Kids forever?!?!
Chapter 3
~A new case, a new life~
"WHAAATTTT???"
"REALLY?"
"NOT KIDDING???"
These were the exact reponses from Genta, Ayumi and Mitsuhiko after hearing about Ran moving in with Doctor Agasa, Ai and Conan. At their noods, the boys started screaming again.
Ai was not surprised at all since she was partly responsible for it. And also because she had had the perfect chance to get used to it. Conan and Ran had payed her a visit yesterday and thanked her for what she`s done for them. She did it because she hadn`t stand seeing Shinichi destroying himself. Now she was not sure is she was to regrett her choice. Not that she was...jealous or something......
"That`s so great! Now we are closer together whenever we want to go play or investigate on a case.."
"..or have dinner and go for pick nicks!" Genta eagerly finished Mitsuhikos sentence and everybody looked at him.
He just shrugged and looked back surprised: "What?!?"
They shoke their heads in unison and laughed. Everybody except Ayumi who looked sad.
While classes Shinichi couldn`t keep his eyes off of Ran. She was so breathtaking, even this little and he couldn`t believe she was really his! Or actually here, for that matter.
Yesterday they had been taking the whole day and night. She was now sleeping in Doctor Agasas house, next to Shinichi`s room, but not yesterday. Yesterday they had stayed in his own room in his house. They had finally talked everything out. He had told her what he`s always wanted to, the whole story about his curse and she had told him everthing out of her own perspective. First he had been afraid she might hate or leave him for what he`s done but nothing like that happened.
She had understood him and forgiven him. That alone made up for everything he had gone through the last two years.
Yes! Yesterday had changed their lives. Forever.
Sometimes she would catch his gaze and smile back at him. It was as much a miracle for her as it was for him. She could finally be together with him, for good! A pleasant feeling spread across her belly, running through her whole body.
The looks they shared remained not unobserved by Ayumi and she started feeling really sad.
After school they went to dress to go home as Genta shouted:
"Detective boys!! We have a new case!!!"
Everybody gathered curiously around Genta as he read the piece of paper, that had been in his locker, out loud.
"Dear Detective Boys. I hope you can find the time to help me. I don`t know what to do anymore! My big brother Toki is missing since last Wednesday and the police could not find him. Please help me, I don`t know what to do! You will find my adress on the backside. Ps: we have cake and tea for you. YUHEEE"
"What do you think?" Mitsuhiko asked into the round.
"A new case for the Detetive Boys!" Genta shouted, hitting his fist in the air.
"YEAH!" Everybody else shouted with him.
So they got dressed and hurried to the address. While walking they happily made plans about what they were going to do after the case. Conan suggested soccer and the boys screamed in agreement.
"Ran?" Ayumi asked her.
"Yes?"
"Where does your surname come from? Kudo, I mean?"
"Oh... that`s the name of my parents, of course."
"Of course. It sounds funny though."
"You thing? I like it! I`ve always loved the sound of it behind my own name. I am really proud of it."
Ran answered, blushing slightly, throwing a sidegaze to the also blushing and surprised looking Conan.
'I never knew that!' he thought surprised and a warm feeling spread through his whole body.
"Speaking of names. Where did you get your second name from, Shinichi?" Ran asked Conan with a smirk and he stared at her in pure shock and disbelief.
"Shinichi? Why do you call Conan Shinichi?" Everybody asked her except Ai who remained looking and walking forward. Conan tried to wafe it away severly.
"No no, she must be mist-"
"Conan told me yesterday, that Shinichi is his second name."
"Huh?" he gasped at her with open mouth.
"Why did you never tell us?"
"Conan Shinichi Edogawa? Sounds funny!" Genta mused.
"Yeah but I think Shinichi sounds better, that`s why I called him like that." Ran said.
"She is right. Maybe we should call him like that too. It sounds certainly not that foreighn." Everybody laughed at Mitsuhikos comment.
"Look, we are there!" Ai said, wanting to change the subject, and stopped in front of a huge apartment. "Let`s get in and find that boy."
"Go ahead. We`ll be following in a second." Conan said and pulled Rans hand. The others went inside and missed Ai who rolled her eyes slightly and looked a little annoyed.
"Ran.....what...?"
"I just thought that was the perfect way for you to keep your name."
"I see! Actually I`ve never thought of that, but I guess you are right. Since there is no danger anymore...." He said, blushing a little. Then grinning, he went on.
"You like the name, huh?"
"Yeah, always have!" she giggled.
"Well, this way at least I can keep ONE of my names, huh? You name thief." They giggled and she blushed deeply.
"Like I said, I`ve always thought it sounds nice behind my own name, and I figured that could be the only way for you now. And there`s still one way for you to get your whole name 'legally' back....."
She blushed even more, looking at the ground. He had to think a moment before he understood what she meant. 'The only way I can get it, is with...OH...m-marriage...' Now he also blushed but was at the same time stunned of her way of thinking. It made him feel really good and warm inside.
"Aren`t you a little too young to think at marriage, young girl?" he teased her.
"Baka!" she teased back with a serious face, then laughed. "I can see you don`t mind it much though, now do you?"
"Course not, I love my name!" he said, holding his nose up proudly, then ruined the effect by grinning.
"So do I!" she said, looking softly at him.
He looked deep into her eyes and walked closer to her, taking her slowly in his arms, holding her around her waist with his right arm while his left hand went to caress her cheek.
"And I love you!" he whispered gently into her ear, pressing a neverending sweet and tender kiss on her free cheek as he supported her head with his other hand.
It felt so good being able to tell her!
She closed her eyes smiling, enjoying his touch and sighed, then went to stroke his neck with her free hand, whispering back.
"I love you too!"
"What would I do without you?" he asked her smiling. She smiled back but remained silent.
"Gee, I`ll even get my name back!! I can`t believe it!" he beamed at her.
"I can not believe that we can make up for the lost time. We got a second chance."
"You are right! We can finally seize our time together. We are very lucky."
"Yeah! Very lucky!" she breathed as she leaned against his chest, closing her eyes contently, smiling. She still felt so cared for in his arms. Nothing could harm her as long as she was with him. She hoped this feeling would never change!
"Conan- Shinichi- Edogawa! Move your butt up here right now! Are we supposed to solve this case alone?" Genta screamed out of a window.
"We`re coming, we`re coming." Shinichi screamed back, grinned, then turning back to Ran who was also smiling at him.
"I guess he`s afraid, that he won`t come back home before lunchtime without my help!"
He grinned and she had to laugh. Smiling he took her hand and they walked in the house together.
~~~
Walking into the living room, they were greeted by Genta`s shouts:
"Finally! What took you guys so long? We have a case to solve, you know?! I wanna be home at six!"
Genta told them annoyed. Lunchtime was at six. Shinichi and Ran grinned at each other but looked away again as an attempt to not laugh out loud. Conan walked over to the little boy and asked him a few questions and Ran was taken aside by Ayumi who had noticed them walking in hand in hand.
"Ran, can I talk to you for a second?"
"Sure!" Ran answered friendly as Ayumi lead her into a corner.
Shinichi looked at them with concern. The last time Ayumi had a "talk" with her, Ran had told Shinichi that Conan had had a crush on her. Today he remembered that event with a smile but back then....too close.
Seeing Ran blink confidently at him he grinned back at her and nooded, knowing she knew exactly what she was doing, then turned ,trusting her fully, his attention back to the investigations.
"You seem very friendly with Conan...I mean Shinichi- Kun."
"Oh yes. He`s very nice."
"What is he to you?" Ayumi asked Ran, blushing.
Ran looked at her surprised, then smiled.
"I like Shinichi very much."
Ran decided against telling her the whole truth. It would be no use to do so. She could not tell Ayumi how much she honestly and deeply loved him, or that he was her everything and her reason for being here. She would not understand it anyways, she was way too young for such things.
Surprised she saw Ayumies eyes starting to wet.
"Oh no Ayumi, don`t cry!"
"But..but..i like him too and I am jealous! What am I going to do now?" she sobbed. Ran gently hugged her.
"Calm down dear. That`s no problem. You can like him too. You should be happy! He likes you as a great friend and Genta, Mitsuhiko are crazy for you! You should be happy that you all have such a great relationship and like and trust each other so much."
Ayumi looked puzzled at her, her tears eased a little.
"But..." she started doubtfully but didn`t know how to end her sentence.
"Wouldn`t it be sad for Shinichi- kun if he was supposed to like only one person? Just remember what it would be like alone, without them all. You can call yourself lucky for having such good friendships within the group. Don`t you think?"
Ayumi sniffed, then looked at her shyly.
"I guess you are right."
"See! No reason to cry. Right now friendship is simply so much better and more important. And you are a pretty girl! You will certainly find one guy, someday, who belongs only to you. But you still have so much time."
'And you`ll certainly won`t get mine!'
Ayumi giggled at her naively.
"You sound just like my mother. But you are right Ran- chan. Sorry for being jealous." She hugged Ran, then pulled back and smiled at her cheerly.
"I really can call myself lucky to have such good friends. And now you belong to them to! I am so glad you are my friend too and a detective boy, ahm girl."
They laughed.
"Anyways, I am so glad you joined us."
Looking over Ayumis shoulder at Shinichi`s feet which were peeping out of the bed and wriggling uncoordinately in every direction, Ran grinned inwardly and said to Ayumi absentmindly, with a smirk.
"So am I...So am I..."
"Come on, let`s go back to them! They may need help"
"You are right!"
Smiling the two girls went back to the others and as if to verify their suspection..
"NO!!! THAT`S NOT TRUE!!" Genta shouted.
"What`s wrong???" Everybody asked him.
"LOOK OVER THERE!!" he pointed at a shelf, his hand shaking with exitement.
"What`s supposed to be in there?" Mitsuhiko asked, raising an eyebrow!
"Don`t you see??? He`s got the new Yaiba game for the Game boy!!! It`s out since at least one week! IT`S SOOO COOOLLLL!!!"
Conan rolled his eyes and Ayumi and the other just laughed at Genta`s dreamy face. Genta reached for it but found the the box empty.
"Oh man! It`s not here. How sad!" Genta murmured.
Then suddenly it came to Shinichi.
"IF he would have been kidnapped, he wouldn`t have taken his important things with him, right? He even got the Game boy with his new game, his wallet and it looks like a few things are missing from his closet too. That could mean he could have runned away. Oh look. This book here, it seems pretty new!"
Conan picked up a book from the desk of Toki. He opened it and a piece of paper came out.
"This is a hint! Look, it`s a receipt from a train ticket! It says he buyed it two weeks ago and the planfully depart was eight days ago....and it`s destination is...OSAKA!"
Everybody looked at him with big eyes.
"That could mean he really got not kidnapped?!" Ayumi said, thinking hard.
"Right. Now the question is.. what would Toki want in Osaka?"
"Maybe he had some business to do." Mitshiko told the others.
"Maybe he got friends there he wanted to visit?" Ai guessed.
"But what if he just likes to travel?"
"Maybe he just wanted to try the Osaka cuisine?!" Genta thought loudly.
Everybody glared at him sternly and he just shruggled his shoulders innocently.
"Well we could go on guessing but that will take us nowhere. What we need are hints. Okay guys, here`s the plan. Genta and Ayumi, you go and interview the parents. Ask them about anything suspicious they may have noticed a week ago, maybe new friends of Toki or something. And if he had relatives or frieds in Osaka."
"Alright!" Both said in unison and saluted fakely, then runned away.
"And I thought I am the boss of the detective boys!"
Conan heared Genta say laughing and had to shoke his head before turning back to the others.
"Mitsuhiko and Ai, can you go and look in the living room, bathroom, kitchen for suspicious things? Search everything that could be usefull and then please interview his little brother. He may know more things about his brothers connections to Osaka or his friends there. Ran and I will look around his room properly once more and then we`ll come to join you."
"Okay!" Ai said and turned, starting to walk away. She felt funny now that Ran was with them so much. She always had had this funny feeling about Ran. It was like as if she had to compete with her the whole time. To show her she was better, to show her she deserved him more than she does, to proof him she was a better match because they were connected somehow. But Ran didn`t seem to realize that. She had actually been really nice to Ai.
'Maybe she is planning something? Well, now it`s too late. It was me after all who gave her the pill. I prooved that I am not afraid of competition. Like as if I have to proof anything..."
"Sure thing!" Mitsuhiko joined her.
Ran smiled. She had been observing Shinichi the whole time. It felt so familiar, seeing him talk like that.
He finally turned to her and saw her smirk.
"What?"
She grinned even wider and couldn`t hide her giggles.
"Noooooothing at all."
He rolled his eyes, breathed something that sounded dangerously like 'Girls!' and turned around, going over the shelves, starting exermining. After a few moments she walked slowly to him and hugged him from behind, laying her hands on his chest and one on his tummy. He grinned and layed his own arms on her own.
It was so great, being able to be so close to each other, without worries, whenever they felt like it.
After a time standing like that she whispered.
"Did anybody ever tell you how cute you look when you are thinking hard or investigating?"
He swallowed, her breath on his neck making him shiver.
"N-no, that`s a first."
"Well, I definitly think so!" she said while rubbing her cheek against his.
"You do?"
"I do! I`ve always thought so. First time I noticed, was that time on the plane. Remember?"
"Yeah!" he smiled at the memory.
"It was so exiting, seeing you work so hard and determined on this case and solve it almost by yourself. You get then this glim in your eyes after finding out the truth, this confident and determined expression. And then you will start that grin of yours. That`s when I realized for the first time how cute and handsome you really are."
"I..I never knew that."
"I`ve never told you." She giggled.
"I remember not being able to sleep in the plane because you were so close to me. You looked so sweet and adorable." He admitted.
She pulled away and looked at him surpried, then slapped his arm lightly.
"You idiot! And you told me I had a stupid funny expression while sleeping! You never told me!"
He grinned at her, clearly guilty.
"Well, you haaaaaadd!"
"I HAD NOT!"
"HAD HAD YEEES!" he continued teasing her.
"And you DID behave like a baby after all. TS!" She said, acting mad and turned around, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
Startled, she jumped a little as she felt a pair of lips kiss her neck from behind. She turned around and looked into his innocent face. He was facing away, looking, wanna be innocently, into the sky.
She moved slowly to him and started tickling him. He jumped and began laughing very badly. She knew his weak spots by heart which made it hard for him to fight back. But he tried the best he could and like that the two found themselves on the floor, tickling each other like crazy, laughing, playing and teasing.
After playing they were laying next to each other on the floor, panting heavely, trying to calm themselves down a little. It had been so much fun, playing with her. He had missed her so much, the way she could lighten his mood with a smile or a little gesture.
And she had missed seeing him laugh the most.
After about a minute like that, she slided over closer to him and layed her head on his chest, a hand was loosely placed over his stomach. She was curling herself close next to and on him. He put his arm around her and held her close, kissing the top of her head lovingly.
"We should get up slowly. They`ll certainly come soon." He whispered after a while, trying not to break the mood.
"Annoying little kiddies!" she breathed and heared him giggle.
"Come on love, let`s look if they found anything." he nudged her gently to roll off him but she persisted.
"Don`t wanna!" she murmured into his chest, clunging on to him more tightly.
He smiled and his heart filled once again with a very warm feeling that spread through his whole body as he looked down at the girl cuddling on him. Never had he throught he could ever experience as much joy as this tiny girl brought to him. He felt absolutly content and happy. Maybe he would have start singing out loud for the whole world to hear it but he didn`t want to risc causing others broken glasses and earproblems.
He held her closer. Never ever will he let her go again! Not for the world!
~~~
"Conan! I mean Shinichi, have you found anything?" Ayumi asked him as she entered the room of Toki.
"Where are you?" she asked as she found nobody in the room.
"Whe are here!" A voice from behind the bed called.
Ayumi and Genta walked to the bed and looked at the other side. Ran and Shinichi were sitting on the floor, backs leaned against the bed and were looking through some books they had collected.
"Have you guys found out anything?" he asked them with a smile. Ran looked up at them too.
"Unfortunately not. His parents said they have no relatives in Osaka and the only thing that happened the last weeks was that they were arguing sometimes with him but they didn`t say why. What about you?"
"Not really much." Ran answered.
"Hopefully Ai and Mitsuhiko had more luck." Genta said.
And soon enough, Ai and Mitsuhiko returned.
"Found anything?"
"Well, some of his things are gone, like toothbrush but nothing really suspicious. His little brother had no idea about Osaka..."Mitsuhiko started and Ai continued..
"But we`ve found out that Toki had a big sister. We brought her here so she can tell us what she knows herself."
A pretty girl came in. She was about one year older than Toki but she didn`t look like it. She was kinda petite, had a cute face and long brown hairs and she was smiling at them.
"Hello! So you are investigating on my bro`s dissapearance? That`s really nice of you! Mitsuhiko and this girl asked me to answer some questions. I will do my best to help you, just ask me whatever you wanna know! I`ve brought you cookies! My name is Merar!"
Suddenly Genta`s eyes started shining brightly. He muttered something like 'Oh I love her!' while running to them and had already a chocolate cookie in his mouth and was chewing happily, a content expression all over his face.
"Hello!" Ran greeted her friendly and introduced the others.
"So," Shinichi went on. "Do you have any idea why your parents fought with your brother? Or what his connection with Osaka is? Or where he is at all?"
"Unfortunately I don`t! I have no idea where he is. After a big fight with our parents he just dissapeared! They had been fighting a lot recently. I think it`s because of his girlfriend who`s living away from Tokyo. Our parents say, she`s not the right one for him because he never introduced her to them properly."
"I see! And what does Osaka have to do with that?" Shinichi asked further.
"I don`t know. Why do you think Osaka must have to do something with the whole thing?"
Ayumi explained her the connections and what they have already find out.
"I am sorry, that`s all I know."
"That`s okay. You helped us a lot, thank you!" Shinichi smiled at her.
"Yes, thank you very much for your help Merar- chan!"
"Oh dears, you are welcome! I hope you can find my brother! But be carefull!"
"We will!"
"And thanks for the cokkies!! They are great!" Genta said from behind them, his mouth full with cookies and his face covered in chocolate.
Everybody had to laugh at the picture he made.
"You are welcome dear. And by the way, the bathroom is down the floor, if you want to clean yourself a little or something." She said smiling and Genta simply smiled back.
"I gotta go cook. Take care!"
"You too, thaaankss." The said in unison and bowed.
"What a nice girl!" Ran said.
"Yep. And now we know at least the reason they fought the day he dissapeared." Shinichi said.
"Didn`t you find anything?" Mitsuhiko asked them.
"We did, one thing." Shinichi went to the bed and picked up a map. Opening it he showed the map the others.
"Do you see that?" It was a map of Osaka and he was pointing at a some part in particular.
"Hai!"
There was a building, marked with a yellow color.
"I guess we have a start. We have an adress!" Shinichi said.
"So, what are we going to do now?" Mitsuhiko asked.
Ayumi and Genta grinned at Mitsuhiko and after a second he grinned back. Shinichi felt starnge. He knew this grin and sure enough...
"WE`RE GOING TO OSAKA!!!!!" the three screamed and Shinichi almost tripped over.
'I knew it!'
Ran smiled at him. He looked at her and the warm feeling returned. He knew it didn`t matter. Why not go to Osaka? As long as she was with him he would go to the end of the world and back again.
The Detective Boys started walking out of the room and he followed. All of a sudden he felt some hands on his sides, scrapeng him lightly and he jumped a little surprised. He turned and looked into the smiling face of Ran who was blinking at him. He smiled back at her and once again took her hand gently.
'That`s right! It doesn`t matter where, it just matters that she is there, with me. Oh yeah, life is going to be so much more interesting from now on!'
The end
Chapter 3
~A new case, a new life~
"WHAAATTTT???"
"REALLY?"
"NOT KIDDING???"
These were the exact reponses from Genta, Ayumi and Mitsuhiko after hearing about Ran moving in with Doctor Agasa, Ai and Conan. At their noods, the boys started screaming again.
Ai was not surprised at all since she was partly responsible for it. And also because she had had the perfect chance to get used to it. Conan and Ran had payed her a visit yesterday and thanked her for what she`s done for them. She did it because she hadn`t stand seeing Shinichi destroying himself. Now she was not sure is she was to regrett her choice. Not that she was...jealous or something......
"That`s so great! Now we are closer together whenever we want to go play or investigate on a case.."
"..or have dinner and go for pick nicks!" Genta eagerly finished Mitsuhikos sentence and everybody looked at him.
He just shrugged and looked back surprised: "What?!?"
They shoke their heads in unison and laughed. Everybody except Ayumi who looked sad.
While classes Shinichi couldn`t keep his eyes off of Ran. She was so breathtaking, even this little and he couldn`t believe she was really his! Or actually here, for that matter.
Yesterday they had been taking the whole day and night. She was now sleeping in Doctor Agasas house, next to Shinichi`s room, but not yesterday. Yesterday they had stayed in his own room in his house. They had finally talked everything out. He had told her what he`s always wanted to, the whole story about his curse and she had told him everthing out of her own perspective. First he had been afraid she might hate or leave him for what he`s done but nothing like that happened.
She had understood him and forgiven him. That alone made up for everything he had gone through the last two years.
Yes! Yesterday had changed their lives. Forever.
Sometimes she would catch his gaze and smile back at him. It was as much a miracle for her as it was for him. She could finally be together with him, for good! A pleasant feeling spread across her belly, running through her whole body.
The looks they shared remained not unobserved by Ayumi and she started feeling really sad.
After school they went to dress to go home as Genta shouted:
"Detective boys!! We have a new case!!!"
Everybody gathered curiously around Genta as he read the piece of paper, that had been in his locker, out loud.
"Dear Detective Boys. I hope you can find the time to help me. I don`t know what to do anymore! My big brother Toki is missing since last Wednesday and the police could not find him. Please help me, I don`t know what to do! You will find my adress on the backside. Ps: we have cake and tea for you. YUHEEE"
"What do you think?" Mitsuhiko asked into the round.
"A new case for the Detetive Boys!" Genta shouted, hitting his fist in the air.
"YEAH!" Everybody else shouted with him.
So they got dressed and hurried to the address. While walking they happily made plans about what they were going to do after the case. Conan suggested soccer and the boys screamed in agreement.
"Ran?" Ayumi asked her.
"Yes?"
"Where does your surname come from? Kudo, I mean?"
"Oh... that`s the name of my parents, of course."
"Of course. It sounds funny though."
"You thing? I like it! I`ve always loved the sound of it behind my own name. I am really proud of it."
Ran answered, blushing slightly, throwing a sidegaze to the also blushing and surprised looking Conan.
'I never knew that!' he thought surprised and a warm feeling spread through his whole body.
"Speaking of names. Where did you get your second name from, Shinichi?" Ran asked Conan with a smirk and he stared at her in pure shock and disbelief.
"Shinichi? Why do you call Conan Shinichi?" Everybody asked her except Ai who remained looking and walking forward. Conan tried to wafe it away severly.
"No no, she must be mist-"
"Conan told me yesterday, that Shinichi is his second name."
"Huh?" he gasped at her with open mouth.
"Why did you never tell us?"
"Conan Shinichi Edogawa? Sounds funny!" Genta mused.
"Yeah but I think Shinichi sounds better, that`s why I called him like that." Ran said.
"She is right. Maybe we should call him like that too. It sounds certainly not that foreighn." Everybody laughed at Mitsuhikos comment.
"Look, we are there!" Ai said, wanting to change the subject, and stopped in front of a huge apartment. "Let`s get in and find that boy."
"Go ahead. We`ll be following in a second." Conan said and pulled Rans hand. The others went inside and missed Ai who rolled her eyes slightly and looked a little annoyed.
"Ran.....what...?"
"I just thought that was the perfect way for you to keep your name."
"I see! Actually I`ve never thought of that, but I guess you are right. Since there is no danger anymore...." He said, blushing a little. Then grinning, he went on.
"You like the name, huh?"
"Yeah, always have!" she giggled.
"Well, this way at least I can keep ONE of my names, huh? You name thief." They giggled and she blushed deeply.
"Like I said, I`ve always thought it sounds nice behind my own name, and I figured that could be the only way for you now. And there`s still one way for you to get your whole name 'legally' back....."
She blushed even more, looking at the ground. He had to think a moment before he understood what she meant. 'The only way I can get it, is with...OH...m-marriage...' Now he also blushed but was at the same time stunned of her way of thinking. It made him feel really good and warm inside.
"Aren`t you a little too young to think at marriage, young girl?" he teased her.
"Baka!" she teased back with a serious face, then laughed. "I can see you don`t mind it much though, now do you?"
"Course not, I love my name!" he said, holding his nose up proudly, then ruined the effect by grinning.
"So do I!" she said, looking softly at him.
He looked deep into her eyes and walked closer to her, taking her slowly in his arms, holding her around her waist with his right arm while his left hand went to caress her cheek.
"And I love you!" he whispered gently into her ear, pressing a neverending sweet and tender kiss on her free cheek as he supported her head with his other hand.
It felt so good being able to tell her!
She closed her eyes smiling, enjoying his touch and sighed, then went to stroke his neck with her free hand, whispering back.
"I love you too!"
"What would I do without you?" he asked her smiling. She smiled back but remained silent.
"Gee, I`ll even get my name back!! I can`t believe it!" he beamed at her.
"I can not believe that we can make up for the lost time. We got a second chance."
"You are right! We can finally seize our time together. We are very lucky."
"Yeah! Very lucky!" she breathed as she leaned against his chest, closing her eyes contently, smiling. She still felt so cared for in his arms. Nothing could harm her as long as she was with him. She hoped this feeling would never change!
"Conan- Shinichi- Edogawa! Move your butt up here right now! Are we supposed to solve this case alone?" Genta screamed out of a window.
"We`re coming, we`re coming." Shinichi screamed back, grinned, then turning back to Ran who was also smiling at him.
"I guess he`s afraid, that he won`t come back home before lunchtime without my help!"
He grinned and she had to laugh. Smiling he took her hand and they walked in the house together.
~~~
Walking into the living room, they were greeted by Genta`s shouts:
"Finally! What took you guys so long? We have a case to solve, you know?! I wanna be home at six!"
Genta told them annoyed. Lunchtime was at six. Shinichi and Ran grinned at each other but looked away again as an attempt to not laugh out loud. Conan walked over to the little boy and asked him a few questions and Ran was taken aside by Ayumi who had noticed them walking in hand in hand.
"Ran, can I talk to you for a second?"
"Sure!" Ran answered friendly as Ayumi lead her into a corner.
Shinichi looked at them with concern. The last time Ayumi had a "talk" with her, Ran had told Shinichi that Conan had had a crush on her. Today he remembered that event with a smile but back then....too close.
Seeing Ran blink confidently at him he grinned back at her and nooded, knowing she knew exactly what she was doing, then turned ,trusting her fully, his attention back to the investigations.
"You seem very friendly with Conan...I mean Shinichi- Kun."
"Oh yes. He`s very nice."
"What is he to you?" Ayumi asked Ran, blushing.
Ran looked at her surprised, then smiled.
"I like Shinichi very much."
Ran decided against telling her the whole truth. It would be no use to do so. She could not tell Ayumi how much she honestly and deeply loved him, or that he was her everything and her reason for being here. She would not understand it anyways, she was way too young for such things.
Surprised she saw Ayumies eyes starting to wet.
"Oh no Ayumi, don`t cry!"
"But..but..i like him too and I am jealous! What am I going to do now?" she sobbed. Ran gently hugged her.
"Calm down dear. That`s no problem. You can like him too. You should be happy! He likes you as a great friend and Genta, Mitsuhiko are crazy for you! You should be happy that you all have such a great relationship and like and trust each other so much."
Ayumi looked puzzled at her, her tears eased a little.
"But..." she started doubtfully but didn`t know how to end her sentence.
"Wouldn`t it be sad for Shinichi- kun if he was supposed to like only one person? Just remember what it would be like alone, without them all. You can call yourself lucky for having such good friendships within the group. Don`t you think?"
Ayumi sniffed, then looked at her shyly.
"I guess you are right."
"See! No reason to cry. Right now friendship is simply so much better and more important. And you are a pretty girl! You will certainly find one guy, someday, who belongs only to you. But you still have so much time."
'And you`ll certainly won`t get mine!'
Ayumi giggled at her naively.
"You sound just like my mother. But you are right Ran- chan. Sorry for being jealous." She hugged Ran, then pulled back and smiled at her cheerly.
"I really can call myself lucky to have such good friends. And now you belong to them to! I am so glad you are my friend too and a detective boy, ahm girl."
They laughed.
"Anyways, I am so glad you joined us."
Looking over Ayumis shoulder at Shinichi`s feet which were peeping out of the bed and wriggling uncoordinately in every direction, Ran grinned inwardly and said to Ayumi absentmindly, with a smirk.
"So am I...So am I..."
"Come on, let`s go back to them! They may need help"
"You are right!"
Smiling the two girls went back to the others and as if to verify their suspection..
"NO!!! THAT`S NOT TRUE!!" Genta shouted.
"What`s wrong???" Everybody asked him.
"LOOK OVER THERE!!" he pointed at a shelf, his hand shaking with exitement.
"What`s supposed to be in there?" Mitsuhiko asked, raising an eyebrow!
"Don`t you see??? He`s got the new Yaiba game for the Game boy!!! It`s out since at least one week! IT`S SOOO COOOLLLL!!!"
Conan rolled his eyes and Ayumi and the other just laughed at Genta`s dreamy face. Genta reached for it but found the the box empty.
"Oh man! It`s not here. How sad!" Genta murmured.
Then suddenly it came to Shinichi.
"IF he would have been kidnapped, he wouldn`t have taken his important things with him, right? He even got the Game boy with his new game, his wallet and it looks like a few things are missing from his closet too. That could mean he could have runned away. Oh look. This book here, it seems pretty new!"
Conan picked up a book from the desk of Toki. He opened it and a piece of paper came out.
"This is a hint! Look, it`s a receipt from a train ticket! It says he buyed it two weeks ago and the planfully depart was eight days ago....and it`s destination is...OSAKA!"
Everybody looked at him with big eyes.
"That could mean he really got not kidnapped?!" Ayumi said, thinking hard.
"Right. Now the question is.. what would Toki want in Osaka?"
"Maybe he had some business to do." Mitshiko told the others.
"Maybe he got friends there he wanted to visit?" Ai guessed.
"But what if he just likes to travel?"
"Maybe he just wanted to try the Osaka cuisine?!" Genta thought loudly.
Everybody glared at him sternly and he just shruggled his shoulders innocently.
"Well we could go on guessing but that will take us nowhere. What we need are hints. Okay guys, here`s the plan. Genta and Ayumi, you go and interview the parents. Ask them about anything suspicious they may have noticed a week ago, maybe new friends of Toki or something. And if he had relatives or frieds in Osaka."
"Alright!" Both said in unison and saluted fakely, then runned away.
"And I thought I am the boss of the detective boys!"
Conan heared Genta say laughing and had to shoke his head before turning back to the others.
"Mitsuhiko and Ai, can you go and look in the living room, bathroom, kitchen for suspicious things? Search everything that could be usefull and then please interview his little brother. He may know more things about his brothers connections to Osaka or his friends there. Ran and I will look around his room properly once more and then we`ll come to join you."
"Okay!" Ai said and turned, starting to walk away. She felt funny now that Ran was with them so much. She always had had this funny feeling about Ran. It was like as if she had to compete with her the whole time. To show her she was better, to show her she deserved him more than she does, to proof him she was a better match because they were connected somehow. But Ran didn`t seem to realize that. She had actually been really nice to Ai.
'Maybe she is planning something? Well, now it`s too late. It was me after all who gave her the pill. I prooved that I am not afraid of competition. Like as if I have to proof anything..."
"Sure thing!" Mitsuhiko joined her.
Ran smiled. She had been observing Shinichi the whole time. It felt so familiar, seeing him talk like that.
He finally turned to her and saw her smirk.
"What?"
She grinned even wider and couldn`t hide her giggles.
"Noooooothing at all."
He rolled his eyes, breathed something that sounded dangerously like 'Girls!' and turned around, going over the shelves, starting exermining. After a few moments she walked slowly to him and hugged him from behind, laying her hands on his chest and one on his tummy. He grinned and layed his own arms on her own.
It was so great, being able to be so close to each other, without worries, whenever they felt like it.
After a time standing like that she whispered.
"Did anybody ever tell you how cute you look when you are thinking hard or investigating?"
He swallowed, her breath on his neck making him shiver.
"N-no, that`s a first."
"Well, I definitly think so!" she said while rubbing her cheek against his.
"You do?"
"I do! I`ve always thought so. First time I noticed, was that time on the plane. Remember?"
"Yeah!" he smiled at the memory.
"It was so exiting, seeing you work so hard and determined on this case and solve it almost by yourself. You get then this glim in your eyes after finding out the truth, this confident and determined expression. And then you will start that grin of yours. That`s when I realized for the first time how cute and handsome you really are."
"I..I never knew that."
"I`ve never told you." She giggled.
"I remember not being able to sleep in the plane because you were so close to me. You looked so sweet and adorable." He admitted.
She pulled away and looked at him surpried, then slapped his arm lightly.
"You idiot! And you told me I had a stupid funny expression while sleeping! You never told me!"
He grinned at her, clearly guilty.
"Well, you haaaaaadd!"
"I HAD NOT!"
"HAD HAD YEEES!" he continued teasing her.
"And you DID behave like a baby after all. TS!" She said, acting mad and turned around, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
Startled, she jumped a little as she felt a pair of lips kiss her neck from behind. She turned around and looked into his innocent face. He was facing away, looking, wanna be innocently, into the sky.
She moved slowly to him and started tickling him. He jumped and began laughing very badly. She knew his weak spots by heart which made it hard for him to fight back. But he tried the best he could and like that the two found themselves on the floor, tickling each other like crazy, laughing, playing and teasing.
After playing they were laying next to each other on the floor, panting heavely, trying to calm themselves down a little. It had been so much fun, playing with her. He had missed her so much, the way she could lighten his mood with a smile or a little gesture.
And she had missed seeing him laugh the most.
After about a minute like that, she slided over closer to him and layed her head on his chest, a hand was loosely placed over his stomach. She was curling herself close next to and on him. He put his arm around her and held her close, kissing the top of her head lovingly.
"We should get up slowly. They`ll certainly come soon." He whispered after a while, trying not to break the mood.
"Annoying little kiddies!" she breathed and heared him giggle.
"Come on love, let`s look if they found anything." he nudged her gently to roll off him but she persisted.
"Don`t wanna!" she murmured into his chest, clunging on to him more tightly.
He smiled and his heart filled once again with a very warm feeling that spread through his whole body as he looked down at the girl cuddling on him. Never had he throught he could ever experience as much joy as this tiny girl brought to him. He felt absolutly content and happy. Maybe he would have start singing out loud for the whole world to hear it but he didn`t want to risc causing others broken glasses and earproblems.
He held her closer. Never ever will he let her go again! Not for the world!
~~~
"Conan! I mean Shinichi, have you found anything?" Ayumi asked him as she entered the room of Toki.
"Where are you?" she asked as she found nobody in the room.
"Whe are here!" A voice from behind the bed called.
Ayumi and Genta walked to the bed and looked at the other side. Ran and Shinichi were sitting on the floor, backs leaned against the bed and were looking through some books they had collected.
"Have you guys found out anything?" he asked them with a smile. Ran looked up at them too.
"Unfortunately not. His parents said they have no relatives in Osaka and the only thing that happened the last weeks was that they were arguing sometimes with him but they didn`t say why. What about you?"
"Not really much." Ran answered.
"Hopefully Ai and Mitsuhiko had more luck." Genta said.
And soon enough, Ai and Mitsuhiko returned.
"Found anything?"
"Well, some of his things are gone, like toothbrush but nothing really suspicious. His little brother had no idea about Osaka..."Mitsuhiko started and Ai continued..
"But we`ve found out that Toki had a big sister. We brought her here so she can tell us what she knows herself."
A pretty girl came in. She was about one year older than Toki but she didn`t look like it. She was kinda petite, had a cute face and long brown hairs and she was smiling at them.
"Hello! So you are investigating on my bro`s dissapearance? That`s really nice of you! Mitsuhiko and this girl asked me to answer some questions. I will do my best to help you, just ask me whatever you wanna know! I`ve brought you cookies! My name is Merar!"
Suddenly Genta`s eyes started shining brightly. He muttered something like 'Oh I love her!' while running to them and had already a chocolate cookie in his mouth and was chewing happily, a content expression all over his face.
"Hello!" Ran greeted her friendly and introduced the others.
"So," Shinichi went on. "Do you have any idea why your parents fought with your brother? Or what his connection with Osaka is? Or where he is at all?"
"Unfortunately I don`t! I have no idea where he is. After a big fight with our parents he just dissapeared! They had been fighting a lot recently. I think it`s because of his girlfriend who`s living away from Tokyo. Our parents say, she`s not the right one for him because he never introduced her to them properly."
"I see! And what does Osaka have to do with that?" Shinichi asked further.
"I don`t know. Why do you think Osaka must have to do something with the whole thing?"
Ayumi explained her the connections and what they have already find out.
"I am sorry, that`s all I know."
"That`s okay. You helped us a lot, thank you!" Shinichi smiled at her.
"Yes, thank you very much for your help Merar- chan!"
"Oh dears, you are welcome! I hope you can find my brother! But be carefull!"
"We will!"
"And thanks for the cokkies!! They are great!" Genta said from behind them, his mouth full with cookies and his face covered in chocolate.
Everybody had to laugh at the picture he made.
"You are welcome dear. And by the way, the bathroom is down the floor, if you want to clean yourself a little or something." She said smiling and Genta simply smiled back.
"I gotta go cook. Take care!"
"You too, thaaankss." The said in unison and bowed.
"What a nice girl!" Ran said.
"Yep. And now we know at least the reason they fought the day he dissapeared." Shinichi said.
"Didn`t you find anything?" Mitsuhiko asked them.
"We did, one thing." Shinichi went to the bed and picked up a map. Opening it he showed the map the others.
"Do you see that?" It was a map of Osaka and he was pointing at a some part in particular.
"Hai!"
There was a building, marked with a yellow color.
"I guess we have a start. We have an adress!" Shinichi said.
"So, what are we going to do now?" Mitsuhiko asked.
Ayumi and Genta grinned at Mitsuhiko and after a second he grinned back. Shinichi felt starnge. He knew this grin and sure enough...
"WE`RE GOING TO OSAKA!!!!!" the three screamed and Shinichi almost tripped over.
'I knew it!'
Ran smiled at him. He looked at her and the warm feeling returned. He knew it didn`t matter. Why not go to Osaka? As long as she was with him he would go to the end of the world and back again.
The Detective Boys started walking out of the room and he followed. All of a sudden he felt some hands on his sides, scrapeng him lightly and he jumped a little surprised. He turned and looked into the smiling face of Ran who was blinking at him. He smiled back at her and once again took her hand gently.
'That`s right! It doesn`t matter where, it just matters that she is there, with me. Oh yeah, life is going to be so much more interesting from now on!'
The end