Broken String, Broken Red String

The wind cried for its lover as it sends already fallen snow flakes once again into the air. The trees waved to the boy as he walked in the snow. 'Where is he going?' is the first thing that came to everybody's mind as they saw the boy abut 12 years of age. If the people who saw him fighting against the wind know him-the true him-they would know that it is his 25th birthday. But no one does.

Kudo Shinichi-no-Edogawa Conan advanced toward the building he has been to many times in search of hope but came out hopeless. The dark building where Haibara Ai- or should I say Miyano Shiho- researched on the antidote. That day, Kudo Shinichi still filled his heart with hope because of a telephone call from one special girl, asking him to go the movies, that same theater five years ago where they almost died together. That is where she cut the blue wore, and the other wires. The only thing that ties them together is the red string by the pinkie, that thin string. Over the years, the string got thinner and thinner for Shinichi with each time Haibara reported no success. And the string got thinner for Ran who watched herself turn from 19, a sweet number, into 24, and soon, 25. How thin could the red string get before it breaks forever?

Just yesterday, he had an argument with Haibara. It all started when he asked when will she finally have the antidote. Haibara, who did not want to make things even worse and knew that he was frustrated, said nothing. But Shinichi asked again, and that is when she replied quietly but strongly, "Maybe in a day, maybe in a week, maybe forever." Shinichi got very angry, even though he does not know if it is with himself or with Haibara, said, "Why didn't I go with my parents to find the antidote?" Haibara, who usually would not have cared, surprised Shinichi to find her eyes full of tears. Shinichi knew that it was his fault that he chose to stay, but he can't help it but blame it on Haibara. She felt angry at Shinichi for treating her like someone who he could blame because he is just feeling bad. Haibara knew that it is her fault, her fault that she made the antidote. It is her fault that Shinichi turned younger instead of dead. It is her fault that he had to investigate on those mysterious men. But there wasn't a sound out of her. She just looked at Kudo, very carefully and said, "Kudo, if all these years, you have been feeling this about me, why do I have to stay and be so hated? Because you miss Ran, because tomorrow it is your 25th birthday or 12th birthday, because Sonoko is recommending another man, because Ran just talked to you on the phone, because you just feel like it-every reason makes me be hated by you. Now let me ask you a question. Why?" There was never a 'why' Kudo Shinichi couldn't answer. "Why is the victim killed by drowning instead of being strangled?" "Why did the murderer leave a letter?" "Why does the father of the victim go the long way instead of the shortcut?" All these whys. And now, he got the hardest why ever. "Why does everything that happens makes Shinichi want to blame Haibara."

Kudo Shinichi put all that out of his mind. He did not care if Mouri and Sonoko recommended this strong, athletic man or this artistic painter for Ran. But he also knew that Ran was not going to wait for him forever. That is too much to ask for any girl. Forever is a long time. He could not say his feelings to anyone but the wind. As he arrived at his old home he did not live in for such a long time. He almost forgot how many years. Regret filled his heart. If only he went with his parents, he would have gotten the antidote already. He then could have really come back, come back as Kudo Shinichi.

As he walked down the stairs to the basement, he shouted, "Haibara! Haibara!" He turned on the lights. "Haibara!" He found no one on the chair on which Haibara would use to sit on. But he did find something else: a letter. Shinichi quickly tore it open and his eyes darted to the paper.

"Kudo,

You will be very angry, I believe, to find this letter in substitute of me, but I do this for your own good. I do not want you to rely on me, a scientist with inadequate knowledge, to make the antidote. Because it likely would take me forever. I will be going, and I would not research anymore on this matter. I will live my life over again, and I will forget you. Please know that Haibara Ai never existed, or did Miyano Shiho. I do not want to turn back, and there is no reason for me staying there. Please excuse my selfishness. Thank you for being my first friend, and I should say my best friend, until everything became black for you. Say bye to Mitsuhiko, Ayumi, and Genta for me. Especially Mitsuhiko; he is a sweet boy.

A distant woman that you should forget."

Kudo turned frantic. What could he do now to turn back? Haibara doesn't need to worry about turning back because she doesn't want to, he needs to. He has a whole life waiting for him to come back. A family, friends, and mostly, Ran. What could he do now? No more Haibara.

'Calm down, Shinichi! First of all, let's consider what option I could have. The best way is for Haibara to come back. But where can I find her? The world is so big, and she is a grain of sand. And even if I find her, will she be willing to come back? The second choice is that---he couldn't think about it. How could he? How could he think about leaving Ran to go find an antidote. But how could he ever reach her in this life, this form? But leaving would mean at least a year or more! But staying her would only mean as a little brother. Conan is not Shinichi, at least not in Ran's eyes. But he already let her waited for five years. What is one or two years compared to five years?' That ended his thought. He did not have any other buts to counter this one. What is one or two years compared to five years? And that is when he decided. He knew what he could chose. He did not want to be a little brother, not Conan, because Conan is not Shinichi. He just wanted to be, well, Shinichi.

He picked up the phone and dialed to somewhere in America. "America, I might as well try." That was when the red string broke, though he doesn't know it; it broke somewhere, hidden deep in his heart.

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Oh dear readers who managed to read through my figurative speech and pretty boring plot, I plea you to acknowledge that my class is reading Charles Dickens in English, and even more worse, Great Expectations. So maybe I do have the taste of description and Dickens in my story, but I really will try to tell you the plot I want to show sooner. And please, one more thing, critique, critique, critique! I don't even care if you criticize. If I did bad, tell me where and if I did good, tell me where.