Kioshi rested his back against the gymnasium wall, he was going through his texts using his special gloves. He had been waiting outside in the cold for a while, he had already read through all of his mails and messages. He ended up reading a second time the texts Emiko sent him last night, most of them were about her mother's return. To say that she had been going on and on about the topic the whole day wasn't an understatement.
A couple of minutes later the girl finally appeared, her hair wasn't dried yet and her face was still red from all the effort she had put into the training. Somehow Kioshi was fascinated by the scene, he was so captivated that when Emiko spoke he asked her to repeat.
"YOU'VE BEEN WAITING FOR SO LONG! I'M IMPRESSED!"
"Well don't go thinking that I've waited for you arms crossed like that. I trained too, I ran around the football facilities for about 30 minutes."
"Not bad, not bad. I have to say that I can't do it, I need to run after something or even someone. So you deserved some respect from me there." She bowed in front of him.
Once he managed to get rid of the smirk on his face, he said "Okay, okay I got it." They walked in silence towards the exit, however this wasn't an awkward silence it was a very comforting one. The teenagers just smiled to each other as Kioshi went to get his bike. "It makes me think... You stole my bike yesterday." Seeing that she was about to make an objection he corrected himself "Alright you lent it, whatever. You visited Edogawa-san, right?"
"Yes I did! Actually he gave me his card and offered me his help for the case."
"So it means that you know where he lives..." He grinned slightly.
"Kioshi, you look like a fan girl and that's scary."
"HaHa funny! Anyway did you guys found anything interesting?"
Instantly a fire started to burn in her eyes as she answered her friend's question. "Quite yes, let's say that he cleared the way for me. Now I can solve the mystery by myself."
"Oh I see... And you're not going to say a word to me, that's making me sad." He tried his best to look like a puppy in order to get something out of her.
"Honestly I'd love to but I can't. It's too risky, I still need evidence and I think that mom's return will be key... I promise that I'll make it up to you."
"I am taking notes you know. He said he'd get a ticket for your mother to tomorrow's game, right?" Seeing Emiko's nod Kioshi felt a little disappointed to not go alone with her but still couldn't really complain. They smiled to each other but the girl only gave a faint smile before letting her body rest against Kioshi. "You're more tired than what you thought." Emiko merely nodded, the Japanese boy jumped on his bike right away and asked with a fake snobbish accent "Shall I drop you off then? My horse is fresh and ready." He even pretended to give a little pad to the horse.
The British girl fought the giggle "What was that? Are you playing the charming prince?"
"Am I not charming?" The man gave his best cliché impression off the charming prince.
Emiko complied and sat on the luggage rack "I never answer trick questions."
She held on with both hands to the luggage rack but a bump on the road nearly caused her to slide off. The handball player proved great reflexes and held on to the first thing she found for her life's sake. Obviously as Kioshi was the only stable thing around, she wrapped her right arm around him. Even though it was a bit embarrassing for the teenagers, Kioshi was actually quite proud that a stupid joke had turned into a great plan. The two laughed a lot on the way, the time necessary had dropped down to a reasonable 5 minutes but it was enough time to zigzag to give the girl a better reason to hold on tight.
"Sir slow down your horse, we've arrived!"
Kioshi stopped the bike, continued to play his little comedy, bent down and kissed the princess her hand.
"Kioshi stop it"
Ran had been looking outside for about 10 minutes as she expected to see her daughter come back. She had a great view and contemplated the scene closely. "Mom... Who is the boy with Emiko?"
Eri was sitting behind Kogoro's desk and didn't bother to look "I assume that it's Kioshi-kun. Well he's a classmate, he comes here to help her with their homework."
Ran didn't turn to her mother and continued to talk her eyes stuck on her daughter "Are you sure that they only do that?"
"Of course they became friends." Eri slightly giggled at Ran's typical mother behaviour.
"And?"
"And nothing..."
Ran was biting on her nails and mumbled "For now..."
The teenagers had continued to chat in front of the agency, Kioshi got distracted a second and looked at the sky that's when he noticed Ran. "Wow! It wasn't an understatement saying that you look just like your mother."
Emiko instantly froze "Don't look at her! Kioshi just look at me, okay?" He nodded, she went on "She was looking at us, right?" Another nod "Then you'll have to forgive me."
"Fo-forgive?"
Fast as a lightning bolt Emiko wrapped her arms around Kioshi's waist and pulled him against her. Sorry Kioshi... At first the boy did not move a finger but as Emiko's embrace became tighter he naturally returned her the favour.
"Damn it!" Ran swore in English out of habits, she turned and kicked the wall back.
Eri answered in English while reading her book "Not delivered with the instructions..."
"See you tomorrow at the game!" Emiko winked and ran up the stairs, she didn't stop at the agency office floor and directly headed to the apartment.
Kioshi stood in front of the agency stoic as a stone statue for a little while. What was that? Just what... Considering his feelings for her, he should have been delighted by that mini event. He should have, but he clearly wasn't... The young man turned pale, he climbed on his bike and slowly went back home.
A moment later the table had turned, Ran went out and Emiko was the one watching. It was the 20th of December, the snow had melted because of the rain but still it was freezing. Ran was wearing a long black coat over her jumper, she was walking fast, it looked like she knew where she was going.
Her face was expressionless, Emiko could have worried but she just thought "will see". The teenager tried to do her homework but she was more troubled than what she'd expected. Reading a book or listening to music didn't work either. She just set a bunch of notes and books on the desk in order to pretend and waited.
An eternity later her mother came back, the same look was still on her face, Emiko gulped and prepared herself. This might hurt... She sighed and sat on the bed. Her mother would open the door anytime, the girl closed her eyes and counted.
When Ran entered her former bedroom Emiko was sending texts to Kioshi, he didn't answer though. Ran walked towards the desk, she rolled the chair back and sat in front of her daughter. The silence was unbearable, it lasted way too long to both women's taste. Emiko had nothing to say but Ran who actually had something to tell her didn't know where to start. The weather, maybe?
"You know what?"
Really Mom? "No but I guess you're going to tell me."
"I realized something coming back here... Time passed, it's crazy, don't misunderstand the city didn't change that much actually. No it's just me, I feel like it was yesterday that this room was mine. Yet it wasn't yesterday, it was 16 years ago." Ran smiled sadly at the thought.
Okay, this is bad... But I'm ready, I knew it Mom. Emiko sat up and straighten.
"Also, I can't act like you're a little girl anymore, you're practically a woman now."
"Okay..." I know exactly where this is going.
Ran reached for her jeans back pocket and got a little round metallic box out of it. "Here you go" she lent the box to her daughter.
Emiko couldn't help but frown, she took the box and opened it. She had expected to have a mature talk with her mother but the surprise was total, she instantly closed it. "What the hell Mom?"
"Emiko..." Ran got up and tried to reach her daughter's hand.
The girl quickly backed off "It's disgusting Mom! I swear to god, I never thought about that." She looked truly shocked, indeed the girl had expected a talk about a possible first boyfriend but this was way too much.
"Believe me, those things happens faster than you know. I was your age when..."
In no time Emiko turned to fury mode "When what? When you made a terrible mistake! Is that what you were about to say?" She jumped off the bed and opened the drawer. She took the frame, hiding the picture she threw it down to her mother's feet. In the process the glass broke to pieces, Ran discovered the picture and nearly dropped her jaw. "Damn you!" she threw the pills box but this time she aimed at her mother's face.
Emiko ran out slamming the door in the process, it took a few seconds for Ran to recover from the attack and run after her. The 33 years old was still fit despite the lack of training, she was still fast but the teenager had managed to distance her. When Ran reached the agency floor, Emiko was nearly in the street. Ran cut through the office, she sprinted to the window, Eri who was still there just stood and watched the scene in slow motion. Ran opened the window, she screamed her daughter's name but the distance was increasing with each seconds and she wouldn't have stopped anyway.
"I've done it once I can do it twice." She placed her hands on the window sill and jumped out. There was about a 100 meters between them and it remained the same the whole time. Despite not being trained and despite having to run none of them would have given up. Emiko had her objective in mind and nothing would have made her slow down.
It was only when the girl reached her objective that Ran recognized her childhood streets. Emiko used her run to take a huge power step hang on to the top of the wall, the Kudos homestead wall. Ran's heart nearly stopped, she couldn't run any longer, she took what was left of air in her lungs and screamed "Emiko don't!" But it was too late, the girl was already in the yard and seeing that her mother had considerably slowed down she even walked to the door. Once she reached it, she tried to open it, it wasn't locked so she entered the mansion. The girl didn't really know what do once in, she just went for a loud "Tadaima!"
However no one rushed to see who the visitor was, at least not until Ran rang at the gate. When Yukiko went to the hall in order to open the gate she only noticed the intruder after she had pressed the button. Yukiko called her husband and made a step towards the girl that she assumed was her granddaughter. Emiko waited for her grandfather to join in the hall to introduce herself.
"We've met briefly, my name is Mouri Emiko! Pleased to meet you again." She shook both of their hands, the front opened... "And I believe you know my mother."
Ran directly took her daughter a few steps apart to reprimand her "You can't intrude the people's house like that. It's not..."
"No Mom! I've listened to you but now it's my turn to speak." She sighed and took her mother's left hand "I'm sorry Mom, I'm sorry I brought you here cause I had to tell you something. It's about Shinichi... He is... He."
The British girl never managed to finish her sentence but her mother got the message. Ran turned to Yukiko and Yusaku, she spoke in Japanese "This can't be true, Shinichi can't be dead." Tears had formed in her eyes but she didn't allow them to drop on her porcelain face. Yukiko pulled her to a tight hug, the two stayed like that a long moment, Yusaku and Emiko just stood in the hall immobile.
For a long moment none of them dared to break the silence, someone had to. "I need to talk to my daughter."
Yusaku said "You know the way..." showing the stairs.
Ran bowed down in front of the couple, she grabbed her daughter's wrist. They climbed up the stairs together, Ran stopped in front of the door Emiko was about to open when Yusaku caught her up. Her hand on the doorknob, she opened the dark room slowly and switched on the light. The bed was gone and the desk had been moved to the opposite side of the room but besides what could be considered as details it was still Shinichi's bedroom. In place of the bed there was a portrait of him and a lot of candles. Ran kneeled down in front of the moment, her face was already pale but still she couldn't realize. Emiko stayed silent she had done her part, she quietly kneeled down next to Ran and waited. Ran was still fighting against her tears, her body was reacting though, she felt cold, so cold that her body started to shake.
The woman breathed in and out calming herself. "We should have had this one talk a long time ago, I am sorry that I made you wait. I have no excuses, I wasn't ready. I thought that one day I'd make the trip back alone and have a talk with Shinichi... If he had agreed and I'm sure he would have, I would have introduced him to you. I never found the courage."
Emiko took her hand and caressed it with her thumb.
"I'm so stupid, if I did maybe he could have seen you at least once." Ran was looking down at their united hands.
"Mom, I've done my research and I may not have the exact date in mind but he probably died before I knew how to read." The girl had never seen her mother like that, she really wanted to ease her. Nonetheless she really believed that he wasn't dead, but one thing at a time this was all hypothesis. For now her mother had to hear and accept the fact that Shinichi Kudo was officially dead.
"Then it's even worse I shouldn't have left maybe I could have, I don't know, I could have saved him." Ran wiped off a tear that had managed to escape her eyes. "Shinichi and I, we met when were just kids but I bet you already knew that, right?" A faint smiled formed on her lips.
Emiko wore the same expression "I know you a bit, you tend to be obvious Mom."
"You may look just like your mother but you definitely got something of him. He was so smart, so gentle, he was brave, he protected me, obviously you've seen the picture he was good looking and I could go on for a long time. I was madly in love with him... I am still in love with him, that's why when Charlie talks marriage my mind goes blank, I can't move on and I don't know if I'll ever be... Did you see the London poster in my room?"
"Yes, I did."
"When I was about your age my father, Conan and I went to London what I didn't know was that Shinichi was there too. I was mad at him because he tried to hide it from me. All I wanted was to spend time with him and he was so busy with cases. Imagine that he had to literally run after me through London, a bit like I did earlier to confess his feelings. It was just under Big Ben."
"That's a cute story Mom."
"After that I didn't see him for a really, really long time. I had promised myself that I'd wait for him my whole life if I had to. Until a day, I'm not going to say much about that day you've guessed it already." This time she turned to her daughter to face her. "We didn't plan it, it just happened. I shouldn't say that but in some way it was better like this." She grabbed her shoulders "Just don't do it, please..."
"Mom please don't talk about awkward things again."
"Yeah... Yeah..." She exhaled. "The most important thing you need to know is that when I realized that I was pregnant I was really happy about it. I was scared to death that's for sure, but I didn't think a second about abortion. Hear me sweetheart, I didn't think about it, not even a nano second!"
"A nano second!" Emiko giggled and a real smile appeared on her face "I think I got it Mom. I love you too." She hugged her mother "What happened with Shinichi?" She asked pulling off.
"I guess I'll never really know... As for me, I tried to tell him but I literally didn't have the possibility to do it. Or actually I did manage to get him over the phone once but that's not the way I wanted to tell him. I thought that if he wasn't able to come... Then I thought that if he wasn't able to do so he wouldn't be there for me, nor for us... I panicked I was showing already a bit, I could still hide it using clothes trick but soon my parents would have found out." The tears came back and this time the only thing she fought for was her voice control. "My visa for England was still valid, I couldn't face all of that alone I needed to do something. I guess it was a stupid idea but I escaped."
"I have to give you that it was partly a terrible idea but only partly. Until you got me those pills you did great." Emiko teased her again.
"Oh really? What now?"
"You might have overplayed it a bit but it doesn't matter. That was cool in some ways."
Ran got up, she placed a kiss on the portrait with her forefinger and middle finger. Then she turned to Emiko and lent her a hand, at first Emiko thought that her mother wanted to help her getting up but she quickly find out that she just wanted to hold her hand.
"Let's introduce you to your grandparents." She smiled nicely to her daughter.
The women went down the wooden stairs hand in hand, as soon as the couple heard the stairs crack they ran back to the hall. It wasn't hard to guess what happened in Shinichi's room, Ran had visibly cried a lot, her face was still red. They stopped almost exactly two steps away from the Kudos, Ran felt the tears come back and hid her face looking down. She pushed Emiko a little forward and took a deep breath. For some reason this wouldn't slip through her mouth in Japanese "Let me introduce you to my daughter. She is actually your granddaughter."
Yukiko barely had time to take a peek at her husband that she had to give her attention back at Ran. The woman seemed to have collapsed onto the ground when she indeed had got down her knees on purpose. She then practically fully inclined as her forehead almost touched the ground. "I am truly sorry, so sorry. I can't ever ask you to forgive me..."
Emiko's grandmother would have liked to take her granddaughter into her arms for the very first time but she quickly decided against it. It could wait one more minute, just to give Ran what she herself thought she didn't deserve, forgivness.