I heard someone sniffle and sat up. It seemed to be coming from Ran's room.

"Ran?" I asked, opening her door and walking in, "Are you okay?"

She turned and I saw tears falling down from her cheeks. "Oh, Conan. What are you doing up so late?"

Seeing her crying, for whatever reason, hurts me more than I can say. I feel like I could kill myself for doing this to her.

"Go back to sleep," she continued, waving me away.

But I couldn't leave her like this.

Just about to walk out the door and spy on her, she said, "Conan?"

"Yes?" I asked, quickly coming in again.

She looked at me with such sad eyes. "Do-do you think that Shinichi will ever come back? I feel like,...he's left me. And that he's never coming back."

This made me alarmed, though I tried to keep it casual. "What? No! Shinichi will never leave you."

"But how do you know? He's shut me out for more than 2 years. I never see him again. Whenever I call him up to a movie, he declines and always makes the same excuse about some big case. It hurts, Conan," she said, more tears leaking out of her eyes.

"No-"

"Sorry to drag you into this, Conan. Why don't you go back to sleep?" she said, walking me to my bed. "Good night!"

I leaned down on the pillow and thought about everything she said. I had shut her out for a long time. I never called her anymore. I guess I should call her tomorrow and maybe then she'll feel better.

Yeah.

I can fix this.

And with that, I drifted away into deep sleep.

"Shinichi?" Doc called from across the room, "You have mail."

"Really?" I asked, jumping to my feet. Ever since I became Conan, I never got much mail and every letter suprises me, "Who's it from."

"Hmmm. I don't know. It doesn't have a sender," he said, inspecting it from every angle, "But be careful. It could be a bomb or some kind of ransom note."

I rolled my eyes and took it from him.

When I opened the letter, I knew at once that this was Ran's writing.

Shinchi,

Hi. This is Ran. You know, you're friend who you've been shutting out for a month? Yeah. I hope you remember me. Anyways, I thought that since you've been gone for 2 years, that maybe we're not friends anymore. So,...I guess I came to say bye. For one last time. I never wanted to leave you, Shinichi. But you leave me no choice. Either you meet me at the Cafe near Rokuno Street or just forget it. If you don't show up, I'll understand that you never want to see me again. Do you know how much it hurts me to say good-bye to you like this? Not even getting to see you one last time? I wanted to tell you this in person, but you leave me no choice. I love you. I loved you since I first met you. But now? I don't know. Any man who just ignores a woman like this is just not meant to be with each other. But I want you to know that no matter what happens, I love you. forever and ever. So, good-bye Shinichi.

Ran

My stomach tightened and my eyes started to sting.

Ran loved me?

Perfect. If I don't show up tonight at that cafe, Ran will hate me forever and leave me.

What am I going to do?