Stay! By My Side

Chapter 38

Haibara's eyes were slowly widened at the sight of the confronter. The familiar sharp nose, sleek clothing, and hair perfectly hidden under a beany came into her sight. The beany was the only thing out of the familiarity. It was usually a ridiculous magician high hat with fake spectacle wore on one eye. And instead of a long coat, a tight-fitted turtle neck sweater snuggled the man's body perfectly, paired with dark-colored trouser.

"Kid?"

The man took off his beany, ruffling his hair a little, then threw his boots along with the beany carelessly across the scattering glass. He sighed at the sight. Without saying anything, and deliberately ignoring the disbelief stare from the young woman trapped in a body of a little girl, he started to set the table for dinner. Haibara, decided not to waste her energy to demand any explanation, followed suit. She took her gun and put it on top of the dinner table.

"Are you seriously going to eat with that next to your plate?"

She answered the young man with a glare, leaving no room for negotiation. The young man sighed.

"Fine."

The atmosphere didn't get any better with both kept their mouth shut during the next hour of dinner preparation. Haibara almost did nothing to help the other person in the room. She sat still, even after the meal was served under her nose.

"You eat. I'll talk. Deal?"

The man sighed heavily again when the young girl didn't even bother about the food. He settled himself down across her, slowly devouring his portion. He pointed the fork towards her plate, urging her to take the deal.

"You know," said the man after Haibara finally took the fork pointed to her, "I pity our great detective." He smiled at the reaction he got from the girl across the table.

"You left him," he flicked his fingers, "Just like that. No wonder he's so brokenhearted. I almost wanted to spill the tea, seeing how much torture he's in now by brooding alone."

Haibara's fork stopped midway. Her eyes gleamed with pure agony. The man in front of her seemed to be enjoying the view.

"I wasn't informed about your staying in this house. I'm sorry I made you startled. Kudo is going to kill me for real if I ever scratched your skin, let alone put any hole through it."

They were in silent once again for a while, getting busy with their own dinner, and their own train of thoughts. Haibara, upon hearing the mention of Shinichi, started to feel uneasy. She convinced herself that this was the best option for thousand times since she ran away from Hakase's house. And hearing about him again putting a certain squeeze inside her heart. Both relieve and painful. Relieve, because he cares so much. Painful, because she never wanted to be an entity to possibly break his heart.

"As much as I enjoy your mirrored reaction, I really don't want to separate you from him."

"I chose this myself" said Haibara, finally decided to let out her voice.

"I know. Still, I don't really agree with your choice. But it's not my place to mingle with your decision. I just thought, being under his watch was your safest sanctuary."

The young man got up from his seat, stretched his upper body a little before rubbing his stomach. Haibara winched at his burp, suddenly losing her appetite all at once. The man laughed cheerfully, easing the tension surrounding them from the unexpected encounter.

"So," said he, while cleaning the table. "I'm aware of the proposal given to you by our funny little team. It seems like you finished the antidote."

"It's still a prototype. I'm not sure of the permanent result. But yes, it could be our weapon." Haibara explained, clearly getting more relaxed than few moments ago.

"You gave it to Kudo? I can't believe you made him your lab rat."

"He's not." Haibara glared at him. The man smiled playfully while raising his both hands in the air.

"The dosage might be strong enough, but I altered it from the one I took. So the lab rat is me, not him."

"Ah!" He replied half-heartedly while washing the dishes.

"The one i gave him will take its effect slowly, but might not be strong enough to bring him back permanently. At least the process will be less painful. Least effective, yes, but the side effect won't be enough to kill him."

"And what's the worst case?"

"He might come to his original body longer this time, but not guaranteed for how long. When he ever come back to his little form, it would be very hard to turn him back to his original body. But not impossible. But if that dosage is enough for him to stay for 10 years, then we can say we have our success."

"And what about the one you're about to take?"

"This will give me an instant transformation, dosage wise, and also a certain immunity during the upcoming battle."

"What- like becoming a super human or something?"

"Something like that, I guess. But could also be an instant kill."

"What?!"

"Let's us just see what happen."

"Don't just smile and being creepy on me, young lady! Are you trying to say you're gambling with your life?!"

"Having a crazy conversation, in a crazy situation, with ridiculous Kaito Kid is a worst gambling I've ever had in my life. Nothing would be able to top this one, don't you think?"

The man was staring in disbelief. He was aware of the crazy idea the little lady had with Vermouth, but not to this extend. He then threw himself on the sofa, next to the strawberry blonde little girl, contemplating his choice once again. Will the war really move towards their hopeful direction? Or is it going to burn them all to crisp?

The silence once again engulfed the two peculiar pair sitting side by side on a worn out sofa, surrounded by scattered glass and flickering light. Both knew the battle won't be easy, but they were still willing to take that hopeful future, however tiny that is. 

The front door was clicking, then closing at a gentle thud. A familiar wavy blonde haired woman came into their sight.

"Ah, enjoying each other's company already?"

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Hi, everyone. I'm here, alive, and all. LOL.

You have no idea how much i miss you all. And I miss our lovely Shiho so much. I'm working on my consistency to write again, sorry for taking too long. A whole two years, I guess? I wish you're still staying with me. I want to say thank you, thank you, and thank you, for loving this story. Like I once said, I'm planning on re-writing this story and post it here on wattpad. Also, I'm thinking on creating a separate website or whatever to encourage me to write more. I'll let you all know once it's settled. Thank you, again. I'll see you tomorrow!