2: She was simply Mouri Ran, the cry baby Shinichi always mocked about.
Ran was the strongest member of the Karate team. Black belt. Body made of steel. Fast and Lethal. If she could shoot laser beams out of her eyes, she'll be a female version of Superman. Well, technically close enough. Her glares, Shinichi once casually mentioned before getting his face punched, were horrific enough to send people running in another direction.
But she wasn't perfect like a hero.
Her first loss happened in her final year of middle school. It was a split second of inaccurate calculation and a wrong choice of move that sent her opponent to the final round while she left the mat, defeated by her own mistake.
Everyone comforted her, but she gave a strong smile and told them she was fine. It was just a loss.
Her first loss.
Still in her Karate uniform, she stealthily exited the sports hall and sat on the steps outside the building without anyone's knowledge. It was a quiet place despite how expose she was to the public, but no one she knew would find her here since the finals would start in a minute and everyone should be focused on it. She could picture it being intense, fierce and-
One of them could have been her.
"You're obstructing the way, you know."
Ran turned towards the voice behind her and pouted at the sight of her childhood friend descending the steps with both hands in his pockets, acting all cool even though he really was.
"Why are you here?" She asked, her sour mood tilted a little towards curious.
"I've came to watch your match."
Of course she knew that. She'd seen him at the stand, even though she already told him there wasn't a need for him to come since he was such a busy and popular detective after all. "I mean, why are you here? The final round is about to start."
"Like I said, I came to watch your match." Shinichi slumped onto the steps next to hers.
Ran hugged her knees tighter together and turned away. She would have blurted out a sarcastic apology of not being able to entertain him until the end of the competition, but she really couldn't when her throat had tightened to the point that her voice would definitely break and give away how remorse she was feeling right now.
"Then why are you here?" He asked back.
She swallowed hard and took a deep breath, trying to regain some bit of her composure before she spoke. "I want to be alone."
"Everyone is looking for you."
Her eyes widened at him. "You didn't tell them where I am, right?"
"They assumed you're inside the building."
"Oh yeah." She almost rolled her eyes. "Smart and amazing Sherlock Holmes guessed it all."
He smirked. That smug grin of his usually stayed for more than a second, but it died down as fast as it appeared. In replacement, his brows furrowed together as he continued to stare at her. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah."
"You don't have to lie to me."
"I'm not lying." Ran retorted, her trembling hands curled into a fist. "I'm trying to be alright. I can't let everyone on the team to be disappointed along with me. I'm their captain, a role model they look up to."
"But I'm not them." He said, as if it couldn't be any obvious enough. "I'm your friend."
Even though she knew that more than anyone else in the world, it took her a few seconds to truly understand what Shinichi meant. To him, she wasn't the captain of the Karate Team. She didn't need to build up a wall to show him that she was fine and strong, both physically and mentally. She was simply Mouri Ran, the cry baby Shinichi always mocked about.
And true to her name, she broke down and cried, with Shinichi silently sitting beside her all the time.
The fic Red (Chapter 1) was meant to be a one-shot, but since there were people who put the story as alert (idk why) and also because I wanted to write some simple one-shots about this pairing, I thought why not just changed this fic to a series of one-shots altogether? And here it is. Updates are random and depend on my motivation level, but reviews and prompts are definitely welcomed too :)