Sonoko knew something was off about Ran recently, but it was never more so than after that Conan kid got shot. Ran had given her blood to save him, which was normal. What wasn't normal about that was the fact that Ran knew the kid's blood type. As far as Sonoko knew, Ran had never asked him, but then again, it wasn't exactly something that you would talk about as a friendly conversation. You'd talk about more serious things. Like finding a boyfriend. So again, not entirely strange.
No, the strange part was that Ran had become less heated about Shinichi coming home. Just a few months ago, she complained nonstop that Shinichi was a mystery freak and that he was taking too long on his case, etc. But now it was like she had accepted it and moved on. To the kid.
Sonoko shuddered just thinking about it, but Conan was basically with Ran wherever she went. Sure, he looked just like Shinichi as a kid, but Ran was starting to give him that "look." She had seen that look on Ran only a few times. And they all had been directed towards one person: Shinichi. And it wasn't an expression of annoyance. It was the soft-and-tender "I love my mystery freak" look.
The more Sonoko thought about it, the more it made sense. How many times had Sonoko dragged Ran on trips to look for a new man and that kid ended up coming with? Ran never did find another guy she liked. At first Sonoko had just understood it as stubborn faithfulness to Shinichi. And now...
"So you're going to invite Shinichi to the play, right? If you tell him that you're going to be in the lead role, I'm sure he'll come right back to see it." Sonoko carefully watched her best friend's face for her reaction.
Ran didn't even blink at the sound of Shinichi's name. Instead she answered, "No he won't." There wasn't a single bit of doubt or anger in the comment. "But that's okay because I'm sure Conan-kun will get well in time to see me, right?" she asked the small boy softly, giving him a loving look. Sonoko was pretty sure she was going to start gagging. Who'd have known her best friend was a pedophile?
"Y-yeah," Conan replied. Even he sounded a little unsettled. The weirdness of this situation...
"Hey, now!" Sonoko interjected nervously, pretending to joke around. "You're not switching your love for Shinichi onto this kid, are you?"
"N-no, of course not!" Ran instantly yelled back, blushing.
Uh huh...That's just creepy, girl.
As if the kid knew exactly what a weird and messed up conversation this was, he seemed to want to change the topic himself. "Sonoko, what happened to your wrist?"
Good move kid. Sonoko thought, even though she had brought up the topic in the first place.
"This? I sprained it during practice..."