Revealing memories
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Detective Conan. It's all Gosho Ayoama's work!
A.N: Chapter 2 Rewritten! Er-Nearly.. Hope you'll like it this time!
REVEALING MEMORIES
Part 2: Acknowledging
The rain was pounding against the window pane, the wind howling fiercely. It seemed that Nature was in a terribly bad humor. But it didn't affect the ones in the room.
"You know, I heard somewhere that people in comatose state can hear what is said around them. They say that it helps them wake up if they hear familiar voices next to them."
Shinichi spoke in a calm tone, barely audible over the continuous noise of the machineries. He had heard a clock chime for one o'clock no longer than five minutes ago and was wondering why Agase hadn't still arrived.
'He's either blocked because of the rain..' he thought, eying the window. 'Or FBI has blocked all the roads and he's blocked in the middle of a huge traffic jam. Otherwise I don't know why he isn't here by Haibara's side..' The boy's stare fell on the girl laying on the bed in front of him. She was perfectly immobile and only the slow rising and falling of her chest showed that she was asleep and not...
'Coma..'
The word sounded so.. absurd. Here was Haibara.. Miyano, the girl with whom he had talked, bickered and worked with for so long. Here was the girl with whom less than hours ago he had been talking. Here was the girl that, according to the doctors, could not wake up.
Because she had saved him.
Shinichi shook his head and swept a hand through his hair. His guilt would have to wait. He had to think of her first; since there wasn't anyone else around, he would be there for her.
"What can I tell you?" he wondered loudly, scratching the back of his head, "Honestly speaking.. I don't know.. I've never been good in talking with girls." A chuckle escaped from his lips. "The day I went to the Tropical Land with Ran, I kept talking all the time about Sherlock Holmes and Conan Doyle. It was like a sort of first date and I rambled on my favourite novelist rather than paying attention to her. Then there was a murder so I had my full attention on that and she..."
He stopped abruptly.
He was talking about Ran?
Ran?
Of all people, he was telling Miyano about his childhood friend? The girl he had more than once declared to like? Right to the girl that had saved his life and that, maybe.. probably.. surely, had liked him secretly?
Shinichi looked at Shiho's sleeping figure.
Was he insane?
"Sorry, Haibara." he said, passing a hand through his hair, "No, Miyano.. Jeez, I can't even get your name straight. You know, if you were awake, I'm sure you would smile in that peculiar way of yours and mock me." A faint smile crossed his face. "You've always been like that. From the day we first met, you had that... attitude.."
-
"Next to me, sensei!" Genta exclaimed, pointing to the empty chair next to his, "It is..." Ai Haibara walked past him. He looked at her, astounded, finishing the sentence. "...vacant?"
The girl pulled a chair and sat down. Next to him.
"What?" he said and just watched her in amazement and she put her bag on the desk with a soft thud and pulled out a notebook.
"Hi." she said, not looking at him but straight in front of her.
"Oh.. Huh... Hi." he stuttered, unsure on what to do.
-
"Cool and confident from the start." he said, the smile appearing again on his face, "You really made a good impression on the class. And also on me. There was something in your attitude that made me think you were.. uncommon."
-
"Number 22, second department in Beika." she said calmly, "That's where I live now..."
"What?" he said, drawing the attention of the friend by his side.
"What's the matter?" Genta asked.
"Nothing..." he replied but kept wondering.
'Weird.. this is near my house.' he thought, 'However, there are no apartments nearby. Nor somebody called.. Haibara...?'
He looked up and, as though expecting him to do so, she turned her head imperceptibly and gave him a soft smile as their eyes locked for a second. He started.
"What?" he whispered and felt a blush creep on his face.
-
Shinichi frowned slightly.
He hadn't thought of that again. He had wondered, on the moment, why he had felt that strange feeling; some kind of jolt that made him jump slightly when their eyes met. But the turn of events, had made him forget. But now..
"Why did I blush?" he wondered loudly, "We looked at each other for the first time and I... blushed... as though..." He stopped.
It couldn't be that he..?
"No.." he said, somewhat bemused that he could even think of that. He chuckled again. "I must be really tired.. My judgement is distorted." He suddenly looked up. "Judgement distorted? Hm.. Now that I think of it..."
-
He was looking at all the TV-screens, frantically searching for a detail, a clue that could tell him where the criminal was.
'Where?' he thought desperately, 'Where? Where?'
The clock was ticking fast, lowering their time.
'Damn it!!' he cursed mentally, 'Come on.. If only.. If only.. Time could stop!'
"Don't rush it.."
"Eh?" he said, turning to his side. She wasn't looking at him but at the screens.
"You can't complain about time going by. " she remarked in her calm tone, never meeting his gaze, "If anyone tries to change it.. Life will punish them."
He looked at her with confusion.
"Wha.. What are you saying?" he asked, "You.."
A sudden groan coming from his other side made him turn: the Detective Boys were complaining about something on the screens. However, before paying attention to them, he realised something. She had helped him. She had brought his mind back to the right track. He was not astray anymore.
-
"How do you do it, Haibara? You always seem to know when to say the right word at the right moment. That day you calmed down, made me turn logical and cool again. You did that from the first case we encountered together.."
-
He was thinking intensively, putting all the clues he had together. He was slowly rebuilding the culprit's scheme but there was still something that he didn't understand. There was a piece of the puzzle that he couldn't quite identify.
"You're wasting your time.."
"Huh?" He looked up, driven out from his thoughts. She was standing in front of him, hands behind her back and an unreadable expression on her face.
"Locking the door from the outside and then sliding the key beneath the book in the locked room is scientifically impossible. Even by the mean of that answering machine." she said, looking down at him. "It's true there are many things unexplained. But if Professor Hirota was drunk at the moment, there are no other possibilities except a fatal accident as the result of falling down along the bookshelf and a hard collusion on the back of his head. It's dangerous if we stay any longer here. Besides, it's completely useless..." She bent down to pick a chess knight. "Just give up, Kudo. This case is.. " She put the knight on the answering machine, straightened herself and turned around. "Checkmate.."
He kept staring at her back as she walked towards Hakase.
There was something in her words that... He picked the white chess piece.
'Checkmate..' he thought, staring at the knight.
Then, something clicked in his mind.
He finally got the pieces together.
-
"I don't know if you did it on purpose or what, but you gave me the hint to solve the crime. And that wasn't the first time, coming to think of it.."
-
He was walking towards one of cinema's bathrooms, mulling over the murder case that had occurred while he and his friends were watching the movie. He had an idea of who the murderer was but there was one of the culprit's actions that didn't seem to have a reason.
'Why did that person come here?' he thought, getting in the bathroom. He heaved himself on the sink so he could see his reflection on the mirror. 'Why?'
"It's hard to believe that you're so calm."
"Ah?" he turned to his side in surprise. She was sitting on the edge of sink and was washing her hands. She was looking at the mirror and not at him.
"I get cold sweats every time I see myself like this. And I will ask myself..." she stared at her reflection, a sarcastic smile playing on her lips, "Who are you.. really?"
"Thanks to your amazing invention!" he remarked with annoyance.
"Really, I'm really sorry.." she replied, drying her hands with her handkerchief, "I made you hide the truth about you. And lie to others." He noticed that her face had clouded slightly but it was a flash. Her poker face reappeared immediately as she closed the water tap. "Even this loyal mirror won't reflect your true form." she stated, looking at the mirror again.
He looked at her and then at the mirror.
The missing piece..
He smiled triumphantly.
'I got it..'
He jumped down from the sink and turned to her.
"Thanks a lot, Haibara Ai!" he said and dashed away, after having seen her puzzled expression.
-
"It's just a word and it makes me understand everything. You always seem to know when to speak, when to give your opinion. Other times, you seem to appear at the right moment, bringing me what I forgot.."
"Here you are."
He had a flash of her holding his voice-changing bow-tie and a slightly amused smile on her face. A grin flickered on his face.
"You're a bit like Dr. Watson for Sherlock Holmes."
He had to bite back a laugh, thinking of her face if she had heard him. Laugh that died in his throat at the thought that she might not wake up. That she might not talk to him, not tease him... Anymore.
He looked at her again, propping his elbow on his knee and resting his chin on his palm. A small sad smile appeared on his face.
"Wake up." he said, "You can't die or sleep forever just because of me. You can't leave me with a puzzle to solve and no answer to verify if it's right." A blush crossed his face as he recalled their kiss on the ambulance. "I have to know why... Why you did it? What really are your feelings for.. me. It's the only way I have to understand what my.. feelings could be."
He gulped.
Had he just kind of admitted that he could feel something towards her?
The blush on his face grew darker.
"Oh, Kami.." he muttered, straightening up, "Well, I do feel something for her. Friendship. Partnership. We've known each other for nearly.. two years. That's a long time. Enough for two people to become friends."
He looked at her. Her pale face, the peculiar reddish-blonde hair framing her delicate features, her eyes closed, hiding the light blue orbs that had enchanted him back in the ambulance.
She was so familiar and yet so foreign to him. He knew only a part of Ai Haibara while the other was a puzzle that he was far from solving.
What did he know about her?
She was brought up by a dark criminal organisation. Her parents' worked for it and after their death, she and her sister had been forced to work for it, too. She never had a family and hardly saw her sister. She never lived a joyful life, never tasted the teenagers' carefree existence..
All she did was experiments and making poisonous medicines for the Black Organization.
"But you didn't become like one of them." He said with a hint of what seemed like pride. "You're not bad as Vodka, cold as Gin or cruel as Vermouth. You didn't loose your heart... though your character has been affected by them." Now there was a bit of mild annoyance in his voice.
"You never show your real feelings. You don't want anyone to know about your past; maybe, you don't want them to feel pity for you.
You're very intelligent and you know it. Definitely." He smirked as he thought of their conversations: she was the only one with whom he could discuss freely. One of the few people he knew that had a knowledge comparable to his own. Or even more.
"You're always cool with that sort of mysterious aura around you. Mitsuhiko fell for that from the start: he admitted it to me that day when we went for mushrooms." He smiled. "Poor kid.. I had to dissuade him: he had no chances with you. It was a bit like Ayumi with me. Both kids attracted by the mature ones." He shook his head in amusement.
"I wonder how they're doing.." He put himself in a more comfortable position on the chair. "The Detective Boys, I mean. We'll have to go and see them once, saying that we're.. I don't know.. Conan and Ai's cousins?"
He felt a pang in his heart as he thought again that she might not wake up. His stare fell on her calm, motionless face.
Despite her coolness, under the mask she has created to hide her feelings he knew that she cared for the people around her. She silently takes care of her friends. Helps them. Protects them.
She always looks cold and unruffled. She looks as though she's ready to go away, turn her back to everyone without minding anything else.
"But if necessary, you'd give your life for your friends, huh? Always silently and calmly. Without any regrets..."
-
He turned around, dread filling his body. People were running away: the explosion was due in minutes, maybe seconds.
'Is she..is she still..' he thought, looking at the vehicle, 'On the bus?'
-
"During the bus-jack... you didn't go away from the bus because you wanted to protect everybody. You accepted dead for yourself because of your friends' lives. You didn't want them to be harmed because of you. I still can't believe how strong-willed you were. You were sitting at your seat, simply waiting for the explosion to occur. If I hadn't come to save you.. you would have died that very day."
He sighed and looked put of the window: it was still pouring. His gaze averted to her.
She was so... Unique. Yes, unique, there wasn't another way to define her. She was always full of contradictions, just when he thought he understood her and knew every facet, there always arose something new that was harder to identify.
Her character had many faces: she was tough and feeble, unruly and soft, proud but sometimes a feeling of inferiority would get her, sarcastic and understanding, cool but caring... all these things made her personality. All of this was Ai Haibara.
"But there are so many things I don't know about you." he remarked, "Your childhood, your family.." He stopped, grimacing. "Sorry. You don't much of them either, do you? Your parents died when you were small and you hardly saw your sister."
He ignored the sinking feeling in his stomach as he thought of Akemi Miyano. He could never forgive himself for what he had done. For what he hadn't done. Swallowing the lump that threatened to come up his throat, Shinichi leaned on his chair, a light groan escaping his lips. He was exhausted, his body was slowly giving away though his mind wasn't: he wanted to be by her side, awake, if she needed him.
He looked at her again. She looked so peaceful. Without the inner struggles she usually hid under a cool, emotionless façade. Without the sorrows that her eyes would seldom give away.
"Why?!!!"
He sighed, recalling her soul-splitting cry of pain. The very first day they had met, she had shown him emotions that she never demonstrated afterwards while he had felt a wave of guilt that no other case had ever made him feel.
"I failed..." he whispered, "But you're the one that suffered the most. You lost everything: the only person you truly cared for. Your only family.. Because of me."
But nevertheless...
-
"Aren't you embarrassed or anything studying with a bunch of kids?"
"Of course not." she replied immediately and glanced at him. A faint trace of a smile on her face. "Because you're there too."
-
Nevertheless, she confided in him..
"It's because you, the one who is in the same situation as me, is there that I stay this calm."
"Why?" he asked, "Why do you trust me to that point? How can you trust me? After all I said.."
He had insulted her, vented his rage on her but nevertheless she put her trust on him.
-
She grabbed his hand.
'Eh?' he thought, turning slightly to her. He could feel her fingers trembling. Jodie Santemillion was talking to her but she didn't seem to want to reply. He looked at her sideways.
'Are they on the bus?' he thought. Judging by her behaviour, they were. He tightened his fist when Jodie asked her who she was.
He knew what to do.
-
He stared at her as past events replayed in his mind.
She wasn't the type that trusted easily.
He had seen this side of her character. Maybe.. Probably.. Surely, it was due to her living in the Organisation
Her sister was the only one that had her trust. And then.. him.
"I promise." he said after a while, "I promise that I will never betray your trust. You never in these two years: you were always by my side, helping me, spurring me to do better. I changed my opinion on you shortly after our first meeting: I was such a... idiot to vent my rage on you. You didn't deserve it. You wanted comfort and I didn't understand that.."
He looked away for a second, raking his many thoughts together, trying to put them in a neat pile in his mind. He knew that she could hear him. He had to believe that she could hear him..
"You never gave me a reason to doubt your honesty and your loyalty." he remarked calmly, stare now fixed on the closed window. It was still raining. "Never. And today, you... just have me the last example of.." He stopped.
Last?
Had he just said -last example?
"No!" he said firmly, "Not last! You will be there to show me how loyal you are again...Well, in a minor way but nevertheless, you will. I'm not going to let you risk your life again. No.. you.. will.."
He realised that he was stuttering. He had to calm down. Shinichi got up and walked to the window; he would have opened it if it wasn't pouring outside. He really needed to breathe some fresh air. His head touched the window panel: he felt the cool surface on his forehead and shut his eyes.
After a few seconds, his eyes shot open.
'What am I doing?' he asked himself, 'I should be talking to her! About the good times she had in these past two years, the memories we share in common.. I should be giving her a reason to fight the coma and wake up! I must convince her!'
He walked back to bed and sat down on the chair.
"Sorry about that, Miyano." he apologised, looking at her, "You are right, you know? I am definitely too emotional at times and I also lack to find the right things to say at the right moment." He smiled. "Especially to women."
Shinichi took a deep breath and relaxed on the chair.
He scratched his head. Good times.. Happy memories.. Fun moments that they had together..
His eyelids gently closed but his mind was still alert. Images and moments flashed in his mind as though they were a movie.
All the trips and camp outs with the kids. The two of them scoffing at the thought of hunting treasures or playing some sort of game... but secretly enjoying the carefree trip.
'Whenever there wasn't a murder to dampen the spirits for a while..' he thought, eyes still shut, 'Heck.. the kids' spirits were never dampened. They actually enjoyed being on murder scenes! They thought it was yet another game or task. Find the culprit.'
He smiled recalling their trips. How many times had they gone hiking or camping. How many adventures had they lived together.
"We've been out with the kids many times, haven't we?" he said, looking at her, "We enjoyed ourselves even though a murder would spoil the short holiday for a while.."
He suddenly remembered the time that he had been shot.
She hadn't gone with him and the kids to explore the caves; she had stayed with Hakase at the camp site. He wondered if he would have risked to die if she would have been there with him that time.
'She surely would have treated the wound..' he thought, 'Or would have done something to stop the blood loss.. I'm sure of that.'
She called the police and saved him and the kids from the criminals' clutches. He vaguely remembered seeing her standing in a corner when he was taken to the operation theatre: he was sure that he had caught sight of her somewhere behind Ran and Ayumi.
'Whew.. ' he thought 'That had been a narrow escape. If it hadn't been for Ran, I'd be dead.." His eyes darted to Shiho and he recalled her night visit to him.
-
"Huh?" he said and turned abruptly to his left when he heard a sudden and, strangely familiar, noise. He found himself facing a gun. But he blanched only when he saw who was holding it.
His eyes widened in shock when he saw how emotionless was her stare as she held the gun against his head, eyes boring into his.
'A.. Ai..?'
-
"You surely know how to scare a poor guy out of his mind, don't you?" he commented airily, going on with his memory.
-
A sharp click.
His heart stopped beating.
And then started again as his eyes opened wide in a bewildered expression that, he was sure, must have been amusing to see.
A bouquet of flowers.
From the gun had come out a bouquet of flowers!
He looked up at her. Her eyes were hidden by her bangs but a smile was visible on her face.
-
"And you say that my acting skills are good!" he remarked, "I swear.. I was sure you were telling the truth about the Organisation and Agase taken as an hostage. But.. I wasn't so sure you would have killed me.." He looked at her and scratched the back of his head. "I can't tell you why 'cause I don't really know but I.. I just knew that you wouldn't have killed me."
Shinichi looked down at her.
How can you know a person so much without really knowing everything at the same time?
He didn't have an answer to that question. One of the rare occasions when he couldn't give a reply to a query..
"You gave me a hell of a fright that night.." he said. No longer the words escaped his lips, he remembered something else: another memory that surfaced from the midst.
-
He gasped for air and looked up. The train was disappearing from sight.
"Ha.. Haibara..."
He clutched his fists and clenched his teeth with frustrated anger.
He was late.
Again.
"HAIBARA!"
-
No..
She had scared him more that time. Her attitude had been so.. mysterious. He had been sure, completely sure, that she had gone away. Gone away for good.
"But.." Shinichi remarked, smiling slightly, "You surprised me again.."
-
"What's wrong? You were screaming."
"Huh?"
He turned to his side. She was standing there.
"Did you think I ran away?" she asked airily.
He looked at her. Straightening up and gasping for breath, he shook his head automatically.
"Oh.. No..." he lied, smiling. The smile was sincere: he felt relief beyond belief wash through him as he saw her standing in front of him.
She looked at him.
"You told me.. to not run away." she said softly, "To not run away from fate." She stared at him intensively. "You're going to protect me, right?"
-
"That was one of the few times you made a straight-forward question." he stated, "And I knew that you wanted a straight-forward answer."
He still recalled the warm feeling he had felt when he bore in those glass blue eyes that seemed to hide the truths of the universe beneath them and that, at the same time, could read his mind as though it was an open book.
"And I gave you an honest answer." Shinichi looked at her. "I said yes."
He tried but couldn't ignore the somersault his heart did when her light blue eyes bore into his; the emotion he had seen in them was so.. sincere. She really wanted to be protected, to feel safe and he had felt the duty to agree.
"No.." he whispered, "It wasn't a duty.. I really wanted.. want to protect you. I couldn't do anything for your sister... I'm not going to do the same mistake again."
He scratched the back of his head and stayed in silence for a while. He wondered, for the n-th time that night, how he could have missed that the girl with whom he had spent most of his time in the past two years had been secretly harbouring feelings towards him.
"You're either a great actress or one that can keep secrets very well.." he stated, "Or both."
All of a sudden he recalled an dialogue with his mother.
-
"Shin-chan!"
He turned around wearily.
"It's you?" he asked, looking at his mother. She was smiling widely.
"You have charm for girls!" she said delightfully.
"Ah, you mean Ayumi?" he remarked, glancing at the little girl talking with the other kids.
"And one more.." Yukiko added with a conspirator look and slanting a glance to the Detective Boys. "Haibara." His eyes widened to the size of saucers as he turned to look at her; she was looking at something else. He heard his mother giggle.
"Today she looked at you ten times that much!"
"Haha.. " he managed to retort, "She's only checking the drug she made herself and watch my growing process." His mother's hypothesis was absurd..
"Silly!" Yukiko remarked, "A girl only looks a boy if he has something on his face or she loves him..."
"That Haibara?" he asked, looking at her, "Impossible..."
No.. She couldn't be interested on.. him?
-
"Kaa-san got it right away." he muttered incredulously, "While I just didn't believe it.."
He sighed.
He had to sort out his feelings. He owed this to her. When she would wake up, he would have to give her an answer.
How could he figure it out? It wasn't something that he could just ponder on and find a solution to. It was difficult.
"Well.." he muttered, "Let's start from the beginning. Step by step, like during a case..."
He immediately felt a bit more confident. Cases were his territory much more than feelings. Especially his own.
Did he still consider her an ex-member of the Organisation?
"No, I don't." he muttered, "You aren't a criminal. You never were: you were forced to do things that you didn't want to for your sister's sake. Not even for your own.
I should have never attacked you when you told me that you made the poison and that had worked for them. I should have never done that.. You didn't deserve it.."
Is she a friend for him?
"Of course. One of the most trusted ones I have. Maybe the most trusted one." he corrected himself, "You know nearly everything about me. I always trust your judgement and often asked your opinion in many things. From personal problems to cases we faced together." He smiled slightly, recalling her expression whenever they stumbled upon a murder. "We faced many, many cases together."
Did he care for her?
His stare fell on her again.
"Yes." He propped his elbow on the bedside and leaned his head against it. "Maybe.. even more than I ever thought of.."
The promise to protect her.
The will to keep her calm and not make her worry.
And then that feeling.. that nagging feeling..
His mind just wandered off on it's own will, making him relive briefly another memory while his eyes closed slightly as the fatigue was slowly overcoming him.
-
"Excuse me."
"Eh?" Ayumi said turning around. He turned around too.
Her eyes, he noticed, were covered by her fringe: it was impossible to read her expression.
"I have something to do.." she said, turning to the other side. Before leaving, she glanced at them. He was surprised to see her smile. It was a real smile: one that reached her eyes as well.
"Goodbye." she said and turned around, running with her head bowed down.
The kids and he didn't have the time to say anything, except Ayumi who shouted back at her, "Goodbye!! See you tomorrow!!"
He looked at her running away down the sidewalk.
Something was wrong..
He felt it inside him. Something... he didn't know what though, but it wasn't right.
As she ran away, he felt the distinct feeling that he was loosing something.
That a part of him was leaving...
Forever.
-
"I live with the constant fear that you will decide to disappear one day." he said softly opening his eyes a bit, "Without a word. Silently as you usually do. I'm so used to your presence that the thought of loosing you is just... "
He didn't finish the sentence but he knew what he meant to say.
Did he care for her?
"Yes." he whispered, his eyes slowly closing.
Did he love her?
He didn't answer but as he fell asleep, his stare and mind were fixed on Shiho.
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"Here."
One word. That's all it took. One word from her and he stopped dead in his tracks.
That one word surprised him so much that he almost couldn't respond. He stood, gaping at the girl, mouth open, in a daze. She arched an eyebrow with mild amusement and moved her open hand slightly in front of him. Resting on the palm was a small red and white capsule.
"Don't you want it?" she asked. There was sarcasm in her voice.
He didn't reply. It was all happening so... fast.
She had said that a definitive antidote was possible. She said that she was working on it. And now it was... ready?
They had just asked to help FBI. Well, he had asked and when they had finally accepted, he had dragged her along with him. He wanted her by his side; he needed her help.
"Kudo, don't you want it?"
He detected a hint of concern in her tone this time. He looked at her and smiled.
"Of course." he said and took the small 'treasure' in her hand. He felt a light flutter brush his heart when he made contact with her soft skin. "Thank you, Haibara."
"Your welcome, Kudo." she replied. He noticed a trace of sadness in her voice now.
"What about you?" he asked, "Are you taking it.. this time?"
She stared at him. Slowly, she put a hand in her jacket's pocket and withdrew a tiny box; when she opened it, he saw the twin of his own pill.
"I made only two." she said, "And.. yes, I'm taking it. Jodie-sensei gave me a few assurances that if I turn back to myself, she'll set up a few agents to guard the area in case anyone from the Organisation could be around. I'll keep my guard high too. No one will be harmed because of me." She looked at him with a ironic smile. "And, by the way, a certain Meitantei won't leave me in peace if I don't agree and cooperate, right?"
He looked back at her.
That stare..
She was sincere: she wanted to help too. He had learned to know her enough to recognise when she was lying, joking or was telling the truth.
He grinned and nodded.
-
He looked up and felt as though a lightning bolt had just struck him, rooting him to the floor and freezing his body. Any logic or rational thought deserted his mind.
He couldn't peel his eyes off the vision in front of him.
An angel from heaven wearing a sleeveless maroon turtleneck and a black skirt that went short down her knees along with black, short-heeled shoes.
This simple arrangement of garments looked tremendously fitting on her; he wondered for a fleeting second how she would look if she wore something fancier.
Maybe she noticed his shocked gaze or maybe she just saw that he was staring for more than just a minute because she glanced at him, interrupting her conversation with Hakase.
As she turned her head to him, her reddish-blonde strands waved gently around her face, her lips curved slightly in that so familiar half smile that he knew so well and he could see amusement in her light blue eyes as she arched an eyebrow in question.
Only a thought managed to make it's way in his suddenly empty mind as he saw Shiho Miyano for the first time.
'God, she's beautiful..'
-
He felt a soft hand grab his own and shove him away. He saw a familiar reddish-blonde dance before his eyes and then a set of light blue orbs stare at him for a fleeting second.
A stare that would be burnt in his mind forever.
The next thing he saw was red. Deep red that was splattered all over her.
And he heard his own voice yelling her name. Desperately.
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Shinichi Kudo got up with a start... and nearly fell off the chair he was sleeping on. Despite the sleepiness, his reflexes were alert and he managed to stay on the chair rather than fall embarrassingly on the floor with a loud and painful thud.
He had dozed off for a couple of hours. It was still dark but it had stopped raining. A few moon rays made their way in the room through the window pane, illuminating the sleeping figure on the bed.
His gaze absently followed the dusty light lines and then fell on her.
The dream came back to his mind at full force: the flashes of his last memories with her replayed at light speed in his head.
All the moments spent with her, all his concerns and actions to help her. Protect her. His eyes widened as he finally understood what he hadn't realised till that moment.
At the beginning, he had been alone.
No one to talk sincerely or to whom share his inner thoughts. Yes, there was Hakase but.. he was older. A great and old friend but far from his age and his teenage mental struggles. Yes, there was Hattori but he was physically far since he was in Osaka.
But then she had come.
Ai Haibara. Shiho Miyano.
It had been hard to build but they shared a bond. A bond of trust, understanding and friendship that they had forged in the past years after many cases solved together, fights, witty remarks and new discoveries. Everything together.
She was his peer and friend, his equally brilliant partner and mind-challenging cooperator. She was his confidant: she knew things about him that no one, not even his childhood friend Ran knew.
He knew things about her as well and just when he thought that he knew her, she surprised him.
Again.
She loved him and he had been so blind not to notice it. Or maybe..
It just took him time to figure out the truth...
He looked at her: she was in the position she had been before, sleeping motionlessly. He straightened on his chair and smiled slightly.
"Wake up." he said, "As usual, you have given me the final hint but.. I think that the truth has been finally revealed. I know it and I just want you to wake up and tell it to you." He moved closer to her and brushed a strand of hair out of her pale face.
"Wake up. You have to know.. my answer."
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It was nearly six in the morning.
Hiroshi Agase scurried along the hospital corridors, searching desperately for the room where his.. daughter was. The old man was concerned, very concerned and had left his house with the car the second after Shinichi's call. But the terrible weather and the sudden road blocks had made it impossible to reach the hospital until now.
He turned when he read the number of the room and stopped abruptly when he looked through the glass panel.
Ai.. Shiho was sleeping on the bed, motionless and attached to several machines: she looked very pale. Next to her, half sprawled on a chair and half on the edge of the bed was Shinichi, fast asleep. The man felt a sudden warm and tender feeling when he noticed.
Shinichi was holding Shiho's hand, fingers entwined in a firm grip.
We know the truth, not only by the reason, but also by the heart.
- Blaise Pascale
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I updated though I didn't keep my word. I just couldn't manage to finish Chapter 3!
I hope that you will like this second version of chapter two.
REVIEW!!
Bye!