EDIT: I took out the 'flashback' markers, but you can still tell where it starts and stops right? I did the same thing in Ch.1, too.

I finished this chapter sooner than expected, so I thought I'd post it. As I promised, it's in a new POV, and has a flashback.

Chapter Five

Professor Agasa was in the kitchen trying to sneak a snack when Haibara came home. He thought he was caught red-handed and was waiting for her to reprimand him, but when she didn't he became concerned. She seemed to be deep in thought and wasn't paying him any attention. He quickly hid the snack he'd brought out and said, "Ai-kun?"

She jumped, which confirmed she was thinking deeply about something. "Oh Hakase, I didn't see you there."

"What's wrong Ai-kun?" he asked, walking with her to the living room and sitting down beside her, "You seem to be troubled about something. Do you mind sharing?"

"Oh it's nothing. It's just about Kudo-kun." She sat on the couch, staring at a spot on the ground before asking, "Hakase, did you know that Kudo-kun and Ran-san broke up six months ago?"

Agasa had actually been expecting something like this since she'd mentioned Shinichi. He sighed and said, "Actually, I did. I'm one of the only people he told, since it was such a sensitive subject. He made me not tell anyone because he wanted the opportunity to tell people himself, though apparently you've found out through other means. If you didn't ask him, you probably asked Ran-kun, right?"

"I asked her if there was something wrong with Kudo-kun, and she eventually told me the whole story. It actually cleared up why he was acting so strange lately."

"How was he acting strange?"

"Well, to give you an example, he claimed to have been woken up early by Mouri-tantei and then walked around the neighborhood to pass time. He then claimed to have passed Ayumi-chan when she left her apartment and then walked to school with her. While I could probably buy that part, what I can't buy is that they were discussing Kamen Yaiba. Then they walked past me like I wasn't there. When I spoke to them they both jumped."

"That is weird for Shinichi-kun. He's usually so attentive."

"Also," said Haibara, since she was on a roll now, "when we played soccer the other day, he purposely went against the schedule of who gets paired with him when we play. Tsuburaya-kun made that schedule so that everyone would be on Kudo-kun's team and win at one point. Kudo-kun ignored the schedule and paired with Ayumi-chan and started an argument with the guys when they pointed it out. Then, to top it off, during the game he made an obvious effort to not hog the ball like usual."

"Indeed, that is intriguing," said Agasa, putting his hand on his chin. "If I didn't know him better, I'd say he was ready to move on with Ayumi-kun. But that can't be right, can it?"

"Who knows?" said Haibara sadly.

When Agasa had first found Haibara, he knew that she was different, even for a teenager. He'd taken her in and treated her like his own daughter. In return, she treated him like a father. He'd carefully watched Haibara since he knew she could get caught up in her work and ignore her friends. However, a piece of information she'd told him about half a year since she'd been living with him had shocked him completely.

Haibara had been alone in the lab, like usual. It was late at night, so Agasa had gone to the lab to try and convince her to go to sleep. She'd been in a particularly bad mood about something, so he was worried about her.

"Ai-kun?" he'd asked, peeking his head into the lab.

"Hakase."

"It's late you know. Why don't you take a break and start working again tomorrow?"

"The sooner this is done, the sooner I'll feel better about myself."

"Shinichi-kun has told you multiple times it wasn't your fault for what happened. It takes a lot for him to trust someone who's seen the bad in the world, but he trusts you completely. You're his friend, his closest friend. He'd understand if you didn't work late nights. After all, you're physically a young girl. You need sleep to keep going."

He was cut off by Haibara saying, "I've worked late plenty of times, so I'm perfectly used to it. In regards to who is his best friend is, we both know that it's Mouri-san. She always has been. So don't give me false hopes by saying he picked a new best friend." She turned back to her work, her tone indicating that he should go away.

"Ai-kun," said Agasa softly, "what's bothering you? Why won't you let him be a friend to you? He knows what you've been through and he wants to help. To him, you're just as nice a person as anyone else he's ever spent time with, so why won't you accept his friendship?" He'd been trying to cheer her up, but it hadn't had much effect.

Haibara had stopped at this point and put her hands in her lap. She kept her head down as she said, "Because…I see no reason why he should befriend me. If it weren't for me, he wouldn't even be here now. His life would be different and he'd be a lot happier. And he'd be with her." At this point, tears had formed in her eyes, which was a very rare sight.

Agasa hadn't really known what to say to that, since she never really cried. So he just hugged her, giving her someone to cry on, and comforted her while she cried it all out. Eventually, the flow of tears slackened considerably, and Agasa decided to take a guess at why she was so upset.

"Is the reason you don't want him to befriend you is that you love him?"

At this Haibara just nodded and said, "Yes, I do. I know I can't, I know it'll never work out, but I can't help it. He's always there helping me, boosting my confidence, and protecting me. He listens to what I have to say, and he understands me. He doesn't really judge, and accepts me for who I am. That's why working on the antidote is so painful. It reminds me of the shortened time I have before he goes away for good."

At this Haibara had broken down again, the tears flowing hard and fast now. Then she'd asked, "Will you promise me not to tell him? He's so dense about romantic stuff he'll just be confused and it'll destroy my friendship with him permanently. Please?"

Agasa had smiled and said, "Of course I won't. Your feelings are your business and it wouldn't do for me to tell anybody you don't want to know. It's for you to tell when you're ready."

"Thank you Hakase."

Looking at Haibara today, Agasa was reminded of what had happened that night and of what she must be feeling right now. She considered Ayumi to be her best friend after Conan, so being one-upped by her was probably eating at her inside. He hadn't told anyone her feelings, as she'd asked, and had looked on as she had opened up more towards Conan and the kids. She'd even bettered her friendship with Ran, even when he knew it was hard for her, by calling her 'Ran-san' instead of 'Mouri-san'. The obvious reason was that she knew Conan loved Ran, but the less obvious was that Ran reminded her of her sister Akemi, so being around Ran brought up bad memories.

He was proud of what she'd become. She'd become more innocent, more friendly, and more generous. After the defeat of the Organization, she'd started to let down her guard more, which had been remarked upon by most everyone who knew her well. Despite that, she still stayed quiet sometimes, so it was a work in progress. The one thing she'd never had the courage to do was tell Conan the truth, not even when she'd been critically injured by the Organization a second time and nearly died. He knew that Conan hanging out with Ayumi more would make her retreat back into her shell and it would take a lot to bring her back out.

As such, he wasn't surprised when Haibara stood up and said, "I'll be in the basement," before heading downstairs.

Well, Haibara loves Conan. As if that's surprising to any of you. But will she tell Conan or just keep quiet? Next chapter will include major passage of time, and Haibara's jealousy starts going crazy. How so? Look forward to finding out!