Disclaimer: I told you already in Chapter One, I don't own DC! Why weren't you paying attention?

Author's Notes: Um…okay I can explain. waves off angry people with pitchforks My Internet connection was disabled for about a month and the only way I could get online was at the library…which for some reason had blocked. So with many apologies due to its lateness…Chapter Two is here; and this one took me a long time to get the guts to write. I revised it about three times, and I still don't feel comfortable with Haibara's personality. Also I ran into problems writing child personalities, so the Detective Boys gave me a tough time here. I tried though, really. Anyway, it's the first reviewer time!

Reily Yuy: Don't cry, it's gonna be okay! Have a Conan-plushy. And as to what will happen…I'll keep you in suspense. I'm so evil!

Enula: "Tons of potential"? Thanks a lot for the vote of confidence. I'll try and live up to your expectations.

Oel: Evil, am I? Really? But…cliffhangers are a great tool for making you come back and read more! You want to read more right?

Gavroche Rules: Glad you liked Conan's vivid premonition of life under Kogoro…don't worry though, if that does happen, he will be sent to jail for child abuse and neglect sooner or later…

starsTruck272: Thanks for catching that error. Between watching the English dub and keeping the Japanese names straight, I'm not surprised I did that without thinking. Don't worry, I plan to use the canon titles as much as possible.

Hitokira: Guess the update wasn't soon enough…but you asked nicely at least.

DcLoVer0x: Glad you liked it! But I'm not playing favorites with anyone…you'll just have to wait and find out like everyone else.

LostArtofRock: Free time…where does it go? College threw me a doozy for a while, but I really plan to finish this story as well as publish a few others. I just need to find times when my anime-hating roommate is gone . Bastard. Anyway, I'd really like to thank you for your kind words in your review. As of now I have a few different ideas of the direction this story is going to take.

Well, thanks again to everyone who reviewed! Here we go!

Chapter Summary: Reality has hit Conan hard, and the Detective Boys have no idea what he is feeling. Can the simple kindness of a child's mind help him out? Also, Haibara has entered the picture with plans of her own for Conan…


Star-Crossed Lovers

A Detective Conan Fanfiction

File 2: The Truth that Prevails Still Hurts


Truly, it was an amazing thing. He could invent mechanical wonders with his own two hands, solve mysteries in chemistry and biology he claimed were previously unfathomed, but Agasa still had no power to comfort the boy sobbing at his table.

"Agasa-hakase…" the boy gasped while breathing in between his wails of sorrow. "What did I do wrong? How is it that…that she…she's!"

"Shinichi, please think this over. I know you're hurting right now and I'm glad you don't consider yourself too old to cry over this. It's a big blow," Agasa said soothingly. "But the fact of the matter is, whether you appear to be or not, you are old enough to understand what is happening. Ran has every right to make her own decisions about her life, no matter how she feels about you. If this is the path she wants to take, then you must-"

"Just watch and let her leave?!" Conan lifted his face from his arms, glaring at the professor. "Is that it? Just sit back and watch this girl, no, this woman who I love disappear forever?"

"The truth is that you have no right to control her, Shinichi!" Agasa replied, raising his voice slightly. "Is that what you think of as love? Dictating her every move?"

Conan turned around to look at him. "Will you just shut up? You haven't heard a word I've said!" he shouted, his face flushing. Agasa drew back, startled. Conan, having found an outlet to release his frustration, pounced on the old man without a second thought. "If I controlled Ran then she wouldn't be the person I know her as! I don't want that! But that's what you see it as, you hermit! She may have the right to leave Japan, so why can't I have the right to disagree with it? You're making me the bad guy here, acting as if Ran didn't care about me! Well I have news for you old man! She does! I know it!" The professor tired to explain, but the young boy's ranting continued. "Hey, I understand now…you don't know what I'm feeling! You've probably forgotten what it's like to be in love with a woman, haven't you! Well, I'll try to make you a metaphor. Okay, so what if all your little toys," here Conan angrily waved a hand some of Agasa's inventions scattered around the room, "just get up and move into some hotshot European scientist's laboratory forever! You can't replace them, because you can't get over the loss of your originals! Huh? Tell me how that makes you feel, baka-hakase!" Conan was breathing heavily, his intense anger slowly fading, leaving behind the intense sorrow and depression that had filled him ever since Ran calmly told him of her departure. Agasa frowned.

"Shinichi, I was only trying to help you work this out, and understand things before you do something you may regret; however, I now see you feel perfectly capable of losing Ran on your own," he said, hurt. The professor left the room.

"Hey…hey, c'mon Agasa…I'm sorry, okay? It's just…I want to stay with her so bad…it hurts so much…" the boy said. "I didn't mean to insult you." No answer. "Damn. I really did it now. First Ran, then the professor…I really need to stop losing control." Without any warning he hit the table as hard as his arm would allow. "Why the hell does this have to happen now?"

"Problems, Kudo?" piped a small voice from the doorway. Conan turned slowly in his chair to see Haibara Ai standing, her hand on the door. Miyano Shiho, the creator and second victim of the apotoxin.

"Go away, Haibara," Conan stressed his words. "I'm not in the mood."

"For what, Kudo? Has reality not sunk in yet? She will leave and there is nothing you can do about it," the girl said with shocking simplicity. Conan was silent for a moment.

"You know, I should have expected that kind of attitude from you. How can you even come here and talk to me about it? You have no clue how it feels to be unable to reach someone you love…hell, I don't even know if you loved anyone."

'If only you knew, "Conan-kun"...' Ai thought mischievously. 'What you just said describes my feelings beyond your understanding…for such a brilliant detective you really are dense sometimes…' "I loved my sister, Kudo. That's enough," she said aloud.

"Yeah…of course," Conan said, turning away from the girl again. "And that means you grasp my situation perfectly."

"Well I never did say I was an expert on the niceties of a romantic relationship, but don't completely regard me as blind in the matter," the girl said. "I can see that you don't want anyone to talk about this…sensitive subject, and I guess I wouldn't blame you. Oh yes…Agasa just let your little group of friends in…I suggest you fake a smile before you get them on your back as well."

"You're acting awfully good-natured," Conan muttered. "I don't really care…it'll be the same as always. Ayumi will flirt with me, making Genta and Mitsuhiko angry, then they'll drag me off on some stupid mystery case and I end up wasting the time I could be trying to think of ways to keep Ran here. No thanks…if they have a problem with me sulking they can just go home." He buried his face in his small arms and did not say another word.

'Heh…he's extremely distraught. Not that it's a surprise; he's head-over-heels for that Mouri girl. But it's no matter. She's made up her mind and once she's gone…I'll be there to help him recover. I can finally let out these repressed emotions of mine…it's funny in a way…Conan…' Ai mused, turning away and exiting the room. Conan had a brief instant of peaceful silence before the door crashed open.

"Oy, Conan!" Genta cried, barging into the room. "Why are you sitting inside? It's a nice day out and it's getting late. Know what that means? The Detective Boys have a mission to seek out those criminals of the dark and bring them to justice! Get up, Conan, so we can go!"

"You guys go without me," Conan sniffed, not getting up or even turning around. "I don't feel like mysteries anymore." Genta drew back in surprise.

"What's wrong?" Mitsuhiko queried, entering the room along with Ayumi. "We thought we heard-" Genta grabbed the two smaller children and pulled them towards the corner of the room. Ayumi squeaked in protest, but Genta silenced her and began whispered urgently.

"Guys, something is wrong with Conan!" he whispered.

"What are you talking about?" Mitsuhiko said. "What did he say?"

"He said he didn't like mysteries anymore and that he didn't want to play with us!" Genta replied. Mitsuhiko and Ayumi could only stare at him as he finished his sentence. Mitsuhiko spoke first.

"There has to be a logical explanation for this. Conan wouldn't just do this out of nowhere…" he said.

"Hmm…you're right," Genta mused. "Wait, I know! Maybe he's sick! That's why he wouldn't want to play, right?"

"Baka!" Mitsuhiko said. "Does he look sick to you? He is not coughing, or lying in bed with a thermometer or anything like that! How could he be sick?"

"He's sniffling…" Genta said. "Maybe he has a cold, huh? You're the baka!"

"He's sniffling because he's crying…" Ayumi said. Both of the boys shut their mouths, looking sheepish. A moment passed before Genta decided to try again.

"Well…if he's crying then he's sad! That's what wrong!"

"Obviously," Mitsuhiko said, rolling his eyes. "But why would Conan be sad all of a sudden? Today at school he seemed fine, and it's not like him to be depressed. This is very strange. As detectives, we have to figure out what's wrong with him! Now what would make Conan cry?"

"…Maybe he got a bad grade on a test and he's gonna get in trouble? That happens to me…" Genta murmured.

"No way, Conan is great in school, it couldn't be that. C'mon, Genta, think!" the other boy hissed.

"This is silly," Ayumi spoke up suddenly. Genta and Mitsuhiko blinked, then looked at the girl.

"It's not silly, we're trying to help him!" Mitsuhiko hissed, pointing at the silent boy at the table. Ayumi pushed past them.

"Yeah, sitting around talking isn't helping him anyway! I have an idea, why don't we just try asking him what's wrong, huh?" the girl said, glaring at them. Both kids glanced at the other.

"Uh…that's a great idea! I was just about to say that, right? Okay, Ayumi, let's…Ayumi?" The young girl had already left them and moved behind Conan. Her target remained buried facedown in his arms, unmoving. Ayumi smiled.

"Conan-kun…" she said softly. She took a step forward and slowly wrapped her arms around the child. Conan stiffened in surprise. "It's okay…we're your friends, and we're here for you, no matter what you are going through right now…"

'This…compassion, from a kid? I knew Ayumi has a crush on me, but this…' Conan thought. He slowly relaxed in her friendly embrace. Genta and Mitsuhiko remained speechless.

"We want you to be better again, Conan-kun…" Ayumi said matter-of-factly. "We're worried. Please tell us what's wrong, okay?"

"…Ran-nee-chan," Conan spoke after a moment, his voice cracking, "Ran-nee-chan…she is going to move to Europe forever…"

"So why are ya sad?" Genta spoke up, walking over to the table. "Now you don't have to listen to her anymore! You can stay up as late as you want, play whenever and you don't have to worry about-"

"Genta! Please, that isn't important to me!" Conan said, turning. "I…" His mind raced for the words. "Since…my parents left me here…Ran-nee-chan…was almost like my mom. I…I don't want her to leave."

"Oh…" Genta said, crestfallen. "I guess…since you say it that way, I would feel bad too if my mommy was going to leave. Sorry, Conan."

"So then what we gotta do is find a way to stop her from leaving, right?" Mitsuhiko remarked. "Could we get Agasa-hakase to…mess up her plane schedule so she can't leave?"

"That's too complicated," Genta said. "We should ask him to invent a special machine that blocks Conan's Ran-nee-chan from leaving the house! Like the trap Masked Yaiba fell into in last night's episode!" Genta said proudly.

"And Masked Yaiba escaped it, too," Ayumi concluded. "Why don't you just talk to her, Conan-kun?"

"I tried that, but…her mind is made up. I don't know what to do…"

"Aw, c'mon Conan. It'll work out somehow, right? I promise; no, I swear on my honor as a Detective Boy that we will not rest until we help you keep your Ran-nee-chan!" Genta said proudly.

"You guys…thanks…" Conan said, standing up. 'Maybe I shouldn't have yelled at the Professor after all. Talking about it really did help. I was so blinded by my sorrow that I didn't even listen to logic and reason…and that's not me. I gotta calm down and think this over. Genta's right; I'll find some way to make this work out.'

"Feeling better?" Ayumi asked. Conan nodded.

"Hey…know what? I think maybe it would be good if we went out and played a bit, okay? The sun will go down soon, so let's go, right?" he said.

"That's our Conan!" Mitsuhiko shouted. The kids ran out, shouting happily, Conan taking his time in the rear. They charged out of Agasa's house.

An old man and a little girl looked out the window at the children.

"It seems Shinichi has finally calmed down, eh Haibara?" Agasa smiled.

"Kudo has his work cut out for him if he plans on convincing Mouri to stay. I guess some recreation wouldn't hurt him," she replied.

"You know…" Agasa said slyly. "It looks like they are going to play hide-and-seek. Maybe you should join them?"

"…You're serious?"

"Of course."

"…If it's not necessary to keep my cover, I think I'll pass. Crazy old man…"


And there you have the end of File 2. I've got a good deal of File 3 fleshed out on paper, just need to get off my lazy ass and actually put it onto the computer. Hopefully I will do it by the end of the month, if not you have my utmost assurances that I will post it ASAP. So, please leave me constructive criticism! I'm still looking for a beta-reader too; it would help me work faster to have someone spotting the errors in my work so I don't have to! And until next time, ja ne!