A/N CoAi Week Day 2! This prompt is so difficult to write... so this got out of hand real quick, but I hope you enjoy it anyway! XD

I hope you guys would consider posting a gif, or a thought piece (or anything really!) for the week! Let's celebrate our ship (since it can't sail by itself XD XD XD)!

And be sure to check out what the others have for you! In case you don't want to miss anything, I think the mods of .com are doing an awesome job of reblogging content. Visit the page! :D

Day 2. Protect : Wherever

How can you protect someone thousands of miles away? [CoAi] [ShinShi]

On days that he isn't out on a case—yes, he's still skipping school days for cases—Kudo Shinichi attends classes with a bored look on his face which seems permanently turned towards the window.

He's looking out of the window again.

Mouri Ran, seated behind him this semester, is more than happy to have him back with them—in fact she had been over the moon when he finally said he's back for good. The first few days made her believe that everything had come back to normal. As back to normal as can be for a new couple—not really that new, but it was only then that they'd spent much time together again. She still blushes when she looks back on that one week—but she sees him staring out the window and reality comes crashing down.

Clearly, whatever had happened to him the past year, something he just can't seem to tell her, was something that changed him. He's still with his boyish looks, but now, his countenance is much more mature. He relegates to the background when he's solved the case, sometimes looking over his shoulder or to the nearest wall like it was his place to be. Almost… longingly? He seems to want to be out of the spotlight so much now. He's still brave, but now he's much more mellow. After a few incidents with him restless in the background, almost fidgeting, while the inspectors wrap up the case—when he usually takes that flashy part of case solving for himself!—he settles on solving cases via phone. But he skips classes anyway.

Well. He used to skip. She didn't let him for long though. She caught him skipping, poring over the professor's thick science books instead of getting ready for class. Then, she caught him skipping, his nose buried under the same books he'd been so busy about in the professor's home, but this time on the school rooftop. And then, she caught him skipping, sitting on the swing on the playground. That time, she was about to let him—it was weeks since he last smiled, genuinely smiled—because she can tell when he's really happy—and with the kids he's so fond of, his smiles seem less forced. Though, a deeper melancholy showed on his face in flashes when he thought no one was looking. Guilt? Regret? ..Or, again, longing? What happened to him the past year, and on that day after the week he came back, that he's suddenly so… lonely? When the kids left for school, his gaze, then fixated on the empty bench under the tree, turned heavy, almost cold. She couldn't leave him. So she forced him to class.

To be honest, his mind is still skipping—he's barely paying any attention. Teachers leave him be since when he gets called on he answers perfectly anyway.

She supposes she should feel special. She'd been the only person who could make him come back to class. It would be a lie to say she doesn't hope they'd get back together but…

That day, after the week they'd been so, so happy together—at least she hopes he felt that way too, then—he didn't come to class. She found him, sitting blankly on his doorstep, looking like someone ripped his heart out and threw it away. Like he had just died—except he's alive and he'd rather just—no, best not think about it. Minutes pass, and she can't approach him. And then, he sees her. The corner of his lips turn up in what's supposed to be a smile, but his eyes, his eyes are cold, broken. He says, "Ah, Ran, I'm okay."

But they weren't.

The following weeks then was Shinichi brooding when he thought she wasn't watching. He avoided her when she asked why. And when she told him they're good friends, so why can't he tell her!? He was shocked—and she started hoping!—and he says, "Yes, we're good friends."

And that was that.

During breaks he puts on that air of arrogance and nonchalance, which is basically him trying to appear like the past him—and it works. Even Sonoko can't see what Ran is worried about.

But when his phone rings, he's out of the room as fast as lightning. At first she'd thought it was him missing the thrill of a case, and she'd been excited for him too, since he'd finally be back to himself, but it wasn't. When she catches up to him, she'll find him talking in hushed tones. Then he'll usually make several more calls, with an excited, frustrated expression—but always, always with an undercurrent of worry, loss... and longing. She wonders why she still chases after him when it's always the same scene she sees.

Today, is a usual day. He looks out of the window, and Ran looks at him.

Then, suddenly, his eyes bug, and he propels his body to the window—there's no other apt description for it—and the class is surprised, but not really disturbed—they're far too used to his case-solving antics by now.

But Ran knows, this is different. His eyes have light in them, his hands in fist, almost shaking, wide smile threatening to break out on his face. She and the other classmates look out the window too, and they manage to catch two—no, she saw three figures, but one disappeared right out of view, walking in the yard. His… parents? He'd been so happy to see his parents? She suddenly questions herself, maybe she'd been worried about nothing, maybe he'd been just really sad because of a case, or had been rejected in, maybe, joining the FBI? But why the need to go back as friends… to focus? To—

"No way," he whispers, eyes twinkling, lips in that familiar grin of his that's maddeningly contagious.

He rushes out of the classroom, shouts an apology to the teacher and his classmates, who shouldn't be used to this behavior really, but they are.

Ran follows, and suddenly she thinks back on the calls he's made—was he… is he… leaving?

She slows down, then bursts out running. She's still a friend, so she at least deserves to know if he is planning to leave!

Turning right towards the corridor where he can hear his voice—and his mother's?—she sprints just a little faster.

"—take so long?!" He says.

"Of course! —NOT an easy task, you kid!" Ran can barely hear his mom until she's rounded the corner.

But she slows down when she hears a different voice, familiar, but all the same, foreign. A soothing female voice, velvety.

"You didn't have to have Yukiko-san and Yusaku-san watch over me, you know?"

"Of course I did. They aren't doing anything anyway. Besides, how would I be sure what they'd do to you there? They told me you were off all the organization business and they suddenly took you!"

"And I told you I'd be fine—and I am. Don't you trust me?"

"I'd be fine, my ass. You almost GOT KILLED while you were there, woman!"

"But I didn't."

"Because I told them to protect you!"

"And I'm supposed to thank you now?"

"Yeah, I guess, you ungrateful—"

"—For getting, oh, I don't know, a thousand-man army to stalk me while I'm in D.C.?"

"Oh, stop exaggerating—I only asked eleven. And I wouldn't have had to if you didn't force me to stay here."

"Because your life is here, moron!"

"You're not the one who gets to say that."

Yukiko, though enjoying the scene, finally intervenes, "Okay, both of you stop arguing! You're supposed to have a touching reunion—"

In unison, "HAH?"

"—And this isn't really the place for such passionate display."

Again, this time both blushing—but they don't notice—"HAH?!"

Ran just needs to take one step, and she'd reach them. To meet the family she's known all her life. But suddenly, she, feels like an outsider.

"Shiho-chan still needs to go to the admissions office," Yusaku speaks, after an amused chuckle.

Shinichi, recovering in moment, realization sinking in, "You really agreed?" He looks like a kid with a candy.

She grimaces. "Did I have a choice?"

"Seriously? You'll really attend classes?"

"This isn't a thank you, by the way. You'd just bug me to go if I didn't. This saves me the torture."

He laughs. "You're really not cute."

"Oh, wow, thanks for the compliment. You aren't too, if you must know."

When they turn to continue to the office, they catch sight of Ran, frozen still.

Shinichi calls her over as soon as he spots her, oblivious, "Ah, Ran, what are you doing there?"

Yukiko then greets her, "Ran-chan! It's been so long! How has Shinichi bothered you today?"

Shinichi, indignant, denies, "Excuse me?"

Yusaku, ever the sensible one, introduces the girl. "Ran, she's Miyano Shiho, a girl we've been taking care of in America."

She bows. "I'm in your care, Mouri-san. I've heard a lot about you."

She snaps out of her stupor, and quickly replies, "Ah, just Ran is fine!"

"Ran-san, then." Shiho smiles, and it's as if she's been longing to see Ran. But Ran is confused how that can be when they've only met today. Clearly, she's being over-sensitive.

Shiho whispers, "Don't worry about me, Ran-san, Kudo-kun and I are barely friends. He's all yours."

"E-Eh?! W-we're just friends too."

"Oh? ...But I still apologize for interrupting you two. Yukiko-san and Yusaku-san will be going with me to the office. You two can go and… attend class, I guess."

Miyano Shiho smiles as she waves goodbye. Shinichi sees her, chuckles in disbelief, and laughs loudly when Shiho throws a look at him, eyes like daggers boring holes into Shinichi's head.

Shinichi shakes his head, still chuckling to himself. It's the happiest she's seen him in weeks. She gets the feeling there's a whole lot that has happened in the past year that she doesn't know, but after meeting Miyano Shiho, she thinks she had just learned of the most important piece of all. After all, the moment she came, Shinichi has become complete again.