#And told Shinichi he could just make Kogoro famous if he wanted to put the detective in a position to get info

[pureconancommentary]

Let him call, because again, Agasa was the one who set up this secret, he should be the one defending it. Again, the parent shows up out of the blue here, but I kinda wish they didn't. Because Shinichi's the protagonist, he has to deal with everything in the end, but I want Agasa to be confronted. Have him make up more lies. Bring in the parents slower, have them contact Kogoro to arrange for Conan to stay long term and work out payment. Ran asks about the parents and Kogoro is like 'oh it's fine, they're covering his stay', and Conan's going '...? ???????'. Agasa denies having anything to do with it on Yuusaku's orders. Conan frets about it for a while and they actually see how he'd react to potential unknown danger. And then spring the 'kidnap him' trap to fully show him what could possibly happen.

But I guess just 'kidnap him and potentially give him a heart attack to prove that death is a real possibility' without any setup or warning is fine, too, sure.

[purplellamanator]

Shinran and #5?

5. "I can't feel my legs."

A/N~ Sorry about the delay! I know I didn't post any of the requests last night and I'm sorry! I just had a really bad day and didn't want that to affect my writings for you guys! I still have some more requests to do so if yours hasn’t en posted yet, I will definitely get to them!! As for this one- thanks for the ask anon! Nothing better than some good ol' ShinRan ;) Hope you enjoy! Wasn't sure if you would angst or fluff with this one, but considering last time there was an option for angst and I went with that, I'll try to make this one fluffy! the lovely prompts this is also something i can envision happening in Interview Mania 

oOo

Ran would kill him. He was sure of it.

She had told him not to go after all. And what did he do? He did it anyway.

Yep, she would kill him. If this car didn't do it first.

Looking back and trying to be defensive, how had she expected him not to go? It was her father after all that invited him. Shinichi wanted to argue she didn't understand why he had to go. This was more than just accepting a challenge from Mouri Kogoro. This was more than simply out doing her father.

This was about gaining his respect. His acceptance.

Shinichi loved Ran. He wanted to marry her eventually. How would he be able to achieve that if her dad refused to be in the same room as him?

"You need to confront him! Show that old man that you're not going anywhere!"

He hated to say it, but he kind of agreed with Kuroba. He really wasn't going anywhere. Not anytime soon and not unless he and Ran suddenly decided to call it quits.

And he had no plans on letting that ever happen.

"Idiot! Don't actually consider doing that!" Hattori actually stepped in when he heard, what he thought, was some of the most ludicrous advice ever.

Kaito gave their friend an annoyed look. "Oh yeah? Well, what the hell would you recommend he do? Be the old man's doormat?"

And that was Shinichi actually had to agree with Kaito. He was sick of being just that- something for Kogoro to walk all over. He was the boyfriend to the man's daughter. The least he could do is be somewhat cordial with him. And that would also include him not bad mouthing his parents.

"Anything this dummy tells you to do, will have that Nee-chan dumping you the moment she steps foot back in Japan," he blatantly disregarded Kaito's question while jabbing a finger in his direction as well.

Hattori had a point. Ran did defend him anytime her father's comments got out of hand. But he also knew that she highly valued that old drunk's opinion. And after a few interactions of, "Oh look. Here's mister bigshot to grace us with his presence," and, "How are the Hollywood couple?"- Shinichi knew that it had to come to an end. How many times would Ran continue to hear that and notdsomething about it? Not to her father but to him, her boyfriend. He didn't want that drunkard's mouth to brainwash her into actually listening to the things he said about him. He didn't want her opinion of him to be changed.

"The point is to get him to respect you," Hattori continued. "Not hate you."

Well, that was easier said than done. The two of them had nothing in common. There was nothing that they could agree on except that they both loved Ran very much. Other than that, they didn't want anything to do with the other. Old man Mouri had already written him off long before he and Ran ever got together.

But he could understand where Hattori was coming from. If Kuroba wanted him to argue that he wasn't going anywhere, the same thing could be said about Kogoro. That was Ran's father. He could not be replaced.

"You need to prove to that old man you deserve to be with his daughter."

That had been the end of the advice from Hattori. And for a while, Shinichi had thought it had done nothing but make him feel even more helpless. But he was desperate. In order do what he had planned and to do it on time, he had to get through to her father now. It could not wait!

So when Kogoro asked Shinichi to go out for drinks with him, he readily agreed. 

 When he told Ran what he wanted to do, she was adamant that he not do it. Her father in a bar? She was trying to get him to stop drinking- not encourage the habit.That and she likely feared that something bad would happen between the two. 

But again, Ran didn't understand. She wouldn't yet. Shinichi had to do this because there was one thing that only Kogoro could give him.

His blessing.

Inviting him to a bar probably hadn't been his brightest idea but he wanted to play up to the things that he knew Kogoro liked. The plan was to butter him up. Just to get the man to give him the okay to marry his daughter and then they could move on with their lives from a distance.

But Kogoro was a seasoned drinker. And he also wasn't as stupid as he led everybody to believe. He knew something had been up the moment that Shinichi asked to spend time with him. The distaste between the two was not one-sided after all.

But the moment Kogoro knew just exactly what Shinichi wanted, he had the man turning more serious than he had ever seen him. And a proposition was made.

They were never going to see eye to eye and they would probably never actually like the other. But Kogoro could learn to deal with him.

If Shinichi could out drink him.

Shinichi knew it was a bad idea. It sent red flags raising. But he also knew that Kogoro knew that as well. He probably knew how Ran would feel if she ever found out that her boyfriend actually encouraged his bad habit. But he also wanted to know to what extent he would go to prove that he was worthy of his daughter. To what lengths would he go for this blessing?

Shinichi called his deal.

And lost.

The bad thing was he was too drunk to even be disappointed by that fact. Kogoro wasn't sober by any means but he was also way better off than the young athlete.

Shinichi wasn't exactly sure when they called it quits. He barely had any recollection of paying the tab.

His loss to Ran's old man hadn't been the worst part of his night he would soon discover.

Being that the plan was to go out specifically to drink, he had not taken his car. Kogoro and him had met up after he took the subway. Probably noticing how intoxicated Shinichi really was, he was surprised that Ran's dad actually took the time to help him get a cab.

That had been the plan. But when he didn't bother looking both ways or to even check if he had the right away, he just began walking in the cross walk.

And promptly got hit by a car.

"Brat!" Kogoro called in a mixture of surprise and fear. He hadn't been paying attention either and simply let Shinichi walked right into a cross walk with on coming traffic.

The car hadn't been going that fast. If anything, the moment they saw someone had just walked out, they had attempted to stop- but it had been too late.

Kogoro had already ran over to him but the driver was already jumping out of their car, freaking out. It only got worse when he realized just who he ran over.

"Oh my God! I'm so sorry!" He was rambling and running his words together and taking initiative, the man was pulling out his phone and calling for an ambulance. Shinichi could kind of pick up some of the things that were being said. He knew the man recognized him when he started telling the dispatcher that he had, "Run over Kudou Shinichi!".

Admittedly, he didn't even think to be concerned about the press hearing about this. He knew he would have regrets eventually when he was sober, but for now there was something else bothering him.

"I can't feel my legs," he admitted out loud to simply voice his thoughts. He was so drunk though that he could tell if that was from the drinking or the fact that he just got hit by a car. Even worse, that statement was said as if he were commenting that it was raining outside.

He really was plastered. An athlete not even caring that his legs might not work.

But Kogoro was sober enough and he immediately began to panic. "Shit! Ran's going to kill me!" He was visibly freaking out, hovering nervously all over Shinichi. It was obvious he wanted to help but didn't know how. He didn't want to jostle him when he was laying there saying he couldn't feel his legs.

That had been a long night. He had been taken to the hospital pretty quickly and surprisingly, Kogoro went with him. He only left him a few times and that was to either let the doctors check him or to, what he assumed, call Ran. The girl that was about to put him in an early grave.

He knew he was sobering up when all of the embarrassment and anxiety hit him at once. He was so dead. The doctors had already told him that he would be fine. That his legs were fine and he mainly had a welt on his head from falling on the road- that and a decent sized bruise on his thigh.

But that wasn't what he was scared of.

The paparazzi had gone wild. They were having a field day with the fact that 'Famous Athlete Kudou Shinichi Drunkenly Caused an Accident'. And to make matters worse, as if they could- Ran was flying back early. Kogoro had warned him that he called Ran and she was furious. It appeared that that was one other thing they shared. Their fear of Mouri Ran.

When she finally showed up, Shinichi felt like it was too soon, He hadn't had enough time to at least try to formulate a good cover story for why he did the complete of opposite of what she said. The only good thing he could think of was out of the question considering he still did not have Kogoro's blessing.

Ran's first reaction had of course been to burst through the door and run to her boyfriend who was still hooked to monitors in a bed. There were tears in her eyes and from the red splotches he could tell she had likely cried the whole plane ride. It made him feel even more guilty.

But once that was done and past her worry, there was anger that was as clear as day. She had started in on him first but quickly shifted her anger onto her father whom in her eyes, was just as guilty. Truthfully it had been Kogoro's idea and though Shinichi knew he had no intention of having a car almost kill him, a small part of him knew this had likely been something he wanted to use to get Ran angry with him and possibly leave him. But he could see the remorse on the old man's face as he quietly stood there as Ran tried to keep her voice down.

"Ran," he cleared his throat and at the glare she shot his way, he almost backed down. He couldn't let Kogoro take the fall for it. It had been his idea to go out in the first place no matter if it had been Kogoro's idea to get him plastered and beyond coherent.

Kogoro gave him a suspicious look. He probably assumed Shinichi was about to spring something that would make her father take all the blame. But it wasn't.

"It was my idea."

Ran hadn't gone easy on him after that either. She was furious. She had to leave work early because her boyfriend decided to get drunk in the street. It was clear that once it was obvious that he would be fine and no lasting damage had occurred, that Ran fully allowed herself to be angry. And she wouldn't talk to him for days. She had been so mad at him that she actually stayed the night at her own apartment. And he hated that. Ran and him rarely got to see each other as it was. He didn't want her spending her free days away from him. But he had no one else but himself to blame. Whether the drinking game had been Kogoro's idea or not, it had been Shinichi's to actually go to a bar in the first place. Here he was. He got drunk, hit by a car, his girlfriend was mad at him, and he still didn't have her father's blessing.

Or so he thought.

Someone had knocked on his door. He immediately dismissed it as Ran considering she had a key and would just walk in. But she was the only one he ever really visited. It was rare for his team to come to his house. But none of that could ever prepare him for who really was at his door.

It was Kogoro. And it was clear that he was not at all comfortable with being there. He wasn't making eye contact and Shinichi realized it was because for once, Ran's dad was trying to be nice to him.

"You took the whole wrap for the other night even though you could've just let Ran yell at me."

Shinichi didn't disagree. He could have and then he probably could've used that against the old man to force him to give him his blessing. That or he would risk making Ran even more upset.

But he didn't. And he explained why.

"Ran values your opinion more than you think. I didn't want her to look at you differently on the off chance that something bad really did happen to me."

That left the older man standing in silence as if he were thinking. But then he nodded his head slowly; with a different expression and look in his eyes. And when they met gazes, Shinichi understood what that look was.

It was respect.

"Do you already have a ring?"

[mintchocolateleaves]

The very first AU that @detectivegeekshin and I talked about was the Actors au, and I can’t believe I’ve never written anything for it until now. But finally, my thoughts on the AU are coherent enough to be put into words. Have 3k of Actors auditioning for their roles.

Ran isn’t entirely sure why she auditions in the first place.

She’s never even really been confident enough to audition for a main role in her school’s drama club, has always stuck with extra roles, but now… now she’s deciding to audition for a role on television?

The thought almost makes her feel sick with nerves.

Still, there’s no point in never trying. She doubts she’ll get the part – other people have more experience – but she wants to try and learn more about the auditioning process. Maybe then, one day, she’ll be brave enough to go into it with more confidence.

Ran grabs hold of her script, goes over her lines and tries to memorise them. Then, she considers the role that she’s going for. The character is similar to her in personality, which is why she’d decided to choose a role such as this one to audition for.

“W-why am I doing this?” She asks herself, when she’s sat in the waiting room. She refuses to make eye contact with the other girls auditioning, lest she start worrying about how much better than her they’ll all be.

Instead, she waits, smooths out the paper she needs and decides that she’s going to test herself, throw herself further into the character designed for her. She bites her lip, tells herself it won’t go as badly as she expects it will, and continues.

She wishes that she’d let someone know that she’d decided to audition, hadn’t decided to stay quiet on the topic. Maybe she doesn’t want to let people down, but now, she wishes that she’d had someone come with her so she wouldn’t be going through it alone.

“Mouri Ran?”

Ran stiffens in her seat, then raises her hand, following after the woman who’s called her name. She walks behind her, listening to her explain that she’ll go into the room, and speak lines back and forth with the director, giving him a feel for how she falls into character.

She nods her head, tries to relieve herself of any tension that’s remaining in her shoulders and tells herself that it’s going to be alright.

“Nervous?” The woman who’s called her asks, putting a hand onto her shoulder. Ran nods. “It’s natural for an audition. Just try your best, and don’t take it too seriously. If it’s meant to be, it’ll happen.”

Ran smiles, nods her head, and then, steps inside a small office.

Inside, there’s a man with glasses, the man who will go on to become the director when they begin filming. He leans forward, bows and introduces himself as Oshiro Junpei.  

Ran bows back, offers her own name and takes the chair that he offers to her, trying not to seem as restless as she feels.

“We’ll take it easy,” Oshiro begins, “we’ll go over the lines we’ve prepared, and see how that goes.”

Despite it being easy, Ran feels her throat dry up. She feels like this is going to be very difficult a task. Still, she’s never been one to give up, so she swallows down her fear, prepares herself.

“We’ll take it from the top,” Oshiro continues, “and I’ll read for the other characters in the scene. Whenever you’re ready, Mouri-san.”

Ran closes her eyes, tells herself she’ll be okay, and begins.

“T-this child…”

-

Ran leaves the audition behind feeling proud of herself, but also convinced that she’s definitely not going to get the role. She’d stuttered on some words, inflected too much emotion into others and quite honestly, she’d just been nervous the entire time.

So, she doesn’t mention it to anyone after all.

She considers trying out for the school play, giving herself a bigger role this time so that she can learn how to navigate a more emotive role. The school drama club will be opening auditions soon anyway, and Ran’s always been told she could have a bigger role if she tried so she decides to focus on that.

“Have you seen the new Night Baron movie trailer?” One of her friends, Yumi, mutters during their lunch break one day, and Ran shakes her head, focusing on the homework she’d completely forgotten about. Usually, she’s on top of things like this, but the audition had cut into her day and now she’s running behind.

“No,” she answers, and she finds it’s the truth. She’s not an avid fan of the book series, even though she has enjoyed the first film that’s come out. “Sorry.”

“Oh, you’ve got to,” Yumi continues, pulling her phone out. Ran has the faint impression that she’s going to be forced to watch the trailer whether she wants to or not. “It’s so good, and the baron – Kudo Shinichi – looks extra fine in this one.”

Trust her friend to fangirl over an actor that they’ll never meet. It’s… well, it’s almost kind of embarrassing.

“Right, right.” Ran says, rolling her eyes. The trailer is brought up and begins to play as Yumi passes her the phone. “I’m sure we’ll watch it in the cinema at some point.”

-

She’s not expecting to get the call back.

Perhaps that’s why it shocks her so much when she receives an email asking her to come back in, to continue the audition with some of the other actors to see if they’re compatible.

Ran doesn’t really understand what they mean by compatible, not at first, but then she considers how actors need to have chemistry on set and then it sinks in. Someone wants to know if she’s compatible with the other actors, whether she’ll be able to create a believable character when interacting with others.

“Huh,” Ran mutters to herself as she scrolls through the email, looking up the details. The call back will take more time this time, and another two scenes for the script have been included. Since the show is based around a detective shrinking in age, they want her to audition with the other characters who will be the main characters.

This includes three scenes. One for the detective as his teenage self, one as a child and one with the father of the role she’s auditioning for.

“This is really happening,” Ran continues to mumble to herself. She takes a bite of her lunch, glances around her classroom and smiles. If her friends question why she’s acting weirdly, she doesn’t answer them.

Now she feels a little hopeful about getting the role, and she really… really doesn’t want to let those around her down. If she gets the role, then she’ll tell them then.

-

Ran isn’t sure what she’s expecting from her call back, but she’s not expecting to be one of four girls in a room.

At the previous audition there had been a succinct lack of girls, so many that it had been almost overwhelming. Now, faced with so little, she feels even more overwhelmed. Mainly, because she’s pretty sure she’s seen them on television before.

She’s sat, about to compete with people more practised than she is? Ran#s never felt more nervous in her life.

Still, she sits, waits for her name, repeating her lines in her head. She phases through the scenes, imagines the inflection she needs to place on each word, the weighting, the emotion. She imagines the context, imagines herself as the character and bites into her lip.

Is she capable of keeping up her act long enough to be convincing?

Ran decides not to question herself. Her best bet is to simply… wait and see. No amount of fretting will help her, so it’s probably for the best not to fret at all. Even if the sentiment is easier said than done.

She jumps when her name is called, and stumbles to her feet, but by the time the door closes behind her for the second audition, for her call back, Ran’s back is straight, and she’s willed away the shaking of her hands.

-

The director, Oshiro, welcomes Ran back inside with a small wave of his hand, signalling for her to sit down in the spare seat. Beside him, there’s another man, someone Ran recognises from TV, an author. The author to the series that she’s auditioning for, Aoyama Gosho.

Ran tries not to let her nerves overpower her, dips her head in a greeting and offers a small bow.

“Here’s how we’ve planned things,” Oshiro says, when Ran glances around the room and cannot find any of the actors she supposed to be reading lines with. “We’ll go back over the initial scene you auditioned with me – I have the lines here – for Aoyama-san to get a baseline for your acting, and then we’ll go into the next room over and start your audition from there. How does that sound?”

Ran nods. “That – That sounds fine, y-yes.”

Reading the original scene goes much like the same way it had before. Ran reads the words, tries not to stutter over the words, and slowly finds that she becomes more and more comfortable as the scene continues, as she gets further into character.

“Alright,” Oshiro says, standing, “that’s enough for this scene Mouri-san. Let’s head into the main room and go over the scenes we’ve had you memorise.”

She barely resists a sigh of relief. Ran stands, follows behind the two men – Aoyama quiet, watching the audition without making any other commentary save for a nod, and a reassuring smile – and makes her way into a slightly larger room.

The room is mirrored against two walls, a rehearsal space for dance and theatre pieces. Ran avoids her reflection, doesn’t want to see the nervousness on her own face, and focuses on the four people inside the room.

She recognises two with an impressive ease. Two famous actors, people she’s seen on movie trailers and the TV hundreds of times before. Mouri Kogoro – In the past, Ran had always pointed him out to her friends, stated that they had the same surname with a smile – sits leaning against his chair, talking to a small child in another chair.

Ran doesn’t know who the child is, but she assumes he’s the child actor who will be the star of the show. A new acting role for him, she assumes. Unless he’s been on shows Ran simply hasn’t seen yet. His guardian, presumably his mother, stands nearby, dark curls framing her face.

The other actor she recognises, is one her friends will never let her live down. Kudo Shinichi, the same age as her but more successful in acting than many actors double their age, offers a smile to her as she comes in.

“Alright Mouri-san – ah, this will get confusing quickly, do you mind if I call you Ran-san?”

Shrugging her shoulders, Ran says that this is fine.

“Great,” Oshiro continues. Behind him, Aoyama takes a seat. “Let me introduce you to the cast you’ll be auditioning with.”

He waves towards Mouri Kogoro, introduces him, and the man glances up, offers a smile and a short wave. Then, a hand towards Kudo Shinichi, who offers a short, ‘yo’.

“This is Edogawa Conan, and the woman beside him, is his mother Edogawa Fumiyo.”

The little boy, Conan, glances up at the sound of his voice, makes a small chirping sound that’s almost a hello, and kicks his legs out against the chair. He’s adorable, Ran almost wants to hug him.

His mother, calmer, offers a small smile and says, “hello.”

Ran introduces herself, gives them all a small, ‘please take care of me today’, before glancing towards Oshiro, waiting for his direction.

“We’ll start with Mouri-san and Ran-san’s scene together, shall we?”

-

It goes well.

Ran and Kogoro share enough similarities in their body language that they could convincingly play a father and daughter combo without the casting seeming forced.

Mouri Kogoro, Ran thinks as she is going over the scene with him, scolding the drunken man his part requires him to be, is a very good actor. She remembers sitting downstairs with her mother watching his previous roles and admiring the way he carried himself.

He’s usually the main character in crime shows, a smart detective, or a forensics scientist, so for him to be playing a deadbeat character, shows just how capable he is with his roles.

“Can you two go back over the scene?” Oshiro asks. “Ran-san, try to be more familiar, your supposed to be family.”

Personally, Ran isn’t very close to her father at home. He’s usually working, away on business trips, and so there’s always a degree of tension when he’s home. They simply don’t know how to react around one another, sometimes.

But the character she’s auditioning for lives solely with her father, would have a closer connection. They’d know how to react to one another, and Ran realises that she has to push past her own experiences and adopt the different experiences that her character would have lived through.

“Okay,” Ran says, nodding her head and beginning the scene from the start.

-

The next scene is one with Conan.

The child ambles up in front of her, and sticks his hand out, saying that he’s very pleased to meet her. He compliments her, states that she’s very pretty, and Ran lets out a small laugh, thanking him.

“How old are you?” Ran asks, out of curiosity as they ready to begin their scene. Conan lifts five fingers up, grins. He says that even though he’s five, he’s going to be playing a character who’s six.

For a five-year-old, he’s fantastic. He responds to his cues, and he builds a rapport with Ran in little time at all. He doesn’t stumble over his words, and Ran realises this is what child actors are raised to be like.

Even if sometimes he pauses, trying to remember his lines, he’s brilliant. He inspires awe, Ran thinks. And he’ll go on to be big.

“Ran-neechan,” Conan says once they’re finished, “you did really good.”

Ah, children. Ran loves how they always have the purest compliments at hand. She really does.

“Good, good,” Oshiro says. His tone seems to suggest otherwise however, an almost dry tone, as if he’s beginning to think that Ran shouldn’t be here.

Of course, she shouldn’t be. Ran’s no actress. She’s not experienced enough yet for a TV show. Here by a complete fluke, she’s simply trying to ride out the experience and come away having learned something.

“And now for the final scene?”

-

Before they start the final scene, Shinichi leans forward, offers Ran a smile and says, “hey, don’t freak yourself out.”

Ran, who has been doing exactly this, but doesn’t want to admit as such, shakes her head and says, “I’m not freaking out at all.”

“You’ve got the look of someone who’s freaking out.”

She doesn’t really have anything to respond to that, so Ran shrugs, sends him a half smiles and says, “this is actually my first audition altogether.”

His eyebrows raise further than Ran thinks is possible. He leans forward and says, “you’re doing really well, don’t let Oshiro-san’s expression fool you. He does it to push you further, to see how you’ll react under pressure.”

His lips flick up into a smile, and then he steps back, readying to begin the scene. Ran watches him, feels a grin of her own forming on her face. It’s the opposite of the expression she’s after for the scene though, so she forms her face into slight irritation, readies to begin.

Shinichi leads them in, offers a small yawn – his character is meant to have just woken up in the scene after all – and says, “so? What do you want? It’s Sunday after all…”

She breathes out a small sigh. Glances down and says, “So you forgot…”

“Ah? Am I forgetting something?”

“Not just something,” Ran says, lifting her voice into slight irritation. Not angrily, but enough that she’s probably rolling her eyes at the him, exasperated even. She takes a step forward, frown falling into face. “I said ‘today, I’m finally free from karate training’. ‘Then lets go buy you a phone?’ you said.”

They finish the scene soon enough, with Ran ordering Shinichi to get changed, claiming that she’ll make him breakfast. The scene might be short, but Ran feels herself falling into it, comfortable with Shinichi as they’re actually childhood friends, not simply playing the role of them.

Maybe in another life they were, or maybe Shinichi’s a good enough actor that he makes people feel comfortable when they’re sharing a scene with him. Ran doesn’t know.

All she knows is that he offers her a wink as they finish, heading back to his seat. He says, “see you another time, Ran-san.”

Ran barely has the time to say the words back, because Oshiro stands, and he’s leading her outside of the room, ending the call back without allowing her the time to say goodbye.

See you soon.

Ran feels her cheeks flush as she leaves the building behind. She really hopes that she will.

-

“I think we should go for her, the chemistry between her and Kudo-kun was perfect. Completely what I had in mind when writing these two characters.”

“I agree on those two, but the other interactions were a little stiff. She’d need to work at it.”

“Then have her work at it. I think that’s our girl.”

“…I’ll let her know then. Mouri Ran is going to be a star.”

-

“Hey,” Shinichi says, the first day on set, when they’re all preparing to read over the script, the read through offering any final edits. “You made it.”

“Yeah,” Ran says. She pushes her hair behind her ear, offers a smile. “I’m pretty excited.”

Shinichi’s lips lift up, the edges of his mouth quirking upward. He says, “So am I.”

[stillebesat]

In the Rubble (5/6)

Blurb: After a bomb collapses a building on both Conan and Kogoro, Conan is faced with a difficult decision regarding the Famous Sleeping Detective. Story: Detective Conan  Characters: Edogawa Conan/Kudo Shinichi, Mouri Kogoro TW: Claustrophobia/Trapped

"I got you, Shinichi. It's alright. It's going to be alright." Kogoro said, trying to keep his voice soothing as he held onto the screaming boy. He'd never felt so helpless. Shinichi was in agony and there wasn't a thing Kogoro could do to help it go away. So he kept up a steady string of reassurances as he rocked the writhing teenager. He doubted that Shinichi could even hear him over his cries, but it was all Kogoro could do for the moment.

"It's alright. It will be over soon." By Kami, please let it be over soon. The boy had shot up so fast before, shouldn't he shrink just as quickly? He kept a firm grip on Shinichi as steam billowed off of him the same way it had when he'd grown. Despite the faint protection of the jacket, the heat generating from the boy burned him like touching a hot stove. "Just a little longer, Shinichi." Kogoro held him closer as the writhing teenager diminished, shrinking like an ice cube on a hot summer day. This had to almost be over. It had to-

The echoes of Shinichi's cries lingered in the air as the boy suddenly fell silent, unexpectedly going limp, his head lolling to the side.

Kogoro's heart stopped. "Shinichi!" He yelled, shaking the boy. No response. Kogoro leaned forward. Come on! Come on! "You can't just!" Was this normal? Was this normal for him to faint! Did he faint?! The boy shrank another six inches to Conan's size as Kogoro frantically tried to check for a pulse, but his fingers were shaking too much to be sure he was feeling a heartbeat. The jacket swamped Shinichi now, making his limp form appear all the more like a broken puppet. "SHINICHI!"

Kogoro tore at the oversized jacket, checking to see if the boy was still breathing and flinched as it revealed all too clearly the injuries he'd sustained. Lacerations and bruises covered much of Shinichi's body. His feet in particular were jagged and bloody to the point where Kogoro had no idea how the boy had been able to walk. Plus his shoulder definitely was not looking good, all torn up and bruised.

Yet, to his relief, Shinichi's chest moved up and down in quick shallow breaths. Unconscious then. Kogoro sat back, passing a rough hand over his eyes to clear his blurry vision. After all that screaming, he couldn't blame the boy for fainting. Kogoro inhaled, remembering to breathe again as he tenderly pulled the now oversized jacket around the boy before Shinichi could catch a chill, cradling him close.

"Stupid brat." He muttered, brushing his fingers over Shini-no Conan's? -Gah what was he supposed to call him now?!- grimy forehead. "I knew you weren't fine." He'd known it, but hadn't done more to stop the boy, even when he'd seen potential signs. "You shouldn't have tried so hard to push on." But he understood why Shinichi had tried. Wanting to get them both to safety. The boy had been right in the pill not lasting as long as it was supposed to. Maybe. Kogoro glanced around for a clock before he could stop himself. How much time had passed? An hour? Or under an hour? Who knew.

Kogoro exhaled, ruffling the unconscious boy's hair. After dealing with Shinichi for the last little bit, it was jarring to suddenly be staring at Conan again. The boy looked even more frail now. Tiny and pale under the layer of grime from the loss of blood.

Kogoro frowned, tsking. He'd told the boy that he'd make him rest once Shinichi dropped him, but under the circumstances in which Shinichi had done so...they couldn't just sit here and wait for who knew how long for a rescue. Shinichi was right. They needed to get out of here. Now.

Shini-Cona-gah! He'd just call the boy Conan. Small body. Conan. Large body. Shinichi. He could keep that straight. Conan desperately needed medical attention. While Shinichi could handle his injuries as a teenager, Kogoro doubted the boy would be as capable now that he was a kid again.

"Alright, brat." Kogoro looked around again, gauging the situation. He couldn't walk, the boy couldn't carry him now, unconscious and as small as he was. "Let's get out of here." Thank Kami, they were only a handful of steps away from the top. Alright, first priority. Reach the top of the stairs without dropping the boy.

Kogoro took the jacket, using the main body of it to wrap Conan up firmly like a caterpillar in its cocoon. Then he pulled the sleeves under one arm and over the opposite shoulder to create a sling, just managing to tie it in place. It made a makeshift cradle for the boy, allowing him to keep Conan steady against his chest. Alright. Now. To climb the stairs.

Cautiously, Kogoro grabbed the railing with one hand, using the other to push against the step, as he lifted himself up, inhaling sharply as he put weight on his legs. Agony. Especially in the right. He quickly lowered himself back down, panting heavily. Okay. Putting weight on his right leg wasn't going to work. But at least the left could tolerate it.

Gritting his teeth, checking once more to be sure Conan was secure, he grabbed onto the railing again with one hand. Taking a steadying breath, he pulled himself up, using the other hand and his left foot on the stairs to lift his body up to the next step, doing his best to keep weight off the right leg. It hurt. Oh Kami, it hurt. But the lighting in his left leg was nothing compared to the nuclear explosion his right would be if he used it. Kogoro grunted as he cleared another step. He could do this. He glanced back to Conan's unconscious form. He pressed his lips in a determined line. He could do this. For Conan. He could do this. One slow step at a time.

Kogoro paused to wipe his sweating palms on his pants so he could get a better grip on the railing. It really was a good thing they'd been nearly at the top when Shinichi had collapsed. He doubted he could have climbed the entire flight of stairs in this manner.

Finally clearing the last step, Kogoro let go of the railing and slowly laid down, wincing at the rubble digging into his back, but too tired to care. His hands came up to Conan, holding the boy against his chest as he worked to get his breath back. "Made it up, boya." He remarked staring up at the missing pieces of ceiling. He could see up into the fourth floor it looked like, the roof itself appearing to still be intact. He didn't like the look of it though. There were broken pipes everywhere, hanging wires, cracked beams and definitely more piles of concrete mixed in with shards of glass. "This would have been much faster if you'd been the one climbing you know." Kogoro lifted his head to look at the listless boy, brushing his cheek, smearing the soot there further.

As much as Kogoro wanted to take a long break, he didn't dare risk it. Shinichi had wanted them out of the mansion, and seeing how damaged the first floor also was only convinced Kogoro further that the boy was right.

Sitting up with a groan, he kept a hand supporting the boy as he scooted his legs around so he could better assess the damage. Honestly, it hardly looked much different from the basement. Piles of rubble and broken furniture everywhere, with the remaining walls leaning at odd angles. No wonder the ceiling was crumbling. The supports were failing everywhere. Really, the only difference Kogoro could see between this floor and the basement was that there was more light streaming in through the broken windows in the distance. Or was that the entry way? He couldn't tell for sure from here.

He rubbed his nose as the scent of gasoline again permeated the room. It got his heart racing once more as he remembered the cold liquid trickle down his back when he'd crawled through the tunnel. Was the gasoline scent coming from his shirt or elsewhere? Better to assume elsewhere and to get them out of this death trap before the gasoline found a live wire.

He readied himself to head towards the light, and had only begun to scoot his way across the floor using mostly his hands when Conan suddenly moaned, attempting to move in the cocoon that Kogoro had created from his jacket. Kogoro froze, eyebrows shooting up in surprise. After all the strain the boy had gone through, he'd thought the boy would be conked out for the rest of the day.

Using one arm to support the boy, Kogoro used his other hand to brush at Conan's bangs. "I got you, Conan." He said reassuringly, even as his eyes darted around the destroyed building. "You're alright."

Conan's eyelids fluttered,"Otosa-" he trailed off, glazed eyes struggling to focus on Kogoro's face.

Kogoro stamped down the sudden swelling of warmth in his chest. The brat was just confused. Any boy would want his father after the trauma he'd just been through. He'd probably expected Kudo Yusaku, not Mouri Kogoro.

"It's just me, boya." Kogoro said, giving his uninjured shoulder a light squeeze to reassure him. "I got you."

Conan sighed, closing his eyes as his head began to loll.

Kogoro reached up to support the boy's head guiding it back to rest against his chest. "That's right, Conan. Just rest." The boy had done enough for today.

Conan frowned, eyes opening halfway to again try and focus on Kogoro. "Oto-Oji-Ojisan." He mumbled hoarsely, his shoulders twitching uncomfortably. "Can't move." His eyelids fluttered again, nearly closing. "Tight."

Kogoro firmly shoved the rising warmth in his chest aside. Of course the brat would complain about Kogoro's work on keeping him secure. He rolled his eyes. "Hold on." He tugged at the main body of the jacket, loosening the wrapping around the boy. "Better?"

"Mmmm" The boy gave the slightest of nods, eyelids sliding down.

"Good. Just rest for now, boya." Kogoro said using a soothing tone of voice that had often worked to send a fretful Ran back to sleep when she'd been Conan's age. He really didn't need the brat fully waking up and refusing to cooperate. Shinichi had been stubborn enough. He didn't need Conan insisting that he could still help. Kogoro kept an arm around the boy to ensure that he didn't wiggle free as Kogoro again began pushing himself across the floor. "You've done enough. Rest."

The boy's eyes fluttered, and he craned his head to look around. Kogoro reached up turning his head back to again rest against his chest. "You're safe, just rest. I got this." He repeated.

Conan mumbled disagreement. His small hands snaking up to push weakly at Kogoro's now much larger ones. "I can-"

"You can just sit there and rest, Conan. I'm not letting you walk another inch on those feet." Kogoro interrupted firmly. "I got this." How had he known the boy would insist on trying to help? Mentally he gave himself a point. At least the boy was still mostly predictable as Conan or Shinichi.

Conan squinted groggily up at Kogoro, struggling weakly against Kogoro's firm hand keeping the boy's head against his chest, mumbling in protest. "Bua myhr growing tha wreng weay" he complained.

Kogoro frowned, relaxing his hand, not quite comprehending. "What was that, brat?"

Conan took a deep breath, wincing, his hand moving to his injured shoulder, lightly holding it. "Wrong. Way. Ojisan." He enunciated slowly.

Kogoro's eyebrows shot up and he looking around with confusion. "How would you know!" The brat had hardly seen where they were! He'd been heading towards the sunlight. That should have been a clear enough indication that that was the right way.

A small smile tugged at Conan's lips even as his eyes closed again. "Stairs...face...wrong way...from front." he mumbled. "Odd. I noticed it."

Kogoro briefly pinched the bridge of his nose. "You're a weird one, Conan. No one notices that!" But he trusted the boy, even as groggy as he was, to remember which way the exit was. He doubted the 'Heisei Holmes' would get lost in a building. Even a large bombed out mansion like this one. Obligingly he switched to scooting the two of them the other way, into the darker portion of the building. "You better be right about this." he grumbled for the boy's benefit. "In case you hadn't noticed. This way is darker. The light is behind us."

A smile tugged at Conan's lips. "Hole in ceiling." He replied less groggily, his eyes remaining closed. "Bomb was there." His hand dropped from his shoulder to his chest, rubbing at the point over his heart carefully.

Kogoro paused, glancing to the light in question, squinting his eyes. Nope. He had no idea how the boy could tell that that was the case. He exhaled, giving Conan a worried look. The boy touching his chest had meant a size change was eminent. He frowned. No, that wasn't right. Shinichi had rubbed at his chest too just after growing. It probably meant nothing more than the boy was recovering from suddenly being a different size.

Kogoro shook his head forcefully focusing back on the task of getting them both out. He continued moving, scooting them as best as he could around the piles of rubble or over them in some cases, without jarring his legs or Conan. Kogoro had never felt more like a snail then he did now. Frankly, a snail probably would've already made it out of the mansion by now with how often he had to pause to get his breath back from jarring his legs.

"Hang in there, Conan." Kogoro said, reassuring himself as well as the boy as he once again paused to get his bearings. The crumbling walls weren't helping at all in giving him direction. Whole doorways had collapsed in on themselves, making it difficult to tell just how many rooms they'd already passed through.

At least Conan was heeding his words to rest. He had that to be thankful for. "We're nearly out." Kogoro murmured as he scooted forward once more. He had no idea how close they were. In fact, it looked like... He rolled his eyes upwards in exasperation as a large floor to ceiling mound of rubble confronted him. Great. Just great. Another barrier. It looked like the floor above had collapsed. So went their exit.

"Why?" Conan asked quietly.

Kogoro glanced down in confusion, surprised that the boy was still awake, as he continued to head to the collapsed wall. "Why what?" That was their way out. He was sure of it. Perhaps they'd be lucky and find another tunnel that they could crawl through like the one below them.

"Why are you calling me Conan, Ojisan?" The boy asked, the glazed look in his eyes having faded, leaving him able fully focus his soul piercing stare on Kogoro.

A shiver ran down Kogoro's spine. Somehow the boy managed to make that stare seven times more intense on his childlike face than his teenager one. It was creepy. How had he not noticed that stare before on the boy!

Kogoro snorted, hiding his unease, as he used his arrival at the wall as an excuse to look away from the boy's piercing eyes. "Well, you're small again aren't you, brat?" He said, slowly feeling his way along the wall of rubble. Come on. Come on. Please, Lady Luck, be with them now. Let them find a way through this barrier.

"Yes...but..."

"But what?" Was that a fissure there? Kogoro again passed his hands over the space. Reaching in. Yes. There was a crack here. Not a tunnel. But a gap between the standing wall and the rubble. He even thought he could see a glimmer of light down it. Yes!

Conan dropped his head to his chest. "You...know...now." He said keeping his voice low.

Kogoro shook his head, frowning. The space was narrow. Too narrow to scoot through. "So?"

"You were calling me Shinichi before."

Kogoro exhaled and looked down at the brat, ruffling his hair to the boy's irritation. Conan quickly ducked away from his touch, mumbling a complaint. Good. He was alert enough to remember he didn't like that. "You don't tell everyone your name when you're small right? For protection?" Kogoro asked, gritting his teeth as he reached upwards to a chunk of concrete pulling himself up onto his left foot. He balanced there, using one arm to support Conan. He barely waited for Conan to nod before continuing. "I can keep it straight that you're Conan right now and not Shinichi." He leaned against the wall. Working to keep his breath even as sweat trickled down his face. Small body. Conan. Large body. Shinichi. Easy to remember. Gods he needed a drink. A place to rest his burning legs. At this rate his left leg would soon join the right in feeling like an exploding volcano. "I won't risk your life or my daughter's over saying the wrong name at the wrong moment." The boy had worked hard enough to keep them safe. Had caused himself further injury just to get Kogoro out of the basement in their current situation in of itself. He could do the boy a small favor in return and keep his identity secret.

Conan suddenly buried his face against Kogoro's chest. "You don't want me to...leave after this?" He asked in a near whisper, trembling in Kogoro's grip. "For your safety?"

Kogoro blinked taken aback. He'd thought? But. A chill raced over him. It was a valid concern. If this had happened earlier...Kogoro grimaced, brushing Conan's cheek, causing the boy to flinch, and look up, blue eyes shimmering with unshed tears.

Kogoro's chest tightened further. The boy really believed he would do that? After all this? Just because he knew now that he was Shinichi? Kogoro lifted Conan so they could look eye to eye. "No. I don't." He said firmly, keeping his stare steady.

Conan's gaped at him. Eyes widening. "You don't?" He repeated in disbelief.

Kogoro rolled his eyes and lifted the brat higher to sit on his shoulders, pulling the sleeves of his jacket loose in the process. "Hold on." He told Conan, as he squeezed them both into the narrow gap. It was tight. Tighter than the tunnel below had been. He couldn't even turn his head really. He sucked in his stomach, doing his best to think skinny as he edged his way carefully forward. The only benefit to this tiny space was that he didn't need to put weight on his right leg to keep his balance and stay upright.

Conan's short arms wrapped around Kogoro's head clinging to him. "Ojisan?" He asked quietly.

Kogoro edged a hand up to grip one of the boy's ankles, keeping him steady. "I'm not going to kick you to the curb, boy." He growled. "I may not be the best of fathers, but I'm not heartless. You still need looking after and you said yourself there's no one at your home to care for you." He tightened his grip on the boy. "If you've managed to keep us safe for the past two years, you can continue keeping us safe now. I trust you to know what you're doing." Had he not been thinking that since he'd woken up trapped in the basement? The boy was resourceful.

Conan sniffed, one hand leaving Kogoro's head briefly. "I-I won't let them harm you, Ojisan." He promised his voice wavering. "You have my word."

Kogoro had to smile at that. Honestly, the image of Conan standing up against harden criminals wasn't the easiest thing to picture. But somehow the boy had managed to do so in reality and had kept them safe.

Though, as Kogoro carefully edged his right leg over a jagged piece of wood, he did have to wonder...how many of the incidents they'd experienced over the past couple of years had been because of this mysterious group Conan was trying to find? He pressed his lips into a thin line. He should save that question for later when they were both recovered.

He paused to free the splint in his left leg from a prong of copper before continuing to edge them through the crack. Still, he had to wonder though. "Conan. Do you think these people that you're hiding from...did they set up this bomb?" He asked. Had it been a trap for them from the start? A fake client to lure them in with a fake case? The woman on the phone had been offering to pay a rather large sum of money if they could come to her and solve her problem here, just beyond the outskirts of the city.

Conan gripped Kogoro's head gently, resting his own head on top of Kogoro's as the ceiling sagged down low. "It's...they've used bombs before to destroy evidence of their existence and eliminate threats to them." He said a tinge of worry in his voice. "But...you shouldn't be on their radar anymore." He mumbled, half to himself.

"I was on their radar? How? When?" Kogoro asked, frowning.

Conan shivered. "A mistake I made early on. It's been a while, Ojisan. It doesn't matter now."

Kogoro tensed. "Of course it matters! When was I in danger?! What exactly did you do that convinced them they needed to target me?"

He could feel Conan flinch. "Mouri-san...please." He said quietly. "I can't...I can't tell you. The more you know..."

Kogoro tsked, not liking that the boy had reverted to calling him Mouri-san. That was something Shinichi did, not Conan. He gripped the boy's ankle tighter. "Let me guess, the more I know the more danger I'd be in?"

"Exactly."

Kogoro bit back a yelp as he jabbed his right knee into a corner of concrete. He cursed, edging along quicker, ready to be out of this narrow space. "So how much danger am I in now?" he asked wryly. "Since I now know your other name, brat." How could he be in any more danger than they were in right now, trying to escape a bombed out building without dying in the process?

Conan shivered, his leg twitching in Kogoro's grip. "So long as...as you treat me as Conan still...it shouldn't change anything."

That should be easy enough. "Great, then when we get out of here, I'm throwing you across the lawn."

That startled a laugh from the boy. "Only if you can catch me, Ojisan."

Kogoro relaxed. There, the boy was back to Ojisan. Good. "Oh, I'll catch you, brat. I always do." Especially when the boy was focused on a crime scene. Kogoro breathed a sigh of relief as his reaching fingers found open space. Finally! He pulled them free of the fissure and immediately dropped onto a chunk of nearby concrete with a groan, getting his weight off his left foot as quickly as he could. Even if he could kind of walk on one broken leg, he didn't want to stand on it for longer than possible. He leaned against the wall, conscious of Conan still sitting on his shoulders. "I do expect you to warn me now though, Conan." He said, "if these people come near again."

"I..."

"If you refrain from doing so, you little four-eyed squirt," Kogoro said, exhaustion making the threat less intense in his voice as he searched for a suitable punishment. "I'm going to...ban you from every single crime scene for six months."

Conan stiffened. "You wouldn't do that to m-Wait, you still wouldn't kick me out if I didn't tell you!" He exclaimed in disbelief.

Kogoro snorted and leaned his head back to look up at the kid's face. "For the last time, Conan." He growled, hoping this would be the last time he'd have to make this point. "Like it or not, I did agree to look after you and I'm going to keep doing that until you 'return to America,'" He said with air quotations. "So stop worrying about me kicking you out and worry about-"

A soft whump in the distance followed by a dull roar that quickly grew louder had Kogoro turning in time to see a wall of red and orange fire coming straight for them through the fissure.

"That." He breathed.

Reacting on pure adrenaline, Kogoro grabbed Conan off his shoulders, pressing him tight to his chest as he pushed off the concrete slab, breaking into a dead run, ignoring the nuclear warfare exploding in his broken legs in favor of outrunning the wall of flames coming up fast behind them.

Weaving and dodging through the rubble, Kogoro made for the light streaming from the entryway they'd come through just hours before. The once pristine room now in blackened disarray, the doors hanging off of their hinges.

With the heat of flames scorching the back of his neck, Kogoro didn't stop to mourn the damage. He darted through the broken doors into the blinding sunlight and promptly tripped over a toppled pillar, sending both him and Conan rolling down the stairs that had lead up to the mansion.

Somehow, Kogoro managed to keep a hold on the boy as they tumbled downwards. He landed hard on his back, his head cracking against the marble landing, breath whooshing out of him as Conan settled on his chest. Stars swam in front of his eyes competing with the raging inferno spewing from the doorway above Kogoro before darkness took over and he knew no more.