DISCLAIMER: Meitantei Conan still doesn't belong to me. It belongs to Gosho Aoyama.
Okay, recap of chapter three now! ...Not a whole hell of a lot to fix in this chapter, that I can remember. The main ones I needed to fix were the school thing in chapter two, and ... a lot of chapter four. ;; That's next, though.
Thanks again for reading, and bear with me while I repost these. I promise to have chapter five up for you guys soon!!
Recap!!
"You'd better hurry and go to school, you'll be late!!"
Conan's eyes widened slightly. She was right.
"Ah, hai!" He turned to run off toward his school then stopped. "And... Ran-onee-chan?" he called.
Ran tilted her head to the side.
"Hmm?"
"...Thank you!!" He shouted before running off. Ran raised an eyebrow.
"...What's he thanking me for?" She stood there for a moment, pondering what had gotten into him. When a girl in her class called out to her from the doorway, she turned and ran into the school building.
"Who was that adorable kid you were talking to, Mouri-san?" The girl asked offhandedly.
Ran blinked.
"Oh, him?"
She paused for a moment, then smiled warmly.
"He's my otoutou, Conan-kun."
Namida wa Shitte'ru
Chapter Three: Ice Cream, and the Longest Ten Seconds.
The day had passed by quicker than Conan had realized. Not that he'd paid much attention, anyway. He'd run into the school building, made it into class just before the bell rang, and stared out the window the entire class.
He was just so over being Conan!
Sure, being small had it's advantages at times... and he'd learned more about Ran than he ever would have with his usual appearance. But there's only so much one can accomplish while trapped in the body of a seven year old!
He sighed, resting his chin in his palm, closing his eyes over, facing the window.
It was just infuriating. And what was worse -- to have gotten a taste of being himself again long enough to prove Hattori wrong... only to change back to Conan after narrowly escaping Ran's questioning.
He paused in his thoughts, and made a face.
What must have been going through Ran's head... to see Shinichi fall backward down the stairs and then... disappear, leaving nothing but his jacket and socks... then, to find Conan in a small room wearing what seemed to be Shinichi's shirt. He snorted, trying not to laugh. She must have been so confused!!
If he ever got his own body back, he'd have to explain this to her... Then again...
He remembered the first day that he'd been Conan. Agasa had asked her to take him in, and on the way back she'd told him how she felt about Shinichi.
...Okay, maybe he'd wait to tell her until he knew she wouldn't beat him to a bloody pulp.
And what was taking Haibara so long with that cure, anyway? She made the damned thing, why couldn't she figure out how to undo it?!
Suddenly there was a hand on his shoulder, and he let out a strangled yelp, and in trying to move away from the hand, fell out of his chair, landing squished between the wall and his desk, one leg propped on his chair, the other laying across his bag which lay under his desk.
He found himself staring up at the three confused and worried faces of his classmates.
"Conan-kun, daijoubu?" Ayumi leaned her palms on his chair, on either side of his ankle. Mitsuhiko titled his head to one side, and pulled himself up onto Genta's shoulder to get a better view. Genta squinted at him.
Conan blinked.
"...Yeah, yeah I'm fine..." He slid his leg off the chair, and Ayumi stood straight again. He sat up and used the chair as leverage to stand up again. He brushed off his shorts, and lifted his head as if to apologize to the teacher for the disruption -- only to see that the teacher wasn't there. He blinked, then turned to his friends.
"Where's the teacher?" He asked, quirking a brow and glancing around them.
The three youths exchanged glances.
"You really were zoned out, weren't you?" Genta asked, clapping Conan on the shoulder, who gripped the edge of his desk as not to fall over again.
He tilted his head to the side and blinked at them again.
"What do you mean?" He made a face, and bent down to put his bag on top of his desk. It wasn't until then that he realized that the room was empty aside from himself and his three friends. "Where is everybody?"
Mitsuhiko laughed.
"Conan-kun, you've been spacing out staring at the window all day. The bell's already rung! We can go home now."
Conan balked. He looked up at the clock at the front of the room. They were right. The bell had rung. The day was over.
...Wait. School was over...?
Shimatta!!
"Augh!!" Conan made a face. "I've got to go, guys. I'll see you later!" He snatched his bag and hopped over his desk, darting for the door, and leaving the three children there to stare.
"Ahhh, Conan-kun...!!" Ayumi took a step forward, reaching a hand out after him. She stopped, and pouted slightly. "I was gonna ask if he wanted to come with us to look for more cases for the Shounen Tanteitan..." She sighed.
Mitsuhiko and Genta exchanged smiles.
"We can figure them out on our own today, Ayumi-chan." Mitsuhiko said, grinning and putting a hand on her shoulder, which gained him a jealous glare from Genta. Ayumi looked at him over her shoulder, then grinned as well.
"Haaaai!"
Conan ran down the stairs as fast as his shrunken legs could take him, his bag flailing in his hand.
"Can't be late, can't be late, can't be late...!" He rounded a corner, and ran out to the fountain outside of school. He paused there to catch his breath.
Setting his bag down on the edge of the fountain, he rested his palms on his knees and panted for a minute before straightening.
He glanced around and let his eyes rest on the statue Ran had mentioned. She wasn't there yet. Good. He picked up his bag and walked over to the statue and leaned on it.
He suddenly found himself thinking about what he was doing. He was waiting for Ran. She'd said she was going to take him out for ice cream... He stopped. Would that be like a date? He blushed faintly. Not that Ran thought of it that way... after all, he was just a kid.
...But still...
I've got a date with Ran, I've got a date with Ran...
He swayed where he stood to the sing-song tone his mind had taken to thinking in.
He stopped again.
Wait... would that mean I'm jealous of myself? As Shinichi... and going out somewhere with Ran as Conan... He squinted. Nahh, I can't be jealous of myself, that's just silly. But really, is this like a date?
He felt the same faint blush creep onto his face, and quickly shook his head.
Calm down, Shinichi. She's just taking you out for ice cream as a way of saying sorry. ...Not that she did anything wrong in the first place...
He chuckled.
Maybe being Conan wasn't so bad, after all...
"Nee, Conan-kun,"
He jerked awake, startled. When had he fallen asleep? He lifted his head to look into the eyes of an apologetic Ran.
"Sumanai, Conan-kun... Sonoko kept me behind to help her clean the room up. I hope I didn't keep you too long..." She paused. His glasses had fallen off.
She'd be damned if he didn't look exactly like Shinichi did when he was around six or seven. It was almost creepy.
"...Daijoubu, Conan-kun? You look tired... do you want to go home?"
He blinked, taking a moment to comprehend what she'd said.
"Ahh, iie!" He stammered, picking up his glasses from their resting place in his lap, and placed them back on his face. He smiled, and shook his head, standing up. "I was just resting my eyes."
Liar.
Ran smiled.
"Sorry that it took so long... like I said, Sonoko..." She sighed. "Well, you know Sonoko."
Conan nodded. God do I know Sonoko... He mused, making a face.
"Anyway..." She sweatdropped. "Shall we go?" Before allowing him to answer, she took his small hand in hers and started to lead him toward the school gates.
He snatched his bag from where it lay on the ground beside the statue, and stumbled after her, getting it on his shoulder only after he'd matched her pace.
"So, what kind of ice cream do you think you want, Conan-kun?" She asked off-handedly as they headed down the sidewalk.
Conan paused.
"...I like strawberry." He said in a small voice.
...Shinichi's favourite was always strawberry, too...
Ran smiled falsely.
"Okay, then strawberry it is!"
"Arigatou! Come again, Mouri-chan!" The man in the ice cream shop called as they walked out the door, ice cream cones in their hands.
"Hai!" Ran responded, and let the door close.
She wasn't holding his hand this time.
"Hayaku, Ran-'nee-chan!" He called, waving with his free hand.
Ran smiled.
"Hai, Conan-kun..." She smiled and followed after him. He waited a second, then ran ahead of her, jogging across the crosswalk.
Suddenly, he felt an unusual snap. He started, and slowed to a walk, then came to a stop.
...His shoelace had snapped...
He stared at it.
That was unusual. Shoelaces were hard things to break without some kind of weapon... yet it was always said to be a bad omen when they did indeed break. He wondered what it meant, and stared quizzically at his shoe, then back to the broken tie about a foot behind him.
The next ten seconds went by very slowly, and yet at the same time, too fast for him to remember.
"Conan-kun!! Abunai!!"
He was thrown to the side, and landed roughly on his right arm and hip. He yelped, and his ice cream was thrown from his hand. He looked up to see what had happened, just in time to see Ran get tossed in the opposite direction of him, hit by a small red sports car that was going way too fast for the busy street it was travelling on.
His brain stopped.
A woman screamed, and he vaguely heard a man yell. "Someone call 911!!"
His mind caught up with him, and he realized what was going on, and why people were suddenly crowding onto the street. There was a horrid sinking feeling in his stomach. He sat up, and craned his neck to look around the bumper of the red car, of which a woman had stepped out of and was now crying.
Suddenly he couldn't breathe.
All the colour drained from his face, and he tried to swallow the nauseous lump growing in the pit of his stomach.
Ran was laying limp on the ground, her hair cascading haphazardly over her face and shoulders.
She'd pushed him out of the way. He'd been standing right in the middle of the crosswalk, like an idiot, staring at his bloody shoe.
He stared for another moment, willing her with his eyes to get up.
Get up, Ran... get up. Please.
He couldn't move.
Ran... Ran, don't do this!! Get up, sit up and scold me! Tell me I shouldn't have been standing there!! Ran, get up!!
He finally found his lungs.
"RAAAAAAN!!"
His ice cream fell to the ground behind him with a wet splat.
Author's Notes: Fua... another chapter, reposted!!! Now, onto the reposting of chapter four. Good lord this could take days. XD No, I'll have four up by tonight. ...I can't say how long five will take me. It'll be -- hopefully -- my first beta'd chapter, if I can get 'Nee-san to do so. And if I finish the chapter before she's replied to my request in email, then I'll just post it, and let you all tell me what I've done wrong. XD
Glossary of Japanese Terms
owatta : I didn't use this in the story itself, but I figured I'd tell you what it meant anyway. It's a way of saying "It's over". If you've ever heard the version of the fifth opening from Conan (Truth by Two-Mix) that Conan sings, you probably know it. He says it after he finishes singing, in a right exhasperated voice. ;; Our poor little tone-deaf tantei...
Shounen Tanteitan: Junior Detective League, is I think how they dubbed it. It's the nickname the Ayumi-tachi has given to their group. [tachi, btw, is "group".]
sumanai: a polite way of saying "I'm sorry".
iie: "No", quite simply. Not sure if I'd used this one before. oo; I honestly can't remember, and I'm too lazy to check.
hayaku: hurry up.
Not as much Japanese used in this chapter.
You know the drill. I dunno if you can review if you already reviewed to this chapter. And if you can't, then I respect your silence. However, if you can, I expect you to leave me something! Some kind of commentary, please. It's all much appreciated. Thanks, everybody!
Sakura