Seeking Kogoro's permission was fairly easy. Ran didn't even have to raise her fist to convince the older detective to let them travel to Osaka on a school day.

It was by pure coincidence that Ran's father was having a get together with his college friends that night so he won't be able to accompany the two children to Osaka. Adding Hattori's mother's reassurance via phone call, Kogoro gave in and let Ran and Conan do whatever they wanted.

"Just don't fool around there, hah? And yes, I'm talking to you, freeloader. You always have the tendency to run away so don't trouble Ran so much!"

Then came a cheerful reply. "Hai, oji-saaan!"

'Although you should probably stay out of trouble, too, Occhan…' Conan thought flatly.

"Take care of yourself, Otou-san! Don't trouble Okaa-san later at your dinner, okay?" Ran reminded her father with a wave of a finger.

"Hahhh? Who said that I'll be having dinner with—"

Ran just rolled her eyes. "She told me when I asked permission for Osaka." 'Irritably.'

Kogoro scoffed but the two didn't miss the small blush on his cheeks. Ran and Conan swallowed down their giggles, just to spare the poor man's so-called pride. "Whatever, just go to Osaka already! Just be thankful that I'm the kind of parent who is reasonable in letting you miss classes! Good thing Megure-keibu helped in vouching for you. That detective brat better repay you for this!"

A bead of sweat rolled down the shrunken teen's forehead. 'Believe me, Occhan. I'm in the process of repaying her now.'

"Hai, hai." Ran kissed her father's cheek before gathering their luggage. "See you in a few days! I've already told Azusa-san that you'll be having meals at Poirot while I'm gone so don't worry!"

Conan waved. "Bye, Oji-san!"

The older man just grunted and waved goodbye to the two.

Conan inwardly snickered.

'Occhan: 0, Ran: 1'

Ran grabbed his hand and smiled. "Let's go, Conan-kun?"

"Okay, Ran-neechan!"

"Hello Hattori?"

"Oh Kudo!"

"Ran and I are gonna go there now. Our flight's scheduled at 6:15 pm so see you in a few hours."

"I see. No Mouri-tantei with ya?"

"Nah. He had other plans for the night."

"A'right. See ya in a few hours."

Click.

"Kazuha-chan!"

"Ran-chan!"

The two girls hugged and were smiling from ear-to-ear. They haven't seen each other since the last case and it felt like it was ages ago.

(Actually it was just a month ago but let's just ignore the technicalities, shall we?)

"It's such a shame that Kudo-kun's not gonna make it."

Ran tried hard not to glance at Conan's way. "Can't help it. He's stuck in another case and he can't go to Osaka in time."

Kazuha grinned. "So he sent his girlfriend in his place, eh?"

Ran's cheeks felt like burning but tried to laugh it off. "N-no! I-I'm just accompanying Conan-kun, that's all. Shinichi told me that Conan-kun's very much capable since he's the 'Kid Killer' anyway."

Kazuha nodded slowly. "Well, that's true…"

"Also, Hattori-kun's here so it'll be fine!"

"Ehhhhh, is that so?" Kazuha dragged, glancing at Heiji's way.

The Great Detective of the West raised his eyebrow. "Wha' was that, Kazuha?"

"Nothin' ahou. It's just that KID invited Kudo-kun who's from Tokyo instead of ya. Does that mean Kudo-kun's a more worthy opponent, eh?"

"Ahou! I dun deal with stupid, old thieves so I dun really care! Besides, they have this rivalry goin' on between them so who am I to intrude?"

Kazuha rolled her eyes, making Hattori ticked. "Yeah right. Not that I saw ya with a depressed face after Otaki-han called."

Hattori flushed in embarrassment. "Why you—"

While their friends were arguing, Ran and Conan exchanged a subtle glance. They both shrugged and sighed, looking back to the bickering duo.

'Here they go again…'

The faux child tugged on Ran's sleeve. "Ran-neechan, wanna sit for a bit? Knowing them, this might take a while…"

"Alright, I'll take that offer Conan-kun. Thanks. Want some juice?"

"Sure. Thanks, Ran-neechan!"

"You're always welcome!"

The Tokyoites sat on the nearby bench and casually sipped on their drinks while waiting for the two raging storms to subside.

"It's always fun seeing you two overflowing with sexual tension, Hattori." Conan's voice was laced with sarcasm. "As usual."

"Shut it, Kudo!" Heiji hissed.

Conan rolled his eyes then sent a teasing grin towards the Osakan boy's way. "But it's true. Ah now that we're on this topic, I should probably tell you Haibara still didn't change her ringtone yet."

Hattori sighed miserably. "Ya went to Osaka just to gossip about this?"

The faux boy decided to spare his friend from further embarrassment by changing the topic but not before shooting a meaningful snicker at Hattori. "Did Nakamori-keibu and his team arrive yet?"

Hattori, ignoring his friend's insinuation, was able to immediately compose himself back to normal and answered, "Yeah. They arrived this morning an' is currently flockin' the sky build."

'Well, what can you expect? It's Nakamori-keibu…'

"And did you tell them that Kudo Shinichi will not arrive in the heist?"

"Yeah. An' honestly, Nakamori-keibu doesn't care about Kudo appearing at the heist. An' I quote, 'Good! That's one annoying brat out of the way! I'm the one who will catch that damn thief!' Tho' he got angry real quick when I told 'em that ya guys were comin' in his place." Hattori laughed.

Conan laughed dryly in return. 'Well technically I'm still here so sorry for being an annoying brat, Nakamori-keibu.'

"Ah, I almost forgot!" The Osakan boy suddenly exclaimed. Conan just raised his brow in inquiry.

Heiji clapped his hands to get the chattering girls' attention from their girly conversation. "So wanna get ta best okonomiyaki in Japan?"

"I hope and pray that we'll be able to finally eat it this time…" Conan whispered.

"Kudo, please let Neechan find a priest ta exorcise ya." The Osakan detective murmured flatly.

Conan was not entirely pleased especially when he saw Ran, who was obviously eavesdropping, trying to stop her laugh from coming. Since he can't be openly affectionate to his dear Ran-neechan, he glared at Heiji with twice the intensity instead.

"You shut it Hattori or else Haibara will be coming here real quick with her LG Prada phone."

Heiji was about to open his mouth but was cut off when Conan continued.

"And I will message her the moment she arrives within Kazuha-san's vicinity. Many times."

The Osakan teenager shut up faster than a speeding bullet.

'Well ignoring the actual physics surrounding it but whatever, this reaction still looks hilarious.' Conan smirked and glanced briefly at Ran. 'At least I stopped Ran from sending the recording to Kazuha-san. He better be thankful about this.'

Ran stifled her snort under her hand.

"Ran-chan, are ya okay?"

She waved her hands in dismissal. "Don't worry, Kazuha-chan! I just remembered something funny from a long time ago."

"Does it involve Kudo-kun?" The ponytailed girl questioned with a grin.

Ran giggled. "Well, in a way…"

"Ooooh, tell me about it!"

'Ran, what exactly are you telling Kazuha-san about me?' Conan sweatdropped.

"Oi ya two! Let's get to ta shop a'ready or else we're not gonna 'ave anythin' fer dinner!" Heiji called.

Kazuha checked her watch. "Oh my! We've been stallin' here fer almost an hour now."

Ran and Conan almost fell on the floor.

'If you guys didn't bicker for so long, then we would have left earlier!'

Kazuha slightly pulled Ran's arm. "Let's go, Ran-chan! We'll finally be able to make you taste the greatest okonomiyaki in Japan!"

The girl just laughed and let her excited friend drag her towards a grinning Heiji and Conan.

Fortunately, they were able to make it in time to finally enjoy the okonomiyaki that everyone's been craving for ever since they all met for the first time.

Ran patted Conan's head as a reward for not attracting any murders during the meal.

Conan was not amused but it was undeniable that he appreciated the gentle contact very much.

They arrived at the Hattori residence an hour before midnight and since it was inconvenient for Kazuha to go home, Shizuka-san, Hattori's mother, let her stay.

"Thanks, Oba-san! I'll leave early in the morning so that I can prepare fer school." Kazuha bowed.

"No need for thanks, Kazuha-chan. You've always been with my Heiji so I also think of ya as my own child." Shizuka smiled. "And I a'ready called yer mother an' she said that yer father will bring yer things here tomorrow morning."

If faces could burn, then Kazuha's already in flames. "T-Thank ya, Oba-san…"

To save Kazuha from further embarrassment, Ran decided to speak up. "Thank you again for letting us stay in your wonderful home, Hattori-kun no obaasan."

"Ah, Ran-san an' Conan-kun! No need fer thanks, young lady. And no need fer formalities, my dear so please make yerselves at home. Oh by the way, did my Heiji arrive in time?"

"Oh yes, and he also treated us at the famous okonomiyaki shop here so we felt very much welcomed." The Tokyo girl smiled.

"Good, good. I know that ya two are exhausted from yer flight so I'll show ya yer rooms now. Since Kazuha-chan will also be staying, she'll be with ya in the guestroom while Conan-kun will stay with Heiji. Is that a'right?"

"Oh, that's alright Shizuka-san. Thank you." Ran slightly bowed to express her gratitude to the older woman then turned her attention to Conan. "Conan-kun, avoid troubling Hattori-kun too much, okay? At least for tonight. We had a long day and I know that you're tired so don't sleep so late, alright?"

In his mind, Conan translated Ran's words as:

'I know you're excited to talk about the heist with Hattori-kun but please, don't forget to sleep okay? You'll need the energy for tomorrow.'

"Okay, I won't bother Heiji-niichan too much, Ran-neechan! And don't worry about me! I promise I'll go straight to sleep so good night! Sweet dreams!" The boy reached out to hug the taller girl and kissed her on the cheek. Both missed the strange look on Hattori's face and the other females' cooing about how cute the two are.

Ran smiled and patted Conan's head. "You too. Good night, Conan-kun!"

After one last squeeze, they pulled away from the embrace. The boy smiled and started to walk away while waving enthusiastically at his 'caretaker'. He tried to get Heiji's attention by tugging at his sleeves.

"Let's go to sleep now, Heiji-niichan! Tomorrow is a big day!" He chirped.

Hattori now had a smug grin plastered in his face and the little boy didn't like it. He picked Conan up by the collar and turned to the direction of his room. "A'right kiddo, let's go. G'night, Okan. G'night Kazuha an' Neechan." He waved before he walked away with a struggling Conan.

"Hattori-kun! Conan-kun's choking!" Ran exclaimed.

"Whoops." Heiji set the gasping boy down and was met with a reprimanding look from Ran. "Sorry, sorry."

Conan's caretaker shook her head. 'Seriously, these two are so…' She sighed and waved at the two boys for the last time while Kazuha called Heiji for the last time.

"Dun make Conan-kun stay up late, ya ahou! G'night!"

"An' dun make Neechan stay up late either, ya ahou!"

Shizuka, who was observing them in silence, just smiled at the children's antics. After her son was gone from their sight, she called the attention of the two girls.

"Okay, Ran-san an' Kazuha-chan, let's go to your room, shall we?"

The girls agreed and let the older woman lead them towards their shared room.

After settling down in their room, Kazuha was gushing on how adorable Conan was acting earlier.

"Ran-chan, I didn't know that Conan-kun can be so adorable like that!"

Ran titled her head in confusion. "Eh? What about Conan-kun, Kazuha-chan?"

"He's so adorable, givin' his older sister a good night kiss! Maybe I should've asked fer one, too…"

Ran smiled but on the inside, she was a bit nervous. 'Oh no, we totally let our guards down earlier… Don't worry, Ran. No one will get suspicious because it just looked like a gesture of sibling affection. Calm down.'

"A-Ah! Conan-kun always does that whenever it's bed time or when he's leaving the house. I guess it was the first time that you saw it happening. He's usually very shy about it so maybe he was just too sleepy to remember that he had an audience earlier when he did it."

"I understand. He was probably tired from the flight so he let his guard down. Ya know how mature that kid's actin' sometimes but seeing him like that gave me a refreshing feeling about him. Ya two really have a good relationship—Like real siblings. Despite us being in a single-child family, we both have ahou's as childhood friends so we weren't really alone… but well ya know it's a different case."

Ran sweatdropped. "True. We fell in love with them instead."

A blushing Kazuha tried to protest but stopped when she realized that she already admitted her feelings towards her childhood friend to Ran. She slumped in defeat and let out a sigh. "With an ahou…"

The Tokyo girl patted the sighing girl. 'Oh Kazuha-chan, if you only knew what's happening…'

"I guess I felt a very special connection to Conan-kun since he reminded me a lot of Shinichi. Not that it's surprising since he's distantly related to Shinichi and all of Conan's knowledge came from the mystery geek." Ran explained. 'What an understatement though…'

"Be careful, Ran-chan. Conan-kun's tendency of suddenly runnin' away whenever he smells a case was probably inherited from yer boyfriend." Kazuha lightly warned.

Ran laughed at the statement. "Don't worry. I have it under control."

Kazuha joined her in laughing, too.

"Ne, Ran-chan?"

"Yes, Kazuha-chan?"

"I noticed this earlier but didn't have the chance to confront ya about it..."

"What is it?"

"Ya usually dun wear earrings but I can't help but notice the pretty ones that yer wearin' right now." Kazuha pointed at Ran's ears. "So I figured that it's an important pair. Did yer mom give them to ya?"

Blood surged into Ran's cheeks and smiled shyly. "No... Shinichi gave them to me. Well, he asked Conan-kun to give them to me in his place since he's still not done with the case but still..." She tenderly touched her ears and spoke softly. "He said it was a symbol of his promise to return to me someday..."

Kazuha squealed. "That's so sweet, Ran-chan! I'm happy fer ya!" She hugged the other girl who just laughed bashfully. "He might be actin' as a jerk sometimes fer leaving a pretty girl like ya waitin' fer so long, but I can feel that he loves ya very much."

Ran smiled. 'I know, Kazuha-chan. I know.'

"You think so, Kazuha-chan?"

"Hmm!" Kazuha nodded. But a few moments later, her enthusiastic mood suddenly died down. She averted her eyes from her friend's and mumbled softly. "I wish Heiji could be sweet like tha'... But what can I expect? He's an ahou."

Ran smiled, remembering Conan's story about Heiji's possessive declaration at Ebisu bridge.

"And he was like, 'Wacha doin' to my Kazuha!' then dropped the call. The kids and I heard everything and luckily I was able to save a recording of that. Hattori made me erase the file due to a favor involving a case but too bad, the kids also had a recording of that. Haibara even uses that as her ringtone and I swear it's hilarious!'

Ran giggled. She thought that Shinichi was acting like a real child while trying to tease Hattori. "You're so mean, Shinichi, blackmailing Hattori-kun like that. When Kazuha-chan confronted Hattori-kun about it when we were in Kamaitachi Inn, he twisted the statement again and got away with it. Poor Kazuha-chan was so confused. Geez, those two are so..."

Shinichi snorted. "He's been blackmailing me ever since he knew about my identity but let's spare Hattori the trouble for the meantime. I think he's trying his best to tell Kazuha-san his feelings. That's an improvement since he's been in denial since forever." He rolled his eyes briefly then menacingly smiled.

"But I'll kick him where the sun doesn't shine if he screws this up."

"And I'm going to help you with that, Shinichi. Trust me."

Ran rubbed Kazuha's back gently. "Don't worry, Kazuha-chan. Somehow, I can feel that Hattori-kun treasures you greatly. Maybe he's just finding the right timing to properly tell you about his feelings." She chuckled. "It's kinda hard to love a detective, you see? Shinichi's somewhere far, trying his best to solve a very hard case that he's been working on for almost a year, leaving me here patiently waiting for his return. But I don't mind since I know that he's worth it."

'Although, he really never left me.'

Ran made Kazuha face her and looked straight into her eyes. "Do you think waiting for Hattori-kun is worth it, Kazuha-chan?"

Kazuha's reply was immediate.

"It is, Ran-chan. It is. Even if he's an ahou, or if he doesn't love me now... my feelings will be the same. And I'll always be by his side." The girl's eyes were brimming with tears. "You're so strong, Ran-chan. I don't think I could handle the pain if Heiji suddenly disappeared for a long time."

Ran shook her head. "I cried so many times wishing that he would come back to soon. The phone calls were rare and whenever I ask him when he's going to return, he's being so evasive. It felt so painful knowing that our relationship was slowly changing to the point where I'm not even sure if I still knew my childhood friend. I'm not going into the details but something happened recently to the two of us and suddenly, I felt a sense of security and curiosity. I finally knew where I stood in his life and the only thing that I can do is to him give my support and wait for his return."

Kazuha wanted to ask what happened between her the couple but decided to withdraw when she saw Ran's pleading face. "Ran-chan..."

"So don't lose hope, Kazuha-chan! It will come in due time. If you want, I could make Shinichi convince Hattori-kun to just go do it!" Ran laughed.

"Ran-chan!" Kazuha exclaimed. "Thanks but ya dun have to ask him fer me. I'm fine." The Osakan girl hugged her friend. "Kudo-kun is very lucky to have ya. An' of course, I'm also lucky to have ya as a friend!"

Ran smiled brightly. "I'm lucky to have you as a friend, too, Kazuha-chan! I guess we have to thank our idiot detectives for that, ne?"

Kazuha rubbed her eyes. "Sorry fer suddenly bein' so dramatic. Geez, love really makes people so mushy an' stupid! But we should probably go to sleep now, eh? Since tomorrow's gonna be a long day. An' Heiji's gonna blab if he finds out that ya didn't sleep enough!"

The other girl just giggled. "I agree. Don't worry, I'll definitely protect you from Hattori-kun. Good night, Kazuha-chan!"

"No need, Ran-chan. I'll personally throw him where the sun doesn't shine! Good night, Ran-chan!"

After settling on the bed with Kazuha, Ran's thoughts before closing her eyes were on Shinichi. 'It's good that he's with Hattori-kun right now since he can take his mask off after a very long day and be himself around him. But I'm a little bit worried about Shinichi since Hattori-kun also saw that…'

The moment Heiji closed the door, his smug grin turned wolfish. "Oooooh, so Conan-kun's gettin' so affectionate to his Ran-neechan, eh?"

Conan's face was blank. "Huh?"

"What ya did to neechan!"

"Uhh…"

"Hug an' kiss on the cheek? Did ya really become a real kid now or—"

'Now I know why I didn't like that smug smile earlier…' Conan laughed dryly. "If you were that jealous, then ask Kazuha-san if you can do it with her, too."

That definitely wiped the smug look on Heiji's face.

"And come on, can't I kiss my girlfriend? Even at this state, I can still give her a kiss, right?" The faux child said nonchalantly. "Not on the lips though, that's still scandalous now but you get my point."

The Osakan detective's face was pale and started stammering.

"A-Are ya an' N-Neechan…? D-Did ya finally—"

"I'm kidding, Hattori. Relax. And sorry but Ran still doesn't know about Conan's real identity." Conan rolled his eyes. "It's just something a little kid would do to his favorite 'neechan' before going to sleep. It'll be more convincing that way, right? Shinichi won't do those kinds of things to Ran so no one will suspect me."

'Haha... though that's pure bullshit. That's just a normal kiss on the cheek. It was a habit ever since Ran found out. Not that Hattori needed to know about that.'

"Ugh yer so infuriatin', Kudo! Neechan's gonna kill ya when she finds out…"

"It seems that infuriating people is what I do best, Hattori." He rolled his eyes in sarcasm. "Also, I've been prepared for that horrible consequence ever since the lie started so..." Conan shrugged.

The taller teenager just gave the shrunken teen an are-you-serious-look.

Conan decided to ignore the stare and started to rummage his backpack for his change of clothes. "We need to rest now especially you, since I don't think Kazuha-san would let you skip classes."

"Che, as if I'd be stopped by that woman…"

The shorter detective stared at Heiji flatly. "Trust me, Hattori. Don't underestimate what childhood friends can do."

Both shuddered at the thought. After a few moments, Hattori suddenly clapped his hands.

"Ah! I forgot to ask Okan for a futon so I'll just grab something from the other room. Wait, is a futon a'right with ya?"

"Yeah, it's fine thanks. To be honest, everything's fine as long as I can't hear Occhan's snoring…"

Hattori barked a laugh at that. "The bathroom's just around ta corner so do yer thing already so that we can sleep afterwards."

"Sure, sure. See you later."

"Yeah."

/

From: Shinichi

Subj: -blank-

. . .

Ran,

I know it was hard for you to keep this from another friend. Yes, I know about Kazuha-san asking you about your earrings. I noticed that she's been staring at it since we arrived so I figured that she's gonna ask about it since she' been fidgety around you. I know you were having troubles in talking to Kazuha-san about me so I'm sorry that you were doing this because of this stupid, mystery freak. But I promise that I will make it up to you.

Good night. I love you.

Shinichi.

/

/

From: Ran

Subj: -blank-

. . .

Baka. Why are you still awake? Children should go to bed early! (laughs)

And of course, you were able to deduce that. You should book your deduction skills a vacation. They might be overly used already. Kidding.

It isn't like you to be sappy, Shinichi. Even calling yourself a stupid, mystery freak? The world must be ending! (sweatdrop)

Don't worry about me. It's okay. You know I've already made the decision, right? So stop those stupid ideas of me being troubled because of your secret get into your brain.

And you've already agreed to be my punching bag when you return, right? So prepare for that! (fist emoticon)

Geez, I think Kazuha-chan's onto our conversation so I'll end this now. Good night! I love you, too! (kiss)

Ran.

/

/

From: Shinichi

Subj: Don't reply

. . .

For your information Ran-san, I'm already in bed! This guy here went to go get my futon since we had a sudden change of room assignments so it took some time. And it seems that you girls were also still awake. Kazuha-san has classes so go to sleep already! :P

Sweet dreams.

Shinichi.

/

Kazuha won against Heiji that morning.

The Osakan high school detective was eager to skip school to tour Ran and Conan around some places in Osaka before the heist but his childhood friend 'kindly' reminded him that they had an important exam today.

"Wait, that was today!?"

"Yes! Ya claim thar ya are a great detective yet ya forget an exam!? Yer still a high school student in case ya forgot ya ahou!"

"Ahou! I was busy an' this heist was more important than an exam!"

"May I remind ya thar yer ta only one who's gonna take the exam because ya missed it already before, Ahou!"

Heiji blinked, extinguishing his anger. "…Ah, is that so?"

Kazuha facepalmed.

Their two visitors sweatdropped.

'Hattori's an idiot…' Conan laughed dryly. 'Although Ran and I are actually the ones skipping school.'

Ran decided to take control of the situation and spoke up. "A-Ah, Hattori-kun? Don't worry about us. Conan-kun and I are getting familiar with the Osakan roads and I think we're going to be fine. And we have Otaki-keiji's number so we can call him to fetch us if we can't find the Umeda Sky Building. Right, Conan-kun?"

"Yes, Ran-neechan! So Heiji-niichan can go with Kazuha-neechan to school and take his missed exam!" The pseudo-kid chirped, making sure that Hattori got his message.

'I told you, you can't win against childhood friends –slash- love interest."

Heiji shot a heated glare at the kid then turned to Ran.

"Sorry about that, Neechan. I was planning to take ya two to various food places here but well…" Heiji scratched his head in apology.

"Believe me, Heiji, I'll skip with ya today if ya only took ta damn exam ta last time! Yer always runnin' off whenever ya smell a case." Kazuha glared at her childhood friend for the last time before smiling at Ran and Conan's direction. "Sorry about that, Ran-chan, Conan-kun. I'd love to go with ya today but well, ya know. Someone has to keep this ahou on a leash. But let's meet after school! I'll call ya and we'll go to wherever ya are."

"Sure, Kazuha-chan!" Ran smiled.

"Oi what leash!?"

Heiji's protests were ignored. He sighed and turned to Ran.

"So Neechan, where do ya plan on going before ta heist?" Hattori inquired while fitting his shoes.

"Hmm, Conan-kun and I are planning to just stay here until lunch and probably walk around for a bit afterwards. So you don't have to worry at all, Hattori-kun!"

"I see, I see. Then we'll just see ya guys later. Call whenever ya need us, a'right?"

"Of course. Thanks, Hattori-kun."

Hattori proceeded to ruffle Conan's hair, who was displeased with the action. "Ya too, kid. Behave around yer Neechan, okay?"

"Okay, Heiji-niichan! Good luck on your exam." Conan fake cheered, intentionally ignoring the tick on Heiji's forehead. "Ran-neechan and I will be alright! So don't worry!"

"Awww, Conan-kun's so adorable!" Kazuha cooed. "So Heiji, dun be a bad example to the kid an' let's go a'ready before we got late!"

"Sheesh, okay, I'm comin'. Bye, Neechan! Bye Ku—erm Conan-kun!"

"Bye bye!"

As the two figures disappeared from a distance, Conan turned to Ran.

"See how bad he is at acting? He almost said my name again in public."

Ran giggled and fixed Conan's ruffled hair. "Well, Conan-kun, he's trying his best. Just remember the many times he saved your hide, okay?"

The boy just mumbled an 'of course I remember'.

"So, what are we going to do now?" She asked.

Conan's glasses gleamed.

"Conan-kun, I have a feeling that you're going to do something ridiculously smart again." The girl nervously laughed.

The shrunken teen shot an innocent grin at Ran.

"Whatever are you saying, Ran-neechan?"

Ran heavily sighed and grabbed Conan's hand. "Geez, alright. Let's go so that you can do your thing already, Meitantei-san."

It was finally time.

After Heiji and Kazuha's class, they met up with Ran and Conan who was at a café near the Umeda Sky Building to grab some snacks before the heist. After that, they met up with Otaki-keiji who accompanied them to where Nakamori's troops were patrolling.

Nakamori stooped down to Conan's level and stared flatly at the kid. "So it's you again, huh?"

"H-Hello, Nakamori-keibu…" Conan laughed nervously.

"I don't know what KID's business with Shinichi Kudo is but if you kids ruin my plans to capture him, then you're going out!" Nakamori stomped away after pinching the newcomers' faces for obvious purposes.

Ran and Kazuha rubbed their faces to soothe the sting from the officer's pinch. "He didn't have to pinch that hard…"

"Nakamori-keibu's always like that so we're already used to it." Ran explained.

"I wonder if KID's going to have his way today. Especially when the KID Killer and the Great High School Detective of the West are here to witness the heist." Otaki-keiji mused. "Whatever the results will be, I'm sure it will definitely going to be interesting. But of course, I'm siding with the police."

Conan, Ran and Heiji froze when they heard an awfully familiar voice pipe up from Otaki's back.

"I would agree with you, Otaki-keiji. It would be very interesting, indeed."

Hattori was gaping.

"K-K…"

Ran was gripping Conan's hand hard that the boy was feeling the girl's shock at the newcomer. Conan inwardly cursed and squeezed Ran's hand back to try and soothe her.

.

.

.

"…Shinichi?"

"Yo, Ran."

The newcomer turned out to be the supposedly absent Great High School Detective of the East, Kudo Shinichi.

Also just a warning, KID doesn't know about Conan's true identity in this fic. And yes, that's KID disguised as Shinichi. Obviously.

And sorry about the cliffhanger. /dodges pots and pans

So yes, I was late again haha! But it's a week late so the same as chap 4! Probably you guys are going to be like, "We waited ages for this chapter just to have a cliffhanger? How dare-" Sorry about that. That was the best part to cut the chapter.

Finished some commissions (Yes I draw. I think i'm better doing that than writing lmao) and did things to prepare for my mom's surprise birthday celebration. It's hard to keep things from her, damn it! I even sleep with the utensils that I bought bec I put it near my pillows hahaha!

So yeah, people told me that they read my ANs and now I feel kinda embarrassed because you can deduce from my ramblings here that my thoughts are so unorganized. I deeply apologize for that haha.

I'm starting to think that this fanfic is blazing down to ashes but well, I'll still do my best to finish this while swallowing my pride haha.

As usual, thanks for reading :D