Hey guys it's been ages. I hope I haven't lost all of you, I know how frustrating this is I read fan fictions as well. Anyway you know what it is when you're facing a blank page, with studies, sport and a youtube channel on it took me a hell lot of time. The good thing is that I'm seeing the end and I know where this is going. Enjoy and leave a review if you're still alive...
Ran poured a large cup of coffee for herself and sat in front of her daughter who was peacefully eating her cereals. The young girl watched her mother as she twisted her spoon till the drink got cold, with the bags under her eyes it was clear that she didn't get a decent night of sleep.
Emiko wanted to take a quick look at the clock as she had plans for the day but her mother was blocking the way. Instead she grabbed Ran's phone which was lying on the table. When she pressed the main button the actual information which caught her eyes was an impressive amount of missed calls. Thinking about it Emiko realized that her mother hadn't mentioned anything about London, nor Charlie, or about going back. It didn't even seem like she had plans at all.
"What are you going to do today?" Ran asked half yawning.
Emiko felt like Ran stole her question but improvised anyway "Well I thought I'd walk around just to see a bit, maybe take a few pictures."
"You're not going with Kioshi?"
"No I'm not, you know I don't always need somebody." She had to take the opportunity now or else her mother would never stop the questions flow. "Talking about men... How is Charlie doing?"
She was caught off guard but had to bounce back as fast as she possibly could "Well... He is doing well."
Emiko's right eyebrow got slightly higher, she looked very suspiciously at her mother as she leaned in towards her. "Are you sure?"
The woman nodded, without a word the girl grabbed her last spoon of cereals and left the breakfast table. She went in her room to put a dark grey sweater on, coming back to the table she hesitated a while. Nonetheless when she took her bag before leaving her good day-wishing usual phrase became "Again it's not my business but you really should call him back mom". Emiko kissed her good bye and ran off.
The teenage girl didn't turn back but she could tell that her mother definitely watched her go. The winter break had just started, she would have plenty of time then but couldn't possibly wait. She simply had to crack the secrets surrounding Shinichi Kudo. No she wasn't going out for a tourist walk, she had other plans for the use of her camera.
Emiko walked straight to the Kudo mansion, it was just as automatic as a program, her eyes were openbut she wasn't looking. From a fast walk she had started to run without even noticing it herself. However once arrived at the mansion she didn't stop for more than a minute, she just took a quick look at it wondering if she could spot her now confirmed grandparents. A smile appeared on her face, the family portrait was getting there.
She walked further away in the same street to her actual objective. Emiko passed smoothly in front of the Edogawas house's fence and noticed that she arrived right when they were getting out.
Conan got out of the house first, Ai followed him but stopped right on the door. She was only wearing a sweater and was unlikely going anywhere.
That's my chance! Emiko ran passing by the neighbours' property and turned left twice. The girl didn't want to miss even just a bit of their conversation, she carefully counted the number of backyards and jumped over the wall without even looking if it was the right house. No time wasted she landed more or less softly on a bush.
The time for the sprint was already done, Emiko walked silently towards Conan and Ai hiding herself behind the wall.
"Well you'll do what you want, fingers crossed it goes alright... this time" Emiko couldn't see the woman who still hadn't stepped outside.
The man was carrying a huge sport bag and was wearing dark jeans, and a white shirt. He more notably had his glasses on. "Time will tell" Conan rose up his arms before letting them fall back on his hips. He turned his back on Ai and walked to his car.
"Don't call me I'll be in the basement" Ai turned her back on him and started to walk in.
"Enjoy yourself down there! I'll be back for dinner" Conan watched her walk with a faint smile.
"Good luck out there"
Ai energetically closed the door behind her, a split second later Conan did the same. As the gates automatically opened the car went out of the front garden. The spy apprentice waited a little while just to make sure. When Emiko finally felt safe she got up just enough to see through the window. At that time the woman just had time to grab her favourite mug. Ai opened a door which Emiko was practically sure was a broom cupboard.
Nevermind it's actually the basement. Emiko sighed very briefly before getting on the move. This was the most reckless thing she'd ever do or at least that's what she promised to herself. The girl got in silently, she took a good look around still standing on the hall's carpet.
Ai was checking up on her notes sitting behind her desk when her computer sent her an alert, she was surprised to see that it wasn't Conan who had forgotten something but his daughter intruding their house. She rolled slightly back with her chair in a thinking pose before she finally thought out loud "Time will tell"
The living room was ruled out straight away, way too exposed, there wasn't probably much left to find anyway. One destination instantly stood out, 007.2 climbed the stairs and much to her relief they didn't produce any sort of cracking noise. In the end she reached the second floor still out of trouble, at least for now. Nevertheless she was yet to start searching, the training room and the bathroom seemed relatively useless to search through. Another problem with the bedrooms was Emiko's own moral limits. However things were different with the office, she felt no guilt at all, it was the perfect room to search in.
Emiko closed the door gently behind her, put her stuff on the ground, as she unbent she realized that she was standing in front of a rather huge bookshelf. The lower part was occupied by a collection of binders, probably all related to taxes and different kind of bills. The rich's problems. A dictionary and a few language books clearly did not stand out. What was intriguing was the impressive amount of crime novels which filled the rest of the bookshelf, taking a random one she noticed that behind each of them there were at least 3 more books. If it did intrigue her, she tried her best to rationalize, people love that kind of novels no wonder those are all best sellers. Finding that collection wasn't an evidence of anything, at best it was a small hint. She was following the right track.
Something caught her eyes, the corner of a pale red file was showing at the very top of the furniture, the girl tiptoed trying to extend her body as much as possible. She was still a few inches too short, jumping could have worked but she estimated the noise as too loud, the bookshelf looked solid enough without any second thought she climbed on it finally managing to catch the file. However at the second she thought she had made it Emiko lost her balance and fell back onto the ground.
The girl froze, she was scared of getting caught because of the massive noise she might have just produced. She slowly recovered, ready to jump out at any alert. Emiko regained some calm and opened the suspiciously placed file, uncovering tons of cut news paper articles. "Disappearance, kidnapping, murders and so on. Gosh I never thought I'd know these." A noise stopped her, she froze again and listened more closely. "Ventilation... No it's a laptop!" She practically ran to the desk despite the risk that heavy steps could create.
"I'm happy for you Sonoko, you did very well even though I let you down" Ran looked down at her own hands.
Sonoko observed her friend for a moment, she had changed so much. "Stop being sorry Ran" she continued once she got her attention back "You did what you thought was best for you and for your daughter. I'd be lying if I say I wasn't mad at you back then. However it was all gone at the exact second your daughter entered my apartment."
"Did she?"
"She wanted information about her father" both laughed "She may look just like you but she is as annoying as Shinichi."
"I actually realized that when I got back here, she is a lot like him." Ran drifted outside, umbrellas suddenly bloomed as it started to rain, it was somehow captivating.
"If you ever doubt it just look at her , you did a wonderful job." Sonoko looked the same way for a second before coming back to older habits "Where is your ring?"
"I never married, actually my boyfriend proposed but I said no without no real reason. It just came out spontaneously. He was willing to give more time but I took a flight before we could talk about it. I just broke up with him" Ran said while holding on to her phone.
"By text? Ouch..."
"It's better this way... I thought Shinichi had broken my heart long ago, multiple times I thought so when he wasn't there for me and later when he wasn't there for his daughter. But I was wrong, all this time I was still waiting for him as I promised and my heart broke when Emiko told me he was dead." Tears were forming in her eyes but she fought them with all her strength.
"You didn't know? Your dad searched through everything to find him even when he knew he wouldn't find anything."
"Now don't tell me..." Emiko opened the laptop which was left on, she just had to press the spacebar and she was in. "What the heck?" Seeing the desktop she noticed this particular laptop wasn't much used, very few icons here and there. Also the favourites pages on the internet browser seemed to be weather news and the main man's email, this time blocked by a password. Once she opened the files section she realized that this laptop was mainly used for accounting duty, still she looked at the pictures. What she found was a few hundreds of news paper scans and one note file. She couldn't quite understand everything right away but she was sure those were investigation notes.
Checking her watch she realized she had lost herself in there for almost an hour. "What could she be doing in that damn basement? That will be left for another day?" She quickly searched in her bag and got the memory card out of her camera. While transferring her precious new proves she tapped impatiently the ground which sounded weirdly hollow. She tapped again and it was still the same. She kneeled down, she had enough time anyway, Emiko knocked on the floor at various places till she delimited a zone. A lath of the wooden floor seemed to be detached.
Emiko pulled it off and her hand instantly grabbed a watch, quite small she wasn't really sure that it would fit her. She twisted it all around till she uncovered the scope "What is this nonsense?" A weird noise was coming from the same hatch, Emiko investigated further and a small metallic box which smelled like anesthetic. She also found his old glasses and the bowtie both out of batteries. She suddenly came to the realization that time ran out and silently walked away.
"Bye bye miss Mouri!" Ai stretched getting out of her chair "I can finally get out of the basement. Oh my oh my... She could have been the phantom thief's daughter if she wasn't as slow as her real father."
"When are you going back to London?" Sonoko rested her head on her left hand.
"I haven't picked a date yet."
"I see you don't really want to go back."
Both women laughed a moment before Ran could regain some control "I have to go back, I have a business out there and more people that I don't want to let down... But somehow it's true. It feels home..."
Ran looked like she wanted to dream away but Sonoko wouldn't allow her to "Of course you'll always be home here, stay as long as you want to, we need to catch up some more. Why not having dinner tomorrow? You can bring your girl as well."
"Aww it sounds like a really sweet idea but I can't. I am already having a dinner with..." She paused for a second. "I am having a dinner with Conan"
"So you're on a date!" Sonoko exaggerated, she was obviously joking. Still Ran couldn't help it and blushed. "Ran you're blushing!"
She instantly covered her cheeks "No I'm not"
"Yes you are! I was just kidding. How could you possibly think that it was serious?"
Ran face palmed a few times while repeating "I don't know" before asking "Okay be honest...Am I weird?"
Sonoko took a long moment of reflection and turned more serious than ever "Well knowing you and knowing your relationship with him. I have to say it's weird..."
"Damn..." Ran knocked her head against the table.
"The situation is weird yes. But if you step aside... There's nothing wrong with you. If I think even further, he grew into a handsome man I can give you that."
"Why is my life always so complicated?" Ran then covered her face fully with both of her hands.
"I haven't seen him in a very long time but I know Ai and Conan divorced just a few weeks ago. Ran just don't do anything stupid..."
She sat back properly "Now that you mention it he told me about the divorce but he didn't told me who his wife was. It's kind of a huge detail..."
Gin, Vodka, APTX4869, its victims, Vermouth, Tropical land, the FBI, their parents death, Ki'ichiro Numabuchi, Black organization, detailed hierarchy, spies, the organization's boss, his second, the way Pisco died, other operational member of a lower importance, quite some pages were devoted to the Miyanos as well. People dying, people shrinking, drugs, weapons, liters and liters of blood and a lot of words Emiko wished she wouldn't have needed to know in Japanese.
From the day Conan first appeared at Tropical land to the day Shinichi realized he was stuck for good via the day he successfully stopped the black organization. The flow of information was huge, Emiko clearly had a proportional headache. Nevertheless the feeling was incredible, she knew. She laid down on her bed and stared at the ceiling for a while. Now what?
Eri's call for dinner abruptly stopped her in her thoughts. Surprisingly enough Kogoro was out having dinner with a few colleagues.
"Where is Mom?" She asked finally sitting down.
"Sonoko invited her at the last minute for dinner, I guess they need more time to catch up."
"I see, It makes sense. Too bad I had a question to ask her. It will die to live another day, tomorrow namely."
"Not sure if I understood everything but your mother will be dining out tomorrow as well."
"What? Is she ever there?" Emiko ironically complained.
"Everyone want to catch up with Ran, she had many friends and they haven't seen her for ages..."
"I got it granny it was just a joke" she leaned back sighing. "Anyway who is she dining with?"
"Conan-kun"
As soon as she heard the name the girl started to choke "Damn"
"Damn" was also the first word she said when she woke. Emiko had a feeling that things would get even more complicated on that day. Her mother was going to have a date with her father without knowing who he really was. What could go wrong? Everything! The teenage girl managed to get out of her room a quarter before lunch just about time to get ready when it's holiday.
Kogoro was seemed to be deeply into the newspaper yet he was whistling. His granddaughter took a look over his shoulder and unsurprisingly didn't understand much. "What is this about?" She asked him kindly.
"Betting odds" Eri beat him to the mark. The 3 then had a peaceful lunch especially since she was only there physically, her thoughts constantly drifting away. Eri had already called her name several times when she finally got back at it. The plates were empty, Kogoro went downstairs but she was still sitting like a semi zombie.
"I invited your friend for dinner, I happened to meet him at the grocery." Eri kissed Emiko who was smiling brightly on the forehead before leaving.
Once alone Emiko banged her head on the table. Kioshi was almost like an annoying distraction at the moment still a part of her was happy. "Need to get dressed a bit more properly I guess..." she sighed heavily.
Ran had spent the morning shopping, she actually didn't initially planned on staying a long time and did not bring an adapted outfit for a night out. She skipped her lunch as the stress had caused her stomach knots though she was yet to understand what was so stressing. Hoping a shower would clear her mind, but no such luck Ran simply wasted 45 minutes of hot water for nothing. Step by step she got ready, put on a dark blue dress, choose her makeup, put it on as well, hair up, hair down and finally choosing a hair bun. Definitely it was hard to be a woman. At last she was ready and caught a cab.
While then Kioshi arrived at the agency, he was obviously disappointed when it was Kogoro and not Emiko who opened. Following Eri's indications he directly headed to his friend's room, forgot to knock and just entered. She let out a little surprise shriek "Gosh one minute earlier I would have been in my underwear" Emiko was still trying to make a proper Pony tail and then sat on her office chair.
The boy did his best to forget the missed opportunity, instead he asked right away what was on his mind "It's been almost a week since you last texted me. What happened?"
"I know that I'm being distant, I have a very good explanation but not now. First we need to get on the move and that means dinner" She grabbed his wrist and forced him to follow her to the dining room. Emiko first turned to her grandmother "Kioshi is staying over tonight" and then cut Kogoro "he'll sleep on the couch no worries".
Ran slowly made her way through the Café Raoul, trying to get some sort of analysis, she remembered going there a few times with her parents but things had changed so much. She finally spotted him at the very back of the room, Conan was starring intensely at the picture of the Pont Alexandre III his chin resting on his left hand. She took a second to look at the man before actually walking towards him.
As soon as he noticed her he jumped off his chair and bent politely in front her. "Don't bother really I got unused to it" she winked at him. They both laughed at the statement before an awkward silence started to float around them.
"So ermm have you greeted everybody yet?" Conan asked shyly to cut the awkwardness.
"It would take more than a year, I think I need to be a bit selective there."
"Well then I'm very honoured that you chose to spend time with me"
"I care about you Conan... All these years I've been worried about you and I guess in some way I'm still worried about you."
"I'm fine I promise" he gave her a comforting smile.
"What about Ai?"Ran couldn't hold herself and went for it "I'm sorry I know it's very personal but Sonoko told me... I mean divorcing is a thing okay but Ai was one of your closest friend."
"Good old Sonoko" He sighed just to give himself time to think about what to say. Whatever he would say now could be used by Ran later, Conan needed to be careful. "You're right Ai was my closest friend, I've just been listening way too much to my brain and forgot what was in my heart. In some way I tried to forget but I couldn't. We simply released each other, she's still my friend and if she needs me I'll be there. Hell it was a longer explanation than I thought it would be."
Ran laughed slightly at his struggle "Alright I got it, you're fine"
The man turned his head to the picture, he also had his own questions "It was a rather personal question. Would you allow me one as well?"
"Of course"
"Why did you come back here exactly?"
"Ah that's a good one... I came back here for my daughter, because she wanted to know her father, because I wanted to see him, because I wanted to talk to him. I seem to have a million reasons, I guess I should have done it before maybe then I would have made it in time."
"Ran..." he wanted to comfort her, take her hand but it was inappropriate and he was scared "If he was still there?"
She sat back and closed her eyes "I don't know... It's... I guess he has deserved a slap but I am not sure I would want to do that. I just don't know..."