Never Let You Go (sequel to Haibara Disappears)
Chapter 1
Posted 07.06.04, 12:56 AM
PyroKid

"Can you believe Spring Break is already over?" Genta complained. Genta,
Ayumi, and Mitsushiko were walking to school together.
"Come on, let's go to the Professor's house and get Haibara." Mitsushiko suggested.
"Yeah! Then we can go get Conan." Ayumi added.
The three kids arrived at the Professor's house five minutes later. They were just about to knock on the door when the Professor's next-door neighbor's door opened and two people came out.
"I...i…it's the haunted house!" Genta screamed.
"Professor, open the door. Let us in! Let us in!" the three kids shouted.
"What's wrong?" Professor Agasa asked.
"Just let us in!" they screamed.
The door opened and they scrambled in.
"Don't you know who they are? How can you stand living beside that haunted house?" they blurted out.
"Them? Don't you know them? It's Co-I mean, Shinichi Kudo. You know, the famous high school detective. The other one is... um… she is..." the Professor stopped.
"Don't believe the lies, Professor. The house is haunted, and they must be monsters." The kids shouted.
"Where did you hear something like that?" the Professor asked. "That's ridiculous, you've never been in that house, and you've never even met them before."
"Hey! Shinichi! Come here." He called out.
Shinichi and Shiho walked over to the Professor's house. They both wore the Teitan High School uniform, and they were smiling happily at each other. They didn't look like monsters at all. Their smiles, however, didn't change the kids' minds and they continued to look at them as if they were bombs that might explode any minute.
"What should we do?" Genta asked, trembling.
"Well…….." Mitsushiko said. Suddenly, he stopped. "Hey, don't they
remind you guys of, of…"
"Devils?" Ayumi suggested fearfully.
"No. Conan and Haibara. Look. Focus on their faces, see? Conan without his
glasses? Ai's hair?" Mitsushiko asked.
"Conan and Haibara are related to the devils?" Genta asked.
"What should we do now?" Ayumi whispered.
"Well…" Mitsushiko said. "Follow me, I know."
The Detective Boys cautiously approached Shinichi and Shiho.
"Are the two of you related to Conan Edogawa and Ai Haibara?" Mitsushiko asked.
The smiles on their faces faded away, and Shinichi and Shiho shot each other frantic looks.
"Um, of course not. We don't even know them." Shinichi stammered.
"That's right." Shiho feebly agreed.
"Come on, they're not trying to kill you." Professor Agasa said to the kids.
Shiho raised her eyebrows as Shinichi shot the Professor a surprised glance. The Detective Boys continued to look at them as if they were bombs that would explode any moment.
"That was a weird reaction when I asked about Conan and Haibara." Mitsushiko whispered to Ayumi and Genta.
"They're keeping something from us." Ayumi decided.
"This is a case for…" Genta started.
"The Detective Boys!" Mitsushiko and Ayumi finished with him.
"Without Ai and Conan, the brains of the bunch." Shiho said with a smile;
she had overheard the conversation.
Shinichi pulled Shiho towards him and put one hand over her mouth.

"You're not supposed to know that." he whispered softly.
"Bye Professor! We have to get to school." Shinichi yelled as he pulled Shiho out of the door.
Once they were out on the street, Shinichi gave Shiho a playful shove.
"Remember what we know and what we don't know, okay?" he reminded her.
"All right, I won't forget again." she said.
They chatted happily as they walked down the street. People passing by couldn't help but give them a second glance. After Shiho had come back, they had realized how they felt about each other. Now they looked like nobody else mattered to them, and the rest of the world could disappear and they wouldn't even notice. As they walked into their classroom, many heads turned too, Shiho and Shinichi just looked like they were made for each other, nobody could help it. Everybody stared for a second, and then realized that Shinichi was back and the whispers started.
" Look. Kudo is back."
" Really? I thought he dropped out of school to work on cases in America."
" Who's that red haired girl?"
" I don't know."
" Ran!" Sonoko shouted. " Guess what?"
Just then, the bell rang, and everyone went to his or her classroom to sit in their seats. Shinichi didn't remember where his seat was, and sat with Shiho in the back of the room.

Even though everyone was supposed to be silent, Sonoko couldn't keep her mouth shut.
"Ran, Shinichi is back, and…" she said
"What? Where?" asked Ran, turning around. She spotted Shinichi at the back of the room and gave him a big smile. Shinichi saw her and gave her a small nod.
The next few minutes were filled with Sonoko's annoying, loud voice. Shiho scowled.
"That girl certainly is annoying," she thought, remembering how Shinichi had talked her into coming.
She had been reading a magazine on the couch at the Professor's house when Shinichi had decided that they were going to school.
"Shiho, let's go to school," he said.
"What? Are you crazy? It's too dangerous." she had cried.
"It'll be more suspicious and boring if we do nothing and stay at home all day. Besides, I went to school last time when you had that other antidote and nothing happened. And now, everyone's in Texas." Shinichi had pointed out.
"I don't know how long this antidote's going to last. What if we change back while we're in school?" Shiho asked.
"We'll carry extra clothes in our backpacks, if we feel anything, we can run to the bathroom and change, then say we got lost. No one is going to believe that we can turn into kids." Shinichi argued.
"You go to school. I'll just stay home." Shiho said.
"No. I'll do whatever you do. I'll only go if you go with me." Shinichi said. He was afraid that Shiho might run away again, and he hadn't left her side since she'd been back. They had discussed the issue for a long time, and Shiho had finally agreed to go to school with Shinichi. She had gone to his house this morning, which was where she lived when she had run away.
"I wish I hadn't come now." She thought as she sat at her desk silently.
Having to listen to Sonoko's voice put her in a bad mood and she sat silent
and unmoving at her desk like an ice princess.
The hours dragged by. Finally, it was time for the last class, biology.
Shiho sighed in relief. Shinichi looked at her worriedly. She hadn't said a
single word since school started.
The teacher handed out a worksheet and announced that they were going to
dissect fetal pigs. She started assigning groups to work together, four people to a group. She paired Ran and Sonoko with Shiho and Shinichi. Shinichi groaned
inwardly and Shiho scowled.
"We finally do something interesting and Shinichi and I are stuck with
that stupid, talky girl." Shiho thought. Then she looked at Ran. At least she's not like her stupid friend. She thought. She couldn't help but feel sorry for Ran. Ran looked so sad and lonely and confused. But then, she reminded herself that anyone who would be friends with a fool like Sonoko must be crazy. "Anyways, all's fair in love and war." She sneered and shrugged.
"This is going to be horrible." Shinichi groaned. Shiho is in a horrible mood because of Sonoko's annoying voice, who could help it? But what if Ran tries to kill her? Maybe we'd better just leave. If Ran gets mad, who knows what she'll do? I know she's going to be mad. I don't want to hurt her feelings and lie to her, but then again, I want to live.
"Tell the truth." Shiho said softly. She said it so softly, at first
Shinichi didn't realize she had spoken. Just as Shinichi had been able to
see that Sonoko annoyed Shiho, she had seen what he was thinking about.
As soon as they reached the lab station, Sonoko snatched the instructions.
"Okay, first thing we do is …um…um…oh, here we go. Make a horizontal
slit across the head." she announced.
Shinichi yawned, Shiho rolled her eyes, and Ran looked at Sonoko uncertainly.
"Uh, Sonoko," Ran started. "I don't think…"
"The first thing you do when dissecting is make a vertical slit across the
stomach." Shiho icily remarked in a very annoyed voice.
"Shut up." Sonoko snapped angrily. "You don't know anything at all. Look
right here! It says: Make a horizontal slit across the head."
"If I'm not mistaken, that step should be one of the last ones." Shiho
said coolly. "You're on the wrong page." Shiho snatched the instructions from Sonoko and rearranged them. "There. The first step is to make a vertical slit on the stomach." she said. She threw the papers back to Sonoko and began working to the worksheet.
"What are you doing?" Sonoko asked. "You can't do that. We haven't
even dissected."
"So what? I don't need to dissect to know the answer. I know all of this
trash." Shiho sneered.
"Oh yeah? Well, I bet you won't know the answer to this question. How
many toes does a pig have?" Sonoko asked.
"Take off your shoes and count." Shiho snapped.
Shinichi laughed, and Ran tried to conceal a smile. Sonoko's face flushed angrily, and Ran stopped smiling, but Shinichi laughed louder. Sonoko glared at Shiho, who continued to work coolly on the worksheet. Maybe she was bending her head to hide her smile, though. This thought did nothing to calm Sonoko, of course. It only fueled her anger.
"Fine! Don't come crying to me when you fail." Sonoko warned.
Shiho fail science? Shinichi thought. This made him laugh even harder.
Shiho turned around and tried to muffle her laughter, but it was useless. Ran and Sonoko stared blankly at each other. They didn't see why Sonoko's last comment was so funny, so they stared at Shinichi and Shiho as if they were crazy. Just then, the bell rang for a break, and all work stopped at once.
Shiho got up and closed her notebook.
"Where are you going?" Shinichi asked in alarm.
"I'm just going to get a drink of water." Shiho answered.
"I'll go with you." Shinichi said as he got up.
Shiho shrugged and nodded. "I won't run away again," she said to Shinichi. He nodded, but went with her anyway.
Sonoko and Ran looked at their disappearing figures.
"Who does Shinichi Kudo think he is? And who's that girl? Why did she come to school with him? What's up between them? How dare he?" Sonoko raged. "Ran, aren't you mad too?"
"Yes!" Ran cried. "Who is she? What did she mean, ' I won't run away again?"
"Yeah, that girl seems to think she's a genius. What does she mean, "I already know the answers? Sure she does." Sonoko jeered.
"I don't know." Ran said. "Sonoko, do you think she and Shinichi are more than just friends?"
"Well, there's only one way to find out. Let's ask them." Sonoko decided.
"No, Sonoko…" Ran protested, afraid of what the truth would be.
But Sonoko had already made up her mind, unfortunately.
Shinichi and Shiho came back from the water fountain, looking happy and
relaxed. As the sat down at the lab station, Sonoko stood up.
"All right, tell us everything." she shouted. "Where did two meet?"
Shiho and Shinichi were totally unprepared for her question. They looked at each other. Shiho didn't want Sonoko to see how frantic she was, so she smiled at Shinichi. He smiled back at her, but he was unsure of what to say too.
"In America." Shinichi lied, after it was obvious that Sonoko wasn't going to change the subject.
"How?" Sonoko demanded.
"None of your business, you nosy girl." Shiho said.
"Sonoko, I don't want to talk about it." Shinichi objected.
"I do." Sonoko yelled. "So we're going to discuss it."
"My sister." Shiho said. "We met because of my sister."
"What?" Sonoko cried. "You mean he dated your sister first?"
"No!" Shiho shouted angrily. "You don't know about my sister. Quit making your stupid assumptions."
Shinichi saw how angry she was and knew that she couldn't really stand talking about her sister. He quickly thought of a lie to tell Sonoko to shut her up.
"If you must know, Sonoko, it was on one of my cases in America. The bad
guys captured her sister and I stumbled in on the case. I tried to help and
find her, but it was too late. She got killed," he stammered.
Sonoko, Ran, and Shinichi all turned to look at Shiho and saw that her face
was wet with tears. Ran and Sonoko gasped. Shinichi wasn't sure if she was really crying or just pretending. He pulled out his handkerchief and gently wiped her tears away.
"Shinichi…" Shiho sobbed. Shinichi pulled her to him and let her cry on his shoulder.
"I'm sorry I let her die." he whispered.
"What's going on here?" the teacher demanded. Break had been over for a long time, but the four of them hadn't noticed because they were concentrating too much on their conversation. Unfortunately, the teacher had noticed them, and accosted them. She angrily gave them and extra chapter to do for homework.
"Now get to work." She ordered before angrily walking away.
"This is so unfair." Sonoko complained as soon as the teacher was out of earshot.
Everyone else had too much on his or her minds to be worrying about extra homework. Sonoko's statement was ignored. Ran was sitting on her stool, quietly, trying not to cry, pretending to work on her worksheet. Shinichi and Shiho had broken apart and they were both trying to look busy.
"Fine, he didn't save her sister, what's she doing here? All those times he called he never said anything. It was just cases, cases, and cases. Shinichi, at least tell me everything." Ran thought.
Shiho bent down so her red hair hid her red cheeks. She had already finished the worksheet, and now she opened her book to do the extra chapter.
"Things are going to get bad. I wish Sonoko would shut up. If she doesn't, well, I have to tell Ran sooner or later, but I don't want to in front of Sonoko. At least I never said anything to Ran." Shinichi thought.
"Well, don't come crying to me when you make the lowest grade ever in the
history of Teitan High School."
Shiho sneered. "Sure, sure, sure." she said. "Let's see who makes the lower grade."
"Young lady, some people are trying to work." The teacher snapped to Sonoko.
"But, but…" Sonoko stammered, then pointed at Shiho. "She's not working."
"I'm already finished." Shiho informed the teacher.
"Fine, turn it in. Anyone who doesn't turn it in today gets a zero. And you four, don't forget that extra chapter." The teacher announced.
Sonoko groaned loudly. "This is so unfair!" She shouted as the bell rang.
"Class dismissed." The teacher continued.
"Where do you live?" Sonoko asked Shiho. "I'll walk you home."
"Sonoko, it's nice of you to offer, but it's not necessary." Shinichi hurriedly interrupted.
"You can't go back to the Professor's house. Two red haired girls living there would be too suspicious. I have a feeling that certain people we know will try to find out more about you." He whispered to her. He handed her the keys to his house.
"You don't have to climb in from a window this time." He grinned. "Let me in when I get there. I'm calling to tell the Professor to check on you, so don't go away." he started to walk away, then stopped.
"I'll be there soon. Don't lock me out." he said.
"I'll let you in." Shiho assured him with a smile. "I'm going right home, so don't worry."
Sonoko tried to hear the conversation, but Shiho and Shinichi were speaking far too softly for her to hear. She frowned.
"Bye!" Shiho called to Shinichi. He nodded, and then walked toward Ran.
"Ran, I need to talk to you." He said. "Meet me at the coffee shop below your dad's detective agency."
"You go ahead." She said. "I still have to pick up my stuff." She turned around and started packing her books in her book bag. Shinichi left, muttering, "Phase One of Operation 'Suicide' completed." He expected to see Sonoko in his way, but she wasn't there.
Sonoko had decided to follow Shiho. "There's something about that girl." She thought as she followed her. She hadn't gotten very far when she saw Shinichi leave school and walk in the opposite direction, away from his house. She hesitated, pondering about whom she should follow. Ran walked out and went in the same direction as Shinichi; that seemed to help Sonoko reach her decision, and she quit
following Shiho. Shiho scowled as she saw Sonoko follow Ran. She had seen Sonoko's reflection in a shop window, and had been sneaking glances at her ever since.
I'd better stop her. She thought. She called Professor Agasa, and told him she was going to be a little late, then went after Sonoko.
Ran walked slowly to the coffee shop. Shinichi was waiting for her in the
doorway. They selected a table and sat down.

Suddenly, the door flew open and Sonoko burst in, followed by Shiho.
"What's up, Ran?" Sonoko asked innocently.
"They don't want to be bothered." Shiho said, trying to drag Sonoko out of the shop.
"Let go. Leave me alone. I came in here to get, um, to get some coffee. I have a right to get coffee, don't I?" Sonoko snapped.
"I want to talk to Ran alone." Shinichi said, looking at Sonoko. Shiho turned and left, but Sonoko sat down at the next table and ordered a drink.
Shinichi was annoyed, but he turned and started speaking to Ran.
"I'm really sorry, Ran. I know you're probably very mad at me right now. First I went off to America without saying anything to you, and then came back without telling you, bringing Shiho with me. We've been friends since we were little, but our friendship really doesn't go any farther than that. I'll admit that for a brief period of time, it stretched a bit farther than that, but that all changed when I met Shiho. I'm very sorry if you think I led you on. I hope we can still be friends, but that's entirely up to you."

Shinichi turned to Sonoko.

"Shiho excels in science, so you won't be seeing her fail science anytime soon. I know you're naturally curious, but don't try to probe. If you do, you won't even be around to be sorry. Even Ran's excellent karate skills can't help you. I'm not threatening either of you, I'm warning you of a threat. The less you know about it, the better. If you stumble onto anything, everyone connected to you will disappear. No one knows anything except themselves and a few people who are their victims. If you snoop, like I said, you won't even be around to be sorry. The danger doesn't stop there. It also threatens your families, friends, etc. Don't get nosy and you'll be safe."

He turned back to Ran.

"Even though I don't have the feelings I used to have for you, you're still my friend and I don't want to see you get hurt."

He stood up, pushed his chair in, and started to walk out. Ran stared at him, then stood up and pounded her fists on the table.

"Wh…who said I ever liked you anyway? I don't care." She yelled as she ran from the store.

Sonoko stared after her, too shocked to speak.

Ran tried not to cry as she ran up the stairs to her house, but her tears kept falling down her cheeks like rain.

"Why? Why?" she kept asking herself. She flung open the door to the Mouri Detective Agency. Kogoro was sitting in front of the TV, a can of beer clutched in his hand, watching Yoko, his favorite star sing.

"Ran, you're finally home." He said as the commercials began. "Can we have dinner now?"

"I don't want to cook dinner. Leave me alone." Ran sobbed.

"What's wrong with the girl?" Kogoro asked himself, caring only about his dinner. "Now what'll I eat?"

He walked into the kitchen and looked around. There was plenty of food to eat, but Kogoro had no idea how to cook.

"Never mind, I'll just go out and get a bite to eat." He thought, reaching for his wallet. "Ran, I'm going out." He shouted as he walked out. Ran ignored him.

"What's wrong with Ran?" Kogoro wondered as he strolled into a small restaurant, this time worrying a bit. "If she doesn't come to her senses soon, I'll have to eat out everyday."

He walked around, looking for a table. Suddenly, he accidentally tripped over a shopping bag and found himself flat on the floor. He slowly picked himself up and saw the bag that had caused him to trip.

"Stupid bag." He muttered.

"You really don't have anyone to blame but yourself. You should watch where you're going." A voice sneered coldly.

Kogoro recognized that voice. He looked up.

"E…Eri." Kogoro gasped. "What are you doing here?"

"What? Can't I come here and eat? Where's Ran?" Eri asked.

"Well, Ran, actually…" Kogoro said as he seated himself in the chair across from Eri.

"Hey, where's Genta?" Mitsushiko asked.

"He's back there." Ayumi answered.

"Look! That guy's breaking into the haunted house!" Genta yelled.

"Isn't he that guy Conan told us about when he got out of the hospital?" Mitsushiko wondered.

"When he got shot?" Genta asked.

"Yeah, he's acting very suspiciously." Ayumi noted.

"I bet there's treasure in that house and he's trying to get it. Let's get it first!" Genta shouted.

"The Detective Boys…Will now search for the hidden treasure that lies inside this haunted house!" the three kids shouted, throwing their fists in the air.

Shinichi had arrived at his house, only to find the front door locked. After ringing the doorbell ten times and knocking nineteen times, he finally decided to just crawl in a window. Luckily, he found one.

"Very funny, Shiho." He thought, thinking that an open window on the ground floor was just too convenient. He sighed in annoyance, and then crawled into his own house. Once inside, his annoyance quickly turned to panic as he realized that he had been in front of his house, knocking, for an hour. Shiho would have let him in… unless she wasn't in the house. He rushed to the phone and called the professor.

"Hello?" answered the Professor.

"Professor?" Shinichi asked. "Professor, is Shiho over at your house?"

"No, she told me you said it would be too suspicious of two girls with red hair lived here, so she was staying at your house." Professor Agasa informed him.

"What do you mean, 'she's not at my house?'" Shinichi screamed.

"Hey, what are you yelling about, Shinichi?"

Shinichi spun around. Shiho was standing in the doorway with the usual cool expression, looking a little sleepy.

"Oh, never mind." Shinichi said to the Professor in an apologetic tone. "Sorry. Bye."

After hanging up, he turned around.

"Why didn't you let me in?" he demanded.

"Sorry, I was bored and I just fell asleep." She smirked. "How long did you stand outside?" she sat down on the couch and turned the television on to the news channel.

"Only one hour." Shinichi answered grumpily as he sat down beside her.

"Don't be mad. I am sincerely sorry." Shiho said airily as she leaned back.

"A case even Kogoro Mouri is unable to solve." The reporter announced, going into the details.

Shinichi brightened, then snickered.

"Of course he can't solve the crime. Without me, he's useless." He announced delightfully.

"Yes, Kogoro is pretty stupid." Shiho agreed. "But you can't solve the case right now either. There aren't enough clues from the news report. The murder occurred yesterday and there wasn't that much information. The police must have been there. Kogoro loves media attention. If no one else was there, he would have told everything so he could be in front of the cameras longer."

"Policemen are stupid too, Kogoro is just more idiotic. Well, I guess if they said a murderer was on the loose, people would go crazy." Shinichi decided. "I'll have to call the police to get all the information."

"You'd better call Kogoro too. The news said Kogoro was there first, and only called the police after he finally realized he couldn't solve the case. The news story was more about how Kogoro was unable to solve the case." Shiho told him.

"I'd love to see Kogoro's face right now." Shinichi smirked, then scowled. "Why do the police have to be so secretive?"

"It makes them look bad because they can't solve the crime either, plus, Kogoro called them in as a last resort, and policemen are generally more secretive than loud mouthed detectives." Shiho answered. "Not all people want their failures to be headline news."

"Well, who called the reporters?" Shinichi wondered. "I don't think the police did, and even Kogoro wouldn't call them when he couldn't solve a crime, and why was it on the news a day later? This sort of thing should make live news."

"The murderer could have called the reporters and Kogoro." Shiho stated.

Suddenly, they heard:

"Look at all these spell books. If we get one and sell it, we'll be rich."

It was the Detective Boys. Shinichi had been too worried to close the window, and the Detective Boys had entered the house the same way he had. Now they found themselves in a room filled with books. Shinichi and Shiho gave each other a look, and then went towards the sound of the voice.

"These are very cleverly disguised as mystery novels." Mitsushiko was saying.

"But they can't fool the Detective Boys." the kids yelled as the door opened, revealing Shiho and Shinichi standing in the doorway. The kids fell silent and stared fearfully at them. Then as if on cue, they all started screaming.

"Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh…"

"Help!"

"Don't eat us!" as they scrambled towards the door.

"Hold it right there." Shinichi ordered.

The kids froze in fear.

"Come into the kitchen." He said as he grinned mischievously at Shiho. The Detective Boys took his grin as an evil sneer, and began praying silently that they wouldn't be eaten.

"Aren't you hungry?" Shinichi airily asked Shiho.

"Well, now that you mention it, I am." Shiho answered as she led the Detective Boys into the kitchen.

Shinichi opened the pantry door. "Well, which one should we eat?" he asked as he looked in the pantry. "Red, blue or green?"

Shiho had caught on by now. "Red is nice." She told him as the Detective Boys looked down at their shirts. Ayumi was wearing red, Mitsushiko blue, and Genta had on a green sweatshirt. The Detective Boys looked at each other and panicked.

"Please don't eat us. You can keep your treasure, we won't tell anyone about it." They begged, close to tears.

Shinichi turned around, pretending to be surprised.

"What?" he asked innocently. "We're just talking about which cake to eat. See? We have three cakes. One's in a red box, one's in a green box, and the other one's in a blue box."

"Cake!" the greedy Genta shouted.

"Here's a knife, Shinichi. I'll get some plates." Shiho handed him a knife.

"Can we have some too?" Genta asked hopefully.

"Well, okay. If you tell us why you came in." Shinichi answered.

A few minutes later, they were sitting at the table, eating cake. At first, Mitsushiko and Ayumi had been a little apprehensive, but the cake was delicious, and now they were eating happily too.

"We're sorry we broke in…" Mitsushiko began. The kids began to explain why they had thought Shinichi was breaking in and the events that followed.

"Well, Kogoro, I'll admit I don't know what's up." Eri admitted. The two of them had actually had a peaceful dinner, except for the beginning. Eri had been kidding Kogoro, which made him angry. Kogoro had told Eri about Ran's strange behavior, and it had been their topic of conversation during dinner.

"Why don't I go home and talk to Ran? Maybe I'll get something our of her." Eri decided.

"All right, come on, let's go." Kogoro agreed.

They got up and headed back to the Mouri Detective Agency together.

"Ran? Ran? Ran!" Eri shouted. She looked around and saw that Ran was on the couch, staring into space. She fell silent. Ran hadn't even noticed her.

"Hey, Ran, are you ok?" Kogoro asked.

"Don't bother me." Ran snapped.

"Ran, I have a surprise for you." Kogoro continued.

"Dad, I said, 'don't bother me'." Ran said in an agitated voice.

"But Ran, your mom's here." Kogoro announced.

"Yeah, right. You know she won't come into your stupid agency. You're just lying. Lies, lies, lies. They're all lies." She screamed.

"Ran, what's gotten into you? You know you shouldn't speak to your father that way." Eri said.

"Mo…Mom?" Ran asked incredulously. "But…but, you…you…what?"

"What's wrong with you, Ran?" Eri asked.

"Sorry mom… I just, I… I," Ran began, but couldn't finish.

"Ran, you can tell me." Eri told her.

Ran broke down and told everything to her parents.

"I can understand your feelings, Ran, but I don't think it's a great loss. I never thought Shinichi was right for you. He never appreciated my cooking." Eri said, comforting Ran.

"That imbecile!" Kogoro screamed. "Who does he think he is? I'll get him, and I'll get that girl, too!"

Ran and Eri stared blankly at Kogoro in astonishment. Their eyes were wide with surprise, and before either of them had a chance to say anything, Kogoro had rushed out the door, heading for the Kudos' house.

Upon reaching the gates, he thrust them open and rushed to the front door. He pounded repeatedly on it with all his strength.

The Detective Boys had finally left. Shiho got up and started to wash the plates. Shinichi yawned, sighed in relief, and stepped over to the sink to help her. As he reached for a plate, his hand brushed against hers, and he remembered how worried he had been this afternoon.

"Shiho, when I stood out there this afternoon, I thought you had left again." He paused and looked at her. She was looking down at the plate she was holding. He took the plate and set it aside, then held her hands.

"When you were gone last week, I realized how much you meant to me. I know that before, you only had your sister, but other people care about you now. I'm not saying, 'forget your sister', but next time, just remember that other people care about you now, okay? Please don't run away again. Don't leave me." He pulled her closer to him. She looked up and met his gaze coolly.

"I know." She said calmly. "I'm sorry."

They stared at each other, and then brought their faces closer together. Just then, they heard Kogoro's pounding on the door and broke apart. Shinichi was very annoyed, but he went to answer the door anyway.

"What do you want?" he demanded as he swung the door open. Then he looked up and saw Kogoro. "Oh, it's you, Mr. Mouri. Do you need help with that case?" he inquired. "I saw it on the news." He added.

"No! Why did you do that to Ran? She's…depressed. She won't talk to me. She just sits on the couch staring. It's all your fault. I'll make you sorry." He launched himself at Shinichi.

Shinichi sidestepped, and Kogoro found himself flat on his face for the second time.

"Is something wrong?" Shiho asked. She was annoyed too. She knew Kogoro, but she didn't think he was the type that just broke in and attacked people.

"You!" Kogoro shouted. "I'll get you too." He drew back his fist, but Shinichi grabbed it.

"Get off my property! You're trespassing. Go, before I call the police." Shinichi ordered. "Don't make me retaliate," he warned.

"You don't scare me. Come on." Kogoro taunted, pulling them out of the house.

Shinichi glared at Kogoro, then picked up a rock and kicked it at Kogoro's face. He didn't miss.

"Ow! My face has suffered too much today! In front of Eri at the restaurant, falling, and now this!" Kogoro shouted. "Shinichi Kudo! I'll get you." Kogoro charged at Shinichi again.

"This is enough! Leave!" Shinichi ordered.

"Fine! I'll leave. Ran is too good for you anyway! My daughter doesn't need you!" Kogoro shouted.

"I'm sorry Ran is upset. I know she probably hates me right now, but I hope she'll figure out that there's someone else out there for her. I don't want to ruin our friendship. I hope we can continue to be friends." Shinichi said to an angry Kogoro. Kogoro turned around, held his head up high, and marched out the gate.

Professor Agasa had heard the noise and went over to see what was wrong.

"Nothing much, that lunatic just came over and tried to attack us." Shiho replied coolly when the Professor asked. They led the Professor into the house and started explaining why Kogoro had attacked them.

"Mom, do you think Dad will really go attack Shinichi?" Ran asked Eri.

Before Eri had a chance to reply, the door opened and Kogoro stomped in with a mark on his face.

"Dad, what's wrong with your face?" Ran gasped.

"Think about it!" Kogoro screamed. "Who do we know that likes to kick things?"

"Shinichi did that to you? He wouldn't do that, would he?" Ran asked. "What did you do?"

"I gave them a visit." Kogoro mumbled, looking at Eri.

"Right. It was just a visit." Eri sneered. "Kogoro, tell us the truth."

"Fine, Eri. I went to his house and tried to attack the two of them. I didn't actually succeed in doing anything, that's all." Kogoro admitted.

"Kogoro, you used to be a policeman, don't you know you can't do that?" Eri yelled.

"Well, I can't stand to see Ran like that." Kogoro replied defensively.

"You'd better apologize to him before you get a lawsuit in your hands." Eri advised.

"Apologize?" Kogoro asked. "Kogoro Mouri won't apologize! If a lawsuit comes up, you'll defend me, right?"

"No." Eri snapped. "I'd lose the case and my reputation."

"But what about Ran?" Kogoro asked.

"Well, Kogoro, Shinichi did sat he still wanted to be friends, he's just realized the cares for someone else. Anyway, you wouldn't want your daughter to have a boyfriend that likes to kick stuff at you, would you?" Eri demanded.

"Dad, Mom's right. You shouldn't have done that. I know you're concerned about me, and angry with Shinichi. I like Shinichi, and I want him to like me, but if he doesn't, there's nothing I can really do. Just give me a little time. Everything happened so quickly, I don't know what to think, but I do know that I can still have a happy life and we can still be good friends. I just need to accept that. I'll eventually be okay." Ran slowly said.

"Right, feelings can't be forced." Eri told her. "I think you've been worrying about too much lately. Why don't I move back in for a while to cook and keep the house clean, and relieve you of some of your burdens?"

"Really, Mom?" Ran asked in disbelief. Her eyes were shining.

"If your dad has no objections." Eri answered, looking at Kogoro. Ran looked at her dad hopefully too.

"Well…Okay." Kogoro agreed. He couldn't say 'no' when Ran wanted Eri to stay so much. "I don't object."

"Thank you, Dad!" Ran shouted happily. "Every cloud does have a silver lining." She thought.

"So Kogoro came and tried to kill you?" the Professor asked.

"Yes, basically." Shinichi answered.

"Well, Ai, how do you like school?" Professor Agasa asked.

"Very easy for me. I've already done all of my homework." Shiho replied.

"Homework? Oh no, I still haven't done mine." Shinichi cried. "I've got to go do it."

"Ha ha ha." The professor laughed. "Well, it's getting pretty late, I won't bother you any longer. Have fun doing your homework." He called as he left.

"Shiho, please help me with my homework." Shinichi pleaded, after making sure the professor was really gone so it wouldn't be too embarrassing.

"You should do it by yourself, really. It's pretty easy, so don't worry." Shiho assured him.

"But it's already 11:00! It'll take me until morning to finish this." Shinichi panicked.

"See you tomorrow." Shiho yawned. "I'm going to sleep."

Shinichi sighed and took out his papers. He had barely begun to work when Shiho came back in with a pillow, and sat down beside him. She put the pillow on the desk in front of her, then leaned and put her arms and head on it. She turned and smiled at Shinichi.

"I changed my mind. After you finish a page, I'll check it for you. Just ask me if you have any questions." She said.

"Thanks!" Shinichi grinned and started working. Shiho looked up at him from 'her' pillow.

"Even brilliant high school detectives have to do homework, Shinichi." She thought with a snicker.

Shinichi worked steadily, and Shiho checked all of his homework for him.

"Do your homework when I do it tomorrow, okay?" she asked when they were done an hour later.

"Sorry for keeping you up. Thanks for helping me. I'll do it earlier tomorrow." Shinichi replied gratefully. "All right, let's go to sleep. You can sleep in the guest room." He led her upstairs.

"Whose room is that?" she asked, pointing to the first door they passed.

"Mine." Shinichi informed her. "Why?"

"Oh. Well this is your pillow then." Shiho replied as she held out the pillow.

"Thanks." Shinichi took the pillow. "Here's the guest room. It's right beside mine. Good night. We have to wake up at six tomorrow."

"More like good morning." Shiho replied coolly. "Six hours of sleep sounds wonderful."

"Well, okay. I'll cook breakfast since you helped me with my homework and you can sleep for forty-five extra minutes." Shinichi offered.

"Don't poison my share." Shiho yawned. "Good night."

"Good night." Shinichi walked back to his room, carrying his pillow.

The next day, at 6:45, Shiho awoke to knocking sounds on the door. She quickly sat up.

"What?" she called as she stretched.

"Come on, hurry up and come downstairs. Time to eat breakfast." Shinichi shouted cheerfully.

"Coming, coming." Shiho yawned again. She got up, dressed, washed her face, brushed her teeth, and combed her hair. She walked towards the stairs and started down. As she neared the lower level, she smelled something that resembled burnt rubber and saw a little smoke.

"Are you trying to smoke a cigarette?" she demanded.

"No. It's your breakfast." Shinichi replied. Shiho could hear the laughter in his voice. She entered the kitchen, dreading what she would see.

She down at the table and Shinichi put a plate in front of her. She looked down, and all that met her gaze was a pile of black, charred pieces scattered across the plate. She couldn't even tell what it was supposed to be.

"You expect me to eat this?" she asked coldly.

Shinichi laughed, then turned around and handed her a carton of milk, a package of bread, and an apple.

"I burnt our breakfast, so I had to go out and but something decent to eat." He explained. "Then, I decided to see how you would react if I gave you that trash."

"Was my reaction appropriate?" she sneered.

"Don't be mad. It was what I expected, only I thought you'd eat it anyway because I cooked it." As he said this, Shinichi couldn't help but smirk.

"Very funny." She muttered as she snatched the edible food. She tore open the wrapping and took a bite out of the bread. Then, she remembered Shinichi.

"Want some?" she asked, offering the bread to him.

Shinichi shook his head. "I've already eaten."

She took the bread back and continued eating it happily.

"When does school start?" she asked as she started on the apple.

"7:45. It takes about ten minutes to walk there, and it's only 7:00 right now." Shinichi looked at his watch.

"Well, it can't hurt to get to school early. Let's go." Shiho handed Shinichi his school bag. They went out the door, heading for school.

"She excels in science? Well, just wait until I make the highest grade in class. Shinichi has no idea how smart I am." Sonoko smirked.

"Sonoko, since when did you become the best student?" Ran whispered.

"Since…since now!" Sonoko stammered.

The day dragged by slowly. Even though her mom moved back in because of what happened yesterday, Ran couldn't help but feel a little betrayed, and she had avoided Shinichi most of the day. When science came, however, the students were told to go to their lab stations with their groups from yesterday. The teacher began to hand out papers.

"The worksheets weren't bad, but there was only one 100." The teacher announced.

Sonoko smirked at Shiho.

"She's talking about me." Shiho snapped.

"That's just what you think." Sonoko retorted.

The teacher handed the papers back facedown. Ran got hers first, then, Shinichi, Sonoko, then Shiho, who received hers last. Ran turned hers over, and everyone leaned over to look at it.

"94?" Sonoko thought. She smirked at Shiho. "If Ran made a 94, I definitely made the hundred. I dissected the pig, and we worked together."

Shinichi turned her paper over. It was a 98.

"Things are looking good." Sonoko crowed. "Just wait and see. Now I'm sure I made the hundred."

Shiho laughed.

Sonoko glared at her, then raised her paper high in the air without looking at it. "Look at my grade!" she crowed. Everyone just looked at her.

"Hey, what's wrong with you people?" she demanded.

Everyone burst out laughing. Ran was trying not to laugh, but it was useless.

"Good job, Sonoko!" Someone yelled.

"I know." Sonoko bragged.

"This is what you get for being an overconfident fool." Shiho gloated.

"What are you talking about? You're the one who failed." Sonoko snapped. "What makes you think I was being overconfident?"

"Turn your paper around and see."

"What?! 91? I'm going to see the teacher. This has got to be a mistake." Sonoko raved.

"Aren't you being overconfident too?" Shinichi whispered.

"Of course I'm not. I'm never overconfident." Shiho replied coolly as she turned her paper over. Of course, it was the hundred. Just then, Sonoko came back, muttering about incompetent teachers. When she saw the 100 on Shiho's paper, the expression on her face changed from anger to disbelief.

"But…but you didn't even stick around to watch the dissection!" Sonoko wailed. "What happened?" Then Sonoko brightened. "Oh, well, a 91 isn't bad. I'll make a hundred next time." She bragged.

Shinichi burst out laughing. Even Ran couldn't hold it in and started chuckling. Shiho, however, was studying Sonoko's paper with a frown on her face.

"Sonoko," she began softly. "You paper is upside down."