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Relative Truth
by Becky Tailweaver
File 18: Changing the Rules
"You're what?"
"Now, now...Shin-chan...!" Blushing and a bit flustered, Yukiko Kudo made placating motions with both hands as she tried to calm her son--who was currently standing clean up on his chair, staring at her with quite possibly the most stunned, staggered look she'd ever seen on his face. She hadn't really expected such a strong reaction out of him, but his voice had cracked to a shrill almost-shriek from shock and he'd jumped straight up in the chair.
Shinichi's mouth opened, but few intelligible words spilled out. "Y-you're--you're--and D-Dad--b-b-but you--how did--?"
"Shin-chan, please, sit back down before you fall off," Yukiko begged, becoming embarrassed herself because of his shocked reaction. "Really, this is nothing to be so upset about!"
Gulping air and halting his attempts to speak, Shinichi did as he was bid, plopping nervelessly back down in his chair and staring at her with wide, boggled eyes. She blushed again and fiddled with the hem of her robe, both of them uncomfortable in the sudden silence as the small boy struggled to verbalize his feelings.
"But...why...?" He swallowed hard, his voice suddenly unclogging in a rush. "Mom, what the hell did you go and do that for?"
Yukiko looked down. "Shin-chan, you of all people should know that your father and I didn't plan this. I hadn't intended to have any more children, but sometimes these things just happen."
"J-just happen?" Shinichi's jaw dropped again. "You mean to tell me that after seventeen years of trying not to have more kids that this just happened?"
Yukiko's cheeks flushed more than before. "I'm sorry, Shin-chan--this was unexpected for all of us. Yuusaku and I were just...celebrating a memory of our honeymoon--I'm sorry you missed our wedding anniversary. We went to that beach resort place down the coast from our Hawaii house--you know, the one we used to visit during the summer when we needed time away from you? It's the place we spent the first night of our honeymoon..." Her face went a little redder. "...and it's the same place we made you...isn't that extraordinary?"
"Mom...!" He gawked at her. "It's not extraordinary, it's...it's...it's...!" Exasperated, he threw up his hands. "This is nuts! I can't believe you'd be so careless--Dad, too! This is no time to be having babies!" He shot her a narrow-eyed look. "And aren't you too old to be having kids by now?"
"Shinichi...!" Miffed, she turned up her nose. "I'm only thirty-seven, you know! I am not old!"
He waved a hand, still shocked and frustrated. "That's beside the point! With the Organization and everything going on it's dangerous, Mom! What were you thinking?"
"There's no point in scolding me now, Shin-chan," she retorted, folding her arms--and at last fixing him with a maternal glare, the sort he just couldn't defy. "You're just going to have to deal with this--I am. This baby is certainly unexpected but she's still here and we have to make the best of it. It's not something I can just stop, Shin-chan--even if I wanted to."
"I know..." His shoulders slumped, and he set his folded arms on the table. "But it's still...Mom...you might..."
"It'll be alright, Shin-chan," his mother reassured him, softening her gaze with a smile. "You'll see."
Wearily, he set his chin on his arms. "God, it never rains but it pours..."
Sympathetic, Yukiko reached out to gently rub his back. "Shin-chan..."
"First I got shrunk, and I'm running from the Organization and trying to get back to normal...and just when I start thinking I can live with that, everything changes again--Kaito somehow gets me to break into a mansion and steal a jewel, then I learn that my name is a lie...then Ran finds out who I really am...then Dad yells at me and then leaves...and now..."
Yukiko leaned closer, trying to comfort with her touch now that the fight had gone out of him. "But it can't be all bad, can it?" she offered quietly. "You and Kai-chan can work together now...and Ran knows the truth so you don't have to lie to her any more. And your father..."
"What's so good about him taking off?" Shinichi shot back, depressed. "He just left you like this, when you're--" He froze, eyes widening. "Wait...Mom, does Dad know?"
Yukiko went still, remaining silent for several long moments. "He knows."
Shinichi was struck quite dumb for a short while, in which time several different emotions flashed across his young face in rapid succession--shock, incredulity, grief, anger...until his mind processed the information it had received and finally focused, settling into pure, furious outrage.
"He knows? He knows? And he just left you like this?" His voice went loud and shrill with wrath, small hands fisted and slamming into the tabletop as he jolted to his feet in the chair once more. "That...that...that bastard--!" Near speechless with fury, he stood stiff and flushed, trembling with rage. "I can't believe he would just--but he just left you...when you need him most--!"
"Shinichi!"
He was jerked to a stop by the note of utter command in his mother's voice, so rarely did she speak to him with such sternness and anger. Shocked at the hurt and disbelief in her eyes, he stared at her for scant moments with his mouth gaping open, too jarred to continue.
"I don't care what wrongs he's done or how badly he's handled this," Yukiko said quietly, firmly. "Yuusaku is still your father. He is still my husband. You will not speak of him like that--do you understand?"
Shinichi's mouth worked for an instant before he nodded quickly. "Y-yes. But...Mom..."
Yukiko sighed, the harshness seeping out of her eyes to be replaced by sadness and understanding. "I know, sweetie...I know. I realize my husband is being a complete baka, but...this is a very troubling situation. And you're still his son--it isn't right for you to call him such names."
"I...I know." Shinichi looked down and away, gradually settling back down in the chair. "And...I'm sorry, Mom. I just...I can't believe he..." There was unwilling moisture gathering on his lashes again--tears of anger, helplessness, loss, and hurt, barely held in check by his shaky determination.
"He'll come back," Yukiko told him softly, her own eyes filling for his pain. "Don't cry, Shin-chan--please don't. I promise he'll be back."
"That's an empty promise and you know it!" Shinichi rasped, turning away--though at this point it mattered little that she saw. "The truth is you don't know! I don't care what I look like--don't treat me like a child and tell me comforting lies--"
"I do know, Shin-chan," his mother replied, strangely calm. "Because I know Yuusaku. And I believe in him, I really do. No matter that he may be stubborn and thickheaded and entirely too overprotective sometimes..." She offered him a sudden cheerful attempt at a smile. "I don't have to wonder where you got it! He will come back. I swear it on all my love."
Hesitant, Shinichi glanced back at her, his eyes half-hidden by his bangs--half-hidden and half-hopeful. "You...really believe that...?"
"Of course," she said firmly, her eyes growing brighter. "Love always hopes, always protects, always trusts, always perseveres. If you love someone, you believe in them to the end." Her smile was tempered with sadness and pain, but through it he could see that love shining. "I love you, and I love your father. I'm not blind to his faults, and even though he's left us hurting and angry, we can't just give up on him."
He was almost fully facing her now, in awe of her faith. Somehow...his mother suddenly reminded him of Ran--of how the younger girl had waited and hoped and believed in him for so long, trusting him even when he'd hurt her so many times...
Yukiko blinked, looking suddenly startled. "Oh my! I left the water boiling! Dear me, the rice!"
As his mother leaped up like a singed cat and hurried to the stove, Shinichi gaped after her in puzzled surprise. "Mom? Are you just going to...?"
She didn't look up, busy at the stove with the meal she had already neglected. "Shin-chan, honey, we can't just stop and put our lives on hold. He's coming back soon, and in the meantime you've got a Syndicate to catch, a cousin to get to know--I've got a house to clean up, a baby to get ready for..."
Shinichi sighed, unable to hide the faint smile that touched his lips. This was so like her; nothing ever got Yukiko Kudo down for long. And even if it did, it was no use trying to push her--she was adamantly finished crying, obviously, and no matter how she felt inside she was going to hide it behind her cheer and smiles from now on. Even if it was only for his sake...
Yukiko had a simple lunch ready in a jiffy; despite the hurt and anger he still felt toward his father, he thanked her and dug into the meal hungrily. Yukiko wasn't the world's best cook, but the food she gave him was piping hot and delicious--and comfortingly familiar, bringing back kinder memories of years past when she had made dinner just like this. It was so long ago it made him slightly homesick for his younger days, when his parents were still around--when they were a real family...
Shinichi and his mother didn't talk much as they sat and ate; there was really no need. They simply took comfort in each other's presence, silently reminiscing together of happier times.
Kaito trudged up the front steps of his home and through the door, absently announcing his arrival and kicking off his shoes. It had been a long day at school--longer still with Akako eyeballing him from across the room all afternoon--and his brain was running on autopilot, leading him lazily down the hall in the direction of the kitchen, where he could beg a snack from his mother and then proceed to his room to drop off his pack.
He was slightly grumpy about the homework load the teachers had decided to inflict on him this week--as if they'd all gotten together ahead of time and decided today was the day for a book report, an extra page of math, and a short-term history essay. Like he needed this with the things he had going on in his life...
"Kaito! You're home!"
His mother's smiling face appeared from the kitchen door before he even reached it, so unusually cheerful that for a moment he was taken aback, blinking at her in astonishment. "Mom...?"
"I'm glad you're back! Would you like a snack? I made some onigiri just now--" Fumiyo practically bounced back into the kitchen, heading for the trays and pots of food on the counter. "Eat up! You're always hungry when you come home in such a bad mood."
"Bad mood--? I--but--um..." The surprise of finding his mother in such a giddily happy state was rapidly shifting his brain from Afternoon Mode back to Conscious Operation; he blinked again, his naturally curious--and wary--nature kicking in. "Uh...Mom, why are you so...so...?"
"Happy?" Fumiyo turned to smile at him. "Yukiko-chan called to tell me the most wonderful news, honey! You won't believe it--here, put your pack down and have one of these; I put dried plums in them."
"Um, thanks..." Still mildly alarmed by her change in attitude--his mother had rarely been this happy since his father had passed away--he set his pack by the door and accepted the rice ball. Something was up, and the idea of Yukiko-obasan and "wonderful news" in the same thought somehow made him nervous. "So...what's up with Obasan? Are she and Ojisan moving back into the Kudo house? That would make the two of you pretty happy..."
"Oh, that's only part of it," Fumiyo replied with a small wave of one hand, the other hand busy reaching for a knife to cut up more vegetables. "Yukiko-chan's staying there now, and Yuusaku has to go back to America for his novel--he'll be back as soon as he can. But now that our family's been reunited, Yukiko-chan and I will be spending a lot more time together!"
"Oh..." Kaito deftly snatched another onigiri from the tray near his mother's arm, munching as he thought. "Well, that's good. Hope you ladies enjoy yourselves--"
"But that's not all!" his mother went on. "Yukiko-chan's expecting, you see, and she's very excited about it! She's asked me to get together with her and decorate their guest room for it, and I'm sure we'll need your help moving some furniture since Yuusaku's gone and poor Shin-chan's, um, so small now--"
Kaito blinked. "Hold on--just--just pause a second, Mom...what did you just say? Did...did you just tell me that Obasan's...?"
"Yukiko-chan's having a baby, silly!" Fumiyo told him with a scolding smile.
Dead silence. Kaito froze and stared, Poker Face completely forgotten, his onigiri almost falling from his fingers. He gaped for so long that his mother finally reached out and tapped him on the nose with her wooden spoon, making him blink, snap his jaw shut, and gulp. "Wow," he finally stated lamely, shaking himself out of his stupor.
"Isn't it wonderful?" Fumiyo gushed with a maternal sigh. "Ahh, it wasn't that long ago that I still wished for a new baby girl...so now I'll just have to help Yukiko-chan and be a good auntie to this one, since I missed so much of Shin-chan's life."
Kaito almost choked on the last bite of his rice ball, startled at his mother's mention of the idea of a little sister. Too bad his father wasn't still around...but then, Fumiyo was right--a little cousin wouldn't be too bad either... On the heels of that thought came the memory of his other cousin--and that made him suddenly begin to chuckle as he imagined Shinichi's reaction to the news. The new soon-to-be oniichan had probably gotten his socks shocked right off, without a doubt. "Heh, yeah, it's great news, Mom," he said, trying to hide his laughter. "I can't wait to see the look on Shinichi's face--"
"That's good, because we're going to visit them this evening," Fumiyo announced, turning back to her work at the counter. "I'm taking dinner over for them, since poor Yukiko-chan doesn't have any food in the house yet. No buts," she commanded, seeing him opening his mouth. "You're coming too; I need someone to help me carry all these dishes."
"Yes, ma'am..." he sighed.
"And you just said you couldn't wait to see Shin-chan--I think it's wonderful you two have hit it off so well, even after all this time."
"But...I've got a lot of--"
"Bring your homework with you!" Fumiyo suggested with a smile. "I have a feeling I'll be there for a while, because it's been so long since Yukiko-chan and I had any girl time. And with Yuusaku out we'll have the house to ourselves! You can do homework with Shin-chan upstairs while we discuss the new bedroom..."
Kaito sighed and shook his head, smiling fondly at his mother as she chattered on. He really didn't mind that much, homework or not; he hadn't seen her this happy in ages--so happy to have her best friend back in her life, so happy about the prospect of a new baby to be a good aunt for... Rolling up his sleeves, he stepped up beside her with a cheerful grin, offering to help prepare anything she needed an extra pair of hands for.
The Kudo house turned out to be quite the gathering-place that evening.
Ai and Professor Agasa came over soon after the announcement call was made to that residence, bringing with them tea and snacks as a congratulatory offering. Although this was the first time Ai and Yukiko had been formally introduced, they seemed to get along well--much to Agasa and Shinichi's relief--and Yukiko didn't seem put off at all by the presence of a young woman in a child's body. In fact, she greeted Ai as if she were that young woman, speaking to her like a friend and equal. Ai took to her almost immediately, and soon enough the two were chatting amiably--if reservedly, on Ai's part--on the couch, teacups in hand.
The new baby and Yukiko's plans for moving back in were the topics of the hour, in which everyone but Shinichi seemed to be participating eagerly. Even Professor Agasa joined in like an old uncle, smiling behind his moustache at the prospect of a new next-door kid to spoil with inventions.
Shinichi was present and accounted for, but took little part in the conversation; mostly he sat in concerned silence, his thoughts turned inward as he wondered even now why his mother felt it necessary to hide the true reason for his father's disappearance. It didn't seem right somehow...but, his mother had told him, it kept everyone from showering her with unwanted sympathy and dwelling endlessly on that depressing subject. She wanted more than anything to be happy right now.
So when the doorbell rang, he let the others carry on with their talk and scooted off the couch to see who it could be. If intuition proved correct, it should be Ran Mouri--she was running late as it was; school had gotten out hours ago and he suspected from past experience that Sonoko had something to do with the delay.
Ran spotted him the moment he opened the door. "Shinichi...!" And in that same moment, she had dropped her burdens and scooped him into a hug, startling the daylights out of him not only with her sudden action but with the look on her face. Her words gushed out half-tearfully. "I'm so sorry about your father--I'm sorry I couldn't be here--are you okay? I've been so worried about you all day, and I'm so sorry I didn't get here sooner but Sonoko insisted I go shopping with her and I couldn't get away without saying something I shouldn't--"
"Ran, it's okay!" he said hurriedly, to reassure her before she really began to cry. No matter what he felt, he didn't want her unhappy for his sake. "Really, I'm fine--"
"Liar!" She squeezed him tighter; he couldn't see her expression but he knew what it had to be. "Don't tell me you're fine! I know what this is like..."
"I know, I know--ease up, Ran!" Shinichi said plaintively, wriggling a bit in her grasp. "If you get too much more upset you're gonna crush me. And, um...my feet do kinda prefer the ground..."
"Sorry!" she gasped, blushing, and quickly set him down. Though she was kneeling in the entryway to embrace him, she hadn't realized his feet couldn't touch the floor. "I didn't mean to..."
Shinichi regained his balance and pushed his glasses back up his nose, offering her a small smile. "I know...and it's okay. Thanks for your concern, but really, I'm just fine."
"Don't lie to me. You promised you wouldn't." Her face, so full of caring and worry, crinkled with impending tears that made his heart clench. "I know you're not okay, and I want to help you..."
He sighed sadly, gazing up into her eyes. "Ran...I know you know how this feels, so I...I don't have to describe it to you. But...with everything that's happening I can't...drop everything and mourn. I have to keep going, and so does Mom. Oh--!" He blinked. "My mom, she's--"
"Is she okay?" Ran blurted abruptly. "I was so worried about you I completely forgot about her--gosh, what a baka..."
"No, don't worry, she's fine!" Shinichi assured her quickly. "She's probably better off than I am--she and Dad fight all the time anyway, and they always have these little sabbaticals from each other...it's just that...um..." Suddenly awkward, he shuffled one foot and scratched the back of his head, trying to find the proper turn of phrase for this momentous announcement. "She's...uh...she's having another kid."
Due to the shocked look on Ran's face, Shinichi immediately regretted his unpolished, ungraceful, and ineptly male choice of words--it had not come out exactly as he had intended--until her reaction proceeded. Eyes widening, her face brightened with surprise until a smile spread across her features like the sun breaking through the clouds.
"Oh my gosh!" she gasped, suddenly overjoyed, as if her previous worries hadn't existed. "I'm so happy for her--and for you! I can't believe it--you'll get to have a little sister or brother, Shinichi! Oh wow...!"
His own eyes were wide at her abrupt emotional one-eighty; apparently his mother wasn't the only one who could pull a brilliant smile out of a hat like that. "Uh...yeah...great news..."
"I can't wait to congratulate her--is she in the living room? I've got to go say hello--" In another moment, Ran had sprung up, slipped off her shoes, and hurried into the house to find the others.
Shinichi was left standing there by the still-open door, staring after her in disbelief, awe, and faint resentment. The hallway was suddenly silent, suddenly felt looming and empty, and he stood very still as his eyes darkened and his face fell closed--until a footstep on the porch behind him made him jump around, startled.
"Hey, whaddya know, the door's open..."
With a flat-eyed stare, Shinichi looked up, taking in the large pile of pots, bowls, and dishes--all of them filled with food--from behind which peeked a pair of blue eyes and a mop of dark hair. "Hey you," he grumbled, "the service entrance is in back."
Kaito's grin disappeared as he glared huffily down at the small figure in the doorway. "Yeah, nice to see you, too! Sheesh, and after I carried this stuff all the way from the bus stop--"
"Why hello, Shin-chan!" Fumiyo Kuroba stepped up beside Kaito, her arms also filled with steaming containers. "So nice to see you again. How's your mom doing?"
Shinichi's glare vanished into a surprised blink. "Oh, Fumiyo-sa--um, Obasan..." He gulped, hesitant at first about giving her that title. "Mom's fine--come on in..."
"Thank you, sweetheart--I'll just set these down in the kitchen. Come along, Kaito!" Fumiyo stepped past the small boy to drop off her shoes and head down the hall, her teenage son close behind her with a weary, obedient "Yes ma'am!" as he followed.
Shinichi remained behind long enough to push the door shut, then walked after them slowly, head down, hands tucked in his pockets. As he approached the living areas, he could hear them--everyone was talking, even laughing; they'd heard Fumiyo come in and now they were all headed for the kitchen to meet her, be introduced, and help out with the food. They were all so happy.
None of them knew the truth. Apart from himself, none but Ran and his mother knew the real reason Yuusaku Kudo was absent--and it seemed like both of them had completely forgotten it.
He came around the corner to stand in the door, watching morosely. Fumiyo and Yukiko were hugging and gushing, Agasa was peeking into pots and bowls, Ai and Ran were both giving Kaito particular looks as the teenage magician grinned nervously at them and introduced himself to the ones he hadn't met before. Shinichi's mouth quirked up just a bit; by the expression in her eyes, the moment Ran got Kaito alone he was going to get it.
Dinner was just the same. Everyone squeezed in around the table on chairs borrowed from the rest of the house--along with two stacks of encyclopedias from the library for the shorter diners. As the food was dished and the drinks poured, the women chatted gaily and Agasa chuckled; even Ai seemed to converse with more interest than usual, actually smiling a little as she spoke with Yukiko. Shinichi ate slowly and picked at his food, staying fairly silent; Kaito laughed and talked with the others until he sensed the growing dark cloud hovering over his small cousin. His eyes flashed pensive for a moment before rejoining the others in their chatter, and he watched the boy closely though he never seemed to miss a beat as the conversations continued.
As soon as it was polite to do so, Shinichi shoved away from the table and stalked off with barely a word to any of his friends or family. Startled, both Ran and Kaito stood up, shooting each other surprised glances.
"Goodness, he seems so gloomy tonight," Fumiyo observed sympathetically, looking back at Yukiko.
"Oh...I think..." Yukiko hesitated a second. "...the baby has him a little worried--if you know what I mean. We should probably let him be for now..."
"I see..."
The others around the table paused for only a few moments before going on with their talk; Ran and Kaito glanced at each other once more. Kaito made up his mind and moved, heading out after Shinichi at a determined clip.
"Ah--Kuroba-kun--!" Ran called after a second of surprise. "Wait!" She hurried from the room, catching up to him at the base of the stairs, where she grabbed his arm and held on tight. "Kuroba-kun--wait, let me--leave him alone, you don't understand--!" She cut off, releasing his arm when those dark blue eyes met hers, startlingly empty of the cheerfulness and merriment she'd come to expect from him even in their brief association. Abruptly, she remembered who she had grabbed, and stepped back in alarm. For a moment, she just stared at him--and he simply gazed right back, his face unreadable.
"What's wrong, Ran-san?" he asked in a soft, even voice.
"You're..." Ran swallowed hard. "He told me you're the..."
"Yeah...I am." He offered her a faint smile, his piercing eyes softening, somehow without losing an ounce of their intensity. "But I'm not the bad guy."
Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself; Kuroba-kun's eyes made her shiver inside--his gaze was so deep, so striking when he was serious like this, almost looking into her...just like Shinichi. "I...I know. And...somehow...he trusts you."
One brow raised a little. "Really," he whispered, looking away at last. "That's good to know..."
"I almost can't believe it," Ran said, equally quiet and almost bitter. "I know you're his cousin...but you're Kaitou Kid, and he trusts you. I don't know how..."
Kaito's smile returned, a ghost of its usual jolly self, slightly awkward. "I don't know either, but I'm glad he hasn't busted me yet," he said, trying to lighten the mood. It wasn't working--Ran remained serious and downcast. "Um...it's not like him to let me off the hook, is it..."
"The Shinichi Kudo I knew would've had you behind bars in an instant," Ran informed him, almost deifiantly. "But he's changed. Ever since you made him go into that man's house--I could tell something was wrong with Conan-kun even then. He's been so...lost." Her eyes turned up to his, crackling with anger. "I don't know what you did to him, but it's like he doesn't know who he is any more!"
"He doesn't."
Kaito's quiet statement jolted her more than any shout could have. The young thief's confirmation of her own fears only heightened that private dismay; Shinichi had always been a rock, a stable pillar of truth and knowledge--all through her life, he'd always known what to do, who to turn to, how to accomplish anything. To have him suddenly cut adrift like this had thrown her into a sea of turmoil as well, and seeing him suffer this loss of identity, composure, and balance hurt her too.
"Ojisan's past really threw him for a loop," Kaito sighed, leaning against the banister corner and folding his arms. "He's not sure who he is or what he's supposed to do now. And...to be honest...I'm a little shaky on that part myself..."
Startled again, she glanced up at him. "You...?"
He gave a short, wry snort. "Ironic, isn't it? You know my reputation--I'm the one who's supposed to be holding all the cards, right? I know who I am, I know what I am, I know what I do..." He swallowed. "But ever since I found out--ever since Jii told me the truth, I...I've sorta been wondering about all of it. Kaitou Kid...me and Shinichi...our dads...what are we doing? Trying to do the right thing, all of us, but not getting anywhere... And things are starting to go haywire. I can't control all the cards anymore--I don't have a clue which ace is where or if a joker's gonna come up next. It's confusing--I haven't lost control of a deck since I was a little kid..."
He paused mid-thought, as if realizing that she was still standing there--and halted his musing with a sudden nervous laugh. "Not like me at all, is it? Better not tell Shinichi--he'd flip out if he knew I was worried."
Ran gazed at him, worry still clouding her eyes despite her sudden thoughtful expression. "You and Shinichi...you both like to stay in complete control of a situation, don't you?"
Not really a question--more a statement that put him suddenly on the defensive. "Hey, well, you know...in both our lines of work, if we lose control of the situation, everything goes nine kinds of nutty." He gave a shrug. "It gets difficult when things get out of hand--like they are now. I used to have everything planned out--but now, with Shinichi involved and all that's happening with our family, I don't even know what's gonna happen tomorrow. He doesn't either--and that's why he and I have to get things straightened out."
Ran looked down again, pensive. "Kuroba-kun...let me talk to him right now--you don't understand what happened. I know what you've been told, but...it's a lie." Her voice dropped to a painful whisper. "Yuusaku-san left them this morning."
Kaito's breath caught, that laser-sharp gaze darkening in shock and disbelief in a way she'd never seen before. "You mean he's not--?"
"It's not some book deal in America--he took a cab and left with all his things early this morning," Ran replied, her voice numb. "Yukiko-obachan doesn't want anyone to know--she took me aside tonight and asked me not to tell..."
The teen thief's teeth gritted. "Dammit, Ojisan..."
"So...just let me talk to him," Ran pleaded. "He's been hurting all day, and he was depressed all through dinner--"
"Sorry, Ran-san," Kaito replied with a sad, apologetic smile. "But I think I'm gonna make you sit this one out. I'll go--who knows, maybe a little guy-talk will help?"
"But--you're not--!"
"I'm not his girlfriend, but I am his cousin," he responded. "Don't worry, we'll be fine. And...no offense, but I don't think he'd want to see you right now. He wouldn't want to be upset in front of you."
Hurt, she recoiled, staring at him in pained surprise. "But..."
"Honest, Ran-san...it's a guy thing," he said awkwardly, trying to smile. "He'll come to you as soon as he pulls himself together. It's just...right now..."
Ran went still for what seemed like a long time, eyes hidden behind her bangs as her hands fisted tight. "Alright," she said at last, slowly and directly looking up at him. "Fine. Go."
"Thanks, Ran-san." Kaito turned to head up the stairs, but Ran's voice stopped him one last time.
"But if...if you hurt him...then I'll...I'll...!" Choked, unable to finish, she let her dire threat hang unspoken in the air.
"Hey...it's okay." He smiled understandingly. "I promise."
And with that, he was gone, hurrying up the stairs. Slowly, Ran turned around; her feet led her haltingly back toward the dining room as tears gathered in her eyes. They sparkled dimly in the hall light before she brushed them away to put up a smile as she returned to the others.
To be continued...
AN: Sorry this took so long! I'm getting back in gear on this in hopes of finishing it by the end of the year--wish me luck!