AN: Thanks for popping in! I've been in the mood to just write some fluff, so here it is! Please enjoy! Also, I would love any comments you have!

Time Trapped Pair

"Eh? Again?" Conan asked as he retrieved his shoes from his locker.

"What do you mean, 'again'?" Ayumi huffed indignantly. "We haven't gone to the park in a while!"

"I guess I'll go. The flowers should be a nice change, considering the weather we've been having," he mused. "How about you, Haibara?"

Haibara shrugged. "I don't have any objections, I suppose."

The Detective Boys made their way to the park together. They all meandered around, enjoying the warm air. Conan lay down on a bench to gaze up at the sky. He was a bit startled when Haibara's face came into his range of vision.

"What're you doing?" she asked, one eyebrow raised skeptically.

"Haven't you ever looked at the sky?"

"Why would I? All of my problems are here on the ground."

"You don't look at the sky to look for problems. You do it to relax."

"Hmm," was the last thing she said on the subject.

Conan sat up. "Was there something you needed?"

"…No."

"Please. You never just want to talk to me. What is it?"

Genta and Mitsuhiko raced past, Genta yelling, "I'll get you for that one!" In their haste, they accidentally pushed Haibara. Due to his quick reflexes, Conan instinctively tried to catch her.

Only a heartbeat later, something that can never be undone happened. Ai's hands suddenly rested on the bench on either side of Conan, her balance still shaky. Conan's arms could be spotted around Ai, supporting her. But the most shocking of all, especially to their singular spectator, was that they were unmistakably kissing. There was no other way to put it.

Tears rushed to Ayumi's eyes as she watched one of her best friends kiss her crush. She could feel herself sinking, and she barely caught the tree she stood beside to prevent falling to her knees.

Conan was the first to react. He managed to help her back to her feet, still supporting her, as her control was still shaky. Her eyes were wide open from shock. Conan was undeniably surprised as well, but he couldn't fully process what he was feeling. He decided he'd rather focus on making sure she was okay.

The two were still nose-to-nose, their heartbeats racing, their faces reddening as realization hit them. Conan's breathing was still too unsteady to say anything, not that he knew what it was he was supposed to say after such an occurrence.

Ai spun away from him the moment she had her balance again. She walked as fast as she could to get some distance between the two of them.

Ayumi couldn't help but follow Ai. She needed to know. Why had she and Conan kissed? Ai once told Ayumi, "Don't worry. He doesn't interest me that way." She had specifically told Ayumi that when she asked Ai if she had a crush on Conan. How could Ai betray her like that?

"Conan? What's up with you?" Mitsuhiko asked, startling his friend.

"Eh?" He looked at Mitsuhiko with a dazed expression.

"What's your problem?" Genta added. "And where's Ai?"

"I…I'm not sure," Conan said, still confused. He stared at the sky for a moment, as though he were trying to collect his thoughts.

"Anyway, we should probably go home. The sun's setting. So let's find Haibara," Mitsuhiko suggested.

"Yeah, sure." Conan took a moment to stand up, and when he finally did, Mitsuhiko and Genta practically had to haul him to his feet.

They found Ayumi still leaning on the tree. She wiped the tears from her eyes as they approached. Conan would've noticed such an action under normal circumstances, but given his current mental state he was oblivious to Ayumi's discomfort. They didn't have to search long to find Ai. She had been sitting under a tree, staring dreamily at the sky.

Everyone went their separate ways at the usual spot. Only this time, Ayumi turned around after a few steps. She followed Ai from a safe distance. She had to know about what happened between the two of them that had pushed their relationship form friends to…whatever they were now.

Ai stopped at the gate of her residence. "I know you're there. Just come out and ask what you want to ask."

Ayumi reluctantly stepped out from the growing shadows of the darkening city. "What…what happened between you and Conan today?"

Ai's face darkened for a minute. "Nothing."

"That's…a lie! I saw you two…I saw it…" She had to stop as tears obscured her vision and her throat closed up.

"That was a simple accident. There's nothing to get so worked up about."

"Are you saying it didn't mean anything to you?" Ayumi asked, rage starting to grow inside her.

"Of course it didn't. It was a little mishap, is all. Genta was being careless, Conan tried to catch me, and that was the result."

"Yeah right! I saw everything! Conan's arms were around you! You leaned in…and…and if it didn't mean anything to you, why couldn't you keep that grin off your face afterwards!?"

Ai was stopped dead in her tracks. She didn't know until that moment that Ayumi had been leaning against the tree that had been only feet from the incident. She'd had a perfect view of what happened, and due to her vantage point, she could see Ai's face as she hurried from the scene.

"I…I wasn't grinning," Ai protested.

"I. Saw. You. You were smiling like a happy little girl who just got her crush to kiss her!"

"That can't be true…" Ai wasn't listening to Amy anymore. She'd pushed the thought from her head as fast as she could, but now it was at the forefront of her mind. She was honestly surprised that the feeling of butterflies in her stomach was obvious as she recalled it.

"You…lied to me? Ai-chan, I asked you if you liked him, and you said no. Why'd you lie about that?"

"I don't like him. I can't like him. I can't."

Ayumi glared at her with shining eyes.

"Go home, Ayumi. It's late, and your parents will be worried. Go home," Ai repeated when Ayumi opened her mouth to protest. Ai opened the gate, only glancing over her shoulder once to make sure Ayumi left as she walked up the path to her front door.

That night, Ai didn't sleep. She couldn't, not until she knew what she felt toward what had happened that afternoon. Replaying the scene in her mind, Ai tried to understand what feelings she had in that moment. As the sun rose, she realized that she actually didn't know. Not knowing wasn't good enough for her.

She got up before Dr. Agasa's alarm clock went off. At 6 AM sharp, Ai left the house. She wanted to reach Conan's house so that they could talk on the way to school. She was intercepted before she ever had a chance.

As she walked up to the detective agency, she saw a whole group already waiting for Conan.

"Hey! Ai-chan! Good morning!" Ayumi called cheerfully, not showing any of the resentment she had the previous night.

I suppose I'm too predictable at times, Ai reflected. Just as she reached the group, Conan began down the stairs.

"Hi, guys. Uh, what're you doing here?"

"We just came to meet you so we could all walk together!" Ayumi said sweetly.

"You've never done that before," he commented as they started walking.

"Why shouldn't we? I thought it would be a nice change if we all walked to school together."

"Okaaay," Conan said as he tried to drop to the back of the group to talk to Ai, but Ayumi once again blocked their communication. She grabbed Conan's wrist and took off at a run. "We'll miss the light!" she said to justify herself.

All day, Conan and Ai weren't allowed contact in any way whatsoever. The moment they tried to talk, Ayumi would be there, ready to drag Conan away to eat lunch, help her with a problem she didn't understand, the list was endless. As the bell signaling the end of the school day rang, Conan and Ai hadn't said a word to each other all day.

The Detective Boys was clearly following Conan home, and he could tell that Ai had wanted to say something to him all day.

"Hey, are you guys following me back to my house?" Conan asked nervously.

"Well, we were—" Ayumi started.

"I think we should get going anyway," Mitsuhiko interrupted. "Come on, Ayumi. Let's go."

Genta and Mitsuhiko gently guided Ayumi away from Ai and Conan. Though they thought they hid it well, their ulterior motive was obvious to Conan. They just wanted to have Ayumi to themselves for once, since she'd been around Conan all day. The two basically dragged their female friend away.

Conan and Ai walked in silence. When they reached the Mouri's, Conan waited for her to say something.

"Conan, I—"

"Conan! You're late!" Ran bounded down the steps toward them.

"Haibara?" he asked. She had her head tilted down, so he tried to discern her expression. Without any sort of warning, Ai suddenly grabbed the collar of Conan's shirt, pulling him toward her into a kiss. It lasted perhaps three seconds, then Ai released him and sprinted off.

"Wah…?" Ran stood at the base of the steps, not knowing what she just witnessed.

Conan, meanwhile, hadn't moved in the slightest, paralyzed from shock.

"Conan, erm, you might want to close your mouth," Ran advised.

When Conan remained frozen, Ran finally grabbed his wrist and practically dragged him inside. "Your dinner's getting cold." Conan didn't notice it, but Ran was hurt by what she'd seen.

"So what was the little brat up to?" Mouri asked in a bored drawl as Ran dragged Conan inside.

"Nothing," Ran said shortly.

She deposited Conan at a seat and left the room.

"What's her problem?" Mouri asked, putting his newspaper down to eat.

"…Eh?"

"Don't 'Eh' me! I asked what Ran's problem was. She seems upset."

"I…I don't know."

When Conan said no more, occupying himself by staring blankly at his food, Mouri gave up.

Meanwhile, Ran was sitting in her room at her desk. She was holding a picture in her hands, and tears dripped to her desk.

"Shinichi…"

The picture she held was one of her and Shinichi at Tropical Land. She hadn't seen him much since that day, but she still had this one suspicion that she just couldn't seem to confirm. Or deny.

"That's it! I'm fed up with this!" She set the picture down and stood up so fast she nearly knocked her chair over. The door quietly creaked open.

"Ran-nee-chan?"

She glared evilly at the intruder. Her eyes shot to the photograph on her desk, and then back to the boy in her doorway. She sighed.

"Need something, Conan?"

"I was just wondering if you were alright."

She sat on the bed, looking defeated. "I'm fine."

Conan noticed her gazing sadly at the picture on the desk. "You…miss him, don't you?"

"Yeah, I really do." She patted the bed next to her. "Come here for a minute."

Reluctantly, Conan started toward her.

"Oh, and shut the door."

Looking nervous, Conan shut the door and then made his way to the bed beside her.

"So, since you grew up with him, what can you tell me about Shinichi?" she asked.

"Eh?"

"It's been so long, I want to see if my memories of him are still accurate." Conan was thoroughly unnerved by the gleam in her eye.

"Well, I know that…um…he's really smart, and he…is good at soccer…"

Ran waved her hand. "I know all that. Can't you remember anything more…personal about him?"

Conan shifted uncomfortably. "I don't know what you mean."

"Have you ever seen a picture of him as a little kid?"

Okay, this was getting confusing. She kept changing topics, and he couldn't keep up. "No."

She kept up the strange questions, asking them so fast he barely had time to process them. Apparently that was what she wanted, because she asked, "Are you Shinichi?"

Still trying to keep up the pace, he quickly said yes, and gasped in horror. "No! I'm not him. Where'd that come from?"

"Hmm. Alright. I need to get to bed. See you in the morning, Conan."

Not feeling entirely safe, Conan left the room.

"Liar…" Ran muttered at the door. "All of the other questions you answered correctly and honestly. You never missed even one. How's that possible? How, Shinichi?"

"You think she suspects you?"

"Yes. She specifically asked a few questions that…" Conan stopped midsentence.

Dr. Agasa looked up from his microscope. "What?"

Conan winced. "A few questions that only Shinichi would know the answer to. And I answered every single one, correctly."

"My, that was careless of you."

Conan jumped. Ai had materialized a few feet behind him. On edge from their previous encounter after school yesterday, Conan scooted just a bit closer to Dr. Agasa. "Yeah, but what else could I've done?"

"You didn't have to answer them, did you?"

"If I'd ignored them, she still would've suspected me. There wasn't much I could do to defend myself."

"I'm sure."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Conan's voice rose.

"You always seem to find yourself in these situations. Have you ever wondered why that is? If you were more careful about concealing your identity, then perhaps she wouldn't suspect you." Ai's voice was flat and clinical.

"Hey, I—"

"Alright, you two, that's enough," Dr. Agasa interrupted.

Ai calmly left the room, but Conan stormed out.

"I just don't know what her problem is," Conan muttered as he glared at the concrete beneath his feet. He continued walking aimlessly, just trying to avoid seeing people he knew. However, his subconscious worked against him, because he ended up in front of the Mouri's. Ran was standing out front like she was waiting for him. She waved, so he approached.

"Ran-nee-chan? What is it?" he asked in a childlike voice.

She smiled pleasantly, bending down to be at eye level with him. "Conan, I have something I want to talk to you about."

That sent a chill down his spine. "Eh?"

She sat on the steps. "I…I can't do this anymore. I can't just keep waiting around for yo—for Shinichi to come back. It's been too long, and I…I found someone else. I thought you should be the first to know." Without another word, she got up and walked back into the house.

The wind seemed ten degrees cooler, the sun colder. Conan stood in stunned silence, staring at the place where Ran had just told him the worst news of his life.

"Kudo?" a voice asked.

Conan turned to see Ai standing a few feet away. He didn't really process that she was there, though.

"Hai…Haibara." Conan approached her, not sure what she'd say.

"I'm sorry that I attacked you the way I did," Haibara said, not meeting his eyes. "You see, I simply wanted to test a hypothesis of mine, and I found that I didn't like the results."

"Hypothesis?" Conan asked.

Haibara nodded. "I needed to see…how I really felt about our…our kiss yesterday."

Recalling the moment, Conan felt slightly embarrassed, but he also felt butterflies in his stomach. "And what were the results of this test?"

"I…enjoyed it."

Conan's eyes suddenly stared into hers. "You did?"

Haibara nodded almost timidly.

Conan shifted his weight. "I did too," he said quietly.

Ai's face lit up ever so slightly. However, she didn't seem to know what to say after that point.

"Will you two just kiss again already?!" called a voice across the street.

The surprised pair turned to see Ayumi cheering them on. "C'mon, if you don't hurry it up, Ai-chan, I'll steal him from you!"

Not likely, Shinichi thought.

"Alright!" Haibara called back. Shinichi looked at her anxiously.

"What…?" Haibara had the most childlike face he'd ever seen on her.

"Can't disappoint, now can we?" All shyness gone, Haibara leaned in and kissed him. Without even thinking about it, he kissed back.

"So are you two dating now or what?!" Genta called from up the street.

"Eh!?" Shinichi jumped back with surprise, staring at his friend.

"You'd better be! You shouldn't just go around kissing random girls you aren't dating, Conan!" Mitsuhiko called from down the street.

"Looks like we're surrounded," Haibara commented.

"Yeah." Shinichi sighed.

"We're never alone."

Shinichi smiled, lacing his fingers through hers. "We'll never be alone."

AN:

Told you there'd be major fluff. Yes, maybe Haibara's character is a little off (Or a lot), I know. But I like her this way. Please review!