File Thirty-Two: Taken Away
"So, Friday the 13th, huh?" Haibara said, a slight smile on her face, as she rested her head on top of her palm. "Quite fitting for such an unlucky detective like you are, huh?"
Conan rolled his eyes, resting his elbows on the table in Professor Agasa's table. He glanced briefly at his three friends, talking to each other happily as they waited for the barbeque to be done.
Even if he had taken part of the planning of his birthday, it wasn't like he had chosen much, really. Since he simply hadn't have an idea of what to have ─ because, really, he didn't mind that much ─ Haibara had suggested having a barbeque and his friends had beamed.
Smiling slightly to himself, he realized that they had really been looking forward to that. Last time they had tried to have a barbeque together, Conan had been shot and every single plan had been immediately thrown out the window.
Well, I did promise we were having a one after getting out of that cave, he shrugged. I didn't think I would make it through, though.
Yeah, his smile faltered slightly. Every time I want to pass some time with them, something bad happens.
"If I'm not mistaken," his eyes flickered back to Haibara. "You must have been born on Tuesday the 13th, right?"
There was a dry chuckle. "You know, in some countries that's an unlucky day as well," he commented, even though he knew that the girl most likely knew that already. "Maybe that's why I'm cursed, huh?"
Haibara looked at him, for a second, before her eyes narrowed a bit. "Don't be stupid," she sighed. "There's not such a thing as curses. Just plain bad luck."
Conan did not say anything, and that worried the girl a little bit.
"Wait, are not thinking that..."
"What do you expect?" he looked away. "Ever since I was born, death has been following me everywhere... It makes you doubt about your beliefs at some point or another."
"Weren't you supposed to be a logical person, Kudo-kun?" at his lack of answer, she pressed further. "Listen, you're not cursed. After this party ends, you all are going to go back home and I will stay here with the Professor, then we will see each other in school, like any other day."
An unusually gentle smile appeared on her face, and that shocked the boy a tiny bit.
"Besides, are you really going back on your word?" she questioned. "...'Everything will be better if you just allow yourself to enjoy life,' wasn't it?."
Conan just stared back at her, eyes wide open as her words dawned on him. He didn't say anything, even as she stood up to help the old professor and Ran, who were cutting some carrots and other different vegetables he couldn't see at the moment.
Watching the girl inching a bit away from the teenager, feeling definitely uncomfortable yet still trying, Conan let his lips finally curl upward a tiny bit. If Haibara, of all people, was trying, he should do his best as well, he decided.
True to her words, no tragedy struck and the party went as planned. Everything went perfect, and Ran watched the boy, walking and talking with a wide smile on his face with one of her own. She was glad to see him like this, after everything that had happened.
At least until they found a package on the mailbox right when they were getting back home.
It was a tiny box, wrapped in blue gift paper. And there was a note stuck on the front:
"Happy Birthday, Conan!"
Yet, he decided not to open it. No, he couldn't open it.
Not when his heart would hurt every time that he held that small box between his two little hands.
"Hey guys, look, look!" Ayumi's excited voice resounded on the entire classroom while the children waited for the teacher to come. "It has already started snowing outside."
Before Conan knew it, December had already made itself known by painting everything in sight white, in such a beautiful way that instantly gathered the children's attention. Conan couldn't help but chuckle a bit when Mitsuhiko, Genta and Ayumi awed at it.
"I hope this doesn't turn into a snow war at the end of the day," Conan shrugged. "Right, Haibara-san?"
But when he turned around, he saw an expression on her face that he hadn't expected to find. Her face was as pale as the snow that fell from the sky outside their school, and her eyes were open, widely, terror showing on them. Her hands were shaking.
"I finally found you," a sinister smile crossed the face of the silver-haired man.
"Haibara-san?" her gaze flickered towards his face.
She gazed into those concerned blue eyes of his.
She gazed into those dull blue eyes of his.
But he didn't look back at her, just stared blankly ahead. They were empty, devoid of the life that used to shine in them not that long ago.
He was gone.
It didn't stop there. One by one, her other friends suffered the same fate. A loud sound, then a body falling and light disappearing from their eyes. One after another.
Until she was all alone with that man.
So she collapsed into her knees, her gaze traveling to the snow beneath her. Deep red tainted the perfectly white surface she was crouched over until there was nothing but that disgusting crimson ink.
"Goodbye," the cold muzzle pressed against her head. "Sherry."
A pair of hands latched into her arm, jerking her away from whatever was going through her mind. "Come," her eyes flickered towards Ayumi's bright smile. "Come look at the snow with us, Haibara-san!"
"Please don't touch me!" everyone just eyed her as she snapped her head away, causing the other girl to let go, confused. "I'm tired of this place already. I wish I could just disappear," a sad smile drew itself on her face. "Well, one of these days I probably will."
There was a moment of silence, only broken by the chattering from other children in the classroom, who laughed with each other, unaware of the tension that had settled between the group. At least, until Ayumi's eyebrows were brought together.
"Eh?!" Haibara didn't expect the girl to whine. "Haibara-san, are you transferring to another school?"
"Is someone bullying you?" Mitsuhiko joined.
"I'll take care of someone like that!" Genta shouted, determined.
"So please," Ayumi's eyes were tearing up. "Don't say you are leaving us!"
In response, Haibara blinked, a bit stunned by the reaction, before she sighed, a smile on her face. "I was only joking, so don't take me seriously," she assured them. "I have a bit of a cold, so I was in bad mood."
That seemed to convince the three kids, if the sigh of relief they gave out was something to go by. Ayumi smiled and gently started to steer her away from the classroom towards the infirmary.
Conan's piercing gaze didn't leave her back, at least until she disappeared from his sight. Behind his glasses, the boy's eyes narrowed.
It wasn't until several hours later that he said something about it, right when they were walking back home from school.
"This isn't a place I should be," he pronounced, juggling a soccer ball, taking advantage of the fact that his friends were a few feet ahead, playing with the snow. "In order not to get everyone involved, I must disappear from this place as soon as possible," Conan then glanced back at her. "That's what you're thinking right now, isn't it?"
Haibara didn't reply, and he truly didn't expect her to.
"Don't worry. You said it before, right? They believe you're dead," he told her. "You will be okay, as long as you keep the attention out of yourself," he held his ball between his hands, his lips curved into a smirk. "Until the time comes."
Her eyes narrowed, but said nothing as they kept on walking, in silence. Even after the other three children waved goodbye at them, happy smiles on their faces, she didn't even try to break the quietness.
You don't understand, do you, Kudo-kun? This isn't something you should be involved with.
You still have a bright future in front of you. They don't know about you.
There is still time for you.
Once they realize you're taking a part on this, the Organization won't let you go.
As they walked, she noticed a group on black crows on the building roof they were passing by. A bad omen, huh? Ai let out a dry chuckle, before her eyes went back to the road.
Only to be met with the sight of a black Porsche. Porsche 356A, to be exact.
The fear must have showed on her face, since Conan seemed to turn to her, a confused glint present on his eyes. "Haibara-san?" he questioned. "What's wrong?"
Her gaze dropped to the snow covered ground, hiding her eyes with her bangs.
"Gin," she said in a whisper. "That's... Gin's favourite car model."
His blood ran cold at her words. Gin?!
Even so, the boy jumped into action by pulling his phone out and calling the professor. Ai watched, frozen by fear and shock all the same, as he hurriedly asked the old man to bring a few things and then hanging up.
Not long after that, Agasa's yellow beetle pulled up next to them. Conan didn't even say hello to the professor, just took the metal clothes hanger and the wrench he had asked for and rushed to the black porsche.
"Kudo-kun!" she was dragged away from her stupor when she saw him opening the door and climbing up inside. "What are you planning to do?"
"I'm planting an transmitter and receiver inside," he pointed out, as if it was obvious.
Haibara got inside as well. "But we haven't confirmed that this is their car-" she froze, suddenly, when her gaze fell on the windshield.
Curious about her abrupt silence, Conan glanced at her over his shoulder. He was a bit confused when he saw her terrified expression, at least until he decided to take a look at the place she was staring at.
Across the road, he saw them. Gin and Vodka were slowly making their way back to the car. That pressured him to go faster, so in less than a second he had stuck a gum with the transmitter ─ after erasing his teeth marks, of course ─ under their seat and had wiped all fingerprints.
As he was leaving, however, he paused, taking notice of something.
"What are you doing, Kudo-kun?!"
He barely had the time to retrieve the single strawberry blonde hair the girl had accidentally lost before he was dragged away. They made it out just in time, hiding behind the black car as they watched them getting inside.
I won't let you escape, he frowned, as the pair watched the car driving away. Not this time.
So, he activated his glasses. He could clearly see the red dot quickly moving across the map. In no time, he was jumping inside the professor's vehicle, telling him to follow it.
"It's no use," Haibara's voice came from the backseat. "Even if we successfully found their hideout, it's not like we can do anything. We're only kids, Kudo-kun," her eyes narrowed. "Do you understand how dangerous your actions are right now?"
Conan frowned, but didn't reply. He just turned his attention to his glasses, having heard a phone ringing in Gin's car, waving a hand to the other two so they would keep quiet.
Gin said something about a target appearing at Haido City Hotel at exactly 06:00 PM. He was telling someone else that they could use 'that drug' if they wanted, before referring to that person as Pisco.
"Pisco?" Conan repeated.
"I know that codename," Haibara pointed out. "I think he was in charge of keeping an eye on me when I was much younger, so I don't remember his face, but..."
"You mean that...?"
"What's that thing?" suddenly, he heard Vodka say.
"It's probably a transmitter and a receiver," Gin replied.
Conan flinched. "They found it," he informed.
"W-What?!" Agasa gasped, nervously while Haibara just frowned, having expected such a result.
It wasn't long until Conan couldn't hear anything else ─ he could easily imagine Gin crushing the little transmitter with his hand ─ and for Haibara to point out the stupidity of his actions and the dangerous position they were in right now, to which the boy replied that he had erased every single piece of evidence, so he figured they would be safe.
But at least they knew where the Organization was going to strike next. Haido City Hotel. They were going to kill somebody there, so naturally the young boy had to attempt to stop the murder.
"Oh, what a strong sense of justice you have there," Haibara raised an eyebrow. "But I'm different from you. I have no interest in justice and those kinds of abstract things."
"Yeah, I know. I assumed you were going to stay here because it's dangerous for you," Conan told her. "I'll at least get the drug from them," then continued, upon noticing the confused expression of the scientist. "Gin said that 'it didn't matter even if he used the drug,' which pretty much screams Apotoxin-4869 to me, doesn't it?"
Haibara was shocked beyond words. However, even if she wasn't, she wouldn't be able to say anything at all, because all of sudden, Conan's attention seemed to drift somewhere else, for some reason. He just blinked, cluelessly, before turning to Agasa.
"Professor, Haido City Hotel is the other way," he pointed out.
"Yes, that's right," he replied, his grip tightening against the wheel. "We're going back home."
"... Eh?"
"This has gone too far Conan," the professor gave the child a serious look, more serious that he has seen him in his entire short life, before turning back to the road. "You told me yourself that these people are far too dangerous. I can't just let you go there."
The boy ignored the way Haibara seemed to smirk, triumphantly. Just let a faint frown carve itself on his face.
"So, Ai-kun, will you please call the police and-?"
"... Then, what about the drug?" the boy's voice reached his ears and caused the old man to pause. "This is probably the last chance we have to acquire it."
Agasa's lips pressed together. "Ai-kun was the scientist behind its creation, and she has already developed a prototype. With time, she-"
"We don't have time, and you know it," the old man refused to look at the young boy on his eyes. "If we don't hurry. Haibara-san and Shinichi..." the little detective hesitated, before sighing and continuing. "... Shinichi-niichan... They both will... They won't last much longer."
"Oh," Haibara's voice came from the backseat. "It's good to see you still care about your brother, even if you two aren't in talking terms anymore."
"Idiot," the child turned to the window. "That's... no relevant."
The girl didn't say anything in return, mostly because she knew what he was talking about.
Even if that boy in front of his eyes was feeling betrayed and overall angry because all he had known about his brother was fake, and overly disappointed and disgusted from finding out that a detective he admired so much ─ because Conan looked up at Shinichi, even if the youngest would never admit it ─ was doing all that behind his back, he still was unable to stop caring.
Despite all that, Conan couldn't bear the thought of his brother dying, if the way his fists clenched was something to go by.
And it seemed like Agasa understood as well, turning around on the next street to reach the hotel in time, with a grim expression on his face.
"At least let me go with you," the professor said to the child, once they had pulled up in front of the hotel.
Unsurprisingly, Conan shook his head.
"I need you to keep watch. Please call me if you see something suspicious," he spoke. "And if it's dangerous for Haibara-san in some way, leave. I'll manage on my own," seeing the hesitation on the professor's face, he continued. "They don't know my face, I'll be fine."
With a smile on his face, the child left and the older man was left in the car, helplessly staring at the boy's back as he walked away, until he heard the back door opening.
"Ai-kun, what are you doing?"
"I'm going to keep watch on Kudo-kun," she explained. "Knowing him, he might do something stupid so I need to stop him before he does."
Agasa could only stare for a second, before sighing. "Alright," figuring he couldn't argue with this child any longer, he settled with a sigh. "Before you leave, Conan forgot a hoodie last week and he hadn't picked it up yet. It must be still inside the trunk," Agasa told her. "Take it, in case you need to cover yourself."
With a nod, Haibara quickly went to fetch the piece of clothing before going to catch up with the other kid. Inside his car, the professor could only watch as she finally reached him before entering the hotel together.
The old professor leaned back.
Without the children around, this car was unusually silent. He didn't like it one bit.
Upon opening the door, Haibara and Conan found themselves staring at the countless people that were in there, laughing with each other as they ate and drunk. Since it was a mourning party, every single of them were dressed in black so no luck there.
Well, even if they weren't, Conan figured it wouldn't be so easy. While undercover, it wouldn't be surprising if Pisco was wearing another different colour altogether.
So, sighing to himself, the boy walked closer to the center of the room, the girl trailing behind him.
"Sherry," at least, until she heard that voice.
Ai froze on her spot before, ever so slowly, she began to turn. Her skin began to crawl at the sight of that sadistic grin, silver hair flowing in the air and the gun, glinting against the light, being pulled from his black overcoat and pointed at her.
"Sherry."
A hand rested on her shoulder.
She spun around, with a squeak, before realizing it was only a waitress, sweetily smiling down at her.
"What's the matter little girl?" the worker asked, softly. "Did you get separated from your parents?"
Her heart still pounded heavily against her chest. Briefly, she glanced at the spot she had seen Gin before and found it empty. He's not here, she tried to reassure herself. I am safe. Everyone is safe. He's not here.
"Yeah, we are looking for them right now," Conan was quick to cover for her. "Let's go, Hana-chan!"
Haibara was silent, even as the boy took her hand and started to take her away. Once they were out of sight, Conan let go and gave her a questiongly look, his eyebrow raised far above his hairline.
"Hey, hey, what has gotten into you?" he asked her. "This is so unlike you."
Even if the girl smiled, Conan could tell it was fake. There was something... sad about it.
"I had a bad dream," she finally confessed.
At that, the boy could only stare back at her, his eyes narrowing slightly. He noticed the darkness behind those eyes of hers, and he couldn't help but wonder how bad this dream could be to leave Haibara, from all people, this shaken.
"On my way home, Gin spotted me. He chased me into the alleyway, and you were the first person to be shot. And then, with the reloading of his gun... Everyone else... One after another... Just because they were involved with me..."
Her voice broke in the middle, for a slight second, so she paused. Eyes closing and smile faltering a bit, she continued in a softer voice.
"Maybe if I had been killed by the Organization back there... Then there would be less hassle."
Something cold touched the bridge of her nose and ears so she opened her eyes, startled, only to see Conan, without those ridiculous big glasses she had grown used to see on him. Everything was blurrier, too.
Shaky hands went to her own face and realized where they had gone.
"There you go," she saw the boy ─ or at least she thought she saw, considering she was looking at him through lenses her eyes definitely did not need ─ letting out an unusually soft smile. "With those you really look like another person. Even Clark Kent would be surprised, you know."
Haibara blinked at him, confused for a moment, before a smirk adorned her face. "Really?" she said to him. "Then you, who took off his glasses, would be Superman?"
"Except I can't fly," he grinned.
Haibara rolled her eyes. "Oh, well. At least it will relieve some stress," she pushed the glasses closer to her face. "Thank you."
"Yeah, yeah," he crossed his arms behind his head. "You better take good care of them because I want them back, Hana-chan."
The girl paused for a moment and gave him a long look, causing Conan to blink, unable to understand what she was thinking about now.
"Hana-chan?" she repeated. "Why would you choose that name?"
"... Because that was the first name I thought of?"
Her eyes narrowed a bit, puzzling the boy for a moment, before she shrugged. "Well, that's nice," she commented before starting to walk. "I guess that's better than to be called after a foreign novel author I guess."
Conan didn't move for a moment, taking a moment to think over her words, until his eyebrow started to twitch. Hey, hey.
"What are you doing?" Haibara called a few feet ahead of him. "You're slow, Sherlock-kun."
"I'm going," he replied with a childish grin. "Wait for me, Irene-chan!"
She couldn't help but roll her eyes once more, before her hand went to the dial at the side of the glasses, turning it until she could see. "Seriously, though," she let out a teasing smirk. "You're blind as a bat."
"Shut up."
Even if he had called Inspector Megure over using his brother's voice, the target still got murdered. The killer had taken advantage of the darkness that had settled in because of the slide show taking place and, somehow, managed to make the chandelier fall on top of Nomiguchi Shigehiko, killing him instantly.
The only clue left behind that, so far, Conan had found had literally fell on him. A cloth had landed on the top of his head. It was purple, he had observed once the lights had come back.
There was also the weird piece of metal that Mihei Yasuo had spit, that had accidentally found its way into his plate he was somehow eating even after seeing a man crushed to death in front of his eyes.
Conan picked it up. It was a piece of the chandelier chain.
What does it have to do with anything? the boy wondered, as he glanced up at the broken chain hanging from the ceiling. How in the world did he...?
A hand suddenly latched into his and, soon, Conan found himself dragged away from the crime scene. "H-Hey," he managed, tripping on his feet at the sudden motion. "Where are we going?"
"We're going to run away," Haibara said to him, as if it was obvious. "It's too dangerous to continue to stay here and waste time. Besides, if we're discovered by Inspector Megure, how are you going to explain this?"
Conan knew being found by Megure was the least of their problems, but he didn't say anything. The look on her eyes told him she was aware of it as well.
"Besides," she continued. "You can't really solve a murder only with the piece of chain you picked up earlier."
Managing to free himself from her grasp, he smirked. "How about this?" he said, pulling out the purple handkerchief. "It's owner probably received this at the front door," briefly he glanced at the other people. "Everyone is holding one, in different colours. The late director was famous for working on the movie Rainbow Colored Handkerchief. So, most likely, they gave one of these at the entrance. Therefore, this one must be one of them."
"... Shouldn't this be obvious by looking at the corner of the handkerchief?" Haibara's eyebrows raised. "It clearly says 'Director Sakamaki's Mourning Party,' Kudo-kun."
Conan blinked a bit, turning it over to see. "Oh," he couldn't see more than a blur of black characters. "So that's what it says..."
A giggle prompted the child to glare at her.
"Are you sure you don't want these back?"
"I don't need them, thank you."
"Honestly, I can't tell if you're being a gentleman or just plain stupid."
"Well, excuse me for being stupid."
Without any further word, Conan pulled his hoodie up, just like Haibara had a few seconds ago, stomped towards the door and cutely asked the officers for permission to go to the toilet.
Once he opened it, they were ambushed by several cameras flashing up on them.
Little did they know that they had accidentally brought the attention of someone else. The mystery man glanced at the girl. His eyes opened, widely, when the light of the flash let him see her face, which had been darkened by the hood she was wearing.
So, without anyone noticing, he pulled out his phone and typed a short message:
"Sherry is alive."
Taking advantage of the commotion, Conan pulled Haibara with him as he slipped away between the several legs of the reporters.
Not even wasting a second to take a breath, he rushed towards the counter and childishly asked the receptionist for the people that had a purple handkerchief, claiming that he wanted to give it back to the person it belonged to.
She showed him the guest list, and didn't really thought it would be a problem until he realized he couldn't actually read.
"Mugikura Naomichi, Masuyama Kenzo, Chris Vineyard, Nanjo Mika, Mihei Yasuo, Tarumi Naoya and Tawara Yoshiharu," he heard her voice whisper to him, so he turned to thank her until she continued. "Now I can tell. You are just stupid."
"Heh, thank you for nothing."
She shrugged, walking a few steps away from him, leaving him alone with his own thoughts. I can't be certain, but maybe amongst these seven people, he let out a smirk. One of them is most likely Pisco.
The doors opening brought the tiny detective out of his thoughts, his head snapped around to see the guests rushing out in panic, after probably being let go. This is bad, Conan frowned, suddenly finding himself in a forest of legs. We need to return to the professor's car and...
"Haibara-san," he turned around to tell that to Haibara, only to find himself alone. "Hey, Haibara-san? Where are you?"
Nobody replied, causing the boy to worry. He started to search for her, screaming her name in hopes of finding her face anywhere.
"Haibara-san! Answer me!"
Nothing. She wasn't anywhere.
It was as if Haibara had disappeared into the thin air.
"Haibara-san!" he cried, desperately.
He didn't notice, however, the man that had picked her up and cradled her unconscious form against his shoulder, just like a loving father could carry a peacefully sleeping child.
A/N:
ajjr12: Thanks for your suggestion! I will take it into consideration if I ever write that movie.
Asahina Chihaya: Thank you for suggesting it! I know that you mean, it would be cool if that happened XD Being honest, I'm not completely sure of what is going to happen when Conan meets Akai, but I might take that into consideration when I write that.