A/N: MY interest in Detective Conan, which has waned considerably, has come back all of a sudden, so I figured I'd update my Conan fics, which I seem to have muse for, before returning to my OC reincarnation and DRRR crossover fanfics!

Yeah, Shinichi hates Izaya so no Izashin. Just Kaishin and yeah, the other characters should figure out stuff about Shinichi pretty soon. Like Mikado is very sharp, so he's noticing Shinichi's odd behavior.

Chapter 8 Back Home, worries abound

Ran Mouri frowned as she stared at her cell phone, checking for messages. She'd gotten some from Hattori-kun, some from Kazuha-chan and even some from Masumi-chan, all asking her where on earth a certain someone had run off to and if they could contact him.

All she'd told them was that she didn't know-he had run off again, after she'd firmly rejected being with him romantically.

But...maybe she'd made a mistake.

But she'd loved Conan as a little brother.

And for Conan-kun to be Shinichi...it was so pathetically obvious she wondered why she'd never seen it to begin with. The hairstyle was the same as her friend, their interests the same, their blue eyes, brown hair, soccer habits, and even their mannerisms.

She knew she'd really hurt Shinichi.

But she'd needed time to heal from the shock of Shinichi betraying her like this.

He'd lied to her for over two years. And then the first thing he says is he loved her.

How was she supposed to feel?

He should have come to her, confided in her. Instead, he didn't.

Instead, he hid behind a fake name and expected instant forgiveness.

She knew, deep down inside, he was the same Shinichi she'd loved, but the way he had looked, crying like that, she knew she'd broken him, and now he'd run away somewhere. The blond girl wouldn't tell her anything, saying that she needed to understand "Kudo-kun's point of view before jumping to conclusions" before turning away from her.

"Where's your husband?" Sonoko asked.

"He left this city. I don't know where he is." Ran muttered. "And I don't care!"

"Of course you do. Kudo-kun means the world to you." Sonoko said.

"Sonoko-chan, I love him. I do, but he's turned into a stranger." She muttered, unable to tell Sonoko that Conan-kun had been Shinichi. She wouldn't believe it.

"I'm sure he still cares about you! He's a guy, he's just stubborn about his feelings!" Sonoko prodded her friend in the side.

"If you say so," Ran muttered.

She pressed Shinichi's number and dialed.

It was ringing...

"As a matter of fact, maybe I'll try talking to him now."

"That's the spirit!" Sonoko cheered.

She put the phone to her ear.

"Hello? This is Kudo speaking."

The same voice she hadn't heard for a good two months.

She felt her heart pounding again in her chest. Why did he always do that to her?

Why?

"Shinichi, h-how have you been?" She made herself say.

He gasped on the other end. "R-Ran? I didn't know you were gonna call." He sounded shocked, shaken up, almost.

"Baka. You're still my best friend...I needed time to think."

"A-Ah, the thing is, I'm here with the Kaitou Kid..." He muttered, "Long story short, he dragged me out somewhere."

"Where?"

"Ikebukuro." He said. "It's interesting. But there's some shady guy trying to research me. So you've gotta stay put. I don't want him hurting you."

Why did he always expect to protect her?

Damn Shinichi and his hero complex.

"You tantei nerd, of course I will wait. But you better not be flirting with other people!"

"E-Eh, actually, there's this girl who likes me, but she's kinda weird...she knows all about books and stuff. I think she's kinda weird. So you do...forgive me? I'm not gonna get karate chopped into next week?" He laughed nervously.

"I'm glad you're normal. But yes, I will karate chop you the next time I see you." Ran said. "See you."

"Wait, Ran-"

But then she'd hung up.

Shinichi was the same.

And what did he mean by some girl being attracted to him? Had he encountered more fangirls?

She sighed, remembering when his popularity was big, how Shinichi literally would have tons of fanmail pouring out of his locker every day. He'd either sigh and throw most of it away at first, but then he'd started gloating over them.

Shinichi was the same kid he'd always been, but she'd been a fool to think he'd had eyes for anyone other than her. Even as Conan, he'd always been there for her, saving her, protecting her. She remembered being amused and confused when Conan was jealous of other guys getting close to her, now it just made her laugh.

She knew that it had been typical Shinichi, being protective of her.

"Shinichi...I hope you stick to your word..." She muttered.

"Dude, who was that?" Masaomi asked, looking at Shinichi as he sighed.

"My girlfriend." He muttered.

"Oh. Girls are tough, man." Kida said, sighing.

"So why did you disappear?" Mikado asked.

"There was a difficult case." Shinichi began, "It required me having to grow up a lot. It was worth it, I suppose."

"Nothing weird like you growing two heads or a tail?" Mikado asked.

"Mikado reads too much manga." Kida said, nudging his friend, who flushed.

"I just wanted to be polite!" Mikado whined.

Shinichi laughed. "It's all right. Nothing too extraordinary, it's just that people die everywhere I go."

"How can you laugh about that?" Kida asked. "That's so weird."

"That's what I'd like to know, too, Kudo Shinichi-kun~," A familiar voice purred.

Shinichi looked up and his eyes narrowed upon seeing a familiar informant perched on the railing of a building, his crimson eyes glinting in amusement.

"I'm afraid that my personal life is none of your concern, Orihara-san. Now kindly leave my friends and I alone, as we were minding our own business."

"How rude. I think you guys will want to know this. Kudo Shinichi-kun is hiding some things."

"Everyone does, Orihara-san," Mikado remarked icily. "Now, please leave us alone."

"No fighting in store." Simon said sharply.

"Simon! I was just having a friendly conversation with tantei-san over here." Izaya said.

"Leave Kudo-kun alone. Unlike you, he is a good and honest person. Now leave."

The glare shot Izaya's way by Simon told him he had overstayed his welcome.

"I'm going to get you back for this..." Izaya mumbled.

"Be careful, Kudo-kun, he can play dirty." Simon said. "Yes, I have heard of you. You do good things for people. You bring the innocent justice."

"It's nothing like that. I do it because it's the right thing to do," Shinichi said with a nervous laugh, embarrassed at the attention.

"Dude, that's so cool!" Kida chirped.

Suddenly, they heard squealing opposite them.

Two blurs came up to Simon.

"Ne, ne, Simon, is it true that Kudo Shinichi-sama is here?" A dark-haired girl with glasses chirped.

"Kudo Shinichi-sama..." The other girl chirped.

"Oi, oi...fangirls?" Shinichi muttered, slumping in his chair.

"Hey, aren't those Izaya's sisters?" Kida said. "Oh, man, we'd better get out of here."

"Yeah..." Shinichi said, finishing his food and standing up, but the two girls squealed upon seeing him.

"IT'S KUDO-SAMA!" The dark-haired elder one said.

"Shhhh!" Shinichi said. "I'm undercover!"

"How cool! I heard you pissed off Iza-nii! He hates you! I'm Mairu Orihara, and this is Kuru-nee." She introduced.

"Kudo Shinichi-sama...nice...meet you." The other girl said, extending her hand forward.

Shinichi shook it. "You want an autograph?"

The two girls flushed before offering a piece of paper.

"Say, is it true that you're interested in the sexy Kaitou Kid?" Mairu purred.

"Kaitou Kid..." Kururi said.

'Oi, oi, whose party are you on?' Shinichi thought. "He's my rival, yes, but remember, I'm lying low here! There's a secret case I'm working on."

"Thank you. And don't worry! I won't tell a soul!" Mairu chirped. "Let's go find Iza-nii, Kuru-nee!"

Like that, they took off running.

"Weird kids," Kida muttered.

"They're like Ayumi," He muttered. "It's been a while since I've had fangirls."

"What was that like?" Mikado asked.

"Oh, my locker at school was filled with love letters every day. I mostly threw them away or gave them back to the girls. I always got tons of chocolates from girls." He said, flushing.

"Damn, you're a casanova!" Kida chirped. "I need to be like you!"

"Yeah, if you think that's something else, you should see my friend and how thick he is with his girlfriend-" He began.

He froze.

He thought he'd seen a familiar dark-skinned teen around here somewhere.

Could Hattori have tracked him down here?

Oh boy, this would be awkward.

But still, they were his friends, after all.

"Uh, you two, I think Shizuo-san's here."

Sure enough, Shizuo-san was coming down the road, looking angry.

"PARK YOUR STUPID MOTORCYCLE ELSEWHERE, YOU IDIOT. YOU MADE ME MISS THAT DAMNED FLEA!"

"OI, DON'T YA DARE CALL MY MOTORCYCLE STUPID. IT'S ONE OF A KIND, YA AHOU!"

Yep, definitely Hattori.

"WHAT'S WITH YOUR WEIRD ACCENT? I CAN'T UNDERSTAND IT, DAMMIT!"

"Oh no, Shizuo-san struck a nerve." Shinichi muttered.

"THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH OSAKA-BEN, YA AHOU!"

"THAT'S IT, YOU'RE GOING DOWN!"

Shinichi rushed toward them. "Shizuo-san, stop!"

Shizuo paused where he stood, a motorcycle of his own clutched in his hands.

"What the hell-u-uh, it's you? What was your name...K-Kuro? This guy just insulted me!"

"Kuro?" Hattori muttered.

"He's a friend of mine! So please, let him go! This is a fight you can't win, Hattori." Shinichi scolded.

The dark-skinned teen's mouth fell open. "K-Kudo! I thought that was you!"

The next thing he knew, Hattori had his arm around Shinichi's shirt collar.

"Oi, Kudo, your Neechan's worried sick about you! I just found out from that girl that you were in Ike-Ike..."

"Ikebukuro," Shinichi muttered, "And yeah, it's nice seeing you, too. I needed a change of pace."

"But still, what is with that guy?" Heiji asked.

"Shhhh! Don't say anything!" Shinichi warned.

Heiji sighed. "Are those guys your friends? New Detective Boys?" He snickered.

"Nah, nothing like that." Shinichi said. "Na, Hattori, Kaitou Kid is in this city and for some reason, he wants me to work with him."

"Him? Really? Are ya gonna listen to him? He's a criminal."

"Yeah? Well, everyone in this city is in a gang." Shinichi said in annoyance. "I've grown used to it."

"Hold on, you're telling me those two kids are...?"

"Yeah, Hattori, they're in gangs," Shinichi said, twitching his eyebrows.

"Are you from Osaka?" The black-haired teen piped up.

"Yeah, sure am! I'm Hattori Heiji!"

"I've heard of you!" The black-haired teen said. "I'm Mikado..."

"Mikado, like an emperor?" Heiji chirped.

"I'm Masaomi Kida! To think I'd meet two casanovas in one day!"

"Casanova? What's he mean, Kudo?" Heiji asked.

"He thinks you have lots of luck with women." He muttered.

"Oi, I don't care about that that much." Heiji said, his face flushed slightly.

Shinichi sighed. "So, Hattori, can we get to my apartment so things don't get weird? Sorry, Mikado-san, Kida-san, the two of us need to discuss something in private. See you tomorrow!"

"Oi, Kudo, you seem close to those kids." Hattori observed.

"They're good kids." Shinichi muttered.

"Do you still love her?" He asked.

His eyes turned pained. "Yes...but I don't know if she feels the same. However, there is some girl who has a crush on me. She is very odd."

"You've got some competition!" Heiji said.

"No, it's not like that, baarou. I just wonder if I can ever tell anyone here about my time as Conan. I don't think they would understand."

"Probably best if ya don't tell." Heiji said, nodding his head in understanding.

"Stop, Hattori."

"What is it, Kudo?"

"We're being tailed."

He turned. Sure enough, there was Izaya, tailing them.

He waved at them sarcastically.

"Hi there, Kudo-kun!" He said.

"Nice try, Kuroba. You can remove the mask."

"Izaya" froze in his tracks before removing his face.

"I thought it was funny..." Kaito muttered.

"KID?" Heiji snapped. "I can catch ya!"

"Hey, you're that idiotic Osakan detective!"

"OSAKA IS NOT STUPID!"

"Hattori, calm down!" Shinichi said. "Kuroba, what are you doing?"

"Keeping an eye on you. That Izaya fellow tried to follow you two home, but I gave him a nice dose of sleeping gas. By now, that Shizuo guy should have him wide awake." He grinned widely.

Sure enough, they heard Shizuo raging in the distance.

Heiji looked at Kudo.

Kudo seemed like a different person. He'd grown up here.

It seemed like Kudo really liked being here. He was still the same, though.

"This is a small place, Kudo." He remarked.

"Yeah, I like them small," Shinichi snarked. "Oi, Kuroba, quit putting your stuff in my room."

"We're room mates!" Kaito chirped.

"No, we're not." Shinichi said in disbelief. "It's not like you like me or anything, right?"

Heiji stared over at him. "As a matter of fact, I think...he does have an attachment to you."

"IT'S NOT LIKE THAT!" Kaito yelped.

Shinichi laughed. "Kuroba, don't use your pranks in my house."

"You're no fun." Kaito said, wilting.