Don't own Detective Conan.

Don't own the Cover Art.

That's a Detective

Conan blinked as he turned away from the tank he was staring at, the shark that was holding his attention not moving or turning its gaze elsewhere. "What is with my fascination with sharks?"

"Yeah," the other boy nodded. "What draws you to sharks? Wouldn't it be…below you or something as a detective to be so interested in something so mundane?" he had a bit of a sneer in his voice, indicating his disdain for the words he'd spoken.

Conan looked at his fellow middle schooler, scanning the other once before turning back down to the shark below him, who had taken to circling impatiently around where he stood. It had been joined by two other sharks, all of them trying to keep sight of him. He smiled slightly and repeated something he'd said years ago, nostalgia tugging at him as a hand lightly gripped the silver bullet hanging from his neck, "Following the smell of blood to arrive upon a crime scene, using every one of your senses to hunt down the culprit, then once you've seized hold of him, sinking in you sharp teeth – your evidence – until your opponent gives up the ghost."

He turned abruptly back to the other student, who flinched away at the look in his eyes. "That's a detective. Something I doubt you'd understand."

He began to walk away and the other student, incensed by the perceived insult, stuck his foot out and tripped the unsuspecting detective. What he didn't expect was for Conan to slip sideways in a belated attempt to regain his balance. Which sent him hurtling to the side.

Right off of the walkway.

There was a scream as one of Conan's friends, Ayumi the student thinks her name is, had turned around and caught sight of Conan's tumble. The other students began shouting, but the culprit for Conan's fall was too shocked to speak out, something another student took notice of before looking down in the tank in worry.

Only to wind up staring.

"Edogawa-kun," she began, her eyes not straying from the scene before her. "Is everything alright?"

Below the class, Edogawa Conan was treading water as he pet the sharks that were circling him, one of them remaining by his side and slowly swimming him to the edge of the tank. He looked up to her and nodded, his smile growing with the sharks' increasingly curious nudges. "I'm fine, Haibara," he answered, reaching out and running a hand along the tough hide of one of the circling sharks.

He eventually reached the edge of the tank, taking hold of Haibara's out-stretched hand and climbing out. He nodded to the sharks, who only hesitated for a moment longer before turning and swimming further out into the tank. Conan then looked back at his partner, who was checking him over for wounds.

"I'm fine, Ai," he said quietly, causing her to huff and look away with a slight blush on her cheeks.

"Of course you are," she said back, handing him the bag that he'd left in her care. The 'I wouldn't know what to do if you weren't' went unsaid, neither of them acknowledging it.

The rest of the class caught up to the two of them soon after, all of them shouting questions at Conan, all of them "What just happened?" and "Are you okay?" and the favorite, "Why didn't they hurt you?".

"That's easy," he drawled, his unimpressed eyes landing on the student who had tripped him. "Kin recognizes kin." He wouldn't explain what he meant, and didn't seem to be planning on retaliating to the student's petty attack, much to the student's relief.

Ai, however, wouldn't be so forgiving.

What Conan said to the nameless student is a direct quote that Shinichi says to Ran in Chapter 883. It was also the inspiration for this entire mini-One-shot. Not entirely appreciated with Finals beginning on Saturday, so wish me luck!

Conan is kind of in between his canon self and the Conan I wrote in "Forgotten King", and I tried to portray that character-wise.

And again, the silver bullet necklace is a reference to Vermouth's nickname for him, symbolizing his triumph over the Black Organization.

Please review.

Ja ne!