FINALLY A NEW CHAPTER! Oh my gosh I had the worst case of writers block…. This is, what, the thirteenth time I've rewritten this chapter (well, the first bit anyway…). Every other time, Haibara was completely OOC. She's still pretty OOC in this version, but this is closer to her personality to the other ones '-.- .

ON WITH THE CHAPTER!

oO0Oo

Monday Morning

oO0Oo

Akemi picked up her new backpack; it was quite light compared to her bag before she had shrunk. She was wearing a light pink floaty t-shirt with a darker neckline, and an aqua-marine skirt. She stared up at the sky, her one good eye shining, whilst the other looked on with no sign of recognition.

She noticed Haibara walking up ahead, and quickened her pace.

"Haibara, wait up!" Akemi yelled, trying to catch her attention, whilst still trying to sound childish. Haibara turned, cold, narrowed cerulean eyes meeting bright forest green.

"Haibara…" Akemi began, trying to hide the nervousness from her voice, "Do you…like me?" She asked awkwardly, "You seem a little… hostile towards me…. Is there a reason? Did I do something wrong?"

The atmosphere suddenly changed to that of uneasiness, the air thick with tension. The cool, fluttering breeze had long since disappeared.

Haibara looked into her pleading forest green eyes, wondering how Akemi had noticed the slight hostility that she had semi-concealed. Most kids would be ignorant of this, not noticing, but Akemi had seen through it. Then again, like she could talk. She wasn't like most kids, but she had different circumstances. Or so she thought.

She turned away, unsure how to answer, and kept walking. "Haibara!" came a whine from behind her and she felt Akemi's hand grab her wrist, holding her back.

"What?" she asked, rather coldly.

Unfazed, Akemi gave her a defiant glare. "Nuh-uh, you aren't going anywhere until you at least answer one of my questions. Why are you so hostile towards me? Have I done something wrong? If so, can you please tell me so I can make up for it? And why do you sort of flinch every time you hear my name?"

'Ugh she's so stubborn… she reminds me of myself in some ways…and her…' Haibara gave up. She didn't want to be late for class, so she decided was no way of avoiding it. She also knew that if she got out of it now, there would be no way escaping it later, since Akemi was now living in the same house as her and all.

"Please tell me …." Akemi pleaded.

Haibara hesitated before replying, "You have the same name as my sister, that's all" before she brushed her off and kept walking, eyes staring straight ahead, trying to conceal her emotions. As the saying goes, 'The eyes are the window to the soul'. But Akemi didn't miss a thing.

"I saw that." Akemi plainly stated.

"Saw what?" Haibara asked, trying to keep the touch of confusion from her voice.

"What happened to her?" Akemi asked softly.

Haibara shied away, failing an attempt to conceal her shock. "What? I don't know what you're talking about!"

A sad look came across Akemi's eyes. "I saw the pain in your eyes as you talked about your sister. The same pain I see every time you say my name."

Haibara sighed with resignation. There was definitely no way out now. 'She notices things. She would make a good detective' the stray thought drifted across her mind.

Haibara mumbled something under her breath, a barely audible phrase.

"Pardon?" Akemi asked, her good eye so clear that you almost felt she was reading your soul.

"She's dead." Haibara muttered under her breath.

Akemi's eyes filled with sadness. She sort of understood Haibara's situation, she missed her elder brother who had moved out of home and she wasn't sure if she would ever see him again, due to the incidents over the past few weeks. But it wasn't the same. Haibara would NEVER see her sister again. Once someone is gone, they can't come back.

Haibara, noticing the look in Akemi's eyes, snarled. "I don't want your pity! No-one cared then, so why should they now?!"

It really was a delicate subject.

oO0Oo

AT SCHOOL

oO0Oo

Conan was sitting at his desk, trying to block out the sounds of three noisy children chattering loudly into his ears about some case about a lost puppy they had found. They could be really annoying sometimes.

'I wonder where Haibara is…' the stray thought drifted across his mind, 'And that new girl, Akemi, I think her name was. They'll be late if they don't hurry up…'

oO0Oo

Back with Haibara and Akemi

oO0Oo

Akemi had gone into mother hen mode. "It's not pity!" she stated, looking at Haibara in a caring but mildly annoyed way. "I was just empathising*! Is there anything wrong with imagining how you might feel about things? It's called caring!"

Haibara's annoyance was surprisingly dying down. As strange as it was, It was rather hilarious seeing a girl who was even shorter than her (even if only a few centimetres), Younger than her (or so she thought) and visually challenged, giving her a good glare and fussing over her like a mother hen. She supressed the urge to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Akemi half questioned, half demanded.

"You!" Haibara giggled uncharacteristically.

Akemi sighed. 'Please tell me I didn't go into mother hen mode again. Please tell me I didn't go into mother hen mode again.' She chanted the same line over and over in her mind.

"You were like some kind of mother hen!" Haibara stated amusedly, noting the concentrating expression on Akemi's face.

"GOSH DAMMIT!" she screeched, at the same time tripping over the pavement and face planting into the cement.

Smirking, Haibara offered her a hand. All the tension between the two had dissolved ages ago, not that they had realised.

"Thank you, Ai-chan." Akemi said.

Haibara Groaned. "I presume that you are going to call me that from now on?"

"It would be my pleasure" Akemi replied almost mockingly, "Anything to annoy you."

'That child is really too smart for her own good'

"NOW LET'S GET GOING! HOP TO IT!" Akemi screeched before grabbing Haibara's hand and dragging her down the street, "WE'RE GOING TO BE LATE!

oO0Oo

* = If you don't already know this, 'Empathising' means putting yourself in someone else's shoes, and imagining what it might feel like to be them... i hope that makes sense...

oh, and the 'oO0Oo' think is a page break, if it worked this time around. Last time it cut them out...

That's it for now guys! Sorry if it's a bit short, but it is over 1000 words so that's okay. Oh, and for school camp, I decided to go on a writing camp. It's Three days long, and I found out, that if we want, we can write fan fiction! It's next term, but you can expect at least one chapter from me! Oh, and one last thing. NO FLAMES!