Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Detective Conan. All characters belong to Gosho
Aoyama.
Chapter 1: Good-bye
"I told you that I don't know, so please stop asking me!" the young girl repeated again.
"You have to know. Time is running out, Ai. I know you've got to have something. For heaven's sakes, it's been 3 years!!!!" Conan's face was red from yelling. "Why are you keeping me from turning back into Kudo Shinichi?"
"What? No, I'm not. Really, Kudo." Ai held up her hands. "I would never do that."
"How can I trust you? Last time you used the wine with that cold pill* to make me turn back. How can you not get information off that? It worked for quite a while didn't it?" Conan sighed. "Is it really hopeless?" he asked softly as he plopped down on the sofa.
"I've tried, Kudo. I still can't find the antidote that will last. I'm sorry." Ai sat down next to Conan. "I'm really sorry."
"It's alright. I'm sorry I yelled and lost my temper. I'm just having a bad day."
"Hey it's alright. I know that I can't be much of a support, but I just want to let you know that if you need help, I'll be here."
"Sorry, but there's really not much you can do for me anymore." Conan stood up and walked over to the window facing his house next door. "Good-bye, Kudo Shinichi, high school detective," he whispered. Ai looked toward the boy. He's almost ten now, well, twenty if he were still Kudo. He's suffered so much because of me. He lost Ran; he lost the girl that meant the most to him. Why the hell did I even make that stupid drug anyways? Ai got off the sofa and walked over to Conan. She put her hand on his shoulder. "Kudo-"
"Haibara, can I ask you one last favor?" Huh? Ai thought.
"Uhh, sure."
"Can you make me one of those 24-hour antidotes?" He turned to look at her. He looked straight into her eyes. "This will be last time."
"Okay. But what are you going to use it for?"
"Nothing much." He walked past her and headed for the door. While putting on his shoes, he said, "Thanks." Then he grabbed his school bag and skateboard and left. Ai stood there, watching him leave. She had a feeling that after this, she would never see Shinichi again.
"Ran-neechan, I'm home."
"Oh, Conan, you're home." Ran came strolling out of the kitchen, smiling down at the young boy. "You wanna know what I made for dinner?"
"...." Conan dropped his backpack on the sofa without replying.
"Are you alright, Conan? You look very.pale." Ran came over, bent down and felt his forehead. Conan pushed her hand away. "I'm fine. I'm not hungry. I'm going upstairs to do my homework." He grabbed his backpack and ran out the door. "Wait," but Conan was already gone. "What's wrong?" Ran had a worried expression on her face. "I'll go see him later." She walked back to the kitchen to finish preparing dinner for herself, and her father.
"What's wrong with me?" Conan thought as he lay on the mat by Kogoro's bed. "I'm treating her like an enemy. Jees, and I love her too." Conan took off his oversized glasses and placed on the floor next to him. I have to say good-bye sooner or later. Might as well get it over with earlier, he thought to himself. Conan got up and fished up the cell phone in his backpack. He dialed an all too familiar number. He had called this number three times today. They picked up on the first ring.
"Kudo residence."
"Mom."
"Ehh, Shinichi? What's the news? You've called three times already. OH, I'm sorry I wasn't home. Your father had some work to do, and I went with him. Oh Shinichi, did you know that your father will have another book published next month and-" "That's nice, Mom. But I have something more important than that right now." Conan could tell there was strain in his voice. "Oh, Shinichi dear. What's wrong? You sound very sad." "It's like this, Mom. I know this may be kind of difficult in such a short amount of time, but I really need this." Conan took a deep breath. "I've decided that I'm going to.."
"Hagase? Hagase? Umm, I need to talk to you. Could you -" Ai wandered around the house. "Oh, there you are." The professor was sitting in front of the computer, chatting with some buddies.
"Yes, Ai-kun? You need something?" He tore his gaze from the screen to the young red haired girl in front of him. "You've been in the basement since Shinichi left. You want something to eat?"
"No, it's alright." Ai held up a small capsule. "Shinichi asked me for one of the 24 hour antidotes today. I made one so I think you should give it him."
"But shouldn't you give it to him yourself?"
"Well, I'm kind of tired right now. I wanted to go to bed now. It is ten o' clock." As if. You really think a twenty one year old adult would want to go to bed at ten? Ai thought to herself.
"Oh, well, okay," Hagase said as he glanced at the time on his computer screen. "I'll call him and have him come over. You going to take a bath?"
"Yeah." Ai walked away.
Ten minutes later, Conan was ringing the door bell to his next door neighbor. The professor opened the door and ushered the young boy in. He held out the capsule and said, "Ai wanted me to give this to you. It's the antidote for 24 hours. She didn't want to give it to you herself." Hagase pointed to the bathroom. "You going to wait for her?"
"Sorry, no. I can't. Tell her thanks. Thanks to you, Hagase, too. Bye!" Conan reached up, grabbed the pill, stuffed it into a pocket, and ran out of the door with his skateboard. He was out of sight before Hagase could say "Wait".
Shinichi was nearing the detective agency when the cell phone in his pocket rang. He got it out before the last ring.
"Hello?"
"Shinichi-kun, it's me. I've made all the arrangements," Yukiko said. "You sure about this, Shinichi?"
"Yes. Did you tell Dad?"
"Yeah, he's going to send a cab tomorrow night at 8. Is that okay with you?"
"Yeah, cool. Can you call Hagase and Hattori for me? I know I was just at Hagase's house, but I couldn't say it."
There was slight pause and a sigh. "Alright Shinichi. I guess it's best for you."
"Thanks, Mom, bye." He hung up and walked up the stairs to the agency. He was Kudo Shinichi for 24 hours. He had 24 hours with Ran. Shinichi knocked on the door.
"I'm coming," answered the familiar female voice he loved.
The door opened slightly. "Oh my Gosh, Shinichi!" Ran gasped. She threw open the door and rushed out to hug him. Holding him in a strong embrace, Ran said, "Shinichi, I missed you." Letting go of her childhood friend, Ran said, "Where were you? You were gone for three years. I've almost given up on you and thought you were dead."
"Ran, let me explain."
"Come on in first." Ran led Shinichi into the brightly lit room. "My dad's asleep so don't worry."
"Your dad's asleep already?"
"Hey, well he was half drunk and it's past eleven."
"Oh, right." Shinichi had forgotten that he had taken an extra trip to somewhere.
"Shinichi." Ran had tears in her eyes, they were running down her face.
"Are you going to stay?"
"Ran, why do ask that?" The moment he said that he realized the answer. "Because I left you without a good-bye last time, right?"
Ran nodded and said, "I never told you before, but when you were gone, it made realize something important. I.I love you, Shinichi. Aisteru." Ran smiled.
"I..Ran, I love you too. He leaned over the table and held Ran's face in his hands. He kissed her.
As the couple drew apart, Shinichi pulled out a silver ring with a gold star in the middle and got down on his knee.
"Will you marry this idiot you've known since grade school?" He grinned.
Ran smiled with a special gleam in her eyes. "Of course."
The next morning, Ran woke up on the sofa with the jacket Shinichi had worn yesterday on top of her. Where's Shinichi? She wondered. Then she noticed the note on her cell phone.
Hey Ran, I went out to get some breakfast. I'll be back in about thirty minutes.
-Kudo Shinichi-
07:09 am, Saturday, January 5th
Ran grinned. She checked her watch. Seven-forty. Shinichi will be back soon.. As she walked upstairs to change, she heard her father get up.
"Good morning, Dad."
"Uh, um, huh." Kogoro walked into the bathroom grouchily.
Ran finished changing and went downstairs to wait for Shinichi. Seeing that Shinichi had not come back, she walked across the street and bought a newspaper. She almost dropped the paper when she read the headlines and the two rows of fine print words immediately below it. "Oh, shit." Ran raced off to the police department as soon as her eyes told her the words said, "one victim was wearing a silver ring with a gold star".
"Anybody? Hello??" Ran wandered through the office. There didn't seem to be anyone in the department.
"Hey, it's Ran-kun." Satou and Takagi was walking down the hallway. "What brings you here?" Satou asked.
"Umm, have you guys read the news?" Ran's voice was shaking.
"Yeah, of course. You mean the accident?"
Ran nodded.
"Sure, it was pretty sad. It just happened about thirty minutes ago. Takagi and I checked both victims' cars and found out that one was a young teenager, probably your age, Ran. The other was a drunk old man. I wonder why he was drunk and driving in the broad daylight. Unfortunately for the boy, I guess he turned a corner and didn't have enough time to stop." Satou sighed and then turned her gaze from Ran's worried face to Takagi and back again. "Is something wrong?"
"The newspaper does say that the young teenager was wearing a ring, doesn't it?"
"Why yes. Judging from the body, it looked a lot like Kudo-kun, but half the face was burned so we can't who it is exactly. One his left hand, there was a ring with a star on it. Looks like he just got married." Satou gasped. "Oh my god, oh my god. Oh SHIT SHIT SHIT!"
"Whoa, Satou. You okay?" Takagi was surprised by Satou's sudden outburst.
Satou brought her gaze to Ran's face. "It really is him, isn't it?"
"Wait, what are you talking about...oh.." Takagi saw the ring on Ran's finger.
Ran started to sob. "It's not fair. He came back yesterday and now today he's, he's.." Sobs drowned out Ran's last words.
There was funeral for Kudo Shinichi a few days later. Ran had finally stopped crying but if you could tell that she could start any second. A few days after the funeral, Conan showed up at the agency.
"Conan, where were you for the past week?"
"I stayed at Hagase's house." He was more pale than he was the last time she had seen him.
"You know don't you?"
Conan nodded.
"You want to come in?"
He nodded again. Ran took Conan's hand and led him upstairs to her room. There, she shut the door and sat on the bed.
"I'm sorry." They said at the same time.
"He was your distant relative, Conan. You barely had a chance to meet him. I just wish he hadn't gone out that morning."
"You loved him, Ran-neechan. You only saw him for a few hours." Conan looked out the window. I'm sorry, Ran. It was trick to make Kudo Shinichi disappear from this world forever. I had Mom and Dad help me pull it off. I'm really sorry. Conan looked at Ran. She was sad enough, but would his one last heart-breaking news do any more damage. He had no choice. "Ran- neechan, I have some bad news."
Ran looked up, startled.
"I'm leaving with my parents for America tonight."
Ran gasped. "But you..you just came back."
"I came back to get my things and to tell you." The ten year ago boy looked straight into her eyes. "I'm sorry." He looked away. "I better get my things." He turned to leave and then paused. He turned back with a look of sadness Ran could not describe. "Good-bye, Ran-neechan, and thank you." With that, he ran from the room and left Ran there, paralyzed and numb.
Ran's tears began to flow again. It's painful for him too......But why? Why does he have to leave? He used to comfort me and he's been a sort of replacement for Shinichi the past 3 years. I thought maybe with him back at my side, maybe, maybe I could get over my past easier, but now, even he has to leave. Ran threw herself down on her bed and began to sob. She cried so hard she ran out of tears.
~to be continued~ So, like I said, this is my first story and I really don't know how to write good stories yet. I hope someone will review and give me some feedback to improve. The formatting is kind of weird when it shows up on fanfiction.net, but it looks fine in the document. I'll try to fix it. Thanks and I'll try to update as quickly as possible. ^^
*It's in the seventh movie, The Crossroad in the Ancient Capital. Conan turns back into Shinichi to help Heiji.
Chapter 1: Good-bye
"I told you that I don't know, so please stop asking me!" the young girl repeated again.
"You have to know. Time is running out, Ai. I know you've got to have something. For heaven's sakes, it's been 3 years!!!!" Conan's face was red from yelling. "Why are you keeping me from turning back into Kudo Shinichi?"
"What? No, I'm not. Really, Kudo." Ai held up her hands. "I would never do that."
"How can I trust you? Last time you used the wine with that cold pill* to make me turn back. How can you not get information off that? It worked for quite a while didn't it?" Conan sighed. "Is it really hopeless?" he asked softly as he plopped down on the sofa.
"I've tried, Kudo. I still can't find the antidote that will last. I'm sorry." Ai sat down next to Conan. "I'm really sorry."
"It's alright. I'm sorry I yelled and lost my temper. I'm just having a bad day."
"Hey it's alright. I know that I can't be much of a support, but I just want to let you know that if you need help, I'll be here."
"Sorry, but there's really not much you can do for me anymore." Conan stood up and walked over to the window facing his house next door. "Good-bye, Kudo Shinichi, high school detective," he whispered. Ai looked toward the boy. He's almost ten now, well, twenty if he were still Kudo. He's suffered so much because of me. He lost Ran; he lost the girl that meant the most to him. Why the hell did I even make that stupid drug anyways? Ai got off the sofa and walked over to Conan. She put her hand on his shoulder. "Kudo-"
"Haibara, can I ask you one last favor?" Huh? Ai thought.
"Uhh, sure."
"Can you make me one of those 24-hour antidotes?" He turned to look at her. He looked straight into her eyes. "This will be last time."
"Okay. But what are you going to use it for?"
"Nothing much." He walked past her and headed for the door. While putting on his shoes, he said, "Thanks." Then he grabbed his school bag and skateboard and left. Ai stood there, watching him leave. She had a feeling that after this, she would never see Shinichi again.
"Ran-neechan, I'm home."
"Oh, Conan, you're home." Ran came strolling out of the kitchen, smiling down at the young boy. "You wanna know what I made for dinner?"
"...." Conan dropped his backpack on the sofa without replying.
"Are you alright, Conan? You look very.pale." Ran came over, bent down and felt his forehead. Conan pushed her hand away. "I'm fine. I'm not hungry. I'm going upstairs to do my homework." He grabbed his backpack and ran out the door. "Wait," but Conan was already gone. "What's wrong?" Ran had a worried expression on her face. "I'll go see him later." She walked back to the kitchen to finish preparing dinner for herself, and her father.
"What's wrong with me?" Conan thought as he lay on the mat by Kogoro's bed. "I'm treating her like an enemy. Jees, and I love her too." Conan took off his oversized glasses and placed on the floor next to him. I have to say good-bye sooner or later. Might as well get it over with earlier, he thought to himself. Conan got up and fished up the cell phone in his backpack. He dialed an all too familiar number. He had called this number three times today. They picked up on the first ring.
"Kudo residence."
"Mom."
"Ehh, Shinichi? What's the news? You've called three times already. OH, I'm sorry I wasn't home. Your father had some work to do, and I went with him. Oh Shinichi, did you know that your father will have another book published next month and-" "That's nice, Mom. But I have something more important than that right now." Conan could tell there was strain in his voice. "Oh, Shinichi dear. What's wrong? You sound very sad." "It's like this, Mom. I know this may be kind of difficult in such a short amount of time, but I really need this." Conan took a deep breath. "I've decided that I'm going to.."
"Hagase? Hagase? Umm, I need to talk to you. Could you -" Ai wandered around the house. "Oh, there you are." The professor was sitting in front of the computer, chatting with some buddies.
"Yes, Ai-kun? You need something?" He tore his gaze from the screen to the young red haired girl in front of him. "You've been in the basement since Shinichi left. You want something to eat?"
"No, it's alright." Ai held up a small capsule. "Shinichi asked me for one of the 24 hour antidotes today. I made one so I think you should give it him."
"But shouldn't you give it to him yourself?"
"Well, I'm kind of tired right now. I wanted to go to bed now. It is ten o' clock." As if. You really think a twenty one year old adult would want to go to bed at ten? Ai thought to herself.
"Oh, well, okay," Hagase said as he glanced at the time on his computer screen. "I'll call him and have him come over. You going to take a bath?"
"Yeah." Ai walked away.
Ten minutes later, Conan was ringing the door bell to his next door neighbor. The professor opened the door and ushered the young boy in. He held out the capsule and said, "Ai wanted me to give this to you. It's the antidote for 24 hours. She didn't want to give it to you herself." Hagase pointed to the bathroom. "You going to wait for her?"
"Sorry, no. I can't. Tell her thanks. Thanks to you, Hagase, too. Bye!" Conan reached up, grabbed the pill, stuffed it into a pocket, and ran out of the door with his skateboard. He was out of sight before Hagase could say "Wait".
Shinichi was nearing the detective agency when the cell phone in his pocket rang. He got it out before the last ring.
"Hello?"
"Shinichi-kun, it's me. I've made all the arrangements," Yukiko said. "You sure about this, Shinichi?"
"Yes. Did you tell Dad?"
"Yeah, he's going to send a cab tomorrow night at 8. Is that okay with you?"
"Yeah, cool. Can you call Hagase and Hattori for me? I know I was just at Hagase's house, but I couldn't say it."
There was slight pause and a sigh. "Alright Shinichi. I guess it's best for you."
"Thanks, Mom, bye." He hung up and walked up the stairs to the agency. He was Kudo Shinichi for 24 hours. He had 24 hours with Ran. Shinichi knocked on the door.
"I'm coming," answered the familiar female voice he loved.
The door opened slightly. "Oh my Gosh, Shinichi!" Ran gasped. She threw open the door and rushed out to hug him. Holding him in a strong embrace, Ran said, "Shinichi, I missed you." Letting go of her childhood friend, Ran said, "Where were you? You were gone for three years. I've almost given up on you and thought you were dead."
"Ran, let me explain."
"Come on in first." Ran led Shinichi into the brightly lit room. "My dad's asleep so don't worry."
"Your dad's asleep already?"
"Hey, well he was half drunk and it's past eleven."
"Oh, right." Shinichi had forgotten that he had taken an extra trip to somewhere.
"Shinichi." Ran had tears in her eyes, they were running down her face.
"Are you going to stay?"
"Ran, why do ask that?" The moment he said that he realized the answer. "Because I left you without a good-bye last time, right?"
Ran nodded and said, "I never told you before, but when you were gone, it made realize something important. I.I love you, Shinichi. Aisteru." Ran smiled.
"I..Ran, I love you too. He leaned over the table and held Ran's face in his hands. He kissed her.
As the couple drew apart, Shinichi pulled out a silver ring with a gold star in the middle and got down on his knee.
"Will you marry this idiot you've known since grade school?" He grinned.
Ran smiled with a special gleam in her eyes. "Of course."
The next morning, Ran woke up on the sofa with the jacket Shinichi had worn yesterday on top of her. Where's Shinichi? She wondered. Then she noticed the note on her cell phone.
Hey Ran, I went out to get some breakfast. I'll be back in about thirty minutes.
-Kudo Shinichi-
07:09 am, Saturday, January 5th
Ran grinned. She checked her watch. Seven-forty. Shinichi will be back soon.. As she walked upstairs to change, she heard her father get up.
"Good morning, Dad."
"Uh, um, huh." Kogoro walked into the bathroom grouchily.
Ran finished changing and went downstairs to wait for Shinichi. Seeing that Shinichi had not come back, she walked across the street and bought a newspaper. She almost dropped the paper when she read the headlines and the two rows of fine print words immediately below it. "Oh, shit." Ran raced off to the police department as soon as her eyes told her the words said, "one victim was wearing a silver ring with a gold star".
"Anybody? Hello??" Ran wandered through the office. There didn't seem to be anyone in the department.
"Hey, it's Ran-kun." Satou and Takagi was walking down the hallway. "What brings you here?" Satou asked.
"Umm, have you guys read the news?" Ran's voice was shaking.
"Yeah, of course. You mean the accident?"
Ran nodded.
"Sure, it was pretty sad. It just happened about thirty minutes ago. Takagi and I checked both victims' cars and found out that one was a young teenager, probably your age, Ran. The other was a drunk old man. I wonder why he was drunk and driving in the broad daylight. Unfortunately for the boy, I guess he turned a corner and didn't have enough time to stop." Satou sighed and then turned her gaze from Ran's worried face to Takagi and back again. "Is something wrong?"
"The newspaper does say that the young teenager was wearing a ring, doesn't it?"
"Why yes. Judging from the body, it looked a lot like Kudo-kun, but half the face was burned so we can't who it is exactly. One his left hand, there was a ring with a star on it. Looks like he just got married." Satou gasped. "Oh my god, oh my god. Oh SHIT SHIT SHIT!"
"Whoa, Satou. You okay?" Takagi was surprised by Satou's sudden outburst.
Satou brought her gaze to Ran's face. "It really is him, isn't it?"
"Wait, what are you talking about...oh.." Takagi saw the ring on Ran's finger.
Ran started to sob. "It's not fair. He came back yesterday and now today he's, he's.." Sobs drowned out Ran's last words.
There was funeral for Kudo Shinichi a few days later. Ran had finally stopped crying but if you could tell that she could start any second. A few days after the funeral, Conan showed up at the agency.
"Conan, where were you for the past week?"
"I stayed at Hagase's house." He was more pale than he was the last time she had seen him.
"You know don't you?"
Conan nodded.
"You want to come in?"
He nodded again. Ran took Conan's hand and led him upstairs to her room. There, she shut the door and sat on the bed.
"I'm sorry." They said at the same time.
"He was your distant relative, Conan. You barely had a chance to meet him. I just wish he hadn't gone out that morning."
"You loved him, Ran-neechan. You only saw him for a few hours." Conan looked out the window. I'm sorry, Ran. It was trick to make Kudo Shinichi disappear from this world forever. I had Mom and Dad help me pull it off. I'm really sorry. Conan looked at Ran. She was sad enough, but would his one last heart-breaking news do any more damage. He had no choice. "Ran- neechan, I have some bad news."
Ran looked up, startled.
"I'm leaving with my parents for America tonight."
Ran gasped. "But you..you just came back."
"I came back to get my things and to tell you." The ten year ago boy looked straight into her eyes. "I'm sorry." He looked away. "I better get my things." He turned to leave and then paused. He turned back with a look of sadness Ran could not describe. "Good-bye, Ran-neechan, and thank you." With that, he ran from the room and left Ran there, paralyzed and numb.
Ran's tears began to flow again. It's painful for him too......But why? Why does he have to leave? He used to comfort me and he's been a sort of replacement for Shinichi the past 3 years. I thought maybe with him back at my side, maybe, maybe I could get over my past easier, but now, even he has to leave. Ran threw herself down on her bed and began to sob. She cried so hard she ran out of tears.
~to be continued~ So, like I said, this is my first story and I really don't know how to write good stories yet. I hope someone will review and give me some feedback to improve. The formatting is kind of weird when it shows up on fanfiction.net, but it looks fine in the document. I'll try to fix it. Thanks and I'll try to update as quickly as possible. ^^
*It's in the seventh movie, The Crossroad in the Ancient Capital. Conan turns back into Shinichi to help Heiji.
