~O-o-o-o-o-O~

If only there was such a thing as real heaven.

~O-o-o-o-o-O~

"Who are you?" She asked.

"Professor Agasa." The man paused, then smiled in a friendly way, so different from the ice-cold smirk of Gin's or the indifferent remarks from Vermouth, and her other associates.

"Agasa-hakase." She tested out the word and readied herself for the questions that she was sure would be coming- Who are you? Why are you here? Why were you wearing that lab coat? Why were you collapsed in front of Kudo-san's house? The possible questions echoed in her mind, but she showed nothing on her face, save for polite gratitude and mild curiosity.

After all these years of training, her Poker Face was probably better than the Phantom Thief's.

While she waited for his reply she observed her surroundings. The room she was in was airy, large, with high ceilings and cold fluorescent lights. She was currently situated on a couch, with a warm blanket draped over her wet lab coat- Agasa must have done it when he had found her, she supposed, glancing the Professor again.

Agasa smiled, indicating a mug of hot chocolate on the coffee table. "Have some hot chocolate?" She was shaken out of her reverie at his voice, and looked to where he was pointing.

"Sure." She replied, cautiously reaching for the mug. Holding it to her lips, she pretended to drink but instead inhaled, smelling the drink. Her keen nose detected nothing out of the ordinary, but all the same she held the warm mug in her cold hands and didn't drink.

When she looked up again, she was surprised to find that he had left the room. The lights dimmed after a few minutes, when she didn't move. Tired, she leaned against the couch, feeling uncomfortable in her wet clothes.

When Agasa-hakase finally returned, he was bearing a teapot. Slowly, he poured himself a cup of tea, and then sat onto the couch across from her. The lights above returned to their old intensity; alert, she sat up and eyed him from across the coffee table.

She waited for the inevitable questions.

"What is your name?" Professor Agasa asked.

She licked her suddenly dry lips. "I don't have one. Not anymore." She admitted. Once upon a time, she had been Miyano Shiho, as a tiny baby- pure and innocent. Then she was Sherry, the criminal scientist, member of the Black Organization…and now, she was a young girl, barely seven, new and unformed.

Or, she thought dryly, as unformed as a seven-year-old can be.

And she remembered the words, spoken long ago, when the name Sherry had been beaten into her, over and over again (she had checked- the scars were gone, now that she was seven again). "Your name is Sherry, or you have no name at all."

"Well, that's fine!" Professor Agasa leaned back and laughed heartily. Against her cautious nature, she felt herself warming up to this strange, eccentric old man. "We'll just have to create a new name for you, won't we?"

And the questions continued.

~O-o-o-o-o-O~

Conan Edogawa yawned, slumping against his desk at Teitan Elementary School. Bored, he listened halfheartedly to the various exclamations of other kids in the room.

"Did you see the latest episode of Kamen Yaiba?"

"Yesterday's math homework was so hard!"

I wonder what Ran is doing right now? Conan thought as he tuned the various voices out. I wonder if she misses me…

"Conan-kun!" A familiar voice called, directly in Conan's ears.

Conan jerked up in his seat, looking at the little girl. It was Ayumi Yoshida, one of the few who had bravely tried to befriend him- even though he had kept to himself and tried to discourage her advances.

"Conan-kun?" She repeated.

"What?" He asked.

"Didn't you hear?" She was looking at him anxiously, waiting for his reply. "There's a new transfer student coming today! The first one since you, Conan-kun!"

"That's great." Conan replied. As Ayumi continued to make small talk and Genta and Mitsuhiko joined them, he sighed, slouching again and resisting the urge to put his head down on the desk and doze off. Instead, he answered all of Ayumi's questions and made an effort to remain polite.

In the back of his mind he wondered: Hmmm…what would Ran be doing now…? Would she talk to another guy? Or…?

His random thoughts drifted to the Black Organization, and he subconsciously clenched his fists. They'll regret the day that they did this to me. He promised himself, and sat up straighter to reply to Mitsuhiko's question.

~O-o-o-o-o-O~

In her mind, she pictured the image in the Black Organization's files, in the list of potential enemies.

Sharp blue eyes, somewhat messy black hair, and a self-assured grin. An unforgettable face. She concluded; reaching the classroom door. The teacher opened the door for her and she stepped in, murmuring a soft thanks.

She stepped into the large, airy classroom and scanned the faces of the children, while the teacher introduced her to the class.

"This is Ai Haibara." The teacher said- (what was her name again? Ai never bothered remembering unless they were important names), and gestured to Ai. An eruption of exclamations ensued; the boys in the class stared at her with open-mouthed surprise- probably at her foreign features, though she was half-Japanese.

"Wow, she's so kawaii! I hope I…"

"Let's be friends with her! She looks lonely…"

"I wonder what she…"

There he is! She hadn't moved a bit since she had stepped inside the classroom, and she had finally found him- the only kid in the class who wasn't staring at her with rapt attention. He was sitting with his head to the side, chin supported by his hand; his glasses slightly lopsided and his expression bored. She concentrated on him for one moment, narrowing her eyes, and her vision switched from color-filled to black and white. Only the bored kid was surrounded by a glowing color- a deep, dark blue the same hue as his sharp eyes. Ha! She thought, letting her color vision resume. I've got you now, Kudo-san. She let her gaze drift to the empty seat beside Kudo-san- good, that just makes it easier for me.

"She can sit with me!" Ai eyed the plump boy who had spoken and made a decision.

Striding right past the boy (who had a slightly crestfallen look on his face), she set her backpack on the empty table next to Kudo-san's.

"Nice to meet you." She murmured, ignoring the surprised look on his face. Her own smug amusement remained unseen; she made sure that the only expression that Kudo-san could see on her face was polite disinterest.

"Y-yeah." He replied, slightly shaken.

The class began, and the students quieted down. She could feel his intent stare; he was probably trying to pick her apart- set a label for her, the way so many detectives did. He was using his powers of observation, but unlike other people, she wouldn't yield her secrets as easily. Sorry, Kudo-san. It doesn't matter how hard you stare- you won't be learning anything new about me unless I want you to.

Ducking her head and pretending that she was preparing to take notes, Ai turned her face away to hide her smirk.

~O-o-o-o-o-O~

"Who," The Boss asked rhetorically, "are the most dangerous people in the world?" He was sitting at the head of the table, his upper body bathed in shadow, a result of the dimly lit room. Even if a member tried to look closely at his features, they would not be able to, not unless they had extraordinarily keen eyes, and maybe not even then. This was intentional on the Boss's part; intimidation was one of the tactics that he had learned early among the humans.

But though he had once learned with humans and lived with humans, the Boss wasn't a human. He wasn't even an angel anymore- he had been corrupted to the point that if someone were to cut open his chest and reveal his heart, everyone in the organization would agree that it would be black.

The air in the room was heavy and choking; several members in the room shifted nervously in their seats, waiting for the Boss's next words.

"Children." The Boss answered his own question, slamming his fist onto the table. "Children are the most dangerous in the whole world. Does anyone know why?" Without waiting for a reply, he continued his rant. "Children are dangerous because they have potential. Any young child can be trained to be the next master in any subject- we have seen for ourselves what happened with Sherry. And…if we should search out the angel-blooded children among these pitiful humans, we will have the perfect army!"

The members of the organization sat in silence, pondering his words. The Boss nodded to Vermouth. "I want you to have plans written up by next week's meeting- deliver them to me before then. Do not be late."

She nodded, and the Boss got out of his chair and left the room.

~O-o-o-o-o-O~

"Alright. Who are you?" Conan demanded. He had herded Ai Haibara to a private area where they wouldn't be overheard; he had been itching to ask her this since class had started- but he hadn't had a chance.

She merely smirked, then turned around and faced him. "What do you mean?" Ai asked him, a confused look on her face.

Conan stared at her in disbelief. "What do you mean- 'what do you mean'? You know what I'm talking about- you're not a normal little girl."

Ai stared at him, frowning in thought. "So, does that mean that you're not a normal little boy?" She smiled sweetly at him, randomly kicking little rocks on the ground towards him. One flew toward Conan's foot, hitting his shin, and he winced.

Conan wasn't fooled for a second by Ai's innocent expression. "Tell me." He insisted, grabbing one of her arms and keeping her from moving away. "Who are you?" He stuck his face close to hers; looking in her eyes for any trace of sadness, blankness- the unusual intelligence of an adult in the body of a child. There was nothing- Ai's eyes were completely natural, innocent and sparkling. Stunned by this observation, Conan let her go.

Ai moved away immediately, grasping her arm and glaring at him. "What are you doing?" She demanded. "Why did you do that?"

Stunned by the realization that he had been wrong, Conan stared at Ai's retreating figure, a frown on his face- but he didn't know that if he had watched Ai as he let her go, he would have seen blankness immediately descend on her face; her mask dropping out of place, the sparkle and innocence leaving her eyes. But Conan hadn't looked when he had let her go, and so he didn't know that he had been right.

"Well then, good-bye, I guess." Ai said, looking back at the baffled detective.

Conan blinked, returning to his senses. "Sure, and sorry for shaking you. I thought you were someone else."

Ai smirked as she walked on, the sun shining bright above her.

Hey guys! I'm VERY sincerely sorry for the late update- life caught up to me. ^^ I hope you enjoyed the chapter- and please make my day by reviewing. Thank you! ^^

OH yea...and it has come to my attention that Ai would be about 8 right now...xD Whatever. I like her younger, I think I'll keep her this age- and she'll be closer in age to Conan as well. I hope that's okay with everyone? Mhmmm? Good. Thank you.