The Test Subject : A Detective Conan Fanfiction

82 First Night Indoors

Ellie's POV

The park is filled with the hum of crickets and a few blinking fireflies here and there. It gives of a very peaceful vibe.

Luna and Zi zi are asleep inside. I don't dare to wake them up.

Instead, I climb to one of the tallest branches and have a small chat with the man in the moon.

It's funny, despite wanting to collapse from exhaustion, I'm hardly tired enough to actually fall asleep. Infact, I'm wide awake. My mind can't clear itself for even one second.

This is totally going to kill me tomorrow.

I pull a leaf off the tree and tear it into the smallest pieces possible, then throw them in the air like confetti. Each part flutters through the air, gracefully floating to the ground below. I stare at the spot where they all landed for a while.

What am I doing with myself??

I lean back until I fall backwards into the hammock below. I brush a few of the leaf bits out of my bed, and watch those join the others in the grass. They blend into the greenness, now lost from view.

A soft yet cold breeze blows, so I wrap myself in the blankets and pillows.

Still can't sleep.

I roll over.

Maybe if I go for a jog or something, I'll be tired enough to sleep. Worth a shot, right? Besides, at the rate I'm going, it'll be sun rise before I drift off.

I tear my way out of the fluffy prison and zip up my jacket, now walking around the park's trail.

Now that I think of it, the nights have been getting colder lately... Autumn should be coming.

My first winter in Detective Conan... that should be interesting.

Due to the lack of school, I'd forgotten summer had ended. I know that I shrunk during the winter-spring transition, and who knows how long I'd been here before that.

Speaking of school, I wonder when I'll finally get back to tutoring with Ran. Probably when I get over my stupid "don't want to talk with Conan" Phase. I'll need to face him eventually.

I stop jogging and lie down across one of the many public benches scattered around. I'm out of breath, but still not sleepy-tired... if that even makes sense.

Frustrated, I cover my face with my arm and try to get comfortable.

"...Ellie? Is that you?"

"Ugh, not now please. I'm trying to sleep."

"Well it's not very fitting for a young lady like yourself to sleep outside."

"And you care because?" Wait a second - who am I even talking to? I recognise the voice, yet can't match a face... Slowly, I sit up and scan the park. The person is behind me.

Susan.

I inwardly moan. Just what I needed right now.

"Oh, hi. What're you doing here?"

"Just walking home. It was a late night at the police station. Can I ask you the same?"

"I li-" I stop myself. What was I thinking just now?! If I tell her I live here, she'll surely come back to pick me up and put me in the orphanage!! "I like to look at the stars before I go to bed each night. It helps me think." Well it's true...

"That's nice. Mind if I join you?"

Leave and never come back. "Not at all, have a seat." I slide over to make some room.

She smiles at me, sitting down. "Thank you."

We sit there for a while, just looking at the sky.

Man I feel uncomfortable. When is she leaving??

"Ellie, I know you're worried about going to an orphanage, but I promise it's for the best."

Not any time soon, I bet. "Maybe it is, but I just... don't want to."

"I understand that feeling."

"Yeah, right."

She frowns a bit at my disrespectfulness, but continues trying anyways. "No really, I do. I felt the same way when I first joined."

Wait, what??

Susan must have felt my confusion, so she continued. "We have more in common than you might think. When I was a little older then you, my parents died in a car crash. What do you think the government did?"

"...sent you to an orphanage?"

"Exactly. I didn't want to at first, so I ran away like you did. But after some time they found me and that was that. I don't want to drag you there by force like I had, so I was hoping that maybe... I don't know, you'd be ok with it? Guess not. It's scary, I know, but there's people there who can help you. The food's good, the have beds, kids are nice and willing to be friends."

"Wow. I'd never thought of that. But... I still don't want to. What if I get adopted? Then what?"

"Well, then you'd have a family to support your throughout life. And we'll make sure it's a nice one, one you can be proud to be apart of. Wouldn't that be nice?"

"No! It's not that simple! I already have - " I stop and take a deep breath. "Sorry, I didn't mean to raise my voice. It's just... complicated. In a way you wouldn't understand."

"I'm sure I would, if you just told me."

"No. You wouldn't."

Susan sighed. "If you don't want to share, that's fine to. But... I'm here to listen if you need it." She stood up and extended her hand to help me do the same. "In the meantime, care to tell me where you're staying tonight? Because the weatherman said it would get cold tonight, and I don't want you to suffer outside tonight."

"B-but..."

She flashed her brightest smile. "Come on, just one night? You can even stay at my house, I won't drop you off at the orphanage. Yet."

"...ok." My hand's a bit shaky, but I grab her's anyways. For some reason, I feel like... like I can trust Susan. "But only tonight." I blurt out immediately after getting to my feet, slightly pulling away. "Unless it snows. Does it snow in Japan?"

She blinked at me, confused for a split second. "Yes, sometimes. Are you coming or not?"

We left the park, hand in hand, shortly after.