She's never been bullied before, and she's never been a bully, either. Her classmates in America during her school days as Shiho Miyano were generally kind to her, looking up to her academic achievements. And of course, bullying was never an issue with the Organization; who would bully a high-ranked official in a climate where they could easily put a bullet through your skull?

It started perhaps a week or two ago; back then, she couldn't call it "bullying" yet. They were simply… feisty teenagers trying to get a rise out of her. From the ripped textbooks to threatening texts from anonymous numbers, she only shrugged it off and went on with her day. "How cute," she thought to herself as she ignored these antics; she was well aware of the reasoning behind these acts, but she knew that they would eventually go away, so she saw no need to waste her efforts in being angry and ignored everything.

But it only got worse. Yesterday, she found her backpack in the trash — that was a new Prada, for god's sake! As she arrived at school in the morning, she only sighed as she opened her shoe locker, wondering what she had to face next.

She felt a sharp pain in her right index finger as she reached for her indoor slippers. Bringing her hand towards herself slowly, she saw red escape from her fingertip. It didn't hurt — after all, what was this compared to a gunshot wound or the pain of APTX4869? Focusing her attention back onto her shoe locker, she realized that her indoor slippers were filled to the brim with thumbtacks.

She was lost in thought until a pair of hands covered her eyes from behind, startling her. Her surprise faded into a smile as she realized that only one person could be stupid enough to play an old trick like this.

"Guess who?"

"I wonder," Ai replied with a smirk. "Is it 'the Great Detective of the East?' Or is it 'the savior of the police force?' Perhaps it's 'Heisei Holmes.'"

"You really take the fun out of everything, don't you?" He asked laughing. "Good morning, Haibara."

"Good morning," she replied as he walked around to face her.

It only took him a matter of seconds to see her bleeding finger and the thumbtack-filled shoes. He stared at her in silence, while she stared back at him stubbornly.

"Who did this?" he asked. His tone was murderous, which was an ironic way to describe the great detective. His gaze was equally as fierce as he stared at her shoe locker.

"Some of your fangirls decided that they don't like me very much," said Ai, shrugging. Fishing around in her backpack, she managed to find a bandaid to wrap around her finger. "I think they want us to break up."

"How long has this been going on?"

"Maybe a week or two," she said matter-of-factly. "Yesterday it was my backpack being thrown in the trash, and the day before that was my gym clothes being dunked in water. Ah, I'm so excited to see what they'll do tomorrow."

"Are you treating this like a fucking joke?" Conan shouted as he grabbed her shoulders. "You're always like this, acting so nonchalant about your own matters. This a serious matter! I can't believe… that people would do this kind of shit, just because you're dating me!"

"Do you expect me to come to you, crying about how I'm being bullied? I'm not a damsel in distress, Edogawa-kun, and I can handle things on my own," she said, raising an eyebrow. "What can I say? You're popular, and girls are shady. I expected as much, honestly, and I have to say, I'm even a little disappointed. If they think this is extreme, then wait until they see the true dark side of society."

"Goddamn it, Haibara," he said through gritted teeth. "You really frustrate me sometimes."

"I'm not asking to get into an argument, Edogawa-kun. That would make them even happier."

Conan took a deep breath before looking at her again. "I'm not trying to argue, either. I just… I'm worried for you. I care about you, you know."

Her gaze softened at his words. "I know. I don't plan on sitting back and letting them do whatever they want, either. Since you found out today, I might as well let them know that my boyfriend doesn't appreciate their actions, and neither do I."

"Do you know who specifically did this?"

"Of course," she said. Taking out her phone, she took a few pictures of her thumbtack-filled shoes before taking them carefully and emptying out the contents into a a grocery bag she usually carried with her in her backpack, just in case she needed to go emergency grocery shopping after school.

Ai led the way around the second-year hallways, with Conan following close behind her. As she approached Class 2-C, she smiled confidently as she slid open the door and walked into the classroom.

"Are Tomoko Miura, Manami Nishida, Kaoru Tanabe, and Momoko Uehara here?" She asked. Immediately, everyone in the class started whispering to each other, wondering what was going on, except four girls sitting in the center of the room.

"That's us," said Tomoko, narrowing her eyes. "Is there anything you need?"

Conan approached their tables with a stern look on his face. "Are you the ones who have been bothering Haibara for the last few weeks?"

Immediately, the pissed looks on the girls' faces melted into sugarcoated smiles as they saw Conan Edogawa. "Aw, I don't know what you're talking about, Conan-kun!" Kaoru exclaimed. "Why would we do anything like that?"

"Exactly, exactly!" Manami exclaimed. "Come on, do we look like bullies to you, Conan-kun?"

"That's so hurtful," Momoko said, pouting. "How are you going to make it up to us after you've broken your hearts with such a cruel accusation?"

"Ripping my textbooks, threatening me through anonymous texts, dunking my gym clothes into water, throwing my backpack into the trash, and filling my indoor shoes with thumbtacks… Did you really think that you accomplished something there?" Ai said.

The four girls all glared at her. "What the hell are you talking about?" Manami said. "We don't even know you!"

"If you're going to say these things, where's your proof?" Tomoko snarled.

"Exactly, exactly! Where's your proof?" Kaoru and Momoko chorused.

Ai laughed at their naivety. "Well, of course. How could I make such accusations if I don't have proof? That would drive my detective over here crazy," she said, shooting a smile at Conan. "Maybe you should take a look at this."

Tilting her phone screen to the four girls, she showed them a video she took a few days back, where the subjects of the video took her backpack and repeatedly scratched the leather with boxcutters before tossing it into the trash. Their faces were clearly identifiable, and the four girls tensed up at the sight of themselves.

"I have more evidence, if that isn't enough," said Ai, smirking as the entire classroom erupted into whispers. "Would you like to see it?"

"You…"

"Hopefully that serves as a lesson," said Conan. "Bullying should not be tolerated, and I will report these instances."

Giving the girls a final look of disgust, he took Ai's hand and the two left the classroom. When they reached the staircase, Conan sighed as he leaned against the wall.

"Goddamn it," he said. "I really didn't expect this."

"Don't worry about it," she said. "It's already been solved, hasn't it? I don't think they'll bother me anymore, from now on."

"This makes me feel like a failure, you know. I wasn't able to protect you from this sort of stuff. And it's my fault, anyways."

"Like I said, I'm neither a princess nor a damsel in distress," said Ai, raising an eyebrow. "I don't need you to protect me."

"I know, I know," he said, rolling his eyes. "But I still want to do my best, because I care about you. You better tell me if something like this happens again."

Staring at the serious look on her boyfriend's face, Ai couldn't help but smile. Taking his hand in hers, she once again noted to herself how being in love really made her soft, but all in all, she was happy, and so it was okay.

"Yes, yes, you idiot."