After school, Lin Jianhe was stopped by the Detective Boys in front of the shoe locker. One of the very cute girls looked at her excitedly and said enthusiastically, "Lin! Do you want to join our Detective Boys!"
"You're Ayumi, aren't you? That's a very cute name." Lin Jianhe subconsciously smiled, revealing two sharp canine teeth.
Ayumi was completely lost in that smile until she was awakened by a cold snort from Haibara's nose.
"Thank you, Lin..." Ayumi's tender face was slightly flushed.
"Tch..."
"It's not like she's that handsome..."
Genta and Mitsuhiko were clearly displeased with Lin Jianhe.
Conan also let out a few dry laughs. Lin Jianhe's behavior didn't resemble a killer, but rather an idol ready to perform and meet fans.
"By the way, what is the Detective Boys?" Lin Jianhe seemed not to notice the three boys' dark faces, completely disregarding them, and continued talking to Ayumi.
"We are Detectives! And by the way, the leader is Conan!"
"Oh..." She drew out the sound. Although what Ayumi said sounded like a children's hero team game, however... she shifted her gaze to Conan, her smiling face gradually turning indifferent.
She sized up Conan, feeling a bit annoyed.
After taking the medicine, she could also guess this person's identity: high school Detective Shinichi Kudo. But it was just such a Four-Eyed Detective that Sherry actually trusted him so much.
A feeling called jealousy surged in Aiba's heart. Even she herself didn't know it, but a hint of murderous intent suddenly appeared in her eyes as she looked at Edogawa.
"Lin! Lin!" Haibara noticed Lin Jianhe's expression gradually turning cold, and the target was Edogawa. She quickly shouted, but the other party seemed not to hear, still staring intently at him.
"Famas!"
A hand tightly grabbed Lin's arm. The familiar call came, and Lin reacted, turning around to meet Haibara's serious eyes.
"Yes..."
Although Lin Jianhe was a top killer in the Organization, she was still Shiho Miyano's bodyguard, not to mention being used to being ordered around. She subconsciously responded. Only after she reacted did she remember that they were no longer in the Organization, nor in the laboratory, and the girl in the white coat with a perpetually expressionless face no longer existed.
"...Why should I listen to you?" Saying this, Lin Jianhe shifted her target to Haibara. With her other hand, she pried open Haibara's grip on her own hand, then tightly grabbed Haibara's wrist. If one word could describe her current mood, it would be extremely displeased, especially since Haibara had actively protected that four-eyed boy, which made her even more displeased.
"Calm down."
"I am very calm." Lin Jianhe never cared about other people's opinions, so she approached Haibara step by step. Already a head taller than her peers, she almost used her height to completely overpower Haibara.
"I'm telling you!" At this moment, Mitsuhiko, seeing the girl he had a crush on being bullied, mustered up his courage and shouted, "As a boy, how can you treat Haibara-san so rudely!"
"Huh?"
Now not only Lin Jianhe was stunned, but Haibara was too. She already knew Lin Jianhe's gender and hadn't considered it in that way at all. Only when Mitsuhiko shouted did she realize that Lin Jianhe did indeed look somewhat ambiguous in gender right now. Her physique was already excellent, with long limbs, much taller than other girls her age. And her wavy hair, due to shrinking, fell down somewhat casually, looking neither long nor short. Before elementary schoolers' voices changed, it was already hard to tell, plus Lin Jianhe herself was someone who relied on her skills for a living, so her words and actions were quite capable and decisive.
"I'm a girl..."
Lin Jianhe released Haibara's hand and explained seriously.
"What?!"
This time, it was Mitsuhiko and the others who were shocked, including Conan. It seemed none of them had expected that this child with short silver hair, handsome features, and a dashing demeanor was a girl?
"I am a girl." To convince them, Lin Jianhe emphasized again.
"So she's a girl..."
Everyone was stunned. At this point, looking at Lin Jianhe, they all felt she looked more like a girl.
"Come to think of it, her eyes are big, and her eyelashes are long..."
"Her nose is also very straight, and her mouth too..."
Seeing Mitsuhiko and Genta staring, Ayumi stood in front of Lin Jianhe and scolded the two, "It's rude to stare at a girl like that!"
Lin Jianhe, however, waved her hand indifferently, "It's okay, I'm already used to it because of this face."
Seeing the person's uncontrollable smugness, Ai Haibara touched her wrist and gently shook her head.
"Um... are you the Detective Boys?"
Suddenly, the appearance of a boy interrupted their conversation. Sensing a potential case, the Detective Boys immediately surrounded the boy.
Because of Haibara, Lin Jianhe didn't leave immediately. She overheard a bit; it was roughly about wanting the Detective Boys to help him find his missing older brother.
So, everyone suggested going to the boy's house to look for clues.
Haibara also followed the Detective Boys to the boy's house, and Lin Jianhe naturally followed behind them.
"I'm telling you..."
"My actions are my freedom, and besides, the little sister in your group really wants me to join." Before Haibara could finish, Lin Jianhe seemed to already know what she was going to say and instantly retorted.
"You can forget about ordering me around again."
Although Haibara really didn't want to bring the emotions from the Organization here, after all, this was a rebirth for her, whether it was her shrunken self or the name Ai Haibara.
She was a pessimist. For all these days since she shrunk, she constantly wondered what to do if the Organization found her. Should she commit suicide? Now that she was truly discovered, and by the killer who had always been by her side.
They met in the Organization when they were twelve and had been together ever since. She had no friends, no normal life, endless experiments, and the Organization's control.
The simple word "friend" was very difficult for Haibara, who possessed immense talent in scientific research, to comprehend. People only have a vague imagination of things they haven't experienced or encountered.
So, were she and Aiba Yu truly friends? Recalling nearly a decade, Aiba Yu's presence was in every memory. When there was a threat, she was the one who stepped forward. When she was sick, she was the one who took care of her. Even when she went downstairs for a cup of coffee, the person sitting opposite her was still Aiba Yu.
During this time, whenever she thought of these things, her sister's death would surface in her mind. Her subconscious seemed to be reminding her to maintain her usual rationality.
But she, it seemed, hadn't done anything wrong.
"I don't think I did anything wrong..."
Looking at the retreating figure, Lin Jianhe smiled bitterly and helplessly.
With a proper great Detective investigating, clues about the boy's brother's whereabouts were quickly found. The Detective Boys followed Conan to a building.
Lin Jianhe clearly saw Edogawa's expression after hearing the words "men in black." If it was about counterfeiting money, it didn't have much to do with the Organization. The Organization had ample funds and wouldn't need to counterfeit money in such a dilapidated place.
But now, it was clear that this Four-Eyed Detective wouldn't listen.
"You come with me."
The Detective boy entered the building on his own, while Haibara pulled her arm and dragged her inside.
Lin Jianhe really didn't want to help that Four-Eyed Detective, who was putting on an air of profundity and righteous heroism. But since Sherry had already pulled her along, she reluctantly agreed... Following behind them were the other Detective Boys. Although the Four-Eyed Detective had told them to go back, they didn't want to leave just like that.
Seeing their appearance, Conan clearly looked anxious and scolded them. Despite this, since they were already inside, there was nothing he could do but remind them to be careful.
The group eavesdropped through the door crack. Sure enough, it was a gang counterfeiting money and had kidnapped the boy's artist brother to draw fake banknotes. While they were listening, someone suddenly appeared behind them.
Lin Jianhe's years of training in reaction time allowed her body to act first. A spinning kick knocked the person down. The culprit hadn't even reacted before passing out.
"Lin is so amazing!"
"Whoa..." Seeing Lin Jianhe effortlessly take care of someone they didn't even know, Conan was already grateful he hadn't sought death.
The sound of the culprit falling to the ground startled the people inside the room. Just as they were about to open the door to check, they found no one outside and then closed the door again.
After he closed the door, the group emerged from behind it, and the knocked-out person was dragged behind the door and hidden. The hallway was dark, so even if parts of him were exposed, it would be difficult to spot.
After the group breathed a sigh of relief, Conan suggested they call the police and explained the details of the case.
"There really is someone!"
Suddenly, the door opened, and a black-clad man with a sharp face and monkey-like features pointed a gun at them.
Lin Jianhe's small body seemed to fly, instantly knocking the man down. The moment he was hit, the man's hand on the gun pulled the trigger. Accompanied by Ayumi Yoshida's scream, a loud gunshot covered all other sounds.
Lin turned to look at Haibara. After confirming she was unharmed, her eyes narrowed, and a terrifying murderous intent appeared on her childish face. She picked up the gun the man had dropped and aimed the dark muzzle at the man's jaw.
"Don't... don't shoot..."
The man in black was rigid all over, a few drops of cold sweat ran down his forehead, his pupils dilated, and he looked at Lin in terror.
"Die..."
The silver-haired girl gradually became frantic, a terrifying smile creeping onto her lips.
"Do you want the Organization to find out?" At this moment, Haibara reached out and held Lin's gun muzzle, her eyes fixed on her. "Are you a bèn dàn (idiot)? In front of these children, the police will be here soon."
Haibara's active intervention made Lin Jianhe's eyebrows unconsciously rise, and a smile also curled at the corner of her mouth. The hand holding the gun paused slightly, then slowly lowered the muzzle, firing a shot into the ground near the man's groin.
"Oops, it misfired!" Lin Jianhe trembled as she threw the gun to the ground, gently shaking her arm. "It hurts so much... Would you mind rubbing it for me?"
Lin Jianhe's clumsy acting actually fooled a few children. After all, no one would believe that an elementary school child could be abnormally powerful, except for Conan, who had a face full of black lines, and Haibara, who looked helpless.
As for the man in black, he was completely stiff with fear from Lin Jianhe's so-called misfire, not daring to move. He was terrified that another misfire would hit him.
Not long after, the police arrived. This was indeed just a counterfeiting gang, and the boy's brother had indeed been kidnapped to help draw the patterns.
When the police arrived, the boy's brother was also rescued.
The police also gave Lin Jianhe a good lecture for unauthorized use of a gun and assaulting someone.
Lin Jianhe was not good at playing dumb. She honestly told the police that she had learned various martial arts.
But no one believed her, and there was nothing she could do.
After all, she was just an elementary school student; no matter how strong she was, it was impossible for her to defeat two grown men.
"Since you've become like this, your behavior should match your current age. And just now, you completely disregarded those children. If a bullet had hit them..."
After the incident, Haibara was also cautioning her. Hearing this, Lin Jianhe put her hands behind her back, pretending to carelessly kick small pebbles on the ground. "Got it, I'll pay attention. But I can't help it, after all, this is what I do for a living; it's become a habit."
Ai Haibara looked at the girl's sullen expression. After years of being together, she naturally understood the girl's personality.
"I dragged you into this, didn't I?" Suddenly, Haibara said this, then continued under Lin Jianhe's astonished gaze, "The people in the Organization must think you let me go. You must have taken the poison in a moment of desperation."
"..." She hadn't expected the girl to guess the reason behind it all, and for a moment, she didn't know what to say.
After all, she didn't want the other party to feel it was her fault.
There was no right or wrong in this matter.
After a while, the brown-haired girl's face showed a hint of a smile. "Thank you, Aiba, for not betraying me."
She was a little unaccustomed to the girl's gratitude, yet still very happy, but didn't want the other party to notice her feelings. So she touched the tip of her nose and turned away.
"I did it for myself too."
"And I also need to apologize..."
Haibara was confused: "What?"
She came back to her senses, her gaze falling on Haibara's wrist. "This afternoon, I hurt you, didn't I?"
Haibara paused, then her lips curved into a faint arc. "It's fine." Her voice was as gentle as ever, just like a clear, calm mountain spring in the forest, forming a winding stream that flowed very slowly into Lin Jianhe's heart.
Just like this, in Shiho Miyano's way, filling the void in her heart again and again.