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This is a Christmas present for Krista Perry who is amazing and a wonderful friend as well as a terrible influence. Sorry I'm too cheap to get you a real present, sweety!
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The Lengths She Will Go To:
Detective Conan Fiction
by misha
In his dreams, he sometimes kissed her. He had to lean down ever so slightly which was partly how he knew it was a dream and not just an edited memory. He had always been on the small side. He'd hoped he was still growing back then.
There was also the fact that he'd never actually gotten around to the part where he kissed her.
Well ... back then he hadn't been sure how she felt. Even to himself, that sounded like a foolish argument. It was so apparent in her every word; every tone; every gesture. When he played those days back in three-dimensional high-definition highly-trained detective memory, it was beyond obvious that she wanted more than his friendship and every morning when he woke up on his cheap futon next to her snoring father and brought his tiny hand up in front of his tiny nose and scowled at it with his tiny mouth, he wanted to kick something hard at the head of the oblivious idiot who had wasted all those chances to be with her and hold her and kiss her. Because objectively speaking, all the evidence had been RIGHT. THERE.
Tonight he dreamed of kissing her. He dreamed of smirking; leaning close; tilting his head to the side ever so slightly ...
He tried very hard not to think about it when he was awake. There was a vast chasm between being in love and letting yourself play out the eventual results even in your mind. The general lack of hormones was a blessing in his ... THEIR current situation. Now that she knew everything, it was even more difficult to stay objective and focused around her and a lack of focus could get them both killed.
Someday, though ...
And the way she smiled at him sometimes ...
The strange thing was that despite their lack of physical ... ness, he and Ran had never been so close. It was as if they communicated telepathically, filled the holes in one another's abilities and most of all, trusted one another absolutely. There had been a time when he had feared that any possibility of a future together was shattered forever. There had been a time when he had cursed himself for ever letting himself be convinced to lie to her in the first place; a time when he had not been able to see any path back into her trust.
His stupidity again.
He was learning not to underestimate Ran. Ran was the best human he knew.
Objectively speaking, of course.
He made himself hold on to this particular dream just a little longer. Bird song was the first warning and he ran his fingers through the silk of her hair when the light was just too bright and the creaking to his right was that annoying man with the mustache and his feet were cold and he couldn't seem to get them tucked up under the blanket but her lips were so soft and her lip gloss was ever so slightly fruity and ...
He sighed. It was gone. He was awake and it was another morning of another day in which she'd be right there beside him and still so very far away. He held his hand up in front of his face and ...
And ...
And that was different.
He held his arm out toward the ceiling and suffered a moment of vertigo from the unexpected things the perspective did. He closed his eyes and touched his chest; his thigh; his face. Was this really happening? He rolled over and cursed when he underestimated the distance from his hip to his ankle and overestimated the size of his futon. His knee was going to be purple by noon. He groaned into the wooden floor then stopped breathing when the old man's snores stuttered. 'He can not find me here like this. Please, please, please!' he thought frantically.
He didn't start breathing again until after the old man mumbled and returned to snoring. Shinichi picked up his glasses overreaching on the first try. He stuffed them under Mouri's nightstand and searched the bedding picking out the tatters of the pajamas he had been wearing when he'd gone to bed the night before.
How could he not have noticed tearing through them? That should have been painful enough on its own to wake him never mind the usual heart palpitations and fever and sensation of being stabbed by your own burning bones. Not that he minded the lack of agony, just that -
The old man snorted loudly and turned over. When Shinichi was able to move again (THERE was that heart palpitation.) he crept out of the room and shut the door silently behind himself. He tiptoed as quickly as he could to the bathroom where he stuffed the shredded cloth into the toilet and prayed as he flushed. He swore in several colors, plunged, plunged, and tried the lever again. The water sank with a loud gurgle. He sighed. That was the most illuminating evidence taken care of. He grabbed a towel and wrapped it around himself and ... where was Ran's robe? He couldn't risk Mouri noticing his own missing, but ...
Nothing but towels. Alas. He considered the shower curtain for a moment but wasn't sure how he'd explain it.
Think, Kudo, he told himself. Use that famous brain of yours. His brain was still working on the original question. A pixel hourglass was badly animated in his head. I'm going to be murdered, he thought. I'm going to be murdered and he's going to get away with it because they'll believe nearly any story he tells them. Never considered that in all your plans, did you, 'Conan?'
He had one hope left.
It was one of those rare Sunday mornings when Ran allowed herself to sleep past 7:30. Shinichi tapped on her door with his fingernails and stage whispered her name. "Ran!" There was no reply. "Ran! I'm coming in!" He slid the door open and froze. 'Look at her there!' The sun was soft behind her. Her face was at peace and oh, so beautiful. Under the covers she was lying on one side the rise of one hip just visible, one shoulder bare; too many buttons popped loose in the night. She was an angel. She was HIS angel. He felt a fond smile spread across his face and then shook himself. He had to focus here. "Ran!"
He knew better than to startle her. He wanted her awake, but he needed her brain awake before her fists. He put his back against the wall and slid toward her closet. His towel almost escaped. Stupid friction. He grabbed it and secured it more tightly. "Oi! Ran!"
When he made it to the closet, he slid the door open pinching two fingers viciously. He stifled another curse. This body was going to take some getting used to. He had access to the dresser now and he started with the lowest drawer assuming he knew what would be in the top one. The gi were tempting, but a dead giveaway. He went up a drawer and sighed in relief. Jeans! He and Ran had been almost exactly the same size a year ago. Hopefully they were still close. He'd have to take some measurements. Haibara would want to know. She was going to spit up a hairball when she saw him! He smirked a little at the thought.
He had to suck in his gut twice and let out a little "urk" sound in order to get the button fastened. The zipper was the compilation of his greatest fears should he be discovered, but he managed to get it up without incident. He breathed easy for a few seconds, then knelt beside the bed and gently shook her by that enticing shoulder. "Ran, wake up!"
She stirred; stretched her legs; made the most adorable little 'hrm?' sound.
"Ran, please wake up." Or I'm definitely going to be murdered by your father. Must not be discovered. Must not.
Her eyes opened and she smiled up at him. "Shinichi?" She looked ... pleasantly confused. Then she just looked confused. "Shinichi?" Then she mostly looked angry. She took in the fact that he was shirtless. "You!"
"It's me, Ran, I swear to god! Please be quiet." He absolutely did not dare to cover her mouth. His hands just sort of fluttered there helplessly as she glared then studied him. She was thinking hard. He felt even more naked under her gaze and then ...
She smiled. She reached out and touched the spot just under his collarbone where a tiny scar from a childhood tree-related accident ... "Shinichi!" she said.
He found himself smiling back foolishly. So beautiful. It was all going to be just fine.
"Shinichi!" she said again, this time getting into the spirit of the whispering. "What happened to you?"
"I have no idea." He reached out and touched her face. He'd let enough chances pass him by. "I just woke up like this."
Her expression softened even further. The fingers on his chest tickled down and to his left; moved to his heart. "Welcome back, Shinichi."
He wanted to say that it might not last. He wanted to say that he was still in some danger from her father if not the big bad underworld. What he said was "I'm home." He leaned close. He tilted his head ever so slightly.
She put her arms around his neck and rose to meet him lip to lip. He closed his eyes and breathed her scent. She seemed to have no intention of letting him out of her clutches any time soon. The danger didn't matter and neither did the morning breath. He was so in love with her!
He let it go on as long as he dared. The day was advancing, though, and even the great Mouri Kogoro could not sleep forever. He took hold of both her arms and pushed her away gently and then a little harder. She let him go, but her expression said 'You owe me.'
"Help me find some clothes. Your dad can not see me like this."
She ...
She giggled! "Oi. Ran."
"Alright, alright. Clothes." She sat up.
He "eep"ed and looked away.
She stood and walked and within seconds was pulling down two hangars with two not too blousish blouses on them. She held them up so that he could choose one. He blinked. She still hadn't noticed how low her top was open. He was not looking, not looking. He reached out for the blue one and had it wedged tightly around his left hand in a nanosecond. He swore and scrambled for the cuff buttons.
"Ran!" It was a gruff and familiar voice made more gruff by morning and the more than usual amount of irritation. "Where's that kid?" Shinichi was doomed. He was absolutely out of chances. He scrambled for the buttons again then pulled the shirt back off and tried again to find the cuff let alone the fasteners.
Ran still looked amused. He gave her a 'help me?' plea with his eyes.
"Under the covers!" she whispered.
"Under-" Whatever she was thinking, he was not following the logic. There was no avenue of escape if ... "What?"
"Go!" she hissed. She gave him a tiny push, but he was relatively sure that he had turned to stone. Quartz, if he was not mistaken. "Trust me!" Her look in that moment was the catalyst that brought him back to life. Of course he trusted her. At least they had one working brain between them. He folded his ridiculously long limbs into a seated position, rolled toward the center of the bed and covered himself. He watched her through his little rabbit hole.
"Ran?" the old man asked again getting a little closer and a little louder.
She ...
He was not sure how he felt about that particular smile.
She hung the white shirt back in the closet along with the empty hanger, then dropped the blue shirt on the floor next to the bed. "Err ... Ran?" She crawled in beside him, then maneuvered until she was almost laying on top of him. She pulled the bedding over both of them. "Ran, I'm not sure this ..."
She put a finger over his mouth. Now he was sure that he did not trust that smile. She was blushing, but not nearly as much as he suspected he was. "Sorry," she whispered, her fingers trailing from his lips down to his chest.
"Sorry for wha-"
She pinched his nipple. Hard.
He wasn't entirely sure if the sound that came out of him in that moment was even human.
The door burst open, the fury of a father of teen girl at full boil. "Ran!"
Shinichi whimpered then slapped a hand over his mouth. This was not happening.
The bedding was pulled away and he was staring, dumbstruck, up at his beloved's evil and (he had reason to know) habitually violent father. He did not have to pretend shock or fear. "Kuuudoo..."
"Err ..."
Those hands reached for him. The associations were too strong for him to do anything but shake. He was trapped and absolutely dead.
"Out!" said Ran, and there was more than a little Aunty Eri in it. If Shinichi had been terrified before he was just grateful not to have wet himself when Ran used THAT tone.
Even her father was too well conditioned not to at least pause. Not forever. After all ... "Ran! You can't just ..."
"I said get out, dad! We will talk about this later."
If he'd had any emotion left anywhere within him, Shinichi might have pitied the older man at that moment. He watched, fascinated, as he gathered himself for another protest.
Ran ... growled.
If Shinichi whimpered again, it was possible that no one noticed.
She rolled off him and then into a sitting position. Mouri backed away intimidated by his daughter's expression. "Now ... Ran ..." She stood slowly then took hold of her father's elbow and turned him back toward the door. "Ran, I mean it, you-"
"No, dad, I mean it. I'm of legal age now and this has nothing to do with you." She managed to get him out of the room, but he was rallying. Even Shinichi recognized the 'not under my roof' expression. Mouri took the breath ... raised the finger ...
Ran ... punched a hole in the door frame.
Her father paled. He retreated. "I'll ... I'll just ... go make myself some breakfast. You ... Have you seen that kid?"
"Out with his friends."
"Ah. Alright. Well ..."
He fled.
Ran stayed in the broken door frame until her father disappeared into the kitchen. She closed her door as much as it could now be closed. Shinichi sat up; put his feet on the ground; watched for a clue. He heard the kitchen TV turn on and then turn up to full volume.
When she turned back to him, her face said 'We really got away with it!' He smiled, but it was just a bit hysterical, he suspected. It didn't matter. She was satisfied enough for both of them. She sat in his lap and wrapped her arms around him. She kissed his cheek. "That was too close." Her body language spoke of embarrassment, but also of adrenaline and triumph.
He heard himself laugh and knew it was fully hysterical. He struggled for reason. "Ran. He hates me for eternity now."
Serenity lived deep in her soul. "He hates you for being a teen-aged boy. It was inevitable."
"But ... I have no argument for that."
"We're not entirely out of the woods. You go get his running shoes from the bottom of his closet. I doubt he even remembers what they look like. I'll hide your little red sneakers. Put the running shoes in their place and meet me back here."
"You ... you're like a genius."
"Elementary," she said.
He kissed her and she climbed out of his lap. When they both made it safely back to her room, Shinichi handed Ran his glasses and she tucked them into her top drawer next to the shoes. He didn't mean to get such a good look at the rest of its contents. She handed him a Tokyo Spirits sweatshirt from one of the cubbies and he wondered why she hadn't just ... "YOU!"
She giggled.
He glanced at the gap in her door frame. It was a shame, really. He caught a flash of movement. Sneaky old men.
Ran's phone rang. She picked it off the night stand and glanced at it. She put it back down with a grimace. "No one likes a tattle tale!" she yelled toward the door.
"Your mom?" he asked when he was capable of speech again.
She nodded.
"You know she's going to come over here if you don't talk to her now."
She threw him a pair of socks. "By then we'll already be over at Ai-chan's."
"Right. Haibara."
"And we'll need to get some stuff from your house. You still can't really stay there."
"I'm not staying here like this either."
"Are you going to make me finish dressing you?"
He was absolutely sure it wasn't an idle threat. He juggled the various offerings. She shook her head and plucked the sweatshirt from his numb fingers. She held it up to compare it to his shoulders, then grinned and shot a look toward the door. "Oh, Shinichi! I just don't think it's going to fit!" Her voice was several decibels louder than it needed to be.
"Oi! Ran!"
"I mean ... it just looks like it would be too tight! I mean ... look how big you are!"
"You're doing this on purpose!"
She giggled.
Mouri Kogoro leaned casually against the wall when Shinichi came out of the toilet twelve minutes later. "Oi. Kudo. You know this isn't over, don't you?"
"Mouri-san," he said, trying to sound repentant. It wasn't difficult, all things considered. "I think you're under the misapprehension that I was given any sort of choice in the matter. Your daughter ..." He tried to sound conspiratorial. "Is terrifying."
"Wipe that smug off your face, boy."
"Err ... sorry."
"Shinichi, come on!" Ran called cheerfully from the door.
Shinichi looked toward her. "Terrifying," he repeated.
Mouri Kogoro shook his head, chuckled, and patted him on the back only about twice as hard as was acceptable socially. "Well, then, don't keep her waiting, son!"