Over the next few weeks everything went as well as the Osakan teens could have hoped. They talked once a day, however, due to the time change it was 7 a.m for Heiji and 10 p.m for Kazuha. It was inconvenient to have to talk to her as soon as he woke up, but he could care less as long as he heard from her. Kazuha adapted to her new school well and even made a few friends despite her awkward sounding English. Heiji was content with the relationship despite the fact that he still missed having her around. However, about three weeks after she left, Kazuha said she couldn't talk because she had to study. The following day she said the same thing. Four days went by where Heiji and Kazuha did not speak. No matter how much Heiji tried to write it off as nothing, he was deeply worried by this turn of events and called the only person he knew could understand how he was feeling, Mouri Ran.

Ran, Conan and Kogoro had just sat down to eat dinner. Ran had been in a fantastic mood the last few days because she finally got Shinichi to agree to call her twice a week. She had no idea how difficult she was making his life however, having to sneak out of the house for fifteen to thirty minutes twice a week. Life had become stressful for the one she called Conan, but he didn't really mind. However, even he was surprised to hear Ran's phone start ringing at the dinner table.

"Huh?" she glanced down at her pocket, reaching for her phone

"Who is it Ran-neechan?" Conan asked curiously. Curious was putting it lightly, it was more like anxious. He knew for a fact that Sonoko was off on some cruise with her family for the week and where Kazuha was, it was seven o'clock in the morning.

"It's Hattori-kun" Ran was surprised by the caller I.D, but not nearly as surprised as Conan was who sat across from her utterly dumbfounded. 'Hattori?' He thought to himself 'What does he need Ran for? It must be trouble with Kazuha'. When he came to this conclusion, he returned to eating and gave little more thought to the call. Meanwhile Ran walked into her room to take the call in private

"What is Hattori-kun?" she asked politely

"'neechan, I need your help…well I guess it's more like I need your advice" he sounded almost frantic

"Is it about Kazuha?" she asked rhetorically

"Yes" he replied bashfully

"What happened?"

"She hasn't talked to me in almost a week"

"I see. Is that all?"

"What do you mean 'is that all!' We've spoken everyday since the day she left and now suddenly she doesn't want to talk to me anymore!" by this point he was no longer talking but screaming into the phone

"Calm down Hattori-kun, did she give you a reason why she couldn't talk to you?" he seemed to come down as she could hear him breathe heavily

"Well she said she had to study but she couldn't really have been studying the past four days" Ran paused a moment, carefully choosing her words

"It is a possibility that she's lying to you" Heiji felt his heart drop and his temper flare

"You think she's with some other guy? She's only been gone three and a half weeks who could she have met already?" what little calmness he had come by was gone and he was screaming into the phone

"You can't just go around assuming something like that. Do you really think she would do that to you?" Ran felt she had decisively won the argument until she heard a faint response from the other line

""I…don't know" he was almost whispering, but the intensity and fury had not left his voice

"Hattori!" Ran yelled violently at him "How can you say such things?"

"I mean…we were only really…ya know…together for a few days. And if she found some guy that's…well better than me-"

"Stop it Hattori!" It was a rarity to see Ran angry, but when she was it was scary "Stop thinking like that, she waited years for you she would not have strayed away so quickly. Have faith in her" with this spirited rebuttal, Heiji felt a sensation of confidence spring up in his chest

"You're right 'neechan, arigato" and with that, he hung up. Ran put her phone away and stared out her window for a moment 'You wouldn't do that to him, would you?' the thought made her cringe, but she decided to save the thought for a later time and returned to her meal. After dinner, Ran cleaned up quickly and retired to her room, claiming she had homework to do. Conan pled a similar story and retreated to the room he and Kogoro shared. The moment their doors closed, they each had their cell phones out and made a call on their respective speed dials.

"Oi Hattori" Conan said seriously

"Kazuha-chan!" Ran said gleefully

"Kudo? What is it?" Heiji asked sounding irritated

"Ran? This is unexpected what's up?" Kazuha said, trying to mirror her friend's enthusiasm despite the fact that she was in the middle of her first class

"I'm gonna be straight with you Hattori, why'd you call Ran?" his voice was direct and unwavering

"What do you mean 'what did I do to Hattori?' Has he been talking to you?" Kazuha had been less than enthralled by the call from her friend at such an odd time of day, but now she was invading her personal life and she did not appreciate it

"Look Kudo, I called her for advice, that's all" Heiji seemed defensive, which prodded Conan to ask more questions

"Advice on what?" Kazuha asked, puzzled by what her friend had said

"He was worried about you not talking to him? He's scared you might be off with some other guy"

"You're such an idiot!" Heiji screamed back at the grade school student

"Why am I an idiot? It just seemed odd that you would call her at this hour for advice"

"So what he assumes after a few weeks apart that I'm already looking for a new guy?" Kazuha asked angrily, now paying full attention to their conversation

"He said he wasn't sure and I reassured him that you were remaining faithful" At that moment, both calls went silent for a few seconds

"Kudo/Ran can I tell you a secret?" Both Conan and Ran were shocked by the fearful inflection that their voiced had adopted

"Sure"

"Of course you can Kazuha-chan I'm your friend" Once again both lines were silent momentarily before any words were spoken

"Kudo, I think Kazuha is hiding something from me"

"Ran I did something awful" Ran looked startled at the phone

"Kazuha what is it" she asked, sounding almost maternal for a moment

"I….I met a guy at a party and I told I would go out with him. We've been on two dates" Conan and Ran were both taken back by what their friend's had relayed to them

"Hattori, what exactly do you think she's hiding?"

"I dunno Kudo, I just know that whenever adultery is involving in a murder, the spouses usually report that they had cut back significantly on the amount of time they spent together and their amount of communication"

"Hattori, you're being dramatic, I'm sure it's not that" he said heart-heartedly, which Heiji easily noticed

"Oh really?"

"Yes, Kazuha-chan."

"You think he'll forgive me just like that?" she asked, thoroughly unconvinced

"He loves you doesn't he? How long can he stay mad?" Kazuha allowed the tiniest smile to creep onto her face

"Yeah I guess so" Heiji said in defeat "It's not like she's even capable of getting another guy" he scoffed to himself, unaware that the other line was dead silent

"So, do you feel better now Hattori?"

"Yeah, thanks Kudo" with that Heiji hung up, leaving Conan to ponder the conversation. 'Why was he so worried anyway?' Conan simply shook his head and walked out of his room. As he approached the door to Ran's room, he overheard her still talking on the phone and decided to wait outside the door. He hadn't intended to eavesdrop until a certain name rang in his ear

"Look Kazuha-chan, you shouldn't worry so much" Conan snaked his head into the small crack at Ran's door

"Maybe you're right, but how do I tell him?" And then Conan heard the words that could not be unheard

"Look Kazuha, all you have to say is 'Heiji, I'm sorry but I started seeing someone...' the rest off what she said was a blur to Conan because he had already become lost in his own thoughts 'No, Hattori. How could she do that to him? Should I tell him? How am I supposed to tell him something like that…' his thoughts trailed off and he found himself slowly walking toward his bed. As he laid down, he tried his hardest to suppress his thoughts just long enough for him to fall asleep. With no luck, he was suddenly confronted with an even more disturbing revelation 'What if…what if…Ran….' Before he completed his mental statement he leapt up off his bed mat and ran full speed toward Ran's door. By this time she had ended her call and was preparing for bed. Conan, without any forethought at all burst in the door to find Ran in the process of changing. She was currently clad only in a bra and the jeans she had been wearing.

"C-Conan-kun!" she stood bewildered by the situation while Conan, try as he might, could not stop staring. He was aware of the blood that had begun to leak out of his nostrils but had not the state of mind to do anything about it. He could only admire every feature of her body that had been presented to him. Despite having bathed with her, this was the first time he'd ever been face to face with her body like this. After at least two minutes of complete silence and perverse staring, Conan regained his train of thought and turned around

"Ran-neechan I'm sorry about running in here" he apologized using the cutest, most adorable child's voice he could possible produce. It was a shot to his pride, but in this situation pride was not a factor

"It's okay, I'm dressed now" He turned around and she was in her usual pink nightgown

"I need to ask you something very important" Ran looked mystified. Partially because of what had just happened and partially because of the look on the little boy's face

"What is it Conan-kun?"

"You're not gonna leave Shinichi-niisan for some weird guy are you?" Conan face was completely genuine which may have been the reason Ran blushed as much as she did

"Conan-kun that's silly it's not like we're…" Ran eyes meet Conan's and suddenly, whether by imagination or intuition, she felt Shinichi's eyes looking back at her. She crouched down in front of Conan, bringing herself to eye level with him. Conan blushed as she brought her face within mere inches of his "I'll wait for Shinichi as long as it takes" she smiled reassuringly at him after answering his question.

"Arigato Ran-neechan, sleep well" Conan ran off merrily, closing the door behind him. Ran took a deep breath and collapsed on her bed, staring at the moon through her window

"As long as it takes" she whispered under her breath as she rolled over and fell asleep. Little did she know, in her father's room, a seventeen year old detective was reiterating a solemn decree that he had repeated to himself for a year and a half

"Ran, I will do everything I can to come back as soon as possible. I promise you, I won't make you wait a second longer than you have to" As he fell back onto his own sleeping arrangement, his thoughts wandered back to the daunting task of the next day. He stared up at the ceiling with a tinge of remorse on his face "Hattori, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I'm the one that has to tell you this. I hope you can forgive me, and her." Having no more energy to think, he tossed his glasses off and dozed off. Meanwhile, back in Osaka, Heiji was already asleep. He was sleeping very well, in fact, sadly unaware of the news to come.

It kind of hurt me to write this but hey, it's never as simple as you think it's gonna be. I've written a few too many fluffy endings, it's time for a different flavor.

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