Family Portrait (40 Nights: Shinichi/Ran) (#10)
Title: Family Portrait
Fandom: Detective Conan/Case Closed
Author: Amm (SoulSeeker)
Theme: #23-like an art piece
Pairing: Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I don’t own the characters of Detective Conan-I just play ‘Barbie’ with them, because god knows they’re a lot more fun than real Barbies.
Summary: The two were looking towards an...interesting future.
10/40-twenty-five percent complete…
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Kudo Shinichi was, undeniably, a very well-rounded person. Even Kogoro had to admit it: the pesky brat had a damn bright future ahead of him.
He could’ve been anything-the obvious choice was of course, a detective, but there were many, many other options open to him. He could see himself doing many things with his life, and when anyone asked him things like “where do you see yourself in twenty years?” … well, let’s just say the answer was quite open-ended…
His athletic qualities could’ve easily led him to be a world-renowned soccer player.
His familiarity with the police force could’ve very well led to him being a very valuable asset to the homicidal investigation unit. (Hell, he practically already was.)
His lack of singing ability…
Well all right. Perhaps that was one aspect of his character that worked against him. In general though, his future was seemingly endless; but of course, all good things had to end at some point or another, and though there were a number of things he could see himself doing in twenty years, one thing was for sure:
He never saw babysitting as one of them.
“You’re joking. You’ve got to be joking. Is it April Fools’ day?”
Shinichi glanced over to his calendar, and it stared back at him from the back of his door, telling him that it was clearly May already-nowhere near April 1. He then looked away from it disdainfully and heard a sigh, coming from the phone he was holding to his ear.
Ran, who was on the other side of the line, rolled her eyes; for such an intelligent teen, Shinichi could be quite immature at times. “No, Shinichi, I’m not joking,” she reassured him. “I really don’t want to do this alone. Pleeasee? It’s just for a couple hours!”
Queue the whining.
“But Ran, I don’t do children!” Shinichi replied. “You were the one who agreed to it. Mrs. Yoshida is expecting you to do it. Besides, Ayumi likes you!”
“Come on, she likes you too! You know it!” Ran argued.
Shinichi smirked. Probably a little more than I’d like, he added mentally with a silent chuckle; but he didn’t interrupt her.
“And I’ll do most of the work! I just want someone with me…come on, pleeeaasseee? Shin-chan?”
He groaned lightly and sighed, taking note that she had carefully used his family nickname in her planned maneuver to convince him-and it was working. He didn’t know what it was, but even without her (at times…) seductive looks and her presence, it was still difficult to say the word ‘no.’ Feeling him slowly cave in, Ran smiled at what she knew was going to end in her victory.
“…fine,” Shinichi finally stammered. “But you’ll owe me. Big.”
She had to stifle a bit of happy giggling-finally, they would get to spend some time together; even if Ayumi was going to be there. “Meet me at my house in ten, okay? It’s walking distance, so we’ll have no trouble getting over there. Unless of course Mr. Tough-Tantei’s going to have trouble walking for ten whole minutes,” Ran teased sarcastically with a smirk.
Shinichi rolled his eyes, already going into his closet and pulling out a red t-shirt and a pair of shorts to change into. “Oh haha, very funny,” he replied. “If that’s the case, then maybe I’ll have trouble helping you out, too.” He stuck his tongue out, though fully aware that she wouldn’t see it.
“Yeah, uh-huh. Nice try.” Ran laughed mockingly at his futile attempt to go back on his agreement. “I will see you in ten.”
“Or so you hope,” Shinichi mumbled, smiling devilishly.
“What was that?”
“Nothing! See you in ten minutes.”
In his wisest decision yet, he hung up the phone with a playful grin. He changed in no more than a couple minutes and spent the rest of the alleged ten slowly walking over to the Mouri Detective Agency, lost in his own mind. The sun shone brightly, and it was difficult not to notice the beautiful cherry blossom petals dancing through the air; spring had brought with it beautiful scenery, and it pained him that he would have to spend the day inside. Babysitting, no less.
Of course, as if Ran had read him like an open book, she had made similar comments about the scenery, and wasting the day indoors. Shinichi said nothing, yet he realized his thoughts had been read again when Ayumi too expressed her distaste for being trapped inside the house when it was ‘raining cherry blossom petals.’
“Well, maybe if you ask your mom nicely, Shinichi-kun and I can take you to the park or something,” Ran suggested with a smile. All eyes turned to Miss Yoshida as she slipped into her coat and grabbed a set of keys, letting it jingle its way into her pocket.
She flashed Ran a smile in return. “Of course you can,” she told her. “I quite agree, it is a lovely day outside. Just be careful; be sure to have her back inside in the evening, for dinner and everything-and, give me a ring if you can, when you get in. The number is on the refrigerator.”
The two nodded in wholehearted understanding of the set conditions, and then said their goodbyes to Miss Yoshida before heading off to the park, taking their time to enjoy the scenery. They let Ayumi stroll ahead, though keeping a close eye on her, and it seemed that many people had gotten the same idea they did. Children with their parents, and couples with their dogs, playing…
Suddenly Ayumi stopped, so quickly that if Ran didn’t know any better, she’d have freaked out. She watched as Ayumi jumped up and down, trying to see above a large crowd ahead of her, and then saw her sway her head from side to side, attempting to see through the throng of people-it had nearly been rhythmic, and the look of determination in her eyes was almost frightening.
“Er…Ayumi…?”
“Mitsuhiko-kun!”
In a sudden burst of energy, she darted ahead, squeezing in through the crowd, and Ran and Shinichi had to follow, uttering things like ‘pardon me’ and ‘coming through’ as they pushed lightly through the people in a struggle to keep up with the child. Noticeably, it was much more difficult for the two of them to squeeze through.
“Ayumi-chan! What are you doing here?” Mitsuhiko’s voice soared above the hum of the crowd.
“Nothing! Just relaxing, that’s all, enjoying the nice day. Aren’t your parents here?”
“Yeah, they’re relaxing by that tree over there. We just had lunch. Oh, hi, Ran-neechan! Shinichi-kun!”
Ran sighed, breathing slightly heavier now, and put a hand on Ayumi’s head; Shinichi simply stood behind her and waved. He was keeping her company, just like he was supposed to, and he had to admit, it was a little weird to pretend not to know the two when he had spent so much time with them.
“Don’t run off like that, Ayumi-chan,” she pleaded. “We need to know where you are, okay? Right, Shinichi?” Ran nudged him lightly, hoping to get at least a little peep out of him.
“Er-right!”
Ayumi hugged her apologetically and it looked like she had felt some remorse, but in the end, she smiled. “Okay!”
Ran returned her hug and lifted her from the ground, and she used her free hand to lightly ruffle Mitsuhiko’s hair. “You don’t go running off either, understand? Do your parents know where you are?” she asked.
Shinichi folded his arms as he observed the three of them, a playful smirk tugging at his lips. “Ran, you are such a mother…” he grinned, shaking his head. The comment had gone unnoticed; he simply inched closer her and reached up to pet Ayumi, who had ended up stroking Ran’s hair, realizing for the first time how long and pretty it was. “You guys listen to Ran, m’kay? She knows what she’s doing…” Shinichi told them.
The girl giggled, and Ran blushed slightly at the compliment. “Thanks…”
Before Shinichi could reply with a ‘you’re welcome’, he felt a hand on his shoulder that had distracted him. He looked over to it suspiciously and he noticed Ran had a similar reaction; she must’ve felt it as well. Shinichi turned around, brushing the hand off, to see who it was; the touch seemed familiar.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you! I was just wondering if you would want a picture of your wonderful family to remember Kids’ Day.” The stranger, female, stood before them, Polaroid camera in hand. Her hair was long and curly, and it definitely did not look natural. “You guys look so happy and perfect together, I couldn’t ignore it.”
Her smile was almost scary-just who was this person, to butt into their lives like that?
Shinichi and Ran stared at each other baffled, forgetting for the moment that it was May fifth, and Ran blushed immensely, realizing the implications of what this girl-woman-had just said. “No, no, you couldn’t possibly think that he and I… I mean, we’re…not…”
“Oh nonsense! Come, come. I promise, I’m an excellent photographer!” The stranger had pushed the two closer, and also put Mitsuhiko in front with them. “Come on dear, don’t be shy! You want to be in the picture with your mommy and daddy now don’t you?”
“Mommy and…? Wait, but, we’re not…I mean, these two aren’t…”
Ran was beat red, but for some reason, her brain-to-mouth connection had died, and she couldn’t finish her sentences to save her life. The children were confused, but were content when they knew that a picture would be taken of them, and therefore said nothing to correct her. It was too late; the camera was in place, and Shinichi could see her finger on the button about to snap the picture. “Say cheese!”-and the finger lowered slowly…
“Hey! Wait a minute!”
He heard the picture being taken and afterwards immediately approached the stranger; she looked nervous as the Polaroid picture slowly came out, and watched as it fell to the ground. She then looked up to Shinichi, and you could tell she was panicked; backing away slowly, she didn’t break eye contact with him until the very last, brief moment…before she began to run, saying no more explanation than “SEE YOU!”-and she was fast.
“Damn it,” Shinichi cursed, punching his own hand in frustration since there was no wall within his reach.
Ran picked up the picture from the ground after letting Ayumi go and looked at it critically. She was blushing like mad; Shinichi looked mad, and the children just looked utterly confused. The thing that amused her most was that it really did look like some twisted family portrait-and she couldn’t help but smile.
“Ah, let it go, tough guy,” Ran grinned. “Look at this. This could be us in five, ten years, you know? Some dysfunctional family portrait…It’s almost like work of art, with all the dark coloring. You’d almost think this was taken at night…”
“But…”
“Oh, it’s not that I’m saying we’re going to be married or anything…I mean, we’re not even dating yet…it’s not like I would want to get married this early anyway, I’m only nineteen after all…”
“But…”
“And I mean, it’s not like I’m implying that we’re going to have children or anything, I mean, god knows I don’t need that kind of commitment right now, and of course I want to go to college…”
“But…”
“And certainly the two of us would be much older than this if we ever had children. We know much better than that, and we’ve had all the health classes and everything that have preached to us how bad being a teen parent is, and…”
“Ran!”
“What?!” Ran finally stopped for breath.
Shinichi pointed in the direction that the stranger had run; and he had unmistakably noticed a wig of blonde, curly hair in the distance, lying on the ground-she had dropped it.
“That was Sonoko!”
And Ran froze; her hands loosened, the picture dropped…and the expression on her face was so priceless, a picture of it could’ve sold for millions-like a valuable piece of art.
They ran, and for the moment there was nothing in the world but them and their fair-weather friend.
…not even Ayumi and Mitsuhiko.
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fin
A/N: And there you have it. Sorry it took a while…I’ve been dealing with just a minor, teensy my-best-friend-threw-herself-in-front-of-a-train-and-killed-herself issue… so needless to say, I’ve been feeling pretty shitty.
My eternal thanks goes out to everyone (candy__chan, magic_truth, firelady113...) who knew and offered their kind words to me-you guys have no idea how much it helped.
Also posted to the 30_nights community and 40 Nights: Shinichi and Ran.
Fandom: Detective Conan/Case Closed
Author: Amm (SoulSeeker)
Theme: #23-like an art piece
Pairing: Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I don’t own the characters of Detective Conan-I just play ‘Barbie’ with them, because god knows they’re a lot more fun than real Barbies.
Summary: The two were looking towards an...interesting future.
10/40-twenty-five percent complete…
----------------------------------------------------------
Kudo Shinichi was, undeniably, a very well-rounded person. Even Kogoro had to admit it: the pesky brat had a damn bright future ahead of him.
He could’ve been anything-the obvious choice was of course, a detective, but there were many, many other options open to him. He could see himself doing many things with his life, and when anyone asked him things like “where do you see yourself in twenty years?” … well, let’s just say the answer was quite open-ended…
His athletic qualities could’ve easily led him to be a world-renowned soccer player.
His familiarity with the police force could’ve very well led to him being a very valuable asset to the homicidal investigation unit. (Hell, he practically already was.)
His lack of singing ability…
Well all right. Perhaps that was one aspect of his character that worked against him. In general though, his future was seemingly endless; but of course, all good things had to end at some point or another, and though there were a number of things he could see himself doing in twenty years, one thing was for sure:
He never saw babysitting as one of them.
“You’re joking. You’ve got to be joking. Is it April Fools’ day?”
Shinichi glanced over to his calendar, and it stared back at him from the back of his door, telling him that it was clearly May already-nowhere near April 1. He then looked away from it disdainfully and heard a sigh, coming from the phone he was holding to his ear.
Ran, who was on the other side of the line, rolled her eyes; for such an intelligent teen, Shinichi could be quite immature at times. “No, Shinichi, I’m not joking,” she reassured him. “I really don’t want to do this alone. Pleeasee? It’s just for a couple hours!”
Queue the whining.
“But Ran, I don’t do children!” Shinichi replied. “You were the one who agreed to it. Mrs. Yoshida is expecting you to do it. Besides, Ayumi likes you!”
“Come on, she likes you too! You know it!” Ran argued.
Shinichi smirked. Probably a little more than I’d like, he added mentally with a silent chuckle; but he didn’t interrupt her.
“And I’ll do most of the work! I just want someone with me…come on, pleeeaasseee? Shin-chan?”
He groaned lightly and sighed, taking note that she had carefully used his family nickname in her planned maneuver to convince him-and it was working. He didn’t know what it was, but even without her (at times…) seductive looks and her presence, it was still difficult to say the word ‘no.’ Feeling him slowly cave in, Ran smiled at what she knew was going to end in her victory.
“…fine,” Shinichi finally stammered. “But you’ll owe me. Big.”
She had to stifle a bit of happy giggling-finally, they would get to spend some time together; even if Ayumi was going to be there. “Meet me at my house in ten, okay? It’s walking distance, so we’ll have no trouble getting over there. Unless of course Mr. Tough-Tantei’s going to have trouble walking for ten whole minutes,” Ran teased sarcastically with a smirk.
Shinichi rolled his eyes, already going into his closet and pulling out a red t-shirt and a pair of shorts to change into. “Oh haha, very funny,” he replied. “If that’s the case, then maybe I’ll have trouble helping you out, too.” He stuck his tongue out, though fully aware that she wouldn’t see it.
“Yeah, uh-huh. Nice try.” Ran laughed mockingly at his futile attempt to go back on his agreement. “I will see you in ten.”
“Or so you hope,” Shinichi mumbled, smiling devilishly.
“What was that?”
“Nothing! See you in ten minutes.”
In his wisest decision yet, he hung up the phone with a playful grin. He changed in no more than a couple minutes and spent the rest of the alleged ten slowly walking over to the Mouri Detective Agency, lost in his own mind. The sun shone brightly, and it was difficult not to notice the beautiful cherry blossom petals dancing through the air; spring had brought with it beautiful scenery, and it pained him that he would have to spend the day inside. Babysitting, no less.
Of course, as if Ran had read him like an open book, she had made similar comments about the scenery, and wasting the day indoors. Shinichi said nothing, yet he realized his thoughts had been read again when Ayumi too expressed her distaste for being trapped inside the house when it was ‘raining cherry blossom petals.’
“Well, maybe if you ask your mom nicely, Shinichi-kun and I can take you to the park or something,” Ran suggested with a smile. All eyes turned to Miss Yoshida as she slipped into her coat and grabbed a set of keys, letting it jingle its way into her pocket.
She flashed Ran a smile in return. “Of course you can,” she told her. “I quite agree, it is a lovely day outside. Just be careful; be sure to have her back inside in the evening, for dinner and everything-and, give me a ring if you can, when you get in. The number is on the refrigerator.”
The two nodded in wholehearted understanding of the set conditions, and then said their goodbyes to Miss Yoshida before heading off to the park, taking their time to enjoy the scenery. They let Ayumi stroll ahead, though keeping a close eye on her, and it seemed that many people had gotten the same idea they did. Children with their parents, and couples with their dogs, playing…
Suddenly Ayumi stopped, so quickly that if Ran didn’t know any better, she’d have freaked out. She watched as Ayumi jumped up and down, trying to see above a large crowd ahead of her, and then saw her sway her head from side to side, attempting to see through the throng of people-it had nearly been rhythmic, and the look of determination in her eyes was almost frightening.
“Er…Ayumi…?”
“Mitsuhiko-kun!”
In a sudden burst of energy, she darted ahead, squeezing in through the crowd, and Ran and Shinichi had to follow, uttering things like ‘pardon me’ and ‘coming through’ as they pushed lightly through the people in a struggle to keep up with the child. Noticeably, it was much more difficult for the two of them to squeeze through.
“Ayumi-chan! What are you doing here?” Mitsuhiko’s voice soared above the hum of the crowd.
“Nothing! Just relaxing, that’s all, enjoying the nice day. Aren’t your parents here?”
“Yeah, they’re relaxing by that tree over there. We just had lunch. Oh, hi, Ran-neechan! Shinichi-kun!”
Ran sighed, breathing slightly heavier now, and put a hand on Ayumi’s head; Shinichi simply stood behind her and waved. He was keeping her company, just like he was supposed to, and he had to admit, it was a little weird to pretend not to know the two when he had spent so much time with them.
“Don’t run off like that, Ayumi-chan,” she pleaded. “We need to know where you are, okay? Right, Shinichi?” Ran nudged him lightly, hoping to get at least a little peep out of him.
“Er-right!”
Ayumi hugged her apologetically and it looked like she had felt some remorse, but in the end, she smiled. “Okay!”
Ran returned her hug and lifted her from the ground, and she used her free hand to lightly ruffle Mitsuhiko’s hair. “You don’t go running off either, understand? Do your parents know where you are?” she asked.
Shinichi folded his arms as he observed the three of them, a playful smirk tugging at his lips. “Ran, you are such a mother…” he grinned, shaking his head. The comment had gone unnoticed; he simply inched closer her and reached up to pet Ayumi, who had ended up stroking Ran’s hair, realizing for the first time how long and pretty it was. “You guys listen to Ran, m’kay? She knows what she’s doing…” Shinichi told them.
The girl giggled, and Ran blushed slightly at the compliment. “Thanks…”
Before Shinichi could reply with a ‘you’re welcome’, he felt a hand on his shoulder that had distracted him. He looked over to it suspiciously and he noticed Ran had a similar reaction; she must’ve felt it as well. Shinichi turned around, brushing the hand off, to see who it was; the touch seemed familiar.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you! I was just wondering if you would want a picture of your wonderful family to remember Kids’ Day.” The stranger, female, stood before them, Polaroid camera in hand. Her hair was long and curly, and it definitely did not look natural. “You guys look so happy and perfect together, I couldn’t ignore it.”
Her smile was almost scary-just who was this person, to butt into their lives like that?
Shinichi and Ran stared at each other baffled, forgetting for the moment that it was May fifth, and Ran blushed immensely, realizing the implications of what this girl-woman-had just said. “No, no, you couldn’t possibly think that he and I… I mean, we’re…not…”
“Oh nonsense! Come, come. I promise, I’m an excellent photographer!” The stranger had pushed the two closer, and also put Mitsuhiko in front with them. “Come on dear, don’t be shy! You want to be in the picture with your mommy and daddy now don’t you?”
“Mommy and…? Wait, but, we’re not…I mean, these two aren’t…”
Ran was beat red, but for some reason, her brain-to-mouth connection had died, and she couldn’t finish her sentences to save her life. The children were confused, but were content when they knew that a picture would be taken of them, and therefore said nothing to correct her. It was too late; the camera was in place, and Shinichi could see her finger on the button about to snap the picture. “Say cheese!”-and the finger lowered slowly…
“Hey! Wait a minute!”
He heard the picture being taken and afterwards immediately approached the stranger; she looked nervous as the Polaroid picture slowly came out, and watched as it fell to the ground. She then looked up to Shinichi, and you could tell she was panicked; backing away slowly, she didn’t break eye contact with him until the very last, brief moment…before she began to run, saying no more explanation than “SEE YOU!”-and she was fast.
“Damn it,” Shinichi cursed, punching his own hand in frustration since there was no wall within his reach.
Ran picked up the picture from the ground after letting Ayumi go and looked at it critically. She was blushing like mad; Shinichi looked mad, and the children just looked utterly confused. The thing that amused her most was that it really did look like some twisted family portrait-and she couldn’t help but smile.
“Ah, let it go, tough guy,” Ran grinned. “Look at this. This could be us in five, ten years, you know? Some dysfunctional family portrait…It’s almost like work of art, with all the dark coloring. You’d almost think this was taken at night…”
“But…”
“Oh, it’s not that I’m saying we’re going to be married or anything…I mean, we’re not even dating yet…it’s not like I would want to get married this early anyway, I’m only nineteen after all…”
“But…”
“And I mean, it’s not like I’m implying that we’re going to have children or anything, I mean, god knows I don’t need that kind of commitment right now, and of course I want to go to college…”
“But…”
“And certainly the two of us would be much older than this if we ever had children. We know much better than that, and we’ve had all the health classes and everything that have preached to us how bad being a teen parent is, and…”
“Ran!”
“What?!” Ran finally stopped for breath.
Shinichi pointed in the direction that the stranger had run; and he had unmistakably noticed a wig of blonde, curly hair in the distance, lying on the ground-she had dropped it.
“That was Sonoko!”
And Ran froze; her hands loosened, the picture dropped…and the expression on her face was so priceless, a picture of it could’ve sold for millions-like a valuable piece of art.
They ran, and for the moment there was nothing in the world but them and their fair-weather friend.
…not even Ayumi and Mitsuhiko.
----------------------------------------------------------
fin
A/N: And there you have it. Sorry it took a while…I’ve been dealing with just a minor, teensy my-best-friend-threw-herself-in-front-of-a-train-and-killed-herself issue… so needless to say, I’ve been feeling pretty shitty.
My eternal thanks goes out to everyone (candy__chan, magic_truth, firelady113...) who knew and offered their kind words to me-you guys have no idea how much it helped.
Also posted to the 30_nights community and 40 Nights: Shinichi and Ran.