Shinichi: Why are you writing this? You know it'll never happen.

Ran: You make Shinichi seem like such a chicken. *laughs*

Shinichi: I'm not a chicken!

bubblyangel101: Because I am an evil, evil fanfiction author and I enjoy tormenting you! Mwah hah hah hah!

The Muse: Author-san does not own the bumble-headed detective geek or the butt-kicking karate champion. Or any other characters.

oOo

Thorns

Years had passed. Mouri Ran sat outside her window, watching the snow fall. She smiled. The soft blanket of white outside soothed her; it distracted her from thinking too much. Because no matter what she thought about, she would always end up thinking about that detective otaku. That dumb, self-centered tantei otaku.

I'm not going to reinvent the wheel and say that she missed him. But seriously, Ran was getting tired of waiting for him. Tired of sitting by the window, gazing into the distance. Tired of waiting for his oh-so-precious phone calls that came once in a blue moon. Tired of hearing him asking her to wait for him. How long do you want me to wait? Ran silently asked the falling snow. What do you think I am?

oOo

"I'm sorry, Kudou-kun. It just can't be done. I just can't figure out how to reverse the Apotopsis."

Conan stared at Haibara, unable to comprehend her words. "Ha ha...last time I checked it wasn't April Fools' Day today."

She was silent.

He tried again. "It's not funny...you can't be serious! That's not possible! That's stupid!" His expression was now one wavering between shock and an unbelievable quantity of hurt, hurt that was buried but was now resurfacing at an alarming rate.

"How can you just..just STAND there so calmly? You should be in the lab! You should be researching! You should be...you should be..." his voice trailed off. Conan inwardly collapsed and began silently sobbing. Kudou Shinichi gone-just like that. Now Conan's pathetic excuse for an existence was all he had left. Going to elementary school, solving cases and giving credit to someone else, saying "Ran-neechan" all the time even if she wasn't his sister..was that all he had left?

Haibara cleared her throat. "However.." Conan's head snapped up immediately. "However...I do have one test antidote left."

"Temporary?"

Haibara looked down. "Unfortunately, yes. But if you take it, you won't be able to turn back anymore. Your system will develop an immunity and you will truly lose all hope of turning back. It'll be effective for about 2.5 days."

Conan laughed bitterly. "Didn't you say that I wouldn't turn back anyway? 'I just can't figure out to reverse the Apotopsis'? And whose words were those? SO WHY DOES IT MATTER IF MY SYSTEM DEVELOPS AN IMMUNITY?"

Haibara said nothing. She handed over a case which contained a single red pill. "It's the last one..."

oOo

Shinichi had 3 choices: 1) Let Ran keep on waiting for him, 2) Tell her the truth, and 3) Walk away. If Ran kept waiting for him, it would only break her heart, like it was already. If he told her the truth, she would be in danger. He was tempted to go with choice #2, but what if Ran were hurt? The Black Organization would find out about his "Conan" situation sooner or later, so wouldn't she be hurt anyway?

It was a matter of time. He would protect her as long as he could, to the utmost limits of his strength.

There was only one choice left: #3.

oOo

Ran had made up her mind, too. She grabbed her coat, an umbrella, various snow gear, and her cell phone. She stepped into the snow outside and dialed Shinichi's number. Ran nearly gasped in surprise when he actually picked up.

"Moshi moshi? Ran?" his voice sounded strained and weighed down with hurt, sorrrow, and defeat.

"Shinichi. I know you're on that big case, right?" Ran's eyes were filling up with tears. Baka, you can't cry! "But can you find 5 minutes? I only want 5 minutes! Please?"

"I was about to come find you. So, where?"

oOo

10 minutes later, they were both sitting on a park bench in Beika Park. Well, Ran was sitting. Shinichi was standing a few feet away, his back to her. "What did you want to say?" he asked quietly, so quietly that you could barely hear it above the roar of the snowstorm.

Get to the point. He doesn't have all day. "Do you like me?" she asked bluntly. His eyes widened in surprise. "If you don't, it's okay." she added softly. "I'll leave, right now."

Shinichi's mind was a flurry of emotions. He was happy that she liked him, mad at himself for being so careless, and pained. Pained that he would have to hurt her. But it was for the better. At least then she had a chance, a chance of finding someone else. A chance of forgetting him and how he broke her heart. A chance at happiness. I guess it's true that the best people have the worst luck.

And suddenly, he knew what to do: tell the truth. "No. No, Ran, I don't like you." Shinichi squeezed his eyes shut so he wouldn't have to see her crumble.

The last image he saw was her back. She was running off into the distance. "I love you," he whispered.

oOo

"Where is Kudou Shinichi?" A gun was pressed to her head. The cool, hard metal calmed her, much like the snow had done earlier.

Ran smiled. Shinichi, I'll always protect you. "I don't know."

Her attacker frowned. "Wrong answer, gal." Ran's last feeling was of the bullet flying through her, and the colors red, black, and blue. Sayonara...

oOo

He was holding her crumpled body. The snowstorm grew into a blizzard.

oOo

2 days later, a young man was hit and killed in an automobile accident. All of Tokyo attended his funeral. He was on his way to the cemetery, a bouquet of red, red roses clutched in his hands.

AN: Ah, old-fashioned angst. Don't know why, but this plunnie hit me suddenly in the car. It took me...what? 30 minutes to write it? Ha ha. Poor Shin and Ran. Please review!