So, first attempt at an angst fic, I did try but to be honest I just think it came off way too cliche and short, plus totally vague in places. Still, it can be interpreted as friendship or romance. Anyway, enjoy... (and maybe R+R if you've time ;))

Disclaimer: *Sighs* I do not own Detective Conan


The boy was staring, fists clenched, face pale, at the scene in front of him. Taking a deep breath he ignored the officers' concerned gazes and attempted to clear his mind. He concentrated, focused solely on pushing down the floods of emotion and not losing control.

But it was Ran there. Lovely, sweet Ran who had been Ran-neechan to Conan-kun, Shinichi's friend and so much more…

Surely it would look stranger if little Conan had no reaction…

No. He couldn't…

When was the last time he had truly let everything out and not kept it bottled up like a volcano waiting to explode?

It was years ago, he remembered, when he had been 7 the first time. She had been there then; it was just the two of them. Shinichi (the loner, the weird one, always surrounded by death) and Ran (poor Ran who, back then, hadn't realised that she wasn't to blame for her parents' marriage failing).

But, she had always been there for him and now…

A feeling of helplessness overwhelmed him and his breath sped up as if he couldn't get enough air into his lungs.

It wasn't supposed to be like this.

And, as Mouri Ran's corpse was lifted from the wreckage he felt his masks, which had been a part of him for so long, shatter.

For the first time in years, Kudou Shinichi cried