"Hi, Shinichi-kun!" Hana said cheerily over the phone.

"Hana-chan!" Conan hissed. "I'm in public! You're worse than Hattori!" He was in a stall in the restroom, since he knew the spy refused to keep his cover unless she absolutely had to. But it was still annoying.

He could hear her laughing. "Aww, I already know where you are, meitantei. I was calling because I was supposed to go to this gala a friend of mine is hosting in the mountains, and I'm supposed to bring a date."

"And how am I supposed to help you?"

"Well, I talked to Haibara earlier"-that's never good- "and she told me she had a new antidote you could try. This one's supposed to last a week, and that'll give us enough time to head up there, go to the gala, and come home, with time to attend the festival that's going on there, too!"

"And I'm supposed to be your boyfriend?" Conan said. He didn't really know how to feel about this idea. True, Ran had given up on waiting for Shinichi about a month ago, but he didn't know if he was ready for something like this.

"Well, Hattori's too much of an idiot and Hakuba wouldn't be any fun, so of course you have to come! Besides, you've been so mopey lately. It'd be good for you to get out and enjoy yourself. And there's supposed to be a KID heist in the town we'll be in. I bet you'll totally catch KID if you have a couple extra feet on you!"

Conan knew how to get at what she really meant which was: "I'm worried about you, so I'm using a selfish cover to try and help you out." That was how the "freelance informant" Hana Sayuri worked with everyone. Behind the mask of a selfish, wealthy and popular teenage girl was a kind and caring young woman that was always trying to help out the people she cared about. Conan thought back to what happened a month ago.

"What's wrong, Ran?" Shinichi asked over the phone. "You haven't been acting yourself the entire time I've been talking to you."

"Shinichi, I- I'm done waiting for you."

"What?"

"I'm done waiting for you! I don't want to wait forever for you to come home! It's time I moved on," the teenage girl said. "I'm going to start seeing other people, and I'd suggest you do the same."

He'd felt so... numb, after that. He'd wandered the streets of Beika in the pouring rain for a couple hours until Hana finally found him near Ekoda. She'd been working with Conan on taking down the Organization for the past few months, and she knew what had happened to him since taking the APTX.

Conan hadn't brought an umbrella, so he was soaked to the bone. He was shivering, feverish, when Hana found him.

"Conan-kun!" Hana shouted, since they were in public. "Everyone's been so worried about you! What happened?"

He looked up at her, blankly, unresponsive. She sighed. "You're drenched, boya. Why don't I take you to my apartment and get you dried off?"

Hana literally carried him to her penthouse apartment, taking him out of his clothes and gently lowering him into her spa-like bath before joining him- in a swimsuit, since she didn't want to embarrass him. Since he didn't protest, she started to clean his body. "Now, what's wrong, Shinichi? What happened to make you run off?"

That's when it finally hit him. The thing he'd been running from, the thing he turned off his mind to avoid having to face. Ran didn't love him anymore. She was tired of waiting for him. Maybe, maybe she didn't even care about him anymore.

The exhaustion, the fear, the sadness, the rejection, it was all too much for him. He cried right there, Hana holding him until his sobs subsided, comforting him as well as she could. He fell asleep a few seconds later, waking up on a futon Hana had set out for him the next morning.

He sighed. This being Hana, she'd find a way to make him come, even if he didn't like it. "Fine," he sighed.

A week later Shinichi was sitting on Hakase's couch. "This antidote is much stronger than the others you've taken," Haibara warned. "It will leave you unconscious for much longer than usual."

"I move him to the car while he's out," Hana suggested. "So we save on time."

"No way!" Shinichi protested. "That would mean you'd have to dress me!"

She leaned in close, grinning. "So? I've done it while you were Conan. I don't see much of a difference, it's the same body, just bigger. Besides, we're sharing a hotel room so what does it matter?"

He groaned. "Fine."

He woke up in the passenger seat of Hana's convertible, the roof down and wind blowing around them. He was wearing a dark blue- almost black- hooded jacket over a white T-shirt with a very low neckline with grey pants and a large white belt that was essentially just used as a fashion statement. Everything clung tightly to his body, drawing attention to his slender figure that had become much more frail during his time as Conan. Glancing in the mirror, Shinichi noticed his face had gained a more delicate, fragile appearance. "What on earth?"

"Hmm?" Hana asked, not taking her eyes off the windy mountain road. "Is something wrong?"

"I don't look the same as I usually do."

"Ah, Haibara said that's because your time as Conan is finally starting to take a toll on your appearance as Shinichi. Conan needs less nourishment, so your regular body has started to weaken."

"Oh."

She sighed. "We're gonna be in town in a few minutes, you hungry? We can get something to eat before heading to check in at the hotel." Shinichi's stomach growled. Hana laughed. "Guess that's our answer."