from skybluescramble :

hello !

so, the newest volume of Detective Conan is just released in my country and suddenly I cannot stand not to write something about my favorite pairing: the invincible Conan-Ai. *kyaaaa!

when I (finally) realized what I am doing, I'm already in the middle of writing this chapter using my notebook even though I'm supposed to do my homework, hahaha.

this is (somehow) a sequel of Memories in Mozaic and will possibly have the same writing style.

I hope you can enjoy it.

thanks to elmzala for proofreading this.

OH.

and please leave me reviews.

DISCLAIMER:

Detective Conan/名探偵コナン

Gosho Aoyama©1994

:: Tea for Two ::

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"They were once strangers. Enemies, even.

But now they are more than friends.

She will do anything to help him.

He will give his everything to keep her safe.

They are partners.

They are lovers… Almost."

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CUP #1:

Spring

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HOW strange, thought Haibara Ai, as the swing on which she sat moved back and forth with the help of her feet kicking the ground. Did I get fat? The swing seat seemed wider last month, she mused with eyes focused at the clear sky. Last time she spent time in this very same park, she still found the seat spacious and could sit comfortably with her thighs parted wide. Today, she was surprised with the way that swing seat accommodated her body perfectly—not quite allowing parted-thighs anymore.

But of course, it hadn't been only a month time had passed.

In fact, it had been years.

For whatever reasons she couldn't recollect, she stopped coming to this particular small park after being a junior high school student.

Ai let out a small snort. She regretted it now. This small park, where kids from the neighborhood usually came to play together at weekend, has quite a good view thanks to various kinds of flowers and trees strategically planted there. There was also a big, tall, cherry blossom tree which was now in full bloom behind the swings. The cool breeze of spring blew the fallen petals towards her direction, and Ai reached out an arm, trying to catch one of them as she swung.

"Careful."

A deep voice behind her back startled her. Ai suddenly lost balance and stumbled forward, ready to hit the ground face first as she failed to grab the chain. Closing her eyes, she prepared herself to receive the pain but it never came. Instead, she felt a strong yank at her left arm and in the next moment found her back pressing against a hard plane. Presumably someone's chest.

"I just finished telling you to be careful," said the person who saved her. Ai turned her head to look at that person's face and scowled.

"You startled me." She answered, wriggling herself out of the grip of Edogawa Conan. "I was doing fine until you came."

He looked amused. "So it was my fault? I'm sorry, then."

"You don't mean it." The strawberry blonde-haired girl pointed out, arms crossed in front of her chest.

"Well, I saved you. So I atoned for my mistake already."

Ai didn't give him a reply. They simply stood in front of each other in silence for a few moments, examining each other's facial features. They remained that way until Ai sighed in defeat, uncrossed her arms and sat back on the swing.

"Why did you come?"

Conan smiled as he approached the unoccupied swing beside Ai and sat down. "Let's go home. You've been out since morning, right? It's past eleven. I'm sure you haven't eaten anything."

The girl gave him a sour smile.

"I don't feel like being home," she admitted. "It feels so… empty. I miss Professor Agasa."

Agasa Hiroshi just passed away last week. Conan looked at Ai's face attentively, noticing that there were tears in her eyes threatening to fall down her cheeks. He really felt sorry for her, but those who died will never come back to life.

"I miss him, too, that old man." Conan chuckled silently, causing Ai to look at him at his revelation. "But I think you have been coping with your loss pretty well, Ai. You act strong in front of people despite the fact that you're grieving. You convince them not to worry about you. Of course you cry and space out whenever you're alone, but it's only natural. It's okay to be sad. Professor was an important person to all of us, especially to you."

For awhile Ai seemed perplexed, but then she started to laugh. "I cannot believe you just gave me a speech."

Conan grinned in return. "I also can't believe I said those things."

"But," her laugh diminished, "I still don't want to go home. I feel…breathless there."

"You don't have to go back to professor's house, you know." Conan said while looking away, as out of the blue meeting her clear, turquoise eyes directly became difficult. Then he spoke a little too fast: "Cometomyhouse."

Ai blinked, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Pardon me? I didn't catch that one."

"I said that you can go to my house!" Face flushed from embarrassment, Conan turned his head to look at Ai, locking their gaze, unconsciously raising his voice to almost-shouting level. When he saw her shocked face, he continued to speak in a lower volume, still blushing beet-red. "If you aren't comfortable at professor's house, you can live in mine. There are lots of spare rooms there."

"What…"

Conan quickly cut her off. "I already told my mother. She was giddy with the idea. That way, you don't have to experience internal suffering every time you are home. On the other hand, I'll be glad to have a company. My family house is too big for living alone, I must admit. So it's a mutual symbiosis. You won't be a burden."

The breeze blew more fallen petals. They were floating around them, some of those pinkish petals fell on top of her head, and although Conan was sure he also had some stuck between his hair, he couldn't help but think how breathtaking Haibara Ai looked like now—with eyes widened and mouth slightly opened.

"Shinichi," she began, and he immediately knew that whatever feedback might come from her, it was serious. Up to this point, Ai never called him by his first name in casual occasion. "Is that okay?"

"Yes."

"I mean, really okay?"

"Yes."

"Did you… did you ask me what I think you asked me?"

A smile slipped out his lips. "I asked you to live with me. Yes."

When Ai dropped her gaze to look down at her knees and droplets of water wetted her joined hands as she cried noiselessly, Conan could hear her whispering continual "Thank you" in between silent sobs.

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Spring – end.