A/N: Okay, first chapter! More soon, I hope.

Oh yeah, and I don't own Detective Conan or Magic Kaito.

Part 1: Aoko's Secret

Three…Two…

Aoko held her breath.

One.

The dark museum flashed with the light bombs that were Kaitou Kid's specialty.

"There he is!" she heard her father shout, pointing at the center of the light and smoke. "Surround him! We've got him this time!"

Aoko sighed and facepalmed. That was what Inspector Nakamori said every time, and still the elusive phantom thief managed to take his target and escape unscathed from all the meticulous plans laid out by the police.

Kaitou Kid emerged from the smoke, holding his white cloak over his face and grinning wildly. "Sorry, Inspector," he said in that infuriatingly easygoing way of his. "But the prize goes to me tonight." He held out a giant topaz jewel embossed in a golden chain, which he had presumably removed from the case he was crouching over. The police rushed toward the podium, and when they were within millimeters of his ankles, he jumped straight up in a blur of white and opened his hang glider. "So long, Inspector!" he said, giving Nakamori a wink and a salute. Then he flew over the crowd and down the dark halls in search of an exit.

Aoko went over the plan in her head for the twentieth time that evening. In case anything goes wrong… She told herself not to be silly. Hakuba was taken care of, and fortunately her father wasn't competent enough to catch Kid on his own. Even so, she couldn't help being a worrywart.

So far, so good, Aoko thought. Her father fell for this trick every time.

This time, however, something was strange. Inspector Nakamori was not ordering his crew to follow after the hang glider. In fact, he wasn't ordering anything. Instead, Aoko heard a slow, groaning sound, followed by an enormous, heavy thud. Alarmed, she whipped around. Her father shut the doors!

"Nice try, Kid," Nakamori said, his voice triumphant. "But I of all people know every last one of your tricks! You were waiting for me to chase after the hang glider, giving you a chance to escape, weren't you?"

Aoko held her breath and figured now was probably a good time to put the plan in place.

A sigh from somewhere in the back kept her from doing so. "You're right, Inspector, you got me," Kid said. Nakamori turned toward the sound of the voice. When it spoke again, however, the voice was coming from an entirely different direction. "I was planning on disguising as one of your men and taking off with the jewel…" A flash of light suddenly caught everyone's attention near the giant glass windows. Kaitou Kid was standing there, holding the jewel up in the light of the moon and admiring it with a solemn look on his face. "…but this isn't the one I'm looking for after all. How about you take it back, Inspector, and we call it a day?"

He tossed the jewel to Nakamori and abruptly disappeared in a flash of confetti and smoke.

Nakamori was too stunned by Kid's obscure twist to notice that the guards had let the doors open again.

"Congratulations on another successful recovery, Inspector!" The guards said, gathering around him and admiring the heavy topaz in his hands.

"What? Oh, right, of course!" Nakamori replied. He puffed out his chest. "Kid doesn't stand a chance against me!" He held up the pendant triumphantly and accepted the warm gratitude and praise from the museum's curators as they came in.

Aoko slipped out the doors. She would get a ride from Jii-chan.

[xx]

"Heeheehee…" Kaito was chuckling while reading the morning newspaper again. Aoko leaned over his shoulder and frowned.

" 'Kid Strikes Again: Relinquishes Jewel.' Really, what do you find so interesting about a petty thief?"

Kaito stuck his tongue out at her. "Bleh! You don't have to be bitter just 'cuz your dad can't catch him even when he's right under his nose!"

"He can too catch Kaitou Kid! Just you wait!" she retorted. And maybe that'll teach you to stop being so reckless.

She was still angry about last night. She recalled her conversation with Jii-chan when he was driving her home.

"So what did you think of tonight's work, Young Miss?"

Aoko had frowned. "He was too reckless again."

"I agree," Jii-chan said, sighing. "But we can't do anything about it. He's his father's son, after all."

Aoko simmered. "But we had a plan! He can't keep doing things on his own like that!"

When Jii-chan answered, his tone was solemn. "Young Miss, the Young Master does not know that you are aiding him. He knows I have recruited some small help, but if he knew exactly who…"

"I know, I know," Aoko snapped. She was more angry at herself, and at Kaito for throwing everything off track. "I just feel so useless."

Jii-chan reached over and patted her head. "You are a wonderful help," he said. "You keep the Young Master's true identity a secret. That is not something useless people can do."

Aoko smiled faintly. Jii-chan was right. She could help form Kaito's alibi when people began to suspect him. She remembered the day she herself had first become one of Kaito's accomplices. Coincidentally, it was the same day she had tried to unveil her childhood friend as the fabled magician of the moonlight. She planned a date with Kaito the same night the thief announced that he would take the jewel, figuring if he was Kaitou Kid, he couldn't be in two places at once. Jii-chan had stopped her and practically begged her not to reveal Kaito's secret. He told her that this was more than just fun and games to Kaito, that he didn't expect her to fully understand but that maybe should would, someday. At first, Aoko was angry and intended to hold an all-out confrontation with Kaito. After all, he had lied to her and mocked everything she and her father stood for while playing his stupid dress-up game. But then Jii-chan showed her a picture of something completely unexpected—someone wearing a familiar white hat and cloak who she mistook as Kaito, but looked older and more mature…

"Toichi." Kaito's father. She remembered playing at Kaito's house while Toichi played small magic tricks for her. "Toichi Kuroba was Kaito Kid."

"If you can see that much, then maybe you will understand," Jii-chan said, and left.

Not long after, Aoko confronted Jii-chan and asked to be one of Kaito's accomplices. Being the phantom thief Kid was obviously very important to Kaito, and no matter what she decided to protect his goal. There was only one condition from Jii-chan—her assistance was to be kept an absolute secret from Kaito. She felt somewhat exuberant that she was keeping her role a secret. It made her feel like she had some sort of leg up on Kaito, and in some twisted way made her closer to him at the same time. She was not the type to sit back on the sidelines, especially when Kaito was involved.

Aoko thought about her current mission while the homeroom teacher lectured about calculus. The next target was Black Star, and it was her job to gather information about the people involved. There was the Suzuki family, including the mother, Tomoko Suzuki; the father and one of Kaito's impersonation subjects, Shirou Suzuki; oldest daughter Ayako Suzuki; and youngest daughter Sonoko Suzuki. Other than them there were the Mouris, who were involved because Kaito intended to impersonate the daughter, Ran. Aoko's mission was to find out as much as she could about Ran's habits, speech patterns, dress, and relationships with the people closest to her. Then she would send the information to Jii-chan, who would tell Kaito, who would then set up his plans.

Aoko and Kaito walked home together as usual, but she was in a hurry to get to work. She giggled to herself. She understood now how Kaito felt when he went on heists. It was like when they played spy when they were kids. Kaito looked at her oddly. "What's up? You're acting weirder than usual today."

"Oh nothing," she replied, trying to sound mysterious. "A girl has to keep her secrets, you know."

A strange expression passed over Kaito's face, but it quickly cleared away and he snorted. "As if you have any secrets." Still, he was quiet the rest of the way home, occupied by some troubling thought. Probably just nervous about the upcoming heist, she told herself.

Aoko quickly said goodbye and dashed into the house, up the stairs, and onto her computer. She hastily checked the notes she had gathered so far about this Ran Mouri, when a white box flashed at the bottom corner of the screen. It was the chat from the Magic Lovers club online. The username at the top flashed "Spell Magician."

How's it going, Shadow of the Moon?

Aoko forgot she was still logged in. She typed: Good. Just working on a new trick with the master.

That's right, you're a magician's apprentice, huh?

It's a lot of work, Aoko wrote. I've got to leave, but I'll talk to you later, alright?

*sigh* I guess…

Aoko logged out before Spell Magician could say anything more. Usually she enjoyed chatting to Spell Magician, but she tended to talk forever and frankly, Aoko didn't have the time.

She printed the last of her notes and dashed back out of the house. "!" she called hurriedly.

"Have fun!" her mom replied, but she didn't hear. She was already gone.