This particular story is one that I've had the idea for for quite a while, but I've never really known how to write it out before now. And I'm still not sure it's OK. You're probably here because you read the summary and thought it looked interesting, but this story actually has a lot more depth than what it really looks like at first. Since there's a ton of interesting stuff that I can tell you about it, but since some of it would spoil the plot or OC character allegiances, I'm not saying a word about any of it now. Look at the ends of chapters for that kind of stuff if you're interested. I've only written up through Chapter Five as of now, but I can give you a quick look at what you can look forward to. Anything beyond that is still up in the air for now, so anything could happen. Note that I try to update every 2-5 days unless something unforeseen happens or I have exams or something. Things to look forward to:

-Group of foreigners interacting with Conan and Co. Any English dialogue will be in italics.

-The closest thing to a self-insert story you're going to get from me. Which foreigner is the self-insert character?

-Mysterious characters who know WAY more about Conan than they should. Not just the self-insert character, BTW.

-Characters mysteriously acting OOC like something out of a bad fanfiction.

-Serial Murders on top of all of this.

So that's just a brief taste. If I haven't deterred you yet, I hope you enjoy the story!

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan/Case Closed in any way, shape or form. I DO own all the OCs.


Chapter One

"So, what do you think?" Sonoko asked excitedly as Ran packed up her belongings. "Supposedly they've got this new sandwich that's absolutely delicious! Don't you want to go check it out?"

The school day had just ended, and Ran didn't really have anything better to do, so she accepted. "Well, why not?" she said brightly, standing up and slinging her bag over her shoulder. With no karate training that day, she had the whole afternoon free.

"All right!" said Sonoko happily, clapping Ran on the shoulder and steering her out of the classroom. "We'll let this be a lesson to Shinichi-kun! He isn't here to stop you and tell you how beautiful you are and how you shouldn't be eating extra food!"

'He'd never say that anyways,' Ran thought, blushing. As they approached the shoe lockers, an announcement blared over the PA.

"Mouri Ran-san of Class 2-B, please report to the Teacher's Room," somebody said. "Repeating, Mouri Ran-san of Class 2-B, please report to the Teacher's Room."

"What's going on?" Sonoko asked, glaring at the nearest speaker. "We were just going to get some food, too!" Looking back at Ran, she asked, "Do you know what's going on?"

Ran shook her head. "No, I don't. It must be something serious if they're calling me in after school." The two of them turned around and headed back into the school.

"Maybe they found out about your and Shinichi-kun's love affair!" Sonoko teased, a big grin appearing on her face.

"EH?" Ran said, blushing furiously. "What are you talking about? We're not like that!"

"Oh, what a great reaction," said Sonoko, giggling. "You're so cute when you're flustered."

"Come on!" Ran protested, her face still burning. They attracted a lot of funny looks from passing students, but Sonoko glared at them to make them look away. "But you know, this really is embarrassing. It's like I'm going to be suspended."

"Don't sweat it Ran!" said Sonoko cheerfully, clapping her on the back. "If you haven't done anything wrong, then nothing bad'll happen! You worry too much, Ran!"

"Maybe I do," said Ran nervously. By now they had reached the Teachers' Room, so Ran hesitantly slid the door back and went inside, Sonoko right beside her.

She'd been in the Teachers' room before, but never like this. "Excuse me!" she called out.

"Oh, you're here Mouri-san," said a teacher, Mr. Take. He gestured the two girls over to his desk as he shuffled some papers. "Don't worry, neither of you are in trouble," he smiled.

"See, I told you so!" Sonoko whispered to Ran. Ran felt immense relief, but she was still worried about what the teacher wanted.

She soon found out. "As you probably know, we're due to receive some American foreign exchange students in about two weeks. They'll stay for a month or so, living with host families. Unfortunately, one of the students who volunteered to host a student was Kudo Shinichi-kun. Since Kudo-kun's whereabouts are unknown, we are going to have to move that student to another host family. However, I wanted to ask you first before I did that. Do you know if Kudo-kun will be returning any time soon?"

Ran didn't know, so she shook her head. "He doesn't call very often, but when he does he always says he's stuck on a case and can't come back," she said sadly.

"I see," said the teacher, tapping a pencil on the desk. "Then I suppose I'll have to reassign the student after all. That won't be easy this close to the arrival date, but I'll try. Thank you for stopping by, Mouri-san." He gestured towards the door, implying that Ran was free to go.

Then Sonoko had one of her crazy ideas again. "If you're going to reassign the foreigner, then maybe Ran can take them!" she said suddenly, taking both Ran and the teacher by surprise.

"Come again?" the teacher said.

Sonoko quickly explained her weird logic. "Well, since Ran and Shinichi-kun are so close, it shouldn't be that much of an issue to reassign them, right?"

"Suzuki-san, the student is male while Mouri-san is female," said the teacher. "It wouldn't be allowed."

"Maybe not normally, but Ran's a karate master!" said Sonoko proudly, putting a hand on Ran's shoulder. "It won't be a problem if he's there, will it?"

The teacher just stared at her. "I can't just bend the rules, Suzuki-san," he said flatly. Sonoko glared daggers at him.

Ran, sensing the tension, offered her own suggestion. "What about Subaru-san? The foreigner could live with him in Shinichi's house while Sonoko and I could show him around."

"Yeah, that could work!" said Sonoko, catching on at once. "Subaru-san's a nice guy; I'm sure he'd allow it! And he's a guy, too, so there'd be no problem!"

The teacher looked between the two girls before sighing in defeat. "Oh, all right. I'll put Mouri-san on the list, as long as this 'Subaru-san' allows it."

"He will!" Sonoko said confidently. The two girls bowed before quickly exiting the room.

Once they were out of earshot of the teacher, Ran rounded on Sonoko. "What was that about?" she asked, annoyed. "Dad would never allow something like that!"

"Well, I just thought that if Shinichi-kun knew there was another man in your home, he'd come back for sure!" said Sonoko.

Ran froze. That could actually work. And her dad would get paid a fee by the school to pay for the student's expenses. That might just change his mind. "You know what? I'm in," said Ran determinedly. "Forget talking to Subaru-san; we'll just pretend we did!"

"Hold on!" said Sonoko, backpedaling. "We have to at least talk to him first. The school will probably call to confirm it at some point."

"Yeah, I guess so," said Ran. They had reached the shoe lockers, so they began replacing their shoes. "When should we talk to him?"

"Today, of course!" said Sonoko. "But first, let's go get those sandwiches."

XXX

Conan was busy reading some manga when Ran and Sonoko came home, loudly chatting about something. 'What are they so fired up about?' he thought, annoyed.

"Hey Dad!" said Ran, stopping in front of the desk and slamming her palms down on it. Kogoro, who had been watching TV at a low volume, jumped.

"What's up with you?" he asked, looking a little fearful.

"We're going to host a foreign exchange student!" Ran announced.

"Huh?" Kogoro said. "A foreign whatsit?"

"A foreign exchange student!" Sonoko reiterated. "Originally Shinichi-kun was the one who was supposed to host the student, but since he's not around, Ran volunteered instead."

'Oh, I remember that,' Conan thought. Ran and Sonoko had bullied him into it, so it wasn't like he'd had a choice. 'Wait, I signed up to get a guy. So does that mean…'

Kogoro seemed to have realized this, too. "Wait, we're taking on another freeloader? And a guy? No way! I won't allow it! I'm going down to the school right now and sorting this out!" He looked ready to do it, too, since he got up out of his chair and made for the door, Conan right behind him.

"Wait, Dad!" Ran shouted, making him freeze in his tracks. "We told the school he'd been staying with Subaru-san, so there'd be no point in you going. But Subaru-san said no, so he has to stay here."

'Well, he obviously wouldn't agree to that,' Conan thought. The last thing somebody undercover needed was some innocent kid in the house.

But Kogoro wasn't done. "Why can't he stay at your place?" he asked Sonoko rudely. "You've got plenty of space!"

"It's because if Makoto-san drops by, he might get the wrong idea!" Sonoko retorted at once.

"You can't put the kid in one of your villas or something?" he shouted.

As the two continued arguing, Conan tugged on Ran's skirt. "Ran-neechan, why did you volunteer for this?"

"It was actually Sonoko's idea. She said that if Shinichi found out about this, he might finish up his case and come home! You'd like that, wouldn't you Conan-kun?"

'Well, yeah, but that's not happening,' Conan thought sadly. Turning back to the argument, he saw Sonoko whispering something in Kogoro's ear.

"Really? That much?" he said. His attitude changed instantly. "Well, I guess it'll be OK. Hey kid," he turned to Conan. "You don't mind staying in Ran's room for a couple of weeks, do you?"

Conan had to fight to keep from blushing. Something told him he needed to argue, but that offer was just a little too enticing. "I can do that," he said after a moment.

"Then that's settled," said Kogoro, trudging back to his seat.

"How much money did you say he was getting?" Ran whispered to Sonoko.

"I might have exaggerated a bit," she admitted cheekily.

'This'll be trouble,' Conan thought.

XXX

Subaru Okiya was reading in the house's library when the phone rang. 'What is it now?' he thought, getting up and picking up the receiver. "Kudo residence," he said.

"Oh, this is Take, a teacher at Teitan High School. Are you…'Subaru-san'?"

"Yes, that's me."

"Good, then. I'm just calling to confirm about the exchange student arrangements. Mouri Ran-san said she'd speak with you about it."

"She and her friend came by earlier and explained it fully," said Subaru.

"Then I'm glad we have an understanding," said the teacher, sounding relieved. "If you'll just come by the school and fill out the paperwork, then everything will be settled."

Subaru suddenly realized the two of them were having a different conversation. "Sir, I haven't…" he began, but got cut off.

"It's all right if you can't come by right now. Anytime before the end of the week is fine. Just ask for Take-sensei and…hold on, I'm being called. Just remember, you can come by any time!" The line went dead, leaving Subaru to stare at the phone with a look of surprise.

'I thought I agreed not to do this,' he thought, sighing. Well, he could just drop by the school and sort it out.


Is it just me, or is Take-sensei a bit of an idiot? And no, he's not canon. Also, I hope I didn't portray Sonoko as OOC here. She's not supposed to be.

So the basis of the foreign exchange program is actually something my high school used to do. During the American summer vacation, several students would go to Japan and stay with host families for a little while. Granted, that was before my time, but they did used to do that. In return, Japanese students would come to our school and do the same during their vacations, usually in the January-February range, staying with host families. This still happens today, as far as I know. And since all Japanese students study English, unlike Americans studying Japanese, we'd get a ton of students visiting. The students weren't from Tokyo, but I'm bending that for the sake of the story. ;)

Next chapter, we actually meet the foreign exchange students after the two week timeskip. Hope you're looking forward to seeing them! :)