The majority of this takes place in their childhood. I do not own Detective Conan/Case Closed or the characters used. Enjoy.

Shinichi was always getting into trouble. It had started when they were children and he had inevitably kicked a soccer ball through her window while trying to impress her with a new trick he'd learned. Ran had indeed been impressed. Unfortunately, her mother was not, and Shinichi got one of the many tongue-lashings of his life that day.

"Next time, I'll show you by the river. I won't break anything there," he'd whispered in her ear before he ran home, flashing her a wide grin as he went. Ran had smiled shyly back, and of course expected him to hold true to his promise. It was the simple, yet strong faith of a girl who was completely lovestruck, and had been given no reason to doubt that the promise would be kept.

And it was. A week went by before she saw Shinichi again, and she had been beginning to fear that he'd forgotten, or that he hadn't meant it as a promise at all. Then there was a knock on the door one morning, and there he was waiting on the doorstep, soccer ball in hand and a grin on his face.

"Ran, Ran! Let my show you how good I can dribble," he'd said excitedly. Her face lit up at the sight of him, and in the short time it took her to pull her shoes on, they were gone.

"All right, let's see it," said Ran, perching on a concrete block by the lazily-flowing river, resting her elbows on her knees as Shinichi set himself up.

"You'll definitely like it. I've been practicing," boasted Shinichi. Before Ran could respond, he'd started running, keeping the ball right near his feet while he ran. When he was a few yards away, he turned and came back, still keeping the ball close.

Ran watched with interest. Before when he tried to do that, he would always wind up kicking too hard and sending the ball shooting off without him. He really had improved.

"So that's called dribbling?" she called to him as he turned back around to show her again.

"Yep," he panted, "like in basketball, but soccer is much better." This bit was said quite smugly, and he flashed Ran a small smile. The girl giggled, genuinely amused. Shinichi was a total soccer freak, and she told him so.

"Yeah, well, I'm good at it. And it's fun," he said, slightly embarrassed by his friend's good-natured teasing.

"Yep! Shinichi's the best!" At Ran's proclamation, Shinichi turned bright red and rubbed his nose shyly.

"Wanna see how far I can kick?" he asked, winding up. He'd do anything to impress her, to have her praise him again. With all the strength he could muster, he slammed his foot into the ball, watching with satisfaction as it arced through the air and out of sight. The pleased smile was wiped right off his face as the sounds of breaking glass and screeching car alarms filled the air.

"Oh no, Shinichi! Not again!" Ran shrieked, pushing herself off the concrete block. Mom would get so angry that they'd broken something again.

Panicking, Shinichi grabbed Ran's hand and bolted. His head was so full of panic and excuses that he didn't notice the blush and small smile on Ran's face, or the shy way her fingers curled around his.

"Don't tell," he whispered to her when he dropped her off back at her house. "Dad'll ground me again for sure if he finds out."

Ran promised, and even pinky swore on it. Both smiled, their smallest fingers curled loosely around each other's as they made the vow. "I won't tell," Ran repeated, and meant it.

Shinichi grinned, and she waved to him as he ran off. She didn't tell him that she knew he'd get caught anyway. That was the trouble with having a brilliant mystery writer for a dad; nothing got past him. But for now, they had their promise. And that was good enough.

But now Shinichi was in trouble again. Ran knew it, even if Shinichi refused to tell her anything. It had all started that day at the amusement park, and she hadn't gotten to have a proper face-to-face meeting with him since then. Something was obviously very wrong, and she didn't know what it was. If Shinichi refused to talk to her about it, then there was nothing she could do. That's what she hated about boys who thought they could solve everything all on their own. What was the problem with asking for help? Or at least setting her fears at ease? But Shinichi was stubborn, so she'd just have to wait. Wait and pray that her Shinichi would come trotting back to her with that stupid grin on his face. Like always.