File Fifty-Two: The Calm Before the Storm

When Shinichi's blue eyes fluttered open the next day, dull confusion washed over him in waves, unable to instantly comprehend what he was doing leaning sideways in Ran's bed, or the warm puff of air in his neck. Sitting down slowly, however, he saw that Conan was sound asleep at his side.

And there was a duvet over his shoulders. His hand moved towards it and gently touched the fabric.

Ran, he thought fondly, face warming up a little at the thought of actually having dozed off in such a place.

Stretching, Shinichi stood up and glanced at the children, an irrational warmth blossoming on his chest as he gazed down at them while they slumbered, so placidly ─ when was the last time these two had a break, anyway?

Smile still in place, Shinichi quietly left the room. Gingerly closing the door behind him, the detective turned around.

Only to meet with wide-eyed, pale-faced Mouri Kogoro.

The boy blinked twice, wondering why he had such a bewildered expression on his face, it finally dawned on him what the scene must look like in his eyes.

It was morning. Shinichi had just walked out of his beloved, teenage daughter's room. And considering that the man probably didn't know Ai and Conan were there, it might as well have looked as if they had been alone. All night.

Now it was the turn for Shinichi to grow pale.

"I... I swear I can explain this."

Noisy, that was Haibara Ai's first thought as she blinked her eyes open, causing her to sit up, wondering what in the world was happening.

Why was there a man yelling so loudly behind the door? It sounded particularly like Kogoro. Another voice was stuttering ─ Shinichi-san? ─ but it was muffled by the angry, older detective.

The sounds stopped all of sudden, and the door opened. Ran stood there, annoyance written all over her face as she motioned to her father to look inside, who dumbly blinked before calming down.

When her eyes fell on Haibara, her expression changed dramatically. "Ai-chan," upon realizing she was awake, a bright smile made its way into her face. "How are you feeling?"

Without waiting for an answer ─ that she most likely wasn't going to have, anyway ─ Ran rushed her way and sat on her legs, the back of her hand instantly pressing against Haibara's cheek.

Dimly she noticed Kogoro giving Shinichi a stern look, saying something to him before leaving, the teen reluctantly following after him. She paid no mind at that, only finding herself able to stare, eyes round and wide, at the girl gazing at her, tenderly.

"Your fever went down. Isn't that great, Ai-chan?"

And, for a fleeting moment, she saw her. The same sweet smile and gentle eyes.

"I already contacted the police," and she had been so fearless, too, as she shildeded the little girl with her own body from Vermouth's bullets. None had hit, but the act had been admirable, nonetheless. "Just endure a little longer, please!"

So Ai's lips pressed against each other, eyes darting away, almost as if she might go blind if she kept staring at her bright smile.

"... Thank you," Ran blinked, confusedly, as she whispered. "You saved me."

It took a moment more than strictly necessary for the older girl to process her words, before she giggled. "There's nothing to be thankful for," Haibara looked back at her, startled, when Ran moved some of her hair away from her eyes, kindness showing in every single of her motions. "You're safe, Ai-chan. That's all that matters to me."

Ai didn't know what to say.

Some shuffling beside them saved her from having to offer her one. Curious about it, both girls turned to see the boy sitting up on top of Ran's bed, hair mushed in a complete mess, tirely rubbing his eyes as he looked around, in sleepy confusion. Ran giggled at the sight.

"Good morning, sleepyhead," the older girl smiled. "It's almost twelve already."

He barely nodded, before yawning loudly. "But don't we have school today?" he wondered.

"Yeah, I decided to skip for today and called in sick for both of you. I told Kobayashi-sensei you caught Ai-chan's cold, so you better stick to that story, okay?"

Conan agreed easily. It had been a rough night for all of them.

With that, and another smile, Ran left them alone in her room. A long silence settled in with the girl gone, which Haibara didn't even try to break, simply watched the boy, who looked around dazely, as if he had just woken up, then let out a heavy sigh.

So he left after all, huh?

"Who would have believed it," Conan's eyes flickered to the girl upon hearing her chuckling, teasingly. "That the great child detective, Edogawa Conan, was not a morning person... Even if it barely counts as morning at this point."

He scowled at her. "Everyone has a thing or two that people know nothing about," he shrugged. "In fact, there aren't so many people out there that actually know our true identities. Especially you."

Haibara was a bit confused, not understanding what was all of that about.

"Haibara Ai, Sherry... And Miyano Hana?"

Her eyes flew open, staring at him with a bewildered expression. The smile in Conan's face was now long gone, replaced by a very serious expression as his gaze pierced right through him.

"I attended the same daycare center you did, even if we never exchanged a word," he shrugged. "Kudo Conan, Tulip Class. You're actually a year older than me, aren't you?"

Something passed by her eyes, that Conan wasn't able to read, before she broke eye contact. "Not Miyano," she said. "Hirota Hana."

"... So what is your real name?" he asked, genuinely curious, as he knew for a fact that her family name was actually Miyano.

Her eyes, still fixed on the blankets, narrowed. "That's none of your business, Kudo-kun."

"Ah, sorry," he was a bit taken away.

He wondered if he had stuck his nose where it didn't belong ─ which wouldn't be that unusual ─ but couldn't realize exactly where. So he decided to leave that topic altogether, as he didn't really want to press the girl further.

Especially when he could see something akin to pain behind her conflicted icy blue eyes.

Shinichi was in deep trouble.

But he did his best not to let it show on his face, and managed to keep a straight expression, unwavering under Kogoro's unusually stern and scary look.

Mouri had told him he wanted to talk, and his gut told him this wasn't about Ran anymore.

"Who is Vermouth?"

Frankly speaking, the teenage boy wasn't expecting such a name coming out from that mouth. And his surprise, and equal horror, must have shown on his face, because Kogoro leaned forward, hands violently hitting the table.

"That person sent an invitation for you, and you sent the other detective brat to take your place," Kogoro pressed further. "And now it turns out both of those kids almost got kidnapped and you show up in my home. There is no way none of that is actually connected."

Keeping his lips tightly pressed against each other, Shinichi's eyes slid to the side, an action he had seen in criminals that are clearly guilty, yet unable to speak. Kogoro took it as a cue to continue.

"Your evasive behavior for the last year has been weird at best, so I wanted to investigate on my own," he continued. "For that, I tried to look into that case from four years ago. When Conan got kidnapped and your parents decided to fake his death."

"So?"

"They are gone. All files, gone. As if that case hasn't happened at all," his frown deepened, hands curling into fists. "It was you. You took them."

"You can't accuse me without proof, Detective Mouri," closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, Shinichi stood up. "Besides, I have absolutely no idea of what you're talking about."

"You damn well know what I'm talking about!" Kogoro's voice rose. "Weren't you the one that helped the police to take down that group of child traffickers that teacher belonged to? So, why is it gone now? Wasn't that case closed already?"

Shinichi shrugged, closing his eyes and sliding his hands inside his pockets.

"Unless there was no connection between those two cases, the evidence was faked and testimonies from the members forced. Only someone inside the investigation could have done something like that."

"You're accusing me again. That's considered defamation."

The older man studied him, and his non-cooperative posture, before letting out a long, exhausted sigh, slowly sitting back into his desk. Even Mouri Kogoro, who was widely known as overlooking the most important details, could see the way the boy shifted uncomfortably in his chair, or the way he was sweating despite the emotionless look he was giving at that random poster of Okino Yoko he had set on the wall.

"Look," if Shinichi was surprised at his softer approach, he didn't show it. "Most of the time, I think you are an insufferable, insolent brat and I don't particularly like when you get too close to my daughter, but..."

"Gee, thanks."

"What I mean to say is... You're a good kid," he continued, even if he felt terribly awkward saying those things. "And I can tell you value justice above it all."

The teen's expression did not change, but his eyes shifted to meet Kogoro's hard, yet sincere eyes.

"I don't know what kind of mess you got into, what made you do all those things that you're so strongly against," Kogoro's hands clenched against each other, as he leaned closer. "But you're just a kid, Shinichi, despite what your parents and every single person in this world thinks. You can't handle all of this alone."

But no avail. The frown on Shinichi's face deepened further, if possible, and his entire complexion hardened. It was then that Kogoro realized that, no matter how much he tried, he wouldn't be able to get anything from this boy, who had closed himself so much as to guarantee eternal silence.

Ran came inside the room, pausing when she noticed the tense atmosphere. It was then that Shinichi's solemn face vanished, as a wide smirk appeared on his face, standing up and walking to the girl.

Who frowned in confusion, before the detective steered her away.

There, sitting all alone inside his own office, Mouri Kogoro felt genuinely lost.

By the time the two reached the door to the living room, they met with the sight of the little boy, wearing another set of clothes ─ he had most likely tossed the ones he had been wearing away.

It looked like he had been going to the kitchen before he stopped on his tracks, eyes wide in shock as they fell in Shinichi.

Who grinned. "Did I ever break a promise?"

And the other two smiled, slightly, as well. No words were needed to explain their feelings in that very same moment.

"Where is that little runt, by the way? The other little runt, I mean."

Shaking her head from side to side, Haibara joined them, phone in hand and, wordlessly, moved in front of Shinichi and stepped on his foot, hard.

"Alright, alright. Princess. Princess Ai-chan."

Conan raised an eyebrow. What part of her is princess-like, anyway?

Not that he wanted to risk asking it.

Sighing a bit, Ran excused herself so she could go and make some lunch ─ she had said something about having to go visit Jodie at the hospital ─ not without exchanging one last look with Shinichi.

She didn't even ask if he was staying over to eat. Conan knew the reason behind it.

"Who were you talking with?"

Because of Shinichi's question, Conan looked at Haibara and realized she was holding her phone. Not that he knew who she had been talking to ─ Shinichi was right there, after all ─ but Conan suspected it wasn't a friend. The saddened look on her eyes had gotten more prominent since he had last seen her, which had been before that call, most likely.

"That's not relevant for the case, Detective Shinichi-san."

"There's no case here."

"Yeah. The Nosy Elusive Detective Murder Case."

"I take it you're the murderer?"

"If you don't shut up, yes."

"As you wish, my little lady."

"Forget about 'little'."

As their banter went back and forth, Conan couldn't help but stare. Stare at his brother laughing as he kept the conversation with the overly serious little girl whose lips were curving a little, little bit against her own will.

And her eyes, that had been dull and sad just now, were bright again.

There, alone with those two, Conan couldn't do anything but keep staring, unable, for reasons he couldn't really understand himself, to smile at them.

He felt, in some way, that he was a mere extra character.

At some point, Haibara sighed, loudly and turned around. "I need to go to the restroom," she raised her hand and, with a very vague wave, she started to walk. "Hope we don't see each other in a graveyard next time we meet."

Shinichi snickered. "Yeah, yeah."

Conan said nothing, just blankly stared as the scientist disappeared around the corner for a moment more than strictly necessary. He snapped out of it, however, when an elbow hit him in the arm.

"What has gotten into you?" the boy groaned, rubbing that sore spot, irritation written all over his face.

"So, Ai-chan or me?"

"I'm pretty sure there's some stuff missing in that phrase, grammatically speaking."

"The target of your jealousy."

The teen was more than amused to see the little boy's mouth opening, then closing silently, before avoiding his gaze, face red with embarrassment. This caused the older Kudo to let out a loud laugh as he reached to mess with Conan's already tousled hair.

All the annoyance he was feeling washed away when he heard it, realizing he had missed it so much. His brother's carefree, good hearted laughter.

"So, I take it you're leaving now, right?" Conan asked, once the laugher had died down.

Shinichi paused, and looked at his brother. He was surprised that there was no sign of that resigned glint his eyes would have on every single of their departures.

There was a sincere smile that warmed Shinichi's heart a tiny little bit.

"You aren't going to, I don't know, chase after me, are you?"

Conan shook his head. "I owe you that much," he stated. "You stayed, after all. Just don't get used to it, though."

He didn't say anything, just shrugged before heading to the door. His hand fell into the door handle, and he was about to open it, when Conan said something that caused him to blink, then wonder if he had heard right:

"Thank you, Oniichan."

With a nod, and flashing him another grin, Shinichi finally left.

None of them noticed the little girl that was watching them from around the corner, phone pressed against her chest, and a troubled look on her eyes.

"I will be frank," Jodie's words were still fresh in her mind. "We'd like you to join the Witness Protection Program."

Her fingers grasped the device on her hand, tightly.

What would you do, Onee-chan?

"This seat is small," complained Genta, squashed between Mitsuhiko and the door of the car they were in. "Hey Conan, give me some room."

Huffing irritably at him, he turned to Ayumi, apologizing briefly before pressing closer to her. He didn't notice the way she blushed at the close proximity, or the happy, timid smile drawing itself on her features.

Soon, Conan was wondering how come they were there, squashed together in that small yellow Beetle playing the '30-seconds game', as Mitsuhiko had called it, when just a week ago he had been going through so many life-threatening situations he had actually lost count.

Everything had pretty much gone back to normal, and Conan couldn't be more glad about it, but...

"I'll pass," Haibara had said when they invited her to play.

But Haibara had been acting... off, for the lack of a better word. Admittedly, Haibara had always been her own kind of weird ─ cynical, stoic and cold, very cold ─ but over time, Conan had seen her, ever so slowly, opening to him and everyone else.

Now, it was different. She had closed off again, and she wouldn't really say a word to him if she could help it. At first, he had thought it was because she was still scared of Vermouth coming after her head, so he had assured her that they wouldn't come again ─ he hadn't told her that, but he had actually asked his mother to dress him up as Haibara again so he would walk around the streets. No consequences had been noted so far.

The only response he had gotten was a look that clearly stated 'you don't understand anything, Kudo-kun', before going to talk with Ayumi, leaving a clueless Conan behind to wonder what had he done wrong.

So far, he had been the only one with such treatment. That was far more annoying than having to deal with her sarcastic mouth on a daily basis.

"Conan-kun," Mitsuhiko's voice brought him out of his thoughts. "Your turn."

"A-Ah," he accepted the cronometer. "Yeah."

He got to 27, that wasn't that bad considering that Genta after him had nearly gotten an entire minute. Yet, Ayumi clearly surpassed him, seeing that she got the perfect mark.

When she got praised by that, she only blushed timidly, refusing to say anything else.

"That's right, Haibara," at some point, Genta asked the silent scientist. "Who were you talking to on the phone last night?"

Her eyes went wide, before she looked away. "I wasn't on the phone," trying to play it as something he had seen wrong, she stated plainly. "Kojima-kun, you were dreaming."

"Was I really?"

Ayumi giggled, softly. "I bet it's the person that Ai-chan likes," she whispered to the boys in the backseat. "You know, the one she was talking to the other time."

"... What makes you think that Haibara-san likes this person, Ayumi-chan?" Mitsuhiko asked, a bit of hesitation showing in his voice.

"A woman's intuition."

A woman's intuition, huh? Conan raised an eyebrow. That was probably my brother who she had been talking with.

... Then again, that doesn't debunk that theory, does it?

Clueless about what to think, Conan stared at Ayumi for the longest time until his eyes travelled towards the front of the car, to the girl in question. Piercing, blue eyes met his and did not leave right away, which made the boy realize that she had listened to every single word of their little conversation, even if she had yet to say anything.

Her gaze narrowed slightly before it returned back to the road.

And Conan blinked twice, before his face scrunched into a scowl.

What's... What's up with her?

Before long, they reached their destination.

Up close, the Nishitamashi Twin Towers were even taller than it had seemed, so much that they couldn't see the top of it. As his friends awed at it, Conan slid his hands inside his pockets, wondering what exactly was so amazing about these towers that they had begged Agasa to stop by on their way back home.

A taxi pulled right in front of them. Conan was beyond shocked when he saw the three people that got out.

"Huh, Ran-neechan?"

"Ah, isn't that Conan-kun?"

Instantly, the child crossed the street to meet the girl and her friend, Sonoko, who wasn't that happy to see him around ─ which was normal.

"You!" it was Kogoro, however, the first one to react, loudly. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We decided to come here after camping," he stopped right in front of them. The rest of the group did the same. "What about you?"

Kogoro cleared his throat. "The owner of these Twin Tower Buildings is Tokiwa Mio-kun. She's an old college of mine," his lips curved into a very arrogant smirk. "She invited me to visit a week before the opening."

Conan blinked at him. "I didn't even know."

"Right? Dad didn't tell me either," Ran joined, before turning to her father with quite the dirty look on her face. "I suspected he was acting strange, so I made him submit."

"Submit? I didn't-!"

"So, basically, Ran-neechan is here to babysit Occhan," stated the child, unblinking.

"Babysitting?!" Kogoro was annoyed. "Me, the Great Detective Kogoro doesn't need anybody to watch over-"

"Babysitting. That's the word you're looking for."

Surprisingly, it was Sonoko the one that explained the situation ─ while talking over Kogoro, completely disregarding his opinion. Tokiwa Mio had just inherited the Tokiwa Corporation and was single, so of course Ran had been worried.

"Excuse me," a woman came forward. "Would you be Mouri Kogoro-sama?"

The President's Secretary, Sawaguchi Minami, let them through ─ including the children, who were elated to be allowed to come along. They followed her as she entered the A Tower, and explained that all floors above 31th belonged to the Tokiwa Corporation ─ an incredibly powerful company that dealt with all kinds of computer technology.

So, they were taken to a game room, and even Conan was surprised about how futuristic and cool all those machines looked ─ even if he wasn't that fond of games, frankly speaking.

Lead programmer, Yoshiaki Hara, introduced himself, but fell into deaf ears when Ayumi, Genta and Mitsuhiko started to huddle closer to a particular machine that had caught their eye, wondering what in the world it was.

"Would you like to try it?" Hara's smile didn't disappear. "This computer will show your face in ten years."

Even Agasa was interested.

Like a time-travelling machine? Conan wasn't going to lie, that sounded neat, actually.

Professor Agasa and Ayumi were the first ones to try it. Partly curious about the result, Conan watched with mild interest as they both sat in the machine and a helmet was lowered to their heads.

Two photographs were printed.

Agasa hadn't changed a bit. None were surprised.

Yet, Ayumi's did, by a whole lot. Conan smiled a bit as he looked at the photo of an eighteen year-old Ayumi smiling at the camera, not at all shocked to realize that, despite the clear passing of time, her kind smile and bright eyes had not vanished.

Ayumi would always be Ayumi, alright.

"So cute!" Genta and Mitsuhiko chorused, enchanted by the young woman in front of their eyes.

Next was their turn. Like Ayumi, change was evident. Genta's hair was slightly longer and Mitsuhiko's features were a bit sharper, but all in all they remained the same.

Sonoko wasn't pleased with her result. "Look, look, an old lady," it didn't help that Genta was pointing out the obvious, Mitsuhiko clearly agreeing with his friend.

Ran was a bit embarrassed when Ayumi beamed at the sight of her old self, and Conan couldn't help but mirror his friend's reaction. There, in the photo, was a beautiful young lady, hair a bit longer than now, and a slightly more mature expression on her face but, like all others, managed to still be the same sweet, pure Ran.

"Too bad you're stuck with Shinichi," the boy couldn't help but agree with the old professor.

"Next is Conan and Haibara!" Genta exclaimed.

Haibara, who was simply staring at another random machine a distance away, glanced at him then shook her head. "I'm interested."

"I'll pass as well," Conan offered their friends an apologetic smile.

Because he didn't need a machine to tell him what he would look like in ten years, since he already knew. Not that the thought made him any happier, however.

Of course life would never go the way he wanted to, he realized as he felt his feet leaving the ground. "I really want to see what you'll look like in ten years!"

With that, he was dropped into the machine by Kogoro, and he noted by the corner of his eye that Mitsuhiko and Genta had basically done the same thing to Haibara, even if she hadn't wanted to cooperate either.

So, he shot a very dirty look at Kogoro as the helmet was lowered into his head. Some lights danced in front of his eyes before a flash nearly made him go blind. And like everyone else, two photos were printed.

Upon seeing his face, Conan let out a long, defeated sigh.

"So?" Ran came up from behind him. "What will you look like, Conan... kun...?"

Her eyes were wide as they studied his ten-year older face, just like Sonoko's as she joined her friend ─ but unlike her, the heiress had been loud, gasping as she pointed at the photograph he held.

He had expected that kind of reaction. After all, he could see Shinichi in the photo. A Shinichi that wore glasses, anyway.

"Wow, genetics sure are strong," blinked Kogoro, surprised.

"Why are you so surprised?" Conan shrugged. "It should've been obvious, considering what he looked like when he was my age."

Without any further word, he went closer to where his friends were crowding, all beaming at the photograph Haibara was holding. Curious, he took a look at it.

A beautiful young woman was looking straight at the camera, the same sharp eyes piercing though the gaze of whoever was looking at her. Short, strawberry blonde hair remained the same, and there was a barely noticeable smile on her face.

A bittersweet smile, that was.

Conan couldn't, for the life of him, understand the meaning of all that.

"Maybe if you faced the other way it would be a bit easier for you."

For once in his life, Kogoro did not scowl at the child, and actually turned around so he would be facing the door of the VIP elevator, instead of the very terrifying view of the city as they raised to the 75th floor. Conan studied him for a moment, shrugging, before going to join their friends.

All of them ─ besides Haibara, obviously ─ had their faces pressed against the crystal, eyes glimmering with joy, showing no signs of acrophobia or whatsoever.

Eventually, they reached their destination, and Conan wasn't very shocked to see Kogoro basically jumping out once he saw the doors opening.

The room they had been taken to was in process of being prepared for the opening party, so naturally the otherwise elegant hall was a mess of workers, papers and several other things as they got everything ready.

There, in the middle of the room, they met Mio.

Ran made sure to clarify that she was there in place of her mother, which her father didn't quite appreciate but got ultimately ignored. Not batting an eye, Ran proceeded to introduce every single person that had come with Kogoro, and Tokiawa Mio did the same.

Her art instructor, Kisaragi Hosui ─ Mount Fuji painter, Conan recalled. The Nishitamashi Councilman, Oki Iwamatsu ─ he smelled like alcohol. Lastly, the designer and architect of the building, Kazama Hidehiko ─ former student of Moriya Teiji.

To this day, the feeling of almost losing Ran and his brother in one single day still made a knot to form on his throat, so to say that he wasn't pleased to hear that was more than understandable. He assured them that there was no need to worry, that he wasn't going to destroy these buildings, but Conan still felt uneasy.

If somebody had suddenly decided, whatever the reason, to plant bombs in any of these towers, Conan truly didn't want to imagine what kind of catastrophe could happen.

The guy didn't seem to have an obsession with symmetry, that was Conan's only comforting thought.

Mitsuhiko, Ayumi and Genta were on another different page, he realized, when he turned to see that they all were admiring the view to the Mount Fuji they all had. Soon, they rushed to the other side, noticing that there was something like a dome

"The B Tower is a commercial building," explained Mio. "The bottom is commercial while the top is a hotel. The top floor is also home to an indoor pool. Complete with a retractable roof."

"Wow... That's really something," Kogoro breathed out.

Despite how bad he felt about it, Conan couldn't help but agree with him.

"Ah, chocolate!"

They all turned around, surprised by Genta's sudden exclamation, to see the three children hovering close to Hara, who had taken some chocolate to eat. Letting out a laugh because he had been found out, he offered them some, and they loudly accepted it.

Hey, hey. Hadn't they been ever told not to accept candy from strangers?

"Although he's a genius programmer, he can be childish," Mio shook her head, even if her smile gave away she was amused.

"Well, that's how fun games are made," Agasa pointed out.

"Guess you're the exception, Professor," Conan stated, plainly.

The Professor gave him a glare, which he had paid no attention to, merely crossing his arms behind his head as his gaze travelled around the place, a bored expression plastered on his face. That changed to confusion when he caught sight of Haibara, who was giving him one of those looks again, before turning away.

This was beginning to become really annoying, he decided with a long, exhausted sigh.

"Haibara-san!" so, he called her, moving closer.

The girl merely turned around, cold eyes narrowing slightly as they fell on his form.

Exactly the way she would do, back when they barely knew each other. That didn't settle well with him, at all.

"What?" she asked, face unmoving.

And Conan hesitated, realizing he had no idea what to say. "Eh..." he mumbled stupidly for a moment, before he frowned and opened his mouth to speak.

"Wow, that's such a rare car," the voice filled his ears before he had the chance to say anything. "What type was it?"

"It's a Porsche 356A."

Both their faces went white when they heard that, freezing in place for less than a second because of what that might have implied. Conan was the first one to react, rushing towards the two men that had been talking with each other not a moment ago, while Haibara could only watch, terrified, as the child desperately asked them the colour of that car and where they had seen it.

"It was parked in front of this building, and it was black."

They barely had time to answer his question before the boy bolted towards the VIP elevator, despite the way Kogoro and Ran were calling his name.

The next second, he was gone.

"What's wrong with him?" Genta raised an eyebrow, not understanding at all the actions of his friend.

"Don't be too loud, Genta-kun," Mitsuhiko shushed him, while Ayumi pulled him away to the farthest corner of the room. "Did you forget what Conan-kun said?"

Genta blinked.

"That dangerous person that poisoned Shinichi-san had a black Porsche 356A."

"Oh, yeah, that's right..."

Groaning to himself, Mitsuhiko pressed a hand against his face, letting out a tired sigh, while Ayumi simply looked at the sky through the window. Conan-kun, she thought, worriedly, pressing a hand against her chest.

She glanced towards Haibara and, despite the emotionless look she was giving to her own reflection on the glass, she could see it. Ai-chan is terrified.

None of them noticed Ran, from a distance away, studying their unusual reactions, and then letting a soft frown made its way on her face.

Damn it!

As soon as he had gotten out of the building, Conan had taken off running, only to find that the black car had driven away. So he just stood there, panting and gasping for air as he glared at a random spot in the sidewalk, where that cursed Porsche was supposed to be parked at.

But, why? Why were they here?

A bead of cold sweat rolled down his forehead.

They couldn't have known that Haibara-san is here... Could they?

No, no, that's not possible. If they did...

His eyes widened in horror, picturing what would follow next if they did. Haibara, his friends, Ran. his brother... everyone...

He shook his head, eyes closing shut as he willed his mind to stop overthinking. It wasn't like he was absolutely sure it was them, for all he knew it could be another old car-fanatic that also happened to have one of those cars.

But his head wouldn't let him be, plaguing his mind with pictures of all those he knew cold and dead ─ years and years of seeing dead bodies were messing up with him, he concluded.

A hand pressing on his shoulder caused him to jump and spin around, terror still struck on his features. "Conan-kun, what's wrong?" he relaxed, just a little bit, when he met Ran's concerned eyes. "What happened? You ran away so suddenly..."

"... Ah," it took a moment more than needed for Conan to manage a barely convincing smile. "It's nothing, Ran-neechan. I heard some people talking about an unusual car down here and I really wanted to take a look at it... Guess they left already, though."

He didn't like it. He didn't like the way that Ran's ever gentle eyes narrowed, suspicion evident in every bit of her expression, piercing through his gaze, as if she smelled that something was off ─ well, she was the daughter of a detective.

So he grinned sheepishly. "Let's go, Ran-neechan," he said to her before he began to head back to the building, hoping that this conversation would end right then and there.

Luck wasn't on his side, however. Conan was startled when her hand gripped his arm before he could go. "Ran-neechan?" he looked back at her, feigning innocence, when she brought him back, so he would be standing right in front of her.

He tried to wriggle his arm away, but her grip didn't slack. As expected from a karate champion, he mused.

"Conan-kun," there was a sternness in her voice that Conan rarely heard, even when she would scold him. "Is there something you want to tell me?"

His smile vanished. Despite how badly he wanted to look away from her perceptive eyes, Conan managed to hold her gaze. "No," the child then said, a brave look behind his glasses, even if he was sweating bullets at this point.

And, for the longest time, they just stared at each other. Before long, the girl sighed and released him and the boy finally looked away, closing his eyes for a second, before heading back inside.

Ran couldn't help the bad feeling settling on the pit of her stomach. Undoubtedly worried about what he was getting into, yet frustrated. Frustrated because she couldn't get this boy to talk to her.

Every single soul in this world would agree. If Kudo Conan decided not to open his mouth about something, he would never, ever say anything about it.

What are you hiding, Conan-kun?

A/N:

ajjr12: Not long, I guess.

XxThe-Crest-Of-AnubisxX: Shinichi saved Vermouth in that case in New York. Cool Kid is still Conan. Sorry if it was confusing!