Hello there! Thanx for all the nice reviews, for the ones who gave me a fav for this story and also everyone who decided to follow! Finally, I have another chapter to post and as you waited that long it will be a two shot this time. First part today, second tomorrow! Again, I'm sorry for any spelling or grammar mistakes and again I'm happy about every comment you leave me. Enjoy.
2.) Of mysteries and love letters, Part 1
"…And then Watson figured out that Holmes had done it all on purpose! For example the writing mistake…if he wouldn't have got the time wrong, he would never have been able to get a sample of the handwriting from the culprit that easily! What a genius, isn't he?" Ran nodded absently. Why everything had to be always about Sherlock Holmes? Of course she also had her obsessions with karate or a new pop band, but in Shinichi's case his fixation on a certain topic was that extreme that she was sure, he wouldn't realise it, when she would leave him alone right now, standing in the hallway and talking to the wall instead of a real person. Exaggerating? No, she was quite sure, she was right.
"Shinichi!"… "His deduction showed, that two persons had to be involved…One the father and…you know who the other person was, don't you? " He gave her a bright smile, which was somehow adorable and incredibly irritating at the same time. "Shinichi, I wanted to ask, if we shouldn't be heading to chemistry class now?" Ran started another try while Shinichi continued to walk in the completely wrong direction. "…Yes, exactly. His son. It's oblivious…" She rolled her eyes at his self-absorbed behaviour. Where was he going anyway? She was a very patient person which was proved by her living alone with her messy, half of the time drunken father. But enough was enough. Taking some quick steps forward, she stood in front of him and grabbed his shoulders. "STOP-RIGHT-NOW!" she screamed, shaking him pretty violently. "Hey, hey, calm down! Let go!" he protested trying to push her away. "Why the heck are you attacking me like this!?" Perfect, now he was angry with her. "What other possibility did I have? You just wouldn't listen!" Shinichi just shook his head in annoyance. "I did listen to you!" Ran was having a hard time to prevent herself from slapping him directly across his stubborn face. "You didn't! All you care about is solving mysteries, you freak!" Silence. Shinichi's eyes were widened slightly as if he had just seen her for the first time and couldn't believe who she really was. Ran had frozen in her movements, still ignorant of what she had done or said. "A freak?" It was an effort for him to hide the tremble in his voice, but he succeeded. "N-no, Shinichi, I didn't mean it like that…" Ran tried to save the situation, but what exactly had she meant? "I really didn't want to hurt your feelings, but sometimes it's hard for me to get through to you…" She could tell he didn't believe her. Nevertheless he forced a smile on his face, shrugging his shoulders as if he didn't care. "Alright, it doesn't matter. Sorry for not listening to you." She smiled back to him and looked at her watch. "We really should hurry up!", she stated and this time he followed her to the right classroom. She reached out for his hand, but he didn't respond while his thoughts were running wild in his mind. What if he was forcing himself on her again? What if she really thought he was crazy?
The next day:
"Sonoko, what shall I do!?", Ran asked her friend as they waited in a row in front of the shopping mall in Beika district where a new shoe collection had been announced for today. "He's still mad at me, I feel it!" Sonoko looked at her sceptically. "Ran, don't you think you are overreacting? He seemed fine talking to you earlier and probably has already forgotten about your little fight." Unconvinced, Ran shook her head. "It's not that he's angry, it's…it's like he doesn't trust me anymore…" "Why do you think so?" "He hasn't talked to me about anything important to him, like a new book, a new case or football…this morning he just asked if I'm fine and something about the homework."
She was interrupted by her friend's laughter which soon managed to get the attention of various passengers on the two girls. "Sonoko! Be quiet! What's so funny anyway?" The other girl gave her a glance full of disbelieve and amusement. "Do you listen to yourself? So your husband…"- "His name is Shinichi!"- "Yeah, whatever, if Kudo doesn't talk about one of his fabulous cases at least once a day, he must be upset? This isn't bad, Ran, it's a miracle! You can't really want to hear about all that crimes every day. Maybe he has finally understood that there are other important things in life instead of playing detective…for example getting himself a girlfriend!" Ran's face got all red at her words. "Sonoko…he doesn't…he isn't just playing detective!" she saved herself quickly trying to stop blushing that badly.
Her friend grinned at her. "Sure? He might be clever, but just remember all his special moves he makes when solving a case…" Sonoko lifted her hand like she was observing an imaginary paper in the sunlight. "There!" she screamed. "That's the proof!" She made a gesture like she was throwing the paper away in a dramatic way which made Ran laugh. She looked ridiculous. "Don't laugh I'm serious!" she acted on. "You are the culprit and this has to be emphasized with my finger pointing at you." "What did I do?" Ran said playfully raising her arms. "I don't know, but it was surely illegal. Luckily a great detective like me was there in time to prevent you from doing it again" Sonoko finished clapping herself on the back. "How was it?" Ran chuckled. "Not bad, you got him quite well!" She was in a much better mood now as they now finally could enter the mall. How could she have realized the young man who unwillingly had listened to every word of their conversation while waiting in front of the neighboured book store? And just how much it had affected him?
"Sorry, Mister?" he was addressed by the young woman next to him. "You are feeling alright? You have gotten pale all suddenly!" Shinichi just shook his head. "It's okay", he mumbled putting his money back in his jacket. All his thoughts had become a maze of confusion. He didn't know what he felt, but it definitively wasn't okay.
At the Kudo mansion:
Shinichi was sitting in the library hoping to find some peace and comfort in his Sherlock Holmes novels, but found himself unable to concentrate because of all the questions running through his troubled mind. How did his friendship with Ran could have ended up like this? Was Ran really interested in what he was telling her or just acting like she was?
You know she likes you, he thought, desperately trying to forget about today's event, but as much as he wanted to believe himself, he couldn't help wondering if this was true. Shinichi always had been a loner and therefore never had been known for his many friends. In school the boys would admire him and stay friendly because they needed his help for homework what he had accepted quickly.
"You're sort of crazy, Kudo", they would say to him, "you're not only smart, but out of this world" and he would smile at the compliment even though he sometimes wished to be considered as one of them, as normal. With Ran it had been different. Restless as he was he went over to his shelves and opened the top drawer in which he stored his most important things including a photo album of Ran and him with pictures taken since they were in kindergarten. Lost in thought and memory he gently traced the old pages with his fingers, remembering all the happy moments they had together. She was his harbour, his security and much more than she could probably imagine: He admired her beauty, her sense for justice and good- hearted personality and longed to be close to her. When his parents left him on their trip to America, she had been there for him and every time he had reached out his hand he had been sure to feel their fingers connect. Did she feel the same? Or was she annoyed most of time? Everybody's changing, a voice in his head whispered, maybe you need to change as well. And for her, he would.
"Hello!? Someone at home?" a deep voice startled the young detective who hadn't realized a person had been knocking on the front door for about two minutes. "Shinichi, please answer!" it called again and so he got up and opened the door not really in the mood to speak to anyone right now.
"Hey there, Professor Agasa.", he greeted not realizing the angry face of his old friend which expression soon changed into a concerned one at the sight of his young fellow. "Shinichi, I've been knocking for ages! You didn't hear me!?" "No, I'm sorry", he answered, his voice filled with a certain sadness and exhaustion as he let the professor enter the house. "Want do you want?" he then asked directly surprising the old man once more. Normally, Shinichi talked a lot more and somehow it seemed that he avoided looking him in the eyes. "I just wanted to get the book back you borrowed from me last week, you know the…" "I know which one, wait a moment." he answered quickly and left the professor standing alone in the entrance hall.
Something is strange, he thought and made his way into the library only to find an even rarer sight inside. A Sherlock Holmes book was lying on the table and as it was Shinichi's most precious one he couldn't believe it was placed there still open in a careless manner. And wasn't that a photo album on the coach?
"I got it!", Shinichi exclaimed running down the stairs and waving with the said novel. "Here. Thanks for lending." Ignorant of his old friends worried glance he handed it over to him and put a hand on his back pushing him slightly in the direction of the door. Shinichi was indeed chucking him out!
"Son, son…"he tried to stop him. "What's wrong with you?" "Nothing", the boy answered a bit too quickly to be convincing. "I-I'm just busy." he added still trying to move towards the exit, but Agasa turned around and grabbed his shoulders.
"Come on, look at me", he begged and after a moment of hesitation the younger one lifted his head, revealing his deep blue eyes which were shimmering dark with emotion. A bit taken aback from this the professor did let go of him, nevertheless he stayed close.
"What happened?" Shinichi wanted to say nothing, but he just couldn't get the words out therefore he just shook his head weakly. He felt the hand of his old friend on his forehead, certainly feeling for a fever. "Someone hurt you, Shinichi?" the old man asked again, trying to get the truth out of him. Still there was no answer.
Not knowing how to help he tried to pull the boy into a hug, hoping to be able to comfort him, but as soon as he touched his back Shinichi pushed him aside. "I- I can't right now.", he stated, angrily rubbing his hands over his eyes. He didn't know how much longer he could prevent the tears from falling. "I need to be alone…please…" he motioned to the door again. "Please just leave."
The message couldn't get any clearer. "All right," Agasa said still more than concerned, "But call me this evening, okay." The other nodded in agreement while the old man stepped out of the door, then he turned around once more. It was visible that he felt guilty about leaving.
"You know I'm always there for you, yes?" Shinichi's expression softened at this.
"I know", he said, but at the inside he didn't believe that this time anyone than himself could fix this.
And cut! What do you think? What will happen to Shinichi and Ran? And extra points for you if you tell me which Holmes case Shinichi was talking about at the beginning!
