Disclaimer: I don't own Detective Conan, but I sure wish I did!
A/N: I'm sincerely sorry that this took sooooo long to get up, but my had some kinda virus and I had to go and get it fixed, plus I had to retype this whole chapter, plus the other couple that I already had typed out. I'm really sorry! Also I want to thank everyone for taking their time to review this! Thanks very much and keep em comin lol.
-----------------------------------)( Chapter 2: Like Old Times )(-----------------------------------
Ran was in complete shock, she couldn't move or say anything besides the occasional...
"its-sh-shin-you-you-re-really-is?" She continued to stumble with the same words for what seemed like forever. She must have used every single combination of "is", "it", "really", "you", and "Shinichi" at least once, even if the order didn't make any sense.
'Yep, I should've called her first...'
Shinichi rubbed the back of his head, closed his eyes, and gave Ran a sheepish little grin.
"Yeah, it's really me Ran."
He opened his eyes and realized that she hadn't taken his word for it. Mainly because she was only a few inches away inspecting him. She was blushing madly, as was he, but she knew that it had to be done! After all, it could really be a robot, or Kid in disguise (wouldn't be the first time), or this could all just be a dream, couldn't it?
"Ran? What are you doing?"
Shinichi backed away slowly, but that didn't help him get away from her, she followed closely with her head tilted toward him, glaring straight into his eyes.
"I'm seeing if it's really you and not a robot, or Kid, or.... Or..."
Or a dream she wanted to say, but she stopped herself when she realized what she was about to blurt out. She knew it was really him, even before she turned around to look at him. How? She really didn't know, but she wasn't really sure if she was dreaming or not. Dreaming that he was going to be dying in an abandoned warehouse somewhere and he was calling out for her, but she couldn't hear him. Or dreaming that he had really come back, but as soon as she had began to talk to him, he would disappear.
"Satisfied?" Shinichi asked, hoping to get out of this unusual situation as fast as he could.
This only made Ran's gaze even more fierce and she drew even closer to Shinichi. If this really was real, she enjoyed being this close to him, despite the huge blush that she could feel on her face.
"How could I be sure that it's really you?" Ran questioned.
"All right lets see" Shinichi began. "Judging by the time you came out of your house, and since Conan isn't with you, I'm guessing that Conan is either sick or went with his parents somewhere. I can also tell that your father hasn't gotten many cases lately because there aren't any mud trails on the side walk, even though it said it's been raining in Tokyo on the radio for the past week. And judging by the look on your face you were up very late last night."
'Okay maybe I kinda cheated, but she doesn't know me and Conan are the same person anyways...'
Ran stared blankly at Shinichi's quick presentation of his detective skills. If she had any doubts before, they were cleared up. But she still didn't know whether this was a dream or not. She gave a quick little pinch to her arm and flinched a little bit.
'The pain felt real... Maybe this is really happening! Could my Shinichi really be standing a foot away from me?'
"Shinichi?" Ran choked out once again. A look of despair came over Shinichi as he slapped himself on the forehead.
"Raaaaaaaaaaan, we don't have time for this. If we don't hurry we're gonna be late for school!"
Ran quickly snapped out of it, but before she could say anything Shinichi had already grabbed her hand and proceeded to run towards Teiten high school.
After a few minutes of running they slowed down. They were both satisfied with the time they had saved, and besides, they both had quite a bit to talk about.
"Soooooooo..." Ran began. "How long until you have to leave this time?"
Shinichi glanced at the sky and thought about it for a few seconds.
'Let's see... I used the pill this morning, and today is Wednesday... so I should turn back really early next Wednesday...'
"I don't have to leave until early Wednesday morning." Shinichi smiled.
He could see the happiness swell up in Ran's eyes, and all of her tensions leaving her. It wasn't very hard for him to notice though, she didn't hide it very well. A large grin spread across her face, this must have been the happiest she had been in months!
They both continued their walk for a couple of minutes without words, they were both just enjoying being this close to each other. The two of them were pretending not to notice that they were still holding hands. They didn't want to accidentally ruin it.
"So Shinichi? Do you know what classes you have this semester?" Ran finally asked.
Shinichi looked over at Ran again with the same sheepish look that he had given her only a few minutes ago.
"Uhhhh . . . Not really. But I can go to the guidance office and find out right?"
"They moved the guidance office to where the art rooms used to be about a month ago, do you know where that is?"
Shinichi gave Ran a blank stare.
"Don't worry, I'll show you where it is." Ran assured him.
Before they realized it, they had arrived at their destination. As they made their way through the schoolyard all of the students changed the subject of their conversations.
"Hey look! Kudo's back!" Was heard in the background.
"The married couple is back together again!" Another student pointed out under his breath
Both Ran and Shinichi ignored the comments until Sonoko suddenly stepped out in front of them.
"How romantic! You two finally admitted your feelings for each other!" Sonoko remarked.
"What?!?!" Ran and Shinichi both yelled out at the same time. Both of them were blushing a little bit.
Sonoko giggled uncontrollably, and pointed toward their hands. Both Ran and Shinichi looked down and realized that Shinichi was still holding Ran's hand. Both of their blushes grew more intense as they pulled away from each other.
"It's sooooooo sweat that Shinichi decided to return just in time for your birthday this Sunday! Isn't it Ran?"
Those words hit Shinichi like a ton of bricks.
'Ran's Birthday?!?! How could I have forgotten?!?! I can't believe I'm thinking this but.... Thank you Sonoko.'
"Are you kidding me?" Ran questioned. "I bet it was just dumb luck! He barely remembers his own birthday, how could he remember mine? Right Shinichi?"
"Uhhh... Well... I uhh."
Shinichi laughed nervously at Ran's question, but he was in luck. The bell had just rung and it was time to get to class.
"Come on Ran! You still gotta show me where the guidance office is!"
Both Ran and Shinichi made their way to the guidance office. Shinichi was very happy to find out he shared all of his classes with Ran, except for gym and his history class.
The first class of the day was Chemistry. Not much really happened in it besides a ton of notes.
The second class of the day was law, which was a very unusual class. Why? Because Shinichi was pretty much a special guest speaker for his own class. He was pleasantly asked (more like forced) by the teacher to go up in front of the class and give an impromptu report on the legal system and the cases that he had been on. Shinichi really enjoyed the chance to get to show off his detective work though.
His third class was gym, and this is when he realized that this could be his luckiest day ever! Of course they were playing his favorite sport; soccer! A fight almost broke out between the two captains when it was time to pick teams. Both of them wanted Shinichi. It wasn't even fair for the team that had to play against him, he single handedly scored five goals!
His Fourth class was math, and the day seamed even luckier now. Not only was there an open seat next to Ran, but there was a sub today and they had no work to do! They pretty much chatted the whole time, which was nice. They talked about how they had lunch next and since the weather was good, they could eat outside like they used to.
"It's really nice to eat out here like old times, isn't it?" Sonoko asked, as she carried her lunch tray over to the tree that Ran and Shinichi were sitting under.
It was a small tree that they were sitting under, it was maybe seven feet tall. The grass was still a little wet from all of the rain that had moved through Tokyo this past week, but they put a nice little red blanket down to sit on.
"Yeah, I kinda missed doing this." Ran admitted while she riffled through the lunch that she brought.
"I can't remember the last time we've gotten to eat out here." Shinichi responded.
Ran and Sonoko began talking and carried on a private little conversation which left Shinichi alone in his own little world.
"Girl talk..." Shinichi mumbled as he rolled his eyes
Suddenly he gave out a large long yawn and his eyes grew heavy.
"Shinichi? Are you all right?" Ran asked with a concerned look on her face.
Every time that Ran had seen Shinichi this past year he had either been sick or tired most of the time. That was probably reason enough for her to be a little worried, and she had just noticed how bloodshot his eyes had become since this morning. God!
"Yeah, I'm just a little tired..."
Which was the truth. He didn't get much sleep last night, and the transformation took quite a bit out of him. But he couldn't fall asleep, or go and take a nap! He wanted to enjoy his time in his real body as much as possible. If there was one thing he had learned from the last time he was in his real body, it was that time is one of the most valuable things in this world, and it should be used wisely.
"What time did you get to sleep?" Ran asked.
"I didn't, I just got into town at 5:00 this morning..."
The concerned look on Ran's face hardened.
"Hey, why not take a quick little nap for the rest of the lunch period?" Ran suggested.
"But I can't! I don't want to waste any of my time..."
Another long yawn escaped from Shinichi's mouth and his blood shot eyes grew even more blood shot. All traces of whiteness in his eyes were long gone.
"That settles it... you're gonna take a nap until lunch is over! You'll feel much better later..."
"But Raaaaaaaaaaan!"
Shinichi gave Ran the best puppy dog face he could muster, but with completely blood shot eyes, it wasn't much.
"NO BUTS KUDO SHINICHI!"
"fine..."
Shinichi moved to the opposite corner of the blanket and as soon as he had laid down, he had fallen fast asleep.
When he finally woke up it was the end of the lunch period, he was surprised at how much only thirty minutes of rest could help. He didn't feel tired at all! He noted to himself that he would definitely have to thank Ran later.
When school finally ended a couple of hours later, he made his way out into the schoolyard to wait for Ran. He started to feel tired again, but he didn't think much of it. He had more important things on his mind.
'What should I get Ran for her birthday? Think Kudo! What has she always told Conan that she wants... besides me coming home?'
"Watcha thinkin about?" A familiar voice asked.
Shinichi jumped back instantly. It was Ran standing only a few feet away with a big smile on her face.
Ran suggested that they hang out at her house and later she would make a big dinner for him, her, and her father. Of course Shinichi agreed. After a long chat between Ran and Sonoko, Shinichi and Ran began their walk to Ran's house.
"So?" Ran asked. "What were ya thinkin about a couple of minutes ago?"
"Me?"
"Yes, YOU silly."
"Oh... nothin..."
"Nothin huh?"
"Yeah nothin!"
Ran giggled a little bit and another large smile spread across her face. She started humming something, but Shinichi couldn't quite make out what it was. He looked over at her, and noticed how happy she looked. The sun glimmered through her dark brown hair and reflected off of her beautiful face. She looked amazing to him when she was smiling! Not just fake smiling like she would when Conan noticed that she was sad, but actually sincerely smiling. She slowly looked over at him and noticed him staring at her. A small blush spread across both of their faces. Shinichi tried his hardest to turn his head away and stop staring at her, but he just couldn't. It was amazing to him! How could someone be so beautiful?
"What are you doing?" Ran asked, with a look of concern in her eyes.
This finally broke Shinichi's concentration and he turned his head.
"Oh.. I was just thinking..."
"About what?"
"Nothin.."
"Nothin huh?"
"Yep nothin!"
Both of them laughed a little bit and they continued their walk.
"You know... you look really tired again..." Ran pointed out.
"I don't know what you're talking about"
"Maybe you should turn around and head home so you can get some sleep..."
"But Raaaaaaaan I don't wanna miss the big dinner that you're gonna make! You know I love your cooking..."
That complement plus the puppy dog face that he was giving her settled it. How could she compete with that?
Suddenly a very painful feeling went through Shinichi's chest, he couldn't move, he couldn't speak, he couldn't do anything!
'No it can't be!!! I thought Ai said that the antidote was supposed to last a whole week?!?! It hasn't even been a day yet!!!'
Shinichi slowly turned around and began to stumble the opposite way that Ran was going.
"Shinichi? What's wrong?"
'No! I have to get away from Ran!!! She can't see me change back!'
He tried his hardest to walk the other way, but it didn't help. He tripped over his feet and fell to the ground.
"Shinichi! Are you alright?"
"... I... I'm sorry Ran..."
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Uh-oh a cliffy! I should have the next chapter up within a week or so! So keep the reviews a comin! Sorry again for the long wait on getting this one up. As long as my computer doesn't die again the next chapter should be up soon!