Title: When Pigs Fly
Fandom: Detective Conan
Author: Amm (SoulSeeker)
Theme: #32—I hate to love, but for you I’m willing to
Pairing: Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I don’t own the characters of Detective Conan—I just play ‘Barbie’ with them, because god knows they’re a lot more fun than real Barbies.
Summary: Alternate universe. A detective who wouldn’t know love if it bumped into him on the soccer field…

“Sonoko, why do you keep stopping?”

A very piercing glare passed from Mouri Ran to Sonoko they ever so slowly walked past the soccer field of Teitan High, and stopped there for a third time. It was the end of a school day and all Ran wanted to do was go home to relax, maybe get out of the hot gi she was wearing from karate practice. But there was a lot of field area to pass—and Sonoko seemed determined to stay there, for reasons far beyond Ran’s comprehension.

“Oh, come on, Ran—just look at those hotties on the soccer team!” she exclaimed, waving her hand wildly at them. Ran was too embarrassed to look and see if they were waving back. “Don’t you just love the way they run? I love watching them practice after school! Oh, looks like they’re now leaving though.”

Ran sighed, putting a hand on her forehead in hopes that it might help her headache. “Good. Maybe we can too,” she murmured, and violently grabbed on to her arm, attempting to pull her away.

“Oh wait! The captain’s still there!” Sonoko was able to break free, since Ran had been lenient with her grip, and she narrowed her eyes a little, trying to focus them. “I think he’s with a friend.”

“The captain?” Ran repeated. She thought for a moment. “Oh, you mean that Kudo Shinichi guy?”

Sonoko gasped, looking at her through twinkled eyes. “You know him?” she asked dreamily.

“Er…well, not exactly,” Ran murmured. “But everyone talks about him. He’s some famous detective or something, isn’t he?”

Suddenly, Sonoko snapped her fingers—the sign of an epiphany. “That’s right! He’s probably worked with your dad before!” And though the sudden realization seemed miraculous to Sonoko, Ran seemed unaffected.

“I guess so,” she replied. “I’ve heard the name come up a couple of times. The guy’s apparently a genius.”

“A dreamy genius,” Sonoko added. “Would you look at him run…hey, I think he’s looking at you!”

“Yes, he’s very fast. He’s great. He’s wonderful,” Ran threw whatever complimenting words she could think of out of her mouth. “Can we go now?”

“Aw, come on! Why don’t you go introduce yourself or something?” Sonoko asked with a suggestive nudge.

“What?” Ran looked shocked. “Why would I go and do a thing like that?”

Sonoko sighed, looking at Ran as if she were a mother giving a lecture to her daughter. She put her hands on her shoulders, gripping them firmly, and it was evident that she didn’t plan on letting go. “Ra-an, aren’t you the one always talking about how you wish there was just one guy out there, just for you, whom you could love and who would love you back?”

She raised an eyebrow. “Uh, no, I’m pretty sure that’s you, Sonoko.”

Sonoko’s head dropped as she let out another prolonged sigh, and Ran hoped that this was a sign of her giving up. “Oh, just bear with me here, would you?” she exclaimed. “You two would be great together! The captain of the soccer team? The karate champ of Teitan High? And besides, with your dad in the police force, I’m sure you guys would have all sorts of juicy mystery-crime stuff to talk about! This is the guy you’ve been waiting for!”

Ran shook her head violently, once again grabbing onto her arm in an attempt to pull her away. “Listen Sonoko, I’m really not up for one of your match-maker games right now. If you want to meet him and introduce yourself, just to get pushed away like any other fan girl, then be my guest, but you can do it on your own time. Right now, I really just want to go home—before it gets dark.”

“You’re not going to get pushed away that easily!” she exclaimed in reply.

“And what makes you say that?” Ran asked critically. “He’s practically a celebrity. He can probably get any girl he wants. Pigs would fly before he paid any mind to you or me.”

“But, silly…have you forgotten?”

“Forgotten what?”

“Who you are—you’re Mouri Ran!” Sonoko grinned. “You can beat people up!”

With that statement in mind, Ran was just about ready to beat herself up, against a wall. But, mentally talking herself out of it, she took one long breath and grabbed onto Sonoko one last time, determined not to let go. “Okay, that’s it. We’re leaving now.”

“He’s heading this way!” Sonoko gasped, struggling to keep her eyes on the prize—Shinichi—as he slowly approached them.

“What?” Ran looked freaked as she promptly let go of Sonoko’s arm, letting her get away a third time.

It was then that her eyes feasted upon a lonely bag, sitting to the side of the field; and she assumed that must be where the detective was headed. It must’ve been his, and he needed something from it. He didn’t see them at all; he looked right past them. But this was no surprise to Ran.

“He’s alone! Go on, Ran, now’s your chance. Go say hi!” Sonoko whispered vehemently from behind her.

“I told you, I’m not doing it!” Ran whispered back with just as much force. But it wasn’t enough force to hold back her push.

“Sonoko, what are you—”

Although she looked like no more than a stick figure of a school girl, she caught Ran off-guard and she was evidently much stronger than she looked. A push was all she needed, and before Ran knew it, she had collided with Shinichi as he walked past. Sonoko then stepped back, smiling innocently at the two of them as she waved. “Catch you later, Ran!”

The impact was just barely enough to throw Ran off balance, but Shinichi, being the knight in shining armor that he was, had been in the right place to catch her before she collided with the ground. Her eyes fell upon his soccer uniform as she sighed, wondering how she became friends with a boy-crazy maniac like Sonoko. Although she supposed it wasn’t terrible…he was strangely comfortable, and the way he smelled reminded her of her father…

“Are you all right?”

His voice surprised her immensely and a strange jolt pulsed through her body, repelling her from his. She nodded, idly brushing imaginary dirt off her gi.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine,” Ran murmured, red flooding to her cheeks. She mumbled inaudibly: “Though, Sonoko’s a different story.” One of these days, she swore, she was going to strangle her. “Sorry about my friend. She’s a little…well, you know…anyway, I’m…er, I’m Mouri Ran…”

“That’s okay,” Shinichi replied, a little more composed. He tried to smile a little, hoping it would scare away the nervousness that was taking over her at the moment. “Nice to meet you.”

“You’re…uh, Kudo Shinichi right?” she asked casually. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Uh oh.” The detective made a worried face, but she couldn’t tell if he was actually being serious. “Good things, I hope.”

A light chuckle escaped Ran’s lips; a shaky laugh, but it was a sign that she was beginning to feel a little more comfortable. “Captain of the Teitan High soccer team, world-famous detective of unprecedented skill, and son of the famous author Kudo Yuusaku?”

Shinichi smiled proudly. “Guilty, on all three counts, I must confess.” He jokingly raised his hands up in surrender, and then stared at her, looking at her studiously with critical eyes. “But you, Mouri Ran…you’ve got quite a record too. Karate champion, daughter of police officer Mouri Kogoro?”

Ran nodded sheepishly. “What can I say? The devil made me do it.” She grinned and gave an innocent shrug of her shoulders.

“He does do that sometimes, doesn’t he?” the detective said in between laughter, winking. He paused, looked around once, and ran a hand across his forehead casually as he turned his attention back to her. “You know, there’s actually a rumor going around the police force. They say your dad wants to step down and start his own private detective agency. You know anything about that?”

She blinked, dumbfounded for a few moments as he processed his words.

“Oh. Yeah, we were actually talking about it as a family, just the other day, but…well, it’s not really set in stone yet.”

A frown painted her lips; Ran seemed a bit startled that the information was so public. She had just talked to her father and mother about it a few days prior—a mature family discussion that seemed private on so many levels, at least for the duration of it. She told very few people. Now Kudo Shinichi, a borderline celebrity who was not even technically a part of the police force, knew about it. Word travelled fast, she supposed.

“Ah. Well…” Shinichi shrugged, acting very nonchalant. “A rumor is just that, I suppose, until something becomes of it.” He could tell that him knowing made Ran uncomfortable; her face told him everything, from the arch in her eyebrows to the shine of her eyes to the curve in her frown. He certainly did not need to be told to change the subject. “You know, I was actually thinking of getting some ice cream. It’s really hot today, and I’m just dying for some. We could go get some together, if you like. It must get pretty hot under that gi.”

“Oh—er, sure, I love ice cream,” she replied casually, without so much as a second thought. It almost scared her how fast she replied, but a part of her liked being decisive—it made things quick, and not to mention a great deal simpler.

“Cool!” Shinichi’s lips curled into a devilish smile. “You can tell me all about some other things the devil has made you do.” The detective could hear her laugh as his eyes darted around the field. They seemed to be looking for something; and a few moments later, it seemed, he found him.

Ran could see him near the goal post; dark skin, with emerald green eyes that shone out against it. A mysterious figure with a build like Shinichi’s, and he even handled a soccer ball like him. Hattori Heiji was a detective from the West, and much like Shinichi, he was wise for his age. It was only natural that they would be friends. She saw them together that day, just before she bumped into Shinichi.

“Hey, Hattori! Toss me a towel, would you?” Shinichi held his hands open as he shouted the demand to his friend.

He gave Shinichi a smirk, at first seeming reluctant. But in the end, he tossed him a blue towel that went with his soccer uniform. He used it to wipe off the sweat that had accumulated on his face from being in the hot sun. “You still up for some one-on-one, Kudo?” Heiji asked expectantly, his foot resting on a soccer ball.

“Oh, I’m always ready to beat you, Hattori,” Shinichi replied cockily, with a grin.

“We’ll see about that! I’ll see you on the field then?”

“Better believe it.”

He turned around confidently, his head held high, and returned to the goal post to do exercises with the soccer ball as he waited.

Shinichi then turned to Ran with a frown. “Sorry. I guess I’ll have to take a rain check on that ice-cream,” he said with regret in his voice. “I forgot, I promised Hattori I’d play one-on-one with him, and I don’t get to see him too often.”

“Oh, that’s fine.” Ran smiled, but she had to admit, she was disappointed. “We go to the same school anyways, right? We can go any time.”

“Right, right.” Shinichi grinned. “And you’re certainly welcome to watch me trounce him, if you like.” He tossed the towel he was using to the ground. “Either way though, I’d better get to him. He gets impatient, you know.”

Ran laughed. “Go do your thing, detective,” she told him encouragingly.

He waved at her, saying one last ‘good-bye’ before running towards Hattori Heiji. She watched them for a short while, and noticed them talking as they played. She wondered what they could’ve been talking about in the heat of the game; running side by side, neck and neck with nothing between them but a measly soccer ball.

She knew what it was like, being face-to-face like that with an opponent. It was like no one else existed in the entire world. She wondered if it was like that for them too; if it was just them, that soccer ball, and those goals at that moment. But before she let herself wonder any more, she walked away, and decided to leave her speculations for another day. She knew she would see him again…

On the field, the two detectives were left alone as the sun began to set. Shinichi was victorious in their match, as predicted by him, though Hattori had made him work for it. They prepared to leave, as the sky turned a bright orange—a sign that the sun would soon be completely set.

“So Kudo,” Heiji nudged Shinichi teasingly. “Who was your lady friend, hm? I thought you hated love, that it was only a distraction from the important things in life. What’s she about?”

Shinichi only laughed. “Oh Hattori—you’ve got it all wrong, as usual. She’s no love interest of mine,” he replied. “She’s like any other girl who likes to hang around me.”

“Psh—inviting her to ice-cream? And not to mention, you two talk like you’ve known each other forever,” he replied bitterly. His arms folded, and if Shinichi hadn’t known any better, he would’ve thought he was jealous. One thing Heiji knew for sure though: Shinichi did not treat Ran like he did ‘any other girl’…

“Not at all. We only met today, and you saw it happen. But she…” Shinichi began and promptly trailed off, and in looking for the right words to describe what he was trying to say, he got lost in his own thoughts. He looked to the sky then, and couldn’t help but wonder what she was doing at that moment. Mouri Ran…

“But she…what?” Heiji asked with a burning curiosity.

Shinichi looked at him and smirked. “She’s very interesting…”

A/N: Well, I think that was my longest Nights yet—2,387 words or somewhere thereabouts. It was just something different I was dying to try. And writing boy-crazy Sonoko is always fun. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed it. Ten more to go! Woo!