Disclaimer: I own nothing (except this plot)!
2. Anticipation
Two figures stood silhouetted against the evening sun, leaning against the compound wall of Teitan High. One was of a pretty blonde with cold grey eyes on her otherwise Asian face, the other one was of a young boy, the 'Detective of the East', otherwise known as Shinichi Kudou.
The girl by the name of Shiho Miyano looked at her wristwatch.
"She is late," she said in her high cold voice.
Shinichi shook his head. "She needs to understand", he said, almost to himself, his eyes on the street.
At that very moment, a young girl came racing down the street.
"Explain, then," she said huffing as she bent down to catch her breath, "I didn't cut karate practice for nothing, Kudou."
"Ran, Shiho's not my girlfriend; if that's what you think," burst out Shinichi angrily.
"You are hiding something, Shinichi, you owe me an explanation," shouted Ran, equally angry.
"Let's not fight," Shiho interrupted calmly, "She's right, Kudou-kun, you do owe her an explanation. We must tell her everything." Shinichi glared at Shiho and then took a deep breath, willing himself to control his temper. Of course Ran had to be difficult! What was he thinking?
He turned to Ran and said in a softer tone, "I guess it was wrong of me to keep you in the dark but you must understand that it was for your safety..." He paused here and looked questioningly at Shiho; she nodded once. Again taking a deep breath he said, "I was Conan." Ignoring Ran's shriek of horror, he went on, "Remember that day in Tropical Land...those men in black I followed? Well, I caught them as they carried out illegal transactions so they fed me a poison designed to kill me but it actually shrunk me..."
And so Shinichi narrated the tale to an incredulous Ran, with occasional help from Shiho. Suddenly he stopped to look at Ran.
"You don't believe me, do you?" He asked, concerned.
"As a matter of fact, Shinichi,'' said Ran earnestly, "I do!"
"I hoped so," said Shinichi, smiling quietly, "You had come so close to the truth...you remember...that day? Our date in the Beika Hotel? And so many times after..." "Yeah," said Ran, nodding. She turned to Shiho.
"So I guess that's why I thought we met before."
Shiho nodded, "You knew me as Haibara Ai."
Suddenly a spasm of pain shot through Ran's chest. Haibara and Conan. She remembered thinking maybe Haibara fancied Conan – the way she looked at him. She wasn't too sure about Conan though. But if Conan was actually Shinichi and Haibara, Shiho... she couldn't be so sure...
It became too much. She gasped, clutching her chest.
"Ran!" Shinichi started forward, worried. Shiho looked concerned, too, but she was frowning. "Are you okay?" she asked.
"I'm fine," Ran said. Seeing that both Shinichi and Shiho weren't convinced and were looking at her suspiciously, she babbled on: "I was just wondering, you know, Ai's such an unusual name...it means 'love', right?"
"I guess," Said Shiho, shrugging indifferently, "I prefer 'sorrow' though; it's much more convenient." She bit her lip.
"Shiho..." said Ran, concerned placing a hand on the girl's shoulder. Shiho shrugged it off.
"I guess I'd better go," she said, at a shaky attempt at her usual cold manner, and ran off.
"She's upset."
Ran turned to Shinichi, nearly fighting off tears herself. Shinichi looked uncomfortable. "I know," he said, "C'mon we'd better get a move on, too."
"But Shiho...?"
"Don't worry; I'll talk to her later. Let's go!"
"Shinichi?"
"What?" Shinichi asked, turning around to look at her.
"I wanted to ask you..." Ran sounded nervous, "What was it? What was it you wanted to tell me that day in the Beika Hotel? You said it was something important."
Shinichi was baffled; he had not expected this. He looked at Ran in horror. She gazed up at him and then turned away from him, sighing.
He took a deep breath. Suddenly a face flashed before his eyes, blonde and beautiful; how could he do this to her?
Shinichi's throat felt dry.
"Can I borrow your math notes?" He finally said, feeling stupid.
"What?" Ran turned towards him. "... notes...", his voice trailed off; Ran was already shouting. "You are such a jerk sometimes, Shinichi!" She said, her eyes flashing.
Shinichi took a step back, "Ran I need to go."
"No!"
But Shinichi was already running away without so much a second glance.
Ran stared after his departing figure; she felt a familiar prickling sensation behind her eyes. Above her the sky too opened up as if to reflect her mood. Slumping against the wall, the distraught girl closed her eyes letting the tears trail by.
Author's note: I am waiting eagerly for the day when Shinichi returns once and for all. It's almost heartbreaking to see Ran's distress over him.