Disclaimer: Gosho Aoyama owns Detective Conan. I only own the plot of this story.
The stars shone even brighter in the darkening sky. Shiho stared out of the windscreen with a glum expression. It was a lonely drive, and her only companion was the soft, gentle hum of the car.
Maybe that was why she could never feel happiness. She woke up to darkness and fell asleep in darkness every day.
No, there was this chilliness in her body that could not be cured, not even the warmest of warmth.
Like, love.
At least, Shiho did not think so. The previous episode of Gin flashed through her eyes in an instant, like fire scorching her skin. This was her fate. She could do nothing but succumb to it. She was born into the organization, and her only purpose in life is to serve and satisfy them.
Then what was she doing now, trying to resurrect a teenager that would most likely be an obstruction to the Black Organisation's progression in the future?
As much as she hated to admit it, Shiho had a feverish desire to bring down the Black Organisation for once and for all, no matter what it would take to achieve it.
Her conscience tried to justify her resurrecting the detective. She just felt pity for the teenager who had his life taken from him at such a young age – he deserved better. She was sure that he would rather die for a good cause, such as eradicating all evil syndicates in the world.
Oh, is it really? Her mind argued.
No matter how much Shiho tried to deny it, ultimately, she was only using Shinichi as a tool to get rid of her most hated group of people, and to satisfy her inner darkness, which grew since the day she was born. She swore to avenge her parents' deaths, and have the murderer's blood spilled across their graves as tribute.
That's right. They will pay for what they have done. Shiho thought, seething.
With clenched fists, she tilted her head slightly to the back, where she knew the dead body of Kudo Shinichi lay. Cheap, white barras covered it, and to any unsuspecting human, it would seem no more than a rotten, worthless corpse that was about to be fed to the maggots.
Meticulous and precise, Shiho made sure that not a single hole was present to allow oxygen to make contact with his skin as she wrapped up his body. Kudo was probably her only chance to defeat the Black Organisation, and she would never allow such a good opportunity slip through her fingers.
Spotting a run-down, dilapidated building, Shiho pulled up to the area of empty land next to the building rumoured to be a haunted house. It was a fairly poor district, with several fights breaking out every day, and undernourished children stealing from occasional passers-by. Some families, out of desperation, moved to the heart of the city. News spread, excitement shared, soon, most of the locals had deserted the area, and Shiho felt a strange stab of sadness when not a person roamed the streets.
Digging out her brand new ID card, Shiho waved it in a figure-eight motion, waiting silently for the 'click' that would trigger the opening of the building.
"Agent Sherry: identified," came a robotic voice.
Immediately, the foul-smelling pub transformed into a grand, multi-leveled structure that had carpeted stairs leading to the entrance.
Shiho looked up to the tallest floor, and took in a deep breath.
Here I come, the Headquarters.
Unlike its outer appearance to the general public, the inner part of the building was very spectacular. The glass floor was transparent, and the blinding light from the basement passed through it and illuminated the whole of the first level. The reception area basked in the faint, orange glow, and Shiho zoomed in on the dark corners, where hushed whispers, masked faces, turned backs loomed.
Why bother with the décors when no one appreciates it? She thought, sneering.
With each passing day, Shiho dreaded this place more and more – it was the bane of her life…and yet, she could not leave it. It all seemed like a sick, twisted joke to her that the prison cell that imprisoned her soul was probably the only place that she could call 'home'.
"Good evening, Senpai," several kenkyuusei greeted, eager to get into her good books. Shiho stolidly nodded, walking past them purposefully. It was no secret that the senior chemist would be promoted to the Head of Biochemistry soon. Most guessed that it was APTX 4869's creation that caught Anokata's interest, but some fools had theorised that Gin had assisted Shiho in acquiring the new position, seeing as how the two always spent so much time together.
Shiho's lips curled in disgust. She loathed that man completely, but for some inexplicable reason, he took an interest in her, and demanded her to comply with his every order. It sickened her to think of all those days when he would force her to massage his shoulders, or even kill some of his torture subjects.
She had refused, struggled, begged even, but Gin remained aloof to her pleas, laughing sadistically whenever she broke down, ashamed of herself. Over time, she had developed coping mechanisms to deal with Gin's obsession with her. He had been satisfied for the first few months, but recently, his needs grew, and he was being rougher and more demanding.
Shiho strode purposefully towards the junior medical examiner that fidgeted nervously in his seat. His newcomer nametag was polished, gleaming brightly, though few scratches were seen.
"Where is No. 2356S?"
He glanced at Shiho with widened eyes, knowing very well who she was. Flipping his organised notebook, he squeaked, "He was being transported into the Examination Room. Any orders, Ma'am?"
"Apply liquidised dry ice to his body. 5ml per inch of skin. All precautionary measures are to be carried out. Make sure he's preserved. Is that clear?"
Gulping, he nodded, before rushing off, whispering orders to the other medical examiners that were carrying the thinly-veiled corpse to its eventual destination. She was about to leave when she heard a cool voice, "Sherry."
"Gin," she said, without turning around. "To whom do I owe the pleasure of seeing you here?"
"I could also ask the same of you," he said, smiling, which deeply unnerved Shiho. She tried to leave, but Gin grabbed her arm.
"You haven't answered my question," he said, watching with amusement as Shiho's eyes formed slits.
"Pardon my silence," Shiho snapped.
"Oh, someone is angry today! That's new," Gin smirked.
"It just shows how insensitive you are to my daily emotions. Work on your socialising skills, Big Boss," Shiho fired back. She looked around. "Where's your best friend? Don't tell me he's abandoned you too."
Gin's expression hardened. "'Best friend'?" he laughed mirthlessly. "What a joke. I don't need friends. Vodka is just a tamed dog that serves me with utmost loyalty." He leaned in to whisper in Shiho's ears. "And I would expect that from you too, dear."
Shiho shuddered.
"Here's your car keys," she said, turning on her heels to leave. "Good thing I met you here, if not I have to go over to your place to return them."
"But don't you always?"
"No, I don't," she said, glaring at him. "At least, not willingly. Dream on." Shiho broke away from Gin's grasp, and stormed away. Gin's eyes glinted suspiciously as he contemplated Shiho's visit to the Headquarters. Something was off, he knew that much.
For the next few days, life in the Black Organisation went on as usual. Nothing would seem different at first glance, but a careful observer would have known that the highly ranked Miyano Shiho did not do work in her usual routine. While she appeared to be researching the side effects of APTX 4869, she was, in truth, investigating possible ways to keep Kudo's heart pumping. At the same time, she also collected his DNA, and was examining his cells to see what processes were taking place.
Whenever no one was looking, she would sneak into the Examination Room and check on Kudo. His face had been ghastly pale, lips blue in colour, hands so cold that ice formed on them, but Shiho had forced herself to maintain her professional image and took down notes apathetically.
It was necessary to subject him to such treatment, Shiho knew. With a heart that could not pump to circulate the blood throughout the whole body, Shiho hoped that the low temperature would halt autolysis, and she would have enough time to work out a way to bring Kudo back to life.
After taking note of his physical appearance, Shiho would her gloves and observe the sample that long collected from Kudo's body. On the first day, the cells were shown to self-destruct, and the next few days were not any better. Unlike her usual self, she rushed to add chemicals to his body, hoping that his situation would improve somehow.
There was no time for experimentation. Shiho did not have the time and resources to test several different products and collate the data.
No, everything had to be right.
Her daily routine was just that for the first few days – pretending to be a good researcher, frantically saving a guy's life, and spending her nighttime worrying about the consequences of disobeying her superior's instructions.
On the third day, once she was sure that the self-destruction speed had decreased, Shiho asked for the body to be sent to her apartment, knowing keeping the corpse in the Examination Room would arouse suspicion, eventually leading to the discovery of her plan. She fed the medical examiners with lies, satisfying their curiosity with curt sentences.
"It's for my APTX 4869 project. No questions asked." Shiho could only pray that these simple-minded fools would not accidentally spill her secrets and foil her whole plan.
Shiho would wake up at night just to change Kudo's liquidised dry ice herself, and repeat the whole morning procedure. Her sleeping cycle became irregular, her temper worse than usual, but Shiho kept going. Sometimes, she would even slip in front of her co-workers, which planted seeds of doubt in some of them. It was bad, Shiho knew, but she had come too far to give up now.
On the sixth day, she had a breakthrough. Self-reproduction began taking place again!
On the eighth, the rate of cell division was already faster than that of self-destruction. Even though Shiho understood none of this, she felt her weariness slipping away. After all, it was her first time examining an APTX4869-afflicted victim. That night, she celebrated her victory with the still-unconscious Kudo, holding her champagne up high as she sang to the ode of freedom.
Shiho truly smiled on the ninth day. She rested exceptionally well that night, and woke up with an endless amount of vitality. Completely her sub-unit research on the altered shape of DNA in record time, Shiho was given a three-day leave and went home early.
However, something just felt off as she stepped into the miniscule flat. Shiho leaned on the wooden door warily, holding on to the door handle, steadying herself as she removed her shoes. She surveyed her surroundings sharply, squinting distrustfully, as she closed the door behind her and crept closer to her private laboratory, where Kudo lay.
Could it be…? She suddenly thought, throat going dry. "No, they couldn't have discovered him. The door had no trace of an attempted break-in," she said, reasoning with herself. Nevertheless, she could not shake off the ominous feeling in the pit of her stomach.
Shiho bit her lips and steadied her breathing. She stared at the laboratory door with apprehension, before finally turning the knob.
Shiho half-expected a man in black to strangle to death, but to her surprise, everything was normal. Her test tubes were not stolen, her observation sheets were not tampered with, and even her favourite fountain pen stayed where it was.
She blamed it on the lack of sleep. Rubbing her eyes, Shiho turned with a sleepy smile, but suddenly felt a cold hand shoot out and grab her wrist.
Hard.
It sent chills down her spine, and the next thing she knew, she tumbled onto the four-poster bed, her arms painfully twisted in an ude-garami, her chest painfully constricted as she realised that she could not breathe. All she could feel was the hot, humid breath that lingered on the skin of her throat.
"Where am I?"
Shiho narrowed her eyes and finally turned to face her attacker. Her eyes widened.
"Kudo…Shinichi?"
Author's Notes: Please review! :) I really want to thank all of you for your valuable feedback. I promise the next chapter would be up by tomorrow. Once again, please review and thank you!