"Yo Ran, long time no see," Shinichi greeted coolly. How long has it been since they had last seen each other? He then stared out of the window glass. They were at a luxurious hotel that Ran used to dream of having a date with him. Shinichi made no hesitance of reserving a place for them there.
Shinichi could barely see the details of the bustling streets from a bird's eye view, with only the sparking lights in exception that competed with the stars. Despite all that, he could feel Ran fidgeting and twirling the hem of the royal purple tablecloth. She had an aching need to speak up. Her eyes kept shifting to her hands and his face, confused whether she still have lingering feelings for him. Shinichi was aware of that she was seeing someone else, through his investigations but too dense to see the transparency of her heart. He assumed that she no longer cared for him.
But he was so wrong.
"Shinichi, it's a beautiful night, isn't it?"
"Hmm...?" he turned towards her, pretending to be clueless. He was aware that she wanted to speak with him regarding the sapphire ring that nests on one of her fingers. The dark blue gem glinted, reflecting the light from the candles on the table, as if it was a baby crying for Shinichi's attention. He glared at it.
This is the time. My boyfriend have proposed to me yesterday, I have yet to say yes. This is the last chance. Before I say yes, I still want to confirm if Shinichi has any feelings for me.
"Shinichi..." she muttered, having her gaze locked at him intensely. She fought back to not let herself break down again.
"Ran, what is it?"
Say something, Ran. I know, you're going to tell me about your engagement.
"Well..." Ran stuttered, finding the little courage she had, "I'll be engaged. But there is one question I was always wondering."
"Okay, go on," he nodded. He noticed that she was biting her lower lip, unable to blurt the words she had rehearsed long and hard.
"It's been 3 years since you've been gone. Lots of things have changed, but we're still childhood friends, aren't we?" she spoke slowly, rigidly. Like she had memorized a script for a play. From then, Shinichi knew that she had carefully devised the conversation. So he played along. He nodded.
"I just wanted to ask. Tell me honestly. Do you lo-"
RING...RING!
She was interrupted by Shinichi's phone. The phone displayed Agasa's name.
"Sorry."
He declined the incoming call and set his phone into silent mode. He shifted his attention to her again. "You were saying?" he asked sincerely.
"I just want an honest answer. Shinichi," she fidgeted with her skirt, unable to meet his eyes, her hands were sweating.
"Shinichi... I'll hold off the engagement if you give me the answer I'm expecting. Do you still lo-"
BRRR...BRRR!
His phone vibrated against the table. That's right, he still set the phone in vibration even if it was on silent mode. Annoyed, he raised his finger to decline Agasa's call until Ran grabbed his wrist. "Wait, Shinichi. If Hakase called the second time, it must be urgent. Just pick it up," she suggested. He did as he was told.
"Hakase," he started, but his eyes became petrified, "what?! Where is she?"
Ran jumped a little, startled by his sudden change of reaction. She barely has seen Shinichi in such an agitated state.
She? Who is Shinichi talking about?
"Okay, I'll be right there. Hakase, stay with the police!" he practically yelled, such that the rest of the guests in the restaurant turned their heads, curious to know what the calamity was.
Police? Did something happen?
"Damn it!" he pounded his fist against the tablecloth and the utensils made a jump. Ran could not believe it. Shinichi was shaking involuntarily, frustration and fear overtaking his body.
I just left Haibara for one day and they took this opportunity to take her!
"Ran, I need to go. Something happened. Someone's in trouble!" he said as he dashed out of the restaurant.
She held her arm out, as if it was long enough to reach him, to grab hold of him. He was always...gone.
"Wait... Shinichi..."
The tear she was holding back finally dropped, landing on the sapphire gem. Ran looked at it, crying even harder.
----------------------------
"Never expected you'll still be alive, Sherry," a voice boomed and Shiho immediately stopped struggling against the chains on her wrist. It was dark, but she recognized that voice.
Gin.
"Betrayers have their way of surviving for their own skin, I guess," Gin stepped into the light, his silvery long hair shining against the moonlight, "but just like a snake that sheds its own skin, you'll always leave traces behind. And I'll sniff your blood out like a hawk. I will always find you, Sherry." He stared at her with that cold-blooded eyes, making Shiho shudder. It sent chills to her spine. He moved closer to her face, caressing her strawberry blonde hair. She flinched, utterly disgusted.
"As I've predicted, you've grown really pretty," Gin complimented, but his voice didn't suit that purpose, "no one else should have you or kill you, except for me!" Shiho said nothing, but spit on his face. Disdain written all over her. She smirked smugly at him. He wiped off the spit, returning an even more angered expression. Swiftly, he took out a handgun and pointed it at her face. Fear surged through her, but she dared to look at his snake-like eyes.
"What are you waiting for? Or have you gone soft-hearted and become hesitant to kill me?" she taunted him. But she just wanted to invoke rage so that he would kill her quickly.
"As expected of Sherry. You never changed. Still a challenge, I see," he said in a low voice.
"You know this morning, we finished one rat in the organisation. Man, she caused a damage. Last week many small fries were caught all because of her. Marsala, we killed her. Jealous women are easy to manipulate," he went on, "now the Organization has been reduced to just a few of us. Thanks to rats like you." He then fired the bullet at her ankle. She let out a hysterical cry, which made Gin chuckle.
"But I won't finish you off so quickly," he said, firing another to her left shoulder. She let out another scream, signals of pain were sent out across her nervous system. Gin laughed at her miserable state. "I'll just let you die slowly, painfully. But first, let's make a Melee cocktail, eh?" he added. He took out a dagger, grinning, matching the glare of light the weapon was reflecting. He grabbed her by the hair, forcing the strands of strawberry blonde locks to be cleared away from the bullet hole on her shoulder. He then used the other hand to press the dagger into her wound. Shiho screamed again, as the metal tip pierced into her flesh. Gin tilted the dagger the side, extracting the bullet out of her wound before injecting the dagger into her wound.
"I'll torture you till you beg for me to kill you!" Gin yelled, with passionate fury. She assumed that he had lost his sanity, she wanted to escape from this lunatic. But was too injured to even think. She was getting dizzy. He removed the dagger from her wound, blood gushing out of it like a dam.
I'll suffer from severe blood loss. Is this how I'm gonna die?
He moved, slowly, to her injured ankle. He raised his arm, ready to stab her again. "One down. Now this one's next-"
"Don't touch her!" a voice interrupted. Gin halted his actions, shocked.
"Who's there?"
He turned around, only to find the room empty.
"We've got you surrounded," it replied.
"Then Vodka-"
"We caught him. Don't count on Vermouth to rescue you. She's a sly cat that saves her own skin."
"How do you know so much about us?"
Surprisingly, Gin laughed, amused. "So, it wasn't just Marsala that brought half of us down," his face twisted into a frown, "it was you!" He then caught a silhouette from the corner. Quickly, he dropped the dagger and took out his gun. He fired at it twice, but he looked like he missed. The silhouette moved again like a passing ghost. No time to lose, Gin shot at it consecutively.
"Gin, you disappointed me," the voice taunted, "where was the cool level-headed guy that you once were?"
"Oh, so we've met before. I'm guessing that you're Sherry's knight in shining armor, eh?" he chuckled, pressing the gun at her temple without looking at her.
"I'm not going to let you kill her, Gin."
"What if I do?" he pressed the gun harder against her, "no one else can have her. I'll kill her."
"You would really do that? But I'm the one she cares the most. Gin, you lost. I already have her. I've known her, I've seen the whole of her," the voice insulted him once more.
"I've seen all that you didn't," it added. At this, it aggravated Gin. He stood up, firing at the area he deduced the young detective would be. He walked over to the corner, only to be surprised at seeing a broken device. He clicked his teeth. He was fooled.
"So it was just a recorder," Gin commented, "this man actually predicted what I'm going to say and recorded his reply as accordingly?"
"Yes"
The door slowly opened, revealing the young detective.
"I know you," Gin stated, gritting his teeth, "you were that nosy schoolboy that was watching us."
"Kudo Shinichi," he added, now pointing the gun at Shinichi. He held his hand up in response.
"Setting up your white flag?"
CLICK.
But the gun had no more bullets to fire.
Shinichi smirked, making Gin exasperated. "Neh Gin, how many bullets have you wasted?" Gin fumbled, searching for refills. It was missing. He looked back at Shiho, her hand holding the refills and the dagger in her mouth. She smirked through the silvery weapon.
"If you knew her so well, would've you have predicted that she used this distraction to use the dagger to free herself and steal the bullets from you?" Shinichi questioned, making Gin sweat in nervousness. They both watched Shiho toss the array of bullet shells to the window.
"I still have more artillery with me."
"You're lying. When you searched for the reloads, it means you only had one with you. Because if you did, you would've taken it out and finish me off," the young 20-year old detective concluded. Gin searched about, really thinking of the option to take down Shinchi bare-handedly.
But wait. There is one more weapon left.
It was the knife between Shiho's lips.
He turned his heel, towards the chemist. Shiho was stunned, but had enough time to react. She moved, dodging Gin's hands for the dagger. Gritting the dagger between her teeth, she moved, causing a huge slice across Gin's left eye. He staggered back, yelling in the sudden pain.
"You bitch!" he screamed. Shiho took this opportunity to drop the bleeding weapon on her free hand. Looking up at Shinichi, she tossed it at him, which the modern Sherlock Holmes caught. Shinichi then swiftly manoeuvred towards the long-haired burly man, stabbing him in the gut. Gin spat blood on the floor, heaving greatly to catch his own breath.
"I could've killed you..." Shinichi took a sharp exhale, "but I made sure it missed your vital organs. You'll be punished for all the lives you took. I'll let the authorities bring justice." He took out the dagger and Gin immediately dropped on the floor.
"To think...I've been tricked by an arrogant kid...and a cunning traitor," he mumbled, before luring into unconsciousness. The secret police and a few FBI agents arrived, taking him away.
Shinichi walked over to the bounded girl. With one hack against the metal, he used the dagger to let the other arm free. Shiho quickly lounge at him like a compressed spring that had been released. He stiffened, having her arms around him. Regaining his composure, he softened, pulling her to an even tighter embrace.
"You're safe now, Haibara."
----------------------------
Sirens from police and secret agent cars were blaring around the collapsing building.
So Vermouth and the Boss escaped. Probably it was easy to ignite fire by using kerosene and phosphine.
"Don't worry, Shinchi," Camel tapped him on the shoulder, "we got a lead on them. We'll find them soon. Just protect that girl." They turned around, expect Shiho to be there.
But she was nowhere to be found.
Shit! Don't tell me she went back to retrieve whatever information there is in the APTX 4869!
"Shiho!" he screamed, careful not to reveal her alias name. He was prepared to go inside the flames of inferno, just to save her.
"Since when was it okay for you to call me by my first real name?" a feminine voice piped up. Shinichi looked back. Shiho was holding up a thumb-drive, probably containing some information about them. She smirked, after just witnessing the detective losing his cool.
He rushed towards her and pulled her into another embrace. Shiho was pleasantly surprised that she had no time to react. He pulled away, resting both of his hands on her shoulder with a stern look. "You idiot! You could've died there! And what's up with you taking the antidote in the morning when Gin found you late at night? What were you thinking? You scared me to death!" he reprimanded, but Shiho wasn't offended at all. It was good knowing that he was concerned about her.
"I knew you were going to meet Ran. I didn't have a test subject for the 24-hour pill. So I took it. I wanted to see how I look like anyway," she explained, cold and pragmatical.
"Ah-ra, weren't you supposed to be with Ran?" she questioned.
"Screw that. If I stayed with her, you might've been dead! Don't pull this kind of irrational shit anymore," he said, hugging her again.
"Shinichi...?"
A familiar voice spoke, but it was raspy and softer than usual, like it was her last breath. Standing right in front of them was Ran. Shiho immediately pushed Shinchi away, refusing to face the girl that resembled her deceased sister. She couldn't imagine that pain in Ran's eyes.
"I asked Hakase what happened. Then Inspector Megure called my dad... I expected to find you here..." she said glumly.
"It's not what you think," Shiho budged in, "I got into trouble. A few bad guys caught me and Kudo-kun had to stop them from killing me."
"I see..." she said blandly, still refusing to look up, "and who might you be? I feel that we've met before."
"She's Hai-" Shinichi answered, but stopped because he almost let his tongue slipped.
"It's Sherry," Shiho cut in, technically it's not a lie because that's her codename, "I'm half-Japanese. I'm a chemist, specializing in pharmaceuticals. I don't think we've met before."
"Yeah, she's sort of like my partner -in-investigation. We've met overseas. She helps me in cases," Shinichi added.
"Was that why...?" Ran trailed off, unable to say anything. Her thoughts flashback to the look in Shinichi. The moment he heard that "Sherry" was in trouble, he was so agitated, so afraid.
"Shinichi, I've waited for you for so long... But I'm getting engaged," she continued, hoping to get a reaction from Shinichi. Shiho remained silent, unable to look at any of them.
Unexpectedly, Shinichi gave a bittersweet smile to Ran and said, "then I wish you the best of luck. You deserve someone that doesn't make you wait." At this, Ran felt like her heart was ripped from top to bottom, as if it was paper. Oddly, she expected him to be annoyed, afraid, beg for her to not marry another.
Fighting hard not to tear up, she smiled, "then since we're childhood friends, I want you to come to my wedding. You can bring Sherry along too."
"Forget it, Ran," he replied tersely, now facing his back on her so that it'll be easier for him, "I'm not coming. Do you think your groom will like his wife-to-be's childhood friend that she used to have a childish crush on?" Ran immediately gasped. So he wasn't as dense as she thought.
"But it wasn't just a crush!"
"Yeah yeah," Shinichi said as nonchalant as he could, lying through his teeth, "you don't even show the slightest bit of understanding why I've gone to cases, and you say that you like me? Don't make me laugh. Just go home Ran, call your guy up. Be happy. Don't make situations like this complicated." His heart was now pounding. He didn't mean any of it.
Forgive me, Ran.
Ran balled her hands into a fist, restraining herself from physically injuring him. She was shaking, no longer in nervousness, but in hatred. "Don't ever come near me again, who knows what I might do if you do," she said blandly, yet there was a deadly aura around her. As composed as she tried to be, she turned her back on him. With a sharp inhale, she walked, slowly. Slow enough to wait if Shinichi would stop her from walking away.
But he never did.
He just stoned there, watching Ran, his childhood sweetheart, walk away.
On the way home, Ran dialled up her boyfriend.
"About the proposal..."
"Yes, Ran?"
"My answer is yes."
----------------------------
Before they knew it, the two were back in their shrunken forms, in Agasa's house.
"That was harsh, Kudo-kun," Ai lectured, "why are you here?"
Conan stood by the door, his glasses concealing his melancholic eyes. Softly, he answered, "if I didn't, then Ran will continue to suffer."
Ai continued to type on the computer, her eyes not breaking away from the screen. "But the Black Organization is almost reduced to pieces. And I told you, I'm 80% there from completing the antidote. But why didn't you?" she questioned.
"I had no choice!" he retaliated, putting up his defenses, "Ran already has someone that treasures her. I can't destroy that."
"All these years, I've been neglecting her needs... I don't deserve her..."
Ai could tell that he was ashamed. Swiveling the chair around, she stood up, walking towards him. She cupped one hand of hers on his cheek, whispering, "I'm sorry. I brought this upon you. I'll finish the antidote as soon as I can." She took off his spectacles and wore it on her, so that she could see his eyes clearly.
He responded by placing his hand over hers, closing his eyes, he said, "forget it, Haibara."
Unexpectedly, Ai's expression hardened, with a stiff upper lip, she said harshly, "I will not let you suffer from my own actions."
"Haibara. It's not your fault. You don't have to make the antidote," he replied, looking away. Ai snaked her hand away, getting even more pissed at him.
She shouted, "you abandoned her for me! How could you expect me to not watch you suffer? I was fine, I didn't need your help." She took off his glasses from her face, ruffling her bangs.
"Then leave you there to die? Haibara don't be stupid!" he yelled at her back, retrieving his glasses from her, "you think I didn't know the bags under your eyes? You getting thinner each day? Haibara, why are you doing this for me? Tell me!" He flooded her with questions, questions that only she could answer.
"I don't know," she lied, she smiled bitterly, "but I know that we only help each other because we're in the same state. If you already had the antidote, you wouldn't leave Ran even for a second. And I wouldn't want you to leave her either."
Conan shook his head. He was confused. With both despair and quizzical tone in him, he questioned once more, "why... Why are you saying all these?"
"I'll finish the antidote. You'll change your mind, you'll convince her."
"You can't dictate me. What's done is done. She's not going to take me back."
"And you can't stop me from completing the antidote. I know you'll change your mind."
"I'm exhausted of arguing. It'll go to nowhere," he sighed, turning his back on her, placing his glasses back, "anyway I'm moving out of Kogoro's house. I'll be moving here." He shut the basement door.
Haibara, why must you be so stubborn?
The girl heard the sound of the closed door, unable to move. She stayed rooted to the ground, processing the events that had played today. She returned to her seat, working on the antidote. Now that she has new information about the drug, she continued working on it.
You still don't understand, Kudo-kun. But I'll make sure you'll find happiness.
----------------------------
Unknowingly to the shrunken chemist and detective, two pairs of eyes were watching them in a car.
"To think that wretched Sherry stole the information about the incomplete Sherlock Holmes," Vermouth said spitefully, spying on them through her binoculars.
"Never mind about that drug," an unknown voice said, "I got what I've achieved. Our priority is to reform our Organization."
"And what about annihilating her?"
"My dear Vermouth," it said, chuckling in a sadistic manner, "ever heard of the phrase, 'Revenge is sweet when served cold'?"
"Yes, but-"
"Patience, Vermouth," it replied, "a pride of lions strikes when the prey leasts expects it."
"Yes boss."