This'll be a snippet one shot with the theme of Summer. Sorry about any OOC-ness. I had a particular idea, but not a great way to execute it. Everything after was not planned.
-xxxx-
The first time she sees him sitting in the park it's far too bright, hot, and muggy to actually enjoy being outside, yet his defeated posture tells her enough to know.
He's just too defeated to move.
-xxxx-
The second time she sees him his posture hasn't gotten much better, but he seems detached from the world around him.
Children are playing in the middle of the bustling park, couples are enjoying themselves in their own worlds. It's a perfect day.
He sits there, isolated and alone.
The world doesn't even exist.
-xxxx-
She's juggling groceries for that night's dinner the third time she sees him on that same bench. Despite the moderate temperature, the day is balmy with little wind to relieve the hanging dampness.
There's a flock of birds around him, on him, and beside him.
It's the first smile she sees him wear.
-xxxx-
The fourth time she notices him on that same bench she sees him surrounded by curious children and a few guardians. He pulls scarves out of his sleeve and it poofs into confetti.
The small crowd claps with joy and laughter.
His spark is only barely there.
-xxxx-
The fifth time she's struck by how much he looks like Shinichi, to the point of dropping her bag of spices they'd run out of. The sound jolts her from staring at the side of his head as he performs another mini magic show for a few of the children who've come to know him.
He laughs and her spell is broken.
Shinichi's laugh was entirely different, but she could tell.
It was slightly broken.
-xxxx-
It was raining the sixth time she passes through that particular park. She pauses, her groceries held close to her to try and shield herself from the damp and keep them safe.
A moment.
A choice.
She walks over to him, suddenly realizing with a start that he's soaked from head to toe, slumped and defeated again. "Are you alright? Did you forget your umbrella?" She feels foolish.
He jolts as if he'd seen a ghost, a moment, a polite smile, "Wha? Oh uh, yeah… I just…" A shrug, "I forgot it."
She tilts her head at his response, but nods it off. "I'm Mouri Ran, I've seen you at this park quite a bit, and while I know it's rather rude of me, but you've seemed down about something for some time."
The teen blinks and suddenly jolts into standing, "Ah, uh.. I'm Kuroba Kaito." He rubs the back of his neck awkwardly, "And uh.. Yeah. Something has been bothering me, but uh…"
She smiles, "It's nice to meet you Kuroba-kun. You don't have to tell me anything if you're not comfortable, but I'd like to at least get you out of those wet clothes and give you some tea, if that's alright with you?"
He stares at her baffled, "Uh…" He shrugs and slips his hands in his pockets, "Sure, if that's alright with you."
Her heart lightens, "Of course. It's not too far, come on." She takes his wrist and drags him until he joins her under her umbrella.
Both feel the situation is a little more than surreal, for entirely different reasons.
-xxxx-
Just because KID is familiar with them, doesn't mean you should let yourself be familiar.
But it's because they've become too familiar, that it's easy to fall in alongside of them.
This is an avoidable, yet not unexpected outcome.
Kaito sits in the Agency's office as Ran makes tea elsewhere. A towel rests around his neck to keep his still-dripping hair from dampening the clothes he's borrowed.
It was almost hard to not already know where to go in someplace he wasn't supposed to have ever been.
(Not that he came by often or anything, but once scoped out, a place's blueprints sort of stuck in his mind.)
He relaxed his body a bit, sighing, knowing that if Tantei-kun walked in they'd both have near heart attacks. He just wasn't sure if he'd get a ball to the face, or yelling.
He'd prefer yelling. Hurt a lot less.
Ran returned from where she was making tea, her young charge (think of the devil) along behind her. She smiled, "Conan-kun, this is Kuroba-kun. Kuroba-kun, this is Edogawa Conan-kun." The tea was served and the tray set down.
He smiled, a nervous tingle climbing up his spine as a grin tried to break free from a mischievous internal trick coming to mind. He squashed it and nodded in greeting, "Nice to meet you Conan-kun."
They boy sat on the other couch, Ran joining beside him, "Nice to meet you as well, Kaito-niichan!"
Polite greetings done, he took a sip of the tea and felt relieved of the chill he hadn't realized had set in. "Sorry for the trouble."
Ran shrugged, "It was my idea, so don't worry about it. It's not my usual behavior, but you seem familiar to me and I couldn't mind my own business anymore."
Conan raised a brow in a lightly scolding tone, "Ran-neechan?"
She huffed a short laugh, "I'm sorry. Kuroba-kun, you remind me of someone and I was really concerned because you've looked so...sad. Even when performing for the children."
Kaito blinked, "Uh… yeah. I've been in a bit of a slump."
"Performing?"
Ran looked down at Conan and explained, "Kuroba-kun sometimes does magic tricks in the park for the children. He's been there quite a bit, and some of the kids started to notice."
They both looked at him and he shrugged, "I'm not sure how it even started." He pondered a moment, "I guess it was when a little girl had scraped her knee that I went over and gave her a rose. The kids were fascinated after."
The other two nodded, though the shrimp started to look suspicious. It couldn't be helped. He knew, that he knew, that they looked alike. Somehow. He wasn't even sure of what he himself had figured, since the concept was mildly terrifying.
"I had a fight with my best friend. We've known eachother since we were kids and I went too far with a prank, and now she won't talk to me. I've tried everything I know that's worked so far to apologize to her, and she still refuses to accept it! I even-!" He coughs, "Anyway. Uhm.." He slumps completely in a partial pout, "So do you have any advice on how to get back into her good graces?"
The two across from him stare as they take in the abrupt dump of information. Ran looks thoughtful as the boy detective responds first, "Have you tried leaving her alone?"
The two (visible) teens look at him, "Conan-kun."
Kaito sits up a little, "Uh… well…"
"I'm taking that as a no."
He slumps back, "No."
"Try it. Give her a week. Give her her space. Obviously don't come off like you're ignoring her, but just… give it time."
"And after a week?"
"Give her red and white roses."
-xxxx-
The seventh time she sees him she has Conan with her, both carrying various groceries for dinner as they come across the magician in the park.
It's been two weeks since their talk, and the change is obvious.
Magic, life, joy, and wonder emanate from him and reverberate to his mini following as passersby stop to enjoy the show. As if drawn by magnetism, they themselves also find it hard to leave the show he's performing as if he were on a theater stage.
He had the talent.
He would make it into the business.
The idea rooted itself in their minds, even as the detective began to dissect every trick and sleight of hand.
A minute passes, ten minutes pass, or was it an hour that passed? Finally the show is over and he notices them. He grins and his joy infects them both as they smile back. "Mouri-san, Conan-kun!"
He waves goodbye to his dwindling crowd and shoves his hands in his pockets as he strolls over, "Did you enjoy the show?"
Both nodded as Ran responds, "Yes, it was wonderful!"
"I guess you and your friend made up, huh?"
Kaito looked at the cheeky detective and smirked, "Yup! For a pipsqueak, you had some good advice. By the time I decided to give her flowers, she didn't even remember what we were fighting over!" He shrugged.
"Well, I'm glad that you're feeling better Kaito-niichan." Conan nodded agreeing with her sentiment.
"Yeah, thanks for the help."
-xxxx-
His leg is on fire, broken from a misjudged leap from the staircase. The timing was poor and he was screwed. Jii had no way of reaching him.
A door opens. Footsteps.
He stiffens.
"Kuroba-kun?"
He turns his head startled, sweating, and his brain shuts down. "Mouri-san."
The detective is with her, both have noticed his leg.
A gunshot.
All three start as the two quickly manage a tourniquet for his leg to hold it still in no time flat, and he realizes dizzily he's on her back as the two run.
"I thought KID heists were usually safe!"
The boy huffs, "It's been sporadic in the news. This way!"
He clings while gritting his teeth in agony. Agony is better than dead, but breaking a bone sucked far worse then he'd given it credit for. Being shot and stabbed before made one think it couldn't get worse.
Clearly. Not.
Suddenly his brain kicks back into gear.
"Mouri-san, take a left down that hall and run straight down. There's another firescape."
Both heed his directions. The boy moves ahead, calls it clear, and they continue down.
Nearly there-
"Stop!"
Ran freezes, terror running through her veins as he feels nausea run through him. Conan is positioned with caution. A muzzle, a step, a smirk, and a dark chuckle. Black clothes.
He hasn't actually seen Tantei-kun this alert before, and he feels ice through his bones as he signals Ran to let him stand on his own.
"Now, now, I can't have anyone leave here, not before I have the Jewel."
Conan grits his teeth, "Why would any of us have it? Who are you?"
The man hatefully glares at the boy, contemplating violence, "I'll make your deaths swift if you hand me the jewel. I'm not playing games boy." His hateful glare moves to Kaito before it melts into a disgusting grin, "You can tell your father all about it on the other side."
No one would save them but themselves. Decisions made. Everything would be down to the wire, by the second, and completely by chance. He shifts his posture, hands into pockets as sweat beads down his face. There's no poker face tonight. No witty quips. Lives other than his own were dragged in.
He shouldn't have allowed himself to get familiar with them.
A handkerchief in hand, an object, a cold voice, "You mean this, Snake?"
The giant bares his teeth in an ugly scowl, "Give it here."
Kaito tosses it up once, twice, the sound of air inflating causes a moment's glance. He throws the jewel at the man's face as he pulls out his cardgun. A light, 3 shots, a soccer ball hitting flesh.
A warrior yell, clacking, and a body being beaten only to slump to the floor.
His collarbone is on fire.
He collapses. His right arm is useless. There is blood, but he can still see the bullet.
How unfortunately lucky.
Police swarm in.
-xxxx-
Kudo Shinichi was sitting in the room.
Kudo Shinichi was- "Am I dead?"
Shinichi smirked, "You could have been."
Kaito boggled at him in a somewhat medically induced haze as he then took further stock of the room. He moved his wrists and found them totally free, as well as his other uncast leg. It was a normal, private, hospital room. He was in a normal run of the mill gown (Oh but did his shoulder, arm, and leg ache), a vase of get well flowers with a few sporadic mismatched ones thrown in that gave him the feeling of 'Get well, Idiot.'
He felt himself grin before looking back at the detective sharing his room with a blank face. "Uh…"
Shinichi got up and poured some water before offering it, "Thirsty?"
Kaito's throat itched, "Yeah."
Bed shifted so he wouldn't choke, and he gingerly (with mild assistance, he did not appreciate his apparent weakness) drank through a straw before nodding his thanks as the glass was set down, it was only then that he realized he was in his clothes and his hair was off. "What's going on?"
Kudo smirked in a self-depreciative way, "My mom."
A lot of strange pieces began to fall into place, "...Meaning..?"
The detective gave him a look, "Anytime my parents are around, things go sideways. Don't know how it is for you, but she decided you were away too long and volunteered me."
Kaito blanked, "What?"
"You have the weirdest life ever. Also, stop flipping Nakamori-chan's skirt. What are you, 5?"
"Older than you usually."
Shinichi gave him an annoyed stare, "Oi."
Kaito didn't want that confirmation, and shrugged. He didn't like playing detective, but the other clearly attracted the wrong sort of attention. He raised his hands in surrender, "My lips are sealed."
Shinichi huffed, "Well, if we're not going to talk about it, then I think we're about even then."
Kaito raised an eyebrow, "What does that mean?"
"I've made your statements as well as my own. If you're not talking, I'm not talking. I dragged you into my mess, and now I was dragged into yours. I like the challenge you give me that doesn't involve dead bodies, so I guess we're even."
"...Are you sure I didn't die?"
The punch to his (good) shoulder was proof enough.