Due to my increased standards on chapter length, I actually finished this part of the story last chapter. Instead of just leaving it, though, I decided to go a bit farther and give a sneak peek of Sakura Kudo. As I'm a guy, if any girls want to give me some pointers on how to write the characters, feel free to do so.

Chapter Seven

Even Haibara was impressed when Sakura Kudo put on the mask and wig and stood before them, grinning. She looked to be a thin Japanese teenage girl with long dark hair pulled back in a ponytail. "How do I look?" she grinned.

"Beautiful…" Haibara whispered to herself unconsciously.

"Well, of course!" said Sakura, still grinning. "The suit's been specifically tailored to look that way!" Her voice was so melodious that even Agasa found himself blushing.

"I'm worried that your real adult appearance might look different," said Agasa worriedly, catching himself.

"Don't worry about that Hakase," said Sakura. "All three of us worked on the disguise. The only thing that might not be realistic is the voice, but if I make my real debut after a few months or so, they won't even notice."

"You're as carefree as a normal teen," Agasa noted.

"I have to get into my role, don't I?" Sakura asked, heading for the front door. "You ready, Haibara?"

"Whatever," Haibara shrugged, putting on the Minami mask and wig and following her out.

XXX

Ran Mouri was out with Sonoko and Sera for a day of fun. They had practically forced Sera to attend, but now all three were fully enjoying themselves. The place they went was Tropical Land, a place that was, for Ran, full of bad memories. Nevertheless, they all managed to have fun on their Girls' Day Out.

"I told you it was great, Sera-san!" Ran remarked as they sat down for lunch.

"It's sort of like Disney World," Sera agreed.

"I wouldn't mind going there," said Sonoko dreamily. "But I just can't seem to find the time! Our school year is so different from the American schools that there wouldn't be any guys our age in the park when I was looking for them!"

"Sonoko…" said Ran, before giving up and laughing at her friend's antics. Sera looked between them in surprise. Then there was a scream from nearby.

"Stop that thief!" a woman screamed, pointing after a purse snatcher, who was taking no chances on getting caught and was making a break for the park entrance.

Ran and Sera nodded at each other silently, before simultaneously getting up and giving chase. "Why does this always happen?" Sonoko asked herself.

"Get him!" Ran yelled loudly, alerting many passersby to the presence of the thief, although no one did anything. Well, one person did something. Out of nowhere, a teenage girl tripped the thief and sat on him until Ran and Sera arrived, breathing heavily.

"Is this what you wanted?" Sakura asked, holding out the purse.

"Shinichi?" Ran asked at once, stunned by the facial similarities. Sera took the purse since Ran had stopped moving.

"You must be Ran-san," said Sakura, getting off the perp and handing him over to security.

"You know her?" Sera asked suspiciously.

"Oh, of course. Shinichi speaks highly of her."

"How do you know Shinichi?" Ran asked, fired up.

"Take it easy!" said Sakura, pretending to be surprised by her attitude. "We're cousins."

Ran stopped. "You two are related?"

"I thought it was obvious," Sakura shrugged. "I'm Kudo Sakura-desu," she offered her hand to Ran, who took it hesitantly. "Are you a friend of hers?" Sakura asked Sera, who looked stunned.

"Well, yes," said Sera, stuttering uncharacteristically. "Shouldn't we return the purse? We're drawing a crowd."

"Oh, of course," said Ran, leading the way.

XXX

"No way!" Sonoko exclaimed when she heard the news. The four of them were walking through the park to find something else to do. Sonoko had been just as shocked at Sakura's appearance as the rest of them.

"You don't have much of a Hokkaido accent," remarked Sera, gazing around at some of the rides with a blank look.

"I've only lived there for a couple of years," said Sakura, sticking with the fabricated story. "Before that I lived near Tokyo."

"But how come we haven't seen you before?" Sonoko pressed.

"I keep to myself," she shrugged, not really answering the question. Sera's brow furrowed.

"What about Shinichi?" asked Ran. "Do you talk to him often?"

"About as much as you do, I guess. He never says anything about what he's doing, so I decided to try and find him. That's why I was here at Tropical Land; it was the last time he was seen in public."

"REALLY?" Ran asked, stopping and gripping Sakura's shirt. "Do you think I can help?"

'Probably should've worded that differently,' Sakura thought in horror. "I appreciate the thought, but I prefer to work alone. I'll let you know if I find anything, OK?"

"I…I see," Ran said quietly. Sonoko glared at Sakura, but uncharacteristically didn't say anything.

"Did I say something wrong?" Sakura whispered to Sera.

"Yep," said Sera bluntly. "You do realize that the relationship between Ran-san and Kudo-kun goes beyond friendship right?"

"I told you Shinichi never tells me anything. How long?"

"Well, it's not exactly that way. All I know is that there was some sort of confession a while ago by Kudo-kun. Ran-chan and Sonoko-chan have been talking about it ever since. But why are you talking to me about it?"

"I figure I should give them some space to calm down. We're all women, so you understand, don't you Masumi-chan?"

"Oh, sure," said Sera. Sakura drifted away, leaving Sera alone. Sera could tell something was up with the Kudo girl. For one, she seemed very familiar. For another, her story seemed a bit unbelievable. The final thing, the most glaring, was that Sakura had instantly identified her as a girl. She'd taken grief for years about how tomboyish she was, and her small bust and lack of interest in girly clothes didn't help much. Therefore she was genuinely shocked that Sakura had known she was a girl since Ran and Sonoko had both called her 'Sera-san'. She still remembered how the Kaitou Kid of all people had even messed that up. So how did this girl not screw that up?

XXX

"Oh, look who's back," Kogoro grumbled as the four girls walked into the Agency. "Keep all the nail polish, glitter, and skimpy clothes in the bags until…" His eyes nearly popped out of his head when he saw Sakura. He jumped up and made a dash for the rear bathroom, which had been nicely refitted so it wouldn't remind them of the murder in the toilet a while back.

"Don't mind Dad," Ran told Sakura. "He does this for every pretty woman except Mom."

"Sakura-neesan!" a small, girly voice said suddenly. A small girl's face appeared over the back of the nearest couch.

"Minami-chan!" said Sakura, waving. She strode forward and crouched down until they were at eye level with each other. "Long time no see!"

The other three girls were stunned. "Don't they look a bit alike?" Sonoko whispered to Ran.

"They look like sisters," said Ran, grinning.

'I still think there's something strange going on,' Sera thought.

Kogoro burst out of the bathroom dressed as nicely as he could pull off with only a minute to do so. "May I help you?" he asked politely, picking Minami up by the back of the shirt and giving her to Ran. He motioned for her to sit down.

"Oh, I'm not a client," said Sakura patiently. "I'm just visiting with my new friends."

"It can't be…" said Kogoro, his head sagging. He sat back down behind his desk and picked up his newspaper again. Minami started squirming to be let down, which Ran did at once.

"Sakura-neesan, let's go play!" said Minami, grabbing Sakura by the hand and dragging her away.

Once they were upstairs, Haibara popped out the voice-changing braces and said, "What did you do?"

"What do you mean?"

"Ran-san. She doesn't want to look at you. What did you do?"

"She caught me off guard and I had to hastily come up with an excuse. She, uh, didn't really like it."

"Well, you've got six days to fix it, so you'd better get started," she said simply, popping the braces back in and walking back downstairs.

When Sakura had gone back downstairs, Sonoko and Sera had already excused themselves and left.

"Ran-san?" Sakura asked. Ran looked around and Sakura said, "I just wanted to apologize for earlier. I didn't fully understand the situation."

"So I can help?" Ran asked hopefully.

"Well, if your Dad agrees, then I can't really say no, can I?"

Ran smiled. "Thank you, Sakura-chan," she said quietly.

"Agree to what?" Kogoro asked as Sakura left, taking out his earpiece.

XXX

Sakura, left with nothing to do, decided to just turn in the suit for the night. The bad part of that plan was that Sera had waited at the bottom of the stairs for her.

"Something on your mind?" Sakura asked when she saw her waiting.

"Not much. May I walk with you?"

"By all means," said Sakura, shrugging.

"I just had a quick question," Sera began. "How did you know I was a girl?"

"Uh, cause you are," said Sakura, slowly realizing where Sera was going. "Is that all you wanted to ask?"

"Well, it's just weird. I think you're the only person I've ever met that didn't think I was a guy at first glance."

"I admit you look like a guy, but no guy gets as emotional over some of the stuff you do. I realized that at once earlier. You wouldn't expect a guy and a girl to run at similar paces with the same amount of emotion filling their faces."

"You're observant," Sera remarked.

"It comes with the trade; I'm a detective. So are you, if I heard right."

"Wait, you're a detective?"

"You sound surprised."

They rounded a corner and came across a crime scene. The front of an office building was taped off. Up ahead, Detectives Takagi and Sato were getting out of Sato's car and heading inside.

"How convenient," said Sera. "We're both detectives, so how about we see who can solve the mystery first?"

'Not another contest,' Sakura thought. "Sure!" she told Sera, keeping in character. Smirking, Sera walked right up to the yellow tape and called out to Takagi.

I think Sera's my second favorite character after Haibara. She's so much more interesting to write about than the 'regulars'. She's better than Eisuke anyway. :D So we've got some girl-bonding opportunities coming up as well as problems. Not to mention a crazy crime. Look forward to it!

FYI I submitted a new picture of Minami to my Deviantart account. My username there is CoolKid194. If you're intrigued, feel free to check it out. And if you want to draw anything from my stories, like Minami, the Banshee, or anything else I made up, then feel free to do so. Just let me know first and you can do whatever you want. ;)