A/N: I just realized the first couple of chapters stated her name is Akari. Since I've used Akira so much I'll stick with that name. But, thank you for the wait! I am back again.
Her feet collided with the heavy feeling of the punching bag against her skin, sweat trickling down the sides of her face, moving back to strike the bag with one more punch. A couple week had passed since that incident, Akira only ever seeing Conan when she was walking to school with Ran or when she had to drop off school supplies for the girl. She had received calls from Ran about how much her father's job had been successful after Conan's appearance, which Akira congratulated her for.
Not once, she had heard or saw Shinichi after the incident at Tropical land, only brief text messages were sent towards her number. Why can't I get that idiot out of my head! She clenched her teeth, using all of her strength to punch the bag in front of her, knocking it back onto the floor. A tiny dent, prominent to those who stood in the very room with Akira was sunk into the wooden floors, creating a dent.
The members of the karate club stared at her in shock, those who were in the middle of sparring stuck in the position they were attacking their opponents in silently watching her. Ran snuck over to Akira as the girl picked up the fallen equipment, whispering in her ears. That's where Ran mentioned that this week, she was going to stay at her mother's for her a bit, and that she didn't trust Conan in the hands of her father.
"Hah? You want me to mind the brat?" Akira wiped the sweat off her brows with the cloth towel wrapped around her neck, raising an eyebrow.
"Please! Just for a couple of days," Ran pleaded, clasping her hands together and rubbing them, closing her eyes tightly.
Akira looked at her child-hood friend, placing her hands on the towel, "I mean, I don't have a problem with it."
"Thank you!" Ran cheered happily, throwing the karate bag over her shoulder as she jogged towards the front door, exclaiming that she was going to message Akira all the details when she got back home.
So, on the coach of Akira's apartment, she let her back sink into the soft cushions of the sofa with her leg up on the arm rest. Her finger swiped mindlessly through the messages on her phone, pursing her lips as she looked at the contact name. All of a sudden, the warmth of her apartment, once filled with cheerful memory of her and Shinichi had become just shards in her mind, plaguing her. However, no matter how hard she tried to forget, it seemed that she was sinking deeper into the depth of confusion and despair.
Shinichi.... I don't want to lose you...
Akira closed her eyes, her phone slipping out of her grasp and falling onto the ground, a loud thump echoing the silence of her room.
"AKIRA!"
"OW!" She fell onto her wooden floor, missing her phone by an inch as her head smacked against the glass table, the mug of coffee tipping over and making a mess of the once pristinely clean glass.
Oh. Her mom would kill her if she saw what had just happened to her precious table.
Akira groaned loudly, rubbing her head as she opened one of her eyes, greeted by a fiery glare that bore into her own eyes. In Ran's hand, she could vaguely make out the spare keys to her apartment, which she had entrusted to Ran ever since her brothers moved out and her parents flew overseas. Behind Ran, Conan had clasped his hand tightly onto the strap of his backpack, smiling softly when he met Akira's gaze.
"Could you not just knock, I could be naked," she stood up with a grumble, dusting herself off as she stared into Ran's eyes, letting out a fearful yelp when the girl gave her a menacing smile.
She knew what that meant.
"Or you could get better ears," Ran retorted with a smirk, now turning to Conan with a gentle smile, urging him forward to stand in front.
On his face, his cheeks were dyed a faint red, his cobalt eyes quivering ever so-slightly as he avoided Akira's gaze. The girl tilted her head in confusion, crossing her arms over her chest as she observed the kid, trying to piece together his train of thought.
"Alright, I'll go now, I'll see you at school Akira. See you next week Conan-kun!" Ran interrupted her thoughts, slipping her way towards the front door as she waved, and with a final farewell, Ran had finally left Akira's apartment.
Akira brushed a strand of her black hair behind her ear, now grinning widely down at the 'younger' boy as she pointed down towards the end of the hallway, "your rooms at the end towards the right. It's yours, Conan. I just cleaned the sheets and wiped down the surfaces, the rest in untouched. Feel free to rearrange it as you like."
Conan's ears perked up, and, he nodded without a question. He made his way down the hallway, carrying his backpack as he turned towards the right, pressing his palms against the wooden doors and giving it a light push. To Conan, perhaps this should be an unfamiliar room, but, as Shinichi...
This was the exact room he always slept in when he visited.
His tiny fingers slipped under the straps of his bag, taking the heavy weight off his shoulder and throwing it onto the bed, looking at the blue sheets which were nicely set out for him. To the exterior, the room was pristine, and he deduced that Akira probably cleaned it before his arrival, judging by the smell of disinfectant spray which lingered in the air.
Unlike the exterior, the closet and cabinets of the room showed a very different story. It was messy, as if someone had been searching through the the contents, and for some reason an uneasy pit grew in his stomach as he looked at the mess. Conan blinked a couple of times as he stared at the mess, pursing his lips.
"Conan-kun!" His ears twitched at the voice, Conan's lips curling up into a smile as she heard her call out for him.
"Coming Akira-neechan!" Conan closed the closet door, rushing down the hallway as he was greeted by Akira's bright grin.
His breath hitched. Conan's breath hitched as he looked at her, marveling at the sight of the female detective. Her black hair, tied up into a ponytail as an apron hugged her waist, sharp green eyes staring at him with a fond gleam. There, a thought struck in his mind as he reminisced on his memories, staring up at the girl with wide eyes.
"H- Hey! Stop crying!" Shinichi panicked, looking at the wailing kid in front of him with guilt. Fifteen, and completely socially unaware, he panicked.
Shinichi, completely entranced in practicing his soccer skills had turned a blind eye to the world around him. Sweat trickled down his face, a cocky grin on his face as his foot touched the soccer ball, gathering the power up in his leg.
"And..." He piped himself up, building the tension up before releasing it with one punishing kick. Unnoticed to him though, he had failed to identify the first-grader who had ran across the field to retrieve his ball, turning back to his friends as he grasped the ball into his hands.
It all happened too fast before Shinichi could warn him. Next second he knew, the younger one was on the ground, holding the side of his cheek as tears fell down his face. He hiccupped over his words, crying desperately for his mom and that his cheek hurt. Shinichi rushed over frantically, apologizing to the kid as he tried to bribe him to stop crying.
Too bad for Shinichi, the kid didn't and cried even harder. The teen grit his teeth guiltily, ruffling his brown hair as he tried to think of a way to calm him down.
"Here."
Shinichi turned around at the unexpected voice, making room as he moved to the side, watching as Akira sat down on the floor in front of the crying child. In her hand, she held a packaged icy-pole, pressing it gently up against the little boy's cheek as the cold sensation stung against the burn of his cheeks.
The little boy whimpered as he stared up at the kind teen, wide, jeweled eyes that admired the girl's kind smile. Shinichi smiled as he observed her, the endearing smile, kind gaze. His eyes trailed across her features, watching the way her eyes softened with worry as the little boy whimpered at the pain, sniffling a final time before flashing a shy grin. Akira laughed softly, placing the icy-pole into the kid's hand before she stood up, waving him off. A strand of her hair covered the side of her face, blocking Shinichi's view.
Shinichi blushed, raising his hand up as he trailed it over towards the side of her face, grazing his finger under her hair before-
"Conan-kun, are you okay?" A hand waved in front of his face.
Ah, how silly of him. Conan blushed as he stumbled back, averting his eyes away as she crouched down in front of him, pressing a hand on his forehead.
"You're not sick," she mumbled the conclusion to herself, flinching when she heard the rice-cooker go off, losing her train of thought as she made her way towards it. A message ringing on her phone from her brother which Conan had read over curiously.
He knew he shouldn't have, but, you can't help a detective's curiousity.
Akira... Conan stared at the girl's frame, unable to hide the guilt, frustration and longing in his eye.
I want to tell you so badly, trust me. He pursed his lips, turning his back to the girl as he made his way towards the couch, letting his weight sink into the sold fabric.
I don't want to lose you.