I've been thinking about you...~

I've been thinking about you

I've been thinking about you

Always, always thinking about you

~Togetsukyo 'kimi Omuo'~

He had gone to Professor Agasa's where he knew he could be alone. His parents had decided to stay in Japan for the time being so they were occupying the house along with Okiiya. He also couldn't do what he needed to do at the Detective Agency without risking the chance of getting caught, so his neighbor's house was the only other option. Agasa was out with Haibara and the house was empty for the taking or so to speak. Shinichi pulled out his bow tie and set the voice module to one of the most used settings before pulling out the extra phone he kept to differentiate between Conan and Shinichi.

The phone rang.

"Moshi, moshi?"

"Ah, Ran. It's me."

"Shinichi!" Her voice was exactly what he needed to hear after a long day. "How are you?"

"Mou...I'm fine. How are things with you?"

"Well I just got back from shopping with Sonoko. She wanted to try to find the perfect outfit for enticing Kyougoku-san. She wants to see if she can get him to stop travelling so much and stay here for a little while."

"Good luck." Shinichi muttered while Ran sheepishly agreed.

"Yeah.. I'm pretty sure he'll just find a way to tell her that the outfit's too revealing."

Shinichi chuckled wryly. "She should be used to that by now."

They shared a laugh and Ran's voice was warm as she told him, "I'm really happy you called."

"Me too. I've been thinking about you."

"E-eh? Have you?"

"Of course barou." He privately gave the phone a scowl. They were dating now. What did she expect, for him to forget all about it? "I'm not allowed to think about my girlfriend?"

Ran blushed fiercely from behind her bedroom door. However when she answered her voice was laced with warmth. "Mm. Sorry. You're right."

It wasn't that he didn't understand. They had been friends for so long that it should have felt strange to begin referring to each other as girlfriend and boyfriend. But the reality is that they had been behaving that way for so many years. They just hadn't been able to admit it to themselves and Shinichi wasn't letting anything get in the way of all the progress they had made.

There was something unstated then between them as Ran held the phone to her ear. She wondered how he would respond if she were to ask him to come home right then but something held her back from doing so. It wouldn't be fair to ask him that regardless of how much she wanted to. She needed to think about his needs and what it was he was doing. He had a job and it must have been an important one to keep him away as long as it had.

So no matter how much she may have wanted to, she couldn't bring herself to ask.

"Since you miss me so much, you know what you should do Shinichi?"

"Hmm?"

Her tone took on a teasing lilt."Be a better detective so you can hurry up and finish that case you're working on."

"I like to think I'm a decent enough detective as is." He defended loftily.

"Oh? Is that why Hattori-kun figured out this last case before you?"

"Oi, oi! I let him have that victory!"

She shook her head silently. "Sure..."

"Don't I get credit for not even being there?" He grumbled.

There was a pause and he couldn't stop himself from grinning victoriously when Ran laughed and relented. "Okay, that's a fair point."

"You should tell people that by the way..."

"Huh?"

Unable to see the flush of his cheeks, she could only hear the odd tone his voice took on through the phone. "Nothing..."

"Ne, Shinichi?"

"Yeah?"

"Just tell me..." She murmured softly, gently coaxing.

In Agasa's house, Conan turned his face down, his expression hidden beneath his bangs. He was quiet for a long time and she waited him out, neither wanting to press him nor end the precious time she had with him. He suddenly spoke.

"I'm happy I can hear your voice you know?"

She was struck by the sudden shift in tone and conversation, stumbling when she tried to respond. "Sh-Shinichi..."

There was another lull in the phone as she struggled to find the words to properly express how happy his words made her when he cleared his throat and continued as if he hadn't just floored her with his charm. "So like I was saying," Some of his good humor leaked through the phone, making her smile softly. "I figured that from now on, when someone asks you if you have a boyfriend," At this her face reddened considerably more. "You can tell them how you're dating the best detective in Japan!"

He must have expected her to react as she always did, with stutters and blushes, because he seemed surprised when she easily responded with, "I already do."

"R-really?"

"Yeah..."

"Ran..."

"I'm waiting for you."

He smiled into the phone, aware that he probably would have looked foolish to anyone who happened to see him but he couldn't bring himself to care. His girl was telling him that she believed in him no matter what and that she would be there whenever he was ready, waiting for him.

He loved her so much right then.

"I love you Ran."

Ran felt her whole face burst in a flash of crimson, her heart beating loudly against her chest. She hadn't expected him to just come right out and tell her his feelings, so used to his shyer nature. But she should have known. This was the boy that had confessed his love to her overseas and then later sullenly asked for an answer concerning her feelings in the presence of their classmates. He was clearly not wasting any time.

"Shinichi..."

"I have to go now... but I promise I'll call again soon." He seemed genuinely happy and she could feel the pinpricks of tears at the corner of her eyes when she warmly told him, "O-okay."

"Bye Ran."

"Shinichi?"

"Mmm?"

"I..I love you too."

A heavy silence, broken by him when he responded thickly, "I know."

The call ended abruptly and she knew she should be annoyed with him for that but she couldn't be. She felt warm, loved, and needed. It meant so much to know he loved her. It meant so much knowing that to hear it again all she had to do was call. He wasn't going back on his feelings nor was he behaving as bashfully as he would have in the past. Whatever had been going on with him in the last few months had changed him.

She wondered if he noticed how much she had changed too. She was still shy with her feelings but she wasn't running from them. They had somehow made it over that wall that had existed between them and had kept either of them from admitting how they truly felt about each other. Shinichi had broken through it when he had pushed himself into confessing and Ran had stepped through when she gave him her answer.

They were no longer children fighting against their feelings. They had grown up and admitted what they'd foolishly denied for so long. They were in love.

Ran squealed slightly with girlish joy, clutching her phone to her chest as she leaned her back against her bedroom door, sliding to the floor in a blushing mess.

On the other side of town, Shinichi leaned against the rail on the second floor landing of Agasa-Hakase's house and smiled up at the ceiling with the fondest expression.

-OWARI-

BECAUSE THEY ARE DATING AND THEY ARE THE ULTIMATE SHIP. FIGHT ME IRL.