File One Hundred and Sixteen: Twitching Like a Small Crow
Pain.
An excruciating ache in her chest, not unlike that of a hand squeezing her heart dry ─ gripping, twisting, digging its claws into the flesh and forcing the girl to bite her lower lip to keep herself from screaming.
It jerked Sherry back from the dark, comforting emptiness her mind had previously been subjected to.
She curled into herself, the rush of air coming and leaving her lungs being the only current source of sound. The petite fought to get it back under control, knowing well that the pain was just, that, pain ─ her brain's response to a damaging stimulus. If she could focus on her breathing, it would disappear.
Measured breaths. Not giving up to the pain. Pulling herself together ─ and keep her lips sealed shut, no matter what. Gin had made sure to drill it in her head.
Yet, it never faded away completely. It lingered like a dull ache, too stubborn to leave her alone. But it was better, because now she could simply push it to the back of her mind and continue.
Her eyes had yet to open, but her mind was running miles ahead already, trying to figure out where she was, along with the reason for her current predicament. It was the cold metal against her left wrist that had made her perfectly controlled breathing hitch, before she willed it to return to its previous, well-adjusted rhythm.
That brought forward the memories, that of a murderous gaze and a gelid smirk. Icy-cold, rough hands brushing against her skin, securing the handcuff to her left wrist. His detached tone as he told her to wait there until they were done talking with the boss.
The realization that would come next ─ death was awaiting her.
It was curious, she had later noted. There, sitting alone in that abandoned lab her parents used to work day and night, she had waited for the fright to seize her. She had waited for the icy chill running down her back, the adrenaline-induced trembling of her limbs, or the image of her jumping into the awaiting arms of Death to cloud any rational thought.
None of that ever happened.
Her free hand had slid inside her coat's pocket, fingers plucking something that her eyes later gazed at ─ the light already gone from them, even if she had yet to take it.
That was the drug she had created. The same one that was given to Shinchi-san, resulting in his inevitable death.
Yes. Shinichi-san. Her beloved sister. They were gone ─ they would never come back.
Slowly, her eyes had slid closed, and had taken the drug. Which made no sense. For some unexpected reason, Sherry was still there, breathing and confused at the turn of events.
An odd odor caressing her nostrils had her thoughts skidding to a stop, eyes finally snapping open for the first time she woke up.
It smelled like something was burning.
"Haibara-san, watch out!"
It had been Mitsuhiko's yell what had woken her out of her stupor, narrowly saving her from a soccer ball smacking squarely in her face, whizzing past her ear at dangerous speeds and momentarily leaving her out of breath.
Head tucked under their arms, all five children watched it bounce all over the cabin until it came to a rest, rolling to a certain pair of red shoes Ai would recognize anywhere. Holding in an irritated remark, the girl watched the boy kneel, bewilderment evident as he gazed at the deflating soccer ball.
A frown caressed his features, and his gaze shifted to stare at his shoes.
"What're you doing, Conan?!" Genta growled angrily. "You can't go around kicking a ball indoors!"
Granted, Genta had been scolded several times for the same thing. Nobody seemed inclined to point it out.
Namely Conan, whose look had yet to fix in anything else. "I thought it would break the door…" Ai could feel his confusion just by listening to his whisper. "But the shot…"
And she knew he was right. It was an old door, which meant that, with the aid of the Power Enhancing Shoes, a soccer ball should have done the trick. But the shot just now, though she didn't want to imagine what would have happened if she had been on the receiving end of it, was nothing compared to what she had seen before.
If anything, it seemed to be powered by his ordinary child's strength.
Finally, it seemed to click in Conan's brain. "Don't tell me…" he mumbled, horrified. "When I tripped this morning…"
"They broke," completed Ai. "Talk about bad timing…"
"No way!" exclaimed Ayumi. "But I have seen Conan-kun tripping before! And they were still fine."
"When was the last time you brought them to the Professor for maintenance?" No response. "Then, no wonder. After using them for so long, carelessly like you always do, it's to be expected that a minor bump like that would render them unusable without a proper checkout."
Between gritted teeth, a groan escaped the confines of Conan's throat.
"Then, what do we do?!" cried Mitsuhiko, on the verge of hysteria. "The cabin is on fire! If we don't get out…"
"It's okay," said Ai, calmly. "Somebody's sure to notice the smoke and help us…"
Right, Shinichi-san?
Smoke?
Barely a second after his eyes had caught with such a sight, Shinichi had tapped gently on Sera's shoulder. Under her inquiring gaze, he pointed up, redirecting it to the dark, thick trail that threaded its way to the afternoon sky. It immediately captured her attention, and sure enough, a frown had come up to decorate her face.
In doing so, he had also gotten Yamamura's. One glance at the smoke rising in the distance had him smiling nonchalantly. "That's probably just smoke from a campfire!" he said, his grin enlisting when he spotted something else. "See, there's one over there, too."
Opening his mouth, Shinichi was more than ready to tell him not to disregard it so easily, but had to stop himself just in time. There actually was some substance in his claims for a change, and there was no denying that there was an identical trail of smoke rising up from the opposite side of the mountain. Apparently, for what this lousy inspector's testimony was worth anyway, the Gumna police had been struggling to get the young to understand that building huge wooden structures and throwing parties during the day was not such a good idea.
With an inspector like that, that story made sense somewhat.
"Inspector Yamamura! Here are the three men mentioned in the report!"
Shooting one last glance towards the smoke, Shinichi pushed it to the back of his mind, archiving under the label of 'irrelevant' so that he could proceed with his investigation. Hands sliding inside his pockets, his eyes started on doing their work ─ scrutinizing the three suspects, trying to piece apart every little bit of information that would tell him who was the one his little brother and friends had witnessed burying that woman.
And, therefore, being closer to finding where they were.
The first one was Yonezumi Hayamichi, a part-time worker. Claimed he would be camping there next time with some friends, thus he had been checking out the area. Second came Usagi Chozo, a photographer who just liked to take photos of the scenery of campsites all around Japan. Lastly was Iwakuma Takeya, a young man seeking to snap some photos of the Japanese azalea with his mobile.
No good, thought Shinichi, frowning, looking harder for anything, yet being unable to. These three were the only ones found wandering alone through the mountains, but there's nothing in their testimonies that do not make sense.
Granted, there was still the footprint found next to the burial site. The size of the shoe was twenty-six centimeters, if he remembered correctly ─ but, if more than one of them happened to be like that, Shinichi was not sure how to proceed.
"This is bad," he heard Agasa grumble, fumbling with his phone with a worried look. "It's still not connecting."
"That's weird," commented Shinichi. "Knowing Conan-kun and Ai-chan, they should've moved to some place with reception…"
"If they're still being chased around by the killer…" Agasa looked over at the suspects. "Then those three must be innocent, right?"
Sera crossed her arms over her chest. "Or perhaps, though it's not a nice idea…" She shot Shinichi a serious glance. "Someone, possibly one of those three, already killed them."
The other teenage detective stayed silent for a moment or so before his eyelids gently slid closed. "Or they're in a situation where they can't move," he said, more to himself than to anyone else, and just walked right past them. There's no other option.
Conan has been through much worse. He wouldn't let himself being killed by a measly murderer.
He glanced over to the woods, contemplating them for a while. That being said, he's probably still hiding somewhere with his friends. Waiting for me to solve the case so that he can walk out.
Renewed with determination, his head snapped back to the suspects. At least, with the true murderer there with them, he would be kept safely away from the children.
Just wait a little longer. If someone spotted him nodding to himself, they would never let him know. I'll solve this and let you go.
Hope you're not getting bored out there, Conan.
His suspenders had been his last feasible choice.
In fact, like usual, he had absolutely forgotten about they were there, and wouldn't have considered them hadn't he made a last check on himself, prompted by the vicious coughs of his friends that told him they had limited time before the consequences were irreversible. Once he realized that he still got them, he had been quick, jumping back onto his feet and passing it around the chain that kept the door closed.
Using a plank in the flooring that was slightly loose, enough for the suspenders to pass around, Conan pressed the button. The suspenders started contracting, chains clanked, roared and bended while the child's eyes, glimmering with a slight sense of hope under the promise of freedom, waited for his plan to succeed.
But the flooring gave up and snapped before anything would happen.
"Damn it!" A curse that would have him immediately grounded if Ran were to hear escaped his lips.
Conan immediately regretted it, for reasons beyond what appropriate behavior should be. His chest constricted, and the first cough broke through, irremediably leading for the many others to follow ─ painful, and loud enough to render his friends' worried calls for nothing but an unintelligible, muffled murmur.
"I told you, didn't I?!" Ai's filtered through, however. "To keep your head low so you don't breathe into the smoke!"
"But-"
Smoke did wonders to silence him, not that the glare the small scientist was surely sending his way would have been any less effective. Knees hitting the floor, eyes scrunched shut, the boy tried uselessly to keep himself from coughing his blackened lungs out, but to no avail.
Distantly, he was aware of being dragged and set against the wall, and the clear mountain air that came next was more than a grateful aid to his condition. As slim as it was.
Opening one eye, Conan realized they had gotten him closer to the door.
"Stay put for a while," said Ai. "Somebody will save us soon."
Someone… will save us?
Yeah, that's right. I've been in a situation like this before… Conan distantly remembered the flames, the excruciating warmth and a piano melody, gentle but strangely melancholic. Ah, the Moonlight Sonata case… I've almost forgotten…
How could I ever forget? A pained grimace that wanted to be a smile slid in, but his eye slipped closed. That case… was the one I…
In the midst of a memory of arms cradling him to a chest, he knew no more.
"Conan-kun!"
He wasn't around to hear Mitsuhiko's shout, as muffled as it had been because of the handkerchief he was holding against his nose. Neither did he feel his hand rummaging through his pocket, plucking out another one, pressing it to his face.
"This is bad," he said, panic crossing his face as he turned to the rest of his friends. "He has inhaled too much smoke."
Genta groaned. "When are they gonna get here?!" he shouted, thoroughly frustrated.
Just as he was about to answer, Mitsuhiko's eyes caught something outside of the cabin, and gasped. "T-There's smoke coming up over there, too!" he exclaimed. "Is it a campfire?!"
"No way!" cried Ayumi.
"Doesn't that mean they won't notice the smoke coming from here?!"
Ai gritted her teeth, her eyes lingering on the smoke slowly making its way to the sky that, much to her utter displeasure, was only beginning to change colors ─ a beautiful orange gradually taking over the lively blue, making it known to her how much time they had been stuck in there, in the middle of the thick cloud of smoke.
Even after all that time of waiting, nobody was coming. Not even that certain high school detective with the cocky smirk, who believed he could save everyone and anyone. He wasn't coming.
Unlike that other time.
She struggled to come to terms that, really, that was probably it. For all that she had run, desperate for some of the freedom she had yearned for so long, to escape from the clutches of the crows that, relentlessly, continued to chase after her… It wouldn't be them who finished her off.
But, it was kind of poetic, Ai thought. That she would meet her end there, trapped like a bird inside a cage ─ swallowed by a fog of pure black, burned to a crisp until there was nothing left. It was useless in the end. If you think about it, I'm back at the beginning, aren't I?
There was a cough.
At her side, Ayumi was coughing into her pink handkerchief. Ai moved closer, purely by instinct, only to realize the sickly shade her face had acquired. Her eyes shot upwards, where Genta and Mitsuhiko were panicking, not looking any better than the girl beside her. Conan was still unresponsive to their calls, glasses crooked and sliding from his face, shallow, short breaths shaking his entire frame.
There, Ai realized that, was this to be her end, it would be theirs, too.
"Haibara-san?" Mitsuhiko was confused when she suddenly hopped back to her feet and sprinted to the back of the cabin. "Haiba-"
He was interrupted by another set of coughs that had Genta and Ayumi fumbling, not having a single clue of what to do.
As much as that worried her beyond belief, Ai pushed it aside, and braced herself. The handkerchief still pressed against her face, to inhale as little as possible, the little girl ventured herself through the smoke, irritated eyes scrunched close, unable to keep open. Her free hand reached forward, blindly searching for a door, where lied their last chance for survival.
Coughs erupted straight from her chest, and she stumbled forward, latching into the door while she attempted to recover her breath, but of course, there was not a chance she could do that. So she forced herself back up and pulled it open.
A wave of infernal warmth almost knocked her off her feet, yet she staggered inside either way. She threw her arm over her face, biting her lip, and forced her lids to crack open, just a sliver.
A scream tore apart from the confines of her throat. She fell back, heard the door slamming close, and along came the feeling of her back, pressing against it as if her life depended on it.
Flames roared, licked upwards, grazing just barely the ceiling over her head, hungrily devouring everything that her eyes could perceive, and likely what they could not, too. They twisted, as if inviting her to join them in their menacing dance of death.
Curled against a corner, Sherry could not stop trembling ─ twitching like a small crow nursing its broken wing.
And of course, all three suspects' shoe sizes were twenty-six centimeters.
Shinichi could not hold it in. He groaned right as they had told them that, not bothering about the weirded looks he received in the slightest.
Hand running through his artificial brown locks, Shinichi turned back around, willing himself to regain his composure. Once they had spotted the footprints next to the burial site, and the inspector had measured the size, Shinichi had hoped it would, at least, be able to narrow down the suspects a little.
Best case, one of them would have the correct shoe size. Contrary, if there were two, one of them would be discarded and things would go much more smoothly.
But all three? What are the chances of that happening, seriously?
It was hard not to curse out loud. Now, he was back at the beginning, with no clues whatsoever to follow through. If he couldn't prove who the culprit was right now, nevermind finding them, it would be impossible to keep him from going after Conan and the rest.
"What a mess… All the Detective Badges are back with the tents…" He was definitely not the only one frustrated. It was a feeling he shared with Agasa, for what that was worth. "Maybe we should go and search, too."
"If you search about blindly, you'll just get lost in the forest," Sera told him. "It'd be best to leave the searching to the search party, who know the mountain well."
Shinichi was well aware of that ─ in fact, that was the only thing keeping his feet rooted to his spot right now. Getting lost as well was the last thing any of them needed right now.
For all that, he needed to find the culprit and get him to spit their approximate location as soon as possible. That being said, it was easier said than done.
Think. There has to be something out there. Maybe that thing with her hands she had been doing was the only thing to latch on. But nothing, it still didn't make sense. What about the wound? She was hacked, probably with a heavy axe… No, all three look like they wouldn't have any trouble with it.
The way it was inflicted spoke less of it, besides the fact that the killer was right-handed ─ like most of the Japanese population. If the shoe size didn't tell us anything, that surely… He paused. Wouldn't really…
His eyes widened violently. Actually, there was only one of them who was right-handed.
Okay, don't rush it. A hand went to rest under his chin while he let his mind run. If I try to confront him now, he'll just deny it, and try to convince the inspector that either the other two are faking being left-handed, or that the killer is someone outside them three… And for what he had gathered today, this idiot would just believe him.
There has to be a way to prove it. An irrevocable proof that he is-
"But it's almost sunset, and even the shadows are growing longer." he heard Agasa say. "If we don't find them before it becomes dark…"
Shinichi's mind halted for a beat, and before he knew it, his head was snapping towards his back, eyes widening at the elongating shadow right behind him.
His gaze met with Sera's. Surprised at their discovery, both detectives shared a single thought.
So that's how it was!
"A-Ayumi-chan!"
"Hang in there, Ayumi!"
His friends were screaming ─ that was the first coherent thought that surfaced in Conan's fuzzy brain. Why are they screaming? was probably the second, and along with it came a faint sense of worry at the notion that they were strangely desperate.
"Ayumi! Wake up, Ayumi!"
Ayumi-chan? His thoughts were getting clearer, stronger, but unfortunately, so was the dull ache in his head, growing into a full-blown migraine in a matter of seconds. The fear won out, however, and his eyes cracked open to see what was going on.
Mitsuhiko and Genta were gathering around Ayumi who, eerily still on the floor, was breathing quite heavily. The sight woke him completely, instantly moving away from the wall he was resting against to crawl closer to them.
"Ayumi-chan-"
He barely got her name out before his throat closed up on him, and the coughing broke straight out from his chest. That's right, we were in big trouble, he thought, shielding his nose with his arm from the smoke quickly filling the room. The fire, and the smoke…
But at least, it got the two boys to notice his presence.
"Conan!" exclaimed Genta, surprised. "You're awake!"
"Nevermind that!" he choked out. "Quickly, you need to bring Ayumi-chan closer to the door!"
The two of them barely hesitated, immediately sliding their hands under their friend's arms, and he moved from his previous spot to leave some space for Ayumi. They tilted her head to the small gap leading to the outside and waited, expecting some change in her condition.
Yet Ayumi remained unresponsive. At this point, both Mitsuhiko and Genta were beyond terrified, screaming at her, begging that she would open her eyes.
A glance to the steadily darkening outside world made Conan aware that they must have been in there for hours. It was a wonder they had endured on their own for so long, really, but there was no telling if they would be able to for much longer. As it was, the smoke was so thick that he barely could see any of his friends' faces ─ death by smoke inhalation would not be pleasant, but it was eventually going to strike if they didn't do anything soon. Even if they survived it, the flames would find their way to them and burn them to a crisp, or have the entire cabin fall over their heads…
Despite all that, his brother had yet to find them ─ why was he taking that long, anyway? Conan could not answer that question.
Unless he is not coming.
That realization struck like a bucket of ice-cold water over his head, freezing him all over, despite the scorching warmth of the flames. And suddenly, fear gripped his chest, his arm dropping like lead at his side, eyes wide open despite the fire.
We… are going to die here? It vanished as quickly as it came, with a stubborn shake of his head. There has to be a way we can get out!
My shoes are out of order, and my suspenders proved to be completely useless… He analyzed the door for a moment, and would have sighed dejectedly if it wouldn't also mean getting more smoke into his system. That's a shame. It's an old one, so I'm sure it would have broken easily, too…
Damn it! If only that idiot was here, we would've counted on his adult strength. It was hard not giving up to anger on the verge of death. Harder than he would've believed. What's keeping him from looking, anyway? Is he solving that murder case we ran into or something?
Of course, that would take a while, especially if the older detective was under the impression that they were merely hiding, as the kid was starting to suspect by now.
If only he knew he killed her… He blinked. In this place…
With an axe. An axe that he could access to, just in the other room. Now it's probably going to be too heavy for any of us… A smirk found its way to his lips. For only one of us, that is…
"Ai-san," he called, stepping away from Ayumi to turn around. "I need your help."
The lack of a proper answer was something he did not expect, sure, but the fact that he did not see her either was worrisome by itself. Where did she go? Standing back up, the boy looked around, hoping to spot her somewhere in that small room. She couldn't have gotten far…
But when he caught the door leading to the other room, he frowned. Don't tell me… He hurried that way. She had the same idea?
Even so, the door was closed. She wouldn't have locked herself in there, would she? ─ not the current one, that was. A year back, he wouldn't have said that for sure, but now it was almost inconceivable. Especially when they were there too, trapped in a burning cabin alongside her.
Without thinking twice, Conan tried to push it open, but it wouldn't budge.
Amid his friends screaming Ayumi's name, so passionately they had likely not noticed his absence, he called, "Ai-san?"
But no response. Neither from the other boys, who had not stopped, meaning that they might have not heard him in the first place, nor for the girl he was trying to communicate with. "Ai-san! Answer me!"
Finally, he got a reply. But not the kind he would've liked to.
There was a whimper. So feeble that, hadn't he been attentively listening for any sound, it would have been drowned by the roar of the flames. But his ears, though unbelieving at first, caught it just fine, leaving the young boy to stand back, lost in his own confusion.
Ear pressed against the door, Conan did everything in his power to deduce what could be happening inside. She must be the reason he couldn't open it, since he could hear the noises from close by.
Her trembling breathing, the lack of proper response… Conan had been witness to such a posture, and he could easily imagine her sitting there, back flushed against the furthest wall of what might have been scaring her so much.
To be scared to such an extent… Eyes widened in horror. You've got to be kidding me!
Panic surged through him. "Ai-san, open up!" he tried again, his tone rising exponentially as his imagination ran wild, relentlessly providing him with ideas of what could be transpiring inside. "Ai-san!"
Needless to say, it failed as horribly as any of the other instances. How did this happen? Mouth opening and closing without him being fully aware of it, and a knocking that had grown to become a full-fledged session of urgent banging ─ Conan could not understand how this came to be.
Mitsuhiko and I checked the entire cabin, and there was nobody in here. No way out, no way in either. But she wouldn't be acting like this if it wasn't related to an organization member, right?
From under the door, a fiery glow chased away the shadows, not unlike the last rays of sunset in a summer evening, promising a painful end for everyone involved. Such was the sight he imagined he would see if he were to open the door. That of waves of fire, washing dangerously closer to him.
"Ai-san, please! If you stay there, the fire-"
He fell silent. An article he had read over a year ago welcomed inside his mind uninvited and sat there, unmoving.
"Drug company burned to the ground."
There had been fingers holding the corners of the newspaper, presenting it to him. Her soulless gaze that used to disturb him so much stabbed him, as if they could perceive every single bit of his body's movements.
"They decided to get rid of my body, and anything possibly related to me," she had said then. "By setting the lab on fire."
The palm of his hands rested against the door. Not banging, just posed gently against the surface.
He gazed at it, as if somehow he could see the girl that sat on the other side, and tried, "Ai-san." Softer. "Ai-san, it's okay."
There were none of them inside of there, Conan reaffirmed. Yet, that did not mean the danger surrounding them was any less present.
"You're not there anymore," he said next, firmer this time. "We are going to get out of here, I promise-"
For a scary second, the corners of his vision darkened, body tumbling forward, but caught himself before his legs would give up. Damn. Forehead resting against the door, Conan allowed himself to curse, all too conscious of his ragged breaths wreaking havoc on his body. If this goes on any longer…
There had to be a way he could reach her.
Hands curling into fists, Conan scrunched his eyes shut.
"A-A rabbit?!"
The flashlight on Sera's phone made little to hide the satisfied smirk drawing on his face, at the sight of the stunned gazes falling, rather than on him, on the shadow cast by his hands, firmly held in front of him while replicating the strange shape the woman had made in her final moments.
The rabbit was not as innocent as one would assume. His eyes locked with the culprit's terrified ones, and he instantly knew he had been the one who had tried to kill his little brother and friends. Usagi Chozo. It was you.
Because 'usagi' was the Japanese word for rabbit, it left little doubt that it had been him all along.
"B-But why a shadow puppet?" inquired Yamamura. "If she could have made this shape, she could have written something in blood, too…"
"It's because the murdered woman was a nursery teacher!" Sera took over right away. "Nursery teachers often show children shadow puppets, and even if the killer saw her hands, he wouldn't take it to be a rabbit at first glance."
With the girl turning off the light, Shinichi was free to let his hands slide back inside his pockets. "No wonder you didn't ─ her hands probably came apart while you were moving her." His gaze, that had never left the culprit's, glinted dangerously under the moonlight and, calmly, he took a step forward. "There's no use playing innocent, so why don't you stop wasting our time and just confess?"
But the man flinched away, making not a single sound.
"If you left a big wound on the victim's back, you must have ended up with a lot of blood splatter on you," added Sera, seriously. "It looks like you changed and tried to wash it off, but it's not so easy to remove the blood's reaction to luminol."
Impatient by his lack of response, Shinichi quickly approached him. "It'd be better if you just confessed." Usagi cringed, jumping back out of fright, but the detective pushed forward with the insistence of a dog chasing a scent. "Where are the kids?"
Still, not a single word.
"They spotted you burying the corpse, and you chased them." His tone had deepened much more than he had intended, clearly. "So? Where are they?"
"I-It wasn't me…"
Certainly not the answer he had been hoping for.
"Eh?!" Sera could not believe it either. "You're still denying it?!"
"It wasn't my fault, it was hers!" Usagi shouted at both detectives' persistence. "Shutting me in a place like that as a prank… She's the one who wronged me!"
Shinichi could see tears collecting on the rim of his eyes. "Even though I loved her…" the culprit said next, in a feeble whisper. "Even though I proposed to her… She went and did something like that!"
Apparently, Usagi had been stuck inside an elevator for a whole day about three years ago. Ever since that incident, he had developed a strong case of claustrophobia, causing him to panic when the victim suddenly shut him in a pitch-black cabin. It had ended with him starting swinging the cabin axe around, in a frenzied attempt to escape, and hacking his fiancee on the back.
"Right, if she hadn't pulled that prank…" His hand trembled while it held his head, tears now free to fall to either side of his face. "Then those children wouldn't have been shut in there either!"
Those words set the alarms off in Shinichi's head. "Shut inside that mountain cabin?!" he screamed.
"Yeah," Usagi said, tone low and full of grief ─ as if truly sorry for the sins he had committed ─ and turned to glance over his shoulder. "It's probably too late to save them, though."
Shinichi looked there, too, and could've sworn he felt the blood draining from his face. The smoke he had spotted before, and had disregarded as something not so important, was there to point out his most crucial, unforgivable mistake.
"Inspector Yamamura!" came a police officer running, shouting at the top of his lungs. "The search party reports they've discovered a burning cabin!"
The words barely crossed his ears before his legs started to move ─ unwilling to lose another second to listen to Yamamura's reply. Just following the direction of the smoke should be enough, decided Shinichi, forcing his body to run faster, as much as it could possibly take him.
I can still make it! His thoughts were loud, as much as his words would have been, had he actually said them out loud. Just a little longer… Just a little-!
Reality smacked him mercilessly in the form of a burning mountain cabin.
At first, he didn't really process it. The flames rose into the night sky, dancing as if mocking those eyes that, wide but dazed, just stared, mesmerized at such macabre display of power and destruction.
He heard steps stopping right next to him, and a female startled gasp from close. They didn't move again, neither did Shinichi.
And, suddenly, it hit him.
"You can't!" There was a nearby police officer restraining him. "Stay back!"
He was relentless and tried to push his way past him. So was the man, however, keeping an iron grip on his shoulders.
"Let me go!" he barked. "There… There are children inside!"
That had surely shocked the man beyond belief, but not enough for his grip to loosen, as he had hoped. He fought with all his might, barely registering that another set of hands had also latched onto his arm, pushing him back, and briefly assumed it was another member of the police, cursing out loud for his actions.
Shinichi did not care. His mouth also was opening and closing, shouting curses and names all the same which his own brain could not process, but did not care. Sliding one arm over one of the men's shoulder, his fingers stretched forward, as if he could reach if he tried hard enough.
"Goddamn it, Conan!" That tore apart from his throat before he could help it. "Ai-chan! You need to get out!"
I need to get them out… Or they will die!
But nobody other than him was moving.
Why isn't anyone-?!
"Ayumi-chan!" Helpless to do anything else but to shout, Shinichi begged for any sign of the children. "Genta-kun! Mitsuhiko-kun!"
With a loud crashing sound, Shinichi stopped moving as well.
The cabin was crumbling down in front of his unbelieving eyes. As the surprised exclamation of everyone witnessing the tragedy erupted, Shinichi remained quiet. Slowly backing away to, now free from the tight grasp the police had him in, contemplated what laid in front of him.
He distantly made out his fake name from Agasa's lips, to which he offered no reaction. Unsure of when his legs had given up on him, he stared at his hands, curling into tight fists around a handful of dry grass.
Though his mind was silent, it still wondered what this feeling was about.
That of his breathing hitching and an odd stinging in his eyes.
"They still work?!"
His head shot up, that familiar, young voice thrusting him back into the world like a sudden spark of electricity. Haltingly, he turned around, and just as he was getting to prepare himself to find nothing but an empty space, and process that all this was a mere trick of his mind to cope with a reasonably traumatic situation, he saw it.
That brilliant blue blinking curiously behind thick glasses.
"Conan?" It came out small, as if afraid that this illusion would vanish if he spoke any louder.
Conan tilted his head. "Yes?"
"You're… alive?"
"I was, last time I checked."
Conan had to admit. The way his older brother was gawking at him was a little creepy.
"You're late," stated Ai, walking closer to them, then finally stopping beside the little boy. Her eyebrows rose, visually irritated. "I believed a certain someone would save us and waited, but-"
She didn't get to say another word, all because of the hand seizing her shoulder, squeezing.
By looks alone, she could easily tell it was the same for Conan next to her. Wide eyed, he looked at the hand pressing against his cheek, then turned to gape at his older brother.
Who wouldn't do anything but smile at them both, warmly.
From behind the pair, three heads popped into sight. Agasa walked closer, having the decency to wait until Shinichi stood back up. "You're all okay!" he exclaimed with a smile. "I'm so glad!"
Ayumi gave out the brightest grin she could manage. "It's all thanks to Ai-chan and Conan-kun!"
Conan flinched when all gazes fell on them both. For Ai's case, however, it wasn't all that much noticeable.
"It wasn't such a big deal…" began Conan.
"What are you talking about?" Mitsuhiko argued, then turned to the professor. "Haibara-san and Conan-kun used the axe the victim was killed with."
"They lifted it together!" exclaimed Genta, moving his hands around for extra emphasis. "And chopped the door down!"
"Okay, okay, I get it!" grumbled the little boy, annoyance sipping on his voice ─ though the older brother could clearly see the slight tint of embarrassment coating his cheeks. "Could we just go, please? We missed lunch ─ I'm starving here."
"Finally!" Genta's face splitting grin did not take long to appear. "We're talking the same language."
And like that, he rushed right past him, heading… somewhere, Conan supposed ─ not that he was sure Genta actually knew. His fear of him getting lost again ─ like, seriously, does he ever learn? ─ was apparently not unfounded, since Ayumi and Mitsuhiko went after him almost instantly. Agasa reached him last, scolding so sternly that had Shinichi staring, unbelieving.
In the end, all is well, thought Shinichi, a heavy sigh escaping his system. Somehow.
Smiling, he turned back to the pair of children that had stayed back behind. You're amazing. Both of you.
Yet, never got to voice that out loud. His warm smile faltered, replaced by a confused blinking at the sight of the little girl, and her distant, undecipherable gaze lingering on the still untamable flames, swallowing that mountain cabin they had been trapped at in an admirable pace.
The little boy was looking at her, mouth opened and hand hesitating over her shoulder. Noticing this, she turned around to face him, to which he stepped back, averting his eyes and pretending he had wanted nothing ─ similar to that of a child caught doing something he knew he shouldn't have done.
Again, Shinichi blinked.
"Now, now, you just got out of a fire." Both of them flinched, mostly Conan, at the sound of a female voice, trying to deal with the rest of their friends. "You should see a doctor first, then I'll treat you with something. Is that okay?"
Shinichi saw everything. From the gradual widening of his eyes as he became aware of who was there, to the disappointed drop of his shoulders when he made visual contact.
"Hey there, Conan-kun!"
"Sera-san, what are you doing here?"
Though, if you asked Shinichi, he sounded more exhausted than anything else. It didn't discourage Sera.
"I ran into Hirai-kun and the Professor earlier in the store and they invited me to have lunch with you all!"
Conan's gaze snapped towards Shinichi, illustrating his discontent through his glare. The older brother immediately shook his head, doing his best to state that, no, he definitely did not, without using a single word.
He could only wonder if Conan had really been effectively convinced.
In the end, none of them were comfortable enough to stay the night in the tents. Which, granted, it was a perfectly normal reaction after wasting most of their day away running for their lives through the forest, then avoiding being burned to a crisp for seeing a little more than they should.
So, when Agasa suggested they spend a night in a nearby inn, the group of children had been grateful. Not so much, however, after being told they wouldn't fit in a single room all by themselves, meaning they had to be split into two groups for the night.
"We girls should stay together, right?" Sera had said, crouching next to both Ayumi and Ai, a toothed grin crossing their eyes. She seemed to focus on the latter, eventually, and Conan could have sworn her eyes had taken a sharper glint. "We haven't gotten the chance to get to know each other so well, now have we?"
Ai had visually tensed, and Sera definitely had noted it. Just as Conan was about to say anything to hopefully defuse the situation, the little girl had scurried away to, much to everyone's shock, cling to Shinichi's legs. Startled, the teen had glanced down, only to see her hiding behind him, only her head poking out, ever so barely ─ gracing her with the harmless appearance of a scared little kid.
To this moment, Conan could not believe what his eyes had seen. That of her, of all people, pouting right in plain sight.
"I want to stay with Arthur-san!"
It were those words that led him to the situation at hand. Him opening the door to the small room they were given, after changing into his pajamas inside the toilet, to find her sitting atop of her bed, reading a book against the dim light of the bedside lamp.
There were two beds in there, both occupied. Thus, he chose to approach the one that wouldn't result in a slow, painful death by human experimentation ─ or something like that, Conan was not exactly certain about any potential outcome besides pain.
It was a pretty good move, thought Conan while he walked. By stating she wanted to stay with Oniichan, she immediately made sure Sera-san was out of the picture. She, a teenage girl, wouldn't sleep in the same room as him.
Not without it appearing forced, anyhow.
Even as he sat beside the figure, he did not move. He peered, prompted by curiosity, and halted.
"What?" he whispered. "He's already asleep?"
He stared for some more, and lightly poked his cheek, seeking any kind of reaction. But his older brother did not make a sound other than a snore. He's really out cold, thought Conan, a little stunned still.
"Are you really surprised?" said Ai, without even tearing her gaze away from the book. "It must be draining, solving that case, then being led to believe his beloved little brother had died, even if it was for a moment."
Conan could not really say he didn't understand what that felt like. "Not only me," he stated. "He also believed you died. And everyone else too… Quite the shock, huh?"
"Yeah." She closed her eyes for a second longer than blinking would have taken. "For that idiot who believes he can save everyone on his own…"
She finished with a grim chuckle. Noting that, Conan observed her for an entire second, before sliding inside the covers alongside his brother. Yet, instead of lying down, he stayed there, sitting and contemplating his fists, gripping the sheets, as if hesitating.
"Does it apply to you, too?" Finally, he spoke up, unable to keep his thoughts to himself any longer. "About that fire you were caught in after taking the drug… He saved you, didn't he?"
At first, her lack of reaction made him wonder if he had messed up. If he should have kept his mouth shut and left such an obviously tough moment of her life for her alone, not to be shared with him because he was too curious to help himself. He thought she would state that, too, or ignore his question completely with nothing but a scowl or something of the like.
She closed her book.
The sound of chains had her eyes flickering, for the first time, away from the approaching flames to her wrist. Surprise shook her body whole at the sight of a hand ─ gentle, warm ─ other than her own, trying to set her free through amazing lock picking abilities.
Her eyes, unbelieving at first, followed those arms and, eventually, met with something even as shocking as the previous.
His smile was as bright as the last time she had seen it. "Sorry I'm late." It was his voice that convinced that, effectively, it was him, and not a mere product of her delirious, overheated brain pranking her. "I'll get you out of these in a sec, okay? So hold on a little longer, Shiho-chan."
Shiho nodded lightly, dumbfounded by the turn of events. "I thought you were dead, Shinichi-san," she said in a whisper.
"Believe me, I'm as shocked as you are," he said with a chuckle. "And… done. You're free now."
Now free to bring her hand to her chest, Shiho rubbed her wrist, flinching lightly at the mere contact ─ it hurt. As she did that, she noted Shinichi's eyes darting from one corner to the other, undoubtedly trying to figure out what was the best way to take in their escape.
"Free, huh?" she whispered, her grip on her wrist tightening unconsciously. "Even if I escape from here… I hardly see that happening."
Shinichi immediately turned to look at her. "Isn't it obvious?" she added, breaking in a sour, humorless chuckle. "Once they realize my body is missing in the remains of the fire, they'll start looking for me."
Her eyes slipped closed. "Is it worth it?" It was mostly to herself, but it made Shinichi tense all the same. "To keep going, even though they'll get me at the end?"
Maybe it was for the best. To let the fire burn her soul away, let it blacken her already tainted heart, and crumble into ashes. And, just, let it end.
A shriek escaped her suddenly at the feeling of being hoisted into the air. One arm under her legs, another around her shoulders, followed by a glimpse of the visible determination in those eyes of his, had her gawking, shocked at first.
Without warning, Shinichi brought her closer to him, in a protective fashion, then took off running.
It wasn't until another couple of steps later that she finally found her voice. "Why?!" she shouted, her fingers clinging into his shirt, gripping tightly. "Why are you-?"
He didn't even look at her, far too focused on his task to deviate his attention away from the flames.
But he did smile, as strained as it was.
"Because you have to live, Shiho-chan."
"Maybe," was all she said.
His eyebrows rose. "Maybe," he repeated, dully.
"He got me out of there, if that's what you're asking," she said. "Then told me to run to the nearest police station and left."
"He… just left?"
"Yeah. There were still a couple of members lingering around, so he was making sure they didn't see us."
"But you never went to the police," stated Conan. "You ended up in front of my house."
She offered a shrug.
"Why?" pressed Conan.
"I had visited your house a couple of times, you know." Conan blinked at her response. "Why would you stay at a smelly police cabin when you could spend your days in a luxurious mansion-like property?"
Conan stared. "You're joking."
I am.
But that was something he would never get out of her lips, no matter how big his bothersome detective curiosity was, or how insistent he could be. The reason I went to your house… Goes a little beyond that.
And she swore to herself she would never tell him. That, even before we met that day in your house, I already knew you, Conan-kun.
Shinichi-san used to talk a lot, you know. Confided me with things he would tell no one else.
He always had this proud, if nostalgic, smile whenever he talked about a certain someone. His amazingly intelligent, but lacking in the social department, little brother he would give anything for. You were his favorite topic.
It had made her curious, more than she would be willing to state out loud. Was there something so special about that boy that had left such an impact on Shinichi?
As much as it pained her to admit, even to herself only, she had soon found out there was. Proof was what happened just a few hours prior.
"Shiho-san!" It had been his voice, pronouncing her name ─ her real name ─ that had brought her back to reality, and remembered those words that Shinichi had told her back then.
That she had to live. And for that, she had to move.
"Shinichi-san and you are similar, you knew that?"
Conan appeared more puzzled than before, if that was even possible. It amused Ai, stealing a little giggle out of her, turning her attention back to the book, opening where she had left it.
"I'll get you out of here, Shiho-chan!"
"We can do this together, Shiho-san!"
Well, maybe there's a difference there, she mused internally, flipping a page.
Conan did not make a sound after that. He merely watched her read which, as strange as that would sound, Ai did not find it as creepy as it would have been in other circumstances ─ hadn't she known that, in reality, he wasn't really looking at her, but was contemplating something inside his brain that only he could see.
Eventually, his eyes slid away from her form.
"I'm sorry, Ai-san." His words, filled with genuine regret, made her pause. "Even though I promised that day I wouldn't call you by your real name…" He frowned, upset by his own actions. "I…"
She tore her gaze away from the book, only to realize that he had not raised his head, not even to figure out what was taking her so long to reply. Thus, he completely missed her eyes closing, or her chest expanding by the long breath she took, then let out.
"Oh yeah, once all of this is over…" Shinichi commented, casually leaning over his fist while he watched her typing away on her computer. "I'll definitely have you meet Conan."
She stopped, if only to give him a dubious glance. "Your younger brother?"
"Yeah," he said, grinning widely. "I got the feeling you'd make great friends."
"Drop the honorific."
The unexpected answer succeeded, though. His head snapped towards her, so brusquely she almost worried his neck would break.
"You said it before, didn't you?" A soft smile ─ so tiny that had Conan, for a brief moment, wondering if it had been just a mere product of his own imagination. "We're partners."
There were two feasible future scenarios that immediately crossed the young scientist's mind. In one of them the boy would, after convincing himself he had heard things right, show her a face splitting grin, and maybe tease her lightly for her words. Another one, which was just a little more likely, would have him opening his eyes wide, embarrassment decorating his cheeks, words stumbling with one another in a sad attempt to gather a sentence together.
None of that happened. Conan blinked, tilting his head.
Absolutely confused, clueless.
Her smile faltered. It was then that Ai remembered the exact circumstances where the boy had said those words ─ the boy had been on the verge of passing out back then, so it would make sense if he…
He doesn't remember it?!
In a completely unexpected turn of events, it was her face the one heating up.
"And it's bothersome." She attempted to cover it with a snort, turning her head ─ making sure that her hair flipped in the air with female elegance. "Having you say an extra word."
She impatiently waited for an answer.
"What's that supposed to mean?!"
And could have sighed out of relief right then and there. "By the way," she said, her face still turned for good measure, hoping like they could just switch the conversation topic and get past it. "What were you saying before?"
Conan's confusion increased. "Huh?"
"You looked at Shinichi-san and were surprised that 'they worked', as you put it."
"Oh, so that's what you mean!" exclaimed Conan, grinning. "I meant his tear glands."
Ai risked an incredulous glance. "His… tear glands."
"I had this theory, you know. That they either were born inutilizable, or were rendered useless by disuse." Conan had this intense look, appearing a moment away from jumping off the bed to shake her from the shoulders. "I know he wasn't full-blown crying, but back then, Oniichan was tearing up. Tearing up, I tell you!"
"I was not."
The third voice had both children jumping, startled, at the source. Noting the extra blue gaze on the other corner of the room, Ai placed a hand over her chest, and breathed out. "You were awake?" she mumbled.
On the other hand, his little brother stared, then raised one eyebrow. "But you were," he stated.
"I wasn't."
Knowing well it was a lost case, Conan raised his hands in defeat, though his pointed gaze was still telling him he did not buy it.
Shinichi ignored it and promptly sat up. "I just remembered my phone is out of battery," he said, standing up and moving to his bag, plucking out an AC adapter. "With all of this, I forgot to charge it."
"Well, obviously." Conan rolled his eyes. "Why would you need a phone, anyway?"
"What, you're still angry?"
The kid shrugged, but offered no further word. His brother stopped right at his side, at the bedside table more accurately, and connected the phone. A faint buzzing ensued, and the screen lighted up back to life.
"Say, Shinichi-san," spoke Ai.
Shinichi paused long enough to type the password before focusing back on the girl.
Ai shifted uncomfortably. "About that time when I escaped from the Organization…"
Maybe because of the shock at hearing something he hadn't expected to hear today, the teenager placed the phone back on the nightstand.
"What about it?" asked Shinichi.
Something else caught Conan's attention, enough to get his gaze to tear away from the hesitating girl to his brother's screen.
"How did you know I was in trouble?" She shot Shinichi with a suspicious glare. "You weren't spying on me, were you?"
"Of course not!"
None of them noted the little boy's eyes narrowing.
"I got a text," Shinichi replied.
"A text?"
Or his hand inching towards the phone.
"I never found out who the sender was…" As Shinichi explained and Ai tried to assimilate it all, Conan's eyes shot open in alarm. "But the words 'Sherry', 'fire' and 'Shirohato Pharmaceuticals' were there, so I knew it had to be the place they got you working at."
"And whoever that was, they must be close by."
Conan felt their gazes on him, but he barely looked up. "Be it your guardian angel, or a mere stalker…" His frown deepened. "They're still around."
Shinichi saw his own phone in his brother's hands and was a second away from demanding to know why he had it. That was, however, until he took notice of his expression.
He took a peek. Soon, his face mirrored his little brother's.
"Detective Boys
Fire
Old mountain cabin"
It was nearing midnight when Bourbon hit the replay button. Once again, because that was what he had been doing ever since he got home.
Closing his eyes and pressing a finger to one of his earphones, he paid close attention to the sounds coming from the computer. The recording went exactly the same way as before ─ the fire cracking, the children coughing as the smoke creeped in their systems, the worry thick of their voices as another of them fainted.
I already filtered as much background noise as possible… He shook his head. Seems there's no luck today either-
He paused when he heard something different, muffled by the murmur of the flames. Immediately, he turned the volume up.
"You're not there anymore." It was getting clearer. "We are going to get out of here, I promise-"
Narrowing his eyes, he raised it to the maximum. This time, unlike all the others previous instances, he made out a boy's voice, shouting desperately a name.
"SHIHO-SAN!"
A smirk sparked back into life.
A/N:
CherryGirl 21-6: Woah, so lucky! I hope so, too, but I don't think I will anytime soon… Just don't spoil it, please xD
BT: Don't worry, it happens to me too sometimes. Actually, when I wrote that chapter, I was a second away from turning Momoka into the witness (and victim), but decided against killing her so soon. It was a strange coincidence that you said that, so it made me laugh a bit when I read your review xD
F.C. Meyer: Well, in my case, I've never watched Detective Conan dubbed in my language, so I find it a bit uncomfortable. So yeah, it's probably subs for me. Hope you watch it soon (if you haven't already, anyway xD)