A/N: Well – I've been turning British apparently, so forgive me if it sounds a bit different from other chapters. XD Hopefully, it's the same and I'm just being paranoid about using big words, lol. Animal personality for OCs in the story at the bottom! 8D Enjoy? XD Also… pointless chapter is pointless. – shot –
Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan or Magic Kaito in any way or form (or shape!)
Chapter Forty Three; Lucid Nightmare arc
The red Tokyo seemed to echo out a laugh in its one-toned setting; after waking up from the last dream because I was thirsty, I'd gone back to bed. Only to get another dream. This time, Erise wasn't here, though – someone else was. My sister stood at the other side of the intersection, that pale hand once again offered out. My brows furrowed as the sinking feeling once again settled into my stomach like acid. An artificial feeling created from artificial fear – this was dream, I knew. There was no real reason to be scared – it was just something that happened when you had one; an instinctive reaction, I suppose.
The hand surged forward at my sister's hesitation and with a jerk, she was pulled into the alley roughly, disappearing from view as her long, black, locks dyed dark red at the touch. A muffled shout sounded before all went silent and I swallowed down the urge to go get her – the floor would probably just cave in like last time. The intersection rumbled as if an earthquake was occurring – buildings and flooring blurring to one big red mess.
A loud creak sounded from my left and I looked over, eyes widening in shock as a large skyscraper's setting crumbled with the force. My balance tumbled as another large shake wracked the dream-world and I fell backwards, landing on my back with surprisingly painful clarity. The building tumbled right after me, its shadow looming ever closer.
ooOOoo
"Good morning, Kaito-niichan~!" I greeted tiredly, brushing my hair absently with my fingers. Kin trailed after my lazily, obviously just as tired as I was – I swear, sometimes her channels my emotions. I walked up to the fridge, helping myself to one of the tiny milk cartons Kaito had begun buying for convenience – grab-and-go, he'd mentioned. I fiddled with the cardboard before finally ripping it open. Drops of milk spilled over the edge and I wiped them with a finger before taking a long, cooling, drink of the white liquid.
"Good morning, Alice-chan~!" Kaito crowed, ruffling my hair as he passed me to grab from toast that had just popped out of the toaster. He bit down on one and travelled back to the table, offering the other one to me – it was burnt a bit, but I took it gratefully, with a mumbled 'thank you'. Bread hanging out of my mouth – during the morning, neither Kaito or I really cared for manners – I stood and made my way over to a cabinet underneath the counter, opening it and bending down to grab the large dry cat food bag.
It crinkled as I dragged it out of the cabinet before dropping it and going to grab Kin's plastic bowl – it had an amusing design, with ears sticking out and an drawn cat face in the bowl – and grabbing a small can before going back to the dry food, where Kin was lying down patiently. I set the bowl on the ground, poured out some dry food into the bowl, before carefully opening the can. The smell of the moist cat food made my nose scrunch up in distaste – as did the way it looked – and I gave a slight smile as I dumped it in with the dry food. Kaito and I had no idea which would've been best – and I felt incredibly bad to be making him buy cat food as it was – but he'd been insistent on getting both. For 'twice the nutrition', as he'd put it. So, we'd ended up getting both and mixing them together.
Kin stood, gave me a thankful lick and snuggle, before setting to work on his nasty-looking food – sometimes, I really wondered if it even tasted good. Shrugging off the thought, I took another lazy bite of the toast I'd received before glancing at the clock on the stove. I sighed – looks like it was about time to go to school.
I headed to the genkan, toed on my sneakers, and put on my black randoseru – I was using Kaito's old one – and Kaito followed after me in a similar fashion; he toed on his shoes and slung his messenger bag over his shoulder. "We'll be back, Kin-chan~!" I called with a smile, getting a huff in return as he continued eating out of view. Chuckling to ourselves, we set off, turning on our separate ways as we reached the Teimuzu river bridge. Kaito disappeared around the bend of a building and I smiled contently to myself.
Carefully, I peeked out of the corner of my eye.
ooOOoo
The school was bustling with activity like usual and I herded in with the other students, making my way to my shoe locker – on a white sheet of paper taped on it, my name was pronounced: 小泉 アリス. I rolled my shoulders, sliding out of my shoes easily. I rose and opened my shoe locker, only to pause in surprise. In it was a large bouquet of flowers, looking oddly familiar. I deadpanned, feeling an amused laugh escape my lips, "Tsuburaya-kun's Yamato-damashii…,"
I hurriedly switched out my shoes, shutting my locker before anyone could see the flowers. I shuffled on my inside-shoes, catching sight of Mitsuhiko giving me a sheepish half-grin as he also switched his shoes. I rolled my eyes playfully before walking past him, chuckling.
"…obviously doesn't exist." I finished to myself, fully amused, as I headed to class.
As I arrived in class, I took my seat at my desk, relaxing into the seat and promptly ignoring what looked like Kin outside the window. I stretched absently, pulling out a notebook and a mechanical pencil. Immediately, a sloppy picture began to form as I half-heartedly put effort into imagining what I was drawing – truthfully, I didn't even know what I was drawing. Lines were just crossing each other by now and the sound of a chair pulling out behind me had me turning with a grin.
"Hey~ Edogawa-kun~" I droned, watching the shrunken teen take his seat before looking up at me, black-brown bangs falling into his eyes as he deadpanned at my expression. My hand twitched, ruining the connecting lines before falling back into a rhythmic pattern. "Good morning, Koizumi-san." He greeted dryly, obviously thinking it was too early in the morning for games. He never did strike me as a morning person – guess I'd pegged him right. To say I was lucky to have claimed the seat right in front of his was an understatement – all I had to do was turn to see what he was possibly doing.
"Wow, you're joyful." I laughed, "Got any plans for the weekend?" I asked curiously, feeling my eyelids droop as I let out an ungraceful yawn. He looked amused, "The weekend? It's Monday, if you haven't noticed." He gave a small chuckle, "But, no. Not yet. Do you have anything planned?" He questioned back in a similar fashion, tilting his head in a calculating way that immediately set off internal alarms. Him and his detective-ness!
"Nah, not yet. I may just hang around the house like a piece of useless furniture." I replied, sounding thoughtful. That actually sounded kind of nice, just lazing off; with Kaito, he'd usually drag me out or I'd go meet up with Erise or the Detective Boys would want to hang out, so I'd been broken out of my normal weekend chain of doing nothing. I missed that – doing nothing all day~! Yeah, I could dig that…
Conan snorted. "Sounds like a good plan." He commented before tacking on, peering a bit closer to my face, "And have you been getting sleep? You look exhausted."
I blinked, pausing for a moment before cracking a smirk. "Aw, are you worried~?" I mocked, dodging the question completely; I couldn't exactly tell him that I hadn't had good sleep for three days – Friday I'd been busy planning, Saturday I'd held a heist, and Sunday had come with ridiculous 'nightmares'. If they could be called that – more like annoying flies that needed to be swatted. He rolled his eyes, obviously catching how I ignored it, his eyes narrowing the slightest in interest. Crap.
"A-Anyways, do anything interesting this weekend?" I changed the subject, inevitably going back to something about the weekend, not being able to think of another subject quick enough. Look at me, I was a horrible liar when I'm tired, I thought with an internal laugh.
Conan raised a brow, incredulous at my weak attempt, but he went with it – out of courtesy. "Nothing much. I did meet someone incredibly insane, but that's about it." He said off-handedly, lips quirking into what looked like a vindictive smile. I shivered, goosebumps pricking at my arms at the look – he was creepy. Too creepy. Shinichi was supposed to be the good guy, right? Then why was he so creepy in person?! …Perhaps that was just me, though? Everybody else seemed to think he was normal – albeit a bit too intelligent in his current form, but…
"Wait – someone insane?" I laughed, curious, "Isn't that usual for you? Why are you suddenly affected by one insane person?" I raised a brow and he frowned at my countenance of his fair share of…interesting criminals. Finally, he gave a small chuckle. "I'm guessing you didn't see today's paper." He mumbled to himself before continuing louder, "Yeah, I've met my fair share of interesting people, but never one who was obviously so amused with everything."
"Amused with everything?"
"Yeah. The whole time, she was grinning like a fool, wearing a tacky outfit." Wait a…
"This person is who exactly?" I asked, already feeling an ironic grin tugging at my lips. I turned my face away so he couldn't see it, glancing up to the ceiling as I continued my aimless drawing. My hand shook with restrained laughter, spiraling outwards and out of the controlled pace – the paper crinkled soundlessly. It was kind of true – I did have the innate sense to find mostly everything amusing, but…
"Some new thief, who calls herself The Jester." He answered shortly, bored, as if he wasn't the bit interested. Which, he probably wasn't too horrible so, since thieves weren't his forte and I wasn't exactly the most interesting thief he would meet either. He'd get a lot more enthralled with KID than Jester. Probably. Hopefully. I don't know if I could handle his persistence – or soccer balls. Ouch! And by the look on his face from earlier – his vengeful smile – he probably has more of a grudge against Jester, er, me, than anything, for knocking him out. Which was wonderful.
Please note my sarcasm.
"Ah, I see. Well, they do say, the more one annoys someone, they more they like someone~!" I cooed, grinning like a loon. If that was true, then I must have a major love for you, Shinichi – which wasn't true. I loved him as a character, and now a person – I kinda had before, due to my attachment to my 'shows' – but I wasn't in love with him. The thought of me actually being together with him or…guh, goodness forbid, kissing him (of all people!) – it was just–a wholly unpleasant thought altogether. There was just something about him that repelled me in the 'romantic interest' area.
"Well, she did kiss my cheek…," He mumbled to himself, handing coming up to his chin in his classic 'thinking-pose'. As the teacher walked in, he only had a chance to say one more thing. I observed him from the corner of my eye, watching his cerulean orbs widen in what seemed like shock, "Could she – possibly be a pedophile?"
As class started, I tried not to die of laughter, face going red as I held it in, wanting painfully to add more fuel to the fire and to shove my head into the nearest wall (or desk). He thought I was–! He thought I was–!
Oh, I was gonna have fun with this now~!
ooOOoo
I was getting annoyed of the color red, I decided. The air was warm, but I felt cold at the core of my body – it was strange. Also, strangely, I found comfort in Kin; he wasn't red, but his usual dark black, twisting around my ankles as he paced. The buildings moved in on us, the intersection growing smaller and smaller until both of us were huddled in a dark, cramped, red space. I sighed to myself, shifting uncomfortably in the space, trying to make more space for Kin, as he was sitting in my lap.
A chord of laughter rang out and another scream sounded in the darkness – I recognized it easily enough. I closed my eyes with another sigh, feeling annoyed rather than claustrophobic at the cramped space and the noises that ensued. Another chord of laughter and I found myself wanting to laugh along, so I did. As soon as I started, the other laughter died out, as if in surprise.
Without much control, I couldn't help but continue my – admittedly – manic laughter, gaining an amused look from Kin.
ooOOoo
I yawned, feeling amused as I flipped through yesterday's papers, looking at what Conan had mentioned the other day. An interview with Conan had been done about the thief Jester and his childish comments were very amusing to read. He purposely left out the part where I had kissed his cheek, though – I'm kinda glad; Ran would've maimed me – er, Jester – given the chance for kissing her 'younger brother'. I shivered at the thought exaggeratedly, earning a bemused look from Akako, who was sitting at the other end of the library.
The library in Akako's house was freakin' huge, mind you – bookshelves dominated the surprisingly unkempt room, old books that looked like they belonged in a movie about sorcery and regular ones filed along the shelves, some even placed in careless stacks on the floor or placed on the numerous library-esque round tables around the room. The room had a very dark gothic style to it and the curtains were drawn over the tall windows, dying the sunlight a hazy purple and keeping it out of the room while artificial lighting kept the room dimly bright. It was large and I didn't even know where the end of her library was – even more impressive than the Kudou library, I knew, despite not having seen it yet in real-life.
And overdoing the Kudou's library was a feat in itself. The room gave the feel of never-ending knowledge – perhaps it didn't end, after all. Who knew?
I leaned back, done reading the details and stretched, looking up to the ceiling in thought. I grinned sharply as an idea came to mind. Since my 'guest' wasn't coming out and I probably wouldn't be getting any good sleep anytime soon – a gut feeling told me the red dreams would continue – I might as well hold another heist. It would be soon and seeing as I had yet to return my last item of…borrowing, there would definitely be more security. With a shrug, I hopped off the wooden chair, heading off in the direction of the gem books Akako had pointed out earlier.
I felt really tiny in this huge place in Alice's body – probably still would've if I was in my original – but I found the books easily, beginning to pull out a generous amount before going back to the table I'd sat at before; I plopped the books down with a clatter that echoed. A Cheshire grin spread across my lips as I set to work, already working out the plan in my head. Internally, at the end of my heist note, I added something extra that the police would discern to themselves, even though it wasn't.
Come out and play, love~!
Review Replies:
To: Iriss-sama – YESH, MY TELEPATHY SKILLS HAVE DEVELOPED! 8DDDD MWAHAHA–! (Coughs) XD I'm glad I was able to update just in time~! 8D Really? Thank you so much! ^^ New readers are always much appreciated. 8D Ah, thank you. I still feel it wasn't as good as I could have made it, but like you said, writing more will help it! ^^ Oh, that sounds way cooler than the English version of it. While your version is "training makes master", ours is "practice makes perfect". XD Don't worry – your English is actually very good! ^^ And you can if you want, though, Alice/Midori won't be showing in any canon events in Volume 14, hence why it'll pass in a breeze. XDDD (Laughs) Yup, I may just do some more stuff to her… (Trails innocently) Aww, thank you! I really love your OC – Erise is a very nice character. 8D And yes! 102 review! (Laughs Evilly) I feel very accomplished to make it to 100! 8DDDD And thank you – I can't wait to write more on this arc! (more character intros, lol) (Gathers Lucky Items) Thank you, Ri-chan~! (Returns Luck Hug)
To: Kudo Shinichi Tanteisan – No problem – I'm glad you're better now! 8D (Grins as Snowflakes Fall and Eats Cyber Cookie) Thank you, E-chan~! 8D (-sweats nervously- oh shoot… -quietly climbs into ventilation system-) XDD
-Well, this was short-ish, but meh. XD I want to post this, since I couldn't post it yesterday (the day before yesterday? It's one here, lol) for Kaito's birthday. DX But – HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY, KUROBA KAITO! You're awesome! And – HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY, GOSHO-SENSEI! 8DDD You're, also, epic! 8DDDD On another note…
Okay, so for fun, I was doing The Animal In You personality tests for all non-canon characters in Revolver. I did them based on personality and outward appearance, or how people percieve them (ex: Jester). Here were the results.
-Alice: Otter and/or Shrew. Friendship relation with Owl (which I have pegged Shinichi/Conan as; I pegged Kaito as a Tiger, if anyone's interested): Otter - emotional peers, Shrew - unpredictable.
-Kin: Badger. Friendship with Alice's animals: Otter - strong bonds, Shrew - "Watch out for jealousy", lol. (More like Kinjealous of others. XD)
-Midori's (since they technically are different to others, all her personas will be split): Fox and/or Warthog. Friendship with Kin's animal: Fox - Fun competition, Warthog - "somewhat demanding", lol. (on whose side? XD) Friendship with Owl: Fox - intellectually compatible, Warthog - a mismatch, lol.
-Erise: Baboon. Friendship with Midori's animals: Fox - "a happy-go-lucky pair", Warthog - enthusiastic. (oh, they got good friendship ratings! I thought the warthog would've killed the good streak. XD) And for fun, friendship with Kin's animal: great playmates. (Would probably help if Kin wasn't such a brat. XDD)
-Jester (based on outer appearance): Wild Cat and/or Sea Lion. Friendship with Owl: Wild Cat - "fellow night hunters" (wow, that's...quite a coincidence. XD), Sea Lion - "courteous", lol. Friendship with Kin's animal: Wild Cat - genuine rapport, Sea Lion - "different wavelengths", lol.
Alice/Midori/Jester with herself, just for fun, lol:
-Friendship with Alice's and Jester's animals: Otter (A) and Wild Cat (J) - an inevitable clique (oh, wow, that's fitting. XD), Otter (A) and Sea Lion (J) - "your kind of pal", Shrew (A) and Wild Cat (J) - "a power imbalance", lol, Shrew (A) and Sea Lion (J) - "overly excitable", lol.
-Friendship with Midori's and Jester's animals: Fox (M) and Wild Cat (J) - "fellow explorers", Fox (M) and Sea Lion (J) - good pals, Warthog (M) and Wild Cat (J) - "indifferent" (lol), Warthog (M) and Sea Lion (J) - sporting buddies.
-Friendship with Midori's and Alice's animals: Fox (M) and Otter (A) - "be prepared to compromise" (lol), Fox (M) and Shrew (A) - "Nah!" (Laughs Forever), Warthog (M) and Otter (A) - "not from your social circle" (lol), Warthog (M) and Shrew (A) - "touch and go". (Dies of Laughter) Obviously, Alice and Midori do not mix, even if they're the same person. XD
-That's it! 8D To see the profiles on the animals, you can go to the Animal In You site with the personality test. They have the animals' profiles there. ^^ Thanks for reading, if you did. XD Just give some more interesting base on the characters, lol. XDD