Thank you to anyone reading. I appreciate the comments! All credit goes to Gosho Aoyoma. I hope you enjoy this chapter. The next one will be up soon!
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Conan headed out the door, another normal day ahead of him. Unaware of everything that had transpired that morning, he continued on. The same path every day for as long now as he could remember. Memories of being Kudo Shinichi felt like they had been fading, as being Edogawa Conan took more thought. It almost became second nature to think more like Conan than Shinichi. While walking to school, the Shounen tantei-dan had excitedly awaited his arrival. He sighed, annoyed at another day of playing pretend. He wasn't his mother, he hated the acting. He couldn't stand how much thought he had to put forward to fool everyone, and sometimes, even himself. How tiresome it had become to suppress who he really was. As more time had passed being Conan than he could have imagined, he grinded his teeth and pressed on. To keep everyone safe, just like he had always said. Acting like a regular elementary school aged child, when his mind was that of a second year high school student would weigh heavy on him at times. Reliving his childhood, retaining youth, was nothing but a constant reminder of the mistakes he had made. When his curiosity got the best of him, and started the chain reactions of events leading up to where he was now. When he had the opportunity to finally tell Ran everything that had been pent up in his heart, he chose once more to run off and leave her behind. To take time for granted again, when he thought he had finally learned his lesson. Another reminder of how he had been careless to what had mattered most to him. He presumed after he had fainted in front of everyone and had reawakened as Shinichi, that Haibara had created a functional antidote, choosing to ignore that "prototype" doesn't always mean completely effective.
He placed his hands in his pockets, and kicked a small rock while walking. It had been some time since Kudo Shinichi had made an appearance, Kyoto was the last time he had been able to look Ran directly in her eyes. How he had forgotten what she looked like up close. How he had been mere inches from her lips, and how he finally knew what she felt like in his arms. The last time he had been able to truly be himself, although the time didn't go as planned, he had accomplished what he had thought was impossible. While moments from the kiss he had longed for, the change had begun again. The outcome though had been positive, Mouri Ran was finally his girlfriend. He grinded his teeth, squinching his eyes behind the fake glasses that concealed his identity. His breathing now aggravated, he put one foot in front of the other. Conan quickly glanced behind him, noticing Ran to not be walking a few paces behind him. He had been so caught up in his own thoughts that he hadn't noticed she wasn't on her way to school. Confused, he retrieved "Conan's" phone from his pocket, and began to type her number. She hadn't mentioned skipping school, she could have been running late, but that just wasn't like Ran.
As the phone was about to ring, his other phone began to vibrate in his pocket. Assuming it was Ran, since no one else called that phone, he flipped the one in his hand closed and reached back into his pocket. He pulled it out to reveal his mother's phone number displayed. They almost never called him, unless it was to talk about their move back to that states. Their date slowly closing in, as they decided to come back to their old home in Beika City to help Shinichi bring down the organization. Still annoyed with their decision, but grateful, he flipped open the phone.
"Moshi moshi...kaasan?" Conan answered, spotting the group of children that were still a block away. He detoured into an empty alley for privacy. An onlooker, Haibara, noticed. Leaving the group, she headed towards Shinichi. Keeping her presence quiet, she listened from afar.
"Shinichi." His father responded, using his mother's phone. Their call was immediately after they had hung up with Ran. Shinichi noticed the seriousness in his voice, and continued walking away from the direction of his school.
"What's going on?" He asked, flipping open his other phone to text Ran.
"It's about Ran." At that, Shinichi gripped his phone tightly and held his breath.
"What about Ran? What do you mean?" He blurted out, loud enough for Haibara to hear from the other end of the desolate alley.
Yukiko was trying to take her phone from her husband. She wanted to tell him what had been discussed, as she had more of a conversation with Ran than Yusaku had.
Taking her phone out of her husband's hands and to her ear, she began to speak. More serious than he had heard his mother in awhile, he knew something had been wrong.
"Can you just tell me already?!" Shinichi shouted. Annoyed by their apparent desire to drag out information he needed.
"She called us, Shin-chan. She has suspicions that the reason you aren't around is because of a serious illness. Not a case. She thinks something is severely wrong with your health." His mother began. "We told her we saw you in New York a few weeks ago, to try and calm her down. She said she had a nightmare, and we just wanted to help." She took a deep breath, and sighed. "Maybe you should call her, Shin-chan."
For the first time, in a long time, he had no words. The thought hadn't occurred to him. She had witnessed him being 'sick' everytime he was around. Her deduction wasn't far off.
Crap. He thought silently to himself. How am I going to get myself out of this one? She'd have an easier time believing I was Conan, than what she's thinking now. I wonder how long she's been considering this...he paused, and recalled all the moments he had been so close to accidentally revealing himself as Kudo Shinichi to her. When he had left abruptly on the first case with Hattori, and had made it to the restroom with moments to spare before changing back to Conan. The play, where he had collapsed in front of her. The incident with the shirigami in the woods...London, even in Kyoto. She had witnessed it. Every single time he had reverted back to his original self, she was around to witness the painful symptoms just before his transformation back to his elementary sized counterpart. A light chuckle escaped his lips, oh the irony. How proud he had been that his girlfriend had deduced something that clever, something so close to the truth. Girlfriend… He exhaled. How he hated lying to her. How she deserved to know what really happened. How hard it had been to find new ways to distract her from the truth, avert her away from his secret. He knew how much easier life would be if he would just be honest, but deep down he knew he couldn't. Shinichi knew that the best way to keep her safe, was to keep her in the dark.
"Are you there, Shin-chan?"
His thought process detached, and he was back to the call with his mother.
"Yes." He replied shallowly, his morning now clouded with thoughts of how he'd get himself out of this situation.
He knew calling her would indicate his parents contacting him, which would make his behavior even more suspicious.
"I'll call her tonight. I've got to go, I'll be late for school." Conan mumbled quickly before flipping the phone shut. Not even giving his parents a moment to respond. His mind running rampant with a new stresser, how to trick Ran...again.
Unbeknownst to him, someone who was walking in similar shoes, was listening. Shrunken scientist Miyano Shiho was nearby.
What are you going to do now, Kudo-kun?