Beneath the Surface

[HayleyStark]

One shot fanfic, dedicated to DCTP! Thank you for your hard work.

Summary: A fat kid beats up Conan. His friends, apart from Ayumi, decide to play a mean prank on the bully that involves a boat trip. But everything goes wrong. Conan wants to end the journey and go back, while Mitsuhiko and Haibara keep pushing further.

Genres: Psychological, Angst, Humor

Warnings: Violence, slight language

---

Beneath the surface, everybody has a secret.

The bright sun shone over the playground, warming the kids that laughed and played in the precious minutes of recess. A fat boy turned on his camera and set it on a bench so that the lens was directed towards an empty basketball pitch. He looked twice at the camera before attempting to shoot a ball at the hoop.

A bespectacled boy looked into the camera and blocked the scene, he seemed curious while examining the camera in his hands. The fat boy came running from behind and leaped on him.

"THAT'S MY CAMERA YOU BASTARD!" the boy screamed as he pinned Conan to the ground, "YOU FRIGGIN' GEEK!"

He smashed his large knuckles to Conan's face and broke his glasses. Kids gathered around to watch the fight and began cheering, some trying to calm down the bully. He gave Conan another punch.

"DON'T YOU EVER TOUCH MY CAMERA AGAIN!" He shouted finally and got off the small boy, then pushed his way through the circle of children.

Conan lay flat on his back on the rough surface, gently pressing a palm to his left eye.

---

"He won't get away with it." Mitsuhiko said distantly.

Mitsuhiko and Genta gathered at Agasa's house after seeing off Ayumi, telling her that the boys were having a 'manly' conversation and thus she wasn't allowed to join them.

Genta lay on his stomach on the bed, Mitsuhiko squatted on the floor with his back to the bedside, drawing circles in the air with his finger. Haibara stood by the door with her arms crossed over her chest; they hadn't even dared to exclude her.

Conan sat on a chair by the window, a frozen pea sack on his black eye, "Let it go, Mitsu."

"No. He'll never stop bullying you."

"Yeah -" Genta nodded in agreement, "He needs to get a taste of his own medicine."

"There's nothing that you can do- he's the biggest kid in school."

"And the loneliest." Haibara added in a hoarse voice, Mitsuhiko turned to her.

"What do you have in mind?"

"Well…" Haibara walked to the desk near Conan and rested against it.

"Maybe we can play a prank on him."

"Oh I know!" Genta raised his hand excitedly, "How about destroying his stupid camera."

"He will kill you."

Conan looked at Haibara quizzically; there was a frown on her forehead like she was thinking hard.

"I have an idea." Mitsuhiko said with a lopsided smirk," We take him to a boat trip and throw him in the water, make him walk home alone and wet."

Genta shot up and slapped Mitsuhiko on the back, "Genius!" he exclaimed, Mitsuhiko staggered to keep his balance.

"I don't know you guys." Conan said hesitantly, "I can always ignore him."

"Ignorance only means you're afraid." Haibara looked at Conan determinately, "If you don't get back at the tyrant he will never stop."

"He's not a tyrant, he just a stupid fat bully."

But Conan said it half heartedly. He did feel humiliated. The boy was thirteen and a bit shorter than he was in his seventeen year old body. Conan was sure he could have won the fight if he was Shinichi Kudo.

"I'll call him." said Mitsuhiko as he picked up the phone.

"You have his phone number?"

"No. I'll get it from a friend in his class."

Mitsuhiko made the call and asked for the boy's number, the bully's name was Michi.

Haibara smirked to Conan, "It's just some good clean fun. Relax."

Conan raised an eyebrow. Why was Haibara so keen on pulling this off?

She snatched the phone from Mitsuhiko when he was about to dial the bully's number, "Leave this to me." she said and put the phone to her ear.

The three boys exchanged glances and watched the strawberry blonde in her act.

"Hello, is this Michi?....hi I'm Haibara…right, fourth grade…you're invited to Conan's birthday boat trip tomorrow… he's my friend and always talking about how cool you are…yeah he's really shy (Conan rolled his eyes)…uh huh… awesome, we'll pick you up at 3 PM…alright, see ya!"

Haibara grinned after putting down the phone. Genta was laughing with wide eyes and Mitsuhiko's jaw dropped, "You rock!" he said with two thumbs up.

She turned to Conan, he was eyeing her amusedly.

"I never saw you enjoying yourself so much."

"It's all for you my precious." Haibara said mockingly and leaned forward to pinch his cheek.

"Stop flirting with my girl!" Mitsuhiko yelled and swung a pillow at Conan's head, Genta joined the attack.

"Hey! Stop it!" Conan laughed under the rain of pillows, "She was flirting with me!"

Haibara smiled as she watched them. Yes, it was all for you, Shinichi.

---

The afternoon sun shimmered behind the clouds, an occasional blow of the wind announced the approaching winter. Conan, Haibara, Mitsuhiko, Genta and Ayumi rode their bicycles to Michi's house.

They didn't want Ayumi to tag along, but she wouldn't let Mitsuhiko slip away from her that day.

"Is it really your birthday, Conan?" Ayumi asked crossly. Everybody was acting weird around her like they were hiding something. She didn't understand the reason of inviting that fat bully to Conan's birthday trip.

"Yes Ayumi, it is.", Haibara said coolly when Conan didn't reply. She got off her bike and rang the door bell. Ayumi narrowed her eyes at Conan, 'Manly conversation, huh?'

"What?"

"Nothing."

A tall, fat kid opened the door forcefully. There was a big grin on his plump face.

"Hey pal!" he ruffled Conan's hair and gave him a box, "I got you a birthday present."

Conan examined the toy box, it wasn't wrapped and the picture on it showed a pair of night goggles.

"I thought you'll need it for your detective work."

"Um- It's cool, thanks."

The large boy turned happily to the rest of the group .

"What a lovely day for a trip with friends!"

Mitsuhiko fought the urge to roll his eyes, "Come on it's gonna get dark."

The group of three children, two adults and one preteen got on their bikes and rode off to the river. Conan noticed that Michi carried a backpack, probably for the camera.

---

After a fifteen minute ride through the woods to the river bank, the group left their bikes by the trees and walked over to a large wooden boat. Genta had prepared it for them before picking up Michi.

"That's a nice big boat." The bully remarked admiringly. Mitsuhiko, Genta and Conan pushed the boat into the water.

"Not wide enough for your fat butt." Mitsuhiko whispered to Conan, who only frowned back.

Conan turned to Haibara and pulled her away

He glanced at the rest of the group to make sure they were out of earshot "I want to call it off."

"We've gone this far…you can't go back now"

"Why are you acting like a child Haibara?"

Haibara's face reddened with anger and was about to retort with very colorful language, but held her tongue when Mitsuhiko joined them.

"What's the matter?" asked Mitsuhiko

"He's cowering away."

Mitsuhiko frowned, "We have to do this, Conan. That pig deserves whatever he's got coming to him."

Conan thought that Mitsuhiko, for some reason, wanted to do this more than anybody else and was mostly projecting his desire as 'Conan's best interest'. He opened his mouth and shut it, his two friends stared at him, both stubborn and slightly hurt…they were doing it for him.

"Alright…" he sighed, "but I have a bad feeling about this."

Haibara smiled, her anger ebbing away, "No, this will be fun."

---

They could almost smell the cherry trees in the air. The light breeze and chirping birds danced over the calm, wide river that stretched through the woods. A deer glanced at the boat as it sailed by then returned to drinking from the river. Conan and Mitsuhiko were rowing while the rest, specifically a large boy was chatting happily with a camera in his hand.

"Come on Ayumi! Sing away like a robin."

"No – I wanna go home."

"Why? It's an awesome boat trip with somebodies."

Conan hid his face while rowing. Michi was really...lonely.

"But as they say-" the large boy sighed loudly for effect, "the weather is in our minds so I can't make you enjoy this if you don't change your mind."

He turned the camera to Haibara who was pointedly looking away to avoid any conversation, "Miss Untouchable, Ice Queen, Black Rose...which name do you like best, Ai? Huh?"

Haibara looked at him through the corner of her eye, "Do you spread these names in school or something?"

"No ,no! You're just so mysterious and so many names suit you…I can't decide."

She continued ignoring him. However, deep inside she felt sadness at his words. She didn't even know what to call herself; Haibara, Shiho, Sherry, or just a criminal with no name. She shook off the notion, why was this kid making her think so much?

"That's a nice spot to drop the anchor." Mitsuhiko exclaimed when they arrived at a lake. Conan was glad to hear that because his arms were getting sore from rowing.

Ayumi smiled when a butterfly landed on Conan's head. Maybe she should "change the weather" in her mind after all. She knew something fishy was going on with her friends but she would interrogate them later. These are moments to enjoy.

"Let's throw Conan in the air!"

"That's the lamest thing I've ever heard." Genta retorted to Michi's suggestion.

"I have a much better idea." Mitsuhiko said mischievously, "Let's play truth or dare."

"Oh yeaahhh!" Michi threw a fist in the air.

"But no perverted questions or dares." Haibara said quickly before they could start the game, "I'm not kissing any of you."

"Agreed." Ayumi mimicked her attitude. The boys groaned .

"OKAY. I'll go first!" Michi chirped excitedly, "Conan, truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Do you eat the stuff in your nose?"

The kids laughed.

"No."

They continued the game in turns. Asking very disgusting questions like "Do you sniff your underwear?" which Genta ignored furiously, until it was Mitsuhiko's turn…

"Michi, truth or dare?"

"Only the truth!" he said while wiping tears of laughter. Mitsuhiko stared at him with leveled eyes.

"But you can't do that now. You're here for a dare."

Michi looked at him confusedly, "What do you mean?"

Mitsuhiko clenched his jaw. "I mean that this isn't Conan's birthday, we would never invite you to a boat trip and we were planning to get back at you ."

Conan wanted to stop the trail of words before they escaped in one breath. It was too late.

"But we changed our minds." Conan said quickly, "We really wanted to call it off because you didn't turn out so bad after all."

"That's not true." Haibara said, a bit shakily, " A punishment was decided for what you've done to Conan. But we should tone it down."

Michi looked numb. He was absorbing all their words silently without moving a muscle in his body or his roundish face. His eyes began to water.

"What did you have in mind?"

"We were planning to throw you in the river." Mitsuhio entwined his fingers together and smiled calmly, "And make you go home by yourself."

Silence followed Mitsuhiko's words, the calm before the storm.

"It was your idea, wasn't it?" He started quietly, narrowing his eyes at Mitsuhiko, "You're the hateful demon."

"Calm down." Conan warned but the preteen ignored it.

"Is there anybody in the world that you don't envy, Mitsuhiko? I don't get it you hateful wreck!"

"Stop it, Michi!"

"And you Conan, you're nothing but a self absorbed parasite. How many times do you manipulate them? Make them believe that they're important to you when you're only using everybody."

Conan's tongue froze.

"Yeah.." Michi smiled bitterly through tears and turned to Haibara. Locking his eyes with hers.

"I heard that old scientist found you in the street. Mom told me that children like you are called foundlings."

"SHUT UP MICHI!"

"Your cold mask is so transparent. You come to school every day as Haibara, thinking that nobody sees the lost whore that you really are! BUT I SEE YOU!"

Conan stood in front of Michi when he approached Haibara, who was dissolving tears.

"FACELESS NAMELESS GARBAGE!"

"I SAID SHUT UP MICHI!"

Conan pushed him angrily and the large boy toppled back over the edge of the boat, falling in the lake with a splash.

---

They rowed home without him, the crimson sunset in their faces and the boy far behind their backs. He swam to the bank with his camera still in his hand. He watched them go while crying and laughing at the same time, promising that he will show the video to everybody in school.

It was awfully quiet except for Ayumi's soft crying. Not because the fat kid scared her, but because her friends lied to her. She felt betrayed.

Genta and Mitsuhiko were rowing. Mission accomplished. Mitsuhiko got what he wanted, right? The bully was thrown in the river. But he had never felt more defeated...Michi's words rang in his ear.

Haibara and Conan crouched on the floor of the boat, their backs to each other. He felt ashamed for what he had done. Michi wanted friends but Conan's only intention was to hurt him. He may have hesitated along the way but that doesn't count. Conan sought revenge for his wounded pride.

An ice berg rose between Haibara, Mitsuhiko and himself. If only they didn't push him so far…

The girl behind his back was equally ashamed but relieved. Someone broke her protective shield and invaded her core. Sure, it had been a terrifying moment, but there would be no more masks because she discovered how useless they are. She wiped the tears from her face. Maybe it was time to choose a name for herself…she will make Conan and Agasa use it. And when the right time comes, she will reveal her name to the world.

-Fin-

A/N: Out of 10, how do you rate Beneath the Surface?

I appreciate honest reviews because they tell me my strengths and weaknesses. Thanks for reading!

[Aluecard]

ASwome XD stuff 

[HayleyStark]

ASwome XD stuff 

Thanks

[Merialle]

Ahh. I read this fic just a while ago in FF.net *I always try to look for more ConanxAi stories everyday* It's well-written, but I just don't understand some things.

[HayleyStark]

Ahh. I read this fic just a while ago in FF.net *I always try to look for more ConanxAi stories everyday* It's well-written, but I just don't understand some things.

Thanks, what do you not understand?

[Merialle]

It was awfully quiet except for Ayumi's soft crying. Not because the fat kid scared her, but because her friends lied to her. She felt betrayed.

Uhm, What do you mean by Ayumi was betrayed?

[HayleyStark]

It was awfully quiet except for Ayumi's soft crying. Not because the fat kid scared her, but because her friends lied to her. She felt betrayed.

Uhm, What do you mean by Ayumi was betrayed?

Because they lied to her, it wasn't Conan's birthday and they planned to hurt the bully. And also, to be dragged by your friends to do something wrong, even if you knew about, you always end up feeling betrayed because the outcome is not rewarding.

[Merialle]

It was awfully quiet except for Ayumi's soft crying. Not because the fat kid scared her, but because her friends lied to her. She felt betrayed.

Uhm, What do you mean by Ayumi was betrayed?

Because they lied to her, it wasn't Conan's birthday and they planned to hurt the bully. And also, to be dragged by your friends to do something wrong, even if you knew about, you always end up feeling betrayed because the outcome is not rewarding.

Oh, I see. I thought Ayumi already knew their plan already. Thanks for explaining. Anyways, I love your stories~ Please don't abandon "Holding You" cause that fic is very nice.

[FourteenTwelve]

Ooh, that was a really good one! ConanxAi stories are my favourites! <3

I rate the story 9/10, because I don't want you to think that it's perfect, because I know that when you'll write more and more, you'll get even better and better!
You have a FF.net account? Do you have any other ConanxAi stories? I'll still check your account as soon as I have time!

~FourteenTwelve

[HayleyStark]

Ooh, that was a really good one! ConanxAi stories are my favourites! <3

I rate the story 9/10, because I don't want you to think that it's perfect, because I know that when you'll write more and more, you'll get even better and better!
You have a FF.net account? Do you have any other ConanxAi stories? I'll still check your account as soon as I have time!

~FourteenTwelve

Thank you very much! And perfect? I think I'm far from that. Anyway, I love Conan and Ai centric stories. Here's my account:
http://www.fanfiction.net/u/1528393/FragMenteDmind

[kirite]

Ohh I read this on FF.net and I haven't had a chance to review it yet.  I'll make a detailed review later.  I'm chocolateytaste.

I loveeeee stories where They act like little brats that they are ^_^.  It's funny how grownups have this crazy notion about "the sweetness of young innocent children" (lawl).  Since the detective kids are so adorable and sweet in the anime, I found this story to be wonderfully refreshing <3. 

I love how you litterally saw "beneath the surface" of the characters.  Conan's geekiness instead of his popularity, Haibara's standoffish attitue and transparent mask, Mitsuhiko's insecurities (which you really expanded on), Ayumi's obliviousness, and Genta's big bully nature xD.  How wonderful~

The only complaint I have was around this part:
 
"Your cold mask is so transparent. You come to school every day as Haibara, thinking that nobody sees the lost whore that you really are! BUT I SEE YOU!"

That's way too grown up for 13 year olds to say isn't it o.o? 

[HayleyStark]

Ohh I read this on FF.net and I haven't had a chance to review it yet.  I'll make a detailed review later.  I'm chocolateytaste.

I loveeeee stories where They act like little brats that they are ^_^.  It's funny how grownups have this crazy notion about "the sweetness of young innocent children" (lawl).  Since the detective kids are so adorable and sweet in the anime, I found this story to be wonderfully refreshing <3. 

I love how you litterally saw "beneath the surface" of the characters.  Conan's geekiness instead of his popularity, Haibara's standoffish attitue and transparent mask, Mitsuhiko's insecurities (which you really expanded on), Ayumi's obliviousness, and Genta's big bully nature xD.  How wonderful~

The only complaint I have was around this part:
 
"Your cold mask is so transparent. You come to school every day as Haibara, thinking that nobody sees the lost whore that you really are! BUT I SEE YOU!"

That's way too grown up for 13 year olds to say isn't it o.o? 

Thanks *blush* I feel all warm inside... I'm glad you like it.
Michi's character is here to mirror the weaknesses of the characters and put it in their faces. After that I tried to show what they think about themselves, whether they agree with Michi or not. The line that you put "You come to school everyday as Haibara" is actually in Haibara's mind because the bully knows nothing about her real identity. His insight of all the characters' personalities isn't realistic from a 13 year old, and it wasn't meant to be realistic.
Psychological stories are free of limits. You can turn the world to a dreamscape and forget about all the laws.