This is the first real chapter of this story. I do switch POVs more in this story, but I think it's pretty easy to know who's who.

Disclaimer: Owning this would result in my going to jail due to illegal seizure of copyright claims.

Chapter One

For Edogawa Conan, life as a kid couldn't have been duller. Grade school was dull, playing with little kids was dull, and not being taken seriously at crime scenes was dull. While life as a kid could have its benefits, like the time he escaped Gin and Vodka by cramming himself into a kid-sized coin locker, he still hated being treated like a kid and not being able to go anywhere by himself because it was 'too dangerous' for him.

It was a normal day for Conan. It was a Friday, so he had school, as usual. But something in the paper changed his mood completely. It was a challenge notice from Suzuki Jirokichi to the Kaito Kid. It was really big and bold to capture everyone's attention, and basically said that Jirokichi was putting up a jewel, called the Emerald Knight up as bait, and was challenging Kid to steal it. The jewel would be on a large Suzuki cruise ship and would be docked in the ocean well away from the shore in a week's time.

Conan wasn't as surprised as he might've been, since he'd sent out challenges before, the most recent of which Conan had bad memories of. As far as he was concerned, an attempt to steal Ran was too much to steal, even for Kid, and the addition of terrorists and a fake plague scare just added to the bad memories. Another bad thing was that it took a while for both him and fellow high school detective Hattori Heiji to convince several police officers that Kudo Shinichi and Kaito Kid were indeed two completely separate people.

Conan was thinking about all this when the phone rang, which Ran quickly answered.

"Hello? Oh Suzuki-ojichan. Yes. Probably, but I'll ask." She turned to Conan. "Conan-kun?"

"Yes, Ran-neechan?"

"Suzuki-san wants to know if you and your friends will want to go to the heist."

"Of course we'll go." Conan's friends annoyed him a lot, but he knew perfectly well that Kid couldn't disguise as any of them, and it always helped to know someone you could trust. He'd actually disguised as Genta before, but 'Genta' had been trapped in a hole, so Kid had only had to disguise the part of himself outside the hole as Genta.

"He says sure. I'll just have to confirm it with their parents. Of course. Bye." With that, she hung up. Suddenly her father, Mouri Kogoro entered, and, having overheard the last of the conversation, started complaining about the carefree nature of kids these days, which Conan and Ran both ignored. They left Kogoro goggling at the Kid challenge and left for school.

During recess, Conan told the kids and Ai about the new Kid challenge, and how'd they'd been invited again. Ayumi immediately didn't want to go, since she remembered the Kirin's Horn case, where Conan had been knocked out with the stun gun. However, Mitsuhiko and Genta immediately wanted to go, and Ayumi was ruled over. They also convinced Ai to go, though reluctantly, claiming that she was a member of the Detective Boys, too.

Meanwhile at Teitan High, Kid had infiltrated the ranks of students to get more info about the heist. His whole heist hinged on the fact that the five kids were going, and if they couldn't go, he'd have to completely change his plans. He figured that Ran would be a primary target for info, so he disguised himself as Suzuki Sonoko, who was out sick. Her illness was also the reason she hadn't called Ran herself that morning, but Kid hoped that Ran wouldn't put two and two together. Before class, he (she) approached Ran to gather info.

"Hey, Ran!"

"Oh, Sonoko! You heard about the Kid challenge right? Are you planning on going?"

"I don't know yet, actually. Kid-sama hasn't sent a reply. But if, no when, he does, of course Deduction Queen Suzuki Sonoko will be there!" Kid laughed maniacally, fully capturing Sonoko's personality.

"By the way," asked 'Sonoko', "will the little brat be coming? It seems that whenever he comes, my beloved Kid-sama gets framed for murder or even almost caught. He won't be going, right?"

"Actually, your uncle called this morning to ask if Conan-kun would be going, and Conan-kun said he would. He also said he'd get his friends to go, too."

"WHAT? If his friends go, then they'll just get underfoot. Plus, he can't disguise as them so they'll always be on the warpath. Kid-sama might get caught for good!" Kid was happy at this point that the kids would be coming and planned on sending a reply as soon as possible.

"Why shouldn't Kid be caught?" asked Ran, firing up at once, "After what he did on the airship, if I see him, he'll get a faceful of karate!" Ran proved her point by demonstrating it on the nearest pillar. She wouldn't forget about that particular incident anytime soon, and Kid flinched internally.

Ran had seen through his disguise that time, and he'd had to do some quick thinking to get himself out. Since he could disguise himself as Kudo Shinichi without a mask, he'd simply pulled off his mask and claimed to be him. When Ran found out later he was fake, there'd been nasty consequences, especially from Conan.

"Just don't hurt him too bad!" exclaimed 'Sonoko', "I still want to see his face. I can't see it if you cave it in!"

"If I see his face again, he'd better watch out!" said Ran darkly, demonstrating her karate again and leaving a nasty dent in the closest shoe locker.

Kid decided he wouldn't get any more useful information out of Ran, so he just chatted with her about girl stuff, which he knew about because his childhood friend Nakamori Aoko had bored him to death about before. At lunch, Kid decided to make his getaway (he couldn't very well leave during class). First he sent Ran out of the room before him, at which point he slyly snuck a card into her desk apologizing for using Sonoko's persona. Then he went and ate lunch with Ran, eyeing guys in typical Sonoko style, though internally, he was retching horribly. During lunch, he made an excuse to go to the nurse's office, claiming he had an upset stomach, and from there made his escape.

Kid was thankful lunch at Ekoda High, his real high school, was later that lunch at Teitan, so he could easily slip into the lunch crowd and enter unnoticed. He obtained a tardy slip from the office (his excuse for being absent that morning being he'd woken with a headache and it had only just gone away) and went to class. He then played out a normal day as high school student Kuroba Kaito, playing pranks on Aoko occasionally.

Hah! Kid disguised as Sonoko and Ran never realized! And Sonoko can't talk! It might seem weird Kid would disguise as Sonoko, but I'll reveal my reasoning about this in time.

Note: The 'airship incident' mentioned throughout this story refers to the fourteenth movie The Lost Ship in the Sky, if anyone hasn't already realized that. The Kirin's Horn Heist and disguising as Genta come from episodes 585-587.

Reviews are always accepted, especially if they give tips about improving the story.