Kiss of Death

"Sisters"

A/N: Guess who's back! And yearp, my final exams are over. I just want a quick update because today's my birthday! (Fuck, I'm no longer a teen. I feel so old). But my semester will start again in January so I will only have updates this month. I'll try to update one or two more chapters. I got feedback that the chapters are too long (about 3000+ words) and that it gets really boring. I do agree a bit, so some chapters will be shorter, but it also depends on the transitioning of the storytelling. But I get really annoyed when I read chapters that are less than a 1000 words, so rest assured, the chapter will be more than 1000 words.

Previously…

After a series of the catastrophic battle against the Black Organisation, Conan had made a fatal mistake in his calculations. This led to him falling victim of the Kiss of Death – a dangerous move made by the renewed Boss himself. Upon recognising the Boss, of whom he had previously given the 100 yen coin to, Conan was left baffled and defeated. The great detective had been taken away, as the Boss returned the coin back to him.

What would happen to Conan and Ai, as well as everyone else? Find out!

"Ai-chan, Shinichi is missing," Ran finally croaked out the final words, looking away immediately, afraid to see the girl's reaction.

It was a right decision for Ran to avert her eyes.

Or else, she might have seen Ai, with her irises diluted in fear and sadness, and the involuntarily shaking of her body.

Ai knew, she fucking knew it all along that this could happen. Yet, a part of her had faith in him. Conan hardly ever loses. He was the best detective she'd ever met. There was no way he could have been outwitted.

He was the greatest and yet...

"Is anyone trying to look for him?" she managed to ask, she was on the verge of tearing up, but she held it in.

"They tried..."

"What do you mean 'tried'? I don't understand..."

"Rei and Akai tried to track the Boss, but they were too late. They couldn't trace where Shinichi was taken, so they are doing whatever they can to figure out where he is kept," Ran answered bitterly.

Ai felt her stomach dropped. The world, her own world, was falling apart.

The other woman felt that the room turned cold and depressive. She reached her hand out to the girl, trying to comfort the girl with the broken soul as much as she could. She whispered, "shh... it's okay, I'm pretty sure they'll-"

"No, it's not okay," Ai immediately said, her words as sharp as needles as she flinched back as if she and Ran were two like-poles magnets repelling. Those needles pierced Ran's soul. Ran could only recoil her hand back like she had touched a cup of boiling water.

"Calm down, I understand how you feel but-"

"No, you don't understand!" she said in an increasing hysteria, "they don't let anyone live for too long. And if they did, they never come back the same."

Realisation dawned on her. She knew she crossed the line.

"I'm sorry... Ran-san," Ai whispered, clenching the cloth of her skirt, "I shouldn't have shouted. It's just that... You can say that it's fine. That it's okay. Because you've never seen it. I grew up there. I know what they can do. There's no way Kudo-kun would easily be left unharmed."

"Don't be, you're kind of right," Ran replied. That was the last thing Ai had expected her to say.

"Back then, I never understood the gravity of the situation all of you were in. I was always demanding Shinichi to come back, to stay; ignorant that it was making his situation difficult. I thought I was suffering and that he was the selfish one that asks for too much leeway. Turns out, it was quite the opposite. If only... he just told me the truth. But I guess he didn't want me to get involved. I am really hoping to find him and at least, talk to him," she explained further.

"I took him away from you, I apologise about that..." Ai said in a low, remorseful tone. She still did not dare to make eye contact with Ran.

"I don't blame you...You had a messed up childhood. You were forced, weren't you?" Ran asked.

She rebutted, "but I still had the choice. Even though they did have my sister in minor hostage by following her around... A dog on the leash does not have to obey their master."

"Now what kind of talk is that? I admit, I never had a sibling because my parents had always been separated, but anyone would pick their family member. It's a self-centred decision to pick them over the greater good, but given that she was the only one left for you..." Ran tried to enlighten the girl out of her neurotic attitude.

"Doesn't matter, they murdered her. I stopped, and when I wanted to die, I ended up here. And now it's Kudo-kun-"

Ran interrupted her soliloquy by embracing her. Ai was stunned like some had electrocuted her. She tightened her grip on the girl, "Akemi Miyano's her name, was it?"

Ai did not respond.

"Don't repress it. I know you want to cry. You miss her. You went through so much. And also, it's fine... we know that you love him. That's why you're sad, right? Why don't you cry?" she asked. Ran could feel a violent sob coming from the girl, who was smearing her tears on Ran's shirt. The woman did not mind, as it was the least of her worries.

"I couldn't help him, he wouldn't let me, and I don't know what to do if he's really gone!" she let out a painful cry, one that had been buried in the shadows for too long. All the emotional turbulence that had been mixing up throughout like a washing machine, it had come out in the air, exposed and washed out of the dirt.

She clutched even further to Ran's shirt. She whispered, "I've already lost Onee-chan. I don't want to lose him too..."

"I want to do something to get him back. And Jodie-sensei too-"

The woman should have seen Ai's face - they were forlorn, yet her aquamarine eyes were burning with fearsome doggedness. If Ai was not able to fend for herself before, the situation demands her to do so, if it meant rescuing him.

Ran did not dare to speak. Any words of comfort seemed to be lightweight as compared to this massive breakdown. They pulled away from the embrace. She gave her brightest smile to Ai, trying to hold back her tears. Even though she had encouraged the girl to let out her weakness, it meant that Ai needed a sturdy tree to lean onto. Thus, she could not afford to be weak at this dreadful moment.

I'm no longer a small girl. She needs my support. I would teach her some self-defense in martial arts, that's the least that I could do. - Ran kept telling herself.

Meanwhile, Ai could only seem to be blinded by Ran's smile - the splitting image of her deceased sister. The sunset rays hit the windows, radiating the smile further.

She patted the strawberry blonde on the head. Her wedding ring produced a bright glare, deflecting the sun rays. Ai could see that the circular light had been cherished - that was Ran's true love. "I have a small circle of friends, but I'd like you to be part of that. And friends do support each other. You may not agree with me, but I hope you'd consider me as one," Ran said.

Tears dropped to Ai's chin again. How could she say no?

Ran was indeed an angel sent from heavens, a girl that was filled with love and joy. But the deadly drug took him away from her, its creator a complete opposite of her. The creator, void of love, was a beautiful woman who had escaped from the hellish syndicate. Ran was the butterfly that basked in the sunlight with her array of bright colours, while Shiho was that greyish -pretty nonetheless- moth surviving in the cold and darkness. The moth envied the butterfly as it was never consumed by the dark and possessed the heart of the boy she loves. Yet, she would be willing to work on the antidote to bring the boy back to Ran, for she resembled her deceased sister. Seeing the girl unhappy was like watching her sister being devastated, and she didn't want that to continue. Honestly, the irony for the moth to be the destroyer and builder of the bridge between two childhood friends. She could've kept him at his side, to keep the smile on her face. But no, she would sacrifice her smile, for him to smile once more. Even at a small corner of his life, the moth would be there, smiling bittersweetly, watching the dense detective with the girl of his dreams -that's true love, isn't it?

To murder your own happiness to keep their flame of joy alive. That was her initial plan. But she sees it now, that there was no need for this. The butterfly had found her own happiness, the day she donned in sheds of the white bridal gown. The moth has not discovered her joy yet, still loitering in the darkness.

But... she guessed that it wasn't so bad to come out to the daylight and befriend the butterfly, the creature of a day, for a while.

A/N: Apologise if this was more like friendship chapter than a romantic CoAi chapter. But let's face it, this NEEDS to happen before I feature Conan as a prisoner of the Black Organisation. They need to clear things up. Ai needs to know that she has more support than she perceives and that she needs to stop telling herself that it was her fault for breaking them apart. Ran needs to show that she's fine with the outcome of not being with Shinichi, that she has moved on and that she now understands their circumstances, to admit that she was ignorant and only focused on her feelings back then (though it isn't her fault because she was kept in the dark - hence, her words "if only he could have told me the truth, but I guess he didn't want me involved").

Warning for the next few chapters: It'll feature the Black Organisation. And let's just say, things won't be pretty.