Chapter 7: The Evening We Can't Face

Disclaimer: I Don't own any DC characters.

Cars in the Shinkansen, no matter how busy, were always quiet.

Especially in the evening.

It was Shinichi and Kazuha's third trip by the Tōkaidō Shinkansen within merely two days.

Kazuha, taking the window seat, was trying to sleep.

But her racing mind wouldn't let her.

No matter how hard she forced her eyelids to close, the angelic face and sincere look of Ran-chan kept popping up in her mind.

Ran-chan … I am sorry …

Well, she was in part relieved that she at least explained to Ran-chan in person first things first. And thank God that Ran-chan didn't break up with Kudo-kun because of her.

But … she knew she didn't leave Tokyo with a clear conscience.

Technically, she didn't lie to Ran-chan. Everything she told her was true, at least to the best of her knowledge. However, she couldn't help but feeling immensely guilty about not telling Ran-chan the entire story.

For that, she wasn't sure if she could still look at Ran-chan into her eyes any more.

Those shinning blue eyes, like the purest sapphires in the world …

Ran-chan …

"…?"

Kazuha suddenly opened her eyes.

Well, it was not because she gave up the attempt to sleep, but because she suddenly felt a heavy weight dropping on her left shoulder.

Looking to her left, Kazuha saw Shinichi, resting his head on her shoulder, was sound asleep.

She didn't know that unlike her, Shinichi didn't sleep much last night.

Looking at the great detective's sleeping face, Kazuha suddenly felt like skipping a heartbeat.

This was the first time that she got to examine Shinichi's face so closely. As proud and sometimes even arrogant as he always appeared to be in front of others, at this moment he looked just like a little boy looking for a shoulder to lean on.

Kazuha smiled.

It occurred to her that she actually hadn't been smiling at all since when she first bid Shinichi farewell at the Kyoto Station last night.

"You poor thing …" She realized that her shoulder was actually too skinny to make a comfy pillow. If he could sleep soundly even on such a bony structure, he must be really, really tired.

Somehow, the sight suddenly invoked the well-known image of Mr. Mōri Kogoro, aka, the "Sleeping Kogoro."

What if Kudo-kun also solves cases while sleeping?

Well, she already knew since when Shinichi was still Conan that Sleeping Kogoro was entire this naughty boy's creation. But regardless, everyone loved the sleeping detective. It was much more amusing to see a detective solving the case in sleep.

En … she wouldn't mind to see a showdown between Sleeping Shinichi vs. Sleeping Kogoro, aka, the future son-in-law vs. father-in-law.

The thought made Kazuha giggle and she had to try very hard not to laugh out loud.

Her giggling, however, made Shinichi losing balance. His head fell from her shoulder and landed right on her laps.

"Ouch …" Kazuha let out a low cry. The falling weight of a full-grown eighteen-year-old young man was indeed something.

But that didn't seem to wake up the boy at all. Instead, finding himself a much more comfy and plushie pillow on Kazuha's laps, Shinichi slept even more soundly.

As Shinichi settled himself on her laps, Kazuha looked at the almost baby-like sleeping face and felt some unexplainable affection sprouting deep inside.

Her left hand inadvertently combed through his hair, which was a little messy, and then gently petted on his cheek, which was a little bit sweaty.

She felt … like his mom.

"Hmm …" Kazuha tittered at this absurd thought.

Now she felt so much lightened up. Feeling the steady, hot breath on her laps, she found the tension and stress that had been piling up these days gradually subsiding.

Smiling, she continued to examine Shinichi's peaceful face. Well, to be honest, except for the skin tones and eyebrows, he really looked like Heiji. No wonder last time when he came to the Gyokuryu Temple in Heiji's clothes, even she didn't doubt he was not Heiji.

Oh, Heiji ….

Kazuha felt her just lightened-up heart sinking again.

That hot-blooded boy, her secret love …

What should I say to him?

Just like she didn't want to lie to Ran-chan, she didn't want to say any lies to Heiji, either.

However, unlike Ran-chan, who had kown her feelings for Heiji from the beginning, that dumb ahou himself had no clue about her love for him.

Of course she wouldn't tell Heiji that she saw him and Momiji kissing in Kaihou. Neither would she tell him that she saw him and Momiji hugging in the Sannon Temple.

…

That two scenes still had a crushing effect on her. Putting her right hand over her eyes, Kazuha tried to block the instantly overwhelming tears from rolling out.

Well … if taken that out, there was not much left that she could actually say to Heiji.

So … really, tell him nothing …?

That didn't sound right, and made her feel even more guilty.

But, did she really owe an explanation to Heiji?

He was not even her boyfriend. In fact, he was probably already officially Momiji's boyfriend.

Does it make a difference, whether I tell him or not?

"Kudo-kun, wake up." Kazuha patted Shinichi's shoulder gently, "We are approaching Shin-Osaka now."

"Ah …" Reluctantly, Shinichi opened his eyes, and immediately jumped up when he realized what his super comfortable pillow was.

"Sorry Kazuha …" He scratched his still messy hair, feeling really embarrassed, "I slept like a log, I guess …"

"No worries." Kazuha giggled, amused by Shinichi's half sleepy, funny look. "Let's get off the train first."

The time was 7:10 pm.

Looking at her watch, Kazuha frowned: "Kudo-kun, I think you'd better jump on the next train back to Tokyo. You have school tomorrow as well." She showed him the train schedule on her phone: "The last Nozomi to Tokyo departs at 9:03 pm, less than two hours from now. It will take 40 minutes by subway from Shin-Osaka to my home in Neyagawa. If you go back and forth, I am afraid you won't be able to catch the last train."

"Mmm …" Shinichi knew she was right. Time was indeed quite tight, "Maybe it will be faster by cab?"

"No, not on Sunday." Kazuha shook her head, "You have no idea how jammed the Hanshin Highway is on Sunday evening. It will take longer and the time will be less predictable."

"Well, then let's run! If we don't waste any more time discussing this issue, two hours is enough for me to make it back here to catch the 9:03 Nozomi." Taking Kazuha's wrist, Shinichi dragged the girl to run together to the direction of the subway.

"Wait!" Suddenly being pulled forward, Kazuha almost tripped.

"You know, I need to make sure you arrive home safe and sound." Shinichi turned his head back a little bit and smiled, "What if you bump into some bad guys while walking alone?"

"Well, what if I bump into yet another murder case while walking with you?" Catching up her pace, Kazuha chuckled, "You know corpses just keep dropping around you whenever you go."

"Be fair, Kazuha!" Shinichi grumbled, "I have no control of what those crazy murderers want to do!"

"Sure, sure." Kazuha laughed out aloud, "You are just Mr. Grim Reaper."

In a flash of second, Shinichi felt a bit dazzled by Kazuha's shining smile.

He couldn't believe how fast she bounced back from all those blows!

Smiling back at the girl, he said: "Well, if bad guys see you walking with Mr. Grim Reaper, they won't dare to get close to you."

Kazuha's eyes widened.

Having been tagging along Heiji all her life, she was used to her hot-blooded and hot-tempered childhood friend ridiculing backher in their name-calling games. She was expecting Shinichi to say something like "shut up you old and ugly witch" to counter her calling him "Grim Reaper."

She didn't expect Shinichi to just light-heartedly accept the "Mr. Grim Reaper" title and even used it to make an argument to protect her.

No raised voice. No name-calling. No yelling.

She's not at all used to it. Not yet.

Getting out of the Neyagawa station, Shinichi and Kazuha gasped the pouring rain.

It seemed that the storm that had been lingering over Kansai for the whole day finally came down in full force.

"Oh no …" Kazuha grumbled. They waited for about ten minutes, but there was no sign of the rain getting any smaller. Looking at her watch, she was really worried about Shinichi missing his return train: "Kudo-kun, you should go back to Shin-Osaka station now. It's almost 8 pm and …"

"No." Shinichi shook his head, "I need to see you walk into your house before I leave."

"It only takes 5 minutes from here to my house. I promise I will be fine and you should leave, now!" Kazuha was getting more and more worried as time kept passing by.

"I don't trust you." Shinichi's face became stern, "Yesterday at Kyoto Station, I only took my eyes off you for a few minutes and you ran away and got yourself into big trouble."

"That …" Kazuha blushed. Indeed, she knew now she already had a bad track record.

"Ok, the rain is getting a little bit smaller now …" Looking at the slightly subsiding rain, Shinichi took off his jacket and put it over Kazuha's head, "Let's quickly run to your house now, if you don't want me to be late."

"Hey! But you will be all wet!" Kazuha protested, but Shinichi already dragged her into the rain and her voice quickly dissolved into the pouring sound.

"Ah, finally …" Kazuha let out a long sigh of relief when they arrived at hour house.

"Thank you, Kudo-kun, now that I am home now and you should go…" Kicking her shoes off at the genkan and handing over the coat back to Shinichi, Kazuha ran to search in the entrance closet, "let me find you an umbrella … Ah! Here it is!"

"Oh …" When she turned back to hand the umbrella to the boy behind her, whose hair was dripping water and clothes soaking wet, Kazuha realized Shinichi needed more than an umbrella.

"Kudo-kun, come in quickly. I will get you a towel and some of my dad's clothes. You need to dry yourself and change." She checked her watch: 8:02 pm, "You will still have a little bit of extra time if you change quickly. Otherwise, you will get sick siting in the airconditioned Shinkansen car for two and half hours in your wet clothes."

"Thanks …" Shinichi felt dizzy. Actually, he already felt a little bit sick since last night. But afraid that Kazuha and Ran would worry, he didn't say anything about it. Now, the untimely rain was definitely taking a toll on his poorly rested body. His wet clothes sticking to his body, he shivered again and again but still tried his best to hide it. He didn't want Kazuha to feel bad that he gave his coat to her as rain protection while he himself got so drenched.

"I put my dad's clothes on the rack, and there are clean towels inside you can use." Kazuha showed Shinichi the way to the bathroom on the first floor.

"Thanks …" Shinichi found his legs getting heavier and heavier while walking to the bathroom. Feelings of chilliness and faintness also kept getting more and more acute. Closing the bathroom door, he saw his as red as tomato face in the mirror. "Oh gosh …"

8:10 pm

"Kudo-kun, are you done?" Kazuha was waiting anxiously outside the bathroom. There was just a bit over 50 minutes left to catch the 9:03 train but Shinichi was still in the bathroom. "If you don't hurry up, you will miss …"

"I am fine …" Shinichi opened the door, panting hard, "Sorry it took me a bit long … to dry up …"

"… Are you … feeling ok?" Kazuha was a bit shocked seeing Shinichi's flushed face.

"You look feverish …" She put one hand on his forehead and another one on her own to check his temperature.

"Oh no …" She gasped, "You have a high fever."

"I am fine …" Shinichi denied, but not at all convincing.

"Come and take a seat first." Kazuha supported him walking to the couch and sat him down. "I need to call Ran-chan."

As soon as she made sure Shinichi was settled comfortably in the couth, Kazuha dialed Ran's number.

"Moshi moshi … Hi, Ran-chan, it's Kazuha here …Right, I just got home, thank you Ran-chan … Ran-chan, we have a problem here –– Kudo-kun is having a fever …Yes, I am sorry, we got caught in the rain …Do you know what medicine he usually takes for fever? …Esutakku? Let me see, I should have some in the house …Oh no, the Esutakku bottle is empty … Wait, I found Tylenol, is that ok? …Oh great, I will give him some then … you talk to him for now."

Handing the phone over to Shinichi, Kazuha ran to the kitchen to get some warm water for Shinichi to take the medicine.

"Shinichi, are you feeling ok?" Ran was very worried when she heard that Shinichi had high fever.

"Don't worry, Ran …" Shinichi cleared his throat, but his voice still sounded coarser than usual, "I am fine …"

"Oh, poor Shinichi, you sound really ill…" Ran sighed. She knew her boyfriend was absolutely not fine right now, "Don't use your voice too much. Let me talk to Kazuha-chan."

Kazuha already brought over water and Tylenol: "Kudo-kun, Ran-chan said Tylenol should be fine for your fever."

Unable to say "thank you," Shinichi just nodded and at the same time handed the phone over to her.

"Ran-chan …" Kazuha checked her watch, "Don't worry, I think Kudo-kun can still make the 9:03 Nozomi to Tokyo …"

Ran was checking the weather in Kansai on TV. It seemed the rain will continue for the entire night. She had a different thought:

"Kazuha-chan, I don't think Shinichi should rush back tonight. He just took the medicine and should have a good sleep to recover. What do you think?"

"Ano …" Kazuha hesitated. She was actually thinking about that herself as well. Indeed, it wasn't nice of her to so hurriedly kick out someone who was so sick at the moment, not to mention he got sick mostly because of her. She should have asked him to stay, even just out of courtesy.

If this happened two days ago, or even just yesterday, she would have no problem with that.

But, after last night …

Oh, my …

Kazuha shook her head in despair.

All she wanted to do now was to withdraw, to escape, to reverse to what they used to be before.

"Kazuha-chan?" Ran was surprised by the silence over the phone. Knowing Kazuha's warm-hearted personality, she assumed she would agree immediately.

"Ano … you know, my parents are not home right now … and you know, I am not that good at taking care of patients …" Kazuha scratched her head to think of something reasonable and convincing.

"Etto … how about that?" She suddenly came up with an idea, "I can call Heiji and ask him to take Kudo-kun to his house. You know Heiji's mom is probably the best at taking care of people …"

"Kazuha-chan!" Ran frowned. Kazuha didn't sound like her usual self at all. What she said all sounded like pretexts.

Well … actually, she could understand her. The poor girl had been through a lot herself in the past two days. She must be too tired herself to take care of others.

But still, Ran didn't think what Kazuha suggested was a good idea.

"Kazuha-chan, I think it's better for Shinichi not to move around too much now. I know you are tired yourself. But now that he took the medicine all he needs now is a good night sleep."

"Please, Kazuha-chan." Ran's voice softened, "Thank you for taking care of Shinichi for me."

"Yes … Ran-chan." Kazuha sighed. What could she say? All in all, it's all her own fault.

2 am.

Kazuha got up, but only half awake. She set an alarm at this hour so she could check Shinichi's temperature. If he still had fever, then he had to take Tylenol again.

Walking as silently as possibly into the guest room, Kazuha knelt beside the bed to feel Shinichi's forehead.

And the poor boy still had fever.

Sighing, she gently shook Shinichi's shoulder to wake him up: "Kudo-kun, time for medicine."

Shinichi, in his sleep, vaguely heard someone calling his name. But he was too sick and too sleepy to fully open his eyes. In a half-sleeping state, he obediently followed the instructions of the gentle voice, sit up a bit, took the medicine, and drank the water.

His body felt hot inside and out. But the accidental touch of coolness, which he felt when he was holding the water glass, felt very comfortable. He liked it much better than the glass. Subconsciously, he dropped glass and both of his hands took hold that cool thing and tucked it under the blanket.

Oh … finally feeling cooler …

"Ouch!" Kazuha wanted to cry when Shinichi dropped the glass on her toe and spilled half a glass of water on her pajama. She needed some tissue for cleaning up. But as she tried to stand up she realized her right hand was locked in Shinichi's palms.

Well … she could see it's because her hand felt cold and comfortable for a patient with fever.

She made several attempts to withdrew her hand, but all in vain. Just got out of her warm bed, she already felt quite cold. And now the water spill …

Kazuha sighed. Thinking about it, she got drenched for three night in a row …

But looking at Shinichi's sweaty sleeping face, Kazuha felt more sorry for him than for herself.

What happened to her were all self-inflicted.

But Kudo-kun … It's all because of her …

Yawning, she rested her head on the edge of Shinichi's bed, and fell into sleep herself.

Shinichi felt less hot, thanks to Tylenol, as well the cool thing that he was holding between his palms.

…What is it? …

He slightly rubbed and squeezed it, and enjoyed its softness and smoothness. It felt familiar.

Could it be …… Kazuha's hand …?

Struggling to open his eyes, he saw Kazuha kneeling by the bedside and her head resting on the edge of the bed.

The sight made Shinichi a little bit more awake.

What happened? … Hopefully I did not do anything stupid …

Scratching his head, Shinichi tried to fight his headache to remember how he ended up here.

He recalled that last night he caught fever after getting soaked in the rain, that he changed into Kazuha's father's dry clothes, and that he took medicine and water from Kazuha.

And then, very vaguely, he remembered overhearing Ran and Kazuha discussing whether he should stay here overnight or not …

Looking at Kazuha, he saw an empty water glass on the floor, not too far away from her. Moving his right hand slightly up her arm, he realized her sleeve was wet.

Ok, too easy for the detective boy to tell that he must have dropped the glass and spilled water on her …

Kazuha's body slightly shivered.

Shinichi realized she must be feeling really cold now, as he could feel her hand getting colder and colder, even caught up in his super hot palms.

It was all because he dropped the glass and didn't let go of her hand, so her pajama got wet and she couldn't even get a towel or blanket for herself.

Shinichi felt quite apologetic.

He should get Kazuha back to her bed.

But so weak as he still was at that moment, he wasn't really in the condition to carry her over to her bedroom, not to mention that he actually didn't even know where her bedroom was.

Sighing helplessly, Shinichi did the next best thing he could do.

He sat up, and tried his best to pull Kazuha's body onto the bed. Making sure she was not awakened, he then gently put his blanket all on her.

Himself feeling too hot instead of too cold at that moment, Shinichi was ok to sleep without the blanket.

He also inched to the wall, making sure there was a safe distance between them.

Kazuha must have been feeling really, really cold. As soon as she felt the warmth of the blanket, she wrapped herself up fully and tightly.

Staring at the girl so cutely cocooned in the blanket and feeling her breath so close, Shinichi suddenly skipped a heartbeat. Almost feeling possessed, he closed the distance between them that he just created himself, and squeeze himself into the blanket with her.

As soon as his feverish body got into touch with the girl's cool body, his let out a sigh of relief.

It feels really, really curing …

He couldn't believe, for three nights in a row, they had been sleeping together ...

At the same time, the sleeping girl appreciated the added warmth. Subconsciously, she curled her way into the warm embrace.

To be continued ...

Hello all! Many of you have PMed me to finish it. Well, the finish line is definitely not within one or two chapters. But I am working hard to write and keep the storyline going. Please, if you like it, favorite and follow the story/author. And as important, please leave your reviews! I work full-time and it is hard to find time writing a fanfic. It's the reviews and messages that keep me going!