12 Games: Shinichi and Ran

Game #1 – The Pocky Game
Ran found a way to bring Shinichi out of his mystery otaku mode. It involved lots of guts and a Pocky stick.
Rating: T

Ran was having a day.

She woke up in the morning with an incredibly bad case of PMS. Not only did she sleep through her three alarms, but the first text message she had to read upon checking her phone was Shinichi asking her to go to school ahead of him, because apparently, he overslept, too, as he got home at 2AM due to the Tokyo MPD seeking his assistance in a burglary case that night which happened two blocks away from his house. Ran replied with an "of course it can't be helped", and so she dashed like mad to school alone, almost getting run over by a car in the process.

When she arrived in school, she realized that she wore the wrong pair of socks. She put her shoes in the wrong locker, and she wouldn't have noticed it if not for another girl student pointing it out. As if it wasn't enough, she tripped on the stairs on her way to the classroom, injuring her right knee. At least she made it to her seat seconds before the teacher entered. She cursed at the air. The day hadn't even started and she was hating everything about it already.

Then came lunch period. Students of Teitan High 2-B excitedly got up from their seat as they made haste to the cafeteria. Ran wondered why many of them scrambled so fast out of the classroom, then she remembered that it was Monday, the day when melon pan and other limited sweets were available in the canteen. For a change, she thought of getting some, too.

Sonoko approached her desk. "Ran! Do you want to grab some sweets in the caf?"

"Sure," Ran nodded, deciding to just eat her packed lunch in the canteen. From her bag, she brought out two cleanly wrapped bento boxes she prepared the night before. She usually made one for herself and for Shinichi.

"Shinichi, let's go eat with Sonoko!" Ran invited Shinichi, whom she noticed had been sitting on his desk two rows behind her, fiddling with his phone for a while now. Judging from the way he wrinkled his eyebrow, she already knew what that expression in his face meant – much to her dismay.

"Sorry Ran, I'll be skipping lunch today, Megure-keibu asked for my help in another case and I'm still deciphering this code he sent me. Go ahead and eat without me!" Shinichi hollered before excusing himself out of the classroom. He had no more time to see the distraught face Ran made as she watched him disappear out of the door frame.

Ran's eye narrowed. Guess she had no choice but to feed Shinichi's bento to the campus cats.

"Hoooo, Mouri-san! Maybe you can give Kudo's bento to us?" Nakamichi butted in.

Ran's deadly stare was enough to send him flying to the corner of the room. "J-joke, that's a joke!" her classmate stuttered. The other guys in her class laughed.

"Whatever. Here you go, Nakamichi-kun." Ran found it better to give the bento to them than to the cats. These guys were no different anyway.

Ran heard Nakamichi's "Sorry and thank you, Mouri!" as she left the classroom with Sonoko. Once outside, Ran let out a huge sigh of disappointment. She was actually looking forward to lunch because she'd get to hang out with Shinichi again, and she hoped that her already off day would get better if she, at the least, could talk to him. The last time they spent together was Wednesday last week. Ran's karate training ended late last Thursday while Shinichi met with Megure-keibu after class last Friday. They weren't able to meet during the weekend because Heiji got Shinichi involved in yet another complicated case involving a serial murderer in Osaka.

Everytime Shinichi was busy with cases, he couldn't be disturbed, not even by a text message. What would Japan be without him, the Holmes of the modern era? She wondered. And it wasn't helping her at all, because now she was having these silly thoughts, such as maybe cases were indeed Shinichi's true love while she, the girlfriend, was the jealous mistress. Her PMS was making her think weird things.

"That Shinichi! Doing whatever he pleases as if he doesn't have a girlfriend!" Sonoko aired her grievance like she had just read Ran's mind.

Ran looked at her and exhaled deeply. Ran was having a day, and overthinking about Shinichi wasn't going to make it any better.

"Yeah…I'll definitely talk to him after class." Her infuriation was evident despite her calm voice.

But Sonoko, clearly understanding her dejected friend's sentiments, sidestepped her, stopping the latter from her tracks. She firmly placed her hands on Ran's shoulders, surprising her. She could see the fighting spirit burning in her best friend's eyes.

"No, Ran! Don't just talk! Assert your right! Shinichi is a hopeless case when it comes to matters involving this!" Sonoko snarled, pointing at her own chest. She started speaking so fast that Ran could only catch bits and pieces of it. Her pep talk went somewhere along the lines of "Shinichi is an idiot for leaving you like this", and "Detective freak Shinichi!" and "Ran is too kind to get mad!" Ran couldn't help but blink at her in amusement.

Sonoko continued. "You know, sometimes you just need to make the first move to remind him that he has a girlfriend," she said with a wink. Ran didn't understand what that meant.

Her last advice though was uttered so loudly that they captured the attention of some students walking nearby. "Make him NOT forget that YOU'RE his girlfriend, Ran!" Sonoko shook her index finger in front of Ran's face.

Ran didn't want to disappoint Sonoko, especially with that hopeful and determined expression of hers, so she gradually nodded her head to express her agreement.

"I will not make him forget…" Ran trailed off. Sonoko was pleased. She patted Ran's shoulders before releasing her hold on them.

"Good! Now let's buy some sweets before they run out!" Sonoko started walking again, dragging Ran by the arm. At least her frustration toned down a bit.

Afternoon class, however, didn't help improve Ran's mood. Her sixth period teacher caught her half-sleeping during lecture, and she was called out and almost everyone laughed at her. Shinichi was caught half-sleeping too, but he was able to redeem himself when he answered the very same complex problem the teacher asked Ran and the rest of the class to solve, thereby saving Ran (who still stood as Shinichi flawlessly recited the answer) from further humiliation. That just made Ran's irritation rise exponentially. She knew she wasn't dumb but she wouldn't deny hints of insecurity whenever she was at loss for answers and Shinichi would come to her rescue. To her, it was slightly discourteous and completely unnecessary. Her irrational anger made her puff her breath and stare at the window for the rest of the day.

After school, Ran and Shinichi walked home together for the first time in a long time (well, just 5 days). Yet majority of the time was spent with Shinichi doing the talking. He narrated to her the cases he encountered since last Friday, and Ran acknowledged them half-heartedly. Her right brain was listening, but her left brain had lost all the energy. Blah blah blah cases… Ran yawned in despair.

Ran was having a day. Her PMS was making her irrationally hate everything and everyone. And Shinichi's just aggravating it by being the mystery freak, suiri otaku, Holmes maniac, I-attract-dead-bodies, all-cases-no-play, Shinichi.

Shinichi continued blabbering while Ran remained silent until they reach the Kudo mansion. Ran would usually spend a couple of minutes in his house before Shinichi would walk her back home. Upon entering the front door, Ran went straight to the living room while Shinichi disappeared for a while in the Kudo library, only to reappear in the living room with a, yup, you guessed it, Sherlock Holmes novel in hand.

Great... He's still in the mystery zone. Even if I'm right here, alone with him, in his house. Doing nothing. Just great.

Ran stood by the fireplace, munching in frustration at the last Pocky stick from the first box she bought from the cafeteria. She realized too late that she bought too much, and now two Pocky boxes remained unopened. She could save both of them for tomorrow, or she could eat one box now and give the other to Shinichi.

And then out of the blue, her mind replayed Sonoko's words during lunch time.

"Make him NOT forget that YOU'RE his girlfriend, Ran!"

Ran looked at the unopened Pocky box on her hand, then at Shinichi. Then at the Pocky box again. One of her eyebrows perked up.

She had an idea, but she didn't know if it'd work. Especially on him.

"…Sometimes you just need to make the first move to remind him that he has a girlfriend!"

After a few minutes of contemplation, she finally found her resolve and cleared her throat. No harm in trying, I guess. Time to make Sonoko proud.

"Shinichi, let's play a game."

"What game?" Shinichi replied aridly, without looking away from the Holmes novel he was reading.

"This game."

Shinichi lifted his eyes to look at Ran from across the room. She had just placed in between her lips one strawberry-flavored Pocky stick. He definitely had no idea what's going on.

"Huh?"

"Dhu wocky gaywme."

Shinichi's eyebrows met at the center. It was only on rare occasions that he would look at Ran ominously. And this was one of those moments. Ran had definitely gone bonkers.

"What?"

Ran removed the stick from her mouth to speak.

"I said the Pocky game."

Shinichi snorted. What kind of bizarre game is that?

Ran seemed to have read his thoughts, so she spoke first even before he could say anything.

"It's not just something I randomly invented. It's a popular game. Maybe if you actually pay attention to other trivial things instead of solving all of Tokyo's mysteries, then you'll know it?" Ran rolled her eyes to the side, hoping that he'd see through her passive-aggressiveness.

Ran heard movement from the couch where Shinichi comfortably laid. Shinichi's attention had now shifted to her. He placed the open book on his belly and adjusted his position so that he was already semi-Indian sitting and facing her. "Geez, looks like someone's in a bad mood today."

"You think, Sherlock?" Ran's eye twitched but she didn't vent her frustrations aloud anymore. Sonoko was right, this guy is a hopeless case. Sometimes, she just wants to hit this detective boyfriend in the head. Yes, he's naturally observant when it comes to people, and Ran could not deny that fact especially since there were countless times where he had saved her from danger because he was always looking out for her, but there were also instances wherein he'd just become too engrossed in his own little world of mysteries and detective fiction novels that he'd literally forget about everything else, including her. And Ran hated that. So much. He is a genius, but he seriously needs to attend several workshops on How to Know When Your Girlfriend is Pissed and What to Do When it Happens.

Shinichi had now sat straight on the couch. "Tell me about this game, I'm listening." Without letting go of his book, he made this awkward toothed smile at her.

Ran crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. "I don't believe you, Shinichi," Ran was still obviously pissed. "First, you have to close that book, say bye-bye to Mr. Holmes, then come here."

Shinichi was taken aback by her unexpected attitude. On normal days, she was usually chill. For Shinichi, this was a pretty average day, but maybe that was not the case for his girlfriend, who, from the looks of it, was absolutely not in the mood to take any excuse for an answer (Good job, Shinichi, for finally realizing). So, like an obedient child to his mother, he closed the book, got up from the couch, walked to the edge of it and rested his lower body on its arm.

"There, Ran. Now I'm all ears." He let out this big grin as an attempt to appease her temper. But that didn't seem to work because Ran didn't even move a slightest muscle for a smile.

In reality though, Ran wasn't prepared for this. The scenario she imagined in her head was that Shinichi would ignore her silly request and continue being the nerd that he was, causing her to storm out of his house, leaving Shinichi begging on his knees as she held the last evil laugh. She had actually even pictured her walk-out face in her mind. But now that he was in front of her, with his entire attention focused on her, she didn't know what to do next. Asking him to play a game he had never heard of actually worked as bait? This was not part of the script!

But anyway, she didn't let her thoughts show. She maintained her signature frustrated Ran face. Taking a deep breath, she had no choice but to let her PMS fuel her with extraordinary strength and confidence for all that she's about to do next. Kami-sama help her.

"The person who gets the last bite from this Pocky stick wins." She explained as she raised the Pocky stick on her hand.

Shinichi blinked at her for a good three seconds, anticipating a follow-up. However, there was none.

"That's it?"

"Yes."

Shinichi raised one eyebrow, his eyes full of questions.

"So wait. We're going to use that Pocky stick?"

"Yes."

"Just one Pocky stick?"

"Yes."

"I'm going to bite on the other end?"

"Yes."

"And we're going to bite on it at the same time – until it gets smaller and smaller?"

"Yes."

"And the last person to take the last bite…wins?"

"That's exactly it, yes."

Ran watched Shinichi look up the ceiling as he tried picturing her instructions in his head. When she saw his eyes widen and gradients of red streamline from his neck to his cheeks, she knew he finally got it.

"Well… are you up for it or not?" her question brought him back to earth.

"W-wait a sec – What is this game even? D-did Sonoko teach this to you?" Shinichi stammered as he answered her with another question.

"No, she didn't. I told you it's a popular game. So just tell me, do you want to play it or nah?" Ran took one step forward. She was getting more assertive, putting to heart Sonoko's advice.

"Why the heck should we play this?"

"But do you want to play? Yes or no."

"I mean, you do know that we might, I don't know, o-our lips might…?"

"Are you up for this challenge? No?"

"Are you out of your mind—"

"Game or not?"

"But – "

"Shinichi."

"You're really not kidding?"

"SHINICHI. Do you want to play or not? If you reply with anything else other than yes or no, I will hit you."

"…"

There was a slight pause. Shinichi was clearly struggling to find an answer, and Ran found it oddly fascinating. She had never seen him this flabbergasted before; his arrogant and esteemed demeanor gone. It was as if the Shinichi from five minutes ago completely disappeared and was replaced by this awkward, tongue-tied teenage boy.

Looking to the side with furrowed eyebrows and streaks of red on his cheeks, Shinichi, at long last, spoke, with a voice one octave lower than before.

"…Yes."

Heh. Got you, Meitantei.

Ran bowed her head, and, with her bangs covering her eyes, made that same small smirk similar to her first ever encounter with Shinichi – yes, that smirk preceding the smile which made him fall head over heels for her. She couldn't help it. She hit his Achilles' Heel, and that made her so proud of herself. That was the first good thing that had happened that day. She could feel her mood gradually changing.

Still with a smug smirk, Ran repositioned the Pocky stick between her lips. She took a few steps towards Shinichi who remained silent at the edge of the couch. It was hard to make sense of the expression on his face at that moment – he exhibited a sloppy combination of feigned annoyance, apparent nervousness, and irrevocable submission. He looked at the approaching Ran with peeved eyes and flushed cheeks. She wouldn't lie, seeing him in that state was so achingly adorable.

Ran stopped in front of him, tilted her head up, and motioned Shinichi to bite on the other end of the stick. His furrowed eyebrows remained even as he bit on it sluggishly. But before he did, he couldn't prevent himself from jibing at her. "Just so you know, this game is stupid. But if I win, don't fight me, okay?"

To which Ran mockingly retorted, "Whatchevwer you shay. I'm gwoing tcho win thish anyhway." The Pocky stick in her mouth slurred her speech.

Shinichi made a sarcastic "Heeeeh" before getting back at her. "We'll find out soon."

Both of them assumed their starting position. Ran's hands were clasped behind her back as she bit the end of her Pocky stick, while Shinichi supported his weight at the arm of the couch using his two hands. Both their mouths now occupied by this thin biscuit, they waited attentively for the other to start munching.

It was Ran who did first. Crack. Ran saw movement on Shinichi's throat as she did.

Shortly after, Shinichi nibbled his end loudly. Crunch. That sounded like a big portion, and Ran noticed that the length of the stick had considerably been reduced by a fourth.

Ran took two more bites, while Shinichi took another big one.

In order to prevent the stick from falling, Ran had to inch a little closer to him. Shinichi didn't budge, and remained pressed at the edge of the couch.

Given that Pocky sticks are generally not long to begin with, it only took a few moments before they found themselves in that level of proximity where they could feel the warm, regulated breathing of the other.

When she looked into his eyes, Ran noticed that Shinichi's face had already changed from being perturbed to being incredibly serious, him staring back at her with his unsmiling game face, as if he really wanted to win this. Ran heard her heart skip one beat, but she tried her best not to pay attention to it. She knew very well that this time, her pride wouldn't allow her to lose to him, especially after it took her all the effort to preserve and sustain this arrogant façade she was showing him.

The same time his eyes narrowed at hers, Shinichi took another bite. Ran almost let the Pocky stick escape her lips, but good thing she managed to swiftly hold it in place with her teeth. At this point, the stick was smaller than ever, like the size of a pinky. Ran again took a millimeter step closer, already finding the need to tiptoe. She needed to steady Shinichi's face at a proper angle, or else she would be at a disadvantage. She had to be strategic if she really wanted to win. So without warning, she held Shinichi's cheeks in between her hands.

Ran's movement didn't fluster Shinichi that much. In fact, it even encouraged him to wrap one arm around her waist. He felt her took a deep breath and if he could snicker at that moment, he would. Shinichi must have read through her, and being true to his word, he'd gladly prefer winning in any game, even this game, no matter how stupid it was. All he had to do was to get the last bite from the Pocky stick. It was that easy, right?

But then, he didn't realize how Ran was making it so damn hard for him to.

Not until he saw how Ran's eyes fluttered to a close when the stick was only less than an inch long.

Not until Ran's hands holding his cheeks tightened their grasp as if her whole life depended on it.

Not until he felt her warm chest press against his. So warm, it electrified his body.

And definitely not until he felt her soft lips make slight contact with his own.

He'd move his lips with hers if he could. He really wanted to, actually.

Don't let go of the stick. Don't let go of the stick. Don't let go of the stick. Ran repeated the mantra in her head, even after she felt her lips brush against Shinichi's. Their distance (or the lack of it) made it impossible for her to open her eyes any longer. If she did, she knew she would lose miserably because her heart would start acting up (as if it hadn't yet). She could hear Shinichi's composed breathing combining with his irregular heartbeats against her chest. Shinichi's right arm on her waist yanked her even closer, making her heighten her tiptoe.

Don't let go of the damn stick! She desperately prayed.

Shinichi was still biting on his end. All it would take to win was to make one final munch in order to snatch the remaining portion away from her mouth. He inclined his head a little to the right so that he'd have a better and more comfortable access to Ran's mouth once he started with his strategy. But of course, Ran wouldn't make it that simple for him, would she? Ran synchronized her movement with him by tilting her head to her right as well. Not only that, but she even pulled his face downward, closer to her, resulting on him being forced to loosen his grip on the arm of the couch and just completely stand away from it.

Ran's lips competitively clashed with his, eager to obtain the final portion of the stick he was biting at.

Shinichi was confused. This intimate position, with his arm wrapped around her tightly and both of her hands firmly trapping his face in between them, was making it absolutely difficult for him to get his head in the stupid game. For the life of him, he did not even know ifhe was still playing or not. But with his left arm now free, he brazenly let it encircle her waist.

Not because he needed to win, but because he just wanted it there.

Meanwhile, Ran could still feel the Pocky stick between her teeth, assuring her that she was not yet losing. But the problem was, she could also feel Shinichi's warm and demanding lips. And the bigger problem was, Shinichi was pulling her even closer than ever, deepening the press of their lips together. She needed to breathe, but she couldn't let go. She couldn't let go, because she would lose.

What she was not admitting was she couldn't let go because she truly, honestly, genuinely didn't want to.

It was in those few moments of internalizing and making narratives in their heads that Shinichi and Ran didn't realize the stick disappear from their mouths. Somebody let go first. But it wasn't clear who it was.

All that there was to know was that lips started moving. No more Pocky stick to be held in place. No more game to think about.

It's not like they didn't foresee something like this would happen. In fact they did. And who were they kidding? Wasn't that the reason why she requested him to play this game in the first place? Wasn't that the reason why he agreed despite trying to fight off his bashfulness?

Perhaps, they got the result they wanted, because now what remained were two teenagers linked together in such impassioned posture, exchanging short, luscious kisses, her snarky persona gone in an instant as if she never showed herself at all, and his pocket book forgotten on the coffee table as if it wasn't what was keeping him busy minutes ago.

They remained that way for five seconds, before Ran finally broke it off.

She released Shinichi's warm face from her grasp, then wiped away the bits of crumbs settling on the corners of her lips.

"I won," she sneered.

"No, you didn't. I did." he argued.

"No you didn't. I won. You let go first."

"Did not."

"Did too!"

"Did not. You did."

"I didn't!"

Shinichi glowered at her for what seemed like eternity before he let out a huge sigh.

"It's pointless. Let's just call it a draw."

Ran narrowed her eyes at him menacingly before finally conceding. "…Fine." Although quite disappointed, she realized that the winner was indeed indeterminable. It was not their fault though. They got distracted.

They didn't notice until later that Shinichi's arms were still wrapped around her waist. Trying to fight off the awkwardness building up between them in such close distance, Ran frantically looked somewhere else to divert her attention. She laid her eyes on her watch, only to find out that it was already quarter to six. Did they really just spend an entire 15 minutes eating, or rather, sharing, one Pocky stick?

"W-would you look at the time, Shinichi! I still have to make dinner for otou-san. Good game, though. I enjoyed it. I now give you my permission to return to your beloved Holmes, after you bring me back home." She lightly pushed his chest away and took two steps back from him. Shinichi snorted at her snide. He appeared to be pleased as evidenced by the curve of his lips but at the same time his gruntle sounded expectant and a bit disappointed. Why in the world would Shinichi be disappointed? Was it because he didn't win?

"C'mon, be a sport! Don't feel bad that you didn't win," Ran tittered, elbowing him gently on his arm.

Shinichi replied dryly. "Well excuse me, you didn't win either, even when you said you would. I could definitely see the regret on your face. After all, you went through the trouble of pressing your body against me and tiptoeing closer to my lips in dire attempt to steal the biscuit—"

"SHINICHI!" Ran stopped him midway by jabbing him on his arm, her cheeks now fuming red because of what Shinichi said and how he said it so nonchalantly. Shinichi chuckled the pain from his arm away.

"It's not like you didn't do anything either! You said this game was stupid and yet – and yet…" Ran couldn't continue because of her embarrassment upon remembering the feel of Shinichi's lips during the game, and after.

Shinichi had the reverse uno card, his arrogance returning as he teased Ran whose cute heated face remained red and at loss for words. He probed suggestively. "And yet, what?"

Ran's shyness had now prevailed over her. Not knowing what to say, she just grabbed her bag by the coffee table. "Anyway, I'm going home! You should probably decide now if you'd rather walk me home or just stay here and continue with your book. I don't want to distract you any longer." Ran said this without notice that Shinichi had already made his way to the fireplace to inspect something.

"That won't do, Ran."

The solemnity in his voice made her glance at his direction, and there she saw him standing by the fireplace, on his hand the opened strawberry Pocky box she had long forgotten about, with only one stick reduced.

"You know what? If it bothers you as much as it bothers me then maybe we can find out the real winner if we finish this whole box."

The longer Ran looked at him, the more she could see the very faint blush appearing on his cheeks.

Clearly, this detective was long out of his mystery otaku mode already.

With her immediately letting go of her satchel and walking towards his direction, Shinichi knew her answer.

"Actually there's one more box in my bag. Maybe if we end up in a draw again, we can finish that box too. It's matcha."

"Matcha sounds nice. But let's finish this strawberry box first. Come here and we'll start with round two," he said, before shoving one Pocky stick into his mouth.

"Round two. Game."

And so that night, Ran went home a little later than usual.

But on the bright side, at least her day was made.