19Hey guys! I'm really excited to have actually taken the time to sit down and friggin' write something for once!
Not sure what I'll be having planned for this come later chapters so I'm always open for suggestions ;3
Enjoy!
Disclaimer- I don't own Detective Conan, Gosho-sama does :3
When the Cows Come Home
Prologue
Ran paid little attention to her actions as she went about her normal, everyday routine of prepping for the school day. Another Monday and the beginning of another week of note taking, studying, tests, and… her mind thought back to the many times when, during class, she had glanced behind her to the uninhabited desk in the row adjacent to her own. She sighed out loud allowing her head to drop a bit and her arm, with brush in hand, to pause in her daily ministration of brushing her hair.
It had been at least a month and a half since she had last seen him at that restaurant before he once again disappeared with only a message he left with Conan to pass on to her. 'Shinichi' her mind wandered to the oh-so familiar name whose face she so longed to see once again. The occasional phone call was appreciated; she was happy that he would take time out of his 'busy schedule' to fit in a phone call to her. But there was always that longing passion to just stand by his side and to watch him as he solved his cases with that determined look on his face. It had always given her the courage she needed to get though the difficult times she faced every time she thought back to that image of him.
She resumed the process of vanquishing the tangles from her hair before she looked up into the mirror. Much to her surprise, not only were her eyes watered up but there was the glistening trail of what had been a tear down the side of her face. After a moment of mental silence she raised her arm to clear away the watery build up that obstructed her vision. The feeling of the soft, silk pajama sleeve making contact with her sensitive cheeks only urged her to break down and cry into it. She knew it would have relieved her for the time being but instead decided to suck it up.
She straightened herself up and slapped her cheeks making a very childish pouting face at her reflection in the mirror. She inhaled and exhaled deeply as she reached down for her toothbrush.
'Not today Ran. Today will be a good day. You keep doing this to yourself. The more you think about him the worse you feel. It's your life and you need to be able to stay standing even if something tries to knock you down.' Ran's 'mental coach' told her as she vigorously brushed her teeth. She hadn't noticed but the more she lectured herself the faster and harder she began brushing until she went to spit out in the sink. The foaming liquid was dyed a bright red color and only after she saw it did she notice the stinging pain around her gums.
She decided it would be best for her to skip out on the mouthwash for today. The thought of the tear-jerking liquid coming in contact with her sore and exposed gums made her stifle a shudder.
As she walked to her room she had stopped by her father's door to quickly listen to the bit of activity on the other side. Seems he had just woken up and was getting his things together. She then trudged back to her room to get herself prepared for the day.
As she pulled her school uniform out of the drawers next to her desk, she glanced up at the calendar. It had totally slipped her mind due to her earlier coaching in the bathroom but the red circle around the date had reminded her that today was, once again, cleaning day for the Kudou residence. A faint smiled brushed her lips as she shot a quick glance to the picture on her desk. A happy pair smiled back at her: one she recognized but had failed to see so happy in quite a while and the other she had just plain failed to see.
She forced her thoughts elsewhere as she focused upon the task at hand. Once the task of removing her silky blue pajamas was completed she slipped into her navy uniform, the emblem marking her enrollment to her local high school, Teitan High.
Grabbing her school bag she trotted merrily down the hall heading towards the open living room area. Along the way she paused once again in front of her father's bedroom and rapped on the door twice before calling out in a sweet tone.
"Conan-kun? Are you up yet?" She didn't have to wait long for a reply, although, she wasn't sure if it could be really considered a reply but more of a sound of recognition.
"U….un…" she heard a low groggy voice echo from the hard wooden door. She gave a silent giggle as she thought about the many times she had heard the same unenthusiastic reply repeated to her each morning. Although it had always seemed he would be awake long enough to actually be mentally awake, he never perked up until he had had his breakfast… just like him.
She was about ready to mentally slap herself once again for the bounce back onto that topic. It wasn't like she was trying to totally remove any thought of him from her mind but rather focus her thoughts on a wider range of things in her life because, obviously, boys wasn't really the only thing going on in her life.
She pushed open the door that led to the open-air staircase and took a few steps down before reaching the next door that led to the homely detective agency that she, her father, and their house guest, Conan, called home.
Much not to her surprise her father was in a drunken slumber on his desk. A small pile of drool had been collecting under his partially open mouth. The television was still on but the volume had been turned down low as not to disturb him. Ran glided over, trash bag in hand, to turn off the device and sweep up the empty beer cans that littered the desk and floor space around it.
She paused briefly to gaze out the window at the grey, clouded sky. "Oh I do hope it doesn't rain." She allowed the phrase to escape her lips in a half whisper half grumble to herself. She never really liked walking to and from school in the rain. The splashing from the puddles caused her socks to absorb the moisture and make walking in shoes an uncomfortable experience.
Tying off the garbage bag and setting it in the corner by the door she made her way to the kitchen. There was still a good hour before it was time to leave for school so she had plenty of time to make a nice, sit-down breakfast for them as well as bentos for lunch.
As she happily stirred the scrambled eggs in the sauce pan, she heard the door to the detective agency click shut and glanced over in time to see a small boy around the age of eight hop backwards up onto the sofa opposite the door. As he yawned he covered his mouth with one hand while the other reached up towards the ceiling stretching.
Ran separated the eggs onto three plates along with buttered toast and half an orange. Knowing her father, he wouldn't be awake until long after they had left for school so she wrapped it up in plastic wrap and set it in the fridge sticking a reminder note to the door telling her father there was a real meal in there for him. She took the remaining plates and set one upon the coffee table next to the boy who was now entertaining himself by reading a Shonen Jump magazine while she kept the other for herself.
"Thank you, Ran-neechan." He chirped up as the meal was delivered right in front of him. They sat in silence as they both munched away before Ran swallowed and looked at Conan.
"Today Sonoko and I are going over to Shinichi's house to clean up again. Would you like to come?" Ran extended the invitation to him knowing before what his reply would be. He nodded twice, unable to speak due to the fact he was still chewing on his breakfast.
"So I'll meet you outside your school, kay"?
"Un!" He said after swallowing the remaining toast in his mouth.
From there, Ran returned the emptied plates to the kitchen sink before grabbing her stuff and heading out the door with a patiently waiting Conan. They then parted ways as Conan's energetic friends were seen waving at him from a bit ways away.
'I'll see you after school then… Conan-kun.' She smiled to herself before going on her way.
Continued…
'Un' 'Yeah' (Please you should really know this one I hope but for all you lame-o people who don't understand an ounce of Japanese, there ya go.)
A/N: Well, I kinda hurried to get this one out there . I should have taken a bit more time but I just wanting to describe their morning a bit… oh yeah and the whole story won't be in Ran's POV I swear XD
Be prepared for some action next chapter when Ran finds a bit of evidence that will finally prove the connection between Conan and Shinichi, but will she be able to get to him on time to give him his properly deserved walloping? You'll just have to wait till I get my lazy butt into gear to actually think about how I'll go about typing this up! (No I'll try to get it done and it'll hopefully be longer than the prologue.)
PS Reviews really feed that writers passion in me so fuel the ovens onegai! Lockie (If you wanna help me brainstorm or just talk to me, contact me via email, aim, msn, or skype!)