A/N: Here's a little one shot I came up with...I kinda want to build on it, but for now it's just going to be a one shot...might do some stories in between...as well as maybe connect it with my "Shounen Tanteidan" fic...

Enjoy.

I own a character with a Monocle. His name is Spencer. He doesn't show up in this fic though.


What Now?

Ayumi, Genta, Mitsuhiko, and Haibara sat on the playground equipment at the park, depressed. Thankfully they were the only ones in the park that day, so they had all the time in the world to act depressed.

"So..What do we do now?" Ayumi finally piped up, swinging absentmindedly on a swing, tears that she had been holding back forming in her eyes.

"We can't be the Detective Boys without Conan...," Mitsuhiko agreed, sitting on the ground picking at the grass between his toes, avoiding eye contact himself.

"Why not?" Genta stopped spinning on the tire swing at this.

"Face it," Mitsuhiko gave his friend an exasperated look. "Conan's the real person behind solving all of our toughest cases. He's always showed us what to do, and we've always looked toward him when things got bad. Now that he's gone, we can't look for him to solve things for us anymore."

"Why do you need to look up to him?" Haibara said softly from her seat next to Ayumi, "He's shown you how to do it. Why don't we continue. We could be the next generation of high school detectives. Just like Kudo-kun."

Heads turned toward her in surprise. Haibara was smart, but she had never really been into being a Detective Boy. She just liked to tag along...and now she was suggesting that they continue? Without Conan to guide them?

"It's not like he's gone for good," She explained. "He'll still be around. If you get stuck, he is more than happy to help. He's not just an older person, like Ran or Agasa, or even Heiji-niichan. He is our friend, and he always will be. Besides, I think he'd like it if we followed in his footsteps and became detectives."

"You mean it?" Ayumi gave her a hopeful look, "He's still our friend?"

Haibara nodded, placing a hand on her 'younger' friend. Haibara had chosen to stay a child, despite finding the antidote. She had nobody to go back to as an adult...except Kudo-kun, and she doubted that he would ever notice her after he had worked so hard for the sake of his childhood friend. She had friends now. Young as they may be...as well as the chance for a childhood without being forced into evil deeds and secrets. It was refreshing.

"But...why should we continue being Detective Boys?" Mitsuhiko's hope was laced with doubt and skepticism.

"You really have no confidence in your ability, do you?" Haibara looked long and hard at the freckled boy, causing his cheeks to turn slightly pink. "Remember when Takagi lost his notebook? You were the first one to deduce that it was a plot for murder. Not Kudo-kun."

"Oh yeah...," His eyes looked down at the grass again.

"You all have lots of potential," She reassured the group, "And you really enjoy solving mysteries. Why not continue. Show our classmates, teachers, friends, and even Kudo-kun himself that, together, we're just as good, if not better than he is."

"That's right!" Genta grinned, "Let's show Conan how good we can be!"

"We'll be the best young detectives ever!" Ayumi got up off the swing and pulled Mitsuhiko to his feet and joined Genta on the giant tire swing.

"And thus," Haibara grinned, joining them, "begins a new chapter of the Shounen Tanteidan"

"YEAH!!" They each raised a hand in the air.

A few feet away, hiding behind a newspaper, was Shinichi. He had been afraid of what would happen to those kids without him. He was glad that Haibara had managed to get them laughing and playing again. He sauntered away from the park with a grin, unnoticed.


Hope you all liked this cute little fic. Like I said before, I might write more. I like the Shounen Tanteidan. And I dont' think they get enough credit.

By the way, that incident with Takagi's notebook is the soul reason why I think Mitsuhiko is going to be just like Shinichi when he grows up. At least with him, he's going to have 3 other people watching his back, and making sure he doesn't mess up. And it's not like Ayumi and Genta won't make great detectives when they grow up too.

Well anyway,

From Your Favorite Mouse,

:Eve: