#sonoko and shinichi are friends | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

subbe93 · 2 years

Text

The Symptoms of Love: The Fifth Symptom

Sonoko had begged Ran to participate in her family's company party - she really begged, on the ground, on her knees, telling desperately Ran that she really, really need Ran to keep company to her. And as her best friend, Ran accepted. But considering how eagerly Sonoko wanted her to take part in the party, she can't understand why she disappear and leave her alone…

A/N: Finally... FINALLY it's here! Sorry to keep you waiting, but here we are, the fifth symptom! I could tell you why this took so long and what else, but you know, you have been waiting so long that I just let you read this! Thank you for your patience ❤ I certainly hope that this chapter is worth waiting for ^_^

The First Symptom The Second Symptom The Third Symptom The Fourth Symptom

The Fifth Symptom

Ran had always liked the parties that Sonoko and her parents organized. They were luxury parties, mostly for important and successful people, purpose to get know newcomers and give a chance to make some deals. And of course, it was meant to relax and have fun.

In any other case, Ran would have nothing to do with those parties. She had always been an ordinary girl, from an ordinary family. But since she was childhood friends with Sonoko, she had always got a special invitation. Well, mostly to keep company for Sonoko.

And she loved it. As said, she wasn’t anything special, so she never got any reasons to dress up in beautiful dresses. As a child, she had always admired those well-dressed men, who asked ladies to dance to the rhythm of the music. And even still, as a grown-up, it was so mesmerizing to look at how they were dancing.

So every time Ran had gotten an invitation to Sonoko’s and her family’s parties, she had been thankful. Because during those times, she had gotten a reason to feel like a princess, even though she had never been on the dancefloor. But it had been enough to dress in a beautiful dress and be part of these important people.

But years went by and things changed. And the past few years, she had skipped those parties. It wasn’t like she wouldn’t have liked to participate, but they had grown up. They both were women now, and as a daughter of the Suzuki family, Sonoko had her own responsibilities. Nowadays Sonoko was busy mingling with guests, and it was understandable. If she is going to inherit her parents' company, she needed to know their business partners, old customers, new ones, and what else. And some years ago, when Ran had been in these parties for the last time, she had accepted it. As much as Sonoko had promised to stay with her, she still had been too busy to stay. And even though Ran had tried her best to support her, it didn’t change the fact that she didn’t enjoy herself.

She had felt lonely and… well, bored.

So after that, she declined Sonoko’s invitations. And even if Sonoko had been shocked and sad at first, she had understood. Though it hadn’t stopped her from trying to invite her, which kind of made Ran happy to know that she still wanted her to participate, but to be honest, what in the world she would do there alone? Nothing. It was better for both of them that she stayed home. That way, Sonoko didn’t have to worry about her at all. And if something interesting would happen, Sonoko would tell her later.

But this time was different. After some years, she accepted Sonoko’s invitation. After a long time, she had bought a new deep red evening dress with Sonoko and she was standing there in her high heels, among other dressed people, sipping her wine. Alone.

Yes. Alone.

The first hour she had spent with Sonoko, as usual, and they had fun. Spoke some nonsense, tasted some wines, enjoyed snacks, and a little gossiping. But then, like remembering something, Sonoko apologized and told her that she got some kind of surprise for Ran. She made a promise that she would come back as soon as possible, and made Ran promise to her that she would wait here, no matter what! And as any good friend, she had done as Sonoko had hoped her to do. She had made that promise and stood there waiting.

And she waited. And… waited.

Forty-five minutes was a pretty long time to stand alone, waiting. Ran had sent a few messages to Sonoko, asking where she was or if something have happened, but in every answer, she had said that there had been people that she needs to meet, but she would come back just in a minute.

It wasn’t like Ran didn’t understand. Of course, she did, and to be honest, she wanted to support her friend, but it seemed that Sonoko was fine doing alone, and Ran on the other hand was bored and lonely.

Well, at least she got her wine glass.

But she still couldn’t understand why Sonoko had been so stubborn to get her here. God, she had begged on the floor that she would come, even after Ran had explained why she shouldn’t come - and it was the same as many times before, and before, Sonoko had understood. This time? Not at all.

“Please, Ran, I really need your company this time! Pretty please!”

Needing my company in my ass, Ran thought with a little toxic. This hadn’t been any different than before! Lord, just because she had felt pity for Sonoko, she had accepted! Just because she thought to be a good friend, she had to leave from the work in a hurry, so she had enough time to prepare herself before Sonoko came to pick her up. God, she had been even ready to sacrifice some of her good nights of sleep just for her! She was the one who is going to go to work tomorrow! And who even kept parties in the middle of the week?!

But then again, she had been willing to take that risk.

Maybe she should leave. She had told Sonoko that she would leave early, but she hadn't thought to be ready to leave this soon.

She let out a sigh and looked around. Part of her was happy that she had come. Somehow this made her feel nostalgic, making all those sweet memories from their childhood come back to her: How they ran among other guests, tasted every food there was, danced together... And how Sonoko's mother had scolded them for bothering guests while Sonoko's father had just smiled and told them to have fun.

It felt like those things had happened so long ago.

And she still loved to see how they had decorated the place. Well, you couldn’t wait for anything less from the Suzuki family. The food was delicious, there were many different drinks, and people looked so beautiful and handsome in their dresses, and the dancefloor and music… She a little bit envied them. Looking at people dancing, how their beautiful dresses moved alongside, glimmering in the lights... Men leading, pairs moving with smooth moves…

She had never been on a dancefloor. Well, in high school, they had had some partner dance classes, but other than that? Nope. And every time she had seen people dancing, she wondered how it would feel to dance with someone for real, but…

She looked around, but she couldn’t find anyone suitable candidate. Maybe the hardest part was the fact that all the other people seemed to know each other, and if they weren’t on the dancefloor, they were talking in groups. And she wasn’t brave enough to go and ask someone blindly.

She promised herself, if next time she wouldn’t have a date with her, she wouldn’t participate. Even though Sonoko would plead and claim that the party would be ruined if she wouldn’t come, she won’t accept it.

Ran let out another sigh and opened her purse to check her phone. There was nothing.

Maybe she should really leave. What she was even doing in here? Probably Sonoko would be the only one who would notice her disappearance, but since she was too busy with others, she believed it would be okay. Yeah, she would go to find Sonoko or someone from her family, thank them for the invitation and party, and apologize for the early leaving.

Yeah, that sounded like a plan.

She put the phone back in her purse and shut it.

“My my, what kind of wallflower I have found?”

Ran turned around fast, and she felt how her heart skipped a beat while her cheeks started to feel warmer. There were too many feelings mixed together: She felt happy and excited, but fast she felt also shy and embarrassed. Nervous. Because Kudo Shinichi walked closer to her in his black suit, another hand on his trousers pocket, that smile on his lips while his blue eyes looked at her…

God help her, he looked handsome.

And as happy as she was to see him, she also felt nervous and embarrassed. She still remembered how two months ago he had taken her to the hospital and donated his blood, but instead of reaching him, she had backed off. Well, the time she had been in hospital, she didn’t even think about calling him or anything, but after she got back home… Yeah, yeah, she had searched his number and thought to call him or send him a message, thank him properly, and tell him about his turtleneck, but… but…

She had been too shy to do that! Every phone call that she had planned in her head, every message that she tried to draft… As much as she had tried, she hadn’t been brave enough. There weren’t the right words, not words that would sound natural.

And God, she hated the fact that when she had wondered why it was so hard to contact him, she had realized that maybe, maybe she had a crush on him. And it made everything just more complicated!

And when the month had gone by, she felt like it had been too embarrassing to thank him anymore.

But still, she was happy to see him, and the fact that his tie and napkin on his chest pocket were the same shade of red as her dress… It made butterflies fly in her stomach. It felt like it was meant to be!

Come on, Ran, this isn’t any kind of romantic movie!

“Well, what a coincidence”, she greeted with a smile when he stopped in front of her and she got her eyes away from his clothes. She hoped that she could be more natural with him, hide her nervousness and excitement, but too late she realized that she had already taken too much time to check on him! She met his eyes and said the first thing that came to her mind: “We just seem to pump each other pretty often. Has someone died?”

Good job, Ran! Couldn’t figure out anything else? Something lighter?

But it seemed that Kudo didn’t mind. Instead, he let out a short laugh. “Luckily not”, he answered. “And hopefully, tonight that won’t happen.” Then he looked at her and her dress. “And last time we met, you got a bullet in your leg”, he spoke and raised his eyes back to her, looking more serious this time. “Are you okay?”

His care made her blush even more, so she lowered her head, looking at her foot that she raised a little to show it to him. “It healed very well, just got a little mark, but nothing else”, she explained. Then she swung her ankle a little bit as giving him proof. “So there is nothing to worry about, and…”

Okay, now it's your time, Ran! Do it!

She raised her head and looked at how he still observed her leg. Her heart was banging loud in her chest, but she took a deep breath. “Thank you.”

He raised his head and frowned, looking confused. “Thank you?”, he repeated. “There is no reason to thank me. If I would have been faster, you wouldn’t have gotten hurt.” Then he looked away. “If I would have been faster, you wouldn’t have even gotten mixed into it.”

Ran smiled. “You were fast enough, don’t blame yourself for that”, she said. “And I heard that you were the one who carried me to the hospital, donated the blood, and… stayed.”

He didn't turn to look at her, but she could see his cheeks changing color…

“Ah, that”, he mumbled, still avoiding her eyes. “It was nothing.�� Then he glanced at her. “Anyone would have done the same.”

Ran's smile widened. “I don’t think so”, she disagreed. “Because many others would have left after they would have got the injured one into care, or when they would have heard that everything is going to be alright.” And when Kudo turned his eyes away, Ran continued. “Besides, why you didn’t call an ambulance?”

“It would have taken too much time, considering how much blood you had lost by the time I could have called to anyone”, Kudo answered. “Besides, Sato-san was kind and offered to drive, so we got to the hospital faster.”

“Mmmm”, Ran hummed and raised her wine glass to sip on it. She is going to need it. “And I still have your turtleneck.”

Again, Kudo frowned like he didn’t have any idea what she was talking about. Then it seemed that he realized something. “Oh, so they gave it to you?” he asked and finally turned to look at her properly.

“Yeah”, Ran answered. “They told me you had left before they got a chance to give it back to you.”

“Oh”, Kudo repeated and didn’t seem to be impressed. “Well, that probably explained why any of them didn’t know about it when I went to ask after it”, he said. Then he smiled. “So, are you going to keep it or is there still a chance that I can have it back?”

Ran blushed and raised again her wine glass, almost like trying to hide behind it. “Well, I… I…”

Then her eyes caught some movements behind Kudo. Her words died there and she looked beside him, taking a closer look at what in the world was happening…

And she shut her mouth before she would shout out loud.

Sonoko!

Ran stared at how her friend grinned from further, among some people. First, she pointed at Kudo, then her, and then made a heart with her hands and winked. She looked so excited that… that…

Wait! Had she planned this?!

Because that way, it would explain so much! It would explain why this time, she was so desperate to get her into this party! And it would make sense why she persisted that she needed to come shopping with her and everything else!

And now that she thought about Kudo’s tie and the color of the napkin…

God dammit!

Slowly she shook her head at Sonoko, but she just grinned back and nodded eagerly. God, as soon as she would catch her friend, she would…

“Oh, is she there?”

Ran stared at Sonoko for a moment before moving her eyes to Kudo. He was just looking in front of him, somewhere further, with an expression that didn't show that he would be surprised or confused. Actually, he looked like anything she would say next, wouldn't surprise him.

Ran glanced fast at Sonoko, who was still grinning like she had won the grand prize.

“You know, you don’t sound surprised at all”, Ran said finally and got her attention back to Kudo. Maybe it would be better to ignore her.

“I’m not”, he answered. “Though I admit, she got better of me. But I’m going to remember this one.”

“Oh, this I need to hear”, Ran said and raised her glass to take a sip from her wine. She almost wanted to giggle already, because she could only imagine how stubborn Sonoko had been with him. When Sonoko wanted something, she really went for it.

Kudo turned to look at her and a one-sided smile came back to his lips. “Well, she invited me here”, he started. “And I declined because I wasn’t interested at all. But she was stubborn and told me that I have to come, though I still said no thank you .”

“But then?”

“But then she came to me personally and told me secretly that her parents had gotten some kind of blackmail letter, and they would like my help to solve it, but since they didn’t want to draw any attention, they wanted to invite me here with a regular invitation.”

“Oh my god”, Ran sighed, and she couldn’t decide if she was embarrassed because of Sonoko or if she would have laughed. “And then you came here and found out that it was nothing?”

“Precisely”, he answered. “To be honest, I started to wonder if there is some kind of catch because the invitation came from her and not straight from her parents, but I still kind of fell for it.”

Ran giggled. “That’s Sonoko for you”, she said. “When she gets some ideas, she really does everything that it would happen.”

Kudo shook his head. “Can’t argue with that”, he said. “Though I have no idea why she took all the trouble to get me here”, he continued and looked down at his tie. “Besides, she was very precise that I need to have this shade of red on me, because it was, as she said it, a dress code, and I was fool enough to believe in that.” Then he looked around. “Seems like we are the only ones who obeyed that dress code .”

Ran felt how her cheeks started to burn. God, this was so embarrassing! She should have guessed that there was a bigger reason why Sonoko wanted so eagerly to join her shopping trip! Of course, if Ran would have gone alone, Sonoko wouldn’t have had any idea what color her dress would be, and she couldn’t have ever demanded Kudo to wear the same color…

She hadn’t even thought Sonoko would do something like this! How would she?! She hadn’t talked about Kudo to her, for reasons! She had known that Sonoko would do something stupid if she would have mentioned her thoughts about him!

But this?

She is going to need much more wine. Maybe she should call at work and tell them that she won’t make it for tomorrow's shift. Or maybe she should strain her ankle?

“Well then, maybe I leave”, Kudo said, making Ran look at him with shock. He was leaving, already? And it felt like Kudo read her mind because he lowered his eyes on her. “Not a big fan of the parties. I got better things to do.”

“Isn’t it a little bit rude to leave this soon?” Ran asked. Like she was the one to talk! She had been the one who had been ready to leave before he appeared.

But Kudo didn't know that.

“Then what in the world I’m doing here?” Kudo asked and looked around him again. “Sonoko got me here as she wanted to. Fine! But there is nothing for me.”

“I am here.”

Those words came out before Ran could stop herself. So when Kudo turned to look at her with curious eyes, Ran concentrated to sip her wine. God, what in the world she was doing? Making fun of herself?

“Don’t you have company?”

Ran lowered her glass and took her time to taste the wine. It was sweet, she liked that. And with this speed, she would be drunk much faster than planned.

“My only company before you has been this wine”, she said and show her glass to him. There wasn’t much anymore. “And it seems that it’s almost gone.”

“Then, why are you here?”

“Because it seemed to be important for Sonoko”, Ran answered. She smiled fondly, even though she knew she wouldn’t tell him the whole truth. Then again, he was a detective, a good one. She wondered if he had realized by now why they were here. “And what best friend wouldn’t do to another one.”

Kudo didn’t say anything, and Ran didn’t dare to look at him. Instead, she stared at the red wine bottom of her glass, swirling it. She couldn’t help it, but she felt a little bit disappointed. She kind of wished that she would be braver to ask him to stay with her or maybe ask for a date or… anything, really. But she wasn’t, and it didn’t courage her that he didn’t seem to be interested in her.

Did she believe that he would have? Maybe it was only Sonoko that made her believe in it. She and her stupid words.

Sonoko has just tried her best.

Well, if he would leave, she would do the same. In the end, it seemed that he was the only reason why she was invited here in the first place.

“Well then, maybe I should leave too”, she said finally and raised her eyes to meet his. She forced a smile on her lips. “There isn’t much for me to do either since Sonoko seems to be so busy with other guests.” Then she looked around her, all those people. “But in the end, she is going to inherit her parents' company, so it’s only understandable.”

“Don’t you dance?”

“What?” Ran asked and looked at Kudo surprised. She had heard his question, but…

He rolled his eyes. “I asked: Don’t you dance?” he repeated and looked around. “I believe you don’t need Suzuki for that.”

Ran let out a laugh. “I don’t, but I certainly need a partner for that, and I don’t have any”, she said and drink the last of her wine. “So as much as I would love to, I can’t dance alone.”

“Have you asked any of them?” Kudo asked still observing their surrounding. “I bet there are many who would love to dance with you.”

Carefully, Ran turned to look at Kudo, who was looking at the dancefloor. She couldn’t tell, but his voice sounded a little weird. Yet she couldn’t tell what it was or why. And since he was looking away, she couldn’t examine his expression clearly.

Or maybe she was just imagining it.

But then again, he started this.

“Oh”, Ran asked and put her empty wine glass on the table. “Then, maybe you would take me to the dancefloor?”

Kudo let out a laugh and turned to look at her. “I don’t dance.”

Ran hummed. What a disappointment. “Well, it can be helped if you can’t…”

“I can”, Kudo interrupted. “I just don’t want to.”

It made Ran smile. “Oh, yeaaaah”, she giggled. “Right…”

“I’m serious”, Kudo said, sounding annoyed already. “You don’t even know how much trouble my mother saw to teach me to dance!”

It made Ran's smile widen. Poor man…

“You don’t believe me”, Kudo said eventually.

Ran shook her head. “You don’t have to lie to me, you know”, she answered. “It’s okay if you can’t, my father isn’t good either…”

“There is a difference between I can and I don’t want to ”, Kudo interrupted again, as if trying to convince her.

“It’s okay, really”, she said with a smile and turned. Maybe it was time to leave. “You don’t have to convince me…”

She felt how something grabbed her wrist, and before she had time to do anything, she was made to turn around. She faced Kudo, who looked at her with annoyed and determined blue eyes. “It seems I have to”, he said and loosen his grip a little bit. Suddenly he bowed while still holding her hand, blue eyes still observing her. “Can I have this dance?”

It made Ran blush. She could feel how her cheeks warmed even more. Did he really ask her to dance with him? Her heart banged on her chest, and she felt how her hand was sweating on his warm grip. God, he was asking her to dance… with him! She felt excited, maybe a little bit too excited, and she wanted to blame the wine for that. God, why in times like this, she couldn’t play it cool and just answer yes? She felt like if she would open her mouth, her voice would be shrill and broken, even for a short word as ‘yes’.

Then Kudo’s expression changed and a wide grin came to his lips, showing his teeth. “Or maybe it was Mouri-sensei herself who doesn’t know how to dance?”

Oh…

Oh.

An annoyed smile came to Ran’s lips when she raised her head a little bit, looking at Kudo down. “How about you shut that smart mouth of yours and show me how well your mother had taught you?”

He let out a short laugh before straightening himself. "Fine by me", he answered and led her to the dancefloor. Ran felt how butterflies flew in her stomach when they stopped and he turned on her. He put his free hand on her back, making her come closer to him. Closer than before, she noticed, and she wondered how her poor heart could survive this. Slowly and nervously she raised her hand on his shoulder, squeezing the fabric of his jacket without realizing it.

It didn't help that it had been so many years since she had danced some partner dances, and since Kudo seemed to be confident with this whole thing, she started to wonder if she was really the one who has lied to herself. So when they started to move, Ran tried to relax and trust herself, but instead, she tried secretly checking her steps, making sure she wouldn't screw up...

God, who she tried to convince? She was pretty sure that Kudo already had noticed her tension and glanced at their feet!

But after a while in his lead, she realized that her steps went smoothly along with Kudo's, and she started to relax. She couldn’t tell why, but somehow her steps moved in sync with his. Like she already knew where he would take her.

Somehow it felt so easy with him.

It made her smile. Finally, she started to enjoy this! It was amazing just to be in his arms, and move with him among other dancers. Like she had seen many times. She felt like a little girl in her had woken up again. She almost wanted to laugh at how excited she felt.

“Well, how it is going?” Kudo asked.

Ran smiled and looked at him. “Your mother has taught you well”, she admitted.

Kudo nodded. “I tell her your regards.”

And they danced many more dances. Ran hadn’t remembered how much fun it was to dance with someone. Well, the only thing she didn’t enjoy that much was the fact that at some point, she had noticed Sonoko in the background, grinning wide, and Ran was pretty sure that she had seen a phone in her hands, pointing at them. God, as soon as these parties would be over, she would hunt that woman down!

But at the same time, she didn’t want this to end. She felt a little bit stupid, because not so long ago, she would have been ready to go back home. And now she was just afraid that every time when a song came to end, Kudo would leave her alone. Somehow she didn’t want to let go of him, and the reasonable side of her knew that she should tell him. She should tell him that she enjoyed his company, and if he would just like to, they should spend more time together.

But she couldn’t open her mouth. She was a little too afraid to say it out loud, too afraid to break her heart. So instead, she just wanted to enjoy the moment and pretend that it would be like this forever.

And yet, another song came to its end, and again, it made Ran's stomach twitch. Another chance for Kudo to tell her that he had enough. But he didn’t fully let go of her. It made Ran excited because it meant that she would have still one dance!

But when the next song started, he didn’t move either. It made Ran frown and turn to look at him. He looked at her with a troubled expression.

“Is... everything okay?” she asked carefully, a little bit afraid to hear the answer. Because it had to be something about her! Otherwise, he had probably said it already, right?

He lowered his gaze, making Ran's heart sink a little. “Well”, he started, like thinking. “Yeah”, he continued finally and met her eyes. “I just wanted to… I was thinking…”

The lights went off. Suddenly there was a silence before people around them started to question what was going on. Ran looked around even though it was too dark to see anything clearly. She didn’t remember that Sonoko’s family would have ever done surprises like this, but then again, maybe this time they wanted to try something different.

Or if this was some kind of Sonoko’s way to try to get her together with Kudo…

She felt how Kudo’s grip around her tightened a little bit, and Ran couldn’t tell why, but it made her restless. Something told her that something was wrong.

“Hey, Kudo…” she whispered but was interrupted when she heard someone coming closer to them.

“Ran?”

That voice she would recognize anywhere.

“Sonoko”, she called back. She saw how the character came closer, and the closer she came, the more she started to recognize her character in darkness. And the way she reached her and wrapped her arms around hers, Ran knew that she wasn’t behind this.

Well, like she would have believed in it really, but with Sonoko, everything was possible.

“What is going on?” Ran asked and looked at Sonoko, who came a little bit closer to her.

“I don’t know”, Sonoko answered, sounding worried. Well, there went a chance that her parents would have planned this. Except if they had kept it secret from Sonoko. Or maybe someone else had planned this?

“May-”

“No one move!”

Ran starlet and shut her mouth. She looked towards the shout, but it came somewhere far, and in the darkness, she couldn’t see very far.

“Now, now, if you do as we say, everyone is going to be alright and this would be over soon”, the woman's voice spoke out loud again. “So be nice, keep your mouths shut, and give all your valuables when we come to ask for them.” Then there was a little silence before the voice continued: “And if you want to survive from this alive, then it’s better not to try any kind of tricks. Just warning you, we have guns.”

Guns?!

Ran tightened her grip on Kudo. Guns? Why guns? How they had gotten them in? And who were those people anyway?

There was silent whispering, but it was shut with a loud bang. There was some screaming, and Ran felt how Sonoko pushed her with a scream, glued against her, which made her thumb against Kudo’s chest.

And to her surprise, he seemed to relax.

“Here is your warning”, the voice shouted. “Try to be more cooperative from now on.”

Then there was silence again. Then Ran could hear some movements and loud commands to give every valuable, and then some rustling when people started to give what they got. Ran closed her eyes and tried to calm down, but her mind was just surrounded by questions. How in the world she had gotten herself into a situation like this? She didn’t remember that ever before Suzuki’s parties would have turned out like this. They had always been perfect, everything had gone as it should have. And a long time ago, Sonoko’s mother had told Ran that there was a silent rule: To honor other companies, there was no room for fighting or arguments. It was time to have fun, relax, get to know others, and maybe get some business collaborations with other companies.

And now some violent thieves had gotten in somehow and ruined this party. Ran couldn’t even understand how they had gotten in! There were some guards to make sure that no one without an invitation wouldn’t get in, and since she was close with Sonoko’s parents, she also knew that it was very direct that if the quest won’t have the invitation, they don’t get in. Otherwise, anyone would get in if they had just dressed properly.

“Five.”

Ran opened her eyes and frowned before she pushed a little away from Kudo to look at him. It wasn’t like she could see his face clearly, but enough to see that he was looking somewhere.

“What?” she whispered.

“There are five of them”, Kudo answered silently and moved his head to look at her.

“How do you know that?” Sonoko’s voice asked beside Ran’s ear.

“If you just listen, you can hear five different voices”, Kudo answered. “And one of them belongs to the woman who spoke to us, so I believe all of them are among us, gathering all the valuables.”

“Are you sure?”

Kudo moved a little bit. “Well, if there would be someone concentrating only on observing us, they would have probably come to us already.”

He was right, Ran realized. Those thieves were too busy robbing guests that they hadn’t realized their whispering. And she was sure that if there would have been someone who would have just walked around, ready to silence anyone who dared to talk, they would have been there already.

“But how did they get in?” Ran asked before turning to look at Kudo.

“They are people who had been invited here.”

“Wha-” Sonoko let out a little louder, but Ran nudged her, making her stop. They were silent for a moment, waiting if someone realized their whispering, but no one came. The robbers were still concentrating on their own job. When they were sure that no one had paid attention to them, Sonoko continued with a lower voice: “How dare you accuse something like this? Are you saying that we invited some burglar to our parties just for fun?”

“I didn’t say that”, Kudo answered, sounding a little bit annoyed. “They are all profitable directors of their company, respected and known, but it seems that there are people who want to sabotage your parents’ reputation and made some scandal to destroy them.”

“But… who in the world would do something like this?” Sonoko asked.

“Your parents probably have some rivals.”

“How they got guns in?” Ran asked.

“They aren’t real”, Kudo said. “They are air guns.”

“How can you tell?” Ran asked confused.

“They let out different kinds of sound”, Kudo answered. Then he looked somewhere else, probably observing where those people were. “Probably they didn’t get real ones, or maybe they didn’t want to hurt anyone for real. So they got air guns to give warning shots and scare people. It’s enough that people heard a gunshot: They recognize it and panic enough that they won't hear the difference.”

Sonoko let out a snort. “And you can tell the difference?”

Ran smiled. “Come on, Sonoko. Now isn’t the time for that”, she said, hoping it would calm her friend. “Instead, we should…”

“Hey, you there! Stop talking!”

Ran felt shivering when she heard the man’s voice, but before she could see who it was, Kudo let go of her and moved in front of her and Sonoko, straightening his arm like making sure they would stay behind him.

“Don’t point others with that gun”, he spoke in a normal voice, sounding annoyed. “It’s not very polite.”

Ran felt how her heart started to beat faster. Worry and a little bit of panic started to take over her when she stared at that gun that was pointing at Kudo. Even though Kudo said that the gun should be just an air gun, it looked so real. Was he planning something? If, then what? And if he was right, somewhere among the guests were still four others, so even though he would take that one down, how he would take others? And who could tell if they would have other tricks on their sleeves? Maybe Kudo hadn’t just seen it? Or maybe others got real guns, or… or…

Please, Lord, don’t let anything happen to him…

“You want to get rid of your life that fast?” the man asked. Ran looked at the speaker's face, but it shouldn’t have surprised her when she saw something covering his face and hair. But the dress looked fine. Kudo was probably right, they were guests. And another reason to hide their faces, maybe they planned to pretend to leave after this and infiltrate among guests before the lights would come back. That way no one could tell who those people were.

Well, only if they could hide their masks and stolen goods somehow.

“If you feel like it, feel welcome to do so”, Kudo answered.

The gun was still pointing at him, and Ren felt restless.

“Kudo”, Ran let out, making Sonoko let go of her arm, and grabbed Kudo’s back and arm, which just didn’t let her move closer to the robber. But like she cared about the robber... “Don’t taunt him. What… what if you are wrong?”

“I’m barely ever wrong”, he answered pretty confidently. Too confident, if someone would have asked Ran. “So don’t worry.”

Don’t worry?! How in the world she could not worry!?

“But…”

“Shut up!” the robber in front of them shouted. It startled Ran and when she moved to look at the man, the gun was pointing at her, making her heart skip a beat. For a moment she waited for him to pull the trigger, but then Kudo get rid of her grip and went straight for the man, grabbed the gun, and somehow easily tripped him, making that robber fall on the ground. It made so much noise, and before Ran could tell, there was someone else close to Kudo, attacking him. Ran took a step to help him, but someone grabbed her arm.

“Help, there is more!” Sonoko screamed. Ran turned and saw how two others came closer to them.

Ran took a deep breath. Like she would let them hurt anyone! If they wanted a war, she would give it to them!

“I handle this”, she said to Sonoko, and while getting rid of her grip, she kicked her high heels off - thank God Sonoko made her buy court shoes even though Ran would have liked to have different ones - and stepped fast between them and Kudo. It seemed to confuse those two since they stopped and didn’t do anything, but Ran decided not to give them any chances. It was enough that they had ruined the party! So before they did anything else, Ran acted: A few hits on the other one, then for another one, and with a nice kick, she took both of them down. They let out a massive groan while laying on the floor. Ran stared at them for a moment, making sure that they would stay down.

Thank God she kept her own promise and started to take again those karate classes after her leg healed! Of course, these two hadn’t been as bad opponents as Wada Yui two months ago. Or maybe Ran could have beaten her if she wouldn’t have a gun with her back then.

And other thanks to Sonoko that she was too obsessed about that deep red evening dress which got slit! It had been maybe a little too high on Ran’s likes, but thanks to it, it had given her a chance to act!

She turned around to check how Sonoko was doing, but then she saw, how someone was running close to Kudo, who was observing one of the robbers on the ground.

The panic hit her.

“Shinichi, crouch!” she shouted and ran towards him. She could see how he glanced at her confused before it change into shock and he crouched. And Ran stopped and raise her leg, kicking the one who tried to attack behind him. Her foot hit the side of their arm, making them take a few steps aside from Kudo, dropping whatever they got in their hand. Before they recovered from her attack, she went closer and gave a few hits until the robber fall to the ground, gasping for the air.

Don’t you even dare! Ran thought silently when she leered at the one on the ground. How dare they even think to attack behind him?!

Then the lights came back. Ran shut her eyes for a moment. There were so many different noises that guests let out, and soon they heard how the doors slammed open. Ran squinted her eyes to see how the guards ran in, asking if everyone is okay.

“And only now have you realized that something was wrong?!” Sonoko shouted in loud voice, sounding angry. “God, you were slow! Kudo-kun and Ran took care of them already, thanks for asking.”

Kudo!

Ran turned to see Kudo. He was still on the ground, looking at her.

“Are you okay?” she asked and went closer to him. She offered her hand to help him up.

He observed her for a moment with an expression that Ran couldn’t name. Then he opened his mouth. “I’m fine, thanks”, he answered and grab her hand, getting up. Then he looked at the one who she had taken down. “At least I’m better than him.”

Ran felt nervous and looked at the one she took down. Okay, maybe she was a little bit too rough with him, but… “Well…”

“Oh, you didn’t know that my Ran is Tokyo’s Karate Champion?” Sonoko’s voice said pretty proudly, and before she knew it, Sonoko was hanging on her arm again. “So better not to make her angry.”

It made her only more nervous. “God, Sonoko, it’s old news”, she laughed nervously. “It was in high school, you know.”

“But you’re still the best karateka in Japan”, Sonoko continued.

Ran laughed again. “I’m just a doctor, nothing more.”

“Just a doctor”, Kudo repeated, making Ran look at him. “Yeah, right…”

“Are you three alright?”

Ran turned to see how Sonoko’s parents came to them with worried looks. When they stopped, the guards took those so-called “robbers”, taking away their masks. Any of them didn’t look familiar to Ran.

“Take them somewhere safe place”, Sonoko’s father said. It surprised Ran how calm he was in a situation like this. “I’m going to talk to them later.”

“I believe you should call the police to investigate this properly”, Kudo said, when the guards started to take them away. “Just in case…”

“Of course”, Sonoko’s father said and looked after the guards. “But I certainly want to hear what they got to say about this as soon as possible. How in the world something like this could even happen?”

“Well, lucky us that we got Kudo-kun here”, Sonoko’s mother said.

“Well…”

“Ran took down three of them with her karate”, Sonoko’s voice interrupted Kudo. “So give some credit to her too.”

Ran felt so nervous when both of Sonoko’s parents turned to look at her.

“Well, it was really nothing”, Ran laughed nervously. “I mean… If Kudo wouldn’t have acted, I wouldn’t have done anything…”

“Don’t be so modest”, Kudo interrupted. Ran turned to meet his blue eyes. “I couldn’t have taken all of them down without you.” Then he turned to look at their little battlefield even though there wasn’t anything to see anymore. “I was okay with one on one fight, but if those two would have gotten on me, I would have lost.” Then he turned to look at her. “But thanks to you, we handled all of them and nothing terrible didn’t happen. So I think I owe you a big time for saving me.”

Ran blushed and looked down. Owe her? God, two months ago, he had been the one who saved her life and compared to it, this was nothing.

“And we owe both of you”, Sonoko’s mother said gently, making Ran raise her eyes at her. “Because without you two, these parties would have been a catastrophe!” Then she came closer to Ran, lowering her hand on her shoulder, and she turned more serious. “But just so you know, it isn’t okay just to run into danger like that! Something terrible could have happened…”

“It’s okay”, Ran said and smiled. “I wasn’t alone, so…”

“They got guns!” Sonoko’s mother said like scolding her. “They could have shot you or…”

“Kudo said that they were air guns, so there was no worry”, Ran interrupted, trying still to calm her. “So…”

“He could have been wrong”, Sonoko’s mother interrupted. “And besides, it…”

“Would you accompany me, Kudo-kun?”

Somehow Ran shut her ears from Sonoko’s mother’s speech and turned to look at Sonoko’s father, who looked at Kudo. “I would like to go to see them right away and discuss what this all was about. And I would like you to accompany me.”

Kudo nodded without hesitation. “Yeah, sure.”

Ran felt how her heart sank a little bit.

He was leaving?

“Well, enough of that”, Sonoko’s mother said just when Sonoko’s father turned and left. Kudo turned to glance at her, show her a smile before going after him, Ran’s eyes following him, how he just walked further from her… “I think you should take a little rest.” Ran felt, how Sonoko’s mother grabbed her shoulders, making her turn away from Kudo. “And meanwhile, I’m going to handle guests, and…”

And yet, Ran turned to look over her shoulder, trying to see how Kudo waves his way among guests, slowly starting to disappear... And all she could feel was sadness and disappointment. Like he was drifting away, somewhere where she couldn’t follow…

No!

Ran couldn’t tell really why, but she was sure that this couldn’t go like this! She can’t let him go like this! Not after everything! How many times he had left and Ran had just looked after him, feeling sad about it? And how many times she had been scared to lose him? Well, not many, but she was pretty sure how she felt by now, and as scary as it was, she knew that after this, she couldn’t make herself call him or send messages. It needs to be now! Not later, because there could be a big chance that there wouldn’t be next time! She should go after him, stop him, tell him…

“Excuse me”, Ran said, and before anyone could really stop her, she ripped herself from Sonoko’s mother’s grip, and turned to take a few running steps after Kudo. Sadly, he had disappeared somewhere, but at least Ran had seen the way, so she tried to follow him. If she would be fast, maybe she would get them before they would go too far from the hall, and she could try to stop them - stop him!

Yet, and to her disappointment, she was late. When she finally got to the doors and the hallway, she looked around, but there was nothing. There was only an empty hallway with its doors and other hallways, but she couldn’t tell where they could have gone.

She wanted to blame the guests. It was like they had just moved on her way on purpose as soon as Kudo and Sonoko’s father had walked past them! Why? Didn’t they have any other places to stand? Why did they need to move closer to each other while talking? God, how there were so many people in front of her, and none of them hadn't realized that she was in a hurry?!

But deep down she knew she was the only one to blame: Why she didn’t act faster? Why she didn’t tell in the first place that she had something to talk about with Kudo? Why she didn’t ask to accompany them? Why she didn’t run after them faster, why she hesitated so long? Why she didn’t shout after him? Or maybe shouted to the guests, asking them to move? Would she have saved a little more time if she would have gone around those guests?

She felt so disappointed. How did she let this happen? Why she hadn’t said anything earlier? If she would have…

“Did you get him?”

Ran closed her eyes for a moment before turning to Sonoko. She looked like she had fought her way there too. “I didn’t”, she said with a smile, but she could see from Sonoko’s face that her smile wasn’t as convincing as she hoped for.

This was stupid.

“I… I can call my father and ask…”

“Don’t”, Ran stopped her. “We can’t interrupt them in time like this.” And when Sonoko looked sad, Ran smiled. “It would be better to let them solve why those people ruined your parents’ party, right?”

“I can sacrifice that just so you can talk to him, just so you know”, Sonoko said and grossed her arms.

“I know that”, Ran whispered before clearing her throat. “Besides, I can talk to him later”, she continued hopefully even though she wasn’t sure of that. But there was still a chance… “I can wait here until he is ready, right? In the end, he can’t leave without us noticing... Right?”

Sonoko frowned. “But… It can be late when they are ready”, she said a little bit unsure. “How about your… work?”

Ran smiled. “It can’t take the whole night. Besides, one night here and there!”

Sonoko started to smile. “Yeah”, she said determined, being herself again. “And I’m going to wait with you!”

And all the guests left, and to Ran’s disappointment, she heard only then that Kudo had left the police station with Sonoko’s father and culprits. She had heard how Sonoko had angrily asked her mother how they had left without them noticing and when and how, but Ran hadn’t heard the answers.

Well, as she had even listened to them.

The answers didn’t matter to her anymore.

The last chapter

#ShinRan #Symptoms of Love #Doctor!Ran #Not Childhood Friends AU #Chapter 5 #Fanfiction #Shinichi Kudo #Ran Mouri #Sonoko Suzuki #Detective Conan

41 notes · View notes