Title: Playing with Heartstrings
Author: Ran-dezvous
Genre: Romance/General
Fandom: Detective Conan
Pairing: Kudou Shinichi and Mouri Ran
Word Count: 1,706
Rating: PG-13
Warning(s): I dunno . . . slightly suggestive themes?
Original Publish Date: October 10, 2007
Disclaimer: I don’t own Detective Conan. It all belongs to the talented Aoyama Gosho. I only threaten the characters to do my bidding or face the wrath of the paper shredder. Good thing they listen.
Summary: No matter how much they tried to deny it, Sonoko knew it was all a lie.

---

Sonoko was giving Shinichi a glare that smelled of mischief and he didn’t like one bit of it. The teenage boy was beginning to regret the fact that Ran, his best friend, actually convinced him to play a stupid game (in his opinion) such as this.

“Let me see . . . What should I make you do?” Sonoko mumbled, whilst her hand caressed her chin in thought. She still had that ominous look in her eyes.

Shinichi suspected that she already knew what she wanted him to do. He managed to keep himself calm and asked after waiting a few more minutes, “Oi, haven’t you thought of anything yet?”

Sonoko let go of her chin and flashed a smirk. “Aren’t we in a hurry today? You must be really excited.”

“No,” Shinichi shot back, rolling his eyes. “I still remember what you did the last time we played this—spreading my answers all over school?” With a scoff, he added, “That wasn’t funny!”

“And I suppose that’s why you chose Dare this time—don’t think you’ll get away that easily.” Sonoko leaned her head forward, causing the detective to slightly move his head back.

“There’s no way you’re going to spread any of my answers”—he stopped in mid-sentence as her last six words finally registered in his brain—“what do you mean?”

“I dare you to kiss Ran,” Sonoko nonchalantly challenged the boy, and with a devious smile, she added, “. . . on the lips.”

“WHAT?” Shinichi shouted, his face rapidly turning crimson. “You w-want me to k-kiss Ran? On the lips? You’re k-kidding, right?”

“Does this look like I’m joking?” Sonoko cheekily asked as she pointed at her own face with her finger. “What’s wrong with that, anyway? I thought you liked her.”

“W-Who told you that?” Shinichi impulsively answered back, clenching his fists. “I never said I li—” Realizing what he just said, he immediately clamped his mouth with his hands. He then shifted his eyes to look at his childhood friend, who was equally blushing. “Ran, I . . .”

“It’s just a game, Shinichi,” Ran mumbled, staring at the floor. “You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to.”

Shinichi moved his head to face her; he could hear his heart thumping loudly.

And the entire room turned into silence.

“So are you guys going to kiss or not?” Sonoko interrupted the short-lived silence.

“You’re right—it’s only a game . . .” Shinichi told Ran in a gentle voice, with his eyes averting her gaze. “. . . so why don’t we do it?—that is, if it’s okay with you. . . .”

“If you really want to . . .” Ran softly answered, the color on her cheeks darkening even further. “. . . then I guess it’s fine by me. . . .”

“Listen, I’m fine either way. . . .” Shinichi assured her. “I don’t want to force you to do anything you don’t want to.”

Ran’s heart skipped a beat. Was he really serious? After a moment of contemplation, she swallowed a lump in her throat. “Yes.”

“Are you sure?” Shinichi asked, facing her once more. “Because if you’re not, th—”

“Would you just do it already? I’m tired of waiting!” cut off an impatient Sonoko. Her arms were placed across her chest.

Shinichi took in a breath of oxygen before leaning over towards Ran. With a heavily pounding heart, his cerulean eyes slowly met hers and they stared at each other for about a minute.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” Sonoko jibed, excited for the poor boy to do the deed.

Shinichi lowered his gaze towards the ground. “I can’t . . . I can’t do it. . . .”

“What do you mean you can’t do it?” Sonoko’s excitement turned to disappointment.

“It . . . It just doesn’t seem right . . .” Shinichi said with a wistful look in his eyes, “. . . having to use Ran as a prop like that. . . . I don’t think I could ever . . .”

The girl in front of him could not help but utter his name even as she continued to blush. “Shinichi . . .”

“I get it,” taunted Sonoko, giving the boy a menacing look, “You’re scared, aren’t you?”

“I-I’m not scared!” Shinichi protested loudly, with eyes glaring at the sandy brown-haired girl.

“Then do it—consider yourself lucky that I didn’t ask you to kiss some random stranger on the street!”

“STOP!” Ran suddenly yelled at the top of her voice, bringing what would have been a long and grueling feud between the two teenagers to a halt. Her voice then lowered itself. “I don’t want you guys fighting over some stupid dare, okay, so just do it, Shinichi. I already told you I’m fine with it—if-if you want, you can just forget that this ever happened.”

“Well, if you’re sure . . .” Shinichi faced her and tenderly pressed his lips against hers. It lasted for only a short while, and yet they could not help but feel something special—something inexplicable—as the act was executed.

After the kiss, Shinichi immediately turned away from the girl out of sheer embarrassment; it was evidenced by the change of shade in his cheeks. Ran’s face was of a rosy color as well.

Not long after, a curious Sonoko inquired, “So . . . how was it?”

The blushing couple stood up and unexpectedly retorted in unison. “It’s none of your business!”

Sonoko made no response, and she could see they were about to spontaneously combust.

-

“I can’t believe you actually did that, Ran!” Sonoko cheered as she and Ran walked out of the Kudou estate. She then raised a fist into the air. “You go, girl!”

“Eh? What did I do?” Ran looked at her friend and pointed a finger at herself, clueless as to the cause behind Sonoko’s giddiness.

“Don’t be so modest, Ran!” Sonoko beamed, slapping her friend’s right shoulder. “You know what I mean! Asking Shinichi-kun to kiss you—that was so awesome!”

Ran’s face flushed of scarlet. “I only asked him to do that because you two were fighting—there’s no way I’d ever kiss that mystery geek! What were you thinking, giving him a dare like that? You even got me involved!”

“Why? Didn’t you enjoy it?” Sonoko quizzed, pretending to be innocent.

“No—that detective freak’s such a terrible kisser!”

“How would you know that, Ran? Isn’t that your first kiss?”

“Ugh. Don’t remind me.”

“Why shouldn’t I? Shouldn’t that be one of the most memorable events in your life?”

“Yeah—and you ruined it. Thanks a lot, Sonoko.” Ran replied, the last sentence having a hint of sarcasm.

“What are you getting angry at me for? You’re the one that asked him to kiss you.”

“That’s not the point!”

“So what is the point? A simple peck’s not good enough for you?”—an impish grin began to play on Sonoko’s lips—“Or is it because you wanted him to bring you to wrap his arms around you in a tight embrace, and . . .”

“And what?” Ran grumpily asked.

With her hands clasped together, Sonoko moved her head sideways and mischievously shifted her eyes toward the chocolate-haired girl. “. . . make out ‘till morning?”

“M-Make out? S-Sonoko, what are you thinking?” Ran’s face turned even redder as the idea of it flashed in her mind. She crossed her arms before scoffing in denial, “That egomaniac can make out with those fangirls of his for all I care!”

“Then what’s with those dreamy eyes? You were thinking about it, weren’t you?”

“Sonoko!”

“Relax, Ran! I was just kidding!” Sonoko’s head then tilted towards the starry sky with the help of her index finger. “But still . . . I’ve never heard of anyone who doesn’t want to be kissed by their first love so much.”

“He is not my first love!”

“What is he then? Your last?” Sonoko sneakily countered as she faced her friend once again.

“No, he’s not!” Ran retorted, “Besides, why would I love a brainiac who only cares about solving cases?”

“Um . . . I don’t know. . . . The fact that you two grew up together?”

“Hey, just because we grew up together doesn’t mean we’ll become lovers!”

“But isn’t that what you want?”

Ran fell silent.

“You can’t fool me, Ran!” Sonoko proclaimed with a smile, “I remember you telling me about your feelings for him... I’m sure he has feelings for you as well.”

“How can you be so sure ‘bout that?” Ran inquired, unconsciously admitting that she had been lying a few minutes ago.

“Oh c’mon, Ran! Isn’t it obvious?” Sonoko ecstatically pointed out, “The way he blushed and the way he hesitated at the prospect of kissing you and . . .”

“That doesn’t mean he likes me.”

“So why does he hang around you despite the fact that you always threaten to beat him up with your karate, huh?”

“I-I don’t always threaten to beat him up!—okay, maybe a lot.”

“Or how about the fact that he doesn’t have a girlfriend yet?”

“He’s probably enjoying his masses of fangirls too much to stick to just one.”

“Or maybe . . . he already has someone in mind,” Sonoko suggested as she playfully pressed her finger against Ran’s temple, “—you!”

“Me? That’s silly, Sonoko.” The karateka abruptly stopped from walking; her eyes were gazing at the asphalted road. “There’s no way Shinichi would ever choose me. He’s smart, handsome, athletic, brave, cool, and popular, and I’m just . . .”

“Ran, don’t say that,” Sonoko said, encircling Ran’s shoulders with her left arm. “You have a lot of good qualities—Shinichi-kun would say the same thing.”

“If Shinichi did like me,” she tried to justify herself, “then he would have told me already.”

“Well, maybe he’s not telling for the same reasons you’re not telling him.”

“Shinichi—scared? That’s not like him.”

“Well, love does strange things to people.”

“You can’t jump to conclusions about these things, Sonoko.”

“So are you looking for evidence, detective?”

“No,” Ran shook her head. “I’m just saying we shouldn’t pass judgment so easily.”

“Okay, okay,” Sonoko agreed, her arm still on Ran’s shoulder as they resumed their walk toward the Mouri Detective Agency. “But I still think you should be open to the possibility that Shinichi-kun likes you back—you’ve got nothing to lose!”

Ran could only smile back at her friend.

---

Yeah, so I wrote a Shin/Ran Truth or Dare fic . . . because I haven’t seen any (well, I’ve seen a Kaito/Aoko one) . . . and after months of this thing sitting on my desktop and mp3 player, I kinda wanted to stab myself for writing it. I actually wanted to do some editing on this, but because I’ve been ignoring this for a long time, I forgot what I was supposed to change/add . . . and now I’m posting this just so it wouldn’t just sit there and rot away. And now I’m beginning to think this is more of a Ran/Sonoko friendship fic. Haha.

Oh, and a month ago, I found out from chatting with RanMouri82 that French kissing is a sin. (I’m just saying this; she had absolutely no influence in the writing of this story.) Now, excuse me as I try to wash the guilt feelings I have and maybe, just maybe, I’ll write one. (Don’t count on it, um, any time soon.)

Concrit is still loved, peeps. Until next time!