her.
¡§ I had a dream about your sister¡¦s murder,¡¨ he admitted. ¡§ And I¡¦ve been having it ever since the day she was shot.¡¨
Ai¡¦s expression softened.
¡§ It wasn¡¦t your fault and you know I don¡¦t blame you for her death...Shinichi.¡¨
Ai whispered.
Conan was surprised. Ai had never called him Shinichi before. His face grew redder.
¡§ Okay, class, what¡¦s 1+1?¡¨
Conan and Ai ignored the teacher and went on talking. Thinking she could embarrass Conan in front of the class by giving him an extremely hard problem as punishment for talking, she said, ¡§ Conan, what¡¦s 5+12-8?¡¨
To everyone¡¦s amazement, Conan muttered ¡§9¡¨, and resumed his conversation with Ai as if solving ¡§5+12-8¡¨ was no big deal. Unsatisfied, the teacher turned and glared at Ai.
¡§ Haibara, what¡¦s 12+12-7?¡¨
¡§17¡¨ Ai promptly replied.
The teacher¡¦s mouth dropped open, but she quickly recovered herself.
¡§ No talking during the lesson,¡¨ she said as she walked past them.
Conan and Ai smiled at each other and continued talking.
When the bell finally rang for recess, Ai and Conan joined in the mad scramble for the door.
¡§ Finally, we can talk.¡¨ Conan said. The relief in his voice was evident.
¡§ We were talking anyway.¡¨ Ai reminded him.¡¨
Conan smiled and nodded. He turned his face toward Ai as he watched her, deep in thought. As he studied her, he started to think of her sister¡¦s death again. He heard the gunshot. In his mind, he saw her sister collapse on the floor. Gin and Vodka reappeared. Gin fished the gun out of his pocket. Shiho¡¦s sister took one last breath and died. Conan turned around, and heard Gin¡¦s gunfire again. He wished again that he could forget what happened that day. If only he hadn¡¦t shrunk... Could he have saved her?
¡§Why? Why didn¡¦t I just die?¡¨ Conan yelled as he stomped across the playground. The rowdy kids didn¡¦t even notice as he walked angrily past them.
Ai looked after his retreating shadow. She pictured how Shinichi¡¦s life had been before he had taken the medicine. The names of the other victims flashed in her head.
¡§ Do you blame me, Kudo?¡¨ she whispered. She knew that in the beginning, he had blamed her, but she had thought that...
¡§ Never mind.¡¨ she thought sadly.
¡§ His world was perfect without you.¡¨ she told herself.
¡§ Bye!¡¨ Genta, Mitsushiko, and Ayumi cried as they were preparing to walk home.
Ai and Conan walked along the streets in silence. They both had many things to say to each other, and the silence disturbed them both, but they each thought the other was thinking of past memories and silently cursing them.
When they reached Professor Agasa¡¦s gate, they turned and gazed into each other¡¦s eyes. They held the stare for a minute, then turned and walked in opposite directions.
It was the middle of the night and Conan woke with a jolt again. This time, it was for a different reason.
¡§ Haibara.¡¨ he thought. He knew something had happened.
Without a second thought, Conan sped out of the Mouris¡¦ house, grabbing his skateboard on the way. He placed his skateboard on the ground and jumped on. It didn¡¦t move.
¡§Hey, what¡¦s wrong?¡¨ he asked himself. ¡§Oh yeah¡Kit¡¦s solar powered.¡¨ He looked at his watch, which read 2:34. He grit his teeth, and hurriedly installed the back-up battery.
¡§ Haibara, please be all right...Shiho.¡¨ he prayed as he sped through the streets, cursing his skateboard at the same time.
¡§ Professor!¡¨ he yelled as he banged on Professor Agasa¡¦s door.
He was about to kick the door down when an annoyed Professor Agasa opened it.
¡§ What is it, Shinichi?¡¨ he muttered.
¡§ Shiho, where is she? Where is Shiho?¡¨ panted Conan as he ran through the door.
The astonished Professor followed Conan as he ran toward the cellar, shouting Shiho¡¦s name.
Conan¡¦s hand trembled a little as he reached for the doorknob.
¡§ Please be alright.¡¨ he thought as he flung open the door.
The room was empty. He looked around frantically, trying to see if Haibara was in some corner of the room, but she was gone.
¡§ Damn it!¡¨ he shouted.
Conan weakly backed away from the door and met the Professor in the hall.
¡§She¡¦s gone.¡¨ he said.
¡§ What?¡¨ gasped Professor Agasa, ¡§ Why?¡¨
¡§I don¡¦t know.¡¨ Conan said blankly. ¡¨I don¡¦t know.¡¨
Professor Agasa looked at Conan, then led him to the couch in the living room.
¡§Sit here.¡¨ he ordered. ¡§I¡¦ll fix you a cup of tea.
As he sat on the couch, Conan thought about what had happened that day. Why had Ai been so quiet on the way home from school? She had seemed immersed in her own thoughts and he didn¡¦t want to bother her because of the sad glint in her eye. What had she been thinking? Then his thoughts floated to recess, when he had stomped away angrily.
¡§Did I make you mad, Shiho? I wasn¡¦t blaming you. You didn¡¦t think I was, did you?¡¨
Then he remembered her saying, ¡§You know I don¡¦t blame you for her death, Shinichi.¡¨ Professor Agasa came in with two cups of tea and a letter.
¡§Ai left me a letter on the kitchen table.¡¨ he stated.
Conan snatched the letter. It said:
Dear Professor Agasa,
Thank you for allowing me to stay at your house and caring for me. I¡¦m leaving because I have to find a cure for the drug I created. I can¡¦t stay and endanger you, the kids, or Kudo. Everything would have been fine if I had never existed or created the medicine. Please tell Shinichi I¡¦m sick and don¡¦t tell him I¡¦m leaving. I will make everything right again.
Ai Haibara.
¡§It¡¦s all my fault.¡¨ Conan thought miserably as he finished the letter. She must have been angered or hurt when I threw that tantrum during recess. He silently cursed himself for losing control.
¡§I¡¦m sorry, Shiho.¡¨ he thought. ¡§I will find you, no matter what it takes, I will find you. Will you forgive me?¡¨
How could she just leave like that?
¡§That fool!¡¨ Conan yelled, losing control once again. ¡§She will only get herself killed or make things worse. Professor, I need to use your phone.¡¨ he said.
Ring, ring, ring.
Heiji Hattori looked at his watch.
¡§Three in the morning!¡¨ he shouted.
Luckily, his parents were on vacation with Kazuha¡¦s parents. It was probably Kazuha.
¡§Nice time to call.¡¨ he said.
¡§You stupid imbecile!¡¨ he yelled into the phone, thinking it was his childhood friend. ¡§Can¡¦t you wait until tomorrow? If your parents were home, you would get busted!¡¨
¡§Uh, Heiji? Did I call at a bad time?¡¨ Conan, slightly surprised, asked.
¡§What? Kudo? No, of course not...I just thought... I mean yes! It¡¦s three in the morning! You¡¦d better have a good excuse for calling this early.¡¨ Heiji replied.
¡§I do. Listen, I need your help. Come over to Professor Agasa¡¦s house.¡¨ Conan told him.
¡§Now?!¡¨
¡§Yes! Get here by five. I¡¦ll explain when you get here.¡¨
¡§But... it¡¦s three in the morning.¡¨
¡§Spring vacation starts tomorrow, you have nothing to worry about!¡¨ Conan snapped.
At five o¡¦clock Heiji and Kazuha knocked on Professor Agasa¡¦s door.
¡§Luckily for you my parents are gone, they would have chewed you out for barging into the...my house at three in the morning and dragging me all the way over here!¡¨ Kazuha remarked grumpily.
¡§Shut up, idiot, you¡¦re lucky I brought you along at all.¡¨ Heiji retorted.
¡§Good thing it¡¦s spring vacation.¡¨ Kazuha grumbled.
¡§Oh, no!¡¨ Conan thought. ¡§He brought Kazuha. She can¡¦t find out about me.¡¨
He looked at Heiji and mouthed ¡§Alone¡¨. Heiji nodded. He turned to Kazuha, smiled, and said, ¡§Kazuha, I¡¦m sorry I got you up so early this morning and dragged you over here without an explanation. Why don¡¦t you rest on the couch for a while before...before we go visit the Mouris?¡¨
Kazuha glanced at him suspiciously before she walked over to the couch. She lay down and was asleep within seconds. Heiji looked at her and smiled before he turned to Conan. Shinichi nodded and led Heiji to Professor Agasa¡¦s cellar, where Ai spent most of her time.
¡§She disappeared.¡¨ he moaned in a plangent voice. ¡§Haibara¡¦s gone.¡¨
¡§Who?¡¨ Heiji replied in a puzzled voice.
¡§She¡¦s my classmate at school...¡¨ Conan started.
¡§You got me up at three and made me come here because of some elementary school girl?¡¨ Heiji asked.
¡§No...¡¨ suddenly, Conan wasn¡¦t sure what to tell Heji. He wanted Haibara to be back, unharmed. He didn¡¦t want to talk about her. He knew Heiji would explode and yell at him for not telling him sooner and for making him come halfway across Japan for a ¡¥filthy criminal¡¦. He could see it already. He took a deep breath.
¡§We met at school the day when the counterfeit criminals were caught, I told you about it, remember?¡¨ he paused and looked at Heiji. ¡§I didn¡¦t tell you about her, though. She shot at one of the criminals, which alerted the local police. I was surprised. After it was all over, I walked her home. She was crying, and I was annoyed that I had to walk a sobbing little girl home. Suddenly, she stopped in the middle of the street. She opened her mouth and said, ¡§APTX-4869.¡¨ Shinichi glanced at Heiji again. Heiji noticed that he looked a little flushed.
¡§Just give me the most important facts.¡¨ Heiji said.
Conan nodded and said, ¡§ She claimed to have made APTX-4869. She also said that she was a member of the Black Organization and she had betrayed them and taken the poison.¡¨
¡§APTX...what?¡¨ Heiji asked, confused.
¡§APTX-4869 is the medicine that shrank me.¡¨ Conan calmly said. The response was almost exactly as Conan had envisioned.
¡§You never told me about this!¡¨ Heiji screamed. ¡§Are you crazy, Kudo? Is this a joke or something? Why did you ask me to come here at this time so we could save that criminal? She made that...that...that poison that nearly killed you!¡¨
¡§I am aware of that.¡¨ Conan said coldly. ¡§Now, if you would kindly shut up, I will continue.¡¨ He handed the Heiji the letter Haibara had left Professor Agasa.
¡§It¡¦s all my fault.¡¨ he said. ¡§I had to bring it up and throw a tantrum. Everything was fine.¡¨
¡§What?¡¨ Heiji jeered. ¡§Shinichi Kudo throwing a fit on the playground?¡¨
¡§Shinichi Kudo?¡¨ asked Kazuha as she stepped into the room. ¡§Isn¡¦t he that rival of yours?¡¨
¡§Wha...what? I thought you were sleeping.¡¨ Heiji stammered.
¡§Well, I¡¦m not.¡¨ she replied crossly. Then, she turned and glared accusingly at Heiji and Conan. ¡§You two are keeping something from me...¡¨
¡§Of course not... we¡¦re just talking about how stupid Kudo is. Isn¡¦t that right, Conan?¡¨ Heiji asked with a smirk. After shooting Heiji a death glare, Conan pasted a big, fake smile on his face. ¡§Yep.¡¨ Conan replied as he ¡§strangled¡¨ a couch pillow. Just pretend it¡¦s Hattori. He kept telling himself.
¡§Okay, let¡¦s go to sleep now.¡¨ Heiji said as he pushed Conan and Kazuha out of the cellar. Giving them a little shove, Heiji paused by Professor Agasa and whispered, ¡¨Just give Kazuha the room way down the hall from ours, please.¡¨
A few minutes later Conan and Heiji were in their room.
¡§ Kudo, what do you plan to do about this?¡¨ Heiji asked.
¡§ Find her, of course.¡¨ Shinichi replied.
Heiji was astounded. ¡§ Why?¡¨ he asked. ¡§ She¡¦s killed a lot of people with that medicine, you know. Why don¡¦t we just let her go and be killed? It¡¦s her fault you¡¦re small now, you know. Just forget about her. Pretend you never knew her.¡¨
¡§ No, I can¡¦t just forget her. We have to find her.¡¨ he looked at Heiji. ¡§ I have to. I can¡¦t act as if she never existed. I have to make sure she¡¦s alright.¡¨
Shinichi lay down and pulled the blankets up ever his head. ¡§ I won¡¦t forget her.¡¨ he thought. He thought of the red-haired girl and gradually drifted off to sleep.
¡§ Shinichi, think about it. Think about who she is and what she¡¦s done. Why do you care about what happens to her?¡¨ Heiji looked at Shinichi strangely. ¡§ Why is she so important to Kudo?¡¨ he wondered.
¡§ Kudo? Why does she need to be in your life at all?¡¨
There was no answer. Heiji looked over and saw that Shinichi was already asleep. He stared at him for a second, then lay down and instantly fell asleep.In the dark, deserted streets of Beika, a small red-haired girl sat on a bench. The girl was as still as a statue. She looked up at the sky and wondered how it was like to have people worry about you when you disappeared.