A late Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and HAPPY NEW YEAR! Here's to 2025, and may it be a blessed and wonderful year for each and everyone!

I may not have achieved personal target dates for several of my fics, but it's okay! I'm just going to continue at my own pace, no matter how long!

Guess to start off, here's a brand new free write one shot! This particular fic is part of an idea that's been around, yet hadn't been put my pages until recently. The tags kind of give away the story, but at the same time, I hope not. I'll leave it at that and say here you go, enjoy!

Title: Taciturnity

Type: One Shot

Summary: When Shinichi returned, Ran thought he'd go back to being the boisterous teen who would boast of his accomplishments and endlessly supply her with Holmes knowledge. Instead, he's much more quieter now, his voice absent from all their interactions. She wants to understand what caused this change.

Idea: Look For Idea Below

Sub-Ideas: Look For Sub-Ideas Below

Date: January 2, 2025

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It was a blustery autumn morning when she walked out of the building. The air was cold and the weather damp. Clouds scattered across the skies of Beika, with only patches of light spilling through. One of those beams happened to illuminate the one standing in front of her. He was tall, hair naturally disheveled, sticking up in that familiar design, his face relieved at the sight of her alone.

"Shinichi," she gasped in surprise.

His lips moved to speak, mouthing her name, "Ran."

But not a sound escaped his lips.

It made her bewildered by the lack of his voice, but all was put aside when he rushed in and enveloped her in an embracing and desperate hug. No words were exchanged as she hugged him back, understanding the message.

"I'm home."

Since that day, life slowly returned to normal. But it wasn't the same as before. Shinichi was much more quieter now, his voice absent from all their interactions. Instead of verbal communication, he resorted to replying through texts. When his phone was not available, his responses were written in pages upon his little notebook that stayed in his back pocket.

At first she tried to pry the information out of him, but all that gained her was a nervously fidgeting Shinichi who retreated whenever possible. He somehow became better at avoiding her movements and often got away. When she finally cornered him and asked for an answer, that's when she saw it. His expression fell as he struggled to explain; a deep longing to voice his painful situation reverberated visibly throughout his whole, expressed heavily through a long sigh.

So she stopped, not wanting to push him further into a pit of despair. Instead, she turned to his parents who were living at home again. Their reluctance was evident when asked, as their gestures twitched with guilty and uncomfortable glances to one another. His mother finally relented and spoke,

"Ran-chan, do you remember when Shin-chan told you he was away on a long case?"

"Haii?"

"Well…" His mother paused, looking down towards the floor as she spoke, "Shinichi had gotten hurt during that case. For awhile, he was healing well, but… on the final day of his treatment, there was a side effect."

Ran is shocked, her thoughts quickly putting all the pieces together, "His voice."

Both parents nod and she is left to her own thoughts. They don't elaborate further, telling her simply that Shinichi will explain in due time; reassuring her of its return while reminding of its needed time to recover. But that doesn't stop her from drawing her own conclusions of what had robbed Shinichi of his voice. She imagines so many things, from physical injuries to mental traumas. It made her worry. Whatever happened on this long case, just how scarring was it for him?

It was finally when he returned to school that the teachers had to explain that Shinichi had to rest his voice as much as possible, and therefore would not be speaking until it fully recovered. This was a relief and a double confirmation that he will be back to himself soon. Still, she can't help but keep strong for him in this time of need.

Life went on and high school life found a new normal. What once was fun verbal banter between friends became all out texting wars. This was mainly between Shinichi and Sonoko. She giggled at their childish gifs and emoji taunts to each others ideas, while she smiled at his sweet yet awkward words of love for her. It may not have been the same as before, but some things never truly changed.

As the weeks turned to months and his voice still showed no sign of returning, she thought Shinichi was going to remain silent forever. But on a midwinter's day, when she planned to meet him at Agasa-Hakase's home, a peculiar noise catches her attention.

There, while standing outside of the slightly ajar front door, she hears a sigh, "We'll have to call this another dud."

She recognizes that voice as she quietly mouths to herself, "Ai-chan?"

"Don't give me that look. You knew this was going to take awhile. I did warn you then, while the antidote was proven permanent, unknown side effects could still be present. You agreed to it regardless."

Ran stays quiet, wondering what this could all mean. Soon after, she hears whoever she's talking to heave a discontent sigh.

"What? I know you have something to say, so spill."

"I…just…"

That voice, that was-?!

"Spill it," Ai-chan demands.

"I'm tired of this Haibara. I just want to be able to tell her the truth already. But I can't, not like this!"

Ran knows that voice. She's shocked, surprised! Tears well up in her eyes because she thought she'd never hear him again. She can't just wait on the other side of this door knowing that he's there, knowing that she can hear from him again. He was back!

So Ran in all her excitement, bursts through the door calling out to him,

"CONAAannn…-kun?"

She blinks, and blinks again processing the scene. Instead of the one she heard behind the door, the little boy she had said goodbye to months ago, there before her are Ai-chan, and a wide eyed Kudo Shinichi, who automatically replied in that all too familiar childish voice,

"Ran-neechan?"

Haibara facepalmed.

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Ideas: Shinichi took a permanent antidote and he's back to normal... almost. There's one thing that's wrong, and that's his voice. It's still his childhood voice.

Sub-Ideas: Ran trying to understand why Shinichi has become mute.

-Ran and Shinichi meet again for real and are finally together.

-Ran notices that Shinichi's changed, but the biggest one is he's not talking as much anymore.

-Ran tries to find the truth, gets it, and eventually begins to find alternative ways into a new normal.

-Ran and Shinichi plan to meet up at the Professor's house, but Ran catches a conversation she wasn't meant to hear.

-Big reveal of the truth in the most unlikely way.

Surprise! It's a silly little, "Ran Finds Out Fic," but in an unconventional way. Basically: What if, when Shinichi took the antidote, the only thing that didn't change was his voice?

Now how did I think of this? Well, it kind of started way back while watching the anime. You know those after credit scenes where we hear Conan explaining the results of what happened after cases to the suspects, criminals, etc. and how they are moving on or living? It's often heard in his Conan voice. I have this idea that Shinichi is telling these stories either before he becomes Shinichi again, or after and is just using the bow tie to share the cases. But then it became a though of, what if his childhood voice stayed? So that's how this happened.

How did this story go? If you'd like, let me know what you think. Thanks for reading! See you again on another idea, and HAPPY 2025 NEW YEAR again to you!