Meitantei Conan belongs to Aoyama Gosho, Shogakukan, Yomiuri Television, VIZ
Communications, and Funimation.  No permission has been obtained
from any of the copyright holders for the use of characters and situations
from this series. This work of fiction is not for profit and not intended
to infringe on copyrighted intellectual property in any significant or
harmful way.

C&C welcome.


III. Disaster Preparations


Kisaki Eri snapped her umbrella to shake water off as she entered the lobby
of her office. As she did so, she caught a familiar--and unwelcome--sight on
the sofa. Her jaw tensed, eyes narrowing. "Anata," she said in a frosty
tone.

Mouri Kogoro stood, and nodded to her. "Eri," he said.

"To what do I owe the pleasure?" the lawyer asked briskly. "Being sued over
mishandling an adultery case, or--"

"Let's cut the usual sniping," Kogoro said abruptly, moving a few steps
closer to her. Eri tensed. "There's...a situation."

"A...situation?" Eri asked, raising one slender eyebrow.

"Ran...well, she's..."

Instantly, Eri's demeanor changed. "What's happened to Ran? What--" She
paused, face paling. "It must be something serious, if you came here to tell
me in person."

Kogoro nodded. "Ran...our daughter...is..." He swallowed. "Shimatta...I
can't say it."

Eri's hands flew to her mouth, her eyes wide in horror. "She's...what?
What's happened to Ran?"

"Well, it's her and that punk Kudou..." Kogoro looked up at the ceiling, at
the potted plants in the room--anywhere but at his wife's eyes. "They,
um..." He swallowed.

Eri's eyes narrowed once more, her cool demeanor recovering. "Ran's
pregnant, isn't she?"

The detective blinked. "That's right. How'd you--"

The lawyer let out a slow, angry hiss of air, her eyes closed. "I always
knew it was going to happen, and I had a fairly good idea it'd happen before
she got out of high school. Those two are EXACTLY like us, only even more
foolish. Though, with him missing all this time--" She paused, frowning.
"Didn't I hear from Ran that he's been put away by the FBI in America? To
keep him from being killed?" Suddenly, her face took on a look of pure
alarm. "Ran! She's in danger too, then! If she's--"

"Calm down, woman! It's...according to what we know, Ran's probably not in
danger, especially if this...doesn't get out to..." He frowned. "Whoever's
trying to kill the brat."

"This isn't funny!" Eri replied. "He...and she...they..." She shuddered.
"Let's go. We'll take my car. I need to see Ran, NOW."

Kogoro nodded, and the two departed without further discussion--Eri didn't
even bother to tell her secretary she'd be out again.

   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

Agasa frowned at the expression on Ai's face. "Ai-kun?" he prompted.

"Is this really alright, Hakase?" she asked.

"Is...oh, Ran and all that?" The elderly inventor shrugged. "I wouldn't say
it's 'alright', but...it's not a problem the two of them can't overcome.
It's not nearly as much of a mess as the other problems Shinichi has."

"What I mean is, what if THEY find out about this?" Ai asked.

Agasa's eyes widened. "You don't think they'd--?"

Ai scowled at him. "They would. In a heartbeat."

The portly man collapsed into his chair, face chalk-white. "Oh dear..."

The small girl shrugged. "I'm sure once the shock has worn off, Kudou-kun
will realise this as well, and he'll come up with a plan." She snorted. "He
seems to be very good at coming up with plans..."

"He's also very good at getting into bigger and bigger trouble all the
time," Agasa pointed out.

"You said it, not me," Ai replied, smirking.

   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

The estranged couple had barely cleared the genkan when Eri, operating on
some instinctive radar Kogoro supposed was simply a mother thing, homed in
on Ran's present location and--with a loud cry of "MY BABY!"--flung herself
at her daughter, displacing a slightly shellshocked Conan, who retreated
from the room, glasses askew.

Kogoro surveyed the child. He looked...drained. Like this day had been as
taxing on him as it had on everybody else.

Perhaps it had been. The kid was unnaturally intelligent, and strongly
attached to Ran. He squatted down in front of the boy. "Oi. Conan."

"Hai?"

"You...wouldn't happen to know of any way to get hold of Kudou, would you?"

Something dark flashed across the child's eyes for such a brief second,
Kogoro wasn't sure he didn't imagine it. "Barou," Conan replied in that
lower, more adult voice he occasionally adopted during murder
investigations. "If I knew anything like that, I'd already have done
something about it."

The detective nodded, frowning. "What about that Osaka kid?"

"Ran-neechan already tried that. He doesn't know either." Conan shrugged. "I
don't really see any way we can find out where he is."

Kogoro sighed. "You're right...they put people in Witness Relocation for a
good reason, after all." He shook his head. "Well, I guess the only thing
left to do is call the bastard's parents..."

"They're already on their way back to Japan," Conan said. "I took care of it
while I was at hakase's earlier."

Kogoro blinked, then narrowed his eyes at the bespectacled boy. "That's an
awfully responsible thing for a little kid like you to think to do," he
said. "And how is it you know how to get in touch with them in the first
place?"

Suddenly, the little-kid voice was back in full force. "Ah, Agasa-hakase
told me to do it! An' my mom's related to Yukiko-bachan, remember? I know
she told Ran-neechan that once." He smiled a patently false smile.

Kogoro raised a sceptical eyebrow, but let it drop. "Okay. Just so long as
they know." He grumbled. "But what I wouldn't give to get my hands on that
punk..."

"Ojisan?" Conan piped up. "Don't...don't be too mad at Shinichi-niichan. I
don't think he meant for somethin' like this to happen, an'...an' he really
cares about Ran-neechan. It's not his fault bad people wanna kill him. If
you wanna blame someone for screwin' things up, blame the bad people an'...I
dunno, help try to catch 'em. You know, so Shinichi-niichan can maybe come
home?" He kicked the floor with one sock-clad toe, hands behind his head.

Kogoro snorted, and rubbed Conan's head a bit forcefully, but affectionately
nevertheless. "I know you're just trying to help, boy, but...right now, this
is an adult thing that's happening. I'm not saying it's all Kudou's fault.
I'm not saying it's not, either. But..." He paused for a minute, then
shrugged. "Someday, you'll grow up, and you'll have kids, and you'll
understand." With that, he stood and walked to his daughter's bedroom to
talk to his family.

Conan watched him, dark clouds in his eyes, his mouth a thin, tight line.
*Yeah. I'll grow up again, eventually. But I'll have a kid long before that.
And I DO understand, Occhan. Better than you think.*

Shrugging, Conan threw himself onto the couch, picked up a magazine, and
tried to force himself not to think about what was going on in that bedroom,
or about the baby, or about his parents' impending arrival, or...anything.

For all of thirty seconds, he almost succeeded.

   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

An hour after Heiji had attempted to contact Shinichi at Agasa's house,
Kazuha showed up at his door. "I'm goin' to Tokyo," she announced.

Heiji blinked. "Eh? With th' weather the way it is there? You can't fly,
you'll hafta go by train...an' what's goin' on, anyway? What kinda trouble
is Neechan in?"

Kazuha scowled. "Whaddya MEAN what kinda--" She paused, blinking. Her mouth
formed a small 'o'. "I...didn't tell you, did I?"

"No, ahou, you didn't," Heiji replied, scowling. "You just called an'
bitched me out about needin' t' find Kudou. What's goin' on?"

Kazuha told him.

Heiji's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. Then, he disappeared into
his room, returning a moment later with a tote bag, a raincoat, and his
keys. "Fuck th' train," he said. "I'll drive."

   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

Eri embraced her daughter tightly, a multitude of emotions swarming across
her face behind the lenses of her glasses. "This is why I told you not to
get involved with a detective," she said thickly, tears gathering in her
eyes.

"Okaasan..."

"I know, I know; sorry." Eri sighed. "Are you going to be...? I mean, if you
stay here with your father, all you've got looking out for you are a drunk
and a little boy..."

"Conan-kun will be everything I need," Ran replied firmly. "Honestly, I
don't think I'd be able to make it through this if I wasn't sure that he'll
be there the entire time."

Eri frowned. "Ran...I know he's an unusually bright boy, but...he is *just*
a small child..."

Ran shook her head, smiling through her tears. "You don't know him as well
as I do, Okaa-san...just trust me on this."

Unconsciously, Ran slipped her hand into the pocket where her engagement
ring lay, clenching it in a tight, firm grip.

Her mother smiled, sniffling. "Well, if you're sure...just know that if you
need more help, you're welcome to come live with me. I can juggle my work
schedule..."

The teen shook her head. "I'll be fine. Besides, I have a feeling I'll have
all the motherly attention I can handle..."

"Oh?" Eri asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Conan-kun told me...Shinichi's parents are on their way back."

The lawyer nodded, eyes wide. "Yukiko..."

"Is probably going to be almost more than I can handle," Ran replied,
giggling.

   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

"Tissue, dear?"

"Thank you, honey."

   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

By nightfall, Kogoro, Eri, and Conan had all been in and out of Ran's room
so many times, in varying numbers, that the pregnant girl was getting rather
dizzy. Dinner had been ordered and delivered, and currently the four of them
sat in the living room, sharing an awkward silence with the meal.

As the rain continued to lash at the windows and the thunder rumbled, the
door chime buzzed. The group blinked at one another; Conan stood to answer
it.

A moment later, he returned with a thoroughly drenched Hattori Heiji and an
equally waterlogged Toyama Kazuha. Like Eri earlier, Kazuha immediately
homed in on Ran with a loud squeal and a fierce hug.

Heiji approached the two men, looking somber. "I brought you some more of
that whiskey, Mouri-han," he said to the older man, placing a large glass
bottle on the table. "I figured you might need it." He then shot a
meaningful glance at the smaller boy. "Ku*cough* CONAN, come downstairs with
me for a minute, I've got somethin' for you, too."

Conan glanced around for a moment, then nodded warily and followed Heiji
down to the second-floor landing.

As soon as they were out of earshot of the upstairs, Heiji wheeled around
and kicked the smaller boy in the gut, hard; Conan sprawled against the
wall, cursing as his head hit the concrete.

"KON'YAROU!" Heiji roared. "WHAT TH' *FUCK* WERE YOU THINKIN', YOU LITTLE
ASSHOLE?!"

Conan picked himself up gingerly, grimacing as he clutched his abdomen. "I
don't need to hear this from YOU, Hattori," he grunted.

"Yeah? Well you're gonna, Kudou. This is just..."

"This is just *none of your business*," Conan spat. He then winced. "Okay,
I'm sorry, that..." The boy sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Look,
don't you think I'm already--"

"I don't want to hear that, and I don't care how bad you feel about it,
because it's not damn near bad enough," Heiji cut across him. "Neechan's
fixin' ta go through hell because of your dumb ass."

"I KNOW THAT!" Conan shouted. "You think I don't KNOW THAT, Hattori? You
think I'm not gonna be right there going through it with her? And having
just as hard a time of it because that's MY KID and I have to pretend it
isn't?! Do you have ANY IDEA how much that's gonna suck?"

"So tell her the truth," Heiji challenged.

"Barou. That'd make everything about a thousand times *worse*."

"I don't really see how, Kudou."

"WILL YOU STOP CALLING ME THAT?! I'm NOT Kudou Shinichi! I'm never going to
be Kudou Shinichi AGAIN, don't you get it?! The girl I love is going to
raise *our child* alone, because I..."

The two were silent for a long moment.

"Kud--" Heiji coughed. "Conan. Look, man, I'm..." He sighed. "I'm sorry.
It's just..."

"Yeah, I know. If it was you in the same situation with Kazuha, I'd probably
do the same thing. But..." He looked up at Heiji, removing his glasses; the
raw pain and anguish in those clouded blue eyes staggered the dark-skinned
teen. "I don't regret what's happened. I just regret that I can't be with
Ran, beside her, the way I *should* be. She should have a husband to help
her through this, not..." He snorted. "Not a twerpy little *brother*..."

Heiji stuck his hands in his pockets and wouldn't meet Conan's eyes.
"...yeah," he finally said. "She should." The Osakan detective shrugged.
"But she ain't, so she'll just hafta make do with what she's got. And so
will you."

"Yeah."

They stood silently for a long moment.

"I got somethin' even stronger than the stuff I gave Mouri-han down at th'
bike. You want?"

Conan snorted. "That'd be a sight. 'The amazing drunk and horny chibi...'"

Heiji laughed despite himself.

   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

The next day, Kazuha stayed with Ran to help her make plans and
arrangements--as well as to plan out a shopping expedition--while Heiji and
Conan went over to the Kudou estate to clean house in preparation for the
return of Conan's parents--and so the two could talk freely.

"Still no closer to an antidote?" Heiji asked as he dusted a shelf.

"Put it this way: Haibara doesn't call me 'Kudou-kun' anymore. At all."

"Ouch."

"I'm glad you an' Toyama-san are gonna hang around for a while. Things are
gonna be a little hectic for the first bit here, and Ran needs all the
support she can get."

"Hey, we'll be there as much as possible," Heiji replied. "So, when are your
folks gettin' in?"

"I'm not entirely su--"

The front door opened.

Conan paled. "Actually, right about now, it seems."

Kudou Yusaku strode into the study, his eyes burning darkly behind his
glasses, which flashed ominously in the light as he shucked his raincoat and
hung it calmly over the mantle. "Son," he said firmly.

"Ah...welcome home, Tousan," Conan replied nervously.

Heiji glanced between the two, and swallowed. "I'll um...just help your mom
get settled in, Ku--*Conan*." Bowing slightly and hurriedly to Yusaku, he
vacated the study as rapidly as dignity would allow.

Yusaku watched him go, then turned his full attention on the small boy who
stood on the rung of a ladder across the room. "Son," he repeated. "We're
going to have a very, VERY long talk. And THEN I'm handing you over to your
mother."

Conan gulped nervously. *Where's Gin with a gun when you really need him?*

==tbc==

================================
It's not a butthole, it's a mangina.
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www.lurkerdrome.com



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