A/N: A shorter chapter to celebrate me making it to thirty. As expressed, now my chapters are usually about 3,000 words, or 2,000 at the least (unless it's a certain chapter that I can't come up with anything) ((Only on this story, though, my other story chaps are still short-ish)). This used to be how long every chapter was before. I've come a long way since working on this story. Thank you all for your continued support! (Bows)

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan or Magic Kaito in any way or form.

Chapter Thirty

"Good morning, Alice-kun." The professor greeted me as I walked into his house, like I owned the place. It was plain to see that we were good friends now. "Good morning~!" I hummed back, immediately heading to the kitchen to grab a piece of toast; I hadn't had the time to eat breakfast yet and it was way past lunch time. Truthfully, both the professor and I were unconventional, always saying good morning until it was, at least, one o'clock. Everyone seemed used to it by now, though. I waved to Conan, who was sitting on the couch comfortably. It looked like he was reading a manga and just chilling.

Stuffing an un-toasted piece of toast into my mouth, I headed to the counter in the middle of the room (really, Agasa's whole house was in one center room, save the basement and his 'laboratory'), hopping onto a stool. I dug into my bag, pulling out stacks of papers with drawings and scrawled notes; one folder came out with the pile, covering what was inside of it. "Here ya go, Hakase~! Exactly what you requested." I grinned as he rushed over, excited.

"Oh, thank you, Alice-kun! I've been having a bit of inventor's block for a while." He chuckled whole heartedly, and my grin softened to a fond smile as he shuffled through the papers. Conan glanced over to us curiously, "What he requested? You've been helping Hakase with his inventions, Koizumi?" My brow twitched at the underlying suspicious tone before I masked it and turned to look at him. "Yup~! I only provide ideas, though, since I don't know the real science of the matter, right, Hakase?" He nodded. "He also chooses which ones he finds interesting and then, if he can, he'll create them. I just get to see the prototypes before he actually puts them into work and lets you use them."

"I see…," He trailed, disbelieving. He paused. "Wait – before he lets me use them?! You know about my gadgets?!"

I laughed as the professor looked sheepish. "I accidently told her when we were talking about the possibility of a machine that can swap your dimension." He explained, "But, she said she'd keep it a secret from any others, so it's fine." He quickly added, seeing Conan deadpan. Said boy gave a sigh before disregarding it and moving onto a different topic. "And a machine to swap dimensions? How would that be useful? Not to mention that it's impossible. Other dimensions don't exist." Oh, you have no idea…

"Well, you never know. People could be watching us, right now, on a television! Or in a story! This could all just be a vivid, realistic, story!" I retorted, feeling the need to defend the idea of it. Hey, if there was a possibility of making a machine to get back home, then I'd ditch the thief idea in the blink of an eye. So many things could go wrong with that current plan, after all. Like, so many things. The thought of it was enough to sink me into a pit of discomfort.

"Not to mention that the String Theory has been noted by several, not being falsified or approved. It's very possible that we could make it work, right, Alice-kun?" Agasa backed me up and I nodded confidently, throwing any thoughts of theft out of my mind – I was in a room with Kudou Shinichi, I shouldn't be thinking of it right now.

Conan rolled his eyes at the two of us and I ignored him in favor of continuing to nibble on my bread. After a moment, Agasa followed my example, regarding the folder in front of me. "Is this also for me?" He asked in interest, about to open it before I caught his wrist. He blinked down at me as I gave him a sly smirk, putting my pointer finger in front of my mouth, the universal sign for 'keep quiet'. "This is a secret project I'd like you to work on, if you're interested. The mechanics of it are pretty cool, but you have to promise to not show anyone and to let me have the final product." My voice was hushed so that Conan couldn't hear in.

He locked gazes with me before he smiled gleefully, "I'll do it, Alice-kun." He whispered back, flashing me a brief thumbs up, before taking the folder and hiding it between the other, unimportant, papers. I went back to eating my bread, feeling accomplished. Agasa was definitely my favorite character now. He'd always been awesome, but now he was epic. Getting that invention done would help me tons.

"By the way," Conan started and I looked back to him, bread hanging from my mouth; he didn't bother commenting on my unfeminine behavior. "Why do you have a cat with you?" I blinked before my head shot down to look at the floor. True to his word, I spotted Kin gazing up at me from his laying position next to my stool. Internally, I gave a frustrated scream. I'd left him at home for a reason (and it had taken a long time to ditch him), why was he here?! How did he get here?! Heck, when did he get here?!

"U-Uh, well. H-He's my brothers cat, but he likes me a lot more….for some reason,…" I squeaked out, glaring bullets down at the cat who was bored, cleaning his paws. Why, the little–! "I guess he followed me here, the little sneak." Venom was barely concealed, some words coming out more forced than usual. Kin seemed to have noticed, gazing up at me with a – no pun intended – 'cat that got the canary' look as he tail swayed playfully. My eyebrow twitched and I frowned down at him, which only seemed to please him more.

"Ah, really? It's funny that you mention that. There was someone I met yesterday that had a black cat with her the whole time. Strange girl. I think her name was…Watanabe Midori?" His tone was purely curious, and I could tell he wasn't actually fishing for information, but it sure as hell felt like it. My back straightened and I tried not to choke on my bread. "A-Ah…Is that so…?"

"But, since the cat likes you so much, you must have pretty good luck." He commented and I sweat dropped. Not really…

"Oh, right. Alice-kun is from America, right? You must think he's bad luck, then. But, since you're in Japan, don't worry; I think he'll give you good luck." The professor smiled, still shifting through the papers, sitting on a stool next to me. "What's its name?" I stopped breathing for a moment, my mind scrambling for an answer. I couldn't remember properly if Conan had gotten Kin's name, but if he did or if he would, then I needed to think of a different name. So far, he wasn't too suspicious, but would be if he figured out that my cat had the same name as some Midori chick! Great, now I'm thinking about myself in third person!

"Uh…His name's Jack!" I quickly blurted out, mentally face palming. Jack? It was a nice name, but…I dunno. And it wasn't a name you could use for both genders – I wasn't even positive if Kin was a boy. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Kin shoot me a sour look, obviously not pleased with the secondary name. I sighed to myself, my chin colliding with the counter underneath me gloomily. Agasa sent me a concerned look, probably wondering what was wrong.

You know something is wrong with your life when even your cat has a secret identity…

ooOOoo

"What's that?" I questioned, looking at paper that Agasa was putting into an envelope. Conan had just filled out the paper excitedly, for about an hour, before hurrying back home. He'd gotten a call from Ran, who had called to tell him dinner was ready. I had already told Kaito that I'd be having dinner at the professor's house tonight, as said professor had offered that we eat dinner while going over a couple of inventions that he wanted to do. Obviously, I had readily agreed.

The professor glanced up at me. "Oh, this is a small test that you take to win a contest. It's for a Holmes-lovers gathering." He explained, finishing putting the paper into the envelope and sealing it. "I printed it out for S-Conan-kun because he loves anything to do with Sherlock Holmes. I thought he might like it." The Holmes Freak murder case was coming near? Slowly, a smirk inched onto my face, which I concealed as I turned to survey the ingredients he had in his fridge. We were currently trying to decide what to make for dinner.

"Hey, Hakase, do you think you could print me out one, too? I love Holmes~! I probably won't get in, but it's worth a try." I asked hopefully. I probably wouldn't make it in, but if there was a way that I could observe the happenings there, I'd take it! Plus, seeing Conan freak out about Heiji figuring out his identity would be hilarious. On my part, I had to admit it was a stupid idea, but I disregarded. I wasn't gonna make it in, anyways. Holmes wasn't exactly a subject I knew everything about.

"Sure, Alice-kun." He replied happily, "I'll print it out before you go home, so you can do it there."

"Thanks." My eyes spotted the necessary ingredients for one of the noodle dishes I'd become fond of in my time in Japan. Adjusting had been hard, but I had a few favorites, while others I couldn't stand. Never, ever, trying unaji again. Ever.

"How does udon sound, Hakase?" It'd take a bit to cook, but it'd be easy enough for the two of us.

"Sounds good, Alice-kun. What should we add to it?"

Today had been a relaxing Sunday, to say the least. The professor was definitely one of my favorite people to be around. "Eh, you can choose. Do you have any cat food, though?" I questioned, pulling the ingredients out, glancing at Kin, who was sprawled on the floor beside me. Clingy cat, I thought with amusement.

"Oh, that's right! Jack needs to eat, too!"

I had to hold back a laugh as Kin once again sent me a sour look. Sorry, bud. You're stuck with it.

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To: Iriss-sama – Haha, I still think you're fast. XD (And that sucks. Eating breakfast isn't something I do, but I know from my mom that when someone who does doesn't eat breakfast, they're really hungry around lunch time). (Laughs) I just enjoy writing this story, and since things are starting to catch up, I'm even more ecstatic to share it with my readers. XD (Or I'm telepathic~! *wiggles fingers*) And it took me a long time to be able to write that much. I'm glad the outcome is good, though. ^^ Yes~! More trouble~! 8DD (Evil Laughing) And yay~! Thank you for getting me another reader! 8D Oh, and happy (late) birthday to your sister! ^^ Thank you~! (Creates more Luck Tokens)

-The first short chapter (only 1,000 something words) in a while! 8O (Laughs) Thank you for everyone that has stuck with me this long and to all who have favorited, followed, reviewed, and even just read. ^^ You all are the reason that I continue to strive through this story when I hit the rough patches and give me encouragement. Not to sound too sappy, but thank you for all your continued support! You're all amazing! 8D *showers you all with love*