Resolve
Title: Resolve
Author: ran_mouri82
Word Count: 1705
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Aoyama's the conductor on this mystery train.
Spoilers: OVA 9 - The Stranger in 10 Years
Characters/Pairings: Edogawa Conan/Mouri Ran, Haibara Ai
Notes: An alternate ending to OVA 9.
Resolve
Edogawa Conan looked into Ran's tearful eyes and sighed with relief. Despite Kudou Shin’ichi being gone for a decade, Ran was resolved to turn down Araide-sensei's proposal, after all. Smiling at her in the dim moonlight of the musty Kudou library, he said, “But, Ran, I really am Shin-”
Ran put a finger to his lips, which was much easier to do now that they were the same height. “It’s okay, Conan-kun. You don’t have to cheer me up.”
He started to protest, but nodded. Though he could try to persuade her until he was blue in the face, it had been a tiring day for them both. For now, it was time to go.
As Conan ushered Ran out the front door and back to the gate, the damp chill of night settled into his skin. He shivered, thinking that the distant, baying dog and waning moon set the perfect scene for his personal nightmare. Ten years had passed in the blink of an eye, and he could remember none of it. The Detective Boys were suddenly teenagers, Haibara claimed he had built an immunity to the antidote, and Ran had come this close to marrying another man. At this point, he would not have been shocked if the Baskerville hound were lying in wait for him.
Leading Ran to the sidewalk, Conan sensed a presence behind him and frowned. “Hey, Ran-uh, Ran-neechan, would you mind going on ahead? I forgot something at the professor's.”
“No, that’s fine,” Ran said, shaking her head. She gave him a small, sober smile. “Don't stay out too late, okay?”
Conan watched her walk away for a full minute, listening as the wind whistled through the treetops, before he trusted she was out of earshot. Then, stretching his arms behind his head, he turned toward the girl-no, the 28-year-old high school student-who waited for him in the shadows. “Hey, Haibara, you can come out now. We’re getting a little old for Hide and Seek.”
“Glad to see you’ve recovered your sense of humor,” Ai said, emerging from behind the gate. She had changed out of her school uniform into a casual outfit of a tunic, leggings, tall boots, and denim jacket. The darkness turned her auburn hair a soft, iron gray. “Suzuki-san called to ask where you were and told me about Mouri-san. I figured you would end up here. Did it go well?”
Unnerved by Ai’s question, Conan took note of her clothes and absently wondered if Japanese fashion had stalled. He leaned against the gate’s outer wall and looked into the black, starless sky. “Ran’s not getting married.”
Taking measured steps, Ai approached and leaned beside him. “Then I guess it went well for you.”
“Yeah, right,” Conan said.
Ai glanced at him. “And what about the next time?”
“Stop it, okay?” Conan waved her words away and grimaced. “That’s the last thing I want to think about. If what you said earlier is true, then there’s not much hope of me ever returning to my normal body, is there?” He gave a halfhearted chuckle. “Though I guess I’d be close to thirty by now.”
“…You really don’t remember, do you?” A hint of sorrow crept into her voice.
“No. The last ten years-it’s like they never existed. Heck, I’m still hoping they don’t exist,” Conan said. He tore his glasses off in frustration, shoved them into his uniform’s jacket pocket, and suddenly felt Ai staring at him hard enough to burn a hole in his skull. “Geez, what is it? You look like there’s something on my face.”
Ai paused. “You have to let go of Mouri-san.”
“What?”
“Without a sample of APTX 4869, no antidote is possible,” she said. “Even if shock or denial made you forget the last ten years, you know they burned all my research. I’ve done all I can, Edogawa-kun.”
He felt sick at hearing that name. Maybe it was the thought of being stuck with it for the rest of his life. Maybe it was the realization that Ai was calling him that in private. Maybe it was the finality with which she was proclaiming that he had to give up on Ran. All he knew was that Ai’s pessimism disgusted him because, for the first time, it was contagious. “You did all you could?” he spat. “I’m starting to doubt that.”
Ai flinched. Lowering her head, her expression became unreadable in the dark, but her closed fists started to tremble. “There’s something I have to tell you.”
Oh, man, Conan thought, taking a step back. I really pissed her off. But when Ai took a breath and straightened, her face was flushed, and she gazed at Conan with the same, burning stare that reminded him of something his mother once said. A girl had only two reasons to look at a boy like that.
“I’m in love with you.”
Conan swallowed hard. No way….
“Of course, I know you won’t return my feelings,” Ai said, crossing her arms. “And it makes sense for you to deduce that I might want to keep you for myself as long as we could have something like a normal life.”
“H-Haibara-”
“No, I’m not done.” Ai clenched her jaw and continued. “Like a childish coward, last Valentine’s Day I gave you homemade chocolate in the same drawstring bag as the store-bought chocolate I gave the others. Part of me wanted you to notice, but part of me wanted to run away, and that part won out. Fortunately, you were always the worst at deducing matters of the heart.” She clutched her jacket sleeves as sadness softened her features. “In spite of that, I’ve never-ever-stopped working on the antidote, even though it’s fruitless. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s all I have left to give you.” She turned her back to him. “There. Weak as it is, that’s what I have to say for myself. Believe it if you want.”
“Hey, wait-” Conan caught Ai’s arm as she bolted for Agasa’s house. “Hey!”
Ai halted, her breathing ragged. She squirmed but did not struggle. “Yes?”
“I’m sorry,” Conan said, releasing her arm. “You’re right. I can’t return your feelings. But I never knew that you-dammit, Haibara, feelings aren’t evidence against you because they aren’t logical!” He scratched his head as he fumbled for the right words and felt warm all of a sudden, like someone had cranked up an outdoor sauna. He threw his jacket to the ground, making his glasses spill out of the front pocket and clatter onto the sidewalk. “Maybe I don’t remember the last ten years, but I should’ve known you well enough by now to believe you-to believe in you, even if you didn’t believe in yourself. That’s why I won’t give up!”
Ai stood still for a moment, her eyes wide. Then, she bent down to retrieve Conan’s glasses and wiped them with clinical care. Handing them back to him, she said, “Maybe you’re right. For once, anyway.”
Conan put the glasses back on and grinned. “This time, I’ll draw out the Organization and end this. Maybe it’s not too late for either of us.”
Ba-dump!
A searing pain shot through Conan, causing him to clutch his pounding chest. This heat-what’s going on?! He fell in slow motion until time itself ground to a stop….
“Three hours and thirty minutes.”
Conan sat up and blinked as Professor Agasa’s living room came into focus. He was wearing his high school uniform, but it sagged around him. Obviously, he was small again, but with that crazy dream and his fever, it was all he could do to think straight. Ai was seated on the sofa across from him, holding up a wristwatch. “H-Haibara, have you been observing the effects of the antidote?”
While Ai explained to Conan how his fever had made him delirious and shortened the antidote’s effectiveness, he fought a losing battle to pay attention. Finally, Ai abandoned her seat and walked behind the couch out of his sight. With his grogginess closing in fast, it was hard to follow whatever the heck she was doing.
“I gained valuable data from this, so thanks. Unless you plan to sleep off your fever here, you had better hurry back to the agency before you’re missed. Here,” Ai said, returning to offer Conan a capsule of cold medicine and a glass of water. “Take this before you go. I don’t want to be responsible for you passing out in the street-what? Is there something on my face?”
It was only then that Conan noticed he was staring at Ai, or rather, at the bags under her eyes. The dream was already blurring in his memory, but certain parts stood out. Heh, there’s no way I’m ever going to tell her about that. “No, just-I believe in you.”
“Huh?” Ai pressed her hands against her forehead and his. “I’ll get the thermometer. You’re getting worse.”
“No, I’m fine,” Conan said, rolling his eyes and swatting her hand away. With some effort, he managed to stand up despite the oversized clothes and his swimming head. In his mental fog, he imagined all the late nights Ai must have spent making the prototype antidote he had just tried. Funny, I hadn’t thought much about that before. “You’re giving it your all, so I just want to let you know you can do it. Let’s do our best.”
“Thanks for the encouragement,” Ai said, though her voice dripped with sarcasm. “Maybe someday, if you can learn to control yourself and act responsibly, I’ll let you keep a dose of the antidote for emergencies.”
An idealistic bomb was set to explode in Conan mind. All the things he could do, cases he could solve, things to say to Ran-but the nightmare he had just escaped snuffed out that spark as easily as it had been lit. With a faint shudder, he said, “Nah. I’ll pass.”
While Conan shuffled toward the bathroom to change into smaller clothes, Ai, rooted to the floor in shock, watched him leave. Then, she shrugged and said, “Maybe you learned something important after all, Kudou-kun.”