Shinichi timidly made his way down the stairs. It had been a long time since he'd last woke up in this house, and in this body. Memories of better times flooded his memory with every trinket and photograph that decorated the vast mansion.

He couldn't help but notice that not much had changed over the past ten years. There were no signs of Subaru-san's presence, or anyone's presence for that matter. It felt remarkably unlived in, but only a fine layer of dust coated the shelves and tables. Someone had obviously kept up with the cleaning.

Ran… I have to tell her. Ten years is far too long for anyone to wait.

Halfway down the stairs, a familiar smell wafted up from the kitchen.

… Curry?

Making his way to the source of the aroma, he was greeted by the sight of Ran stirring a large pot of curry. The Kudo family's very old rice cooker also seemed to be functioning, letting off a slight clicking noise.

He must have been staring for too long as Ran finally noticed him.

"Good morning, Conan-kun!" She beamed at him.

Conan-kun… So she really doesn't believe me.

"'Morning…" He returned uneasily.

"How are you feeling?" Ran asked, noticing that he looked somewhat uncomfortable. "You had a pretty bad fever last night... You seemed to be in a lot of pain, and you said some funny things, too. You seemed fine once I put you to bed, though."

Oh, so that's how I ended up upstairs…

After a moment of silence, Shinichi gulped loudly. Sudden second thoughts flooded his mind. Should I tell her? What if she doesn't believe me?

… What if she does believe me? What then?

But Shinichi knew his answer.

We'll figure it out. Together.

Shinichi took a step towards Ran, pushing aside his doubts.

"Ran, what I told you last night was the truth."

Ran stopped stirring the curry.

"Conan-kun, what are you saying? Don't keep making jokes like that…" Her dark laugh echoed throughout the kitchen. Why is he acting like this? Is his illness worse than I thought?

"No, Ran, it's not a joke. I'm not lying to you any more. Please, hear me out." His eyes glimmered with a determination that was unexpected from her adopted little brother.

"I really am Kudo Shinichi."

Ran's heart skipped a beat. A part of her wished that it were true, wanting nothing more than to have her Shinichi return to her, even as Conan-kun.

But she knew it was impossible. It happened in the realm of fairy tales and sappy movies. Not here.

"Conan-kun, you know as well as anyone that Shinichi is dead." The last word came out a bit rougher than she'd hoped. She didn't mean to upset him.

Ran was stunned as she noticed the look on Conan-kun's face.

"I'm… he's… dead…?"

Why is he so shocked? He was the one who gave me the news all those years ago…

Conan-kun suddenly laughed a quiet, bitter laugh. "So that's what I had to tell you…" He muttered.

"… I'm surprised that you're willing to wait for a dead man."

Ran was taken aback. Conan-kun, who had always been so supportive of her feelings for Shinichi, was suddenly ridiculing her?

"Of course I waited! He made a promise to me back when we were in high school, that no matter what, even if he died…"

"He would come back to you, right?" Conan-kun smiled at her.

He remembers, too…

"I know it was probably just something he said to make me feel better, but I couldn't help but believe it." Ran sighed wistfully into the brown pot of curry. "All these years, I've dreamt that he would come back…"

But that was never going to happen.

"Thank you for trying to make me feel better, but you don't need to pretend to be Shinichi, Conan-kun." Ran straightened her apron and turned off the flames. "Forget about him, let's eat some lunch."

"Let's not."

Conan grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the kitchen.

"Conan-kun, where are we going?!" Ran protested as they made their way to the front entrance.

"To Agasa's place. Some things need to be cleared up, for both of our sakes..."

Thank you so much for the lovely reviews!

Kameo1, thank you so much for your kind words! Shinichi will work it out for sure, but it might take some time. It's a complicated situation! :P

Frozen-Infinity, 'challenge accepted' indeed! Thank you so much. Shinichi will convince Ran, but he's dragging his heels a bit haha ;) He's not really a 'to-the-point' kinda guy, is he?