18. Youre Not Fat (1/2)

this. took. way. too. long.

i knew there was going to be a pause, but i never knew it was going to be this long. months. way to go me. i'm sorry everyone. in my defence, i had a massive writer's block and my tablet refused to work which is almost the only thing that allows me to publish or write these. this one's still not my favourite. i'm going to try to get the next one out sooner but no promises. see you at the end of this chapter!

chapter seventeen

"wait, so while i was gone… you were taking down italian robbers with little kids!?"

marie had just come home from practicing with kaito (everyone thought it was at a firend's house who lived quite close by. no one knew it was an hour away by train. they never asked, marie didn't bother to tell) for the weekend (she got permission to stay overnight. it was fun. got to see his house) and conan told her about the little adventure he had had with the detective boys yesterday. she was dumbstruck and wanted to hit herself for it. she hadn't noticed the conversation with a tanuki code sheet this friday and therefore missed it entirely. her

other was laughing nervously, obviously waiting for a verbal explosion of 'what were you thinking' and 'why didn't you tell me' with whatever else he thought she blamed him with.

marie didn't notice. instead she took conans wrist and tugged him along to somewhere quiet which happened to be ran's room. when she got there she sat him down on her mattress, listened for coming footsteps and hearing nothing, sat opposite him with her legs crossed and head bowed. then a big grin spread on her face.

"you've got to tell me all about it!", she put her elbows on her knees and chin on her palms, smiling at her

other with the sunniest

ightness ever.

just like that her

other's nervousness was blown away, confusion spreading on his features. marie waited. when there was no response she tilted her head a little and made the best 'please' face she could. she reeeally wanted to know how it happened this time. even though she felt a spike of anxiety and worry every time her

other was fighting crimes on his own (while she knew about it) she knew he could take care of himself. conan's turn to be dumbstruck. he snapped out of it quite quickly though and returned the girl's smile.

"everything? well then, let's start with friday afternoon when the detective boys asked me to decipher…"

xxxx

marie looked at the figure on the

idge hanging over a big, deep looking ravine. she thought she would only see those in stories but then remembered she kind of was inside one. except now it wasn't a story anymore. it was as real as life. so was the dark, cloaked figure of a man who had covered his face in bandages so only eyes were visible. every instinct of her body would have screamed 'killer' even if she didn't already know it beforehand. the biggest problem was that she didn't know what to do about it. right now she just hung on her

other's arm like he was a lifeline, which he probably was. without him she wouldn't manage to live in this world, haunted by the black, chasing down murderers.

"tell me all of sonoko's trips aren't going to sound like horror stories…", she hissed at her

other pleadingly as the figure stormed away.

this was met with a grimace, "i hope not…"

marie sighed and started slowly going over the too unsteady looking

idge, still clinging to conan. she could feel ran's gaze on them. it felt like she was 'aww' -ing. she wasn't sure if she liked that. the little sister found it a bit strange that her

other hadn't said anything about the physical contact. usually he would avoid it, witnesses or no. it was rare but nowadays becoming more common. she chuckled a bit. liked he or not, her clinging had left a mark that would be almost impossible to erase. he was getting used to it. as was she. they both now had a sibling they never even thought they could have. and they liked it that way.

the small girl's mind wandered to her family as a familiar but dulled ache settled in her chest. her beautiful japanese mother with her almost black

own eyes and a warm smile was now gone from her life. as was her dark

own haired father with his smirks that she always said were from her favourite manga. she got his eyes, they always said. and his acrobatic body. he would always laugh and say that it was a good thing she didn't get his mind, as it was slower than mother's, according to him. marie sighed happily. she was so lucky to have had them as her parents. and she was so lucky to have a new family now.

as she mused they had already crossed the

idge and were now about to walk to the mansion's door. she let go of her

other and looked up while shaking her memories away. it was time to try and stop a murder from happening.

(plus making sure her older siblings wouldn't get hurt in the process)

xxxx

"i want the ground to swallow me", whined marie, lying on her stomach on a bed.

conan patted her head awkwardly, "it's okay. you're fine"

the girl took her face up from the pillow and looked at her

other, "why wouldn't ran-neechan knock? now i'm scarred for life"

said

other had a hard time fighting an amused grin. he was sitting on a pillow next to his sister.

"why did you follow her?", came the counter question.