File Forty: Terror at the Old Blue Castle
"Hirai Arthur?!"
Hattori basically backed up at the loudness of his voice, ball sliding from his fingers and rolling in the ground, away from the duo. He just blinked, completely taken aback by the little boy's sudden outburst. What's up with this kid? he could only wonder, looking at Conan's bewildered expression and wide eyes.
"That's what I was told," Hattori replied, slowly. "Hey, you look pale."
Suddenly aware of his overreaction, the child backed away. "Well," he explained. "I kind of met someone with that name."
"Eh? Do you know him?"
"Yeah," he frowned slightly. "Or at least, I believe I do."
Seeing that the child wasn't going to say anything more than that, Hattori shrugged and stood up. "Anyway, I don't think it's safe to go any closer to that guy," he spoke, picking up the ball he had dropped. "It's possible that he is not that dangerous as he seems," he began to juggle it between his legs, in such a clumsy way that caused Conan to physically wince. "But with these people, it might be best to just play it safe and- Ah!"
Just as he was saying that, he lost control of the ball, causing it to fall, bouncing a few times before it stopped moving in front of Conan's feet. The kid just stared at the ball, blankly.
"You suck," he informed the older boy, with a plain voice.
"What'd you say?" Hattori glared, slightly annoyed.
With that, the boy finally stood up. "Watch me," he said, and began to do the same Heiji had been trying to do, only that he excelled at it.
Gradually, at the sight of the bright grin that began to draw itself on Conan's features, the annoyance Hattori was feeling began to vanish, disappearing without any trace of it having even existed. He will be just fine, instead of that, a tender smile tugged Heiji's lips upwards.
So was the case with the three people, watching from a distance away.
"It looks like he is in a better mood," Kogoro sighed.
Ran nodded, not breaking her gaze away from the little boy, overjoyed to see him acting like that.
Kazuha, on the other hand, just watched Heiji, actually surprised to see such a fond look on his eyes.
"Those two look just like brothers, don't they?" she commented.
"You think so?" Ran replied.
She watched Conan running off with the ball, probably telling Heiji to try take it away from him and giggled, unable to think of anything else but those scarce, yet precious moments when she would watch Conan and Shinichi play with each other, when they were younger and everything was way easier and simpler.
It has been a long while...
"Yeah, they do."
Briefly, with an amused smile on her face, Ran wondered if Shinichi would actually be jealous if he knew about that.
Quite honestly, Professor Agasa had not the slightest clue of how he had been talked into doing that, yet there he was, standing right beside Conan as they waited for whoever the child wanted to see to be brought to that room.
Agasa was sure that the only reason he was there was that Conan was eight, making him unable to do this in the first place. In fact, he wasn't even sure that they would have been allowed to do such thing if it hadn't been that kid in the first place, considering he had no blood relation with that person. He still had absolutely no idea of how they had convinced them.
But he did.
The prisoner had Conan wanted to see was a young woman, with black hair pulled into a ponytail and a radiant smile on her face.
"Conan-kun," she said to him, as soon as they were left alone ─ well, not completely alone, considering the guard that was still watching them from a distance. "I didn't expect to see you again."
"Neither did I, Seiji-san."
At that, Agasa blinked. He had been so sure this person's name was Asai Narumi.
"Don't worry," the child continued, not failing to notice the panicked look Seiji sent towards Agasa's direction. "This man over here is called Agasa Hiroshi. He has been a good friend of my family for years."
"Oh, I see," the doctor sighed, relieved. "I'm sorry. Considering my condition, I'm a bit in an edge every time my real name is mentioned."
With that, Seiji's smile came back up on his face.
"That's what you wanted to talk to me about, isn't it, little detective?"
"Will you?"
"That's the least I can do for you. You risked your life to save mine, after all."
Conan scratched the back of his head, seemingly a bit embarrassed about that, before looking up at Seiji, his expression getting serious in a moment. "You told me before you had gotten into trouble and had to adopt another identity," Conan spoke. "What did you get yourself into?"
The imprisoned doctor breathed deeply, focusing on his hands, which rested on top of the table, as he seemed to think how to put his thoughts into order.
"I was looking into my father's murder," Seiji finally said. "As I investigated, I found out he had been involved in some sort of shady business. At some point, I came across an organization that, I suspected, could be related to it. I tried to look into it further," he then let out an humorless laugh. "But I'm no detective, so of course I got found out by them. And, to make things worse, they had nothing to do with my father's case so it was all in vain."
"And then, you changed your name to Asai Narumi and came to live at Tsukikage Island," Conan finished, and the person in front of him nodded. "How did you do it?"
"Well, I can't go into many details," he offered the little boy an apologetic look. "But I got some help."
"Help?"
"Yes."
"Was it...?" the child's gaze suddenly sharpened. "Could the one that helped you out be, actually, Arthur-san?"
Seiji gave the young boy a long look. "Sorry," he finally said. "I can't give you that information."
"But you won't deny it."
"Certainly."
The old professor watched, confusion etched on his face, as that familiar smirk crossed Conan's features ─ the same one he seemed to share with his brother ─ before he changed it with a very childish smile. "I see," he finally said, loudly enough for the guard to hear, hopping off his seat. "I hope you are released soon, Narumi-sensei."
"So do I," Seiji gave the boy a gentle smile. "It was nice to see you again, Conan-kun."
Nodding back at him, and offering a thankful smile, the child allowed the guard to take him and Agasa out of the room.
Throughout the way to the car, the little boy didn't seem to direct a word towards the older man who, in turn, just silently watched him rub his chin with his index finger and thumb, definitely deep in thought. What is he thinking about?
Frankly, he didn't have an idea, and he didn't think he would ever know what exactly was going through that brilliant young mind of his. Just like Shinichi at his age, he remembered seeing his older brother thinking just like that.
Only that, in Shinichi's case, he was often thinking about random riddles his father would put him through or simple mysteries that actually fit with his age, even if they were a bit more difficult than average.
Conan's case was... well, a lot more complex.
"Hey, you two!" Genta's angry shout welcomed them as soon as they got inside Agasa's yellow beetle, starting Conan out of his trance. "What took you so long?!"
"Sorry, sorry," Agasa apologized, since that the child wasn't going to do so any time soon, if the way he glared at him was something to go by. "It took a bit more than expected to convince them to let us through."
"Did you find something?" Mitsuhiko asked, while Ayumi nodded, both feeling a bit anxious.
Conan hummed. "It's a bit hard to tell," he shrugged, turning to look out the window when Agasa began to drive away. "I have some theories, but I still need some work to do on them."
"What theory?" Ayumi asked, curious.
"Just a little thing, really. It's not that much of a big deal."
There was a moment of silence, until Genta narrowed his eyes. "You're not going to tell us, are you?" he accused.
"Yet."
When the three children groaned, Haibara couldn't help but giggle at it. "Just admit defeat, guys," she simply replied. "Kudo-kun is trying to keep the mystery up and isn't going to give up as easily."
The boy in question rolled his eyes. "Look who's talking."
She didn't seem to care, just focusing her gaze back towards the scenery outside the car, while Conan simply huffed, turning his head away from her. Their friends simply took a moment to glare a bit to their secretive friend, before they slipped into another conversation topic.
At some point, however, Haibara felt eyes on her. It wasn't long before he spotted the boy that sat beside her, staring at her direction for some reason she couldn't comprehend, then flinch violently when he realized he had been caught.
"What do you want now?" annoyance laced her voice as she spoke.
"Ah, no," he quickly shook his head. "It's nothing."
Her eyebrow raised, and she didn't really need to use words to tell the boy that she was not buying it. Conan, realizing that there was no way out, just sighed deeply.
"... I'm a detective, you know," he started out, his gaze focusing in another random spot in space as if to avoid looking at her at the face. "There... There are things I can't help but notice. And most of them are not that important, really, but-"
"What did you notice?" she interrupted, exasperated.
Conan seemed to hesitate, looking at her at the eyes, then at her clothes for some reason, before focusing at that random spot again. Only then, Haibara understood what was all of that about.
"You are right," she answered his unspoken question with a wide, teasing smirk adorning her face. "This dress I'm wearing right now is, indeed, new. I just bought it yesterday. This jacket, however, not that much."
"Ah, is that so?" Conan tried to make it sound as if he was bored, but the lovely, yet faint, shade of red that painted his cheeks told another whole different story.
"I didn't know you paid attention to these kind of things, Kudo-kun."
"Idiot," his face went red with embarrassment at that. "I just found it unusual that you are actually interested in these kind of things," then, he added. "You look... rather stylish, I guess."
"Thanks for the compliment, but Yoshida-san already beat you to that," she ignored the way he seemed to complain, arguing that he didn't do such a thing. "I didn't know I could be interested in these kind of things myself either, though," then, her teasing smirk turned into a real smile. "I'm still trying to answer that question somebody asked not that long ago."
Conan just stared at her, wide eyed, unable to form another coherent thought about that. Chuckling slightly, Haibara shrugged. "Well," she said. "Not that you are much different."
"Eh?"
"When was the last time you used a beanie?"
After that, the boy sighed, visually annoyed at the memory, and told her all about how Ran had basically forced it on him ─ she had said that it was far too chilly outside not to wear it, but the way she had squealed in delight upon seeing it on him prompted him to believe that the girl just had thought it just looked cute on him.
As they lost themselves in another of their quiet, pleasant conversations, nobody noticed the little girl that turned to look at them. She frowned slightly, taking on them both for a while, before returning to talk with Mitsuhiko once more.
"Seriously, though," Conan huffed, crossing his arms behind his head. "What kind of person goes out to camp without a tent?"
"Another chance for a vacation down the drain," Mitsuhiko sighed as he looked out the window.
"It looks like we're lost, too," Ayumi pointed out, unhelpfully.
"It because all of your muttering," Agasa argued.
Sure, the boy with glasses rolled his eyes. "There is one single thing we are certain of, though," he spoke. "We're sleeping in the car tonight."
All his friends ─ except for Haibara, of course ─ loudly complained, not liking the prospect one bit. Ayumi even wondered, out loud and with a huge smile on her face, if there would be a castle by a lake or something of that sort where they could stay. Conan would have laughed at the absurdity of that comment, but Haibara pointed out something...
There was one. In the distance they could see blue old, European castle poking out of the trees that surrounded it. What are the chances, really?
The castle was even more amazing up close, the three children realized with a gasp when Agasa's yellow beetle parked right in front of the entrance. How much money do these people have? the bespectacled boy wondered. To build this thing you need to bring piece-by-piece everything from overseas.
Unsurprisingly, Genta rushed in head first before anyone could stop it, climbing over the fence in a flash. The boy was, however, soon was caught by a man ─ Conan guessed he was the gardener ─ by holding him up from the back of his shirt.
Rushedly, Agasa explained to him that they weren't intruders, only to get told to leave, rudely so. The owner, it seemed, arrived before the gardener could kick them off, asking what was going on.
"This idiot says he wants to look around," the gardener said, pointing with his thumb at Agasa.
"Who is the idiot here?" understandably so, the professor grew angry. "I am a scientist!"
"Scientist?" he seemed to be interested about that.
"Indeed," the old professor stroked his mustache, chest puffing up with pride. "I'm Agasa Hiroshi. Well known in the field of science as an inventor."
"Are you also well known as the only person in the world that goes out camping without a tent?" whispered Conan.
"Leave me alone," Agasa muttered back at him.
The man didn't seem to hear the little boy's comment, but smiled for some reason, before letting them in out of the blue, offering them to stay over the night.
Which Conan was extremely thankful for, if equally suspicious about his sudden generosity.
Choosing not to give that any further thought, the boy followed his friends inside the property. Walking past a gigantic chess board made with grass, Ayumi had beamed and rushed to see more, followed by Mitsuhiko and Genta, both as marvelled at the sight as the girl.
As the three children continued to run around, amazed by the beautiful garden, Conan's attention drifted away from them to the conversation the gardener was having with Agasa. Apparently, a fire had taken place in a tower they could see in the distance, which had been the mistress' bedroom up until she had died then, right when she had returned to celebrate her mother's birthday. More than a dozen people had been burnt alive in that tower.
When they entered the room, they were welcomed with the sight of several portraits of the members of the family.
Just as they were talking about the previous head of the family an old woman, in a wheelchair, also appeared, which was identified as Mamiya Masuyo, the head of the family. The gardener apologized, profusely, not wanting to remind her of his deceased husband.
"Even though he is not here, I have gotten used to it," she said. "It's just like changes in the notes and passports. You may find it hard to adjust at the beginning, but you get used to it eventually."
She was severely delusional, it seemed, since she asked where her daughter was, remembering she was supposed to be there for her birthday, but forgetting that she had died several years ago.
The old lady then left, not without saying something like: "I hope you will solve the mystery left by that person," when she heard about Agasa's profession as a 'famous' scientist.
Apparently the former master's final words had been 'If you can solve the mystery in this castle, you will inherit the most valuable thing for me.'
Conan had then asked if there was a place where they could see the chess pieces from above.
Because of that the boy was there, sitting on the floor next to the window as he looked at his notepad, while Ayumi was busy, gazing upon the entire garden from her spot. Genta had ran off to the adjacent room not that long ago, after Mitsuhiko claimed he could see everything perfectly from there.
The boy with glasses barely paid attention to that, far too focused on the notepad in his hands, scratching his head with his pen as he looked over and over again at the diagram he had just drawn. There has to be something with the placement of the pieces...
"You are glad, aren't you?" at the sound of Haibara's voice, Conan looked up, just to see the girl's head from close ─ too close ─ as she simply looked at his notepad. "That is your favourite type of code."
At his lack of response, she looked right at him, shortening their proximity further, if possible.
"Isn't it?" she questioned.
"... I-I guess so," Conan stammered, backing off a bit, trying so hard not to think about the way he could feel her breathing on his face.
"Wait you two!" at Ayumi's shout, the two instantly moved away from each other, gazes snapping towards the girl's direction, only to find that she was actually looking out the window. "What are you doing?! You're going to fall!"
The young boy instantly stood up, just to see Genta hanging from the window as Mitsuhiko desperately tried to pull him back up. Growling under his breath, he darted towards the other room, just in time to see the bigger boy dropping into the floor inside, exhausted yet safe.
"Honestly..." Conan sighed, tiredly, resting against the wall.
That was when he noticed it. The window was near the wall, and so was the case on the room next to that one. Then, what is with the space in between these two rooms?
His knuckles knocked against the wall, until he heard a hollow noise. A smirk crossed his face when his eyes fell on the clock above his head.
Neither Genta or Mitsuhiko noticed their friend dragging a chair close, putting some books over it so he could climb. They didn't see him spinning the hands of the clock.
Or the wall suddenly flipping over, knocking the chair over and causing the child to fall in the other side, disappearing from plain view.
Of course, the boy thought as he sat there, in the middle of the darkness. Of course this couldn't be an ordinary castle...
With a groan, the child stood up, turning the light on his watch on so he could see. Upon noticing some stairs, Conan started to walk. He went down, down and down, to the point to make him wonder how deep this castle actually was.
When he reached the end of the stairs, he felt his feet colliding with something. Completely confused, he looked down.
He was horrified.
A skeleton lied in the ground right in front of him.
Before he could do something about it, a blow in his head knocked him out. He was gone to the world before he could even see his attacker.
Conan was missing.
One look at the scene ─ the fallen chair, the scattered books, all of them right under a clock in the wall ─ and Haibara had more or less an idea of where he had gone. Even so, she had decided not to act for the moment. It was incredibly dangerous with her friends there.
She was absolutely sure that Conan would find his way out in no time, anyway.
Yet, they there were. Sitting at the table for dinner, but still without a sign of the bespectacled boy's whereabouts. The general consensus at that point was that the kid had gotten lost inside the castle.
"I hope he doesn't go to the tower while he's lost," Mitsuru, the husband of the deceased mistress, said.
"Tower?" Agasa was confused.
He then explained that he meant the same tower that had been engulfed with flames four years ago. They were also told that his new assistant had disappeared there without a trace, only to be found ten years later in the forest, dead by starvation.
Upon hearing that, everyone set off to search for him. The three children cried his name, at the top of their lungs, worried sick about their friend.
They searched in every single spot on the castle so, considering that the entrance to the tower was still locked, the adults came up into the conclusion that he had gotten lost in the forest. But since it had started to rain, heavily, they decided to call the police in the morning.
Conan's friends were outraged.
"Conan-kun!" especially Ayumi apparently, since she was still screaming in the middle of the rain, clutching the bag with bread she had collected for him.
"It's alright," the girl stopped when Haibara stood right next to her. "Kudo-kun isn't the type to make you worry. He will come back himself."
Ayumi blinked at her, tears collecting on her eyes.
"If you have time to cry, why don't you seal the bag so it will keep the bread dry?"
The girl nodded at her, silently, before Haibara took her hand and started to lead her away. She stared at the strawberry blonde for a moment, hesitation glimmering through her tears, before she decided to speak. "Hey," she suddenly said. "How do you know Conan-kun so well?"
Haibara paused at that. "What?"
"Conan-kun has always been so secretive, keeping everything to himself. He never talks with us about his problems, until he can hold it in any longer," the girl explained. "But it is different with you, Haibara-san. Even if we know him for much longer than you do, he tells you everything that is in his mind... That's why, I can't help but wonder..."
Ayumi clenched the bag between her hands, pressing it tightly against her chest.
"Do you... Do you like Conan-kun?"
Not quite expecting that answer to come out of her lips, Haibara turned at her, eyes wide as she gazed back at Ayumi's questiongly face. She looked troubled at the thought of that being actually true, the scientist noticed.
"Of course not," she rolled her eyes, internally wondering what was there to like about that bespectacled, far too short mystery nerd. "I don't feel that way towards him."
The other girl smiled, brightly, rushing back inside the castle with a happy bounce. As she did, Haibara stood behind, eyes still stuck on her back, before frowning.
That's right. If there is something certain about Kudo-kun is that he absolutely hates making people worry about him.
Why would he disappear for so long without saying anything to us?
If they didn't find Conan soon...
She dreaded to think what it could happen.
If it hadn't already, anyway.
Everyone had disappeared, one by one.
Agasa had vanished when she had turned around.
Genta had gotten struck on the hidden passage Conan had vanished from ─ the fresh blood they had found was definitely his ─ and most likely he had been captured.
Lastly, Mitsuhiko was gone. Both Ayumi and Haibara had gotten their eyes off him, and he was gone the next second.
So, the two girls were alone. Standing in front of the tower that many people believed it was cursed.
"I'll go inside to examine the situation," Haibara told her. "You should hide in the bushes over there."
"But-!" the other girl tried to argue.
"If I don't return by the time you count to three hundred, run away at once," Ayumi's eyes went wide. "If you follow the road in the forest, you might make it."
"Haibara-san!"
"Calm down," Ai smiled at her. "Kudo-kun needs to get that bread, right?"
In response, she clutched the bag with the food closer to her chest, frowning slightly. With a sad, and very scared, look on her eyes the girl watched the other begin to walk away.
What the little scientist didn't expect, however, was the hand suddenly latching to the hem of her sleeve. With a look of bewilderment, Haibara turned around to face her.
She noticed her determined gaze and understood perfectly what was going through her mind.
"... Haibara-san..."
Haibara gazed at her, an unreadable look on her eyes, before she finally smirked.
"Sherry."
Although Ayumi did not understand the meaning of her words at first, she still felt the blood running through her veins freezing solid. Her mouth just hang open, her eyes not leaving the icy cold blue eyes belonging to the girl right in front of her.
"My name is not Haibara Ai," her lips curved even further, letting the other girl see an evil smile making appearance on her face. "I'm known as Sherry. The scientist behind the creation of the highly poisonous drug that Shinichi-san was forced to take... Also, the one responsible for your beloved Kudo-kun's suffering."
Her grip on Haibara went a bit slack, eyes opening widely, in shock, unable to completely grasp the meaning of her words. Stunned upon hearing the truth that had just been revealed to her.
Without any further word, Haibara gave the girl another last look before she disappeared inside the tower.
And Ayumi just stood there, not minding ─ or even realizing ─ the rain that had just started to fall over her head once more, soaking the poor, dumbfounded young girl to the bone.
The only thing she could register at the moment was the large, eerie looking gate that stood in front of her. The door Haibara had just crossed and closed behind her back, leaving her confused and alone with her own thoughts.
With a shook of her head, however, Ayumi frowned and stepped forward.
I might not completely understand everything, but...
There is something I'm certain of.
Not taking a moment to think about it again, the young girl pushed the heavy doors open.
Haibara-san... Haibara-san is my friend!
His head was killing him, that was the only thing that passed through Conan's mind. Hissing a bit, his hand went to the place it hurt the most, only to find that it was sticky. What... What happened to me? he could only wonder, dazely, as more sounds started to filter through his confused haze.
People were talking. What could they be talking about?
Ever so slowly, his eyes cracked open, only to see... Well, nothing. He was surrounded by darkness.
And, for some reason, that didn't bring him any comfort at all. More like the opposite.
The young boy tried to keep his breathing even as he curled into himself, willing himself to be as quiet as possible. He only had one chance to hear what these people were talking about.
He wouldn't have another chance to live if they caught him, he shuddered at the thought.
So the child just stayed there, surrounded by darkness, heart pounding heavily against his chest, praying, with all his might, that they would not find him.
A light shining on his face brought him out his daze, causing him to groan and try to cover his eyes. "Conan!" he identified Agasa's voice. "You are awake!"
Sitting up, the boy breathed deeply, trying to get his pounding heart to calm down. I hate when that happens, he pressed a hand against his face.
"Are you okay?" Genta asked, and only then Conan noticed he was also sitting there, pointing his wristwatch flashlight right at him. "Your face is a bit pale."
"Of course it is. I just got hit across the head," he let out a huff, laced with annoyance. "So, I see you two got caught as well."
The two of them laughed, awkwardly, causing the boy to roll his eyes, leaning against the wall, listening as they told him that they were locked in, and there was no way to escape.
He frowned, hand going to his chin, stroking it as he thought. There should be a way out, there had to be. If they didn't, Mitsuhiko, Haibara and Ayumi would...
No good, no good. I can't let those negative thoughts in... I need to think in something.
He wondered if the chess pieces had something to do with it. Closing his eyes, he pictured their position on the chessboard.
"Conan-kun!" just as he realized, with a gasp, the code behind it, the three heard a shout from outside, followed a loud banging. "Conan-kun, are you there?!"
"Ah!" Genta exclaimed, clearly recognizing that voice. "It's Mitsuhiko!"
The moment the two young girls had stumbled across the skeleton of a woman, everything suddenly became clear in Haibara's mind. Just then, she had turned around and felt her blood freezing in her veins at the sight of the old lady standing behind them.
Before dragging Ayumi with her, who hadn't yet understood what what was wrong. That changed when she explained that the skeleton belonged to Mamiya Masuyo, and that the woman that was currently chasing them was pretending to be her.
From under a tile in the floor of the castle, Ayumi's head popped up. Once she was out of the secret passage, the girl began to breathe, heavily, sitting on the cold floor while Haibara began to do the same.
A hand on the scientist's leg prevented her from escaping. Both girls looked down, horrified to see the criminal trying to pull Haibara down with her.
With a squeak, Ayumi rapidly grabbed Haibara's arm. The girl in question looked back at her, a panicked expression on her face. "What are you doing?!" she shouted. "You have to run, Yoshida-san! At this rate...!"
Ayumi just held on, tighter than before.
"Yoshida-san!"
"I won't!" Haibara could only look back at the girl, eyes widening a bit. "I can't let you go anyhow!"
Why? Why does she keep trying so hard to save me?
She knows what I am and what I have done, yet...
The woman raised her free hand, gripping tightly a metal pipe, causing Haibara to close her eyes shut, waiting for the impact. Which never connected.
Nobody expected a bucket to come from nowhere, knocking the pipe out of the criminal's hands. After taking on what it had happened, even if a bit shocked still, both girls looked up to see what they had expected to see.
Conan was sitting on the rails in the floor above them, feet dangling on the air and his trademark smirk on his face. Mitsuhiko and Genta were right beside him, frowning disapprovingly at the woman that was trying to attack their friends.
"Everyone!" Ayumi brightened.
"You!" the woman couldn't believe it. "But... how?"
"It was thanks to Mitsuhiko," Conan explained, before pushing his glasses closer to the bridge of his nose. "He used the signal from the tracker in my glasses and the Professor's Detective Boys badges to find us."
Mitsuhiko grinned at that.
"It's useless to try running away," Agasa added, as he appeared right beside her. "The missing person, ex-housekeeper Nishika Mitsumi-san," Mitsumi was shocked at his words. "I looked into this region's plastic surgeons I know and immediately knew it was you," he smiled. "I asked if they heard of anyone who curiously requested to have the face of an old woman."
Conan then explained that he knew she was an imposter ever since she had mentioned the changes in passports. The Grand Mistress had stayed in the castle for ten years, so there was absolutely no way she would know that the passport size had changed six years ago.
Then, commented that he had solved the mystery, causing her interest to suddenly peak up. Following the code in the chess board in the garden, the secret passage was revealed by turning the portrait of the grandfather to the left.
The woman instantly forgot about everything and went inside. What she found, however, wasn't the treasure she had spent more than twenty years looking for.
It was a window, welcoming her to a beautiful scenery that she couldn't really enjoy.
In the door, it read:
"The first one to arrive here will receive my prized castle and this scenery"
At the realization that she had wasted her entire life, changed her face and orchestrated the fire and all incidents on this tower for this she dropped into the floor.
One hour later, when the police arrived, she was still there, her empty look fixed on the ground. Soulless and lifeless.
The people on the castle had offered the group to have breakfast with them, considering that Conan hadn't eaten anything last night and that he must be hungry ─ and they were right. At this point, the boy was starving.
"No thanks, we still have food from our camp," despite his hunger, Conan declined the offer. Frankly speaking, he had absolutely no intention to stay in that place any longer, after everything that happened there. "Besides," he smiled while taking the bag Ayumi had been holding for a while now. "This bread is looking pretty good right now."
Ayumi blinked at him for a moment, before grinning brightly, genuinely happy. The other two boys also laughed, cheerfully talking about it to each other while Haibara only watched them.
She didn't say anything, even as Genta stated that he did want to stay for breakfast, and Mitsuhiko agreeing. She kept quiet, as Conan huffed, visually annoyed, before reluctantly following the group back inside.
The only thing Haibara did was watch. Silently watch Ayumi as she laughed with her friends, or as she took her hand and, with a cheerful "Come on, Haibara-san," dragged her to the dining room.
Conan, unlike everyone else, noticed the way her eyes narrowed, piercing through the little girl's head, as if wondering something he couldn't tell at the moment.
It wasn't until they were in their way back home that he decided to whisper to her:
"Haibara-san, is there-?"
"Why?"
Blinking, very stupidly, Conan just stared back at her, unable to understand what that answer had to do with anything, until he realized she wasn't talking to him, but rather at the little girl sitting on Haibara's other side.
Ayumi, like the boy with glasses, didn't get what she meant right away.
"You heard me when I told you, right?" Haibara frowned, eyes adopting a very cold glint. "About my true identity."
The other girl's eyes opened slightly, finally understanding what she was talking about. Mitsuhiko and Genta on the other hand, just looked at each other, feeling completely lost.
And Conan kept on blinking.
"I understood every single word you said at that time," Ayumi replied, holding Haibara's gelid gaze with outstanding ease. "But I don't care at all."
"How can you possibly not care at all?"
"Because I don't care about who you were, I care about who you are," she replied, a sweet smile adorning her face. "And you're one of my friends, Ai-chan! That's all that matters to me."
The strawberry blonde gaped, rendered completely speechless at her words.
"Ah, sorry, it slipped from my mouth!" Ayumi then said, feeling nervous all of sudden. "It's just that I realized that... Megumi-chan, Ruki-chan, Ami-chan... I call all my friends like that, so referring to you as 'Haibara-san' feels a bit..."
Ayumi-chan is amazing, Conan couldn't help but think, watching the entire exchange between the only two girls of their group. No matter how much he tried, he couldn't remember seeing the young scientist that shocked about something, to the point to leave her out of words.
Soon, the shock seemed to pass and Haibara's mouth closed.
"It's okay, I don't mind."
Smirking a bit to her, she crossed her arms and turned to look out the window beside Conan ─ avoiding to see Ayumi's bright grin in the process.
"I'm so happy, Ai-chan! You can call me 'Ayumi-chan' if you want!"
From his spot, however, Conan could see it. The smirk had turned into a sweet, genuinely happy smile.
And it was contagious, it seemed, because he found his lips tugging upwards as well.
I'm glad for you, Haibara-san.
"Hey!"
The two girls and the young detective turned to the source of the voice, blinking a bit at the sight of Genta and Mitsuhiko, both frowning in annoyance.
"Don't leave us out!" the bigger boy loudly voiced.
"What's going on?" the other questioned.
Ah, I completely forgot about those two, Conan laughed, dryly.
"Well, let's just say that the cat is out of the bag," Haibara said, mysteriously.
Hey, hey...
"Eh?"
"I'm Sherry."
"EH?!"
The little sleuth let out a tired sigh, resting his head against his open palm, focusing on the passing trees outside his window, doing his best to ignore the commotion that had just started in the same car he was in.
This might take a while.
A/N:
ajjr12: That's actually a cool idea! Thanks for suggesting it ;)
Dy: The first time Conan called Ayumi as Ayumi-chan was actually back at chapter 20... It has been a long time since then, lol! I never thought about Saguru being Ai's relative XD As interesting as that idea sounds, however, I don't think it will happen in this story.
Asahina Chihaya: I'm not completely sure, but I guess that could happen in the near future.