Ai Haibara

Ai Haibara (灰原 哀), an APTX 4869 victim who is also known by her real name Shiho Miyano (宮野 志保, Miyano Shiho) and by her Black Organization Codename Sherry (シェリー, Sherī), is a supporting character in the manga and anime franchise Detective Conan.

Shiho Miyano
Shiho Miyano was born into the secret criminal syndicate “Black Organization” while her British Mother – Elena Miyano and Japanese Father – Atsushi Miyano were both scientists working for the Black Organization to develop a mysterious drug called the “Silver Bullet”. While Shiho was young, both Elena and Atsushi died in what the Black Organization claimed to be an accident.

Unlike her older sister Akemi Miyano who lived a normal life in Japan, Shiho was groomed by the Black Organization to take over her parents’ research by sending her to the United States for education at a very young age. But somehow spoke broken English and developed a love for American homeless garbage sandwich. Upon returning to Japan and by reaching the age of 13, she started to work as a scientist for the Black Organization where she was given the alcoholic codename “Sherry”.

Shiho was about 18 years old when she was able to develop the experimental test compound “APTX 4869” wherein she discovered that the drug could be used as an untraceable, lethal poison to serve the Black Organization’s interests. While further researching the toxin’s effects and performing several tests on her lab mice, she noticed that one of the mice had shrunk instead of dying, although she did not report this incident and kept this a secret from the Black Organization.

Meanwhile, the Black Organization started to use APTX 4869 on humans to commit untraceable murders. Gin, who caught Shinichi Kudo eavesdropping on Vodka's transaction with a Company President and unaware of the drug’s rare side effect, poisoned Shinichi with APTX 4869 and left with his partner Vodka in a hurry, leaving Shinichi shrunken into a child.

Since no corpse has been found, the Black Organization ordered a search for Shinichi. Shiho and her team were then sent to the Kudo Mansion twice to investigate and confirm his death. In their second investigation, however, she suspected that Shinichi had shrunk from APTX 4869 after learning that his children clothes have disappeared which was present in their previous investigation. With Shiho doubting Shinichi’s death, she decided to confirm his status as “Deceased” so that the Black Organization would not look further into the matter.

After the events of the One Billion Yen Robbery Case, Shiho had learned that Akemi died at the hands of Gin, but was given no further explanation. Thus, she rebelled against them, refusing to do any work until the Black Organization gives her a satisfactory explanation to why Akemi was executed. Instead of giving her a justified reason, Gin and Vodka confined her in a sealed room and cuffed her hand to the wall while awaiting orders for her execution. Shiho, realizing that there is no other way out, consumed the APTX 4869 she had hidden in her pocket intending to commit suicide, but shrunk into a child instead. This allowed her to slip her hand free from the handcuff and used the garbage chute to escape the sealed room.

Realizing that only Shinichi Kudo would understand her situation since they are both victims shrunken by APTX 4869, Shiho rushed to Shinichi’s Mansion, only to be found by Professor Hiroshi Agasa collapsed and exhausted in front of the Kudo Mansion.

The Professor eventually adopts Shiho and learns that she was a former Black Organization Member who created and developed APTX 4869, the drug which shrunk Shinichi into his child form. Although the Professor thought of telling Shinichi that he had found APTX 4869’s Creator, Shiho insisted to the Professor to keep everything that happened as a secret as she wanted to tell Shinichi everything about her personally.

Ai Haibara
To prevent the Black Organization from knowing that she had shrunk into a child, Shiho and the Professor created her alias "Ai Haibara" and enrolled in Teitan Elementary School. Ever since then, she had been shamelessly living with this stranger old man ages of her grandfather without paying any household expenditures, while constantly demanding people to buy her high-end luxurious purses. There, she met the shrunken Shinichi Kudo now living as Conan Edogawa along with Genta Kojima, Mitsuhiko Tsuburaya and Ayumi Yoshida. She eventually joins the Detective Boys and reveals to Conan that she was a former member of the Black Organization Codenamed "Sherry" who created APTX 4869 and that she knew his true identity as Shinichi Kudo. Conan, who mistrusts Ai Haibara at the time due to her former affiliation with the Black Organization, protests to the Professor about her presence. However, he then realized that once Ai was caught by the Black Organization, it would be only a matter of time before he is captured too. Since then, Conan had started place his trust on Ai and accepted her as his friend. Ai, in return, had also regarded Conan as her friend and although she does not think deeply about the Detective Boy's immature actions, she has come to value them all as close and precious friends.

While on the run from the Black Organization, she has distanced herself and pushed others away due to the danger and harm she may bring should the Black Organization discover her identity. Gin and Vermouth, both who terrifies Shiho so much, continue their search to track down and eliminate the "traitor" of the secret criminal syndicate.

Vermouth, the Black Organization Member who discovers that Shiho Miyano and Shinichi Kudo were both shrunken by APTX 4869 and are now living their lives as Ai Haibara and Conan Edogawa respectively, plotted to murder Sherry without the knowledge of the Black Organization. However, due to the FBI and Conan's intervention, Vermouth's plan backfired and Conan manages to persuade Vermouth to leave Sherry in peace. Although the promise was broken when Bourbon acquired information of Sherry's whereabouts which was eventually leaked to the Black Organization.

To avert the Black Organization's murder plot, Conan, along with Yukiko Kudo and Subaru Okiya, managed to come up with a plan that resulted in an explosion which was able to preserve Shiho's secret identity. Athough they managed to fool the Black Organization that Sherry died in the explosion, Vermouth learned that Sherry survived and kept this knowledge a secret from the rest of the Black Organization.

As she spent more time with the Professor and the Detective Boys, Ai Haibara had since warmed herself up and developed a crush on Conan Edogawa primarily due to his strong sense of justice. She is also aware that Mitsuhiko Tsubaraya likes her. However, it is highly uncertain that either of these relationships would materialize.

While she generally accompanies her fellow Detective Boys to soccer matches played by the Tokyo Spirits, she came to idolize the Big Osaka Soccer Player - Ryusuke Higo, since he likewise has abandoned a "Black Organization" (Noir Tokyo) after the team had betrayed him and remained an outcast in public opinion for a short while. With Ryusuke Higo now posing as role model for Ai Haibara, she learns how to cope in situations of betrayal by observing Ryusuke's current actions.

Currently, Ai has begun working on APTX 4869's Prototype Antidote by learning that Baijiu temporarily reverts them back to their original bodies and acquiring limited info about APTX 4869 from Akemi's Floppy Disk and Pisco's computer, but since most of the valuable data were destroyed by the Black Organization, the work progresses slowly.

Appearance
Ai Haibara appears to be a child with an average height and has a pale skin, blue eyes, and reddish hair styled in a perm. Furthermore, she is usually seen wearing various casual outfits during her adventures with the Detective Boys and wears her laboratory coat whenever she is researching data about APTX 4869.

Personality
Ai Haibara is highly intelligent and has a calm, cool, and sarcastic attitude. After defecting from the Black Organization, Ai was skeptical and pushed others away due to her belief that the people she had involved in her life after shrinking into a child may be put into harm should the Black Organization discover her true identity. Ai has since warmed herself up by embracing her new life and established strong bonds with Conan Edogawa, Ran Mouri, the Professor, and the Detective Boys.

Ai Haibara currently idolizes the Big Osaka Soccer Player - Ryusuke Higo since both of them have similar situations with her being betrayed by the Black Organization and Ryusuke by Noir Tokyo. She also likes to hear Yoko Okino's songs due to the fact that Ryusuke also likes her songs but eventually deleted all of them after hearing a rumored date between the two of them. Soon, she renews her interest in both of them and goes to play soccer with the Detective Boys while singing Yoko's song "Dandy Lion". In Non-Canon, she was shown admiring Sannomiya Kazunori, an actor playing a detective role.

Although she may be normally cool and cold Agasa noted she is 18 years old girl at heart as shown when she was shocked when she lost her Higo Strap that Higo himself touch and collapses against the wall.

Ai Haibara appears to have some interest in fashion as she made repeated requests for certain types of accessories, particularly of the "Fusae" and "Prada" Brands. She also frequently shown reading the "ComCom Magazine", similar to Japan's "CanCam" Fashion Magazine, and has knowledge over various types of makeup accessories.

Sherry Arc
Ai was first introduced as a new transfer student to Teitan Elementary School. After School, she was approach by the Members of the Detective Boys. She later helps rescue a high school student who was being held hostage by The Silver Fox. Later whilst walking with Conan, she revealed her true identity as Sherry to him, shocking him to the core.

Rum Arc
When Conan asked Ai about a member named Rum, she gave him descriptions of what she had heard about him being either a muscular man, an effeminate man or a senior man. She also notified him that Rum had lost one of his eyes in an accident.

Trivia

 * Sherry is a Fortified Wine made from White Grapes that are grown near the City of Jerez de la Frontera in Andalusia, Spain.
 * According to Hiroshi Agasa, Ai Haibara's name came from the following:
 * Cordelia Gray - The Kanji (灰) in "Gray" from "Haibara" (灰原) means "Ash".
 * V.I. Warshawski - "Ai" (哀) comes from the Alphabet Letter "I".
 * Although the Professor suggested that she use the Kanji (愛) "Love" for "Ai", she preferred to use the Kanji (哀) "Sorrow".
 * Ai Haibara's English FUNimation Name, "Vi Graythorn", has similar roots. However, Gosho Aoyama in an Interview posted in the May 2014 Issue of Da Vinci Magazine stated that the "Ai" (哀) from Ai Haibara comes from Irene Adler, a Fictional Character from the Sherlock Holmes Story "A Scandal in Bohemia".
 * Ai Haibara's English VIZ Name "Anita Hailey" comes from the following:
 * Anita - "Anne Katherine Green", also known as the First American Mystery Writer.
 * Hailey - "Hero".
 * Ai Haibara's Codename "Sherry" is the Favorite Liquor of the Fictional Detective Shunsaku Kudo from the Japanese TV Series Tantei Monogatari.
 * Ai Haibara is an Animal Lover.
 * Ai Haibara is right-handed.