Chapter Five: Assumptions (Part One)

Shinichi's POV

Weeks had passed and Ran seems to be distant day by day to me. It irritates me, of course. Ever since I saw her holding my phone to her ear, it seems Ran had been acting weirdly.

When I am asking her what is her problem, she just shook her head and passed by me. When I'm excusing myself to go to Hakase's house, she just smiled at me and told me to go home early. It's pretty weird and still, it is bugging me to the core.

I excused myself again today to go to Hakase's house. I need to talk to Haibara.

As soon as I got to Hakase's house, the door slammed open and I ran to the lab where Haibara is. "Haibara!" I shouted.

She looked at me. She is wearing her robe and there's a laboratory glasses in her eyes, gloves tucked in her hands, and she's holding a tube on both of it. She glared at me. "Did you just trespassed the lab, Kudo-kun?"

"I need to talk to you," I said as I was catching my breath and ran towards her.

"Did you just ignore what I said?"

"It doesn't matter. I need to talk to you. It's urgent," I said.

She sighed and took off the gloves and the glasses. She puts her hand on the robe's pocket. "If Yoshida-san is here right now, she will scold you to the core," she said. "So, what are you going to say?"

"It's about Ran."

She frowned. "And what about Mouri-san?"

"I think she will might know my identity."

Her eyes widened. "Wait, what? How? Did you do something?"

"No, but I think she answered the phone call last time. I saw the unknown number in the call log," I said.

Haibara clicked her tongue. "You're being negligent, Kudo-kun," she said and she crossed her arms. I saw the corner of her lips tugged up.

"What are you smirking at?"

"Oh, well. I guess your life will end early more than mine," she answered. Her face became stone cold. "Kudo-kun, be careful now. Protect Mouri-san. If the Black Organization knows that she knew your identity, she might be targeted and get killed."

"I know that." I clenched my fist and gritted my teeth. "But what can I do? She looks like she's been observing me all the time."

"Protect her, Kudo-kun," Haibara said. "Protect her as much as you can."

"What if she knew my identity this instant? I'm not on her side right now! What if--"

"Calm down, will you?" She sighed. "I think she didn't know your identity yet."

"How could you tell?"

She raised an eyebrow at me. "You're a detective but you became in less than a second because of that girl." She shoo her head. "Well, let's go back to the topic. I could tell because you told me she's still observing you, meaning she hasn't proved that you're Kudo Shinichi yet."

"Oh."

"Oh yes, Kudo-kun," she said with sarcasm and cleared her throat. "Well, I think you just need to be cautious to what you're doing, even in coming here."

"Ran didn't come here too often."

"But I think she might now and she will because she thinks you're always here. Maybe she's going to the door right now and Hakase will--"

"Shinichi, Ran-kun is here," Hakase announced when he suddenly appeared in front of Haibara's lab. I stilled in shock as I process what Hakase said.

"Told you so," Haibara said, a hint of confidence in her voice. This girl is really making me irrritated. I saw her smirked. "Maybe your Ran nee-chan will come and get you, E-do-ga-wa-kun."

I glared at her before following Agasa Hakase to the living room. I froze my when I saw Ran is sitting on one of the couches, eyee settling in the opposite direction from where I was.

She suddenly looked at me and then, smiled. Her lips is tinted in red. Her lips must have a lipstick on. She stood up and walk towards me.

"Conan-kun," she said, "can you go with me?"

"Huh?" Confusion filled me. "Why, Ran nee-chan?"

She just smiled. "Just come with me. Let's go on a date."

"D-Date?" A date? She will date me?! "W-Why are you going to date me, Ran nee-chan?"

She ignored me and looked up. "Hakase, could I borrow Conan-kun for a while? Please, tell Ai-kun that I'll borrow her best friend for a while."

I faked a laugh. Oi, oi. Now, how did I became Haibara's bestfriend?

What Haibara said popped out in my mind. Be Edogawa Conan, not Kudo Shinichi.

"Conan-kun," I heard Ran called. I looked at her to see her eyebrows furrowed. "You looked preoccupied by something."

"I-It's nothing, Ran nee-chan."

"Oh." She smiled sweetly. "Let's go?" She lend her hand and I hold it and we walked out to Hakase's house together.

"Ran nee-chan," I called in a childish voice. Literally, it really is slowly taking the positon of my natural voice. She just hummed as shw glanced at me. "Where are we going?"

"Tropical Land," she answered.

My eyes widened. Tropical Land.. Where I surprised Ran and where I last left her. I looked at her sadly. I wished I didn't followed the two men in black. I wonder if my life would be completely normal and not messed up.

I silently followed Ran as we got to a stop. We got into a taxi and ride on it. When I heard Ran closed the taxi's door, I looked outside from the window as I felt the engine became alive.

The driver drove us to Tropical Land.

As the trip was getting to the place where going, my mind is drifting off to another place as I thought of what Ran would came up.

Ran's POV

"Conan-kun," I called him. He looked up at me. I smiled at him. "Let's go?"

He nodded and hold my hand. We got in the amusement park. While walking, my mind was preoccupied. I have a plan plotted in my mind already to capture Conan-kun—or perhaps Shinichi, off the bat.

"Ran nee-chan," Conan-kun called, making me looked down at him. He reallly looks Shinichi in a child's body. Maybe the childish voice is one of his cover-ups. "Where are we going first?"

I smirked mentally. Make the first move, Ran. Make yourself look like you're oblivious to his true identity. "I guess I kinda want to go there," I said pointing to the haunted house.

Conan-kun frowned. "But, Ran nee-chan, you're scared there. You can't even handle real ghosts."

"Oh, how did you know that?" I said, looking shocked.

His body suddenly stilled. Gotcha. "I-It's normal for girls to be scared in haunted houses, Ran nee-chan," he said.

He's lying. I could feel the force he is making for me to not catch him. But I will certainlly catch you, Shinichi.

"Oh. I guess that's kind of makes sense," I said, turning my head towards the haunted house, pretending to look oblivious to him.

I glanced at him secretly and I prefectly saw that he sighed and his face is looking relieved. Oh, once I told you that I know your identity, you'll be shock, my dear Shinichi.

We bought tickets first before we got in the haunted house. Once we got outside, the creepy music starts to play.

I raised an eyebrow as I boringly looked at the huge painting right in the center of the first room once we got into the haunted house. It is really not that creepy looking actually. It's just a old modern look with fake glasses to the sides and an old painting, which obviously looks electronic.

"Ran nee-chan, this is boring," Conan-kun stated. "Can we go to another one? Maybe the more fun one, Ran nee-chan."

"Conan-kun, we're here now so just enjoy," I said and looked up at the painting again.

Suddenly, the floor starts to move. I was surprised for a moment and screamed when it moved.

"R-Ran nee-chan." I looked at Conan-kun. Oh my gosh! His face was so near and he really looks like Shinichi from a near angle. I felt my cheeks turned red. I hurriedly stood up and looked away from him. I don't want to see my face. "Ran nee-chan, you have blushed on your cheeks. Did you put too much blusher on?"

My cheeks heated up more. Oh my god! This is really a bad idea to start my plan. I tried to calm myself and looked at him as I smiled. "T-This is nothing."

Conan-kun tilted his head all of a sudden. "Ran nee-chan, you're embarrassed aren't you?" he blurted out.

I blinked numerous times before lookinng away. Geez. This kid is really a hard one. I might not succeed my plan as I expected it to be. I sighed.

I cleared my throat. "Like what I said, it's nothing."

He tilted his head more. "But it doesn't look like it, Ran nee-chan."

He looks like teasing me. He looks like just a little kid that has a humor on his own, but no. I know for sure inside Shinichi is teasing me.

I tried to calm myself not to argue with him or people might looked at me like I am arguing with just a little kid. If they had known that the famous detective is in a child's body, Edogawa Conan would be much more famoud now.

"L-Let's just enjoy this, hmm, Conan-kun?" I tried my best to force a smile and looked away to him. I sighed. This is so gonna be hardcore.