Fresh crisp air, wispy clouds. Flowerpots overflowing, and cascading with a myriad of petals. Lovely soft shades of blue flowers, complementing the yellow it grows besides. Natural scenery is something to be admired. It never bores, for it always changes. The air; always a new breeze. Clouds; never sitting still. And flowers whose life comes, just as quickly as it goes.

Yet on such a lovely evening, I enter the Detective Agency in which Ran lives, and find her dear old man very near the edge of a drunken stupor.

"Who're you?" Kogoro slurred his question to me.

"Old man... it's me, Keiko." His unfocused stare warded me from seriously attempting to remind him. "I'm Ran's friend..."

Ran dropped the groceries—specifically the milk—slamming it hard against the tabletop, and jarring our attentions. Already spooked, I stepped aside as she stormed up to her father, swiping up a trail of empty beer cans as she did.

"Dad!" She yelled. "All I ask is that you try to keep this place clean! Maybe then we would get clients!"

"Not likely." Kogoro hiccuped. "Your little detective friend steals 'em all."

"Shinichi doesn't steal cases," I butted in. "The cases flock to him for his ability to notice what others cannot."

"Hmph, how would you know?" He glared at me. "Also, why are you in my home?!"

"Sober up already, Dad, this is Keiko!" Ran clenched her fist, withholding her full rage. "I invited her to have dinner with us."

Kogoro scoffed then focused on me. "Alright, fine, Keiko. Since you're a guest, don't make a mess." He chuckled giddily, "heheh, I'm a poet and didn't know it."

What I remember after that is only the end result. Ran's hand pressing Kogoro's head against the desk. Somewhere in the middle; a loud bang.

Then with all my nerves in disarray, Ran smiled. "He just needs to sleep it off."

All too quickly I nodded in agreement. Then Ran went to tidy more of the mess, anger somehow returning as she did, so I stopped her.

"R-Ran? If it would help, I could clean up while you cook."

"It would." Relief washed over her. "Thanks!"

That night; after cleaning and eating, and—in the case of Kogoro—drinking. Ran rolled out a guest futon for me on the ground beside her bed. We tossed a goodnight back and forth. Then a metronome of ticks from some nearby clock filled the air. I began to wonder if this would be my first night at a friend's home devoid of any tête-à-tête before bed. Until Ran leaned over the side of her mattress, hands folded beneath her head as a pillow.

"Sorry you had to witness that earlier... It's times like these that I wish my Dad would take his job seriously. If he focused more on work and spent less time drinking..." A worrisome expression flashed across her face, she quickly masked it with a smile. "That might be asking for a miracle..."

"No way," I countered, "Despite how he acts, you've turned out fine. Continue to influence him with your good habits, I think he'll change. Ya know, at least stop drinking as often."

"Thanks," she chuckled. "Or I could find better places to hide his beer." Then her smile widened. "That reminds me, Shinichi promised to pay for a day at Tropical Land if I win the Metropolitan Karate Tournament."

I laughed. "There's no if about it, that day is set in stone." Then raised a brow. "Tropical Land though? The amusement park?"

"You've never been?" She couldn't hide the surprise in her voice. "You should come with us!" Suddenly, a rather impish look settled on her features. "He'd be more than happy to pay for you as well."

"Ya think so?" I anxiously scratched my cheek. "When is it?"

Ran collapsed back into bed. "Now that I think about it, the Tournament itself isn't until December. Sorry for getting your hopes up."

"That's alright, it's something to look forward to. Although, while we're on the topic, there's an annual Track Tournament for anyone willing to compete." I squirmed excitedly under the covers. "I want to hone my skills to win it!"

"That involves challenging the quickest of each city. Why not try a more local competition?"

My eyes darted about the room. "A Tournament is the best against the best. I kinda figured if I won, maybe it would give me enough courage to um... confess s-somethin' to... someone..."

"No way!" Ran giggled into her palm. "To Shinichi, you're going to say something like that?!"

I nervously folded the covers back and forth.

"You are! What words of love will fly through the air?" Ran eagerly leaned closer. "Can I watch?"

"N-no! Besides, what if he wants to stay friends?"

Ran shook her head, laughing, "go to bed."

Overall votes concluded that class 2-A and 2-B would collectively assemble a haunted house; dubbed Two Terror by the representatives... On a scale of 1 to Agasa, this is so cliché... even for school.

"Guess what?" I threw the rhetoric out then announced, "I signed up for Track! I went in this morning, and they told me it'll be official once the festival ends."

"You didn't give us time to guess," Shinichi playfully commented. "Well, congratulations, Keiko."

"I assumed you finally decided to join group therapy." Sonoko shrugged. "Guess my guess was way off."

I lunged to shove her, yet she caught my hands. We pushed off each other palms, neither relenting, as the force increased.

"Is that so?" my voice oozed with sarcasm. "Maybe it's time we brought up your dietary habits?"

"No, I have noticed a little flab in your thighs, seeing as you've joined Track, you must see it too. I'm glad."

Shinichi pushed us apart. "Ladies..." He dropped markers into our hands. "Work."

Oh, yeah. Our little group had been assigned the task of creating the 'Two Terror' sign.

I knelt down to return to our job of scribbling in the letters when a marker plopped down before me; Sonoko's. I looked up to give her a dirty look, yet she had already meandered to another group, asking if they needed help instead of aiding her own group.

"Ugh," Shinichi topped his marker with a sour expression. "This marker stinks."

I seized his hand and took an inquiring whiff. "Scented markers?" My eyes gleamed mischievously. "Ya know, I would keep using it just to annoy someone."

Shinichi rolled his eyes, "Someone?"

"Someone... Some girl... Sonoko. Specifics, specifics."

He ruffled my hair. "Behave." And left to replace his utensil.

"Hey."

Peeking over the crease of my arm, my eyes lazily wandered up to meet Shinichi hovering curiously above. "Huh?" A jaw popping yawn overcame me.

"You made a weird mark." He pointed to a long red streak across the O I was previously shading in.

"Aw..." The mistake matched the color in my hand. "I must've dozed off..."

"Did you get any sleep last night?"

"Donno... But I do remember Sherlock needed us to chase mice in order to solve a case. Then Watson tried to burn a tennis ball for some experiment, and I was like; yeah, business as usual."

"...you should find some white-out."

"I should find some white-out." I nodded diligently.

However, when I returned with said item, Shinichi had disappeared. I resumed coloring when the tip of something black caught my attention. Before I could register the object, a cats meow sent me reeling all the way across the room. At which point, I could see—in Shinichi's hands—was a ceramic cat. Thank goodness instead of laughing, he seemed genuinely shocked.

"I- I knew it."

I spoke through gritted teeth. "If ya knew it, then why'd ya do it?!"

"Never mind me. Why are you so frightened by cats?"

"That's because—! ...Because..." The suddenly vigilant ears in the room gave me cause for pause. "I'll tell ya later..."

Shinichi tossed the cat with a medley of other decorations, asking as we resumed our task, "would an actual cat bring you to tears?"

I shook my fist at him, stating flatly, "yer asking for it."

Yet he laughed. "Ooh, that's new. You're always in such high spirits, seeing you project any other emotion is rare." He bumped shoulders with me. "Being happy all the time; that's just begging me to mess with you."

"Is that what you think...?" My frown deepened as I scribbled in the R. "More often than not I can be quite a bundle of negativity. It's not rare. And of anyone in my life, I've somehow managed to show you a multitude of emotions despite my best efforts to hide them." A smile crept across my face while recounting the memories. "The thing is, the majority of our time together; I'm happy. You're a light in the dark, and when standing in illumination, shadows cannot come near. Being with you brings out all my good thoughts, I'll even forget I was in a bad mood, ya know."

Shinichi's cheeks built up to a lovely crimson, however when he noticed that I had been staring, he reached forward and drew a large orange swirl on my cheek.

He blinked at me, then his marker. "I'm not sure why I did that..."

After drawing two red marks across his nose, my response was, "me neither."

"Keiko!" Two girls, Tashiro and Hidaka, came leisurely down the hall.

"Phone call for you in the main office," Tashiro pointed over her shoulder.

"Was your Mom," Hidaka went on. "Said to pass on a message; It I looks like rain, find an umbrella."

"Is that so?" My voice wavered. "Guess I should call back." I planned to walk, but soon tripped. After I caught myself the momentum propelled me into a full run.

Through the window, Shinichi gazed at a clear blue sky. "...odd."