If you're in the mood for Halloween, then here's a Halloween themed chapter. The next one or two will be, too. Consider it a bonus. Also, there's a cameo by a Magic Kaito character.

Chapter Four

That day after school, Minami and Ayumi were playing video games while Genta and Mitsuhiko watched, waiting hopefully for their turn. They disliked the fact that the game only had two players.

Haibara had excused herself early on. When the phone rang, none of the kids paid it any attention, so Agasa answered.

"Agasa residence," he said.

"It's me," said Haibara. "Put Kudo-kun on the line." She'd already told Agasa their plan, so he simply played along.

"Minami-kun, telephone!" he called. Minami paused the game and picked up the phone.

"Minami here," she said.

"Minami, it's Conan," said Haibara, mimicking Conan's voice with the bowtie.

"Ah, Conan-nii! How are you doing?"

"Pretty well. Mom misses you."

"Tell her I'm perfectly capable of handling myself."

"Is that Conan-kun?" asked Ayumi suddenly. She'd raced to the phone the moment she'd heard the word 'Conan'.

"Yeah. You want to talk?" Minami asked.

"Yes!" said Ayumi. Minami passed over the phone and sat back down on the couch. Everything went well at first, but then there was trouble. "Why do you suddenly sound like Ai-chan?" Ayumi asked. Minami started. She couldn't hear a word of what Haibara was saying, but it clearly wasn't good enough for Ayumi. "So I'm crazy, huh? You have no idea what I'm talking about? How about I march into the basement and prove it!"

Agasa sensed trouble, and he quickly walked out of the room, unnoticed by Ayumi. A minute later, Haibara emerged from the back and Ayumi shut up at once. "Who's that, Yoshida-san?" asked Haibara, joining Minami on the couch.

Ayumi didn't say a word. Then she asked, "Would you like to talk to Conan-kun, Ai-chan?"

XXX

"I thought we'd bought it," Minami remarked once the three kids had left. Once they were alone, Agasa made sure not to leave the room in case they did something again.

"That girl is smarter than I think any of us have realized," said Haibara. "The good part is that Hakase was able to fool her completely."

'The things they make me do…' Agasa thought to himself, making himself some coffee.

"Do you think it's safe again?" asked Minami.

"I'd give it two or three days. Girls take longer to fully drop a subject than guys, as I'm sure you're aware."

"Very," said Minami, remembering how often she'd had to listen to Ran and Sonoko chatter away about random stuff.

Suddenly the door burst open. Ran stood in the doorway, glaring at Minami. She instantly prepared to flee. "Minami-chan, Ayumi-chan just told me Conan-kun called."

"Uh, yeah, he did," said Minami. Both Haibara and Agasa had the sense to take refuge in another room. Minami waited for the outburst. "Well then why didn't you tell him to call me? I've been worried!"

"He said he's doing fine, Ran-onessan," said Minami. "He apologized for not calling you, too. He said he couldn't bear hearing you cry because you thought you might never see him again."

That calmed Ran down. "He…was worried about me?" she asked, startled. "Well, that changes things. When he calls again, you tell him to call me whether he wants to or not! Now, you're coming home with me." Minami congratulated herself on such an excellent fib as Ran dragged her out of the house.

XXX

For the next several days, Minami took Haibara's advice. She made sure to not act like Conan in any way, including during cases. As Haibara had predicted, Ayumi became a lot friendlier and Minami resolved to hang out with her more often to prove it. She knew Haibara wouldn't care; Haibara rarely cared about anything.

That was how Minami got roped into a shopping trip with Ayumi. Ayumi wasn't nearly as fashion-conscious as Haibara, but Minami was still dreading it, although she understood its importance to preserving their friendship.

They met at Beika Station Friday night to head to the shopping district. Ayumi had a child-sized handbag with her, while Minami only had a wallet that could fit in her pocket. When they arrived at the shopping district, Ayumi made a beeline for a toy store.

"Do you think it would look good on me, Minami-chan?" Ayumi asked, holding up a princess costume.

"What do you need it for?" asked Minami. "Halloween is an American holiday, you know."

"You mean you don't know?" she asked, surprised. "Subaru-san is making the Edo house into a haunted house! It's for three nights at the end of October. They're supposed to have two costume contests a night, one for kids and one for the grownups. I figure if I go as a Princess, I'll be sure to win!"

"Is that the whole point of the shopping trip, then?" asked Minami.

"Of course! Don't you remember?"

"I thought you were joking," Minami lied.

"Well, now I've got a costume, we need to get you one. And Ai-chan asked us to get one for her, too. So let's go!" She dragged Minami around the shop, but the costumes were too childish for her. Ayumi paid for the princess costume and they decided to go search some other shops.

In one, they found a Gothic Maid costume. "This would look good on Ai-chan, right?" asked Minami cheekily.

"Uh, no," said Ayumi. "I wouldn't even wear that!"

"I was just joking," said Minami sulkily, putting it back on the rack. They eventually decided on a witch outfit, complete with kid-sized broom.

"I wouldn't touch that if I were you," said a silky voice suddenly, making both girls jump. They whirled around and saw a young woman watching them. What set her apart from the other customers was that she had purple hair and was wearing a midriff baring witch's outfit. She carried a broom over her shoulder.

'She's beautiful,' thought Minami, and she knew that if she was still Conan she'd be having a nosebleed.

"Why not, oneessan?" asked Ayumi.

"Neither of you are witch material," she said simply. "I should know, since I'm a witch myself."

"Oh, it's not for us, but for our friend," Ayumi clarified. "She's really quiet and creeps a lot of people out."

"Is that so?" asked the girl. "Well then, carry on! Oh ho ho ho!" She disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"She's even creepier," Minami whispered, and Ayumi agreed.

They quickly left the store with the witch outfit and began looking for something for Minami. After searching for a while, they settled on a Cordelia Gray outfit, which was made of various pieces of clothing from various stores. Satisfied, they went home.

Minami was pleased with the night's events. She had cemented her friendship with Ayumi, and she knew it would be much less likely for Ayumi to get suspicious of her again.

So Minami's been kept out of the loop and Haibara gets to dress up as a witch. How fitting is that? lol

Next up, the events leading up to the party, along with possibly a portion of it. Look forward to it, and expect a mystery!