Naoko
Don't own Case Closed. (But I wish I did!)
Chapter Five: The Home
'Niece!' Shinichi thought wildly.
"Indeed. She is to stay here, in her rightful place," Shiro said.
"Tomorrow we'll return you home. Don't stay up too late," Taro snickered, rubbing Conan's chest. Conan took a deep shuddering breath. They left. Conan looked over at Naoko. She looked ashamed of herself.
"Naoko bad friend," she whispered. Conan shook his head.
"No, your not," he choked out. "Are they really your uncles?"
"Yes. Naoko's father name was... Saburo," she struggled out.
'That's it! Third born son!' Shinichi thought.
"Uncles...killed father. And mother and sister. Father, betray them," she whispered. Conan thought for a moment.
'It doesn't make any sense. What had Saburo done that was bad enough for his own brothers to kill him?' Shinichi wondered.
A little while later, Taro returned. He cut off the ropes with a pocket knife and lifted Conan into a sitting position by his hair. He cringed but didn't cry out. He was too weak to struggle as he was shoved into the same sack as before. He fell unconscious as Taro tied the top of the bag closed.
---
Kogoro woke up to the doorbell the next morning. He heard Ran hurrying towards the door. He stood up quickly and met her there.
"It's him! He's back!" Ran cried throwing open the door. A large brown sack was waiting on the welcome mat.
Ran and Kogoro knelt down. Kogoro unfastened the knots and opened the bag. Conan's arm flopped through, covered in blood. Kogoro opened the bag wider and pulled Conan out. He was covered in blood, and he was shivering. His lips were blue and his nose was red. His cheeks were flushed with fever and some of the cuts were infected.
"Ran, call an ambulance!" Kogoro ordered. "Tell them we're coming, there's no time to wait, I'm taking him," he said leaving no room for discussion. He picked up the small boy and cradled him against his chest. He ran as fast as he could to the car. He set the limp boy down in the backseat and wrapped him in a blanket. Not worrying about the speed limit, he hit the gas hard and took off down the street.
About five minutes from the hospital, a police car started following him. He didn't slow down. He sped up. The police car sped up as well.
'Damn! This'll be one hell of a speeding ticket!'
He skidded to a stop in front of the hospital. He pulled Conan out of the backseat and ran towards the building. The policeman stopped and followed him.
"Sir, you can't –" the man started, but Kogoro spun around and cut him off.
"Tow the damn car! See if I care!" he growled. Then he turned back round and saw two people with a gurney rushing to meet him.
"Kogoro Mouri?" asked one. He nodded. "Set him here. From what your daughter said, he'll have to go into surgery now." Kogoro nodded and set Conan down gently.
"Wait in the lobby, you'll need to fill out some forms," the second man said. They rushed Conan away, into the ER.
"Sir, you'll have to fill out these," a woman told him. Kogoro nodded silently and took the papers out of her hand. She patted him on the shoulder gently.
"Thanks," he whispered.
"It's nothing sir. And don't worry, your little boy will be okay," she assured him. He nodded gratefully and began to fill out the papers. A few minutes later, a breathless Ran flew into the hospital. He looked up from the forms and called her over.
"Dad! Where's Conan-kun?" she asked hurriedly. He took her hand and pulled her into the seat next to him.
"He's gone into surgery. I don't know when he'll be out, so just wait here with me, okay?" he said seriously. She nodded and sat next to him. After a few hours, a doctor came out if the ER.
"Are you the boy's family?" he asked, pulling down his face mask. Ra and Kogoro nodded.
"Yes, well, he lives with us," Kogoro answered.
"But he's like family!" Ran added.
"Okay," the doctor nodded. "I'm afraid the boy isn't in very good condition. He'll make it, but you'll need to help him. Most kids would've died after what he'd been through. You've got a very strong little boy there," he said smiling. Ran gave a watery smile.
"Can we see him?" she asked urgently. The doctor shifted.
"Well you can, but he's tired, probably already sleeping. Don't wake him, he needs rest. As long as you're quiet, I guess I have no problems with you seeing him," he said smiling slightly. "Room 204." He said before walking off.
Ran and Kogoro tore through the halls of the hospital. Ran was in the lead. She flung open the door of 204 as quietly as possible. She gasped at the sight of the little boy on the bed. His shirt was off, and his chest was wrapped in bandages. There was a piece of gauze taped over the right side of his forehead. His neck was wrapped too, as well as his wrists. His breathing was labored, and he was asleep. The blankets were pulled up to his chin.
"Oh Conan-kun," she whispered. She held one of his small hands as she sat in the chair to the right of his bed. Kogoro sat on the left. Ran rubbed her thumb over Conan's hand as he slept. His breathing became more even. His eyes fluttered open slightly. He blinked drowsily and looked over at her.
"R-an-neechan?" he choked out. She touched his face gently. He closed his eyes and turned his head, leaning in towards her tender touch.
"It's okay Conan-kun. Go back to sleep, everything will be okay," she whispered. He closed his eyes and fell asleep again.
---
When Shinichi woke up the next morning, he noticed that he wasn't on the table in the cold basement. He was in a stiff but comfortable bed, and everything smelt like disinfectant. He opened his eyes slightly and squinted to see who was holding his hand.
'Ran...' he thought tiredly. He groaned. Ran looked down at him. There were tears in her eyes. She smiled when she saw he was awake.
"Oh, Conan-kun! Thank goodness you're okay," she whispered. He blinked. Shinichi had never felt as vulnerable as he did now. He looked around, keeping his head still.
He was in a hospital room. Everything was white, and it was bright with sunlight. The window was open, giving them a clear view of the sky. Kogoro wasn't in the room. He put his hands under his back and started to push himself up.
"No, Conan-kun, stay down. Your very weak right now, you'll have to stay in bed until you heal," she said. She gently pushed him back down. He sighed and turned his head to face her. She gently laid one hand on the side of his face. It was warm and soothing and Shinichi loved the feeling. He moaned softly.
"Ran-neechan?" he whispered.
"What's the matter Conan-kun? Are you in pain?" she asked.
"No," he whispered.
"Is there something you wanted to tell me?" she asked, her brow furrowing in concern.
"Don-Don't ever leave me, Ran-neechan," he whispered tearfully. Tears welled up in her eyes. She crawled up into the bed and cradled him in her lap.
"Don't worry Conan-kun. I'm not going anywhere," she murmured. He smiled softly.
"Thank you," he said quietly. He buried his face into her shirt and held onto her with one hand.
'Don't worry Conan-kun. I'll never leave you again.' Ran thought as she looked down at the boy. He was holding onto her shirt as though it was a lifeline. It was a heartbreaking sight.
A few days later, Inspector Megure came in to ask Conan questions. He settled himself to the left of the bed and Ran sat next to Conan, holding his hand.
"Now Conan-kun, I'm going to have to ask you some questions okay?" he started. Conan nodded.
"Okay, first question: Did you get a good look them?" Megure asked. Conan nodded.
"Yeah they were tall, about six feet each, and had blonde hair. Their names were Taro, Shiro, and Jiro," he answered. "And..." he stopped. He just remembered. Naoko!
"That's great, Conan-kun!" Megure said, writing on a notepad.
"Wait! We have to find them!" Conan said. He was panicking.
"We will, Conan. Don't worry," Ran soothed.
"No! They still have Naoko!" he said.
"Naoko?" Ran asked. "Who's Naoko?"
"She's my friend!" he said.
"Wait, is this Naoko the little homeless girl?" Kogoro asked.
"Yeah," Conan said. "But we can't leave her."
"Conan-kun she doesn't matter. She has no family, there's nothing we can do," Kogoro tried to say.
"But she helped me! She tried to help, anyway. And I don't know what they'll do to her!" he said.
"Okay, calm down, Conan-kun, don't you get yourself worked up, everything will be fine," Magure assured him. Conan nodded.
"Do you have any idea where you were? Where they took you?" Kogoro asked him.
"I think it was a basement," Shinichi said thoughtfully. "It was cold and dripping."
"Okay, that's all the info we need now, thanks for the help, Conan-kun," Magure said. Conan nodded and Ran laid him back down.
"Get rest now, Conan-kun. The doctor said you can go home tomorrow, as long as you rest today," she said. He smiled. Kogoro followed Magure out of the room. "Here, drink this," she ordered, giving him a cup. He downed the contents without question.
"Ran-neechan? I have to tell you something, something important," he said, lying down.
"What is it, Conan-kun?" she asked. She tucked the blankets around his shoulders.
"It's about Shinichi," he said feeling lightheaded. Ran stopped and looked down at him.
"Yes, Conan-kun?' she said carefully.
'Now or never,' Shinichi thought.
"He's – He's –" Conan started. Then his eyes went crossed as the medicine took affect and he fell asleep. Ran frowned.
---
The next day, Shinichi woke up early, eager to get home. Ran came in a while later with a nurse.
"Good morning Conan-kun!" she sang cheerfully. Shinichi grinned.
"Can I get out of here now?" he asked keenly. Ran laughed.
"Calm down, Conan-kun! The nurse wants to change your bandages first then we can go," she laughed. Conan was too eager to blush.
'Get me out of this place! It's scarily clean!' he thought frantically. 'All this white gives me a migraine!'
After the nurse changed the bandage on his chest, she carefully peeled off the gauze onhis forehead. Like his whip marks, it had been stitched up. She carefully took the stitches out and covered it with a normal boxed band-aid.
"There, all set," she said smiling. Conan swung his legs over the side of the bed and got ready to jump down.
"Not so fast, little man," Ran grinned, holding his shoulders. "You're not walking yet," she said lifting him up onto her shoulders. He grinned and held her hands as she walked down the white corridors of the hospital. He was still in his pajamas, but he didn't even care as long as he got out of that damn hospital! There was a broad smile on his face as she stepped out into the sunlight. He breathed in deeply. Ran giggled.
"I love being outside Ran-neechan!" he said enthusiastically.
"Well Conan-kun, you can be outside all you want, but I want you to promise to stay with someone, okay?" she said seriously.
"I promise," he said.
"Good," she said. 'I won't let anyone hurt you again, Conan-kun. Ever.'
"Look, Ran-neechan!" Conan said, pointing. Reporters were following them. Ran scowled.
"Uh oh. We have to get out of here," she said lifting him off her shoulders. She held him like a baby and started running. "We don't want to get mixed up with the press! They take everything out of context!"
She ran as hard as she could, until she was sure they weren't following them. She lifted him back up onto her shoulders.
"Wow, Ran-neechan! You run fast!" Shinichi was actually shocked.
"It's the karate," she said. She wasn't even out of breath! He was tired though. He leaned his head on the top of hers and let himself go limp.
"Hey Conan-kun," Ran said timidly.
"Yes Ran-neechan?" he asked.
"Yesterday you told me that you had something important to tell me about Shinichi. What was it?" Ran asked. Shinichi cringed inwardly. He could not tell her! Not now.
"Oh, it was just that..." he trailed off, thinking fast. "The day that I went to see Yaiba with my friends he called," he said. She looked up slightly.
"What did he say?" she asked.
"He said that he wanted to talk to you. Said that he'd call as soon as he could. I don't remember the rest," he said.
"Oh," she said simply.
"Sorry," he said.
"No, it's alright, don't worry about it," she said pushing the subject aside.
"Ran-neechan?" Conan asked.
"What's wrong Conan-kun?" Ran asked.
"Would you be sad if Shinichi never came home?" he whispered.
"Maybe a little sad. But you would stay with me. I'm never letting you out of my sight again, just like I promised," she added.
"Thanks Ran-neechan," he said. His heart felt like it was torn in two. He wished that he wasn't hurting her so much. If only he could tell her...
---
Thanks for all your reviews you guys!
caseclosed lover - I'm NOT MEAN! here, just to prove I'm not mean, this chapter is for you!
PRIVATE - You do know what a niece is, right?
Katrina - Whhhaaaaaaaaaaaaattt?!?! You make NO SENSE whatsoever
Electrobomb - I hate spam!
kristanite - ehehehe... ::sweatdrop::