The aftermath of Sherry

Chapter 6: Like home

A/N: Thank you guys for all the reviews and Suggestions. The last few weeks have been a bit busy and stressful. I wanted to respond to all your messages and write but I have been grasping at straws for inspiration which would be more evident as you read through this chapter. Gomen!

Disclaimer: I claim no rights over DC, just an unhealthy fascination with its characters ( Ai and Conan).

Shinichi

A frown etched into my face after the call that I've received from Agasa. Apparently, Shiho could not make it on Saturday so they just met for dinner in a restaurant tonight. I have been quite looking forward to that dinner since last week so to say that I'm bummed out was an understatement.

I sighed when a sudden notification beeped on my phone. Maybe it's just another case or Ran demanding for another date— just another day for the great detective Shinichi Kudo.

But a slow smile crept its way into my face when I read the message. It was from Jodie-san, telling us about our supposed Black organization takedown crew reunion on Sunday. That would be 2 days from now and it's something to anticipate, I guess. It could be fun to meet the friends and allies that I have accumulated throughout the whole "Shrinking" situation. And now that the loose ends have been eventually tied, the FBI and its agents would be returning to the US soon.

Speaking of friends, ' Will Shiho be there?' It's probably a very slim to none chance but I couldn't stop myself from hoping. We needed to talk.

Or that I needed to apologize, and knowing that evil-eyed yawny girl, I know that she's going to make it excruciatingly embarrassing.

After all, no one else could take down my Ego from ten to zero in a snap as Ai could.

-Saturday at café poirot-

The Café was packed. Pleasant soothing music can be faintly heard in the background as numerous people engage in celebratory and nostalgic, friendly conversations. The FBI ensemble was complete with its operations head, James Black, and its notable agents like Shuichi Akai, Jodie Santimillion, and agent Camel, down to the rest of its members. Some of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police force was also present, oblivious to the thief that they have been hunting for beside me.

Kaito, Heiji, and I retreated to the bar at the corner after a few rounds of socializing.

" So, where is your grumpy sidekick?" Kaito said with a teasing tone as he tips his beer into his mouth.

" Yeah, I have to say, I rather miss her ever so sunny disposition" Heiji added.

I met both of their eyes with a glare.

" So she's not coming then? I mean I could see where she's coming. She might not want to be reminded of her past life in the organization. It's not like they treated her with flowers and rainbows" Kaito added with a casual shrug.

I involuntarily sighed. ' I would still like to see her though' I thought.

Just then, the door creaked as it opened up to a new arrival.

" Hey guys!" Furuya entered ever so jubilant with a stupid grin on his tanned face and waved to the people inside the café. For a second, he looked back and seemed to tug someone behind him forward.

That's where my eyes landed and stayed.

There she was. Her strawberry blond hair is slightly longer as it delicately touches her shoulders and her pale smooth skin is showcased as it contrasts with the velvet color of her wrap dress.

Everybody seems enchanted with her presence. And I couldn't help but admit that Shiho Miyano was not just pretty. She is exquisitely beautiful and regal in her adult form.

I've never really seen her in a not disheveled and bloody state before, so maybe that's how I missed this.

I felt an elbow on my rib as people started to recover from their shock and acknowledged her with a few smiles and nods here and there. I can see that she's uncomfortable with the attention she's getting. A small smile tugged at the corner of my lips.

' Ai never craved attention. She, in fact, avoided it'

" Hey, Earth to Shinichi Kudo." A voice beside me stirred me away from my reverie.

I turned and glared at Heiji. " What?"

" You might want to wipe that drool in there" he said, pointing to the area at the side of my lips.

Partly annoyed by his teasing, I rolled my eyes. " I'm not drooling"

" Yeahh, we can see that" Kaito said sarcastically, on my other side.

Sometimes I wonder why I keep such company.

" But most importantly, what is she doing with him?"

That's when I noticed. Shiho was casually standing beside Furuya, giving him one of her signature glares when he tried to wrap his arms around her waist. The guy, on the other hand, wore a smirk on his face.

A faint undeniable blush rose on Shiho's cheek just before she feigned annoyance and rolled her eyes. Rei then offered his arm rather gallantly and to my utter surprise, Shiho's hand went up and held on.

It would have been just a normal gesture for people who came together at a party. But, with Shiho, I know that it's not just that. There's a certain air of familiarity between them. Shiho is nothing like a regular girl. For all that she's been through; she's usually overly suspicious and mistrustful to everyone around her. I would personally know. It took her some time to even warm up and trust me no matter how guilty she felt in making that heinous pill.

Shiho does not casually hold on to somebody. She loathes physical contact from strangers and even unnecessary touch from us—her friends.

Yet, here she was. Letting somebody get close to her, touch her.

A pang of something else rose in my chest. ' I guess I'm not just used to it. I'm not used to not be the one beside her.'

Her eyes conspicuously go around the room and I waited, trying to catch her gaze. But it never came. A feeling of disappointment came to me.

'Is this how it feels to invisible? Unnoticed? '

" Aren't you going to come over and say hello?" I heard Heiji says beside me.

"Ehh..Yeah, I guess. It seems like she did not see me" I answered, hesitantly.

Looking one last time at the two brutes beside me, I said" Well, I'll catch with you two later" before I took a step towards her direction.

4 steps. I just took 4 steps and I saw her suddenly excusing herself from their little circle and walked away.

And that's when another thought hit me, ' She has already seen me. No, knowing how keen and observant Haibara is, she probably sensed me since she stepped inside the cafe '

It is then followed by a sudden realization that shot some pain in my chest.

'Shiho Miyano is avoiding me.'

And I probably deserve it.

I'll probably just brush it off only if it's not her. I probably wouldn't care. But she's different, we're different.

So with a renewed determination I followed her.

I was fighting the frown that is slowly creeping in my face as I stand and lean on the wall outside the girl's comfort room.

' That evil girl, she's probably doing it deliberately' I thought. I've been waiting here for roughly 15 mins. And she still hasn't come out yet.

I sighed in defeat. " What the hell is she doing there that'll take this long?" I whispered to myself when the bathroom door suddenly opened, with a smirking Ai.

" So, is this some new perversion of yours?"

A smile made its way into my face. ' God, I missed her sarcasm and senseless teasing'

" Oh stop it, You know why I'm here"

" Sexual frustration and desperation?"

I couldn't help but chuckle at that. Of course, she's going to say something like that. She never misses an opportunity when it comes to making me feel embarrassed and uneasy.

" Oi.. Glad to see that you've never changed."

Her eyebrows arched.

Sighing, I looked at her more seriously this time. "Can we go somewhere and talk?"

" Aren't we doing just that, Kudo?" she looked at me suspiciously before looking around the expanse of the room once more.

I could see her eyes stopped roaming and focused somewhere.

" Come on" I complained. " Mister Japan won't even notice your absence" I added while looking at the animated Rei as he converses with a few people around him.

A low chuckle brought my eyes back to the girl beside me. " Oh, he would" she said with an amused expression. " But yosh, better to do it now than spending the whole evening dodging your incessant request"

I grinned at that.

She threw a last glance at Furuya before we walked towards the back exit.

" So.. what is it, Kudo? Do you feel any side effect from the antidote?" she said as soon as we stepped outside and into the chilly evening.

The mere fact that her first thought of me wanting to talk to her was because of something related to the pill saddens me.

"what? Is there something wrong with you and your girlfriend then?

I shook my head. " No, everything is perfect."

A sad smile tugged on her lips. " Good. You should be happy Kudo-Kun. Isn't this what you want? You have everything you've ever wanted"

Not quite. I wanted to add. Not quite yet. But I'm not ready to say that yet so I remained silent.

She turned to me, trying to look for answers in my face. Then a small tender smile broke in her delicate feature. " Be happy Kudo- Kun. That's all I ever wanted for you."

" and what about you Haibara? Are you happy?"

" I.. I don't know. But I am trying"

" Ai…"

" It's Shiho. That's my real name."

" I'm sorry. I'm sorry I haven't been around since I took the antidote. I've missed you."

" You miss Haibara. Conan has Ai. They were something, weren't they? But we are not them anymore Kudo-Kun. Shinichi Kudo doesn't know Shiho Miyano"

Maybe it was the way she said it. And maybe it was the sudden twisting feeling in my chest after she uttered those words, but there was a certain degree of melancholic air around us as we stood by the side of the road silently watching cars pass us by like a particular scene in a movie.

Two people, together and yet so alone.

I looked at the woman beside me—Shiho Miyano as she puts it. She has a point, this figure is unfamiliar to me. But she's also wrong. She was wrong to say that I didn't know her because I know that the gears on her head kept working despite that vacant expression she wears. I still recognize that small hint of sadness in her eyes that she hides so well with her sharp mouth. That's because Ai is never truly lost just as Conan still continues to exist. They live here, inside of us and no matter how we deny it, no matter how much we tell ourselves that they ceased to be when we got our own body back—that would be a lie. It's because they were not just some characters with fake names that we invented and used as covers to make us safe. They were us too.

" You're wrong" I whispered. I could see her blink in surprise but she continued to stare off the distance, not looking at me.

And I need her to look at me. I need to make her understand. So my hand reached out to hold hers. That made her finally turn to me.

" You're wrong because some things encompass physicality. Yes, we are in different bodies. The size of your hands would be new against mine and It wouldn't be easy to drag you around anymore but I will always know when something is bothering you. I will still recognize how you strain to keep your Icy façade to mask your vulnerability. My instincts would still warn me if you're about to run away or sacrifice yourself to save others. You know why? It's because I'll always recognize and know you, Ai. It doesn't matter if you're in a different body—the body of Shiho Miyano. "

" I'm still Conan as much as you're still Ai. Should our size and age, matter? You know me, both Conan and Shinichi, perhaps better than everyone else. These past few weeks, I've been trying so hard to just be Shinichi. To fit back into his life. And it felt fucking miserable."

Our widened eyes seemed to mirror each other. My sudden admission shocks us both.

And as my cheeks began to flush with shame, I move my eyes downcast. I could never believe that I said that out loud and yet it felt good. It felt like a chip was taken from my shoulder and for the first time since I came back as Shinichi Kudo, I felt more like myself.

A sudden tug on my hand brought me back to the present.

" Baka" she said.

Then I was wrapped in familiar warmth—and it felt like home.

-End of the Chapter-

A/N:

Funfact: It was not how I originally planned to end this chapter but I guess just like Ai, I can never deny Conan. Which is a major pain in the ass because then, I don't know how to go on about the next chapter anymore.