.03 – bleed
"Don't look at me like that." She tried to scowl, but found herself preoccupied trying to keep a grimace of pain off her face.
"What… how else am I supposed to look at you? You just took a bullet for me." Never mind how quickly you reacted to its presence and made the decision to jump in front of me.
For the first time in a long while, Edogawa Conan found himself completely bewildered. To be honest, he'd never really considered her an actual human being, this girl that now lay bleeding from a hole in her side. A hole meant for him. It was his blood that should have been painting the pavement, not hers. And all the while, he'd assumed that she had no morals, no conception of right or wrong, and no inkling of courage or duty—just an overriding primordial pre-wiring for survival. And yet… could it be that she followed morals as respectable as his?
"Arrogant bastard," she said, as if she could read his thoughts through the expression on his face.
Again Conan found himself rendered speechless. First time in three years, twice on the same day, and by the same person, nonetheless.
"Don't get used to it, Kudo. This is the last time I'll bleed for you."
The boy sighed in relief. Finally, a step toward normality.