-Lessons Learnt-

Disclaimer: The works of Detective Conan and Magic Kaito belongs to Gosho Aoyama-sensei.

A/N: This came out of a prompt from Poirot Cafe, I just felt like writing something Shinichi & Ran centric but Sonoko and her beau decided to jump into my brain and wreck havoc, then Yukiko did not want to feel left out. Hence this little piece sprang forth.

Prompt: Shoes

Amongst the people, rows of shelves, and the colourful goods on display in the middle of the floor, Shinichi stood with rapt attention as his eyes traced the linoleum floor towards a certain sofa seat some meters away. He opted to stand at this particular location, keeping an eye out on the surroundings, not that there was any need for him to do so but Shinichi's paranoia will never go away even if the danger has long passed. Observing his surroundings, a particularly memorable instance he shared with his parents came back in full force. The situation was nearly identical in all senses, only it had been a pair of Kudo males standing with various paper bags instead of only Shinichi standing here like a statue.

"Let me teach you several lessons." Shinichi remembered his father's wise words from when he was still an awkward teenager having come to the realisation that he had fallen hard for his childhood friend he knew since kindergarten.

Said childhood friend was now his fiancee, and soon-to-be wife come spring of next year.

Though, that still does not explain why him, Kudo Shinichi, a twenty-something year-old part-time police consultant and full-time private eye was out in the middle of a chilly autumn afternoon in a rather busy area of downtown Shinjuku with his fiancee and childhood lover Mouri Ran, soon-to-be Kudo Ran, alongside their other long time friend Suzuki Sonoko, who also happened to be the fiancee of the Karate master Kyougoku Makoto. If Shinichi could go back in time, he would tell his past-self to not make such a painful suggestion in compensation of not making to Ran's championship match last week. While Shinichi had been better at not neglecting Ran in favour for a crime, there were some, like the one last week, that managed to capture his attention to the point that he forgot everything, including the important match (which Ran won gracefully).

It all started with a rather fine morning, with Shinichi waking up earlier than usual just so he would not miss the date with Ran. His first suggestion for making up for his absence in the karate match was to go to Tropical Land but was shot down by Ran seeing as she did not want him to have an excuse to disappear on her in the wake of their upcoming marriage. Dressed warmly and comfortably, Shinichi left the house with a happy smile to pick Ran up for brunch.

They chose a place in Shinjuku, a quaint little cafe that served not only great food but also great coffee. They chatted, and Shinichi refrained from mentioning anything remotely related to Sherlock Holmes or case related, which was much appreciated by Ran who rewarded Shinichi with a quick peck on the cheeks just as their food arrived. Both had sported a rather nice tinges of pink on their cheeks for the whole duration of the meal that had nothing to do with the chilly weather outside. Unfortunately, it was at the end of the meal when everything went downhill for Shinichi.

They managed to bump into Sonoko when they were merely walking aimlessly. Said girl was rather excited about something that Shinichi did not want to decipher. He greeted the other male by Sonoko's side with less enthusiasm.

"What brings you here today?" Shinichi asked with curiosity lining his words, "by the way, congratulations on your win."

"Thank you Kudo-san." He answered accompanied with a shallow bow. "Sonoko-san needed to buy something and asked whether I could accompany her today. Seeing that I have the time, I thought I should spend more time with her so not to neglect her in favour of my own career."

Shinichi winced, he was quite sure it was not an intentional jab at him.

"Makoto-san, we're going to Takashimaya." Sonoko waved at them from in front.

Shinichi did a double-take. "We?"

"Of course." Ran smiled brightly from beside her. "Sonoko said there's a sale going on, and I've been meaning to go visit it anyways." Though her words were gentle, the underlying glint in her eyes along with the smile to Shinichi he had better follow up on his promise of keeping her entertained for the day. This meant he would be accompanying them to the department store as well.

Thankfully, the place was not overly crowded to the point that he could not breath. Though that did not mean the department store was not filled to the brim with people. Most shoppers, female in nature, chatted and stayed on the ground floor close to the consignment counters. The male, on the other hand, all huddled near the closest free area or some luckier ones, which were the envy of everyone else, had managed to snag seats.

Shinichi watched as Sonoko pulled Ran over to the first counter, which happens to be selling small accessories. A rather helpful attendant approached them, gesticulating at some of the rather expensive pieces. Several were taken out of their glass cases and presented to the pair of women, some tried on by Sonoko who went to display them to the karate master standing on her other side. Sonoko managed to put a rather simple necklace onto Ran, who shyly turned towards Shinichi with a light blush and glances through her lashes. Shinichi smiled appreciatively as Ran reluctantly took off the necklace.

When asked for the reason, she replied "it's too expensive and I rarely wear them anyways." She fingered the small heart shaped pendant before turning back to her conversation with Sonoko, who had already asked another attendant to wrap up her purchases.

"The first lesson is, any problem that could be solved with money is not a problem." His father had told him once during a family shopping trip. At the time, his mother had been indecisive about which of the two colours of blouse to buy. In the end, his father told her to buy both as they had looked entirely too nice on her. Shinichi remembered shivering because of the lovey-dovey comment, and had actually resisted the urge to gag.

"Excuse me." He waved over the attendant, "could I have this wrapped up?" He gestured at the necklace that laid on the velvet-lined tray. The attendant gave a quick nod as he took the black credit card from Shinichi.

"Should I have it gift wrapped as well?" He asked helpfully.

"Yes please, red ribbons if you have." Shinichi remembered Ran's favourite and he was sure she would appreciate this small gesture. This could be a gift to compensate for his negligence.

"Right away sir."

Shinichi had to be surprised when neither of the girls noticed he had not been following them. Though, it might be because Sonoko was busily pulling Ran up the escalator and because of the crowd that seemed to have doubled during the time they were at the counter. Even if Shinichi had not followed behind them, it was easy to determine where they were headed.

Sure enough, ten minutes later, and having sorted out a delivery for the small package back to the mansion, he found the pair to be heading into a changing room.

"Ah, Kudo-san. There you are." Kyogoku Makoto seemed to be quite relieved to see Shinichi approaching.

"Sorry, just had to take a call and it was too noisy back there." He lied smoothly. After his time as Conan, such small inconsequential lies came quite easily, providing he did not have to keep it up for too long.

"No worries, the girls are trying out dresses at the moment."

Shinichi followed his gaze towards the changing rooms near the back of the shop.

"Was this the reason why Sonoko wanted you to come with on this shopping trip?" It was no mystery that the girl loved to see her fiance flustered and fawn over her. Shinichi had to wonder whether the man had keyed onto this particular trait yet and was also enjoying being protective of Sonoko or was his just that dense.

"Perhaps, I can never be too sure with Sonoko-san." He shrugged, eyes never once stopped their observation. Shinichi thought if the man put on a black suit and sunglasses, people could easily mistaken him for a security guard with this constant vigilance.

"Ta-da!" Sonoko ripped open the curtains and stepped out from changing room in a rather revealing gown that left her shoulders opened and had a rather long slit down one side of the leg. It was then Shinichi noticed the shop sold cocktail dresses and formal wear. Looking at the male karate master, there was a soft smile along with a bashful blush on his face. At least Shinichi thought the man appreciated the dress, only maybe not in such a public setting.

"So-Sonoko-san!" He quickly walked towards her, head frantically glancing left and right. Once reaching her, he immediately took his own coat and draped it around Sonoko's shoulders. "You'll...it is not appropriate. And you would catch a cold like this."

"But don't I look good in it though?" She gently pushed off the coat and swirled around. All the while, the flustered karate master was trying to hold back from doing...something. Though what it was, Shinichi had no idea.

"Shinichi?" Ran timidly stepped out from her own stall and asked once she saw him. "How do I look?" She did a small twirl where the indigo chiffon fluttered with her movement. "Well?"

Shinichi knew this was a loaded question, it was the same question his mother had posed to his father oh-so-long-ago. His father had replied with compliments, only to be accused of being overly generic by his mother. Shinichi remembered his father then whispered into his ear, "another lesson to learn, things that cannot be solved by money is a big BIG problem." Shinichi had not understood at the time, but now he feels he had a good grasp on the reasoning. Human emotions are notoriously difficult to decipher and it was not a problem that could be easily solved by material goods.

"The colour compliments you but the skirt length is a bit too short on you." He replied with a constructive comment. "I think something longer would bring out your proportion better."

By the grateful look on Ran's face, Shinichi knew his comments were well received and that he would live another day without a painful bruise.

An hour later, the four headed back out down the department store escalator as Sonoko declared they needed shoes to go with the dresses they bought. The crowd had dispersed somewhat to a more bearable degree. No longer did Shinichi have to elbow his way around the small passage. However, it seemed Shinichi was hopeful all too soon for the shoe area was where everyone had congregated.

As they pushed and shoved their way across the floor, the two male in front to open the way for their lovely fiancee, Shinichi was immediately reminded of how his father would do the exact same thing for his mother. As the girls leisurely stroll behind them, Shinichi was grateful he was not here all alone and that the karate master beside him had intimidated a rather large proportion of the shoppers from approaching too close. Those that were not detered were then treated to Shinichi's bland gaze, which was named the 'Icy Criminal Accusatory Gaze' that had men and women of any and all ages come to a grinding halt and began to beg for their lives. Not that Shinichi had believed any of it though.

After trying on a few random pairs of shoes at a nearby sofa, Sonoko walked around the rows of shelves with Kyogoku trailing behind her with a pair of helpful hands. Ran was just too content to browse through the small selection nearby and Shinichi could not help but feel entirely too happy that his beloved was more sane than most women here.

"Isn't this cute?" She asked, holding up a pair of sandals that used fur to decorate the straps. Shinichi had to question the logic behind such so-called fashion pieces. Could they not make things more useful? He doubted the sanity of any person wearing furry sandals under the hot sun.

"Can't say it's a good choice of footwear though." He pulled out another pair, more normal looking with its black straps and relatively low heels. "These would have been better for walking."

She shook her head with a fond smile, replacing the furry sandals on its perch. The next pair Ran picked up was a pair of bright red heels with a three inch stiletto. He had to hold back the wince when he saw the heels, they would have been painful if he were hit with them.

"How about these? They'll go well don't you think?" She looked rather longingly at the glossy red finish.

A distant voice from Shinichi's memories surfaced. "And finally, most important of all lessons. Never, and I mean NEVER, come between a woman and her shoes." That particular lesson was learnt after his father had been hit with at least a dozen projectile shoes thrown from his mother. Shinichi remembered his father making a comment on how prolonged used of high heels cause big calves to which his mother instantly froze and turned with an overly sweet smile and asked his father to repeat the same phrase again then proceeded to ask whether his father found her calves looked big like the elephants he had been using as an adjective to describe. It grew out of control where his mother then accused his father of being too picky and not loving her enough and some other nonsense.

"They will go well with your dress." He said, burying any further comments, no matter how useful or constructive it would have been, and replied with the comment he knew Ran would appreciate. He learnt his lessons well from his father's mistakes and Shinichi really did not need three inches of red heels lodged into his brain.

"You're lying aren't you?" Ran gently placed the pair of heels down. "I can see you're trying not to but you are."

"Wha-whatever to do you mean?" Shinichi stuttered, taking several strategic steps back, as far away from any sharp stilettos as he could.

"You have this twitch to the corner of your mouth that tells me you're lying." She grabbed Shinichi by the sides of his face and stared into his eyes. "So Mr. Detective, care to tell me the truth?"

"Um...uh…" Shinichi tries to struggle out of the hold. It was too much of a reminder of his mother's demanding gaze, only coming from Ran was ten times worst. "I...um…"

"Yes?" The steely gaze held a tiny twinkle of amusement, somehow Ran was having fun with this and Shinichi wondered if it was part of his punishment for missing out on the tournament.

"Uh...you...um...might not want to subject yourself to such torture devices? Maybe something less...deadly?" He felt it was a good reply. Good enough to not earn him tiny puncture wounds by stiletto heels.

The air around them was tense, to the point that many shoppers gave them a wide berth as though they knew of the impending violence that would happen. Slowly, Ran relaxed her grip from his face, only to move to a vice-like grip on his wrist. Peering down to their connection, Shinichi thought he saw his own flesh going a tinge blue and purple.

"Then help me pick something to go with the dress. Sonoko had invited us to their family's dance party." She tugged at him painfully. "You better be there as well as it is supposed to be a couple's event."

"Yes, yes. I promise this time." He nodded, following obediently behind as his eyes trailed the metallic shelves. Shinichi had only hoped the day would end soon. Otherwise, he was not sure how long his own legs would last. And he was actually wearing trainers, not like Ran who actually had a pair of heels on her.

-END-