16 Ways to Say I Love You: Ayumi and Conan

by IHKF

I just had to do this since there's a Mitsuhiko and Ai one, a Kazuha and Heiji, and a Ran and Shinichi, this couple deserves it too! Chapter 16: You've always turned away from me...Why?

9. Visits and Rain

Love 9: Visits and Rain

Ayumi Yoshida and Conan Edogawa sat on the wooden benches of the bus-stop. It was a humid fall day, leaves departing from the trees all around them. Conan couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong with his friend. He watched her just sit there, this look on her face that made him want to cradle her and ask what was wrong. In all of the years he'd witnessed her grow, he'd never seen that face before. She was upset, it was in her eyes. Something was bothering her, something he didn't know about. "Ayumi-chan, are you okay?" She turned to him, her face sprinkled with shock one second, but then she was back to the saddened look yet again. She stared at the colorful ground beneath her, body all the way on the other side of the bench from him. He hadn't taken notice of that before, but now that he thought about it, the fact she was straining to avoid him should have been his first clue. Usually, even though she was sixteen, she would cling to him and give him plenty of kisses on his cheeks. To her dismay, never once on his lips.

"Conan-kun, what do you feel for me?"

This question was a strange one for her to ask, it was blatantly obvious she truly wanted it answered, too! He laughed nervously, hand on his lap clenching in fear. "Wh-what are you talking about?" Ayumi's focus never left the confines of the captivating leave-covered ground. She stared at the wind-blown tree coverings as they danced about her feet, seemingly toying with her vision. "Well, I've been getting asked out a lot lately…and I've always turned them down because I had you." She paused, clasping her hands together in her lap for minimum comfort. It hardly seemed to help, but she continued on with what she was saying even so. "But lately, it feels like you have me more than anything else." He raised an eyebrow slowly, confused. What she was saying made no sense, even to an accomplished detective like himself! "I just want to know, before I turn down every guy that's going to ask me out, if I have you, too. I want to know if our…" another pause. "…relationship goes both ways. I guess what I'm trying to ask is," she faced him once more, cheeks burning in a blush. "Do you love me, or do you not?"

Conan felt his cheeks flush, too, and his nervous system broke down. He looked away from her, attention to the fields far, far away.

"I do love you, Ayumi."

He heard her gasp in delight, sheer delight of which belonged to an awestruck child, or the unbelievably overjoyed teenaged girl she was. "But…only as a little sister." The happiness went out, just like that; the sound left as the happiness died. As the two feelings beat the popsicle stand, he felt her shift closer to the end of the bench, as far as she could scoot away from him. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." It was stupid of me to think otherwise… She smiled. Good thing I'm already sitting on the other end. Minutes passed before the bus came, many awkward minutes at that. Every once in a while Conan would steal short glances at the female beside him, and every once in a while she would attempt once more to scoot even further away from him. The leaves continued to move all about, dancing around the teens' clad shoes and running down the sidewalk like human beings. Just when Conan couldn't take any more of the silence, just when he was feeling undeniably tempted to get up and walk away from the thick tension… the bus arrived. The two teenagers boarded the automobile, sitting next to each other, much to his surprise. He'd expected Ayumi to get up from the bench they had been sitting on, apologize, say that she has to go do something (even when they both knew that was a lie) and run off, tears in her eyes. But no, she seemed to be stronger than that. He stared at her as she leaned against the window, bangs hovering over her eyes and clouding her expression. She's never been this tough before, so why now?

"Ayumi-chan, why?"

She hummed questioningly in response, not moving a single centimeter in his, or any other, direction. "Why are you staying by me when you could easily leave and not have to deal with sitting next to me all the way home?"

He saw her smirk under the shadow, the emptiness in it concerning him deeply. "Because, it's not like it's gonna change anything between us." He felt his eyes widen as she moved only the tiniest bit, propping herself further onto the window. "No matter what I did at that moment, whether I left or stayed by you, it wouldn't change your answer. So why put myself through the torture of walking so far home when I could just stay and take the bus with you?" His body stiffened. "It'd be problematic either way."

"Ayumi, you're putting mental distress on yourself! Why are you still sitting by me then?"

She didn't answer. Instead, she dug her head further into the glass. Besides, the forecast says it's going to rain today, and I forgot my umbrella.

More minutes (agonizing thousands of seconds for Conan) passed by before it started to rain, the bus slowly pulling to a stop three blocks away from their houses. "This is our stop." Conan alarmed, standing up. Ayumi stayed where she sat like statue for all of five seconds before eventually standing up as well and following him out.

Their shoes were covered in mud by the time they made it across the road, and their socks were sure to have big, black stains on the sides of them after a long wash. Both of them were soaked to their heels and their bright brown shoes became just as dark as a pile of…do you mind if I don't finish that sentence? "I'm going this way." He said, pulling out his umbrella. It wouldn't support him that long anyways, three blocks isn't far at all. Besides, the umbrella was not big enough to cover him entirely. All he could use it for was to keep his bookbag (and it's contents) nice and dry. "Okay, see ya later." She responded blankly, and almost robotically. With the wave of a hand, she walked off…without an umbrella. He watched after her, just standing there, waiting to see if she took one out. But she hardly seemed to notice the rain pelting her smooth skin. He narrowed his eyes. "She forgot her umbrella." That bahrou. Shaking his head back and forth, he ran to catch up with her.

Ayumi stopped suddenly and swiftly when she realized the water wasn't hitting her anymore. She turned to look at the culprit, and upon seeing Conan, gasped once more. "You forgot your umbrella, right?" She nodded hesitantly and shivered at the touch of his arm hitting her back. "Then I'm walking you home."

"Conan-kun, you don't have to."

"Yeah, I kinda do. Do you know how mad Ran will be with me if I let you get sick when I could stop it from happening?" She smirked. So that was what this was about…

The two walked to her house, side-by-side. Every now and again, he would steal peeks at her. Her hair was sticking to the sides of her head and there were wet streaks running down her face that could have easily been misidentified for salty tears, not to mention her white school shirt was soaking wet, so it was considerably see-through. He blushed and turned away from that area, looking at her face instead, which was slightly tinted red. Her eyes were down-casted and she kept a suitable distance from him, which he didn't mind at all. What really caught his attention was the work the water did for her. She looked beautiful, he had to admit. Her blush was what completed it all, though. Conan forced himself to face straight ahead, not daring to look or even glance at the spectacle beside him. Soon enough, the two of them were at her door, and she was turning the handle. "See ya, Ayumi."

Getting no response, he turned around, walking off the property. He stopped for a few seconds, waiting once again for her to say something, only to hear silence. He continued walking, but upon being held back by a sudden grip on his shirt, he stopped. Conan slowly turned around to face Ayumi, who was once again staring at the ground, which was a lot damper than it had been before from the wet droplets falling from the sky and the humid feeling in the air. "It's really starting to pour out there. You can come in and stay with me until it gives out." He smiled.

!

Ayumi held out a white shirt and black pants to him, both being his size. "Huh, aren't these your Dad's?" she nodded and grinned at him. "Yeah, but I'm sure he won't mind." Accepting the clothes, he thanked her and walked into the bathroom. Ayumi sat there on her bed, legs crossed as she waited for him to come out. The quiet aura was disturbed by the sudden sound of the tired boy's stomach rumbling, and as he slipped his shirt off, Conan halted, a deep blush burning his cheeks. Ayumi's innocent laughter echoed to him through the door. "Hey, Conan. It sounds like you're hungry, so I'm gonna' go make something warm to eat. I think it'll fit this cold weather!" Conan yelled an 'okay' in agreement and was soon left alone in her bedroom's bathroom. It wasn't long before he came out again; dressed in the clothes he was given. Conan fastened the buttons on his shirt, looking all around the room. It didn't look like it belonged to a teenage girl, but a little one. Butterflies were painted on the walls with a pink background, and the faint smell of honey and lavender filled the room, a smell he easily recognized as Ayumi's natural fragrance. "Wow, I can't believe she still has such a childish room when she's so big now!" He tried to look around the room a little longer, only to smell something cooking. Raising his eyebrows once more, he made a U-turn and walked his way down to the kitchen.

"What are you cooking?" He asked, taking slow steps down the stairs. "Eggs and bacon."

"I take it school made you-" He paused upon entering the room, jaw hanging open at the sight before him. Ayumi was standing there, mixing the egg batter in a bowl. She was wearing a yellow off-the-shoulder shirt with a green tank-top under it, a dark grey miniskirt to match. Her hair was blow-dried and she had her eyes narrowed peacefully at her work. "…hungry too." He finally finished his sentence as she turned towards him. "What, what's wrong?" He felt his body shiver and he decided to quickly take a seat, in an effort to hide certain things about him Ayumi did NOT need to know. "N-nothing." Conan leaned his head into his palm and Ayumi continued to mix, the spoon turning the batter over and over and over again. Conan couldn't help but skim her over. He could honestly say he didn't expect for her to grow up and be this gorgeous. It was almost alien how much she changed. Her eyes seemed to be a much deeper blue than he cared to notice, and her hair had grown past her shoulders. She had gotten rid of her headband entirely (although she had still persisted on wearing it different ways until she reached high school) and her bangs, at least the ones closer to the sides of her head, were just long enough to have reached her eyelashes had they been closer. He watched her go back and forth, skirt swaying to and fro as she went about her own business, cooking and batting and shaking, etc…

Ayumi twisted the timer for the eggs before sitting across from him. Noticing Conan's eyes on her, she blushed and turned away. "What, why are you staring at me?" Edogawa's face burnt a little bit, but he kept it under control. "No reason." Ayumi stared down at the table.

"When did it start, Ayumi?"

"Huh?"

She looked up from the marble top, only to see Conan's eyes fixed on her's. She inhaled and blushed just a little in response, but kept her eyes locked on his. He was leaning back against the chair with his beautiful deep eyes staring into her. "When did all of this start changing between all of us?"

"What do you mean?"

He shrugged and crossed his arms behind his head, leaning back a little further. "I don't know, it's just…" he paused, seemingly trying to find the right words for it. Ayumi kept her attention focused on him, eyes penetrating the very essence of focus. "Everything changed in our relationships as a group. The Shonen Tentai Dan just isn't the same anymore."

Ayumi curiously rose her eyebrows and enlarged her eyes. "How so?"

"Well, think about it, Ayumi. The only ones out of the group who really kept an interest in detective work are the two of us. I mean, Mitsuhiko got more into science as time went on, Haibara following suit. Genta got into agriculture and farming, when was the last time he even brought UP a case all on his own?" Ayumi shrugged just as he did, stating her obliviousness to the answer he wished but urging him to go on at the same time. "Not to mention Mitsuhiko and Ai have started dating, Genta even has a girlfriend! Officer Satou and Takagi got together when we were still small and so did Kogoro and Eri! I mean…" he traveled off and looked away, unconsciously giving Ayumi hints at the sadness coursing through his veins. "Even Ran got married to Araide-sensei." This caused a sudden heart string to snap in the both of them for two different reasons. For Conan, well that answer was obvious. For Ayumi…not only is the man she was in LOVE with in LOVE with somebody ELSE, but his heart was being broken by the other person. She inhaled once more as she started to speak. "Conan-ku-"

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

The sentence coming from her lips was shut closed abruptly by the sound of the stove finishing their food product. She twisted to look at it. "Well, sounds like the food's done." She turned to face Conan, whose face was back to normal and in desperate need of some food. Ayumi felt her own face drop as she stood up. "Umm, excuse me."

He nodded in response as she walked over to the stove.

"Anyways, it looks like it's starting to rain even harder, do you mind if I spend the night?"

Ayumi shrugged for the fifth time that night as she pulled the eggs off the stove, slipping some onto one plate and a little more than half on the other. "Sure thing. My dad's on a business trip and my mom's spending the night at her friend's house." He raised an eyebrow.

"Her friend's going through a divorce and needs the support."

"Ah…" Conan sniffed the air, taking in the baked aroma of eggs. "Hey, that smells good, Ayumi-chan!" She smiled at the compliment, setting the two plates onto the table. The one plate with more bacon and eggs on it was in front of Conan, while she had less of it all on her plate. "I know It's not your nee-chan's cooking but it'll have to do."

The two of them ate together in silence…or they would have had Conan not let out a shriek of surprise. "Ayumi-chan! I almost forgot!" She looked up; setting down the spoonful of eggs she had been holding up. Her mouth formed in a perfect 'o'. "Where am I going to sleep?"

Ayumi tilted her head to the side. "Oh, don't worry. We have a spare bedroom." She looked back down at her plate, toying with her food. "You don't have to sleep in my room or borrow my parent's room if you don't want to."

I hope he doesn't notice how badly I'm blushing right now!

Conan made a boyish little squeak and began to eat silently again.

!

"Okay, so dinner's done I guess…" Ayumi stated, putting the dishes in the sink.

"Don't you mean breakfinner?" Ayumi laughed at Conan's mash word and turned the faucet on, then she turned it off again to conserve water (and cash). "ANYWAYS, dinner's done I guess, and it's only 9:00 so what do you want to do, now?"

He pressed his index and thumb onto of and under his chin. "Hmm, let's see… do you have any video games we can play?" Ayumi smiled cheerily. "Yes! As a matter of fact, we've got a detective game! Follow me?"

Conan did as told and followed the female upstairs, heading towards the guest bedroom.

"What's the game called?"

"Heavy Rain." (A/N: LOL)

Ayumi slowly opened the door to the bedroom, flickering the lights on her way in. Conan wasn't very far behind, in fact, he was two inches away from breathing down her back. She couldn't help it; this made her heart jump for joy. She sat down on the cream-colored bed, patting the seat next to her for him to sit down on. He did as directed as she grabbed a controller and handed it to him. "It's only one player but I love watching my dad play so…"

He smiled and took to controller from her. "Too scared to play?" He asked, a playful spark in his eye. Ayumi gasped and blushed, grasping her hands to her chest. "Hey, I never said that!"

Oh baby I can't stop my love for you

I'll become your everything I believe in your promise

Ayumi and Conan both took a look at his pocket, which was ringing uncontrollably with the song blasting from it. "Hold on a sec. Ayumi-chan."

Conan lifted the phone out of his pocket, the ringtone getting more audible as he did so.

Before our eyes, the mystery of this incomplete map

Has spread and expanded

Beep.

"Hello?" It only took the first sound from the person on the other end to make Conan's face fall. Ayumi's eyes narrowed at his expression. She knew who it was on the other line. Her heart sunk even further in her chest. She reached up to clutch it, only to find her shirt being pulled down lower and being grabbed tightly by her fist.

"Neehh… Ran-neechan, I'm not coming home tonight…no, I'm spending the night at Ayumi's." Just by him saying those words her heart began to flutter in her chest. The conversation continued in the background. Ayumi looked up and watched in awe as Conan's face began to get a brighter and brighter shade of red as Ran spoke on the other end. "RAN-NEECHAN! We'll be sleeping in separate rooms! How could I possibly- NO! I WOULD MOST CERTAINLY NOT DO THAT TO AYUMI-CHAN!" Ayumi blushed her own shade of red, knowing fully well of what Ran was accusing his motives of being. She could have sworn she just heard the words 'whatever' and 'condom' come from the other side of the phone, which made both her and Conan turn cherry red.

Conan's eyes narrowed and he gained that adorable look of annoyance on his face Ayumi found herself adoring so much. "Yeah, yeah. I'll be good to her while I'm here. Bye Ran-neechan."

Ayumi noticed it at that very moment. He paused after she had said something, and that sparkle came back to his eyes, and the fashion in which they were narrowed in became that of love…not that of annoyance. Ayumi couldn't help but listen for his response, face showing both concern and jealousy. "Yeah, yeah I love you too, Ran-neechan."

Crash, bang-bang, SCREEEEEEEEK, snap, shatter.

Ayumi mentally cringed at the noises her mind was making to over-exaggerate her broken heart. Conan pulled the red cellphone from his ear, the same one he had for years, and pressed the red 'END CALL' button. "Sorry, Ayumi-chan. Ran-neechan has been very protective of me lately." His voice sounded annoyed, but his face clearly showed overjoyed happiness from the goodbye he had gotten. When he didn't get a response, he turned to look at his silent friend. "Ayumi-chan?" She sat there, the shadow of her bangs covering her eyes. He fully turned his body towards her, slight worry captivating his features. "Oi, Ayumi-chan?" Her head came up, and there was a big, beautiful…misleading, empty, fake smile on her face. "Umm, Conan-kun, you can go ahead and start the game while I go get some drinks for us. I've already seen the beginning of the game so I won't be missing much."

The detective helplessly watched as Ayumi got up from her seat and strolled out of the bedroom, fake smile still there, perched on her face. His head actually went far enough to follow her out of the room. She suddenly stopped at the doorway and turned to face him. "What do you want to drink Conan-kun?" He took one step back, for some reason utterly frightened by her innocent question. "Uh-uh water'll be just fine!" She nodded and continued to walk out of the room, unknowingly causing Conan's eyes to follow her out.

For some reason, he couldn't help it tonight. Every time he had to look at Ayumi, he couldn't stop. Now here he was looking her up and down as she walked, taking in all the sweet details of her.

He found himself loving it.

He loved how her hair swayed back and forth across her shoulders.

He loved the way her hips moved with her legs.

And boy, did he LOVE the way her butt-

GAH! BAD BOY CONAN! Ayumi's your friend…your friend. You don't like her so stop ACTING LIKE YOU DO!

He took a seat on the bed where Ayumi had been sitting moments ago, and he couldn't stop himself from twisting his head to look at her again.

Oh MAN…she really wasn't a little girl anymore, was she?

Somewhere, in the back of his head, a tiny little voice said: "Yeah, no s^!t dude!"

!

It had been about two hours after the call, and both of them had gotten up to refill their drinks at LEAST three times by then. They had gotten pretty far into the game, and the just LOVED beating the crap out of the old guy! "Hey, Ayumi? Do you need to refill your drink again?"

She shook her head, a fresh, real smile still there. "No, mine's still perfectly full. Why? You need to refill your drink?" He nodded. "Yeah, I'll be right back."

Unfortunately, fate had different plans for Conan Edogawa…MUCH different plans.

These plans included him tripping on a wire and falling backwards. It also involved a LOT of splatter and embarrassment.

"AHHH!"

"S-Sorry!"

Conan had already been saying sorry before he even realized how bad the situation was…

He opened his squeezed shut eyes, just to get a look at what had happened.

His vision was blurry, WAY TOO blurry for him to really see anything. All he saw was…the vague color of the bed sheets, an unfamiliar red substance on both him, the bed, and the other very unclear thing under him.

The third unclear thing started breathing heavily under him…

AW SHI-

His vision cleared once again, and he could easily make out the spilled contents of Ayumi's drink all over the bed, the bed, and the shocked, blushing girl under him.

He could feel his own cheeks light up by just watching her, and he didn't dare move.

"A-Ayumi-chan, s-sorry!"

There was something wrong here…this shouldn't have felt so right to him. There was red liquid covering all three objects, and it was beginning to drip off of him, but he didn't really seem to care. All he saw was that Ayumi was under him, they were on a bed, and her parents weren't home…

GAH! WHAT ARE YOU THINKING? THIS IS AYUMI-CHAN! NOT RAN OR HAIBARA!

He felt slightly disturbed that Haibara came to his mind at that point…

Ayumi stared up at him, her eyes lighting up by just staring into his. Her hands separated their bodies, but still didn't hold up much resistance as they clutched his white-covered torso a little tighter than acceptable between friends.

And their lips…they kept getting closer, and closer, and closer until-

Conan shook his head, pulling himself up off of the to-remain-innocent girl. He didn't love her, and it would be wrong to misguide her as different. He couldn't live with himself if he caused Ayumi so much pain…

…he couldn't bear to make her cry like Ran did.

"C-Conan-kun!" Ayumi sat up as well, hand to her chest once again, and just as always, it was in a fist. "I…I'm sorry. I was getting…carried away." He shook his head again. "No problem, that was my fault, too. I should have gotten up sooner." Besides, I was getting just as carried away as you were… He gulped, afraid of the silence he was receiving from the other end. "Uhh, we might want to clean these comforters."

!

Ayumi closed to washer door, turned the nob, and let it go. She stepped back from the machine, leaning on the wall in front of Conan. "So there aren't any other blankets or covers clean at all?"

Ayumi shook her head. "No, my cousins tend to get EVERYTHING dirty when they visit, ESPECIALLY the sheets when they eat in bed." He sighed. "And I can't borrow your parent's comforter?"

"No, it's dirty, too."

"How?"

"Let's just say my parents are trying to have another baby."

Conan gulped. "Ohhh…"

Ayumi huffed and folded her hands behind her back. If everything else in the house was dirty…that meant he had to sleep...

"Gah!" She let out a tiny little squeal at the thought. The blush came back to strike terror once more. "So I guess that means we have to…" She couldn't finish the sentence.

Conan's face heated up as well. "Well, how long should it take for the washer to finish?"

Ayumi turned to face the machine…

…when it broke.

Sweatdrop…

"AHHHHHHH! OH NO! IT'S BROKEN!"

The girl lunged over to it, trying desperately to change the harsh reality she was currently living in.

Conan curled one side of his mouth up in twitching annoyance. Great, now he had no choice!

I can't believe I'm doing this… I'd honestly rather sleep without any covering than share a bed with her, but I can't let her know that.

Conan sighed and reached over, placing a hand on the freaking female to calm her down. She twisted to him, surprise on her face. "It's alright, Ayumi-chan. We can sleep in the same bed."

Any blind fool could see Ayumi's deep blush.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

!

Conan sighed for the sixth time that night as he stared at himself in the mirror. He was clad in blue pajamas that fit him just right. Huh…her father must be a very small man.

Conan reached up to the sides of his face, slipping his only piece of disguise off and setting it onto the counter before turning the faucet on and splashing water in his face.

Once.

Twice.

Three times…

Conan Edogawa looked up to see Shinichi Kudo, before he was first shrunk, staring back at him. Goodbye Conan Edogawa, hello Shinichi Kudo. He shook his head back and forth before wiping the remains of the liquids off of his head and walking out the door.

What he saw when he entered the room was Ayumi, already under the covers and on her side, with her eyes open and un-resting. Her pupils tilted to look at him in the darkness, even if they couldn't help her see anything at the moment. She smiled gently and blushed a little. "It fits you well!"

He grinned sheepishly and walked around to the other side of the queen bed, hesitantly slipping under the covers. As he squirmed his way into the bed, figuring out what territory was his and what was her's, he felt her shiver just the tiniest bit, and that made him smile in nervousness. "Goodnight, Conan-kun." That voice; it sounded so sure yet so worried at the same time. "Goodnight, Ayumi-chan." But he supposed his voice sounded the same way.

Minutes passed, endless minutes in the pitch black darkness, and nothing happened, neither of them were asleep, nor had either one of them accomplished the feeling of comfort. It was hard too, when you knew that one of you was in love with the other but the other didn't return the feelings. He shifted uncomfortably underneath the covers, keeping an eye on Ayumi's movements. She had not moved and was still staring away from him, back towards him. His eyes narrowed.

The moonlight shined through the blinds just well enough for him to see the outline of her figure, now that he was lying down. He felt something glitter in his eyes as he watched her breath in and out as he slowly but surely fell in tune with her. "Ayumi-chan?"

"Yes?" So he was right…she was still awake.

"Are you alright?"

She hesitated with her answer, although she knew two things she wanted to say. "I should be asking you that question."

"Huh?"

"Conan-kun…all this time you've been madly in love with Ran-neechan, right? It has to be the hardest thing in the world for you to go through…to see her marry another man." She felt him stiffen next to her, but he said nothing to stop her, so she continued. "In all honesty, Conan-kun, had Shinichi-niichan came back, she would have probably married him instead, so you would have lost either way." She was being terribly blunt, and she sounded evil, but he needed to hear it. He needed to be told there wasn't a chance for him and Ran, anyways!

No response…

She got no response from him.

She sighed, giving up, as she fixed her pillow and scooted just a little further from him. Just like today at the bench… She bit her lip to keep the tears back that were fighting to just burst out of her eyes any minute. In the long run, they wore down, and she was the least bit calm again, for the time-being.

Conan sat there, millions of thoughts running through his head. Things that had been said to him, his own thoughts, his feelings…

Ran…had I not given up…had I really tried harder to find a cure, I would've been the one at the end of the aisle, waiting for you just like you did for me all that time. He cringed and narrowed his eyes even further. If I had just tried harder…

But then he caught a sight of the picture in front of him. Ayumi's shoulders moved up and down silently, as much as she would allow them to. Her whimpering was so silent, that even in the pure silence of the dark room, he could hardly hear it. Ayumi…you think I'm turned the other way, don't you? She was crying…over him, he just knew it!

D%N IT!

He mentally shook his head vigorously at this. Ayumi…

He reached out…

You're crying over me…

Ayumi sharply stopped her sobbing as she felt an arm being wrapped around the line just below her chest.

Please…stop!

Conan scooted over completely, his arms wrapped around Ayumi, and holding her close to his chest. "Ayumi…I can't take your tears. Don't cry, please."

Her red eyes widened as he pulled her closer, setting his head onto her shoulder. "Conan-kun…"

He's…he's spooning me!

"Ayumi-chan, I'm sorry." He leaned up and kissed her cheek, sending a few more kisses all down her collarbone (all of which made her shiver and gasp in delight). He inwardly smiled at this as he finished his words.

"I didn't mean to lie when I told you I didn't love you." Ayumi, shocked as could be, turned to face him, astonishment written across her face. His smile made her squeal in enjoyment. "Ayumi, I think I might have lied to Ran, too while I was on the phone with her."

"About sleeping in separate rooms?"

He smiled mischievously. "Guess again."

Ayumi felt her entire face turn beat red…

…and gulp.