Disclaimer: The author of this story does not own any of the trademarks used in it. This piece was written purely as a writing exercise and a form of fandom appreciation.

Author's note: An entry for PoirotCafe Forum's Writing Prompt #12: Event. This story revolves around the notion that for Shuichi to peg Ran as someone who always cries, he had to have seen her more than the two times they've met. That said, I didn't want Ran to go through relationship blues yet again, so I varied the approach a little. Also a callback to a thousand or so chapters ago when there was a payphone somewhere outside Mouri Detective Agency.

Despite appearances, this short story is not meant to start a ship or anything like that. Just an idea from someone who felt like they didn't really interact enough after Subaru was introduced, considering the teases from the FBI arc.

Crying Moon

She was always crying. When the night was cold and the moon, all but shrouded yet still infallible and immaculate in its perch, she was always crying.

He used to watch her from afar, often in the confines of the phone booth across her father's office. She would go into that desolate room to patch up for next day's business, but at some point she'd crumble down and weep like a lost child. Sometimes the night wailed with her, just like it did the first time he laid eyes on her... Sometimes he would even spot her in the middle of a bustling street, eyes already dripping before she could even retreat back home.

For all of his deductive powers, he never found out the reasons behind those tears. Showered with so much love, it would take glimpses of how rotten this world is to break an angel's heart like so. And when that happens, they take the brunt harder the anyone else. Whatever the reasons were though, she'd pour all of it out into the void and ask for it to be kept secret before going back upstairs to assume her usual cheerful facade.

He hated stupid women like her who bore so much pain while pretending to be alright. But more than that, he hated having to leave her by herself. Unable to do anything more, he stood inside that glass box, in the cramped space afforded by the ancient slab of machinery, watching her cry until she stopped...

Some things have changed since those days. Now, the phone booth was gone and the man who used to watch from inside of it, the federal agent tasked to protect them in case they were target by a dangerous criminal organization, dead as far as the world knew. In his place was a post-grad engineering student in the middle of a run through Beika Park. He couldn't really train in broad daylight without drawing scrutiny from some neighbors, so he was left with no choice but to rely upon the night, his old confidant, to help him keep his body nimble. He ran laps around the city twice a week. As fate would have it, it was in one these nights that he chanced upon the young girl sitting on a park bench by herself, crying her eyes out yet again...

Hiding beneath the shadow cast by the foliage and a nearby vending machine on reflex, he defaulted into observing her. Just like before, he couldn't fathom why she'd be out here weeping instead of being happy at home with her father and the young detective. On that regard, she didn't look like she'd been at home since morning either judging from the PE tracksuit she had on and the number of bags she had with her.

"A problem from school, huh," he surmised. While he racked his brain about a matter he was clearly out of the loop in, an idea clicked in his head: if there is one thing an engineering student could do for her that an elite federal agent couldn't, it's that he could actually just reach out this time...

"I've always wondered if the moon really draws our sorrows out in the open," he said, audibly enough to draw Ran Mouri's attention as he approached her from stage right.

"Oh, Subaru-san," Ran almost yelped in surprise as she looked in his direction. She hurriedly wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her sweatshirt. "It's rare to see you out so late. Night exercise?" she asked, moving her bags down and imploring him to sit beside her.

"Pretty much," Subaru replied, occupying the opposite end of the bench and maintaining at least another person's worth of space between them. From there, he produced a couple of unopened bottles before her. "Can I humor you to some electrolyte water?"

Ran nodded and took one, immediately twisting it open and guzzling up. It appeared as if she was awfully thirsty after expending so much. "It's really refreshing to have these after breaking out a sweat," she forcibly exclaimed. Again, she was feigning a sunnier mood. Under the faint glow of the moon however, it only felt more hapless even for her.

"I'd offer a handkerchief too, but I'm afraid I've only got one and its already been used."

"No, its okay. I'm fine, really." Feeling even worse about trying to fool Subaru even though he'd already caught her without her mask on, Ran looked away and frowned. "Say, Subaru-san... Do you think it's wrong to cry so easily?"

"I don't. But it sounds like you've been told otherwise before."

"Well... There was this guy who said it was stupid. I've only met him twice, but I never found out his name or why he thought that way..."

Subaru cleared his throat and said, "You probably shouldn't put stock on what strangers say."

"Y-you're probably right," she meekly agreed.

"In any case, I think it's good to be able to shed a lot of tears. Not only does it prove how compassionate you are, it also proves that you're still human." Subaru looked at Ran to gauge her interest before continuing.

"There are people who bottle so much pain inside of them, but bottles could only hold so much." He raised his own bottle up towards the night sky as he spoke. From the corner of his eye, he saw Ran being drawn into the cold light permeating inside of it. "Once it breaks, so will their ability to feel accordingly when faced with their loneliness. At times, it leads them to a dark path they couldn't return from. You've probably seen a lot of people who went through that"

"I have, sadly. Do you know people like that?" Ran asked.

"Don't we all?" he retorted with a rueful smile. "For some, they only have to look in the mirror to meet one..."

Having seen so many people pushed to their limit like that, Ran understood the meaning behind Subaru's words. However, she was more perplexed to hear such words come out of from him of all people. Studying his expression under the same pale light, she could sense a kind of sadness she never thought a person like Subaru would hide beneath those glasses. "I can't explain why... But just now, you reminded me of the guy I was talking about earlier."

"Hmm?" Subaru raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

"Your face just now... It looks sad too. A lot like his the last time I saw him."

The irony of such comment almost broke Subaru into a laughing fit. Almost, if only she wasn't dead on with her observation. Being the daughter of a renowned defense lawyer and a detective whose antics belied his experience, Ran was deceptively perceptive too. "Like I was saying a moment ago... The moon has a way of pulling out our melancholy," he downplayed while straightening his glasses.

"Mhm. I suppose it does." Ran's eyes were still sore from all the weeping, but her mood seemed to have improved enough. "I've always thought Subaru-san was wise, but I didn't expect you'd be so deep too."

"When you're in a house with a library as impressive as the Kudous', there will be days when you just couldn't help but pick one up," he modestly replied.

"Right. It must be Shinichi's house doing that. I remember staying over one night reviewing for a literature exam, and I actually scored 85 on it." Ran smiled at him, this time genuinely, before taking another sip from her water. "Ahh! That's a lot better!"

"I'm glad you're feeling better now too," he replied, returning the gesture. Upon noticing that Ran's water bottle was about emptied, he offered the other unopened one to her. "Oh, you can have this too."

"Thanks." She was about to take the bottle from him when she began to wonder about Subaru's intentions. "Wait... Aren't you going to ask why I'm sitting here by myself?"

"An outsider like myself probably shouldn't pry on matters concerning a woman''s heart."

"It's not like that at all, and I don't think of you as an outsider either, Subaru-san," Ran assured him while finally securing the extra drink in her hand. "How do I put it... You've probably heard from Conan-kun that I'm part of our high school's Karate team, right?"

"Yes. I believe my chin still remembers."

"I really didn't mean to do that! I was just shocked to see someone else at Shinichi's that time," Ran said, lowering her head and obscuring her flustered face a little. "I'm so sorry for kicking you that time!"

"It's alright, the apology from before is enough," Subaru waived off. "Carry on, if you please."

With that Ran recomposed herself and continued. "We were at a competition earlier today, and although I've managed to win my match... I hurt my opponent really bad this time."

"I take it this was a first for you? Feeling like you've injured an opponent worse than it appeared to be, I mean." Subaru reclined on the backrest, a little relieved to learn that the problem was at least something he could relate with. She must've seen what fatal injuries could do to people who staked their lives into a competition. How they fall so deep into despair that they can think of cruel things like revenge and retribution. And now she was afraid of the possibility that it could be her turn to inflict that much pain on someone.

Ran nodded hesitantly. "They said she was going to be okay after a few weeks, but she's going to have to wear a splint." As the memories of the competition come back to her, Ran's mood began to sink again. "I couldn't help but wonder what I'd do if I hit her harder and..."

When her voice trailed off, Subaru figured it was time he dropped his two cents in. "I see. That's certainly worth being remorseful for... But a competion is a competition, is it not? If you don't have the resolve to do your best or expect your opponent to hold back, then you're just disrespecting the sport. While nobody expects or hopes to get injured, I'm sure your opponent was prepared to take a hard hit like that." He turned his head straight at the mundane view in front of them and realigned his glasses with his left hand. "Who knows? Maybe if she saw you mourning for her like that, she'll take offense to it and expend that energy into a speedier recovery."

While Ran seemed to take his advice into heart, she looked rather stymied doing so. "Wow. That almost sounds like something Kyogouku-san would say... He's Sonoko's boyfriend and a Karate prodigy, by the way."

"I've taken part in... a few robotics conferences before," Subaru explained. "It may not possess the same kind of pressure, but we spend just as much time designing and developing machines that will trample on another team's hopes and dreams." He had to borrow the experiences of one Hiroshi Agasa this time. How could he possibly tell her that some of the opponents he'd beaten in contests he'd actually competed in have gone on to become hired killers who would love to put a bullet through his head? "...Anyway, I take it you'll be fine from here?"

"Yes. Thank you so much for staying with me for a while, Subaru-san." Ran gratefully beamed at him. "I probably shouldn't get so worked up on things even though they're going to be okay."

Subaru nodded as he pulled himself up from the wooden bench. But before he could continue along his route, another thought occurred to Ran that caused her to stop him. This time, it was triggered by something he just said...

"Umm, there's something I've been meaning to ask for a while now." With her eyes now cleared up, she appraised the tight gray track jacket and black performance pants he had on for the first time. "By any chance, do you practice martial arts too?"

"That's a bit out of left field, I must say," he remarked. "Mind if I ask what brought this on?"

"Well, aside from your great physique, you didn't resist at all when I kicked you that time. It was almost like you knew how to take that kind of attack safely."

°Heh... Deceptively perceptive, indeed," he thought. "...You wouldn't believe me if I told you I practiced Jeet Kune Do and Krav Maga, among other hybrid styles, would you?"

"You're right, I wouldn't," Ran giggled over what she assumed was dry humor from the bespectacled man. "It doesn't suit a cool and gentle guy you at all."

Subaru gazed upon the renewed blitheness in Ran's face, only to quickly turn away and rub his eyes like he'd been stunned by it. For a second, he thought he'd seen the face of another stupid woman... "I wish that was actually true," he said before heading off.

From over his shoulder, he heard Ran utter her goodbyes at him. As he gained momentum, it was soon followed by the familiar scrape of a turbo-charged skateboard's wheels rolling from whence he came from, another assurance that she'll be fine at least for the rest of the night.

A trivial thing like spending a few minutes with a crying girl will never make up the things he couldn't do for others before. On top of that, as kindhearted as the girl was, she will probably end up crying about another dillemma down the line. But the respite afforded by doing something for someone other than watching them struggle from afar... It wasn't bad at all.

The End

written by akaisherry47