W00t, made it to chapter 3, go me! As always, thank you guys for reading and reviewing, and I hope you guys continue to enjoy the story. Sorry about the long waits; it takes me a while to get these chapters done, especially now with exams u.u They'll be over with next week, thank god. Anyway, go ahead and read :D

Recap: Shinichi got Ran's present, and his mom basically solved one of his major problems he was having and saved his ass. YAY. Lol.

Chapter 3: Seven Days

"Thanks for the ride, doc!" Conan called happily.

He waved to the small car that had just dropped him off at the Mouri Detective Agency as it pulled farther and farther away. Dr. Agasa was headed home; it was around four o' clock, and Conan had finally decided to return to his 'home' at the Mouris' for dinner. He had finally seen his parents for the first time in months, and for once, it wasn't on some cheesy television show. He was actually able to physically talk to them, and boy did they have a lot to catch up on.

Ever since he was shrunken, he'd never been able to talk to his parents the same way. It was almost like a wall had been built between them, constantly keeping them apart – after all, they weren't exactly supposed to know each other. But all that would change soon; or so he continued to tell himself.

"Conan?"

The boy perked up suddenly, and then looked across the table to see Ran calling his name. "Oh, sorry, Ran-neechan…did you say something?" he asked.

She frowned. "I said your mother called today," she repeated herself. "Boy, you sure seem distracted. Are you all right?"

He giggled nervously. "Oh yeah, I'm fine, seriously!" he assured her. "I just have…a lot on my mind right now, that's all…what did my mom want?" He seemed mildly interested, curious to know what excuse his mom had ended up pulling out of her extraordinary hat.

"Apparently your grandmother is sick in the hospital, and she wants to take you to go visit her for a while, maybe a week or so," she said replied. "I think she said she was in Hawaii? I don't remember, but you'll be taking quite a trip. She was on vacation."

"Oh no, I hope she's okay!" Conan exclaimed. He always had a feeling the acting skills he inherited from his mother would come in handy sometime, and they had constantly been tested many times ever since he'd been shrunken.

Ran smiled at him and gave him a small pat on the head. "I'm sure she's fine," she replied. "Your mother didn't sound too worried on the phone, but she did want you to go see her and spend some time with her."

Conan just nodded with a smile. "And I will," he said. "Did she happen to say when she's going to be picking me up?"

She seemed to be thinking, but the subtle troubled look on her face told him that she was only pretending. "Er...Thursday or Friday, I believe?" she replied.

He knew he would have to do this; he knew he would have to deal with Ran's disappointment over Conan missing her birthday party. But despite his prior knowledge, he still felt unprepared; unsure of himself. Ran had always been so sensitive, and consoling her wasn't always easy – hell, it never was. Yet as himself, he never failed to succeed. He guessed that now was a good a time as any to find out if he still had the same charms as an eight-year-old.

"But Ran-neechan, your birthday!" he exclaimed.

"I know, Conan, I know…" she replied. "Don't worry about it, all right? I never like making a big deal out of it anyway. Your grandmother's much more important, so you go on and do what you have to do, and don't feel bad. Okay?"

Conan looked down, slowly picking at his dinner, which by now had gotten cold. "Okay… I will," he said.

"Conan, look at me," Ran said. She snapped her fingers at him to get his attention, as Conan looked at her right in the eyes. "You won't worry about missing my silly birthday when you should be worried about your grandmother, right?"

He shook his head. "Er, no, Ran-neechan. I won't…" he said.

She smiled and got up, petting him on the head. "Good!" she said cheerfully. "Now, do you want a drink while I'm in the kitchen?"

Conan gave her a weak smile; he could tell by her facial expression alone that she was disappointed, but she was trying to hide it. He sighed, deciding that there wasn't much he could do about it if she insisted on hiding it…hopefully, Shinichi making an appearance would make her forget all about the little kid who could never seem to mind his own business. "Actually, milk would be great," he said with a grin. "Thanks."

She smiled and happily obliged, getting herself her own glass of soda. She came back in the room just in time to hear the front door open, and they both glanced over to find Kogoro – completely sober for once.

"Hey, dad," Ran greeted him. "Dinner's on the table, but sorry, Conan and I were hungry so we didn't wait for you."

Kogoro just waved his hand. "Ah, don't worry about it," he said stretching. "I'm so starved I probably wouldn't have paid attention anyway. Where is it?"

Ran just sighed and shook her head. "Where it always is, dad," she said. "On the dining table, in the dining room." She pointed in the direction, and she smirked, taking a pause. "What, do you need me to show you the way, too?"

Little Conan, who had been listening, couldn't help but giggle, as Kogoro grumbled and stormed in and whacked him on the head, as he usually did. "I heard that, you brat!"

"Ow!"

The boy grumbled, glaring at him, secretly wishing that Ran would send him one of her famous karate kicks, but he decided he just wasn't worth thinking about. "Ran-neechan, I'm going to go up to my room, okay?" he told her. "Maybe to read or something."

She nodded in complete understanding. "All right Conan, don't forget to do your homework, too," she reminded him.

"I won't," he said, and with that he walked up the stairs and found his way to his room. He immediately found his cell phone and he dialed his dad's new number, waiting for an answer.

"Hey, Shinichi! Your dad's in the shower at the moment, so I picked up for him. Is everything okay?"

It was Yukiko who picked up. He had forgotten – as long as they were back in Beika, they would be staying at their own house. He could've just called his own home number; but it didn't matter now. "Yup, everything's going great mom," he said. "It's all going off without a hitch. I can't thank you enough."

She grinned. "Don't mention it, hun, I'm just glad it worked," she said. "I haven't acted as Miss Edogawa in a long time, I was so afraid I'd be too rusty!"

Conan just laughed. "Nope, everything's fine. Just thought I'd let you know that," he said. "Tell dad too, okay? I'm gonna read some more of his book before I take a shower and just relax."

His mother nodded, seeming quite pleased. "All righty then, take care of yourself," she said.

"I always do. Talk to you later," he said.

They both hung up, and for the first time in what felt like forever, Shinichi could breathe easy. He picked up his father's new Knight Baron book, opening up to the page he had bookmarked, and began to read, slowly and carefully, like he had all the time in the world.

Ran had finally handed out her invitations, and everything was pretty much set and done for the party. Luckily, her birthday was to fall on a Saturday that year, making her decision of when to hold the party relatively obvious, and there wasn't too much conflict.

It was Friday – the morning that Conan was to be picked up to 'visit his grandmother in Hawaii,' and everything had already been handled at his elementary school. He already packed his clothes in preparation for his so-called trip, which Conan's mother would pick up from the Mouris before getting Conan out of school at 10am sharp. Everything was perfect; he was finally, finally, finally going to be able to live in his own home again, with his own parents.

He had even been sleeping more soundly at night, which delighted him to no end; however that morning, his sleep had been interrupted by a distinct vibrating sound. Vibrating, continuous and almost ominous; quiet, yet loud enough to wake him up. But what was it?

He sat up in bed, sighing, glancing under his bed, where the sound came from. But of course – it had been his cell phone, which he had so stealthily hidden. But who had the gall to call Shinichi this early, especially when he had been gone for so long? He had a worried feeling again.

"Hello…?" he said groggily with a sigh, sounding very, very unhappy.

"Seven days…"

Conan practically jumped, and he immediately tried to figure out who it was. After he was able to pull himself together however, it didn't take much effort. His eyes narrowed into a glare, and he let out a low growl.

"Who are you, the girl from The Ring?" he asked, annoyed. "What do you want, Haibara?"

"Seven. Days," she repeated. "The cure."

His eyes widened. "What!" he exclaimed. "A whole week! You're kidding!"

She smirked. "For once, I'm not," she said. "You should definitely be able to maintain your original body for about a week. I've run all the experiments I possibly can – and I'm already beginning to make progress on a permanent cure off of this. You may never have to be Conan again…"

Shinichi could feel his heart doing summersaults, as he had to resist the urge to scream out of happiness. "I don't believe this! What a way to start the morning!" he remarked. "That was possibly the best phone call I've ever received in my entire life…"

Ai just shook her head and couldn't help but lightly laugh at his reaction. "Don't get your hopes up now," she said.

"How can you tell me something like that and not expect me to get my hopes up!" he exclaimed, and he almost couldn't keep himself from laughing.

"Because, need I remind you, they are still after you," she said. "A little birthday party is fine, but if you decide to go back to Teitan High for the week, you better watch who you talk to like your life depends on it."

He just stuck out his tongue with a childish 'nyeh' sound; he felt bad, but he really could've cared less at the moment. "Yeah, yeah, I know," he said. "And I'll be careful! I'm not stupid, you know."

"Then I suggest you stop spazzing, or you'll wake up the whole neighborhood…" Ai said warningly.

He covered his mouth, finally realizing how loud he was being, and was thankful that both Ran and Kogoro were dead-heavy sleepers. "Heh…right," he said.

"Well, that's all I had to say," she said, sounding weak. "I've got more last minute tests to run."

"Mmhmm…" he said. "Thanks…Shiho."

Her eyes widened, and she had almost dropped the phone upon hearing her name. A mix of emotions overcame her, but surprise dominated. "Er – "

"Oh, and do me one last favor," he added, before she could react.

She narrowed her eyes. "What?" she asked.

A devilish smirk tugged on his lips as Conan looked down at his watch to see it blink 5:35am.

"Go to sleep."

Ran walked Conan to school as usual, and Conan tried to keep from smiling, remembering that he was supposed to act sad. Poor little Conan was going to be missing his Ran-neechan's birthday after all.

They got to the front of the school, and Ran just smiled. "Well this is it," she said. "I'll see you in a week, okay, kiddo?"

Conan smiled in return. "Yep! I promise I'll bring you something really, really cool back from Hawaii, okay?" he said reassuringly. Ran just laughed and pat him on the head – the boy had his grown-up moments, but at times, anyone could tell he was truly a kid inside.

"All righty," she said. "Now go, or you'll be late! Go on, go, go!"

She began to nudge him in the direction of the school, and he just laughed. "Okay, okay, if you want to get rid of me that badly," he said jokingly. "Bye Ran-neechan!"

They waved to each other as Conan finally found his way into the classroom, with the Detective Boys already waiting, including Ai.

"Conan!" Ayumi exclaimed upon seeing him. She threw his arms around him and gave him the best hug she could. "I'm going to miss you! I hope your grandmother will be all right, and take lots of pictures for us okay? I've read that Hawaii is really beautiful!"

He sat down in his seat next to Ai, putting his backpack beside him. "I'm visiting my sick grandmother – it's not a vacation you know," he reminded her, giggling.

Ayumi frowned. "I know, I know…" she said. "I didn't mean it like that! I just – "

"It's okay, Ayumi, I get it," Conan replied simply. "I was only teasing." He wondered why she had acted so sensitive around him, always taking everything so seriously – it was rather cute, in a kiddy way, but he never understood it.

"Man, you're lucky, Conan!" Genta chipped in.

"Yeah, Conan!" Mitsuhiko agreed hastily. "You get to miss school for a whole week, and for a cool place like Hawaii, too! You just have the perfect life, don't you!"

Conan just laughed, and he saw a smile from Ai too. Oh, if only they knew… he thought.

Just then, their teacher had walked into the room, making everyone go silent and stand up to greet her together as they always did. The teacher nodded in approval, and everyone sat down, their attention focused on her.

"Good morning, everyone," she said smiling. "If you would please take out your homework from last night, I'll come around and give you a sticker for it and we'll begin."

Everyone immediately went shuffling around in their backpacks, eagerly looking for the small Math worksheet they had been assigned for homework the previous night. It had some multiplication problems, and some addition as well, just to review from last year. Of course, Conan took no more than five minutes on the thing. He pulled it out of his backpack, putting it out on front of him on his desk, and then glanced over to the clock. Just 2 and a half more hours… he thought, sighing.

He glanced over to Ai, who had her head down on her desk, but you could see the worksheet poking out from under her.

"Ai-chan, sit up, please," the teacher said sternly, walking up to them. "And may I see your homework?"

Ai sighed, lifting her head up off of her desk and just propped it up on her hand instead. She handed her the worksheet without a word, and she put a sticker on it, looking pleased. She handed it back to her with a smile.

"Nicely done. And you, Conan?" she asked, turning to him.

He handed her his worksheet, and she did the same thing, as Ai waited for her to walk away so she could lay her head down again. She walked off, continuing to put stickers on all the homework that she'd seen, and then finally returned to the front of the class.

"All right! Well, since all of you seem to have done that homework with no problem, if there are no questions, I say we work on some practice problems so that you'll be ready for your quiz on Monday," she said. She then turned her attention to Conan, who had still constantly glanced at his watch and the clock on the wall. "Conan, you'll have to make it up when you get back."

He suddenly turned to the teacher upon hearing his name. "Huh? Oh! Erm, yes ma'am," he agreed, upon registering what she had said.

Stop looking at the clock, Kudo, you know you won't speed it up by staring at it… Conan kept telling himself, finding it hard to keep his attention on multiplication and addition that he had learned ten years ago.

"CONAN!" the teacher barked.

He nearly jumped out of his seat, his eyes widening as he quickly turned to the teacher once again. "Er…yes ma'am?" he asked. Ai smirked – her head had been down, as she struggled to keep herself awake, but she had looked like she had been paying attention all the same.

"Would you care to tell us the answer to the problem on the board?" she asked, pointing to the whiteboard on which the teacher had written in a very dark blue marker.

"Thirty times two – that would be sixty, ma'am," he said.

"Very good…" his teacher said suspiciously. "And…twenty two times three?"

"Sixty-six," Conan replied instantly.

"Twenty times five?"

"A hundred."

The teacher gave him a look of approval. "Soo, it looks like these simple problems are too easy for you then, hmm, Conan?" she asked. "Let's try this one…"

She began to write on the board, as Conan sighed, making a face. He figured if he answered this question, she would get off his back. The teacher stood aside so Conan could see the problem.

"Twenty three times two…plus nineteen…minus two…times five…" Conan read. He let out a groan – in his level math, he was accustomed to a calculator. It annoyed him that he couldn't use one, but regardless, he began to work it out in his head. "Three-hundred and…and…"

Ai sighed, looking up from her desk once again. "Fifteen," Ai added.

The teacher was quite surprised to find that they hadn't even worked out anything on paper – and they had gotten the answer too.

"Well, well," she said. "It seems I've underestimated you two…Three-hundred and fifteen, good job."

The teacher demonstrated how to get to the answer, explaining that a complicated problem as that wouldn't be on the quiz. Conan just let his head fall onto the desk. Stupid basic arithmetic, he thought. I'd rather be solving equations and proving theorems…

At 10am, he had been picked up just as planned. He was more than ready to go, and as soon as he got into his house, he laughed, running up to his book collection, which had collected dust over the months he was absent.

"My books! My room! My house!" he shouted excitedly with a grin. "It's all still here – all of it!"

His parents just laughed, coming in behind him as they took of their coats. "Well of course, dear, did you think they were going to run away?" Yukiko asked.

Conan smiled. "No…" he said. "But still… oh, and thank you so much for getting me out of that class. I wouldn't have been able to take it for another second…"

His mother smirked proudly. "I had a feeling that would be the case," she said. "But now you're stuck at home instead, so I suppose it's not that much better…I mean, it's not like you can do anything until your friend comes home to give you the cure. Ai-chan, was it?"

He nodded. "Yeah, that's her," he replied. "And you know, I'd rather be here at home sleeping than doing stupid addition and multiplication problems, anyway."

Yusaku laughed. "I never liked basic arithmetic either," he replied.

"Hey, how long are you guys going to be in the area anyways?" Conan asked.

His father just shrugged. "Around this time next week, probably," he replied. "My editors will be bugging me eventually, so I guess I'll just wait until then…by the way, did you finish my latest book yet?"

Conan pulled the book out of his bag. "Only a few more pages," he said, smiling.

He sat down and read in his comfortable chair right near his giant book collection, and after he finished, he got up and stretched, turning to his father.

"Nice ending dad – and it's not a cliffhanger for once," he remarked. He added the book to the rest of his collection, and headed over to the stairs to go up to his room. "I'll be in my room if you guys need me, 'kay?"

He walked up and went into his room with the bag full of his things that his mother had gotten for him from the Mouris, and then pulled out Ran's present, which was easily the most important thing in the bag. He smiled to himself, more confident than ever – he couldn't wait for the next day.

((I promise, you'll find out what it is next chapter :D))