What's there to say except that two reviews are very disappointing and making me sad. So much work is in this...Thanks to those two anyway...I really don't know what else to say...I hope this story is not that bad.
Enjoy this. Love, Jojo
Chapter eight - Fireworks
Shinichi was almost punctual as he arrived to pick her up. Ran opened the door and he turned to look at her and greet her as he found that no sound was coming out of his mouth and that his heart was beating faster all of a sudden.
Well, everybody with the same view would understand the poor, dumbstruck detective. His drop-dead-gorgeous childhood-friend was a sight that would have robbed lesser men of their breaths.
She was wearing a beautiful, sunny dress. It was one piece but looked like two, the upper-piece checked with different tones of pink and white, the arms being puffed a little and it only reached to the under-side of her breasts. It had a ruffle collar that matched the equally ruffled arm-sleeves. The rest of the knee-length dress was purely white and she wore matching white shoes on that were a little taller than her usual ones and had white laces wound around her ankles.
All in all, it seems unnecessary to say that Ran looked absolutely, breathtakingly gorgeous. Literally.
She smiled at him and twirled around once. "Well, what do you think?"
Shinichi gulped in a paradoxical attempt to recover his ability of talking. Seeing the anticipation in her eyes, he gulped again and moved his head in a few nods. "Yes, v-very... nice."
'Oh great, you stupid! You have the most beautiful sight in front of you and all you can think of is: "nice"? Oh, how clever!' he kept scolding himself.
But Ran smiled; his light blush and stuttering told her everything already.
"R-ready to go?" she smiled sweetly at him.
"Sure!" 'Thankfully my voice returned. Man, when you can't even trust your own body…!'
They soon arrived at the Tropical Land area and entered. Both were immediately awash with déjà-vu but said nothing. Especially, since for the past minutes Shinichi had a totally different problem that was occupying his brain completely.
'Come on, stupid, take her hand. You know you want to, don't be such a coward!'
He directed a sideways glance down to her hand and to his dismay his cheeks started coloring.
"Hm?" she tilted her head to the side and looked at him, mildly concerned. "You ok, Shinichi?"
He put his best smile on, trying not to look too innocently since Ran could always look through it. "Yeah, I'm fine!" In the meanwhile his brain was furiously scolding him.
'Stupid, stupid, stupid...'
He sighed.
As Ran stopped walking and kept gazing at something, he stopped and turned as well. She looked at Shinichi, grinning.
"What do you say? Do you want to?"
He could only nod, although inside he felt a little odd about this. Nevertheless, he followed her, his hands still in his darned pockets, to the roller coaster that they had ridden almost a year ago.
The strange déjà-vu continued and Shinichi kept looking behind him. As it was their turn to sit on the roller coaster, he made sure that nobody was sitting behind them.
'You never know!' he kept telling himself while trying to shake off the strong feeling of paranoia.
Ran was feeling the same sensation of a strong déjà-vu but she remained silent and simply wondered why Shinichi hadn't mentioned Holmes even once today.
"Do you really feel all right, Shinichi?" she leaned to him, patting his forehead gently.
"Yeah, don't worry about me." The train started moving with a jerk. "You better worry about that!" he told her, pointing forward.
Ran's eyes widened as she saw them approach a gigantic abyss at a fast pace. She clenched her eyes shut immediately and instinctively reached for Shinichi's hand, just like she had last time.
This time, the young man looked down at their hands as well and he even blushed again, but it took him less time to hold her hand back in his effort to comfort her a little. He was satisfied with this turn of events and didn't let go of her hand for the rest of the ride.
To his pleasure, she didn't let go of his hand even after descending from the roller coaster and that's why our two kept walking through the park in comfortable conversation, reminiscent of their last time here.
They came to a little stall that sold cotton candy. On more than one occasion Ran had bought cotton candy for little Conan, although he never asked for it. He knew that it was only an excuse for her to buy it, so he pulled her gently over by her hand.
"What do you say?" he grinned at her invitingly.
Ran's eyes brightened. "Are you saying you are going to buy me cotton candy?" she asked, almost in a teasing fashion.
"Yep, that was the plan. Unless you don't want any, that is…" he started walking away but she held him back and giggled.
"Are you kidding me? Of course I want some!"
He grinned at her and went to talk to the old sales-woman who was observing the two lovebirds with a slight smile and warm looks. Seldom had she seen something this cute.
Only a few minutes later, a happy Ran was contently munching her cotton candy after having reclaimed one of his hands and Shinichi was content to watch her eat with devotion.
"How did you know that I love cotton candy, anyway?"
He grinned coolly at her. "I am a detective, remember?"
She rolled her eyes, wondering how that made any sense in light of her question, but she kept silent.
"Oh right, how could I ever forget that!?" But then she smiled. "It was so sweet of you, though, thank you!" she held his hand tighter to emphasize her point.
"Y-you're welcome."
She let go of his hand for a second and took some of the candy between her fingers, then turned and laughed. "Say aaaahhhh!"
Shinichi looked at the sweet candy that Ran was presenting him and almost laughed. How many times had she done this to him while he had been little? Had shared her food with little Conan who she adopted like some kind of brother, if not son.
He felt a new, strong wave of affection for this pure-hearted girl in front of him; it caused his insides to tingle. Bending a little, he accepted her offer.
"This is so sweet!" he admitted and upon seeing her shining eyes couldn't help the next comment. "Almost as sweet as you!" and he bend down to kiss her cheek.
Shinichi enjoyed her shocked expression and her red cheeks more than he could say and walked ahead a few feet, his hands in his pockets, before turning back to grin at her.
"Well, are you glued there? Aren't you coming?"
She immediately snapped out of it and ran to him, coming to a halt right beside him while looking at him with a mix of sadness and concern. "Hey, are you making fun of me?"
Shinichi could only grin. "Not at all, dear, not at all." And to prove his point he gathered his courage and laid his arm around her shoulder.
Ran looked at him with surprise but knew that he was serious. So, she relaxed again and leaned against him as they walked on and she ate her candy, almost feeling the happiness shining through her. Oh yes, this was most definitely nice. Now and then she fed him some tufts of her candy, giggling like a teenager as he once licked at her fingers, too.
"What do you want to do next?" he asked her after she had finished her cotton candy.
All of a sudden, Ran came to a halt in front of a stall where there were prizes to win.
"Oh, isn't that little bunny so adorable?" She said unwittingly and to nobody in particular. Her sparking eyes were glued to a cute, white stuffed toy decorated with a smile and a red–and- white-striped tie around its neck; one of the prices to win if you managed to knock down ten tin-cans with only three balls. "It really…" she fell silent.
Shinichi stared at the bunny, a little puzzled, then at Ran and back again. The expression in her eyes alone made something inside him click. Hadn't he promised himself to do everything so that she had the time of her life today? She wanted the bunny? She would get the bunny!
"One try, please!" he lay the money on the table, a little harder than necessary but boy, this guy was both determined and sure of his soon victory.
In his mind he could already hear her praising words and feel her hug in all her gratitude, looking with shining eyes at him, near tears because of what he had done, only for her!
"Oh, Shinichi, thank you so much, you are the best. My hero! I don't know what I would do without you. You are so strong and clever and…"
"Nooo, enough of the praising, my dear. For you I'd go and catch a star, fly you to the moon and back and even that's no effort at all for me, really!"
"Really!" he murmured with closed eyes, the pictures in his mind still moving vividly.
"Uhm, Shinichi?" A hand tapped him lightly on his shoulder. "Are you okay?"
"W-what?" he opened his eyes to meet two slightly alarmed ones.
"It seemed like you were off in gaga-land just now. You ok? Is the fever coming back?"
He blushed badly and looked back at the seller, eyes closed for a second in mild embarrassment. "I am fine. Now watch the master work and kill those cans!"
He took the basked filled with the red balls and took one in his hand, grinning sure of his near victory. Ran smiled politely at this manner that was so typical for men. Why was it that all guys were like this? For a second she had to think of Heiji but she had no idea why.
He threw, an exceptional look on his face. But his features fell as not even one tin was thrown down.
Smiling, a little embarrassed, at Ran but saying nothing, he quickly turned back and took the next ball in his hand. Tilting his head to the side, his tongue between his lips, he closed one eye, aimed and shot.
The wall quivered, the cans stood tall and proud in front of him. For the split of a second he had the feeling he had heard them laugh at him maliciously and something inside his brain snapped.
More money was slapped on the counter, a little harder than necessary. "Another try, please!"
The salesman blinked confused, feeling the hair on his arms stand up a bit at Shinichi's tone but complied, sliding a new basket with balls over to the young man, nervously.
Granted, he had seen a lot of men going mad at this game, but this new display in front of him…it was a pity, really.
Shinichi tried again, now putting all his effort and concentration in these three balls and was, logically, more than frustrated as at the end there were still six cans standing proudly in front of him.
"One more try!"
So he tried again and again, always coming close but never quite succeeding. This was freaking the young detective out to no end.
"Another try!"
"Sh-Shinichi…" Ran tried to calm him down but he only held his hand up to show her that he was very serious about it, as if saying that this fight was between the cans and him.
And he tried again, four cans standing tall and Ran could have sworn she saw the young man actually fume. He ordered more balls and tried again and again…but never managing to hit over all ten cans.
At one point he even forced the seller to lift the cans in order to prove that they were real and not painted or glued together as Shinichi was thinking. And for a moment he had been so sure about it that the poor man only obeyed out of fear, thinking the mad young man could harm him. It was nothing personal, really. But the slightly mad look on Shinichi's features would have scared even tougher men.
To his slight embarrassment and dismay, they had been quite real, no trick behind it.
"Right..." Shinichi murmured. "One more try, please!"
"Shinichi, there really is no need to-"
"No, Ran, let me do this!" he held a hand up to reassure her and she did quiet down, smiling in a strange and forced way; this was starting to get really embarrassing for her. But as she saw the stubbornness and persistence in his eyes it reminded her a little on when they were kids. He had always refused to let something be only because grown-ups told him that they were too difficult for him. That had never stopped him from trying. He never gave up, she knew that, and it seemed that he had not changed at all. In a way, this thought made her smile a real smile that came from deep down and warmed her from the inside.
She somehow understood that he had to do this for his ego. To him it was as if his male pride depended from winning this heated battle between himself and the ten 'metal-bastards', as he was now calling them.
Ran sighed.
But then, two tries later, he had only one ball left and four cans were still standing. He looked at Ran's tense gaze and made a silent plea to the heavens to let him win this. 'It's not for me, but for the girl of my dreams, so please grant me this one small wish!'
He shot, Ran covered her eyes with her hands, the sells-man held his breath. Neither really believing what happened, although two third of the persons present hoped for it, Shinichi hit the cans in a way that made them all fly down.
"YEAH!"
"WAH!"
He and Ran screamed. He jumped high in the air; Ran was jumping up and down and clapping her hands. In a flash, Ran and Shinichi were in each others arms, hugging and jumping a little together. As they realized this, they blushed a bit and slowly pulled away.
More than proudly, Shinichi presented her the bunny. A man winning a gold medal at the Olympic Games could not have looked more proud and happy.
It was then that Shinichi realized just how much he had spent on this bunny. He could have gotten at least ten of the kind in any shop. That must have been the most expensive gift ever, and it didn't even contain jewelery. He gulped, mentally slapping himself.
But, as our great tantei looked, really looked at the beauty in front of him, who was literally staring at the little furry stuffed toy in nothing but pure awe in her eyes and he was drawn in sort of a trance towards her, he knew that it had been more than worth it.
"Thank you so much, Shinichi!" she finally looked up at him.
He blushed a lovely shade of pink and put his arms behind his head in a cool fashion.
"Nah, it was nothing!"
At this "nothing" she looked knowingly at him, knowing exactly that it had NOT been "nothing". Shinichi only blushed deeper and looked away.
"Wanna move on?"
"Sure!" she answered, still beaming happily.
Smiling a little smugly to himself, he stuck his hands in his pockets, feeling really content inside. For a moment he wondered if he had any chance to take her hand again. He had been enjoying this little gesture immensely. To him, holding the hand of a person shows that you are close to that person and even that you belong together. It's just…very nice.
But to his disappointment he discovered that he had no way of doing so because both her hands were preoccupied with the bunny. And asking her aloud for that thing…let's say, he has already done enough blushing today.
As they walked on, poor Shinichi felt a pout coming up. Fortunately for him, Ran must have been thinking along the same lines. Glancing at him sideways quickly, seeing him still walking with his hands in his pockets, she quietly took a deep breath to steel her nerves, and walked closer to his side. He had only time to blink before she looped her right arm through his left, not pulling it from its pocket.
He looked at her surprised to find her gaze lowered to the ground, her cheeks flushed in a beautiful crimson. Leaning his shoulder a little towards her as a sign that he more than accepted her offer, he looked back at the road in front of him (he had almost tripped over an ice-cream that a little boy had lost his grip on and who was crying on his mother's shoulder a few meters away) and thankfully could not see in a mirror because he'd have discovered that he was grinning like a fool. And that even more as he saw her smile enchantingly at his leaning his shoulder against hers.
Honestly, wasn't she the most adorable thing ever to walk on this earth?
What a question? That wasn't a question, he was certain of it. And being allowed to have this opportunity to spend this day with her was the greatest gift that the heavens could grant him, after the gift of bringing her into his life, of course, and his heart suddenly felt so warm it was almost burning in his chest.
Meanwhile, Ran was smiling to herself, content to the limit.
What Shinichi did not know, was that the white bunny reminded Ran on an event from her childhood.
At that time, Ran had been five years old. Her mother and her father had separated only one year before and little Ran was praying faithfully every night that they would find their way back together.
As Eri had left, she had given Ran a small, white stuffed bunny with a yellow tie around its neck. For reasons that only a mind of a small kid could comprehend, this bunny had been Ran's most precious possession ever since. Mr. Fluffy, as she called it, had been her favorite toy and she would take it with her everywhere. Until one day, she was playing in the park with Shinichi and Sonoko, she found that her beloved toy, which she had left back with her jacket on a bench along with the other kids jackets, gone.
"How can it be gone?" little Sonoko asked her best friend.
"I don't know!" Ran answered almost panicked while looking for the tenth time underneath the small wood-bench. "I left it exactly here!" she fumbled with her little arms, pointing at the little mountain of jackets. "And now it's GONE!" at this point the tears broke lose, the horror of having lost her precious bunny being too much to bear.
"Ran-chan, don't cry!" Sonoko put an arm on her shoulder. "We'll search for it and find it, ne, Kudo-kun?" she directed a piercing gaze at the young boy who stood next to her but he was paying her no attention. Instead, he had a hand on his chin and was examining the bench.
"Don't you think that's strange?" five year old Shinichi finally asked the girls.
"What?"
"Well, if somebody has stolen it, why aren't there any traces on the mud right here?" he pointed at the ground.
"T-that's right!" Ran sniffed. "But what does that tell us?"
"I have the feeling we have to search over there…" Shinichi went on.
"Okay, you two look over there and I will go this way. Splitting up seems a good idea and gives you some alone-time, hehe!" Sonoko said smugly, giggling to herself and walked away. But Ran and Shinichi were too preoccupied to notice Sonoko's hint.
So, the three kids split and went their ways to look for Ran's toy.
"Shinichi?"
"Hm?" he was looking at the ground exactly, left and right, deep in concentration.
"Do…do you think somebody…kidnapped Mr. Fluffy?" Ran's teary voice asked him.
Shinichi gulped. He knew she was about to cry and he knew as well that he wouldn't be able to stand it.
"Calm down, Ran, no matter what has happened to it, we'll find it!"
"R-really?"
"Yeah!" he smiled as confidently as he could at her and laid an arm on her shoulder as a clumsy attempt to soothe her a little.
His confidence and kindness almost forced Ran to believe him. She smiled gratefully at him.
"Okay!"
They searched around the park for quite some time, Shinichi leading the way until at some point he suddenly reached a hand out to hold her back.
"Wait, I can hear something! Ran, wait here! It might be dangerous!"
"No, I want to go with you!"
"No!! I can't risk getting you in any danger. Now, stay here!" he told her firmly, his eyes full of concern for her.
Ran was baffled. She could only nod, feeling her cheeks grow a little warm and color a slight pink. Shinichi turned and disappeared behind a bush.
"Take care!" she whispered after him.
Four minutes later, Shinichi returned with a sad expression, making Ran stand up in a flash and run towards him.
"Shinichi, what happened? Did you find it?"
"Uhm…" he looked at her miserably, then back at the ground. "I…I did…"
"Really? Where is it then?"
"It…Ran, it…you can't see it." It was more than visible that this wasn't easy for Shinichi.
"What? Why?" a shocked girl asked him bewildered.
"You see…as I saw no foot-prints of any human near that bench I looked closer and saw this little prints of a cat or a dog, most probably a dog, though. We followed them and I found the bunny near that said dog. It's a bad dog, really and he has…" he trailed off. How could he tell her that there was not much left of her favorite stuffed toy thanks to that brutal dog?
"He ate…my bunny?" Ran asked in disbelief, her big eyes way bigger than usual.
"W-well…y-yeah…" he murmured guiltily and looked down at his shoes in shame. Maybe, if he'd been a little faster he could have saved the bunny…maybe…
Ran turned and walked away from him. "Hey, Ran!" he called after her, one hand suddenly raised, but she did not hear him. Instead, she walked to a huge tree only a few meters away and sat down underneath it.
His hand lowered again. He slowly followed and sat down next to her on the ground in front of the tree. He looked to his side, glancing at her face. She was trying hard to hold her tears back, as much he could see. But other than that she said nothing, simply stared at her feet with the most miserable expression he had ever seen and that made something in his chest tighten.
"Ran…" he started, suddenly wishing she would start screaming. For some reason, it was a lot easier to deal with her anger than her sadness. "I am so sorry!"
"No, don't be. You helped me find it, thank you for that!" she tried to smile but failed.
As he said nothing, she went on. "You know, it was my favorite toy and…my mum gave it to me as she…w-went away and I…sort of held on to it in the hope they'd make up and get back together, and now it's gone…" She didn't know if she was talking about her bunny or her hopes.
"No!" his forcefulness made her head shoot up and look at him. "Don't lose your hope, Ran, never! This was just a toy; you are strong even without it!"
Although she did not understand it, his words back then had had a very soothing effect on her and since that day she knew that she was not alone and that Shinichi was one of her best friends, no matter how often he enraged her.
His words had helped her believe in her own power and cope with this loss. Grateful for everything he had done, she smiled at him, making his own cheeks darken a bit. Ran found it adorable.
The next day, a Saturday, he had come over to her to give her a little gift wrapped up in a simple piece of tissue paper. She had looked at it more than surprised, blinked her big eyes a few times, and then looked at his red face. She had counted on everything, just not on this. He had blushed badly when giving her the gift and now urged her to open it.
Inside, there was a little keychain in the shape of a little, white, plastic bunny. Ran was so touched upon seeing it that she sprung forward and hugged Shinichi tightly. He blushed even deeper but to not destroy the point he was trying to make –the comforting her, hugged her back a little clumsily.
Ran looked at the substitute in her hands and couldn't help but grin.
It was later, through a chat between Shinichi's mom and her own, that she had found out that he had spend all his pocket money, which he had collected to buy a new detective novel, trying to get this bunny out of the automatic machine filled with little toys for kids that stood in the arcade.
And this fact touched Ran even more than the key-chain alone. She had promised to herself to be a little nicer to Shinichi ever since. Luckily, it hadn't taken much trying for her. Ok, not too much.
She grinned inwardly.
"Ran?" his gentle voice tore her out of her thoughts.
"Yes?" she answered, smiling at him even more warmly.
He gulped down the knot that had suddenly appeared in his throat. "Do you…" he looked up high and she followed his gaze. "Do you like the Ferris wheel?"
She grinned at him. "Yeah!"
"Want to go?" one corner of his lips lifted, her grin letting him feel more confident about this.
"Yes!" Ran simply answered, beaming at him with a song in her heart and his hand in hers as he lead the way.
---
"Wow!" a happy girl's voice echoed through the small cabin.
"Yeah!" a male voice answered.
"This is soooo beautiful!" Ran was looking out of the windows, down at the park that was now lit since night had fallen on them. Lights could be seen everywhere, one stall swimming in even more colors than the last. Everything was shimmering and blinking, shining and glistering. The light reflected in her big eyes that were as delighted as those of any child would have been in her situation.
Eventually she settled back down on her seat next to Shinichi, smiling at him. "Everything's so beautiful!"
He grinned back. "You stated that already!"
"Well, it's the truth! And like an oh-so great–tantei likes to say, there is only one truth, right?"
He grinned stupidly at her. "You're right!"
Both chuckled. The atmosphere was pleasant and light and, hugging her bunny to her chest, she leaned a little against him, shyly.
He laid an arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer to his body. Shinichi, too, felt relaxed to the limits. The only thing that disturbed him a little was that she was hugging the bunny and not him. He grimaced at his own little joke although he knew it spoke of the truth.
All of a sudden, he started wondering if there was anything he could do to catch her complete, undivided attention. In the process he looked at her, from top to toe, feeling his heart start overflowing with his devotion for this woman. She simply WAS the most beautiful being he had ever seen, period. And for the first time in a long while, Shinichi turned his brain off.
He rubbed her back leisurely with his hand and pressed her a little tighter to himself, shyly looking into her eyes. But then, as he saw her smile a bright, beautiful smile at him, he knew he had nothing to worry about and suddenly a decision was made. He decided, since he could not tell her how he felt, to show her instead. Show her what she meant to him in a most intimate way. A touch that you only shared with a person very close to you.
Hesitantly, he leaned his face closer to hers, secretly expecting her to turn away from him every second. But she did not, although she saw him approach clearly. She only blushed and looked deeply back in his eyes.
When he was only a few inches away from her lips, Shinichi felt her lean in closer and that was the only encouragement that he needed. None the less, his uncertainty won and he gave her a sweet peek on her cheek, and then pulled back a bit to look at her, still shyly.
Ran only smiled brightly at him and returned the gesture, giving him, in turn, a kiss on his cheek. Only, she did not pull away but stayed close to him. Her cheek was against his, sharing warmth, closeness and their combined affection. She rubbed it against his and turned her head a little, bringing their lips even closer, their breaths mingling.
Their heads moved closer with unstoppable certainty. As their lips finally touched for the very first time, their heads jerked away in shock, a second later. With flushed faces, they stared at each other, both feeling like they had crossed a line but neither knew if that was okay with the other.
However, this little misunderstanding was quickly solved by the look in their eyes. A slight smile later, he closed the short distance again and literary melted against her smooth lips. He could almost feel her contented sigh as she leaned closer to him. Kissing Shinichi was even better than she had ever dreamt of. And though she didn't know it, he was thinking the same thing about her, both indescribably happy that one of their dreams was coming true that very instant.
A pleasant while later they gently broke apart and looked at each other, blushing. But as a small smile crept on his lips -he couldn't hide it anymore since inside he was beaming- she relaxed more and returned it immediately. Ran leaned closer against him and placed her head on his chest, closing her eyes as she cuddled deeper into his embrace. Shinichi rested his chin on top of her head and held her closer.
Both sighed out, entirely and completely content.
"This was so nice!" Ran thought. She blushed badly as she realized that she had said that out loud, turning her head a little to hide against his chest. To her surprise, Shinichi, without thinking about it, answered right away.
"Yeah, it was. I can't believe I never did this before!" he whispered while his heart was beating in his ears, his hand rubbing still slowly over her back.
"Then... why don't you do it again." Ran challenged shyly, unconscious of her words but they had left her lips before she could control them. 'Not that I want to', she thought as she saw Shinichi grin and lean again down to her before they melted against the other.
The ride ended way too soon.
As they stepped out of the cabin and took a few steps, he wound one of his arms around her shoulder protectively while his other hand was in his pocket in the usual, cool manner that was uniquely his.
Ran smiled up at him happily and leaned against his side.
"What do you want to do now? Are you hungry?"
"No, actually it's getting pretty late and…oh no!"
Suddenly, Ran remembered something and looked at her wristwatch. She was almost shocked at the time and quickly turned to Shinichi.
"Come, quickly!" she took his hand and gently directed him in direction of the little hill in the park. "The fireworks are going to go off soon! Hurry!"
Shinichi did not answer, just smile and let himself being dragged away. Actually, his smile said more than any answer consisting of words could ever hope for.
On a small hill she stopped and looked around. "This spot is nice. You have the perfect view at the firework and it's…" Ran blushed. "Nice." She quickly turned and sat down, turning her face a moment away from Shinichi. Luckily she'd been able to hold back the "secluded". But it was true, there were bushes all around the place, big trees and small ones and on their way they had passed some couples that had been cuddling or even making out a little which had them both blushing.
"Yeah, it's nice!" Shinichi agreed and sat down next to her, oblivious to her thoughts.
As the music started, they looked up in time to see the first play of light on the dark sky.
"Ohhh!" Ran and Shinichi said simultaneously.
The fireworks that went off in time with the music were beautiful, in every color one could imagine, in every shape one could imagine.
Soon, Shinichi lay back, his arms behind his head and observed the fireworks. His neck had started to hurt from all the staring up. Beside him, Ran looked at him for a moment, before lying down as well, her head pillowed on his chest comfortably. She looked again at him a little shyly but he only smiled warmly down at her, reassuring her in the process. A soft smile played on her lips. Then she turned her attention back to the night's sky.
Right now I feel - just like a leaf on a breeze
Who knows where it's blowin'
Who knows where it's goin'
I find myself somewhere I - I never thought I'd be
Going round in circles
Thinking about you and me
How do I explain it when I don't know what to say
What do I do now - so much has changed
Nothing I have ever known - has made me feel this way
Nothing I have ever seen - has made me want to stay
but here I am - ready for you
I'm turnin', I'm fallin' - I hear my home callin'
Hey - I've never felt somethin so strong - oh no
It's like nothing I've ever known
Now you're the one I'm looking for
You're the one I need
You're the one that gives me - a reason to believe
Following a star - has lead to where you are
It feels so strong now - this can't be wrong now
"See, I told you this is going to be fun." Ran turned her head and looked in his eyes. She could see the fireworks reflecting in them.
"Yeah, it is." Shinichi looked at her, able to watch the fireworks reflected in her eyes.
"Aren't those fireworks absolutely beautiful?" She looked up again. But Shinichi did not avert his eyes from her as he replied.
"Absolutely."
She looked back at him, seeing that he was obviously talking about her. Ran blushed badly as she self-consciously lifted a hand to brush a bang behind her ear. Then she laid her flat hand on his chest and turned on her side, towards him.
"It's perfect." Ran whispered, looking deeply in his eyes still.
"Yeah. It is." Shinichi replied, holding the eye contact.
Ever so slowly, he bent his head down a little while Ran was turning hers from the spot where it was still resting on his chest. They kissed slowly, comfortably, lingeringly.
Nothing I have ever known - has made me feel this way
Nothing I have ever seen - has made me want to stay
but here I am - ready for you
I'm turnin', I'm fallin' - I hear my home callin'
Hey - I've never felt somethin's so strong - oh no
It's like nothing I've ever known
---
Shinichi was walking Ran home, hand in hand. They were engaged in quiet conversation and still feeling kind of light-headed from the earlier events but as they came to a halt in front of Ran's house, they became quiet. Reality crept its way back unpleasantly and they looked almost lost at each other, not knowing what to do or what to say.
They both knew what they wanted to do. No matter how much they yearned to stay together, and definitely not part, maybe even sleep cuddled together, they both knew that they had no actual reason to do so anymore, unless they admitted their complete feelings for the other. Unfortunately, both were way too shy to admit it or voice it, let alone act on it. Anyway, it suddenly became too much for one night.
That's why they could do nothing but wish each other goodnight in front of the dark detective agency. Ran looked up for a moment. 'I wonder where Dad is.'
"Ran?" Shinichi spoke up. He couldn't stand the silence anymore and before he knew it her name had rolled over his tongue. Great. There she was, glancing at him, expecting him to keep talking and he didn't know what to say.
'Come on, you great tantei. You can think of something, can't you? Just look into her eyes and tell me you can't think of anything to tell her. Hopeless fool.'
'Oh, let me be!' Shinichi argued back.
"Ran, I…" the anticipation in her beautiful eyes robbed him for a second of any thought he had had and any plans as to what to tell her. There was no helping it, he had to improvise. For a moment he considered telling her everything; maybe about Conan, or about Holmes (just to lighten the tension) but definitely about his feelings. He really wished he could tell her how much she meant to him and not worry about her being kidnapped or killed or in any other kind in danger.
But he could never be sure as long as the Organization was still managing its affairs out there. It was not as easy as one would think, admitting your love for a person, especially when you had no idea for how long your adult body was still yours. And, Ran deserved so much more…so much better than that.
"It was a great idea, that little trip. I had a lot of fun today. Thank you!"
Ran smiled, almost relieved, at him. "I did too, had a lot of fun. Thank you, too." She held her new bunny closer.
"W-well, then I…I guess this is goodnight, ne?" he chuckled nervously, thus making the sound that came out sound strange.
"Y-yeah!"
Their hearts were racing it each other, beating strongly against their ribcages. The nervousness transformed to tension, a sort of electricity that could almost be seen with the bare eye. Shinichi looked, one could say stared, at Ran and she looked right back, feeling something draw her to him like a magnet. Shinichi could feel it too, tingling all of his nerve endings.
Hesitantly, he took a step closer to her. Ran gulped inaudibly. Still and slowly, his arms moved upwards to come around her body. A little tense herself, Ran moved a step forward to hug back the guy in front of her the best she could with her one free hand. They couldn't help the smile that crawled to their faces at the warm, soothing contact.
Suddenly, as they tenderly held each other there in the dim light of the street-lighting, the world was all right; no bad, threatening thing existed.
Suddenly, there existed no harm, absolutely nothing to worry about.
Suddenly, the world was in complete peace.
Both seemed unwilling to let go until at last Shinichi drew back a little bit. He looked down in her eyes again, holding the all-consuming eye contact that made him forget about everything. Nervously and with little jerking motions, he moved his head down and towards her. Ran, who understood what he had in mind, blushed but stood on her tiptoes to meet his lips with hers.
Their mechanical, robot-like moves caused Shinichi to bump his forehead against Ran's. Both jerked away, looking at each other with surprise. Ran had to giggle and Shinichi grinned and both were happy to see that neither was willing to stop. So, they moved towards each other again, clumsily trying to catch the lips of their opponent but at first, both turned to the left which made them bump their foreheads again, although only a little and their noses, and then both turned to the right, same procedure.
They took their total clumsiness with humour, grinning again at each other. Shinichi lifted a hand to cup her cheek, stroking with his thumb over it. Ran smiled beautifully up at him and he brought her face that he was still cupping with his hand, towards his slowly, this time catching her lips with ease.
It was thrilling, yet again. He could not imagine that he would ever quit liking to kiss her, or quit feeling as excited as he was now.
Only afterwards they would realize that this had been their very first good-night-kiss and that it really had everything both had ever dreamt of.
Shinichi pulled back after some time, looking with a contented smile down at her happy face. Seeing her so happy made his heart jump in joy. This is all he ever wanted, to see her this happy. Not knowing how her hand came to be in his (and not caring either, by the way), he stroked the back of her hand with his thumb, giving it a gentle squeeze.
"Good night" he whispered, so as to not ruin the mood and magic of the moment.
"Good night," she whispered back, beaming at him with shimmering eyes.
Regretfully, he let go of her hand and slowly started to walk away, smiling a last time back at her.
Ran smiled back and watched him walk away until he disappeared in the shadows.
---
Later that night Ran and Shinichi were lying in their beds, both trying to fall asleep but all their endeavours were in vain. They had been so tired at the beginning and now lay in their beds, not being able to fall asleep.
Their night so far had been full of anxiety and they kept tossing and turning. Morpheus simply refused to pay them a visit.
'God, the bed still smells of Shinichi…' Ran thought, her head buried in her pillow, feeling like a teenager in love.
'Well, aren't you one?' a distant but nagging voice in the back of her mind asked her.
"Oh, be quiet!" she told her mind.
Shinichi in turn, was lying on his back, his hands crossed under his head and staring at the ceiling. He, too, was wondering about what happened and what was going to happen, feeling all of a sudden unsure himself.
A million things swirled around Shinichi's and Ran's minds. Interestingly, most of their thoughts matched, but they would never know that.
'What's going to happen tomorrow?' Shinichi wondered frankly. 'Will she-'
'-will he be the same?' Ran feared. 'Or will he be-'
'-will she be completely changed?'
'Will his feelings change?'
'Will she still feel the same?'
'Does he have regrets?'
'I hope she doesn't regret anything!'
'I wonder what he is doing and-'
'-if she's asleep already…'
'How I miss him!'
'I miss her already!'
'I'd really like to have him…'
'…to have her here. Oh these feelings…'
'…they're really…'
'…it's really…'
'…amazing.'
'We didn't even make plans for tomorrow.' Ran realized.
'I am so stupid!' Shinichi slapped his forehead.
Ran's face softened. 'But what an enchanting…'
'…absolutely brilliant day!' Shinichi grinned.
Suddenly, while Ran absent-mindedly traced her lips with one finger, reminiscing of the day, Shinichi, completely sunk in his thoughts, remembered something, too.
'Oh my god, I kissed him!'
'Oh my god, I kissed her!'
Both thought and simultaneously blushed a bright shade of red.
'I never thought it could be like this with him…'
'…or else I'd have kissed her before, while I still had the opportunity to.'
'I wonder if he's going to do it again…' Ran blushed.
'I hope she lets me do it again!' Shinichi hoped.
'But what if he didn't like it or…'
'…or if I wasn't any good?'
'Oh no!' both thought, again, simultaneously. They shook their heads, trying to clear out their minds. Eventually they came up with an answer. It was not worth it, thinking about possible 'what-if's' now. What's going to happen is going to happen, end of story.
Shinichi looked around his room. 'I better try to get some sleep or-'
'…or I will look horrible tomorrow!' Ran pinched her cheeks a little and traced with a finger along the underside of her eyes.
Both young adults turned around, hugging their pillows and closed their eyes. Sighing out long and deep, through all their longing for the other, they couldn't help but smile at the beautiful day they had spend together.
'I hope we can repeat that.' Ran thought, closing her eyes slowly.
'I will make sure we can spend the rest of our lives together, I promise. Some day…' Shinichi in turn closed his eyes.
They turned to the other side.
"Oh Shinichi." Ran breathed.
"Oh Ran."
'I hope he's still going to be here tomorrow.'
'I hope I won't turn back tonight.' Horrified at the thought alone, Shinichi quickly send a little prayer to the heavens.
Ran snuggled deeper in her bed, feeling consoled at the thought of him.
"Good night, Shinichi."
"Good night, Ran," he breathed.
And they shut their brains down, finally being able to drift to sleep peacefully.