Here's chapter seven! Hope I haven't kept you waiting too long. This chapter's in honor of the Daily Show with John Stewart the other day, when John Stewart eviscerated Jim Cramer, who's become the avatar of sorts for all the failure to report the financial condition. Seriously, the guy should win a Peabody for that episode! Now if only that had been Dick Cheney (yeah, I know I probably spelled his name wrong. In my opinion, the guy doesn't deserve the respect of having his name spelled right anyway. And you all know who I mean!) or one of the CEOs of the companies majorly responsible for the economic crisis. Someone who really deserves it. If only.

Heh, I like the word eviscerate. It's so graphic. "To carve a person's guts out". Really, you gotta love that word.

Also, you should know that I am now adding a translation section at the bottom, because I really like using Japanese in my fics, and not everyone understands it. So if you don't understand a term, just look at the bottom.

While we're on that subject, I would like to ask you to all IGNORE the incomplete sentences, lack of grammar, repetition, and lack of commas and other punctuation when you get to the really long italics section (you'll see what I mean). The character thinking is to upset to even think coherently. It's part of the story and my way of expressing it. This story has angst as a genre for a reason, though I wish I'd been able to add romance to the list, since that applies to. In case you haven't realized by now, there are definitely pairings.

By the way, those who leave reviews will be thanked and given cyber cookies, just as long as they keep silent about any opposition they have to my political opinions. Don't reign on my parade just because I dislike the Bush administration. But remember, review and get cyber cookies!

This is getting long, but this chapter is donated to Forgotten Lake, who's an awesome authoress with her own DCMK story, as well as a background AU for Detective Conan, and gave me the suggestion for the phone call. Thanks FL!

Disclaimer: Refer to previous chapters. If you don't realize by now that I don't own Detective Conan or Magic Kaito, you're an idiot.

Enjoy.

"Ran-neechan, are you sure you're okay?" Shinichi asked as they stepped into the Detective Agency. He'd been wanting to ask for awhile now, even though she'd say it was fine, and he knew she'd say that. That was just the type of person Ran was, but he had to check anyway.

She was hurting. Badly. Shinichi wanted to help, wanted to make her feel better. He also wanted to know that he hadn't done this to her. Fear of finding that out, of who he knew might've done this, was tearing him up inside.

Him.

The thought that he'd caused his best friend, the girl he loved, this much pain, was awful. Yeah, he knew she was hurt because he couldn't tell her the truth, but that was for her own safety. Those secrets hurt him too, probably just as much. And this was so much worse than ever before.

"No, I'm fine. Don't worry Conan-kun." Of course Ran had said that. It didn't reassure Shinichi at all.

"If you're sure Neechan," Hattori remarked as he walked in, making himself comfortable lounging on one of the couches.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Ran said, but she didn't mean it. You didn't have to be a meitantei to know that much. The despair in her voice was obvious, and she looked as if all she wanted was to isolate herself, to curl up and cry in a dark corner somewhere. "Please come in. Go ahead and sit down."

The boys and Kazuha-chan ended up doing so, but just as Ran was about to sit down, her cell phone rang.

Excusing herself, Ran said, "Oh, gomen. Don't mind me, just start talking." She picked up on her way out of the room, but she spoke before she reached the door. And the first thing out of her mouth, to the shock of everyone, was "Shinichi?!"

"What?" Hakuba asked, clearly confused. He wasn't the only one. Shinichi himself had absolutely no clue what was going on. After all, how could he be on the phone when he was in the same room as her, and clearly not anywhere near any sort of phone.

Except for the two cell phones in his pocket, but those didn't count. They weren't even on at the moment.

"Shinichi, why're you calling again so soon?" Was it just him, or was everyone glancing at him weirdly. And Kaito and Hattori weren't even bothering to be subtle about it, damn it! If they kept staring at him like that, Ran was going to notice something was up.

"No, there's nothing wrong with it. You just don't usually call twice in the same day," Ran said firmly, sounding indignant and dismissive. I probably should call her more often. . .Shinichi thought, and then the full implications of the conversation hit him like a ton of bricks.

Who's calling Ran?! Who the hell is pretending to be me and calling Ran!? I didn't ask anyone to help me this time, what's going on?!Shinichi hadn't asked anyone at all to call Ran as him recently, and that was the only time anyone had ever done so before. This was one more mystery he wished hadn't occurred. Murders were never good, but in a way, this was almost worse. Someone was calling Ran and pretending to be him.

Apparently, someone doesn't have such restraints as what is inconvenient to me, or hurtful to Ran. And this is gonna make things worse for Ran. Even though he had absolutely no clue who was already on the phone, Shinichi knew he hated them.

"Yes, things are fine. Now if you don't mind, I have company over."

Whatever the reply was, it must have been rather irritating and somewhat out of character for him, because Ran's lips thinned as she became visibly annoyed. If her last response had been tight and dismissive, this was ten times as bad. At least. "Shinichi, I have some friends over. So shut up and get off the phone damn it!"

Ran hung up, not even giving the imposter a chance to reply. Shinichi's only thought was that he hoped the emphasis she'd put on the word "friends", and all implications that he wasn't one, were simply due to the circumstances, and not because she hated him.

"Persistent jerk," muttered Kazuha-chan. Or at least that was what Shinichi thought it sounded like.

Did Ran and Kazuha-chan really think of him like that? Except that she'd have no reason to call him persistent. He hadn't called at all lately, with the exception of the time at the restaurant earlier. But Kazuha-chan sounded too annoyed for it to have been just once before. Which meant that this wasn't the first time whoever-it-was had called either. Shinichi was enraged at the thought.

Okay, who would do something like this? Wait, scratch that, who could do something like this? It's not exactly easy to pull off a perfect imitation of someone's voice like that. Especially considering that he wasn't on TV so much as in the newspapers, and TVs didn't have sound. They'd have to know my voice, and they'd have to have the technology to follow through.

The first person that came to Shinichi's mind was Kuroba, but the magician looked just as startled and confused as he felt. Not to mention that he didn't have any sort of mike to talk into or anything, so that ruled him out.

There was always his mom, but Shinichi was hoping she wouldn't sink that low. Not that she hadn't done similar things before. . . and his okaasan definitely knew how to dress up as him and imitate him, as Hattori could testify.

Which she should. After all, she was his mom. What kind of mom didn't know that stuff about their kids?

The list was getting short, because since Shinichi doubted Haibara or Agasa-hakase would pull something like that, which left the absolute worst person that could ever be involved.

Well, maybe not the worst person. The absolute worst person would be Gin, and if that happened. . . Shinichi didn't know what he'd do. Possibly confess to Ran and have her and her dad go into the Witness Protection Program with the help of Jodie-sensei, but Shinichi didn't want to think about that possibility.

It wasn't Gin on the phone, and Shinichi knew that. But the only person left on his list was almost as bad, and the only reason she wasn't even worse was that she didn't hurt Ran. Ever. Otherwise all of them would currently be very dead.

The last person on Shinichi's list was Vermouth. That was the absolute worst-case scenario, especially since she was the only person on his list who'd ever done something that bad. Well, something reallybad, Kuroba was technically an international criminal as well. But his first rule was "No one gets hurt". She'd murdered and impersonated people, led the FBI on a wild chase after identities that didn't even exist, and, he'd heard, hadn't aged at all in the past twenty-three years.

The only redeeming quality the actress had was that she hadn't hurt him or Ran, and she wasn't going to hurt anyone either of them would die to protect. Like Ran had for Haibara. He had gotten the explanation out of Haibara eventually, after all, it had made no sense that she was still alive.

Or at least, it seemed that she wasn't going to hurt them.

If he was right about that, then she might be a semi-respectable person if she weren't in the Organization. People like Gin would've just shot them if they'd saved his life, but Vermouth knew what she owed, it would seem.

A life for a life. They'd saved her even when she'd drawn a gun on them, and she wouldn't kill the now. A protection for a protection, a save for a save.

Well, that was Shinichi's guess. Really, that woman was far too bizarre for anyone to really have a legitimate grasp of what went on in her head.

Shinichi hoped he was right though. If he was wrong, they would all die very soon.

The problem was, however, that despite all that thinking. . . Shinichi still had absolutely no idea who had called as him. And that little problem was making him very angry.

"I swear, if that goddamn impersonator calls again, I'm going to have the police trace the call so I can go beat him up!" Ran shouted all of a sudden, leaving Shinichi flabbergasted.

What. The. Hell. How in the world did Ran know that it wasn't really him on the phone?

A quick glance around confirmed that none of the others had caught something he'd missed. No Shinichi just had to figure out if that was good or bad.

"I'll help you too," Kazuha-chan said, determination ringing in her tone.

Shinichi was a detective. Detectives, as a rule, liked knowing how things worked. They liked reasonable, logical explanations.

So, inevitably, Shinichi wanted to know exactly what the heck was going on.

--------------

That damn impersonator can just go to hell! How darehe impersonate Shinichi,the girl thought. Then again, she wasn't exactly happy with Shinichi either, as the. . . incident at the restaurant could testify.

She knew she'd seen Conan-kun duck outside.

Stupid fake—Hate him—or her—hate them both—hate all those idiots—

Damn secretive idiots—Didn't they ever think?

Ever guess? Ever know?

They're smart—Know they are—I know—know they are—stupid idiots—not fair

Meanies—why? Why didn't they do something?

What's wrong? Why not?—Was it—not me—surely not me—right?

Couldn't be my fault—but maybe it was—why? Why all them?—Why?—them, not me. Why?

Trust—he doesn't—why not—what's wrong? Was it me? What? Why?

Not—not what? Worthy? Competent? Smart?

Just not—I know it—it's not even anything—it's just not!

Not enough—not trustworthy. Why? Why not?

Not—I'm not—I'm just not.

That's all—seen—why?

Why—not fair—they can't see—see what?

But it's not—it's not what they see. It's what—what not—don't see—see it—don't— they don't see.

Why? Why—why don't they. . .?

Why don't they see—see me? Why not?

See me as—as what? Trustworthy? Friendly? Loyal? Secretive? Competent? Smart? Good at lying?

I am—I am—I want to be—if nothing else—try

Won't let me—not even a chance—never got a chance—could never try

Why? Why wouldn't they—Why wouldn't he?

Why wouldn't he let me try?

I want to—really really—want to—more than anything

Want to be trusted, want to be helpful

Want to try

What am I to him, that he'd do this? He doesn't even trust me. Or else he thinks I'm some doll that needs to be protected.

From what though? Protected—why? From what?

Secrets—maybe—promises—empty ones—the world—hurt?

He doesn't trust me at all.

He doesn't even seem to care sometimes.

He doesn't love me. Not the way I love him.

I don't think he ever will. And it hurts. It hurts so much.

To know that he's hurting—that he hates me—that he's small—suffering—and won't even let me in. Won't even let me help.

Why? Why Shinichi? Why did you do this?

It's almost as bad—hurts almost as much—as—as—then.

As that time—that time—all those times—when you nearly—nearly—nearly DIED!

Why Shinichi? Don't—no—not now—no—don't Shinichi—please don't—Conan-kun—not you either—no—neither of you—don't—don't leave—don't hurt more—hurt others—hurt me—don't risk it—please—onegai—onegai don't—just please, please—don't—you can't—just no—you can't—you can't—it'll hurt—it did hurt—wet—tears—cry—tired—white—no—please no—it hurt—Shinichi, it HURTS!

Shinichi—Conan-kun—whoever—both—both of you—you can't just can't you can't no matter what you can't—please—you can't—onegai, onegai, don't die! Friend—Brother—Boyfriend—neither—neither of you—none of you—you can't—you won't—please tell me you won't—please—you can't—neither of you—none of you four—you five—not one of you—can—don't—don't die! Please don't die!

It hurts—it hurts—so bad—the pain—a hole—it's like—like a hole—a big gaping hole—you can't—we worry.

Worry tears anxiety wet hurt wet fabric, you can't, it hurt! Why? Why are you doing this Why are you making me hurt?

Like a hole, an abyss, fear, scared—scared for you, both of you—all of you!

Sad, so sad, it hurts so much—why?

Why do you let it hurt? Why Shinichi, why Conan-kun? Why don't you trust me? Why did you almost die? Over and over again? Why do you almost die?

Please don't die—it's scary when you—when you—when you—almost die! Don't die! It hurts, just thinking about it, it hurts. I'm crying, aren't I? Am I? I can't tell? I don't feel alive, I can't tell. It hurts too much to tell.

Shinichi! Conan-kun! It HURTS! Shinichi! Conan-kun! DON'T DIE! Please! Onegai! Onegai! Please don't!

Don't either of you DARE DIE! DON'T DIE!

Ran found she had collapsed again as she came back into the world. Her face was drenched and she was curled up on the sofa. She was shivering and crying. The others around her looked concerned, and Ran knew why.

The reason she had come to, rather than staying as a trembling, miserable, sobbing mass, dead to the world and completely oblivious, had probably caused that.

Much like when someone is woken from a nightmare by the sound of their own scream, Ran had yelled at least the last two lines aloud.

Or at least, she thought she had. Ran hadn't even been aware enough to remember that she had a body at the time, much less now remember how much she'd said aloud.

Some of it had possibly been muttered too, in a voice shaky from trembling and hyperventilation that still hadn't gone away.

But Ran knew that she'd definitely screamed those last two lines at least. If only because her mouth was still slightly open, and her vocal cords slightly sore from screaming them. Her body remembered, even if her mind didn't.

"Oh Ran-chan, you're awake! Thank goodness!" said a very relieved Kazuha-chan, coming up to wrap her in a sisterly embrace.

Ran was thankful for Kazuha-chan, oh so thankful. She'd been venting to Kazuha-chan, sharing her secrets, her worries, things others would've deemed her insane for.

Ran knew that if it weren't for Kazuha-chan, she probably would've lost her sanity months ago.

She might even still be fooled by Shinichi's attempts to trick her into believing that he wasn'tConan-kun.

Which was stupid really. Ran was ashamed she'd ever fallen for it. Then again, who could really blame her? Even if her claims hadn't contradicted the laws of physics, why would her best friend have lied to her and hidden from and hurt her like that?

Ran still didn't know. She wanted to find out though. Or at least, she thought she did. Whoever said that "The truth hurts" wasn't kidding.

Knowing your best friend who you loved was lying to you, that he knew you were hurting inside and did little to alleviate it, wasn't something that made anyone happy.

Ran had been sad about it for a long time. She didn't think anyone had really noticed up until the heist two days ago. Or yesterday morning, actually, when the full implications of what she'd heard had sunk in.

He'd nearly been shot. He'd nearly died again. And so had the others with him, Kaitou Kid and Hakuba-kun. Then thought made her want to sink into the. . . what would one call that oblivious state she'd been in before? Whatever it was, for all it had hurt more, it had been a lot less painful. She hadn't had to deal with the world.

Up until now, most of the boys had been looking at her with relieved shock. Conan-kun just stared dumbstruck, and so Ran decided she'd start the conversation before he could find some way to try and fool her, to try and hurt her even more.

Turning to him, Ran used one of her still-trembling hands to wipe her face a little, not that it helped much. As if her face wasn't wet enough, tears were still leaking out of her eyes.

With a peaceful, melancholy expression on her face, Ran turned to Conan-kun and used her other hand to lift up his chin gently so that he looked directly into her eyes. "Shinichi, don't you ever do that again. Don't ever almost get yourself killed again, like you did the other night. Do you hear me Shinichi?"

Ran was relieved in an odd way. She didn't have to fight anymore, didn't have to keep it a secret that she knew the truth.

Shinichi, apparently, was not, because he looked shocked and bewildered as he stuttered "Ran. . . what?"

"I know you Shinichi. I know it's you. I know you've been pretending to be Conan-kun for almost a year now, and I'm pretty darn sure that everyone in this room knows it. I know you. I've known you for years."

"But. . . how did you know? I thought I hid the truth. . ." Conan-kun, no Shinichi said, making her want to laugh in hysterics. Ran felt like she was teetering on a knifepoint, and if she fell, she'd be insane.

It was hard. So unimaginably hard, to have a best friend lying to you, trapped in the body of a child, and realize you bought his lies for months and months. Admittedly, they were very good tricks, very good lies. Tricks and lies worthy of Shinichi, the Detective of the East. She just knew him too well, and the notion, the belief that he really was Shinichi had always come back.

And then, about a month ago, with Kazuha-chan's help, she'd proven it to herself, once and for all.

That pain had been one of the worst, finding out he'd lied to her like that. To hide her misery from him and her father, Ran had slept over at Kazuha-chan's, not coming home for three days. But when he called later, she couldn't bring herself to be mad. Maybe it was because that somehow, though he sounded happy, Ran thought that he felt sad. Maybe she just loved him, both as a best friend and a lover, too much.

Either way, it didn't make much of a difference. That was just the way things had worked out. She'd accepted it without being too mad. And he didn't know. As long as he didn't know she even suspected, things wouldn't get too much worse. That was good in Ran's opinion.

Looking over her shoulder, Ran said to Kazuha-chan, "Can you go get the list? I hid it on top of my calculus notes, inside the book."

A moment later, Kazuha-chan came back, holding three sheets of notebook paper. She gave it to Ran, who handed it to Shinichi.

"Fifty-seven reasons. Fifty-seven reasons I suspected you were Shinichi. Kazuha-chan thought I should write them down. I'm glad I did. I was driving myself insane."

Hattori muttered something along the lines of, "Wow, that was thorough." They ignored him. Kuroba-kun and Hakuba-kun kept quiet, presumably realizing how important this moment was to her and Shinichi.

Shinichi looked ashamed and astounded. But that wasn't all. He also looked happy, relieved, proud, and slightly sad.

"I thought I kept you safe. As long as you didn't know, they wouldn't hurt you. You'd be safe. . ." Shinichi said quietly, but Ran barely acknowledged it. Instead, she stepped over and swept him into a big, loving hug.

"Well I know. So please don't hide. I love you Shinichi, okay? I love you, and I want to help you. And I'm sorry you think you can't trust me, or that I'm not good enough, or that I'm a fragile little doll, or I can't help, but please, please, just let me try. I want to try, I want to try really hard. I'm not useless or whatever, I can help. So please give me a chance. Please." The tears came flowing fresh and faster at the admittance of her fears, her sorrows. Things she never wanted to think, but couldn't help being afraid were true.

"What?" Shinichi was shocked. Did that mean that maybe she was wrong? That it wasn't for those reasons, that he did care a lot, that maybe he even loved her back. Should Ran jump to that conclusion? Should she dare to think that? "Don't think that. How could you ever think that?" He was mad now. Whether at himself, or what, Ran didn't know.

"Don't think that. I was trying to protect you. Theydon't leave loose ends, and I didn't want you hurt. I wouldn't be able to stand it if they hurt you or if they killed you." Shinichi was almost crying now. The only thing that was holding him back was the others in the room. Ran had learned to read her best friend over the years. Really well.

"I'm sorry Ran."

Ran glanced down at the top of his head, embracing him tighter. She then stood up, walked into her room, and closed the door behind her so they could have some privacy.

"I forgive you Shinichi. Just tell me everything. Please don't hide the truth anymore. I'm tough enough to bear it, but just don't lie anymore. Please."

And so he did. Shinichi told her everything—Ran knew that. He told her more than he'd ever told the others, more than he'd told Haibara or Hattori, or even Agasa-hakase. Everything. By the time he was done, over an hour had passed. The noise of idle chatter and bickering had been coming in on and off from the other room.

"I love you to Ran," Shinichi said. He looked decidedly sad. Then Ran saw the flash of intuition in his eyes, like when he'd just figured out a mystery. When he knew something no one else did, and he'd figured it out, and the pieces had just clicked into place. He'd thought of something, and Ran was curious and eager to find out what. She'd been about to ask a few questions, like how he'd appeared at her play, or what had happened with the case where he'd been impersonated when he'd gotten the idea. And then Shinichi acted on his idea, speaking up as he jumped off the bed.

"Get ready to go out, okay? I'll meet you outside in twenty minutes, I promise. I'll be right back, I just gotta go do something," Shinichi said before he darted out of the room and across the house, grabbing his skateboard on the way out.

He'd told her about the gadgets too, and Ran wasn't exactly sure she was grateful for what he'd done with her dad, establishing him as the Sleeping Detective. But the crimes had needed to be solved, and what was done was done. Besides, he'd let tousan stay awake the times it had been personal, the times he'd really needed to solve it himself. And others beside that.

Ran decided she'd think about it later, after she was ready. For now, she was just trying to decide what Shinichi would be doing and where he was going to take her.

----------------

"Yes Kudo-kun? Do you want something?" Haibara asked from her chair, not looking up from her work, not even slowing in her typing.

"Um, yeah. You remember how you were talking about that new prototype temporary cure a few days ago, and how it would last a whole twelve hours even though it was incomplete because I haven't ever used it before? And since you said that once the other elements were added, all immunity would be irrelevant, it wouldn't matter if I used it right now. So, can I have one?

Haibara turned to stare at him flatly as she said, "No. Absolutely not."

"Come on Haibara, it's important!"

An eyebrow raised. "Oh, and why's that?"

Shinichi realized he'd just backed himself into a proverbial corner. He hadn't really wanted to explain this to Haibara, not yet, not after the stunt she'd pulled in the hospital. And the other times. She didn't think Ran should know, and in the Shinichi's opinion, telling the chemist why he needed one wasn't the best way to get what he wanted.

"Well, eto, there's something I really need to do. And it's private."

"Why should I give it to you? Besides, what if something went wrong? The formula isn't complete yet, though I think it'll work as is. But you're even more likely to die."

"It'll give you a chance to observe the transformation," Shinichi said, dangling the carrot in front of her. Shinichi knew she needed to observe the transformation at some point, and doing it now would be perfect.

"Give me one good reason why I should." Haibara wasn't going to change her mind anytime soon. This was his only chance to convince her, and Shinichi knew that he had to have a good reason. A really good one.

So he played his last resort, and went with a carefully constructed half-truth. He knew it probably wouldn't work, but he'd had to try. "It's for Ran. She's been really depressed lately, and I want to help her. Talking to someone on the phone isn't the same as being there in person. Not to mention some other stuff that I have to do. Please Haibara."

Haibara paused for a minutes, thinking before she finally replied, "Fine. You can have one, but only if I get to observe the transformation." The chemist turned around and reached over across the worktable to a set of vials near the back. Picking one and popping off the lid, she handed him a single red and white pill. An antidote. His ticket to being a teenager again, however briefly. The temporary cure.

Shinichi was surprised she'd given in so quickly and easily, but tried to avoid making that obvious. Instead, he eagerly grabbed the pill and accepted the glass of water Haibara had handed him, swallowing the pill and then gulping down the whole glass to wash it down.

The effect was immediate, just like Haibara had warned when she told him about the development of this new drug. He felt tired and slightly nauseous, but most of all, he felt hot. He was burning up, as if he had a fever.

Haibara took this opportunity to use one of those ear thermometers to take his temperature. Shinichi barely noticed her recording it, his head feeling as if it was on fire. Shinichi thought his temperature was probably over an hundred five, but he was too hot to be coherent.

Then came the pain.

Like he was on fire, all his insides burning and melting down. His cells getting ready to expand, becoming more flexible, lighting all the nearby nerves on fire.

He began growing, and could practically feel every cell in his body that was produced, or being expanded grating against nerves that hadn't had a chance to grow out of the way, as they would do by the end. Shinichi screamed. It was excruciating. As if he was being eviscerated all over his body.

Pain, like it would never end, though he knew it would. His bones getting bigger, everything was getting bigger, and it was hot, so hot, and it hurt. It hurt because it was hot, and it hurt because his bones and muscles and veins and arteries and everything else were growing up against his nerves, pushing them out of the way. His nerves were growing as well, which was also agonizing. His nerves always grew slowest, and that made it hurt even worse.

Shinichi's scream got louder for the climax of the pain, and then it began to fade. The pain went away as his nerves grew into place, the last part of his body to make the transformation back to a teen. The pain dimmed to being tolerable, and then faded entirely.

Shinichi looked up to see Haibara standing over him, calmly assessing his situation as if he were a lab rat. Shinichi glared, but didn't waste his time on her. He wanted to get to Ran.

It was a shame that his skateboard couldn't carry him when he was a teenager. Now he'd have to run to make it back.

-----------------

As Ai sat in her lab, part of her had to wonder why she'd done that. Why she'd caved in and given Kudo-kun the cure so easily.

It was a stupid question. The chemist already knew the answer.

It was true that she had a crush on Kudo-kun, and it was true that he loved Ran. Ai knew that, and she accepted it. She wasn't even bitter, if only because she understood perfectly.

She was just someone who'd come in later, while they'd had years of history between them. She was the one who'd destroyed his life, trapping him in the body of a child.

If one thought about it, it was also thanks to her that he was still alive. If she hadn't changed the drug's data, Gin might've pulled out a different poison entirely. One that would've done what it was supposed to, and killed him.

But no one ever thought about it like that. Most of the time that included Ai herself.

Yes, she liked Kudo-kun. A lot. That wasn't the main reason she'd given him the temporary cure however, though it was part of it.

The reason for that was very different. She owed Mouri Ran.

Ai owed the girl who'd saved her life from Vermouth, shielding her with her own body. Knowing she'd die, that it might not even work, Mouri-chan jumped on top of her anyway.

It was because of that that Ai was still alive. She didn't know exactly what'd happened, but from what she'd managed to squeeze out of Kudo-kun, the Black Operative had a guilt/debt complex towards those she owed her life.

Mouri-chan and Kudo-kun had done something to save Vermouth. From the sound of it, even as she'd been about to kill them.

Ai didn't know the details, but they didn't matter. Mouri-can had protected her, and now she was safe—for a little while, from Vermouth at least.

Even though the whole reason Ai had gone there in the first place was to die, and save the others in the process, she was still thankful. She couldn't help it really. Somewhere in the back of their mind, if not more than that, all humans feared death. For all she'd done, Haibara Ai, previously Miyano Shiho, was still a human being.

There was more to it though. Despite the fact that she didn't know her very well, Mouri-chan still cared about the false-child she'd become.

That caring was a type of love that Ai felt she didn't deserve. She was a murderer and one who'd created fatal poisons, knowing full well what use they'd be put to. Even reformed, it was something she didn't deserve.

But Mouri-chan gave it anyway, It was the kind of love that a sister might show her imouto-chan. The kind of love that she'd previously only felt on those rare, short visits with her sister that had been permitted.

AI missed her sister. She missed Akemi-oneesan a lot. However, if there was one thing her life had taught her, it was that sometimes you had to just accept what had happen, and mourn while still walking forward. Then, eventually, you had to move on.

It was so nice though, to have that feeling back.

Ai loved Ran like an older sister, just as she had loved Akemi.

Ai thought that Akemi-oneesan would be happy to know that she wasn't dwelling on her death. That she was free, and while she missed her, the younger sister was getting on with her life.

She thought Akemi-oneesan would be happy that she'd found people who loved her and cared for her. A grandfather figure. A surrogate older sister.

While it the thought struck Ai sometimes, she knew it wasn't true. She wasn't in any way replacing Akemi-oneesan, and she craved that love, that caring that siblings had for each other.

Ai thought her oneesan would be happy for her, and had, over time, come to think of Ran as another oneesan. They both loved her as a sister, and she loved them back.

For you, Akemi-oneechan. For you, Ran-oneechan. Arigato, kimi-tatchi.

---------------

When Shinichi left, Ran had almost thought that he wouldn't come back again, even though he'd said he would. He'd left without a word so many times before, both as Conan and as Shinichi. Sometimes she got an "I'll be right back", but that was it. He wasn't always right back.

But Ran decided to believe in him anyways, so she waited. Not believing Shinichi would keep his word would be an insult if he did. Besides, it hurt not to allow herself to trust him. Even if he didn't come back. It hurt less this way.

Three minutes after Ran had come outside (she'd taken awhile to make herself presentable) a figure came jogging up to her.

What Ran saw shocked her.

Quickly jogging up to her was Shinichi. Not the seven year old Shinichi who'd left, but ShinichiShinichi. The teenage detective whose return she'd awaited for months. Her childhood friend, this time looking once more as if he'd been alive long enough to hold that title.

It was Shinichi as he really was. As he was supposed to be. It was also the last thing Ran had expected.

"Shi-Shinichi," Ran stuttered as he approached. "Is it really you? How did you get back to normal? I thought you said you were stuck."

Shinichi had the grace to look sheepish. "Well, remember that scientist I told you about, Haibara Ai? The one who created the Apotoxin and is trying to find a cure?" Ran nodded. "While she was searching for the cure, she came across a couple formulas for temporary antidotes. They're not permanent, but they work for twenty-four hours or so. At least at first, then I start to develop immunity to them. So that's what this is."

How badly Ran wanted to believe him, how much she thought she couldn't. But Ran didn't bother to ask him for proof. She didn't haveto. As much as the brunette felt as if she was growing further from Shinichi sometimes, his explanation had made her realize differently. She knew him again now, and nothing had changed.

They were best friends. They liked each other, but hadn't told each other. Shinichi loved cases, she loved karate. She could read him better than anyone else. He could read her better than anyone else.

No, nothing had changed.

And Ran saw in Shinichi's eyes that he was telling the truth.

The only thing that had changed was that the two of them had realized that they loved each other.

"Okay," Ran said, simply accepting it. She then proceeded to throw her arms around him in a giant hug. A giant welcome home, even if he'd really always been there. Even if they only had a day, it didn't matter. The truth was out, and now they were home.

After all, home was the people more than the place.

After a half a second of surprise, Shinichi returned the hug. Neither of them noticed their friends looking out from the window, reactions divided between commenting that it was about time, and surprise that Shinichi was able to do that.

Even if the two had noticed, they wouldn't have cared.

"Ran, do you want to go out with me?"

Ran looked up in surprise without breaking the hug. "Out as in on a date."

Shinichi sounded embarrassed to her, and though she couldn't see his face, Ran thought that he was probably blushing over her shoulder. "Um, yeah."

Ran smiled and replied, "I'd love to Shinichi."

Translations:

arigato kimi-tatchi - thanks you guys (I thought Japanese seemed appropriate for that sentence. *shrugs*)

oneesan/oneechan - older sister

imouto-chan - little sister

gomen - sorry

onegai - please

That's all the translations. . . so yeah.

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