025. Strangers.

After she had given Shinichi a fair amount of time to cry silently into her shoulder, Ran gently pushed him away, grabbed ahold of his wrist, and let him inside. Knowing this was a conversation Shinichi would want to have in private, she led him to her room, thankful her father was too busy watching a Yoko drama to do anything more than grumble a "Tch. What's that detective brat doing here anyway? Doesn't he have enough cases already?"

Once they were in her room, with her door open on a crack because even Kogoro wasn't that lax about rules, she demanded that he tell her everything, from the beginning, and he did. He told her about how he became Conan, how he'd fought the Black Organization for two years, how he'd been able to get help from the FBI without revealing his identity to them (except for Akai Shuichi), how he finally dismantled the upper echelons of the crime syndicate, and how Ai-chan, who wasn't really Ai-chan, had been unable to make an antidote. He also told her why he'd hidden the truth, why he hadn't said anything even after, how guilty he was for causing her pain, how lost and uncertain he felt when he'd learned there was no antidote, and how lost he felt now that he was back but had no idea why.

By the time he was finished speaking, hours had passed, and Shinichi had answered more questions that Ran would have ever thought to ask. All except one, but she could see he needed a break. So, she suggested they have a snack, and they went to the kitchen where she quickly prepared onigiri and tea. The two childhood friends at in silence, listening to the snores of Kogoro and some program no one was watching. And while they sat in silence, Ran realized something. She didn't know the Shinichi in front of her, not really. He wasn't the arrogant, attention-grabbing yet kind and thoughtful high school detective she had once been in love with, and he wasn't the clever, curious, rambunctious elementary schooler she loved like a little brother. He had changed so much, and she barely recognized him like this. Because while she could see the arrogant detective and rambunctious child somewhere in there, they were buried deep beneath the cautious, unhappy, anxious visage who was a stranger to her, because he'd been hidden from her.

"I'm still angry," Ran said, finally deciding to break their tense silence. He jumped in his seat and reluctantly met her gaze. "And I'm still hurt you never said anything. But I still care about you, and I will forgive you…eventually. So, I'm going to ask you the one thing you haven't told me yet. Shinichi, why are you here now?"