Detective Conan doesn't belong to me...and that's the one and only truth.

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This piece was edited, but not improved by much, on October 29, 2006.
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Beside You Always
by Shimegami-chan

AUTHOR'S NOTE: The lyrics inset are translated from Zutto Kimi no Soba de. This piece is set in the first few seasons of the show.

What a miserable night.

He huddled in the phone booth, wind whistling through the cracks between metal and glass, the cold breeze chilling the bare skin of his legs. Raising up on his tiptoes, he put a phone card in the slot and dialed a familiar number, bracing himself for the one task he both hated and loved to peform. The ringing of the phone echoed shrilly in the earpeice, once, twice...

Night brings us together
And our love is only seen by the crescent moon
I'm suddenly weightless
As your smile pulls me in
Holding me immobile
With my emotions

Three times.

"Hello, this is the Mouri detective agency."

His breath caught in his throat, his voice cracked. "Ran."

"Oh, Shinichi!"

Run away, run away, forever running
Shake, shake, my heart is shaking with this change
Challenging my feelings
Deeper, deeper, carved with love

Conan spoke into the voice-changing bowtie, trying to sound controlled. He loved it when she said his name like that, even when he could tell that she was sad. When she was angry. Hell, even when she was about to drop-kick him into the stratosphere. It wasn't the same tone she used around him day-to-day as Conan...there was a different, excited quality to her voice, that he lived to hear each time it came through the receiever of the phone. It hurt him, but at the same time, it gave him strength.

"Shinichi..." Sad, this time. Conan's heart almost broke to hear it. "Where are you? Aren't you coming back yet?"

"Sorry, Ran, I'm not even in Tokyo right now; this case is incredible. I can't get away yet. Soon--"

"That's what you always say!" Was she trying not to cry? Her voice was suddenly choked with emotion. "You're always off somewhere! Aren't I important to you at all?"

"Ran--"

"You know it's the truth, Kudo Shinichi!"

In my dreams we face each other
I look into your gentle eyes, and they tell me everything

"Conan, where have you been? It's late!"

"Eh-heh! Out with Ayumi and the others! I'm sorry, Ran-neechan...Ran...have you been crying?"

"Just a bit." Hastily she swiped the sleeve of her sweater across her face. "It's nothing."

"What--what happened?"

"The usual." Anger crept into Ran's voice and she turned her back on him, focusing intently on the stove. "Shinichi called...but we didn't talk for long."

I'm always hurting you, he thought bitterly. What's wrong with me? But out loud the only thing he could utter aloud was a plaintive "Are you okay?"

"Fine! I'm fine, Conan-kun. I shouldn't be talking to you about these things. He's a jerk anyway."

A jerk who loves you.

I can't stand it--we'll face each other again tomorrow, it's too soon
And the secret wounds you've caused will be changed in the morning

And I just can't let you go.

By your never ending smiling
Love is holding me captive

"Shinichi? Are you there?"

"Yeah. Listen, Ran--"

"Don't."

A moment of silence followed as Conan slumped against the cold glass wall of the booth. His fingers were numb in the brisk December air, the metal of the oversized glasses icy against his skin. A freezing wind blew past, chilling him to the bone, drowning out the sound of Ran's voice and his own ragged breathing.

Darkness, darkness, I can't see the way
Shine, shine, lit by the future
I head for my future

"R--Ran..."

"Yeah?" He envisioned her holding the phone in one hand, glaring at the floor. He could never tell what she was thinking during these conversations, what she did in those long moments of silence when neither of them would say a thing. Sometimes, though, he'd come home after to find half-chopped vegetables on the sink or a pot bubbling on the stove, and Ran locked away in her room, still crying.

"I never meant for this to happen. I don't want to make you cry."

"I'm not crying." Liar.

"I'm sorry anyway."

She was silent for a moment. "When are you...?"

"Soon. Soon."

Stronger, stronger, love is carving into me
Run away, run away, always running

"I miss you."

"I...miss you too, Shinichi. I guess I can wait a little longer. Just...keep calling, okay?"

"I will. I'm beside you always, Ran. Good-bye."

Shake, shake, my heart is shaking with this change
Challenging my feelings

"I'm sorry," he said to the empty air. The receiver fell upon the cradle with a loud click and he leaned against the wall of the phone booth for support, watching puffs of hot, heavy breath dissipate in the December night. He tried to tell himself that it was enough just to tell her he was all right, enough just to let her know he was thinking of her...even if she didn't believe it...

Deeper, deeper, carved with love...

"Always..."

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