Tsugi Tsugi To!

After weeks and weeks and weeks!! I'm really sorry about the late update. If there's anyone you should thank for this chapter, it's Rani07. Seriously, Rani-sama, it was your prodding that finally got me off my lazy (overworked) behind to do this. I hail you!

P.S. Please read Rani07's Days of Romance; it's THE place for Ranichi fluff and lurve. I know she'll be happy too. (grin)

Disclaimer: DC, me no ownie. Yeehaa.

Achoo to You Too.

Random Phrase: Whenever you sneeze…

"Ah—ah—ah—choo!"

Sniffling, Conan tossed yet another used tissue into the trash can. He collapsed onto the basement sofa wearily, opening a textbook.

"Dard dis cold," he muttered.

Although the weather was perfectly fine, Conan had for reasons unknown managed to get himself sick, coughing and sniffling nonstop for the past few days. He concluded it was probably a bug he'd picked up from somewhere, and decided to take it easy.

It was extremely annoying, though, for three reasons: one, he couldn't complete three sentences without reaching for a Kleenex, two, sneezing too hard somehow made his glasses fall off, and three, the fact that both Conan and Shinichi had colds was bound to make Ran suspicious.

"Ah-choo!" Conan groaned.

"Just be sure you don't infect me," warned Ai Haibara calmly, as she perused the pages of her book. "You've had this cold for a while now, Kudo-kun—are you sure it isn't something worse?"

Conan gave her a sideways look. "Something worse like what?"

"Pneumonia," she replied.

The detective rolled his eyes. "Doe—achoo—no. I've just been sneezing a lot." He readjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose and noted wryly that any criminal he'd be trying to sneak up on would hear him a mile away. "As a matter of fa—a—achoo!"

"Ran," Ai murmured absentmindedly, without even turning to face him.

"Wha—? Ah—ah—achoo!"

"Ran."

"Ah—AH-choo—"

"Ran."

"Wah-AAHCHOO—!"

"Ran."

Conan gaped at Haibara after this latest embarrassing sneezing fit. "Whad are you talkig aboud?"

"Hm?" Ai turned a page.

"You keep saying 'Ran, Ran' every time I sneeze. What's that all about?"

One of her famous eerie smirks planted itself on Haibara's lips as she swiveled slowly in her chair. "Why, Kudo-kun, didn't you know? Every time you sneeze, someone's thinking about you," she said. "Whenever you sneezed, I hazarded a guess as to who that someone might be." Ai stifled a giggle. "Frankly, I'm not surprised you have a cold."

Conan blinked, trying to process this information. When he realized what she was talking about, he very nearly opened his mouth to argue. He would have, too, had another sneeze not beat him to it.

"Ah-CHOOO—"

"Ran," announced Haibara, almost gleefully.

Shooting the girl his deadliest death glare, Conan got up and stormed out of the basement. "Excuse me—I need to make a call." The door slammed behind him, and Haibara distinctly heard four consecutive 'achoos' from the other side of it.

Ai shook her head and sighed. "He just doesn't understand how lucky he is," she said quietly, reaching for The Count of Monte Cristo without another word.

--- --- ---

"Oh! The phone! I'll get that in a second!" Ran jumped and darted around the kitchen, trying to fix dinner while cleaning up the mess she'd made. The chicken still wasn't done, and after a little mishap with the pasta sauce, ground pepper was scattered all over the place.

Ran made a grab for the phone in mid-ring. "Good afternoon," she said breathlessly, "Mouri Detec—"

"WAH-CHOO."

Startled, Ran stared at the receiver. "…Hello?"

"Rad, id's be," croaked an unidentifiable voice.

"Who—Shinichi?" Ran put a hand to her mouth. "You sound terrible! Did you catch a cold?"

On the other end, Shinichi coughed. "Yeah. That's why I'm calling, actually. Listen, Ran—I just want to say, please stop worrying about me."

"What? Shinichi, what are you talking about?"

"As in, don't think of me. At all."

Now this was strange. Ran frowned. "I'm waiting for an explanation…"

Shinichi inhaled. "Ran, I know that maybe you think about me a lot more than you should, and I really do appreciate it, but could you please not do it until this cold clears up? Because the sneezing is making my life hell."

"Shinichi, I don't even understand a word you're say…" Ran trailed off as she felt a sudden urge coming over her. Darn that pepper! She thought, and sneezed. "Ah-choo! Excuse me…"

"Oh good," said Shinichi, "you got my message. Listen, I have to go now, but I'll catch ya later. Okay? 'Bye, Ran!"

And he hung up, leaving Ran confused, still covered in pepper, and wondering what the heck Shinichi meant by 'message'.

YAY! Hopefully I'm going to be on a writing spree now.

(As a side note, don't you think Ran gets left clueless too often? From now on I think I'll stop doing that. Don't worry, she'll figure Shinichi out…someday…)

Thanks for reading! Please tell me what you think! I welcome criticism with open arms, for it is my constructive compadre