31_days | [October 9, 2008] [Detective Conan/Case Closed] The Client’s story

Title: The Client’s story

Day/Theme: Oct. 9: Same time, same place

Series: Detective Conan/Case Closed

Character/Pairing: Shinichi/Ran

Rating: PG/K+

-o-

Ran Kudo (formally Ran Mouri to her karate fans and her stubborn father) was somewhat worried. It was a beautiful evening, the stars were shining the best they could through the brightness of Tokyo, the air was crisp as it only is in approaching winter…

And Shinichi was on the telephone.

She poked her head into his study to urge him to hurry up – sit by the window with her to watch for snow… and she was surprised to hear the not-such-dulcet tones of her father on the other end of the conversation.

“Dad?” She stepped into the room, raising an eyebrow at Shinichi who nodded, holding the phone away from his ear as Kogoro yelled.

“He wants me to come over,” Shinichi explained quickly, eyeing the receiver with trepidation. “He’s being quite firm on the matter.”

“What does he want?”

“I asked him just that, and he reacted badly,” Shinichi said, indicating the source of the shouting.

“Well…do you want to go over?”

“I don’t know how long he’ll keep me…” Shinichi said apologetically.

“Well, we can get Conan dressed, and I’ll come too. He can’t shout at me. I’ll just shout right back.”

“I knew there was a reason I married you,” Shinichi grinned.

Ran frowned at him, shook a fist at him in warning, and exited the room, hurrying to get their son ready for an impromptu trip to Grandpa’s.

Leaving the house, Shinichi and Ran discussed their theories as to what it was exactly that Kogoro wanted. Conan, who had been sleeping, suggested that perhaps Ojiisan was cranky and needed a nap.

Ran agreed.

Shinichi just snickered and said something about all the sleep Ojiisan had been missing out on in the past few years.

Upon reaching the building, they climbed the familiar steps, ready to ascend to the apartment, but to their surprise, Kogoro met them at the second floor, ushering them into the Detective Agency. (If indeed, one can call yelling out the open door for all parties to get their butts in gear a proper meeting and greeting, that is.)

Upon entering the room, both Ran and Shinichi registered that Kogoro had a client. Upon further scrutiny, both seemed to realize at the same time who exactly the client was.

“Ayumi-chan?” Ran asked in disbelief, recovering first and depositing Conan into Kogoro’s unsuspecting arms.

Indeed, it was Ayumi Yoshida. She stood, bowing politely and smiling.

As Ran and Ayumi engaged in polite conversation, Shinichi turned in confusion to Kogoro, who was glaring at him.

“My client is eager to file a missing person’s report,” Kogoro growled to Shinichi. “She’s been saving up her pocket money for months so that she could pay me to locate this young man. A certain Conan Edogawa, who seemed to vanish without a trace.”

The boy who Kogoro held in his arms looked up in surprise. “Are you talking about me, Ojiisan?”

“Your name’s not Conan Edogawa, is it?” Kogoro said blandly to his grandson.

“Nope!”

“Well then. I’m not talking about you, am I?”

Shinichi sighed. Oh boy. This was going to be interesting… He stepped forward, toward Ran and Ayumi, wordlessly indicating that they all sit down.

Where to begin?

Shinichi sent a glance to Ran, who smiled. “Ah, Ayumi-chan. I don’t know if you remember Shinichi?”

“I remember,” Ayumi said with certainty.

Shinichi chuckled inwardly. She hadn’t changed much, then. She was still the one to speak out when it counted.

“I remember Shinichi-niisan made you sad, Ran-neechan.”

Shinichi sweat-dropped. Yup. Same Ayumi…

Ran smiled. “Don’t be too harsh on him, Ayumi-chan.”

“Ayumi-chan, I understand that you have something to discuss with me?” Shinichi said bluntly, making Ran roll her eyes at his obvious subject change.

Ayumi nodded. “I was wondering if you could help me with a case I’m working on.”

Ran’s eyes widened. “Oh?”

Shinichi cleared his throat. “I, uh, was under the impression that you were paying Mouri-san to help locate a friend of yours.”

Ran looked at Ayumi in surprise, then turned her gaze back to Shinichi.

Ayumi’s voice lowered to a whisper. “I didn’t wish to hire you, since I had already hired him, and I wanted to be mindful of his feelings.”

Shinichi nodded, keeping his face in a careful impassive expression.

“I’m a part of a detective group,” Ayumi explained. “We call ourselves the Detective Boys. We’ve sleuthed as far as we could for this case, and we all decided it was time to call in some outside help.”

They’re still doing that? Shinichi couldn’t help but marvel to himself. Without me?

“What is the case, Ayumi-chan?” Ran broke in at last, her brows furrowed in confusion.

“A missing person’s case,” Shinichi answered carefully. “Conan Edogawa, correct?”

Understanding flashed at last in Ran’s eyes, and she glanced at Shinichi in worry.

“The last time we saw him was three years ago,” Ayumi said sadly. “He came to school one day, and then he just…stopped. Our sensei said later that he’d gone abroad with his parents, but…” Ayumi paused.

Shinichi reviewed the facts in his head. So far, the story he’d told Agasa-hakase to spread seemed fine.

“…Genta and Mitsuhiko agree with me – we think something’s not right.”

They would agree, Shinichi deadpanned.

“We all thought that he would have contacted us in some way – we suspect he was kidnapped.”

“Why has it taken you three years?” Shinichi queried. “Why not look for him sooner?”

“Well, the first year, we kept thinking maybe he’d contact us. When he didn’t, we started thinking something must have happened to him.”

“Why not come to me?” Ran asked then. “He was living with me, I probably knew more about it.”

“Well…” Ayumi reddened. “Genta and Mitsuhiko thought you might be in on it, Ran-neechan.”

“…oh,” Ran muttered, quite flummoxed for phrases to utter.

“We started saving up our money,” Ayumi went on, “And our plan was to go to Osaka to hire Heiji Hattori.”

“Why Hattori?” Shinichi interrupted. “Why not me?”

“Well…if Ran was in on it, then surely you were too, Niisan,” Ayumi said apologetically. “We didn’t know if we could trust Mouri-ojiisan either.”

“I see,” Shinichi said. It had certainly been well-thought out, for a baseless accusation.

“We found out that no matter how much we saved, we wouldn’t have enough to get all the way to Osaka unless we didn’t want to come back,” Ayumi continued, “so Mitsuhiko suggested we call him instead.

“He told us that the best person to talk to would be you, Shinichi-niisan, no matter what our suspicions, because you’d be the key to our case. So we used the money we’d saved to hire Mouri-ojiisan.”

“Why not come to me directly?” Shinichi asked.

“We tried calling you, but you never answered your phone,” Ayumi explained.

Ran glared at him pointedly.

I knew I should have fixed the answering machine, Shinichi thought to himself.

“We knew that Mouri-ojiisan would know how to contact you, but we didn’t think he’d do it unless we paid him,” Ayumi concluded, lowering her voice at this last comment, lest risk being overheard by ‘Mouri-ojiisan.’

Shinichi sighed. It’s only sad because it’s true…

“So you want us to help you find Conan-kun?” Ran asked.

“Is she talking about me, Ojiisan?”

“Go to sleep, Conan-kun.”

Shinichi turned to give his son a wink, and then he turned back to Ayumi. He sighed. This was where it got complicated.

“Ayumi-chan, before we go on, may I ask why it is you’re so adamant about finding Conan-kun?”

Ayumi’s face stiffened in a resolve Shinichi had seen many times upon her seven-year-old face. It looked quite as determined now as it did then – only her face had aged.

“We are Conan’s friends. No matter what might have happened, we want to know.”

Shinichi grinned. “I believe that.”

Ran took Shinichi’s hand in hers wordlessly. It didn’t matter now that by the time they got back to their house they’d be too tired to watch for snow. This was more important.

“Ayumi-chan, I’m going to tell you about a case I solved around the time your friend went missing,” Shinichi said decidedly. “And I believe it will give you the answers you’re looking for.”

Ayumi nodded eagerly.

“Around that time,” Shinichi began, settling deeper into his seat, and he noted that Ayumi and Ran did the same, “There was an Organization. They were bad people, who took advantage of others and destroyed many lives. Little was known about them, besides the fact that their members always dressed in black…”

-o-

A U T H O R S N O T E

O.O

Igoeanddyesnaokaythanx XP

That was supposed to be…substantially shorter. But Ayumi kept prodding me. Saying she needed closure.

Aaaaaand that’s thirty-one, folks! Go me! It only took me FOREVER. >:(

It’s been fun, though. I’m glad I tried to push myself like that.

I don’t want to do it again in the foreseeable future, though…

~Ayaia of the Moon