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Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan, Gosho Aoyama does!

Chapter 7 Secret Codes

Ran hung up the phone. Did Shinichi just say what she thinks he said? No way! Shinichi would never say that to her. Would he? How foolish was she? The subject needed to be put to rest, and she needed a good night sleep. She was starting her first day of elementary school… again. She got into the bed, resting her head on the pillow and allowed the worries of the day to fade away… or so she thought.

~Dream Sequence~

Ran was in her 17 year old body again. She saw Shinichi just in front of her, she ran to him, but he disappeared. She looked around, wondering why she had a strange feeling. She felt cold metal press against her temple, and a sinister voice hissing, "You brought this upon yourself. So just accept your fate." She recognized him as the man that force-fed her that poison. She wanted to use her karate, or just run away, but her body was frozen. She didn't know if it was her fear, or if she was held in her spot. Something about this man made her blood cold. He really knew how to make his victims act the way he wanted them to. He pulled back the trigger.

~End Dream Sequence~

Ran woke up with a scream. She looked around to realize that she was alright, that it was 2:00 in the morning, and that it was all just a dream. She pulled her knees to her chest, her whole body shaking. She let out a choked sob as realization hit her. If she ever did become a 17 year old again, she couldn't go out. That man would hunt her down and finish the job. She looked to her left, and saw that the professor was still asleep. She crawled out of bed, and headed toward the basement. She put a hand on the door knob. She just told herself that she was doing this just to make sure that Ai was alright. She turned it, and stepped quietly inside. She saw Ai mixing chemicals together. She tiptoed all the way toward Ai. She stopped a yard length away from her. After five minutes, Ai turned around. She had noticed Ran's presence in the room, but had decided to ignore it until now. "Hello Ran, is there something you need?" A gasp could be heard from Ran, as she shook her head. She told herself that she only came in here to check up on Ai, not stay in there for the remainder of the night. Ran decided to keep to herself, and hopefully, Ai would forget that she was in the room. Ai then let out a sigh, and turned around. There was no way that Ran was escaping from Ai. "What's really going on Ran?"

"I couldn't sleep." She said, twiddling her thumbs. For some reason, she felt embarrassed. She felt that she shouldn't be in here, and that she was making a mountain out of a mole hill. "You had a nightmare, didn't you?"

"How did you… you heard me, didn't you?"

"I'm surprised the professor wasn't woken up. You were thinking about Gin, weren't you?"

"For some reason, he gives me the creeps."

"Ran, Gin gave me the creeps way before I shrunk into this form. There is nothing to be embarrassed about."

"Why is he so creepy?"

"He's an antisocial."

"You mean he doesn't have any friends?"

"No Ran, you're thinking of an asocial. An antisocial is someone who goes against the rules of society, basically does what he wants. He was diagnosed with the disorder in his youth. But then again, everyone who is in that organization by choice is an antisocial."

"You were forced?"

"Yes, I was. My parents were in the organization, and they both died when I was 5. They raised us into the organization. When you are in the organization, you're in it for life, there's no way out."

"But you're here, and that means that you're still in it?"

"No I'm not. They consider me a traitor. The second they find me, they are going to kill me."

"Oh Ai, I'm sorry. I didn't know that your parents were dead." Ai walked up to Ran, and placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's been a long time ago, there's nothing to worry about. The only thing I can do is wait for the organization to be taken down."

"Hey Ai, I hope I'm not getting too personal, but you said the organization raised us… you have a sibling?"

"I had a sibling. My sister died two months ago. No, she was murdered two months ago by that monster." Ai said, her voice trembling. She took her fist, and banged it against the table, and slid down the wall. She held her face in her hands, as she cried. Ran walked briskly over to Ai, and sat next to her on the floor. She wrapped her arms around her, and started to rub up and down on her left arm. Ai made no movement to push her away.

"Ai," Ran said, "your sister wouldn't want you to be upset. She would want you to keep fighting against them, until the very end." Ai didn't answer, but continued to sob. So in that position, the two sat. Ai had her head in her hands, and Ran with her head on her shoulder, hugging her.

Dr. Agasa woke up and noticed that Ran was not in the bed. He assumed that Ran was taking a shower. He went into the lab to greet Ai, when he noticed that she wasn't sitting in her chair, he looked down towards the left of the desk, and noticed that not only was Ai asleep on the floor, but Ran as well. He wanted to leave the two alone, but they had school this morning. He walked over to the two, and shook Ran up first. She rubbed her eyes, and looked up at him. "Hey professor, I have elementary school today, don't I?"

"Yes you do." Professor Agasa said, as Ran shook Ai. She woke up, and noticed it was 6:30. "We need to get ready; Kudou and Hartwell will be coming by here." Ran nodded, and she dragged Ai to the kitchen. They had a quick breakfast, took a shower, and were waiting for the boys to pick them up. "Hey Ai, when I was talking to Shinichi, he was acting weird last night."

"What do you mean?"

"I swore he said that he loved me, but then he said he didn't say anything."

"My advice to you Ran is that you should wait until he says it to your face, directly, and to not ask any questions until then. You don't want to chase him away, do you?"

"I guess not." Shinichi and Heiji arrived at the professor's house five minutes afterwards. Shinichi had his hands behind his head, and looked toward Ai and whispered, "How did Ran sleep?"

"She was fine." Ai said, not wanting to worry him. "How was Kogoro?"

"He was pretty out of it, I guess he's upset because he thinks that I'm alone with her, but I'm not the type of person to do that." Shinichi said, Ai understanding everything that he said. All four of them entered the school yard, and they saw them. "Hey, who is she?" Ayumi said, pointing at Ran.

"She is…" Conan was saying before he got interrupted by Ai, "Miyabe Addy, and my mother's sister's daughter's aunt's husband's daughter. She's from Aomori in Aomori prefecture. Her parents are on a tour in America teaching origami to elementary kids. I asked the professor if she could stay with us, and he said yes."

"That's so nice of you Ai!" Mitsuhiko screamed. Addy gasped when she realized what Ai was really saying, a secret message only for her. She shook her head from side to side, and she went up to Conan and whispered, "What are their names?" His eyes widened as he said, "Oh man, I forgot! She's Yoshida Ayumi, he's Kojima Genta, and he's Tsuburaya Mitsuhiko." The three of them got together and said, "And we form, the Junior Detective League!" The bell then rang, and all seven of them ran into the school building. Ai usually sits by Conan, but she let Addy sit by him since she didn't know anybody. "What's up with her?" Conan asked about Ai. "Oh, nothing's up. I guess she got a lot of sleep last night." Ran figured that it wasn't her place to tell Conan… but then again he already knew. She figured that Ai would be appreciative if she didn't say anything.

"Class, today we have a new student, her name is Miyabe Addy, please be nice to her." They studied math, science, and were let out for recess. "Hey Ai, did you really meant what you said back there?"

"Of course, why wouldn't I have said it if I didn't mean it?"

"Haha, yeah, me too." The rest of the gang showed up, and they played rock, paper, scissors the whole time. Afterward, they finished school and went to get some snow cones, and Conan and Rishou went to the professor's house. "Hey Ran, " the professor said when he noticed that the children weren't with them. "I'm working on your gadget, but expect it to be finished by tomorrow. She nodded, and they went to watch the TV. Mai Kuraki was on the television, and she was being interviewed by the host. "Haha, she reminds me of when you and Sonoko were going to the two-mix concert."

"Oh yeah, and they had lyrics about a murder, and she was kidnapped."

"Oh, and our voices were similar."

"So that was you that sang with that god awful voice?"

"Oi Ran, that hurt!"

"Really Kudou, really?" Heiji asked.

"Well, excuse me for being tone deaf!" He yelled in retort. Even though right now they had a lot to worry about, they decided to have fun. There wasn't that many chances to do so at this time, so they have to take advantage of it every chance they get.

Please R&R, and I have a challenge. If anyone can figure out what Ai's message to Ran was by December 13, 2010, the winner will have a huge say in what happens in the next chapter (I like to have input from my fans) and if you would rather PM me, that's fine too.