Chapter 2 – Welcome Back Shinichi

Thankfully for Shinichi, he was out of the hospital after three days from the day he woke. He insisted on going home straight away, and tried to persuade the doctors and nurses that he was in perfect condition. They didn't believe him, so he was stuck being bed ridden for another three days. He had never felt happier than on the day of when the doctor gave him the all clear and released him.

When he stepped out of the hospital, Agasa was waiting outside for him. Shinichi smiled a grateful smile before stepping closer to the professor leaning against his yellow beetle. Agasa looked up when he heard footsteps approaching, and instantly, he smiled bright and wide to the fully-grown detective. He pushed away from his car and stepped closer to boy he had known since Shinichi was a child.

Agasa clapped him on the shoulder, a Deja vu moment of when Shinichi had taken the antidote. "Welcome back Shinichi. How are you feeling?"

Shinichi smiled to him in return, "I'm feeling great professor. I'm also glad that I'm out of hospital."

Agasa nodded, "I'm glad too. Get in the car, I'll drive you home." He gestured to the car behind him, and turned around to climb into the driver's seat.

Shinichi stepped closer to the car and opened the back door, only to frown to the blunt look he was receiving from a miniature scientist, who had obviously been sitting in the back of the car for some time. Sighing, he climbed into the seat next to her and clicked in his seat, closing the door. When Agasa glanced at them both sitting awkwardly silent, he breathed out a sigh - not wanting the sound to be audible - and started the engine, driving away from the hospital.

In the back of the car, the two youngsters were looking out of their windows. Shinichi mustered the bravery to start a conversation and break the awkward silence. "So, how... how have you been, Haibara?"

Haibara didn't turn to him. She just turned away from the window to close her eyes and cross her arms over her chest, "I'm fine. How about you? How are you feeling?"

Shinichi smiled a little, knowing that she did really care about those around her. His smile was even a little smug when he answered her. "Oh, I'm feeling a lot better, thanks for asking. I'm surprised you didn't give an entire risk test on what could have happened to me when I took the antidote."

Haibara's hands squeezed her arms slightly as her expression turned into one that was both irritated and angry. "You do know that your immune system is a lot weaker now, due to the constant changing of your body. Try not to stay out late at night without wrapping up warm, do you hear me," she ordered rather than questioned. She knew that he knew what she meant.

Shinichi raised an eyebrow. "I don't go around spending my nights outside you-"

She cut him off with a fierce glare. "What I mean to say is that, if you go solving cases in the dead of night, then you better wrap up warm. Otherwise, you'll catch a cold or a fever."

Shinichi rolled his eyes, "Yes Mother."

Haibara scoffed. "Fine, let it be on your own health."

...

When Shinichi finally got home, he stepped through the door and inhaled the air around him, releasing it moments later with a satisfied sigh. Closing the door behind him, he took off his coat and placed it on the coat hook. Finding his house slippers, Shinichi toed of his shoes before slipping his feet into his slippers and then made his way to the kitchen.

With a steaming cup of black coffee in hand, Shinichi made his way to the library. Walking into the large room, he went over to one of the middle bookcases before pulling out a 'Sign of Four' book, and then sat in his large leather chair.

Before opening the book, he looked around and smiled to himself, taking in the fact that he was actually back for good. "Yeah," he thought as he turned to his book again. "It's good to be back."

After about an hour later, there was a knock at his door. Shinichi - reluctantly - closed his book and stood from his chair, walking downstairs to the door. With a yawn, he opened it to reveal a smiling Ran. He was slightly confused, "Ran?"

She smiled even wider to him. "Hello, thanks for telling me that you got out of hospital."

Shinichi moved his hand holding the door to the back of his head, "No problem." He realised that that was the wrong thing to say as he remembered that he didn't tell her about the hospital releasing him. He smiled sheepishly to her, in an attempt to cover up his mistake. "Heh, sorry Ran. It slipped my mind."

Ran rolled her eyes, but her smile was only a little smaller. "Well I'm glad you realised your mistake, otherwise I was going to drag you back to the hospital and collect your brain."

He frowned to that. "That's a bit harsh, don't you think?"

She shook her head. "No, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt." He raised an eyebrow in question to that. She took no notice and continued, "Anyway, we wanted to welcome you back, as you are back for good."

"We?" It was in that moment that he noticed the carrier bag in her hands. He looked to it and then back to her. "What's that?" He gestured towards the carrier bag in her hands.

Ran lifted up the bag in question, "This is your welcome back home cake. I know, I know, maybe it's stupid, but you were gone for a really long time and you working on that really hard case, so I think you deserve a warm welcome, even if it is only a small one."

Shinichi couldn't stop the smile that made its way to his lips. But he remembered what she mentioned earlier. "Who else is there?"

"Me, Sonoko and Katsu-kun."

He nodded, accepting the guests. "Yeah, okay - Katsu-kun? Who's that?"

Ran sighed, stepping into the house. She gave Shinichi the cake so she could take off her coat and collect herself some house slippers. Taking the cake back, she strolled through the house and into the kitchen where Shinichi just followed suit. Once in the kitchen with her, he crossed his arms over his chest, waiting for her to continue. "Anytime today," he pushed slightly, wanting to know of the new person.

Ran opened the cupboard with the small plates and collected the amount of how many people were eating. When she turned around to spread the plates out, she sighed again as she turned to face him, "Shinichi. I mentioned him before, although now that I think about it, the last time we spoke, I referred to him as Nakamora-kun."

Shinichi scanned through his memory to see if the name rang any bells. His eyes widened when he looked back on the conversation he had with Ran whilst he was at the professor's, being Conan and using his voice changing bow tie. "Oh," he began with recognition. "Nakamora Katsu. I remember him now. Sorry, my mind still needs to catch up with me. How long have you two been together now?"

She smiled widely and ran around the island in the kitchen to hug him. "You remembered about him being my boyfriend!"

Shinichi returned her hug with an eye roll, "I remember now. He is the one in our class, and the one that's on the soccer team, right?"

She pulled away from him and nodded, her face as bright as the sun, "Well duh, of course." She moved back around the island to start on unwrapping the cake. "He's just at his sister's house before she has her baby, and then he'll be over."

"His sister's having a baby?"

She nodded, "Yes. He was just dropping off some things that he bought for when the baby is born. I told him I'll meet him at your house."

He raised an eyebrow, suspicious. "He knows where I live?"

Ran just chuckled. "Well, I hope he does. I told him the address, I just hope he doesn't get lost."

Nodding, Shinichi took a seat the dining table. "How long have you two been together now?" He asked out of pure curiosity. He had yet to give this boy his full approval before going out with his best friend, who he thought of as a sister.

She tapped her chin, thinking deeply. "A year nearly, I think. Maybe longer." Ran eyed her best friend suspiciously, before sharpening her eyes slightly, "don't even think about it Shinichi. He's a good guy, and he's very loyal, I can assure you."

"That's what you thought about Hondo remember?" He reminded her, folding his hands behind his head.

"Eisuke-kun moved back to the States ages ago," she began, looking through Shinichi's draws for a carving knife. "And besides, I never really liked him like that anyway."

Another knock at the door brought their attention, and Shinichi smirked. Ran looked ready to walk to the door, but Shinichi stood before she had the chance. "That'll be Katsu-kun," Ran said, looking to Shinichi. He just answered her with, "As it's my house, I'll get the door."

She sighed and went back to the cake.

Shinichi made his way to the door, and opened it to reveal a boy his age, kind eyes, short maroon hair which had bangs covering most of the left side of his forehead. Shinichi felt a little guilty for not knowing who he was before, as he was one of the people on his soccer team when he was the captain a few years ago.

Katsu's eyes brightened to seeing the Heisei Holmes. "Kudo-kun!" He beamed.

Shinichi smiled to him, "Hey Nakamora-kun, how have you been?" He asked, stepping to the side to let the new comer in. When he did, Katsu took off his coat and put it on the coat rack whilst Shinichi fetched him some house slippers.

With his house slippers on, Katsu turned to face his classmate. "Shouldn't I be the one to ask you that? I mean, you've missed so much of school!"

Shinichi sighed, "Yeah, I know I have."

"Katsu-kun," came Ran's sweet voice from around the corner. Both boys looked to her, to see her smiling at the pair of them.

"Ran, I was just greeting him inside," Shinichi reassured her, letting her know he wasn't making the boy feel uncomfortable. "You don't have to worry about me interrogating him."

Katsu snickered, whispering to the detective, "She says you're like a brother to her, so it would only be right if you did. She'd probably give a worse beating than you would though, if I did do something to upset her." Shinichi was seeing a comical side to his best friend's boyfriend.

Ran scoffed as she walked towards the two, "I heard that." Even though her tone was supposed to be scolding, she was softly smiling to him as she kissed him on the cheek. Turning to stand between both boys, she placed her hands on her hips. "Shall we go and eat some cake?" When both boys nodded, she began to walk back to Shinichi's kitchen, gesturing for them to follow.

Shinichi suddenly felt like a guest, in his own home. Clearing his throat, he looked to the back of Ran with a raised eyebrow, "Ran."

When they made it back to the kitchen, she walked back to the cake and began cutting. "Yes, Shinichi."

"You do realise that this is my house, right?" He asked whilst Katsu took a seat at the dining table.

She nodded in response, placing a piece of cake on a plate. "Yeah, of course I know it's your house." Shinichi opened his mouth to make a point, but she looked to him and grinned widely, "But you are a very bad host." He looked abashed, again not able to speak as she continued. "Anyway, it was my idea to welcome you back, so don't worry about it."

Sighing, Shinichi just retreated from his beginning argument and sank into his previous chair at the dining table.

It was another ten minutes before Sonoko arrived. Shinichi thought she was late, but Ran reassured him that herself and Katsu were early. She left the boys in the kitchen - purposefully - and went to go and invite Sonoko inside. Shinichi smirked, knowing her too well.

Turning back to Katsu, he laced his fingers together on the table, leaning forward slightly. "So, Nakamora-kun," he began. "How much does Ran mean to you?"

Katsu sat up in his chair, turning a serious and also determined look towards Shinichi, becoming fully engaged, "To tell you the truth," he began, "I've never actually been happier than I have since I've been with Ran-chan. She means everything to me, and I am so grateful that I got to be with someone as amazing as her."

After a moment of silence between them, Shinichi couldn't help but let out a small smile. "Okay, I'll give you both my blessing. But," his expression suddenly turned dark. "If you hurt Ran in any way, or if you mistreat her in any way, shape or form, you'll have to deal with me, all right."

Katsu didn't even realise that he was leaning back, but he was aware of the sudden change in the detective's behaviour. Swallowing nervously, he nodded.

Shinichi's expression almost instantly relaxed into a softer one as he sat back in his chair, "I'm glad we managed to get things understood."

"Get what understood?" Ran asked as she walked into the kitchen.

Before any of them could answer, Sonoko burst into the kitchen. "Oh look, Ran, they're bonding!"

Shinichi and Katsu rolled their eyes.

Sonoko looked to Shinichi, "Welcome back!"

Shinichi smiled to her, "Thanks, Sonoko."

Ran brought the rest of the cake to the table and both of the girls sat down, Ran next to Katsu and Sonoko next to Shinichi. Sonoko set down some snacks that she brought over, and it kind of reminded Shinichi of a tea party, but he kept the thought to himself.

After a while of eating and discussing, Sonoko turned to the detective beside her. "So, are you definitely back for good, Shinichi?"

Shinichi swallowed his mouthful before answering that question. "Yeah, I really am back. Why do people keep asking me that?"

Sonoko shrugged, "Oh I don't know, maybe it's because you disappeared for nearly two years," She pointed out with a hint of sarcasm.

"Oh Kudo-kun," Katsu called to him. When Shinichi was looking at him, he carried on. "Do you think you could play for Teitan High's soccer team? We'd love to have you on the team."

Shinichi considered it for a moment before looking to him again, "I'll think about it." After saying that, he felt like he wanted to just jump into soccer again, as it was - besides from solving mysteries as being a detective - one of his favourite hobbies. He thought back on the times of when he and Katsu would play together, with the rest of the Teitan High soccer team. Remembering how kind and thoughtful Katsu was to him and the rest of the team members, made Shinichi realise that he was actually more certain about him being right for Ran. She deserved someone who would treat her right and respect her, and to be honest, Shinichi couldn't think of anyone better. Both he and Ran knew Katsu since middle school, all the way through to high school and so he was assured that Ran had finally found someone perfect for her.

But the problem left was to whether or not he could play soccer, as he still needed to get used to his new body, so maybe, with hard work and training, he could play again.

He was brought out of his thoughts to Sonoko clapping her hands together. The other three teens looked to her, waiting for her excitement to come as words.

Her face was practically beaming with excitement, and that could only mean two things. Either Makoto was coming to visit, or her uncle had gathered a certain notice from a certain someone. Shinichi knew which it was almost immediately. "So," she began, the excitement never leaving her eyes. "Who's going to Kid-sama's heist tonight?"

Ran rolled her eyes, already used to her best friend's devotion to the thief. "Sonoko, I'm not sure we can come tonight."

Sonoko looked to her, almost an expression of betrayal replacing her excitement. "What do you mean you won't be able to come?"

"Well," she looked a little guilty to her best friend before she glanced over to her boyfriend sitting beside her. "Katsu-kun and I are going out for dinner tonight."

Sonoko shook her head. "Why don't you just come along afterwards. I mean," she added in a more happier tone. "The heist doesn't start until eleven tonight, and I doubt you'd be eating at a restaurant past eleven."

When she saw Ran contemplate the idea, she smiled knowingly. "See, you won't have anything to worry about. What time is your date, Katsu-kun?" She asked, looking to Katsu who was listening carefully to the conversation.

Katsu looked to Ran and gave her a small smile, before turning back to Sonoko. "Our date is at seven at the Beika Royal."

Sonoko's eyes sparkled to that information. Even Shinichi's eyebrows lifted with surprise. "Ooh, very classy Katsu-kun. And it's even better than I thought."

Shinichi glanced to her as he swallowed his mouthful of cake. "How so?"

Sonoko didn't turn to him as she laced her fingers together, looking up as if to see the stars through the levels of Shinichi's manor, even though it was daylight. He could practically see her mind dreaming of her precious Kid-sama.

"Because Ran and Katsu-kun are only having dinner around the corner from where the heist will take place." Sonoko squealed as she closed her eyes tight.

After a moment of listening to Sonoko's squeals of happiness, he turned in his chair to face her fully. "Sonoko," he called to her, drawing her out of her dreamy squeals and making her turn to him. "Has anyone deciphered the heist notice yet?"

She looked to him with a quirky eyebrow, as if asking him to be serious. "What do you think?" When Shinichi didn't answer, she snorted. "Of course not, the police don't have a clue. My Kid-sama is too clever to make it easy for them."

Katsu, obviously not use to being one to hear these conversations about how smart Kid is and how the thief always outsmarts the police, raised his eyebrows in surprise. "What did the heist notice say?" He asked, becoming interested and intrigued.

Sonoko reached into her pocket and opened her phone, tapping on a few things before finally opening the site showing the heist note. She placed it in the centre of table for the four of them to see. Shinichi read it with hidden knowledge, also hiding the smirk that wanted to break free on his lips.

"So, that's what it is." Shinichi thought to himself, already knowing half of what the note was saying.

...

It was five minutes until eleven when Ran and Katsu arrived at the museum. The place was literally just around the corner, like Sonoko had informed.

Whilst Sonoko bombarded Katsu and Ran with questions about how their date went, Shinichi was too busy scanning the area for suspicious people in the crowd. From every fan to every police officer and even to supervisor Jirokichi and Inspector Nakamori. He was so engulfed in his scanning process that he hadn't noticed Inspector Nakamori standing almost next to him, glancing at his watch and calling out, "One minute until Kid shows up!" Shinichi visibly winced to the ringing of his ears after that statement.

Shinichi moved away from the inspector and sighed with relief to feel the ringing of his ears fade into nothing. He looked around for all of the visible exits, possible for Kid to come through or to escape out of and noticed how each entrance was locked with a key card. Only a key card could open it - which would explain the reason for why the leading members of staff and task force members had a key card attached to their pockets. As Shinichi scanned the exits more thoroughly, he gazed over to a door at the far end of the room which was showing a dim light. The door was open just a tad and Shinichi smirked as he - without being noticed and without making it obvious - slowly and silently made his way towards the door.

When he reached the door which was indeed open, he quickly glanced over his shoulder to see if anyone had noticed, before quickly slipping through the door. He made sure to keep it open a tiny bit, so that Kid could escape the way he had planned to, (even though he knew the thief would get through it anyway), and then descended the stairs leading towards the second level of the building. When he reached the other door, he noticed that it leads into a hallway, where there were other doors leading to other places. Reaching a door at the end of the corridor, he opened it to reveal another set of stairs which had a yellow sign saying, 'ROOF ACCESS'. And underneath in smaller red writing, it said 'Authorised Personnel Only'. The metal gate that was supposed to be locked, was - unsurprisingly - open. Shinichi knew exactly why it was open, but he subsided the thought as he quickly made his way up to the roof, hoping to get there before Kid made a run for his exit from the room holding his target.

...

Shinichi was out of breath by the time he had reached the roof - his body not used to the exercise. He was definitely going to work on that when he went back to school - and made sure that no one was in sight before he closed the roof door and leant against the wall beside it. He was panting heavily, but he smiled to feeling the rush of excitement that he always felt whilst chasing Kid on heists.

"Well," he thought to himself, gathering his breath and making it more of a steady breathing. "At least we still get to do this. I'm looking to meeting you in actual person."

It was another fifteen minutes before the soft patter of hurried footsteps was heard, and Shinichi smirked, ready to make his move to come out of the shadows when the time was right.

Shinichi had moved around the entrance so that he was stood around the side of it, keeping out of sight when the heavy metal door creaked open, the sound vibrating through the wall Shinichi was leant against. He couldn't see the door or who had walked through it for that matter, but he could hear the soft footsteps that were almost like feathers falling onto a lake, the sound almost completely silent unless you listened close enough. Those footsteps only belonged to that of one person.

When the roof door slammed shut, Shinichi chose that moment to step out of his hiding place and into the moonlight. Shinichi couldn't help but admire the way the Phantom Thief practically glistened in the moonlight. Placing his hands in his trouser pockets, Shinichi walked closer to the thief that was holding the newly stolen target up to the moon. "Good evening, Kid," he greeted.

Kid whipped around to face the source of that voice. The thief's face beamed to seeing him. "Meitantei," Kid greeted in return. "You're still grown."

Shinichi stopped when he was only a few feet in front of Kid. He wanted to point out how he seemed to be a few inches taller than Kid, if the thief took off the hat. Burying the comment, Shinichi just nodded. "Yes, the antidote worked. Haibara said that the only main problem is my immune system, which I'm already working on building back up."

"That's good to hear," Kid said, placing a hand on his hip. "I'm glad it worked."

Shinichi's smile and face softened, and his eyes showed nothing but gratitude. "Thank you, Kid. I really appreciate what you've done for me."

Kid just shrugged. "It's the least I could do for my favourite critic." Kid turned away from the detective and stepped up onto the roof's edge, opening his hang-glider and shielding Shinichi from the moon's silver light. Looking over his shoulder, Kid smiled to the eastern detective. "Welcome back... Meitantei," was the last thing that left Kid's lips before the thief fell forward and flew further into the night.

Shinichi felt a flutter into both his chest and stomach as a delicate flush made itself home on his cheek bones. With a soft snicker to himself, he turned away from the moon and to the roof's door. Opening it, he stopped in his steps to look back to the moon. "Yep," he thought as he released a held breath. "I've got it bad."

...

Author's Note: here we have chapter 2! *facepalms oneself* like it wasn't obvious from what you have just read. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it, please feel free to leave me a comment on what you thought. The next chapter is called ''Discussing." Hope you look forward to it.

* MANY KISSES * AMCDeBurgh ^_~