A/N: This is my first Detective Conan fic, so bare with me…
Disclaimer: I don't own Detective Conan, or any of its characters.
What would I do?
"Shinichi, wait! When are you coming back?" Ran Mouri asked a boy across the telephone line.
"I…I don't know Ran, I'm on a case right now, it's pretty complicated, and-"
"You always solved a case in a couple of hours. How can it be that complicated, that you can't solve it?" she was almost yelling now.
Silence followed.
"Ran…please, trust me. This one is really hard to solve…and I…I don't know when I'll be coming back." Shinichi finished with a sadness in his voice.
It was Ran's turn to be silent now.
"I'm just worried about you." She whispered, bowing her head, and twirling the phone cord with her fingers.
"I know." The boy replied, sighing. "I have to go Ran."
Ran was silent for a moment, before she decided to say something, wiping the tears that threatened to fall down her cheeks again.
"Shinichi, promise me that you'll be careful, okay?" she said, her voice wavering slightly from her attempts not to start crying again.
"I will. Bye Ran." Shinichi replied.
"Bye."
The line broke, and Ran sighed, still holding the phone in her hands, clutching it slightly. It was so nice to hear his voice again, although he was miles and miles away from her. Little did she know, that the boy, who was supposed to be miles away, was standing in a phone booth, across the street.
Conan hung up, looking at the phone numbly. He didn't even care about his inability to reach it the way he should.
He made her sad again, and he made her cry again.
"Damn." He muttered silently, not paying attention to the man outside, who was looking at him with cocked eyebrows.
After a few moments of staring into space, he adjusted his bowtie, realizing that he should probably get out, and let that man use the phone.
He tried to smile innocently at the man, while stepping out of the phone booth. He let the man get inside, and continued down the street to the house he now called home.
He could see Ran's silhouette, sitting by the window. His expression changed into a mixture of pain and sadness, so atypical for a little boy's face.
No, not now. He wasn't in the mood for acting all cheerfully and childish, like he used to, when he was around adults or Detective boys. There were few people who knew. He could be Shinichi around them, around the professor and Ai. But he hated pretending, he hated lying, and yet, he had to pretend and he had to lie.
'To protect them…to protect her.' He told himself, but somehow, that didn't sound reassuring the way he wanted. He shook his head, putting his hands in his pockets, approaching the stairs that lead to the front door.
"I'm back." He exclaimed, putting his Conan disguise for everyone. Although, that didn't really matter, because Kogoro was snoring, sprawled on the couch with one hand on the floor, still holding a can of beer.
'Figures.' Conan thought.
Dinner was on the table, but Conan wasn't really that hungry.
'Ran.'
"Ran-neechan!" he yelled, making Kogoro stir in his nap.
'Drat.' He grimaced, praying silently, and hoping that the "Great Kogoro Mouri" doesn't wake up. He knew he would get one of those head throbbing lectures, and that he didn't need at the moment.
"Conan! Where've you been? I was worried." Ran came from the other room, looking at him with worried expression.
"Uhm, I was at professor Agasa. I forgot some books." He answered, smiling sheepishly. His facial expression changed soon, when he remembered the call, and when he saw traces of red on her cheeks, and her puffy eyes. She was worried, but at the same time, she looked like she was seeing trough him.
Conan's heart ached, and he clenched his little fists, cursing that damn Black organization for making his life a living hell. And her life, as well.
"Ran-neechan… are you okay?"
Conan's sweet voice brought her back from her trail of thoughts, and she smiled again.
"Yes, I'm just tired." She replied, and then shook her head disapprovingly, seeing a mess her father left behind. She poked him a couple of times, until he woke up. "You can't sleep here, it's too uncomfortable. Go to your room."
He grumbled, groggily looking everything around him, and then, almost falling over his own slippers, went to the room, stumbling a few times.
She started cleaning the table, when she stopped suddenly. "Conan, are you hungry? You didn't have dinner with us."
Conan put his hands behind his head, and shook his head. "Nah, I'm not hungry." He replied, and Ran looked at him suspiciously.
"Are you sure?" she asked, and he nodded.
"Okay then." She cleaned the table, holding dishes in one hand, and taking the can of beer from the floor, mumbling something.
Conan's expression saddened again. She was so strong, letting no one see her pain.
'The pain you're causing.' A small voice echoed in his mind, and he frowned unconsciously, letting his hands fall, and his shoulders slump.
She was even humming some sweet melody, washing the dishes. Conan couldn't take it anymore; he couldn't look at her anymore like this. Like everything was hunky-dory.
'It isn't!' His mind screamed at him, and when Ran turned to ask him how was school today, he was gone.
"Odd." She said aloud. "He's so strange sometimes." She added, turning her attention to the dishes in the sink.
Conan couldn't sleep. His eyes were half closed.
'Who could sleep, laying beside a drunk, snoring, great detective wannabe?'
That was the first reason. The second reason was a dark haired girl, sitting in a room nearby, looking out the window. He knew she went there again; he heard her footsteps, when she finished washing the dishes.
'Oh Ran…if only…I could do something.' He thought. But like this, he couldn't do much, not the way he wanted. He wanted to hug her, and tell her everything will be fine, that he's here, but even like that, she would be hugging Conan, not Shinichi.
His thoughts were interrupted, when he heard a soft sniffle.
'Oh no. She's crying again…Ran…'
Ran wiped away her tears, sobbing quietly in the dark room. She couldn't stop thinking of him, his voice, his words…
And damn him for not coming back! What was the deal with that case anyway? Why couldn't he at least visit her, for one single day? She's seen him once only, and even then, she saw him for a couple of minutes, and then he vanished again. Was he doing that on purpose? Doesn't he care for her anymore? Did he forget about her?
Instead of slamming her fist into something like she usually did, when he made her angry, she started sobbing again, covering her face with her hands.
"Ran-neechan?" A small, soft voice called her name, and Ran stiffened in her chair, eyes wide. She didn't know he was here, and she didn't want to cry in front of him.
"Conan," she said, quickly wiping her tears away, and putting her "neechan" mask on, "what are you doing here? Why aren't you sleeping?"
Conan was looking at her in that strange way; she noticed a couple of times. She couldn't define that look on his face. As if…as if, he was the one who was hurt, and not her.
"Why are you crying?" He asked, his voice almost cracking. "Because of…Shinichi?" he added, gulping.
Ran was taken by his words, and for a moment, she didn't know what to say to a little boy across the room.
So she just smiled bitterly, and bowed her head.
"You're really smart, you know?" she asked him in a quiet voice, looking at her resting hands on her lap.
Conan remained silent for a moment, too.
"Ran-neechan…don't be sad, please." His little voice trailed off, and Conan gritted his teeth, seeing her sob again.
He approached her, and stood in front of her, looking desperately for a solution to make her stop crying.
"He'll be back, I know he will!" he started, leaning a bit towards her.
"He said that so many times already, and he still…" she stopped, wiping her tears away again. She raised her head, and looked at the little boy, whose face was so concerned and worried, that she had to smile.
"Conan-kun…" she whispered, leaning a bit, too, hugging him firmly.
Conan's eyes widened for a second, and he didn't know how to respond.
'Hug her back, you idiot!' His mind yelled at him again, and a pair of two small and fragile hands, clasped around her neck, hugging her firmly.
"It's okay Ran-neechan." He whispered softly, his heart aching and clenching. "He will come back, you'll see." He added, stroking her hair.
"What would I do without you?" Ran said, and smiled slightly, finding a comfort in this little boy, that somehow reminded her of Shinichi in a strange, bizarre way.
Conan smiled a sad smile, resting his chin on her shoulder.
'And what would I do without you?'
The end