Title: Thought Thief
Fandom: Detective Conan/Case Closed
Author: Amm-chan (SoulSeeker)
Theme: #21—common ground
Friends: Edogawa Conan and Haibara Ai
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: All Detective Conan characters are not mine. They are merely toys borrowed from Gosho Aoyama, and I'm being extra careful so that I can give them back to him in perfect condition.
Summary: Maybe they just knew each other…

Yep, another DC challenge from me :D What can I say? I'm addicted…hope you enjoy this and the future stories to come.

As little Edogawa Conan, Shinichi wasn't a man of many words; especially when he was in a large group. He didn't have much to say, so naturally, he kept quiet. Most of the words he said were either coming out of Kogoro's mouth, or explaining something to the Detective Boys. Only the ones who needed it of course; Haibara Ai was an exception.

Either way, when he spoke, it was usually to solve cases, or explain something important to a case. Quite noticeably, Ai-chan was quiet as well, and though the similarities between the two were so obvious, they were also subtle—and so they went unnoticed. To anyone who knew their situation, however, their similarities made perfect sense. They suffered a common fate. Two teenagers, both intelligent, both trapped in their childhood years, and both surrounded by the same friends…

"Sooo, do you guys know what you're getting Ayumi for her birthday yet?"

As they rode home in Dr. Agasa's yellow car, Mitsuhiko grinned excitedly about the grand event that was to take place that weekend: Ayumi's birthday party, celebrating her eighth birthday.

Being teenagers and definitely passed the phase of balloons and clowns however, it was sad to say that Conan and Ai could not share the same enthusiasm. Genta, however, looked delighted and smiled. "I'm going to make her my famous cupcakes!" he exclaimed excitedly. "And maybe some comic books, or CDs, or maybe some detective gadgets…"

Mitsuhiko giggled. "That sounds good," he remarked, "but if you're going to compete with me, you'll have to do better than that!" Genta rolled his eyes, his level of happiness decreasing a little bit by his comment, and he decided to ignore him.

"So what about you two? Gotten your presents yet?" Mitsuhiko turned to the other two Detective Boys left in the car.

Conan shrugged.

Ai shrugged.

Mitsuhiko raised an eyebrow at them suspiciously, which made them turn to each other, and after staring thoughtfully for a few moments, they nodded.

"Ah…yeah. Sure. I have an idea for something to give her," Conan quickly told him. Ai agreed, and after a few moments of silence, he smiled, seeming satisfied, and things between them quickly quieted down. Mitsuhiko and Genta were then dropped off, and soon only Ai, Conan, and Dr. Agasa remained in the car.

"Do you actually know what you're going to get her?" Ai shut closed her book and turned to Conan with a cold stare after the children had finally left.

He gave a shrug. "How hard could it be to satisfy a seven-year-old?" he replied. She smirked, acknowledging his point, and simply laid her head back, letting it rest against the back of the seat.

"Guess you're right," she remarked. "What's she got planned anyway? An amusement park, right? I think that's what it said on the invitation…"

Conan pulled out a card from his pocket and handed it to her. "Tropical Land," he specified, with a slight chuckle. "Gotta say, I never thought I'd be seeing that place again any time soon. Should be…interesting…"

Ai smiled devilishly as she looked at the invitation, recalling his story about how had shrunken.

"Indeed…"

The morning of the party came rapidly, and, all things considered, went by relatively quickly too. Conan had woken up slightly behind schedule, and after he got dressed, he walked downstairs in a rush and found Ran there, dangling keys from her hands as she shoved the last bite of what appeared to be a cereal bar in her mouth.

"Ran-neechan?" Conan approached her cautiously, as if he didn't know her.

"Oh there you are Conan! Come on, or we'll be late. You don't want them to leave without us now, do you?" Ran held out her hand for him to take it, and he did, though suspiciously.

"Wait…you mean you're going too?" he asked. "Ayumi invited you?"

Ran giggled, and together they walked outside, bound for the ice-cream store where they agreed to meet. "Something like that…" she replied. "It was more Miss Yoshida's idea. She wanted another chaperone, so I volunteered."

Conan nodded; it made perfect sense, he supposed. If there had to be another chaperone, it may as well have been Ran.

They entered the ice-cream shop, having seen Ayumi wave wildly from outside, and found out that they were the last ones to arrive. Everyone had a cup of ice-cream with them—except for Haibara, who had chosen a cone.

"Conan! You're late," Ayumi giggled, as she ran to his side. "I was getting worried!"

He smiled at her warmly, exchanging glances with Ai for a brief moment before turning his attention back to her. "Yeah, I know. Sorry about that," he told her curtly. "Woke up late this morning, that's all. Happy birthday, by the way!"

Ayumi smiled excitedly and thanked him, and her hyper mood had then carried her attention over to Ran. She ran to her with a wide grin. "And Ran-neechan! Thank you for coming, too!"

Conan watched her happily, remembering his own childhood birthdays, and he casually gravitated towards Ai. She was coming to the end of her ice-cream cone, but he had noticed that there was another cone in her other hand, and it was beginning to drip. "Why do you have two?" he inquired curiously, eyeing the other ice cream cone which happened to have his favorite flavor.

Her gaze shifted to meet his, and she shook her head casually after taking the last bite, finishing off her cone. "I don't," she explained. She held up the ice-cream cone in front of him. "This is for you. Miss Yoshida's in the bathroom—she figured we'd all want to leave right away once you two got here, so we just got some for you two to save time."

He took the cone with a smile, beginning to lick the trails of melted ice-cream that ran down the cone before taking a bite of it. "How'd you know chocolate chip cookie dough was my favorite?" he asked. He quickly grabbed a napkin from the front counter and wrapped it around his cone protectively.

Ai shrugged nonchalantly, though he could notice a smirk played on her lips. "Lucky guess?"

Conan chuckled at the response, feeling slightly tickled at it. "Yeah right," he retorted. "You just asked the doc, didn't you?"

She giggled ever so lightly; so lightly that one could barely even notice it. "How'd you know?"

And he just shrugged, a slight smile coming to his lips. "Lucky guess."

Tropical Land.

Noticeably, it hadn't changed much since the last time he was there. Granted, there was a brand new steel rollercoaster, but in his physical condition, he obviously wouldn't get a chance to go anywhere near it. Besides the Silverwing, however, no major additions were made. It was the same; the fountains, the vending machines, the Mystery Coaster…

"Hey Conan! Come on, slowpoke, keep up, would ya?"

A frustrated Genta folded his arms impatiently as he stopped to turn behind them, making everyone else turn around as well. Doused with a cold helping of reality, he finally sped up, realizing that he had been behind. "Sorry…"

Genta quickly forgot his frustration, and his attention was turned to the gigantic black tracks that had made an enormous arch in the sky. It was the main drop of the Silverwing, the new coaster, and to date it had the highest drop in the park. It was hard to avoid, as it was the only ride you could see from any point in the amusement park.

"That looks insane!" Ayumi commented upon seeing it, noticing that Genta's attention faltering from the group.

Everyone's head had turned to the marvel at the seventy-degree drop. Ran giggled, petting the birthday girl on the head as she stared at it; it was quite a sight to behold. "Yeah—you guys want to go on it?" she teased with a laugh. Scared, shocked looks followed in response.

"No way! That's way too high!"

Ayumi, Genta and Mitsuhiko all shouted defensively at the same time, almost like the line had been rehearsed.

"…Sure, why not?"

Conan's and Ai's voices chiming out simultaneously warranted a laugh from Ran, and in surprise, they turned to each other and gawked, disbelievingly.

"Did you just say—?"

"Did we just—?"

They froze, each waiting for the other to talk, and finally Ai just folded her arms, looking at him with an accusing smile. "You thought thief," she scoffed; and Conan stuck his tongue out childishly.

"I could say the same thing about you," he reminded her.

And with that, the subject dropped. They all had a good laugh at what had happened, but were quickly distracted when they saw the colorfulness that was the giant ball pool they had set aside in the children's section of the park…the kids inside were laughing, and the Detective Boys became eager to join them.

Except for of course, the teenagers in disguise.

While Miss Yoshida wandered off on her own to the souvenir shops, Ran had agreed to wait and watch over the children as they played with the other kids in the ball pool. Conan and Ai stood next to her, watching them too as they jumped freely into the balls, tossing them up into the air and letting them fall back down again.

They looked so happy, and so care-free…

"Man…I wish I could be a kid again," Ran grinned cheekily as she watched them. Memories of her own birthday parties she had held in the past came pouring into her.

The two 'children' turned sharply to her and stared, wondering if they had actually heard her words correctly.

"No you don't—trust me…"

Their heads whipped around to each other once more, and they met eye to eye; their words had matched yet again. Ran looked amused, though slightly curious. "That's the second time you guys have done that today!" she remarked with slight chuckle. "You two must be very close…"

They blinked at each other, not exactly sure what to say, and Conan simply shrugged as he tried to stifle an nervous giggle. "Something like that, I guess," he responded. "It might just be that we spend too much time with each other. Or have too much in common…"

"Or…"

Ai put a hand to her chin, looking thoughtful, and there was silence. Conan and Ran turned to her expectantly, curiously waiting for her to go on and finish her sentence; she held them in suspense for a little while longer, and finally, a small, light smile escaped her—a genuine smile that hadn't been seen on her in a long time.

"…or maybe we just…know each other."

The two exchanged smirks and at that point, they left Ran puzzled.

One of those days, when the time was finally right, he really would clue her in on everything she needed to know…