And so the much-hyped chapter ten comes around. Hopefully I won't let anybody down. I didn't get any response whatsoever about the last chapter, so I have absolutely no clue whether I'm doing OK or not. Although since I haven't really gotten any flames yet, I can assume I'm doing all right at least. :P

Chapter Ten

Sonoko hadn't slept much since she'd been worried about Ran. The next day, she grew even more worried when she saw how depressed Ran was. She'd seen her depressed before about Shinichi, but never this bad. Sonoko tried making conversation several times, but Ran just wasn't in the mood for talking to anyone. 'I've got to fix this,' Sonoko thought.

Her chance came later. During gym class, she stepped aside out of sight of the teacher and called Shinichi to try to make sense of what was going on. After all, she couldn't help her friend without knowing what had really happened. The phone rang several times, but nobody picked up. So when she got the option to leave a message, she took it. "Kudo-kun," she began, "I don't know if you know this or not, but Ran's been acting odd lately, and I'm really worried about her. So if something happened between you two, you'd BETTER tell me about it!" She'd started shouting at that last part, but she didn't feel bad about it in the slightest. That way Shinichi would know to come back to Ran and help her back to normal.

Sonoko didn't get a response until after school. As she was walking home with Ran and Sera, her phone rang. She took one look at the caller ID and her face blanched. "Oh, is that your boyfriend?" Sera asked curiously, noticing her reaction.

"Oh, well…" Sonoko stuttered awkwardly. With the way Ran was feeling right now, she might shut off the call if Sonoko answered the phone right there and then. She made a hasty excuse and darted down a side street before answering. "Kudo-kun?" she asked quietly, suddenly feeling nervous.

"Yeah, I got your message," said Shinichi. "What happened?"

"That's what I'm asking YOU!" Sonoko shouted. "Ran was fine until your last visit, but then she just started acting weird and depressed. You did something to her, didn't you, Kudo-kun?"

"Oi oi!" said Shinichi. "Why do you think it's my fault?"

"Because it's always you, Kudo-kun! Ran's always wondering about you, and it always makes her start crying. So just give up on your case and come home NOW! Think of your wife, Kudo-kun!"

"She's not my wife! It's not like that!" Shinichi protested. "And I can't just give up on this case I'm on. Just get Ran to answer the phone so I can talk to her."

"You don't get it, do you Kudo-kun?" Sonoko shouted. "She doesn't want to talk to you! The reason I called you is to get you to come talk to your wife in person and fix this! So do something about it and quit making excuses!"

Shinichi didn't say anything to that, like he was pondering what to say. Sonoko was pretty fed up with him by now. It was like he didn't want to show up again. Even if Ran would pick up the phone and talk to him, he needed to talk to her face to face, which he was practically insisting he wasn't going to do. So Sonoko decided to pull her trump card. If this didn't get him to get his act together and come home, nothing would.

"How about this, then, Kudo-kun?" she asked softly, trying to mask her anger. "If you don't do something to help cheer Ran up in two days, then I'm going to get her to date someone else. How's that?" Still angry, she ended the call. 'If that doesn't solve the problem, nothing will,' she thought. She may not have really approved of his and Ran's relationship, but she was willing to accept it if it meant Ran wouldn't be depressed anymore.

XXX

Haibara was busy talking with the kids when Conan caught up with them. Well, the kids were talking; Haibara was mostly just listening. He'd gotten a call from Sonoko in the middle of class, but he hadn't been able to answer until after school let out. "So? What did the rich girl want?" Haibara asked.

Conan looked panicky again. "Well, she yelled at me a lot. That was the main thing. But then she said, 'Kudo-kun, if you don't apologize to Ran in two days, I'm helping her find another guy."

"I see," said Haibara. "You want another pill so that won't happen. Well, it's not like I don't sympathize with your situation, but you've already turned back twice in the last ten days. If you keep pressing your luck like this, you're going to slip up." 'Plus I'm still mad because you forced me to give you a pill last time,' she added silently.

"C'mon Haibara," Conan begged.

Haibara tried to ignore him, but he wouldn't let up. "Kudo-kun!" she said eventually, raising her voice slightly. Luckily she caught herself before she started yelling and the kids noticed. "How about this, Kudo-kun?" she said calmly, keeping an eye on them. "You still owe me for letting you take that pill to help out that girl detective. You're not in any positions to be asking for favors." He actually was, since he'd saved her hide more than once, but she knew he wouldn't think of that. "However, I'll give you the pill if you can do me a favor."

Conan's eyes widened in surprise. "What kind of favor?"

"Oh, I don't know. You're a detective, aren't you? Why don't you think of something, meitantei-san?"

She actually did have something in mind, but with all the crap Conan was going through, she didn't feel right asking. It would've been an incredibly selfish thing to ask.

"It's Kamen Yaiba!" Genta suddenly shouted, pointing to the window of a toy store. Mitsuhiko and Ayumi ran up and pressed their faces to the glass before chatting animatedly about the toys.

'Those kids…' Haibara thought fondly. The kids might always be getting into trouble, but she wouldn't have traded her time with them for anything.

"So, Haibara," said Conan. "Were you serious about that favor?"

"Oh, did you get an idea?" she asked, smirking.

"Maybe," he said, heading into the store.

"Conan-kun!" said Ayumi in surprise. "Where are you going?" The kids quickly followed Conan inside, leaving Haibara out on the sidewalk.

'Just what are you thinking, Kudo-kun?' she thought, following them in.

She soon found out. After heading inside, she stood with the kids while Conan walked around looking at the merchandise. Then he bought four items: a bag of gummies for Genta, a science book for Mitsuhiko, a Kamen Yaiba ribbon for Ayumi, and a keychain for Haibara.

"Conan-kun?" said Mitsuhiko, looking at the book. "Why are you doing this?"

"Oh, I just felt like it," Conan lied.

'Fool,' Haibara thought, looking at the keychain. 'You just don't get it, do you?' However, she couldn't exactly say no at this point, so she wordlessly got a pill out of her bag and passed it over. 'He'd better not make me regret this,' she thought. Then she sighed inwardly. 'I'm so pathetic, aren't I?'

XXX

Shinichi had wasted no time in taking the antidote and coming back to himself. 'Wait for me, Ran,' he thought as he ran towards the detective agency. He nearly ran over Sonoko, who looked deep in thought and barely noticed him.

"Ran!" Shinichi shouted, opening the door to the office. However, Ran wasn't there. The only person who was there was Kogoro, who dropped what he was doing the instant he saw Shinichi.

"YOU," he said, getting up and approaching him. Shinichi had the urge to flee, but he couldn't bail out now if he hoped to see Ran. "Ran's been acting funny the past few days because of you. Now, you are going to go up and apologize to Ran. Now." He sounded so dangerous that Shinichi didn't dare say a word out of fear that Kogoro would think he was contradicting him. He just nodded.

Kogoro led him out of the office and up the stairs. When they reached the apartment level, they found Ran in her room staring out the window.

'Ran…' Shinichi thought sadly. "Ran, what's wrong?" he asked, trying to break the ice.

Ran turned around and stared at him, her eyes full of tears. "Shinichi…" she breathed. Then she ran and hugged him. "Oh, Shinichi!" she bawled. Kogoro didn't look happy about how close they were, but he didn't interfere. Instead he stood just outside the door, close enough to keep an eye on the situation, but far enough away that the two had a bit of privacy. "I'm sorry Shinichi," she said. "I haven't been fair to you lately. It's just that I've been having these doubts. They've been building up subconsciously for a while now, I think."

"Doubts? About what?"

Ran let him go and sat down on the bed. "About several things, actually. I feel really badly about it, too, because I know it's stupid. But I can't get them out of my head. I just can't shake the thought that either you're lying to me all the time, or Conan-kun just seems too much like you, or you have a secret girlfriend somewhere. I know, it's crazy, right?"

Shinichi didn't really know what to say. "You're not crazy, Ran. You're just over…"

"So you're saying that I'm right to doubt you?" Ran interrupted suddenly. Shinichi realized too late that by saying she wasn't crazy, he had indirectly confirmed her false suspicions. "So you are keeping secrets from me? Like a secret girlfriend somewhere?" At this point, she had gotten up off the bed and was staring at him with a look of absolute rage. He'd seen her mad at him before, but that had been more playful. The look she was giving him now was one of absolute hate.

"Uh, that's not what I…" Shinichi began, but he got interrupted again.

"GET OUT!" Ran shouted, taking in a deep breath in preparation to use her karate. Shinichi didn't want to leave, so he did his best to dodge Ran's attacks, all the while being pushed out the door. "You cheater! You liar!" Ran shouted, taking more swipes as tears started flowing down her face. She got so caught up in her emotions she didn't even realize that none of her blows were connecting.

"If you'd just let me explain…" Shinichi said, still backing up. Soon he'd been forced out of the room.

"Ran said leave, so you'd better leave," said Kogoro, who was trembling in rage. He made to grab Shinichi for a judo throw, which finally was the last straw. With both of them gunning for him, Shinichi turned and bolted. "And don't come back!" Kogoro yelled down the stairs, slamming the door.

Just to get this out of the way: I feel REALLY bad for Ran this chapter. I was actually having trouble with splitting them up because those two aren't exactly the split-up forever type. But after getting chased out, Shinichi's going to have to do a lot to get Ran to like him again. Or maybe he'll have to start with somebody else. Either route will not be easy.

Oh, and I put in the AiCon moment because I ship them normally (any other ships I write are me branching out). It doesn't distract, does it?

OK, so this story is approximately half done. In my mind, I've got it split up in four arcs of five chapters each: 1. Sera's 'boyfriend', 2. The Kidnapping/Ran's Doubts, 3. Trying to Patch Things Up, and 4. The Finale - ShinSera. For the next 'arc', I'm going to introduce a lot of new characters that haven't been seen yet. There are going to be three-five semi-recurring canon characters and two OCs. I hope you enjoy it, and let me know if there's anybody specific you want to show up.

And don't forget to leave a favorite and a review if you're enjoying this! :)