Kindred

Chapter 2

His first impression as he begun to regain his conscience was the awful taste in his mouth. He wouldn't have been surprised at all if something indeed had crawled into his mouth and died. His entire body felt extremely weighed down and his stomach seemed to threaten to cave into itself.

What came next as he tried to move was a throbbing pain like no other. He immediately ceased his attempt. Instead, he slowly opened his eyes and gave them a couple seconds to adjust. Was it morning already? It appeared to be nearly as bright as day to him but something wasn't right. From his bed he could see the waxing moon high in the sky with not a cloud around. His eyes scanned the room. None of the lights were on either.

Before he had time to calm himself down, a deep rumbling noise penetrated his thoughts. He doggedly lifted his head so he could see into his blind spot at the end of the bed. Ran was sitting in a chair with her arms folded neatly on the bed, her head resting atop them. Conan made an awkward face. Did Ran always make so much noise when she slept?

His head spun as he tried to push himself up into a sitting position. His head hurt, his back ached, his mouth tasted like death, his eyes felt strained, and he could hear his heartbeat pounding in his eardrums. It would have been a huge understatement to say he wasn't feeling good at all. But why? He only remembered coming home and groggily going into his room. The moment he had got into the bed, he blacked out. And now he was back in said bed with Ran watching over him. Perhaps she was worried when I didn't go down for dinner?

The thought of food made his stomach let out a weighty growl. He was thankful that Ran wasn't awake to hear it because it was embarrassingly loud. Then he wondered how she could have slept through it.

He took a deep breath and let himself relax a little before mustering up a burst of energy which he used to propel himself out of bed. He stumbled a bit before regaining his balance and peeked over his shoulder at Ran. Still sleeping. He tiptoed to the door and gingerly shut it behind him making sure it didn't squeak.

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Ran jolted awake shocked that she let herself fall asleep. She had been trying to stay awake in case anything happened. She looked at the clock to her right and let out a heavy sigh of relief; it was only 12:07—a couple hours after the little incident. That was short lived however when she looked towards the bed and saw the mess of sheets void of a certain someone.

She flinched as she thought she heard slow and steady footsteps walking around beyond the bedroom door. She wasn't quite sure what to expect after Conan had… bitten her.

She crept to the door and slowly pulled it back, peering out into the black abyss. It was relatively darker than Conan's room due to the fact that it didn't have a large window letting in moonlight.

She heard more footsteps.

Now able to pinpoint their location she put her karate ninja skills to good use and silently made her way to the kitchen. She had been told many a times by Sonoko that she could be a real ninja but she had always brushed that off. Now she was beginning to wonder. But anyways, back to the now.

As she reached the kitchen doorway she silently stood half hidden behind the wall before she reached around it and flipped on the light switch.

She was quite surprised by what she found though, not as surprised as who she found. The moment the light clicked on Conan spun around to stare at her with the classic deer in the headlights look. In one of his hands he held firmly onto an orange and the other a plum. There was a large red apple sticking out of his mouth making him look much like a roasted pig.

There was a long silence of staring awkwardly at each other before Ran couldn't help but let out a muffled giggle. She brought her hand not positioned on the light switch up to cover her mouth as she suppressed the laughter with all her strength. She felt so relieved if not a little amused to find him in such a surprising position. Conan felt just embarrassed.

Conan attempted to say something but it was muffled by the apple. At the moment, he truly wasn't in his right mind enough to think to put down one of the two fruits in his hands so he could take the apple out of his mouth. Ran sensed this and obliged to do so for him.

As she pulled the apple away she noticed it wouldn't budge. It clicked in her mind and she pulled down instead of out. Sure enough, the fruit slid right off his two elongated fangs.

She looked at them skeptically before saying in a serious tone, "I knew it wasn't a dream."

Conan's face flushed bright red. He wasn't sure whether he should be embarrassed or confused or even sorry. Wait, why would he feel sorry?

Even if he was feeling kind of dull minded at the moment, even he had the sense to pick up on what was happening, though he still couldn't remember. He figured out where his heightened senses and brand new pair of shiny fangs had come from, though the last thing he'd do was say it out loud.

"Conan-kun." Ran's strict but caring voice snapped him back into the present. He looked up at her but quickly turned away. For some reason he couldn't look her in the eyes.

"Conan-kun," she said more gently "do you… do you remember what happened?"

He looked up at her a little confused and shocked. What was it he was forgetting? It must be something important…

Ran read his eyes—which she noted were back to their original color but still had the abnormal cat like pupils— and the flood of questions behind them. Before she could open her mouth to say something, he cut her off.

"Why? What happened?" he asked innocently.

Her heart dropped at the thought of telling him but it really wasn't like she could just pretend it never happened. It was relevant and there was little doubt that this was going to go away.

Once again, Conan cut her off before she could get a word in.

"Ran-neechan… what happened to your arm?" he motioned to her left arm which had been bandaged neatly. Instinctively she tried to hide it with her other hand before realizing what a mistake that was. Conan was a very intelligent boy and she knew that so it wouldn't be long before he figured out what had happened, if not remembered it.

His eyes flashed in realization and his face grew pale. "Ah. Ran-neechan! I'm sorry I don't know what- I mean I don't really- er, uh, I, I-" he was having a total panic attack now out of guilt and shame. Having long ago discarded his snacks, his hands were now feverishly rubbing his head in frustration.

Ran really didn't know what to say to him at this point. She just let her instincts kick in; her motherly instincts, that is to say. She kneeled down and brought him up into a tight embrace. She felt him stiffen at first but then he relaxed a bit.

"It's ok Conan. It wasn't your fault."

They stayed in that position for a while until slowly Ran loosened her grip and separated enough so she could look into his eyes.

"Conan-kun…. Your back…" she said kind of dumbstruck.

Indeed his back had been hurting. But other parts of his body were too, so he hadn't thought much of it.

Timidly, he pulled off his shirt. Both of their faces fell into a blank comical expression. As if the fangs weren't enough, now this?

On his back were two little bat-like wings. Judging by their size they looked more decorative than actually functional.

That was all it took to set him off balance and before he knew it, his vision blacked out and he was face first on the floor.

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Yay! I did it! I got another chapter out :D I hope you guys like this c: I've been a bit brain-dead lately. Sorries ^^'

Is it just me or does it seem at the end of every chapter Conan has to pass out? XD Haha I totally didn't even think about that till I finished this chapter :P

Oh! One more thing! Please vote in the poll on my profile! I want to know which stories to update the most depending on what you guys say! :o