Case Closed Fan Fiction ❯ Kore o kudasai ❯ ChII: From Day to Day ( Chapter 2 )

Ran hummed softly to herself as she fiddled slightly with the spatchula, cracking two more eggs open onto the skillet. She had been in a remarkably cheerful mood that morning and felt like singing it from the rooftops. As the case was however she decided that simply perfecting breakfast would suffice. Her father was already at the table, hiding his hangover in the morning paper. As for Conan, she had yet to see him that morning, but given how moppy and gloomy the poor boy had been these past few weeks she figured a couple extra minuets of sleep might actually do him some good.

Her smile faded momentarily as she thought of the small boy she had come to consider a brother. Over the past few weeks she had watched Conan become increasingly withdrawn, and she felt helpless, a notion that never sat well with her. Even so, she had only approached him once with the topic.

It had been almost a week ago after she had picked the boy up from school. It had rained all that day and the two of them walked home silently under the same umbrella. It had surprised her that every time she stole a glance at the boy he seemed so pensive. The look was not an unusual one for the boy, and she had come to except and even expect the boys slightly more bazaar traits. But this was different; this was almost a sorrowful contemplation. They both stopped at a crosswalk and waited for the light. Offering the boy a smile, she balanced her schoolbag in same hand as the umbrella and reached her free hand down, taking the small boys hand in hers.

“Conan-Kun? What's wrong” she had prompted, squeezing his little hand in hers. The small boy as if ripped out of his thoughts shook his head and looked up at his `nee-chan' as if he was only noticing her presents that moment. “n-nothing” he stammered, putting on a cherub like smile; Ran however wasn't buying it, at least not this time. “Conan-kun…” Ran chided, giving him that `mother knows best' look that always made him squirm. Conan looked down at his feet, his smile fading. “I...I just was thinking” he murmured softly, his words almost lost in the roar of the passing traffic.

The light changed and they crossed the street, hand in hand. “About what” Ran continued, determined to get it out of the boy. Conan didn't respond immediately, but rather he continued walking watched his feet “my…my parents” he finally answered, looking up at her with another half smile “I miss them.” Ran stopped and looked down at the small boy, not exactly sure how to respond to that. Of course he was missing his parents, and mentally she berated herself for not recognizing it. But somehow that answer didn't sit right with her. He had hardly ever mentioned his parents before, and even then he seemed to always have the same nonchalant approach to them that Shinichi had.

And still, as she stood there looking down at Conan, she felt her suspicions seemingly melt away in the wake of those deep blue eyes. There was something there that was in fact troublesome and sorrowful, almost in a manner that seemed beyond his years. But there was something else, something so painful and heartbreaking that hit her in that moment, moving her close to tears. It was as if that moment she and the boy shared some sort of loss or sorrow that could be shared and felt on a level she couldn't even begin to describe.

Dropping her schoolbag and umbrella she kneeled down and scooped the boy up in her arms, much to Conan's surprise and chagrin. “Ran-nee-chan…” he had exclaimed, trying to worm his way out of her grasp. “Oh Conan-kun, I'm so sorry, this must be so hard for you” she soothed and the boy abruptly stopped struggling. “yha…” he replied in a hollow voice.

They stayed that way for a long moment, she on her knees with her arms wrapped tightly around the boy, cold, wet, and pained. Both sharing and feeding of the others sorrow drawing relief and comfort from it.

 

Ran sighed scooping the two eggs onto a plate along with a few slices of bread and some sausages. The poor thing had a lot on his mind; and she speculated that he had seen more, and been through more then any other child his age. Pouring two glasses of milk she allowed a smile to overtake her once more, Conan needed someone to take care of him, not just as a friend but as a mother, or in this case, his `nee-chan' and as long as he lived under the roof she planed to do just that. She could hear the door shut and the small pitter patter of tiny feet and turned to find Conan making his way into the kitchen, taking his customary seat at the table, his face as blank as ever.

 

“Morning Conan-Kun” Ran said cheerfully as the boy sat down. Conan merely nodded his mind enraptured with other things. He didn't even recognize his surroundings until he herd the clank of the plat being set down before him. He looked up at the lavish breakfast, and then up to Ran, who was simply beaming down at him. “Ah…thank you Ran-nee-chan” he managed under his breath, looking down at the plate. He really didn't feel like eating, but with Ran hovering over him like this, clearly proud of herself, he felt it would be rude not to. Carefully he picked up one of the nicely sliced pieces of bread and began nibbling at it slowly.

Ran, apparently satisfied by his ploy smiled and turned back to the counter to get her own breakfast which consisted of nothing more then a few slices of bread and a glass of milk. Conan sighed, ripping apart another peace of bread and reluctantly shoving it into his mouth. This was going to be a long day.

He looked quietly from Ran to her father and then to the newspaper in the mans hands. He paused for a moment, one of the headlines catching his eyes. “The NMWA Greek Exhibit opens on time despite transportation delays.” Transportation delays? That hardly sounds like National Museum of Western art. After all they were the ones who had made a point of installing a whole new security system just to bring in an exhibit of Vincent van Gogh. He should know, Ran had dragged him through all 3 floors of the exhibit. They prided themselves on having the best exhibits on time and ready for the public. For them to have a delay it would take ether a large weather disaster, vehicle malfunction, or there was more to the story that wasn't being said. He scanned down the article, picking out a handful of other points that seemed to confirm his initial speculation. He could rule out the whether option, the exhibit was last on display in New York almost three months ago, and since the tern over in the Museum of Modern Art was notorious for speed and packed storage they would have been moved the exhibit as quickly as possible. The would have brought it in at the earliest point…even with typical transportation delays the exhibit would have been in on time…something did not fit…

He was snapped suddenly out of his thoughts by the sound of a loud smack followed almost immediately by a yelp. Conan looked up to see Ran standing menacingly over her father with a wooden spoon in her hand and Mori nursing a wounded hand and ego. “Dad…” Ran hissed, brandishing the spoon as if it were a weapon “that's Conan's breakfast, I'm making yours now.” She snapped gesturing to the skillet still simmering on stove. Mori growled under his breath, shaking out his newspaper and muttering something about who bought the food and household hierarchy.

“It's ok, Ran-nee-chan” Conan said with a smile, pushing the plate towards the older man “uncial can have my breakfast, I'm really not all that hungry.” Picking himself up he brought his half finished glass over to the sink. “But, Conan-Kun…” Ran protested hovering over him once more like a nerves mother hen. “See Ran, even the boy knows what's what…” Ran turned and scowled at her father and Conan used the opportunity to slip past her and make his way back to his room.

Once there he closed the door his mind drifting back to the article that headlined that morning's paper. There was something he was missing, a peace they did not want known…but what. After a moment he simply shock his head. He was looking too far into all of this. Grabbing his pack and his red shows that the good doctor was nice enough to create for him he dashed down the stares, making towards the door. Half way down the stares Ran stood, school case in hand, a week smile on her face. “Ready to go Conan-kun?” she asked in a voice slightly too sweet to be genuine.

The boy stopped and stared up at her, slightly confused. She had been this way for the past few weeks, sugary sweet and overly protective. On some level he found it to be nothing more then a nuisance, on the other hand…she cared, and despite himself, it felt good to be cared for, even if it was by a woman who considered you nothing more then a little brother. Returning the smile he nodded, shouldering his pack and slipping his shoes on. She was trying so hard to make him feel better, trying everything, the least he could do was return the favor, he owed her that little bit…at the very least.

“Ran- nee-chan?” the boy said suddenly looking back up at her. Her smile wavered, a little taken aback. He rarely ever spook anymore unless spoken to, and even then it was usually limited to a simply yes or no. “Yes Conan-Kun?” The boy paused, standing there for a moment before smiling up at her “thank you for breakfast Ran-nee-chan, it was really good.”

Her face simply lit up at the complement and Conan couldn't help but smile at her reaction. Reaching up he grabbed her hand, leading her down the remaining stairs. For that little moment it didn't matter that he was small, it didn't matter that she was heartbroken…all that mattered was his little hand in hers. “Thank you Conan” he said softly, and she meant it.

The two of them walked together down the sidewalk, talking about everything and anything, simply enjoying each others company

 

A man in an unmarked car watched silently as the target came into sight. Nonchalantly he lifted the phone and pressed redial. Almost immediately there was a click and a low gravely voice came on the line.

“Yes”

“Target acquired sir”

“Excellent and status”

“Target is being accompanied”

There was a long silence on the other end of the phone, followed by a soft snap of what the man could only assume was the others cigarette lighter. “We can't hold out on this any longer, things need to start moving”

“Understood”

“We will have to go with our second plan, I expect everything is in order for that.”

“Of-course”

“You only get one shot at this, don't fuck it up”

“Understood”

With that there was a click and the dial tone kicked in. The man in the car closed his cell phone and glanced up at the target as it disappeared around the corner of the building.