Don't mind me, nothing suspicious going on here. That would be crazy. Welcome to part 2.
Also friendly reminder that while Detective Conan takes place in a vague undefined year it's certainly not 2020 because there's no need for social distancing.

Chapter 5: Anxiety

I wake up feeling sore.

I fell asleep in the desk chair again. I suppose it can't be helped since I'm letting Conan keep using his bed. Sure, I could sleep in my parent's room since they aren't home but… somehow that would just feel wrong.

Or- I guess they're not my parents at this point, they're his- Conan's, this isn't my timeline. But for better or worse I'm here as Shinichi now, and I'm here to stay. So far no one here besides Conan has even been able to tell that I'm not this world's real Shinichi, that's good… our parents might notice if I interact with them enough, and Ran might even notice if I'm not careful. Though even if someone were to guess that I'm not Shinichi it would still be nearly impossible for them to figure out the truth, so I can always try to use things only Shinichi would know, or if that fails I can use the overwhelming power of dna and fingerprints to prove myself. That would clear it up but ideally it's best that no one comes to harbor any such doubts, once someone starts suspecting something it tends to be hard to dissuade them unless you thoroughly crush all possibility of the contrary.

Even if someone were to figure it out it's not as if I can go back to my own timeline now even if I wanted to. This was always going to be a one-way trip leaving behind all the friend's I'd made in the past ten years.

Living here was taking some getting used to.

Heiji hasn't met me yet. Kaito barely knows me, and even then it's only as an adversary. Haibara is still Shiho and only knows of me from a list of names of people who had been killed by her poison. I don't have any connections in the FBI that I can rely on right now, Akai should still be working undercover with them, and Jodie hasn't been sent to Japan yet. Sera isn't in Japan yet either. There's Agasa-hakase I suppose… but as much as I know he can be relied upon I'd rather not put him in danger if it can be helped, he's not exactly a combatant.

Well, All of that shouldn't be a problem much longer anyway. I'll get used to it, I'll meet everyone again, and form new bonds with them.

I roll my shoulders to get the soreness out. It doesn't really help but it's a change in feeling, at least I'm doing something.

As I stand up I stretch a bit more, and head to the kitchen to start preparing breakfast. I think I'll make pancakes today. Even if there are leftovers I'll just eat them later, it's not like I'm on some kind of specialized diet.

As I cook I try to firm up a plan of what to do today.

I think the trash needs to go out today before it starts to smell, it's not our usual trash day but there just happens to be a lot this week, perhaps I should double bag it in case the bag breaks. That won't take long. I can deal with it after breakfast.

What should I do after that...?

I think that today might be one of the days the organization will be dropping by to try to confirm that Kudo Shinichi is dead. I could be wrong but even so I probably shouldn't stay in the house today. But once the highschool lets out for the day Ran will probably drop by to share her notes with me… should I call her and arrange to meet up elsewhere?

I did get her that cell phone so I could call her but, what time do classes at Teitan let out again? 3? 4? 5? Can't have been 6 that's way too late. I can't just call while she's in class, and there's no guarantee that she'd check a text right away. I need to make sure she doesn't just come straight to my place after school. She has a key, it could get messy if she happens to run into a member of the organization that's there looking for me.

Maybe I can pick her up from school.

It should be safe as long as I avoid cameras, there are cameras everywhere these days but Kaito taught me a few tricks once he'd warmed up to me so it'll be fine… probably. No, no, it'll definitely be fine. Yeah, I can do this.

I can't just live my life in fear, I just need to get out there and actually live.

My efforts to change the past so far must be having some effect, I shouldn't have to worry about the organization too much anymore. Some caution is needed until the exact effects of my work can be confirmed, but hopefully I won't need to live in the shadows much longer.

Soon I'll be able to sleep in a bed, and I'll be able to go to highschool as myself. I'll be able to live my life without constantly looking over my shoulder expecting people clad in black to be lurking in every shadow just waiting for me to make a mistake.

I just need to stay calm.

I just need to do things one step at a time.

Eat breakfast. Take out the trash. Go lay low in the local park for a few hours. Pick Ran up outside the highschool… then what?

We can't go back to my place, so we'd have to go out somewhere. Would that be a date? No, no, we haven't confessed our feelings to each other yet, we'd just be hanging out as friends.

Where do high school aged friends hang out again? The mall? The beach? A park? The movies? Yeah that might be good, movie theaters are dark so I wouldn't have worry as much about the chance of being seen, I could actually relax a little. That should work, I'll take her to the movies. That won't be too much like a date, right?

Several hours later in a hooded jacket sitting by the gate of the school. I probably look a little suspicious, but it's better than showing my face when I'm trying to convince the world that I'm already dead, plus I don't think the school would appreciate me showing up after skipping for a month or so. It would have been safer to just disguise my face, but then Ran might not believe it's me.

She has no reason to believe that might be a skill I'd have… she knows mom is an actress, but she definitely hasn't seen her disguise skills and even if she had that sort of thing isn't inherited. Mom had to learn it from Kaito's dad along with Vermouth, and I learned it from Kaito in the future. As good as it'd look on an actor's resume I can't exactly say 'I learned disguise techniques from Kaitou Kid', the legal implications could be a nightmare.

But I digress… seriously when do Ran's classes end?

I don't want to be out here longer than I have to. Having this face wasn't a problem when I was in the future, this was just how Conan grew up to look and almost no one had really seen Kudo Shinichi in a long time at that point; things are different now, the organization is probably still trying to get a more solid confirmation on my death and any person on the street could be a fan of mine, if someone sees me and causes a fuss it won't be difficult for the organization to catch wind of it. I can't let people I don't implicitly trust see my face, I can't let myself be caught on cameras, I can't be noticed. I need to be careful. I need to-

Out of the corner of my eyes I catch sight of someone in all black. I try not to look directly at them, in hopes that they don't notice me. A member of the organization? I don't recognize them. Black is a fashionable color so it's not like every person wearing black is one of them, the problem is that any person wearing black could be one of them. But even if it were a member of the organization then there isn't a guarantee that they would recognize me on sight, I'm not a well known enemy yet.

As much as I want to follow them and try to check if they're up to something, I shouldn't, now really isn't the time.

"It's probably nothing anyway." I mutter to myself. Trying to calm my nerves.

I let them disappear from my view and before long I catch sight of Ran and wave at her.

"Hey Ran."

It's almost strange how quickly I've adapted to not tacking '-neechan' on the end of her name every time. I guess I was only doing it for ten years and I got to talk to her as Shinichi every now and then during that time so maybe it's not that weird that I adjusted quickly.

"Shinichi?" She jumps a little in surprise.

"Shh… Don't say my name so loud, I'm still trying to lay low."

"Sorry, sorry… but… why are you here then? Shouldn't you be… I don't know- off doing detective things?"

We start up a pace walking away from the school gates.

"It's important for mental health to take breaks every now and then so I thought it might be nice to hang out with you…" Somewhat shyly I smile, "If you'd like."

She blushes slightly and shakes her head, "What about Conan-kun?"

Right, of course she'd be worried about him. She's still convinced he's a kid that's just a bit smarter than average, but in truth Conan needs less care than Kogoro does.

Without missing a beat I responded with a complete lie, "He'll be fine, I already called someone to watch over him. Someone that knows about the details of his case and can be trusted."

"Oh… how is that case with him going anyway?"

"It's going well, I think I might be able to send him back to his family soon." Hopefully it won't look too sudden, but to be fair he'd already been Conan for longer than my original plan called for.

She blinks, "Oh… his friends are going to be so disappointed that he's leaving…"

Impulsively, I lie,"If I can I'll see about throwing a going-away party for him, when the time comes… but for today at least I was hoping you and I could go see a movie."

"Hmm, if we're going to the movies you could have invited Conan to come with us you know?"

"Yeah… but I wanted it to be just the two of us… like a date."

The thought crosses my mind that she's a full teen years younger than me, and that some would consider me a creep for still being interested in her… but I've held on to these feelings this long, it's a bit late to give up now.

"A… date?" Surprised, Ran's school bag falls out of her hand, but with her reflexes it's an easy feat to catch it.

"If you would rather it just be as friends then that's fine too but… Ran you're important to me, more so than any mystery I could solve, and if you don't mind, then I'd like to be your boyfriend." I try to speak calmly but there's definitely a stutter in my words somewhere, and my heart feels like it's trying to jump out of my chest even without me having to take my APTX antidote.

She's the most important thing. As long as she's safe, as long as she's okay, as long as she doesn't know what I've had to do to get this far… it doesn't matter who the enemy is, it doesn't matter what risks I have to take to stop them. Even if I have to get my hands a bit dirtier than I might like to.

The organization is already no longer a threat. I succeeded. I took care of it.

The second that thought drifts through my brain my head hurts.

"Shinichi… I… I don't know what to say… I…" She's blushing, she looks so cute it almost makes me feel sorry for springing this on her out of nowhere like this. She looks away a little, "Can I maybe… give you an answer to that later… and keep being friends for now?"

"Sure take all the time you need, I'll be waiting." I'll wait as long as I have to.

Ten years is nothing. I'd wait one hundred years for Ran if I had to. I'll keep waiting, she's worth it.

"Thanks…"

I reach out a hand as we keep walking, "Even if it's just as friends, can we hold hands?"

"What brought this on all of a sudden?"

"To be honest… I got a bit jealous when I saw you holding Conan's hand the other day and well…" It's embarrassing to admit but it's true. Maybe she'll be able to appreciate that I'm trying to be honest with my feelings at least even if there are other things I have to lie about.

"He's just a kid." She takes my hand anyway with a giggle.

"Yeah…" I chuckle a bit.

It'll probably be a bit awkward for a while, but we can still talk, we can still laugh, eventually she'll give me her answer.

Life will go on, it always does.