Detective Conan Fanfiction
Kiss of Death Chapter 14
"Wolves"
A/N: Sorry for the late update! So, previous chapter, Ai and Conan fought, with Ai dropping her confession that she had been loving him in silence. But the confession ends filled with hurt, for both of them. How are they going to reconcile?
"To spend the rest of my life with you," Ai hesitantly said, turning to Conan.
"And only you."
The additional words started to stink in, Conan's eyes went wide. He was shocked. No, horrified? Mortified? A reddish line starts to form across his nose and cheek. The anger he felt for her assuming that it was alright for Ran to lose her memory, fades. It was Ai's own wish to erase all her acknowledgement of being Sherry and just be a normal girl. But to desire to spend her life with him? That was a blow to Conan. Ai, a girl who was on the verge of giving up on humanity, an independent woman - desires to be with him. There was only one reason why she craved for it. Had her heart, which was known for being frozen and untouched, belonged to him now?
He stuttered at the unbelievable thought. He didn't even try to win her heart, yet, she chose him.
And only him.
"Haibara..." he stuttered, "are you-?"
"I'm just joking," she interrupted, her head leaning closer to his, "do you feel better now?"
He groaned, expelling all the tension that was built up on him. Still, his investigative instincts nagged at him, debating that even if her lips say that she lied, her eyes - it was real. Was Ai really that successful in tricking his detective observations? He quickly diminished the thought. He was uncertain how to handle the situation if she wasn't lying. He was accustomed to receiving endless anonymous love letters in his locker, both as Conan and Shinichi, but he dismissed these affectionate writings as mere childish admirations and crushes. It was for superficial reasons, be it his intelligence or appearance, never for the tolerance of his arrogance, rash and egoistic nature. But Ai was no ordinary girl. If she wasn't joking, then it would mean much more than superficial crush. He used to ponder whoever had gotten Ai's attention would be a man with great charm, so it would be such an honour if he was the one to possess such an unconquered heart. But she said she was joking, wasn't she? Conan couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed at that thought. Yet, there were two paradoxical emotions in him playing a tug-of-war in his gut. One was disappointment, the other was relief.
He had told countless of times to Ai the capacity of love he has for Ran. If Ai was hurting inside, he would be the one responsible for it.
Conan didn't like to be accountable for such a wound.
Then everything went blank. Did he go blind? Wait, this was not how it happened.
"Kudo-kun," a voice faintly whispered, sobbing, "I was never joking..."
The orange rays splashed on Conan's eyes, causing him to wake up. He groaned at his physical fatigue. Dreams of Ai's seemingly-joking confession kept reoccurring, waking him up at ungodly hours. He didn't have enough sleep last night, prior to the events that had transpired. He had been awake till 4 in the morning, just contemplating on Ai's disclosure of her feelings and how she was on the verge of tearing up.
"Because you still love her"
I can't believe Haibara felt that way. I've talked to her about Ran so many times, without even knowing how she felt whenever I did that. I was downright insensitive to her feelings. Guess that's why she didn't want to go with me, she must've hated me. Great job Shinichi, you lost not only Ran, but Haibara as well.
"I gave up on you, just like Ran."
"You're hard to love, Sherlock."
The words were so piercing that Conan internally winced. Was he really to blame? His world revolved around mystery, crimes and justice that he was blinded to the more sentimental side of life. True that he had gained attributes of his favourite Sherlock Holmes - acute observation, sharp wits; but also Holmes' apathy in women's hearts. But no, Conan was not Holmes. Sherlock Holmes was a fictional character created by Doyle. Conan was human, capable of emotions and desire to be wanted. Was that why he was so affected by the lost affection Ai gives him? He cursed himself from not ever paying attention to the complexity of Ai's inner thoughts. Ai was a living mystery -broken fragments of a puzzle never to be solved. She outsmarted Conan with her pranks, disguising her affections through words of sardonic comments. That's Haibara Ai. But underneath it all, she was a lost soul who misses her sister dearly. Shiho Miyano was a child that was already in the depths of darkness, who had seen all the cruel deeds a human is capable of. She was forced to take the name of Sherry, to create a deadly drug. Conan knew that Shiho Miyano was still lurking within Ai -a sorrow that can never be eradicated. It dug a sickening acidic feeling in his stomach to realize how he worsened her scars.
She probably hates me for it. How could I have been so insensitive? I've been blaming her for pushing me away, when I'm at fault for not even appreciating her. I'll never get that affection she had for me.
I'll never get her back.
Getting up his bed, he sighed. They were back to the time where they probably would ignore each other again. He dreaded those days, as Ai sat next to him in most classes and living under the same roof didn't help either. Those were the days where Conan realized how thunderous and powerful silence can be. He groggily put on his glasses, walking out of his room. He found Tyler and Agasa in the kitchen but Ai was nowhere to be found.
"Ohaiyo, Shi-Conan-kun," Agasa greeted. He caught sight Tyler waving lazily with a bread between his lips.
"Where's Haibara?"
"Ai-kun went to school early. She said she needed to be early because she forgot something in the homeroom," Agasa answered.
Typical. Trying to avoid me.
"Anyways, why don't you get your breakfast and walk with Tyler to school?" the professor coughed, noticing Conan's contemplated face again. One look and the old sage knew that Ai and Conan argued again.
"Hai"
"Conan," Tyler piped up, walking past the mansion in Beika street. The name "Kudo residence" was engraved on it. It was a gigantic mansion, the only kind in the Boulevard. Nonetheless, it looked empty.
"What is it?"
"I just wanna say thanks. I was rude to you, but I owe you one," Tyler said, shifting his eyes to the side. Conan could tell it took a lot for Tyler to swallow his ego and actually thank him. He was a diamond in the rough alright, not showing his sincere emotions, which reminds him of Ai.
"Who are you really?" the other boy questioned, "at first you seemed like some nerdy kid with glasses, but you're exceptional. Why did you lie to Ran and the others? And what's up with you going about in a skateboard at high speed while tackling down an armed guy? Your shoes, glasses, belt and even suspender are designed for investigation. You can even foil Kaito Kid's heists. You're a junior FBI or something?" Tyler's face twisted in confusion, a little intimidated by what the bespectacled boy was capable of.
Conan was taken-aback at first, seeing how a seemingly nonchalant athletic kid possesses more sharp wits than he had expected. Regaining his composure, he flashed his trademark smile with his usual motto, "Edogawa Conan, tantei-san."
Conan and Tyler talked about certain things as they walked up to school, and saw Genta and Cedric at the school gate. "Whoah! Tyler, did you know? I didn't know Cedric's dad is so rich. He looked so formal, wearing a black suit and hat. He had an ebony limousine!" Genta exclaimed, Cedric tried to hush him.
Tyler, looking confused, asked him, "no, I didn't know. Cedric, why didn't you tell me?"
"Yeah! Aren't you guys childhood friends?," Genta added excitedly.
"No! No! Cedric transferred to our school at about a month ago. This fella's so quiet, reading Sherlock Holmes novels all day long. So I kinda approached him," Tyler said as he squeezed Cedric's neck in his arm.
"Really? I'm a fan of Holmes as well. My favourite was his first work- A Study in Scarlet," Conan piped up, eyes beaming, as if a gleam of light shined through his boredom.
"Oh, mine's Scandal in Bohemia, where Irene Adler takes up her only appearance," Cedric returned the smile, then his smile faded, he looked at Tyler and Genta at the most odd manner. This did not go unnoticed to Conan.
Noticing Conan's stare, Cedric went jumped back in a startle, "It's just... I don't really like to talk about my family background...", he stammered. The bespectacled boy remained silent, still observing him.
"Well then, do you think Irene Adler is Holmes' love interest?" Cedric cleared his throat, obviously diverting the matter away.
"That's what everyone would say, although clearly not stated-" Conan suddenly remembered Ai, "-you can say Holmes did respect Irene Adler's intelligence, as Watson has described she is "the woman"... Whether or not Holmes did love her, it is up to the reader's interpretation..." He answered. Conan couldn't help but think of the parallels of Adler and Holmes with Ai and him.
"What do you think?"
"I've always thought Holmes did have a romantic interest for her," he sighed, still thinking that he is oddly referring to Ai, "but now, I'm not so sure. Everyone did point that out, even Watson. Yet, I doubt Holmes ever did acknowledge of his strange fascination with her. It is up to him to decide whether he actually feels that way, but I guess Holmes is so focused on cases that he shoves emotions to a corner. Sometimes Holmes can be really foolish and egotistical, no matter how brilliant of a detective he is. I bet he is a man that is hard to love..."
His eyes went dim as he repeated the same phrase.
The rest of the day was mundane, especially now that that there's silence between Ai and Conan.
Now, they are seated together in their chemistry class. Silence continued, thunderous as ever. Conan was becoming wary of the unspoken tension between him and Ai. They used to smooth through the schooldays whispering jokes to each other about how simple the concepts are or discuss ideas that are controversial. They weren't worried about the teacher calling them out, because they were the top students of Teitan Middle School and the teachers would condone their misbehaviour due to their high academic achievements.
But Conan was bored as hell since Ai refused to chat with him.
He remained silent, studying her instead. Ai could feel his eyes on her, she didn't like how he was observing her like a crime scene, but her pridefulness stopped her from speaking to him. She continued facing the board, trying to occupy herself by actually bothering about answering the teacher's questions.
Man, how long will Haibara keep this up? Why can't she just look at me for a second? All this silent treatment is making me feel even more guilty.
Conan continued to ponder. He actually realised how her attention actually meant something to him. Ai ignoring him now... was... -he didn't know how to put it- hurtful? The soundless intensity around him created a heavy pounding in his stomach, like he was about to regurgitate his meal.
"Conan!"
"Yes, sensei?" he answered, getting a little startled by the teacher's high-pitched voice.
"Can you do draw the following organic compound on the board?" she asked, which Conan obediently did. He was startled by the nomenclature she gave, but nonetheless he was able to do it. She obviously gave him one of the challenging questions.
4-hydroxybenzaldehye? You gotta try harder than that to make my life a living hell, sensei.
"As expected of you, Conan-kun!" she complemented, but he could sense the defeat on the edge of her tongue. The bell rang, giving a sign that it was the end of the class session. Ai hurriedly packed her bags and left, not waiting for Conan like she used to. Both of them shared all the classes together except for PE, while the rest of the Detective Boys split up to different classes and they were lucky if they shared the same class. Ayumi was with them for Chemistry and English, Mitsuhiko with Mathematics and Japanese and Genta with none. So Conan and Ai spent the days together like peanut butter and jam, so much that they were often dubbed as the married couple or the "genius pair".
"Oi! Haibara! Wait up!" Conan yelled, stuffing his books and pencil case in his bag to dash after her. A bunch of students stared at them, murmuring about them having one of those "relationship arguments". Conan couldn't be bothered to stop by and give an annoyed look, because he couldn't stand the torturous ignoring game they were playing. Ai tried to walk faster, but the boy's soccer skills had paid off. He caught up to her with ease, grabbing her by the wrist.
"Haibara, please..." he whispered, his eyes softening. She tried to get out of his light grip, but the boy only tightened it.
He wasn't going to let her slip away so easily.
"Edogawa-kun, please..." she whispered back, averting away from his eye contact, "not now. I want to be alone."
"Fine," he muttered, hesitantly releasing his grip, "take all the time you need but I just want you to know... I'm sorry... I've been a jerk." He moved to hold her, but she quickly retreated. Her movement gave a sharp stab to his chest.
Haibara... Why are you rejecting my comfort. I want to hold you, I want to wash your pain away...
She continued to retreat, "not like this. We can't be like this. I don't want to, you don't want to. It won't feel right..." Conan's face contorted to a vivid frown, about to erupt in any minute.
Then what's right? Does this feel wrong? Everything is so messed up!
The detective was about to make an outburst when Mitsuhiko and Ayumi came rushing to the scene.
"Haibara-san! Conan-kun! Bad news!"
"What?!"
It was Mitsuhiko's turn to have an outburst, "Genta baked cookies for Phoebe and Tyler's pissed. They're near the backgate being on each other's teeth! Cedric's trying to pull them off, you gotta help him!" Conan zoomed past them without a word, going to the stated place. There, he found Cedric embracing Genta, preventing him to latch on Tyler.
"Cedric! Let me go or this fist will go to your face!"
"Stop fighting! Don't!"
But they couldn't hear him. Conan was 20 metres away, he was on the verge of stepping in, when he caught a glare of light from the other side of a building. He stopped dead on his tracks. He immediately used his highly functional glasses to zoom into the scene. Much to his surprise, he found a shadow with a sniper at hand.
Isn't that? Who is that person targeting? This is bad!
The sniper moved, jerking a little. Conan knew that the person pulled the trigger. The detective was lethally shocked. Yet, the 3 remained unaware of the sound, Genta continued to struggle in his restraints. Cedric, suddenly released him -perhaps out of exhaustion-tossing Cedric to side. The corpulent boy grabbed Tyler by the collar, raising his fist to deliver a fury punch.
"Watch out!" Conan screamed, running once more. Genta's fist landed on the latter's face, yet somehow, the boy collapsed before getting punched.
Confused, Genta held onto the unconscious boy without any comments. He was unsure what to do, so he waited for Conan to arrive.
"Oi... Oi... Hang in there!" Conan shouted at Tyler, but he was unresponsive.
"Genta, call Doctor Araide-"
"Conan, shouldn't we just call the school medic?"
"You can't! Call him, now!"
"It looks like he's been tranquilised by a strong anaesthetic. He'll live, but there might be side effects of slight memory loss. This drug, it has been combined by an anaesthetic and substances to minimise certain neurotransmitters to affect the memory," Araide explained while examining Tyler, who was lying on a bed in his private clinic.
Conan nodded, his mind racking for rationales for this motive. "By memory as in forgetting what happened for the recent week?"
"Yes-" The doctor was about to elaborate further when Cedric busted in the clinic.
"Sorry, am I interrupting anything?" the golden-haired boy asked, to which Conan falsely shook his head. So he continued, "so Conan, I gave a false information to the Teitan principal and Amora, just like you instructed. I told them that Genta knocked Tyler out because they got into a fight. Genta got suspended of course, but he remains clueless of what had transpired. Since Genta's suspended and Tyler's on 'medical leave', they also told me that Cedric is to replace Tyler and stay at your place."
"Thanks, I'll take it from here. Just dial up Hakase if you need a ride home," Conan responded.
"If there's anything else, I have your back, Mr Holmes!" the boy flashed an innocent smile, before getting stunned and looking at his watched, "-oh! I gotta go. See ya soon."
"Alright, Watson-"
The shrunken detective watched him leave, waiting for the door to be shut so that they'll be out of earshot.
He turned to Tomoaki Araide, "let's just drop the act. You knew that I'm Kudo Shinichi and about the existence of the Black Organization, don't you?"
"The black organization? Yes. My professor who's also a friend of mine, got murdered by them. His name was Julias Cisson, found dead in London. There was no trace of poison from the forensics. Which drew me to the revelation of APTX4869," he confessed. There was a flicker of surprise in Conan's face, but he recovered quickly.
He dropped his childish demeanour and presented himself as the usual detective mode he had. "That's why I called you instead of the school clinic. We can't let others get involved, and you know too much."
Tomoaki nodded, "anyway, I'll keep in view of Tyler's health. Please investigate the cases - Jim Cisson, Julias Cisson and Violette Cisson, along with Tyler's assault and Kaito Kid's proposed appearance in your school's Masquerade dance. Inform FBI agent Jodie about it."
"I will. By the way," Conan looked away from Tomoaki's observant eyes, "does... Does Ran know about this?"
"I'm sorry, Shinichi, I-" Tomoaki hesitated, but continued, "you know how Ran gets suspicious and tries to reveal what people are hiding from her. So I got caught, I told her my suspicions. But rest assured, I didn't confirm it. I wasn't sure anyway."
Conan heaved a sigh. He couldn't have prevented it anyway. 8 years of lying and keeping her in the dark, treating Ran like a fool. The guilt was consuming him, deceiving his childhood friend and first love like that. What was he to think? To keep his secret identity to the grave? Sooner or later, Ran will find out. And she waited for him until she had no choice but to seek solace in marrying someone else.
"You'll keep her safe, right?"
"Co-no, Shinichi-kun," the doctor placed a firm grip on the boy's shoulder, "I've already contacted her into getting a vacation in California with Sonoko and the kids for the next two weeks. I told her I'd stay behind for work, she'll be flying off tomorrow. Rest assured keeping her out of Tokyo would mean she'll stay out of harm."
Conan felt relieved. This case was something Ran shouldn't venture into.
"And Shinichi-kun," he added, "Ran is still your best friend. From what I know, she may be furious with this whole secret, but I was there when she visited your fabricated grave. She was heart-broken. I'm pretty sure her immense care for you is more than her anger towards you. She will forgive you, and she'll be far glad that you're still alive. When she thought Shinichi was gone, she lost a part of herself, her childhood, a friend - get what I mean? That's how important you are to her. So don't be afraid to face her."
Conan chuckled cynically. It was ironic how, the man that succeeded in winning Ran's heart, the man she deserves, is telling this to him right now. How she valued him. As much as his pride couldn't accept it, Shinichi had treated Ran awfully. He was selfish to make her wait in vain and compulsively lied to her, even till now. He loved her, but he sucked at showing it. His actions definitely destroyed Ran, and as far as logic reasoned it, you don't destroy the individuals that are dear to your heart. Yet, Shinichi had abused her kindness over and over, that he could not argue that she chose to live with someone else because he was not worth anyone's love. In a bittersweet smile, Conan could only conclude that her decision of marrying Araide might have been the right one, because deep in his heart, he knew that he couldn't provide that kind of satisfaction in Ran's life. He smiled, refusing to look at Araide. In a soft voice, he said with shame, "it would've been that way, doctor, except that Kudo Shinichi is long gone. He was never there for Ran in the first place."
Tomoaki could sense the pain in Conan's words, that he softened his eyes in sympathy and a little bit of guilt. He took Ran away from Shinichi, but it's all been said and done. He didn't know that Kudo Shinichi and Conan Edogawa were the same person, or aware of the Black Organization when he was dating Ran. Ran didn't reveal her complicated love story to him until the news of Shinichi's "death", and by then they were already married. Araide could only look at him and apologise, to which Conan shook his head. "No, there's no need to repent. You did the right thing. Just promise me, that you'll never leave her side. You won't lie or cheat, ever."
"I promise-"
"So, do you know what happened to Julias Cisson?"
"Yes. I do know," Conan smirked, "I had relayed everything to Hattori. Specialising in cellular physiology and DNA genome, Julias Cisson worked for the organization. Since he had Violette as an illegitimate child, he was blackmailed by the organization and had no choice but to comply, otherwise that scandal of his will threaten his job as a university professor. They needed him to complete the APTX 4869 that Shiho Miyano left. But as he uncover the truth of the APTX 4869 and its dreadful effect, he attempted to escape and reveal its secrets to the higher authorities, as Jodie told me, only to be killed by enforcing him to consume the drug, leaving no forensic trace of the poisoning."
"So that's one case down. How many more?" Tomoaki asked.
"I think Hattori has figured out the case for Violette, but not the suicidal note that was left. Jim Cisson's murder case is solved, but not the murderer." Conan pondered.
"And of Kaito Kid's?-"
"There's too many cases interlocking one another, I'd like to concentrate on what matters. But if he does come to create a ruckus in that masquerade, I'd be on my guard," he replied, a little more frustrated.
Little did they know, a little silhouette was listening to their conversation this whole time and ran into the darkness.
Moments later, another silhouette arrived. Unlike the first one, he was donned in pearly-white attire, with a hat and cape to match his magician appearance. He smirked, knowing that his rival was nearby. Using his special gun, he fired his infamous card onto the door.
Soon enough, Conan rushed to the scene upon hearing the odd noise. He flipped, seeing the iconic Kaito Kid drawing, with the word "30 Dead Wolves" at the back. Noticing that Kaito Kid could be anywhere, he gazed up, only to see the phantom thief with his triangular hang-glider disappearing in the full bluish moon.
"Belmot! Explain why Vodka's been thrown away!" Gin yelled on the phone, angrily, almost to the point where his fist could squash his phone.
The voice in the other line laughed, "ah-ra? Well, he screwed up. That's why he needs to get disposed. We'll deal with the witnesses soon."
"I don't like this new Boss of ours, I was loyal to the former one," Gin said, gritting his teeth, "the old Boss was careful. You did know that the current Boss screwed up, not just Vodka."
"Tsk... Tsk.. Watch what you say, Gin. Defying him is a death wish. He's more of a hands-on person. He doesn't just give orders, he goes undercover himself!" she commented, laughing mockingly.
"But I know where Sherry is. He knows, but he is not doing anything!"
"Patience, Gin. We're not just crows, we're a pack of wolves that hunts in the shadows when the time is right..."
A/N: Okay and that's the cut! So apparently the Boss is not the Anakota in the DC series. The reason why I did that is because I wouldn't want to destroy Gosho's idea of the Anakota. (He mentioned the Anakota appeared in the first 100 chapters). So, that is why I'm making another version of a new Boss (cause nobody said no one can't take over a syndicate). It is normal for someone to overthrow a ruling party in an organization, which is what I'm doing here. More details about how this "Boss" took over the former one and his identity will be revealed soon.