AN: Ai and Agasa's found family dynamic is so good so I wanted to write something sweet and fluffy dedicated to it? So here we go. It's cute. It's good. It made me happy.

Anniversary

Characters: Haibara Ai, Agasa Hiroshi, Yoshida Ayumi

Summary: It was an important date, and so it called for something special.

She woke to the smell of something sugary sweet, and the realization that her alarm clock had very much failed to go off.

The latter was perhaps not a crisis- blissfully enough, it was a Sunday, so Haibara Ai could afford to sleep in. Still, it wasn't something she necessarily liked to do, finding that it threw off the rhythm of her whole day. As she checked her clock, she felt a slight sigh escaping from her lips as she realized that she'd only slept in for an extra thirty minutes- hardly enough to cast a cloud over the rest of her day.

It was the sugary sweet smell that caught her attention all the more, and she narrowed her eyes, casting them towards the bed where the Professor slept. Noticing that the man was not there, she found herself heaving another sigh, this one with a touch of exasperation to it, as she put two and two together. Swinging her feet out of bed, Ai carefully slipped on her slippers, and made her way upstairs.

The sweet smell that had been wafting downstairs to the basement was unmistakably that of pancakes and maple syrup, she thought to herself. She had thought that the Professor had been up to something behind her back recently, but she never expected him to be as brazen as this. If he was going to start off his day by eating something as heavy as pancakes, she would make quite sure to inform him that he would need to watch what he ate for the rest of the day.

"Professor." Ai spoke up as she entered the kitchen, a sharp tone to her voice, one that didn't quite belong to a child of her size. Of course, that was because she wasn't actually a child, but rather, an eighteen year old- it wasn't as if she had her current appearance because she wanted it.

"Ah, Ai-kun!" The Professor actually seemed to perk up at her appearance, not giving her the usual guilt-ridden reaction upon realizing that she'd caught him out. "Go on ahead and take a seat. I was going to wake you up myself once they were finished, but seeing as you're already up, you might as well relax and wait."

A slight frown gracing her features, Ai nevertheless did take her usual seat at the table, staring curiously at the white haired man, watching as he flipped a pancake over, careful to not let it escape from the pan. "I won't tell you to throw out what you've already made, Professor, but if you're going to start your day out with pancakes, you'd be advised to mind what you eat afterwards."

"No, no, these pancakes aren't for me." Agasa told her simply, carefully transferring the pancake from the frying pan to the waiting plate, stacked four high. Letting out a breath of relief, he turned off the stove, setting aside the frying pan on an unused burner. "They're for you, Ai-kun."

"For me?" Ai blinked, positively perplexed by this development, watching as the man sat the plate down in front of her, alongside a bottle of maple syrup and jam of assorted flavors. Her look of confusion only grew as she watched the Professor merely retrieve a box of oatmeal for himself, placing some water in the kettle for it. "For what reason?"

It wasn't her birthday, after all. She'd never told anyone what it was in the first place.

"Don't tell me you don't remember?" Agasa asked, blinking a little. "Today's the very first day you started living with me, Ai-kun. Since you've never told me your birthday, this is the next best thing I can celebrate."

"Eh?" Blinking a little, as if not expecting that reason, Ai glanced down at the pancakes on her plate, the inviting smell of maple syrup wafting up from the nearby bottle. "Just because of that?"

"Yes, just because of that." Agasa said simply, nodding his head. "It's like I gained myself a granddaughter, after all. Of course, there's more than just pancakes!"

Without another word, Agasa quickly bustled out of the kitchen, only returning moments later with a wrapped present, which he all but thrust into Ai's hand. Uncertain of what else to do, she carefully took it from him, a befuddled expression on her face as she glanced down at the package that had been wrapped in glittering gold wrapping paper.

"Go ahead and open it." Agasa prompted her, a beaming smile on his face.

Not knowing what else to do, Ai carefully opened it up, making sure to place the wrapping paper aside on the table, so she could properly throw it away later. The paper revealed a white box, and the white box revealed-

"This is!" Ai let out a slight gasp, a rare look of visible surprise in those eyes. "The latest Fusae brand handbag? Professor, this isn't even available in Japan yet, and is incredibly expensive beyond that! How did you get it?"

"I've been saving up for it for quite some time." Agasa told her, a pleased smiled on his face. "Well, if there's one thing I have to apologize for, it's that it might be out of fashion by the time you can actually use it, but..."

"No!" Ai spoke up, rapidly shaking her head. "I'll definitely use it, Professor!" She promised him, taking the bag in her hands, turning it over. "But you didn't have to do something like this for me. I'm just freeloading at your place, after all."

"Hardly!" Agasa's beaming face was all the reassurance that she needed. "Didn't I say it earlier, Ai-kun? It's like I gained myself a granddaughter. It might be somewhat presumptions of me, but I've come to consider you my family."

It wasn't like her to be overtaken by emotion like this. And yet for what felt like the first time in a long time, Ai felt a fond smile form on her lips, as she held the handbag close. "Thank you. Really, really, thank you."

"Ai-chan, are you coming?"

"Just one second, Ayumi-chan!" Ai called out, pausing to check her bangs, making sure everything was in proper order. With a satisfied nod, Ai carefully grabbed her handbag, tucking her house keys away inside of it. "Professor, we're leaving!"

"Oh, have fun you two!" Agasa called out, glancing up from his computer, watching as the now properly high school aged girl made her way towards the entrance, carefully tugging on her shoes- the latest brand of high heels from fashion designer that Agasa couldn't even remember the name of, that Ai had saved up for at her part time job. "If you run into any trouble, be sure to give Ran-kun or Shinichi a call, and they'll come to pick you up right away."

"We're just going to the amusement park, Professor." Ayumi told him, giving the man a small smile. "I promise we won't get into that much trouble."

"You'd be amazed at the kind of trouble you could get into at amusement parks." Agasa observed. "Pass on my greetings to Genta-kun and Mitsuhiko-kun."

"We will." Ai promised him, standing up. "Come on then, Ayumi-chan. We'll miss the train if we linger around any longer here. Well then, I'll see you later, Professor."

Watching as the pair of teenager girls made their way out of his door, Agasa cast them a fond smile. In the end, Ai had decided against taking the antidote- and had decided to live out the rest of her life as Haibara Ai, a girl who had both friends- and family. A girl who worked hard at her part time job to earn extra money with which to buy the name brand items which she had to forgo for so long.

A girl who in spite of all that, still used a worn out, out of date, Fusae brand handbag, and wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.