ヽ(*´∀`)ﾉ┌┛
"And if you look under your plate," Hikaru prompted with a snap of his fingers. Ran lifted her plate and broke into a grin, picking up the ace of hearts. "You'll find that your card has once more found its way back to you."
Ran flipped over the card to find her signature on the back of the card. "That's my card, all right. How did you do that?"
He clucked his tongue. "Magicians do not reveal their secrets, Ran." Hikaru flicked a new card into existence. "It's a simple matter of distraction," he continued, motioning for Ran to hold out her hands. As she did, he placed her card in her left hand and the other card, the two of diamonds, in her right. "With practice, a bit of sleight of hand here, and a touch of showmanship there, anyone can be a magician." He waved his hands over hers twice, placed his hands over the cards, and snapped the fingers of his left hand. When he took his hands away, the two cards had switched places, and he was beaming like a little boy on Christmas morning.
Ran handed him the cards. Propping her elbows on the table, she rested her chin in her hands. "By that logic, all it takes to be a black belt is a bit of determination, some self-control, and discipline."
"And it's our persistence in each of our professions that puts us on a level above the rest." Hikaru snapped his fingers, and the cards vanished into nothingness. "Did you practice-"
Ran's phone rang, and she looked down at her pocket. "Excuse me for a moment." As she took out her phone, the caller ID stared back at her intently as though it possessed his piercing gaze.
Shinichi.
She lifted her thumb to answer, but she faltered. It wouldn't be polite to cut into this lunch date with Hikaru, and she could talk to Shinichi any time she wanted.
No, you can't.
Besides, Shinichi wasn't here, and Hikaru was treating her to this meal as an apology for how their celebration dinner a few days ago had turned out. Hikaru had been true to his promises, and Shinichi still hadn't fulfilled his.
Ran moaned at herself, shaking her head. What is wrong with me? Answer him! This is Shinichi.
Hikaru caught her hesitation. "What's wrong? Who is it?" He nodded to the phone. "Do you recognize the number?"
"It's Shinichi," she admitted, feeling an odd twinge of guilt. Why do I feel guilty? This is Shinichi. I should be happy to hear from him. Hikaru has someone else, and we're only friends. There's no reason to feel guilty. "Sorry, I need to take this."
"It's no problem," he assured her with a smile. From his coat pocket, he drew out a small, neatly wrapped box on the table. "A little something for the road," he said with a wink. A poof of smoke, and the box vanished from the table. She felt a gentle weight in her bag.
"I'm going to go home," she said to Hikaru. "My talks with Shinichi always go long, and I don't want to impose on you." Answering the phone before it could go to voicemail, she brought the phone to her ear. "I'll see you Friday."
He nodded. "It's been a pleasure, Hana-chan." After he waved goodbye, he tucked into a half-eaten salad.
Shinichi spoke before she could say a thing. "I'm sorry."
"Good. It's been over a week." She left the cafe and began walking down the street. It was only a few blocks from the park, and she really needed the peace and quiet.
"I know. I'm sorry."
She couldn't keep the bite from her voice. "Did you even know Conan-kun was missing?" She didn't give him a chance to answer. "I could've really used your help in finding him. We were searching for five days, Shinichi."
"I know. I heard about Conan-kun a little bit ago."
"What happened to you? It's been nine days. I kept calling and calling and you never picked up. Do you have any idea how many times I called? And never, not even once—" Tears welling at her eyes, not going to cry, not going to cry, not going to cry. "You scared me."
"I know," he said again, this time with the beginning of a laugh in his voice. "I see all those voicemails waiting for me. They're going to give me one heck of a time."
"Shinichi, please." Begging him to please, take her seriously, to please, not do this right now.
"Sorry." He made the effort to sound apologetic. An improvement, at least. "I saw the missed calls when I woke up."
"Woke up? Where are you?" She glanced at her watch. 1328. "It's lunchtime here. Are you in another country?" He started to say something, but she cut him off. "The truth, Shinichi."
He sounded irritated, but only with himself. "No, I'm here. In Japan. I was," he fumbled for the words, "sleeping in."
"Don't go staying up. You have to keep a good sleep schedule if you want to be productive. Make sure you get enough sleep. You looked pretty awful when I saw you last. You have been sleeping since then, haven't you?"
"Yeah. I've been getting a lot of sleep. Too much, if you ask me." He had an odd tone of voice when he said that. "How about you?"
"Once we knew Conan-kun was safe, I was able to sleep again." Ran turned the corner, only vaguely paying attention to her surroundings.
"You were in a bombing, I heard."
She pursed her lips, wondering how to phrase her response. He was being inquisitive in a good way, so she couldn't give him an empty answer. "Yeah, I was lucky enough to get out before the building collapsed. I escaped with only a mild concussion and a few bruises. I'm going in to the doctor's tomorrow to see if I need medication."
"That's good." She could see him in her mind's eye, nodding and allowing a hint of a smile. "Are you drinking enough fluids? Staying off of electronics?"
She laughed. "Of course. This isn't my first rodeo, you know."
"Sorry. I just haven't seen you in so long. I, uh, get worried." And now Shinichi was blushing. He coughed. "How's your dad holding up? Conan-kun disappearing right under his nose and all."
"He was really bad for a few days, but he's cleaning up his act again. It's nice to see. Believe it or not, he actually went to the library and checked out some reference books on childcare. Not that he's read any of them. They sit in a neat pile next to his bed. All they do is gather dust," she joked.
To his credit, he snorted before leaping onto another train of conversation. "Any good cases lately?"
"None, actually. Tou-san's turning away all clients until Conan-kun comes home. We're hoping it's soon."
"Me too," he said, strangely quiet.
Ran looked up, the Agency standing right next to her. She started climbing the stairs to her house. "Why, so he can report back to you again?" Shinichi squawked on the other end. "Don't try to deny it, Shinichi. I know Conan-kun has been keeping tabs on me for you. He told me himself."
Shinichi was silent for a few moments. "Did he now," he said eventually, sounding like he couldn't get enough air.
"Yep. You're not out of the doghouse for that- using a kid for information. But I'll let you off the hook just this once if you fulfill your promise." From her pocket, she pulled out her keys and opened the door.
"Promise?"
"You know, your promise. Come on, Shinichi. Quit pulling my leg."
He broke in, tried to protest. "Ran, I'm not-"
"You promised to tell me some things about your case. You said I was the first one you wanted to tell. You remember, don't you?" She walked inside, took off her shoes, left her bag next to the door.
He was silent for a long time. Ran sat down on the couch, sitting on the edge of it. Countless beats passed. She tried to let him think it over, but finally, the silence stretched past comfortable. "Shinichi? Are you still there?"
"Hm? Yeah. I'm here. Just… thinking."
Three times, he took a breath like he was going to say something, but each time he faltered. She waited.
"I miss you," he said at last, and they both knew it wasn't what he wanted to say. An admission, almost a question, rushing from his mouth before he could stop it. "I know I don't really have a right to say that— it's only been a little while— but it feels like months since I last saw you."
"I didn't know you could be romantic," she teased gently. "It's only been just over a week, detective geek."
He laughed quietly, as though any louder would break the truce between them. "It's already been just over a week," he corrected, "and I hadn't realized. I need to call you more often."
She nodded, settling more comfortably into the couch cushions. "Will you? Or you could come back home. People think you're dead, Shinichi."
"I want to come back. I really do. But if I do—"
"Let me guess. Someone will be in danger, and you're too much of a detective just to let it be. You're solving all these cases because you can't be here without something bad happening."
He didn't respond.
She sat forward on the edge of the couch, gripping the phone tighter. "Shinichi, am I right? Please tell me I'm not. Shinichi?"
"Don't worry. You're only half right," he said in a low, hollow tone. He drew a shuddering sigh. "It's only one case."
"What?" Her jaw dropped just a little.
"Yeah. All this time? It's not lots of little cases keeping me away. I mean, it is, but they're all part of one, big case." Once he started, he just kept going. "It wasn't supposed to take this long. All I had to do was track down these people, and then I could come back home and it would all be fine."
Ran was almost afraid to ask. "But?"
"Any information I've gotten is few and far between. It's been weeks since my last lead. These people are dangerous, and I can't go after them like I want to. I'm stuck chasing shadows, but I can't come home."
"You can't leave this case to someone else?"
"No." His response was firm. "This is my problem. I got myself into this. I won't just sit by and wait for someone else to solve it for me. I can't."
Ran wanted to cry, shout at him for being stubborn, maybe even pity him. But she couldn't. Shinichi didn't want her pity, didn't deserve her anger, didn't get to hear her cry over him. She took a deep breath and let it out. "I won't see you for a while." Not a question, a statement of facts they both knew and wished weren't true.
"I've been sick for a while. I lost time that I could've been getting work done." Almost an apology. She wouldn't force him to say the words again, since he had so many times earlier.
"You're almost as bad as Conan-kun. He gets sick every time it rains."
"Not every time," Shinichi muttered.
"What?"
"Nothing," he said quickly. "Have you tried calling him yet? Conan-kun, I mean."
"It goes straight to voicemail. I don't think he's got international reception. Besides, your dad said something about him talking to Edogawa-san? Edogawa-san doesn't want to let Conan-kun come home because he keeps getting sick."
"Is that what he said?" Shinichi snorted. "Oh, don't worry. I'll talk to Edogawa-san. This will be sorted out soon."
"Really? Thank you. If you get a chance to talk to Conan-kun, will you tell him I say hi? Oh, and to make sure he's eating enough. He forgets to eat sometimes. And to get enough sleep. He doesn't have a good sleep schedule. Is he making any friends while he's in America? Does he know to call 911 instead of 110? Can you ask if he went—"
Laughing, Shinichi cut her off. "Ran. I'm sure he's fine. I need to go now, but I'll talk with Conan-kun. Besides, I'm sure he misses you, too."
"I talk to you soon, then."
"Bye."
"Bye." She hesitated for only a moment. "I love yo—"
The dial tone cut her off. With a sigh, Ran shut her phone and set it on the table. Glancing at the calendar on the wall, she realized that there was something else she'd forgotten. Cracking open her phone once more, she opened up a chat she'd used just three days ago.
Happy birthday, she texted to Kazuha.
‾͟͟͞(((ꎤˋ⁻̫ˊ)—̳͟͞͞o
The halfway boy (halfway grown or halfway shrunk, Heizo hadn't yet determined which) sat at the kitchen table, his knuckles white on the cup in his hands. Goosebumps still ran up and down his arms, and when he'd come down the stairs to greet Shizuka and Heizo, his hands and legs shook from cold. Kazuha emerged from the kitchen with a hot glass of milk, and she passed it to the boy before dashing out the door. It was her birthday, after all, and Ginshiro wanted little to do with what this Kudou boy was involved in. Ginshiro had the sense to take heart in 'Ignorance is bliss.'
Heizo knew that knowledge was power.
"Are ya goin' to drink it?" Shizuka asked a few moments after Kazuha had left.
The boy nodded. "Just not yet. It's too hot." He kept the cup in his hands, his eyes never leaving the steaming liquid. Heizo had never met Kudou Shinichi at his full height, but he had seen Edogawa Conan more than once. Seeing what the boy looked like between the two personas, it was painfully obvious how similar Kudou and Edogawa were. The hairstyle a perfect replica (though on the boy before him, much less groomed), the eyes the same striking blue, and that deepset age on his face. Wherever the boy looked, shadows seemed to be not far behind. Heizo could only assume the smiles were the same. Never once had he seen Edogawa smile, though every picture Heizo saw of Kudou had him wearing an arrogant smirk.
Heizo could not doubt that Edogawa and Kudou looked so similar, nor could anyone who investigated the pair. He hoped that this boy saw the frailty of his double life, how close he was to being revealed.
That is, when people forgot the fact that humans don't just shrink.
"What do you want to know?" The boy looked up from his milk. "I know you have many questions for me, Hattori-san. Now that you're involved, you likely want to know everything Hattori does." He was almost scowling, but his tone was apathetic enough to say otherwise.
Heizo nodded. "Kudou-kun, how long have ya known about this Organization? How long has Heiji?"
The boy's gaze fell back to the cup. "In fifteen days, it'll be eleven months since I became Edogawa Conan. Hattori came looking for me a month later. Six weeks after this all started, he figured out who I really was." He brought the cup closer to his mouth, but still, he didn't drink. "You should be proud of him. We were only around each other for a total of twenty-eight hours, and that's all it took for him to deduce my identity." Slowly, he lifted the cup and took a sip.
"How much does Heiji know?"
The boy almost smiled. "That's for him to know and you to find out," he murmured half-heartedly. Heizo's glare intensified, and the boy shrank in on himself. "He knows enough to get him killed," said the boy flatly. "He knows the names of some of their members and how I became Conan. He knows Haibara and I are still alive and that we shouldn't be." He took another sip of milk. "You know that too, now. You need to be careful."
"We understand that. Ai-chan was very clear about that." Shizuka said solemnly. "What more an ya tell us about these men in black?"
"How dangerous are they?" broke in Heizo, putting a hand on the table. Beneath the table, Shizuka rubbed his leg. Calm down.
"Very. They have short tempers and are trigger happy if provoked. Each time I found them was by accident, but I chased them on purpose when I did. Each time, I've come this close to death." He held up two fingers, barely a centimeter between them.
"And I can tell you their names are based around alcohol. Men are typically named for hard liquors, women after wine. They wear black and do not hesitate to kill." He sipped the milk again. "I only have a vague idea of what they're after. Next question?"
"Would you like some new clothes? I can't imagine Heizo's old shirt is too terribly comfortable, or warm." Shizuka had a talent for throwing off defensive not-children.
The boy went red. "Ah, that isn't necessary. Actually, Haibara warned me not to go outside. I look too much like Conan and myself just to go out in public." He fingered a lock of hair, a thoughtful look coming across his face.
"I could try to disguise myself," he surmised, mostly talking to himself, "maybe change my hair color or tone my skin, but I'm nowhere near ka-san's level. At best I could pass off as another long-lost cousin of Kudou Shinichi."
Shizuka's eyes glittered. "Then we'll call up your mother. She can visit an' work her magic so ya can go outside. Ai-chan said ya could be with us for as long as two weeks. Ya can't spend all that time sitting around the house."
"She was in Australia last I heard," The boy said in protest. "I can't just… call her and expect her to come."
"Then I will," Shizuka said with a note of finality. "I can find her number easily. If I remember correctly, it was Kudou Yukiko?"
Begrudgingly, the boy nodded. "You can't use the number in the phonebooks. She won't answer." He listed off a phone number. "She and my dad use another line for calls from friends and family."
Shizuka repeated the number to herself. "Then it's settled. I will call her myself. If all goes well, ya'll be wearing a new face before the week is out." She stood. "Heizo, will you go get Heiji? It's nearly dinnertime."
He rose to his feet. Looking at the boy, he said, "I have a question or two later, about the details of when you've encountered these men. When there is a police investigation, you become our expert." The boy nodded grimly. "In the meantime, figure out something for us to call ya. Either of your other names will raise suspicion, and we can't call ya boya in public all the time."
The boy reluctantly nodded. "Kudou works just fine within these walls. But I'll think up something else before ka-san comes."
"Kudou-kun, would ya rather have my homemade okonomiyaki or world-famous halibut and daikon soup?" Shizuka asked over her shoulder, walking into the kitchen.
"I advise the soup," Heizo whispered, loud enough for Shizuka to hear. "The okonomiyaki is always a little undercooked."
"Heizo, unless ya can make it better, speak carefully about my cooking. I can put ya out of work for a week if I like," Shizuka said sweetly, a fierce smile on her face. "Now go get Heiji before I decide to make Tsukune with all your favorite spices."
Heizo was out of the room before the boy could blink.