Chapter Thirteen

"Please… don't tell anyone!"

Conan was confused. "What do you mean?" he asked. "Don't tell anyone about you…?"

"Don't!" Ai exclaimed. "I… don't want anyone to know…" She blushed a little, staring down at her hands.

Conan grinned. "Oh… I see how you are… You don't want Ran-san jealous, do you?"

She glared at Conan, looking as if she would slap him, but instead sighed and nodded. "I don't want her and me fighting over something this trivial. Besides… the decision should be up to you." She had put Conan right on the spot, gazing into his bright blue eyes. "Who do you choose, me or Ran?"

Conan stammered. "Well, um…" He was shocked and didn't know what to say. "I like both of you… as friends. I've never really thought of you two as any more…"

Ai rolled her eyes, pretending not to care, but Conan knew better. Instead of going further, however, he only asked to be rolled back to bed since he couldn't walk. She complied, and he dozed off immediately.

To her dismay, Professor Agasa was awake when she pushed the wheelchair into his room. "Ah, Ai-kun! How's Shinichi doing? I noticed that he managed to sneak out, so I was growing worried…"

Ai hesitated slightly. "He, um… heard me reacting to a nightmare, so he came to check on me to make sure I was okay."

A laugh came from behind her. "Is that all?" a voice asked. "Your hesitation makes it seem like there was more to the story…" Heiji then walked in the room, grinning.

Ai flushed. "N-no, that's all that happened…" she whispered, helping Professor Agasa place Conan back in bed.

Heiji shrugged, yawning. "I'm too tired to keep interrogating… but I will ask again tomorrow, and you better have an answer!" He then went to bed, leaving Ai and the professor alone in Conan's bedroom.

"How about we talk in the living room?" Professor Agasa suggested. Ai nodded quietly, and they did so. "So… you finally told him, didn't you?" he suddenly asked.

"T-told him what?" She acted confused, but she clearly remembered: there was a night when she was very ill. She had a nightmare similar to the one recently, and she had screamed how she loved Conan.

Professor Agasa smiled serenely. "It's okay, Ai-kun," he whispered. "It's best that you told him instead of keeping it bottled up."

Ai shook her head, tears on the verge of forming. "It was horrible!" she exclaimed. "I told him I cared about him and that he shouldn't tell anyone so Ran won't be jealous… and asked who he liked more. H-he said he only liked us as friends!" She began to break down and hugged the professor. "He doesn't understand me! He probably hates me after that!"

Professor Agasa sighed, patting Ai on the back. "Shh… it's alright," he soothed, "just give Shinichi some time to think it through. It wouldn't be easy to choose from two people you love a lot, now would it? Just get some rest; I think your fever's starting to come back."

It turned out that he was right; Ai started feeling nauseous and was burning up. She curled up on the couch and closed her eyes, feeling a single tear slide down her face.

I love you, Shinichi… with all my heart.

When Conan awoke, he found that he could not move because of his trembling. He smelled coffee coming from the kitchen, showing the professor was already awake. He began to cough, but it quickly became worse when he suddenly vomited.

"Are you alright, Shinichi-kun?" Professor Agasa asked, for he had heard the coughing. He gasped as he saw the state he was in. "You must be getting worse! Wait here while I wake Haibara…"

"Wait," Conan whispered, interrupting the professor. "Did she… say anything about me last night?"

Professor Agasa smiled. "Yes," he replied, "she said that she had admitted her feelings to you, but you didn't know whether to choose her or Ran."

Conan groaned, partly because of the pneumonia and partly because of Ai. Girls were so hard to understand. "Can you… see if Hattori is awake yet?"

Professor Agasa quickly went to Heiji's room and woke him. "Shinichi needs to speak with you," he whispered. "He looks awful too, so try and be careful."

Heiji sighed, rubbing his eyes, as he sat next to Conan's bed. "What do you want, Kudou? It's like… 6 in the morning!"

Conan hesitated. "Well… could you give me some advice on girls?"

Heiji's eyes widened in shock before he burst out laughing. "That's what you wanted from me?" he exclaimed. "You want to get yourself a girl?" He sighed again, calming his laughter. "So… who's the girl?"

"T-that's the problem…" he whispered. "I know that more than one girl likes me, and I don't know which one to choose."

Heiji rolled his eyes. He knew who the girls were, but Conan already looked horrible enough, so he didn't tease him. Instead, he gave his best advice. "I can't decide the girl for you, Kudou," he said. "That decision is up to you. If you want to know how to keep both girls happy… well, I would think as long as you are happy, they are too. Just make the choice that feels right in your heart."

Conan gulped and nodded. He considered many things to do to choose, but he knew Heiji was right. He began to slowly go through the memories he's had with both girls. He knew he had spent a lot of his life with Ran, and he knew he had feelings for her for a long time. As for Ai… he didn't really have much of feelings for a while after meeting her. But, he didn't want to make her upset.

Remember Hattori's advice, he told himself. As long as I am happy, they both should be happy. Then, after another five minutes of thinking, he had finally made a choice.

"I-I know who I choose," he whispered to Heiji.

Heiji smirked. "Well, who is it? Which chick?"

Conan hesitated. "I-I choose Ran-san."

As Conan predicted, Ai did not take it well when Heiji secretly told her that afternoon while he was resting.

"He said WHAT?" she exclaimed, not trying to hide her shock in the slightest. "He chose HER over ME?!"

Heiji sighed and nodded. "I told him that since you both want him happy, the choice was up to him, and no one would be upset over it."

Ai bit her lip. "Well, I do want him happy, but…" Her voice faltered. "I guess I thought he would choose me…"

"You have to remember, Ai; Kudou and Ran-san have known each other since they were… well, your age…" He snickered a little before quickly becoming serious. "Besides, Ran already confessed her love to him a while back, so…"

"SO?" Ai cried. "I confessed to him last night… I even kissed him! He still chose her!" She began to cry and curled up in her blanket, hiding her face.

Heiji patted her on the back and came up with an idea. "Hey… I think you could try something to try and get Kudou to notice you…"

She looked up from under her blanket, sniffing and wiping away tears. "W-what?"

"Well… you could try two things, actually. One: you could take full responsibility of him while he's ill; or two: you could find an antidote to the pill."