( ▼_▼)ヽ(*´∀`)ﾉ┌┛
Ran hated simply waiting. It invited inaction, the bane of her existence. It gave her a numbing mixture of move, do something and I can't go anywhere, he might come home. Her hands clenched into tight fists, her legs refusing to stop moving, her mind startlingly blank. Even karate championships that paralyzed the minds of competitors brought her an elation, an adrenaline that encouraged her, whispered in her ear that all she could do was her best, forget the rest.
As she paced circles into the floor, every creak of the floorboards felt like a screech from a banshee. The monotonous bustle of the street outside became a roar in her ears, the lamppost's glow flooding the room was a blinding spotlight. Everything seemed more than it really was as if trying to fill the emptiness she'd come home to for the past five days.
For five days, Ran cooked only enough for two. For five days, her father drank and smoked enough for the both of them. For five days, both of them investigated enough for the entire police department.
For five days, Edogawa Conan had been missing.
A knock on the door an ear-splitting pounding, snatching Ran from the clutches of mindless worry. It's earlier than his promised time. Maybe he found something, whispered something in the back of her mind hopefully. Maybe it's Conan-kun.
She ran to the door, flung it open. "To-san, I thought you-"
Instead of her father, a very familiar officer stood at the door to the agency. He tipped his hat. "Ojo-sama. I hope I'm not too early."
Ran's shoulders dropped as she let out a sigh. "Hikaru-kun. No, you're just fine. Come, sit. I'll make you some tea."
He reached for her arm, protested, "Ojo-sama, that's not-"
"Sit. Down," she said firmly. "I. Will. Make. Tea."
A brief moment's hesitation, he nodded, took a seat on the couch. "If you insist," he agreed with a touch of reluctance.
He sat silently, awaiting her return. In his pocket lay a pad of notepaper stuffed with every bit of information he could find on Edogawa Conan- some from questionable sources, others from officers he'd entrusted his life to on multiple occasions. He needed to compare notes with someone who interacted with the child on a daily basis; however, with Conan missing, Kuroha doubted Ran was in any state to talk about trivial matters such as Conan's personality.
Thus, he began assisting the Mouris in their search three days ago. Any tip on Conan's whereabouts, a whisper here or a murmur there, he wrote it down and brought it to the Mouri Detective Agency as soon as he got off of work. Kuroha and Ran, working together with her father, had narrowed down the search area to not Beika over the past days. Even as Ran and Kuroha sat in the air-conditioned, comfortable interior of the Agency, Kogoro was out on the streets of Osaka, searching any place that Conan might've frequented with Heiji. The hospitals were spared from a sweep only for now. If Ran and Kuroha couldn't find any new leads to pursue today, they'd turn to the one place no one said Conan was.
The days without Conan would have been unbearable were it not for the man who called himself Kuroha Hikaru. On the second day when he took Ran to lunch, he swore never to lie to her. At dinner that night, he got her to call him by the first name of his alias (because she refused to call him 'phantom thief'). He was transparent, kept nothing except his true face from her.
She found that he was much like Shinichi. They shared a confidence, an imperceptibly high level of intelligence, and that odd habit to murmur things about passersby. To her great relief, he and Shinichi were opposites in terms of luck. Where Shinichi met with dead bodies, life and vibrancy seemed to radiate from Kuroha. Whether by his personality or a higher power, people seemed extremely willing to do favors for him. He got half off their coffee that morning and said he'd run into one of the people they'd had trouble getting in contact with.
If Kuroha and Shinichi were on the same side of the law, they'd either get along extremely well or set out to kill one another. Having someone else too much like you can be aggravating, stressful. They seem to point out your greatest faults while only showing your greatest strengths.
Ran might've felt guilty for getting so close to Kuro-Hikaru if she wasn't assured that neither of them was attracted to the other. They had a camaraderie, not a romance. She knew she and Shinichi were an item, that she'd wait until his case was over. Hikaru had someone else, too- he mentioned a girl he'd known since he was young. How she had the most gorgeous eyes, her hair flawless in every way, her obsession with causing him pain when he teased her. This girl was a younger sister to him, but he wanted her to be more.
"But if she finds out what I've done, she'll never forgive me," he lamented on the third morning as they chatted over coffee. "My father and hers didn't quite get along at times, you see. Now that I'm continuing my father's work, I'm afraid she won't like me when she discovers the truth."
Ran thought before she responded. "When she finds out you lied, she's going to be upset. If she truly cares for you, it will be unavoidable. She'll have hoped that you would have trusted her enough to tell her the truth." She looked out the window of Poirot Cafe, watched people walk past for a moment. "I think that she'll forgive you if you give her time. All you can ask her to do is consider the entire situation rather than hate you for the effects it had on her."
He sipped his coffee loudly, and Ran looked back at him. With a gentle smile, Hikaru asked, "You're sure you're not at all projecting, ojo-sama?"
A clipped, quiet "No" ended the conversation.
The first order of business, as they determined this morning, was to finish the list they'd developed. Countless names and numbers, every friend and family member and police officer Ran and Hikaru could think of compiled onto a contact list. Only one person remained.
"Shinichi-no-kasan is the last person," Ran said as she set tea in front of Hikaru. "I'll go and get my phone from my room. It's charging." Without a backwards glance, she set down the tray on the table and left the main room.
Slowly, Hikaru picked up the steaming cup and blew on it gently. After a moment, it seemed cool enough, so he took a long drink of tea. Ran came back from her room as the hot liquid rushed down his throat, and he set down his cup with a delicate clink as she sat.
He didn't have to recite the number for her; she already knew it by heart. There was little else he could do than sit and watch as Ran worked her magic, lived up to her standing as the daughter of a detective, the best friend of a genius.
"Shinichi-no-kasan! This is Ran."
Kudou Yukiko's voice, bright and energetic, a constant thrilling intensity parading alongside each syllable, sounded over the speakers. "Ran-chan! It's so great to hear from you! Sorry we haven't been in contact more often- on the run from his editors and all that."
"I don't mind," Ran said with a laugh. Yukiko's cheerful energy was contagious.
"How are you? It's been so long since we last spoke. How's Conan-chan?"
Ran paused, inhaled deeply, slowly, silently.
"Ran-chan?" In Yukiko's voice, fear, concern, worry, all for a child that wasn't hers. Yukiko and Ran were both inclined to grow fond of young children quickly. Conan, for better or worse, was no exception.
"Conan-kun has been missing." Yukiko let out a small gasp, but Ran pushed forward, answering questions before Yukiko could ask them. "He got sick on a camping trip and Agasa-hakase drove him to the hospital. The hospital says he never arrived. Hakase says that Conan-kun felt better by the time they got back to Beika, so he went to the agency on his own. No one has seen any trace of him since. There's a murderer who escaped jail and is after Conan-kun, and we need to find him before the murderer does."
"Conan-chan," Yukiko murmured like a prayer. She took a moment of silence to process the information, but not a beat more. Her flesh and blood may have been finally found out, already trapped in a medical facility where the personnel preferred jet black to pristine white lab coats. His potential killers might be chasing him as she and Ran spoke.
There was no time to waste.
"Let me get Yusaku. He's talked to the Edogawas recently. He'll know."
Ran waited, listened to Yukiko's heels click on the hard floor as she went searching for her husband. Hikaru gave Ran a quizzical look, and she covered the receiver with her hand. "Shinichi-no-kasan doesn't know where he is, but Shinichi-no-tosan might," she explained quietly. "He talked to the Edogawas, so-" she held up a finger as chatter came over the phone. "Hold on."
"Yu-chan. I've got Ran-chan on the phone for you," said Yukiko with a playful lilt.
"What's the occasion?" Ran's heart grew warm. Yusaku's fatherly tones were reminiscent of Shinichi's, and it had been too long since she spoke with her second father figure.
"Conan-chan's missing," Yukiko said a little tersely. "Edogawa-san talked to you a day or two ago, remember?" An edge to her voice that confused Ran.
She could see in her mind's eye Yusaku nodding slowly, taking the phone from Yukiko. "Thank you, Yukiko." Suddenly his voice was clear and crisp into Ran's ear. Ran took her hand from the receiver and gave Hikaru a short we go.
"Ran-chan. It's nice to hear from you again."
"You as well, Shinichi-no-tosan."
"Now. You say Conan-kun is missing. When did you last see him?"
Ran found herself repeating the same information she'd told Yukiko. Yusaku pressed her for every intricacy she could think of and countless others she didn't. The first questions were understandable, relevant information- Conan's temperature, when his condition changed, what did he eat- but after a short while, the information he asked for became more obscure by the second. Where was the campsite, how long was the drive, which officers helped solve the case, who died and who killed them.
Within minutes, Ran's brain began to feel like a sponge, squeezed relentlessly to force out tiny drops of information that didn't seem to be of any use at answers became mechanical, Yusaku's questions blending together. Hikaru looked on with concern as Ran's polite disposition began slipping. Her mind went blank, a headache creeping upon her. Irritation prowled around the edges of her consciousness, grew closer to tearing down her patience with every question about a remote detail.
"Thank you for bearing with me," Yusaku said at last. Ran let out a long, silent breath. "Edogawa-san didn't know who to contact when he found out his son was sick. I mentioned you and assumed he'd reach out to you. I found out this morning that he had yet to contact anyone on account of an Edogawa family outing, so I want to give Edogawa-san as much information as I can. I'm concerned for Shinichi's cousin as well. Intelligence like Conan-kun's is rare. If his fever had any effect on his brain, we'd need to know right away."
Ran clenched and unclenched her hand a few times, took a breath. "But you know where he is."
"Yes. Edogawa-san and Fumiyo-san suddenly decided to take Conan-kun back to America for a while. They said that they took him from your father's detective agency. They're the only people who might be more impulsive than Yukiko," he laughed. Then, as almost an afterthought: "Because Conan-kun has been so sick as of late, Edogawa-san is hesitant to let him return to Japan. Yukiko and I are working on changing his mind."
Someone had punched Ran in the stomach, left her hollow and breathless. "Why didn't they say anything?" she whispered, anger and worry inching into her voice. "To-san and I have taken care of him. Edogawa-san has never called us. It was months before we met them. They've been awful at caring for their son. Conan-kun talks with Heiji-kun about murders for fun," she whispered with all the incredulity she'd felt over the almost-a-year that Conan had lived with them.
"To-san's been searching every day since Conan-kun disappeared. Hikaru-kun and I have called everyone we could. Megure-keibu has a team searching for Conan-kun. We thought serial killer might've gotten him. We didn't know if he was alive," she whispered fiercely, every bit of stress and exhaustion rising to her chest, burning a hole through her heart. "Why on Earth didn't they say anything?" Ran asked, spitting her distress and heartache and misery and fatigue into the receiver.
She was met with silence.
Tears of frustration, of relief, burned as they streamed down her cheeks. She collapsed all at once. Her head fell into her hand. The hand holding the phone fell to the couch. Her shoulders fell, three days' worth of stress leaving her all at once.
Hikaru was at her side in a flash. He took the phone from her, spoke a few quiet words to Yusaku. He hung up the phone, quietly placed it on the coffee table, and wrapped an arm around Ran.
She didn't cry for long. Her anger quickly melted to relief. These were happy tears because finally, after so many long, excruciating hours, she had confirmation that her pseudo little brother was safe. He wasn't in the clutches of a serial killer. He wasn't sick and injured in a random back alley in the city. He wasn't running off on his own to catch the deranged woman after him. Conan-kun was safe. He was in America. Not in danger. Safe.
When she at last lifted her head, Hikaru met her with a smile. Tears glistened on Ran's face as she beamed. "Conan-kun's okay."
"We've done it. I believe this calls for a night off- a celebration, if you will." Hikaru said, lifting Ran up from her crumpled posture. "I propose dinner tonight- somewhere nice. You have been amazingly diligent, persistently working for these past few days. You deserve a chance to let go. I can pick you up in an hour to let you get ready."
She laughed. "Kuroha Hikaru-san, I thought we agreed: no expensive outings. Besides, where would we go? No restaurant I know accepts reservations an hour before arrival."
A twinkle in his eye. "I know a place. And I can use my mother's card. Her work pays well, so there's no need to worry about expenses."
"If you insist." She glanced at her phone. "Can you give me two hours? I want to tell everyone else that Conan-kun is okay."
Hikaru followed her gaze to the table, his eyes landing on the list of names next to her phone. "I'll contact the law enforcement and everyone from suicide cases. That should leave about half for you."
"Thank you for all your help. I couldn't have done it without you."
"Yes, you could. You must not sell yourself short, Ran-san. The majority of the work has been done by you. I am merely a supplement to your incredible plan."
"You flatter me."
"It is impossible not to when a radiant flower such as yourself is the subject of the matter."
Ran rolled her eyes, rose from her seat. "I need to put something together for to-san. I can't thank you enough for your help."
"You took the words from my mouth." Hikaru stood, took Ran's hand. He kissed her knuckles. "It has been the greatest pleasure to work with you." Straightening again, he started towards the door. "Thank you for the tea, as well. It was wonderful." Tipping his hat as he stood in the doorway: "I will pick you up no later than eight."
"See you soon, Hikaru-kun." She gave a little wave.
He broke into his trademark grin just before he shut the door. "Congratulations, Mouri Ran-san. You've proved that you are no bystander."
°˖ ✧◝(○ ヮ ○)◜✧˖ °
As soon as he exited the building, Kuroba Kaito's phone began ringing in his pocket. Somewhat irritably he fish-dugout his phone and answered it. "I thought I said not to call me, Jii-chan. Ka-san won't know until-"
"BAKAITO!" screeched a voice that was very not Jii's. "You need to tell Aoko before you leave the country. I thought you got robbed, you idiot!"
Kaito went speechless for a second. When he regained himself, very clearly, he sounded out the syllables: "A-hou-ko."
"You don't get it! Your clothes were everywhere, and you still had trail mix in the fridge, and no one knew where you went and you made Aoko really worried," she complained. "To-san almost called the police."
"Your dad is the police, Aoko," Kaito said flatly.
"Doesn't matter! You could've said something before disappearing off the face of the earth," she huffed.
Kaito looked left and right before crossing the street. He couldn't be seen talking in this voice with these clothes on. He had to find a place to hide. "Aoko, I'll explain in just a minute, but I'm in a bit of a situation. I need to-"
"Nu-uh. You are not hanging up on Aoko," she said stubbornly. "Put Aoko on hold if you have to, but if you hang up, Aoko will make you a very special dinner when you get back home," she said maliciously.
I can't deal with her right now. "Give me five minutes," he whispered into the phone. A pair of eyes burned into his back. He didn't dare alert this potential stalker that he knew he was being followed. He made a sharp turn into the next alley. A few jumps off of fire escapes, and all the stalker found when they rounded the corner was a dumpster and a few stray bird droppings. They let out a curse before continuing down the street.
Kaito stood on the top of the roof, quietly soothing his doves. They had not taken kindly to his acrobatics and decided to all flap their wings simultaneously in protest. It took no small amount of petting and promises of bird seed in the future to get his birds to relax once more.
With no skyscrapers nearby, Kaito knew he'd be safe changing here. Quickly, he slipped from his deliberately distinctive disguise into something more nondescript. Two minutes later, a young businessman with a sharp chin and indigo eyes emerged from the office building.
"Sorry about that," he said at last to the waiting Aoko. "Doves can be excitable creatures."
"When are you getting back?"
"How did you know I'm not in Japan? I didn't have time to leave a note."
"Jii-san told me. I'm calling from his phone."
Jii's voice in the background called out: "I'm sorry, botchama, Aoko-san wouldn't take no for a-"
"And why exactly did you leave without a word? If you tell Aoko it was about the doves, she'll find you and keep all your doves for herself."
Kaito clicked his tongue. "I wouldn't be so sure about that if I were you. Doves are a handful. They're not exactly inexpensive, either."
Aoko groaned. "Kaito, the doves are not relevant. Why did you leave in such a rush?"
Kaito glanced into the window of a sandwich looks nice."Ka-san had an accident during one of her shows." He knew Aoko's expression without seeing it: lips pursed and eyebrows tilted up. Concerned. "She's broken her ankle and an arm. She couldn't do any shows, but she was fine until her landlord threatened eviction a week ago. I got a plane ticket with some of our savings and I've been doing Ka-san's shows since I got here. She'll be healed in two weeks, so I can come home then."
Aoko hesitated. "If there's anything Aoko can do for you, just let me know. I can send over some chocolate. Chikage-san likes mint dark, right?"
"Yeah. And could you email me the notes? The only other person I trust to take notes is Hakuba, and I refuse to ask a detective for help."
"To-san is a detective."
"That doesn't count."
"Aoko will send you notes," she promised. She glanced around Kaito's room. "Did you leave any doves behind that Aoko should be worried about?"
"No, I have them all. If anything, keep an eye out for Rabbit. She got away during a performance."
"I thought you said you weren't in Japan."
Kaito silently cursed himself and thanked his lucky stars that his Poker Face spilled over into his tone of voice. "I had to get a bit more money before I left. If you see Rabbit around, give her to Jii-chan. He knows how to take care of her."
"Got it."
"I gotta go, Aoko. Ka-san said to be back before midnight. I'm a few hours ahead of you, if you'll remember."
"Take care, Kaito. Tell Chikage-san Aoko says hi."
"I will. Good night, Aoko."
"Night, Kaito."
Kaito tucked his phone away again and lifted his hand to hail a taxi. How was he ever going to pull off a heist with all he'd gotten himself into?