Quote: "I can relate, not being able to stand up to my mother."

Tsukiko sat quietly at her desk, reading a book she had come to quite enjoy. But soon her silence in reading was interrupted when someone came up from behind and spooked her. "'And so Detective Nadia Sato came to realize that the case she was working on, was more then she had predicted…'" the person from behind read. "Sounds mysterious. Figures that Toyoshima-san would be into it…"

Tsukiko jumped and practically fell out of her chair. She looked over her shoulder and saw Kaito, with his hands behind his head and his silly smile on his face.

"What do you want…?" Tsukiko said, looking back to her book. She was trying so hard not to blush, but it seemed that it creped up on her anyway.

"Just came to talk to a friend…" Kaito said, taking the chair in front of her.

"Friend?" Tsukiko said, looking up at him. "How am I your friend…?"

Kaito leaned forward and held up a finger. "Well," he said, "I kind of just figured saying as you've been a lot nicer to me lately. And the fact that…" Kaito cut himself off when a thought about the other day ran through his head.

"The fact that…?" Tsukiko repeated, looking up at him. "D-Do…you mean what happened the other day in the park?"

Kaito looked at her, his face rather red. But then again, so was her's. "Y-Yeah…" he said, moving his eyes away from looking at her.

Tsukiko kicked up her feet and laughed. "Just forget about it," she said, the blush gone and her normal grin replacing it, "I wasn't thinking straight. So, it didn't mean anything…"

Kaito glanced at Tsukiko, feeling a bit hurt by her words. "I guess your right!" he said, scratching his head and laughing. What was I thinking…? he thought. There's no way she…

"By the way…" Tsukiko said, pointing to his cheek. "What happened to your cheek?"

Kaito put his hand to his cheek, just realizing that he had been grazed from the bullet the other day. "Uh…cat…kind of went devil on me." Kaito laughed, trying to shake off her suspicious question.

"Huh…" she muttered. She looked back to her book, forgetting he was there.

"Ah, there you are Toyoshima-san!" a voice said.

Kaito and Tsukiko looked up and saw Hakuba walking towards them. "I've been looking for you everywhere!" he said, putting his hands on his hips and smiling.

"People just don't get the idea through there mind that I wish to be left alone…" Tsukiko said, looking back to her book. "Do they…?"

Hakuba and Kaito's mouths twitched at her words, finding them rather unnerving.

Hakuba took the seat next to Tsukiko and leaned over to her. "I heard from a little birdie that your birthday is approaching, Toyoshima-san," Hakuba said.

Tsukiko gave a huff and continued reading. "And would this little birdie be Conan-kun?" Tsukiko glanced up to see Hakuba's smile a bit nervous.

"Nope!" he said.

Tsukiko grinned and looked back to her book. "Figures…" she muttered. "Conan-kun wouldn't tell you so you had to do some investigative work of your own, am I right, Hakuba?"

Hakuba was left speechless, as well as Kaito. But soon Hakuba laughed it off. "Well," he said, "I can't fool you."

Kaito cleared his throat, just to let them know he was still there. And the reaction he got when they looked at him wasn't something he expected.

"You're still here…?" they both said, narrowing their eyes at him and also looking rather disappointed.

Kaito smiled, a nice smile to Tsukiko and one saying 'I will kill you' to Hakuba. But soon the smile faded and was left with a child's curiosity. "Your birthday is coming, Toyoshima-san?" he asked. "Why didn't I know?"

Tsukiko looked to her book once again and sighed. "I don't like people knowing such a meaningless thing… Plus people always have something to do on Christmas Eve…"

"Christmas Eve?" Kaito repeated. "Your birthday is on Christmas Eve?"

Tsukiko glared at him for shouting it, since now everyone was looking at them and muttering what they just heard. "Yes, if you must know…" Tsukiko stood to her feet and slammed her book shut. She then walked to the door.

"Uh, Toyoshima-san…" Kaito began.

"You do know class is about to start…" Hakuba cut in.

Tsukiko opened the door and simply said, "I'm skipping…" as she walked out the door.

Hakuba grinned and glanced at Kaito, seeing the boy's melancholy expression.

"Seems like you've really upset her this time…" Hakuba said, a pinch of happiness in his voice.

Kaito glared at Hakuba, just for stating the problem that was so obvious. "Wow…the brilliant detective solves another one…" Kaito said with such sarcasm, everyone knew.

Now it was Hakuba's turn to glare at the young man in front of him. And thus the glare continued until class started minutes later.

Tsukiko was up in a tree, hiding from the teachers as she skipped class. Of course she was in a tree that was behind the school, and teachers usually never checked behind the school. They really could careless about what was going on back there.

Tsukiko sat on the branch and laid back. Her arm was behind her head and she was looking up at the sky that was still visible through all the leaves. But even when she looked at the pale sky, her mind drew elsewhere.

"Why do people have to make such a big deal when they know someone's birthday is approaching….?" she muttered. She never did care for her birthday, ever. Which was odd to some people.

Tsukiko closed her eyes and had the picture perfectly in her mind. Her, alone, sitting at the dinning table on her birthday. Only thing on the table was her dinner and the wilting roses. Her mother and father were at work once again, and her brother was working with them. No one was there to celebrate with her, not even the maids of butler-saying as they were all given the week off.

Tsukiko opened her eyes, thinking that it was going to be the same as every year: Alone by herself.

"Well," a voice said from below, "I would have never guessed you were up here…"

Tsukiko looked down, but no one was there. She blinked at the ground and then felt someone behind her. She jumped and quickly looked over her shoulder. There she saw Kaito, smiling as he sat on the next branch.

"Don't sneak up on people like that!" Tsukiko shouted as she hit him behind the head-which in turn almost caused both of them to fall down to the ground. But both caught their balance before they could fall.

"Don't do that!" Kaito shouted. "Are you trying to kill us?"

"You're the one who started it!" Tsukiko shouted back.

Kaito looked away from Tsukiko and sighed. "You're right…" he muttered.

Tsukiko blinked blankly at Kaito, a bit shocked that he would admit it was his fault in the first place. But Tsukiko could only find herself smiling at this-a bit amused by his disappointed expression at the moment.

Tsukiko sat back and sighed, her smile slowly fading. "When I was little," she muttered, drawing Kaito's attention to her, "I was always alone on my birthday for one reason or another. My parents usually got unexpected work and my brother was working also-until he moved that is… The maids and the butler always had the week of Christmas off, allowing them to spend time with their families and such…"

"Wait," Kaito said, "are you saying you're rich?"

Tsukiko looked at Kaito and nodded. "I choose to live in the apartment, that way it's closer to the school. My family's estate is somewhere else."

"But you still own it…?" Kaito seemed a bit more shocked with saying that. He couldn't believe this girl was wealthy.

Tsukiko nodded. "Technically it's my brother's, but since he's somewhere else and didn't want it-it went to me." Tsukiko smiled and looked away from Kaito. "But it's not like I asked for it."

"Then why are you looking for your family heirloom?" Kaito asked, but telling by Tsukiko's surprised expression-he shouldn't have asked. "I mean, you have a lot more. Why are you still looking for something so-"

"Meaningless?" Tsukiko said, glancing at Kaito. "My grandparents were devastated when it ended up getting stolen. And it getting stolen was all my fault. They blamed me for losing it. They said that I was pathetic and brought dishonor to my dead parents. So," Tsukiko looked away, "I want to get it back. And no matter the circumstances, I will get it back."

Kaito grinned, knowing she was fully set on that goal. And without her knowing, he was fully set on finding it for her.

Kaito jumped to the ground and looked up to Tsukiko. "Well," he said, "I better get going…"

He was about to walk away, when suddenly he heard Tsukiko shout his name. "Kuroba-kun!" This made Kaito look back up, but soon he found himself lying on the ground. Tsukiko had fallen from the tree and landed on him.

Kaito propped himself on his elbows and rubbed his head with one hand. "Sorry…" Tsukiko moaned, propping herself on her hands-knowing fully well she had fallen on Kaito.

"It's fine…" Kaito said. "It's not like-" Kaito cut himself off when he opened his eyes and found himself inches away from Tsukiko's shocked face. She was sitting directly on him-hands on either side of his torso and her legs right in-between his. The position and the closeness made both teens blush.

"Uh…" Tsukiko said, looking down as she tried to hide her face. "I-I'm really sorry about this…" Tsukiko was about to move, but she suddenly froze when she felt a had brush her cheek and slowly fall into her hair. She quickly looked up at Kaito and saw him showing a small smile.

Kaito pulled his hand away and showed a leaf in his hand. "You had a leaf in your hair…" he said, giving a small laugh. But inside he wasn't laughing, he was in utter turmoil with himself, he couldn't believe he just did that.

Tsukiko gave a girlish giggle, which was a very first. "Thanks…" she muttered with a smile.

Kaito's blush just grew worse with that smile, which made him not notice his movements. His hand had brushed her cheek again and his fingers twisted with her hair. "Tsukiko…?" he said.

Tsukiko felt her heart jump at her name leaving his lips for the first time. She met his eyes and just looked at him.

"I don't think that the theft of your family's heirloom was your fault…" he said, giving a caring smile. "Their was really nothing a child could do, right?"

Tsukiko's smile went serious, but her blush was still on her cheeks. But she looked away before he could notice fully, but he did see a glimpse of her blush. Tsukiko pulled away and sat in-between his legs.

Kaito sat up fully, still rather close to Tsukiko-but neither one cared.

"I witnessed the theft…" Tsukiko muttered. "I could have shouted for help, but I felt that he didn't deserve to be caught… And then he escaped and my grandparents-along with my brother-found me. They shouted that it was my fault and then from that day on they searched for the heirloom. But the heirloom had mysteriously disappeared, along with Kaitou Kid…"

"You had no control over that," Kaito said. "I'm positive you will get the heirloom back." This is if I can find it… Kaito thought.

Kaito's eyes soon widened when he heard Tsukiko speak. "Is it alright to be selfish for right now…?" she muttered.

Kaito looked around, wondering what he was supposed to say. "I-I guess…" he said, looking back at her.

Tsukiko sniffed, like she was about to cry it she wasn't already. "I don't want to spend another birthday alone…" she said. "I don't mean I want to spend it with you…" Kaito felt a bit ticked at that, but knew what she was saying.

"Well," Kaito said, looking away-he was pretending to be angry when he was actually blushing, "I think that's a bit too bad…"

Tsukiko looked up at him to see him smiling at her. "Because I'm not going to let that happen…" He took her hands in his and said, "I promise to make you a birthday you will never forget, Toyoshima-san."

Tsukiko grinned and looked away from him. "Don't get so full of yourself," she said, grinning.

Kaito laughed which in turn made Tsukiko laugh. Both were happy, completely forgetting the position they were in still.