Chapter 12: Continor
Ran smiled fondly as Conan was caught up in the whirlwind that was the Shounen Tantei. Ayumi and Mitsuhiko and Genta were full of a boisterous energy that seemed to lift Conan's spirits at least a little. All four of them had bowls of ice cream in front of them, though Genta's was the only empty one. The fifth member of their little group had a parfait in front of her and she took small bites occasionally.
Heiji sat to her left, a soft smile on his face as well as he watched Conan, who was on her right. Her father sat across from them chewing on an unlit cigarette, while Agasa drank from the water glass that Ai had ordered instead of anything sweet.
"So," she said, only paying a little attention to the conversation about Kamen Yaiba the kids were having, "I forgot to ask this earlier, but where is Kazuha-chan?"
An alarmed look came over Heiji's face. "Shit," he muttered. "I mean, shoot," he backtracked at the disapproving look Ran gave him. "I didn't tell her where I was going, just packed and came down here. Did she call you?"
"No," Ran said, shaking her head. "It's a little strange, seeing you without her."
"Yeah, she's like a clingy shadow sometimes," Heiji muttered, rubbing the back of his neck.
Ran resisted the urge to tug at his ear or punch him. It would be better for him to find out about Kazuha-chan's feelings from the person in question, not from Ran. She wondered if this was what Sonoko felt like with her and Shinichi. But then again, she and Shinichi weren't that bad, were they? They talked about things! ...Sometimes. Not all that often really. Actually, when was the last time he'd called and she hadn't felt like there was an unbridgeable gulf between them, like even if he did come back right then that they would never be the same?
She fought to keep the frown she could feel coming on off her face, not wanting to disturb the happy atmosphere that surrounded the children now that they could see Conan-kun was out of the hospital.
And wasn't that a whole other set of issues?
With a deliberate sense of calm she forced her fists to unclench where they sat in her lap, mentally counting back from ten as she regulated her breathing to a controlled rhythm. She had seen a lot of dead bodies since Conan-kun came into her life, not to mention the ones that she ran into with Shinichi those few times. It would be reasonable to assume that such a thing had numbed her to death, to violence, but that just wasn't true.
If anything, it made each subsequent body, each horrible tale of deceit and betrayal and vengeance even worse, because surely humanity couldn't be this terrible, this brutal, but it was. It made her so sad, but it also gave birth to a low ember of anger, an inner fire that blazed when those she cared about were threatened. Say what you would about how polite and peaceful Mouri Ran was, but she was fierce when it was warranted, capable of breaking bones and cracking walls with a steel resolve.
That someone had threatened someone she cared about in such a way - Ran stole a glance at the boy she had come to regard as a younger brother and couldn't help but see Shinichi in him, behind the glasses and in his mannerisms. But he was different too, and every other time she'd thought he was Shinichi she'd been proven wrong. Besides, it was ridiculous to even think about - honestly, how could someone physically regress ten years?
(there were so many cases though, so many "impossible" murders that Shinichi had solved - it made sense that he could do something this impossible too)
"Yoko-chan!"
Ran was torn from her thoughts by her father's elated yelp. She looked up to see Okino Yoko, a famous idol whom her father had the biggest crush on. The young woman wasn't wearing anything flashy and a large pair of sunglasses obscured much of the upper half of her face, though the flat brimmed hat she had on didn't help much.
"Otou-san!" Ran scolded with a light scowl. "Can't you see she's trying to avoid attention?"
"Mouri-san," Yoko greeted with a slightly strained smile as she came up to their table. "How are you doing?"
"Very well, even better now that you're here," he said with a wink.
Ran resisted the urge to facepalm and/or slap him. "Otou-san," she groaned.
"It's all right Ran-san," Yoko said. "Is this a celebration of some kind?" she asked, looking around the table at the group.
"Conan-kun's out of the hospital!" Ayumi informed her cheerfully.
"The hospital?" Yoko asked. Ran could barely make out her dark blue eyes widening behind her sunglasses and a hand went up to cover her mouth. "Oh my, so that article in the newspaper... oh dear, are you all right?"
"I'm fine," Conan said, looking a little nervous under the idol's well meaning scrutiny. "I wasn't hurt."
"That's good," Yoko said. "For someone to do something like that, and to involve a little boy like you? He must be an absolute monster."
There was a short silence after her vehement declaration before Ran said, "So, Yoko-san, are you here for the ice cream?"
"Ah, yes!" the idol said, a small smile crossing her face. "A couple of my friends really enjoy the ice cream here, and I was closest so I came to pick some up."
"Is Mizunashi Rena-san one of them?" Conan piped up, something sharp in his gaze. Ran bit back a sigh.
"Yes," Yoko replied. "It's been a while since we've seen each other, after her accident and everything. By the way, thank you Mouri-san," she said, giving a small bow to Kogoro. "I don't believe I properly thanked you for taking her case. Even if it was just a child in the end, I appreciated your help."
"Well, nothing is too difficult for Meitantei Mouri Kogoro!" the detective boasted, puffing his chest and laughing noisily. Nearly everyone at the table sweatdropped at his grandstanding.
Yoko smiled. "Indeed," she agreed. "I'm running a little behind schedule so I must be going."
"Have a good day Yoko-chan!" Kogoro said with a grin.
Yoko smiled and gave a nod. "Stay well Conan-kun," she said to the boy. "Don't worry your neechan too much."
"Okay," Conan mumbled, his cheeks red.
"So that was the Okino Yoko-san, huh?" Heiji said after the idol went up to the counter. "I didn't really believe the shrimp when he said y'all knew her."
"Shut it," Conan muttered, ignoring the teasing grin the older boy sent his way.
Ran smiled lightly. Boys, she thought fondly.
Toyama Kazuha was pretty easygoing most of the time. She had a temper that flared easily and was nothing short of spectacular if it involved or was related to her childhood friend Hattori Heiji.
"Leave me all alone while he goes to Tokyo, huh?" she muttered to herself as she stalked down the sidewalk, a couple of blocks from her destination. "I'll teach that ahou to leave me behind to cover for him with both our parents, especially his!" Frankly put, Heiji's parents were somewhat terrifying. True she'd known them from when she was a baby, but Heiji's mom could stop swords with a closed fan and his father had a temper that easily outstripped her own. That Heiji had turned out as well adjusted as he was was a bit of a miracle (and also Otaki-han's influence, bless his heart).
The people on the sidewalk parted easily before Kazuha, her anger apparent to all, so it was even more of a surprise when she ran into someone. She bounced back, righting herself just in time to prevent herself from sprawling across the ground. "Ah! I'm-" She didn't finish as the man she'd ran into just walked off, bag hanging off one shoulder, not even acknowledging her.
Kazuha huffed, both annoyed and bewildered. "Weird," she remarked before walking down the rest of the block to the Mouri Detective Agency. If she knew Heiji - and she did - he would be with Conan-kun. He wasn't answering his phone so it was possible he was over at the hospital, but Kazuha had no desire whatsoever to go on a wild goose chase across Tokyo; thus her first stop was at Ran-chan's home.
She climbed the stairs and knocked on the door to the agency door. After a moment of no answer she called out, "Hello! Ran-chan, are you home?" There was still no answer and Kazuha frowned before climbing the second flight of stairs to the door of the apartment and repeating her actions. Only silence greeted her.
With a frown and a grumbled tirade about stupid idiots who couldn't answer their phones, she tried to call Heiji again but only got his voicemail. She then tried to call Ran but the faint sound of the other girl's ringtone informed her that her phone was in the agency's office.
Kazuha groaned and walked down to the bottom of the stairs. Nothing to do but wait, she reasoned. She pouted and sat down. "I'm gonna make Heiji go deaf when I see him," she said to herself, making a passerby look at her strangely.
Chapter title translation: Encounter
A/N: Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I figured we all deserved a present, so here's two chapters, that's right, count 'em, two, for your reading pleasure! I'm so pleased you're all enjoying the story, and I can't wait to see/read/hear everyone's reactions to what's yet to come :3
Also, I've decided to go with queer/platonic ShinRan bc they are besties :D
Hope y'all enjoy, and remember that reviews/con crit are very very welcome!