31_days | [March 3, 2008] [Detective Conan/Case Closed] Of Mud and Self-Preservation

Title: Of Mud and Self-Preservation

Day/Theme: March 3; Your Heaving Chest

Series: Detective Conan/Case Closed

Character/Pairing: Shinichi/Ran

Rating: G (K)

Ten-year-old Shinichi Kudo flopped backwards onto the grass, out of breath and not caring that he’d have a mud stain down his back. Sometimes it just didn’t matter. Like when you’d been dodging potentially lethal kicks aimed at your head.

Ten-year-old Ran Mouri flopped next to him, perpendicularly to his torso, upon which she opted to rest her head.

“…if I weren’t…so out of breath…I’d kill you…” she warned. She brought her hand back and weakly tried to hit him.

“…if I weren’t so…out of…breath…I’d make…a really…smart comeback…” Shinichi panted back.

For a moment they both just lay there, catching their breath and cooling off, both literally and figuratively. Shinichi couldn’t even remember what he’d done to make her so mad…it almost didn’t matter. It was their routine anyway. He needed the exercise until Soccer season started up.

“Ran…do you remember what we were fighting about?” Shinichi asked tentatively. She turned up to look at him, blinking owlishly. Her face practically screamed ‘No, do you?’ She seemed to realize the same thing, and her cheeks colored as she scowled.

“Shut up,” Ran commanded, wiping her sweaty bangs out of her face.

Shinichi couldn’t help the chuckle that came out – didn’t she realize she’d just smeared mud all over her forehead? He tensed himself then – ready to run in case she decided to take offense. Really, she was so touchy.

To his amazement, Ran kind of laughed too. “Don’t tense up,” she instructed, settling her head into his stomach.

“Why…” Shinichi said warily, his guard coming down a little when he saw she was making herself cozy.

“I can’t get comfortable if you’re all tensed up,” she replied serenely.

“…okay…”

Ran let out a soft giggle.

“What?”

“When you laughed before, my head started bobbing up and down.”

Shinichi laughed aloud at the mental image, and sure enough, Ran’s head started bouncing in time to his laughter.

“Here, you try,” Ran insisted, scooting over so Shinichi could lay his head on her stomach instead.

Shinichi warily did so, and Ran obligingly dissolved into giggles. Shinichi joined her almost immediately. It was the strangest sensation. Like a squirmy pillow.

Again, they just lay there, content for the time being. Shinichi was almost ready to go to sleep right there…

“Shinichi?”

“Hmm?”

“Did you know you have mud all down your back?”

Shinichi blinked. Where had that come from? His face shifted into a devious grin. “Ran?”

“Hmm?”

“Did you know you have mud all over your face?”

“What?!”

Shinichi’s head was unceremoniously thunked to the ground as Ran sat up, feeling her face.

“Why didn’t you tell me?!” she exclaimed smacking the side of his head smartly and rubbing at her face with her dirty hands.

“I just did tell you,” Shinichi pointed out, deciding not to tell her she was making it worse.

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?!” she clarified, shifting position better to aim a kick at him.

Time to go, Shinichi decided, dodging expertly and hopping to his feet. Ran wasn’t far behind, her muddy hands clenched into fists as she slid into a position Shinichi knew only too well.

Later, nursing a black eye, courtesy of Ran, a large goose-egg courtesy of Kogoro, and a cracked rib, courtesy of his Mother’s obsession with glomping him, Shinichi decided that soccer really was essential to his survival if he wanted to hone the footwork he needed to outrun Ran.

Alternatively, Ran decided that she really liked karate and the complete authority that it gave her.

Years down the road, though, Ran wouldn’t remember that day because of her triumph over Shinichi in the form of a black eye. (There were a lot of days like that to confuse it with, after all). Instead, when things were lazy around the office and her dad was passed out on the couch or obsessively hogging the TV, she’d arrange the cushions on the couch just so, lay back on them, and just laugh.

-O-

A U T H O R S N O T E

Doing much better today. Not posting 3 seconds before midnight. ^^;

Inspired by a game my sister and I play, called ‘Ha Ha.’ you lay on the stomach of the other person, and take turns saying ‘Ha.’ Each person increases the number of ‘Ha’s by one. Soon, you won’t be able to count how many ‘Ha’s you’re on, and will simply dissolve into giggles. The object of the game is to try and make the OTHER person dissolve into giggles first.

(You can play it with a bunch of people, too, if none of them object to laying on the ground for an extended period of time.)

Yay for randomness! I’ll find a way to connect a few of these into a semblance of plot, mark my words!

~Ayaia