Work Text:
The Black Organization was a pile of ashes, the antidote was permanent, and Shinichi was finally back in his original body, he intended to enjoy his last year of high school life to the absolute fullest.
Keyword: Intended.
"You know Kudo-kun," Shiho started from across the lunch table, elegantly dissecting a piece of carrot with her chopsticks.
"I used to think your lack of culinary refinement was a byproduct of living on Agasa's microwave dinners. But seeing you inhale that cafeteria sludge with such gusto proves it's actually a genetic defect."
"It's a classic Miyano. It has history. But of course, a former underground scientist wouldn't understand the nostalgic value of Teitan High’s comfort food."
"If by 'comfort food' you mean a sodium-induced coma then yes, I am entirely ignorant."
Honestly, it was a miracle she had even agreed to enroll as a "transfer student" under her real name.
But with the help of the FBI, her criminal past was wiped clean. She had claimed she wanted a "boring normal life."
Of course,
Her idea of a normal life apparently included sitting at his lunch table and assassinating his character and torturing him daily.
Beside him Ran chuckled softly. She became accustomed to their endless bickering. But on Shiho's other side, a mischief danced in Sonoko’s eyes.
Sonoko leaned across the table with a wicked gossipy grin. "So, Miyano-san... I’ve been meaning to ask. You and Shinichi are always in your own little world. You’ve got those secret code words, those shared glances..." she paused for dramatic effect.
"Spill it. You’ve got a massive crush on our Great Detective, don’t you?"
The table went completely silent.
Shinichi's eyes widened as he choked on his tea. He reflexively glanced at Ran.
Ran had stilled and her chopsticks hovered mid-air.
Shinichi’s heart ached.
He knew exactly what she was doing.
She was bracing herself.
Ran had spent months watching him as Conan share a bond born from life-or-death secrets with this strawberry brown short haired kid who actually happened to be ninteen. He could see the slight heartbreak in her eyes and the way she was preparing her own heart for an awkward confession or a classic defensive tsundere denial from Shiho.
Shinichi however, felt a wave of detective certainty. He sat up a little straighter and cleared his throat.
Sure, he loved Ran, but as a guy who prided himself on logic, he couldn't help but feel a bit smug.
'Well, it makes sense...' he thought
'We lived under the same roof and shared the deepest secrets of our lives. We also literally stared down death together. Honestly, it’s just basic psychology that she’d develop some feelings-'
Shiho put down her chopsticks.
"A crush on Kudo-kun?" Shiho sighed, sending a glance toward him.
"To be honest, Suzuki-san... I did. For a long time."
Shinichi’s smirk widened.
'Ha! Logic wins again.'
"He was the only person who truly understood my situation," Shiho continued with a soft tragic voice.
"In the darkest moments of my life, he was there. I really truly thought he was the one."
Ran’s shoulders slumped and a look of profound guilt and sorrow appeared on her face, making Shinichi’s smugness vanish instantly.
'Wait Miyano, Ran!...'
"But..."
Shiho’s tone shifted.
"...spending that much time together was the ultimate reality check. It turns out his personality is about ninety percent Sherlock Holmes trivia and ten percent unfiltered density. Trying to date him would be like trying to romance a textbook, except the textbook regularly screams about blood spatter at the dinner table."
Shinichi’s jaw dropped. "Hey!"
"In fact," Shiho ignored him entirely.
She turned her gaze slowly away from Shinichi and directly toward Ran.
Shiho leaned across the table and with shocking gentleness, she reached out and tucked a stray lock of dark hair behind Ran’s ear.
"Thanks to him," Shiho murmured, her voice dropping an octave into something smoothly intimate, and deeply alluring "I realized I don't actually swing that way at all. I have much better taste now."
Then there, right before Shinichi’s eyes, Shiho gave Ran a cool wink, giving her a look of pure charm.
Ran turned a deep shade of crimson and her brain short-circuited.
She stared at Shiho with a slightly open mouth and a look of dazzling shock on her face as she realized that Miyano Shiho was, without a doubt, significantly more charming than Shinichi had ever been in his entire life.
Shinichi took a gulp of his water to calm his racing heart only to instantly inhale it. He began coughing violently.
"Hey!" Shinichi sputtered and slammed his glass down. "What do you mean 'better taste'?! And stop hitting on my girlfriend!"
Sonoko’s phone slipped from her fingers and clattered loudly onto the tray. She stared at the two girls with eyes the size of dinner plates.
"I KNEW IT!" Sonoko screamed, slamming her hands on the table, which drew the attention of the entire cafeteria. "Oh my god Miyano-san, you are a genius! Shinichi, you lose! You lose so hard!"
"I didn't lose anything!" Shinichi yelled back with jealousy, embarrassment, and confusion. He looked at Ran for backup, but Ran was still staring at Shiho, her hand hovering over the ear Shiho had just touched, and a soft dazed blush was taking over her face.
Shiho picked her chopsticks back up with a tiny smirk as she took a bite of her rice.
Shinichi slumped back into his seat as he glared daggers at his former partner in crime.
The Black Organization might have been defeated, but he realized that surviving high school with Shiho Miyano was going to be a much more dangerous mission.