Disclaimer: Detective Conan does not belong to me. This story is written for my enjoyment and hopefully the enjoyment of other fans.
As If I Had the Upper Hand
Chapter 1 of 1
"What are you going to do?"
She blinked. His voice was calm. Emotionless. Flat. No hint of panic or anxiety. It was so quiet she could hear his breathing. But that was even and the only thing she noticed. And since bodies didn't lie, he wasn't faking his unnatural calm.
This alley had no exit either, other than the one she was guarding. So his 'as if I had the upper hand' reaction baffled her.
"Wh- What do you mean?" she managed to ask. Just barely.
For a moment, she thought she saw his eyes flashed. But she must be mistaken because those normally alive eyes turned opaque. He might as well close them since they gave away nothing of how he felt.
"You caught me red-handed, as it is."
Again, she blinked. Or perhaps she'd never stopped blinking.
"Are you going to admit it, just like that?"
He let out a loud sigh. Her lips involuntarily curved up a little. Perhaps you aren't as composed as you want me to think, Conan-kun?
And Conan-kun without his glasses looked so weird. Or perhaps not. It was him apparently drowning in the clothes currently too big for him that unsettled her.
Before she could get used to a discomposed Conan-kun, he leaned back into the wall he was sitting against. Blank wall, like his face. Perhaps she should count her blessing that the night was so dark she didn't have to compare his empty expression to some kind of dark demon's. Geez, the story people kept feeding her, as though she was some gullible girl from a countryside...
"Whatever excuse I can think of would make you look stupid. And we both know you are anything but. Not if you've been testing me since the first time we met."
The second time, Kudo-kun. The second time. But she let the technicality slide.
"Thank you kindly for the compliment." She sketched a half-bow, hoping to break the mood, which was too oppressive for her liking.
Conan-kun apparently had no clue that she didn't mean to mock him. Well, not entirely, at any rate.
"Do not ever come into my world. It is too dangerous."
Those heavy words shouldn't come out of the mouth of a child. Well, this one was actually a teenager-turned-child, but still. His utter calmness unnerved her. Chilled her. She nodded her head, not in agreement, but simply to acknowledge that she heard what he said.
He folded up the legs of his pants and the sleeves of his jacket. That was better, but those clothes still looked unnatural on him.
Apparently, he could read her mind. "I'd ask that you forget you ever saw me like this, but that might be beyond your ability. The next time we meet, try to treat me normally or don't approach me if you can't do that."
Her hand lifted up without her being conscious of it, but then she realized what she was about to do and lowered her hand. What the hell? Was she so lost to reason that she would strike a child? For his brutally truthful words?
Conan-kun, however, kept on his emotionless expression. He stood still, apparently waiting. For what, she didn't know.
Five minutes or perhaps five seconds later, Conan-kun broke the silence. "I'm going back to the hotel. You should be going too, Sera-neechan." Oblivious to her wince, he gave a little bow of his head and walked past her out of the alley.
She knew he was simply being careful - despite the content, every line of his speech had been in a polite mode, a child talking to someone considerably older - but the way he addressed her still stung more than it should.
The next time she saw Conan-kun, he wasn't Conan-kun. She still hadn't figured out how he could go back to his original body, apparently with an ease of changing his clothes and with no visible side effect.
Their little group was currently keeping warm in the afternoon sun since the students had free time until evening. She wouldn't say Kudo Shinichi avoided her exactly, but he didn't approach her, even just to discuss the ongoing case. He seemed content to run off with that friend of his. Ran-kun looked forlorn, but she smiled and put on a brave face. Sera almost felt guilty for depriving Ran-kun of her crush.
Whatever problem Kudo Shinichi had with Sera, Ran-kun didn't deserve to be dragged in. With that thought, Sera made up some excuse she couldn't even remember and took off on her own.
And almost got run over. If not for someone dragging her off the street by a hair's breadth.
She didn't even have to look to know who her savior was. The law of attention was at work in full force: the person/thing she focused her attention on came to her.
He helped her stand on the sidewalk then moved away. She felt the pang of neglect at the widened space between them.
"What were you thinking, going off on your own like that?"
No "Are you okay?" "No Wound?" or anything of the sort. She felt hot blood rush to her face.
"I was being considerate! Ran-kun wanted to be with you but you wouldn't come to her since I was there."
He looked her over from head to toe. She wanted to bristle but the gaze was clinical. Ah, that must be his version of checking up on her to make sure she didn't suffer a broken arm or worse.
"You'll do better to take care of yourself before worrying about other people. Good thing I happened to look back at your group in time."
You were only looking at Ran-kun. But that was not the time to feel resentful. He had just saved her life, after all.
So she bit back her retort and simply said, "Thank you."
He nodded and would have left if she didn't tug on his sleeve. "Wait!"
"What do you want?" Although his voice was calm enough, he crossed his arms in the manner that left her in no doubt that he considered their last unnecessary encounter their last and wanted to keep it that way.
She was surprised she wasn't the least bit afraid. He was currently bigger than her, after all. But she practiced Jeet Kune Do, and as far as she knew he had never had any martial art training.
Heck. Why was she even worried? He'd just saved her from being a random run-over corpse. Unless he wanted to kill her himself.
Nah. She was becoming too fanciful. His paranoia must be catching on.
"I just wanted to know how you do it."
"Going back and forth?" He indicated himself then put his palm down as if to measure a child's height. No, not just any child. Conan-kun. "I'm surprised you didn't know. The sister from outside the domain hadn't filled you in a lot, had she?"
Getting blood from a stone was probably easier than getting her "sister" to tell her something useful. She shook her head. That was a disloyal thought.
"It was on her behalf that I asked. If there was a cure, perhaps you could-"
"Share? Sorry, much as I like to help, I don't know the cause of her predicament. That may as well be something entirely different from mine."
That unwelcome possibility did cross her mind, but if there was any hope at all...
"As I said before, do not come into my world. It is too dark for you."
She was too shocked to answer then. Not this time.
"That's not fair! Hattori-kun is helping you, isn't he?"
"A development that I keep regretting more and more as the days go by. Rest assured, if I could redo it, I would do all I can to keep that hothead out of my dark world."
She sighed. "Kudo-kun, we might not have asked to possess your secret, but the fact is we do now. I think it is up to me and Hattori-kun to decide whether to help you."
Kudo-kun raised his eyebrow, as if doubting the validity of her absurd claim of not asking to possess his secret when she practically chased him down from the beginning. Thankfully, he chose not to call her on it.
"I could do without your brand of helping. Seriously, what were you thinking, trying to expose me to everyone like that?" He sounded almost like a school teacher chastising an unruly student who caused problem for the whole class. The scary thing was, he was absolutely correct about that.
"I- I just wanted to talk to you about your situation. Was that so wrong?"
"You could have done what Hattori did. He brought it up when we were alone. Or did you think I would not admit to it if there was no one else around to ensure my good behavior?"
No. She simply never thought about confronting him in private. Never thought about the fact that she was endangering his secret in public. And by the look on his face, he probably realized that.
"Shinichi!"
Ah, Ran-kun had caught up to them. Their talk would have to be postponed. That is, if Kudo-kun was still interested in talking to her.
Kudo-kun looked visibly relieved. Sera felt a knife to her chest that he apparently detested her company that much.
"Here, keep an eye on her for me, will you?" Without waiting for a response, he walked toward the path Ran-kun came from.
Ran-kun had a puzzled expression on her face as she gazed after Kudo-kun. "Did something happen, Sera-chan?"
Sera pasted on an innocent expression on her face. "No- nothing. I think I went a bit off the way and Kudo-kun found me." She looked around. "Where is Sonoko-kun?"
"Keeping Nakamichi-kun company, since Shinichi ran off without saying anything." Ran-kun stared intently at Sera. "He's out of earshot now, so you can tell me the truth. Are you all right?"
"After being lectured to by Kudo-kun? Not really. But more importantly, why didn't you guys follow him?"
Ran-kun looked like she wanted to say something, but bit her lip. "This will sound strange, but I sensed that he didn't want us to follow. At least, not right away. Perhaps he wanted to talk to you in private?"
"And you trusted me with him in private?" Sera winced as soon as the words left her mouth. That came out a lot more bitter than she intended.
Ran-kun sighed. "There were times I would have been jealous, but after he had confessed to me, I realize my fears were groundless."
Sera didn't know what to reply that didn't sound cynical or mocking. As if sensing her mood, Ran-kun didn't press for conversation and they started walking back to join their group. Perhaps Kudo-kun would stay with them this time.
As she lay back in bed that night, her thought dwelt on the age-shifting detective. He did stay with their group that afternoon but somehow they didn't talk again. Sera wasn't sure if that reprieve was a blessing or a curse.
And she couldn't talk to him now even if she wanted to. His transformation seemed to have a time limit. Assuming the effect of whatever he used to transform wore off at the same time every night, he must be stuck as Conan-kun right now.
She wondered what Hattori-kun did to help cover for Kudo-kun. Between the two of them, they probably would eventually reveal Kudo-kun's secret without any help from her.
A little chuckle escaped at the thought of them trying to worm their way out of incriminating themselves with unbelievable excuses.
"What are you thinking about, Sera-chan?"
She rolled over and smiled at Ran-kun. "Conan-kun. Do you miss him?"
Ran-kun closed her eyes. "Yes."
She didn't elaborate, so Sera, not being too conscious of social cues, pressed on. "Even so, there must be times you find him not too endearing."
"True. But the same could be said of everyone worth loving."
"Like Kudo-kun?"
A faint blush appeared on Ran-kun's face. "Yes. Especially Shinichi. He has more faults than I know what to do with. But he also has more good qualities than many people I know."
"You don't find the fact that he never came to school strange?"
"He told me he is working on a difficult case."
"Even then, students don't simply take leaves of absence from school for that reason. And if he was so busy, why is he even here on the trip with us?"
Ran-kun closed her eyes then opened them. "Can I ask you an impertinent question, Sera-chan?"
Confused, Sera could only nod.
"Why do you seem to dislike Shinichi?"
W-Wait, where did that come from?
As if she could read Sera's mind, Ran-kun went on, "I've been thinking about it for a while. Perhaps you have met him during a case, but surely he would have mentioned you if that is true. Regardless of where you have met, if he had done something to offend you, I'm sure he would have set things right already and not let any potential resentment fester."
Sera held up her hand. "Whoa, whoa, back up. I don't dislike Kudo-kun. And I haven't really met him before this trip."
Ran-kun tilted her head. "Really? I'm under the impression that you recognized him from somewhere, and not from the media. As a matter of fact, I thought I've met you before, too."
"I think it'll be better if you ask him about the circumstances of our past meeting. He seems to dislike me poking my nose into his affair."
"Ah, yes, yes. To me, it looked like you disliked him when you kept saying strange things about his harmless behaviors. As if you wanted to trap him or something."
Oh. Oh. So Ran-kun picked that up, huh? Am I making things worse for you, Conan-kun?
"Only a misunderstanding. We got that cleared up." Well, it was sort of true. The boundary was clearly drawn now instead of hazy like when she kept saying 'strange things' to trap him.
Would she get a chance to apologize and tell him that she truly didn't mean any harm?
"I'm happy to hear that, Sera-chan." Ran-kun smiled. Sera suspected that Kudo-kun was slew by this very smile since the time he was in pre-school.
"I wonder if he is angry?"
"Shinichi? But I thought you said you had cleared up the misunderstanding."
Oops. She didn't mean to say that out loud. Time to back-pedal quick, Sera.
"Conan-kun. We did make fun of him about the trip not being ready for him yet."
That seemed like a life-time ago, and it was clear from Ran-kun's expression that she also thought the same.
"Even if he was, surely he has something else to occupy his interest by now."
Yes, he comes here in his original body to be obsessed with you instead of staying home as Conan-kun.
"That's true. But I think I might have made Conan-kun mad afterward." As in, last night.
"Did he shout at you? Perhaps I should have a talk with him when we return home."
"No, no, no. He didn't shout at me." If anything, she was the one who did the shouting. Or was she? Her emotions seemed to run amok during the past two days. Specifically, from the time she'd unwittingly all but witnessed his de-aging.
Ran-kun frowned. "Then why did you say he was mad at you?"
So she told Ran-kun. About how Conan-kun had no life in his eyes and said things much more grown up than his apparent age. Without any specifics, much to her regret. But she would not give Kudo-kun more reason to dislike her by babbling his secret to his crush.
"Ah, I believe there might be a misunderstanding there, too."
"A misunderstanding?"
"For some reason, Conan-kun was trying to get you to dislike him. On purpose." Ran-kun looked pensive. "Did he succeed?"
"No! I could never dislike Conan-kun." Or Kudo-kun, for that matter.
Ran-kun put a finger to her mouth. Putting a hand to her face, Sera spared a glance at the lone figure on the bed next to the wall.
"Sonoko is a heavy sleeper, but you could never be too sure."
"Yeah, it wouldn't do to wake Sonoko-kun, so perhaps we should wrap this up."
Ran-kun nodded. "Yes, let's." She turned an earnest look on Sera. "Anyway, if I may make a suggestion, perhaps you could try not to corner people so much. From what you said, it looked to me as though Conan-kun was trapped with his back to the wall so he lashed out by freezing you off. Cornered people do unpredictable and sometimes harmful things. I just don't want you to get hurt, Sera-chan."
It is a bit too late for that naive wish, Ran-kun, but I do appreciate the sentiment.
"Why are you not angry, if you believe that I cornered Conan-kun to the wall?"
"Conan-kun might know a lot for his age, but that doesn't mean he is right about everything. I'm sure there is a good reason you felt like you had to corner him. With that being said, I hope you guys will talk and settle your differences openly with no hurt feeling on either side."
Ran-kun had certainly given Sera a lot to think about. So she promised to talk things out with Conan-kun. And it was all worth it since Ran-kun gave her a brilliant smile in response.
Waking up a bit late (it was amazing how much sleep she got when her mind was mostly free of worry), Sera went down to the dining room and found Ran-kun and Kudo-kun already sitting at a table.
"Idiot, like I could ever hate someone I consider a friend. Not to mention a fellow detective."
"I'm glad to hear that. Sera-chan thought you might be angry with her."
"Of course I was angry. That girl had no sense of self-preservation! She ran headlong into everything without giving it a second thought. Reminds me too much of Hattori." He shuddered for good measure.
Sera couldn't help it. She laughed.
He glared at her. "Don't add listening in on private conversations onto your long list of griefs, Sera."
"Well, Kudo, if you want privacy all that much, get a room and take Ran-kun there already."
Both he and Ran-kun turned an identical shade of red. Humming happily to herself, Sera left the lovebirds to endure the teasing. This was not exactly 'settling her differences with Conan-kun' yet, but she now had high hope of getting there, one step at a time.
A/N: Thank you for reading. This is the first story I managed to finish, even though I started reading the manga since the time I was close in age to our heroes (and now I'm closer in age to their parents). Hopefully, I haven't made anyone sound too out of character.