Disclaimer: Detective Conan is not mine. The series belongs to its creator, Gosho Aoyama, and I'm just borrowing the characters and scenery to create these short tales.
Premise: Ai and Conan are in their teens, she failed to find the cure and the two were forced to accept it and grow up again.
Drabble 18: Again
When he gave her an expensive red rose, she took it from him and immediately threw it aside.
Conan stared at the remains of the flower in confusion. Perhaps she didn't like what normal girls liked...?
-o-o-o-o-o-
"Haibara." he greeted the next day.
This time he held out a small vial of white powder.
"What's this?"
"I'm not sure, I figured you would know."
She stared at him, just stared.
So he continued with the exotic plan that he had concocted. "Yesterday, a murder occurred while I was buying dinner at the local supermarket. Of course I solved it, but there was one thing that was bothering me, so I found a vial and-"
"I'm 14," she interrupted.
Conan paused. "What?"
Instead of answering, she took the vial and eyed it for several moments before she pulled off the cap. She took a tentative whiff. Then, before he could stop her, she dipped a finger in and tasted the contents.
She looked up at him, "Sugar?"
He sheepishly nodded.
She looked at him strangely before recapping the vial and walking off.
He looked down at the vial that was lying passively upon the desk. From her professional behavior, he could tell that she had liked this about as much as the rose. That is to say, not very.
He wracked his brains for an answer to the question, "So what would Ai like?"
He suddenly snapped his fingers and ran off. Let the teachers ask tomorrow, this was more important.
"Haibara!" he shouted when he spotted her walking home later that day.
She turned to him before looking down. "Stop being so childish Kudo," she coolly said before she reached down and plucked the fresh rose from his grasp. But, unlike last time, she held it firmly in her grip.
He grinned.
He had a feeling she might take it this time.
A/N:
Ai strikes me as the type who will refuse things sprung on her the first time around because of her guarded nature. But she also strikes me as the type who will regret it really badly afterwards. When it appears the second time, she'll take it.
I was going to use a figurine of a tortured soul in place of the sugar vial, but that didn't really belong in this universe even though it'd be a good gift to give some girls.