Detective Conan Fanfiction

Kiss of Death

Chapter 18

"Red Thread"

A/N: This is like a late Christmas present for everyone who has supported the fanfiction.

The shower heater has been switched on for a while now.

I think the shower should be warm.

Ai stepped into the bathtub, gripping onto the knob and turning on the shower. The sensation of the water droplets drenching her strawberry blonde hair was indeed rejuvenating, even to the point of giving the bathroom an epithet of "location of Shiho's philosophical soliloquies". Indeed, the nightmare she had on the previous night gave a lasting impression on her. It was so vivid, so surreal - she felt herself choking in her breath when she saw the horrifying sight. Truly, the angel of death was no stranger to her, even got acquainted with him. Death surrounded her, whether it was her loved ones or not.

After showering, she dried herself and donned the crimson dress she's been keeping for months. But-

Oh shit-

It totally slipped from her mind. To be securely wearing the dress, she had to tie the ribbons at the back, just like a shoelace in a shoe. Ayumi was supposed to help her with it, but due to the circumstances, she couldn't come over Agasa's house. Surely, Ai can tie it for herself -to a certain extent that is, but will be infeasible to tie the whole dress tightly all by herself. Gingerly, she opened the door. Conan was outside, waiting for her without any notice. Since last night, he was being watchful towards her, eyeing her like a hawk.

He was clad in his usual blue tux and the voice-changing red bowtie. She remembered when he used to wear a similar outfit when they were much younger, even in school, such that the rest thought he was being strange. Yet, as strange as it was, there were stranger functions that outfit can do. Agasa's inventions- the voice-changing bowtie, the tranquilizer watch, the elastic bands, the inflatable soccer ball in the belt, the multi-purpose visual spectacles- no one would've thought Conan had them.

"Kudo-kun," she started, "is Jodie or Hidemi around?"

"Nope, they went on their respective orders, why?" he questioned.

"No, it's just- nothing," her voice faltered.

"Really?"

"I just needed help in something. But now, it doesn't really matter," she said as she was about to shut the door.

"No wait," he said so suddenly, ceasing the door to be closed, "maybe I could help instead?"

"It's not really appropriate-"

He frowned. "Please?"

Sighing in defeat, she opened the door, ushering him in, "alright."

"So, what do you need help in?" he asked, clueless.

"Well, you see-" she hesitated, grasping onto her dress by the front. She could feel his observant eyes on her, intimidating her.

Meanwhile, Conan took the leisure time to digest the sight before him, taking note of how the dress hugged her physique. He was stunned at how she has matured over the years. The crimson colour complemented her natural reddish-brown hair and made her skin somewhat even fairer. There was this unexplained glow coming from her, like an angel of chaotic temptation has appeared before him. At that moment, he had to admit, she was breathtakingly stunning.

Damn, I haven't noticed it before, but I guess we really grew up. I can't believe I'm thinking of this... She looks really good. Why didn't I noticed this before? I've seen her daily, but not this way-

"Kudo-kun, it's rude to stare," her harsh statement interrupted his trance. His focus snapped back at her, noticing the brief pinkish hue on her cheekbones -she was mortified, alright.

"Sorry-"

"Alright, so I need you to..." she avoided his gaze, "I need you to tie these like a shoelace. Make sure you pull them tightly," she then turned her back on him, revealing the incomplete ribbons that was meant to secure the dress. It made him skip a heartbeat.

You have to be fucking kidding me- is what he'll normally comment if she was another girl asking this strange favour. But he acknowledge that she's having a difficult ordeal, getting to face the syndicate that she feared so much.

"Okay," he stated softly. He stepped back a bit, getting the full picturesque gaze of her back. It was unblemished, like it was an untouched silk that was forbidden to be in contact with a mortal's hands. He had the sudden urge to actually caress her- to be able to feel her skin on his fingertips. Yet, he couldn't help but to wonder what Gin may have thought of her, or whether he had touched it. If he did... Say, if he did- which Conan strongly wishes Gin has not- he would not let Gin off easily. Hell, he'll probably break the Scales of Justice to give the sadistic man a torturous trial. He'd always despised syndicate members like Gin, and their cruel sins. He wanted to shine the light to their shadowy wrongdoings as the modern Sherlock Holmes- a detective's oath, Conan perceives. Now, with all these new secrets being burnt in Sunlight, those resentments were being intensified.

Gin- Gin... That fucking son of a-

"Stop ogling like a deprived lewd adolescent," she harshly stated, cutting his thoughts with a sharp ice-pick. She was relieved that she wasn't facing him- she was beyond embarrassed. Yet, a part of her did wish for him to actually, well, desire her. Or even at least look at her with awe. She did wore something adorable (but not to the point of breaching modesty) once in a while whenever they would go somewhere alone, but he never even bothered to get a second glance at her. His gaze was blank, or highly focused in his surroundings. He needed to investigate the crime scenes anyways. What she did notice was, how he blushes wherever he sees women, in their 20s or late teens, clad in swimsuits whenever Agasa takes them to the beach. Boy, she was beyond green with jealousy; but she concluded that this was indeed normal, given that he's much older mentally, so by right, he should not look at females that were younger. Perhaps it would've been wrong, pedophilloic even, and that age group was where she was categorised as well. She did caught the same blush when she altered accidentally into Shiho Miyano's form once, but that was it- she could only hope to grow up physically into the appearance before she shrunk. Right now, she was already turning 16 (well, physically), so how long did she have to wait until he at least, looked at her differently?

"Wha-?" he was caught red-handed, "stop talking crap, Haibara. Geez," he sighed, starting to pull the strings, "don't act like those female anime characters who accuses guys randomly of being a pervert! I was just- I was just studying how the strings will go into which loop, that's all!"

Well, Conan wasn't entirely lying.

"For someone who lives a double life, you're a bad liar- Ah-!" her insult was cut off when he pulled the red string too tightly, and she was sure it was intentional.

He did it once more, "don't press your luck, Haibara. This is actually more laborious than I thought. As you can see, I have the power to decide how easily you can breathe so it's best to save your sarcastic insults for another day." He pulled another one tightly, which earned a yelp from her.

"Wait, stop! Can you be more gentle-"

"Now, you're sounding like a maiden about to bleed," he chuckled. She gave an angry glare at him, and became more exasperated at the sight of his egotistical smirk. There was a sense of playfulness dancing in his oceanic blue irises. Normally, she would be the playful one that annoyed him to death with her torturous sarcasms, but today, it was a total of role reversal.

"Are you stupid? Get your mind out of the gutter-"

"Okay, okay! Geez, I was just kidding," he stated, in his usual annoyed tone.

"It's so hilarious that I forgot to laugh, tantei-kun," she rolled her eyes. At this, he pulled the strings extremely tight again, intentionally.

"Ah-! You jerk of a detective-"

"I warned you, to save your sarcasms for another day," he chuckled again. Obviously enjoying the way she's getting agitated by him. The egoistic jerk of a detective, indeed.

"But even if you are, I am thankful for comforting me last night," she stated solemnly. His smirk disappeared, replaced with a warm smile.

He tugged the strings gently. "It was nothing," he said.

"There was one thing peculiar though," she followed, "you easily would let me go to this event when they could be lurking about. Unless you have something up your sleeves, then you won't."

He stayed silent and continued his task. Whatever playfulness they had dissipated.

"Kudo-kun, please, you've always went on with your plans whenever I'm in danger without telling me anything. And it didn't happen just once, alright? The Haido Hotel, our first encounter with Vermouth and even the Bell Tree Express incident. Don't you think- don't you think I would need to know? What if the plan doesn't work out?" she lamented. Images from her disturbing nightmare returned to haunt her.

"But my plans did work, every single time, right?"

"I'm just being hypothetical about this. There's too many secrets, don't you think?" she faced him again.

The dim in his royal blue irises returned. "It's not like you haven't kept anything from me," he said spitefully.

Silence followed.

She dared not to defend herself.

His movements of tying the strings suddenly became slower. Achingly slow. The red string that pierces through the loops took eternity, like they were having difficulties meeting finding solace in one another -much like Ai and Conan's souls. Unknowingly, both wondered if there were such invisible scarlet threads tied around their ankles. And if there was, who was it connected to?

They wouldn't have known. The future- no one can really know.

If it was so laborious to actually have the red string find the loops in order to don a little girl up, what more of the ones tied to their souls. Unlike the ones in her dress, they were invisible to the mortal eyes and unable to be felt. Was there such a thing called fate? Oh, the reddish-brown haired girl should've known better- she was a chemist, a scientist. A scientist born from a syndicate. She would know- superstitious beliefs had no scientific evidence, and thus should be left as a mere speculation and expression in the literary arts. To Ai, there was no saviour, no religion to salvage her, no God to turn to in despair, and most definitely, no fate. In the end, it was all her abandoned self that she relied herself on. There was no such thing as fate- just merely coincidences and chances. It was best to think of it that way.

There was a light tap on her shoulders. "There, all done," he stated. He let his palms linger on her shoulders.

"When this is all done..." he whispered, "when this is all done, I won't keep you in the dark anymore. I hope you do the same, Haibara."

As swift as the wind, he exited the room.

Speechless.

Music.

A very melancholic one.

That's what she heard when she finally stepped out of her room after recollecting her thoughts. Like a girl playing hide and seek, she peaked over the wall, to see Conan playing the violin.

Indeed, the boy was like the reincarnation of Holmes.

What drawn her was the extreme melody he was playing in his violin, each note was humming a prolonged forlorn emotion, along with the shaking of his fingers on the strings. His face, eyes closed, was mirroring the feelings projected from his musical instrument, moving the bow with impeccable timing. They were filled with a melting pot of confusing human emotions- fear, despair, bitterness, loneliness.

The piece was beyond beautiful. The kind of music that her heart will sing. Yet, she couldn't bear to hear it.

Because deep down, he was screaming.

And she could hear the screams.

Trying to ignore them, she went to the shoe cabinet, hesitated for a moment to choose which pair of shoes she wanted to wear.

"Pick that one," a voice creeped up behind her. She looked at the red ballet-like shoes Conan was pointing to.

So the music has stopped.

"Why? I want to wear something that makes me look taller," she commented.

He pouted. "But then, you'll be taller than me," he stood closer to her, "see?" He was correct, without any footwear, they were almost equal in height. If Ai was 4'11" , then he should be as well.

"Why do you have to be so short then?" she mocked.

"Oi-oi," he bellowed, "I wonder whose fault was that. Although, I do remember when I was Shinichi, I was growing at a faster pace especially in middle school. As Conan, I don't seem to grow much at all. Maybe I would, but I do wonder if I would ever reach my initial height."

"Kudo-kun, height is not pre-determined by genes alone, the environment and other factors play a part in that. As Conan, I assume, you've experienced more stress due to your mental maturity. I keep reminding you to drink milk instead of iced coffee, but you don't. On top of that, you have detective work so you're sleep deprived. In other words, you may not be able to grow to your initial height," she explained.

"Damn it-"

"I don't see the fuss about it. I don't think I'll be able to grow much as well. Besides, height is just a mere number," she shrugged nonchalantly. In fact, she liked how they were at least able to have a direct eye contact.

She heard him click his tongue. "I just think it'll be more handy at times to be you know, taller. Who knows, you might be stuck somewhere and your only escape is where you can't reach it," he joked.

She broke the eye contact, once the image of her nightmare hit her again. "Let's not hope for such things," she stated, "it was beautiful- the piece you played just now. What is it?"

"Crime and punishment-"

"That was a good catharsis," she pointed out.

"No-" he intercepted, "I just felt like playing. I haven't played, in a while."

Liar.

She felt it. He was screaming through the violin. There was a sound of a cleared throat.

"Shall we go-?"

"Okay."

What else could she have said?

A/N: Sorry if the update was short. I wanted to focus on CoAi for this chapter. The moments will become diluted if I have the chapter for too long.