Conan had never been more grateful for a murder in his life.

Well, he didn't exactly know if it was a murder - someone just screamed, is all - but with Conan's (and maybe even Shinichi's) luck, it would be even more surprising if it wasn't.

Shinichi and Ran also seemed curious, from what he could see from the vents. They both startled a bit as a brief expression of fear flitted over their faces when the scream ran out, and then started to look around at the clamor.

"D-did someone scream?" He heard Ran ask.

"Someone must've just seen a cockroach or something.. that's all!" Shinichi said with a fake looking smile. He sounded hopeful yet disbelieving at the same time, as if he knew it wasn't true but was desperately hoping it was.

A second later that was proven wrong when Conan barely managed to hear a guy say, "Hey! Someone died in the elevator!"

Despite that, Shinichi still continued, although looking a considerable amount more nervous. "Um anyways, I wanted to tell you..."

"Oh my God, the company president was shot in the head!" Another guy said.

Shinichi twitched and kept sending quick glances around, desperately trying to ignore all the commotion around them. "S-so, in short..."

Conan had to admit he could admire his tenacity to still try and continue despite it all.

It seemed both Conan and Ran noticed that Shinichi desperately wanted to go see what was going on, because Ran said with a small sigh, "You wanna see what the case is, don't you?"

Shinichi startled and looked down nervously.

"Unlike someone I won't run or hide." Ran continued. "So, go on." She jerked her head towards the commotion. "Meitantei-san."

Shinichi smiled and pushed himself up out of the chair. "Sorry, Ran." He turned around and started running towards the elevators. "I'll be right back!" He yelled over his shoulder.

Well, if things went as planned tonight, Conan highly doubted that.

After a few long moments of waiting and observing the situation, he decided that staying there in the vents was no longer of any use and then backed up further away from the opening until he couldn't hear any voices anymore. He brought out his phone and dialed up Yusaku.

He answered on the first ring. "Yes?"

"So somebody died." Conan simply stated, his voice echoing off the sides of the metal.

"Ah..." Yusaku sighed, sounding fairly resigned. "I guess that was to be expected." So Yusaku noticed his strange magnetism to corpses as well, it seemed. Good to know Conan wasn't going crazy then. "What happened?" He asked.

"Uh, I've heard some company president was shot in an elevator." He answered. "Shinichi ran off to see what was going on and left Ran."

"Alright, me and Yukiko will head up there." He said. "Also, just curious, but..." Yusaku trailed off, sounding a bit unsure. "Why do you sound all.. echoey?" He hesitantly asked, almost like he didn't want to know the answer.

"I'm in the vents." Conan answered simply. He wasn't going to elaborate.

"Ah.. I see." Yusaku said, sounding flustered. "Anyways, why don't you meet up with us at the front of the restaurant?"

"Okay." He agreed.

"Bye then." He promptly hung up.

Conan turned off and pocketed his phone, then began his journey back through the vents. It was pretty uneventful, really. All he had to do was follow his handy little map he made and he got back to the bathroom without any issue.

He plopped down into the stall, relieved to be out of the vents. He dusted some of the dust off his clothes and vigorously shook his head to get it out of his hair. There was definitely still a lot of it on him, but at least he didn't seem to be allergic. That was nice.

He casually walked out into the restroom.. then came face to face with a man who had paused washing his hands to stare wide eyed at the boy.

He probably should've checked if anyone was there before just.. dropping in...

Oops.

Conan did the first thing he thought of, which was to smile brightly at him and then just walk away. It seemed the man was either too confused or surprised to follow after him, so unexpectedly it actually worked.

Conan sat down on some chair in the lobby and waited for the two to arrive.


Conan, Yusaku, and Yukiko were each peering out behind the corner, looking at the crime scene, trying to act as inconspicuous as possible. They didn't want to be recognized and brought into the investigation, after all. That would kind of defeat the purpose of talking to Shinichi alone. Although, unfortunately, a rich looking couple and what appeared to be their child trying to sneak a look at a crime scene wasn't exactly inconspicuous, and they've been told off by the officers a few times already (thankfully none of those officers seemed to recognize them - although Megure and co. were also there so they had to be careful).

But, fortunately that wasn't seeming to be much of an issue. They didn't actually need to solve the case or be close to the crime scene; Shinichi appeared to have everything handled. Conan wasn't sure, but he presumed Yusaku wanted to 'observe his son's deductive ability' or something like that. And it's not like Conan actually knew much about the case either... Yusaku had asked him to tell him about it earlier and was clearly disappointed in his answer, so maybe he just wanted to know more.

Conan glanced up at Yusaku - because he wasn't really getting anywhere by just staring at the crime scene - and was immediately irritated seeing his expression. Yusaku had that smirk and that look in his eyes that all detectives apparently had when they figured out the truth of a case, which was really annoying because they barely even knew anything at this point and it should be impossible for him to have solved it already. But, well, it was Yusaku.

Yusaku brought a hand up to his chin, and muttered pensively under his breath, "Hmm, pink pearls..."

The victim's daughter was wearing pink pearl earrings, which Conan had no idea why that mattered or how on earth it was even relevant. But, he still made sure to remember it, because it clearly was if Yusaku was taking note of it.

Yusaku sniffed and coughed a couple times, which he had been doing ever since he met up with Conan.. for some reason. Odd...

Or, well, it was until Conan realized that he was still mostly covered in dust and had even been leaving a faint trail.

"Oh." He blinked up at Yusaku guilessly. "Are you allergic to dust?" He asked.

That irritating smirk was wiped off his face. He glanced down at Conan. "A bit."

Conan had to stop himself from smirking evilly. He had been hoping he was.

"Oh, sorry." He said, trying to sound sympathetic even though he clearly was not.

He then began brushing off the remaining dust on his clothes and ruffling his hair, creating a small cloud of dust around them. At first glance, it would seem like he was removing the dust to help Yusaku, but he really just wanted to disturb it and rile up the man's allergies.

And it seemed to be working.

Yusaku let out a couple of harsh sneezes, then rubbed at his nose with a finger, irritably grumbling. He glared at Conan, who just returned it with an utterly innocent look. He was fairly certain Yusaku knew of his real intentions, but it's not like he had the evidence - that detectives so verily love - to prove it.

Out of the corner of his eye, Conan caught Yukiko sending him a proud smile. Thankfully, she didn't seem to be allergic. Conan smiled back, before turning back to watch the crime scene.


Conan was the last to solve the case.

But, it's not like he cared really. It wasn't a contest and it didn't matter, nope. Besides, even if it was a contest, it would be a pretty unfair one. Shinichi had got a head start way before Conan or Yusaku had even got close to the crime scene, and he had more information than them, actually being at the crime scene. And Yusaku.. well, was Yusaku. Conan didn't think anyone could fairly compete against that guy in a deduction battle.

Conan had only figured it out when Shinichi opened the elevator for his deduction, causing him to noticed that you couldn't actually tell that the pearls on the daughter's earrings were pink in the dark lighting, meaning that there's no way her boyfriend could've known that unless he had some sort of light, like from the elevator, therefore making him the murderer. Even then, he only noticed that because Yusaku mentioned the pearls earlier, and he only had the gist of the case then; the rest was revealed to him through Shinichi's deduction.

So, no, he was not sulking over the fact that he lost this theoretical contest. Definitely not.

(And if he intentionally flared up Yusaku's allergies a few more times, then what of it?)

But, it's not like that murder was actually important or relevant (to them). Their main focus was still trying to talk to Shinichi. Which is why Conan, Yusaku, and Yukiko were each pressed against the bathroom door and peeking through the small open slit, watching as Shinichi headed out of a stall and towards the sink.

There wasn't anyone else in the bathroom, so now would be a perfect time for either of them to head in and talk to him.. but neither of them were.

After a few seconds of watching Shinichi boringly wash his hands with no movement or indication that the others would go in, Conan decided to break the silence and whisper to them, "So.. are you guys going in?"

Yusaku didn't say anything and just gave Conan an indecipherable and pensive look. He didn't know what on earth it meant but he had a hunch and he didn't quite like it.

"You can't be saying that I'm going in!" He nervously whispered. Yusaku simply continued to give him that same look, making Conan even more worried. "I mean, you're his parents!" He added.

Apparently Yukiko decided to give her two cents, whispering back, "Well obviously I'm not going in first." She pointedly looked at the men's bathroom sign, making her point clear.

"I don't think that's exactly important right now..." Conan said with a small voice.

Yukiko didn't say anything to that and instead just turned to the other, asking, "Yusaku?"

"Hmm..." He trailed off, looking back into the bathroom as Shinichi started drying his hands with a paper towel. "Fine." He conceded, apparently deciding that time was of the essence and that someone had to go break the ice.

He stood up and quietly opened up the door further, the other two moving out of the way, then walked in.

Conan and Yukiko quickly moved back to peek through the small gap again.

Shinichi didn't seem to notice Yusaku, or well, he noticed someone come in - based on the quick flick of his eyes towards the door - but he was too busy fixing himself up in the mirror to actually notice who the person was.

Yusaku sidled up next to Shinichi at the sink next over, and, quite bluntly said, "You shouldn't do it."

Well, that was a very.. direct way to start the conversation. Though Conan didn't blame him - it's not as if he could've come up with anything better.

Immediately, Shinichi flinched and whipped his head over to the man. Surprise filled his features. "D-dad!?" He choked out. "Wh-what?"

Yusaku continued to stare at himself in the mirror, leaning over the counter, not sending a glance to the teenager. "I've heard you took that Mouri girl out to dinner here. Yes," he paused dramatically and finally turned to look at him, "just like 20 years ago, you plan to confess, don't you?"

Shinichi blinked, then looked down at the counter nervously, a blush clear on his face. "W-well.."

"Don't do it." Yusaku interrupted.

Shinichi startled and looked back at him, more shocked than anything. "Huh!?" He slightly bristled.

Yusaku gave him a serious look. "You and me both know how dangerous it could be, how dangerous all of this is, son..." He trailed off, giving Shinichi a look that made it clear that he knew something.

Shinichi just stared contemplatively at his dad, trying to decipher what exactly he was implying, looking like the gears in his head were whirring at rapid speeds. "What are..?" He trailed off. Slowly, his eyes widened as he came to a realization. "Y-you know..." Yusaku continued to give him that same look. Apparently, that was enough of an answer for Shinichi. He sighed and looked at the mirror resigned. "Of course you do... How'd you figure it out?"

See? Shinichi didn't even sound like he was surprised. Yusaku could easily just say something haughty like 'It was a simple deduction, really' and just leave it at that; Shinichi probably wouldn't even question it. Conan didn't even have to be here!

But apparently Yusaku thought differently. "Well, a certain someone told me." He said, shifting his gaze away from Shinichi and instead towards the slightly open door that Conan and Yukiko were peering through.

Conan had a bad feeling.

Shinichi curiously followed his gaze. Yusaku locked eyes with Conan.

Conan had an even worse feeling.

He felt Yukiko slightly nudge him in the side. "This is your cue!" She whispered.

He sent her a slight glare - because that was pretty obvious - then just sighed and grumbled quietly to himself, accepting his fate.

This isn't going to be fun...

Conan opened up the door more and poked his head in. He looked up nervously at Shinichi. "Um.. hi."

If he weren't a part of an extremely important conversation, he would've facepalmed right then and there. Could he have made his introduction any more awkward?

It seemed Shinichi was too shocked to care about that. "Conan!?" He yelled incredulously, his eyes practically bulging out of his head. He turned his incredulous look to Yusaku. "He told you!?" He gestured a hand at Conan.

Conan took this moment to quietly step in and walk over next to Yusaku.

"Basically." Yusaku said matter-of-factly. (Even though technically it wasn't true.)

Shinichi looked back down at Conan. "H-how!?"

"Uh..." Conan nervously shuffled his feet. "Remember back at Tropical Land..?" He meekly asked. Shinichi's eyes somehow widened even further. "I kinda.. saw it all happen... I was hiding in the bushes."

Shinichi paled a few shades and just stared off at some random place above Conan's head as surprise, confusion, and, most notably, fear flitted across his face, while he was probably trying to process all this new information.

Honestly, Conan felt bad for the guy. He's had at least two huge bombshells dropped on him in the past like five minutes and he was already experiencing stuff that probably wasn't the most emotionally easy to go through.

Shinichi blinked a couple times, then looked down at Conan with a slightly less but still incredibly terrified look. "You didn't tell anyone, did you..?" He asked, his voice shaking.

"No!" Conan quickly yelled, shaking his head. "Of course not!"

Out of his peripheral vision, Conan noticed Yusaku giving him a very blank and unimpressed look, a far cry from his extremely serious expression moments prior. Shinichi still looked quite scared, but there was now a hint of disbelief in his expression.

Conan got the message and caved. "Ok, I told the Professor - who then told your parents," he added, "but that's it! I didn't even tell the police, honest!"

Shinichi seemed to accept that quite easily, letting out a relieved sigh and returning back to a more normal and less fearful expression. However Yusaku was still giving him the same exact look, probably because he knew full well that Conan had told other people.

(Well, technically it was true. The only person he actually physically told about the Black Organization was Agasa. The others either figured it out themselves, knew about them already, or were told by Agasa. Well.. he did kind of tell Hattori, but it was better than the alternative.)

Shinichi turned around and leaned against the counter, staring forlornly at the opposite wall. "So you were just there.." he voiced, "the whole time..."

Conan meekly nodded his head. "Mm-hm..." He nervously fiddled his fingers, coming to a decision. "Um s-sorry for not doing anything... I didn't exactly wanna die."

He had to repress a wince at how bad that apology was. Real sympathetic. Great job, Conan.

Thankfully, Shinichi didn't say anything about that or seem to mind, and instead just lightly sighed and looked over at Conan, a bit more serious. "Just.. don't tell anyone else, especially not Ran."

Conan furiously nodded. "Of course!"

(Now would probably be a pretty bad time to say he's almost told Ran at least twice...)

"And that," Yusaku suddenly began, breaking the mini silence that had elapsed between them, "is exactly why you can't confess to her." He said, bringing the conversation back to its original topic.

Shinichi startled a bit, stepping away from the counter and quickly turning back towards Yusaku. He looked a bit mad again, but he also looked resigned, as if he knew his dad was right, yet didn't want to accept it.

Yusaku stared at his son, seeming to understand his emotions. "I know it's hard, but.." he continued, now with a softer voice, "if you confess, she'll want to be with you even more but.. you know you can't. Staying here any longer will get both you and the girl killed." The slightest of flinches passed over Shinichi at the harsh words. "It won't be easy but, the best thing to do is to leave her, to leave this place."

Shinichi's shoulders slumped down as his head hung low. He turned back towards the mirror, his hands braced against the counter. "I know, I just..." He spoke quietly, sounding both conflicted and sad. "I heard about the play, and I thought.. I would be wearing a helmet, no would know it was me. I could just.. be in the play for a little while, then talk to Ran, and go. But.. the murder happened and, everyone already knew I was there. I thought.. maybe I could stay for a little, go back to normal for a few days." A pathetically sad laugh escaped his mouth. "I knew it was dangerous, I knew I shouldn't do it but.. I just wanted to pretend as if everything was normal, as if none of that ever happened.. even just for a little..." He trailed off.

Yusaku stepped over and placed a comforting hand on his back.

(Conan was honestly wondering if he should even be here anymore. This felt like something way too personal for him to be witnessing, like something that should only be between close family and friends, not some random kid that Shinichi had met like twice. He briefly considered leaving and just silently slipping away so he wouldn't cause any disturbance but, he figured Yusaku would probably zero in on him the moment he caught any movement from his direction and then demand him to stay, which would, in fact, be a disturbance, so he quickly threw that idea away.)

Eventually, Shinichi straightened back up, looking at himself in the mirror. "I was thinking.. maybe I could confess to Ran before I left. It's the last chance I'll have in a while."

Yusaku stepped a bit away from Shinichi. "See, you already know how risky this is. So, why don't you leave this dangerous place and come back with us to America?"

Conan had a momentary flash of deja vu. That was.. exactly what Yusaku had asked him after he fake kidnapped him and still thought he was Shinichi. Huh, it seemed he was still set on that idea, even after all this. Although, he didn't exactly think it was a good idea.

Shinichi didn't even look like he processed what Yusaku proposed, and instead just looked confused. His gaze lowered to Conan.. for some reason, causing the boy to startle a bit. "'Us'?" He restated.

It took a second for Conan to get what he was implying, but when he did it made a lot more sense. It did kind of sound like Yusaku was suggesting to go to America with Conan, which would be pretty weird.

"Eh?" Yusaku blinked a couple times, dumbfounded, before quickly shaking his head a little. "No, not Conan." He said, then turned towards the bathroom door. "Yukiko!" He called out.

Suddenly, the door swung open as Yukiko bursted in. "Hi!" She cheerfully greeted. "I'm here too!"

(Oh so now she didn't mind going in the men's bathroom.)

Shinichi's eyes widened as surprise flitted over his face for a second, before it was replaced by a more exasperated one. "Of course you are."

The door closed again as Yukiko happily walked over to the group.

"So." Yusaku immediately began, brushing off all of that. "Come with us. You won't have to worry anymore." He continued, determined to have Shinichi go along with this. Apparently, he either didn't notice or care that Shinichi started to look definitely more angry than before. "I have a friend in Interpol who can look into this organization. Eventually they'll be taken down and you can go back to normal."

Honestly, Conan was starting to get a bit worried. As Yusaku explained, Shinichi got progressively more and more mad. The annoyed expression he had when Yukiko entered was now replaced by just pure anger. His eyebrows were furrowed together and there was a hard glint in his eyes. Conan really wondered why Yusaku seemingly wasn't noticing or doing anything about any of this.

But, despite Shinichi's rising anger, Yusaku still continued, "Let's just stop this-"

"No!" Shinichi yelled, cutting him off, having apparently reached his breaking point. "This is my case, stay out of it!"

"Shinichi!" Yukiko reprimanded.

Honestly, Conan didn't know what they were expecting.

"And I'm not leaving Japan!" Shinichi continued. "I can't just leave Ran like that-!"

"But you know you can't confess to her!" Yusaku interrupted sternly. "You know you can't stay here any longer!"

"I'm not going with you!" Shinichi reiterated, even more determined. "I just-"

"Shinichi!" Yusaku shouted, somehow even more serious than before. The anger in his tone caused everyone to flinch.

Shinichi's mouth promptly shut, understanding the gravity of the situation.

The father and son just stared at each other with harsh glares. The tension in the air was so thick it was almost constricting.

After a few moments of this tense atmosphere permeating the bathroom along with the intense staring, Shinichi decided enough was enough. He let out an angry puff of air. "Fine!" He yelled. "If you want me gone that bad, I'll go! I'll go back into hiding and I won't talk to Ran! You can just forget about all this! You don't have to worry about me anymore!" He angrily finished his spiel, then turned around and furiously stormed out.

The door slammed shut, leaving the three to just stand there and stare at where Shinichi had left. An awkward silence fell over the room.

They stayed like that for a few seconds, unsure of what to do, before Conan decided to break the quietness, bluntly saying, "Well, that could've gone better."

Yusaku sighed. "Yes, but it could've gone a lot worse too." Conan lifted an eyebrow and sent him a look, because he was skeptical of how worse that could've feasibly went. "At least we know he won't be confessing anymore." He explained.

"Mmn." Conan replied noncommittally. "So.. what now?"

"Ran-san's still waiting, isn't she..." Yukiko said, resigned.

Conan and Yukiko both groaned while Yusaku just quietly sighed, realizing that dealing with her was not going to be fun. Shinichi was already bad enough. They were all tired from that, so clearly no one wanted to deal with a sad Ran right now.

Eventually, after a bit more waiting, Yusaku reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet, taking out one of his many credit cards (probably). "Here." He said, handing it out to Conan.. of all people. "Why don't you go buy her a nice dessert."

Conan gave him an incredulous look. "You're giving me your credit card." He stated, even though it was probably supposed to be a question.

"Yes." Yusaku said. "Now take it before I change my mind."

Yusaku was giving Conan his credit card.

Conan hesitantly reached out and took it, handling it like it was a rare, expensive gem or jewel, because he was fairly certain Yusaku would kill him or something if he damaged or lost it. "You trust me too much." He said without thinking.

Yusaku just blankly looked at him. "I.. I hope you know I expect this back."

"I know, I know." Conan said blithely, gently placing the card in his pocket. "I'm not that stupid."

Yusaku just stared at Conan for a moment, clearly done with this whole ordeal. "Just," he sighed, "don't keep her waiting too long... We'll be waiting in the car." He paused for a second, before adding, "And give me the receipt when you're done."

Conan sent a light glare to him. "Fine..." He agreed. It was probably for the best.. well, for Yusaku anyway.

The three headed out of the bathroom. Yusaku and Yukiko walked over to the elevators (the ones that weren't currently a crime scene), as Conan headed the opposite direction back towards the restaurant.

He quickly made it to the lobby, but suddenly stopped at the entrance, a scowl forming on his face, when he suddenly realized that Yusaku, that bastard, just pushed the entire issue of talking to Ran onto Conan. Damn, he was too surprised about the credit card thing to notice! Knowing Yusaku, he probably planned that.

Well...

Conan smirked, looking down at and placing a hand on the pocket with the card.

He might as well get some payback while he's at it. Yusaku willingly gave him his credit card, so.. he was basically asking for it.

Conan continued and headed into the restaurant with newfound determination.. only to be suddenly stopped by a hand grabbing his shoulder at the front counter. He nervously turned around to see one of the waiters from earlier, again.

"Kid," he said, sounding stern but mostly just tired, "we've told you to wait in the lobby like five times already. Can you please stop running around-"

"Ah, no!" Conan quickly said. "I found my sister but she's in the restaurant so..." He meekly said, not wanting to bother this poor and probably overworked waiter any more.

The waiter gave him a calculating look. "...You better not be lying."

"I'm not!" Conan shook his head.

"Fine." He sighed. "Just don't bother anyone."

"Ok, thanks!" He quickly said before scampering off to where he remembered Ran's table being.

He soon found her talking with one of the waitresses. He nervously walked over.

The waitress caught him from the corner of her eye, and her expression immediately darkened, forming a slight scowl.

(Conan felt a bit bad. Probably around half of the restaurant's staff hated him at this point and he probably won't be allowed back into the place anytime soon. He wished he could repay them somehow but he figured trying to do anything would just make things worse.)

But, before she could reprimand him for sneaking in again or something like that, Conan quickly greeted, "Ran-neechan!"

The girl turned her head towards the sound of her name, her eyes slightly widening seeing the boy. "Conan-kun!"

The waitress looked mildly surprised that he actually found his family (or, well.. presumably) and took a step back.

Conan scampered up to Ran, opening his mouth to say something.. before he realized that he actually hadn't planned what he was going to say.

He probably should've done that before coming here... Oops. He's winged stuff like this before, so this should be okay, right?

He opened and closed his mouth a couple times as he floundered uselessly, trying to figure out something to say, while Ran looked at him expectantly. A moment before it got too awkward, he decided to start plainly with, "I saw Shinichi-niichan."

"Oh?" She said, looking confused yet hopeful. "Where is he?"

Conan stiffened and looked to the side at the question.

Oh man... This isn't going to go well.

"U-um." He stuttered nervously. "H-he, uh..." He gulped. He really didn't want to finish that sentence, knowing that it would break her heart. But he had to. He looked down at his feet and quietly said, "He left."

Conan didn't even need to be looking at her to notice her expression immediately fell. She looked down at her hands clasped together. "Oh..." She quietly breathed out with a sad smile. "He left me again."

Oh no, she already sounded so sad.

He slowly looked back up at her, internally wincing seeing the small tears starting to form in her eyes. "Uh- um..." He nervously continued. Ran's head slightly turned towards him. He figured he should make up some sort of explanation for her, no matter how bullshitt it may be. "He- he said he suddenly got a phone call, a-and there was an issue with a case he's solved, so- so he had to run off!" Ran sadly looked back down at the table. "St-stupid right!" He pathetically laughed.

She wasn't smiling anymore, not even a sad one. The tears in her eyes were even larger and more prominent than before. "He's not coming back, is he..?"

Conan fully winced this time. That was a really bad question.

With what Yusaku was saying and how Shinichi reacted, he honestly didn't think so. He wanted to lie, he really wanted to, but he didn't want to give her false hope. He didn't think he could do that to her.

He clenched his fists and looked down at the ground. He didn't think he could look her in the eyes for this one. "He.. he said-" his voice stammered without his permission, "he doesn't know if he'll be coming back..." He finished quietly and pitifully.

A small sob escaped Ran's mouth. She brought her hands up to cover her face as the tears finally spilled from her eyes.

Conan just stood to the side, feeling even worse.

...Maybe he should've lied.

Another sob sounded from Ran, spurring Conan into action. "But!" He said. Ran didn't even glance at him. "He- he said that if- when he can, he'll come back. S-so don't cry, please..." He hesitantly stepped over to her and placed a hand on her arm, patting her a couple times, unsure of what else he could do to comfort her.

Ran sniffed and sat up, wiping the tears from her eyes. "This is stupid..." She got out, her voice breaking a little. "You- you shouldn't have to do this." She wiped her eyes again, sending a quick look to Conan.

He quickly shook his head. "No!" He interjected. "It's fine! It's Shinichi's fault, really."

It wasn't - it was actually Yusaku's (that asshole) - but he'd be willing to put down Shinichi for a bit if it made Ran feel better.

Ran sniffed again, letting out a small noise of acknowledgment. She wiped her nose with a napkin, cleaning herself up a little.

Silence fell over them for a long moment, before Conan suddenly remembered something. "Oh!" He exclaimed. Ran looked at him curiously. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the credit card. "Shinichi gave me this." He said, assuming that Shinichi did actually bring some sort of credit card with him (instead of just straight cash or something else) and that Ran either didn't see it or remembered what it looked like. "He said you can get whatever you want." He brightly smiled, trying to bring up the mood a bit.

(Well, Yusaku specifically said dessert, but he figured his bank account wouldn't mind (Conan was a good enough detective to know that the Kudos were stinking rich). Besides, Ran (..and Yusaku) deserved it.)

"Geez." Ran grumbled, taking the card from him. "That stupid idiot detective freak! Does he seriously think that makes up for this?"

Conan quietly and nervously laughed.

He felt bad for Shinichi, really. None of this was his fault, but he was being blamed for it anyway. The only thing he really did was come back in the first place, but could you really blame him for doing so?

Ran lightly shook her head then turned back to Conan, finally smiling. "Well, why don't we get some dessert?"

Conan was about to respond, when his stomach suddenly growled.. loudly. He looked down with a blush as Ran broke into giggles.

"Or dinner." She said.

Conan laughed. "Yeah!" He cheerfully nodded.

Ran ushered over the waitress (who was still sending some weird glances towards Conan) and asked for some menus as Conan hopped into Shinichi's seat.

He grabbed it from the waitress and flipped through the pages, making note of the prices, promptly ordering the most expensive item on the menu.