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Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan, Gosho Aoyama does!

Ch 8 Trees and Grass

School had ended for the day, and the Junior Detective League met each other by their lockers. "We haven't had a case since Mikiko-chan's sister had gotten kidnapped, and that was two weeks ago!" Mitsuhiko exclaimed in exasperation. He closed the door to his locker and sighed. "Come on Mitsuhiko, I bet a good one will come soon!" Ayumi said as she put her shoes back on. A few lockers down, Ai and Addy were standing next to each other, as Addy sat on the ground to put on her shoes. "It's always like this."

"You mean how there are no cases?" Addy said as she ran a hand through her hair. "Exactly, this is elementary school, usually the only cases we get are that of a missing cat." Ai replied as she opened her locker. She grabbed her shoes and then shut the locker. She sat on the ground and started to tie her shoes. "Hey, let's go to the park!" Rishou suggested, a little more excited than he should be. "Yeah!" Genta said as he punched the air. Ayumi, Mitsuhiko, Genta and Rishou all ran to the park while Ai, Addy and Conan stayed behind. "I say he's up to something." Conan said as he put a finger to his chin. "Why do you think that Shinichi?" Ran asked. "He acted a little too excited to go to the park, he is definitely up to something." Shinichi said matter-of-factly. "What makes you think that Kudo?" Ai asked suddenly, a smirk on her face. "Oh no he isn't?" Shinichi said, his face depicting shock. "Why do you look so shocked? It is something that Heiji would do."

"What would Heiji do?" Ran asked, completely confused. She gave a look over at Ai, then looked at Shinichi, then back to Ai. "I guess I might as well tell her." Ai said, as she gestured for Ran to come close. "Don't you dare!" Shinichi shouted. Shinichi's cheeks turned a bright pink. "What?" Ran asked, now even more curious since Shinichi's reaction. "You'll find out soon enough." Ai said as they walked across the street to get to the park. Heiji was kicking a soccer ball between the other four kids there. "Ohayo!" Conan shouted, waving his hands high up in the air. Rishou turned around, and he grinned from ear to ear. He was pretty sure by now that Conan had caught onto what he was planning. But of course, he had to pretend that Conan did not catch on. One could not be too careful. "Hey you guys, it's about time you three showed up. Come over here!" Rishou said, and made a big come hither gesture, which the three responded affirmatively, walking toward the rest of the group. "Okay you guys, since it was my idea to come to the park, I should be allowed to pick teams."

"Can't we just pick our own teams?" Conan asked rather loudly. Ai was trying her hardest to not laugh. Addy gave her a questioning glance toward her. Is this what Conan was going on about Rishou's great plan? It didn't sound so bad, did it? "Okay Ai, Ayumi and Conan are on that side." Rishou said as he pointed to the left side of the field. "So that means that Mitsuhiko, Genta and Addy are on that side." He pointed to the right side of the field. "And I will be the referee!" Rishou said with a great smile, throwing both hands into the air as though it was the best thing he has ever said. Addy looked straight at Conan who looked frustrated. A hint of pink was lining Conan's cheeks, as he looked towards his feet. Addy was so confused. What did Rishou do that causes Conan to act like this. She looked at Ai, who was in the makeshift goal, and mouthed, 'What is wrong with Shinichi?' Ai responded by pointing to the grass, and then pointing to the trees. Addy shrugged as she and Mitsuhiko came up to meet Conan and Ayumi. Rishou stood with his foot on top of the soccer ball, and put his hands up in the air. 'Three, two, one!' and then he moved his foot. Conan took the ball and started to run, he passed it to Ayumi who then passed it back. Addy started to run after the two, but then turned to see Mitsuhiko just standing there. She ran up to him and lightly slapping him on the arm, "Hey we're playing a game!" She whispered loudly, and attempted to pull him toward Conan and Ayumi, who scored a goal. She led him to the center field. "Hey, I need to ask you something." Mitsuhiko said, as he blushed a light shade of pink. Addy tilted her head to her right.

"Okay you two lovebirds," Rishou said, pointing to Addy and Mitsuhiko, "we're playing a game." Conan's head snapped up shortly and he glared at Rishou, who was grinning. Addy looked past Conan and Ayumi and saw Ai sitting on the ground. She had a hand over her mouth, but it looked as though she was laughing really hard. "What's so funny?" Addy playfully asked Ai. Said girl could not bear her hysterics anymore, and just pointed at Conan and tilted her head back and laugh. "I don't know what's so funny?" Conan said in a pouty mood. Rishou put his hand on Conan's shoulder and started to laugh. Conan sneered, and threw Rishou's hand off. He glared at him, but proceeded to say nothing. "Hey can we have a time-out?" Rishou asked and made the 'T' sign. "That sounds like a good idea," Genta said, "one more minute and it looked like Conan was about to pummel Rishou." He whispered the last part to Mitsuhiko, who got a good laugh. Conan narrowed his eyes before being pulled on the arm by Rishou. "So Addy," Mitsuhiko said, nervously rubbing the back of his head, "you wanna go get an ice cream later this week?"

"Sure, that sounds great!" Addy said enthusiastically, but secretly wondering what in the world has gotten into Shinichi. She ran off in the direction Conan and Rishou went. Ai was starting to head up there as well. "Hey Ran, it might be better if you stay down here." Ai said. She figured it would be bad for Ran to go over there because Shinichi might get a little more flustered. "Oh, I won't stick around for long, promise!" Ran said as she put a hand to her heart, and the other one in the air. Ai and Ran walked to a clearing, where Heiji and Shinichi were already sitting. "Hey you guys!" Ran said as she sat down next to Shinichi. She then decided to take a closer look at him. He still looked a little angry, and he was totally ignoring Heiji. "Kudo, ya gotta stop throwin' ya tantrum! It is gettin' really annoyin'!" Ran took the opportunity to wrap her arm around Shinichi's shoulders. He briefly looked at her, but said nothing. "Conan, is everything alright?" Ai said. She was being cautious because she knew that the other three Junior Detective League members were known to eavesdrop. "I'm fine." He said, but by the suggestion of his temper, everything was not alright. "Come on Kud-" but Heiji didn't have time to say what was on his mind, because Shinichi suddenly stood up, which caused Ran to fall over onto his feet. He then started to walk toward Dr. Agasa's house. "I'm going after him!" She shouted, not giving Ai or Heiji enough room to say anything against it. Rishou and Ai walked back towards Ayumi, Mitsuhiko, and Genta and said, "Hey everyone, let's go to my house!" All three kids shouted positively, and they all headed back to the Mouri Detective Agency. "Is Conan going to be alright?" Ayumi asked. She was worried that something is really wrong with Conan. "Don't worry about it Ayumi, Addy went with him, so he's going to be alright." Rishou said.

Meanwhile with Ran and Shinichi

"Shinichi, talk to me! What's wrong?" Ran asked, as she tried talking to him. For the past five minutes he hasn't spoken a word to her, thus resulting in her walking backwards in front of him. They had reached Dr. Agasa's house and Shinichi had walked inside, and sat on Dr. Agasa's couch. Ran came in and saw Dr. Agasa was beaming. "Hey Dr. Agasa!" Ran said cheerfully as she sat next to Shinichi, who was still in a sour mood. "Ran, I have something to give you." Dr. Agasa said as Ran looked over at Shinichi. He walked into the back, and Ran decided that this was a good time as any to get some answers. "Shinichi, what is wrong with you?" She asked as she was genuinely concerned about his wellbeing. "I'm fine Ran." Shinichi said. He was calming down, but he was still a little angry. "Here you go Ran." Dr. Agasa said as he handed her a pair of shoes, gloves and knee bands. "This is to help you with your karate." He said as Shinichi made a gulping noise in his throat. Both Ran and Dr. Agasa ignored Shinichi as he went on to discuss how to use the new gadget. "This dial on the left hand is for both gloves, it helps when you punch. The knee pads are for protection and to use your knees, and since you've seen Conan using them, the shoes are self-explanatory." She smiled, and gave a nod of appreciation. The door opened, and Ai came in and walked into her lab, and Ran followed her in. She decided now would be a good time to give Shinichi and Dr. Agasa their privacy. "Hey Ai!" Ran exclaimed as they closed the door. "How's Conan?"

"He's calming down, but he's still a little upset. What's gotten into him?" Ran asked. Shinichi was a little on edge earlier today, and it really bothered him. It wasn't that she was just plain nosey, but she was worried about him. Does he know something and is hiding it from her? "Think about it Ran, why would Shinichi act like that?"Ai replied. She sat down at her computer and started typing. Ran stood behind her and looked at the screen. Ai must be really smart because she had no idea what any of that stuff meant. She then decided to think about what Ai said. Shinichi didn't sound worried, and he wouldn't get angry over something stupid. If anything was going on with the Black Organization than Ai would know too. But if something was going on with the Organization, than Ai would be a lot more uptight. Wait, Conan acts like that when he's… that's not possible, is it?"Are you talking about what he said last night over the phone? Are you implying he's jealous that Mitsuhiko was talking to me?" Dang, Ai had to give Ran credit. Shinichi was acting like a jealous buffoon. It was so obvious that Shinichi might as well wear a sign that said 'Ran is mine. Any other possible suitors will be snapped at.' "Yep, that pretty much sums it up." Ai said as she went back typing. Ran looked up, her eyes grew wide, and she gasped. "He meant it, didn't he?" Ai turned around in her chair and looked straight at Ran, "He meant what?"

"He really is in love with me?" Ran said as a statement, but soon ended as a question. Ran started to giggle and jumped up and down, "He loves me! He loves me! Shinichi loves me!" She put her hands together under her chin and started to sway from side to side as she was in her own world. Ai just sat there shocked. This was the purpose behind Heiji's plan? He put Ran on a team with only guys and Shinichi was on the other team solely on the fact that Shinichi gets jealous at the drop of the hat. That was actually a great plan that Heiji had conjured up. Maybe Heiji needed to rethink his job of being a detective and become a love doctor. "Oh, I need to tell Shinichi I feel the same way!" She exclaimed and ran up there before Ai could say anything. Ran opened the door and saw Shinichi sitting on the couch talking to Dr. Agasa. No one else was in the room and she made a beeline for where Shinichi sat. She ran all the way to him until she was standing in front of Shinichi, and she did something that shocked him. She kissed him on the lips, and Shinichi just sat there frozen. He had fallen back, but Ran wasn't on top of him. She soon broke the kiss and blushed a cherry red. "I'm so happy because you feel for me what feel for you! I know I got a little carried away, but I couldn't help myself." She said as she gave Shinichi a hug. Shinichi was smiling from ear to ear, but he was blushing a bright red. "We need to go back to the Detective Agency," Shinichi said, his voice hinting that he was still on that rush of euphoria he got after Ran kissed him. They walked the ten minute walk to the Detective Agency and the rest of the Junior Detective League was there. "Kaito Kid left a note for the Medieval Jewelry Museum here in Beika, here's the note:

I come when the dog's active on the last hour of the first day. I will be as successful as a little peachling as I steal all the jewels you hide on your ogre island.

The note had Kaito Kid's face. No one knows when he'll strike, yet.

Please R&R, no flames but constructive criticism welcomed!