Because it was really about time I updated this. The second part of Once Upon A Night:Shinichi. It was an enjoyable break to write this, and I hoping to be able to wrap this mini series up soon (must stop procrastinating, arrrrgh!) Song reference is from 'Dreaming of You' by Selena, which was what prompted this fic on, really. XD
Constructive criticism welcomed, as always. :D
The Moon Lingers
Shinichi Kudo stood on the dimly lit trellis, his small arms leaning against the cool metal railings as his fingers idly twined with the loose ivy streaming down and catching at his clothes. His customary glasses that marked him as Mouri's little ward were still resting where he had left them; by his bedside.
He hadn't expected the case to have taken quite so long; none of them had. What had originally seemed like a simple theft had revolved around a deeply buried feud and had resulted in a brutal murder before he had managed to gather up the loose ends, tie them together into a conclusion and give all the credit to Kogoro Mouri again. As the night was late and the last train back to Tokyo had already left, the grateful and much relieved employer had offered them lodging at his modest dwelling. If modest covered a enormous mansion, with gardens rich in lavish greenery.
But it wasn't the vast enormity of the house nor the complexities of the case that was occupying the thoughts of the boy-not-a-boy as he lifted his face to the velvety midnight sky. Somewhere behind him, a gentle resonance of chimes struck once, twice sleepily until the twelfth note before fading into a faint echo in the ear.
Late at night when all the world is sleeping
I stay up and think of you
A sigh escaped the trappings of his heart as he contemplated the moon; not the thin crescent of sharp light, but the whole of it, unabashedly shining down without even a cloak of cloud to mask her splendor. Unbidden, thoughts of her began to float into his mind, running his carefully-schooled thoughts together into a senseless ream of her. Muttering, he shook his head slightly, futilely trying to clear his mind half-heartedly.
Below, sounds of raucous laughter drifted up to fill his ears from the rooms below. Mouri must be imbibing on his much beloved drink again, judging from the off-tune singing.
Much beloved...
And I wish on a star
That somewhere you are thinking
Of me too
Another sigh. Gripping the railing firmly, Shinichi hauled himself up unto the narrow metalwork intended as a fancy design, gaudy now in the exposure of silver moonlight. Balanced in this precarious position, he stared up at the small glimmers of light pocking the seamless expanse of night. Brightness caught his eye and he inclined his head to catch sight of a shooting star before it fizzled out and melted into the dark.
Almost unconsciously, he impulsively made a wish. Make a wish on a falling star and it will come true. Or was it shooting star? He couldn't remember. Nevertheless, it was gone and done with.
He wished that he could hold her as Shinichi once more.
A bittersweet smile crossed his young face briefly. It was a wish a million stars in the world couldn't grant.
Coz' I'm dreaming of you tonight
Till tomorrow I'll be holding you tight
And there's no where in the world I'd rather be
Than here in my room, dreaming about you and me
Ivy tickled at his earlobe again. Irritably, he swatted it aside. He wasn't in the best of moods. He blamed it on the moon, on the night, on the stars, on Mouri, on the stupid idiot who had started this imbecilic case, on the stupid victim that had gotten his stupid self killed, on himself even. He blamed it on everyone and everything.
Everyone and everything but her.
Pensively, he tried to recall the precious moments he had shared with her. It wasn't very difficult really; they were lingering on the outer ring of his consciousness, waiting to rush through him at a minute's notice. They filled him now, the scent of her hair filling his nose like a heady perfume, her laughter besieging his ears, her sparkling eyes capturing his own.
He had to cling tighter to the railing, the flood of memories threatening to sweep him away from himself and over the edge. As the metallic coolness dragged him back to reality, he wondered why he had never noticed all this subtle aspects of her.
It stung him more than he could imagine to know that he'd had to shrink, escape and abandon his former identity in favor of his childhood one before he'd come to realize it.
Ran.
Wonder if you ever see
Me and I
Wonder if you know I'm there
If you look in my eyes, would you see what's inside
Would you even care?
She was quicker than he had always supposed her; more than once, she had almost flushed him out of his disguise, demanding a impossible confession he knew he could never give her. Each time, he had managed to worm his way out, employing the situation and people around him to help back the excuses she couldn't refute.
Yet, everytime he did so, a part of him wearily pondered, why all this effort to conceal the truth from her? It was this part that felt the subdued disappointment of defeat whenever she finally accepted his lie.
It was the side of him that wondered how she would react should he ever told her he, Conan, was also Shinichi. Would she be angry? Sad? Shocked?
He knew he kept all this from her for a logical reason...what was it now...right, to protect her from the Black Organization. To keep her from harm. To keep her safe.
But recently, a new reason had emerged out of nowhere, quietly entangling itself with all the others until he had almost overlooked it, if it hadn't tripped him up one night.
Tonight.
Perhaps it was the sympathetic moon or the silent understanding of the stars but he was tired, too tired to deal in the lies he had painstakingly constructed to frame out his life that night. If Ran should ask of him, right here and now, whether he was the boy she had grown up with known as Shinichi Kudo, doubtless everything he had kept hidden for so long would be betrayed by his traitorous tongue.
And a deeper, more jealously guarded secret as well.
I just want to hold you close
But so far all I have are dreams of
You
So I wait for the day and the courage to say how much
I love you
Ran told Conan everything. She told him about school, about Sonoko, about her father, about Heiji. About Shinichi.
It was almost funny to hear about what she had to say about Shinichi behind his back. Apparently, he was an irresponsible, cocky, careless idiot of a detective who was too intense about his work to give a damn about everything else around him.
Too bad she loved that idiot.
A humorless chuckle foreign to Conan's nature filled the still air. Strange, he didn't remember dislodging from the railing, nor walking back in. But soft footsteps clad in fuzzy bedroom slippers three sizes too big made their way down the darkened corridors even as he tried to puzzle out this phenomenon. His feet moved on auto pilot, bringing him to stand before a wooden door. His naturally analytical nature took in its detail: oaken, with a sturdy lock just above the heavy handle.
A small voice inside him told him to turn, that his room was further down the hall in the old nursery their host had shown him. The other part of him, bewitched by moonlight and shooting stars, told the small voice to shove it as a hand he just only recognized as his own turned the doorknob, absently noting it was unlatched.
A few steps over the lush carpeting brought him near the bed, his breath coming in short puffs as his eyes traveled across the terrain of pillows to rest upon the sleeping visage nestled comfortably on them.
Ran.
He had watched her sleeping before. But tonight, she seemed different. Her long eyelashes resting on her cheek, she seemed at peace as her bosom rose and fell steadily. An outflung hand dangled off the edge of the bed, almost touching him.
Late at night when all the world is sleeping
I stay up and think of you
And I still can't believe
That you came up to me and said
I love you
I love you too
He hadn't expected it. Maybe that was why he was blown away. He supposed he should have known. After all, Ran told Conan everything.
Ran told Conan she loved Shinichi.
There was no emotion outburst, no flood of tears. Not even bursts of lights. She had just taken Conan aside and whispered it in his ear, smiling to herself as she did so. Simple.
Maybe it was the simplicity of it all that staggered him.
NowI'm dreaming with you tonight
Till tomorrow
And for all of my life
And there's no where in the world I'd rather be
He'd forgotten about the arm. Ran turned in the bed.
WHAP
"...hu? Oh... Shinichi?..." Two sleepy eyes cracked open, exposing twin wonders that rivaled the stars winking outside. He took a step back, barely avoiding tripping over his overlarge slippers. A slender arm caught his and steadied him.
"Ran-neechan?"
"...ergh..." The eyes closed again as sounds of a body shifting penetrated the air. "Shinichi..."
"Ran-neechan? It's...Conan."
"Conan?...he's good boy..." a yawn overtook Ran. Shinichi began to retreat, but the grip on his arm didn't slacken.
"Shinichi?...Stay with...me tonight..."
Senseless. He really shouldn't. Not after all he had heard tonight. He should be back at his room.
...Too late.
His small body already humped in the crook of hers, it nary stiffened as Ran's arm encircled him. Something somewhere within his consciousness warned him he'd regret it in the morning.
He ignored it. Whatever came in the morning can come later. He defied it as he lifted a hand to stroke the soft dark hair. Her faint words wavered in the air before her steday breathing commenced again.
"I...love you...Shinichi."
Barely more than breaths of air on the night stillness, yet he held them to him fiercely with a possessiveness he never knew himself to have. They would help him in the days ahead, the ups and the downs.
Leaning close to her ear, he pushed the hair out of the way and whispered softly, unwaveringly, "I love you too, Ran Mouri."
And a stray beam of moonlight flitted into the room and shone down gently unto the two intertwined figures on the bed, holding each other through the night.
Than here in my room
Dreaming with you endlessly...