Although Inspector Nakamori had all but given up on finding Kaito alive and Kaito's mother seemed content to wait for his return, Aoko was still determined to find him. And even though Kogoro hadn't had any success with his investigation Aoko was glad she had met him, if for no other reason than because of Ran. Conan, and Arthur. Ran was like a sister she never knew she had. They even resembled each other, not enough to be mistaken for each other but enough that many people thought they were sisters.

Also being 'Neechan' to Conan and Arthur helped to ease her loneliness. If they weren't in trouble, they were causing it. Arthur, with his pranks and tricks made her laugh and reminded her of Kaito while Conan had a gift for being in the middle of things, especially when there was a mystery involved. Both were unusually intelligent and perceptive for their age and it was almost scary to think about what they would be like in ten years.

Some times Arthur seemed so much like Kaito that she almost called him 'Kaito'. The biggest difference, besides age, seemed to be family. With all the trouble Kaito had caused on his own she couldn't imagine what he would have done if he had a brother. She didn't think the teachers would have survived, and then there was Hakuba. Aoko wasn't entirely sure why Kaito and Hakuba has a not quite friendly rivalry but it was clear that in their constant contest Hakuba often came out second. And she couldn't decide if the idea of him dealing with two Kurobas made her feel sorry for him or made her want to laugh out loud. Still, although she was grateful she had met Ran and her unusual family she missed Kaito and no matter what, no matter how long it took she would find him.

Ran was watching TV when a ball dropped into her lap; she picked it up and looked around to see where it came from.

"Sorry Ran-neechan," Said a sheepish Conan standing by the couch. "It keeps getting away from me."

She was surprised to see Conan come after the ball; she had expected Arthur to have thrown it instead. But across the room Arthur held his head in his hands as he groaned in frustration,

"How many times do we have to go over this? Don't throw so hard! Bring your arm behind your back smoothly and throw the ball up, not to the side. It should hop over your shoulder and almost drop into your other hand, not fly across the room."

Ran gave Conan back his ball and watched as Arthur demonstrated the trick he was attempting to teach Conan. With casual ease, Arthur set three balls spinning in the air then tossing two of them a little higher he caught the third one and brought his arm behind his back to toss the ball over his shoulder. He repeated this trick several times with each hand, never dropping a ball, before giving the balls back to Conan. Conan began juggling again with a determined look on his face until the phone rang and shattered his concentration. Ran answered the phone as Arthur ducked a flying ball.

"Hello?"

"Hello Ran."

"Dr Agasa! How are you?"

"I'm fine, I called to see if the boys would like to spend the weekend with me. I'm going on a fishing trip and Ai doesn't want to stay behind. I'd like the boys to keep her company."

"I'm sure they would." Said Ran. "Let me ask them." Ran covered the mouthpiece of the phone with her hand as she turned to the boys and said, "Dr Agasa wants to know if you two would like to spend the weekend with him and Ai."

Conan and Arthur quickly answered, "Yes." As they knew Dr Agasa must have a reason for wanting them to be at his house for the next two days.

Dr Agasa picked up the boys about 4:00 that afternoon, Ran was double checking the boys backpacks to make sure they didn't forget anything and Kogoro was telling her to 'quit spoiling the brats, Agasa can take care of them for a couple of days'. He didn't seem to notice the expression on Ran's face. If he had he might have been a little worried, the last time she had that look she gave him the choice of cleaning up after himself or eating his own cooking all week. He gave in after two days.

Once the boys were in Agasa's car Conan stared suspiciously at the scientist until he began to shift uncomfortably in his seat. Finally without taking his eyes from the road he asked, "Is something wrong Shinichi?"

"I know Ai isn't afraid to stay behind and when she's bored the last thing she wants is company."

"Unless she wants lab rats." Chimed in Arthur. "What? It's true!"

Conan ignored Arthur in favor of continuing to glare at Dr Agasa, who refused to answer until they got to his house.

Ai was waiting in the living room when they came in and Conan immediately insisted she explain why she wanted them to come. Instead of answering him she just looked at Arthur and said, "I've considered your idea and I think it may work."

"My idea?"

"Yes." She said, "You must stop Ran and Aoko from continuing their investigation. Sooner or later they will draw attention to themselves, your plan is risky but we don't have anything better."

"Just a minute! What plan are you talking about?" Yelled Conan.

"I have improved the temporary antidote, it still lasts only twenty-four hours but there is a much smaller chance of it being fatal.

Both boys looked shocked. Conan because Ai was talking about giving them the temporary antidote, and Arthur because, well all he could think about was the words "chance of being fatal".

Ai continued, "You should take the antidote late tonight, I'd suggest around 1:00 or 2:00 AM. That way even if something happens you won't be in public when you start to change back."

"1:00 in the morning!"

"That is what AM means Kuroba, you should also eat well tonight and go to bed early so your body can cope better with the stress of the change."

"How much safer is the antidote?" Asked Conan.

"There is approximately a two percent chance of the antidote being fatal, eighteen percent chance of one or both of you being very ill for a few days and a eighty percent chance that the only side effect you will experience will be a general weakness and tiredness for several hours after you return to your younger state. Of course, the more stress your body undergoes close to the time of your transformation the greater the risk of illness or death. And unfortunately I haven't found a way to make the transformation any less painful."

Dr Agasa and the three not exactly children ate an early dinner that night, the meal was… interesting, as Ai had planned it around the nutritional needs of two boys who were physically eight years old and in a few hours would be physically eighteen. It wasn't bad; in fact it was quite tasty, just odd. Arthur was just grateful the meal didn't include any fish. Agasa found it very amusing watching the blond girl make sure the two boys ate enough. He had to stifle a chuckle when she overrode their protests and sent them to bed early, he nearly did laugh when he thought about the fact that the small child was lecturing the Kaitou Kid! Never mind the fact that the Kid was literally a kid right now, it was still quite funny.

Manzanita says, "We're back! Yes it's been forever since the last update but between computer issues and real life (I had to work three days of the four day weekend.) Well this was the best we could do. We will do our best to get the rest of the chapters out faster but updates will be kind of slow until January.

Tigger says "Wow! You're saying I have a real life. I thought I was floating in the abyss of the real world. Now that I'm awake I hate it when gremlins steal my computer."

P.S. Thank you Southpaw, Night-Owl123, The Amazing spell-checker, Private, I don't know if there are two people who sign their name private. Do you some times sign all capitals and some times not? DarkPurpleDragon Thank you for the encouragement and I have read Ysabet's story look at the end of chap 7. I'm glad your enjoying the story Silver Sky Magician, Thank you Firestorm2004, Meitantei Kudo kid, Psycho King, and Vash. Song-Obsessed1 I'm sorry you were disappointed with the last chapter but thank you for your comment. Tsubasa-667 you were right about Ai giving them the antidote, Sabriel-chan; we know about the rushed feeling and we are trying to improve the quality of the story, thank you for taking the time to comment. Kyllir, glad you like it and we enjoyed your encouragement.