Chapter Text
Ran found herself only half-listening to her two companions as they walked out of Teitan High School. Her smile felt a little plastered on, and eventually disappeared entirely as she paused on the sidewalk to a sight that had become all too familiar in the past couple of weeks.
Shinichi sat on a bench hunched over with his forearms on his thighs, staring at the ground blankly. It was the same position Ran had found Shinichi in after every school day since... since he came back — for good.
Ran suddenly found herself wondering how she could ever stay mad at Shinichi. She stood still for longer than she intended just staring at him, trying to gather up the courage to approach him. What do I even say...
Ran belatedly realized that Sonoko and Sera had made themselves scarce in the intervening time of indecision — Shinichi had yet to budge. Before she gave herself time to change her mind, she approached the occupied bench.
Stopping to stand over Shinichi, Ran paused and crossed her arms somewhat uncomfortably. Shinichi's eyes indicated that he registered her presence, but they never rose higher than her knees, instead continuing to study the sidewalk below him.
Failing to come up with anything better, Ran decided to go for a risky icebreaker. "Are you waiting for someone?"
Shinichi's head rose ever so slightly, his eyes pausing their movements in apprehension. Finally, for what seemed like the first time since Ran spotted him, he took a deep breath and let it out.
"Ee... young woman, about my age, bright mind, relatively tall though not quite as tall as me... could definitely beat me up if she ever wanted to, but still kind to a fault... carries the weight of the world on her shoulders..."
Ran felt her breath hitch a little as she took in the impromptu description of her. Over the years, she had had her suspicions of how Shinichi regarded her, but it always took her off guard to hear it out loud.
Desperate to keep things light, Ran took another risk. "Sounds like a handful." Shinichi's only apparent reaction was an eyebrow twitching down, apparently confused by the response; Ran pushed ahead anyway. "I'm looking for someone, too — young man, about my age, brilliant mind, quite tall though not too much taller than me... can be ruthlessly calculating, but still kind to a fault... carries the weight of the world on his shoulders..."
Shinichi looked notably indecisive at the continuing of the improvised trope, which made Ran worry momentarily. Eventually, however, Shinichi tilted his head to a slight angle.
"Sounds like a handful."
"Tell me about it..."
Shinichi dropped his head fully, his sightline now unfocused between his legs. Ran took the opportunity to sit down next to him, then sighed.
"Have you been sitting here after class everyday?"
Shinichi's eyes regained focus and started darting around minutely, which gave Ran pause. "Ie... on the days you had karate club after classes, I'd leave then come back."
"... Where were you going in the meantime?"
Shinichi seemed to pause in bashful apprehension, making Ran wonder if she shouldn't have asked. After a few moments, Shinichi closed his eyes before answering.
"Teitan Elementary."
Ran froze at the answer, stopping to consider the implications. She had nearly forgotten that she wasn't the only one in the whole situation who had experienced a loss of sorts. It made her request of Shinichi to give her some time two weeks ago seem rather needlessly selfish — and made Shinichi's daily vigil since seem all the more touching.
Ran suddenly thought of a response that caused her to have to hold back a laugh. "Recruiting yourself your own... what did Holmes call them? Irregulars?"
Shinichi opened his eyes in surprise, looking for all the world like his brain short-circuited. Then, finally, he began laughing breathily.
Ran responded in kind, letting the moment play out naturally. Sure enough, Shinichi moved over to place his head on Ran's shoulder. After a moment of shock on Ran's part, she responded by leaning her head against Shinichi's, allowing time to pass as they sat together listening to each other's pulses.
Ran had lost track of time by the time Shinichi spoke again. "Thank you."
"... For what?"
"For being patient with me..."
There was a lot behind that back-handed apology — Ran recognized as much. Just looking at Shinichi in the past two weeks made her realize how much guilt he felt over everything in the past year and a half.
Ran closed her eyes and nodded against Shinichi. "Anytime — and thank you."
"... For what?"
"For being patient with me."
"... Always."
Ran found herself blushing slightly at the emotional weight Shinichi managed to place on that one word. In response, she moved her arm to place a hand on his opposite shoulder and started rubbing up and down his forearm.
After another few moments of silence in that position, another thought came to Ran that eventually caused her to chuckle slightly. "Are you having fun catching up on schoolwork?"
Shinichi huffed half-heartedly, causing Ran to let out a giggle. "It hasn't been too bad — tou-san and ka-san managed to convince the school that I was studying in America during the time I was gone, so I haven't been given as much to catch up on as I probably could have been. I suppose it helps that I was able to sneak in some time with your school books while I was —" Shinichi suddenly cut himself off, leading Ran to shift her head to look at him.
The sheepishness on his face caused Ran to start laughing involuntarily, making Shinichi lift his head up in confusion. "I'm sorry, it's just... you know you're not going to explode if you say his name, right?"
In response, Shinichi fully lifted his head up before draping it back on the bench. "I'm glad at least one of us has a sense of humor about it."
"I'm sure you'll get there eventually, Shinichi..."
And I'll be there for you when you do. Ran stopped herself from saying that out loud, thinking it inappropriate for the situation. Shinichi, however, seemed to notice the omission, as he lifted his head enough to look at her, ostensibly deep in thought. Before Ran got uncomfortable with the apparent examination, Shinichi brought himself to sit up straight fully, looking straight ahead as he did so.
"There's this song I heard one time I was in America... I don't remember most of the words, but the end of its chorus has come up in my head recently — I want to catch up with this life before it slips through my hands." Ran let the English flow over her, not even bothering trying to keep up; thankfully, Shinichi turned his head in her direction to translate into Japanese. "'I want to catch up with this life before it slips through my hands'... I don't remember what it meant in the context of the song, but it's something I've been thinking about — I certainly have some catching up to do..."
Shinichi paused to look down minutely, then took one of Ran's hands in his own, causing Ran's heart rate to quicken. "And I don't just mean in terms of school work."
Ran found herself blushing profusely, which wasn't helped by Shinichi making eye contact with her again with a look of determination. Maybe I should have said that thought after all...
"I... I'd love to help in whatever way I can..."
Shinichi smiled slightly at first, then broke into a full-on bright smile — which Ran then watched turn into a somewhat mischievous grin. "I don't suppose you have any dinner plans?"
Ran had almost forgotten how much she had missed Shinichi's smile.