Twins

Summary: When Shinichi and Kaitou become twins – yes, twins, bearing the surname Kudo – things become different and wackier. Being famous guys in their school, how would their love life bloom? XD ShinichixRan and a bit of KaitouxAoko. R&R please ^^

Author’s note: I do not own Detective Conan nor its characters. I’m just borrowing them for some idea of mine that has been recurring for two years now. =P I think they suit the plot well. XD

Chapter 1: Instigation

It was mid September in Beika City, 6:30 in the morning. Students of Teitan High were gathered up again at the school grounds the way they do almost everyday. It was not because they are having a flag ceremony or something. It was because…

“Kyaaa!!! Shinichi and Kaitou! They’re coming!”

Girls from all the year levels were having their morning exercise – adoring and cheering for the two damn good-looking guys who make their mornings complete – Shinichi and Kaitou Kudo.

“I don’t get it. What’s so astonishing about them?” Suzuki Sonoko uttered amidst the wave of fan girls they were passing through.

The meek girl beside her replied, “Well, they are nice. They can do a lot. They--”

Sonoko cut, “Ran, I know they are good-looking, they’re talented and all, but this has been going on for about three years already! Every morning these girls act as if celebrities were visiting our school.”

“Hm,” Ran thought for a second as they continued walking towards the school building. “They are like celebrities, considering the fact that they appear on tv sometimes. I mean, Shinichi solves cases and is a famous detective. Kaitou has a band and they sometimes perform in tv shows.”

Sonoko grimaced at Ran and stopped to point at the event by the school gate. “Look at them, don’t they have a life?! Every morning they welcome twin princes. Don’t they ever get tired of it? Aren’t they getting used to how those two look?”

Ran chuckled. “Sonoko, you’re taking things seriously. Let them express their admiration. After all, Kaitou and Shinichi are not becoming airheads because of that. And besides, I think they deserve those fans anyway.”

Sonoko leaned towards Ran and observed her eyes for a while making her blush.

“What?”

“Nothing.” Sonoko smirked after standing straight again. “Your subjective eyes just told me how special Shinichi really is for them and how blissful your Monday morning has become.”

“Eh? That was- How did you- mou~” Ran pouted.

“Haha! I really know how to read you, don’t I?” Sonoko teased. “Tell me, how long are you planning to keep that to yourself? Don’t you want to confess already? Being your best friend, Kaitou can help you with him.”

Ran’s face flushed crimson. “Hey, it’s not like that. I just admire Shinichi, that’s all. I’m not into him that much for me to confess or anything.”

“Yeah right, tell that to my great great grandfather,” Sonoko sarcastically replied. “Hey, why not make a bet?”

“On what?”

“If Shinichi, by any means, comes to our classroom today, it means that you two are meant for each other. Plus, you will have to confess to him and tell him how you have been liking him these past three years.”

“EH??”

Sonoko laughed at Ran’s worried but blushing expression. “Relax. Shinichi going to our classroom? It’s not likely to happen anyway. I mean, what are the odds of something unusual like that to happen today.” She then flashed her evil grin and said, “But if it does, I say, destiny paved way. Ohohohohoho~”

As the two headed to their class, the star-studded twins hurried as well to get to their respective classrooms.

“People here really are nice, don’t you thinks so, Kid?” Shinichi commented, looking as innocent as he has ever been. He was always so naïve and oblivious about girls who like him. “They are so kind to us and everyday they welcome us SO warmly.”

“You really don’t get it, do you?” Kaito chuckled apathetically.

Though they are twins and are in the same year level, Shinichi and Kaitou do not belong to the same class/section. Their school basically shuffles the class lists every year so that students will have a chance to get acquainted with all of their batchmates. This has been a wonderful idea for the girls who aspire to sit beside their ‘ouji-sama’ Shinichi and Kaito Kudo.

The day has indeed started fine, not to mention, the week because it was a Monday. But for someone like Shinichi, his 11am class was enough to devastate all the hopes he had for the rest of the day.

“I’ve got to get to Kaitou! I can’t waste time!” Shinichi mumbled to himself as he dashed from hallway to hallway. It was lunch time so there were a lot of people to avoid getting knocked into. The music room where his previous class was held was a floor and 8 meters away from his twin’s classroom.

As soon as he arrived, he opened the door and came across a girl who was just about to get out of the room. “Oh, sorry,” he said in a soft voice, having thought he was a bit forceful in opening the door which they both held.

And the lucky girl to ever get this close to Kudo Shinichi and to hear him say the magic word – the word that can heal any wounded heart especially when said with a very exquisite tone – was none other than… Mouri Ran!

Seeing her unreachable prince inches away from her made her heart melt more than what calculus did to her brain. It was a moment to cherish.

“Is my brother there?” Shinichi politely asked, bringing Ran back to her senses. All she was able to do in response was to nod and give way.

“Boy, you sure are a fortunate magnet!” Sonoko remarked when she and Ran got out of the room. “You have Kaitou as your guy best friend, and then, Shinichi came here and bumped into you—Wait a second. Shinichi? Here? Oh my gosh, Ran, our bet! What I said came true!”

Ran knew it before Sonoko realized, but she didn’t know how she should react. She just consoled herself and thought, ‘It was just a bet. It wasn’t even a prayed and asked-for one. It doesn’t mean anything.’

On the other hand, Shinichi approached Kaitou, sat on his heels and showed him his sparkling puppy eyes with matching pout. “What now?” the latter asked, recognizing his brother’s I-need-your-help-badly expression.

Knowing Shinichi more than anyone else did – he was someone who doesn’t ask for help unless he really can’t do anything about the matter – Kaitou knew that it was probably something about a girl, cooking or music.

“I have a practical test tomorrow and I can’t play a classical piece the way it should be played,” Shinichi blurted out, as if the world was going to end if they didn’t do anything. This cool, clever and somewhat aloof-looking guy turned out to be a superman with music being his kryptonite.

His brother, however, found him comical. “I thought it was something worse.” He laughed. “You looked like you’ve seen a murder.”

Shinichi scowled.

“So what can I do for you, my dear brother?” Kaitou asked with a teasing tone as he packed his things into his bag. “Do you want me to sneak in tomorrow and borrow Fujiyama-sensei’s record book and write a ‘passed’ mark on your name before you get called? Or do you want me to--“

“Kid, just teach me, that’s all.” Shinichi chuckled, “You’re making it harder for you if you choose to do what you said.”

“Nah-uh.” Kaitou showed off one of his magic tricks and made the pen he was holding disappear.

They stood up and headed to the canteen. “Alright, maybe it would be easier to act like a burglar and mess up with her records for me, but I think teaching me would be enough bother already.” Shinichi grinned sheepishly.

And so, the two agreed to have piano lessons after school for the price of an I.O.U. (I owe you) ticket from Shinichi.

“Hey Kid, if this turns out well, I’ll set you up on a date with Aoko.” Shinichi grinned knowing that his brother has a crush on this classmate of his and that making her the prize for the favor would surely make his twin want to play the piano with all his might.

Kaitou smirked. “Just eat.”

***

That afternoon, right after class, Shinichi was summoned by Inspector Megure, asking for his help in a murder case in an establishment just few streets away from school. Driven by his passion for mysteries and cases, he completely forgot about the deal with his brother.

Just as the moon was settling up on its night time position, Shinichi found out the last piece of the puzzle he was solving. He then declared, “The killer is none other than the victim’s best friend, Hayashima-san.”

Of course, everyone in the crime scene was surprised of what he just said. It was implausible for a man to kill his best friend after all. But Shinichi’s deductions were able to make them believe that man has tendencies to be vulnerable and vengeful enough for him to forget all the good times he shared with a friend.

The murderer, a 30-year old businessman, turned out to be a victim as well. As what he has confessed, his long-time love, Nanase Hitomi, was lured by the victim, Hasegawa Yujiro to marry him after making her believe in so many ways that Hayashima Komaru, the killer, died while he was in the United States for 3 years. When Hayashima came back to Japan, he couldn’t do anything about his best friend and his girlfriend’s married life. He thought that this was the girl’s choice so he let them be. But when he was having a drink with Hasegawa, the latter obliviously gave a hint about his evil scheme that ruined Hayashima’s whole life and dreams. Hayashima, being smart and all, sought for facts to find out the truth. Raged with the awareness of this big betrayal, Hayashima became so determined to kill this treacherous best friend of his. The last thing he said before being brought to jail was that he loved the girl Nanase so much. “All my life, I have been working hard for her to have a good future with me. I didn’t know that the friend that I trusted most would be the one to ruin everything,” Hayashima finished.

***

‘Love… What a powerful thing…’ Shinichi thought on his way home. ‘It can make people happy; it can make people cry. The sad thing is that it can also make people kill.’

The peace brought by the serene residential street he was passing through gave him the time to think… to reflect about how people can be nowadays… and how he forgot his piano lessons that night!

“Shimatta!” he mumbled as he hurried home, simpering in the process. Then, without any warning, it rained. He drew an umbrella from his bag and continued to dart to his destination undisturbed.

***

“Mou… How am I supposed to bring these home dry?” Ran whined to herself. She was stuck in the rain, finding sanctuary beneath a laundry shop’s cantilever roof. Having such important documents from her mom for a case that her dad was working on, she couldn’t just dash into the rain to get home.

“How unintelligent of me to forget to bring an umbrella when it was already the typhoon season,” she blamed herself.

All of a sudden, a familiar figure appeared in front of her and handed something.

“Here. You need it more than I do.”

Ran’s heart pounded. ‘Sh-shinichi? No, it’s Kaitou. No, I can’t tell, his hair is soaked enough. They look alike!’

The unidentified person flashed a gentle smile, fetched her free hand and slipped the blue umbrella into it. Ran was not able to mutter any word, because he scampered away as soon as she got hold of the umbrella.

Ran was left astounded yet confused. Her face, however, remained warm and red amidst the cold rain as she started walking to her house. ‘If that was Kaitou, why didn’t he talk to me more properly? Was he really in a hurry that much? But… If that was Shinichi… Why?’

***

Shinichi discreetly opened the gate and sneaked into their house. To his dismay, his brother was well aware of his late arrival and he welcomed him with a line that is usually said by housewives to their husbands who come home late unannounced.

“And just where have you been?”

Shinichi smiled and rubbed his head. “Ehe. I kind of solved a case and forgot about our agreement?”

“Sheesh, you’re the older one. Why do you have to come home drenched from the rain? You should be a bit more responsible.” Kaitou nagged as he threw a towel to his twin.

“Err, some reasons…” Shinichi grinned. He then changed the topic and tried to lighten up his brother’s mood. “What’s for dinner, onii-chan?”

“Don’t you ‘onii-chan’ me.” Kaitou replied. “Take a bath first.”

After dinner, Shinichi began showing signs of having caught a cold. He was sneezing consecutively, and he started speaking as if his nose were clamped.

“Can you still play?” Kaitou asked in concern as he sat down on a chair beside their grand piano.

“Of course!” Shinichi responded as enthusiastic as he could before gulping down a cold medicine. “Let’s get this over with!”

After an hour and a half of unsuccessful attempts to play the piece Fur Elise without any mistake, Shinichi started getting drowsy, and soon, he instinctively laid himself on the couch when his piano sensei Kaitou was not watching.

“What the-” Kaitou sighed.

He ended up grabbing a blanket for his brother and as he did so, he saw a childhood picture of the two of them in Shinichi’s room. They were wearing similar clothes and similar hair styles and only their mom could tell which was which. This reminiscence suddenly gave him an idea.

“Why didn’t I think of that earlier?” Kaitou laughed.

***

The next morning, Shinichi woke up, still a bit heavy-headed because of his cold.

“Ohayou!!”

To his surprise, a mirror image greeted him energetically. “Am I still asleep?” he kidded, rubbing his eyes.

“Come on Kai-chan, wake up already!”

“Kai--chan?”

“We’re going to be late. I still have a piano practical test to perfect.” This bizarre person laughed.

Shinichi stood up. “Piano? Wait, you are-- I'm not--”

The other one gave Shinichi a ‘ride on!’ look, then, he realized what was happening and said, “Oh, I get it. I’m Kaitou, and I think I need to fix my hair now because I think I look more like Shinichi now.”

The two of them laughed as they prepared their things for school.

“Hey Shinichi!” Shinichi called his brother. “How does Kaitou tame his hair down? Do you know?”

“I don’t know, I think it’s sort of natural. It also gave me a hard time raising my hair like stimulated bananas, you know.” Kaitou laughed.

***

Jan jajan!!

What will happen to Shinichi’s practical test?

Did the twins really switch places?

Will anyone learn about this?

Who really gave Ran the umbrella?

How far can germs from your sneeze travel?

Find out on the next chapter! XD