Kudo Shinichi is seven years old when he starts to realize he's different from his classmates and friends. Around that age, as soon as their birthdays hit, a lot of them started boasting about how a red string was suddenly on their fingers. Shinichi thought it was all baloney at first, however, then Ran and Sonoko's birthdays came and they got their strings... The only difference here is that their strings were connected to each other. Apparently, they were "soulmates". A fated pair, they were made to be with each other.
That's the first time Shinichi felt heartbreak, he liked Ran a lot. Yet, he knew that she definitely didn't like him like that. She and Sonoko still didn't understand it much, but he knew they really liked each other. It made him worried about when his birthday would come.
And it did. It came and went by like it had for the past seven years. No 'red string' came. Nothing changed. It made him wonder if it was all some cruel joke on him. How come everyone else got one but he didn't? It slightly scared him when he told his parents and they looked terrified. That's when he realized that something was definitely wrong with him.
For the next two years, he found himself being dragged to doctors appointments monthly. That was until his parents found out his mother was pregnant with his little brother. Conan was probably one of the best things that happened to Shinichi, not only was most of the attention placed on him now, but he also distracted Shinichi from the fact that he would probably never be with anybody.
XxxX
The last thing he expected was when he turned fourteen for his parents to tell him that they were moving to America. He would've been fine with that if he and Conan were going, but no. They had decided that they were going to leave him all alone with his little five-year-old brother. He could barely take care of himself sometimes, how could they even think that he could handle his little brother too?
The only thing he could remember from that time is Conan trying to get him out of his room. He knew it wasn't his fault, yet he couldn't bring himself to talk to him nor look at him. He felt like his childhood was going far too fast for his liking. He just wanted to be normal. He wished his parents weren't famous so he could live a normal life with them.
XxxX
Shortly after his parents had left, Shinichi started staying off school a lot more to look after Conan. Sure, he wasn't too proud about having to miss school days, but Conan was extremely sick, so he had to. His brother just so happens to be more important than school, after all. He felt bad for his little brother, him being sick all the time was not his fault. The poor kid just had bad health, it didn't even allow him to go to school.
Shinichi really hoped that sooner rather than later he'd start to get better. The kid needed to have a social life and needed to make friends. Him staying inside for most of his life had made him far more mature than any seven-year-old should be. It worried Shinichi. Conan was seven, he was meant to live life carefree for as long as possible. He shouldn't be able to understand how to solve a murder and he most definitely shouldn't barely react after seeing a dead body. (Even if they were on the television)
At the end of the day, he could never stop himself from worrying about his little brother. His mental state had to be terrible, Shinichi couldn't even imagine how terrible it would be to have to always stay in the house and never leave even once. He doesn't know how Conan lives like that. He would secretly sign Conan up for school himself, but he knew his sickness would only get worse if he stressed out by walking through school. It was hard not to worry almost 24/7 about him.
And after that, It had been two more years. Shinichi had relatively gotten used to not having a string and he had also finally gotten over his old feelings for Ran. Speaking of Ran, she and Sonoko had FINALLY gotten together. Shinichi was surprised when they apparently weren't. Those two were always super close, plus they have connected strings, so it was bound to happen soon.
XxxX
Shinichi honestly didn't know what to expect when he brought Conan to his overdue doctor's appointment, but it definitely wasn't for the doctor to say that he was mostly not sick anymore and that he could finally go a few hours without getting sick with the help of certain tablets. It was honestly way too much for him to handle at once, he was both overwhelmed and excited. Overwhelmed because of the information given to him all at once and excited because he could finally put Conan into school.
All the better that it was around the time he would be getting his string too. He didn't even think that Conan could be like him and not have one. (No, he didn't want to think that he would go through what he was.) The first thing he did when they exited that appointment was make his way to Teitan Elementary School to get his brother enrolled. He was his guardian, so he could definitely do it.
Or that's what he thought, he had to end up calling his parents because he was "still underage". While that was quite annoying, it was all worth it in the end because Conan was now enrolled and would be starting Monday next week.
Weirdly enough, it felt super refreshing. Not only could he himself go to school more now, but Conan would be able to finally make some friends. He really needed some, it was important for him to have a social life. While Conan didn't seem all that excited about having to meet new people, Shinichi could tell he was happy that (for the most part) he'd finally be able to go out on his own for a while without having to worry about getting sick.
XxxX
Shinichi was extremely happy right now. Which was pretty rare for something that didn't involve a mystery and or corpse... It was honestly slightly creepy to both girls as they walked next to him. They couldn't help but glance at each other before looking back at him with worried and confused (slightly disgusted on Sonoko's side) expressions.
It was Ran who decided to finally break and be the one to ask him what the hell was up.
"So uh, what's got you all excited, Shinichi? Not only is it rare to see you at school, but it's even more rare to see you this happy over something that isn't a mystery or some dorky stuff like that." She could see his expression fall to that of a slightly annoyed one before quickly going back to the overly happy one.
"I am not going to let your stupid teasing get to me today, Ran! Yesterday and today have been fantastic and I will not let ANYTHING ruin how good it's been!" Ran could see Sonoko rolling her eyes at his words.
"So, what happened then, idiot? That's what Ran asked, not for your whole week's story." Ran heard a huff come from Shinichi. These two really couldn't help but argue over stupid little things, huh?
"if you really must know, Conan is finally able to go to school! The doctor said that all he needs to do is take some tablets in the morning and he'll be perfectly fine for a couple of hours." Ran's eyes widened in shock, a quick smile coming to her face after fully processing the words. "Holy crap! That's such good news, Shinichi! The poor boy really needs to go to school, so I'm happy he can!"
Sonoko would let out a sigh, a smile also coming to her face. "Well, looks like we're going to a bakery after school today. We need to get that little brat a congratulations gift." Shinichi would roll his eyes, "Conan is not a brat, Sonoko. He's just... Different. But I think that'll be a good idea, he's been really into sweats lately, so he definitely would not refuse it."
"Okay then! You'll have to tell me what he likes most when we get to the bakery, I'll place a special order for him." Sonoko said; a proud smile on her face. Ran would give a smile to her girlfriend, despite her personality being powerful and quite...rude at times, she really did care about people. She was glad that Sonoko ended up being her soulmate.
She was also just happy that Conan could finally make friends. The kid had to be lonely being locked up all the time, it was good for him to finally get out there. It was also around the time when he would find out who his soulmate was, it was the perfect time
