"Huh?" Ai was taken aback and even stopped in her tracks.
Her face must have turned red, but luckily the moonlight was dim, so it shouldn't be visible.
But the sound of the heart pounding in the chest was so clear.
Gao Yuan smiled slightly, though it was hard to tell if he was also a little embarrassed.
But he still tried to sound casual and said, "Watch your step."
Sure enough, where his flashlight shone, there were some uneven pebbles, which Ai carefully avoided.
After thinking for a moment, she rolled her eyes again.
"Speaking like that while wearing Edogawa's face..."
And so they walked hand in hand toward the mountaintop.
Because of the sea breeze, the treetops on the mountaintop were all bare, making them look rather comical.
Ai walked to a tree as if she knew it well.
“This should be it…” she said, staring at the moonlight filtering through the treetops.
Then he squatted down and dug at the tree roots.
He dug a few times, then looked up and stared.
"What are you standing there for? Help!"
Gao Yuan smiled but said nothing.
But the physical strength of two 7-year-old children is ultimately limited.
An hour later, Ai looked at the shallow pit and sighed in despair.
The two of them simply sat down under the tree roots to avoid the damp soil.
"So... what exactly is it?" Gao Yuan asked casually.
Ai turned her head, her face obscured in the dim light, only her bright eyes were visible.
She blinked: "A time capsule... just think of it as something like that."
Gao Yuan fell silent again.
Although this answer was far less impressive than her eagerness for Coco to come to the island.
After a moment, Ai let out a soft hum.
"How can I continue the conversation if you don't ask me anything?"
Gao Yuan was taken aback.
"Feel sorry……"
Just as he habitually said that, a hand reached out and grabbed his.
"Don't apologize..." the girl's voice drifted over softly, "You never need to apologize to me."
"But……"
Ai interrupted him again as her hand was gripped tightly.
“I’ve noticed that you often apologize for things you didn’t do wrong.”
"It seems like you have to take responsibility whenever someone criticizes you."
"But it shouldn't be like this..."
"Look, I'm not saying you did something wrong... Sometimes people's behavior can't be judged solely by right or wrong..."
She had gotten herself into a mess and couldn't explain it no matter what she did, so she had no choice but to shut up in frustration.
Gao Yuan turned around and smiled.
He wasn't wearing Conan's glasses, and his face was no longer clearly visible.
Those eyes, sharper than anyone else's, belonged entirely to the puppeteer.
"Alright, do you still want to dig out your time capsule?"
Ai suddenly became alert and immediately searched around, trying to find a suitable tool.
Gao Yuan uttered a helpless sound.
"I think you should find someone to help you."
"Didn't I look for you?" Ai said matter-of-factly, before realizing another possibility.
Just then, my phone rang.
Yoruichi Toyama's rambling voice came from the other end of the phone.
Ai, with her usual aloofness, told him the location, as if a queen were bestowing a gold coin upon a gatekeeper.
After hanging up the phone, he stomped his foot angrily.
"You thought of that a long time ago, but you just didn't remind me."
"Hug..." Gao Yuan instinctively wanted to apologize, but remembering their earlier agreement, he had no choice but to change the subject abruptly, "What's in your 'time capsule'?"
"These are my parents' research notes."
Ai's voice sounded soft in the night breeze, carrying distant memories.
"These are mainly experimental records left over from the development of the first two generations of APTX4869."
"I'd like to see if there's any way to retain the effects of the medication, but with less toxicity for you."
Gao Yuan's eyes widened in the darkness.
"Miss, you don't need to..."
"You're calling me 'Miss' again!" Ai said playfully.
"Don't tell me whether it's necessary or not. For me, the matter with the police is 'necessary,' it's what I'm doing to make amends for the past."
"And you are my responsibility and my wish."
Just like how the puppeteer saved himself, a burden, while on the run, Ai thought.
After that, I found a new life for myself.
Therefore, I should give him a new life too.
“Gao Yuan,” she called softly, “have you... ever dated anyone before?”
There was a hint of surprise in Gao Yuan's eyes.
“I have,” Ai continued.
“This ‘time capsule’ was buried by me when he and I came to the island together.”
"However, we argued several times because of this drug, and eventually we broke up."
"He must hate me now, he'd love to kill me."
"And... Vermouth too. If she finds out I'm still alive, she'll definitely come and kill me..."
"This is the retribution for making this kind of medicine; it's the curse I'm carrying."
Her voice was slow and low, but without the slightest hesitation.
It's as if it's been bottled up inside for a long time.
Finally, she smiled, a self-deprecating smile.
"You see, I am this kind of woman, neither innocent nor kind, and I don't know when the curse will befall me."
"Gao Yuan, would you like to date me?"
...
When Yoruichi Toyama, Akemi, and Tooru Amuro arrived at the mountaintop, Ai and Takato stood on either side of the pit they had dug.
The atmosphere was unusually quiet, but Amuro Tooru ignored everything else after hearing what was buried in the pit.
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