Detective Conan FF: ♤The Poisoned Trio♤ (English)

Chapter 23 Bell Tree Express 2.0 Part I

It was already quite late, soon the sun would appear on the horizon again and light up the city. Deftly, the girl climbed through the window and dropped onto the bed. Grandpa must have been asleep by now, which is why Ash tried not to be too loud. She took off her suit and slipped into her pajamas. 

Where had all the t-shirts gone? Shaking her head, she searched her closet, had she forgotten to wash her clothes? Lost in her thoughts, she fished out a black t-shirt, not realizing it was a little too big for her. "Since when do I have such broad...shoulders?" she muttered, looking in the mirror. It dawned on her now. It had to be the t-shirt...from Nick. 

"Never mind," she grumbled and sighed. "You're back," a male voice remarked from behind her. Startled, Ash whirled around. "Well?", Minoru prompted her. His ice-blue eyes threatened to pierce her at any moment. That coldness...it rose almost to every corner of the girl's body. "I have nothing to report," Ash replied, rolling her eyes. The man scratched his mustache with his healed hand. "That sounds like a lie," Minoru countered, straightening his chin. "Don't get on my nerves, will you?" threw Ash back, trying to push past him, but the Frenchman held her tight. 

"Let go of me, you half-sausage," Ash hissed, not feeling like talking about the last few hours. "How did you get me-anyway. Now tell me what happened," the blue-eyed man said to her. But the agent remained silent. "Damn it Ash! Talk!" he grumbled at her, which was quite unusual. 

But through the last few days his patience thread had been stretched to the maximum. "Chaint," Minuro whispered, trying to read something in Ash's eyes. "Chaint! Why don't you let go of me! I don't want to talk about it! My head is pounding enough from Nick's...death. And now you want something from me too!" she yelled at him. Minuro pulled his hand back. "Do you think I'm okay? I can't even sleep properly since that day! There's something wrong, don't you see?" sighed Minuro. 

Ash froze. She hadn't known that the grandpa cared so much about the Nick. But...she too was thinking about him all the time. "I so don't care...I..." the girl faltered. "I went to Gin's place. Conan saved Ai. Well...I don't know....," she grumbled. "Wait...Ai Haibara...so Sherry was saved?", Minuro wondered. "Yes, the little boy who is supposed to be Kudo attacked us, with the FBI and the police. Then Gin just took off!" she crossed her arms. Minuro was silent for a moment. 

"Wait...did Gin say something?" the Frenchman echoed. "Not really. He was just grumbling at me. I have a feeling he's hiding a lot of things from us. The tops won't be thrilled," grumbled Brennevin wearily. "Time will tell," Minuro replied, turning around. "So, have we cleared all this up?" she glanced uncertainly after the man. "More or less," Minuro rubbed her temples. Should they do something? Or wait for another order? "What do you think we should do?" the man asked the girl. Ash bit his lip. "You're the informant, aren't you? I'm just hated by Gin now," she said, planting herself on the sofa. 

Just at that moment, Minuro's cell phone started ringing. He was startled for a moment, then picked it up. "Put it on speaker," Ash whispered. "Good to hear you again, Chardonnay," a warm voice greeted her. It was Vermouth. "Vermouth. Any news?", Minuro wanted to know. "Indeed. But you seem quite excited, my dear," the woman chuckled. Ash raised his brows in disgust. "My dear? What kind of weird bird are you," Minuro muttered, saying it way too loudly. "What kind of bird am I? My dear, I'll cut your dong off and tape it to your forehead," Vermouth replied coldly. Ash died laughing next to Minuro and fell on the floor. "I can't take it anymore, she's got you all down," Ash held his stomach. 

"Keep it down," annoyed, he looked to her. "Now let's get to the point. I'm supposed to hand over the next mission to you guys. Your mission is to ride the Bell Tree Express," the woman with platinum blonde hair told. At the same moment when the words reached Minuro's ears, the blood inside him began to rush. His breathing quickened; he felt his heart want to jump out of his chest. 

"Bell-Tree-Express?" he gasped. His hand began to tingle, suddenly he saw the bloodied ice pick in his hand. "What the...", Minuro tried to throw the object away, but it literally stuck to him. Instinctively, he tried to push the ice pick away with his missing hand, which of course didn't work. In the background he heard the chugging of the train. Suddenly everything around him was completely different. 

A train car, a view of a snowy landscape. "Minuro," he heard a voice. The blue-eyed man tried to turn around and understand where the voice was coming from. Somewhere he heard footsteps, someone walking towards him. "Minuro?!" the voice called, more worried this time. Then, abruptly, it was over. As quickly as the feeling came, it disappeared. 

"Grandpaaa?", Ash nudged Minuro gently. "Are you still there?" she wanted to know. Chardonnay nodded, dazed. "How do we get on the train?" echoed Brennevin. "You'll be given rings that will get you on the train. Everything else will be told to you then," Vermouth was done with the plan. "Any other questions?". Minuro was still silent. 

"Doesn't look like it," Ash chuckled. "Well, see you tomorrow then. I'll meet you at the station around twelve. Bye bye," Vermouth chuckled and hung up. Ash stared at Minuro in confusion. "Is everything all right?" she wondered. The man swallowed. "Sure. Was just...lost in thought," he confessed. He didn't know why he was suddenly so scared. It had been just an assignment after all...what was wrong with him? "I'm going to get some sleep. Not much time left until dawn," Ash yawned and stretched. 

"Good idea," Minuro grumbled. "It's going to be a long day tomorrow," Minuro agreed. "Sleep well," he applied curtly and disappeared into the bathroom. "Don't scare yourself," Brennevin chuckled, closing the door to the room. She leaned against it for a moment longer, then disengaged. "I kind of miss him already," she couldn't believe it herself that the words had left her lips. No, nonsense, it was just pure fantasy, nothing more. And yet...The girl eyed the empty bed in the room. "You're dead. I never would have thought that. Actually...", Brennevin fell silent. "I don't even know myself," she rolled into the covers and sniffled.

"Did I...screw up?", that would be one of the thousands of questions she could never ask him. Never again would she be able to bug him. Never again would they be able to argue. "You didn't hate me at all, did you?" she talked as if he was still here, right in front of her. But he wasn't. He was dead. With a hole in his body, at the bottom of a river. She shook her head. Why was she thinking about him all the time? 

Exhausted, she closed her eyes. She needed sleep, badly. Without wanting to, tears came loose again, her eyes became moist. Her hands began to tremble, she felt cold. Then the seemingly endless darkness enveloped her, and she lost herself in her sleep.