MD: Oh my Ra you guys, I am so sorry!

Conan: It must be the apocalypse, you're updating!

MD: (sob) I got writer's block. I'm so sorry! I swear I didn't mean to take so long! After my trip, band camp started up, and then school right after that!

Conan: Why didn't you just update during band camp?

MD: I couldn't! I was so tired, both mentally and physically! I had to relearn lots of marching and try to do better than last year. Then we had to learn the show! It's way cool and it's called loops, but it's really hard!

Conan: Actually, your show isn't half bad.

MD: (grin) At least now we have the whole show learned. We just have to perfect it by finals in two weeks! And we just had our first orchestra concert, so I was working hard on my violin, since I am now in advanced orchestra. And school had been impossible… Why did I join honors!

Conan: Because you dumb in a smart way. If that actually makes sense. And since you've been talking for so long, I'll do a really quick disclaimer. Masked Detective does not own anything you may recognize and, unfortunately, makes no profit from thing.

MD: So sad. Anyways, here's chapter 14, finally!

DBZGTCCY

Small Things Forgotten

Ran quickly found the dot that represented Conan and the van and started to jog in the direction it was headed in. She felt like she had taken this path before, but shock off the feeling. What she needed to do was concentrate on finding Conan.

After a few minutes of jogging, Ran saw that the van had finally come to a stop. She slowed down to a fast walk and rubbed her arms in a vain attempt to warm them up.

Thank god I at least wore pants today instead of a skirt or shorts. I would hate to think how cold I would be in either of those two things!

Ran finally got to her destination and stood in shock as she stared at the area. It was her and Shinichi's high school! She walked over to the gate and sat down on the side, under the sign that said "Teitan High School". (MD: This was the name in the English graphic novel… Is it different in the Japanese version? Conan: Stupid dubs…)

She put her hands up to her mouth and tried to warm them up by blowing a steady stream of hot air on them. She wanted the kidnappers to assume that they had shaken her off of their trail and that they would let their guards down in response to the idea, making her job a whole lot easier. Just as she was preparing to try to sneak in, Dr. Agasa's voice cut through the silence from her glasses.

"What happened Ran? I had to answer the phone and it took me a while to try to get them to end the conversation. When I came back, you were moving in a whole new direction from before, and so was Shinichi's dot."

Ran felt a sweat drop run down the side of her face. Leave it to Dr. Agasa to answer the phone at a time like this. She sat back down under the sign and pressed the button on the glasses that would allow her to respond to Dr. Agasa.

"I think that whoever was in the original building where Shinichi was had recognized me when I tried to pretend to just happen to walk by the building. I was stupid and waited for a chance to go in instead of just finding a back door or something. But my 'chance' turned out to be them taking Shinichi to this new place. When I got in there, all I found was a deserted room and a cell with Shinichi's blood…" Ran voice was bitter at first. It was so stupid of her to wait. She should have just immediately found a way to sneak in. By the end though, she had to choke back a sob. Shinichi was obviously in bad shape, and here she was just sitting here in the cold.

"Ran, waiting for a chance like that was not stupid. It was actually a very smart move on your part. I know that you were unsuccessful, but it also proved that you can keep a level head despite any stressful situations. This will be very important if we plan on saving Shinichi. But now we need to worry about how we are going to help Shinichi now. Things may seem bad now, but don't give up hope. I know you're worried about the blood, but that just means that we need to move a little bit faster without sacrificing any caution."

Ran felt her heart loosen up as hope re-entered her mind and body. Dr. Agasa was right about everything. As long as they worked together, there was no way that they could possibly let Shinichi down.

"You're right Dr. Agasa, thank you." Ran said, sitting up straighter. It was now or never. They needed to come up with a plan and she had to execute it perfectly.

"Ran, I recognize the basic area of the city that you and Shinichi are in, but what is the building exactly that they are holding Shinichi in?"

Ran looked around, suddenly remembering just where she was. She frowned again at the white buildings of the school. No matter how long she pondered about it, she could not figure out why the men in black brought Shinichi here of all places. She hoped Dr. Agasa would have some idea as to why they chose a public high school for their "hide-out" in the middle of a school year.

Ran pressed the button on her glasses and said, "They took him to Teitan High School. I've been hiding behind this wall for a while now in hope that they would think that I was unable to follow them.

"The high school? This is not good. It was a smart place for them to go at this time of year, but it also means that they don't plan on being here for too long." Dr. Agasa responded, saying some of his thoughts out loud.

Ran leaned up against the wall without saying anything, completely baffled. What did everyone seem to know that she didn't? Dr. Agasa had said something about how it was a good time of the year for them to be at the school. What could possibly make the school a good hide out at any time other than the summer? That was when it hit her like a smack on the back of her head. How could she have possibly forgotten about something as big as that?

"Ran, are you still there? Are you okay?" Dr. Agasa's voice broke through her thoughts like a knife. She gave her head a small, quick shake before responding.

"Yeah, I'm still here, and I'm fine. I was just thinking about what you said, sorry." She needed to be a lot more alert. Shinichi's life was now resting in her hands!

"You had forgotten what the next two weeks were, hadn't you?" Dr. Agasa's voice sounded faintly amused, but with a hint of pity behind the amusement.

Ran felt a "sweatdrop" run down the side of her head that had nothing to do with her being warm. She felt like hitting herself over the forehead for having forgotten about the next two weeks.

"Yeah, I guess I did. But I still can't believe that it took me so long to figure it out after you had mentioned that it was the perfect time in the school year. I mean, who the heck forgets about winter break?" She finally gave herself that smack on the forehead that she felt she deserved, frowning. She then started to rub her temples as Dr. Agasa's voice came through the glasses softly.

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Ran. You've been under a lot of stress this weekend, not only with Shinichi's kidnapping, but about finding out his 'little' situation for these past months. It's perfectly understandable that you would forget something like winter break. But right now, we need to concentrate on how we are going to help Shinichi. Do you have any ideas of what to do now that you know where he is?"

Ran frowned at Dr. Agasa's question. She had been planning on just sneaking into the school and looking around for Shinichi. But now she realized how stupid of a "plan" that had been, if it even could be called a plan. If she had been caught, this situation would have become a hundred times worse that it already was.

"Actually, I have absolutely no idea what to do." Ran responded, sighing sadly. "All I know is that we probably have a very short time to save Shinichi. I doubt that those men in black on being at that school for more than a day or two."

"You are defiantly right about that. And I guess it's a good thing that I contacted you." Dr. Agasa said, after a few seconds of silence.

Ran felt her heart skip a beat. She listened eagerly for him to say that he had a plan, any plan at all. She clutched her glasses tightly as she heard Dr. Agasa say:

"I think I have an idea."

Ran silently cheered, and smiled. Time may have been running short, but they were going to save Shinichi. She was going to save Shinichi, no matter what.

DBZGTCCY

MD: Well, there it is, finally!

Conan: Thank Ra. Now you'll calm down and stop crying about how bad you feel about making the readers wait.

MD: Yeah, but just so you guys know, the next update will be slow, just not as slow. After finals I'll get out of school and hour early, so I should be able to work on this. I can't wait, as much as I love marching band. It must be so nice for people who actually have free time…

Conan: Oh stop whining, it's only been about 3 months.

MD: Yeah, you're right. But everyone thinks I'm nuts for doing marching band with the flute, orchestra with the violin, and honors on top of that. Quite a workload, if I do say so myself!

Conan: Yeah, I guess you're right there.

MD: Also guys, I'm putting my review replies will be on my livejournal for now on. It's a rule that you can't put review replies in your updates I guess, and I really don't want this erased…. So go to my livejournal! I'll have the review replies up in a few days. Either tomorrow or Thursday. I can't on Wednesday because I have private violin lessons, then youth symphony orchestra. Another eater upper of time….

Conan: What is it with you and biting off more than you can chew?

MD: I'm an idiotic over achiever I guess. Oh well, thank you guys for being so patient! I promise the next update won't take more that a month…. That may sound bad, but I'll try to make it sooner!

Conan: Sometimes I really worry about you…

MD: So does everyone else, but oh well! I think that's enough for this update, even if the chapter wasn't very long… So once again, I'M REALLY SORRY GUYS! And thanks again for your patience. So, ttfn!

Conan: TA ta for now!