"Haibara-san~ I heard you guys were making cookies during home economic class today?" Yuuto barged into Ai's classroom once the school bell rang.

The class was barely dismissed and he had already run to the classroom beside his. He had to catch her up before she could go home for her errands.

"Can I get some?" He asked excitedly.

"No." She responded fast and clear.

She wasn't giving anyone anything because she was saving the cookies for Chiharu… and the detective if he fancied the stuffs too.

Everyone in the class were laughing. The popular soccer captain lost to the strawberry blonde again today.

"You can take mine if you want, Yuuto-kun." Ayumi offered.

Such a sweet girl, wasn't she?

The boy was dejected, though he still received Ayumi's offer gladly. He then saw Ai said goodbye to the detective boys and left the classroom in a hurry as always.

"Cheer up, Yuuto-san." Mitsuhiko slapped the captain's back lightly.

"Thanks." He replied.

Yuuto followed her again with his eyes once he saw her walking toward the school gate. He had that serious look on his face. He cheered up as he went to his own classroom to get his things before going to the soccer club.

Many students were already scattered from the school building when Ai was out from the school ground. She could hear all the lively chatters and laughs from behind her, also the sound of whistles from the field. Her track was suddenly stopped by some girls.

Judging by the uniform they wore, they were students from another school nearby.

Ai tried to ignore them but was stopped again. She sensed some bad intention from them, so she put her mind on a defense stance. She was worried though; she needed to pick Chiharu up from the nursery as soon as possible.

"Are you Haibara-san?" The girl in the front who looked like the leader asked Ai only to get a silent reply.

They got furious by her silent treatment. As the school main gate got crowdier, the girls pulled Ai forcefully around the wall and to the back gate of the school. She couldn't get away since she was outnumbered.

"Can you please get this over quickly?" Ai asked with no emotion as she dusted her uniform. "I need to run an errand soon."

What was this all about?

"So is this how you treat our Yuuto-kun?" The leader asked, irritated.

Ai was annoyed. So her time was spent just for discussing that boy with his fangirls. She was quiet amazed though, turned out his fanbase was surprisingly large.

"How could you turn our cool Yuuto-kun into someone, someone…"

The word was too disgusting for the leader or the other girls to say about their idol.

Ai sighed. This would never end if she kept following them.

"If you all don't have anything important to say, then let me leave this place right now." She said coldly as she turned her way.

She suddenly felt a hand on one of her shoulders then her back was slammed into the wall. It seemed the fangirls were starting to get rough physically. Thankfully their power was nothing compared to those people, although she got a long scratch on the back of her right arm due to the impact with the hard rocky concrete.

"You–!" The leader raised her hand, ready to give Ai a slap.

But before the girls could do anything more to her, a soccer ball hit the back gate beside them abruptly, making a cringing sound. They were all shocked and looked toward the noise. It was Yuuto who made the shot.

He came to get the ball and apologized.

"What are you all doing here?" He innocently asked, smiling.

With that, the fangirls were embarrassed and ran away. Ai was relieved for being freed from the absurd ganging. She knew the boy had purposely pointed his shot toward the gate. This place was quiet far from the soccer club field eventually.

Most likely he happened to see her when she was taken away by those girls.

Once again, the boy reminded her of him when he used to rescue her from their danger.

"Thank you." Ai said with a smile.

Yuuto blushed upon seeing her smile that she gave personally to him; his heart was fluttered.

He then noticed her bleeding arm, and offered himself to accompany her to the infirmary. She declined even though she still went to treat her injury without his company. So he watched her walked away.

He couldn't control himself from blushing again as he remembered her smile.

Looked like from a mere interest Yuuto had toward Ai, in the end it turned into a crush.

.

.

.

Shinichi had just submitted his file to the chief inspector for the newest case he had solved when his phone was ringing.

It was a call from Chiharu's nursery.

The teacher informed him that Ai hadn't come to pick the girl up yet. It was strange. She was never late before and she would definitely tell him if something came up with her.

Did something happen?

He suddenly felt uneasy. It reminded him of the time when they were chasing her.

He hurriedly asked the chief to let him leave for the day, which the chief granted since he had done all his works for today. He tried to give Ai a call as he ran to her school, but it didn't get through.

He was panicking now.

He almost arrived when he saw her walked out from the gate. Having seen her in one piece, he stopped running and loosened his tie. Shinichi sighed in relief. However he felt his nerves tensed up again once he noticed the familiar white cloth wrapped around her right wrist up to her right elbow.

Meanwhile, Ai was surprised to see the detective by her school front gate. He looked disheveled. She saw his eyes were directed to her right. She followed his gaze, then she realized he was looking at her bandaged arm.

Looked like she needed to prepare herself for his interrogation.

"What happened to your arm?"

So there he went.

They were now walking together to pick Chiharu up.

"Just something trivial happened."

She hesitated to give him the details since it was something unimportant.

"How can a wound that long caused by something trivial?" He doubted.

"Well, it doesn't bleed that much. That is why. Anyway, I was lucky that Yuuto boy saved me from the worse." She tried to convince him.

But little did Ai knew that her answer worsened the unsettling feeling in his heart.

Shinichi said nothing afterwards as he unknowingly clenched his fist upon hearing the name of that boy. He somehow felt upset without any valid reasons. If only he were there, it would definitely be him who protected her. Instead, it had to be that boy who saved her today.

Why did he feel so powerless all of a sudden?

Along the way home from the nursery, Ai noticed he wasn't as lively as he usually was. He also failed to engage in the small talk with Chiharu and her despite of him trying. It was clear to her Shinichi was distracted with his own thoughts.

What could he say? It was because he suddenly felt this feeling again. The weird feeling which its name he didn't know yet. It was also there when he saw the boy and her whispering to each other weeks ago.

Did this feeling only appear when that boy was involved?

He really needed to solve this case before it was bothering him further. This weird unsettling feeling was getting deeper into his mind and it was suffocating.

"…nichi."

It sounded like Ai's voice calling him.

"Shinichi!"

"Y-Yes!" He jolted.

Ai raised her voice a bit, snapping him from his thoughts. It appeared he had been sitting on the floor with his back leaning on the sofa while staring blankly at whatever in front of him. He was on an autopilot mode once he stepped into the house, including when he ate dinner and when he helped Ai prepare the little girl for her sleep just now.

"What's wrong with you?" Ai complained. "You didn't focus when we were talking either."

"Ah, sorry." He said sheepishly.

She knew there must be something in his head but as always she didn't dig into it further. She then went to sit beside him on the floor and handed him the first aid kit.

"Well then." She said with a blush. "C-can you please help me rebandage this?"

Shinichi looked at her, wide-eyed.

This was the first time after their marriage that she looked helpless in front of him. As skillful as she was in medical field, she couldn't bandage her own arm, could she?

Shinichi couldn't suppress his laugh even when he tried to cover his mouth with his hand. Ai smacked his arm in protest, still blushing; he apologized. He reached out for her injured arm and grimaced once he unveiled the damp cloth.

He knew her wound would be quiet long, but he didn't imagine it scratched almost the whole back of her forearm. What had really happen to her?

She was puzzled by his sudden silent. He didn't move even a bit. Then she saw how he clenched his teeth and his face turned serious instantaneously. At once, she knew where this was going, so she opened her mouth to say something.

"Seriously Ai, how did you get this wound?"

But he went first.

"Don't worry about it." She replied. "The cut isn't as deep as it looks."

Shinichi didn't feel satisfied with her answer though. He knew she was shifting the subject on purpose. She always tried to look strong although in fact, she could just lean on him– even when she faced the simplest matter. Didn't she believe he would always be here for her?

"Then how am I suppose to not be bothered when seeing such wound on you?"

His voice sounded hurt while it was actually her who was injured.

Ai sighed. She never knew he cared for her this much.

She finally gave in and told him the details.

"I was being ganged up by Yuuto's fangirls." She finally said. "They were feeling pissed off at me for some reasons."

Shinichi flinched when he heard that name again. This was the second time today that name escaped from her mouth.

He felt a sting in his heart.

He instinctively gripped her right wrist harder and leaned forward to her arm. Ai was bewildered by his sudden action as he kissed the wound. She blushed so hard; trying to yank her hand. But instead of getting her hand back, she pulled Shinichi along with her when she accidentally fell completely on the floor.

He was now on top of her with his knees strangling her hips while his right hand sustaining his weight to prevent his body from crushing her. He still held her wrist tightly with his other hand.

"Wha–?" Ai was going to protest but to her surprise, she saw hurt in his eyes while he was staring at her wound intently. It was just like how his voice sounded minutes ago.

It seemed he felt hurt so badly inside.

She tightened her mouth into a thin line immediately.

She was always lost her words whenever she saw him like this.

She squeezed her eyes shut as he intertwined his fingers with hers and brought his lips to her wound once more. He started kissing it from one end to another end of her arm; saying her name once every some kisses.

What was wrong with him today?

It was as if he was trying to erase her wound. Or perhaps his traces? It was so she wouldn't remember him every time she saw her right arm.

Ai was baffled. She never knew he had this side of him.

She couldn't think straight anymore, for his affection on her wound was getting intense.

She covered her face with the back of her other hand. She didn't want Shinichi to notice her expressions as she felt his kisses. Her face was getting redder by each intimate contact of his lips to her skin. It left her with hot sensations on her arm.

Shinichi was aware of her heavy breath and it was getting heavier. He stopped his treatment on the arm then used his free hand to uncover her flushed face. His heart somehow pleased with how she looked right now.

Ai looked up only to see his dark blue eyes staring at hers deeply. The hurt in his eyes was gone, but was replaced with lust. Her heart was beating even faster now.

And again, he said her name.

As if it wasn't enough, Shinichi leaned to her ear to whisper her name as he slipped his right hand around her shoulders and nuzzled his nose to the crook of her neck. He hugged her without releasing their intertwined fingers.

Ai didn't say anything nor did she had the strength to struggle. She was hardly holding herself from feeling his breath on her neck.

With the last strength she had, she gave him a stroke on his back and caressed the back of his head, hoping he would calm down. She used these minutes to catch her breath too.

They stayed like that for a moment until he felt her fingers started to twirl his hair. Her fingers continued to play with his cowlick last, before he raised his head to meet with her face.

"It tickles, you know?" He told her with a low voice and a tint on his cheeks. He was annoyed though.

She couldn't help but gave him a scoff. She heard him complaining to her but she ignored it. She was glad he was back to his ownself.

Shinichi was also relieved his soul returned. He forgot of himself for awhile there and he didn't even realizing it. Fortunately her soothing touches on his back just now were really doing their magic. He couldn't imagine what he was going to do to her if she hadn't done that.

"You have to disinfect this again though." Ai smirked while pointing her injured arm.

He only realized they hadn't moved an inch from their position. She was still lying on the floor with her hair tousled, he was still on top of her strangling her hips, and their fingers were still intertwined with each other in the most intimate way they had ever been.

"Ack." Shinichi was looking horrified now with blushes that started to appear on his face.

He couldn't help it but for every now and then, when he saw a bandaged arm, he would remember what he had done to her and to her wound this evening.

Not like Ai didn't though.

Author's note: Should I change the rating? (Haha). Although I won't do an M rated story for now because I still need to practice writing more before I do that. By the way, I was a bit hesitating with the ganging up part. I just don't like violence, but I didn't have any other idea to what scenario that make Yuuto heroic like Conan and push Shinichi to realize his feeling soon.

Hope you like this chapter too.

Do not forget to give your comments and reviews. Happy reading!

Disclaimer: All characters of Detective Conan are belong to Aoyama Gosho. I don't own any single of them.