AN: Hello, I am back from my vacation to the mountains! Not quite feeling right up to diving back into a multi-chapter update just yet, but have a cute and silly Shinran oneshot that I wrote for the time being!

Until next time!

Like a Princess

Characters: Shinichi Kudo, Ran Mouri, Yukiko Kudo

Summary: It was a moment that none of them would ever forget, even though one of them wanted to.

"What are you doing up there, Shinichi?"

Geh. Of all the people that he didn't want to find him in this situation, Ran had to be at the top of the list. For a brief moment, he was half tempted to try and trick her into believing that she had the wrong person, but there was no way that would work. There was no way that his childhood friend would mistake him so easily for someone else.

Slowly glancing down at her, Shinichi gave Ran what he hoped was a rather casual, easy look, letting out a rather loud laugh. If he acted like it was no big deal, maybe she wouldn't find it funny. After all, who ever heard of a middle school student getting stuck in a tree? "Ah well, you see, I was searching for the Yamada's cat since it went missing this morning, and I found it up in this tree."

"I don't see a cat, Shinichi." Ran stated frankly, surveying her surroundings. There was no trace of the white and gray cat that she knew the elderly Yamada couple owned. After a moment, thoughts clicked together in her mind, and in spite of herself, she couldn't help but let a hint of amusement show on her face. "Don't tell me... you went up there to bring it down, and it ran away from you?"

"W-well, something like that." Sheepishly rubbing the back of his head, eyes darting away from her, Shinichi couldn't help but internally grumble. This was exactly why he didn't want Ran to see him like this. Well, at the very least, she wasn't the worst possible person- if it were his mother or Sonoko who had found him in such a state, the news would spread like wildfire.

"And don't tell me that the reason you're still up in that tree is because you don't know how to get back down?" Ran asked, peering up at her childhood friend, deciding that she was enjoying this moment when his sometimes too proud expression was wiped off of his face. He had been getting something of an ego lately, so having things like this happen to him every once in awhile to keep it in check was for the best.

"...there might be a small chance of that." Shinichi muttered, just loud enough so that she could hear him from the ground. "I know how to get back down just fine, though! It's just that this branch isn't as sturdy as I thought it was when I came out on it, and I'm afraid if I make the wrong move, it'll break."

"Well that would be bad." Ran was willing to acknowledge, nodding her head, before walking a bit underneath him, peering up into the tree, pursing her lips together in thought. She couldn't exactly just leave him up there, as amusing as it was. What if it did break, and he got himself hurt?

"Anyways, do you think you could get a ladder or something from the Professor's house? I know he should have one." Shinichi called down to her, frowning a little when he took notice of the twinkle in her eyes that he knew she got whenever she had an idea. "What is it, Ran? You're thinking about something, aren't you?"

"I was thinking I could catch you if you jumped." Ran stated plainly, spreading out her arms, a rather expectant look on her face. "Come on, come on."

"I'm not jumping into your arms, Ran." Casting a rather annoyed glance down towards her, Shinichi narrowed his eyes. "Just go get the ladder from the Professor's place."

"That's three blocks away, Shinichi. What if the branch breaks before I come back?" Ran asked, tilting her head to the side, before shifting her arms in the air, indicating for him to come on and jump already. "It won't be that much of a problem to catch you anyways. You're not exactly heavy."

"Isn't it just that you're freakishly strong?" Shinichi couldn't help but ask. As the expectant look on Ran's face didn't change, she could only heave a long sigh, sensing that this wasn't a fight that he was going to win. "Fine, fine. I'll jump, I'll jump."

"That's good!" Nodding her head, Ran continued to beam, holding her position underneath him. "Then, I'm ready whenever you are, Shinichi! I promise to catch you perfectly, so you don't have to worry about a thing!"

Muttering underneath his breath about how this should have been the other way around, Shinichi carefully looked down towards Ran, gauging his distance from her. After glancing around the area and making sure that there was nobody around to witness this, he finally shifted his height, all but leaping down from the branch that he had been stuck on for a little longer than he cared to admit.

Right into Ran's arms. With a bright smile, she caught him almost effortlessly, not even quite realizing the style that she had caught him in would have been fancifully described by Sonoko as 'princess style'. Shinichi, on the other hand, did, and couldn't help but feel his cheeks heat up as Ran didn't put him down right away. "There, you see? No problem at all!"

"I got it already, just put me down before someone sees!" Shinichi grumbled, feeling his cheeks tinting a bright red color.

"It's fine, there's nobody else here." Ran told him, blinking a little, wondering what he could be so flustered by. Was it really that embarrassing to be caught by a girl? Honestly, when was he going to learn that there was no shame in something like that? That was another bad trait of his, she thought to herself.

"Just put me down already, Ran-!"

"Oh my, oh my~!" As if she were unable to contain herself for even a moment longer, the one who had been watching this go down in secret finally revealed herself. Shinichi felt his heart clench into his chest, the fact that Ran was already setting him down on his feet a cold consolation against the fact that out of all the possible people who could have witnessed such a thing, his mother head to see it.

And what was worse, was the fact that she was clearly filming the entire thing.

"You certainly have a way with the ladies, Shin-chan~!" Yukiko brightly teased, her smile growing ever the wider as her son shot her what he probably hoped was a fearsome glare. It was to no avail, of course- everything Shinichi did was cute to her, even if he was giving her the dirtiest look that he knew how!

It was worth it to conceal herself the moment she realized what was happening. To think that she had gotten such a wonderful shot as her son leaping into the arms of his childhood friend, for a time being carried as if he were a princess by her- what a fantastic day today was!