Our Love Is Like Fireworks [Detective Conan Fanfic] (Rei x Shiho)

Chapter 36

"HEh? You mean y'all shared the same carseat, with one seat belt?!" 

Heiji had gotten quite sick and tired of the conversation 'the boys' were having over there so he decided to escape before they go down the trail of some promiscuous topic he'd rather not get himself involved into. 

"Dude we literally had to," 

"Don't act like I wanted to share it," 

Shinichi side eyes her in response to her sarcasm, "anyways yeah there wasn't enough seats in the car for all of us". 

"So you mean to tell me..." Heiji nudges him in the knees and wiggles his eyebrows up and down as if Shiho wasn't there. 

"Bro clean that dusty ass brain of yours," Shinichi hisses with a slight hint of panic, "we were like 5 or something". 

Both of them just look in disappointment at Heiji, earning an evil chuckle from him. 

"So what's the deal with this antidote, is it like permanent or are you guys gonna be turning back?"

"This is only a test antidote, I don't know how long it's going to last, we'll just have to wait and see," 

"Well, in the meantime, you guys gonna planning anything?"

Shinichi and Shiho looks at him in a mix of frustration and amusement. 

"I meant school idiots,"  

The strawberry blonde mentally gags at the word school. Let's just say it didn't bring up good memories for her. For starters, her time in the US hadn't been too pleasant when it came to school. 6 hours a day of getting surrounded by white kids either bullying her for her accent or attempting to 'flirt' with her. Keep in mind, she was 10.

She remembers the chaos of American high school and wonders how people survived years of all that, how can someone tolerate those dirty lunch tables? I don't even think anyone cleans them.

(this is all made up)

Once she stopped attending the conventional school, she ended up being taught criminal tactics and how to shoot by Gin, he liked to call it school. She knew better than that. 

"You know what, I actually haven't thought of that," Shinichi realises, "hey Haibara that's not a bad idea--"

"Don't even think about it," the ballroom was hot with the heated aircon and the amount of people yet somehow Shinichi and Heiji felt a wave of coldness settle over them. 

"To be fair I haven't finished my high school education yet,"

"Is it just me dude or did someone turn the aircon on?" Heiji shudders, rubbing his arms. 

"And even if we did, we wouldn't know when or if the antidote effect might die," Shiho points out.

"Live life like there's no tomorrow amirite" Heiji chants happily like an idiot.

Shiho turns to Shinichi with a side glance, whispering, "you're friend's a detective?"

He sighs in defeat, "surprisingly". 

"Yo what, I didn't hear that," 

She smiles almost ironically at him, "just don't worry about it". To think that you are a detective. She turns back to Shinichi before mentally sighing. To think that you both are detectives. 

Detectives .. an image of him floats into her brain. 

Is he gonna be back?

The music on the dance floor suddenly fades into a slow piano ballad, probably another song by Ed Sheehan, but Shiho wouldn't know, she lived under a rock when it came to stuff like that. Everyone starts to slow dance under the dimmed lights, Kazuha whisking a reluctant Heiji away to the dance floor. 

Couples find each other beneath the romantic atmosphere, Shiho could only look at them in a sense of longing almost, to be able to find someone and stare into each other's eyes while dancing under the lights, just like a fairytale ending. 

But fairytales don't exist. They have never. And Shiho was already accustomed to that concept, reality never ends up in happy endings. 

Shinichi suddenly gets up and pulls Shiho up with him. 

"Kudo what are you-"

"Come on, just one dance, you don't want to be the only ones sitting here stupidly do you?" 

"Well I-" she looks around and surely, everyone is on their way to the dance floor, even Ran, who is getting dragged by a handsome dude. 

Before she knew it, both of them were dancing in time to the music, hands on each other's shoulders. Shiho felt her claustrophobia kicking in when she nearly bumped into 3 people at once. 

She looks at Shinichi who eyes are set on her, and wonders if past her would've liked this moment, probably, after all, he was her first love. 

"I see what you're doing Kudo, but be careful, jealousy might stir even more trouble," she looks over at Ran who doesn't seem to have seen Shinichi. 

He lifts an eyebrow, "who said I was doing it for Ran?"

Shiho blinks stupidly, "you realise she's not going to think great of me if she sees us right?" 

He shrugs rather indifferently, "thought you were the girl who didn't care what people thought,"

She thinks for a bit, "I personally don't want to get in the way of you two,"

He doesn't do anything but looks at her, Shiho raises her eyebrows into a quizzical look. 

"I think the alcohol is getting to you,"

"Haibara I-"

"Dude you need to sober up,"

Everything happened so quickly she failed to react in time. And in that moment, he wraps his arms around her and envelopes her in warm hug. His arms are tight around her waist and she feels him dragging her closer against his body. They're so close and she's so confused and she's so stunned but it feels so safe and comforting that she almost doesn't want to leave despite the questions exploding in her mind. 

Shiho stands there, her eyes wide open and body unmoving. She could smell the scent of alcohol floating from him and his warm breath touching her neck. And she relaxes in their embrace, closing her eyes, and the image of Rei replaces everything, like he was the one hugging her. 

But it's not. And only one thing is lingering in her mind. 

What is happening.