Chapter two

He sighed, burying his face into his Sherlock Holmes novel. While reading, he couldn't help but blush and glare at certain classmates of his. That small gang of girls that always sat by the windows were gacking at him, throwing giggle fits. Apparently, what happened earlier this morning was what they would consider as cute. While the guys all thought he was an idiot. Ran didn't approach him all day ever since then, and this made him very uncomfortable. He shook his head, trying to pay attention to his book:

" 'My dear Holmes!' " ejaculated Watson..

Darnit! He closed the book, placing his bookmark in between the pages in which he had left off. He placed his arms behind his head, glancing up towards the ceiling. I can't stop feeling like I've somehow made Ran uncomfortable or something..

Those blues eyes would concentrate themselves on the ceiling, remarking every single detail. He did this so he wouldn't be distracted by anything else, especially since he could still here those darn giggles.

White tiles, a little dirt in between the edges...

Okay. So the ceiling wasn't the most interesting subject. He shook his head, feeling a little dizzy. He then glanced outside the window. Fortunately, the gang of giggling girls weren't there anymore. He arched a brow, as he noticed a familiar figure walking outside.

Oh, it's Ran..

He blushed a little, remembering what he was thinking about earlier. She wasn't by herself though. He got up from his chair, and walked towards the window, placing his face on the window to get a better look. She's with some guy.. He could see how she was smiling, being all happy. While the guy was telling her a few things, probably some jokes.

But even if it all seemed friendly, Shinichi couldn't help but feel, somewhat jealous.

Wait a second..I'm jealous?!

Surely he was just over-reacting.

I shouldn't be, I mean..me and Ran, we're like that too.

They were practically joined at the hip! He shook his head, and gave a somewhat odd look as he watched the guy try to hold Ran's hand. He blushed, and then shook his head. Ran would never go for a guy like that..

He saw her giggle, but she didn't notice the guy trying to hold her hand. He sighed a sigh of relief, but couldn't help himself but to continue looking. Perhaps he was jealous?.

"Pfft, there's no need to.."

Right at that moment, he saw Ran turn her head around and glance up the windows. She didn't seem very happy..

Oh crap! She spotted me!

Right at that moment he turned around, and noticed someone standing there. Apparently, this person had watched him the whole time.

"Ahh, Shinichi-kun." Sonoko would reply, crossing her arms against her chest. She smirked. "Spying on Ran weren't you?"

"What's it to you?" He blushed, and gave her a look. "I wasn't, anyways. It just so happened that Ran was walking outside when I wanted to look outside.."

"Yeah, and I have twenty cute boyfriends"

"Who would want to date you anyways?" He mumbled, making sure that Sonoko couldn't hear him, because if she did, she'd find a way to make his life a living hell.

She giggled. "It's cute though."

He blinked, blushing some more. "Whaat?! I told you. I DON'T like her"

"It's cuter when you keep denying it.."

He sighed, and walked back to his desk. "What are you doing here anyways? You're not in our class"

"No, but I came looking for Ran. Instead of finding her I found you, and spying on her too!"

"I wasn't SPYING on her!"

"Who was spying on me?"

Sonoko and Shinichi turned around, and notice Ran standing before them. The guy who was with her must've left back to his class. "Someone was spying on me?" She blinked, walking towards them.

"Yep. Shinichi-kun was spying on you Ran.." Sonoko would comment, giving off a devishly grin.

"N-NO! I WASN'T!" He blushed, and then looked the other way. "I was just looking outside..and then I saw you with..some guy.."

"Oh, you mean Mamoru-kun?"

"Yeah, whatever his name is.." He shrugged.

"We're just friends." She then blinked, thinking it over. "Shinichi..does that mean that you were..?"

"That I was..what?" I'm not jealous. Nope, I'm not...

She then sighed. "Forget it. So, Sonoko what was it that you wanted to talk to me about?"

Shinichi sighed, watching the two girls walk out of the classroom and converse about stuff. Whatever it was, he didn't want to get involved in it, especially if it was girly-girl stuff. He was all alone in the classroom now. Even the teacher had stepped out for lunch. He shrugged, grabbing his book from his desk, and opening it to where he left off.

So far, today was proving to be quite interesting. First off, there was what happened this morning, second off was him spying on Ran and getting jealous. As much as he would deny it to others, he couldn't deny it to himself. Which brought back that stupid conversation with his mom. Due to the fact that all he could think about was that conversation, he didn't pay attention during Japanese class. His eyes would glance towards Ran for a few seconds, and then looked back at the board.

Am I always going to be like this?

After class, he noticed that Ran had left on her own. Which proved his theory. It did seem like she was uncomfortable around him, and this didn't make him feel any better either. He then thought about it. As much as he would probably make a fool of himself, he was going to confront her about it. He rushed out of the school, and looked around trying to find her. He then noticed her crossing the street, and then went after her.

"Ran!"

He would scream, hoping that she would turn around and notice him. Which she did, to his fortune. She stopped after crossing, and waited for him to cross as well. Well, if that's what you called it. At the very moment that Shinichi went to cross the street, the light had turned red, allowing the other cars to pass by, but this didn't stop him. He ran as fast as he could, dodging a few cars and insults like 'You stupid kid, watch where you're running!' or 'What are you, a maniac?!'. He finally crossed the street, and stopped to catch his breath.

Ran couldn't help but give him an odd look. "..Shinichi?"

"Hey-Ran-I-need-to-talk-to-you.." He would say, still trying to catch his breath.

"You could catch your breath yanno..it's not like I have to be at home right now. Dad probably thinks i'm in Karate practice.."

He nodded, and then faced front. His hand would wipe away the sweat from his brows as he looked at her. He blushed, and then turned the other cheek, before opening his mouth to speak:

"I'm.."

"You're..what, Shinichi?" She blinked, awaiting his answer.

"I'm so-sorry.."

"Sorry for what?"

"I'm.." He then took in a deep breath, and said it. "I'm sorry for making you feel uncomfortable!"

She blinked, blushing. "Umm..well.."

"It's okay if you didn't feel like speaking to me all day because of this morning.."

"But..you didn't make me feel uncomfortable.."

He blinked. His whole face turned red. "Well..umm, oops, heh heh.."

She smiled, and patted him on the back. "It's alright though. You could never make me feel uncomfortable Shinichi."

He blinked, and then gave her a smile, the red-ness disappearing from his face, but small traces could still be found in his cheeks. "Well, then..want me to walk you home?"

"Sure, why not."

The two would walk home from there, as the clouds began to cover the entire city, warning the citizens to prepare themselves for some rainfall.

"That's a stupid idea"

"No it isn't, it seems like a cool one to me."

"You only say that because YOU'RE the one who came up with it"

"So what if I did? I still think it's cool"

"You really think people are going to come to you for help, Shinichi?"

He smirked, sitting in his chair writing something on a piece of paper. "But of course!"

It was the next day, right after school ended. Ran and Shinichi, along with a couple of their classmates were assigned with cleaning duty, and they had just finished when Shinichi began writing something down on paper. Ran would sigh, curious to know what he was writing.

"You're just trying to make easy money.."

"No, my services will be entirely free."

She sighed. "Fine, whatever. Do what you want. You'll be disappointed when nobody shows up.." She walked out of the classroom, heading towards the locker rooms downstairs leaving Shinichi by himself. He continued smirking, placing the finishing touches. Once he was finish, he too would walk down the stairs to the locker rooms. Ran was waiting for him, so he rushed.

"Oh wait, I gotta put this up first."

"Fine, but don't take too long!"

Shinichi grabbed some duck tape from his locker and placed it on the edges of the paper. He sticked it right near the entrance of the locker rooms. Once he finished, he closed his locker and ran back towards Ran.

The paper would say:

Kudo Shinichi, detective!

If you are in need of my services, please leave a note in my locker and I shall get to you right away!

no fees.