Chapter Three

Once all of them came back together this time calm Shinichi takes a deep breath and looks each in the eye. "I am mad right now because I wanted to actually go to school and have a normal life but now I can't so thanks. So let me just say one thing….go to sleep and don't kill each other because then I will have to deal with it. I will see you guys in the morning." Shinichi walks to his room while Heiji walks to the spare room, leaving Hakuba and Kaitou in the living room each taking a couch.

After a few hours of sleep Ran lets herself in to make sure Shinichi goes to school but she is surprised when she sees Shinichi's clone and another detective asleep on the couch, just as Heiji is coming down the stairs without a shirt making her blush. Ran runs up stairs and barges into Shinichi's room to get some answers as to why there are two detectives and a civilian in his living room half naked.

Shinichi wakes up from the sound of his door opening and he looks up to see Ran and he gets up to greet her only to have Ran yell at him. He looks down only to see that he is only wearing pajama pants and shakes his head and grabs a t-shirt from his closet just to get his potential girlfriend to look at him without staring at his chest. Once he finishes, Ran looks at him then remembers why she suddenly barged inside.

"Why are Hattori-kun, Hakuba-kun, and Kuroba-kun downstairs and why does it feel like you are going to have to go on yet another case again?"

Shinichi wishes he could just lie to her and say that she is wrong but he knows that he couldn't bring himself to lie to her while he is in his original body. "A case came up and one of my allies is being blamed for a murder that only I can solve. I just found out late last night and normally wouldn't have waited to tell you but I figured you wouldn't just barge into my room like this. So I won't be going to school but you will be able to text me whenever you want and I will respond as soon as I can."

Ran tries to smile but fails miserably and Shinichi grimaces at her reaction towards his news. "I'm sorry Ran but there is nothing I can do or else I am condemning one of my friends to death or life in prison and I can't have that on my conscious."

"I know that Shinichi I just wished that I could be with you more since you always seem to disappear without me knowing and I can't stand it." Shinichi goes to Ran and hugs her tightly and tries to calm her down. "Ran I wish I could spend more time with you and if it was anybody else I would not be taking this case but" "You can't and I don't want to make you feel as if you must choose between your passion for cases and me."

Ran leaves in a hurry after she finishes speaking leaving Shinichi very confused and then gets interrupted by his friends/allies who want to know what happened with Ran and why she was crying. Shinichi slams the door shut in an attempt to collect himself without blaming the others for the cause of his and Ran's misfortunes and sorrows. Shinichi feels like punching something but knows that nothing he does will relieve the immense hatred he feels towards the people he trusts most with his biggest secret. Once he finds a place where he can almost be at peace with the world again he reopens his door and sees that only Heiji is standing there.

"Why was nee-chan so upset Kudo? Was it cause you told her that you were solving a case and couldn't spend the day with her?" Shinichi just looks at his best friend and that is all Hattori needs to understand completely. "Sorry man if I could take the case on I would but you are a lot better at this than I am."

"I know" is all Shinichi says as they head downstairs to get some breakfast before setting out on their road trip. They eat bowls of cereal and some toast just to get some sustenance before their five hour car ride. No one spoke during the entire trip lost in their own thoughts about what may happen if this case isn't solved. Kaitou ends up in jail; Hakuba would lose his best friend and someone to chase around; Heiji would lose the one person he likes be around; and Shinichi would lose his friend/ally/ cover for when Ran gets really suspicious of his real whereabouts. They get to the crime scene and Shinichi is horrified at the precise measures over how the murderer managed to frame Kaitou.