Chapter 2: Breaking a Sweat

"Where have you been?" was the question that greeted Conan as he opened the door to the Mouri Detective Agency. Hunching his shoulders, Conan turned around to face Ran, who stood with her hands on her hips and a glare on her face.

"A-ah, Ran-neechan. T-tadaima." Conan stuttered out the greeting as he shuffled backwards, gaze suddenly fixated on the floorboards near her feet. Internally, he was screaming his head off as he searched for excuses. Normally, he would answer that he was at Agasa's place, but Ran knew that Agasa was currently with his fellow scientists who had asked for his opinion on an invention they were developing, and Haibara had insisted on coming with them. Apparently, Haibara explained as she fixed a glare on the professor, food would be provided by the hosts, and she didn't trust the professor to stay away from junk food.

"I was, uh, just outside?" Conan tried, one hand rubbing the back of his head sheepishly as he smiled weakly at Ran.

Ran continued to hold her pose for a few more seconds (dragging out more sweat out of the silently-panicking-boy) before she sighed and turned back towards the kitchen area. "Mou, you're just as bad as Otou-san when it comes to cases."

Scrambling to follow, Conan replied, "Ah, I wasn't really involved in any—." He stopped as Ran pinned him with a glare again. "Sonoko is still my best friend despite being engaged to Makoto-kun, you know. Of course I knew there was going to be a KID heist!"

Giving up on finding excuses, Conan plopped down on the floor muttering his thanks as he started eating his dinner, heated by Ran. Meanwhile, the former karate champion continued on her rant, "Even though I told you I wanted you back before 9:00! I even texted and called you! Seriously!"

Lowering his gaze back to his dinner, Conan muttered a weak apology as Ran leaned an arm on the table. "Well, I'm just glad you were in one of KID's heist instead of running around elsewhere; at least there, I knew you would still be able to come home in one piece."

Narrowing her eyes, Ran asked, "But what were you doing though? I expected you at least an hour earlier than this at least. Sonoko was yelling something about KID ending the show in just a matter of minutes, immediately engaging the police into a chase; did you sneak past the police again? Mou, Conan-kun! I can't even imagine the amount of trouble you'll be in this weekend!"

Anxious not get another scolding, Conan tried to change the subject. "Ah! That's right! Actually, Okaa-san wanted to come visit me again, but she wouldn't be able to come this weekend. So, she sent Ken-nii-san, my cousin from the US! He'll pick me up tomorrow morning!"

Ran blinked in surprise, "Ken-nii-san? From the US? And he'll take care of you starting tomorrow?" Conan waved his hand up and down, "No no, only for this weekend. Nii-san won't be staying here for long after all. But at least I won't be alone, right!"

Ran hummed in agreement. To tell the truth, she was planning on hiring a babysitter to take care of Conan for the weekend. Knowing that Conan wouldn't have appreciated that at all ("I'm 13 already! I'm fine!"), she tried to ask around their friends, but it seemed as if they were all busy this weekend and couldn't do it. Her last resort was actually asking Division 1 to keep him company, as Conan was considered their mascot by now with all his involvement in numerous cases. This arrangement with a cousin was a lucky coincidence.

Actually, Ran narrowed her eyes at the boy she had considered as her pseudo-brother for the last 6 years, it was too much of a coincidence.

Ran had witnessed as the years passed that Conan looked more and more like Shinichi, too much to just be a distant relative. Time and time again, she confronted Conan about being Shinichi, but time and time again, she was proven wrong. But moments like this reminded her of her suspicions, and doubts couldn't help but rise once more.

"Ho? This 'Ken-nii-san' is your cousin huh? What does he look like?"

Conan swallowed the last of his food, stalling for time, as he desperately pulled out every acting skills he had to appear excited instead of panicked at the question.

"He's blond! Kinda like Subaru-nii-san actually, but brighter! His bangs are swept to the side though, and his face is much more angular than Subaru nii-san's. He's just as slim as him though, kinda like a model!" Putting as much excitement as he can into the words he said to impart the image of a boy excited to see his cousin again, Conan mentally prayed that there were no bugs or spy-doves around the area as he said the last part. Though it was true that KID had used a mask for his face, he hadn't altered his body structure at all, and mentioning that he was like a model was sure to make a few consecutive heists hell for him should a certain phantom thief hear him say that.

Suspicions lessening a bit, Ran didn't fully let down her guard though. Conan, possibly Shinichi, was capable of memorizing anyone's face on the street and recall it for the purpose of portraying him as a cousin. No, she needed more proof.

"What's he like, then?"

"Um, he's pretty perky I guess." Conan started as he tried to think on what to say. 'Ken' was KID's character after all, and the thief hadn't really shared much about the disguise. Gears turned as Conan reviewed the moment when KID had introduced his new character. Though he was loath to admit it, KID was good at making disguises, and was capable of immersing completely in a role. From the way he introduced himself as Ken, Conan deduced that 'Ken' would be pretty similar to how KID was usually, just more casual instead of formal that KID had going.

"He likes teasing people, but he doesn't really mean anything bad about it. He's a natural charmer though, but he doesn't lead people on. He can be pretty annoying though! When that happens, I just tend to ignore him, so he doesn't bother me much."

Conan smiled at Ran, simultaneously praying that she would believe him at the same time as willing his cheeks not to heat up. He was originally planning on badmouthing KID as much as he can as revenge for forcing him into this situation in the first place, but he found himself justifying it in the end. He didn't really want to examine it closely, instead noting that it was a pretty believable description for an actual human being, and should convince Ran.

Ran couldn't help the smile that was spread across her face though. She was now completely convinced that Ken was an actual person, and was glad that Conan had someone he admired other than Shinichi. Because that was what this Ken person is to Conan; someone to admire. She didn't know if Conan realized it, but as he described his Ken-nii-san, his eyes were shining the whole time, and a smirk was on his lips, even though he was insulting him half of the time.

Oh well. Ran knew that Conan could be a very good judge of character, and he really admired this person, then she knew that he would be in good hands for the rest of the weekend.

Conan broke through Ran's musings when he yawned, reminding Ran that she had an early day ahead of her tomorrow. Glancing at the clock, Ran was surprised to see it just 10 minutes after midnight. No wonder her eyelids felt so heavy!

"Go sleep now Conan-kun. I'll probably still be able to meet this Ken-nii-san of yours tomorrow morning before we leave. Did your mother mention what time he'd be here?"

Blinking, Conan shook his head. "No, all that was said was that he'll be here in the morning though." Sighing in exasperation, Ran shooed Conan towards the room he shared with Kogoro. "Well, I'm sure we'll still be able to catch him before we have to leave; Otou-san went drinking earlier and would be annoying to deal with in the morning. Now, off to bed with you. Oyasumi!"

"Oyasumi!" Conan called, before shutting the door, only to be met by the snores of Kogoro who was spread-eagled as usual on the bed.

Snorting softly, Conan readied his futon as he went about preparing to sleep. When he finished, he was fully prepared to sleep the moment his head hit the pillow, but was interrupted by his Conan-phone vibrating:

"Sleep well, cousin!" Rolling his eyes in exasperation, Conan couldn't help the small smile on his face as he texted back. "Barou. Go to sleep. Good night."


End of Chapter 2.