Case Closed Fan Fiction ❯ Kore o kudasai ❯ Ch IV: Birth of a Detective ( Chapter 4 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

By: Misk

Chapter IV

“I wana do it daddy, let me do it.” Ran huffed looking up at her father indignantly as he reached for the doorbell. The man paused mid gesture and looked down at her a bit irritated with what had become an obsessive habit with his daughter. “Please daddy?” she whimpered, presenting her father with the large doe eyes she had mastered, as all children do, presenting it to there parents when they least expected it. Kogorou Mouri managed to let a silent groan of defeat before scooping up the little bundle of energy his wife paraded around in a sundress and sandals. “Alright Ran, you can press the doorbell,” He announced much to the child's delight. “But only once...”

The little girl beamed with pride as her father held her up in reach of the doorbell. Pressing it with one small pudgy finger she was immediately rewarded with the distant buzz of the bell within the house, followed by a confirmation of “be right there” from the speaker set next to the button. So elated was she with her job well done she couldn't help but reach out and press the tempting little button one more time.

“That's enough Ran” her father warned, pulling her back a bit out of reach of the bell. Ran, unperturbed by his warning simply reached out a little farther to press the button again, and again, and again. “Ran…” came the second unheard warning. Finally with an exasperated role of his eyes Mouri tucked the little nuisance in the crook of his arm and began to tickle her in that ruthless way fathers had of playfully punishing disobedient children with masterful doe eyes.

“Daddy!” the girl shrieked through bouts of giggles, kicking and wriggling all the while. “Daddy, stop it…put me down”

Mouri grinned in triumph. “Are you going to push the button again?” He asked in a playfully chiding tone. The little girl squealed as he tipped her back a bit in his arms, the tickle assault not letting up for a moment. “No, no, I promise…I won't, I won't” she managed through her laughter, her little sandaled feet kicking madly in the air. With that Mouri put his daughter back on the ground, but not without placing a quick kiss on her nose and a raspberry on her cheek. Ran looked up at her father, her dress slightly twisted, her hair a bit of a mess, and a smile that stretched from ear to ear. He couldn't help but smile back.

“Now, I need you to be on your best behavior alright.”

“Ok, Daddy” Ran said with an obedient nod, grabbing at the edge of her sundress and tugging on it, to try and straighten it back out. Again he smiled, reaching down to make a half hearted attempt to straighten her hair. “That's my girl”

A moment later Yukiko Kudo was at the gate and ushering the two into the house with a smile and a greeting that consisted of a hundred words a minuet. Once inside Ran began to remove her sandals, lining them up neatly next to her fathers. “Isn't she just a doll” Yukiko cooed, kneeling down to the girls level. “I wish I could get Shinichi to pick up after himself like that.” Ran giggled and performed a little curtsy by way of a thank you. Shinichi's mother stifled another bout of laughter. “Shinichi is back in the study, you know where all the books are, right sweetie?” Ran thanked her quickly and bolted down the hall in search of her playmate, leaving the two adults to speak in peace.

It always amazed her how many books a single room could have, and the study most certainly had an overwhelming number of book. Sometimes she was tempted to ask Shinichi's father if he had once owned a library, or maybe a bookstore. Looking about at the shelves upon shelves of books and papers the little girl almost didn't see her friend sitting cross-legged in one of the leather arm chairs, a large book in his lap, and a few more at his side. “Hi Shinichi” she called, dashing over to him and attempting to stand on tip toes next to the chair in order to get a good look at what he was reading. “whatcha doin?”

Shinichi raised his eyes momentarily as she scampered over, but quickly returned his attention to the book. “I'm reading” he answered flatly. Ran pouted, feeling a bit put off by his tone she tried all the harder to get a good look at his book. “whatcha reading?”

Once again Shinichi looked up giving her a slightly irritated glare. “A book…” he paused as he noticed her somewhat equally irritable pout. “It's a book about a detective who lived in England almost one hundred years ago named Sherlock Holmes.”

Ran suppressed a small bout of giggles. “What a weird name, it sounds so silly.” Shinichi glared at the small girl for a long moment as if somehow her comment was directed at him and not the fictional character of which he spoke. “He's not wired, Sherlock Holmes is amazing. He's really smart and never gets anything wrong. He could even tell you where you have been based on the dirt on your shoes.”

“That's imposable” Ran protested with a huff. “No one can do that”

“Sherlock Holmes could”

“I bet he couldn't.”

“Could so.”

“Could not!”

“Could so!”

As if for emphasis on his last remark the boy stuck his thong out in order to add insult to injury. Ran folded her arms over her chest. He was such a stubborn jerk and it took all of her self control not to wipe that smirk off his face with her fist. Of coarse she did promise her father she would be good. “It's only a book Shinichi” she pointed out, deciding a more logical approach might get her point across. “It's not like any one could really do that.”

“Why not?” He replied indignantly scooting down off the chair and placing the book on the seat he had just vacated. “One day I want to be just like Sherlock Holmes and solve all kinds of mysteries.” There was an excitement behind his ice blue eyes as he spoke, and a lopsided smile found its way to his face as he continued. “I want be a detective like Sherlock Holmes, smart and strong like him, and be able to play the violin, and I will always catch the bad guy no mater what, just like Sherlock Holmes.”

“No one can be right all the time.” Ran retorted folding her arms, “my mommy says so.” Shinichi shrugged, scampering over to the shelves to look for another book to add to his stack. “Sherlock Holmes could, and so will I.” He turned back to look at her, a cocky smile on his face once more. “Just wait and see”