A/N:Hello, my beloved readers! How are all of you today?

Chapter 5 Resignation

Sonoko Suzuki knew one thing about men. That was that they loved to fight and be on top of things. Women, on the other hand were more gentle, subtle, and refined creatures. Which was why she loved to spur on fights between men over women because it was just so cool...she really enjoyed that sort of thing.

But the thing that she enjoyed the most was reading romance novels. She thought they were really interesting things to read about romance between a man and a woman who at first didn't like each other, but then they were driven to be by each others side for eternity. It was a nice escape from reality for a bit, but it wasn't real. Why did a certain someone make fun of her for liking such wastes of time?

Ran didn't really enjoy that sort of book, so she made fun of her. Ran was much more into reading books that were more down-to-earth and realistic. She wasn't fond of mystery novels like a certain detective that all of them knew and cared about, but she enjoyed reading realistic books. Sonoko found that to be a waste of time. Who could read only non-fiction and throw away fiction like it was nothing more than garbage?

They'd have to be really stupid morons who didn't have a brain in their body and didn't feel like exercising it to do something that irrational. However, Sonoko didn't like to be seen reading in public because it would make her stoop down more to Shinichi's level...and she didn't want to seem like a certain arrogant mystery otaku.

She could tell there was chemistry between those two. Even though Shinichi and Ran avidly denied being more than friends, they were so close with each other that it was hard not to notice the fact that they were attracted to each other. Ran hung out with Shinichi more and more, leaving Sonoko to do her own thing. She sometimes felt jealous, but reassured herself that she should be there for them as their friend. Well, for Shinichi...she hardly considered him a friend, but if Ran liked him, then that was fine by her.

She just couldn't resist teasing her kind friend. She liked to see Ran all pumped up and irritated. She was too cheerful for her own good. Ran seemed to possess some sort of energy that attracted all kinds of males to her side. She seemed oblivious to it. Though that was also like Shinichi Kudo, who seemed to be unaware of the hordes of female students who had fallen in love with him.

Said students would often give anything to be in his class with him every day, and often followed them while they were out doing things. It was extremely vexing to be out with a celebrity, because invariably, you got noticed sooner or later. The result that sprung from that was complete and utter chaos. Shinichi and Ran had a bad habit of being swarmed by fangirls, and that applied to whenever Sonoko was near.

Which was why she preferred the days when he wasn't being such an arrogant know-it-all...oh, wait, when wasn't HE? She frowned as she stared at her watch. Ran had promised to meet her here. She had promised, so where was she?

Sonoko frowned and stared at her watch again. She still wasn't here...this was incredibly grating. Where was she at this hour?

"Shinichi, I told you this was the wrong train to go on!" Ran cried. Shinichi was ignoring her. Instead he had a book in front of his face.

"...Barou. You insisted that we had to go meet that moron Sonoko." Shinichi replied.

"Bakanichi! I don't want you being mean to Sonoko-chan!"

"You mean the annoying, whiny pain-in-the-ass who insists on coming to the Kaitou KID heist and has whined and pleaded with me for days and days?" Shinichi said.

"Sonoko-chan is my friend, just like you are, Shinichi!"

Just a friend, huh? Too bad I don't see it that way, Ran...

A small smile made its way on his face. He remembered the dream he had last night about him confessing his feelings to Ran and them getting married. She probably doesn't feel the same.

He had only recently become aware of his feelings for her in junior high. To think that she didn't notice all the little signs he gave her! Were women this dense? Why was it that they spoke so passionately of romance and acted like it was the greatest thing in the world and yet when someone was near who actually did love them, they were too stupid to notice?

Shinichi cursed his luck and continued reading his book. He heard Ran get up and move somewhere else. Well, fine. She could move somewhere else if she wanted to. It wasn't like he'd miss such an annoying, whiny girl anyway. Maybe now he could actually get some quiet.

He stood up after about ten minutes of quiet and cried, "Oi, Ran! Where are you?"

He didn't expect to be grabbed from behind by someone and thrown to the ground.

Shinichi looked up in alarm and found Ran standing over him...no wait, her eyes were too violet to be Ran's. Ran's were a darker blue. So, who was this girl who looked so much like Ran for it be to a coincidence?

"Um..." Shinichi started to say, but the girl ignored him and started to yell out loud.

"Hey! You know, you need to be more considerate! You made me wait here for you for hours! You said you would be back here as soon as possible! Bakaito, why did I see you with another girl?"

Bakaito...? Who's that...eh, wait a second, this girl...she can't be...can she?

"Kaito, are you even listening to a word I said-"

"I'm sorry, miss. But I'm not Kaito. I'm his cousin." Shinichi said before getting back up.

"Nice acting job, Kaito! Even though you went to all the trouble to actually brush your hair, I know it's you! I brought a special guest today! A salmon straight from the supermarket!" She held it in front of Shinichi and blinked when he didn't react.

"Barou...I'm not scared of fish. It's Kaito who is. I'm his cousin, like I said before. I'm Shinichi Kudo."

The girl paused for a moment. "You know what...you don't sound like him? You talk differently. I'm Aoko Nakamori, Kaito's childhood friend. Kaito promised to meet me here but I don't know where he went."

"Drat. I thought I could finally see him again." Shinichi cursed under his breath.

"Have you been looking for him? He recently changed his phone number, you know. All you have to do is call his new one." Aoko said simply.

"Shinichi?" A voice cried.

Shinichi turned around to greet Ran, but was surprised when she punched him in the face.

"SHINICHI, WHY IN THE WORLD ARE YOU HANGING OUT WITH ANOTHER GIRL?" The demon incarnate shrieked.

Shinichi flinched. "Eh, Ran, I can explain. This is a friend of Kaito's I just ran into by accident. She mistook me for him."

"That's right. I remember you. You're the daughter of that nincompoop detective, huh?" Aoko said condescendingly.

Ran's fists tightened ever so slightly. "Take that back! My dad is not a nincompoop!"

"Yes, he is. I've heard that high-school detective has gotten more work than he has! Oh...wait...what did they say his name was...?"

Shinichi hit his forehead. Please don't start obsessing over me...please don't start obsessing over me once you find out my name.

He knew in the end that his prayers were futile, though.

For then, a woman screamed.

"THERE'S A MAN DEAD IN MY SEAT WITH A KNIFE THROUGH HIM!"

Sometimes, Shinichi really hated the fact that Death seemed to keep track of him wherever he went and stalked him constantly. But maybe there was a reason why they came to him. For that, he wasn't sure.

"Your murder magnetism has struck again." Ran said sarcastically.

Aoko just raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

That name...Shinichi did sound familiar. Though, where had she heard it before? As far as she knew, he didn't appear in newspapers...or, did he?

"This wasn't an accident! Someone deliberately killed this man!" Shinichi said confidently.

Ran just hit her forehead. "Here comes the melodrama all over again."

"What are you talking about?" Aoko asked again. "He's nothing more than an ordinary kid."

A few people got out of their seats and started casting interested stares at the young man who was standing there watching the crowd with a bored look on his face. Word started to spread around the train of who the mysterious boy was.

"I'm Kudo Shinichi, the high school detective. This certainly has something to do with me."

He sighed as the girls all started to stare at him. "Here comes the crowd." He whispered.

"That's cool." Aoko whispered.

Kaito frowned as he was escorted by a redheaded girl.

"Koizumi, what do you want from me this time?" He growled.

"Hey, you wanted to know something about my prediction. Here it is: a black crow may come and fall on the knight of justice if the dove doesn't do something."

Kaito's eyebrow raised ever so slightly. "Why would that concern me?"

"Don't be a moron!" Koizumi said. "It has to do with your friend, Kudo Shinichi!"