Short chapter I know. But it's not progressing the story, so by my book it's OK.

Chapter Seventeen

Ran didn't remember falling asleep. All she knew when she woke up was that Shinichi had vanished again. Sonoko was sleeping beside her, but she didn't pay attention to this. All she had eyes for was Shinichi, who she was frantically searching for. When that turned out to be futile, she took out her phone to call him, but realized she had a new text message. It read:

Ran,

I'm sorry that I had to leave again so suddenly. Another lead to the case came up, and as it was nearby, we went to check it out. However, I will return, so please wait for me.

Shinichi

Reading this, Ran smiled, in sadness. She was sad that he'd left so suddenly again, but she realized now that whatever his big case was was for him to know only, but that he'd return. Of that she was sure.

Conan and his friends had returned to Agasa's house after the shrinking fiasco. They'd been themselves for approximately a week, which was less than the estimated time, but Conan just figured that Hakase had miscalculated again, which for him was no surprise.

Two days later, Conan, Ayumi, Mitsuhiko, and Genta were hanging out in the park, as usual. The three kids had loved their week as adults, and were constantly going on about it. Nothing would shut them up, except Ran, who would glare at them a lot, as if Shinichi's leaving was their fault, and in a way, it was.

That day though, Ayumi looked preoccupied, and the other three noticed.

"Ayumi-chan?" asked Conan, "what's wrong?"

"…"

"Maybe she ate some bad rice this morning," Genta exclaimed unhelpfully.

"Actually, I was thinking about Ran-oneesan's confrontation," said Ayumi quietly.

Conan flinched at this. Ayumi was very observant, and he figured he knew what was coming.

"Conan-kun, how did you know what Shinichi-niichan said in London?" asked Ayumi.

The question was exactly what he'd been fearing, and he knew he couldn't get out of it. At least Ai wasn't there, because she'd give him a hard time about it, and would spend the rest of the day teasing him.

"Well, Shinichi-niichan called me a while afterwards," said Conan, fabricating an excuse on the spot, "and he told me the gist of what happened. I just took what he told me, and told it to Ran-neechan in the way he probably would've said it to her."

"Oh, OK!" said Ayumi, cheering up considerably. "It's good that's what happened. After all, you couldn't really be Shinichi-niichan, could you?"

"Of course not. It was just a part of the charade."

Genta and Mitsuhiko were watching them talk with envy in their eyes, and Ayumi's next phrase drove them to drastic measures.

"Well, then Conan-kun, I have to ask you one thing. Will you promise me not to move away in the next ten years? You're just so handsome as an adult!" She gripped onto his arm tightly to prove her point.

"Oi Conan!" shouted Genta at once. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Genta-kun, I think it's wedgie time!" said Mitsuhiko in glee.

Conan immediately detached himself from Ayumi and took off running, with the other two guys in fast pursuit, with Ayumi looking on in horror. Everything was back to normal, and no one was the worst for wear for it. Or were they?

Epilogue's up next! There's a significant time skip, so don't expect a continuation of the chase scene. More ShinichixRan next time, though nothing romantic. It'll be as funny as the confrontation! Oh, and it'll probably be kind of short, too. It depends on my mood. And having to take care of a bunch of two year olds this morning didn't help matters.