On the Fourth Day of Christmas
Title: I Just Called to Say...
Author: tailfluff
Theme: Day Four: good conversation/the number four
Series: Detective Conan
Pairing: Conan(Shinichi)/Ran, Heiji/Kazuha
Rating: PG
Warnings: Nothing really...
Disclaimer: Detective Conan belongs to the great and wonderful Gosho Aoyama.
Anything else: If you haven't noticed already, all the stories I've written so-far somewhat connect for a larger story at hand. ^^;;
The key in any form of detective work was talking first hand with the people involved. Slowly and surely, questions would have them handing over clues without them even realizing it and in no time at all, the mystery would be solved.
This, of course, was something that Kudo Shinichi applied to real life as well. Although, he had to admit, he found it much easier to confront a possible murderer and ask them about the case than he did speaking to his own childhood friend.
Then again, he reasoned, Ran was a force to be reckoned with all her own and he could never tell if she'd be happy to get a call from him or angry that he hadn't called sooner.
Planning his course of action carefully, and securely blocking the door to the small room in Professor Agasa's lab just in case- Conan took out his cellphone and prepared to set a sequence of events into motion. With four simple phone calls, he would have the mystery solved.
First, he would call Ran's cell phone- which he knew would be off at this time since she was at the dojo training. As planned, he left a very specific message.
"Ran? Ah, I guess you're busy. Call me back when you can, you still have my number right? Ah- bye then."
He knew she had still had it, and could even remember how touched she was when he'd sent it to her cell phone. It was a risk, a very large one, but he knew it meant the world to her and that made it all worthwhile. But he already had two things to prevent her from calling him back before the other three calls were made. One, she would still be training for at least another thirty minutes. Then, he would make sure that in the ten minute span after her training was over that his line was busy. This gave him a clear forty minutes to set up the rest of his plan.
Dialing a second number, he waited for them to answer. Sure enough, within moments the cheerful voice of Sonoko came over the receiver.
"Hello?"
"Sonoko, I'm kind of in a rush and I can't seem to get Ran to answer her phone. I thought she might be out with you and had it turned off."
Sonoko raised an eyebrow, "Shinichi?"
"Um, yah?"
"Wow- it really is you! I haven't talked to you in forever. Of course, Ran is always talking about you, you know."
Embarrassing as it might be, Shinichi was glad to hear Sonoko start in on her ramblings. If he'd predicted correctly, she'd give him a good head-start on his mystery for this day.
"Ahh- she does?"
"Neh, Shinichi- you'd better get her something really fancy for Christmas this year. After making her wait so long, she deserves the best gift out there!"
"Hey now, I'm busy with a case. And stop acting like we're some married couple! We're just friends..."
"Right, right," Sonoko murmured, her eyes lighting up as an idea hit her, "But you should really treat her to something nice, Shinichi. Perhaps one of those promise rings that are all the rage right now. Ahh- how I'd love to have a boyfriend to share one of those with. Ran's so lucky!"
"Oi, oi- don't you have Makoto?" He thought to himself.
"Errr- well, I've got to go. If you see Ran, tell her I called."
"I'll make sure to let her know you send your love, Shinichi," Sonoko chirped back as the phone clicked off.
Sighing, he hoped that Sonoko didn't come up with too outrageous a tale about how poor Shinichi was so love-sick that he'd called her to beg that she send his heartfelt wishes to his beloved Ran. Shaking his head, a bead of sweat ran down his face.
"You know...I wouldn't put that past Sonoko. Ah- damnit. At least I've got one lead.
And with that, he adjusted his voice changer to another pitch and dialed the third number.
"Hello?" A girl's voice answered.
"Ah, Kazuha. I have sort of an awkward question for you if you aren't too busy at the moment," Conan said, using Heiji's voice.
"Oi- Heiji, what is it? It better not be something stupid."
"Actually, it's Kudo that asked me to ask you. Seems like he's desperate to get Ran the perfect gift this year and he thought that maybe you'd heard her mention something."
Kazuha tapped her chin, "Well, there was that one day when I visited Tokyo to do some early Christmas shopping..."
"Anything Kudo could use?"
"Ahou, I'm getting to that. There were some dresses here and there, and I remember pointing out those cute promise rings that all the couples are getting anymore," She remarked, clearing her throat as if to make a subtle point to Heiji, "She got all flustered when I mentioned that Shinichi should get her one. You know- a promise that he'll get back from that case in one piece."
"Did you see which type she liked? Maybe we can talk Kudo into that."
"Heiji, I really don't think Shinichi will be able to get her a gold ring with a ruby on it."
"Ahh, so neechan has expensive tastes," Heiji's voice replied, inwardly Shinichi winced at the thought of the price.
"Just tell him to get her one if he can. There are different types of promises, so if he's being a chicken he can pretend that it’s just as a friend."
"Aha, okay. Thanks Kazuha," He moved to end the phone call when Kazuha's voice stopped him.
"Oh and Heiji?"
"Hmm? What is it?"
"I think blue's a pretty color, don't you?"
And before he could clarify if that was indeed an attempt to get a sapphire ring or not, Kazuha hung up.
Sighing to himself, Conan checked the time. He'd expected that Kazuha would start making not-so-subtle demands if Heiji called asking about Christmas gifts on Shinichi's behalf. That's why Conan had already allowed time for the fourth call to be placed. A call, he was certain due to Heiji's anger at him for getting Kazuha's hopes up, which would surely last at least ten minutes past Ran's training time.
Needless to say, Heiji was less than pleased to hear that not only had Conan called Kazuha using his voice but that now his female friend was itching for a promise ring herself that Christmas.
"Sorry, Hattori. It is like she said though- it can be a promise between friends."
"Right. That ahou won't let me live this down if I don't come through with it. And how is either of us going to get the money for this, Kudo?"
"Hey, I didn't say that I was getting it. If we have to, we'll have settle for something similar but cheaper. At least that way it looks like we tried to get them what they wanted but just didn't have the money to do so. That's not so bad, is it?"
"Kudo... you'd better come up with something on this fast or we're both going to be getting nothing but a beating for Christmas."
"I know, I know. It's just Ran deserves this," He said, voice growing serious, "After this last year, after last Christmas, after everything that's happened..."
"Oi, I get the idea. Just next time, let me know before hand if you call around using my voice. I like to know what I'm saying."
"All right. And if I find anything else out about what the girls want for Christmas, I'll let you know since I got you into this. Talk to you later, Hattori."
"Later, Kudo."
Hanging up, Shinichi waited. One, two, three- and as the second hand hit the forth second the phone rang.
"Right on time, Ran."
Sitting himself down and making sure he had everything ready to run home as Conan once the conversation was over, Shinichi answered the phone.
"Hello?"
"Shinichi?" The familiar voice came over the line.
"Yah. I guess I called when you were at practice."
"Mmm, that's okay. I'm just glad you answered when I called back. Earlier the line was busy."
He smiled at that, "Ah, yes. Just something with this case I'm on."
Ran laughed, "That's always it, isn't it?"
"A detective's work is never done. But um," He swallowed as he grew slightly nervous, "I was wondering what you might like for Christmas this year? I'm not sure if I can promise much but I'd like to at least get you something."
"Oh, so you'll be busy?" Her voice turned somber and Shinichi knew he had his real answer already.
"I'll do everything in my power to be there, Ran. But I must admit, what to get you has somehow escaped my powers of deduction."
She laughed at that, but still managed to change subjects, "Oh, anything's fine. But- well, how are you? You're doing okay, right?"
"Ah yah. I'm good. What about you?"
And so continued one of their usual conversations- Ran talking about everything that had happened since they'd last spoken. The cases she'd been on, the goings on at school, and various other chit-chat.
Realizing that if he held out much longer, Ran might start to worry about where Conan was- Shinichi decided to make a graceful exit.
"Well, I've got to go."
"Already? It's only been..."
"An hour and twenty-three minutes," He replied with a laugh.
"Mou! Don't act like that's a bad thing!"
"All right, but you can sure talk my ear off if I let you."
She fell silent for a moment, "Well that's just because I..."
Hoping that it might help make up for the fact he couldn't promise Shinichi's appearance on Christmas, he quietly spoke up.
"It's okay. I've missed you too, Ran."
"Shinichi..."
He laughed nervously, "And in case you're wondering about a gift for me, just promise that no matter what happens you'll not be an idiot and go about crying out in the cold, okay?"
Tears welling in her eyes at his oddly-worded concern, Ran nodded, "O-okay, I promise."
"Good," He replied with a smile, "Bye, Ran. Take care."
"You too," She echoed back and then the two phones were hung up.
And at that moment, it was perfectly clear to both of them that aside from any material gift, there was one thing they wanted most of all.
"All I want is..."
"To see your face..."
"Smiling at me."
"...And that would be- the best gift of all."
Author: tailfluff
Theme: Day Four: good conversation/the number four
Series: Detective Conan
Pairing: Conan(Shinichi)/Ran, Heiji/Kazuha
Rating: PG
Warnings: Nothing really...
Disclaimer: Detective Conan belongs to the great and wonderful Gosho Aoyama.
Anything else: If you haven't noticed already, all the stories I've written so-far somewhat connect for a larger story at hand. ^^;;
The key in any form of detective work was talking first hand with the people involved. Slowly and surely, questions would have them handing over clues without them even realizing it and in no time at all, the mystery would be solved.
This, of course, was something that Kudo Shinichi applied to real life as well. Although, he had to admit, he found it much easier to confront a possible murderer and ask them about the case than he did speaking to his own childhood friend.
Then again, he reasoned, Ran was a force to be reckoned with all her own and he could never tell if she'd be happy to get a call from him or angry that he hadn't called sooner.
Planning his course of action carefully, and securely blocking the door to the small room in Professor Agasa's lab just in case- Conan took out his cellphone and prepared to set a sequence of events into motion. With four simple phone calls, he would have the mystery solved.
First, he would call Ran's cell phone- which he knew would be off at this time since she was at the dojo training. As planned, he left a very specific message.
"Ran? Ah, I guess you're busy. Call me back when you can, you still have my number right? Ah- bye then."
He knew she had still had it, and could even remember how touched she was when he'd sent it to her cell phone. It was a risk, a very large one, but he knew it meant the world to her and that made it all worthwhile. But he already had two things to prevent her from calling him back before the other three calls were made. One, she would still be training for at least another thirty minutes. Then, he would make sure that in the ten minute span after her training was over that his line was busy. This gave him a clear forty minutes to set up the rest of his plan.
Dialing a second number, he waited for them to answer. Sure enough, within moments the cheerful voice of Sonoko came over the receiver.
"Hello?"
"Sonoko, I'm kind of in a rush and I can't seem to get Ran to answer her phone. I thought she might be out with you and had it turned off."
Sonoko raised an eyebrow, "Shinichi?"
"Um, yah?"
"Wow- it really is you! I haven't talked to you in forever. Of course, Ran is always talking about you, you know."
Embarrassing as it might be, Shinichi was glad to hear Sonoko start in on her ramblings. If he'd predicted correctly, she'd give him a good head-start on his mystery for this day.
"Ahh- she does?"
"Neh, Shinichi- you'd better get her something really fancy for Christmas this year. After making her wait so long, she deserves the best gift out there!"
"Hey now, I'm busy with a case. And stop acting like we're some married couple! We're just friends..."
"Right, right," Sonoko murmured, her eyes lighting up as an idea hit her, "But you should really treat her to something nice, Shinichi. Perhaps one of those promise rings that are all the rage right now. Ahh- how I'd love to have a boyfriend to share one of those with. Ran's so lucky!"
"Oi, oi- don't you have Makoto?" He thought to himself.
"Errr- well, I've got to go. If you see Ran, tell her I called."
"I'll make sure to let her know you send your love, Shinichi," Sonoko chirped back as the phone clicked off.
Sighing, he hoped that Sonoko didn't come up with too outrageous a tale about how poor Shinichi was so love-sick that he'd called her to beg that she send his heartfelt wishes to his beloved Ran. Shaking his head, a bead of sweat ran down his face.
"You know...I wouldn't put that past Sonoko. Ah- damnit. At least I've got one lead.
And with that, he adjusted his voice changer to another pitch and dialed the third number.
"Hello?" A girl's voice answered.
"Ah, Kazuha. I have sort of an awkward question for you if you aren't too busy at the moment," Conan said, using Heiji's voice.
"Oi- Heiji, what is it? It better not be something stupid."
"Actually, it's Kudo that asked me to ask you. Seems like he's desperate to get Ran the perfect gift this year and he thought that maybe you'd heard her mention something."
Kazuha tapped her chin, "Well, there was that one day when I visited Tokyo to do some early Christmas shopping..."
"Anything Kudo could use?"
"Ahou, I'm getting to that. There were some dresses here and there, and I remember pointing out those cute promise rings that all the couples are getting anymore," She remarked, clearing her throat as if to make a subtle point to Heiji, "She got all flustered when I mentioned that Shinichi should get her one. You know- a promise that he'll get back from that case in one piece."
"Did you see which type she liked? Maybe we can talk Kudo into that."
"Heiji, I really don't think Shinichi will be able to get her a gold ring with a ruby on it."
"Ahh, so neechan has expensive tastes," Heiji's voice replied, inwardly Shinichi winced at the thought of the price.
"Just tell him to get her one if he can. There are different types of promises, so if he's being a chicken he can pretend that it’s just as a friend."
"Aha, okay. Thanks Kazuha," He moved to end the phone call when Kazuha's voice stopped him.
"Oh and Heiji?"
"Hmm? What is it?"
"I think blue's a pretty color, don't you?"
And before he could clarify if that was indeed an attempt to get a sapphire ring or not, Kazuha hung up.
Sighing to himself, Conan checked the time. He'd expected that Kazuha would start making not-so-subtle demands if Heiji called asking about Christmas gifts on Shinichi's behalf. That's why Conan had already allowed time for the fourth call to be placed. A call, he was certain due to Heiji's anger at him for getting Kazuha's hopes up, which would surely last at least ten minutes past Ran's training time.
Needless to say, Heiji was less than pleased to hear that not only had Conan called Kazuha using his voice but that now his female friend was itching for a promise ring herself that Christmas.
"Sorry, Hattori. It is like she said though- it can be a promise between friends."
"Right. That ahou won't let me live this down if I don't come through with it. And how is either of us going to get the money for this, Kudo?"
"Hey, I didn't say that I was getting it. If we have to, we'll have settle for something similar but cheaper. At least that way it looks like we tried to get them what they wanted but just didn't have the money to do so. That's not so bad, is it?"
"Kudo... you'd better come up with something on this fast or we're both going to be getting nothing but a beating for Christmas."
"I know, I know. It's just Ran deserves this," He said, voice growing serious, "After this last year, after last Christmas, after everything that's happened..."
"Oi, I get the idea. Just next time, let me know before hand if you call around using my voice. I like to know what I'm saying."
"All right. And if I find anything else out about what the girls want for Christmas, I'll let you know since I got you into this. Talk to you later, Hattori."
"Later, Kudo."
Hanging up, Shinichi waited. One, two, three- and as the second hand hit the forth second the phone rang.
"Right on time, Ran."
Sitting himself down and making sure he had everything ready to run home as Conan once the conversation was over, Shinichi answered the phone.
"Hello?"
"Shinichi?" The familiar voice came over the line.
"Yah. I guess I called when you were at practice."
"Mmm, that's okay. I'm just glad you answered when I called back. Earlier the line was busy."
He smiled at that, "Ah, yes. Just something with this case I'm on."
Ran laughed, "That's always it, isn't it?"
"A detective's work is never done. But um," He swallowed as he grew slightly nervous, "I was wondering what you might like for Christmas this year? I'm not sure if I can promise much but I'd like to at least get you something."
"Oh, so you'll be busy?" Her voice turned somber and Shinichi knew he had his real answer already.
"I'll do everything in my power to be there, Ran. But I must admit, what to get you has somehow escaped my powers of deduction."
She laughed at that, but still managed to change subjects, "Oh, anything's fine. But- well, how are you? You're doing okay, right?"
"Ah yah. I'm good. What about you?"
And so continued one of their usual conversations- Ran talking about everything that had happened since they'd last spoken. The cases she'd been on, the goings on at school, and various other chit-chat.
Realizing that if he held out much longer, Ran might start to worry about where Conan was- Shinichi decided to make a graceful exit.
"Well, I've got to go."
"Already? It's only been..."
"An hour and twenty-three minutes," He replied with a laugh.
"Mou! Don't act like that's a bad thing!"
"All right, but you can sure talk my ear off if I let you."
She fell silent for a moment, "Well that's just because I..."
Hoping that it might help make up for the fact he couldn't promise Shinichi's appearance on Christmas, he quietly spoke up.
"It's okay. I've missed you too, Ran."
"Shinichi..."
He laughed nervously, "And in case you're wondering about a gift for me, just promise that no matter what happens you'll not be an idiot and go about crying out in the cold, okay?"
Tears welling in her eyes at his oddly-worded concern, Ran nodded, "O-okay, I promise."
"Good," He replied with a smile, "Bye, Ran. Take care."
"You too," She echoed back and then the two phones were hung up.
And at that moment, it was perfectly clear to both of them that aside from any material gift, there was one thing they wanted most of all.
"All I want is..."
"To see your face..."
"Smiling at me."
"...And that would be- the best gift of all."