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A Curse Marked Fate

22: Looking Inward

"Is it just me, or has the brat been unusually chipper lately?" Sonoko asked as she plucked one of the cookie sticks from her jumbo raspberry and chocolate sundae and bit off the end. "Guess he's finally realized that being a kid again isn't so bad."

Ran followed her friend's gaze to where Shinichi and his three classmates were talking to an elderly couple at another table. All the children had notebooks in their hands. Apparently, they were supposed to be conducting surveys for a class project. They had already interviewed the waitress, Azusa, and the college student studying at the corner table. Ran and Sonoko had promised to answer the survey as well, though, since they were guaranteed to be there whenever the kids were ready, the kids had decided that they would interview the two girls last.

"Well, I think he's getting used to it," Ran mused, sipping from her milkshake. "But I think it's more because of Kaito-kun."

Sonoko's eyebrows shot up. "You mean the archmage's son?"

Ran nodded. "They've been texting a lot ever since the expo. He actually came by yesterday after school to take Shinichi to that book-signing event. You know, the one with the visiting author from America that Dad told him he wouldn't be able to attend because I had club work to do and Dad refused to miss Yoko's live interview about her new movie."

No one in the Mouri household had had any warning, so they had all been surprised when the knock had come at the door. Thinking it might be a client looking for her father, Ran had answered only to find Kaito on the doorstep. She'd been so surprised that she'd blurted out, "How do you know where we live?"

"I just looked up the Mouri Detective Agency," he'd replied with a grin and a box of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. "From my mom," he'd said. "I highly recommend you eat them now while they're still warm. Not that they're any less tasty once they've cooled, but I've always thought baked things should be eaten while they're warm."

That said, he had promptly invited himself into the apartment, summoned plates from the cupboards, and passed out the cookies. They were, indeed, very delicious cookies. They were so good in fact that the following ten minutes had found the entire agency silent but for the sounds of contented munching. When everyone was done, Kaito had whisked the plates to the kitchen sink then took Conan by the hand and headed for the front door.

"I'll bring him back before dinner," the Sky Mage announced just before he shut the door behind him and his small charge.

"We didn't find out where they'd gone until they got back," Ran concluded. "They brought Chinese takeout, so we all ate together."

Sonoko looked bemused. "So…" she began, dragging out the word until it became a statement in its own right. "Do you mean they've started dating?"

Ran choked on her milkshake. "What? What gave you that idea?"

"Everything you just told me, duh," the petit girl shot back. Raising her fingers, she began ticking off points. "He looks up your address, shows up at your house with gifts to sweeten everyone up, then basically kidnaps our little bookworm without asking so that he could take him to an event that we all know Shinichi was dying to attend. Then he brings you all dinner too. He's totally trying to win you all over. He wouldn't be doing that if he didn't have ulterior motives. Behavior like that says he's either a conman or interested in one of you."

"They just have a lot of catching up to do," Ran replied. "It's not as though they had much of a chance for that at the expo with all the events going on."

Sonoko made a noncommittal noise in her throat and pulled another cookie stick from her sundae. "Whatever. I still say it sounds like courting. It would certainly explain why he was so interested in asking us questions about Shinichi." The petit girl sighed and picked up her spoon to prod disconsolately at her sundae. "It's not fair. If even that antisocial detective geek can get a man, why can't I?"

"I still think you're reading too much into Kaito-kun's behavior," Ran said soothingly. "And what about Makoto-san? I thought you two were getting along well. And you told me he just about said he liked you."

"I guess," her friend muttered, jabbing her spoon into her sundae then glaring at the pink and white swirls of ice cream like they had offended her. "But then he up and left."

"For that big tournament in Europe," Ran recalled. "It's an invitation only event. It's a great honor to be able to attend."

"And I should be happy for him, right?" Sonoko finished before Ran could say more. Heaving a sigh, she popped the spoonful of melting sweetness into her mouth and finally began eating her sundae in earnest. It was a few minutes before she spoke again. "I am happy for him. I just wish we could have had a little more time, you know? I mean, we barely got to spend any real time together before he left, and now I don't even know how long he's going to be gone. What if he meets someone else while he's overseas?"

Not really sure what to say to that, Ran could only hum and do her best to look sympathetic. She had known Sonoko for even longer than she had known Shinichi, but there were times when even Ran had to admit that she couldn't understand the way the petit girl's mind worked.

As if to prove her point, Sonoko abruptly straightened in her seat and took a whapping bite out of what was left of her sundae. "I'll send him a gift!" she declared. Two more huge mouthfuls of ice cream and berries later, the glass dessert cup was empty and Sonoko was once again aglow with vim and vigor. "I'll make him something he can use every day while he's away so he can't possibly forget me! And I guess I'd rather stay single than end up like Matsuhara-san."

Ran blinked, confused. "Who's Matsuhara-san?"

Sonoko glanced quickly around the shop for eavesdroppers before leaning in close to Ran. "She's a friend of my mom's. She's a violinist. She's won all sorts of awards. But anyway, she's staying at our house right now for a few days to try and pull herself back together after her husband dumped her to run off with another woman. This actress who's been after him for years. Matsuhara-san's been really devastated. The whole thing happened so suddenly. She actually asked me if I could ask you to ask your dad to maybe help look into a few things for her."

Ran's brows furrowed. "I can see how that would be really upsetting, but I'm not sure what there would be for Dad to investigate."

"That's what we told her too, but she made me promise I'd tell you guys anyway." Sonoko shrugged. "I think she's hoping Kurata-san—that's the other woman—did something to force her husband to leave her."

"You mean like blackmail?"

"Or something like that. But yeah. I gotta tell you though, from what we saw, she's probably grabbing at straws. The man's totally head over heels for Kurata-san. He brought her to Dad's last business banquet, and they were practically glued at the hip the whole time, eating off each others fingers and all that. It was actually kind of disgusting. I mean, he had to have known that Miss Matsuhara would be here as Mom's guest. He didn't have to rub it in her face. I used to think he was a decent guy as far as business people go, but I guess it just goes to show that people change."

Ran thought of her own parents and their never ending feud over half remembered insults, lapses of judgment, and just plain old bad timing, and she couldn't help but wonder what it was about the world that caused people to work so hard to make their own relationships as complicated as they could.

"Well, I don't know if Dad can really help her. I mean, it sound like her ex husband just decided to leave her for a new relationship. We might be able to help her learn more about how it all led up to this, but I don't think anything Dad finds could actually bring him back to her, if that's what she's hoping for."

Sonoko sighed. "I don't know. That's what she wants, but I think she understands it's not likely to happen. She just can't admit it yet. She even went so far as to accuse Kurata-san of using some kind of love potion even though everyone knows those things don't work."

Ran winced. "That's…really sad. I do wish there was something we could do for her, but it doesn't really sound like there is."

"My sister suggested that it might help if your dad could just look into where and when her ex and Kurata-san were meeting up and stuff like that."

"Wouldn't that just upset her more?"

"That's what I said, but Sis thinks Matsuhara-san needs to understand how things got to this point if she's ever going to move on. After all, it was so sudden that she's serious about her love potion theory."

Ran nodded slowly. She could understand the reasoning. It was like cleaning a wound. The process might be painful, but it had to be done to allow the wound to heal properly. The woman might prefer to believe that her husband had been stolen by magic, but she would never be able to move on then.

Her breath left her in a heavy sigh. Talk about unpleasant tasks.

"I'll talk to Dad when he gets home tonight."

"Thanks. And tell him he should call my mom for the details."

With that matter settled, the girls' conversation turned to more mundane topics, not the least of which was the huge history exam they would be having at the end of the week and the new math teacher, a woman who had half the boys in their school completely enchanted (much to Sonoko's irritation. Ran, however, rather appreciated the new teacher's clear and concise explanations of complex mathematical theories. Her test scores in the subject had improved drastically since the new teacher had taken over—as had the scores of many of their classmates, male and female alike. Pointing this out, however, only earned her an eye roll from her petit friend).

Ran was waving Azusa over to ask her for an iced tea when the café doors swung open in a gust of warm air and in strode the one and only Kuroba Kaito. Sonoko's jaw dropped in surprise at the sight of him, but Ran, having half expected the Sky Mage to appear even though he had said nothing at all the other day about visiting today, only waved at him.

"You should try their chocolate dream shake," she said when he approached their table. "It's very good. Conan-kun and his friends should be done talking to the other patrons soon. Then they'll probably want to interview you."

"Ah, right, Co-chan did mention something about that." Kaito ordered the milkshake that Ran had suggested and slid into the seat next to her. His gaze, however, never once left the small boy in the blue jacket with the cowlick in his hair as he puttered about the café, directing his classmates, asking questions, and taking notes.

Seeing the soft expression in the Sky Mage's indigo eyes, Ran found herself wondering for just a moment whether Sonoko might not actually be right after all. Maybe Kaito really did have feelings for their trouble-magnet of a friend. It was a strange idea for Ran to wrap her head around.

She had been living with Shinichi for nearly seven years now, and in that time she had come to consider herself to be a sort of big sister to him. And as a big sister, she had been acutely aware of the way their classmates at school always gave Shinichi a wide birth where they could. Though there were still those who found his detective work intriguing and even a few who would approach him to ask about the cases they had seen on the news, no one ever lingered for long. In their eyes, Ran could always see the wondering…the question of whether spending too much time with a cursed detective might lead to their own or their loved ones' uncanny and premature demise.

While their classmates' attitudes had frustrated Ran to no end, she couldn't really blame them for their fear. Fear of death was natural. As was fear of the unknown.

In some ways, Ran realized, she had come to accept that that was just the way things would be. That acceptance made it difficult for her to picture Shinichi ever finding a romantic partner. Of course Shinichi had never expressed the desire to find such a relationship, but she wondered if perhaps he too had already decided that it was his fate to be alone. And the realization that she hadn't seen any of this, especially the bias of her own thoughts, until now sent a pang of guilt through her chest. Silently, she prayed to whatever higher powers might be listening that, if Kaito really did have feelings for Shinichi like Sonoko thought he did and if Shinichi felt the same, that things would work out for them.

Shinichi came trotting over to their table then, and Ran couldn't help but notice the way his blue eyes lit up when they landed on Kaito.

"You're early," he said by way of greeting.

"The traffic was better than I expected," Kaito replied with a shrug. "Besides, there's a supply store I wanted to check out. It's on the way there, but we'll have to head over early to have time to look around."

Ran frowned, looking from one boy to the other. "Are you two going somewhere?"

"Oh." Shinichi blushed and ducked his head. "Sorry. I meant to tell you this morning, but I forgot. We're going to Professor Agasa's to talk to Haibara. The professor said we could have dinner there. That's all right, isn't it?"

"That's fine. But don't stay out too late."

"I'll bring him home to you by ten at the latest," Kaito promised then paused to give Sonoko a puzzled look. The petit girl was draped over the table, giggling into the crook of her arm. "What is it?"

Caught between laughing and sighing herself, Ran shook her head. "It's nothing."

TBC

A.N: Happy lunar new year to anyone who celebrates it. :)