Detective Conan and Magic Kaito characters, settings, and ideas do not belong to me but to Aoyama Gōshō.

From a Kid's Perspective

By Taliya

Prompt: Why does Conan get the cool toys?

Word Count: 1284

Tsuburaya Mitsuhiko: The Super Awesome Spiffed-Out Glasses

It was a well-known fact amongst the students of Teitan Elementary's class 1-B that Tsuburaya Mitsuhiko liked gadgets. Scratch that, he loved gadgets. Specifically, gadgets used to collect evidence and catch the bad guys. He had a video recorder, a voice recorder, a camera, and a laptop. He took care of his Shounen Tantei Badge, wearing it with pride. Mitsuhiko knew he was smart, what with his love of science and maths, and he enjoyed deconstructing things both physically and verbally. The boy fancied himself a smidge smarter than others in his class, save perhaps Conan and Ai. Those two were in a league all their own.

Still, just because he was not as smart as Conan or Ai did not mean he was undeserving of all the cool things Conan received from the mustached inventor. There was the watch, the skateboard, the belt, the shoes… the list went on. But out of all the things Conan had, the one item Mitsuhiko desired the most would be Conan's glasses. While the freckled boy did not require corrective lenses the way Conan did, he nonetheless wished he could have something similar that blended in with his daily attire. The glasses were just so useful—the ability to track bad guys with the removable tracker and each other via the badges, the ability to zoom in to see from a distance and in the dark.

Mitsuhiko sighed. Maybe one day—just one day, he would somehow pass that "smartness" threshold—wherever it was—that would give the professor the green light to begin making things for him as well. He could only hope.

Yoshida Ayumi: The Utterly Adorable Old-Man Bowtie

Bubbly, cheerful Yoshida Ayumi had harbored a crush on Conan since the day she had met him. He was just so smart, so cute, so cool, so—the list could go on and on, as far as she was concerned. Conan was perfect—and he would make the perfect husband for her in the future. The way he took charge in dangerous situations—so confident, so commanding, so protective—it was enough to make a girl swoon. Though he physically was the smallest boy of her group of friends, he certainly made up for his lack of size with all the amazing gadgets the professor made for him.

And he had so many different toys at his disposal. But out of everything he had, Ayumi's personal favorite was the red bowtie he almost always wore—or at least carried everywhere on his person. Sure, it was more than a little out of fashion, as nobody else she knew wore bowties besides a couple of the old European white men who sat in the parks on weekend afternoons and played Western chess, but on Conan she thought it was cute. While it was cool that he could change his voice with the contraption, it was definitely not the best part about that tie.

The fact that he could pull it off so adorably was the selling point for her, though Ayumi would never admit it to anyone. Not even to Ai.

Kojima Genta: The Crazy Criminal Knockout Belt

Ever since the formation of the Shounen Tantei-dan, Kojima Genta had been the leader of the little band of detectives. It only made sense, since he was the biggest, the tallest, the oldest, the strongest… and harbored the greatest affection for unagi. He might not have been the smartest, or the fastest, or the most agile, but he felt he made up for it with his ability to be the leader—a good leader. He only wished the rest of them possessed as much love for unagi as he did. Oh, unagi…

Love for unagi aside, Genta wondered why exactly it was always Conan who received all of the really cool toys from the professor. Was he not the leader of the Shounen Tantei? Should he not receive the best the professor had to offer? It really was not fair that Conan got everything. Especially the belt that spit out soccer balls that exploded. The sparkles from that explosion that one time on Professor Agasa's roof had been really pretty, if a little too bright to truly look at it. If he had a ball-dispensing belt like that, he could probably join the Tokyo Spirits with all the kicking he would do.

And once he joined the Tokyo Spirits, he would be famous—and rich… and oh gods and goddesses, how many bento boxes of unagi would that buy him?! Genta decided he needed to work on persuading the professor to make a belt for him too.

Haibara Ai: The I-Can-Imitate-Anyone Face Mask

Strawberry-blonde Haibara Ai was about as far from a typical seven year old as a child could get. She was a girl of few words, a decidedly chilly demeanor, and an intelligence that exceeded most adults. And yet she had somehow found herself welcomed into the little group that had named themselves the Shounen Tantei, courtesy of the influence of one shrunken Kudou Shinichi, alias Edogawa Conan. The miniaturized detective was actually the person who had enabled her to live the life she now did, and for that she would be eternally grateful and indebted.

Which was why on occasion, whenever the idiot lover boy somehow managed to find himself in a pickle with regards to his romantic interest, Mouri Ran, it was usually up to her to fix his issues with a well-timed temporary antidote. Or on other occasions, the use of the voice-changing face mask in order to pretend to be Conan while he was himself. It was both a useful and irritating gadget, but one that was necessary in case Ran grew too suspicious about Conan being a shrunken version of Shinichi. Well, had she known, Ran would have been right on the money.

Ai sighed, shaking her head in exasperation, yet with a fond, wistful smile gracing her lips. Why is it, Kudou-kun, that when push comes to shove I am always saving your reckless ass?

Kaitou KID: The Which-Nutcase-Gave-Him-THOSE Shoes

The phantom thief known as Phantom Thief 1412—colloquially throughout Japan as Kaitou KID—was no ordinary criminal. He wore all white, warned the public when and where he planned to strike, and cared for those out to catch him. Included in that list of people he cared about was one Edogawa Conan, who was in reality a de-aged Kudou Shinichi. Knowing that, KID was fine with the fact that he needed an assortment of toys to deal with the murderers he dealt with on a seemingly near-daily basis. He was grateful for those inventions, as they had quite often ended up saving the detective's life.

That did not mean, however, that he should have super-powered shoes. Seriously, who gave a veritable soccer prodigy sneakers with the ability to increase the strength of his kicks when he had an aim like that? KID vividly remembered several instances in which the boy had kicked various objects his direction and the resultant damage they had caused: chief among them were the soccer ball that destroyed a telephone on the Queens Elizabeth during the Black Star heist, the soccer ball that beaned him in the back on the Kirin's Horn heist, and the block of cement meant to unjam the last of Van Gogh's Sunflower paintings in an effort to save it from destruction.

The phantom thief grimaced at the thought of those red and white sneakers. The power in those shoes was dangerous, and for once KID sincerely wished he could strangle whoever's bright idea it was to create shoes like those.

Author's Note: Mmm, this got a tad bit out of hand since I went well over the suggested 500 word cap… Oh well! My initial thought was to see how each of the Shounen Tantei viewed Conan and his gadgets. Then, because they were kids, I figured I should include KID as well, since he is… well, sort of a kid too—in name and spirit, if not in reality. This was a little harder to write, since I am very much not used to writing about the Shounen Tantei, but it was challenging and fun. That and I tried to frame the (real) kids' points of view so that they were not all simply jealous about Conan's toys. To whoever it was I wrote this for, I hope you enjoyed it.

Completed: 15.02.2016