Deafening darkness in his tastelessly bleak room was something he had gotten used to over the years in the Mouri household. The nights were haunting him more and more with every passing day and his thoughts kept rehashing recent cases, failures and especially the hopelessness of his situation. Ran had left a single white orchid on his nightstand next to his Detective Boys badge. She had left telling him that it would brighten the room and maybe his ever so gloomy mood these days. Well, he had to admit that he had never really cared to make his room more appealing but there was a reason for this, he had never intended to let this situation carry on for this long. The darkness in this room was oozing out of him and in his gloom the ticking mechanical clock on his desk was growing more and more annoying.
He stared at the flower. The orchid. It was as beautiful as Ran was, so beautiful that he could not tear his eyes from her. All this time had passed but he still had not managed to confide his secret to her. The situation was clouding his mind and his hands balled into clenched fists, if he could only make progress. Any progress at all...
He turned under his blanket fumbling with his secret second mobile phone, debating whether he should send Ran another message. To his luck he had managed to hide it from everyone successfully so far, even though at times Ran had gotten dangerously close to finding it, but usually making a fuss somewhere else in the apartment distracted her long enough to relocate. He could just delete the messages saved on the phone and therefore even if the phone was discovered, there would not be any compromising information on it. He, however could not bring himself to do it, after all when sleep and a restful night would not grace hm, these messages at least provided some solace. He was not forgotten. Yet.
Words from Ran to him, Shinichi, and not to his shrunk self. It was a relief and curse to read them every night. Every time he read them he knew that she had not forgotten him. Yet, and as usual the melancholic feeling would return shortly. Theses worrisome feelings about the future, his relationship with Ran and the imminent danger haunting him and her every day.
He assumed it was alright to write a message. She would see it before going to school tomorrow and see she was still on his mind. Her smile at the breakfast table would be genuine, happy and cheerful. It would mark the start of a brighter day than usual. Before hitting the submit button he read over it again. It read: "Ran, I miss you."
Conan closed his cellphone and hid it again in a tight crevice on the wall-facing side of his bed. He closed his eyes trying to fall asleep on a happier note than usual.
His eyes tore open just moments after closing them as he heard shuffling noise in the hallway. For a moment he listened carefully trying discern if something unusual was happening but dismissed it quickly. Most likely the old man was relieving himself in the restroom after drinking too much again.
Though something unusual indeed happened and he froze facing the wall. The door to his room opened and someone slipped in. Light taps coming closer to his bed, careful to not awake him. His heart was droning loudly in his ear as he desperately tried to act asleep. The blanked lifted slightly and his thoughts were racing. Contemplating what was going on, though he did not have the time to formulate the thought completely before he had been enveloped by an encompassing warmth drowning any coherent thoughts. Two slender arms embraced him and nervousness was spreading like the warmth of her body. She was so close. His head now resting comfortably on her arms. He could feel how soft her skin was and her scent filled his head with warm emptiness. He could feel her sigh just an inch from his ear:
"Shinichi, I miss you too."
