My homework left untouched, and Shinichi a no-show that same morning, I arrived at school late. Nodding off into History, an epiphany dawned that my phone alarm never rang either. Come lunch, Ran and Sonoko were none-the-wiser to my blunder, and neither was Shinichi. He'd been, apparently, absent the entire day.

"Since it's the three of us, let's go out for karaoke!" Sonoko cheered.

Redemption! Rang high in my mind. Shinichi as a partner ruined any winning chance, but, "I gotta pass..."

"Conan told me about what happened," Ran smiled, always understanding when it mattered. "Quite the day ahead of you."

"Oh right," Sonoko laughed. "You got roped in by the squirt squad."

Leaving me in uncharted waters. "Any advice?"

"Don't cave in?" Ran rolled her eyes. "Any more than you already have." Suddenly concern clouded her smile before she asked, "can you make sure Ai enjoys herself? She puts up so many walls, I worry."

"Walls?"

Ran started, then ruefully smiled. "Maybe it is just around me."

My face fell. It's almost unheard of for her to be any flavor of downtrodden. "What do you mean?"

Sonoko threw an arm around Ran's shoulders. "Don't worry about Ai. She seems like a snob, but personally, I respect that." She thumped my shoulder with a swipe of her hand. "She's the one buddy-buddy with Conan."

"Wait, Conan..." I murmured. "Is that the glasses kid?"

Sonoko messaged her temple. "This is off to a good start."

"Professor," I sheepishly dropped by his home.

"You forgot your phone," Ai dangled said item between pinched fingers, a yawn following her words.

"Thanks." I peered at her from behind my phone. The spotlight girl of the day. So small, seemingly harmless, yet the attention surrounding her... Agasa throwing up a defence without hesitation, then Ran's request, even Sonoko's acceptance.

"What?"

"Um..." I'm staring. "Where's the Professor?"

"Sleeping in. He was up late working on something."

I giggled. "You mean, he was working, and lost track of time?"

She smirked. "Precisely."

I flipped through my messages. "Five missed calls?" Each from Shinichi. Finally! Plus one voicemail— must be where he gave up.

"Hey," began his message. "How is it a good idea to play detective? I told you to leave Watanabe to me."

"What?" Panic flared. How did he find out?

"I'm looking into him, and have a case building. Worry about yourself, this isn't safe for you of all people."

"Me of all—?" I yanked the phone away to glare at his name on-screen. "You have no say in this matter. Where have you been to be lecturing me on what I've been doing! How-! How dare-!"

"To repeat the message—" a distant recording offered.

I deadpanned. "I'm yelling at a voicemail."

Ai slowly sipped her coffee, the picture of a curious bystander.

"He won't pick up the phone," I ranted, self-control shoved away by indignation. "And when he does, it's to get onto me! Who does that! He has no right to do that!"

Ai nodded into her cup.

"He acts like he always knows better, as if I have no sense of self-preservation! What a god-complex!"

A look of enlightenment sparked, Ai murmured to herself, "that's the word." Before I'd stomped out the door, she cleared her throat. "They're waiting in the park."

"Who?"

"Half-day of fun." She grabbed her coat, chuckling at the question in my eye. "Remember?"

"Darn it."

While waiting, the children formed a circle, knocking a yellow object from foot to foot like a hacky sack.

Content in watching them expel energy before their entertainment depended on me, I stood off to the side. Ai continued, however, and went to the glasses kids side. Unaware of my presence, their game continued as he explained to her how they found the ball on a bench.

Over their heads in the distance stood a man. Clean in appearance, jet black hair in a spiked down style, and overbite. He stared down their content little group, which normally would be fine for any typical bystander, except that sneer of his irked me. Tapping a foot, and tugging his overcoat, he encompassed animosity and reluctance in that little bubble of his personal world. For what? A ball literal children decided to play with? Without realizing it I'd sneered back, briskly stepping forward till I could snatch the children's ball out of midair.

I held it forth, shouting to him, "is this yours?!"

His head snapped to the side, he turned foot and briskly strode away.

"Geez," I huffed. Instead of shooting dirty looks, he could have politely asked for it back.

"Keiko!" The kid exclaimed. And there on the ground he sat, like he'd been pushed, clutching his chest as if it threatened to leap free.

"What?" My head tilted. "Are you... okay?"

"She surprised you," Mitsuhiko laughed.

Ayumi elbowed him. "She surprised us all." She lent him a hand to stand, then faced me. "Why did you yell at that man?"

"He was being rude; too proud to ask for his ball back."

"It's his?" Genta took the ball. "I didn't know... We should give it back."

"Nope!" I plucked it from his grasp. "He never asked, so it's not his." Under my breath, I added, "not anymore."

The ball reformed as my grip slackened. Memory foam. A neat material, yet... needless to say, none of them wanted the ball when they realized it could've been someone else's. (How did they think it got to the park?) So I tucked it into my bag.

Mitsuhiko bounded at me. "What adventure do we get today?"

With an enthusiastic hop to match his, I answered, "a budgeted one."

They deflated.

"Aw," I forced a grin. "Come on. It'll be fun. I'm frugal at heart, so I know how to stretch the currency."

Despite my explanation, they team huddled, holding their hands out as one monotonously muttered, "I got five-hundred yen..."

With a growl of, "guys," I took two of their hands. "Trust me." And dragged them off.

We came upon a secondhand shop. The dead look in their eyes gauged how much they would enjoy this, yet I remained optimistic.

"It isn't trust," Genta began. "It's like, the furthest thing from trust."

Mitsuhiko shivered. "Suddenly I feel trapped in a day that I willingly volunteered for."

A roll of my eyes later, I held up one finger. "You each can get one thing."

"Yeah, yeah..." They dragged their feet inside.

Ai approached me. "Anything?"

The knowing glint in her eye spooked me more than it should've. What did she plan to buy? "W-within reason."

She nodded.

Inside the kids remained in a tight knit group, seemingly on the defencive as they meandered around. As if the items could attack their happiness at the drop of a hat. I eyed a couple of things. Old lamps, cases, dishware.

The glasses kid approached me, clutching a book. "Did you retrieve your phone?"

That downgraded my mood.

Phone = voicemail = irate Shinichi.

"Maybe," I answered dismissively.

He didn't like that. "It's important to keep on hand. In case someone tries to tell you something important."

"Well," my tone bordered an argument. "If it were important, I have a hard time believing it would be said over the phone." The kid stewed a second before it occurred to me. "It was you wasn't it?" I rounded on him. "You said you knew Shinichi before; you told him what I did yesterday!"

"Wh-what makes you think that?"

"The way you egged me on for one."

"That's not concrete evidence." He smirked, turning an object on the shelf as if my come back didn't deserve his full attention for how weak he deemed it.

I had to refrain from kicking him. How dare he! How dare he play the same card as Shinichi, no wonder they're in cahoots! "So." Fully offensive, I crossed my arms, and stared down with my nose held high. "If I told you, and you alone, that I planned to see Watanabe later, Shinichi wouldn't stop me." He honed in on me, sighing an almost growl through his nose. "At all?" I added, if only to tick him off.

He remained silent.

"You don't deserve that book."

"This book is compensation for something totally unrelated." He turned so I couldn't grab it. "You still can't memorize my name."

"..."

"..."

"Brown-noser."

"Scatterbrained."

"Keiko!" Three of the children barraged me. "We need this, we absolutely need to buy this!"

In a swift glance, it became apparent none of them held an item. "Buy... what exactly?"

"Come on!" They yanked my hand, top, and skirt through the shop.

"There!" They pointed at the insides of a glass case; a three VHS box set costing ¥2500 yen.

"Guys," and I tried to let them down gently. "You each get a budget..."

"You promised!" Genta shouted.

"It's the promo episodes of Kamen Yaiba!" Ayumi pled. "We've only ever dreamed of watching them, let alone owning them!"

Mitsuhiko cut an arm across his two companions, clearing his throat as if to make a groundbreaking announcement. "How about this; we'll combine all of our items into that one. That'll be even."

"Right!" Ayumi smiled wide at him, then faced me. "Right?!"

"I... guess."

New mission at hand, they all dashed, flagging down the nearest worker to acquire their item.

Ai approached, having heard our conversation, she lowered the purse in her hands. A ginko leaf patterned clutch with gold trim. All in relatively good condition considering it's popular name brand.

She went to return it.

"Ai," I called. "It's fine. You can buy that."

"It's no big deal." She flatly dismissed. "Just a passing fancy."

"Yeah, right." I snatched it from her hands. "You're too much like me when it comes to lying. Besides-" I set it on the counter. "-Ran asked that I keep your spirits up."

She toed closer, strangely shy. "Ran did?"

"Yes." I laid a hand atop her head, rolling it in a small circle. "So when you see her, ya tell her what a fun day ya had."

Suspicion settled in her eyes. "If the clutch is blackmail I'm not sure I want it."

"I'll take my book as well." Conan dropped said item upon the counter. "Since you're being so generous."

Brat...

As if sensing my thoughts, He stuck his tongue out.

Somehow, getting roped into something I'd rather not be doing reminds me of how much time has been wasted since I'd received all my late work. If I were hanging out with friends, performing karaoke, joking around, time wouldn't be pressing down as hard on me. The question of: why are you here when you don't wanna be, instead of doing something you should be doing when you don't wanna be? My priorities are skewed to my general interest. Like procrastination is fine as long as I'm happy. Then again, the one who always set me right has yet to appear. Watching the door, a part of me expected him to walk through. Surprise, I deduced your location, that sweet tooth of yours is a dead give away.

"Your ice cream's dripping," Ayumi told me.

"Ah." I licked it. "Thanks."

"No, thank you for the ice cream," Genta smiled as he chewed the last bite.

"No problem, this is the cheap bit I had planned since they have a deal when you buy three, but..." a sigh escaped into my coin purse. "Looks like I'll have to save up again."

"What are you saving up for?" Mitsuhiko asked around a bite of cone.

"Trips to Osaka. I'd like to visit Heiji and Kazuha now that we've reunited." I eagerly leaned over the table. "And speaking of detectives, how did the Junior Detective League come to be?"

Ayumi raised her hand, volunteering, "it began one day; I was walking home, and in the window of an abandoned home, I saw a spirit!"

Genta tapped his fist forward. "When Ayumi told me, we assumed it would be easy to bully the new kid into coming with us."

"You assumed," Ayumi corrected. "I asked Conan politely."

"Then they bullied me into going,"Mitsuhiko huffed.

"Stop lumping me with Genta," Ayumi pouted. "I would never bully anyone."

"Conan's the newest in the group then?" I asked.

"No, that's Ai. She transferred in later," Ayumi tapped her chin, eyes to the ceiling. "Now, where was I?"

"Recruitments?"

"Right! And then we gathered up supplies and set out..."

"And then when she caught us escaping the basement, her weapon raised and ready to strike, Conan kicked a bucket, knocking the metal rod right out of her hand!"

Even after we left the ice cream parlor the three loudest explained the dramatics, while Ai covered the finer details. They conveyed story after story and at some point I had to suck it up and accept that they weren't just stories. These kids— children! we're solving real-time crimes. Putting fearsome criminals behind bars, with enough ease that they could laugh about it.

"Did the Professor keep his VCR?" Mitsuhiko questioned Ai.

She shook her head with an apologetic shrug. "Used it for parts as soon as he got his hands on a DVD player."

He crossed his arms. "My mom might have one in the basement..."

"My grandma's got one hooked up," I regretted the words as soon as they left my mouth.

"To Keikos!" They cheered.

Okay, I slumped, I asked for that... Still... children... the idea had yet to leave me. Solving cases I usually hear about from Shinichi. And their biggest concern is watching a cartoon.

As soon as the front door opened, the children squeezed by, throwing me off balance.

"Whoa there." The kid pushed at my lower back.

"Thanks." I smiled, and though he returned it, he directed it to the left. Not by shyness, but an aversion of some...

Mom yelled something indiscernible.

"Mom!" I yelped, rushing in. "They're harmless!"

"Harmless?!" She held a broom between them. "They've invaded the home!"

"I invited them!"

"...why?"

"To use grandma's VHS... please put the broom down."

She did so and laid a hand to her hip. "While they're visiting, they're your responsibility."

"Yes, ma'am..."

They paused a beat, then with mom still in earshot, Genta whispered, "she's scary."

She smacked her broom against the wall. "I'd better be."

He jumped —sadly, so did I.

"Upstairs," I waved them away. "Upstairs, quick!"

Once safely in the room, Ayumi faced me. "Your mom is so different from you."

"Ya think?" I managed a decent half grin. "Well. She's at least been nicer since Grandma left."

"Where's your grandma?"

The kid and Haibara faced us, suddenly interested in the conversation.

"She, uh." I blinked between them. "Was only visiting till we got settled in from moving."

"Keiko!" Mom's voice carried through the house. "More for you!"

"Already?!" Clicking on the TV, I shoved the movie in, only waiting a moment before the image came to life. Grabbing the doorknob, I told them in near garbling speed, "if you need me, I'll be in my room with some friends."

[Meanwhile]

The movie tuned to life with wobbling music enough to stifle an ordinary child's expectations, but no, not those three, they cheered the picture on for simply working.

"That looks familiar." Conan pointed out Ai's new find.

"Fusae Brand." She hugged the clutch close. "Not that you ever followed through with your promise*."

One of his eyebrows raised as the other dropped. "What promise?"

"My appendix bursting."

"H-hey." He broke into a nervous smile. "I didn't think you were serious."

"Well." She turned to the TV. "I'll say bygones if you admit to it."

"Admit to...?"

"My imagination, is it?" Ai asked.

Deflating on the spot, Conan watched the movie as if he held a nugget of interest.

"Missing calls, passing off any chance to talk in person, I was on the mark yesterday; you're avoiding her."

"And now she's ignoring me," he muttered at his phone.

"She strikes me as someone not easily policed." Ai raised a brow. "Perhaps a compromise."

He itched a sideburn. "You think?"

She giggled, finding his cluelessness refreshing for a change. "So," she sang. "Who are those friends?"

"Probably Ran and Sonoko."

"And you're sure? After yesterday?"

He slumped.

"We're barely hanging on, and you want help?" Sonoko laid an arm across her heart. "Our help?" She swooned. "This new English teacher is beating Ran into the ground, yet you expect her to take on your millenia of late work?!"

"Sonoko," Ran admonished. "It was one question."

I braced my hands at my knees. "What question?"

"Okay, but that's cheating," Sonoko accused. "You lived in America like her."

"Oh." My mind turned over her sentence. "Wait, new teacher?"

"You'll meet her soon enough." Sonoko waved off the topic. "She took a leave of absence these past few days, this week's when she's returning."

"The question—" Ran blushed, her eyes focused on the papers in hand.

I outright laughed. Her reactions are hard to predict at times. "What, what?"

Sonoko plainly stated. "Xoxo."

"Kisses and hugs?"

"See!"

"It's not so common!" I defended. "A friend of mine signs them onto messages with their name."

"A friend are they?" Sonoko elbowed me.

"Chill." I elbowed back. "If you knew them, you wouldn't suggest that."

"H-how's that?" Conan peeked into the room, his hand overhead to reach the doorknob.

"Conan!" Ran started. "I thought you'd be home by now."

"Sorry," a chuckle laced my words. "I got a whole stash of kids upstairs occupied with a movie they wanted to watch."

"Keiko," he asked with all the charm of a pleading child. "I want to read my book, but it's so noisy up there, can I read in here?"

"Sure, just hop up onto the bed and scootch against the wall. We're going to be doing homework." Then I amended, "Suppose to be doing homework."

He did so, crawling past Ran and Sonoko, then asked, "hey, wouldn't Sonoko be right, it sounds like this person is flirting."

"Don't you dare start." He's already been flagged for tattletelling. "It's none of your business."

"Speaking of," Ran tugged my hand. "Guess who Sonoko is seeing?"

"Let me understand that first." Once I hurdled the initial shock, it needed to be confirmed. "Sonoko is seeing someone?"

"Geez, waait!" Sonoko exasperated, cheeks rosy. "Don't tell her!"

"His name's Makoto." And her next comment summed up Sonoko's new couple behavior to a T. "She messages him everyday."

"He doesn't live nearby?" I queried.

"No, he goes to Haido High School."

"I see." I patted Sonoko's shoulder. "Listen, long distance relationships never work out. Just ask my boyfriend."

She glared. "You don't have a boyfriend."

"Exactly."

She swatted me, eliciting a giggle.

"Not funny," Conan grumbled into his book.

"The peanut gallery doesn't comment," I tossed in.

He sank into his book.

"Keiko." Ran handed over her paper. "I got three down with that spreadsheet you showed us, but this one doesn't make sense..."

"Ah, that's cause you used the wrong formula. It's net force, not force."

"Oh." She scraped an eraser across the paper.

"What about my question nine?" Sonoko asked.

"It's half done." Which arose the question. "What's wrong?"

"Tell me if I did it right so far." She then added, "please."

My eyes roved the paper. "Yep, you're fine."

"Wow." Conan crawled forward. "I had no idea you were so good at math. What else are you good with?"

Easy question. "Science, definitely my strong suit. English is okay if I study."

"And history?"

"History... history... is um.."

"She sucks at it." Sonoko verbally dropped a ton of bricks. "Go on. Tell him about what you put for that one open ended response."

With a half frown, I sheepishly asked, "the police one...?"

"Ohmygosh," Ran guffawed behind her hand. "I can't believe I forgot that!"

"What?" Conan anxiously swayed between them "What is it?"

My shoulders sagged. "Okay..." I stared out the window for some form of comfort. "So... apparently we had a whole chapter on the history of the police force, and..."

"She read none of it," all too eager, Sonoko fueled his enthusiasm, as was apparent by his growing grin.

"Despite that being the one thing she could've possibly remembered."

"I know!" My patience ended. "Still regretting it!" I shoved them. "My story, remember?"

They innocently glanced away.

"At that point I had an English exam soon and thought, History could wait awhile. Turns out we had a test the next day. The question was, summarise the evolution of the police force starting with the earliest police station here in Japan. I..."

"She summarized the police force of today, but began with the police force from Sherlock Holmes!"

He flopped back, rolling around the bed, and holding his sides till he laughed himself dry. When he finally caught his breath, he said, "you should have told me sooner! A make-up test is easy."

"Why? You know it better?"

A sympathetic knot tied between Ran's brows for him. "You're smart, but I doubt you'd understand our textbooks easily enough to tutor her. Besides," Ran giggled. "She's a special case."

I glowered. "Quiet you..."

Conan's smile fell slightly, which I found odd... He couldn't have seriously imagined he'd be able to tutor me, could he? We all continued to joke around, yet he turned to his book, no longer invested in the ongoing conversation.

Authors Note

*this is in reference to episode 374-375

Dear returning readers,

First of all it's been years, so if you exist, I love you. Second is that this story has been completely revised to this point! The revisions aren't huge, except chapter one, so please check that out, I'd greatly appreciate it. That and Keiko interacting with Shinichi's parents in 4, 5, and 6, but it's mostly a joke that they ask her to call them mom and dad when Shinichi isn't looking. Besides that it's different word choices here and there, and added/erased scenes. I tried to stick to the original content as close as possible so as to not confuse you lovely readers with an entirely different plot. But it's more than likely been too long for anyone to remember specifically anyway... If anything, my revisions will help make rereading something tolerable.

So, crossing my fingers, I hope you enjoy. Also, I'm going to collectively say thank you! to those of you who have reviewed during my hiatus! I originally had responses to reviews here, but I accidentally deleted them when I was revising again... so I'll just stick to being happy y'all exist.