EDIT: So I combined the original Ch. 7 and Ch. 8 together into one chapter. Looking at the area below the 'XXX', you're probably wondering how I justified making them two chapters to begin with. Well, so am I. :P

My apologies for not updating yesterday, but I'm starting my senior year of high school in two weeks, and I've been having prep work and prep meetings to go to. Many thanks to those who reviewed, and keep supporting me.

Note: I also lowered the rating from T to K+ since most of the story is over, and nothing has happened that should make it be rated T.

Chapter Seven

Over the next few weeks, Haibara's mood didn't really improve much. She acted similarly to how she used to act, before they toppled the Organization. She withdrew back into herself and was much more snarky.

One day, Haibara was eating lunch when Ayumi walked up and sat next to her.

"Ai-chan, could I talk to you about something personal?" she asked nervously. It looked like there was something on her mind.

Haibara had always considered Ayumi her best friend, after Conan, so that was part of the reason she was feeling so sad about Conan spending so much time with her. But that wasn't any reason to chase her off, not when she looked like this. "Sure, Ayumi-chan," she said, nodding towards the empty seat.

Conan suddenly made to join them, but Ayumi saw him and shooed him away, causing Haibara to raise an eyebrow. It took a lot to make Ayumi send her crush away. Well, she'd said it was about something personal, which probably meant it wasn't for his ears.

"Ai-chan," began Ayumi, "There's something bugging me…it's about Conan-kun."

"What's bugging you?"

"Well, I never really noticed it before, but lately, he's been acting weird around me. He always makes excuses to be around me, to help me out, and walk me home. It's so…different from normal it just…creeps me out a little, I guess."

"If he's making that much of an effort, it probably means he likes you. Boys only do stuff like that for girls they like. You should be flattered."

"That's what I thought at first, too, but I've confessed to him before that I like him so if he liked me back he should just be able to say it. Since he hasn't it either means he's REALLY nervous or just being a good friend."

Haibara was now listening intently. If Ayumi wasn't sure if Conan liked her, then there was the possibility he was being a good friend, no matter how small it was. However, she loved Conan too, and wanted him to be happy, so she said, "It sounds to me like he does like you. He's always been incredibly dense, so he's probably just thinking about how to confess."

Ayumi didn't respond, instead looking at the ground as if thinking about it. "There's something else bothering me about him, too," Ayumi said eventually.

"Oh? What is it?"

"I've noticed that he only acts weird if you're around, Ai-chan."

"What do you mean?" Haibara asked, surprised.

"I mean that the only time he ever spends more time with me than normal is when you're around. When we play in the park, if you're not there, he never cares who's on his team. We just go with the schedule. When he walks home with me, he only talks to me until we can't hear the others. And on the day you were home sick, he treated me like he used to. After we left Hakase's, he went home by himself, and not with me."

"Anything else you've noticed?" asked Haibara, wondering to herself why he was only weird when she was around.

"The day you were sick, he was really worried. He was muttering to himself about whenever you're sick he needed to be cautious. I didn't hear much else, but he was distracted the whole day, and he looked scared. He also kept saying something about jail, escapes, and various alcohols. Does that mean anything to you?"

Haibara put two and two together and realized he was worried about the Organization coming after them again, since she had only gotten really sick right before the encounter with Vermouth, and had gotten better after Vermouth had left. Of course, she hadn't really been sick this last time, and had spent the day moping in her room to sort out her feelings.

"Not really," she replied. "So what do you think about all this, Ayumi-chan?"

"I…I…I think he doesn't like me. I think he likes you."

"You think he likes…me?" Haibara asked incredulously, "Where'd that come from?"

"Call me crazy, but maybe he's only hanging out with me because he's trying to see if you get jealous or not. You're really quiet about that kind of thing, so if he does like you, he probably has no idea if you like him back. After all, he is incredibly dense, so you're probably a bigger mystery to him than all the cases we solve. Conan-kun's popular, and so are you, so asking you out directly would be like setting off a bomb, especially if you rejected him. That's why I think he started hanging out with me: it was to see if he could get a rise out of you or not."

Haibara was listening quietly to Ayumi talk, her lunch forgotten. Her theory was certainly plausible, even if it was a little out of character for him. She then resolved to see if Ayumi's theory was true in any way. She glanced over at Conan, but he was busy eating his food, and wasn't paying them any attention.

"Uh, Ai-chan?" Ayumi asked hesitantly.

"Yeah?" Haibara asked, fighting hard to keep the glee out of her voice. The mere thought of Conan liking her back was that powerful.

"You like Conan-kun too, don't you?"

Haibara fought hard to keep her blush down while quickly saying, "No I don't. I don't like him any more than the last time you asked at the Blue Castle case two years ago."

Ayumi just laughed and said, "Ai-chan, you can be a really bad liar sometimes. It's obvious to me you like him, and I'll tell you why. It took a while for you to get used to Ran-oneesan because it looked like Conan-kun had a crush on her. Whenever I said anything about liking him, you'd always stay quiet or say something sarcastic whenever anyone talked to you. And when he first started hanging out with me more than normal, you were sick the next day. When we went over to check on you, we weren't able to see you at all, which indicated you had something really really bad. But the next day you were fine, though it looked like you'd hadn't been sleeping well. That's why I think you like him. You saw him with someone else he might have a chance with and sulked in your room. You didn't sleep because you'd been crying, and didn't let us see you because he would've seen your eyes all red and swollen." Ayumi said all this like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You do like him, don't you?" Ayumi asked softly, but kindly.

Haibara was very surprised by the tenderness in her friend's voice as well as the explanation. The little girl had obviously picked up a lot of deduction skills from Conan and was incredibly perceptive. Ayumi was acting like a true and caring friend too, even though Haibara knew she liked Conan as well and could've been very ugly about the whole thing. It was for these reasons that Haibara decided to drop the act, just once, and tell the truth. "Ayumi-chan, I…I do like Edogawa-kun. I have for years. I just never said anything because I always thought he liked someone else." She looked at the ground, not trusting herself to look at Ayumi's face. She really didn't want to see the betrayal there.

But Ayumi didn't act betrayed at all. "I thought so, Ai-chan!" exclaimed Ayumi. "Why don't you tell him, then? I've told you why he might like you, so what's the harm?" She grabbed Haibara by the shoulders and looked her right in the eyes, where Haibara could see that the little girl didn't look hurt at all. Instead she looked happy.

"What about you?" asked Haibara in surprise, "I can't tell him anything like that if it'll hurt you. Besides, there's still no guarantee that he does like me as anything more than a friend. "

"But he does like you, Ai-chan. I'm sure of it. You're just too stubborn to admit to yourself that you might actually have a chance with him."

"What about you, though? Don't you still like him?" Haibara asked again.

"Well, yeah, I do still like him. But I'll be happy as long as he's happy. And if he'll be happier with you than with me, then I'll be willing to let him go. Besides, you're more emotional than me, obviously, though you don't show it. That's why you should end up with him, so you won't get overwhelmed with too many negative emotions. That's why I fully support you two. Good luck with him, Ai-chan! Make him happy for me!"

With that Ayumi said nothing more, and went back to her food, humming something happy in between bites. Haibara was still stunned by her friend's behavior, since she had not expected Ayumi, who had known Conan longer, to just give her her blessing like that. She'd expected resistance, as Ayumi was a rival, but had received none at all. This made her feel happier than she'd felt for a while. It felt like a massive blanket of dread and regret had been lifted off her shoulders.

The problem now was Conan. Ayumi was pretty sure Conan liked her, but Haibara still wasn't convinced. He'd never treated her any differently. Plus, if he had been testing her, and using Ayumi to manipulate her emotionally, then she didn't know if she could accept his feelings. That type of manipulation was right up the Organization's alley, and she didn't like it being used on her for petty reasons.

XXX

Conan noticed a peculiar change in Haibara after she talked to Ayumi. While before she'd seemed subdued and silent, now she seemed happier and peppier, which surprised him. A sudden change like that wasn't natural, so he assumed Ayumi must've told her something to boost her confidence. When he sat next to Ayumi later, he decided to find out what all the whispering was about.

"So, Ayumi-chan, what were you talking about with Haibara earlier? You seem to have really cheered her up."

"Oh, just girl stuff. You wouldn't understand."

Conan raised an eyebrow at that. The girl was eight years old, so what 'girl stuff' would those two have been talking about? Suddenly Ayumi asked a question he was NOT expecting, completely catching him off guard. "Conan-kun, do you like Ai-chan?"

"How could I possibly like a hard-nosed girl like her?" Conan replied quickly, relying on a stock answer to get out of talking.

"Conan-kun, you're a bad liar when you're flustered. Plus, you're blushing."

Conan immediately realized she was right and attempted to control it while Ayumi giggled. He then wondered if Haibara had put her up to it, but decided against it since it wasn't really like her to manipulate other people to do favors for her. "So you do like Ai-chan," Ayumi teased him.

"I guess I do…a little."

"You're still lying, Conan-kun. I've learned how to watch and learn from you, and I'm not stupid. It's so obvious you like her, and your hanging out with me gave me the proof I needed. The only reason you've been hanging out with me these past few weeks is just to make her jealous, right? You only hang out more with me whenever she's around to see. That means you like her. I'll warn you though, Conan-kun, making her jealous might tell you her feelings, but you'll break her heart if she does like you and doesn't realize it's just a test. You should quit hanging out with me and go tell her and see where it gets you."

"What are you saying, Ayumi-chan? I can't just tell her something like that out of the blue!"

"And why not? She's pretty quiet about that kind of thing, so do you know whether she likes you or not?"

"Well, no, but…"

"So quit being a coward and TELL HER. You won't get anywhere by being quiet sneaky!"

Conan was a little suspicious of how much encouragement she was throwing at him. "You'd be OK with that?"

"To be perfectly honest, I'm a little sad you like Ai-chan, but since it's Ai-chan and not some random girl, I'm pretty OK with it. And if you're truly happy with her, then I'll be happy too!"

"You're serious about this?" Conan asked in amazement.

"Of course I am!" said Ayumi. "Both of you are my friends, and Ayumi hate seeing her friends miserable. So give it your all, OK?"

My apologies to those who wanted an Haibara vs. Ayumi catfight. I decided to keep them as friends now, and I'm saving the fight for another story I've got an idea for. Besides, under the circumstances presented here, I don't really think they would've fought anyways.

Next up, Conan and Haibara talk for the first time since they both talked to Ayumi! What'll happen? Look forward to it!

Oh, and many thanks to the many people that reviewed and supported me! I'm sorry I can't use all your ideas, but the ones I liked I've filed away to use in other stories. If you have any more, feel free to share!

Note: The Blue Castle Case is episodes 136-137.