"Okay, so uniform, check, obviously." Shinichi said, looking at his companion, who was dressed in blue uniform of his school. He eyed her critically. "You remembered to put on underwear this time, right?"
Ran gave him an annoyed look. "Yes, and Aoko-san explained why it was important, too. Pervert."
Shinichi shook his head, she'd been spending too much time with the sweet, but violent girl and it was rubbing off. Remembering what they were doing, Shinichi moved to the next item on his mental checklist. "Backpack?" she held it up. "School supplies?" she yanked it open and showed the contents of the bag.
"Coat?"
"Why do I need a coat? It isn't cold!" she protested, despite the fact it was the middle of winter.
"Because it's cold to everyone else and you'll look weird without one." Shinichi said and she huffed, but grabbed it off of a nearby chair.
"I think that's everything. Remember, keep your eyes blue, or brown or whatever, all day long. Ready?" Shinichi said.
Ran nodded and bounced up next to him, grabbing his hand in the process. "Ready!"
---
Normally, Shinichi was against hacking and other sorts of breaking and entering, but he felt that this one time would be okay, because he was doing it for the greater good. So he asked Kuroba to hack the school mainframe and make sure Ran got put into the same class as him.
After settling things with the office, the two of them walked to their classroom. "Okay Ran, wait out here until the teacher calls for you, they like to be dramatic about these sorts of things. The desk next to me is empty, so after you answer their questions, just sit next to me okay? You'll do fine, I'm sure." He said, leaning over to straighten her tie before smiling at her and walking into the classroom.
Several minutes later, the teacher finally got around to calling for her and she walked in. All eyes were on her and she trembled a bit under the scrutiny, eyes flashing a scared green for half a second before she pulled them back to the clear blue color that she had deemed normal. Her eyes sought Shinichi's face out of the crowd and were pleased to find him, looking at her reassuringly from a desk near the window.
"Alright, everyone, this is Arachne Ran, she just transferred from Chiba." The teacher said and Ran grinned just a little at her name.
"Please treat me kindly." Ran said, bowing at the waist like Shinichi and she had practiced the night before.
"Are there any questions for Arachne-san before we begin?" the teacher asked and a couple of hands went into the air. She randomly chose a boy near the back row.
"What does your surname mean, Arachne-san?" he asked curiously and Ran fished for an answer that wouldn't answer anything, coming up with one rather quickly.
"I don't know, what does your surname mean?" she said and the boy managed to look sheepish as he sat back down.
"Suzuki-san." The teacher said, pointing to a girl near Shinichi.
"Why do you keep on staring at Shinichi-kun?" she said and Ran's eyes immediately went to back to Shinichi's face, though he was no longer looking at the front of the room, opting instead to give the other girl an annoyed look that she returned with a smirk.
"Come on, Sonoko-chan, she probably just recognizes him off TV or something." Said one of the other girls and, curiosity peaked, Ran turned to Shinichi.
"Why were you on TV, Shinichi?" Ran said and the class immediately started whispering.
"...called him by his first name."
"How couldn't she know about...."
"....didn't even add –kun!"
"When did she meet...."
"Quiet!" The teacher yelled suddenly and the class froze. "Ran-san? Please take a seat now, we're about to begin."
Ran nodded and walked over to sit by the only person in the room she knew. A note slid onto her desk and she unfolded it.
'Don't worry, you were fine. Wait for me when the lunch bell rings, okay? I don't want Sonoko getting you alone anywhere.'
Glancing around to make sure no one was watching her, she began to write underneath the message. She wasn't very good at the whole check-to-make-sure-no-one-is-watching thing though, because nearly everyone in the class was.
'Why don't you want her getting me alone?'
She passed the note back to him and he eyed it speculatively before writing something a passing it back.
'Because they'd never find the body.'
Ran frowned as she answered. 'I can take the silly human easily.'
'No! Just forget about her and do as I say, okay? Later on you can get into all the catfights you want, but for now let's just lay low. And don't even think about using any of your 'advantages' against anyone here, unless you just want to be taken away and never heard from again!'
'Fine, I will be good. But why does she dislike me?'
Ran moved to pass it back when suddenly; it was snatched out of her hand by the teacher. "No note passing in class please, Ran-san. Shinichi-kun, you know better as well. I'll let it slide though, because it's your first day." The teacher's eyes scanned the note and she leaned down next to Ran to whisper in her ear. "As for your question, it's because Sonoko-kun has a slight crush on Boy Wonder here and thinks you to be competition."
"Competition for what?" Ran whispered back.
The teacher looked a bit shocked and Shinichi grinned sheepishly. "You'll have to excuse her naivety, sensei; Ran-chan is not wise in the ways of the world just yet. I hear Chiba is very sheltered."
She left then and Shinichi turned to Ran one last time. "Remember, lunch, okay?"
Ran nodded and then turned to the front of the classroom, intent on learning for the rest of the day.
---
Staying true to her word, Ran waited for Shinichi to gather his things before exiting the room, deciding to ignore the rather obvious glare she was getting from not only Sonoko, but most of the girls in the class.
"Ignore them. They're just angry that you're spending time with me and they're not." He mumbled handing her a brown paper bag.
She eyed it speculatively. "What's this?"
He smiled at her. "Lunch, of course! You're so skinny, you need to eat more or people will think you have a problem. So I packed you one this morning, you don't mind, do you?"
Her face broke out into a grin and she bounced in place, wishing to hug him but refraining because he'd told her glomping people in public was not normal. "Thank you so much. Shinichi! That was really nice!"
He rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed. "It wasn't such a big deal. Let's go find somewhere to eat, it's warmed up some, we could eat outside."
Ran looked at him. "It was never cold to begin with!" she said, brushing past him and he hurried to catch up, opting not to comment on how wrong she was about the weather.
Halfway through lunch, a group of girls, headed by Sonoko, walked over to where the two friends were sitting. "Ran-san, can we have a word with you?"
Ran started to stand up, but Shinichi grabbed her arm. "Sonoko-chan, please don't start this-"
Ran cut him off. "Its okay, Shinichi, I want to talk to them too, I can handle myself here." She smiled and he relented, letting her arm go.
"Don't take too long, class will start soon. Do you want me to wait for you out here or-?"
She smiled broader. "Go on in, I won't take too long. No reason to worry!"
He sighed but picked up both of the finished lunches and walked off, leaving Ran facing the angry mob of girls.
"Why are you so cozy with Kudo-kun?" one of the girls beside Sonoko demanded and the mob made noises of agreement.
Ran sighed, suddenly looking very sad. "I didn't want to have to tell anyone this, Shinichi promised me that no one would ask, but I suppose I have to give you an explanation. I'm going to tell you my story, please don't think too badly of me.
"I was just a little girl when it happened, so I don't remember much about my parents, all I really remember is them dying. I realized soon enough that I was all alone and that no one was coming for me. I took to the streets and I lived there for many years, it was not easy, but I was able to get by, I'm a resilient sort of person.
"But about a year ago, some men found me and claimed they wanted to help me. I agreed readily enough and they took me to an old abandoned house. At first they were kind to me and I was happier than I had been in a long time. But that did not last long. They really just wanted to torture me, I don't understand why. They tore at me with knifes and hammers, never deep or hard enough to scar, but enough to make me scream. Eventually, they were forced to leave their hideout, one of them, a woman who was fond of me and patched up my injuries when no one was around, begged them to take me with them. But they had forsaken her for her kindness to me and her pleads were unheard. So they left me there, tied up in the dark coldness of the cellar for a very long time. I don't know how long.
"When I was sure I couldn't take it anymore and was about to give up, the door at the top of the stairs opened and I saw Shinichi. He helped me to flee that awful place and is letting me stay with him out of kindness. I am undeserving, but very thankful. He has taken care of me like no one since my parent has and I am ever in his debt. I do not know why my closeness to him makes you angry, I didn't speak to people much for many years, any social grace I might have once had is long gone. I never even learned my honorifics, Shinichi had to teach them to me, and by the time I had learned them, I was too used to calling him by just his first name. Please do not judge me or treat me unkindly, I am new to the world and I don't understand it."
As she told her tale, for that's what it was, though the crowd of girls didn't know this, she kept her eyes toward the ground, but as she finished she looked up and none there could be mad at her any longer. After a pause of silence since the ending of her story, Sonoko was the first to speak. "Ran-chan, -can I call you that?-", at the other girl's nod, she continued. ,"we are so sorry, we had no idea...I promise not to bother you again. Please forgive me for my rudeness. If you would allow me to, I would like to be your friend."
Several of the others nodded in agreement, shamefaced at their earlier behavior.
Ran, on the other hand, was beaming in delight. "Oh, would you? Another friend, how lovely! I would like it if we could all be friends and put the past behind us! The future is much more important, don't you think?"
The crowd of girls nodded their agreement and Ran smiled at them, before getting a panicked look on her face. "Oh no! I told Shinichi this would only take a second and now the bell is about to ring! He must be worried, he was sure you girls were going to try to hurt me, how ridiculous, don't you agree?" As she said this, several of the girls looked away from her, putting the school supplies that they had been planning to use as weapons into their pockets discreetly. "I'll have to go tell him about all the new friends I made, how exciting! Goodbye!"
"Bye, Ran-chan." The girls said as she rushed back into the building.
Taking her seat, Shinichi looked at her as if she was some foreign life-form, which she was, but that was beside the point. Revealing an earbud to her, he raised an eyebrow. "Where in the world did you come up with a story like that?"
Ran grinned and Shinichi noted her eyeteeth resembled fangs. "Aoko-san and I read a story like that on the Internet. I just put my name in it and changed a few things. Did I do good?"
Shinichi shook his head. "If I didn't know better, I would've believed it myself. Those girls probably won't bother you again, they'll feel too guilty."
"Ran-chan!" Sonoko said, darting over to the two by the window. "Ami-chan has the newest Super Kawaii! Magazine, of course, you probably haven't seen the old ones, have you? We'll borrow them from her later, but for now, come on! Lunch is almost over and I just saw this outfit that would look adorable on you, you have to see it!"
As Ran let herself be dragged away, Shinichi looked on in amazement before smiling.
'Who knows,' he thought to himself. 'Maybe a friend like Sonoko will be good for her.'