Hi! Well, I'd like to say that I am a fanfic writer, but the truth is that I was, 10 years ago. But with the last developments in DC, my muse returned and demanded I wrote this short scene you're about to read, if you don't hate me already for rambling xD Also, bear in mind that I am not a native English speaker, so there may be some mistakes! And if you find some, please let me know so that I can correct them! That said, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did writing it! =D

Disclaimer: not mine. I wish, but DC and its fantastic characters are not mine.

Title: Unspoken

Characters: Shinichi and Ran

Summary: With the organization defeated and a Sherlock Holmes book in his hands, ordinary was slowly but surely coming back.

Genre: Hurt and comfort

It was a fairly good day. Not a cloud in the sky, birds chirping, sun shining bright… Not much to complain about, really, although he could make a list of items that he felt were due him. He wasn't going to claim them, or at least not anytime soon, because an argument like that could get him killed. He had messed up with Karma enough as it was. After several months of sorrow and regret, tears and lies, and the last few days full of suffering and tainted with blood, things were beginning to fall right back into place. He felt like he could take over the world, but somehow today he fancied a good book and his coffee black. He hadn't fully recovered yet, but ordinary was on its way. At the moment, home was safe. All was well.

Thus, our hero laid on the sofa, immersed, for the umpteenth time, in the frenetic chase that led to closure in The Sign of the Four. The silence in his house was deafening, but his ears perked up upon hearing the jingling of keys near the front door. He didn't need to see the face of the visitor to know who it was, since he would recognise the steps of that person even if he was drugged to the teeth. His heart picked up its pace at the prospect of seeing her, and a slight smile began tugging at his lips when said person knocked on the door of the library.

"Hi Ran!" he said, not even looking up from his book, trying to appear nonchalant even if he was actually a little nervous.

"Hi Shi…" her cheerful expression shifted to surprise and then, anger. "Shinichi!"

The smiled wiped off his face immediately.

"What?" he said in dismay, realising a second too late that maybe, just maybe he should have closed the book and looked at her which, actually, was the thing that he had actually wanted to do all along.

"What do you think you are doing?" she asked, pointing to the still open book.

"What do you mean, what am I doing?" He went on the defensive, not really sure of where this could lead.

"You're reading Sherlock Holmes!"

"So?"

Ran scoffed. She wasn't mad in the slightest, but she did think he deserved a little bit of the old bantering just to make up for the secrets that had been disclosed over the last few days.

"So? Don't you remember what we discussed last week about reading Sherlock Holmes?" she asked, sitting on the sofa while he sat upright.

"Hmmm... Of all the things that we should have talked about, are you really saying that we got to Sherlock Holmes before everything else?"

"Yes! Shinichi, you can't expect me to trust you again if you break the single most important promise you have made since I know..."

That was a complete, utter, blatant lie. He hadn't been able to speak properly at the hospital that day, and much less discuss anything about his favourite fictional character, but he didn't need to know that.

"Which was...?"

"That you wouldn't open a Sherlock Holmes book even if Gin returned from the dead and pointed a gun at you again!"

"Okay, you're lying, and that is hugely and grossly unfair. Sure, I was high from the anaesthesia, and I might have said some things I don't fully remember, but I am sure that was not one of them."

Ran quirked her eyebrow, and he knew he had lost the battle before it even started. He still pressed, trying to salvage what was left of his pride.

"Okay, maybe I did say that I wouldn't drown in my dad's library... much... But only after I recovered my original body and could go out like a normal person."

Ran still wasn't convinced, but she was determined not to give in. In a moment of weakness, she made the mistake of looking at him, and then, he looked her in the eyes, without the glasses, and it was painful for her to see how worn out he seemed. She was close to ending the charade when he finally sighed, defeated.

"I'm sorry. I was just passing the time, until Haibara finished up the antidote... I needed the distraction, and you weren't here".

The words were out of his mouth before his brain actually processed them, and he knew instantly that that little not-quite accusation had not been the best course of action given the circumstances.

"So this is my fault", she stated with her brows knitted, anger building. Seeing the kinda-puppy-dog's-eye-I-sorta-love-you-I'm-sorry look he was giving her, however, she failed miserably. "I wasn't even mad to start with, but I think that you should grovel a bit more before you get to read Sherlock Holmes. It is a privilege that you have to earn back".

The eyes and mouth in Conan's face opened wide in sudden understanding.

"I know what this is! You're getting revenge!"

Caught, Ran sighed, deflated.

"Ugh! Honestly! I'm just trying to distract you from cases and murders and robberies!" she said, feigning hurt. "Haven't you had enough of those already?"

He sighed again, giving in.

"Yeah... You're right. Now I only wish for the simple things. I want my life back, but not the superstar-detective life, I want the Shinichi-Kudo-simple-teenager life back. I want a working antidote, I want to sleep until 11 am just so that you can wake me up by ringing the bell, I want to go to school and get teased…"

"Are you getting a fever?" interrupted Ran, lifting her hand to touch his forehead.

"No! I'm serious, for once," he nearly yelled, annoyed that she was making fun of him while he was being honest. "I need Conan to disappear once and for all, and I'm closer than ever now." He hesitated for a moment, but finally took her hand while blushing bright red. "And I would like to hold your hand once in a while if that's alright, not only when it's cold."

"Wow, you are definitely getting a fever." Ran was also blushing, but her smile could light up the entire night sky.

"Please, Ran! I just want my life back!" he cried, covering his face with his free hand in frustration. "And since you weren't here, Sherlock Holmes provided a sense of normalcy, I guess."

"Well, now I am."

He smiled sincerely while looking at her, thankful for every little thing she did. Ran couldn't hold his gaze, overwhelmed, so she looked at all the shelves in the library and sighed. Their hands remained intertwined, and a comfortable silence ensued. Without any apparent reason, Ran held his hand a little tighter, and he noticed how his heart skipped a beat. Ran was at his side now, and it didn't matter so much that he still was living in the body of a 7-year-old.

She interrupted his train of thought.

"It is really weird, you know, to hear you and know it's you even though you're still Conan-kun. All the inflections, the intonation, the sarcasm is there, but you don't look or sound like you. In my mind I still see Conan-kun, and I'm still hurt, but I am so glad you stayed."

"I know. I'm really sorry I had to lie to you all this time. I will make it up to you, I promise".

"It's okay," Ran said, while she shook her head. "We'll get through this, together. Aren't you going to miss it, though?"

"What is there to miss? Being a child, needing your help all the time, or going on crazy adventures with the Detective Boys? Ha, no, definitely no," replied Conan, while laughing self-deprecatingly.

"I'm sure it had its perks, sometimes. School was easy, and everyone loved you."

"I didn't need everyone to love me," he stated, while a silent just you hang in the air, unspoken. Ran quirked an eyebrow once again, disbelievingly, because nothing could get past her. "Well, maybe it had some good moment, but it's not worth it. Starting today, I will work hard to get the best of both worlds."

He didn't elaborate, but she understood all the same. A smirk similar to the ones he used to pull began showing, hoping to break some of her barricades, and she gripped his hand a little tighter while giggling a little. He could be so Shinichi sometimes. Then, he chuckled remembering something.

"Why were you so worked up when you entered?" asked Conan.

"I wasn't!" He raised an eyebrow, questioning her. Nothing could get past him either. "Okay, you're not entirely off for all the lying. Yet." Ran confessed.

"I knew it was revenge!"

"Hush, it's not revenge. It's a very-well-deserved punishment."

"Whatever you want to call it…" He couldn't hold back his laughter now, and she soon followed. These were the little things he wanted back. Step by step, he was finding his way back to himself, to her, and, while waiting for the definitive antidote, he couldn't ask for anything else.

So, how was it? You hated it? I'd love to hear from you guys! Thank you very much for stopping by!

With love,
DCSR392.