Unfortunately, I still don't have any plans to turn this into a full story series, so it'll remain an idea for anyone else to take, if they want. One of the main difficulties with me writing this series is that I'd want to remain as true to both series as I possibly could – which means hopefully new mysteries to intertwine with whatever other situations the Cards might inspire.

I'm adding a few extra 'possible' scenes, here. They're not guaranteed to be what happens, but just think of it as adding to the idea. I have two or three additional scenes in mind, though I'm not spoiling those… just in case I do decide to eventually write my own version…

"What's that?"

Kudou Shinichi – now, and with any luck temporarily, a young boy who'd named himself 'Edogawa Conan' – blinked, staring at the small, prone form of Keroberos laying haphazardly atop Ai's bed. "A stuffed animal?"

Ai frowned. "…Shut up, Kudou." She pulled the boy away from her bedroom door, shutting it. "I take it you've forgotten that I don't want you anywhere near my room?"

"Yeah, yeah," Conan replied, closing his eyes dismissively. "I just have difficulty picturing you as the type who'd want a stuffed animal, much less one that looks like that." Ai was certainly within her rights and circumstance to enjoy her second childhood, but this was the person who kept her behavior clinical, and her room spartan. Would that sort of person suddenly add a brightly-colored – cute, he supposed – toy to the mix?

Whatever. Maybe Haibara was deliberately trying to confuse him. The former Organization member-turned-little-girl kept everyone at a considerable distance, revealing only what she believed anyone truly needed to know… even when all of that knowledge could improve their chances of survival, bring down the Organization that much faster.

He couldn't force her to tell them anything, of course. She had convinced herself she was keeping the whole lot of them innocent and safe, him included.

Well, Haibara was also fully aware of his drive, his desire to solve any and all cases he encountered. Better she didn't spoil that, then, and let him gather everything necessary to make sure the entire Organization were brought to justice, right?

She seemed to prefer spending her free time locked in her bedroom, attempting to formulate a cure for the apotoxin she'd created – the primary reason the pair of them were children, now.

Still, there was nothing honestly preventing her from having a little fun, now and then, so if a stuffed animal reminded her to lighten up every once in a while, he'd let it pass.

The small orange… lion? probably resembled some toy she'd had, years ago.

Might as well see how the professor's doing with his latest creation, he mused, crossing the threshold into the house's spacious living room. Agasa had no shortage of… interesting ideas to apply to possible inventions, certainly. His career as a child detective would have been who knew how many times more difficult without the aid of the set of special gadgets the professor had created for him, such as the voice-changer hidden within his bow-tie.

Whenever the professor attempted to invent something for the general public to use, however… his creations often failed in unexpected ways.

As he reached the point where he knew Ai's bedroom door could no longer be seen from the living room, Conan paused to take one final glance over his shoulder in that direction…

She hadn't moved.

Sheesh. Haibara continued to stare at him, her face never shifting from that forced emotionless mask. Don't tell me she's THAT worried I'm gonna try to go in her room?

Could she have hidden something important inside that toy? he considered, then dismissed it. The lion was the only thing in the room that seemed out-of-place; who wouldn't check it first?

Ai lingered in the hall a moment longer, wondering if she honestly believed there was a chance the boy might return.

There was no way in hell she'd be able to hide her new… problem… from Kudou, for long. Bizarre magic, or no.

Why all of Beika didn't know about the Cards after the previous night, she was hardly sure. If nobody happened to notice a forty-foot, brightly-glowing woman with avian features flying just above the rooftops for what, about half an hour? – there was absolutely no hope for any of them. None.

She couldn't believe she'd let the little stuffed jerk talk her into chasing a giant flying harpy, on foot. Or that she had actually debated using the magic of the Windy Card to catapult herself into the sky… and proceeded to do just that, soaring high enough to grab a handful of feathers on the creature's side and struggle to pull her way onto its back.

Wonderful. Now, she was a 'magical girl.' With an annoying tiny sidekick that reminded her very much of nothing more than a higher-pitched Hattori Heiji.

The power of the Fly Card manifested white, feathery wings atop her key-staff – pink, damn it… why in the world would a powerful wizard and man like Clow Reed have created a pink key or staff? Maybe the color helped true magic-users focus energy better, or something – allowing her to use the Key somewhat like a witch's broom, to Fly wherever she wished.

It also turned her into an easy and interesting target for snipers, or anyone with a telephoto camera lens. Then again, if people had trouble noticing a forty-foot airborne glowing woman, who would spot a fairly smaller, younger girl innocently gliding through their range of vision?

Hrm.

Ai nudged her door open with one foot, enough for her to slip into the room… and nearly slammed the door shut in a rush of panic on finding Kero bobbing inches from her face, drawing breath to speak.

"What'd that brat mean by, 'one that looks like that?' Like what?"

She glared. "Shut up, idiot!" Snatching the diminutive bear-lion-thing from the air and pulling him close enough to discern the malice in her eyes in fine detail, Ai lowered her voice to a whisper. "Since you clearly want them to hear you, why don't I just save you the trouble and give you to them, right now?"

Kero's eyes widened. "You… probably would," he admitted, reluctantly, in a diminishing voice. "Okay… I'm sorry."

"Better." Not really, but she wasn't in the mood to press her point.

"It's just that it's so… boring in here, y'know? I can't even watch TV or play anything on the computer."

"I keep my computer password-protected for a reason," Ai informed him, dryly.

"…and you don't even have a game system…"

"I don't want a game system."

Kero blinked, studying her. "You're a weird kid, you know that?" he said at last.

"Yeah, whatever." The little monster hadn't been the only individual to tell her that, after all. Did it truly matter? Despite her appearance, she didn't consider herself to be a child, nor did she choose to act her apparent age. Let Kudou play the bright-eyed little boy – she had better things to do. "So, why aren't you out there, looking for the Cards?"

"Even if I did, what could I do? You're the only one who can seal the Cards. Most of 'em are in hiding. I won't be able t'sense them until they become active."

"Like the Fly Card." Just what they needed… more forty-foot magical women wreaking havoc in Beika.

"Right. But they won't be manifesting the same way; their powers're all different, remember? Since you're the Card Captor, you've got a direct link to the Cards. I'm sure you'll be able t'sense the Cards better than me, so the best place for me t'be is with you."

She smirked. "…And if you can stay in my room and play video games, all the better?"

"Of course!" The winged bear's face was alight with an uncomfortably wide grin… which promptly withered as Kero realized he'd been trapped. "Er… no! I mean…"

"I'm still not going to get you any video games."

"Shut up." Kero folded his arms, sulking and muttering a comment about 'weird little girls' under his breath.

"Okay, class," Kobayashi-sensei announced, surveying her students with a quick glance to determine whether or not she had their attention. She began to write a name on the chalkboard, hoping she had the Kanji correct. "Today, I would like you to welcome a new transfer student to our class."

A nod toward the door signaled the boy waiting there to enter the room. "This is Li Shaoran."

Peripherally, Conan noticed the way Ai's body ever-so-briefly went completely rigid, her eyes widening, at the sight of the boy – before her mask of composure slipped back into place. She knows that kid? he wondered, not missing their sensei's mention that the boy was 'a transfer student from China.'

Did this 'Shaoran Li' have some sort of relation or even connection to the Organization?

Conan studied the newcomer. Shaoran was a bit taller than him – and how many kids weren't, he inwardly groused – possessing rather ordinary features. Brown, slightly curled short hair, with darker brown eyes.

The boy had quickly zeroed in upon Ai, among all of the children in the class, and was clearly glaring at her intently.

Uh-oh. Aside from Vermouth, the FBI, Hattori, the professor and his parents, Conan's mind raced, who else was aware of Haibara's secret?

"Now, for your seat… ah. For today, why don't you use that desk behind Ai-kun?" Kobayashi-sensei pointed toward the seat in question. "Miyo-kun, who normally sits there, is absent today. I'll change the seating chart tonight."

The glaring continued as Shaoran made his way through the aisle, and eased warily into the desk behind Ai.

Would anyone even remotely connected to the Organization be this blatantly obvious? the question nagged at the back of Conan's mind. It was unlikely Shaoran was a true member of the Organization; both he and Haibara would have behaved notably different upon seeing each other.

Perhaps Shaoran could be someone Haibara had known, and had fallen victim to the apotoxin one way or another after Haibara's escape. That definitely gave Shaoran a reason to be angry with her.

He'd have to ask the professor and Hattori to check the boy's records, if at all possible.

Shaoran was still glaring.

Ever so slowly, Haibara turned in her chair to face him, countering with her 'normal' indifferent stare.

Suddenly, Shaoran blinked, his assault faltering, and averted his gaze.

I don't believe it, Conan watched as Ai resumed her seat, a satisfied smirk set firmly upon her lips. She just won another staring contest.

The stockier of the two men fidgeted, his unease slowly but surely increasing. "A-aniki…," Vodka stammered, but caught himself.

Members of the Organization were taught that anything could happen or change during even the best of plans. He had watched that happen, personally, a small number of times… most of those instances occurring after he'd been assigned to be Gin's partner.

Yes, Gin thoroughly hated it whenever something deviated at all from the plan… but that was the man's true element, where his cunning mind was allowed free reign. The slightly manic, sinister edge that formed in Gin's eyes was proof of that. No matter the cost, whatever – or whomever – else he may have to eliminate, Gin would see his assignments through.

Vodka wasn't the least bit sure if any of Gin's experience and talents prepared him for situations where they'd exited a building, only to find that the area had somehow become overgrown with thick tree branches, elevating Gin's Porsche about five meters from the ground.

The platinum-haired man chewed idly at the end of his cigarette, irritated, narrowing his eyes as he examined the branches nearest the sidewalk. No tree in existence grew to such a volume, strong and thick enough to lift a car, in less than an hour.

There had been rumors filtering through to the Organization, now and then, about 'strange occurrences…' some apparently even claimed it was magic. Gin, like the others, had completely disregarded everything; none of those supposed instances had any sort of bearing upon the Organization's business.

'Magic,' as far as Gin was concerned, was merely a word used by those who couldn't be bothered to investigate until they learned the complete truth. If there was a way to make trees grow significantly in a short period of time, he'd uncover it – and if anyone had thought to use that trick to sabotage his Porsche…

A somewhat-familiar small white hang-glider soared, banking almost lazily around the occasional high-rise. A cheer echoed from the ground below now and then, those fans of the infamous Kaitou Kid recognizing what the sight meant – the Kid had managed to escape, once again.

He grinned for a moment, then sighed. As much as he loved playing the showman, devising elaborate tricks to confound and amaze everyone, distract them from his search… his exploits had admittedly become a bit routine.

Old man Jirokichi had challenged him to steal the Tears of Midnight… so, naturally, he had to oblige. The legend of Kaitou Kid had to be maintained, after all, and it was always fun to spite both the old man and Inspector Nakamori.

He'd always wondered how Aoko would react, if she knew how he'd been treating her father.

The jewel and its setting were unimportant, clearly not related at all to the jewel he sought.

That Suzuki Jirokichi was involved practically guaranteed Kudou and the Detective Boys would be there. Kudou enjoyed the challenge as much as he did, he was sure.

So. The little boy detective unravels the trick and retrieves the obscenely expensive jewel from Kaitou Kid, who unavoidably escapes. It wasn't as if the adults were expecting the children to be able to catch a thief like Kid all by themselves, right?

He considered the number of times Kudou had come close to catching him, his lips almost descending into a frown. Even the Detective Boys had nearly managed it, once or twice. That turned his mood around, and he snorted a laugh. How ironically easy it was to underestimate or dismiss a child…

A true magician never abandoned the quest to devise the ultimate trick or illusion. Time for the intermission between acts, then.

What would he want to change about the routine, anyway, except for finally creating the trick that even Kudou Shinichi couldn't solve? Every caper was completely different – locations, method, items. The only common factors linking all of those runs were the participants, and the general outline of events.

He had barely begun to wonder whether or not adding a new face to the regular cast of characters would shake everything up enough to be interesting, when he noticed a slight movement to his right… wait, was he being flanked?

The small, stuffed orange bear gliding at his side on impossibly thin cloth wings offered him a broad smile and casual wave. Kid boggled. What the heck–

"Kaitou Kid, the 'Magician in the Moonlight,'" the bear said, fixing him with a stare he found himself unable to ignore. "Or should I say… Yue?"