File One Hundred and Thirty-Nine: A Helping Hand
Cuddled against her, Ayumi wouldn't stop trembling. And Ai was truly incapable of doing anything but to pat her head and draw her dear friend even nearer.
She had been like that for a while, inconsolable beyond doubt, unable to retain any bit of hope close to her heart, and instead, allowing it to evaporate over with every rough shaking of the gondola they were riding, with every whimper that Mitsuhiko wasn't capable of holding back or every scared glance Genta sent over to the window.
Ai couldn't even bring herself to lie. She couldn't reassure them, tell them that their other friend was running around somewhere. That he was skillful and clever to save them from their very obvious, incoming demise ─ he had never disappointed before, she would affirm, so why would he do so now?
Yet, she was aware that Conan might be a lot of things, but he was not a god. Stopping a rolling Ferris wheel from collapsing into ─ she stretched her neck to check ─ the aquarium was perhaps asking for too much.
A whisper, soft as the wind, brought her attention back to the source. Ayumi was looking back at her, her face half-buried against Ai's lap.
"I… I-I'm sorry," she repeated, in between sobs. "A-Ai-chan's birthday…"
She didn't manage a full sentence, yet Ai understood well regardless. Ai tried to smile, hoping to at least comfort her ─ and those two, who watched attentively to the development of their conversation. The hand patting her head did not stop.
It didn't, at first, of course. Until all of her friends screamed as one as they were forcefully, once more, thrown over to their side.
For Ai, it took her a bit to recover. But when she opened her eyes, she stilled, momentarily distracted by a certain purple dolphin doll that had ended up on the floor, smiling from across the room. Clearly, it must have slipped from her pocket.
For some reason, it reminded the Ai of her ─ the woman with the mismatched eyes and a genuine smile on her lips.
She never got to know her name, Ai realized.
"There are more of us," had been her last words. Or at least, the last Ai had been allowed to hear. "Please save them."
Save them, huh? A grim smirk crawled up to her face ─ what a waste. For this poor woman to profess that one last wish to her, of all people.
Her, who was probably the least capable of carrying through her desires. On the bright side, she might be able to apologize soon, were their paths to cross again in another world.
Because I wasn't strong enough, she thought, her smile fading, her head dropping like a wilting flower. Not enough to fight against this tragic fate bestowed upon me.
For fate is unavoidable. You can't run away from it.
"Huh? Hey, guys, isn't that...?"
"Hey, it's Conan! Look, Conan is right there!"
… Conan?
By this point, Ai thought she should have known better. She thought that experience had long taught her that whenever that one name was to cross her ears, she could expect anything to happen. With that in mind, the sight of a young detective running past their gondola should not have been an exception.
But it was.
She couldn't even decide whether to be glad, or worried to death about the outcome.
"Fireworks, huh? Hmm… I guess it could be better. It counts as pyrotechny, so it's technically a weapon, but how do I put this? It's… too flashy."
"You're the one standing out."
"Please. Everybody is too busy running around like a bunch of headless chickens to pay any attention to any of us."
Her gaze flickered away from the blindingly bright computer screen, squinting against the darkness. With some effort, they made out a small silhouette, sitting on the opposite side of the table they had claimed a while ago.
With his head lazily resting on an open palm, the boy giggled in pure amusement. His eyes twinkled as they contemplated the people that, true to his word, frantically ran back and forth, agitated by the chaos visible from just the other side of the window of the restaurant they were in.
"Ah, it's a good day today," he said, oddly content. "I've been busy for a while, so it's nice to relax for a bit."
"Good for you."
"But it's too bad. There was a friend I was hoping to run into today…" He shrugged, playfully kicking his legs as he did so. "Oh, well. It can't be helped!"
She smirked. "You could go look for them right now."
"Nah, I think I'll pass." He finally looked away from the entertaining scene to face her. Though the shadows reigning over it all, his grin was notoriously big, dazzling even. "Rum-san would be mad at me if I left you alone. And the boss would be mad at him, too… I wouldn't want to trouble him, you know."
"Oh? You're such a good boy."
The sarcasm dripping in her voice had been obvious, and she knew the boy was aware of it ─ yet caring about it was an entirely different matter altogether. His attention shifted back to his yet untouched plate instead, studying it curiously for a while.
"Though I don't think he will be pleased to hear about Curaçao-san either… Hey, Vermouth-san?"
"Yes?"
"Do you think he will blame me for this?"
Vermouth hummed, her reflection staring back at her just as expressionlessly. Somewhere in the background, there was a Ferris wheel, rolling down out of control and bringing destruction in its wake.
"Be careful around him, just in case," she told him.
Yet rather than being particularly preoccupied at the prospect, he, again, shrugged and took a tentative bite out of the cake that he had been served only minutes ago ─ back when everything was calm, peaceful, and dreadfully dull.
The flavor caressed his taste buds, prompting him to hum in delight.
"Wow, would you look at that?" Bouncing lightly on his seat, the boy went for another, fairly more confident bite. "It's actually good."
Vermouth raised an eyebrow. "Why did you order it if you weren't sure you'd like it?"
"Remember this new friend I told you about? He told me he should try it."
Vermouth peered down at his plate. It was cheesecake.
A childish giggle escaped his lips. "He has a pretty good taste, that guy!"
It was impressive how things could change in a single moment.
One moment, one fateful encounter, was all it took to alter the course of someone else's lives, twisting it into something beyond any recognition. One moment, he had been approaching this distraught, lonely lady sitting at the aquarium, and now, he was running atop a Ferris wheel while trying to figure out how to stop this disaster from happening.
It was impressive how much of a powerful motivator they were, those feelings he held deep within himself. Feelings vibrating from the inside, pumped into his blood to be turned into pure adrenaline that propelled him forward. Feelings of wanting to save, feelings of wishing for normalcy and to protect the life he had grown to love.
He couldn't fathom the thought of losing anything. Lives specially included.
And for it, he had to keep on going. He did not even think of how scary of a height awaited underneath, nor did he consider the dangers of failing as Furuya propelled him forward. He was sent flying like a human rocket, one hand clutching his suspenders, the other stretched forward to reach onto the railings of that one wheel that had unlatched, rolling down and accelerating at a terrifying rate.
His fingers only barely grazed the metal bars, missing by only a few millimeters. Not for the first time today, he felt his heart skip a beat, frozen by dread.
Yet somehow, he did not feel himself fall down, but rather dangled in the air. His head jerked upwards with surprise, first realizing that there was a firm grip secured onto his wrist, and only then, he noticed the green eyes and the smirk.
Hadn't Akai been there, Conan wasn't sure of what would have happened to him. Or rather, he did, but did not want to think about it.
"You must have a plan, right?" Akai asked.
He definitely had one. Yet sadly, there was a vast difference between having a plan and making it work perfectly, and the boy was just about to learn it, in the worst way possible.
With a click, Conan secured the other end of his suspenders to the wheel and pressed the button. Impatiently he waited for them to contract, to be strong enough to prevent it from rolling forward, but all they managed was to slow down the movement.
He couldn't stop it.
But it didn't mean he was giving up either. Moments later had him rushing to get to the other side, to the front of the rolling menace he had climbed up to.
A soccer ball started to grow as a balloon, bigger and bigger by the second. It tore down the walls of an unassuming aquarium, settling in as some sort of gigantic air bag for all the people back on the ground, watching in both terror and surprise, to witness.
Yet, the wheel did not stop, and stubbornly kept on advancing despite the boy's utter dismay and desperation.
In the end, and despite his best efforts, Shinichi had been unable to keep Ayaka from riding that forklift. No matter how loud he shouted at her, or the extent of her own injuries, or even how fast he ran to prevent it. Adrenaline, and the burning desire to protect those she loved, must have made the pain fade away and propelled forward.
Which was truly admirable. But Shinichi's conscience refused to allow it.
His knuckles had gone white already, fingers burning at the exertion, but Shinichi did a good job ignoring every bit of it. All he did was shut his eyes close against the wind hitting his face, teeth gritted as he summoned every bit of strength left to keep himself in place.
There, on top of what might be the counterweight attached to the behind of the moving vehicle ─ the one he had just climbed on the spur of a moment. Right at the edge of falling into a rather painful fall.
Now, he was at the point of actually wondering if it had been a good move. Sure, he had managed not to lose Ayaka from his sight ─ she was right there, only a crystal glass separating the two of them. But all things considered, he wasn't certain if it would amount to anything.
Besides, it did not seem to deter her in her endeavor. She didn't even bat an eye at the spooked civilians that jumped out of a forklift apparently gone out of control ─ one that kept on driving through walls and about everything in its way to reach its objective.
Whether she had noticed or was too determined to care, it was a mystery for Shinichi.
Again and again, he kept on banging on the window, but to no avail.
In an instant everything died down with a rough crashing sound, and Shinichi felt his body being propelled forward by the momentum, just barely managing to keep himself upright. Wasting no further than a second to breathe out and get his bearings, the detective peered back to the front, and subsequently paled in realization.
The Ferris wheel was right in front of them, the crane just marginally slowing it, doing its best to keep from rolling forward and flattening them up. Ayaka did not seem to mind her incoming death one bit, determination burning behind those mismatched eyes of hers ─ a look that Shinichi knew well enough. And he didn't like it one bit.
Because it meant she wasn't about to back down. No matter what he did to convince her otherwise.
For what it was only a split of a moment, but what surely felt like hours, Shinichi just stayed there, his every muscle frozen by a strange sensation of uncertainty he barely even remembered feeling in the past.
Before, he had been Singani. A skilled agent in the eyes of some, but secretly a cocky bastard that toyed with Death on a daily basis. Someone who had saved so many lives without batting an eye, so effortlessly that it had become second nature to him. No matter how deeply immersed in this mess they were, no matter how difficult the work was, they would always live long to profusely thank him for saving their lives.
There was a time in the past where he firmly believed there was no soul in this world that he couldn't save. With his own two hands.
And then there was Ayaka. The exception to that rule, a singularity in her own right. A soul that could not be saved, that he could not even stretch a helping hand to.
"You can save her too, right? Shinichi-oniisan!"
No, he couldn't.
Shinichi was well aware of that fact ─ he couldn't save Ayaka. No matter what he did, he wasn't capable of such a thing. She was nothing but a lost cause he could do nothing about.
But, despite that, his body refused to move, to take him to safety as any sane person would have. Rooted on his spot, he remained, his gaze unmoving from the figure beyond the glass window ─ from that one woman who had finally learned to love, to be herself for once in her life before she ceased to be.
"It… It'll be different this time, right?"
A groan ripped through his throat, and promptly hopped back onto the ground.
"Tonight… Nobody dies tonight!"
He stumbled forward, barely even managing to catch himself against the window. Palms resting against the cold glass, Shinichi raised his head to peek inside to realize, much to his surprise, the woman hadn't even seemed to acknowledge his presence.
"Ayaka-san!" No matter how much he yelled. "Ayaka-san!" No matter how much he banged, wishing nothing but to captivate her attention.
Nothing seemed to do the trick. Frustration broke through in the form of a yell, his forehead pressing against the surface, hands now curled into tight fists.
"Please, forget about me!" Finally, he got an answer, resonating from the inside. Alas, that wasn't one he would have wanted to receive. "If you don't run, we'll both get crushed!"
Did she think that was going to deter him? Shinichi's eyes flashed with something akin to indignation and desperation, all the same.
"I'll run, if you climb out of this vehicle right now!" Of course, no response. "Until then-"
"You've got a whole life ahead of you, Shinichi-kun."
That got the teenager to stop, momentarily confused by her choice of words. She wasn't looking at him ─ she had never stopped to glance over where he was ─ but he knew that the smile on her lips was for him.
So do you, he thought, but did not say.
"I want you to take care of those children for me," she said, her feet pressing on the accelerator. The crane was beginning to bend over the force exerted on it, so Shinichi knew it was only a matter of time. "Please, protect them in my stead-"
"Don't give me that bullshit!"
This time, she did turn to look at him.
"There's a boy I made a promise to." Closing his eyes, he could see that determined, if pleading, gaze behind those glasses of his. Desperate for everything to go right, for once. "An idiot with a pure heart that's haunted by horrifying memories… I… I can't let him go through all of this again."
The banging had resumed at full force. This time, he used his elbow, trying to take the glass down with everything he had.
"There's… There's a girl who deserves to enjoy her very special day," the teenager continued, in between panting. Even now, she could picture those eyes, lacking that spark of glee and wonder children normally possessed on the eve of their birthday. "Someone who deserves to know that she, too, can escape from the clutches of her past."
There was a crack. Ayaka's eyes widened ever so slightly, watching as the detective relentlessly kept on trying to break through, trying to reach her.
"There are children, too! Children that are eagerly waiting for the day they meet you again, Ayaka-san!" He was now yelling at the top of his lungs. "Children that want nothing but to ride a Ferris wheel with you! One last time!"
A disheartened sigh and a dejected shake of head. A pleading, watery gaze, looking right into Shinichi's eyes ─ asking him to do the impossible.
"If… If you were to die today…" Shinichi cried, shaking his head from side to side. "Did you think of what would happen to them?!"
Truly, she had asked too much of him. Way too much.
But…
"But they are all so young… They don't deserve this! So, please, Ayaka-san-!"
And then, the rest of his words died down in his throat, just before they could meet the outside world.
In a blink of an eye, everything had shattered away from existence.
Against all odds, the Ferris wheel finally gave up on its endeavor to massacre everyone on its way. Slowly, yet suddenly at the same time, the giant menace ceased to move and stilled into an almost peaceful standstill, silence rising amongst the chaos that reigned seconds ago.
Conan wished he could sigh in relief, but all he could do was stare downwards, his eyebrows fixated on a frown. Because his belt and soccer ball had not been enough to prevent disaster, he had come into that terrifying realization only moments earlier.
He had caught sight of a strange, yellow figure of a vehicle, even from so far away. The boy had seen it ramming onto the wheel, disappearing underneath in the middle of an explosion of dirt and debris.
"Just… Just who was it…" he mumbled, his mouth going suddenly dry. "In that crane truck…"
Akai smiled at him, regardless. "Good job, little boy."
But he couldn't even bring himself to nod, an involuntary shiver suddenly creeping up on him. Perhaps it was better not to think about it, he thought. Once he was safely at the ground, he guessed he could figure out how to sort out those feelings of dread that fought to overcome him.
But as it was now…
"Say, Akai-san…"
"Hm?"
"Could you… help me down?"
The FBI agent turned his head towards him, genuine confusion blinked onto his eyes at the sight that awaited him. That of that one young boy, all but hugging the metal stairs they had been holding onto, clearly struggling to keep a straight face as he gazed up ahead, decidedly away from the ground.
He broke into a smirk. Conan could not deduce if the man was finding the situation amusing or ironic beyond the point of being ridiculous, but he wasn't fond of either option.
"You're acrophobic?" asked Akai, disbelieving of what his own two eyes were showing him.
"Uh, maybe?" It came out as a question. I just forgot I was.
Though it decidedly took a lot longer than Conan would have been comfortable with, the boy was eventually settled back onto firm ground, a sacred haven he had been deprived for so long ─ though not chronologically, since it apparently the entire disaster had only occurred in the span of minutes, not even a full hour. All Akai had granted him was a nod, before disappearing somewhere into the shadows, to do whatever FBI agents liked to do nowadays.
Conan did not think much of it, too busy glancing around what it had been left from the previous ordeal. There was panic, there was noise and light ─ in the form of sirens, police cars and ambulances driving back and forth trying to reduce the damage to the least possible extent.
The boy fought back a wave of nausea, a bad feeling striking with relenting force. In the midst of the crowd, the kid found himself alone. Not a single familiar face in sight.
He promised he would return, right? Conan thought, cold sweat collecting on his brow. How come he still hasn't…?
"Ah, Conan-kun!"
"I told you guys, it was Conan!"
"Conan-kun, I'm so glad to see you!"
Startled, the boy spun around, and was surprised by the sight of a group of children running straight towards him, bright and relieved smiles decorating each and every single one of their faces.
"You guys?!" he all but screamed, pointing at the group as if he had just seen a ghost. "When did you get here?!"
"We asked Sonoko-oneesan for a ride at the Ferris wheel," replied Ayumi, chirpy as if nothing had just happened. "But we were caught-"
"You were there?!"
Ayumi flinched at the outburst, almost afraid to confirm that, yes, they had been there the entire time. Conan was already scary as it was, wild-eyed and ready to scream at them, incapable of processing the words that his ears had just caught.
He calmed on his own, but slowly, taking one deep breath, then another, and another, before settling with pinching the bridge of his nose.
But just as he was about to say something, he felt his words dying down in his throat. A fourth member he hadn't seen until now made a sudden appearance, calmly making her way over and settling behind the group. Silent and quiet as a doll.
"But it was amazing!" Mitsuhiko added. "You really stopped that Ferris wheel on your own!"
And then she tensed. Suddenly and unexpectedly, averting her gaze for some reason.
"I did not stop it on my own," he murmured, looking at her, rather than anyone else. His head tilted lightly, mystified by the unusual reaction of the girl before him. "There was this…" Gradually, his eyes began to widen, as if he could finally see something he had been blind to for so long. "... crane… truck…"
Something he wished he couldn't see.
With that, the boy promptly twisted his head away from his friends, fixating his gaze somewhere behind his shoulder.
The Ferris wheel was still right there, dozens of vehicles and people crowded over there, no clear aim in mind. A little girl was sobbing uncontrollably, an older man was yelling at the phone ─ voices of every kind blended with one another, in a panicky, chaotic mix Conan was certainly not a fan of.
But none of those voices belonged to the one person he had been looking for. He wasn't there, he wasn't anywhere.
A yellow forklift being crushed into oblivion clouded his thoughts, and suddenly, everything had gone eerie quiet. No noises, no crying, no movement around him.
Not even the sound of his own breathing. Just that of his heart pounding against his ribcage.
Until, from one moment to the other, a pair of shoes appeared beside his own feet, and the distinct feeling of hands posing over his shoulders encouraged to look up. There was blue, and a certain warm smile he could probably recognize everywhere else.
"Hey, it's okay." It was the voice, that gentle voice he had been searching for so insistently just now. "You're scaring your friends."
The gazes that he had disregarded so easily now felt like laser beams piercing through the back of his head, powered by nothing but worry over his mental state. Yet Conan could only stare, dazed enough to steal a laugh out of him, at the person that was in front of him.
"Oniichan…" he breathed out, surprised. "You… weren't in that crane truck?"
Shinichi halted, yet his smile remained perfectly in place.
Before he could even inquire further, a figure moved forward. She stood right beside him, but instead of him, she stared at Shinichi; her features rigid, her eyes narrowed.
"She was in it, wasn't she?"
Shinichi opened his mouth to answer. Conan watched him, expectant.
"Conan-kun!"
And then, he was brusquely deprived of the sight of his brother as he was violently pushed aside for another face to come into sight. Bewildered blue met inquisitive violet, and before he could even ask Ran what she was doing there, she sighed in relief, and held him close.
Behind her, a decidedly exhausted Mouri Kogoro came forward, his clothes in a disarray, scrapes and bruises all over.
"You!" exclaimed Kogoro, a disapproving frown on his face. "You have a lot to explain, you brat."
Yes. Yes, he did. He wasn't the only one, though.
"Ran-oneesan!"
"Ah, you guys! I'm so glad you're okay!"
Ran stepped away from him, beaming at the group of children that trailed behind. Now, in a widely different perspective, the child detective caught sight of a nasty cut framing her cheek. Bruises of every kind were blossoming in her arms, her clothes were tattered and mistreated.
Not unlike his brother, who remained sitting on the ground, awkwardly and absolutely uncool after being knocked down by the girl earlier. He hadn't noticed earlier since he had been in a terrible shape before, so he hadn't been able to spot a difference.
Confused still, Conan raised his gaze. Behind everyone, quite a long distance away, stood Sonoko, an oddly distraught, almost disturbed look on her face.
Conan huffed. "I seriously need some context here," he declared.
"A context?" Kogoro raised an eyebrow. "Sure, I can give you one."
He didn't sound nice, but he appreciated it anyway. Keeping his unfriendly frown unchanged in his face, he pointed at the teenage detective, still on the ground, and grumbled, "It's all thanks to that troublesome detective kid."
With an awkward snicker from Shinichi, Kogoro began to tell the story.
A story that Sonoko knew fairly well enough.
Well, she did know, to some extent. Watching as Ran wiped a tear from her eyes, her arms full of newfound injuries, she wondered what exactly she had missed. What exactly was happening in the background that she remained oblivious about.
It all started with a soccer ball. Not an ordinary one, but more like a massive balloon attached to the Ferris wheel, growing in front of her own two eyes. Despite the urgency, or what would have been reasonable thinking, she had halted to a stop to gawk at it.
"Ran, that ball…" she had mumbled.
Ran did not answer, just was there. Staring at the object that had gathered her attention, strangely silent and pensive despite what the situation required. As if, rather than surprised, she was worried.
Sonoko wondered if she would ever be able to figure out what was going on in her mind.
But something suddenly jolted into Sonoko. The wheel had not been stopped yet, and instead, it continued to roll towards them, promising a slow, agonizing death for both girls. Her hand shut to grab her arm, so that they could keep on running.
She didn't get to. She was beaten to it.
Another hand had grasped her wrist ─ a bigger, rougher one. With unrelenting force, he dragged her forward, forcing Sonoko to follow close.
Ran looked at her father in bewilderment.
"I was looking all over for you!" explained the man, never once slowing his pace. "To warn you it's dangerous here!"
Sonoko sent a quick glance over her shoulder and toward the approaching wheel. "That much is obvious!" she shrieked.
"I didn't expect it to get this dangerous!"
And then there was a loud crash that resounded from somewhere behind them. For the second time today, a frightened scream escaped the confines of her throat, fingers latching onto her friend's shirt like hooks as they spun around, narrowly escaping from the way of the massive killing menace.
Kogoro's hands had left his daughter's wrist and were now settled on her forearms, almost protectively. Ran, in turn, had secured her friend in her arms, and together they watched, horror clear in each of their gazes, the yellow crane car that had suddenly manifested underneath the wheel.
"W-What…" she heard Kogoro muster. "What the hell?"
Ran nodded lightly, fully agreeing despite his words. She stared at the scene, unable to tear her eyes from it, and suddenly, her features went rigid. Her eyes narrowed, as if trying to focus on whatever laid in front of her, until they snapped back open.
"T-That… That's…"
Sonoko did not wait for her to explain, nor did she think she would be able to. So, she opted to access the situation on her own, and was similarly shocked at what awaited her there.
Sonoko felt her breath hitching. The tuft of dark hair was unmistakable, the cowlick an obvious dead-away, yet the surprise barely faded at all. It just couldn't be ─ her eyes must be playing tricks on her, her brain must be having a good laugh at her own expense.
Because, sure, Shinichi was here, that much had been made clear already. But he was supposed to be cheating on Ran! Not standing there, banging onto the glass window of the forklift under a massive Ferris wheel gone out of control, his lips moving, his words lost in between the chaos surrounding them.
From her spot, she watched the glass giving up to the pressure, cracks spreading all over as cobwebs. She watched Shinichi's eyes narrow in anticipation at the sight.
In a heartbeat, a cloud of shards surrounded him whole as the window shattered away from existence. Even though she felt herself stiffen at the sight, the detective did not bat an eye. Taking advantage of the new opening, he reached for something inside, pulling a white-haired woman out and dragging her back to the outside world.
Together, they fell onto the ground as a backlash of the massive effort from before, and for a moment, they went still. Shinichi tried to heave himself off the ground, but only partially managed to before shooting a glance over his shoulder.
For the first time, Sonoko saw the horror in his eyes. The wheel was edging closer, and he was in no position to run away from it.
She didn't think she could keep on watching. But she couldn't look away either.
Well, that was what she thought, at first. Her best friend's grip on her arms grew stronger suddenly, firmly pushing Sonoko a reasonable distance away. Puzzled, she looked at Ran's determined gaze, settled on her face, and the deep frown carved in her features.
Immediately, Sonoko feared the worst.
"Ran, no…"
But Ran did anyway. So, Sonoko was forced to helplessly watch as her best friend promptly released her, dashing straight towards them. Powerless but to hear Kogoro's urgent calling of her name, followed suit by a click of his tongue as he rushed to copy her actions.
In between crying and yells of her own, father and daughter dove straight into danger. Ran slid her hands under Shinichi's armpits, hauling him back onto his feet with a massive amount of hidden power, worthy of a karate champion. Kogoro, on the other hand, swiftly lifted the woman on his arms as if she weighed nothing, yelling at Ran something that Sonoko absolutely missed.
The ground shook beneath her as the wheel finally crushed the forklift to oblivion, and her legs promptly gave up on her. There, she saw how Ran turned to the boy stumbling to keep his balance after being brought with her so roughly, how her face, already flushed by the exertion, went a fiery kind of red out of anger. She noted how nervously Shinichi smiled, thanking her profusely even though he was backing away in fear.
And finally, her ears caught Kogoro's panting, his eyes fixed on the unconscious woman that laid in his arms, and carefully lowered her to the ground. Shinichi was the first one to react, walking around a frozen Ran to crouch down next to her.
His gaze narrowed, and suddenly, to Sonoko, he looked like an entirely different person.
Hesitantly, and fearfully, she threaded closer, and felt her heart skipping a beat. A large stain of blood was spreading all over the woman's shirt, steaming from a metal pipe stuck in the middle of her abdomen.
"Sonoko." Shinichi's tone was firm enough to make her flinch. "Call an ambulance."
Her head started to swim with questions, but she got to ask none of them. Not even as the ambulance finally arrived, lifting the mysterious bloodied woman up and driving amid the multitude to save her life.
Shinichi and Ran exchanged a look. A silent, but that seemed to be loud enough to everybody but Sonoko herself. She averted her eyes and suddenly Shinichi's gaze took a remorseful turn, to which she responded with a dejected sigh.
And the questions in Sonoko's mind kept on coming.
Sonoko's head dipped forward, her lips sealed close.
"What happened to her?" Genta rushed forward, completely disregarding Kogoro's need for personal space. "Is Oneesan alright?"
"I just got a call from one of the paramedics," Shinichi said on the startled detective's behalf. "She has been admitted to a nearby hospital. They say her injuries were not as serious as they initially looked like."
Ayumi and Mitsuhiko had joined Genta in the middle of Shinichi's explanation. All three of them brightened up at the news.
Especially the girl, who seemed just a second away from jumping on her spot. "You did it!" she exclaimed, her voice loud and filled with joy. "You saved her, Shinichi-oniisan!"
Kogoro frowned and mumbled something under his breath. Nobody cared.
Unlike him, Shinichi's lips curved into a soft, yet genuine, little smile.
"No."
Everyone paused, staring back at him in utter bewilderment.
"I didn't save her. You guys did." He lifted his head, fixating his gaze over their shoulders to gaze at the other two children that stood there, just as puzzled, and just as attentive as any of their friends. "All of you."
Conan blinked owlishly. Ai averted her gaze.
Shinichi only grinned. "Now that all is good, you should hurry, guys," said Shinichi. "Aren't you all a little behind schedule as it is?"
That gathered her attention back, drilling her gaze into him. "Really?" she murmured. "Even after all of this?"
Instead of his brother, Conan was the one to smirk. "We have a few good hours until midnight," he said with a shrug. "I don't see why not."
Though the direction shifted to the boy at her side, the intensity of her gaze did not change at all.
Ayumi gasped, however, so everything dissipated at the next second. "The cake!" She twirled around, panic seized her expression as she turned to her friends. "Guys, we forgot the cake!"
"Ah!" Genta jumped back. "Weren't we supposed to pick it up tonight?!"
Mitsuhiko sighed. "With all of this, I completely forgot…"
"Don't worry about it." Ever bright, ever smiling, Ran leaned closer to the distressed group of children. "I can whip out something delicious in its place." She sent a pointed look at the bespectacled boy. "I can even have Conan-kun to help me out."
Conan barely even managed to nod. Ayumi did the same, only that fairly more vigorously and determined than him.
"Alright!" she exclaimed, placing her hands on Ai's shoulders. "We'll meet you there, Conan-kun!"
"Y-Yeah," came out softly.
Genta frowned at him. "Don't you dare to leave us hanging."
Conan's eyebrow twitched, then louder than before, answered, "I know."
Throughout it all, Shinichi couldn't help but snicker, incredibly amused at the sight. But then Mitsuhiko stopped right in front of him, wide eyes staring up at him.
"You're coming too, right, Shinichi-san?"
"Eh, I don't know…"
"Aw, no way!" whined Ayumi. "You have to come!"
Shinichi genuinely had no idea how to proceed. Yet Genta seemed to take things on his own, grabbing his hand.
"You're coming with us," with that declaration, he pulled, and Shinichi had to scramble back to his feet not to face-plant onto the pavement, earning years of teasing and harassment from the bespectacled little demon that observed him so closely.
"I can walk on my own," Shinichi managed as he was dragged about against his will. He guessed he could get free of this child's grasp if he were to try it, but he didn't want to risk accidentally hurting Genta in the process, so he gave up before he could even begin.
"Nice try." Genta scoffed. "We know you're going to slip away when you get the chance to."
"What, Conan has been bad-mouthing me?"
"Not really," Mitsuhiko answered instead. "We just are experienced in dealing with the likes of you."
"The likes of me, huh…"
A faint chuckle escaped his ears, causing the teenage detective to look for the source, and immediately found the strawberry blonde who had been subjected to a similar fate, pushed away from the scene by her friend right behind them. For a moment, they just stared at each other in perfect silence.
Then they both sighed in perfect harmony. Small, identical smiles blossomed on their faces, agreeing to go with the flow. Without exchanging a single word.
All the while, as the distance increased with every passing second, Conan watched the interaction. Silent, his expression unchanging with time.
Sonoko finally approached them, arms settled on her waist and her eyebrows rose. Until that moment, Conan had absolutely forgotten she was supposed to be there, but did not believe it wise to make his observations ─ or lack thereof ─ known to the outside world.
"It's good that you're all making plans and everything…" she commented, then stalled, as if looking for a better word. "Especially after this, but…"
"Do you want to come along, Sonoko?" offered Ran.
"No." Not an ounce of hesitation. "But aren't those kids supposed to give their statements to the police?"
Ran blinked, and so did Conan. They both exchanged incredibly blank looks that had the girl pressing a hand to her face, unable to believe what the word had come to. Eventually, Ran brightened up, and smiled.
"Oh, I have an idea."
"You do?"
"We'll… just let Dad deal with it?"
Kogoro spluttered. "Me?!"
"That's an excellent idea," Conan chirped, nodding to himself. "We'll leave it to you, Occhan!"
"Eh, wait-"
"Thanks, Dad! We'll probably stay at the Professor's for the night. There are some left-overs in the fridge, so heat them up, okay?"
"But Ran-"
"I'll make it up to you, I promise!"
And, without leaving him a chance to argue or complain any further, the pair had promptly disappeared from sight. It took Kogoro a moment to fully assess the situation he had ended and sighed wearily.
Carding a hand through his hair, the detective glanced over to his side, then stopped. Even Sonoko had vanished, gone at the danger of being bothered by this fine, already troublesome, long night.
Ran better make it up for him.
Conan was taking a little longer than she would have expected.
Well, probably more than 'a little', Ran corrected herself in her mind, eyeing the clock hanging at her kitchen's wall. Especially since the boy had assured her he was going to check on something ─ which she honestly had no clue about ─ and that he would be right back. That had happened about fifteen minutes ago, and there was no sign of his return yet.
Curiosity turned into concern when he opened the door leading to the room the kid shared with her father, and found nobody there. It was short-lived, fading into surprise the moment her eyes flickered over to the wardrobe.
From her spot, she could barely see his feet as the rest of his body seemed to have been swallowed by clothes. Rather than bothered by it, the boy diligently digged through, so focused on his self-imposed task that it made Ran giggle.
The sound of it made Conan jump, twirling about to the girl standing at the doorway.
"I was hoping you would help me out," Ran said, her head slightly tilted to one side. "But do you want me to help you out instead?"
Conan stared at her, still submerged in his own bewilderment. Ran fought to keep the grin from her face, but failed.
Especially when he spun back around, burying himself in his work ─ and clothes. Lots of clothes.
"No, thank you." It was funny to her, almost endearing, that the boy was doing his best to keep a cool, distant kind of tone. Even though she could see his hands moving frantically as they searched. "I was looking for… Yeah, this one."
Conan pulled something from the wardrobe. It took him an entire second to realize he had pulled out his pajamas. He tried to play it cool, though, putting it back in place as if nothing had happened.
"I meant this one- Wait, no. I mean…"
Long arms crossed his vision, leaving Conan to wonder when Ran had gotten this close. With that one smile, full of kindness, that was inherent to her, she pulled something out and showed it to him. It was his usual blue blazer which he had neglected to wear today, nothing out of the ordinary.
"You can't go wrong with a classic. Besides…" She leaned forward, whispering conspiratorially. "I think Ai-chan secretly likes it."
Conan did not reply, but he did stare at it in contemplation for several seconds. Until, of course, he inevitably snapped out of it, all but tearing the set of clothes from her hands.
She didn't mind it, too amused at the reddish tint his cheeks had adopted for anything else.
"So what if she likes it?" he scoffed, promptly turning away from her.
Ran restrained a giggle, but the smile survived, regardless. The boy still refused to look at her, probably too embarrassed for such a thing, so she went for the best next thing ─ hands resting on her knees, she bent slightly forward, and whispered in the softest, kindest tone she could manage,
"You know, there's nothing wrong about liking someone," she told him, and he stilled. "Crushes are nothing to be ashamed of."
He didn't respond right away, in fact, he took his sweet time in doing so, but Ran knew better than to hurry him up. Instead, she watched his every movement attentively; from how his arms lowered, the sleeves of that well-loved blue blazer grazing the ground, to how his shoulders dropped with an extended sigh.
"No. They are not."
She blinked, pretty surprised at his answer. He had whispered them, however, but interestingly enough, she couldn't pick on the usual hint of embarrassment in his voice. There was something different, which she couldn't exactly pinpoint, but that she somehow did not like.
"They aren't," he reaffirmed. "But they are… pointless."
Ran wasn't sure what he meant, at first. The boy turned his head slightly, just enough to shoot her a glance over her shoulder. He was smiling, but it was forced.
"Ai already likes someone else."
Ran slowly sat back on her heels. "Are you sure about that?"
A troubled expression pinched his face as he nodded. "I know who he is," he murmured, his eyes flickering away from her face to the ground he stood at. "It's someone I couldn't hope to compete against…"
"Conan-kun…"
His gaze flickered back up, and yet again, he looked back at the front. "That's what I would say if I liked her," he rebutted. "It's a purely hypothetical scenario."
She stared at his back for the longest time. "Right," she drawled.
"I'm serious."
"Oh, I'm sure you are."
Out of her eyes, the boy opened his mouth to defend himself against the implicit accusation thrown at him, but sadly, he found no words to fight back. His lips clicked shut, attention drawn at his clothes once more, allowing Ran to let out yet another giggle she couldn't hold in any longer. She could clearly picture the frown he might be wearing right now, and the pout scrunching his little face up.
She was about to continue on their previous conversation topic, but the bell suddenly rang.
"Is somebody at the door?" she wondered. "It couldn't be Dad."
"Occhan wouldn't ring the bell in his own house." Even Conan had broken out of whatever had been afflicting him, to look over the direction as well, confusion dancing in his eyes just as clearly as in hers. "He didn't misplace his keys, did he?"
Ran stood up and made it to the door of her dad's room.
"No, I don't think so," she replied, stepping into the living room, hesitating on every one of her steps.
Conan followed close behind, curiously observing her movements from a short distance away. A frown crawled up Ran's face as she approached the door, and after the briefest of pauses, she tentatively turned the doorknob, peeking out from behind the small gap as it opened.
Surprise overrode curiosity as Ran opened the door wide to look at their unexpected visitors more clearly, and Conan stepped ahead. A similar feeling filled him whole as he caught sight of his older brother's awkward smile ─ first, he wondered why in the world that was his first reaction every other time when this happened, and then, did Conan wonder what he was doing there.
Before he could even utter a word to explain the situation, a smaller figure walked out from behind his legs, calmly went around him and invited herself inside. For a moment, Ran and Conan could only stare, unable to process what was occurring in front of their eyes.
It wasn't until she had reached the middle of the room and was staring at him directly in his eyes that he reacted, stepping back with a startled, "A-Ai?!"
"Your friends told me to keep her busy while they're arranging things," explained Shinichi, who, unlike his companion, still hadn't gathered the courage to set a foot inside. "So here we are."
Ran's expression dulled as she turned to him. "You live right next to the Professor's."
"It's become busier there as of late," replied the younger girl instead, not batting an eye. "It's uncomfortable."
Conan glanced at her from the corner of his eyes. "My mother?" he asked, a shiver running down his back out of the blue.
She shook her head. "Subaru-san."
Ah, right, he remembered. She still didn't like the guy.
Without further ado, the tiny scientist promptly walked up to the door leading to Ran's room, and just as if she owned the room, she ventured inside, letting a weird silence to settle in between the three remaining ones.
That was until the child sighed wearily and entered the room he shared with Kogoro. It only took him a few minutes and then he emerged, donning his usual outfit, and walked in Ran's room to join her friend.
Ran looked over at Shinichi, raising an eyebrow. The teenager flinched, and finally realizing what she was trying to imply, he walked inside the house, earning him a disapproving shake of her head from his childhood friend.
She ventured into the kitchen, and he instinctively followed without a word.
Conan did not expect much to happen when he walked into the room.
He wasn't expecting a full conversation, not even a single exchange of words, but at least, he had thought she would at least look up at the sound of the door clicking shut. But he had been wrong, and there he was, rooted at the doorway with his hand inside his pocket, unsure of what he was supposed to do.
To be fair, the girl had long made it clear she had no wish for a celebration at her name from the very beginning. That, and he wasn't even considering everything they had gone through in the past hour ─ had he been in her place, he probably wouldn't want to do anything for a week after, let alone throwing a party.
But now that the plan was ongoing, he guessed there was no stopping it.
His fingers curled around that thing he hid inside his pocket.
Ai's curled around a little bag she was cradling in her hands, whose existence had only now been recognized by Conan's brain. Conan froze for a moment, lowering his head and taking a deep breath, before walking further inside ─ his hands now free, arms crossed behind his neck.
"Oh, you got a gift already?" he mused. She nodded quietly. "Who is it from?"
She gazed down at it for a beat longer. "Shinichi-san."
"My brother, huh?" Conan paused, glanced at it for longer, then grinned. "What's in there?"
She arched an eyebrow, looking over at him. "Do I look like I've got x-ray vision?"
"That's exactly why people are supposed to open presents."
Ai looked as if she wanted to retort, but her brain stood her up and failed to relay a proper response. Instead, she looked over her gift, a troubled frown crawling up her features, eyes squinting as if she could see what was in there, if she tried hard enough.
Conan eyed it curiously. Wrapped in a pretty lilac paper and far too flat, almost as if a thin sheet of paper, to try to deduce what it could be from a single glance.
"Shinichi-san told me not to consider it his," she murmured, gaining Conan's attention once more. "He missed his chance to give it to me last year, he told me."
"So he's giving you that present on someone else's behalf?"
It went unanswered, but then again, the response was a rather obvious one. She took her time to study it for a while longer, then, almost hesitantly, mostly out of instinct, raised her head to shoot the boy beside her a glance. He nodded encouragingly, and she took a deep breath in.
Inside, they found an old photograph. Small enough not to cover her entire hand, but enough for her breathing to hitch into a stop, normally inexpressive eyes opening in full capacity as if to take everything in.
Conan shuffled closer to snatch a little peek and found himself grinning widely at the strange sight.
That of a teenage Miyano Akemi nuzzling contently against the chubby, rosy cheeks of the tiny creature on her arms, teal eyes full of wonder as they looked back at the camera.
Beneath them there were some scribbled words, wishing her the happiest of birthdays ─ and a lot more that he did not get to read, as the girl hurriedly pressed the small photo to her chest, a soft expression painting her features.
Even if it wouldn't be as good as a proper birthday cake, Ran had thought a simple sponge cake would be a decent alternative; she best she could manage after the several inconveniences earlier that night and sudden shortage of time. She could whip it in a little less than an hour, especially if Conan was around to lend her a hand to optimize their time, and the problem would have been swiftly solved like that.
Until a few moments ago, her greatest concern was that the birthday girl would still like it, despite everything.
But now as she stood there in her kitchen, gazing down at the carpet-like layer of flour that spread over the countertop, only the smallest of fractions of it making it inside the mixing bowl, she started to doubt her every decision in life. Her hand, that had stretched forward out of instinct, fell to her sides with an extended sigh.
"I appreciate the help, Shinichi," Ran said, a hint of exasperation in her voice. "But I'd appreciate the lack of help even more."
Shinichi let out a strange mixture of a huff and an awkward bout of laughter. "I was getting better," he grumbled, hurrying his way to deal with the mess he had just caused. "I swear I was."
Ran's eyelids slid lower. "Yeah, sure."
Crossing her arms over her chest, she simply waited for her childhood friend to be over with it, mentally calculating how much it was going to take them, if things continued that way. The best option was probably to kick that detective out and deal with it herself, maybe then she could make it. She could apologize later.
Once finished, Shinichi stood back, with dejection written all over his face. Admittedly, the girl knew she would feel a little guilty about it, but she still gently pushed him away to do it on her own.
"I thought Conan was supposed to help." His smile was back on his face, at least. He was looking over his shoulder, observed Ran, facing the way her room would be. "But I guess he was sidetracked with Ai-chan here."
"Oh, yeah. We were talking earlier," she said, suddenly remembering it. "He… sort of confessed having a crush on her?"
She sounded unsure, yet it didn't stop his head whipping back to stare at her in bewilderment. "Eh?" he blinked. "Did he, really?"
Ran paused long enough to peer down at the mixing bowl, glaring at whatever she found. "Well, he's mostly distressed about it," she said as she moved all over the place. Shinichi spotted her discarding its contents but, as much as the fact discouraged him a little, curiosity prevented him from saying anything. "He thinks she likes someone else."
That wasn't anything Shinichi had expected to hear today, so for a moment, he just stood there, blinking stupidly at his childhood friend's back. Once the shock began to pass, his hand rose to stroke his chin, struggling to picture anyone who Shiho ─ of all people ─ might like. He could hardly see her being interested in any of the other boys, namely Mitsuhiko or Genta, but he supposed it could be aimed at anyone from her class, but he doubted it entirely.
For that one girl to be interested in someone else, he would say it should be someone with a similar maturity level. Anyone else, well, he saw it hard to happen. Since they all were a bunch of third graders, Shinichi found it unlikely.
Besides those from her class, he didn't think she had been in contact with many children of her age.
Though there's one… That one kid… He shivered, and shook his head to shake off the nasty thought. Yeah, that's not happening.
"Maybe she has been crushing on Conan himself all this time?" suggested Shinichi. He didn't think there was anyone else but his little brother who would fit the bill, though he recognized that his opinion might be slightly biased. "I wouldn't be surprised if he misinterpreted things that way."
"You know… I think he meant you."
At her words, Shinichi felt himself pause, the smile freezing in his face as he turned to glance over to Ran. She looked at him, dead in the eye, and added, "Conan-kun thinks Ai-chan has a crush on you, Shinichi."
She was being dead serious about it, too ─ not a single hint in her gaze of a possible joke. He felt the smile dropping as the shock inside him grew, eyes widening as if to evidence all of it.
"Oh, no," he mumbled, looking as if he was on the edge of diving into an existential crisis in her kitchen.
"It's not a big deal," Ran waved him off, smiling at whatever memory had popped into her mind. "I had a crush on my karate teacher when I was six. I'm pretty sure you had a crush or two when you were a kid, too."
Though Shinichi failed to reply. Looking down at his feet, a frown crawled into his features as he went strangely pensive. Ran glanced over at him, studied him carefully, and approached the fridge to gather some eggs.
"Children's crushes are like that," she added, giving the fact no further transcendence. "She will outgrow it before you realize it."
"I know," he finally said, pressing a hand to his forehead to stave off an oncoming headache. "But I'm worried about Conan, either way."
"Worried about who?"
Startled by the new voice that had risen back to life, Shinichi promptly twirled around, biting his lip to avoid screaming out of fright. Right at the doorstep, he found none other but his younger brother, eyes squinted in suspicion at his form, silently demanding an answer, which he failed to provide.
Ran let out a startled laugh, balancing the eggs on her arms ─ which she had barely managed to keep from falling and crashing. She clearly hadn't expected him to be there, either.
"Were you listening, Conan-kun?" she asked nonchalantly, despite everything.
Ai's head peeked from behind him and settled them both with that usual bored glance of hers. "Only the last part," she answered instead, then turned to Conan. "So what if he's worried about you? He always is."
She promptly walked past his friend, who eyed her with a raised eyebrow, and stopped right behind the older girl, as if wishing to observe her from close. Throughout it all, Ran did not move a single muscle, for some reason that not even she was capable of explaining, and gazed down into those inexpressive eyes of hers.
Eventually, Ran broke into a smile, and Ai found herself blinking at the egg that had suddenly materialized in front of her face.
"Wanna help me with this, Ai-chan?" she offered, suddenly bright.
The little girl stared at the egg she had suddenly found itself in her own hands, and stared again. Maybe an eternity later, Ai nodded her head, timidly. An action that the older girl mirrored, but more accentuated by confidence.
"Then, we'll both take care of it," Ran declared, now settling her attention on both brothers. Still bright, still gentle, she suggested, "Why don't you both get going to the Professor's?"
It was mostly aimed at the older Kudo, though. Conan wondered if he had missed something important.
Moments later found the two of them staring at each other in confusion, rooted in their spot in the middle of the living room, well outside the realms of the kitchen. It took them another second to process what had just happened, and another to sigh accordingly.
"Were we just… kicked out by Ran-neechan?"
"I was kicked out. You were probably sent out to keep me entertained."
And as far away from the preparation as possible, he did not say.
But somehow, Conan knew anyway, as evidenced by the plain look he sent him. "You didn't try to help, did you?"
Only the silence replied, which ironically, it was a legitimate answer on its own. Conan muffled a groan with his hand that had long slid under his glasses to press itself to his face.
Shinichi huffed and turned his head away. "Let's just get going."
And true to be told, Conan thought about doing as told, but something else stopped him right at the nick of time. What that had been, the boy wasn't sure about, but it urged him to glance over to the door closed behind him, round wide eyes fixed onto it as if they could see right through.
Although he couldn't understand why his little brother had decided to open the door to the kitchen and peek through the small gap he had created, Shinichi did not ask. Instead, he approached him, and after a brief moment of hesitation, the teenager imitated his actions.
Peering inside, Shinichi saw Ran covering her mouth, as if to keep a giggle at bay. He saw her grabbing a towel and, ever so gently, wipe away the bit of flour that had wound up in the Ai's cheek. Her reaction was moderately lacking, with nothing but the faintest of flinches at the felt of the cloth to her face, falling quiet the next moment while she, just, gazed up at the older girl.
Though Conan could have sworn she was seeing something. Something far away from anyone else's eyes.
Unaware of everything transpiring beyond the two of them, the girl returned to the mixing bowl, a look of utter concentration pinching her face, and suddenly, Conan was remembered of a moment where they two had been like that, attempting to bake a cake for their friends one random afternoon. One where they had been talking about mundane things, and how they had both become skilled in the kitchen despite their age.
He recalled having asked where she had learned to bake a cake. Then he had regretted it instantly after figuring out the answer on his own, but she had hardly seemed to mind.
"It's okay," she had said. "Since those are one of my most precious memories of her."
Unbeknownst to Ran, Ai sent the briefest of glances towards her. She turned her head rapidly enough, returning to her work as if nothing had happened, yet Conan was aware that it had. Proof was the gentle expression that now painted her features, a timid smile just barely peeking through.
With that, Conan finally stepped away to leave.
A/N
CherryGirl 21-6: Well, yeah, sorry I'm late again. Hopefully, it won't be a permanent thing, but yeah. Anyway, about that name… 'Ayaka' means 'colorful flower' in Japanese (though I might be mistaken) so I thought it might suit her.
F.C. Meyer: Fun fact, I originally planned for Conan to find out about it, but there was too much else going on and I didn't get to.