The Professor and the detective boys all decided to go on a skiing trip.
(Because it was winter.. again. The last winter Conan remembered was around the Haido City Hotel incident with Pisco, which was about six months ago.. so it shouldn't be winter again. In fact, it should be the middle of summer. (And that wasn't even to mention that it also felt like it's been six months since he's met Haibara, and since he's met Hattori, and since he's snuck into Japan in the first place.. which also shouldn't be possible.))
Conan lightly shook his head to rid himself of those thoughts. His head hurt every time he tried to think about how weird time has become. It's best not to ask questions he knew wouldn't get answered.
Besides, this trip was supposed to be a break. A very well needed break, after all that's happened. Although, he remembered well how his last "break" went, so he wasn't too hopeful.
"You know..." Haibara quietly began on the bus seat next to him. Conan curiously looked over. "I'm sorry..."
"Huh?"
"For telling you so soon." She elaborated. "I know it must be a lot. I didn't realize then..."
Conan just looked down. It kind of was a lot, but he knew he'd be mad if she waited to tell him. He shook his head. "No, it's fine. I'm glad you told me."
Haibara didn't say anything, just awkwardly looking out at the bus aisle.
And then a man walked past. It really shouldn't have been that bad, but he just so happened to be wearing all black, or at least very dark looking colors. It felt like Conan's nerves have been on overdrive for the past week, so he couldn't help the small gasp he let out, or how his eyes dramatically widened.
"Wrong." Haibara said. "He's not one of them." Conan blinked, calming down. "I can smell them, remember?"
He paused. "Hey, why do you say 'smell'?"
"Huh?"
"That's like really weird terminology. Just say 'sense' or something."
Haibara blinked and just looked down in thought. She seemed to be at a loss for words.
Conan glanced out the window, reminded of the strange winter again.
"Hey, how come you didn't 'smell' Pisco back then?" He realized.
"Ah, I had a slight suspicion.. but I couldn't be sure." She answered. Conan tilted his head in question. "There was another member there." Her voice lowered, sounding far more serious. "It was a much more suppressing aura, Vermouth's."
"Oh..." He said quietly. "Then she was the one who gave Pisco that handkerchief." He realized, thinking aloud. So, since Vermouth was blonde, and foreign, then... "She must've been that one actress. But, wait. She doesn't look like Jodie..." Yeah, they were both very similar looking on face value, but, from what little he remembered, that actress barely resembled Jodie, aside from some superficial attributes. But that was assuming Jodie even was Vermouth. "So does that mean Jodie's not Vermouth..?"
Haibara shook her head, interrupting his small spiral. "No, that doesn't matter. She can become anyone. It's almost scary. Her disguises are near perfect. She's like Kaitou KID but better."
"Wow..." He uttered in disbelief. Better than Kaitou KID. She must be really good then. But, he placed a hand on his chin. That wasn't the main issue here. "That's weird..." He mumbled to himself.
Suddenly, Haibara let out a loud gasp. He curiously looked over to see her shaking in her seat, her eyes wide open and staring at her lap. She clutched her jacket's hood and slowly brought it over her head. "C-can we switch seats..." She forced out, almost as low as a whisper.
Conan nodded and quickly agreed, promptly moving seats, confused, and scared, as to why she's acting like that. He looked around the bus to try and see what might be causing that, but all he saw was Doctor Araide heading down the aisle.
"Is it Araide?" He asked, mostly to himself. "You weren't there that day he did the medical examinations..." Haibara didn't answer, not like he was expecting her to.
He stared at her. It was odd, and almost scary. Haibara never really acted this petrified in public. It was kind of sad, but she was good at hiding it. He could only remember her acting like this when there was a member...
"Hi! Cool kid! Nice to see you again!"
Conan jumped, his breath catching in his throat, when he heard the familiar fake accent. He whipped his head over to see Jodie peeking out from behind Araide, giving him a wide, cheerful, menacing smile.
He now knew why Haibara was acting like that.
Any doubt he previously had was immediately forgotten.
Haibara only acted like that when there was a member.
Jodie was there.
Jodie was Vermouth.
The bus got fucking hijacked.
Conan felt like he was going to explode. His heart was running a marathon and thundering in his ears. His hands were shaking again and clutching the hem of his shorts. He figured he looked a lot like Haibara currently did, or like she did a few minutes ago when Jodie showed up.
Needless to say, he was scared. But probably not of what he should be. He wasn't necessarily scared of the two guys in ski wear (ha) at the front of the bus pointing guns at everybody (although they certainly weren't helping), but of the seemingly defenseless woman sitting in front of him. He kept trying to tell himself that Jodie didn't matter right now, the hijackers did. If Jodie wanted to do something she would've done it already, when he was alone and not in a crowded bus. But his mind just wasn't listening.
One of the hijackers had started walking down with a basket to collect everyone's phones. Conan brought his out of his pocket in preparation, and clenched and unclenched his hands as he waited.
When the man got to him, he placed his phone in without issue. He happened to bring Agasa's earring phone with him, so it was no loss to him. But the man didn't continue; he just stayed there standing by Conan.
Conan looked up at him confusedly, and realized he was looking over him at Haibara. She didn't seem in any state to notice. "Sh-she doesn't have one." He said. She probably did actually, but he figured it'll be fine.
The man let out a, "tch" before moving on. Conan let out a breath, and placed a hand in his pocket to grab the earring phone.
There was a bit of commotion with the passengers in the back, but the man soon headed back to the front of the bus. As the two guys were distracted, Conan took his chance. He took a deep breath and brought out the phone. He was almost more scared of Jodie spotting it instead of the bus-jackers, but he knew that was irrational. It was just a small cell phone, compared to Agasa's more impressive gadgets. It wouldn't even matter to Jodie. He just didn't want her knowing of Agasa's gadgets at all.
Conan began inputting Megure's number. But, he wasn't even able to finish when he noticed a looming presence over him. It was the bus-jacker.
"The hell are you doing, brat!?" He didn't even have time to react before the man raised his fist and brought it down, harshly pushing him to the ground. Conan groaned, bringing a hand to his head. The man snatched the phone out of his hand and inspected it for a moment, before putting it in his pocket. "Next time you try something you're the first to go!" He pointed his gun at him for a quick threat, before leaving.
Conan sat up, paying no mind to Ayumi who had come down to help him, too busy squinting at the man's back.
There's no way he could've seen him that quick. The seat should've blocked the view, especially from that far front in the bus. Unless.. - he looked behind him and narrowed his eyes at the three passengers in the back - they had an accomplice.
Great, there was an accomplice. More he had to deal with. He almost felt like crying.
Suddenly, a loud thump from behind him startled him out of his thoughts. The bus-jacker that had threatened him moments ago was facedown on the ground by Jodie's seat. Jodie had her leg placed unnaturally and conveniently out in the aisle, where someone could've easily tripped on it.
Conan just gaped.
Seriously?
The man let out what sounded like a growl as he pushed himself up. He was practically shaking in anger. "Y-you woman..!"
Jodie startled, as if she had only just realized she was being referred to. "Oh, I'm sorry!" She yelled and jumped out of her seat. She started spewing a random apology in English, probably meant to sound confusing, as she clasped her hands over the man's hand, the one holding the gun. It was so small that Conan nearly didn't catch it, but Jodie slightly lifted the hammer of the gun, activating the safety.
Okay he knew she was a probable Black Organization member and therefore crazy, but that was a bit much.
The bus-jacker, flustered, shook Jodie off of him. "Just, forget it! Get back in your seat." He turned around and sulked back to his partner, grumbling to himself.
Jodie did sit back down, but soon after, she turned behind her and whispered to Conan, "It's very, very exciting..!" She winked.
If Conan wasn't so scared he would've laughed. There must be something seriously wrong with that woman.
Thankfully Jodie didn't feel the need to do anything else insane, so the next couple of minutes passed in peace. It seemed the police had met the bus-jacker's demands and they were planning on releasing three hostages soon, which was good.
The same guy who had collected the phones and threatened Conan, came down the bus holding their two ski bags, which Conan would bet didn't hold any skis. He set them down in a line in the aisle. Conan figured he must be the sidekick considering he was doing all the work.
Since the bags weren't holding skis, there was only thing he could think of being inside them. The man had treated them with much more care than should be necessary, so he was pretty sure they were bombs.
But, it would be nice to be certain.
Conan glanced up at the front and made sure the bus-jackers were busy talking with each other to notice him. He slowly slid off his chair and crawled underneath it. He reached his hand out towards the bag, just to quickly check, but, again, he was stopped by a looming presence standing over him. It was the bus-jacker, again.
It was then that Conan was suddenly and sorely reminded of the accomplice in the back. Not a very good moment to forget about that...
The man leaned down and promptly pointed his gun at Conan's head. "You wanna die that badly, kid?"
There were a good few moments of silence where the tension was practically tangible. Conan couldn't help cursing himself for forgetting something that important. Jodie must've been messing with his head more than he thought.
But, suddenly someone jumped out in front of him, Araide. "Stop! He was just curious!" He yelled. "And haven't your demands been met!? Won't this ruin your plans!?"
Conan blinked up at him. He was glad, yes, but he didn't exactly expect that from Araide.
The man lifted his gun to Araide's head instead. "What'd you say..!?" He shouted in restrained anger.
But, before he could shoot any of them, his partner came up to him and whispered, albeit loudly, "Stop! What if the bullet hits one of the bags..!?"
Well, that confirmed it.
"Oh, sorry..." The man mumbled.
The two headed back as the leader bus-jacker yelled, "Get back in your seats!"
Conan and Araide did.
It was great he knew those bags were bombs, but he couldn't do much of anything with that accomplice watching their every move. He should probably first figure out who it is in the first place. Hopefully he won't forget this time.
"Hey, you! Woman chewing the gum!" The man yelled. The woman in the back perked up. "Get up here!" He pointed the gun at her.
Although, it's not like that mattered. She was the accomplice anyway (which he finally figured out thanks to a conveniently timed pink balloon floating by his window).
The bus-jackers had previously called up two hostages, being Araide and one of the guys in the back, the one with the black hair and beanie. They had forced them to change into their own ski gear to trick the police into thinking they were the bus-jackers instead. They promised they'd be fine, but Conan knew they were planning to escape with their accomplice as the three hostages, then detonate the bombs and kill everyone.
It was a pretty good plan considering, but too bad they happened to choose the worst bus to hijack, with him (and Jodie) on it.
Conan had a plan. It was kind of half-baked, but he's gone with even worse plans before so he wasn't too worried. What he was worried about was Jodie. He was very concerned about showing that much intellect to her. He knew it probably didn't matter and that she already knew. But, maybe, just maybe, if he could convince her he was a normal average child who had no involvement with the organization nor knew of it, then maybe she would leave him alone. Maybe it wouldn't matter to her that he was the son of a Black Organization member if he was just normal. But he knew it was too late.
He took a deep breath and reminded himself again that Jodie wasn't important right now.
He took off his detective badge and turned it on. He looked over at the detective boys across the aisle, squinting through the darkness of the tunnel. They had each heard the quiet beeping and looked at him curiously. He pointed at his ears, signaling to listen.
"Listen, and do exactly as I say." He whispered into the badge. "Don't worry, it's dark and they're confident so they'll let their guard down; they won't notice. Professor, when I say so, we're gonna lift up the bag closest to us. Mitsuhiko and Genta, when the bus stops, grab onto the other bag. Ayumi, go sit by the man in the back. When the bus stops, pull him out of the way." He looked at them again and they all nodded determined. "Ah, one more thing..." He said before they could turn theirs off. "Does anyone have anything to write with..?" They gave him a confused look. "Like a sharpie or something?" He added. They checked their pockets, but ultimately came out with nothing and shook their heads.
Conan sighed in frustration. That wasn't good. He was planning to write 'stop' on the bag he and the Professor were going to hold up so the driver would know to stop, but he couldn't do that without something to write with...
Something suddenly bumped against his leg. He heard it clatter to the floor moments later. Confused, he looked down. It was.. a tube of lipstick. He picked it up. Why on earth was he suddenly hit with a tube of lipstick..?
He froze. Unless someone gave it to him. And the person sitting in front of him was crazy enough to just suddenly hand him her lipstick.
He slowly and nervously looked up at her. She was turned around, looking back at him. (Of course she was.) She winked, then turned back around.
What the hell was that about..?
He looked down at the lipstick. He didn't know whether he was more scared or confused. Before he realized.
This was something to write with.
He was definitely more scared now. How the hell did she know!?
But, Conan swallowed his fears. The time was ticking and he had to put his plan into motion.
"Aah! Th-the bomb's gonna blow!" The accomplice trapped in Araide's arms yelled in panic. "I must've hit the switch on accident!" She began to struggle. "There's only a minute until it blows!"
A loud cacophony of exclamations rang out from the bus, before the mad dash to the exit began. Conan was immediately swept up and forced to follow with everyone else lest he be knocked over and trampled.. or blown up in less than a minute.
When he got out he heard a familiar voice call out to him, "Conan-kun!?" Sato yelled in surprise.
Conan paused to answer, "The bomb's gonna explode in less than a minute!"
She seemed to get the point and rushed away. Conan followed after the detective boys.
It wasn't until they made it into the grass beside the road that Ayumi noticed their missing member. "Hey, where's Haibara!?"
Everyone began worriedly looking around and realized that she, in fact, was not there. Conan had looked everywhere she could possibly be, even running a little to see past the bus, but she was still not there.
There was only one place left - the bus.
Conan didn't even take time to consider why on earth she would still be on the bus, before running back to it. Everyone was too panicked to notice or stop him, so he made it there in just a few seconds.
It only took him a fraction of a second to understand the situation.
Haibara was still sitting in her seat, or what used to be his seat closer to the aisle. She wasn't stuck, or trapped, or in any trouble. She was just sitting there, strangely still. She seemed almost calm, with a small, sad smile on her face. She had stayed there willingly.
His eyes jumped from her back to the door he came through. He didn't know how much time was left, but he had a feeling it wasn't enough to grab her and safely get back to the door.
Instead, he looked to the back window. Without giving it any more thought, he crouched down, turned his shoes to medium power, and grabbed the nearest gun. He turned off its safety and shot it at the back window, leaving a small, neat hole. After turning the gun's safety back on and dropping it to the floor, he ran, his shoes giving him an extra boost of speed.
As soon as he reached Haibara, he grabbed her by the arm and pulled her along with him. In just a few steps they reached the back window. Conan wrapped an arm around her and pulled her in, then jumped, launching them through the window. He used his free arm to shield his head from the barrage of glass shards.
Just a second later he knew he made the right decision. A loud, deafening boom shot through his skull, and a large gust of hot air, burning air launched them further through the air. They crashed to the ground with a couple harsh thuds, sliding the rest of the way.
Conan laid still on the ground with his arm still around Haibara, feeling the newly forming aches and bruises. His breath came in short gasps as his heart tried to catch up to the past few seconds. He weakly pushed himself up into a sitting position and stared out at the now burning bus. It was surreal. His mind was strangely empty as he watched the smoke dissipate into the sky. It seemed his brain also needed time to catch up to the situation.
As his breath started slowing, he looked away from the bus and out at the other passengers by the side of the road. He caught the detective boys and Agasa staring at the wreckage both in worry and awe.
When his gaze drifted just a bit over to Jodie it all came crashing down on him. Jodie had just watched him do all that. The highly dangerous Black Organization member Vermouth had. He had shown her what he was capable of again. Any chance of him seeming normal, of her losing interest in him, were now gone.
He looked away from and down at the ground, panic coursing through his veins again. It was as if he could feel her stare boring into him, although he was probably just imagining it. He let out a shaky breath.
He had to get out of here.
With perfect timing, a police car pulled in from behind him. He turned around to see Takagi getting out. He spotted them and rushed over.
"Kudo-kun?" He asked, slightly hushed.
"Can you..." Conan began.
He glanced down at Haibara and, with a jolt, realized, remembering her state right before Jodie had arrived. Haibara knew Vermouth and what she was capable of far better than he did. If he was this scared, then she must be far worse.
"We need to leave." He said, hoping the urgency came across through his voice. Takagi thankfully seemed worried, but also confused. "It's them." He added.
The confusion stayed in Takagi's face for a second before he remembered who 'them' was. He nodded determinedly and ushered them into his car. With each situated, he turned the ignition back on and placed his hands on the wheel, ready to leave, but paused.
Takagi turned around and sheepishly asked him, "Um, where to?"
That's right. He couldn't just leave without a proper reason.
But, it seemed the answer came quite easily as he frustratedly looked down at his hands. The arm he landed on looked straight out of a horror movie. You could barely even tell the sleeve was supposed to be white with all the dirt that had skuffed onto it and blood that was sleeping into it. Much of the fabric near the middle of his forearm had frayed and ripped, revealing the bloody mess of his arm underneath. It looked pretty bad.
It didn't hurt then because of all the adrenaline still in him, but he knew that wouldn't last.
"Hospital." He curtly said, glancing up at Takagi.
Takagi caught sight of his arm, his eyes widening a bit, then promptly turned around and began driving in understanding.
Conan sent a glance to Haibara. She was sitting still and staring out the window; he couldn't read her expression. He looked away and stared out his own window.
It seemed now all he could think about was why. Why did she do that? She seemed perfectly able to leave so why did she stay?
Was she always like this? Was she always this.. suicidal?
At the Haido City Hotel when she got kidnapped she was far too eager to stay than to try to escape, and the whole reason she took APTX 4869 was to die, so maybe she was. Why did it take him this long to notice?
He didn't think he could even begin to understand, but just the thought of her dying like that brought tears to his eyes. He stared down at his hands, clenching them in the fabric of his pants.
"Don't do that again." The childish plea came out sounding halfway between a mumble and a whine.
He didn't look at Haibara. The only indication that she heard was a quiet, "Sorry..."
"Promise me."
She paused for a bit too long. "Okay."
He couldn't tell if it was genuine, but he couldn't get himself to say any more.
Thankfully the doctors at the hospital made quick work of his arm, leaving it covered in tight stuff bandages. Agasa had dropped him off at the detective agency around sunset, when Ran would usually be finishing up making dinner. And in fact she was, he realized as he stepped into the house and smelled her cooking from the kitchen.
He didn't say 'I'm back' as he usually does, and instead just headed in. But Ran, with her superhuman abilities, somehow knew he was home and popped her head out of the kitchen.
"Welcome back, Conan-kun!" She greeted. "How was your trip?"
Right, today was supposed to be a trip. He had forgotten. God, he didn't even make it to the ski resort. That was a new low.
One question sent everything crumbling down. The bus-jacking, Jodie, Vermouth, Haibara, his parents, even the bombing which felt like ages ago; it was all starting to feel like too much.
Instead of a response, he lowered his head into his hands and let out a sob.
The effect was immediate.
"Conan-kun!" She shouted in worry. She rushed over to him, crouched down, and placed her hands on his shoulders. "Conan-kun what's wrong?"
He choked on another sob. "I'm scared Ran-neechan." He sniffed. "I-I'm just so tired..."
She didn't say anything, instead, wrapping her arms around him and bringing him into a tender hug.
For the second time, he leaned in, grabbed onto her shirt, and cried.
