Chapter 1: Acceptance
It had been two days since Conan passed away. It was Monday and Ai, Mitsuhiko, and Genta went off to school. Ayumi had stayed at home to recover her injuries (and possibly somewhat recover the grief at Conan's death). The remaining Detective Boys just wanted nothing but peace and quiet so they could understand: why? Why did Ayumi and Conan have to be hunted down? Why did Conan have to die to save Ayumi? There were so many questions they wanted answered but knew they were almost impossible to achieve those answers, so many things they wished they could just undo that they knew they couldn't. Genta went to his physical education class (which he loathed) and Ai and Mitsuhiko went to their advanced literature class. The two simply just plopped down on their seats. When the teacher asked them a question, they both acted sluggish and the teacher noticed how "slow" they had been. For Genta, he was a lot slower in the exercises and in the mile run than he had been before. The other classes were okay, it was lunch that had been torture for them.
It started when Ai, Mitsuhiko, and Genta sat in their usual table, Conan and Ayumi's seats empty... It was painful to see those two empty seats, one didn't even have an owner anymore after the events of Saturday (or was it Sunday, it might have been possible that Conan died in the morning?).
Everything was silent. Suddenly, the three ended up talking at the same time. Mitsuhiko stuttered, the first to start conversation, "So...uh..., what did you think of..." Ai said, "So, uh, well, how are..." Genta muttered, "Pass the salt, please..." For at least five (or six) seconds, the three detectives were babbling like this- like idiots.
Ai suddenly snapped, stopping this nonsense, "Oh for goodness sake, look at us three! We can't even function correctly with a stupid death!" She then paused and her face softened, "Look, we can't go on like this. Sure, Conan's death was tragic, but we can't be reduced to tears everyday for the rest of our lives. Conan would have wanted us to move on. And..." she paused again and sighed sadly, "We have to keep a stiff upper lip for Ayumi. She needs support- did you see how heartbroken she was? We know how close the two were..." Genta said, "Well okay..." but Mitsuhiko nodded solemnly and queitly, picking at his food, his left hand on his head. Suddenly, they noticed someone walk up to them. They looked up and saw Megumi Ito,one of Ayumi's friends. The three were prepared for Megumi to say something completely cheerleader-peppy, something like" OMG! Guess what?! Daddy bought me a new car! Eee!" or better yet "How do you like my nail polish?! It's like totally cool, isn't it?!"Something to get them more depressed- to make them wish they had stayed in home like Ayumi. However, something didn't seem right.
The first thing they noticed were Megumi's normally cheerful blue eyes now socketed red- as though she had been crying-no wait, she was crying) , her face looked pale and free with makeup- something she normally had plastered on her face to make her look more beautiful. Ai, Mitsuhiko, and Genta were surprised at this. Megumi usually never hanged out with anyone in their group except for Ayumi. Megumi then sat down on the seat and said sadly, "I heard about what happened to Conan... Is Ayumi-chan okay...?" Mitsuhiko asked, "Megumi-chan, how do you know that Conan...died...?" Megumi sighed, "Ayumi's mother and sister told me about it... while I was in California... on Sunday..." She stopped, and said sadly, "So is she okay?! I need to know!" Ai said, matter-of-factly, "Physically, she'll be fine but emotionally..." She paused, unwilling to continue. Megumi nodded sadly. For the rest of the lunch, nobody said anything again. Ai thought to herself, Perhaps now would be a great time to give Ayumi the thing Conan wanted me to give her if anything happened to him...
"What?! Ayumi's not going?!" Sonoko Suzuki gasped as her friend Ran sat in the couch. Sonoko had been invited to Ran's house on Friday and the funeral was going to take place in Sunday. For Ran Mouri, the previous three days were hectic and heartbreaking. She had to find a coffin, find Conan's last suit, prepare the temple, find where to bury him... So many things she wished she didn't have to do. "No, Ai says it might not be good. She could have a mental breakdown or worse..." Ran answered seriously. "Sonoko stood quietly and then looked at Ran sadly, "Ran, are you going to be okay? I can't bare seeing you like this... Conan may have been a nosy brat but he didn't deserve to die! Not especially, after what he did to save his friend Ayumi..." Ran sighed, and said her voice shaky and eyes spilling with tears, "This is all my fault. If I only I knew something was up with Conan or I never sent him to get Ayumi! I could have suggested the party somewhere..." Sonoko sat down and said, "This isn't anyone's fault, only those nasty teenagers that came in and attacked Conan and Ayumi. Those criminals should be locked away and punished severely... Oh, not that it might do any good for anyone, huh?" She sighed sadly as she looked at Ran. Ran sighed sadly, "I'm afraid not. Oh, but to be honest, it's Ayumi I'm worried. When I saw her break down back at the hospital..." She bit her lip and said, "It really broke my heart."
In a small little jail cell, three boys and two girls were sitting solemnly. Actually, the leader, who nicknamed himself Brutus, was standing up, glaring into space. Rouge- the Mysterious Cowgirl- was in a different jail, Seiko - the Blond Beauty with Brains- was dead. Now. he was going to die because he had killed a famous underage detective and attempting to kill his girlfriend later on. Luckily, his friends were safe. He couldn't even look at them without wondering: What will be of them when I die? Rouge's still missing, Seiko- the only perfect choice for a leader- was dead. "Brutus-kun?" a girl, with dark hair and green eyes, asked worriedly. Brutus looked at her and said, quietly, "Yes, Madoka?" Madoka and Brutus stood there looking at each other and suddenly, Brutus saw Madoka's eyes fill with tears and the emerald-eyed girl said, in a whisper, "Good-bye, Brutus..." The crying girl turned away so she faced the wall instead. Brutus looked surprised- and for the first time in his life he felt a sting of pain and sadness strike his heart.
"Katashi Shirafuji!" A man shouted and Brutus stiffened his body. That's my name... He sighed sadly and gave one look at his friends as he muttered, "Good-bye..." Madoka was crying, his two male friends were nodding and muttered in disbelief and suppressed grief, "Good-bye..." The other female of the former Capone Kids stood in shock and barely let out a whisper barely audible, "Good-bye...Nice knowing you..." The former leader walked with the police officer and he noticed the angry faces of Detective Miwako Sato, Juzo Megure, and Waturu Takagi. He reached a horrible realization that made him afraid, terrified:
This was payback. They would enjoy watching him die. This was to AVENGE Conan Edogawa.
His own fears became certain when he and the officer reached to the center where a noose was hanging, waiting for him.
That noose made him reflect his own life: his emotionally abusive mother and father, the first day he finally stood up to himself and how proud he was, him unintentionally causing his father's death, his mother's mental breakdown and how she feared him to this day, him bullying his own friends when they screwed up save for Madoka, his own romantic yet disastrous feelings for Madoka, Rouge looking pale as the police grabbed her thanks to that brat, the tear-stained face of the underage detective when his attempts to revive his seemingly-dead girlfriend, his own fear when he had been caught, his shock when he heard on the news the shot he did on the detective was fatal.
He had won. Conan Edogawa - the detective Romeo brat - was dead.
And yet, something about the Sherlock teenager weeping over his dying girlfriend, saying his final words to her : "I love you Ayumi.", made Katashi both angered (that Sherlock here could be able to admit his feelings to his girlfriend and he himself couldn't even say his true feelings to Madoka) but at the same time, sorry. He actually wished he hadn't shot Sherlock. Not because so he wouldn't be in jail getting killed but because he realized... "KATASHI!" The man demanded and Katashi with a trembling mouth and eyes with tears stood up on the chair and the man tied the noose around him. With one last look, he looked at the sun a lone tear fell from his face. The officer pushed the leader from his chair, and with that Katashi "Brutus" Shirafuji was dead.
"Ayumi!" Her father yelled out worriedly, "Please come out! You haven't been outside from your room since Saturday." The feeble heartbroken voice of her daughter merely said, "Daddy! Please, I want to stay here." Her father said, "Your friend Ai came in. She wanted me to give you this!" Surprised Ayumi opened the door and her father gently handed her a package. Gently, she grabbed it and closed the door. She cautiously opened the package. In it, was a DVD that had the words "For Ayumi - Play Me" gently scribbled in it- in his handwriting. Ayumi wiped her eyes and put the disc in her DVD player.
The screen changed from its stationary black to Dr. Agasa's home. Conan sitting in a chair, looking directly at the camera. On his left was a Sherlock Holmes book (why didn't that surprise her?) and on his right was a CD player. Oh God, he better not sing... Ayumi thought, smiling a bit, remembering how Conan sang badly. However, her smile disappeared into her sad frown that had been present in her since Sunday when she noticed Conan looked... serious. Something wasn't right...
She heard Ai's voice ask TV!Conan, "Are you ready for this?" The raven-haired boy nodded, replying, "I'm ready. You can leave now." Ai must have left as directed because Ayumi heard a door open and close. So Conan was alone, still staring directly at camera, as though they were both looking at each other. Conan's mouth opened and closed but opened again and what came out was a weak, "Ayumi..." He paused again and continued, "Ayumi... welll, one: I just want you to know that I love you and I would never try to hurt you... But to be honest, I haven't been that honest with you."
Ayumi's breathes almost stopped. She attempted to choke a sob that was coming. So many scenarios came into her head: Conan liked another girl, he was planning on breaking up with her, or maybe he was going to admit he never liked her that way. "Ayumi, I ... I used to have a crush on Ran-neechan." TV! Conan concluded. The sob died out and Ayumi became relieved. Which was weird, since she used to become angry and depressed when she thought of the possibility of Conan having a crush on Ran. But now she was glad that it had been Ran of all people, possibly because she could understand as Ran was beautiful and kind and he did say "used to.", so she wasn't upset.
TV!Conan continued, "But that's not the worst part..." Ayumi looked surprised. She didn't get it. What was so bad about having a crush on a person older than you? It didn't seem bad.
TV!Conan continued, "I ... I used to be the same age as Ran."
Ayumi's eyes widened in shock : Same age as Ran?! What the... TV!Conan continued, and amazingly with a strait face, "Before I met you, I was a seventeen year old. But... you remember those men in black that tried to kill you, me, Kogoro no oji-san, Heiji and got arrested?" Ayumi nodded and thought: Yes...It happened six years ago. She remembered who those men in black that tried to kill them by gassing them in a room. Luckily, Conan had managed to call out in his DB badge for help before Kogoro, Heiji, Ayumi, and him (in that order) passed out. Ai, Genta, and Mitsuhiko ran to call Dr. Agasa. Ran and Detectives Sato and Takagi joined them and managed to get all the Black Organization arrested- some had even ended up dead. The four intoxicated unconscious people were put in a hospital for intensive care for a few weeks before all four had recovered.
TV!Conan continued, "Those men in black shrunk me to a seven year old." Ayumi drew her breath in shock and disbelief. "Oh... God..." All she could do was watch in amazement as she saw how calm Conan looked, for someone doing such a confession like that. TV!Conan sighed, "Ayumi, if you're mad at me, I'm sorry and I don't blame you. I guess I'd be pretty pissed off at myself as well."
Ayumi looked at him with huge eyes. She wasn't angry. TV!Conan said, "I wish I could have told you this sooner or later. But i couldn't! If I did, those men would have killed you!" TV!Conan exclaimed. Ayumi gasped, I would have died? So that means... TV!Conan paused and opened the Sherlock Holmes book. He smirked a bit and said, "Here's a line I really like in this book that describes what I think of you." He skimmed through the pages and smiled when he found it. "There it is!" He smiled as he read,
"To Sherlock Holmes she is always the woman."
Ayumi's eyes widened more, filling with tears, this time of a bittersweet mix between love and sadness. She looked up the TV and she saw a change in his face. He didn't look calm anymore, he actually looked hurt, guilty, and... sad. "Ayumi-chan... I love you and I don't want you to get hurt... I don't want to hurt you like I hurt Ran!" Ayumi nodded slowly. It stayed quiet like that before TV!Conan somberly turned on the CD player and a familiar song she liked played. Retrieving this bond that is to be burried in darkness/When I met you (in this world)/Right from that moment (oh, you're not alone)/I thought to myself that I'm not alone anymore/Thinking that no matter where (no matter when)/You're watching me from some place (you're still by my side)/This thought is what always keep me going/Forever, an everlasting love/No matter where, a love that never dies...(1) Ayumi's eyes were still dripping with tears yet this time she was now more relaxed, more relieved almost. Baka, I don't hate you. I still love you, She thought, listening to the song and with that she made an important decision.
Don't own the chars. except for the gang members! I'm posting one more chapter after this! Until then, review.