Ran had always known that Conan was Shinichi, practically right from the start. She wasn't stupid; she could recognize her life-long friend no matter what he looked like. For a while, she had silently groused about it. Why wouldn't he tell her? It was exasperating how he always tried to keep up the charade to hide himself from her. How he lied straight to her face.

But slowly, Ran's anger with Shinichi began to abate. Maybe it was because of the countless nights she lay awake in bed pondering his situation and coming to the conclusion that he really did have something—or someone—to hide from. It was probably serious. Anyway, who could stay annoyed with such a cute seven year old?

So Ran slowly started to force herself to think of Shinichi as Conan-kun, her sweet little brother. It wasn't as hard as she thought it would be. They had fun together, did chores together, went to school, and had a normal every-day pattern to their lives—or at least as normal as one could get living in a detective agency. Sure, "Conan" acted sharper and a lot more mature than other kids his age, but after a while Ran got used to it. It didn't mean she forgot he was Shinichi though.

Which was why Ran decided that today she was going to celebrate Shinichi's birthday whether he wanted to or not.

Ran noticed that Conan seemed to be having a bad day. First, he accidentally slept in too late. They had been up very late on a case with her dad the night before, and Conan must have been so tired he didn't hear his alarm. Then he came home from school with a long red scrape down his knee. Conan resolutely said he had just tripped as he ran home and that it didn't hurt at all, but Ran knew he had been on a mini case with the Detective Boys again. Though it wasn't very serious, Ran could tell it was the kind that really stung for a while.

As Ran watched Conan limp to his room to do homework, she was filled with determination not only to make his day better, but to give him a real celebration for his birthday.

"So what if he gets suspicious?" She muttered to herself as she tied her apron tightly behind her back. "I'll give him a birthday he'll never forget!" With that she started whipping out her bowls and homemade recipes. Before she ran to the store, she carefully hid any sign of her kitchen activity in case Conan happened to step out of his room.

It took a couple of hours of preparation, but Ran felt that she was finally ready. After making sure everything was situated in the living room, she stuck her head out of the door and called down the stairs.

"Dad! Dinner!" Next Ran hurried to Conan's door and knocked gently. "Conan?" She peeked in and saw that Conan had fallen asleep over his textbook. Smiling, she lightly shook him awake. She had to hold in a laugh at his dazed "huh?" as he peeled his cheek off the page.

"Conan, come eat. I've prepared something special for tonight." As Ran gathered herself up and started towards the living room, she furtively glanced out of the corner of her eye to see Conan's face at first light up at the mention of food, then suddenly turn wary as he processed her words. Ran kept a nonchalant demeanor as she walked towards the living room, but inside her heart was going a million miles a minute. Conan trailed cautiously after her.

They entered the room just as her dad came upstairs. "Oh!" Kogoro exclaimed, practically salivating as soon as he saw the array. "Delicious food!" He reached for his chopsticks but Ran stopped him.

"Dad! Wait. I want to say something first." She cleared her throat, carefully making sure not to look at Conan.

"I specially made this meal for someone's birthday. He's not here right now, but that doesn't mean that I care for him any less or that I wouldn't celebrate his special day. So-" Suddenly Kogoro interrupted.

"This isn't for that Kudo detective boy is it? Why the heck are ya making a dinner for him when he's not here?!"

Ran glared at him. "Dad, it's the thought that counts!"

Kogoro shrugged. "Ah well, I'm not complaining. More food for me!" He grabbed his chopsticks and bellowed, "Itadakimasu!" before digging in.

Ran gave an exasperated sigh before she picked up her chopsticks and glanced over at Conan with a grin. They repeated the thanks and started eating the delicious meal.

Towards the end of the meal, Ran suddenly got up and disappeared into the kitchen. She was gone for about a minute and Conan was about to turn in his seat to see what she was doing when suddenly the lights in the living room went out.

Kogoro gave a sound of surprise and Conan jumped. A glow came from the direction of the kitchen and both Kogoro and Conan subconsciously turned towards it to see Ran coming towards them holding a pie with candles. She was beaming as she set it down on the table and then ran to turn on the light again.

Ran saw her dad reaching for the knife, but she quickly snatched it out of his hand. "Not yet Dad! I'm not letting anyone eat a bite of this pie until we sing happy birthday!"

"Aw, that's silly," grumbled Kogoro, but he sang along anyway.

When Ran cut the pie and Conan saw the inside, he exclaimed, "...Lemon!" Ran stopped and gave him a serious look, but inside she was smiling. "Why, what's wrong Conan-kun? You're not allergic are you?" Oh, so you do remember back in school when I made you that lemon pie... and when you first said that you liked me.

Conan winced slightly and scratched the back of his head, trying to hide his blunder. "Ah, no! I just thought it would be chocolate!"

"Oh good!" Ran said cheerfully. Inside she was glowing. He remembers, she thought as she dished out the slices.

After the meal, Conan surprised Ran by scooting over to her and leaning on her, giving her a small hug.

"Thank you for the meal, it was delicious." He looked up into her eyes and Ran's heart gave a little flutter. Would he?..."Too bad Shinichi-niichan couldn't enjoy it too. You'll have to tell him all about it and then he'll be so jealous!" Conan gave a cute laugh and hugged her again. Ran couldn't help but be a little disappointed. She really thought that he would say something or at least give a little hint that he knew she knew. Nevertheless, she hugged him back until he squirmed away like any embarrassed child would. She watched him run towards his room and gave a little sigh as she turned back to the table. Oh well, she thought. Maybe next year.

Conan paused at his door and peeked back at Ran. He watched her as she cleared up the dishes, smiling and humming.

Thank you Ran.

And thank YOU for reading! I can't believe I'm actually back writing stuff. Well actually this story was a bit of an accident: I just wanted to write a little something for a picture on deviantArt, but then I thought, Welp, this got longer than I expected and it is a fanfiction, so why not?

(I apologize to my watchers. I know I've been gone such a long time and practically abandoned my stories. Never fear, I am going to make a big effort this Summer to complete them!)

Also, I feel bad for not describing what Ran made for dinner; I know it would make it much more interesting, but I like to research stuff so that I know I have it right and I was just too lazy/tired.