He almost jumped.
Well, that was a generous way to phrase it - more like he’d been one level of nightmare-induced anxiety away from leaping over the balcony in fright, but Shinichi (no, Conan) had cooled off enough to only give a marginal twitch at the sound of his fake name.
What on earth was Ran doing up at this hour? He’d heard her go to bed hours before - just because he looked like a seven year old didn’t mean Conan slept like one - which meant something had woken her up. Was it just a coincidence?
He hoped he hadn’t screamed. He didn’t think he had, but the house would have to be bulldozed to wake the Old Man up after he’d drunk his usual nightly six-pack, so that wasn’t exactly a basis for deduction…
Either way, he didn’t look at her, just hunched his shoulders a little more where he was sat to gaze through the slats of the balcony bars. Immediately turning his gaze to Ran was a hard impulse to fight, but if he did, she’d see… well, he’d done his best to dry his face already, but she was sharper than she got credit for. Ran would see everything.
“I just… thought the stars looked nice.”
“Oh—I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you...”
Ran had noticed him flinch, though she supposed that was better than accidentally slipping. She kept her voice low; neither of them had made any loud noises, and it would probably take an earthquake to wake her father, but she didn’t want to disturb the neighbors. Walking out to the balcony itself, Ran slid the door almost all the way shut behind her, so only a slight crack remained.
Resting her elbows on the balcony’s railing, she gazed up into the sky, a slight breeze catching the tail end of her robe. After a moment’s silence, she turned back to look at Conan. The moon was mostly hidden behind passing clouds, and he wasn’t facing her, but she could still see him in the light—it was slightly hard to tell, but his eyes looked red, like he’d been crying. There weren’t any tears on his cheeks, but she could tell something was wrong.
“...You’re right. The stars are beautiful tonight.” Ran looked back up into the sky, staring at the moon. Already, she could feel a wave of calm sweep over her, but now that she knew Conan was awake at this hour as well, her earlier restlessness had been replaced by concern for him.
“...” She didn’t want to push it, but Ran could tell something was bothering him, and leaving it alone didn’t feel right. “Did you have a nightmare...? You can tell me about it, if you want.”
