--------------Chapter 15: Good Morning, Conan--------------

Heiji walked down the hallway, seeing Kogoro drooling over the television. He shook his head gently, a small smile on his face, as he walked into the bedroom.

Shinichi took a quick shower, returning to Kogoro's room once again. He closed the door behind him, seeing Heiji with an extra blanket on the floor, asleep. "I guess it's bedtime again," he muttered, trying to find some space for himself on the floor as well.

Ran, however, was doing the same thing that Kazuha had been doing the night before. She was sitting beside her window as snow began to fall again. She smiled. "Too bad spring is coming," she quietly told herself. She stretched, resting her head against the wall. She slowly and quietly fell asleep.

Over at Agasa's house, the Professor was firmly asleep. Ai, however, stayed awake and wandering the house. She passed by Nagi's door, opening it slowly to see if he was awake. But Nagi was asleep as well.

She stood in his doorway, keeping an eye on him. "I knew there would be trouble with you," she thought, watching him closely. She stayed for a few minutes, before finally turning around and heading back down the hallway.

Ran suddenly woke up. She slowly opened the door to her room and walked outside. She looked over to where Kogoro was, sleeping. She grabbed the blanket that covered the couch and gently covered him with it. She turned off the T.V. and looked at him for a moment, smiling softly. Then she walked into the kitchen and grabbed a cup of water.

In his sleep, Heiji stretched out, accidentally punching Shinichi in the face. "Ahh!" Shinichi woke, looking down in the dark at him. "Ugh.. Baka.." He rubbed his face gently and tried to turn over, only to find that Heiji was taking up all the room. Frustrated, he stood up, taking his blanket and pillow, and carefully stepped out the door. He dropped the pillow and blanket down in the hallway, too tired to go all the way to the living room. He plopped down onto the floor, curled up into a ball, and dozed back off.

Ran walked out into the living room, hearing a noise. She still had her glass of water to her lips. She looked down at Shinichi, curled up into a ball. She rubbed the back of her head, "Eh?" Kneeling down to him, she poked him. "Hey, you.. come on." Without any response, she sighed, grabbing his hands and pulling him over her back embarrassingly. She gently laid him on her bed and covered him with blankets. She breathed heavily. "B-Boy, you sure are heavier than you look," she whispered, before walking back over to her window and looking out.

Shinichi snoozed away, completely unaware of having been moved. He was too deep in a dream, where he and Ran were happily together, freely admitting everything they had kept quiet, but they were so happy to be so close that nobody cared to be angry. He smiled, in the bed, mumbling lightly.

She snoozed off quietly. In the morning, she was laying on the ground. "I must've fallen off the bed last night." She rubbed her head as she slowly got up, holding her back like a old woman straightened up. She turned over, seeing Shinichi splayed across the bed on his stomach, his arms and legs each occupying a different corner.

In the other room, Heiji woke up. "Eh? Where's everyone else?" he blinked, not even seeing the bed disturbed. He threw on some clothes and shuffled into the hallway.

Ran tossed her hair into a low pony tail. She was hunched over as she walked into living room.

"Morning," Kogoro said, sipping his coffee.

Heiji stopped, looking at her. "Hey Ran, are you okay?.."

"My HEAD is KILLING me," she said, plopping onto the couch and rubbing her head, "We should pick Kazuha up soon." She looked up at Heiji, giving him a greedy look. "You missed her, didn't you?"

Heiji put his hands up in front of him, "Pfft, me? Miss her? You gotta be kidding." He looked away to the kitchen. "Uh, you want something to drink?" he quickly tried to change the subject.

"No, I'm fine," she said, sinking into the couch, burying her face back into it. "I don't really want to get up..." But reluctantly, she got back up and walked into the bathroom.

In Ran's room, Shinichi suddenly awoke to pain. He looked around, seeing Ran's room instead of his own. "What am I doing here?! AHH!" His chest throbbed. "I gotta get out of here!" He jumped out of the bed and dashed down the hallway, passing right by Heiji.

"Oi, Kudou? What's wrong?" He rose a brow.

Shinichi merely wrapped his arms around in front of him, darting towards the door. "I-I just got my call. I gotta go back!"

Heiji's eyes opened, understanding. "OH, okay! Um, I'll be right with you!" He ran to Kogoro's room and pulled up the little clothes that Shinichi had left there before. He dashed outside, following him.

Shinichi ran about a block away, shifting into a deserted alley where no one was likely to come by. By the time Heiji arrived, all there was only a little boy in very large clothing.

"Thanks..." said Conan, taking the clothes from him and quickly putting it on. Heiji stood at the opening to the street, keeping an eye out for Ran.

After putting her hair up in a NICE pony tail and finishing getting dressed, Ran walked out of the bathroom. "Wonder if Shinichi is awake..." She walked towards her bedroom, only seeing an empty bed. She took a step back, "Eh?" She walked around, looking for him, but there was no sight of him. She sat down on the couch, "He must be fooling me." She crossed her arms as she waited.

Conan slipped on his bowtie and the glasses. "I'm lucky it was so dark in that abandoned building. Ran didn't realize these were the same glasses... " When he was all ready, he stepped out into the street. Heiji picked up the clothes he was previously wearing, since they DID belong to him, after all. Conan looked up at Heiji.

"Look. It will be suspicious if I walk in right now. How about I loiter around outside for a bit before going in? I'll say I slept over Genta or Mitsuhiko's house or something for a couple nights."

Heiji shook his head, "Do you really think you could last out here that long without a jacket, Kudou? How about I say that Shinichi had to leave, but I remembered you were out so I went to get you or something?"

Conan gave him a look, "Yeah, and THAT's LESS suspicious?" They stepped up to the door and walked in.

Ran was sitting on the couch, she looked over to the door. "Conan?" She walked over to him. "So you've finally decided to come home. I missed you!" she said, patting his head. "Uh, hey, did you see Shinichi walk past you at all?" she got up, looking outside. She glanced at Heiji, "Well?"

"Actually yeah," said Heiji. "He said he got a call and had to go back to work on the case... Oh yeah," He checked his watch and clicked it again. He then looked up at Ran and quickly shoved his hands behind his back. Conan stood behind Heiji, a bit disappointed.

"Oh?" she looked down at the ground. "Well, we should go see how Kazuha is doing in the hospital then.." she said, trying to force out a smile. She quickly walked passed them. "So, he took my advice. He actually left," she thought. She gave a long, deep, silent sigh.

"What happened to Kazuha-neechan? Why is she in the hospital?" Conan asked, playing dumb.

Heiji put his hand onto his head and ruffled his hair, "Because she got hurt yesterday... heh..." He looked up at Ran, "Yeah, let's go see her." He and Conan put on their jackets and started out the door.

--------------End Chapter 15--------------