Disclaimer: All Detective Conan characters belong to Gosho Aoyama. Not me.
A/N: This chapter is plotless da capo al fine. There's gonna be some mystery, just not now. -- Sufficient Warning. I've always read a lot, but never really appreciated the work that goes into a well-written story. It took me quite a few days to do this. Now that I am one of the legions of DC fic authors out there, I hereby declare anyone who can write 10,000 words phenomenal/deranged (take your pick). 'nuff said.
Illusion/Reality
Facing the same courtroom gaze that had cowed countless witnesses, Conan
had every right in the world to feel uneasy. He had only been its victim a
couple of times before, and wasn't eager to relive the experience. Especially
over a game of poker. Conan wiped a clammy palm on his shorts and stared at
his cards for the umpteenth time. Hopefully, she'll think that I'm just
unconfident and need to check my hand again. True to form, Kisaki Eri threw
in her hand.
"You must have had a pretty good hand there, Conan-kun, ne?"
Conan sighed inwardly. Can't you even cut a kid some slack?
"Actually, I tricked you, Oba-san! I just kept calling when I
should've quit ages ago!" Revealing a pair of nines, he tried to prevent
relief from dimming his got-away-with-it grin. Mouri Kogoro snorted in
amusement as he watched his wife swear under her breath. "Outwitted by a
grade-schooler, Eri? We must be getting rusty," he commented while
collecting the cards. "Ante up, people!"
Conan had "learned" how to play poker a few nights back, when a
visiting Sonoko saw him shuffling his first pack of cards - and lost enough to
finance the Chibi-chan Ice-cream Fund for a fortnight. Hey, a kid's gotta
eat, and I'm paying my way this time. Conan allowed himself a small grin as
he picked up his cards. Hmm, maybe I'll let Ran win this time - he
paused in mid-thought. Ran was gazing out the window, her expression wistful. A
pang of guilt immediately assailed him, followed by the usual swirl of emotions
concerning Ran. He sighed. Well, it could be worse. Kudo Shinichi could've
been the Cardshark of the East. Which would inevitably result in some very
pointed questions. Fortunately Shinichi rarely played cards at all; besides,
playing poker wasn't about the cards, it was all about the people --
"A-hem! " the cough startled both Ran and Conan, who snapped
back to the game at hand.
-- who were decidedly less than patient when losing to someone who couldn't
quite hold five cards with one hand.
----
Outside the Mouri Detective Agency, everyday life stopped dead in its tracks. And turned with raised eyebrows. The pillion rider on a motorbike had started yelling at her companion even before dismounting and pulling her helmet off.
"Aho! How could you have managed to lose sight of them? They were right in front of us!"
The other youth, a dark-skinned boy with a huge scowl on his face, bellowed in reply, "Aho! Do you think I control traffic lights in Japan?" The row continued, with the customary death glares, threats of physical harm and questionings of sanity. Above them, a stunned bird sweatdropped and nervously resumed chirping. A trio of children retrieved a momentarily ignored football and carried on with their game. Life suppressed a sigh, and resumed its normal course.
Hattori Heiji and Toyama Kazuha were in town.
----
Having his hair ruffled by anyone other than Ran was, at best, unpleasantly disconcerting. By Hattori, however... Conan made a mental note for revenge as he closed the living room door and went back to his usual seat beside Ran. Having long forgotten their argument, the couple-in-denial from Osaka launched into their story. Apparently they were supposed to follow some friends to a nearby amusement park, but had somehow lost them along the way, and the agency was conveniently near, so... Conan tuned out the rest of the conversation, stifling a yawn - it was still Saturday morning, and he had stayed up late last night at Professor Agasa's. Getting up to get a drink from the kitchen, he wasn't surprised to see Heiji follow him.
"So, you coming with us, short stuff?"
"Where to now?" If it's -
"Tropical Land."
Suddenly he wasn't that thirsty anymore. Conan's smile showed none of the emotions usually associated with smiling. "I'll pass, thanks."
The teenage detective sat himself down on the floor facing Conan. "Lighten up, Kudo. Even detectives need to take a day off sometimes, ne?"
"The last time I was there, I had so much fun I felt ten years younger," Conan deadpanned.
----
1. Go, if just to keep Ran company. Everybody is happy except Conan.
2. No-go. Heiji and Kazuha enjoy themselves. Ran might or might not go. Either way, she will mope about Shinichi or think up new karate techniques to beat him up, all the while wondering about Conan's strange aversion to theme parks.
3. Self-disembowelment with a plastic fork.
Too bad I couldn't come up with any more alternatives in time. And it's all thanks to this baka here. Standing in front of the Tropical Land's main entrance while waiting for Ran and Kazuha to get the tickets, Conan tugged at Heiji's jeans. "You owe me at least a thousand yen, Hattori. I was holding a seven-high flush when you interrupted our game."
"Prove it," the dark-skinned teen grinned -- then stopped. Being on the wrong side of a watch-sized sleeping dart gun wielded by an irritated pint-sized detective was not very funny. He quickly felt for his wallet.
"Hey! Conan! Heiji!" Kazuha suddenly appeared, dragging Heiji through the brightly-lit entrance, leaving Conan to catch up. Yup. Here's where it all ended -- and begun. Exit Kudo Shinichi, enter Edogawa Conan. Not that anyone really cared. The media had quickly moved on to the next celebrity-of-the-moment. The police force never did wonder where their high-profile saviour was, having unwittingly acquired another less visible one. Other than a few rather diehard admirers, fanmail had slowed to a trickle. Sometimes, lying awake in bed at night, he'd wondered whether having Kudo Shinichi around had made any difference to the world at all. But whenever he heard Ran mumble his name in her sleep, or sigh longingly whenever she saw a game of soccer, or blush when teased by Sonoko, he knew, without doubt, that even if Kudo Shinichi was dispensable to the world at large, he did make a difference. Kudo Shinichi will return, if only because of her.
"Ah, there you are," the one-and-only reason for Shinichi's return walked up, handing him an ice-cream. "Vanilla, right?"
"You're the best, neechan!" he chirped. Walking beside Ran while trying his best to deal with the fast-melting ice-cream, he saw Ran whisper something in a hushed tone to Kazuha. He shot a questioning look to Heiji, who shrugged. Biting contentedly into his ice-cream, Conan smiled knowingly. Girls and their little secrets. What's to be paranoid about anyway, over here you could -
"What?! You saw him here? Isn't he supposed to be on some tough case?"
-mmmmrmpph! In the fraction of a second after realization dawned, his erstwhile-ignored jaw muscles had done what they were supposed to typically do. However, often in hindsight does one recall that having a mouthful of something ice-cold has a unique if unpleasant effect on the human body.
Eyeballs back in sockets: check. Wonder if that's how a computer feels after a cold boot. A brief glance confirmed that Kazuha's sudden question had Heiji bewildered as well.
"I'm not sure it's him -- I mean, he was quite far away. And there was this girl..." Ran's voice trailed off. Not good. He traded knowing looks with Heiji, the latter's expression echoing his. But I can't do anything -- say something, Hattori!
"Umm, it-it's probably just a simple case of mistaken identity, that's all," offered Heiji feebly. Two startled girls turned to face him.
"Aho! And how would you know what we're talking about?" Kazuha was quicker.
"Kazuha, with a few words, you can instantly tell everyone and their grandmother exactly what's going on in your head! Aho!" a roused Heiji was, as usual, quick with the retorts. "And for your information, it's not Kudo because he's owww!!"
"Don't speak to Kazuha-neechan like that! You're being rude!" Conan took his foot off Heiji's.
"Because he's -- ?" prompted Ran, eager to hear anything that might concern Shinichi.
"Well, it's because he's, umm, rather busy. I mean, he should be, didn't you say this morning that he hasn't called for a long time?" answered Heiji. Judging by the look on his face, Heiji was teetering on an edge, wanting revenge on Conan but unwilling to upset Ran. He's a good guy at heart, I'll give him that.
The afternoon passed in a blur of nausea-inducing rides, junk-food and more nausea-inducing rides. Various highlights of the day included Heiji's cap flying off his head during the Mystery Coaster ride (retrieved by a little girl who was watching, which cost the detective an ice-cream), Kazuha's ponytail being pulled by a baby carried by the person behind her in line for the popcorn, and the finding and returning of a little boy who had lost his parents in the crowd. Despite himself, Conan actually did have fun.
Trying to recover some of his stamina, wits and sense of balance after one of the more intense roller coaster rides, Conan plopped himself down on a bench mercifully close to the ride exit. The others followed suit.
"You know, we should do this more often," said Heiji, after regaining his breath. As I recall, you screamed even louder than Kazuha-chan during the inverted--
"Shinichi!" huh, what the--
----to be continued...
Post-fic A/N: Plot holes abound in this chapter. Find 'em if you can! Wish I had someone to bounce ideas off, but as I don't, you poor readers have to endure my bads, plot holes, silly script et al.
For the non-old-school-computer-literate, a cold boot is switching the computer off, then on again, as opposed to a warm boot, Ctrl-Alt-Delete. Not really worth knowing, I run windoze now anyways. :P
Reviews welcome.