Summary: Ran is getting tired of talking to Shinichi over the phone or to his shadow. She wants to see him and to talk to him personally. I'll wait for you. If you don't show yourself there, I won't bother you ever again…

Disclaimer: No matter how cute Conan is, he still doesn't belong to me and the rest of the crew. SIGH

The famous young detective Shinichi Kudo solved another case but like most of the cases he solved since he disappeared, he did not show himself to everyone including Ran.

This time Ran did not wait around at the house to wait for his call; instead she silently slipped out of the room and followed his voice. She almost caught him this time but he must have felt her presence because he suddenly bolted out of the room through the nearest exit he could find.

Ran, pumped up by the adrenaline of almost catching Shinichi ran as fast as she could to keep up with the athletic young detective. She was running for more than thirty minutes to the alleyways she didn't usually pass, but she didn't care. All she wanted to do was to see Shinichi and to talk to him. Couldn't he see that? Couldn't he see how much she missed him?

Alas, they were caught in a dead end. Ran could hear him breathing heavily just like her.

"You're cornered now Shinichi," she shouted to the hiding figure of Shinichi. "Why don't you come out and talk to me please? I just want to see you and make sure you're okay."

When all she heard was silence on his side, her temper exploded. "Why don't you speak Shinichi?" she asked. "Am I that insignificant to you that you had to hide from me and make me run after you?"

I can't show myself to you yet Ran, not while I'm still in this child Conan's body. Shinichi said to himself

"Ran, that is not true," he finally replied. "You know I care about you. I can't see you right now. I can't get you involve in the case I'm neck-deep right now. It's just too dangerous."

Ran was silent for a while, deciding on what to do next.

"Okay, I won't demand on you again on one condition," she said from her side of the alley. "Meet me on our usual place behind the park. No one knows that place except the two of us, you know that."

Ran was about to walk away when she spoke to him again. "If you really care about me, like you said Shinichi then meet me there. I'll wait for you. If you don't show yourself there, I won't bother you ever again." After saying her piece, she ran away to return to her house.

Shinichi stayed in his position until he couldn't see Ran's back running away. Then slowly he walked away to go to the place he called home for quite a while now.

"I'm home!" Conan said to the occupants of Mori's Detective agency.

"Conan," Ran exclaimed when she saw him. "What happened to you? You look like you ran the whole block 10 times," said Ran while toweling his sweat of his face and his back.

"You should change your shirt," Ran ordered him. "You'll get sick if your wet shirt dries on your body."

Conan quietly followed Ran's order and went to his room to change. This attitude did not escape Ran who was watching Conan since he stayed with them to live.

When Conan went out of the room, Ran held her hand and walked him over to the couch.

"Is there something bothering you, Conan?" She asked. "You seem really down and quiet. Are you feeling sick? You know you should tell me when you're not feeling well so I could take care of you."

Conan looked at ran and hugged her. At least through this I can still feel her. He said to himself.

"I just missed my parents," Conan lied to Ran.

"Then why don't you call them," Ran said. She even took the cordless phone and started dialing a long distance number but was cut off by Conan.

"I already spoke to them," he explained. "But there are times that I just really want to see them so I can hug my mom and play with her.

"Oh Conan," Ran silently exclaimed. "I know exactly how you feel."

"You do?" Conan asked innocently.

"Yes. I'm also missing someone so much that I just wanted to see him even for a second just to make sure he's okay and that he's still in one piece."

"Tell me Conan," Ran suddenly asked. "Why can't you see your parents?"

"They are both working on this company making an experiment on an antidote or something," he started explaining his situation slightly but making sure that it's still in a child's point of view. "They told me that it's really complicated and that they don't want other people to know that they're doing it. So they said that until a medicine has been created, they still can't see me," he sighed just to add drama. "I understand that they just don't want me to be involved because I won't be able to understand it anyway so I just settle by hearing their voices. They wouldn't love me any less if I don't see them, wouldn't they?

Conan's words struck Ran right through her heart. Conan's parents were almost in the same situation as Shinichi and yet Conan as young as he was understood his parents. Ran suddenly stood up to go to the place she asked Shinichi to meet her.

"Where you going Ran?"

"I'm going to meet a friend. I'm going to tell him I'm sorry for not understanding him."

Ran was about to leave the room when Conan stopped her; "Can I go with you?"

"No you stay here and wait for my dad, ok." With that she went out to go to the woods. She didn't even see that Conan also went out a few minutes after her to go to the same place.

At the woods, Ran stood at the tree where she and Shinichi used to talk and spend time together. A few minutes later, she felt a movement behind her.

"Shinichi, is that you?" Ran hopefully asked.

"Yes"

"Sorry about the way I acted this morning," she said." I should have understood the situation you're in right now. It's just that I miss you so much," she said her voice breaking.

"It's okay Ran, I know exactly how you feel. In time I'll be able to tell you everything in person but for now please wait for me and take care of yourself."

A few minutes later, Ran again felt Shinichi walking away. This time she didn't stop him or even tried to follow him. She finally understood that he was just protecting her, like the way he always did.

She walked home silently, thinking of the few minutes she spent with Shinichi. On her way home, she found Conan playing soccer alone at the park.

"Conan, I told you to stay at home," she reprimanded him.

"I don't want to be alone. So I thought I'd follow you and wait for you here while you meet your friend. Then we can walk home together."

Ran smiled sweetly at the young man looking so innocently up at her. She held his arm and they walked home hand in hand.

Author's Note: Did you guys like it? Hope you like my first fic for Conan. I got this idea while I was watching an episode where there was this one girl who pretended to be Conan's girlfriend. Before the story ended, Ran spoke to Shinichi's shadow illuminated by the good doctor's headlights.