Nightly Advice

The wind ruffled against his hair, blowing his bangs against his face.

There he was, sitting on his rooftop, drowning in his misery. He still heard the muffled cries from below...they slowly ripped his heart apart. How did he deserve that? More over...how did SHE deserve that? He silently cursed this stupid organisation. He tried to distract himself with something else. Besides the wind, that blew constantly against his face, there was a commotion in the distance. He could hear the sirens from the police. Most likely a robbery...or a murder, considering the crime rate in his district. When he was lucky, they would call his 'uncle' for help. Yay, another case. Something he could divert his attention to. Ran was still crying down in the detective agency and he was standing on it's rooftop, head down.

There was another noice now. He could hear it over the constant rushing of the wind and it came from behind him. He swirled around and saw the figure. Now, he wondered why he himself was just standing there, linking eyes with his enemy. He supposed he didn't care tonight. Ran was more important right now.

He just came from one of his 'jobs', the price in his breast pocket. Everything worked as expected, but he was still a little disappointed. He choose Beika this time again, hoping for a fight against the miniature detective. But he didn't appear. More than a little curious, he drifted towards the detective agency from Kogoro Mori. When the rooftop of said agency came into view, he could already make out a little figure standing on the edge of the rooftop. The sound of his wings must have alerted the little detective because he turned around and saw him in the eyes. Most surprisingly, he just stood there and glanced at him. He wondered why he hadn't already gotten a soccer ball in his face. Something must be seriously wrong with his rival, he concluded. He looked really sad. So he would be a good little kaitou and cheer him up, he decided with a grin. '...or I can annoy him to no end.', he added.

Conan hadn't expected that the thief would actually land on the other end of the rooftop. He glared at him and turned away.

"What's wrong tantei-kun?", the Kid asked curiously.

Conan snorted shortly. "Go away!"

"Nahuh...", he grinned and wriggled his finger at him."Something's wrong with you, tantei-kun. And you don't need to be a master of disguise to figure that out."

The detective glared at the thief and considered his chances. He could try to scare the other from the rooftop, which was unlikely since the Kid seemed very eager to have a little chat with him. What else? Oh yeah, he could ignore him. That would went so far, that the thief would get annoyed and would do quite a lot of things to get his attention back. He figured that he wouldn't even want to know one of these things. Oh, well...why did he even bother? He sighed and looked at Kid. "Just be quiet...and listen...", he said with a rather sad voice and looked downwards.

Kid wondered about the huge amount of sadness in the others voice. He wondered if he had ever heard the shrimp so sad before...he guessed not. But he did what he was told and listened. There was a faint noise coming from under them. He recognised it as Ran Mori's cries and his eyes widened as he looked back to the detective.

"She's crying because of me...again...", said the shrunken detective, bangs shadowing his face.

He already knew about the others identity and he knew that the other was quite aware of this fact. Well, he did save him from being discovered after the Easter Egg heist, after all.

"And what do you plan to do?", he asked the detective, "Will you just stand here and let her cry?"

That brought a glare from Conan. "What do you think I could do? Call her? Tell her that everything's alright, although I know that it's a cruel lie. I lied so much to her, I can't anymore..."

He sighed. "And what would it help? Nothing! She would be even sadder, because I have to say that I'm coming back and I can't tell her when." He drifted back in his misery, his rivalry with the other one totally forgotten.

Kid was silent for a while and considered Conan's words. After he made up his mind, he spoke up again. "What about telling her the truth? Not the whole, but a little? I don't know the circumstances about your 'little' problem, but I figured that it's dangerous. You told her, that you are on a case, right? Why don't you tell her, that you need to hide from someone...or something along the line?"

Conan stared at the thief. He couldn't believe what he just suggested. And it was damn near to the truth, too. Would that really help? He kind of doubted it, but it was worth a try, wouldn't it? ....it would.

"Aaah...okay. I might try it. But what if she finds out the truth by accident? That I was living under her roof all the time? She would hate me. And it's really possible, that she finds out something, when I'm letting something slip." And there was a another thing...a scary blond scientist, who might want his head on a silver plate, if he lets something about the organisation slip.

"Now, tantei-kun...why would she hate you?", asked the thief in response and got a puzzled look from his rival. He smiled a little and Conan could have sworn, that there was a tint of sadness in the thief's smile.

"From what everybody can tell, she loves you and you love her, right?" The light blush on Conan's cheeks let him grin a little more. "And it's not that she hates your other identity, right? So, she will be a little mad at you and then forgive you for it."

Conan let that sink in. The Kid's little talk made kind of sense, but he still wasn't sure. But the way the thief said that made him wonder. It sounded as if he had similar problems. Well, he had another identity, too. He looked at him, thinking.

"Do you have these problems? Is there somebody you love but she hates the Kid?"

If he hadn't focused on the Kid, he wouldn't have seen him tense after this question. Was there even a blush on the thief's face? Nah, he must imagine that.

The little detective seemed to have hit a nerve, Kaito could feel it. 'Just don't get nervous now, Thief Boy. There's really no reason for it. And you know it.'

He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know what you mean. There's no woman I love." Really, Aoko was just his friend, nothing more, right? Right. 'Yeah, keep telling you that...', whispered a little voice in this brain, but he tried his best to ignore it.

The detective let a grin slip. The first grin this night, Kid realised. "Yeah, right." 'Damn. It seems that tantei-kun made an alliance with this stupid voice.', Kaito cursed silently.

"Anyway...", sighed Conan still with a little smile on his lips. "I think you're right...maybe I should really call her...", but he made a note to check females around his real age, who would hate the Kaitou Kid, since he was quite sure, that the Kid had to be around his own age, too. He was sure that there weren't many. Even Ran didn't hate him. Well, she didn't like him, too, but the person the Kid loved seemed to really hate him. Oh, yeah...not 'love'. But the thought alone was quite sad.

With that last sentence, he opened his moblie phone and called her mobile phone number and waited for her to pic up.

It was dark inside the detective agency. Ran sat on the chair, that her father so often occupied. She sat there, facing the dark street through the open window. For once, the strong girl didn't care for her tears, she just let them fall. It's not as anybody would see her, anyway. She still thought back to what happened this morning.

The morning seemed as normal as always. It was Saturday, so she made breakfast for the two male inhabitants of the detective agency. She ate together with Conan, her father wasn't up, yet. He came back late yesterday and she guessed he had a hangover, again. Shortly after the breakfast, she went shopping and Conan helped her as usual. She just wanted to buy a few things for meal, nothing more, because Sonoko was ill and she didn't want to drag Conan all the way through she shops. So they would do that later. She bought her things and Conan helped to carry them.

Then, there was the loud thump behind them and she turned around. She saw the dead woman in the middle of the sidewalk and let out a loud scream, just as several others did, too. Conan was already by the corpse and seemed to examine it. The police was called and arrived minutes later. She always wondered why Conan was not at all afraid of murders. He was still a child and even she herself was afraid of them. She hoped that everything was alright with him. She had already tried to call her father, but he seemed to be still asleep. So, she watched as Conan told the police inspectors Takagi and Sato what had happened. When they asked her, she could only say the half of what Conan told them. That was weird, too. He seemed to take attention of really everything around him, doesn't he? So, not having anything else to do, she watched the boy who had become some kind of brother for her over the time. It was also nice not to focus on the victim. There were all sorts of ugly wounds and a lot of blood. God, how could he just look at it like that? It was just like Shinichi, when she had been with him this one case in the Tropical Land. 'Shinichi...', she thought depressed. When would he come again? She decided that she needed to call him after they got home. After drifting back to the case and to Conan, she saw how the little boy seemed to actually work with the police. It seemed quite funny, how even commissioner Megure seemed to believe and consider every word Conan told them. Adults usually didn't listen to children like this, her father was the best example. Now, it seemed that the murderer had been found out. And they were all around Conan, patting on his head, especially the inspectors Takagi and Sato. It seemed downright as if Conan himself had solved the case, but that was just stupid. Conan was awfully clever, but like that? And it was even that neither her father nor Sonoko nor someone else had solved the case...not really at least. Just from the few hints Conan had given them, so could it really be said that the case was solved by Conan?

After a short goodbye, the police officers went to work again and she and Conan went back to the detective agency. After they put the vegetables and food away, Conan went to one of the couches and started to read a book. A novel how Ran realised. 'Should seven-year-olds already be able to read this kind off stuff? And understand it?', she wondered and noticed that it was one of Shinichi's favourite books. 'It seems that they also have the same taste in books...', she thought and sat down on the chair, where she would still be in the evening. She called Shinichi's mobile phone. She had a strong desire to talk to him right now. Suddenly, Conan jerked up and hurried into the toilet. She wondered about that, but her attention was on her phone, because Shinichi picked his phone up. She thought, that he sounded a little nervous and she wondered what might have happened. But she told him about today's case and her worries about Conan. Was it just her or got he more nervous the more she told him? 'That are your worries, why should he be nervous about that?', she thought absent minded. She pried for a little more information on why Conan could be so clever, but it seemed to her that he told her less the more she asked. It left her wondering.

And she could still remember the end of their conversation:

"Shinichi, is everything alright? You sound very stressed."

"Yeah, it's alright Ran, I'm sorry. This case is very difficult, you see?"

"Oh...so when do you will you come home again? Please Shinichi! Come home soon!" '...I miss you...'

"Errr...so sorry Ran. I come as soon as I can, but I don't know when that will be."

"...."

"...Ran..?" He sounded worried, she realised.

"Shinichi...tell me the truth. Is this really a case? Or is there another reason why you are staying away from me?"

"O-of course, Ran! Why else...? Wait...what are you thinking?"

She sighed. "You always solved a case in at least one day. Even if it took you more than just one day, you solved it when you were at your home. Why can't you do it now, too? Is there something you don't want me to know or to see?", she sniffled a little and a tear fell down. "Shinichi...? Do you have some kind of relationship with a woman and you don't want me to know it? Or-"

"No!", he interrupted her, "No, there's nothing like that! It's just a stupid case!"

"Then why can't you solve it from home?"

He could hear that she was crying now and it broke his heart.

"I-I...", he wanted to tell her something, anything. But there was just no reason for him to stay away from her. Or he just couldn't think of one at the moment.

"See? You can't tell me! There IS something else than just this case! You jerk! You are lying at me, aren't you?" And she hung up and started to cry just where she was sitting. She never noticed the little boy, who sneaked out of the door of the agency, head down and his face full of sorrow.

The sound of her ringing cellphone brought her back from her memories. She flipped it open and recognised the number as Shinichi's. She was still very angry at him and she considered if she should even answer him. But she decided to answer his call. If he hadn't a good explanation of why he called her right now, she would let him know how pissed off she was.

"Moshi-moshi, what do you want?" She hadn't really bothered to shorten her temper.

Up on top of the rooftop, the shrunken detective shuddered. 'I think I forgot how upset she really was...'

"Uhh...Ran? Listen, I'm sorry! More than sorry! Yes, I kind of lied to you, but just for your own good." He waited for an argument, but he was greeted by silence. She seemed to at least listen to him, good.

"You know, I really have a case. I can't tell you everything just yet, but I wanted to tell you why I can't come home until this case is solved. And why I lied to you. Well, you know...I kind of witnessed something that certain people wanted to keep a secret and they tried to kill me for it. If they knew that I was still alive, they would try to kill me again...and everyone near me..." He heard her breath sharpening.

"K-kill you? But...Shinichi...if this case is so dangerous, can't you just give it up?"

He sighed. "No, I can't. I would never be able to return. These people must be behind bars, before I come back, can you understand that?"

"Yeah...I think so...

But Shinichi? You vanished right after you chased after these men, who rode with us in the amusement park, didn't you? You know, these suspicious men in all black? Do you mean the-"

"Ran! Stop!", he interrupted her again. "Just forget about these men, will you? Please!"

"So, they WERE the ones..?", she wondered.

"Ghhhh...", Shinichi grumbled. "Please Ran, they are dangerous and I don't want you to try to help me."

"Shinichi..?", she warned him. If he was able to see her right now, Shinichi was sure, that he could see the angry aura around her. "Don't think that you could do everything yourself. Why can't you accept a little help, just for once?"

He gulped. There seemed no easy way around this. "I-it's too dangerous! I don't want that you get yourself in danger! I-"

"Who do you think I am?", she growled. "Some little princess who needs help in every second of her life? I can take care of myself, just that you know!" She took a long breath.

"You know what, Shinichi? I even saved the little Ai, has Conan told you about her?"

Shinichi was silent, unsure what to make out of this.

"A-ai? Yeah, he told me about her...the blond girl, right? He never said that you saved her once..."

"Yeah...I think Miss Jodie hadn't told him. She wouldn't want to worry him. But this one day, when this person, I think it was a woman, tried to kidnap Conan and Ai...

Uh, I think I never told you, right?" The other end of line was silent, so she just continued.

"Anyway, I hid in Miss Jodie's trunk and when I heard gunshots, I jumped out and hid Ai from the kidnappers view with my body and saved her. See? I can take care of myself and of others. What do you say now?"

Conan's eyes widened throughout the explanation and Kaito worried that they might plop out at every moment. The little detective was still, too still for his comfort and there seemed something to be wrong. The conversation was going quite good so far, but now he wondered what had just happened. Conan seemed to be in a sort of trance and he could hear Ran's demands to answer him. Slowly, Conan seemed to return back to earth.

"That...that was you? B-but I...I thought it was this FBI agent and..." She could hear how upset he was about this. So Conan had told him about this, she concluded.

"No, it was me!", she told him quite clearly. "Now, can you see that I can take care of my own? Will you tell me?"

"Ran, I-...I can't! Listen, these people I'm after usually don't even blink once, when they kill somebody. This woman might have a reason why she didn't kill you, although I don't know why. But these people would just kill you, if you stand in their way."

"Baka! You really don't want my help, do you? Like I said, you can't do everything alone. Do you even have a little help?"

"Err...actually yes, I do. Can't tell you who, but I do have people, who help me."

She sighed. "Fine, be your way. Just know that it hurts, that you obviously can't trust me enough." She could hear him gulp on the other end of the line.

"And Shinichi...? Whatever caused this change of heart, I want to thank it for it...", she said and smiled. He chuckled and grinned at that: "Yeah, me, too..."

Conan turned around, facing the thief.

"Thanks from Ran and me for the shove in this direction!", he said to the Kid, who had a grin on his own.

"No problem!", he called cheerfully back. "Now, I need to go, tantei-kun! Enjoy yourself!", and with this he opened his glider and flew away. For one of the fewer times, he hadn't bothered, that the thief got away.

"Well, I did. And it seems we're quite welcome...", he told a very puzzled Ran.

Author's Note: Finally something new from me, hope you liked it. I'm not sure if I should let this story end like that, it has quite some potential. Like the reactions from the others, will they even find out, what Shinichi told her? How does his research considering Kid's love go? Things like that...what do you think? :3

The next chapter will only contain a hint, that you might want to look at my profile for the link, because it's very short and I decided to make a dôjinshi out of it.

Anyway, I made a picture from my chapter 'grin'. Look into my profile for it.

Would anybody want to beta read my stories for me? English is still not my native language and I'm sure, that make quite some grammar mistakes.