Long time no see!! God I miss typing!! Anyway, now that I'm done

with the test, I'm back!! So sorry I kept everyone waiting for so long,

I promise to work extra hard to make up for the lack of update!

Disclaimer: Nope, I don't own Detective Conan, never has, never will. Sad, isn't it?

Chapter 4

I woke with a buzzing in my ear, the headache resulted from the antidote was still going strong. Swearing under my breath, I groped blindly for my cell phone so I could see the time, only to find that it isn't there. Instead my hand closed around the frame of Miyano Akemi's photograph, and vaguely I recall that I'm in Ai's room.

Picking myself up from the bed, I managed to locate the aspirin bottle in the medicine cabinet. The sudden distance from the ground was still disorienting.

It was only seven thirty. Hakase's steady snoring could be heard a couple rooms away, and judging by the complete silence from my room, Shiho was probably still asleep too.

And that left boredom, and absolute silence except for the clock ticking on the wall next to me.

I wandered through room after room of the house, like I was giving myself a welcome home tour. I rarely came back when I was Conan, the last time being when Ran dragged me along when she came in to clean.

I went to my room, careful not to make the floorboards creak as I tiptoed to the closet. I held my breath when Shiho stirred, but she only turned to pull the blanket around her.

Briefly I glanced at the computer on my desk.

If I knew her like I know I do, whatever she was researching last night would be password protected. The password would be easy enough to guess… I think, though past records show that this isn't a wise thing to do. Deciding not to chance her aiming a gun at my head, I forced myself to leave the computer be. I took what I needed and went to change in the bathroom.

I had no idea where I would go when I stepped outside in the ankle-deep snow. I walked to the Detective Agency, pacing on the sidewalk downstairs, wondering if I should knock, wanting to see the surprised look on Ran's face when she answers the door. But I knew Ran had a karate meet yesterday, and today is a Saturday, so that meant that it would be a few hours until she would be able to answer anyone who woke her with anything other than a kick to the face.

So I turned on my heels and called a cab.


Shiho's brows furrowed when I opened the door, forgetting to stay quiet this time. I checked my watch. Oh well, it's late enough.

In the corner of my eye I saw her stir. She patted the blanket next to her uncertainly, as if just noticing that she wasn't where she fell asleep. She sat up abruptly.

"What…" she relaxed slightly when she confirmed that she wasn't taken by the organization, but she looked around in confusion at her surroundings.

I watched with amusement until she finally composed her face into an expression of mild indifference, and asked in a way that suggested she was inquiring what the weather was outside.

"Why the hell am I on your bed, Kudo?"

I almost laughed. "You fell asleep at the desk last night," I said, "Don't worry, I slept in your room. I only came back her to change a while ago."

Her carefully composed expression slipped for a fraction of a second as she gave me an incredulous look. "You changed in here? What if I'd woken up?"

"Lucky you then, don't mention it to my fan club— just kidding!" I added quickly, dodging the pillow she aimed at my head.

"Anyway, here," I tossed her the paper bag I'd brought. "You can thank me later. It's not easy finding a store that opens before ten"

She caught it with ease, looking at me questioningly before peering inside. From the bag she drew out a long-sleeved gray blouse made from a soft knitted fabric, a pair of faded jeans, and an ivory white winter coat.

For a while she said nothing, and simply examined the items silently.

"I though you'd might want something to wear before you can go shopping properly." I was starting to get restless. She still wasn't saying anything. "I didn't know what you'd like…I saw a coat like that in a magazine you were reading once…the receipt is in there if-"

"Kudo-kun," she interrupted, folding the clothes over the crook of her arm.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

"A genuine thanks from Miyano Shiho? Someone pinch me!" I said in feint shock. She rolled her eyes.

"I'll go get out of this then…" she gestured at the nightdress. "Oh, and I didn't know you take an interest to fashion magazines."

"Oi!" It was my turn to throw a pillow at her. She dodged it quite nimbly and opens the door, the same moment footsteps sounded from downstairs.

"Shinichi?"

We both froze at the voice.

"Ah, morning, Ran-kun!"

The two of us stepped outside to find Ran and Hakase staring at us.

Shit.

"Shinichi?" Ran said tentatively, whereas Hakase was babbling something incoherent and at last settled for giving me a what seemed to be his best impression of a 'you'd better no have done anything to my daughter' glare.

Shiho and I exchanged an exasperated glance.

It was Shiho who spoke first. "I… left some things in Kudo-kun's room." She said, holding up the paper bag.

Hakase raised an eyebrow.

"I'll… go change then." She finished, making her getaway, and what's more, leaving me to deal with the mess.

Hakase glanced at me a final time before deciding to make his exit as well. "I'll… make breakfast." He said, obviously giving me a chance to talk to Ran.

Great first meeting, huh? The annoying voice in my head said dryly.

We stood in the hall in awkward silence, both waiting for the other to speak first.

"That was… er…" I began, attempting to explain the previous episode, and failed, falling silent.

"You're back. For good this time?" she asked.

I grinned. "Yep. The case is finished. You're dad can expect serious competition now."

She smiled, an uncertain smile, like we'd been apart so long that it's hard to start a conversation.

"I missed you." I said. "I wanted to call yesterday, but it was late."

She nodded, and conversation died once more.

"What have I missed in school?" I asked.

School? You're really out of topics, aren't you?

God, I want to kill that voice.

"Not much that you don't know already. Calculus and stuff." Ran shrugged, then launched into a story of a new math teacher.

Hakase poked his head into the hall, informing us that French toast is ready.

Shiho obviously wanted to make sure everything died down before she came out, because I know it doesn't take a person fifteen minutes just to chance into one outfit.

"Shiho Miyano," she introduced herself when she finally appeared down the stairs, and shook Ran's hand. "I've heard a lot about you from Kudo. I helped with the case he was on."

Ran glanced my way. You always said you work alone, her eyes said, but she said nothing out loud.

For reasons I never figured out why, Shiho never seemed to be able to act herself around Ran. They chatted, though throughout the conversation it was evident that she is out of her comfort zone. Ran's usual conversation topics aren't quite what she's used to. She soon announced that she was she had errands to run and left, pulling her hood low over her head so she wouldn't be recognized by the syndicate.

I look at Ran, who stared at Shiho like she's trying to remember something. I could tell she is noting the resemblance between Shiho and Ai, and know that she found it unlikely that Shiho was a partner in my investigations. I did always say that I needed no help with cases, but that was as close to the truth as we could tell, if we were to exclude the syndicate from the story. We did work on a lot of cases together lately.

Speak of the devil, minutes later Shiho returned, a grim expression on her face.

"I thought I should inform you," she said, slightly out of breath like she'd been in a hurry to deliver the news. "There's been a murder. You should probably get there before the press."

From her expression I see that she didn't like the fact that the media would hang around. She raised her eyebrows in a silent question.

"Let's go then. I'll stay inconspicuous," I added quietly, so only Shiho heard.

She looked skeptical, but said nothing. And we headed out to meet with the police.

A/N: Thanks a billion to everyone that reviewed me in my absence. I hope my writing skills haven't gotten rusty. Don't forget to put in a review!