You're near me, but can you hear me?

By kyllir

Disclaimer: I don't own Case closed/Detective Conan, so please don't sue .;

A/N: This is my first Detective Conan fic, so please be kind! This is inspired by the song 'Light and shadow', one of the ending themes from the show. o.o; I'm using the English FUNimation version, since most of the people here would understand English better than Japanese, but I'm using the Japanese names

The sun was just setting behind the buildings across the street as the boy called Conan Edogawa peeked out the window of the Mouri detective agency, the building that had been his home for the last several months. Conan was getting frustrated, he hadn't expected the trail to go cold so fast while chasing the men responsible for his appearance. He was not supposed to live at the Mouri detective agency with Ran and her father, he was not supposed to know what the girl's room looked like, and he wasn't supposed to be a little kid!

'This sucks, I'm never going to find those men in black,' he thought to himself wearily, a slight drizzle of rain began speckling the sidewalk outside the window, Conan sighed as Kogouro entered the livingroom, shooing Conan out so he could watch television. Conan ran out of the room quickly, he didn't like to stay around with Kogouro in the room, he always ended up getting drunk and snoozing loudly on the couch. He strode down the hall until he came to his room, which was really a storage room, that they had converted into tiny bedroom. It was large enough to fit a small child like Conan, but it would hardly fit an adults bed inside.

He remembered the day they'd moved him into this room, after he'd been there over a month, Kogouro had tired to sharing his room with Conan, so he charged Ran with fixing the closet up. The only real change they had to make to the closet was to make the light switch pull cord long enough for Conan's short body to reach. They had moved in a small bed that Ran had used when she was younger, and they fit it in the back of the closet, with two feet of floor space to spare at the foot of the bed, they had also given him a small dresser, which also served as a desk, and a chair. All the furniture had previously been painted pink, and Conan was less than impressed, so Ran surprised him by taking him to the hardware store to pick out any color paint he wanted. He ended up picking out a shade of royal blue.

Ran had shooed him off to play with his friends the next day, and when he returned, all his furniture was painted and in place, and Ran had even gone to the trouble of painting little red bowties along the sides of the bed and dresser, and also she had made him a sign on the door with his name on it, also in the shape of a red tie. Conan was so touched by the action that he was still thanking her for it every chance he could. However thinking of Ran's kindness also made him sad, because no matter what, he couldn't be honest with her. He had seen the girl crying at times, knowing that she was crying for Shin'ichi. For him. Conan wished a thousand times that he could tell her the truth about him being Shin'ichi, but doing so would put her in danger.

He sat on his bed silently for a few moments, before switching on the radio Ran had recently given him. He fiddled with the dials for a while before he found a station that he liked, and leaned back against the wall to listen. He heard a beautiful piano melody beginning, followed by a woman's voice;

The night would linger on in tireless bliss if you just whisper sweet

nothings to me all night long,

Conan let his mind flutter along with the melody,

Lying in memories I get swept away, lost in thought I turn over control,

caught up in playful dreams I drift away, as the truth remains, stay cool and dry,

His mind wandered along, remembering back when he was still Shin'ichi, remembering the first time he met Ran in grade school so many years ago, remembered walking home with her after his soccer practices and her karate club after school, remembered just how close they had been.

Where will I wander, baby where will I go to ensure I have your love by my side?

You're near me, but can you hear me? As far away as the clouds above me,

yet I'll follow you wherever you go, count on me I'll be there,

Conan opened his eyes, 'near me, can you hear me?' he pondered, this song is ME, he realized. 'Here I've been next to Ran the whole time I've been a kid, and she still misses me like I'm not here.. Because I haven't told her. Maybe someday I can tell her, but if we cant find the antidote to this stupid poison, what's the point? I'll still just be a kid to her, could she really understand that?' he furrowed his brows,

And if you someday figure out I love you, and if you someday finally realize

I'm good for you, and even if we have to work out our problems with harsh words,

Conan smiled, it could happen, maybe, someday. He sat up and slid off the bed, and crept out of his room, noting that Ran was in her room studying, and it didn't look like she'd be leaving the room anytime soon. He also noticed that she had also turned on her radio, and heard the last chords of the song he had just been listening to in his room.

and if you someday figure out I need you, and if you someday finally realize

I'm good for you, and even if we have to work out our problems with harsh words...

'Need, eh?' Conan thought, 'if there was a word stronger than 'need', I'd use it,' he thought as he slipped soundlessly past the sleeping Kogouro and out the front door, into the rain. He now had the strongest urge to talk to Ran, in his own voice. He ran to the payphone as fast as his legs could carry him, and ducked inside. Stacking the phone books on the floor, he made a platform so he'd be tall enough to reach the receiver, he picked it up and dialed Ran's number, while it rang he adjusted the dials on his voice emulator.

"Hello, Mouri detective agency, Ran speaking," he heard her say,

"Hey Ran, how have you been?" he spoke through the tie, he could practically hear her face light up, and wished he could see it,

"Shin'ichi?! Where the heck have you been? And how come you never call?" she cried, he chuckled,

"I'm calling you now, aren't I? I miss you Ran, I really wish I could come home," he said in a sad tone,

"Well why don't you? You don't HAVE to work on that case you're on, you can come back, right?" he could tell she was tearing up and sighed,

"Ran... I'm not sure you want me back as I am now, its hard to explain..." he trailed off,

"Of course I want you to come back, why wouldn't I? Has something happened to you?" she asked in a worried tone,

"You could say that," he said sheepishly, "I'm afraid I can't tell you about it though, that information could put you in danger. That's why I took this case that's so far away, if you're seen with me, something bad could happen," he bit his lip, what if he told her too much already?

"I don't care about that Shin'ichi, I miss you, and I want to see you," he could hear the sadness in her voice,

"Don't worry, Ran, I cant meet with you, but I am still with you. I sometimes come to check up on you, you know, just to make sure you're okay. But I cant put you at risk, there are some nasty people on my trail." Ran let out a muffled sob,

"You're really watching over me Shin'ichi?" he heard the hope in her voice,

"As much as I can... I saw you earlier today, I never thought you could be so close to a person and still miss them this much..." He could feel tears pricking his eyes,

"I miss you too, please come back soon..." there was a great rumble of thunder,

"I'd better go, please take care of yourself! Goodnight Ran!" he called over the thunder,

"Goodnight Shin'ichi, I'll wait for you, but don't keep me waiting too long!" there was a click heard, as all the lights on the street turned off. Conan's eyes widened when he realized there had been a blackout, and he tore out of the phone booth as fast as he could, knowing that Ran would run to check on Conan right away. He scanned the windows cautiously before opening the door. To his relief there was no one to be found in the living room, but a snoring Kogouro. Conan pushed his wet bangs out of his eyes, how was he going to explain this? He saw Ran at the end of the hall with a flashlight, looking in his room,

"Conan! Where are you?" she called out, voice full of worry. Conan ducked into the bathroom and shut the door,

"I'm in the bathroom Ran-neechan!" he called as he groped around for a towel to dry his hair. She wouldn't worry as much if he looked like he came in from the rain ten minutes ago as opposed to ten seconds ago. Once he was somewhat dry, he came out of the bathroom, only to run into Ran in the hallway. She quickly noticed the moisture in his hair and clothes,

"What were you doing out in the rain?" she asked with a hint of worry in her voice, thinking quickly to explain himself, he blurted,

"I thought I saw someone outside a little while ago so I walked out to take a peek," he saw Ran's eyes mist over, clearly wondering if it was her Shin'ichi that he saw. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and then plucked Conan off the floor,

"It's about time we got you to bed, don't you have school in the morning?" she carried him off to his little room and looked around the dark room with her flashlight, finally plucking a pair of pajamas out of his dresser, she turned around and let him dress in the warm, dry garments. Once he finished changing, she tucked him into bed and placed his glasses on the dresser, then bent down and kissed his forehead, his sleepy eyes widened and he looked up at her,

"Goodnight Conan, sweet dreams," she said as she exited the room. Conan's hand flew up to the spot where she kissed him, and he blushed. Then, yawning, rolled over into a peaceful slumber.

A/N: I don't recall where he really sleeps in the series, so I gave him a room o.o hope that's okay... I may add more to this later.