Long time no see! I'm sorry I really don't have much of an excuse except that I was watching the world cup. I don't usually watch soccer but I was really drawn in since it was the final matches. Congrats to Spain for winning!

It's a really short chapter, I know because I rushed it. Blah.

Anyways guess who finally makes an appearance?

Ai-chan!

Hope I got her character done correctly. Let's pray as we read, okay? Hey don't laugh, I really want it to work out! So, go on and read – tell me what you think okay!

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Chapter 9: His Uncertainty

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan!

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Tap. Tap. Tap.

Annoyance was beginning to settle in as Vermouth thought over the events that had just occurred only moments ago.

Gin

She had been ignoring his calls for quite some time now as Vermouth was reluctant to leave the city knowing Sherry was around and about. She never did like the woman and perhaps it was because the excessive teasing around Gin never seemed to earn the slightest bit of attention when Sherry was around. Vermouth was an actress; to be ignored was a crime of its own proportions.

It was a game of cat and mouse with Sherry and the girl would always manage a slip away. It seemed Sherry was never going to take the initiation of taking Vermouth on head on. Sure there was that one incident but Vermouth had failed to kill Sherry as she just couldn't strike up the nerve to take down the one who saved her life.

The scene in New York would never go unwatched in her mind. It became an endless wave of emotion that constantly reminded Vermouth that she too had a heart hidden within the darkened corners of the organization. Such weaknesses weren't to be accepted but alas Vermouth had no choice on the matter. Her savior, Shinichi Kudo had finally arrived but luring him out again was the problem.

His sources proved unreliable and he was no closer than finding the organization from any other day. Like him, they also were capable of slipping away unnoticed. Vermouth hated getting involved in silly things but as long as she kept her hatred for Sherry in check, Gin's senses of betrayal would never cross onto her.

Gin

He was a man of intelligence and certainly one that couldn't be taken easily. Tonight's new assignment proved to be a lesson in that case. Vermouth now sat leaning back against her computer chair as she tapped her drink against the edge of the table in deep thought.

How had it come to this? She pondered as she gazed over the picture of her new assignment. Gin had ordered her to take extra precautions with this certain individual because they couldn't be trusted. Vermouth tried her best to prove their innocents but Gin paid no heed. He was convinced they were working against him in some sort of revenge plot to get back at him for what he had done.

Vermouth would have passed it on to someone else but there was no way she'd allow any other member to observe the situation further. She couldn't let Gin take away another silver bullet from her as her options proved limited now than ever before.

"Forgive me as," Vermouth whispered with a frown as she turned her drink over and allowed its contents to smear the picture's delicate image. "Your sacrifice will be needed Angel."

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"Argh!" Shinichi cried out as he ruffled his hair with his right hand. This was just so aggravating as it seemed like everyone was starting to forget his entire existence. In his left hand he now grasped yet another fan mail that was delivered to his father instead of him. It was like Kudo Shinichi really had died and was wiped off the planet in the eyes of the people. This shouldn't be bugging him. Yet it did. Every little incident had bothered him today and Shinichi knew exactly why this was happening as well.

It had been Ran, it was always Ran that managed to somehow knock him out of his usual calm demeanor. She was proving difficult. He should be happy as Ran was showing signs that she had given up on figuring out who he really was but he wasn't. Far from it.

Maybe he liked knowing she persuaded after him. It did give him hope that she still hadn't given up her feelings for him and yet now was a different story. She dropped suspicion and he dropped away from her radar almost too quickly.

Shinichi couldn't let it go. He was supposed to let it go, but he couldn't and he was going nuts because of it. He was convinced she knew as there was no doubt about it. That slip up was too much to cover up and yet it worked – somehow.

Or at least that's what she wanted him to believe.

"Argh!"

"Kudo-kun must you keep complaining? I can hardly keep up my concentration with you excessive childish behavior. It's just mail, get over it." Haibara said as she appeared at the doorway only to be snapped back at by the pint-sized detective.

"That's not what's bugging me at all Haibara." He hissed back tossing the letter back into the mountain size clutter of mail on the center of the table.

"What has Mouri-san done now?"

"Nothing," Shinichi replied with annoyance ringing in his voice. "She's done absolutely nothing wrong. In fact she's done exactly what I wanted her to do."

Shinichi jumped down from the table and moved over to where Haibara stood but was leaning on the other side of the doorway. His hands were now crossed over his chest and his expression rather agitated as he let Ran's troubled gaze wander into his mind once more. Sonoko's teases always caused Ran minor stress but the way her eyes darted to his sorrowfully made him question her knowledge of the situation all together.

"Which was?" Haibara pressed, and Shinichi grunted looking distress as he finally admitted the feeling boiling within his troubled heart.

"Give up on me." He could see Haibara's expression generally surprised by this. In fact Haibara's gaze flicked away for a moment but then returned to him, lips lined as she proceeded to smack him behind the head.

Shinichi winced as he heard Haibara call him an idiot before she turned to leave. The boy couldn't help but snicker and as he did he regretted as Haibara's eyes snapped towards him and glared at him darkly. "I was only joking." He replied, half truthful as the twinge in his heart was still there. "Ran let go of any suspicion on me again."

"Again?" Haibara questioned lowly with a darker gaze and Shinichi shrunk away cursing. He had forgotten he hadn't mentioned this morning's incident to her. Haibara was quick to return to his side, and kept that scary expression on her face as she interrogated him much like any other would have. "What could you possibly mean by again Kudo-kun?" She leaned in quite close to his face. "Don't tell you've managed to slip up again after all this time!"

Shinichi lifted his right hand and scratched it behind his head to chuckle. "Kudo," Haibara snapped angrily, "This isn't a laughing matter!" Shinichi swallowed feeling sweat rolling down his cheeks as Haibara lectured him once more on the topic just as she always did before. "Do you understand that it's enough of a hassle knowing that the organization could be watching us? Now you're girlfriend—"

"Ran doesn't know." Shinichi said firmly hushing Haibara instantly. However Haibara seemed less than convinced with that knowing stare of hers as a sign that she was bumping heads with him again. "She doesn't. I gave her a test to make sure and she didn't fall for it."

"You mean to tell me you can't tell if she knows?" Shinichi swore Haibara's voice went off a few cords there. Shinichi tried to calm her down by using his hands as a fan. She slapped his hands away a fierce look on her face. "Kudo you have to know! We cannot let her stumble into something and make it harder on us! How could you let this happen?"

"Hey," Shinichi countered heavily, "You didn't even let me finish Haibara." The petite woman shrugged.

"Is there anything else you can really say that will save our skins now? Make some kissy face with Mouri-san or something?" Shinichi immediately flushed earning a snicker from Haibara.

"I-It's not like I can with this body!" Shinichi stammered and Haibara's smirk still stood.

"That didn't stop her when you were drowning."

His voice caught and heat flushed to his face at the reminder that Ran had pressed her lips to his in order to give him air so that he could continue his efforts to free her from under the car. Haibara's chuckles did not go unheard than.

"It was an emergency." Shinichi replied quickly, licking his lips, "Besides Ran probably was thinking it wasn't a big deal at the time since Conan was merely a child in her mind at the time!"

"Oh," Haibara replied lightly as she pulled a chair over to the counter and climbed up on it to get one of the glasses from the cabinet. "I suppose your right Kudo."

"Yeah…" Shinichi noted bitterly. Then the issue at hand flashed into his mind and he in his flustered state stuttered some more once he realized Haibara was now doing this to get some revenge on him. "A-Anyways l-like I was saying," Shinichi began while sweating profusely, "R-Ran said something about wanting to leave a message and I tried to see if that she would tell me when I wasn't there."

Haibara hummed along and he closed his eyes, feeling more embarrassed knowing that Haibara was enjoying every second of seeing him in a nervous wreck. "S-so I left her a message saying she could tell me the secret, I would just be quiet and wouldn't say anything. If Ran had replied I would have then theorized that she knew it wasn't really me there. That she knew I was truly Kudo Shinichi but she hung up on that message regardless."

"And you know this how?" Haibara questioned as she set the glass on the table and reclosed the cabinet.

It was then Shinichi pulled into his pocket revealing a second phone, Conan's phone.

"Because I redirected the call to Conan's number." He could hear Haibara jumping down from the stool and the sounds of the refrigerator door opening. There was a couple of scuffles and the finally silence.

"If that's the case, why so worried Kudo-kun?" Haibara wondered as she closed the fridge now holding a bottle which contained the tea she brewed earlier.

His hands were on his chin now, and eyes still closed more heavily this time around. He thought and thought until finally he opened his eyes and said,

"Because I don't want to lose her."

"Neither do I." Haibara replied silently causing his eyes to fly towards her own glassy orbs. "Don't look at me like that." She snapped, returning to her tea. "I have my reasons for liking her Kudo. You just wouldn't understand." She laughed a bit, "Too busy sleeping on the job."

Shinichi merely tilted his head but decided against asking Haibara what she meant by it. Whatever Haibara was hiding she wouldn't tell. That's how it always was whenever it came to her thoughts on Ran.

Behind him the sounds of footsteps interrupted his thoughts. He turned, blinked, only to see Agasa standing overhead looking down at him with a panicky expression.

"Agasa?" Haibara asked, tapping her fingers against the cup. Shinichi shared the same wonderment as Agasa cleared his throat.

"Ran-kun is here."

Silence flooded the room then and it was Shinichi who decided to ask why, "She's here to see Conan-kun." Agasa replied. Shinichi glanced back at Haibara – she looked positively annoyed at hearing this new development but sighed.

"You may as well go entertain her. I'll stay in here and watch from a distance." She then turned to Agasa with a small smile, "You said you were working on a new experiment?"

Shinichi rolled his eyes and exited the room – same old Haibara. He took his leave and went off to find Ran.

"Ran-neechan?" Shinichi called as he noticed a figure glancing about in the living room. Ran jumped slightly but calmed herself as she turned to face him. He gaped as she did so.

It was almost in slow-motion as she turned because as she did, Shinichi swore he witnessed what he thought was the beauty of spring that unveiled before his eyes. Ran was wearing a short white silken dress that was covered with cherry blossoms which spread wildly throughout the dress. When their eyes met she smiled matching that of an angel. "Beautiful…" Shinichi numbly whispered and Ran chuckled as she headed over to his side to bend down and ruffle his hair.

"Thank you for that Conan-kun. I'm glad someone likes it." She said with a hint of irritation which was quickly lost when he saw the light blush running across her cheeks.

"R-Ran—R-Ran-neechan, why are you—youyou—here? "

Not that he minded after seeing here like this before him.

It was times like these that he absolutely despised being Conan.

Ran flushed a deeper red as she let out a short laugh. It was then he noticed how embarrassed she was getting. He blinked it wasn't often that he witnessed Ran's girlish side. She mostly threatened him and acted all tom-boyish when he was around as Shinichi so maybe being Conan wasn't a bad thing after all.

"Well you see," Ran paused, still laughing, "Funny thing – I thought we should go out for a picnic and spend some time together. Not that we don't already spend enough time together already…I mean—ooh…I don't know! Let's just go have some fun, just the two of us, what do you say, Conan-kun?"

Shinichi glanced back toward the kitchen and saw both Haibara and Agasa telling him to decline and then he turned his attention toward the beauty before him. Shinichi let out an aggravated sigh.

"I can't Ran-neechan, I promised to do something special with Haibara today."

"Something special…Eh?" She questioned softly earning a blink from him. He tried to see what her expression was but it was hidden behind her bangs. His heart wavered.

"Ran-neechan?" He questioned as something in his heart didn't feel right. There had always been an unsaid wavelength between him and he swore he just felt that connection snap apart. Her head snapped up and she appeared to be smiling. His heart furthermore pained. "Ran?" He questioned further dropping the formality all together.

"I'm fine Conan-kun." She replied patting his head, "Relax Conan-kun your beginning to sound just like Shinichi." Shinichi swallowed. "I'll be at the park if you need anything. I hope you have fun with whatever you two planned to do. See you later Conan-kun!"

And then she was gone with that small smile and glittering orbs. Spring had quickly turned to fall and never in his life had he felt so depressed until the minute the door closed behind her.

"Well done Kudo-kun." Haibara's voice appeared from behind. He felt Haibara's hand on his left shoulder pad, giving it a tiny comforting squeeze. "This had to be done. We can't have her questioning you any further. It could endanger us all. I'll be in my office if you need anything."

However during that whole spoken conversation Shinichi had not heard a word. It was like his senses had failed him and all he could hear was the sound of white noise as his eyes stayed glued to the door.

Ran…

Was she…?

Crying?

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To be continued!

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So, little late on the weekly update but it feels like the Conan / Shinichi point of views are the hardest to write for me. Well if your thinking what I'm thinking then I'm sure you know what's going to happen next.

Next Chapter we take a dive into Shinichi's nerves once again.

Will he go see Ran?

Or will someone beat him to her?

See you– soon - Hopefully!

Thanks for reading and reviewing!

P.S I'm REALLY sorry for mistakes – miss spelling or whatnot! I'm in a rush to post this and I'll edit the chapter after I come home from watching Toy Story 3! Again sorry if it turned out crappy! I'll make it up!

Edit: I've fixed what I've can if there's more - forgive me~

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