Valentine's Goodbye
"I just wish I could see him again, even just a glimpse." Those were the words of Mouri Ran as she looked at the dates of February on her calendar. That was also when a letter arrived to her by express.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Her red coat seemed to glow under the silver lunar rays that rained down in abundance, lighting the night brightly. Stars filled the sky, tightly mingled together, quivering its illumination in the cold wind of February. Snow sheeted the ground, lodged upon branches, and blanketed everything exposed to the outside. White puffs of her breath dimmed her vision momentarily as it rose up to the heavens as she held her watch to the light of the moon to check the time (The third time in the past 10 minutes). She hugged her arms and rubbed them for warmth. She have been waiting for over an hour now, or rather, she had arrived an hour early. With high hopes, tears in her eyes, and an overflow of joy, excitement, and a conviction of her heart, she could not sit still at her home.
"I'm sorry Kudou-kun."
The chimes from a distant church echoed softly; 12 times it rang. As though on cue, a voice sounded behind her. "Happy Valentine's day," it said.
Tear's rushed to her eyes. "Shincihi?" she asked, already knowing the answer.
"Stop crying," the teen's chuckling voice replied.
"I missed you so much," she choked with a sniffle.
"I won't trifle with you, the antidote can't be made."
She waited for an answer that she expected to come immediately but it didn't. An awkward silence built in the air. "Shinichi?" she called and was about to turn when his voice exclaimed in sudden tension.
"Don't turn around!" he shouted. She returned her eyes abruptly back to the front purely from reflex. Then, after a moment of settling down, his voice returned to its original volume. "Don't turn around Ran, please."
"What's wrong Shinichi?" she questioned worriedly.
"the B.O. spreads too big for it to be seeked, you fight a fight you can not win."
"I'm sorry Ran, but I can't bare to see your face right now," he said with difficulty.
"Shinichi?" Ran swallowed. A new round of tears filled her eyes.
"If I see your face tonight, I won't be able to tell you what I have come here for," he said softly.
"If you truly care for those you say you do, you will have to sacrifice them all…and yourself."
"I don't understand," frustration sounded in her voice, "Why would you call me out if you don't want to see me?"
"I…just can't," Shinichi replied.
"No! Explain it to me!" angrily, she said, "why didn't you just call like you've been doing all these years. What am I to you! You call me out here this late in the night and you won't even look at me. If you want to tell me something then tell me it face to face. Isn't that the reason why you called me out here?"
"Them…She…must remain ignorant of you…forever."
Silence…
"Tell me!"
"I came to say my good bye," he blurted.
The girl fell silent. An unconscious hand grasped her chest as a feeling of tightness ached around it. "Your good bye?" she whispered in confirmation.
"This will probably be the last time you'll hear my voice."
"What are you talking about Shinichi?" Ran cried, "I don't get what you mean!"
"I'm sorry Ran, but I do this for you," Shinichi lamented a breath.
"No…"
"I'm leaving…for good this time."
"Wait!" she exclaimed as she spun around, her hand extended forward.
"I give you this, the temporary cure made entirely from Paikaru's content, the last of it."
Sad eyes met sad eyes. His pale sweat covered face was trying hard to hold a smile from a frown. He leaned against a tree for support, panting slightly. The moonlight only highlighted his character of illness. "Shinichi?" Ran took a step forward, "What's going on?"
"You'll be alright Ran, old man Mouri might not be much of a detective but he'll take good care of you," Shinichi smiled, ignoring her question. A surge of pain shot through his bones which made him wince slightly, then returning his eyes to the confused girl and placing the innocent smile back on his lips, he stepped toward her.
He stopped in front of her; his eyes were full of emotions. Before the girl could react, he leaned over and pressed his lips upon hers. Surprise jolted open her tearful eyes, but soon after realizing what was happening, her muscles relaxed to his tight grasp. She didn't struggle, she didn't want to struggle, she didn't want it to end.
"After that, Kudou Shinichi is dead."
But time refused it. As another surge of pain shot through the boy, making him flinch slightly, removing his lips from hers, he released her and turned his back.
"Good bye Ran," he said with sorrow, then before she could call back, he made his way out of the park (Half running, half staggering).
It was so rushed. He came and was gone in a blink of an eye. The echoes of his footsteps as it softened to the distance started off quick but had reduced to walking speed by the time its sound diminished to an echo. It was her wish, whether she liked it or not. 10years had passed and she could still remember everything about that night that last few minutes, that last valentines day.
She had moved to Canada after graduating with a 3.8 (letter grade: A, about 85) from Tokyo University in law and is currently taking MBA on corporate law at University of Calgary. It's past two in the morning already and she was still not asleep. It was the whether, the snow, the snow, which fell so ominously. Turning to the calendar behind her, she noticed that yet another valentines had passed without her notice.
Turning her attention away from the contents of her laptop, she took the small framed picture that was neatly placed beside it to her hand. The paint job on its frames had grew dull and even the picture inside was beginning to lose its color. The glass had formed stains on the inside which hazed the illustration underneath, but all in consideration, it was very well preserved; the picture of him and her, smiling happily with the Ferris wheel of tropical land behind him.
The sound of a message snapped her back to reality as she opened the textbox that flashed on her laptop. 'It's from Irashiko-san' she read.
'You still awake?' it wrote.
'yes' she replied.
'Good, I got you your next case.'
'I'm listening.'
'the Miller case'
'I actually got it?'
'Yes, but there's a catch,'
'A catch?'
'Yes, you have to work with a partner lol.'
'A partner?'
'Yeah, there's a guy that they say they want you to train. He just graduated from law under crime scene analogy or something.'
'I C… another newb on the job eh lol?'
'lol'
'So who is this guy anyways?'
'His pretty young…surprisingly young.'
'really?'
'yeah only 18'
'18 and he graduated?'
'Yeah, some kid called Edogawa Conan, must be some genius kid.'
Her fingers stopped. She wasn't exactly surprised by the name. If she allowed herself sometime to run through the possibilities, she could have probably guessed it would be him. Yet, she couldn't help feel a small bit of pride in knowing that she had a part in raising the 'genius' child.
'Ran?' Irashiko messaged.
'Sorry, zoned out there a bit.' Ran replied hastely.
'Yeah, it's getting late. I gtg anyways, test tomorrow. Just came on to tell you that.'
'Alright, c ya.'
'ttyl Ran'
'ttyl'
As the girl set the lid of her laptop down, she looked outside at the falling snowflakes. 'Conan-kun huh,' she smiled, 'He went to America soon after…he… left and its been about 10years since I last seen him. He graduated already, can't say I'm surprised, he always was a smart kid.'
Lying herself upon her bed, allowing her legs their full extension with a breath of relaxation, she closed her eyes with a nostalgic smile to the boy's name, 'Conan-kun…I wonder what he looks like now.'
TBC….
Like the idea? Please review and tell me if you want me to continue or not. I guess this is an AU fic. I'm writing this based on modern day and internet terminologies for the chatting that goes on so incase anyone didn't understand the abbreviations…
LOL: laugh out loud
Newb: term used to describe a beginner, or new comer.
GTG: Got to Go
C: abbreviation for see (C ya: see you)
TTYL: Talk To You Later