Takato: Thanks to Luna-Kitsune-Blu, who unknowingly reminded me that, hey, the Shounen Tentei (…mainly Ayumi and Mitsuhiko, due to the fact they're.. A tad more intelligent then Genta) would notice Conan's quircks.

Now, I'm not planning on everyone having a direct confrontation with Conan about being Shinichi/someone older, but, it all depends on how the chapters write out.

It's just so you know.

I'm also going to try really hard on KID's to be as amusing as possible, due to the fact he could, and has totally messed with Conan about that sort of thing.

Disclaimer: I don't own Mae's Sun and the Moon lyrics, Detective Conan, or the originating inspiration… but everything after Kazuha is my own personal ideas (Except when we get to KID… that'll be inspired by Ysabet since… Kaitou's truly Kaitou in her fic's XD muahaha)

the words seem to flow
and the thoughts they keep running.

Ayumi

Ayumi sighed softly as she watched Conan-kun once again figure out an almost unsolvable mystery, and get congratulated.

Today she'd decided to stand back, and observe.

Ai-chan seemed to be watching her with a knowing eye, and yet, at the same time, ignoring her.

It was strange.

She'd always noticed how off to the side and reserved Ai-chan was, to such a point, that she sometimes forgot the fact Conan-kun acted a lot more mature than her and the other boys. It was strange, in a simple, yet incredibly complex manner.

Ayumi knew she wasn't the smartest, but after hanging out with Conan-kun for over a year, and with Ai-chan for around half of that time, she'd learned 2 important skills.

Observation, and memory recall.

At first, one might not think too much of them, since with a child, they would simply seem curious.

But she was far more than curious.

She was critical, and even though she was still too new to this sort of thing, she was able to constantly observe her classmates everyday, and that helped her a great deal in learning how to observe.

One thing anyone could notice, was that he ran towards pain, danger, and death.

And death was something she'd gotten a lot of, being around him. The same with danger, especially since she'd been kidnapped more than once.

It was scary.

It was also real.

Ayumi was able to discern a lot by watching how Conan-kun and Ai-chan behaved in class compared to the other kids.

They were bored almost the whole time, they didn't like having to play their games, and they hated crafts time.

Conan-kun didn't really like music class either, and Ai-chan… well… she just faked it in a bored manner, as far as she could tell.

There was also the area of food.

Both Ai-chan, and Conan-kun liked coffee.

Not only that, but they didn't even put in a lot of sugar!

That alone was strange, since coffee was an adult drink, and they seemed to prefer it most of the time while they were out at restaurants.

They also ordered more adult meals when Ran-neechan wasn't around.

Ayumi sighed softly, simply waiting to be able to go home.

and all that i have is yours.
all that i am is yours.

Mitsuhiko

Mitsuhiko was glad the case was finally over. If anything, today seemed rather uncomfortable, as if something was seriously wrong.

He looked over to Ayumi-chan, and realized she'd been off on the side, alone and silent for almost the whole case!

Mitsuhiko was quickly able to note that Ayumi was watching both Ai-kun and Conan-kun as they spoke in hushed whispers off to the side. He tilted his head slightly, and then thought back to his thoughts from earlier.

They were a lot more mature than them.

If those two weren't around, Mitsuhiko would probably be considered the most mature of the group.

Ai-kun and Conan-kun brought a whole new level of maturity to them when they appeared their consecutive days in their class.

He'd been observing Conan-kun, and almost trying to meet him on some sort of level, almost feeling as though he needed to look up to him as a guidance.

It wasn't normal in his mind to feel this strange big-little brother connection to him, and yet, he found himself doing so at times, becoming enwrapped in anything and everything Conan-kun did.

He could look up to him.

Sure, Conan-kun could act childish at times, but, deep down, he knew Conan-kun acted as close to who he truly was around them.

Mitsuhiko shook his head and sighed softly, deciding to follow the others as they walked out of the apartment, and back into the ending day. He then moved so that he was walking almost side-by-side with Ayumi-chan.

"Hey… Ayumi-chan?"

She blinked, and looked to him, "Yeah?"

Mitsuhiko looked down for a moment before looking to her again, feeling nervous, "Have you… noticed Conan-kun and Ai-kun….?"

Ayumi blinked for a moment, "You mean… how they seem to know a lot more than us?"

Mitsuhiko nodded, "Yeah."

Ayumi smiled a little wearily, "It's all that's been on my mind today."

He nodded again, "I see… So you've noticed it too… Do you… Do you think we should ask them about it…?"

Ayumi paused, thinking, "I.. Don't really know… But I suppose it wouldn't hurt too much to simply ask them for a bit of the truth…"

Mitsuhiko smiled somewhat, "Alright, let's ask them tomorrow."

Ayumi nodded, "Alright, let's go to Agasa-hakase's house at 4, ok?"

They both made a slight nod, "See you there."

Ai was sitting peacefully on a stool as she read through a magazine, when the doorbell suddenly rang. She paused, straightening up a bit as she quirked an eyebrow in a silent question, as if to ask who was at the door.

She hopped off the stool and silently made her way to the front door, opening it, "…Ayumi-chan, Mitsuhiko-kun…?"

Both nodded as Ai made a quick note that Genta-kun wasn't with them. She took a step back and let them in, "So, was there something you wanted…?"

Ayumi-chan and Mitsuhiko-kun looked to each other for a moment before nodding, Mitsuhiko speaking up, "Uh.. Yes. We were sort of… wondering about some things concerning you and Conan-kun…"

Ai raised an eyebrow, getting the slight feeling of being interrogated.

Funny how things sometimes flipped in one's life.

Yet, she found herself nodding slightly, and walking to the couch so that they wouldn't have to stand by the door to talk.

After getting settled, Ayumi-chan spoke, "Ai-chan… We wanted to ask about you and Conan-kun…"

Ai paused, blinking slowly for a moment, "What is it you wanted to know…?"

Both Ayumi-chan and Mitsuhiko-kun shifted, obviously uncomfortable, "Well, we wanted to ask why you're so different from us… We've come to the conclusion that you can't be who you say you are… You're both just too different from us!"

Ai studied them for a while, weighing options, and deciding on the best outcome that would make them leave her and Conan-kun alone. She slowly came to a decent conclusion, and smiled slightly, "If you really must know… You have to swear yourselves to secrecy. A secrecy that, if you tell anyone, it will probably cost not only your own lives, but anyone connected to any of us."

Ayumi-chan and Mitsuhiko-kun paused, and then made their decisions, "We won't tell a soul!"

Ai smirked, "Alright then. I'm not going to tell you everything about us, like who we really are, but I will tell you that we're actually a lot older than you. That's why we know a lot of stuff that kid's don't usually know, and that's how we can be so calm in situations people normally wouldn't be. We're both different than normal people, though, at the same time, we're still people."

Ayumi-chan tilted her head slightly to the side, "I don't.. completely understand… but… I guess at the same time, I do…"

Mitsuhiko-kun nodded, "Haibara-san, could you… could you tell us how old you, or perhaps, at least, how old Conan-kun actually is…?"

Ai closed her eyes for a moment in thought, before looking at the two of them, "He's 18."

Both Ayumi-chan and Mitsuhiko-kun balked, as they took in this information. Amazingly, they quickly got over it, though, it probably wasn't all that surprising at the same time.

Mitsuhiko-kun nodded, "I see. Are you about the same age..?"

"Around it."

Ayumi-chan sighed, "I guess… Is it bad for me to like Conan-kun…?"

Ai smiled, "No, just so long as you don't peck him on the cheek anymore, liking him won't do you any harm."

Mitsuhiko-kun and Ayumi-chan nodded, "..Ai-chan.."

"Yes, Ayumi-chan?"

"…Will you ever get back to normal…?"

"Someday maybe, but for now… We're simply trying to live, and keep all of those who are close to us, safe."

Mitsuhiko-kun nodded, and smiled slightly, despite his dejected appearance, "I suppose we should leave anymore questions off, huh?"

Ai smiled, "Maybe one day, if it's safe and we're still alive, we'll tell you what happened to us… But for now, simply pretend you know nothing."

The two children nodded before getting up and bowing slightly, "Thank you for taking us seriously…"

Ai stood as well, "It's alright."

Soon after they left, and Ai watched them as they made their silent way home.

She almost felt bad for them.

But, perhaps, it was alright for those two to know.

Besides, they might listen next time she or Kudo-kun ask them to stay away, since it's for their own safety.

She could hope anyways.

With that thought, she smiled slightly, and closed the door.

Time to get back to the antidote…

Takato: -stretches-

Well, with each chapter, I think I'll find that I didn't go with the originally thought of ending… but of course, why should poor Conan have to deal with everyone who figures him out?

Anyway, I'm not sure if I used the right end suffixes on their names, and at times, I think I forgot (with Ai maybe) to put 'Edogawa-kun' instead of 'Conan-kun'…. but… it's 3:37AM, and I need to go to bed.

Please REVIEW

It feeds the starving artist!