Disclaimer: Detective Conan is not my property… nor are any of the characters in it.
Sorry for the long wait, but hey, I updated. Hope you enjoy this chapter… I kind of like it. xD My grandparents are over from Taiwan, so I'll be pretty busy now-a-days.
The italics in the chapter would signify a dream. Just to be perfectly clear, okay:-)
Silent Life
Chatper Eight
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"You lied to me? Everything you said was worth… it meant nothing to you?" Shiho looked away from a dark-haired man blankly. Her eyes watered slightly, though she would never allow herself to cry.
Never cry. Tears are a sign of emotion. Emotion is the equivalent of weakness.
Shuichi stood there, motionless. There was pain on his face, but he seemed to have come to terms with his… reality. Grabbing the scientist and pulling her into one last hug, he whispered into her ear. "You lied to me too, Shiho. Now that I have this job… this FBI… I'm going to have to let go of you."
"Sacrifices are necessary when one wants to achieve 'true happiness', right?" She pushed away from her boyfriend… her ex-boyfriend. "Since I'm obviously the sacrifice, why don't you take it a step further? You chose your new job over me… why don't you give yourself a big promotion on the first day?" Turning her head so that she was gazing at him over her shoulder, Shiho smirked. "Why don't you just turn me in… I'm sure it'd make no difference to you." Her smirk faltered for a moment, and the lines of her mouth dipped into a small, hurting line. "I would never deny you anything that would give you true happiness."
Her last words were said in a tiny whisper, but Shuichi heard them. Casting one final look at the woman he loved, he walked away, hand clenched in a fist. "I trust, Shiho," he smiled. "That'll you'll change someday… and you'll come back to me… and do the right thing."
The right thing…
Miyano Shiho… Haibara Ai sat up in bed, breathing heavily. The first thought to register in her mind was that she was completely covered in sweat – at this she scrunched her nose up in disgust. But the second thought was that she had dreamed about Shuichi… something she hadn't thought about in a long time.
"I thought I was over him…" she whimpered, before biting her lip harshly for becoming so silly. Whimpering was almost as bad as crying… and apparently she had done that as well, in her sleep.
Noticing the light outlining the curtains, Haibara got up and walked over to her window, pulling aside the drapes. She winced as the sun – in all its bulky glory – pierced her vision. "Damn it…. Looks like another long day."
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"Oi… Haibara," Conan fell into step next to the sleepy girl. "Where you crying again?"
The yawn stopped mid-breath. "No. I didn't, as a matter of fact. Why do you ask? Redness of the eyes is a common trait when one doesn't sleep very well," she yawned again.
"You seem more depressed today," he shrugged. "I was just a little worried. Why aren't you getting enough sleep?"
Rolling her eyes, the small girl ran her hand through her hair carelessly before plastering a smile on her face. "Did you pester Ran-san like this as well? I don't think I'm acting any different than usual… those bunch are usually the first to notice anyway… they watch the two of us like a hawk," Haibara jutted her thumb in the direction of the detective boys.
Not fooled, Conan frowned and peered at her with a concerned look on his face, causing a small, pink stain to heat her cheeks, "What happened, Ai?"
She forced her blush down and looked over at him casually,"I thought that men were clueless to the emotions of women. When we say that we're fine… even though we're not, don't you boys normally just take that as the final answer and-"
Her face lit up a pink brighter than Ayumi's Halloween princess dress. "What did you just call me?"
"Ah… nothing! Nothing!" Conan held his hands in front of him, trying to find an excuse for his… sudden feeling of closeness towards the small scientist… and also trying to hide the blush tickling his own cheeks.
Their friends rushed at the two of them, each with a different reaction. Ayumi was upset that the two of them were 'flirting', Mitsuiko was concerned that perhaps Haibara had caught the cold that was going around (thus causing the redness of face), and Genta was… well, Genta was reminded by their blushes of the color of cherries… which made him extremely hungry.
It was true though. Conan stuffed his hands into his pockets and walked to school without another word, noticing the cautious looks Haibara sent in his direction every now and then between breaths as she tried fending off the detective boys.
By all the looks of it, Haibara was in an excellent mood. She had the humor to put up with elementary school children that day, was smiling every once in a while… and was even teasing him less than usual but…
"There's still something wrong," he mumbled missing the alarmed look on the woman in question's face as she picked up on his quiet words.
As they stepped into the classroom and took their seats, Conan realized one last thing that troubled him.
She was right about that too. I don't pester Ran this much… even when I'm worried. How is it that I can tell that something is wrong with Ai? … why am I calling her Ai! Something is making Haibara unhappy… but she's normally always depressed. How is it that suddenly I can tell when something is really hurting her? When did…
He found his hand sliding nearer to hers on their adjoined desks.
When did I suddenly feel so close… so comfortable with the person who created APTX?
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"Kudou-kun… pst! Kudou!" Haibara hissed at him. "Wake up! You can let go of my hand now!"
"Eh?" The noise that emitted from his mouth was uncharacteristically loud, and it caught the attention of everyone else in the room – including the teacher.
Swiftly removing his seatmate's small hand from his own, he scratched his head nervously, "Eh… sensei… can you repeat that last part? I didn't really get it…"
Haibara looked him over carefully for a moment as the teacher sighed and turned to the board, going over the fundamentals of multiplication for a second time. Allowing a small smirk to appear on her face, she whispered, "Something bother you, Kudou-kun?"
Conan glared at her, realizing that she was mocking him for what he had done earlier.
"Daydreaming about the person you like in class isn't exactly the best way to make a good impression on others… and look." She nodded her head in the direction of Ayumi, Genta, and Mitsuiko. "They've already begun to notice that something is amiss. Even they know you don't have problems with such simple mathematics."
"Oh be quiet," he grumbled, crossing his arms and slumping back into his chair. "Being stuck in this school for a second time is fun enough without you adding to it."
But he hadn't been dreaming about Ran… he had been dreaming about her….
He saw the flash of uncertainty passing through her eyes as she looked down before leaning back in her chair, mimicking his defeated posture.
She smiled at him, "I guess we're pretty similar… we both have the people we like on our minds. Don't ask, Kudou-kun. You were holding my hand like you were afraid you'd lose something while you were napping during the lecture. Whatever's on your mind must be very important to you… and I'm guessing it's Ran."
"I didn't sleep well last night since I dreamt about someone who's important to me as well…" Haibara gave him a grin. "We have more in common than I thought, I guess."
A twist in his stomach caused him to sit up straight. "So… who's this guy you like?"
"Why do you ask?" She was surprised that he even bother to ask. The Edogawa Conan… no, the Kudou Shinichi she knew didn't usually pry into things that didn't concern him… unless, of course, it involved a murder mystery.
No way was he going to tell her that he was suddenly… protective, was it?
"It's nothing… just curious."
Haibara's gaze lingered on him for a few more seconds before turning towards the teacher in the front of the room. "I see."
"Haibara-san! Conan-kun! What are the two of you talking about?" They both ducked their heads as their teacher swung her notebook over the area where their heads would have been.
Smiling innocently, Haibara opened her mouth to make an excuse, but Conan beat her to it. "We were just discussing…" he laughed loudly. "The study date the two of us were going to have to help us practice for the festival! Right, Ai?"
She stared up at him, mouth still open, but nodded mutely, the look in her eyes blank. "Sure…"
He had called her 'Ai' again.
"Don't forget!" he continued. "Eight o'clock sharp on Saturday! OK?"
Conan wanted to slap himself. While everything else was going as planned – he had gotten Haibara to agree to go with him on his 'date' and had gotten the teacher to forgive them and start going off onto the subject of preparing for the play – he had called her 'Ai' again. That had not been intentional… and the blush on his face proved it.
But… he couldn't help but smile as he sat back down at the fact that there was a pink hue to her cheeks as well.
"Well… that was certainly awkward in there. What are you up to?" she looked at him out of the corner of her eye.
"Nothing," Conan grinned. He wasn't giving way to any questions that day.
His path was soon blocked, though, by a group of three angry children. Actually… two angry children and one confused one. (Need I explain?)
"CONAN-KUN!" Ayumi whined. "Why are you going on a study date with Ai-chan? I want to go too!"
Mitsuiko had him backed up onto the wall, and upon noticing Ayumi's actions, Genta was beginning to become angry as well. "Since when do you call Haibara-san Ai! I thought only Ayumi could call her that… what have the two of you been up to?"
"Don't be silly Mitsuiko-kun," Haibara came up next to Conan and linked his arm with hers. "Did we forget to tell you?" She smiled coyly at the confused detective. "He's my boyfriend now." ( Today really is the day for bold actions.)
"WHAT!" all three of them shouted at once. Haibara had been smart… she had plugged her ears as soon as she saw their mouths open, but since her arm was intertwined with Conan's she ended up pulling him closer to her and not giving him a chance to try and save his own eardrums… which were, in the process of everything that had occurred, nearly shattered.
"B-But…" Tears began forming in Ayumi's eyes and Mitsuiko was at a loss for words. Genta was… well, Genta.
Scratching his head he put his hand to his chin and thought for a very long time, "Hm…"
Haibara rolled her eyes and decided to make it easier on his brain. "The two of us are dating. D-A-T-I-N-G."
The two of them left the detective boys standing there, still trying to process the information they had just been bombarded with.
Smirking and tossing her hair, Haibara hugged Conan's arm even harder before releasing him and regaining a polite distance between their two bodies. "So? How was that?"
"How was what?" he stared at her. "You just… what the… I'm…"
"Confused?" she cut short his outbursts. "If you're going to make up a study date… I decided that I also wanted to have a little fun… just a small something to shake things up."
Haibara let a smile press onto her face as she watched the boy next to her walk along the sidewalk, still a bit dazed.
I just noticed… she observed his every movement.
I just noticed that… this boy… this silly detective… made me forget about Shuichi… made me feel better for the entire day.
"Hey… how long are you going to sleep?" Conan sat on his 'girlfriend's' bed lazily, whacking at the pillow covering her head. "Wake up already!"
Some soft mumbling could be heard from under the masses of cushions, but soon the phrase "Just one more minute Onee-chan" was shouted. Eyes narrowing sadly, Conan sighed and shook the sleeping girl awake.
"Get up! You s-" the rest of his words were muffled by a pillow slammed onto his face. "Mfgraadig!"
"Is it customary for you normal Japanese school boys to go barging into their female classmate's rooms?" Haibara sat up in bed grumpily. "What are you doing here anyway?"
Conan pulled the pillow of his face and looked her over. Though her hair was messy and her eyes seemed hazy she still looked pretty good. Sexy, even, with her nightdress clinging to her body. (At this he had to pretend to sneeze in order to hide his embarrassment)
"Did you forget our study date?" he grinned at her. "It's eight right now."
"Eight… study date…" she rubbed her eyes. "… hold on… What!"
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To Be Continued…
I kind of like this chapter… what do you all think? xD
Sensei - teacher