Conan Edogawa did not dream of Ai Haibara often.
In the beginning, he dreamed of returning to his old life as Shinichi Kudo every night. He wanted desperately to resume his detective work and be with Ran, and nothing could stop him from being disappointed every time he woke up. Then, as Ai appeared in his life, his dreams occasionally involved her finally creating the antidote after taking down the Black Organization and allowing him to become a teenager again. Those dreams did start appearing less and less these days, and he would no longer wish to return his dreams when he woke up.
But this dream changed everything.
He stood in the Kudo residence's study; the candlelit room smelled of roses, and he wondered why he was there, what was going on, and especially how he was Shinichi Kudo again. This time, there was no explanation as to how he got his old life back, and he looked around, confused. He took a few steps deeper into the study before he realized someone else was there.
It was a woman around his age, parts of her brown hair pinned to the back of her head with a clip. Her burgundy dress showed her curves well, and as she turned around upon hearing his footsteps, she glanced at him with piercing ice blue eyes as his heart skipped a beat.
"Haibara?" His question dropped from his lips slowly, as he was more unsure than ever. If it truly were Ai Haibara, then she was no longer in her child form either — perhaps it was more appropriate to call her Shiho Miyano.
Her smile sent shivers down his spine as he couldn't help but stare at her lips, which were painted a daring red. Her black heels clicked on the ground as she came close, dangerously close, to him.
"It should be Miyano, shouldn't it?" she said, and the soothing sound of her voice made his face flush red. "Kudo-kun."
"Ah, that's right," said Shinichi, averting his gaze. He didn't dare to look at her; something about her was different, and he couldn't put his finger on why she made his heart race. "I… haven't seen you like this before. Are you drunk?"
She laughed and stepped closer to him, and he instinctively took a step back. "You really are denser than I thought, Mr. Detective," she said.
"What?"
"I guess even Sherlock Holmes cannot understand a woman's heart," she said, as she took another step forward. "So it would be unrealistic to expect you to be any better."
Shinichi took another step back right into the couch, falling right onto the soft, velvet seat. His face burned red as he studied the beautiful woman in front of him, his mind reeling in shock. "What are you talking about, Miyano?"
She pulled a strand of her hair back behind her ear and whispered next to Shinichi's reddening ear:
"Have you really never realized, or are you simply afraid to?"
He woke up with a nosebleed and cheeks that burned red. Paralyzed by shock, he lay in bed for longer than he should until Ran told him he was about to be late. He quickly forgot about the dream as he thought of Ran's karate kicks and punches that would threaten his life if he didn't hurry up, and so he quickly rushed to get ready for school. Downstairs, the Detective Boys were already waiting for him, and Conan's face heated up the moment the two pairs of blue eyes met.
"You're not really yourself today, Kudo-kun," Ai remarked quietly as they trailed behind the group. The two of them always walked side by side, and there was no escaping from her during the day, either, with how much time they spent together both in and out of classes.
"It's nothing," Conan grumbled as he averted his gaze.
"Are you sure?" Ai asked with an amused smile. "It looks like something's bothering you."
With a moment's hesitation, Conan looked at her. "Do you think I'm dense?"
For a second, Ai looked surprised, but it was quickly replaced by a light chuckle. "I think that's a consensus at this point," she said. "For someone who has such high intelligence, it's really amusing how dense you are."
Conan sighed. "You always tease me," he said. "In what way am I dense?"
"Well, I don't know if you're aware, but Yoshida-san clearly is interested in you, and both Kojima-kun and Tsuburaya-kun have been clearly jealous of you because they are interested in her."
"I am aware of that, idiot," said Conan, rolling his eyes. "You thought I was that dense?"
Ai shrugged. "Who knows? You often surprise me."
"Then what about you?"
She stared at him in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"You know. What do you think about everyone? About me?"
She paused, the surprise showing clearly on her face, but then she sighed as she looked away. "You really are denser than I thought, Mr. Detective."
"What?"
"I guess even Sherlock Holmes cannot understand a woman's heart, so it would be unrealistic to expect you to be any better."
Eyes wide, Conan stared at her. Stuttering, he struggled for form a sentence. "What are you talking about, Haibara?"
She looked at him with a piercing gaze that looked straight through his heart, and for a second, the image of Ai Haibara seemed to overlap with the Shiho Miyano in his dream, and his face flushed red as he stared at her.
"Have you really never realized, or are you simply afraid to?"