BWAHAHAHAHA!!! You guys probably thought this is the next chapter!!! If you did, you're totally wrong!!! BWAHAHAHAHA!!!

*clears throat* What my other personality is trying to say is, this is kinda like a side story. It's not really unrelated to the plot but not really needed either. This is just made to... clear up a few things. You know, for idiots like me. Otherwise, even I, as author, won't know what's going on. And I seem to get the hang of doing things like this after cliffies, so... SUFFER!!!! BWAHAHAHA!!!

Ehem. Okay. I'll tell you beforehand. This chapter.. sucks. Say it out loud. Let the whole world hear. THIS CHAPTER SUCKS! And so do all side stories I'm gonna make from now on. But I wanna do this and nobody's stopping me.

Hakase'll be a bit OOC here. Can't really get his character right... Maybe even Haibara...

Disclaimer: We all know who owns Detective Conan, right?

P.S. S.S. means side story.

~~~~CHAPTER 7.5: S.S. TADAIMA~~~~

Haibara left the school with Conan staring at her, begging for help with just his eyes, and Ran giving her this surprised and questioning gaze. To tell the truth, I really wanted to stay behind and watch him squirm, she thought to herself, but I have an appointment with the Professor.

She walked through the streets of Beika, a place that used to be completely unknown to her but was now her home. She couldn't help but reminisce, remembering the cases she had encountered with the shrunken detective she had left behind.

Wherever I go, if I'm with Kudo-kun, I always seem to encounter a case. She smiled. Well, I guess it's more exciting that way.

She stopped walking in front of a Chinese restaurant. I guess this is the place I'm supposed to meet Hakase. She was about to enter, when an old man of around 50 bumped into her. He was balding, the top of his head hairless, but it seems he let the rest of his hair grow down to his shoulders. Wearing circular glasses, he said, "I'm sorry ojou-chan. Are you hurt?"

Haibara looked up and met the eyes of the man who bumped into her. "Hakase?"

"Ai-kun! It's you!"

~~~~INSIDE THE CHINESE RESTAURANT~~~~

Haibara and the Professor were sitting down at a table, waiting for their order. "Sorry for bumping into you earlier, Ai-kun."

"It's okay, Hakase. I wasn't hurt. By the way, why did you tell me to come here this morning?"

"Well, the thing is, a inventor friend of mine, you know, the one who asked me look at his inventions? He got an invitation to a convention. But he can't attend it. His wife is in the hospital right now and he wants to by her side. So he asked me to attend in his place. I already packed my clothes and a few of my inventions earlier. They're all in here," he said, patting the bag beside him.

As he did, their food arrived and they started eating.

"I see... So how long will you be gone?"

"I think... Two days at most. The place they will hold the convention is close, so I'll get there by train."

"Are you sure you can take care of yourself Hakase? You're hopeless when I'm gone."

"Now now, Ai-kun. You're making me sound like an irresponsible child," he said with a smile.

"Aren't you?" she replied with a teasing tone.

"*laugh* I guess I am. But I'm too old to be called a child now."

Their friendly bantering continued and they eventually finished eating. Haibara looked the piles of food left and eyed the Professor.

"Well... I wanted to have something to eat while on the way... *laugh*

~~~~CHINESE RESTAURANT ENTRANCE~~~~

"Take care Hakase."

"You too, Ai-kun. Tell Shinichi for me, will you?"

The two parted ways and the little scientist made her way home. She opened the door, saw that that it was unlocked and noted that Conan was home.

"Tadaima."

~~~~TRAIN STATION~~~~

The Professor was waiting for his train to enter the station, when his pager suddenly beeped. He looked at it, and saw that he was supposed to call his friend (the one who invited him to attend the convention). He went to the nearest public phone and dialed. The phone rang three times before someone picked up.

"Moshi moshi. It's Agasa Hiroshi."

"Agasa-hakase! The convention committee called me a few minutes earlier and they said that they were changing the location of the convention."

"What? Why?"

"Well, it seems like there are a lot of new inventors attending, and they wanted to check out the inventions before showing them to the mass. So the one you'll be attending is private. The public convention will be held about a month from now."

"Oh... I see... So where will I go now?"

"You know the place where we gathered about 2 months ago? That's where."

"But no buses travel down that place, right?"

"Well, yes. So you're going to have to drive. You're not on the way now, are you?"

"I'm in the station but I haven't gotten on a train yet."

"Great. Then, they'll be expecting you by tomorrow. Can you make it?"

"I don't see why not. I'll be heading home first to get my car and keys."

"Oh, wait. Since they'll be taking a look at your inventions, it might take longer than usual. Is that okay? I heard you're taking care of kids now, right?"

"It's okay. I'm sure they can take care of themselves"

"Okay. Thanks. For attending this convention in my place."

"No, it's an honor. Haha..."

"Bye, then."

"You, too. Take care of your wife, okay?"

With that, he put the phone back in its handle and made his way out of the station. He made his way home and entered with a soft "Tadaima." He saw the bags of the not-so-kids he was taking care of and made his way to the kitchen. He got himself a cup of tea when he heard a loud 'clang' coming from Conan's room. Alarmed, he made his way up and opened the door.

~~~~CHAPTER 7.5: S.S TADAIMA end~~~~

Hmmm... Not sure about the description of Hakase... Well, whatever. I just wrote that to make this chap longer. I'm not even sure if Hakase says words like ojou-chan... Or if he even has a pager... Pagers beep, right?

And... did you notice how I kept calling it 'chinese restaurant'? That's because I didn't know what to name it.

To the people who didn't like this story (like me): just pretend you never read this.

I know, I know... It doesn't make much disregard this as one of the times I lose my mind. I was just bored and this is what I came up with ^_^ I'd say read and review, but I'm kinda scared to see what reviews you'll give me. Haha ^_^