Behind the Eyes, Upon the Lies

Warnings: Will be updated very slowly/never.

Pairings: Slight Shinichi x Ran.

Notes: Crossover story between Detective Conan and another piece of Gosho's work, Tell Me A Lie, written because I was disappointed that the latter was so short. I really wanted to see more of Terumi and her special ability, but since there wasn't any more of her story to read, I decided to write my own. This story is set after the Clash of Red and Black arc, but before the London arc.

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan.

The Transfer Student

The teenaged girl stood in the middle of the schoolyard, staring at the building that was her destination. Hundreds of other teens bustled around her, with bags on their backs and books in their arms, all wearing the same blue uniform. But she didn't pay attention to them; her mind had pushed their existence into the background, for she was too focused on the large characters on the side of the building that spelled out Teitan High School.

The sound of the ringing bell in the background managed to breach her senses, reminding herself of where she was and that she had only a few minutes until class began.

"Well, this is it," she thought, pulling herself out of her trance. She let her gaze stray from the characters, moving downwards, until it settled on the entrance. She used her finger to push her large lensed glasses up onto the bridge of her nose, then headed towards the large double doors.

Meanwhile, inside a classroom marked 2-B, students were mingling around and chatting with friends, their last chance to do so before the ring of the bell plummeted them into a full hour lesson. And among the students, all the discussions that buzzed around seemed to be on one main topic: the transfer student.

They had known since yesterday that they would be getting a new student, their first one since Hondou Eisuke, but no information beyond that was given on the subject. This left many students wondering what the student was like. Boy or girl? Nice or mean? Cool or nerdy? Nobody knew the answers, leaving the possibilities up to their imaginations. But the student was due to come today, so they would know soon enough.

Suddenly, the door opened, and the teacher walked into the room. The students all immediately came to attention and went straight for their assigned seats. When everyone was seated, the teacher began to speak.

"Good morning class," he said. "As you are already aware, we are having a new student today. So now, I would like to introduce your new classmate, Arai Terumi."

The students directed their gazes towards the door as a foot stepped into the room.

Terumi had never really been comfortable going to a new school, a fact that she was now reminded of as she stood at the door marked 2-B. New building layout, new teachers, new classes; just the thought of it made her feel sick, and it just got worse every time it happened. She could still remember the nervousness she'd felt on her first day of elementary school, the anxiety of entering middle school, and the agony of starting high school. But at least then she'd had her friends there with her, helping her along the way. Now, she was in a completely different place, surrounded by people she'd never met before. It felt more like torture with every second that ticked by.

It couldn't be helped, though. Her father had gotten a job relocation, so her family had to move out and rent an apartment nearby. The relocation was only temporary; Terumi had been assured of that

multiple times by her parents, but at the very least she would be finishing the trimester here.

"So now, I would like to introduce your new classmate, Arai Terumi," she heard the teacher say from inside. Terumi took that as her cue. Preparing herself, she stepped into the room, fully aware of the stares directed at her. She stopped near the teacher and turned to meet the gazes of her new classmates.

The thoughts of over thirty students filled her head all at once. The thoughts were quite jumbled in her mind, but she'd had enough experience in crowds that she'd learned how to pick out the individual thoughts. Terumi heard multiple "So it's a girl" comments, a few disappointed "Darn, I was hoping it'd be a hot guy" thoughts from a few girls, and one perverted sounding "Hey, she's kinda cute!" (she almost blushed at that) from the boy in the back row.

Realizing that now was the time that she was supposed to introduce herself, she pushed the many invading thoughts to the back of her mind. "Um, my name is Arai Terumi," she said. "Please take care of me."

The teacher nodded. "Well then Terumi, let's find you a seat so we can begin our lesson." He took a quick scour of the room. "How about we put you in that seat there," the teacher said, pointing to an empty seat in about the center of the room.

As the teacher said that, Terumi noted that one student seemed to visibly tense up. The student was a girl with long black hair, part of which seemed to form a horn-like shape on the top of her head. Terumi looked at the girl and a foreign thought instantly entered her mind.

"That desk? But that's Shinichi's," the girl was thinking. To Terumi it sounded mournful, almost longing. "No, it's time to let it go," the girl thought, now seeming to fight against herself, although Terumi could still sense the sadness behind it. "He's been gone so long; this was bound to happen eventually."

For a moment, Terumi wondered who this Shinichi could be and why he made that seat so important, but she knew she wouldn't be able to acquire those answers at this time. She didn't understand why, but she could tell that this girl was obviously upset about somebody else sitting in that seat.

"Actually Sensei, could I sit in the front?" Terumi blurted, the words coming out before she could stop them. She just could never resist the chance to help someone out. Unable to take it back now, she gestured to a seat in the front row, the only empty seat in the room other than the one apparently belonging to Shinichi.

"Why?" the teacher asked.

"Um, well, I'm nearsighted, so I can't see the board very well in the back," Terumi ad-libbed quickly.

The teacher looked confused. "But you have glasses."

"Yeah, um, they're due for a lens change soon."

It wasn't the best excuse she could have come up with, but it seemed to be enough, because the teacher didn't pursue the matter further. "Very well, if you insist."

"Thank you," Terumi said, taking her chosen seat.

From behind her, Terumi could have sworn that she heard a sigh of relief.

More Notes:

-Originally planned as a one-shot. I eventually decided to make it multi-chapter fic. However, I am prone to writer's block and very late or irregular updates. Do not expect much.