Hi! I'm sorry if I took long to update, but my internet stopped halfway and I was forced to wait till it was fixed. Here's the new chapter, all done now!
"Conan-kun! We're going to the beach today, so pack your swimming stuff!"
He had just exited the bathroom with his altered clothes, his new limbs wriggling uncomfortably under his coat, as if he had just stuffed a pair of fishes down his back. "Eh...Ran-neechan? Since when are we going to the beach?" he asked as he saw his guardian come into the living room in a short blue summer dress, a sun hat and a basket full of snacks and drinks.
"Sonoko and I decided to hold a class party at the beach today. I can't leave you at home when dad will help himself to the fridge..." She glared meanly at Kogoro, who had just woken up, scratching the sleep out of his eyes. He was going to the kitchen to get something to eat.
"Humph, wouldn't want to be near that old geezer anyway," thought the child, as he went off to get his things.
The sun was shining brightly in the azure sky, a golden fireball suspended in the air. A faint breeze blew, sweeping up the short skirts and dresses of the ladies it passed, tossing their hair around. Men had their papers stolen by the playful whirl, and had to chase it to get their fix of the dailies and exercise at the same time. The relaxed waves lapped at the sandy white shore, swirling into the little nooks and gaps that the fine grains of sand had between them. Bunches of umbrellas, dyed every colour of the spectrum, stood starkly on the upper parts of the beach, like giant multicoloured mushrooms with little fairy folk resting under their ample shade. How he wished that he could just take off into the sky then, and relieve the experience that he had that night. Flying was not normal to him; he still had a couple of nicks and kinks to straighten out, and with no one to teach him the proper ways he could only do so by a bruising trial-and-error method. But, he would not let anyone else know about his secret; it was too valuable to let out, especially since the phantom thief Kaito Kid and his friend the witch Akako knew already.
He got out of the car with Sonoko and Ran, all three carrying some of the items required for the gathering. As usual, he had the least to carry, although he bugged Ran for more. She had said that the heavy weight of the grill and nettings would snap his dear little arms, and then he would not be able to write properly. He sighed at that comment, slightly miffed at Ran still treating him like a little kid.
Oh wait. He was.
He set the packets of snacks down on the ground; he turned to face the two girls who were still busy unpacking the remaining items. They looked so happy, working together like a pair of ants tasked to carry foodstuffs back to their nests, working hand in hand, taking care not to upset or knock into anything. That sort of synchronisation would only be if both knew the other like siblings; something he could never do with all those secrets he held in his head. There was the problem of knowing too much and telling too little; this would be one of them.
His extra limbs fingered the newly-cut flaps he had crudely sewn onto his coat and held shut by a pair of shiny yellow buttons. Sewing proved to be very difficult for him; the sharp steel needle pricking his fingers countless times, causing him to stain the floor red when he tried to pick up the buttons he had dropped. Healing was not much of a problem, but he had to clean up the floor, and he was not equipped with any speed or telekinesis powers.
"Conan-kun! Mind getting the coke here?" Ran's sweet voice broke open his thoughts, sending him shooting back to earth. "Coming, Ran-neechan!" he answered, dragging the economy-sized bottle of soft drink behind him.
Soon, the students of Teitan High's class 2-B arrived, together with the bits of food they had brought to contribute to the barbeque. Numerous packets of chips, biscuits and soft marshmallows bounced onto the stone table as they emptied their bags, some smacking Conan on the head as he watched them roll by. He watched them all have fun sadly, although he had been invited by his guardian to the party, he still felt that he was missing half of it. Apparently the guys had noticed it too, when they started questioning her on her missing friend's whereabouts.
"Hey ran, where's your boyfriend today?" they would say, and she would hastily reply, "He he...I don't know!" with a slight blush to her cheeks, while he could see the veins clearly popping out in her clenched fist. She loved hiding her true emotions, he knew, but her hands would speak of her true intentions, whether she wanted to punch someone's face or not. He liked that quirky part of her, which was what made her special.
As the class was enjoying the party and teasing poor little Conan about adultery and crushes at the same time, a violent sound erupted into the air.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!! My son, my son's drowning! Someone save him!!"
Everyone's head turned at the dreadful sound, the only thing to break the serenity and joyfulness of the occasion. Conan squinted into the distance, and could vaguely make out a young blonde standing by the seaside, pointing to a young child with his hands in the air and his head under the water! Bubbles streamed out of the poor child's throat, and he was helpless in trying to stop them. All the people who heard stood stock-still, and never did help the child. He gazed some more into the distance, and quickly found the reason why.
The child was bleeding from a wound somewhere in his leg, and there was a pair of sharks shooting towards him, like twin bullets from a gun fired in the sparkling blue sea.
He could not just stand there and do nothing! Picking up a float, he dashed rapidly down to the sea, and threw the float to the drowning child. It missed by a wide margin, and he was left with nothing to help with! He watched helplessly as the sharks swam closer and closer to their easy prey.
Out of the blue, a ridiculous idea popped into his panicking mind. "Ridiculous, but would work effectively," he thought. "I'll take it!"
He raised both arms, concentrating tightly on the water surrounding the child. It rippled, swirled, and churned, but he did not give up, and pulled harder on the salty liquid. Others stared curiously at him, wondering what was going on.
Then, the water slowly, but he was sure of it, rose up into the air, taking the surprised child with it! The sharks were left behind in the sea, watching in astonishment at the floating prey. He twirled his hand around, and the child's rosy face peeped out of the water's silvery surface. Cool, salty air whooshed into his lungs, restoring his rosy complexion, and he gasped at the air in shock and relief.
The sharks looked pretty miffed at losing their prey too easily. Not wanting to give up, one of the sharks sprung up from the sea, trying to reach the huge water bubble floating a few centimetres away from the surface of the sea. Its cutting teeth nicked the edge of the water bubble, and the child suspended in the bubble wailed in fright. Conan lost his focus, and some of the water plopped back down into the sea, but the child was still thankfully held in midair. He hastily shifted the ball of water onto the land, and then released the heavy blob. It fell to the earth, and shattered into a million glistening pieces, spraying everyone nearby with drops the colour of liquidized crystals. The child's fall was broken by the impact of the bubble, and he landed on the ground lighter than expected. The disappointed sharks swam away, in search of other prey.
The beach was silent.
Then, it broke out in a burst of applause and cheers.
Everywhere Conan looked, there were people clapping their hands appreciatively, and some even went up to him and ruffled his hair in praise. He was the centre of attention, and the drowning child's mother went up to give him a big hug. He flamed red, and quickly retreated back to Ran's side, whilst the other people still singing his praises.
Then, he realised something.
He had broken his vow of silence. Major oops.
He looked up at Ran, who fixed her ocean blue eyes on his ultramarine own, and smiled in happiness. "You're the hero today, Conan-kun, do you know that?"
He blushed again, deeper than before. "Y-Yeah, Ran-neechan."
Ran picked him up and kissed him affectionately on his soft cheek. Everyone fell silent once more, holding their excited breaths for the next moment.
Conan froze, the kiss rendering him speechless. His usual pale face sank into a shade of beetroot, and he averted his eyes from her.
"So, my little magician, mind telling us how you did it?"
The both of them perked up, and saw a tall teenager with wind-tossed black hair and a pair of eyes as blue as the clear sky looked back at them, as a bob-haired girl skipped around him. Conan immediately recognised them as the comical duo he had seen on the cruise where he had first obtained the Destiny. He dug around in his memory until he came up with their names.
Kuroba Kaito and Nakamori Aoko. The guy's name sounded mighty familiar, but he could not think where else.
"Kaito, sweetie! Your food's ready!" a sickening sweet voice called from the distance. The four of them turned around to see another girl, with long straight hair the colour of the deep sunset, holding up two plates of hot steaming food. "I didn't cook fish, so you'd better eat it, okay?" she called again.
The young child's eyes widened when the image of Kaito's friend registered into his mind. She looked exactly like Kid's partner-in-crime, Akako! He raised his defences, uncertain of whether she was the same person.
"Akako, stop calling me sweetie!" hollered the boy back, "And I'm still not gonna eat your food, no matter what you put in it!"
"Whoa. Even her name is the same. Wait a minute...there's something wrong with this picture," thought he.
Kaito turned back to ask the child again, when he noticed that he looked incredibly tense. His eyes grew wide in realization, then quickly backed away as Conan's eyes began to glow a brilliant scarlet. The young child's hands rose up, and grabbed at an imaginary doll hanging in midair. Akako froze, as if grabbed by some unseen force, and was pulled towards the child. She could not scream, nor speak a word, and her dark eyes were wide with terror.
Conan's fist clenched hard, and Akako felt a clamp tightening on her ribs, threatening to crush her fragile bones. The heavy weight suddenly borne by her whole body was crushing her to bits, and she screamed in torturous pain. Her vision grew dark; she could not see anyone anymore, and she screeched and shrieked for all she was worth.
Then, an icy voice dripping with menace penetrated through the darkness, "Koizumi Akako."
She stopped her cries, and turned around in midair, trying to locate the speaker.
"Koizumi-san, are you not the witch that helped Kid earlier?"
"N-No! I have nothing to do Kid!" she wailed, hoping for her life that it would work.
The voice tittered, a horrific, sarcastic laugh echoed in the very air. "Lies are of no use, Akako. I know the feel of your blood from a million other people."
She gulped, and then summoned up all her courage. "So? What do you want with me?"
"Nothing. I just want to warn you, try anything funny, and you'll pay the full consequences."
Akako nodded mutely.
"And remember, you are not to speak a word of this or Kid's kidnapping to anyone."
The clamp loosened, the weights lifted, and her vision was restored. She found herself lying on the sandy ground, surrounded by her concerned friends.
"Akako, are you all right? You blacked out just now, are you feeling weak or something?" solicited Aoko, her face contorted with immense worry.
"She could not answer; the ordeal had been energy-draining. All she could do was just nod in silence. The mysterious speaker's words reverberated in her mind, and she kept her mouth zipped shut. She looked over Aoko's shoulder; the child with the legend within him had passed out entirely, his guardian bending low over him, her face tinged with the slightest hint of fear. The little brat looked exactly like a cherub in his sleep. If only he was not so dangerous. Maybe then she would have taken a liking to him more.
Then, she fell back into the arms of Mercy, and let her tired body sleep.
Feels a bit melancholic, don't you think? Conan's first time using his powers for good (and second in self defense, though not as dramatic as the last)! Rate and Reviews please?? =)
~Angelglitched