Chapter Twenty-Nine: Second Life (1st Encounter II)

Haibara's POV

The maid leads us to Airika's room. Mina and I got separated when she excused herself for a while, while I followed Tsukiyama-san towards Airika's room.

"Airika ojou-san, how are you feeling?" Rin nee-chan asked all so sudden.

"I am fine. I'm still trying to not get wobbly when I walk," I replied while staring at her back.

Her shoulders were up; the position was fixed but the way she is walking was wobbly. Hands clasped together at her front, tangled. The way her side face kind of not equal meaning she is biting her lip.

"You are tense," I blurted out to her as I stopped walking.

Her shoulders suddenly go up as she halted on her walk. She slowly looked at me. Her eyes held nervousness.

"Ne, Tsukiyama-san, don't be nervous to me," I said and smirked. "Airika loves you. I guess I should start to trust you."

She looked at me with horror in your eyes. "Y-You... You are not Airika?" Tsukiyama-san said in shock.

I looked at her innocently. "Well, yeah. Kind of, but I'm still Airika," I replied.

Airika's soul suddenly appeared in front of me. "Hey! You shouldn't scare Rin nee-chan like that. She's a scaredy-cat to ghosts, you know."

"Airika just said you are scared of ghost," I said to her. I saw Airika rolled her eyes and palmed her forehead.

The maid still has horror in her eyes. It's funny, really, that they are scared of me.

"M-May I ask you a question?" Tsukiyama-san asked.

I shrugged off my shoulders and replied, "Spill it."

Tsukiyama-san nodded and smiled nervously. "Are you, however, a good spirit or... a bad one...?"

I smiled. "I'm neither one of the two but I'm a human in my past life. Now, it's your choice to believe who I really am," I said while crossing my arms.

Her body froze in the spot. Her shaking hands were now dropped on her side. She stared at me with hesitation in her eyes until...

"I see. You're a good person," she said while she clasped her hands together on her front again with a smile on her lips all the way to her eyes. "Airika ojou-san never entrusted anyone on her body except for you."

I frowned. "Huh?"

"You see, she had so many accidents but she's still on herself but now, the way her body moves... She isn't like that. You're a good person, which means Airika ojou-san entrusted it to you."

"Well, that's not really the case here," Airika reappeared again with a peal of awkward laughter.

I smiled and looked at her softly. "Thank you but please call me 'Airika'. Still, or else will get caught that I'm not Airika," I said.

She nodded with a smile. "Of course," she replied and she continues leading me to Airika's room.

She explained where is this place and that place. She also explained how Airika used to wear and how she deals with her hair and stuff; of what is her favorite color or scent.

"I told you, she's trustable," Airika smiled as she appeared in front of me.

I am laying down on her bed while staring at the ceiling while she's beside me, elbows on the bed, and her feet go up and down gleefully while her stomach lies down to the mattress.

"Yeah. She knows all of your stuff," I said and quickly sat up. "What are you doing in this hour?"

She stopped kicking her feet and looked at me with a mischievous smirk. "Oh~ Wanna know?" she teasingly asked.

I smirked back. "Oh, hell I want to."

~~~

My eyes widened as I saw various types of tubes and scientific gadgets in that large room.

Airika lead me to the secret passageway to her secret laboratory. All of the things that were needed by a scientist like me will be amazed at this kind of place.

"This place looks like a real laboratory," I said, amazed by the fact she has all that I desire before.

She laughed. "Well, I'm just fifteen but I still love experimenting with things. I love science and I want to be a scientist so I thought that if someone gave me tons of money, I would just spend it on electronics and scientific kinds of stuff."

I scoffed and rolled my eyes. "Geek."

She smirked. "Yes, I'm a geek!" She gleefully shouted. "This is a secret laboratory. Rin nee-chan, Mina, and I are the only ones who knew this. Mom and Dad used to know this place but they abandon it so it became mine now."

"Your parents are scientists?" I asked.

"Erm, well... Kind of... Like my father is a technical geek. With all those electronics he is putting up all the work, I think I might say I kind of copy him while my Mom... Well, she's not a geek but she used to watch shows about science, especially when there are experiment times with tubes. "

"Oh... Ominuwara-san," I called as I gaze upon all of the scientific things right in front of me. "Can I..."

"You wanna experiment something?" she asked, not making me finish my question. "Sure. This laboratory is not prohibited. You could use the tools for whatever you want to experiment on. Just don't break anything or you'll pay so much yen."

I nodded and asked her to lead me to the uniform section. I changed clothes and started making an antidote.

I don't know why I am feeling that this antidote I'm doing right now is for someone's sake but I couldn't care less if I mess this thing up.

"Hmm... I guess you're really talented in making some drugs, Haibara-san," she commented, shocking me but there's no shaking in my hand. "Ooh~ Professional."

"Shut up first, Ominuwara-san. I'm trying to make an antidote for someone," I replied, pouring a liquid to another.

"And who might it be, I wonder?"

"I don't know but I could feel that that person needs to be cured," I answered, pouring it in a flask and put it carefully to the microscope, checking its contents.

"You seemed quite inspirational for an infamous scientist," she said and yawned. "I thought you'll be a great scientist one day, Haibara-san."

"I was, to my friends. They all rely on me whenever there's something that needs to be approved on with science, of course."

She sighed and crossed her arms. "You are really a good friend, aren't you?"

"I was being a good friend to them because they're good to me. They have no signs of harm so I trusted them and become friends with them."

"You just became friends with them because they need you? That's not friends, Haibara-san," she said as she stared at me.

My hands froze in the air and I sighed heavily, putting back the tubes on the tube rack. I turned around and stared at her. My back was leaned to the high marble table. I crossed my arms as I stared at her.

"Friends is what I call them because they need my help but that's not also the reason. They support me, share things with me, and laugh with me. I'm happy with that even though sometimes, there are some abnormalities or fights. They're good friends... until now... "

I smiled as I suddenly remembered all of their faces. They are appearing one by one on my mind, slowly like a slideshow.

"They're... somehow fine for me as friends. They convinced me to live a life I was comfortable with and not to push myself towards nothing," I said and looked down. "I was not forced to push away my real identity, it was my choice to change myself completely and stayed in the state where it is supposed to be a trap. I tricked myself and stick through it but I made a new life, better than before so don't try to judge me, Ominuwara-san. I'm not helping them just because they want me to, I'm helping them as I wanted to."

~~~

The next day, a doctor from the Ominuwara Family came to the room and checked me, asking questions and putting weird things on my face and neck.

I sighed as I felt the little sting on my nape. It was an injection for my injured bones and fractures. I don't know why they're making me suck on to that medicine, it just doesn't make sense.

Tsukiyama-san went to the Airika's room and told me to get a dress with Airika's school uniform.

I was in Tokyo but in a different school. I wore the prepared uniform and took the things Airika possibly walked with. She instructed me what she used to take with her as she reappearing her appearance at me.

Once done, Mina, a friend of Airika, forced me to join her in a walk to their school. Tsukiyama-san waved goodbye to us as we walked away from the house.

It was a mansion but walking towards the exit gate wasted minutes of the time. The school is just a minute walk from the house, as Mina-san told me so she let me join her.

She tells stories about butterflies and what she did this weekend at her house. She described what's her favorite and what is her hobbies.

While walking in silence, I felt Mina-san stopped in the midst of our walk. I looked back at her and stared at her.

"What's the matter, Mina-san?" I asked.

Her head is down low. Feet were close together and her hands are in fists, shaking. I can't tell her emotions but the way her body reacts was enough to make my heart beat fast.

"Ne, tell me, Airika..." she muttered as she slowly lifted her head and locked her eyes with mine. "... You are not Airika, are you?"

My eyes widened as I felt frozen to my spot. I lowered my head and gripped the handle in my bag

I slowly opened my mouth and replied to her, "Yes."

She was silent. I lifted my head and I saw her staring at me with tears flowing down on her eyes.

"Who... are you, then?" she asked and wiped her tears. She smiled at me sadly. "Is she still there?" she asked again.

I nodded and smiled. "I can see her but my soul is in her body now," I answered.

Her eyes glimmered and sighed in relief. "What's your name?" she asked. "It is very inconvenient if I call you Airika even though you're not her."

"My real name's Miyano Shiho, but my legal name is Ai Haibara. Call me whichever you desire," I answered and turned my back at her. "We will be late for school. Classes start at nine, right?"

She seems snapped out of her reverie and blinked. "Ah, yes! Sorry, Miyano-san!" she exclaimed and ran by my side. She is smiling awkwardly at me but that's fine.

I guess I could make her my friend from now on. She seems trustable.

We arrived at the school. Tokyo International School, that is the school's name where they're studying in.

We took off our shoes on the entrance, locker room for our footwear.

After we took it off, Mina-san led me to the current room they're assigned it. They're both classmates luckily.

We both sat down and talked about things. Some students went to our spot and worriedly asked if I was okay or did I have any injury. Some said that I was lucky to live.

"Tch. There's no luck in living with a soul with a little bit of your soul inside your own body," Ominuwara-san muttered at my ears with a pout.

I restrained my laugh from popping out pf the student's ears. 'Pissed off, aren't you?'

"Yes. Hmph," she replied and disappeared like a bubble.

Once all the students left our spot, Mina-san went near me and asked in a low voice, "You are quite a while ago while suppressing a laugh. You're talking to Airika, aren't you?"

I looked at her with my mouth open. "H-How did you know, Mina-san?"

She smirked and leaned on her chair, crossing her arms and legs. "It's easy. That's because you are acting weird enough to make me notice," she answered while pointing around. "She is suddenly appearing when she talks and disappears when she's not, right? This means, in your perspective, you're the only one who could see her but not me. I could feel her presence though. My parents were both exorcists after all."

I sighed and put my right cheek on my right hand. "You never failed to impress me since you knew I possessed your best friend's body," I replied in a low voice.

She laughed. "Miyano-san, I am just stating a fact through all of it. And the word 'possessed' is a harsh word. May you just call it 'transporting another soul to another vessel so that you could still live' kind of thingy."

I sighed again. "You seemed natural talking to me even though it's obvious I'm not your best friend. Are you not scared?"

"Scared? On what?"

"Like this, not talking to your real best friend and talking to a stranger you just met a few hours ago."

She laughed again but softly. "Why do I need to be scared? I just confirmed that my best friend still isn't gone, she's still in that body. And you, being the main soul in her body now, I should be taking care of you so that you couldn't be careless when something happens."

I nodded as a reply and looked in front. The bell rings loudly at the same time, forcing students to go back to their assigned seats.

The homeroom teacher suddenly opened the sliding door and walked in. My eyes widened as I noticed a man with her and he is really familiar.

Damn it!

Students were shouting in happiness as the homeroom teacher stopped in front of the class, on the table with the familiar man smiling innocently.

"Ohayou, minna-san!" the homeroom teacher greets and the students all greeted. So do I, of course. "Today, we have a special guest to monitor our class, Kudo Shinichi-kun," the homeroom teacher announced and all the students cheered so happily. "He's here to check your traits too so be careful. It is a fair game for y'all." The students answered happily. "Then, before we start, who wants an autograph from Kudo-kun?"

I stared unbelievably as I saw the students stood up from their seats with pens and notebooks with them and lining up frantically on Kudo-kun.

"Kudo Shinichi, huh?" I muttered as I closed my eyes. "What are you doing here?"

Shinichi's POV

"What are you doing here?" I felt a sudden chill down my spine as I heard those words. It was like Haibara's voice sent by the empty air.

But... Haibara is long gone. How come that...?

"Omimuwara-san, come on! It's the famous detective of the East, Kudo Shinichi-san! Come on, Omimuwara-san! Airika!"

My head turned to see two students still on their spot. One is standing, pulling one girl student while the other one keeps on rejecting her.

Wait... The body movements of the girl sitting, her movements were like Haibara.

She suddenly looked in my direction with an innocent glare. My eyes widened as I stared at her eyes. It was the same emotion Haibara had every time she sees me. Her eyes widened and hurriedly averted her gaze to the girl in front of her.

Her eyebrows furrowed as she frustratingly replying to the girl she's talking to.

Am I hallucinating or did I just see Haibara in another person? I shook my head and with a smile, I entertain all of the students who want an autograph.

"Ne, ne, Kudo Shinichi-san! Is it true you are good at solving cases?!" one student asked when he was finished taking my autograph.

"Yes, I was curious about that too!" the other one yelled.

"Me too!" other second-the-motion.

The chaos keeps on continuing until the students were decreased. "Ne, ne, Kudo Shinichi-san! Do you have a girlfriend? I'm curious!" one girl from the student asked after taking her notebook and hugging it now. Her cheeks flushed red as she stared at me with sincerity in her eyes.

I sighed and looked at her. "Yes, I do," I answered, and her mouth gape open in awe.

"Really?! What does she look like?!" Students asked questions once again but this time, about my love life until one time...

"If one of your friends has been kidnapped and your friend who can't remember everything kidnapped your lover, and if the person who kidnapped your lover did the same to erase your lover's memories and your lover attacked you when you are just trying to save her, what will you do?"

The girl I noticed that looked like Haibara asked as she walked towards me and stopped in front of me, looking at me straight in the eyes. I stared at her hazel eyes, feeling that there's something undeniably suspicious to her.

"Ominuwara-san, that's rude!" one of the students yelled at her.

"Yeah! You're asking him a difficult question!"

"Of course he saved his lover and not to mention, his friend was also there!"

She is ignoring all of the student's bickering. I noticed her friend did not stop her but there is a worry in her eyes.

"What's your name, kiddo?" I asked her.

"Ominuwara Airika, fifteen years old. Hobbies are experimenting in my laboratory and reading detective and action books," she answered without blinking an eye.

"Ominuwara Airika-san," I called her name out and crouched down to her level. "You seemed smart, aren't you?"

She stared at me without any emotion putting in. "Answer my question first, Kudo Shinichi-kun," she said.

Her eyes are blazing with fire even though it is blank. Her posture looks like Haibara when she's taking everything seriously.

"I'll save both of them," I answered.

"But what if your lover was the only one who's been saved? What will you do with your friend?"

I lowered down my head, remembering the scene where I was about to save both Ran and Haibara in the hands of Hayley's plan.

My fists clenched tightly as I recall that memory. From when I saved Ran and where I couldn't save Haibara because I was too late.

"I'll save her even though it's a tough risk," I replied and looked at her eyes. "I couldn't save my friend, it's not because I am a coward or a fool to get trick by my opponent, it was because I was foolish to think that everything will be fine as soon as I get there," I added, clenching my fist even more. "My only motive there was to save both my lover and my friend but why couldn't I save her? I couldn't save my partner-in-crime?!"

Silence filled the whole classroom as if everyone has been sucked by a black hole and get crushed inside it.

"Hey, isn't that what the news that came out a month ago?" a student muttered.

"Wait, the girl who died in the midst of the police attacking a villain's hideout? So, it was true Kudo-san is there too?!"

"She is his friend? How poor woman. She died in a gruesome way."

All the mutterings came into my ears and they keep on muttering and muttering things about Haibara. I just can' help but be pissed off into all of it. I sighed as I repressed my anger to come out.

I looked at Ominuwara Airika-san and my eyes widened in shock as I felt her aura became dark. Her hands formed into fists. Her body was shaking and her head was bowed down.

"Thank you, Kudo-kun," she said and slowly looked up to me. I could feel my eyes dilated in surprise and my mouth gape open as I saw tears coming out from her eyes. She smiled at me. "Thank you."

~~~

After that fan's discussions in the classroom, the class came back to normal but what I just noticed was the difference of Ominuwara Airika among all the students.

First, she stands out in the Science class. She is giving different kinds of names to all of the simple things discussed to them, meaning she's way too far advanced on the intelligence from the books they had. In their experiments, she is the outstanding one when it comes to using scientific tubes and stuff, she could even calculate whether it was a difficult problem. It was all like a piece of cake to her.

Second is her explanation skills. The way she talks was used by detectives, especially when it comes to confirming her analysis in various ways. She could conclude everything with a long explanation about it and came with a short answer in the end making everyone dropped their jaw in amazement and surprised.

Third, the various ways of hers taking her time in the library with mostly facts about Science during break times. Well, it was kind of link to the analysis I had to the first one but this one's weird. She is also reading college books from the library, about cases specifically and nursing techniques.

That kid, Ominuwara Airika is basically a suspicious girl who walks around the campus without even noticing the complete attention she had all over the campus.

"Can I ask what type of student is Ominuwara Airika?" I visited the homeroom teacher of that kid to confirm her histories in the school.

"Ah, my student from Class A-1?" she asked and I nodded. "Well, she's one of the top students in our school. Festivals, competitions, and analyzations were all her forte. She's never been a disappointment to everyone's sight and always tops her grades even though her attitude sometimes gets through her. She is addicted to Science and always spending her time in the library or borrowing the laboratory during break times. The only friend she has was Tsukaima Mina," the homeroom teacher explained and sighed. "Well, she's just in an attitude a while ago so I deeply apologize for that, Kudo-san."

"No, no. It's fine, really," I said and sighed. "I'm just curious if she's being weird these recent days?"

"Oh, the recent days is she's not here. She's been hospitalized because she was caught up in another accident again. Poor girl has always been a drag on problems," the homeroom teacher replied.

"Accidents?"

"Yes, Kudo-san. She's been in several accidents in her past. When she is involved in accidents, she will be hospitalized for at least a month or even a year to recover but even though her fragile body keeps going on with those accidents, her grades still top up the chart."

"And what about her traits?" I asked.

"Hmm... I noticed something different about her today. She seemed pretty logical when she asked you and seemed to ask about a situation that seemed to just happened a while ago after her accident. She's also much more creative in using laboratory appliances and gives more information than usual but other than that, I would say she's still the same," the teacher replied. "Her recordings to the campus go up and her scores are on hit to being the top 1 this school year."

I closed my mouth that has been wide open since then and smiled at the homeroom teacher. "Arigatou, Sensei-san. Sorry on barging in here with unimportant questions," I said and stood up. "I'll leave now, Sensei-san. Thank you for the information!"

I leave the faculty room and walked to the bathroom but I was caught up by the mutterings I heard nearby so I hid.

I looked upon to see it and my eyes widened as I saw Ominuwara Airika-san leaning on the wall while her arms were crossed, muttering something to nothing.

Haibara's POV

It was lunch time and I was able to go separate ways with Mina-san for the meantime. She told me that she will stay in the library for hours so I took it up as an excuse to go in a bathroom.

But that's not the whole point of it.

"Hey, hey! Tell me! Are you being ridiculous?! You just talked to the famous detective of the East without any respect, Haibara-san!"

In class, Ominuwara Airika-san bothers me every time, asking questions why do I need to be so rude to Kudo-kun.

I sighed and glared at her while crossing my arms. "Remember what I told you in the hospital about my friend who's a professional detective?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, I do. What about it?"

"It's him, Kudo Shinichi-kun," I answered quickly.

Her eyes widened in shock. "S-Seriously?!"

"Yes," I replied again. "Ominuwara-san, I am not boasting here or anything. You asked, I answered. That's all it is."

"But how come you became friends with him? I mean, you said you're a scientist in an illegal organization, right?"

"Yes, I was, until he found lying on the street with a child's body. Kudo-kun had also a secret that I can't tell so we keep that promise and march forward as partners-in-crime."

"Then, h-how did you.... die?"

"My brain's not functioning well at that time. My memories were erased. That dangerous situation was surprising. I never though I would died that time but..." I smiled as I recall the memories I saw through the screen in Nirvana. "... Kudo-kun was there with the others, trying to retrieve me as soon as they can but..." Mu hands formed into fists. "...that damn Hayley killed me in front of them. I was hopeless. I became useless in the end."

"Useless?" My eyes widened and turned my head to the direction where I heard the voice. My eyes widened as I saw a figure coming out of the shadows.

Slowly, the shock I was feeling worsened as the figure that came out of the shadow was no other than Kudo-kun!

I froze in my spot as I stared at him, who's walking towards my direction. He could not see Ominuwara-san but I'm sure he heard that I'm muttering to someone.

"Ominuwara Airika-san, right?" he asked as he stopped right in front of me. His eyes speared through at me as if he could see even my soul inside this vessel. "You're not her."

My eyes widened. I took a step back and smiled awkwardly. "W-What are you talking about, Tantei-san? I am Ominuwara Airika. You can see me, right?"

"Yeah. I could see right through you," he muttered and took a step forward again. "Also, you didn't call me 'Kudo-kun' but I heard your talking to someone. Is it the real Ominuwara Airika-san in a soul version?" he asked as he gazed beside me.

A realization struck through me. Kudo-kun must not find about this secret or else, I'll be in grave danger.

"Y-Yeah, I forgot that I call you 'Kudo-kun'. Gomene. And I'm the real Ominuwara Airika so if you may please, I shall take my—"

"You asked me that incident happened a month ago," he said that cut my words off.

"W-What about it? Maybe it was just a coincidence that I knew a situation. I just thought about it and asked you—"

"Is that really your reason or you're trying to trick me while telling me that your soul transferred to another vessel as long as you helped the body to be healthy and firm. Ne, Ai Haibara or shall I say, the former recovered scientist of Black Organization... Miyano Shiho?"

My body is shaking as I stared back at Kudo-kun's eyes with fear.

Damn it!