Artful Deception
Chapter 2: Problem Solving
Disclaimer: If I owned Detective Conan, Shinichi would be back by now! (My way of saying "No, I do not own Detective Conan" xP)

Thanks to everyone who reviewed and read! Sorry I didn't reply, but I DO read all of them, just to reassure you guys. xD Here's the second chapter. Enjoy and of course, please tell me what you think. n.n Oh and if you need a little recap – Conan/Shinichi was at Dr. Agasa's house and had just finished talking to Ran over the phone about coming to her birthday party…

Remembering his sudden craving for hot chocolate from the night before, Conan politely asked Dr. Agasa for permission to make a cup after he hung up with Ran. He relaxed in silence as he waited for the water to boil, and he got a cynical look from Ai, who now had a book in her hands, almost looking ready to throw it at him.

"And that was the real reason you came here over here, wasn't it?" she asked.

Conan looked over to her with a questioning look. "What, the phone call?" he asked. "Well, yeah, I suppose. But I did want to find out about your progress on the cure as well."

Ai looked at him for a few moments and then focused her attention back on her book once more, turning to the next page. "It's funny," she observed. "A detective of your caliber putting so much importance in a silly birthday party…"

Conan gave a little smirk, setting his elbow on the table and resting his face against his hand. "You say that like it bothers you," he remarked, as he glanced over to the hot water, which still showed no signs of boiling.

She returned his smirk, peeking out from behind her book to look at him. "And what if I told you that it does?"

"You'd be lying," Conan replied with a devilish smile, as if it was the easiest question he had ever answered. He flashed her another smirk before she hid behind her book again, and then the water boiling called his attention. Dr. Agasa had already poured some into a mug for him and was bringing it over along with cocoa mix and a spoon.

"Help yourself, detective," he told him, as he walked back to make himself a cup as well. "Did you want a cup, Ai-kun?"

Ai shook her head. "No thanks, I'm good," she replied. She turned another page in her book and seemed to be very enticed with it.

Conan poured the cocoa mix into the hot water and began mixing, as Dr. Agasa joined them at the table with his own cup. After stirring vigorously with the spoon, Conan finally took a drink of his hot chocolate and seemed satisfied. He gave a sigh of relief, almost feeling as if the hot chocolate was washing his problems away – of course that was far from the truth. Dr. Agasa gave Shinichi a worried look upon noticing his troubled face. "Something bothering you, Shinichi?" he asked.

He looked over to him, and began to mindlessly stir his hot chocolate. "Hmm…well…it's just …Ran is going to want Conan at that party too," he remembered. "And I'm not too sure on how I'm going to get away with being both him and myself at the same time…"

It seemed that whenever one problem was solved, another showed up to take its place. Dr. Agasa took another sip of his hot chocolate and smiled at him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, Shinichi," he assured him. "We'll help you okay? But before we handle that – do you even know what you're going to get her yet?"

Conan sighed and rested his head on the table. "No…" he replied. "That's another problem I have to solve…"

Dr. Agasa clapped his hands together and looked at the two of them. "Well then!" he grinned. "How about we go shopping today? I'm free, and there's nothing else to do. Besides, I may want to pick up something for the little lady myself."

Conan smiled and chuckled a little, amused by his enthusiasm. "Thanks doc," he nodded. "Oh, and for the hot chocolate too."

He smiled. "No problem at all – let's go! The malls should be opening soon," he replied. He looked over to Ai, who showed no signs of movement or interest in going. "Ai-kun, don't you want to come?"

She finally looked up from her book and shrugged her shoulders. "Not particularly," she replied. "You guys go ahead; I'll stay here and keep reading." She put a bookmark to keep her place in her book and walked away carrying it, heading down to the basement where she always was.

Conan finished his hot chocolate and put his mug in the sink, and after Dr. Agasa did the same, they both went out to his car. They headed to the mall, and for the most part they were silent, simply listening to the radio forecast nothing but rain, and going through some light traffic. They got to the mall within ten minutes, and Conan couldn't help but be slightly overwhelmed by the number of stores and people. He decided he'd simply follow Dr. Agasa, for fear that if he wandered off anywhere, he'd get lost in that maze of a place.

"So, where do you want to start?" Dr. Agasa asked, looking around at all the people shopping. He looked a little overwhelmed as well; shopping wasn't something he did often.

Conan looked around at the shoppers too, not recognizing even one face in the crowds. "To be perfectly honest… I have no idea…" he admitted, scratching his head. Dr. Agasa just shrugged and began to walk straight as Conan followed, hoping that the path might lead them to a store with a good gift for Ran. He glanced through the windows of as many stores as he could before he was shoved along by more shoppers, but not a single thing caught his eye.

After about an hour of no progress, they both finally found a vacant bench just outside of what seemed to be just an ordinary shop full of gadgets and trinkets. Conan sighed, mindlessly watching the people go in and out of the shop, buried in his own thoughts.

"Oh cheer up, Shinichi, you'll find something!" Dr. Agasa said.

He gave him a weak smile in return, appreciating the Doc's encouragement, yet at the same time beginning to find it intensively annoying. The sight of a waving hand then caught his eye, and he looked over to see that it was attached to a tan-skinned male, appearing no older than Shinichi's age. There was a female smiling next to him, waving as well, who had dark hair that she kept in a neat ponytail. Shinichi immediately recognized them, and he waved in return as he saw them head over.

"Well, if it isn't the genius professor and the little detective!" Heiji greeted, patting Conan on the head like the little kid he was.

He shot him a small look, but then smiled innocently, quickly remembering that he indeed was a kid – at least as long as Kazuha was around. "Heiji-kun, Kazuha-chan!" hecried excitedly. "What are you two doing here?"

Heiji took his arm off of Conan's head and smiled. "Just doing some shopping for Ran's gift," he said. "Kazuha here wasn't satisfied with the stores we had up in Osaka." He gave her a look that showed that he obviously wasn't satisfied.

Kazuha stuck out her tongue. "Is it that bad that I want to get Ran something special!" she shot back. "And anyway, I have to go to the bathroom, so wait here and don't get lost!"

"You were the one that almost got lost earlier, not me!" he shot back.

"I told you, I wasn't lost, AHOU!" she exclaimed, storming off in the direction of the bathroom.

Conan just looked amused. "Funny," he remarked. "You guys were all smiles two seconds ago when you walked over here."

Heiji just laughed. "Yeah, that happens a lot," he said. "I'm used to it…And actually, my dad had some business in the area, so we just tagged along. I was just giving Kazuha a hard time."

He gave a nod. It was a more rational explanation than simply coming all the way to Beika just for shopping, anyway.

Dr. Agasa then turned to Conan, having just remembered something. "Hey, Conan, Heiji is the one that gave you the liquor that turned you back for a few minutes that one time, right?" he asked.

He nodded. "Yeah, but remember? It only works when I'm sick," he reminded him.

"Well still, it may help Ai with the cure you need so much," he said. He turned to Heiji with a smile. "Would you happen to have any of that with you?"

Heiji blinked. "That liquor stuff?" he asked. "No, but you can probably get some in that store over there." He pointed to a small store just a little ways away from them, near the bathroom where Kazuha had gone earlier. He then turned to Conan. "So you're going to be able to go as yourself after all, Kudo?"

Conan shrugged. "As far as I know," he said.

"But what about Conan?" Heiji replied.

"I know," he said. "I'm going to figure that out, don't worry. I just have to solve one thing at a time…"

Just then, Kazuha returned suddenly, and the three turned to her upon noticing. Heiji raised an eyebrow at her with a suspicious look on his face, and Conan had done the same thing practically at the same time.

"That was quick," Heiji remarked, surprised.

"Yeah I know…the line was too long," she said. "It wasn't worth it. Let's keep looking around; I'll try again in a bit."

Heiji nodded and turned to Dr. Agasa and Conan. "Well, see you at the party then," he said. "Good luck."

Conan nodded. "See ya," he said, waving to them as they left. Dr. Agasa followed suit, and it wasn't long before they disappeared into the crowd all together. He then turned back to Conan and got up off the bench they had been sitting on.

"Well, let's go get that liquor then," he said. "And then we'll give shopping another shot, all right?"

He agreed apathetically and followed him to the store Heiji indicated earlier, looking around on the way to see if anything gift-worthy would grab his attention. His eyes had lingered on something in a small stand that sold little kiddy trinkets and games, and it suddenly triggered an idea in him. It was a good idea, and it was certainly something that he needed to do; but the variety of possible reactions he could get made him hesitant. He let it go for the moment, remembering that they were supposed to be getting the liquor to help with the cure.

He sighed, feeling a little awkward looking around for that type of beverage as a mere eight-year-old – and the strange stares from everyone else didn't help much either. When the one bottle of that liquor left on the shelf finally caught his eye, he turned to Dr. Agasa and tugged on his white lab coat to get his attention. He motioned over to the bottle, and Dr. Agasa picked it up, looking at the label and examining it. He looked back to Conan with a questioning look, and he nodded, assuring him that it was the correct bottle to buy. He then followed Dr. Agasa silently to the cashier and waited as he stood in line to pay.

They finally made it out of the store, and to their delight, people were beginning to leave. The two could shop around much easier now, and yet Conan still saw nothing else that seemed special enough for the gift. Stuffed animals, necklaces, rings, earrings; yes, they were all nice, but too easy. So far, his idea he had was still the most original and thoughtful – but he was still hesitant.

Dr. Agasa followed behind Conan now, struggling to keep up as Conan continuously went from store to store, scanning through everything, yet still saw nothing to his liking. Another hour passed, and they finally decided to get lunch at the food court, noticing that it was almost one in the afternoon. They had gotten their food and drinks, and as they ate, Conan seemed deep in thought the whole time. Suddenly it seemed that a switch had clicked inside him; a smirk suddenly appeared on his face, and it seemed that there was no doubt in his mind anymore.

"Wait here, doc, I'll be right back!" Conan exclaimed. With that, he left the table where they were sitting, and had ran to get to the small stand near the store where they had gotten the liquor. He was going to go through with his idea; he wasn't going to be able to do it any other way – and she just had to know.

He rushed and got what he needed quickly, for fear that he might change his mind again, and dashed away from the place, heading back to the food court. He got some odd stares and random comments like 'Where'd he come from!' and 'Who's kid is that!', as he had to push some people out of his way – but he was used to those and didn't really care enough to stop and apologize or say anything.

The only thing that got him to stop was when he felt the vibrating from his pocket again; he was getting another phone call, but in that loud mall, it was impossible to hear it ring – which made him glad he set it on vibrate.

He slowed down to a steady walk as he pulled out his cell phone and gave a weird look, knowing that he only rarely received phone calls ever since he 'disappeared.' He thought that maybe it was Ran again, but upon looking at the number, he discovered that not only was he wrong, but he didn't even recognize it. He lifted his bowtie up to his face, having already adjusted it to his Shinichi voice from that morning's conversation with Ran. He was slightly afraid, but he shook it off and answered it.

"Hello?" he said, in a strong, confident voice.

"You don't have to use your bowtie son, it's just me!" the voice replied. It was the voice of a man – relatively deep – and Shinichi recognized it right off the bat.

"Dad!" he exclaimed, slowly moving the bowtie away from his face. "Where are you calling from? You nearly gave me a heart attack! I thought the men in black found my number or something…"

Yusaku just laughed, having just pulled over into a gas station to fuel up his car. "No, no," he said. "That's you being paranoid. It's just me – didn't I tell you about this number?"

Shinichi narrowed his eyes into a glare. "If you had, don't you think I would've known it was you?" he asked.

He chuckled in return. "I guess you're right," he replied.

Of course, that wasn't anything new; the not-so-young boy just rolled his eyes. "So… what's up? Are you with mom?" he asked.

"Yep; she's right here, bugging me for the phone," he replied, smiling, as a very faint 'Hi Shinichi!' could be heard in the background. "We're right in the Beika area. That's why we called!" He grinned. "We were hoping to drop in and see you…"

The eyes of the young detective widened. "Are you serious! How did you manage to get in the Beika area?" he asked, surprised.

His father smiled. "Well, since I just finished the book in the Night Baron series that just got released, my editors and publishers don't need the next one for a while, so they said I could take a break," heexplained enthusiastically. "By the way, did you read it yet?"

Shinichi chuckled. "Well, of course I bought it the first day," he said. "I just started reading it last night. I got pretty far, but no, I didn't finish yet. I do like what I've read so far though – good job!"

Yusaku beamed. "Aw, thanks!" he said. "It's nice to know some people think it's worth the wait. And your mother's going to have a heart attack soon if I don't give her the phone, so here she is." He chuckled, finally handing the phone to Yukiko, who perked up immediately.

"Hello, Shinichi!" she exclaimed. "How've you been?"

He giggled at her enthusiasm. "I've been all right… and you?" he asked.

She smiled upon hearing his voice, even though it was not his true voice as it was supposed to be. "Oh, I'm fine dear, just fine... I just happen to know of someone who has a birthday party to go to within the next week who's in quite the predicament…" she replied teasingly.

Shinichi raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Haha, mom, very funny," he said.

Yukiko giggled. "I'm just giving you a hard time, hun," she said, winking. "But seriously, did you figure out a way you're going to see her? You know, as yourself? You know she's going to want you there on her special day."

He nodded and sighed a little, being reminded of the little problems he had been trying to solve. "Yes, yes I know mom," he replied. "And as far as I know, Haibara has that covered…it's just that she's going to want Conan there too, and frankly, I'm not sure how I'm gonna pull that off. I mean, Haibara could disguise as him again, but… I just don't feel comfortable asking for another favor. She's already doing a lot for me…"

His mother smiled, as she offhandedly thought of a solution to the problem. "You should've told me from the start!" she replied. "If you remember, I also created the identity of Conan's mom. I could easily get you out of the agency for a few days – how does that sound?"

His eyes widened thoughtfully and his lips curved into a smile. "Just crazy enough to work," he remarked. "But…what excuse would you use? To get out of something like a birthday party…it'd have to be pretty good."

"Oh, I dunno," she shrugged. "Your father being deathly ill, your grandmother dying…something along those lines I suppose. Don't worry about that; I'll handle it, okay?" She winked and smiled devilishly.

"Sure, sure," he replied. "I'll trust you. Thanks mom, I definitely owe you one!"

Yukiko laughed. "You owe me a lot more than that dear, but all right!" she said. "I'll call Ran later and take care of everything. But first, when can we see you? Are you at Dr. Agasa's?"

"No, not right now – I'm at the mall doing some…shopping," Shinichi said. "We're done though; after we finish lunch we're going home. Can you meet us there in about a half an hour, maybe?"

She nodded. "Will do, hun. See you soon!" she said, right after which he heard a farewell from his father as well in the background. They both hung up and he continued walking to the food court, feeling very relieved. He now had a present for Ran; he was going to be able to go to her party without worrying about Conan…how could he not be in a good mood?

He found Dr. Agasa again, still sitting at the table, and he also saw his food he had left there, reminding him that he was still hungry. He put the bag with Ran's present next to him on the ground and finished off the food he had left, taking pauses in eating to tell Dr. Agasa about his parents calling and how his major problem from before had been solved. He proceeded to tell the Doc that they would be at his house in a half an hour to see the two of them, and he looked delighted.

"It will be wonderful to see your parents again!" he exclaimed. "And it looks like all your problems have been solved, am I right?"

Conan smiled. "Looks like it," he said. "So let's go!" He quickly finished the last bite of his food and threw away the trash, putting the tray back where it belonged to be reused. They both seemed to be in a good mood now, as they headed out to the car, Conan holding the bag of which he had yet to reveal the contents to Dr. Agasa.

As Dr. Agasa drove out of the parking lot, he curiously looked over to the bag which Conan now held protectively. "Is that Ran's present?" he asked.

"Yup," Conan replied, suddenly confident in his idea he had.

There was a pause, as Dr. Agasa waited for him to go on to say what it was, but was sadly disappointed. "What…what is it?" he asked curiously.

Conan simply smirked, saying nothing for a while, contemplating how exactly to reply. He could've said nothing; he could've shown him what it was, and told him his idea… but, in the end, he found simple words that were somewhere in between; and they would suffice.

"I'm finally…gonna tell her…"

Teehee, don't worry, you'll find out what he got her soon enough! Please keep reading. Hope you liked the chapter!