Truth Will Prevail

Seventh Truth

Ran sat in her bed. The door had banged open just a few minutes ago, at 12:15 am. Her dad was home, and drunk. Her mother, as always, had been tight lipped most of the night, glancing up at the clock frequently. Ran had been sent to bed at nine, but she'd been unable to fall asleep for long. Every time she woke up, the light from the living room was still on, and Ran knew that her mother was waiting for her father's return.

When it happened, the inevitable fight had begun.

"Well, you've finally decided to grant me with your drunken presence. I am honored," her mother said, her voice heavy with sarcasm.

"Shut up, woman! I'm not drunk!" her father replied.

"I might not be an almighty detective, but even a blind person could tell you were drunk. I can smell you from here," her mother bit out.

"What's wrong with me going out and having a few drinks? I am entitled to it!" her father declared, "You're not my boss!"

"I might not be your boss, but I am your wife! And from what I hear, if you keep showing up drunk, you might not have a boss anymore!" her mother yelled.

"Nonsense! I keep telling you, I'm not fucking drunk!" her father yelled back, "Maybe if I didn't have to come back to this, I wouldn't need a few drinks just to deal with you!"

"Oh, so it's my fault you don't have the decency to act like a man?!" her mother yelled, her outrage obvious, "It's my fault you're going to loose your job, it's my fault you contribute nothing to the upkeep of this apartment, it's my fault you are a failure as a husband and a father, and it's my fault our daughter was kidnapped right under your nose?! Unbelievable!"

"Oh, you're harping on that again! It could have happened to anyone! I've apologized, what more do you want woman?" her father replied.

"I want you to acknowledge you're wrong and change!" her mother said firmly.

"But I'm not wrong! And I don't need to change. It's your fault for being a damn harpy!" her father accused.

"I give up," her mother said, "You're going to sleep on the couch, and tomorrow morning I'm getting a hotel room and taking Ran with me. I'm not moving back until you act your age."

"You? Leaving me? Forget that, I'm leaving you! I'm outta here!" her father said, and stormed out.

Ran's mouth trembled. Despite all of her efforts, her parents were breaking up. She knew it was her fault, even though Shinichi said otherwise. If her parents didn't have to take care of her, her mother wouldn't be pressuring her father to be responsible, and they would still be happily married. But she'd tried so hard to be good, to lessen her parents' worries.

Ran sat there, trying to be quiet, trying not to cry. She didn't want to see her mom right now.

After a little, when she thought it was safe, she sat up. She needed Shinichi. Shinichi would know what to say.

She focused on that, rather then the discussion she'd just heard. She crept out of the room-her mom didn't stir. It was so quiet, so dark, and while Ran might normally have been nervous, she ignored it in favor of concentrating on her goal. She slipped her shoes on and opened the door and closed it again. She put her ear to the door. She couldn't hear anything. She went to the elevator, went down to the first floor, and exited the building. It was only a ten minute walk to Shinichi's, but it seemed to take forever along the cold, lonesome road. She didn't see a single person, and she was jumping at every noise. Luckily, nothing happened, and she made it safely to Shinichi's house.

For her birthday a year ago, Shinichi's parents had given her a key and a room at their house. She had a standing invitation as a part of the family. She took the key and fumbled slightly, her hands cold, but she managed to quietly open the door and close it again. She listened, and there were still no sounds. She crept up the stairs. It was so dark in this part of the house, without windows. She had to run her hand along the right wall, counting the door ways as she passed. One…two…three…and here was his room. She opened the door. Shinichi, as always being a light sleeper, bolted up and turned on his light. Seeing it was Ran and not some stranger, he relaxed. "Oh. It's just you. Ran, what are you doing here?"

Ran just stared at him. She couldn't think of anything to say. She was here, she was with Shinichi. She was safe, but everything was still so wrong.

"Ran? Ran, are you okay?" Shinichi stood up, and walked towards her. "Ran, you're crying! What happened?!"

Ran hadn't noticed she was crying. She wasn't sure when she had started. "I'll go get mom and dad," Shinichi said, and made to move past her. She grabbed onto him.

"No! Don't!" she said quietly, fiercely. "Just…don't."

"What's the matter then?" Shinichi asked. He inhaled, and frowned. "It's your parents? Your dad came home drunk again, didn't he?"

Ran nodded, fighting the tears, and failed.

"And they fought? They didn't…they did. They're finally breaking up, aren't they?" Shinichi stated.

Ran nodded again, her tears speeding up. Shinichi scowled. She could tell he wanted to say something, and was glad he didn't. She didn't want to hear his opinions about her parents. She wanted him to tell her everything would be okay.

"Come on," Shinichi said, after taking a moment to calm down. They got in his bed, and Shinichi settled her against his shoulder and put his arm around her.

"You're going to manage this. At least you won't have to deal with all the fights," Shinichi offered.

"No, but they're both going to be in bad moods all the time. Mom gets obsessed with work, and dad just drinks and drinks. They love each other, but they just won't compromise!" Ran said, "And it's my fault! The arguments are always about how dad oughta be a more responsible father! If I had never been born…"

Shinichi let her go and glared at her. "Don't say stupid stuff like that! It's not your fault your dad's stuck in permanent puberty. If he's going to mess around with your mom and ends up with a kid, then he has to take responsibility for it! For you!"

Ran's lips quirked up slightly. "Thanks," she said. Shinichi was always there for her, even when she was the one in the wrong.

Shinichi sighed, and sat back against the bed, his arm slipping back around her. "Let's not think about it. Let's just get some sleep."

"You? Sleep? Hah!" Ran said.

"I sleep!" Shinichi protested.

"How long ago did you fall asleep?" Ran questioned.

Shinichi looked over at the clock and flinched. "Probably about twelve minutes before you got here…" he muttered.

"Bat," she said, closing her eyes.

"Kangaroo," Shinichi replied.

The next morning, Ran crept down the stairs behind Shinichi, afraid that she'd be in trouble. She paused in the hallway, hearing Yukiko on the phone with apparently her mother. "I'm not so sure this is a good idea," she said, "I don't want to get you in trouble."

Shinichi shook his head. "If you had a pleasant environment at home, maybe you'd stay there. Come on," he ordered, grabbing her hand and dragging her into the kitchen.

"Oh! She's right here! Yes, yes I know. I'll send her over as soon as I can. I know. All right. See you in a few minutes. Goodbye," Yukiko said, and hung up.

"Ran, you're in…" she started, but was interrupted by her son.

"If her parents weren't always fighting, and if they hadn't decided to break up, maybe she'd be willing to stay home instead of having to walk blocks just to have some peace," Shinichi said defiantly, glaring up at his mother.

"Shinichi," Ran said, embarrassed, but unable to suppress a small smile.

Yukiko grimaced. "Don't you interrupt me, young man! I'm sorry about your parents, Ran. It wasn't a safe thing to do. You better not do that again until you're big enough to protect yourself or you really will be in trouble. And Shinichi, don't give me that look. It was dangerous for her to come over."

Shinichi shrugged, and they went to the table to sit. He could tell that Ran wasn't going to get into much trouble, because it WAS her parents fault, really, and his mother didn't try to argue that point. They'd won the argument. Together, they'd always win.

End Chapter 7

I would like to thank vampslyr and Shinigami for their reviews. They were the only ones to review the chapters 3-6, which I had been so kind as to post in one day. TK posted a review as well, but she's my best friend-I normally just drag her thoughts out about whatever my newest chapter is whenever we talk. I wrote chapter seven at the same time I did chapters 3-6, but promised myself I wouldn't update seven until someone reviewed. I was rather shocked that it took as long as it did for anyone to do so. I'm not holding out for outrageous amounts of reviews, I just would like to have at least one or two comments.

Anyways, enough of that. I would like to request that if you leave a review with questions in it, please leave an email address for me to reply to. I'm generally pretty good about getting back to the reviewer and answering questions, and it's frustrating not being able to reply, since I'm not allowed to reply to reviews in the AN's.

Nickname explanations: Bat, rather obviously, because after the whole kidnapping/drugging thing, Shinichi has a hard time making himself fall asleep and so Ran likes to call him Bat, since he's nocturnal. Kangaroo, because I wanted another animal name, and kangaroos are rather infamous as kickers and punchers, from what I know. Seemed to fit Ran.

Ran climbing into bed with Shinichi: they're still young, and haven't really thought about the implications quite yet. Besides, they got used to sleeping in the same bed during the kidnapping. Right now Ran just wanted to be somewhere safe, and to her, just about the safest place is with Shinichi, especially when her parents are fighting.

Any other questions, please ask, I will respond. Probably tell you more then you wanted to know about the story and my thoughts behind it.

Thank you, and have a great day!