justonetruth | (no subject)

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Ran's wandering through the mansion, looking behind and under furniture, curtains and doors as she goes. "Conan! Conan, come out already! Geez ... you know I don't like hide-and-seek ..." She looks up at every slight sound, stepping back to look at the chandelier consideringly. "He wouldn't ... Would he?"

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"It's not that kind of a library," Conan protested, but didn't argue as Aoko led him back to Ran.

Ran meanwhile had just finished topping up the bath, and smiled as Conan and Aoko returned. "All yours," she said, nodding to the door to the bathroom. "I'll be out here if you need anything."

"I am capable of taking a bath by myself," Conan said with offended dignity, letting go of Aoko's hand. "Bye Aoko."

"Thank you, Ran-chan!" Aoko said with a nod, before she turned back to Conan. "Ran-chan wants me to stay here to help you."

Conan balked at that. "You're a girl! I'm not taking a bath with a girl--"

"Yes, yes." Ran pushed Conan through the door into the bathroom. "We'll be out here though I warn you -- if we can't hear bath noises, we will be checking on you."

Conan gave them both a look. "I'm not climbing through the bathroom window and hiding. This time."

At Ran's insistence, Aoko stepped out of the bathroom and nodded at Conan to ensure him they both would be listening. Then, she turned to Ran and lifted a hand up to cover her mouth so the boy couldn't see her whisper.

"Do you need me to watch the windows, just in case?"

Ran shut the door behind her. "Would you mind? Or if you'd rather guard this door, I can take the window."

Before the words fully left Ran's mouth, Aoko was trotting down the hallway toward the nearest staircase. It took her a few minutes to sprint down the staircase and outside to the side of the mansion, and a few more to find the window she was pretty sure belonged to Conan's bathroom. But once she had found it, she situated herself outside and watched it carefully, hands linked behind her back.

After a few minutes, the bathroom window opens a crack. There is a pause and then the window is closed again.

Aoko lifts a hand to her mouth and giggles a bit.

Some time after that, the window opens again and Ran waves, cupping a hand to her mouth as she calls out, "All clear!"

With that encouraging 'all clear,' Aoko waved back and made her way back into the mansion, up the stairs and toward Conan's bedroom.

When she arrived it would be to find Ran making a freshly scrubbed Conan, still pink from his bath, stand still while she brushed his damp hair. "--what if you'd got stuck?" she was saying. "We'd have had to take out a wall to get you out."

"I wouldn't have got stuck."

"How do you know? Have you ever climbed through a vent before?"

"Kid does it."

"You're not Kid," Ran said bluntly. "Ah, Aoko-chan. Sorry about that ..."

Aoko couldn't help but giggle in amusement at the conversation about the vents. "It's alright! I don't mind helping at all."

Her gaze shifted to Conan. "Did you try to climb through the vents?"

"Maybe."

Aoko giggled again. "You're really adventurous, Conan-kun."

"Not the word I'd use," Ran said, fighting the urge to roll her eyes.

Conan scowled at them. "I'm washed. Can I go now?"

"Where?" Aoko asked, "Are you just going to hide again?"

"And if I am?"

"Let him," Ran said. "He's clean, he can hide if he wants. But after all of that fuss, I think the two of us deserve something nice. Want to see what the kitchen has to offer?"

Aoko gave Conan a suspicious look, but since he seemed to have Ran's permission on hiding, she didn't question him any further.

"Ran-chan said it was okay, so if you want to hide, go ahead." Then, she turned to the girl in question and smiled at her, linking her hands behind her back as she did so. "Okay! I don't think I've eaten dinner yet, anyway!"

"Really? Then how about a hand-made meal as a thank you?" Ran suggested, turning towards the door. "Conan'll tell you I'm a pretty good cook."

Conan was looking distinctly put out. "Don't I get dinner?"

"Thought you were hiding?" Ran shared a secret smile with Aoko. "What sort of food do you like, Aoko-chan?"

Oh so this was the plan. Aoko fell into step easily, her smile unwavering.

"I haven't had yakisoba in a while," she said cheerfully, "I can help you make some, too!"

"Yakisoba, huh? That shouldn't be hard at all. Through in a little cabbage, some bacon, onion -- and if we find some sauce to go with it ..." Ran grinned back at Aoko. They'd have to see if they could convince her to stick around.

Aoko nodded eagerly. "That sounds delicious! Even better than what's served in the dining hall sometimes!"

"Oh, the dining room yakisoba has nothing on mine," Ran said happily. "Right, Conan?"

Surprise, suprise. He'd opted to stay with them after all. "It's not bad," he said. "I suppose I could help you make dinner."

"Are you sure?" Aoko asked with an innocent smile as she bent down to face Conan, "You did want to hide earlier, after all."

"I like to keep my options open," Conan said loftily. "I'm allowed."