Starting Over

A/N: Hello! Chapter 6 is up! Firstly, I just wanna apologize for the... erm... shortness and suckiness of chapter 5! Haha, anyways, a couple more things for those of you who actually READ author's notes!

I promised slight Ran/Shin in this chapter. I keep my promises. (:

What else...? Oh yes, Chapter 3 was edited somewhat. There was a part at the very end that I was having second thoughts with (due to the help of some very kind reviewers) and I've fixed it. Just wanna let you guys know. (Not that you cared.)

Also, SOOOO sorry for the late update! I was on vacation for a week! It was a lot of fun, but well.. back to business I guess! xD

Alright, here we go! Enjoy! And don't forget to review!

Disclaimer: I don't own Detective Conan/Case Closed. (:

(3rd Person POV)

Ran Mouri was humming as she rifled through her closet. Pulling out numerous skirts and dresses, she just couldn't seem to find anything to satisfy her. She let out an aggravated sigh and grabbed a towel hanging off the edge of her mattress. Ran proceeded into the bathroom to take a quick shower, still humming quite joyfully.

Fifteen minutes later, she was in her room once more, rummaging through a mountain of clothes in a fluffy bathrobe. "This is useless," Ran groaned. Grabbing the phone, she hurriedly dialed her best friends number.

"Hello? Ran?"

"Hi, Sonoko," she began nervously. "I, uh, need your help..."

"With what?"

"Well, I need something to wear."

Sonoko scoffed. "Why? So you can sleep in style?"

"Eh.. no...," Ran chuckled hesitantly. "Well, I.. er, I have a date with Shinichi..." Her voice trailed off. But Sonoko had heard.

"WHAT?" she bellowed, "You have a date with Shinichi and you didn't tell me?"

"It's not a big deal," Ran sniffed.

"NOT A BIG DEAL?" Sonoko yelled, "Whaddaya mean, it's NOT – "

"Oi, Sonoko!" Ran screamed back, distraught. "Alright, I'm sorry I didn't tell you! But you need to help me! He's taking me to that new fancy Italian restaurant! And I don't know what to wear!" She glanced at the clock. It was already 6:30. Shinichi was coming at 7:00.

"Fine..."

Shinichi stood outside the Mouri's apartment, fixing his tie. He checked his watch – 7:07 PM it read. At last, he knocked. Ran immediately pulled open the door. She did not look happy.

"You are late," she scolded.

"Sorry," her date replied wearily, "Only a few minutes!" Truthfully, he had been with Shiho before he suddenly noticed it was already 6:50 and had to rush over to his mansion in a hurry to get ready.

"Well, then this better be worth it," Ran muttered huffily, already stomping down the stairs.

"It will be!" Shinichi rolled his eyes. The restaurant was only ten minutes walking distance from the Mouri Detective Agency. They walked in silence.

"Shinichi..," Ran spoke up quietly. "What do you think of my outfit?"

"Huh?" Shinichi took a quick look at her floral skirt and elegant red top. Of course! He could have hit himself. How can I forget to compliment her outfit?

"Shinichi..?"

"It's lovely," he said, flashing her his trademark smile. She seemed pleased. They settled into a rather awkward silence once more.

"So.. tell me about your case. The one you had to leave for." The young detective shifted uncomfortably at her accusing tone.

"It wasn't a big deal," he shrugged. "There was... er, this Organization. And I had a part in taking them down." Shinichi didn't know why he didn't tell her everything. But whenever he thought of it, Shiho's words would ring in his ears..

Our little secret.

Ran quickly broke him out of his trance, "What was Shiho-san's part?"

"Eh?" The question caught him off guard. "Well, the Organization was trying to track her down for.. reasons. So she found me and we were able to slowly infiltrate it."

"Oh." They were spared from yet another awkward silence as they reached the diner. It was a gorgeous brick building with fancy outdoor tables and a luscious garden overflowing with flowers. The restaurant was already filled with people chatting happily. Shinichi quickly informed the waitress of their reservation, and she lead them to a secluded area near the garden.

"Wow, Shinichi! It's beautiful!" Ran gasped. Her date grinned. But Shinichi couldn't help but feel a strange nagging feeling at the back of his head. Despite how well everything was going, he couldn't help but feel unsatisfied.

The rest of the date went fairly well. To Shinichi, it seemed rather like a blur. They had eaten, talked, and strolled around the park a bit. But...

It doesn't feel the same, Shinichi thought to himself as he walked Ran home. The strangling silence had returned, but the young detective was too immersed in his thoughts to care. Something's changed... What happened to us?

Finally, they reached the Detective Agency. Ran was standing uncomfortably with her hand on the doorknob. "Well...," she said, her eyes locked on her feet, "Goodnight, Shinichi." She paused. Her childhood friend smiled at her and left with one last wave. Sighing, Ran went inside.

Shinichi was in a hurry to get home. He just needed to think for a moment. Although the date had gone well, it seemed... lacking. He mentally slapped himself as he crossed the street. Only a couple months ago, I would've done anything to go on a date with Ran! And now I'd rather be at home than with her! At last, he spotted his house. He hesitated at the gate. Making a sudden 180 degree turn, he headed to Agasa's residence.

Shinichi knocked softly, as it was nearly 9:45 and he knew the Professor tended to sleep early. A certain strawberry blonde opened the door, eyebrows raised.

"Hakase's fast asleep," she stated simply.

"Ah, well, can I still come in?" Shiho shrugged, and stepped aside, allowing room for him to enter. "Thanks."

"How was your.. date with Ran?" Shiho asked, trying to put on a teasing smile which came out much more like a grimace.

"Er...," Shinichi rubbed his temple tiredly, "Truthfully, it went well... But I just didn't enjoy it – almost at all."

"And why is that?" His companion asked curiously.

The young detective paused. Why on earth was he telling Shiho that his date went bad? He didn't need anything to be anymore complicated than it already was. And why should she even care?

But she does care, a small voice said in the back of his head, noting Shiho's slightly curious expression under her indifferent mask. Besides, the voice continued, you want to get this off your back. Something's bothering you – and you need to tell someone.

Shinichi took a deep breath, "There's something wrong." Shiho looked confused. "With me and Ran's relationship," he added.

Shiho almost laughed. She would've, if it weren't for that deadly serious expression on Shinichi's face. "Whatever could be wrong?"

"I have no idea," he shrugged. "It's almost like – " Some kind of imaginary alarm started to go off in his head. No, too much information! But he continued anyways, " – it's like we just don't – " Shinichi made some strange hand gestures, flailing his arms around confusedly, " – we don't 'click' anymore."

Shiho couldn't hold it in any longer – she burst out laughing. "What on earth are you rambling about, Shinichi?" She suddenly clamped her hand to her mouth. The love-confused young man next to her gaped.

"You– you called me Shinichi!" he exclaimed, as if he just won the lottery, "And I – I didn't have to remind you! You called me by my first name!" His mouth had broken into an unbelievably wide smile.

"I – so what?" Shiho said. "I –"

"Shinichi? Is that you?" A very drowsy voice called them from upstairs. They had woken up Agasa.

"Er, sorry, Hakase," Shinichi apologized, "Go back to sleep, we won't disturb you again."

"It's 'ight," the old man mumbled, stumbling back into his room once more.

Shiho shot Shinichi a glare. "You woke the Professor up with your loud, obnoxious screaming!" she whispered as loud as she could without waking Hakase up once more.

"Hey!"

"Shh!"

"Fine!" Shinichi half screamed, half whispered. He began to drag Shiho out of the house by the arm.

"Just what do you think you're doing?"

"Going somewhere where I can yell in peace!" he retorted, still pulling her away from the house. "Ah.. this is more like it." They had reached a fairly large park just a block from their homes.

"Kudo?"

"Yes?"

"You're cutting off the circulation from my arm."

"Ah, sorry." He released his death grip on her arm and sat on a small bench overlooking the lake. Shinichi let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. He flashed Shiho a weary smile, "Come sit with me."

Rolling her eyes, the young woman obliged. The pair sat side by side, watching the glistening reflection of moonlight on the lake. It would've been romantic, if Shinichi had not had his head in his hands and if Shiho had not been frowning so bitterly. Finally, the young man lifted his head.

"What do I do?" he asked her.

"Why are you asking me?" Shiho was still frowning towards the lake, not quite meeting his pleading eyes.

"I don't know," he replied truthfully.

"What don't you know?"

"...Anything."

Shiho smirked. "Kudo-kun, how are you going to solve your problem if you do not even understand what the problem is?"

Shinichi grimaced. "Like I said, I didn't really feel any sort of connection with Ran. Which is odd, if you ask me, because, I mean, it's Ran." Shiho nodded slowly, prompting him. "And she waited for me to come back – and well, now I'm back – but I don't understand what happened to us. It's like..." His voiced trailed off.

"Like what..?" The young strawberry blonde asked softly. She had never seen Shinichi quite like this. However, she couldn't help but feel the tiniest spark of hope. No, she told herself, He's just.. emotionally confused. Just tell him what he wants to hear and send him back to her where he belongs..

"Its like..," Shinichi sucked in a breath, "Like I don't love her anymore.. Or I never did."

Shiho stared. "Impossible," she muttered after several long minutes of discomfort on Shinichi's behalf.

"I know," he frowned thoughtfully. "Wait – what do you mean?"

"You love her," Shiho said simply.

"I... I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?" The young woman began to look extremely confused – and slightly frantic.

"I don't know!" She was starting to make Shinichi somewhat hysterical as well. "Why? What's wrong with not knowing!"

"I – nothing," Shiho muttered, "Sorry."

"It's okay," Shinichi still looked quite unsettled.

Shiho quickly regained her composure. "You love her," she said rather firmly. "You need to give it time. You two have been away from each other for quite some time..." Here she felt a pang of guilt. "Listen, Kudo – " He flinched at the use of his last name. " – before you shrunk, you loved her. A couple months ago, you still loved her. Nothing is going to suddenly change." She glared fiercely at him.

"Well, I guess you're ri– " He suddenly stopped with a look of panic on his face. "Shiho – are you.. are you crying?"

"I – what? No." She hurriedly turned away from him. "No," she repeated sharply.

"Wha – yeah.. Yeah you are, Shiho," Shinichi murmured, softly wiping the glimmering trail of tears on her face with his thumb. "Why are you crying? Did I say something to hurt you?"

"I'm not crying," she spoke stubbornly.

Shinichi chuckled, "Of course you're not."

And he embraced her.

Shiho had never truly been hugged by anyone other than her sister; if they had tried, she would've automatically shot them the worst possible glare and push them into the nearest well. But this was different... It was Shinichi. For a while, she arms lay limply by her sides in shock as his strong arms wrapped themselves protectively around her. At last, she brought her arms around his neck, trying to stop the flow of tears leaking uncontrollably from her eyes. No. Be strong...

"I am so sorry," he spoke tenderly into her ear without breaking the embrace. She shook her head against the crook of his neck.

"No. Don't be."

They could have stayed there for eternity, had Shiho not pushed Shinichi off gently. I can never allow myself the pleasure again, she thought sadly to herself, standing up and starting to walk off quietly.

"Shiho..." She paused. Shinichi's faint voice halted her. Taking a deep breath (and making sure her face was tear-free), she turned and smiled.

"Thanks, Shinichi."

And she turned away before catching a glimpse of the broad smile that formed on the young detective's face as he watched her leave.

A/N: Yay! Chapter Six is COMPLETE! FINALLY. Holy cow.. it's been over a week since my last update! Ah, well, like I said, I was on vacation.. Sorry about that!

Anyways, I'm hoping to get the Detective Boys back into the story soon (maybe you're all wondering what happened to them). Any ideas?

Anyways, I'm somewhat pleased with how the chapter turned out. Please tell me how you feel about it! REVIEW!

Yours Truly ~