The following morning, Conan awoke earlier than usual. Normally he would have begrudgingly gotten up for school as late as possible, but today he had been thrust into consciousness naturally just a little before six in the morning. Seeing no point in trying to return to slumber he slowly rose from the mat he was laying on, trying his best not to stir the very passed out Kogoro. Once out of his room, he went to the couch and sat down. He had deduced it would be better to hold off on a shower until Ran was already up. He didn't want her to wake up earlier than she had to. Having no other choice to occupy his time at such an early hour, he chose to do what he often did on nights when he couldn't sleep; go in Ran's room and watch her sleep. He had always known it was slightly peculiar of him to do so, but he didn't care. It was the only time he got to see her without the 'older sister' façade that she utilized any time he was near her. He stood stiffly beside her bed, nerve racked by the thought of her waking up and seeing him. The thought of her seeing him, no glasses, watching her sent a chill down his spine, and yet he couldn't bring himself to leave. Despite the risk, seeing her there lying peacefully without any of the stress and grief her daily life brought her put him in a better place. He felt the rare embrace of tranquility around him as he gazed on her form shamelessly. In a moment of illogical affection he reached out and lightly brushed a strand of wandering brown hair behind her ear, which caused her to unconsciously smile at him. She was still asleep, but he could imagine her dreaming of him, in his real body, brushing her hair back just as he had done. He smiled half-heartedly, feeling a twinge of remorse circulate in his chest and walked out of her room. The sun was now barely ascended above the outline of the mountain range that lied far beyond the city, allowing a thin stream of golden rays to penetrate the windows of the detective agency. Conan stood inches away from the window that lied behind Kogoro's desk, allowing the warmth and light and cover his entire body. He took a deep breath, embracing the full effect of the golden orb's presence. He stood there, covered in the sun's light with his hands clasped firmly behind his back and a content smirk on his face. With such a pleasant morning he couldn't help but think 'maybe this day won't be as bad as I thought it'd be'

~Seven Hours Later~

"Conan-kun, how was school?" Ran asked happily. Since she woke that morning she had been in an almost enviable good mood

"It was okay. How about you?"

"Not too bad. It's getting overwhelming though, having to take notes and do homework for Shinichi. He better appreciate this when he comes back!" Conan shuddered, observing the lack of humor in her voice

"I appreciate everything you do for me-" 'Crap!' Conan thought angrily 'Damnit, Damnit! I am such an idiot!' His frustration wasn't helped at all by the curious glare Ran was continuing to give him

"Conan-kun…what did you say?" she asked expectantly, making sure to keep eye contact to make it difficult for him to lie

"Uh well…I mean…" he looked around erratically, trying to concoct a plan. After a few seconds, he re-established eye contact with her "how could he not be attracted to a woman that is so good with kids!" he blurted out concisely, trying to make his comment appear accidental

"Conan-kun what are…." Her mind drifted off as she considered his choice of words. Specifically one word, it kept replaying in her head. 'Attracted…to me?' Her face became flushed and she scampered off to her room, mumbling little comments of denial under her breath. Conan sighed heavily in relief. As he walked off to his room to remove his backpack he snickered to himself 'For all her intelligence she can be thrown off so easily. And everyone thinks I'm the dense one'. When he arrived in his room, he put his backpack on the ground and pulled his phone out of his pocket

"Okay" he said to himself, forcing himself to punch in Heiji's speed dial "I have to do this, he needs to know"

Meanwhile, in Osaka, Heiji had been through possibly the worst day of his existence. With his girlfriend no longer present to threaten any female that got within two feet of him, he had been swarmed by dozens of girls throughout the day. For any other guy this would have been paradise, but for Heiji, it was hell on earth. Heiji was very traditional in a few specific respects, one of them being that he thought adultery was absolutely deplorable. More than once he had voiced his opinion on the matter to various criminals that he brought to justice that had been involved in extra-marital affairs. Despite this very well known moral stance, his female classmates came onto him in a rather indignant manner. The worst of it wasn't even the discomfort he felt around the girls, but the unwelcome feelings of gloominess that resulted from their presence. Every time he told a girl that he was taken and to back off, he was further reminded of Kazuha's absence. When he left the school, he walked home along his usual route, alone. He welcomed the solitude, however, considering he hadn't been alone in eight hours. Half way through his very peaceful walk, he felt the buzz of his phone in his pocket. He fished it out and found it to be Conan, and he answered promptly

"Oi Kudo what's up?"

"Uh…nothing much Hattori" Conan tried his best to manufacture a pleasant tone

"You sound kinda down, you alright? Something happen with 'neechan?"

"Oh no, nothing like that. Listen, I actually called because…because I need to tell you something" he hesitated

"I'm listening"

"About Kazuha" Suddenly a degree of tension began to build between the two. After nearly a minute of silence, Heiji spoke up

"Well what is it?" He asked impatiently

"It's uh…just something…she…"

"Kudo spit it out what happened?"

"She's seeing someone in America" A new silence developed, but this time it was accompanied by the faint sound of non-sequential breathing. The deep, forceful huffs were coming from Heiji who had become entranced and unaware of the caller on the other line. Conan, having no idea what to say simply remained silent, hoping that his Osakan friend would calm down if given a moment to gather himself. Instead, he heard a loud thud and the unmistakable sound of rushed footsteps. "Hattori! Hattori!" No use, he was long gone and he had left his phone behind. 'That baka!' he thought angrily to himself. 'No doubt he's going to catch the first flight to New York'

"Conan-kun!" he heard his pseudo-name called from the other room. He composed himself and ran happily toward the voice

"Hai" He appeared from his room

"Conan-kun, what were you doing you've been in there on the phone for almost fifteen minutes. Who were you talking to?" he felt a bead of sweat roll down his forehead

"Uh M-Mitsuhiko" he lied unconvincingly

"Conan-kun don't you stand there and lie to me!" she snapped back maternally

"Okay okay, it was Heiji-niisan" She flinched at the mention of his name

"Oh r-really, how is he?"

"He's really sad, he said he had to go to America to see Kazuha because she has a date" Ran leapt forward and grabbed him by the shoulders, hoisting him into the air and holding him at eye level

"Who told him about that? How did he know about that?" he asked him growing more frustrated with each passing second of silence "Conan tell me!" he was now sweating profusely, looking at her with blatantly guilty eyes

"I….may have heard you and Kazuha-neechan talking last night" he said innocently

"Conan-kun! And you told Hattori-kun about what you heard?" he just nodded, averting his eyes away from hers "Come one Conan, I'll call otosan later, we have to go now and see him before he makes a huge mistake. I'll call him and tell him we're coming"

"Wait, Ran-neechan his phone is broken you can't call him" he lied again. This would be one of the many lies he would have to apologize to her for when he changed back into himself. Ran growled to herself, clenching her fist

"We need to hurry, we HAVE to beat him to her" she gad a gleam of determination in her eyes that he had seen in his own eyes many times

"But Ran-neechan we can't just go to America can we?"

"We'll have to apologize later, right now, we need to go" She took him by the wrist and dragged him out the door, giving him just enough time to grab both of their jackets off of the rack in front of the door. As they stumbled down the stairs he managed to catch a glimpse of her face. He couldn't help but notice how…attractive she was. He didn't know if it was the light or the situation or the look of determination but something about was simply…hot. He couldn't deny it even if he wanted to; she was downright sexy when she got like this, which was rare. He marveled at her, hardly able to detach his eyes from her. He was completely consumed by thoughts(more like fantasies) about her until he very gracefully(sarcasm) tripped over a sewer drain and slammed head first onto the pavement. Ran snapped out of her trance and knelt down to tend to him. He smiled gratefully as he rubbed his forehead and smiled. They continued walking and Conan continued to rub his head, irritated by the pain and by the fact that his thoughts had been interrupted. He took a deep breath and looked ahead, watching his steps carefully. They were nearing the bus stop that would take them to the airport. Another forty five minutes and they would be on a fourteen hour flight to New York.

Meanwhile, in Osaka trans-national airport, Hattori Heiji stood impatiently in a line of over a hundred people. Apparently some new folk revival band was starting their national tour of the U.S in two days and people were flocking from all corners of the earth to see it. Or at least that's what the nine people closest to him in line said. He continued to brood impatiently as the line moved at snail's pace. His fists were clenched, as they had been since the moment he dropped his phone. While he waited, he had plenty of time to consider all the dull-witted decisions he'd made in the last thirty minutes. He had left his phone on a bike path, his motorcycle parked in the airport parking lot with no lock on it and his helmet dangling from the right handlebar and not to mention in a flurry of emotions he'd grabbed his father's gold card from the drawer of his nightstand. He was going to be at a new level of anger never before witnessed by the world when he found out, but he didn't really care. He didn't really care about anything at the moment, except the line in front of him. He was now a mere sixty-two people away. He had taken to counting every passenger in line over and over again in order to calm himself down. It had little effect, seeing as he was still as hostile as a wild boar. The only question on Heiji's mind was 'How should destroy that guy' he chuckled heartily at the thought 'I think a good beating with a lead pipe should be work. Maybe even a bare-fisted beating' Fifty-one people left. Another thirty seconds passed. Fifty people left. He smirked confidently to himself 'You just wait, I'll be there soon enough'. Forty-six people left. 'I'm comin'