Another chapter done, and it's in Haibara's POV again. This might seem like a recap of Ch. 1, but the events are actually told in Ran's POV instead of Shinichi's. Plus, Haibara's thoughts on the matter come to light.

Chapter Four

Haibara decided to go talk to Ran that day after school, and not waste time thinking about it. Conan attempted to get Haibara to accompany them again, but Haibara already had an excuse for not going by saying she was visiting her sister. This wasn't a complete lie, since Ran reminded her of her sister, but it performed its purpose, since Conan figured she'd be visiting the cemetery and would need some alone time.

After ditching the other four, she took a longer route to the Detective Agency. She'd been followed before by the kids, like the time she'd denied the Witness Protection Program, and wasn't taking any chances of Conan finding out what she was up to since they'd undoubtedly drag him along. She even went in a store, came out the back alley, and looped around to walk down the street again to see if they'd been hiding behind her. Satisfied she wasn't being followed, she then went to the Agency.

She walked up the stairs and rang the bell. Soon enough, Ran came out. She was very surprised to see Haibara alone, especially since Conan wasn't around.

"What can I do for you Ai-chan?" Ran asked in surprise. "Conan-kun isn't here now." Haibara could see Sonoko sitting on the couch inside and looking at the door with interest.

"Actually I wanted to talk to you Ran-san. It's about Edogawa-kun. Do you think we could speak alone?"

Ran apparently noticed her nervousness, because she apologized to Sonoko and shooed her off before inviting Haibara inside. After serving her some juice, she asked, "So, what's this about?"

As usual, Haibara was put off by her helpfulness and friendliness. However, she pressed on, "Well, he's been acting…different lately."

"Really? I hadn't noticed."

"Well it's not that noticeable, but it seems his personality has changed a little. He's more carefree then he used to be."

"Isn't that a good thing, though? A kid being carefree isn't a bad thing. You should try it too."

"Maybe I will then. But first I'd like to know what could've made him change. Do you have any ideas?"

"How long have you noticed this behavior, Ai-chan?"

"Just since yesterday afternoon. It was even more pronounced today, although when I confronted him, he pretended to not know what I was talking about, though I saw right through it since he's a bad liar." Haibara didn't add that he was actually a great liar, since he'd hidden his identity as Shinichi from Ran for two years.

"Well," said Ran, "I don't know about anything recent, but something happened about six months ago where he acted strange."

That got Haibara's undivided attention. She wondered what could have happened, considering that was around the time he last took a temporary antidote. "What happened?" she asked, hiding her eagerness.

"Shinichi called me one morning six months ago and said that he'd be in Tokyo for a day, and asked if I'd like to hang out with him. I said yes, so he picked me up and that's what we did."

"How would that change Edogawa-kun's personality?" asked Haibara. She was confused because it sounded like Conan had had a great time that day as a teenager, which conflicted with her current theory.

"What happened was Shinichi invited me to dinner at the end of the day. He said that he had to go back to America for good and wouldn't be able to come back. He asked me to listen to his reasons, but I didn't want to." Ran started to cry in remembrance of that day, and Haibara was starting to regret ever asking.

"What happened next?" she pressed on.

"He asked me a question that I never thought I'd hear him say. He asked 'Do you love me?' softly and tenderly."

Haibara was wondering where this was going, since she knew that he had known well before that that Ran had loved him. "You said 'yes' right Ran-san?"

"Actually I kind of denied it by asking him why he thought that I loved him at all. I think I was just nervous. He just grinned cockily and gave me a list of reasons I couldn't deny. I was hoping he'd love me back, but I was too shy to just say it, so I worked around the subject until the truth finally came out."

"So he confessed?" said Haibara in monotone, fully expecting Ran to give an affirmative, but was surprised again by her response.

"Actually," said Ran, tearing up again, "he said that since he'd been gone so long investigating that stupid case of his, his feelings had dwindled from love to friendship. He said he loved me like he loved a little sister. I was so distraught that I forgot to try to convince him to stay or find out what the case was about the whole time he walked me home. I guess he felt so guilty about breaking my heart like that that he didn't say anything either. He still calls sometimes, but not nearly as much as he used to, so I guess he's either really busy in America or has just moved on. I should move on, too, I guess."

While Haibara had been very interested in what had happened, there was still the main question to ask. "So what does this have to do with Edogawa-kun?"

"Well, at first, when I told him, he looked kind of sad, but then he cheered me up by saying that if Shinichi had moved on, I should too. He said I should forget about him and find a better guy. I thought it was weird because he's always been very defensive of me and Shinichi, but now he thought it was better to forget about him. Does that answer your question, Ai-chan?"

"Actually, it pretty much does. Thanks Ran-san. Please don't tell anyone I was here."

With that, Haibara left and went back to Agasa's house, pondering over what had happened. It cleared a lot of things up. Conan had obviously felt too guilty about Ran crying all the time, and so had devised a way to let her move on. It explained his sad look a few months ago. Now, though, he had obviously gotten over her and developed a small crush on Ayumi, probably because she likely reminded him of Ran when she was young. That explained why he'd started hanging out with her more. The mystery was starting to make sense, and she didn't think she liked it too much.

We're finally getting somewhere! Haibara's reaction to the whole thing will be discussed next chapter, and it'll be done from a different POV than I've used yet. I'll probably include another flashback, too.

Again, review and tell me what you think. If you put what you want to happen in the review, I might be tempted to change the ending I've planned a little!