Kimiko: Wow, the thirteenth chapter written on Friday the 13th…

Well, since you awesome peeps wanted it, I wrote the dance idea. I spent my entire Physics class working on this, while I should have been doing something more productive, I guess.

This might be kinda crappy, but I'll do my best.

Dance, Dance!

Everyone at Beika High School already knew about the dance in two weeks. They were already wondering what they would wear and who they would go with. The teachers tried to keep the excitement toned down, but even they had a hard time doing so. The anticipated thrill spread through the school like a wildfire.

Today was the day that Ms. Kisaki would finally announce it officially, during homeroom. The teachers were amazed to see unbelievable perfect attendance in their rooms, with all the students arriving on time. Several of them wondered why they didn't do something like this more often. The students were all waiting expectantly for the announcement, because then they could start asking each other out.

At last, the intercom switched on. Every room was silent as the principal's voice echoed through the school. "Good morning, Beika High! This is Ms. Kisaki and I have an important notice for all of you. As you may have heard from rumors, we will be having our first Pre-Festival Dance in two weeks. Both teachers and students may sign up to come, and you may each bring in only one friend from out of our school. But I do not want to hear about anyone fighting over couples, or the dance will be called off. If you have any more questions, please speak to one of your teachers or the administration. Thank you."

The classrooms promptly burst into applause. Several male students who had been waiting for the announcement to ask out their girlfriends began their prepared speeches. The teachers didn't mind the noise too much, as they understood it was a stimulating time for everyone.

In Ms. Miyano's homeroom, Genta Kojima nervously tapped Ayumi Yoshida on the shoulder. She turned around, smiling as she recognized him. "Genta, isn't this all really exciting?"

He nodded, trying to get rid of the lump in his throat. He was holding something behind his back with one hand, glad that he sat in the corner of the classroom. "A-Ayumi," he stuttered. Even though he and Ayumi had been dating for several months, they still were shy about admitting it to others. But this was the time to tell the whole class that he, Genta Kojima, was the boyfriend of the beautiful Ayumi Yoshida. He brought out the card from behind his back and handed it to her. "This is for you,"

Ayumi opened the envelope and pulled out a gorgeous handmade card. Multicolored sequins were carefully glued in a pattern of vibrant flowers. She admired the card for a moment, and then opened it. She read the contents and her face lit up. "Oh, Genta you wrote this poem for me?" She clutched the card tightly as her friends gathered around to read it.

"Oh, is that a sonnet?"

"Wow, I didn't know you could write poetry, Kojima!"

"That's so sweet!"

Genta struggled to break through the talking, but found his voice and spoke loudly. "Ayumi, would you go to the dance with me?"

"Yes!" Ayumi exclaimed and hugged her boyfriend gleefully.

Later, during a short class break, on the roof…

Sonoko's mind was blank as she followed Makoto up to the roof. Or actually, it was full of Chemistry equations. Ms. Haibara seemed to be drilling it into them even more intensely today. She wasn't sure how much more stuff about the mole they could learn, but if anyone could find more, it was definitely that malevolent teacher with an evil scowl. She wondered how much prettier the teacher could be if she just smiled a bit more.

So, even though she should have seen what was coming, she didn't.

Before she knew what was going on, Makoto had a large bouquet of flowers in his hands and was whispering to her, "Sonoko, do you want to go to the dance together?"

Sonoko's mouth fell open as she berated herself for not preparing for this. She slowly regained her wits and, instead of answering, decided to make up for the pause by kissing him.

Makoto, meanwhile, was very glad that he chose to do this on the roof. His whole class would have swarmed around them both. It made him nervous, but he really wouldn't have minded if it was for Sonoko. But he just wanted her to be able to be out of the spotlight for just a moment so she wouldn't have to force a quick reaction.

And right now, with the unexpected kiss, he couldn't say that he minded her way of making up for her slow reaction.

Later, but still the same day, in the teacher's lounge… [of course]

Shuichi Akai wondered if anyone else was going to come into the room of misfortunes. If anything weird was going to happen, he was sure it would be today, and here. It was where things always seemed to happen, if they weren't anything to do with Kaito Kuroba.

But right now, only Akemi Miyano was in the room with him. He almost wished it was someone else, not because he found her difficult like some of the teachers, but because he found her presence distracting.

He liked her, and he really didn't know how to say so. And this whole dance thing was just too much right now. It was like Valentine's Day, but with more motivation behind the confessions.

Still, he really wanted to at least spend some time with her at the dance. But maybe he would ask later. Right now, he felt like he would just be following the bandwagon by talking to her about the dance. Why did Kisaki have to include teachers anyway? He didn't want to feel like a teenager asking a girl to date him. It would make Akemi, no, Ms. Miyano, feel childish.

Akemi Miyano stole another glance at Akai, and couldn't help but grow a smile. He looked so cute when he was serious. She did crave to speak to him about whether he had any plans for the pre-festival dance, but she was sure that he was busy thinking about something else. Well, she could wait. She'd have to talk to Ai about how to best win a guy's heart, though she wasn't sure how much her sister knew in that topic.

Meanwhile…

Hiroshi Agasa sighed as he looked through his notes for the lecture today. He still had a few minutes until he had to be ready to teach the next class, but he had dropped his papers when he tripped in the hallway earlier that day. Ms. Haibara had been nearby and helped him pick them up, but he wasn't sure if everything was in order. Maybe she was right and he was scatterbrained. But she did always stay around to help him test his theories and work out his prototype experiments. He thought it was very kind of her.

"Hmm, I think I have everything except the connection to waves," he muttered, flipping through the papers. Suddenly a small white piece of paper fell out. He reached down and picked it up. Strange. He didn't thing he had something this small.

It was about a quarter size of a sheet of notebook paper. He looked at the writing on it. It wasn't his.

Dr. Agasa: If you're going to that Pre-Festival whatever, then you need someone to watch to make sure you don't fall over or mess with the lights or anything bizarre like that. If you can't find anyone who's willing to babysit a scatterbrained teacher like you, then I suppose I can take the time out of my schedule to make sure you don't do anything you shouldn't at the dance. -Ms. Haibara.

Agasa blinked. Dance?

Several days later, after school…

Kaito thought this was probably the eighth time Akako Koizumi had snuck up on him since Ms. Kisaki's announcement. She seemed to think he was going to ask her to the dance, and kept trying to get closer and closer to him whenever she found him. Right now, he was hiding inside the gym supply shed, hoping that she might give up again and stop freaking him out. He listened carefully.

He heard fast steps approaching and grabbed a piece of sports equipment protectively. The door swung open and Kaito instinctively held up the baseball bat.

Aoko almost ran into the bat. "Kaito! What are you doing, trying to kill me?"

"Oh, it's you. I thought you were that scary lady, about to catch me," Kaito whimpered, acting like the victim.

"Who? And what are you doing in here?"

"I'm hiding from Akako." Kaito whispered, looking around as if just saying her name might let her know that he was hiding there. It might; he never knew! "What are you doing?"

"Hiding from Hakuba. He's been creeping me out lately, telling me he's the best person to go with to the dance."

Kaito thought about their situations for a few seconds. Apparently, according to his inner Shinichi-voice-of-reason, they were both in a similar dilemma. And there was an easy way to fix this. "Hey, Aoko, how about we go to that dance together so that we don't have to worry about the people who've been making us nervous. What do you think? Smart idea, isn't it?" He felt like it was an accomplishment for thinking up such a great solution and didn't expect Aoko to say no.

Aoko felt like her breathing stopped. This was what she was waiting and praying for. Ran had gotten Shinichi, Kazuha had gotten Heiji, and now she might finally get to be with Kaito!

"That's a great idea! I'll tell him I'm already going with someone now, okay Kaito?"

"Yeah! And be sure to wear your pink striped panties under the dress."

Kaito was then reminded of why he had not joked around with this for a while. He fled from the shed like a scared cat as Aoko swung the bokuto she had pulled out of nowhere at him. She chased him for a while down the street, shouting taunts at him all the way.

Skipping to the night of the dance…

Shinichi waited at the door for Kaito to hurry up. "Kaito, I know it doesn't take you that long to get ready! If you aren't down here soon, I'll have to drive Mom's car even faster." That got his attention. There was a squawk from upstairs and Kaito sped down, still tying his necktie.

"I can hardly stand you driving normally," Kaito said, shuddering. "If you can call that normal. It takes years off of my life."

Shinichi chuckled evilly as he got into their mother's car to pick up their friends. But before he began to move, he remembered something important.

"Kaito,"

"Yes, Shin-chan~?"

"Kaito, please listen to me seriously. Please don't do anything to mess with this dance. Ran's been looking forward to this a whole lot and I don't want her to end up covered in another of your pranks. So, please Kaito, I'll help at another of your heists as long as you try to keep yourself under control tonight."

"Okay, Shinichi," Kaito replied, noting how his brother only said 'try'.

Still skipping, to the actual dance…

Eri Kisaki was very pleased with how many students and teachers were coming. She was just going to stay at the front door, but she was already enjoying herself. Just watching all of the people who made up her wonderful Beika High School walk through the door dressed in handsome suits and beautiful gowns was a great experience in itself.

The ballroom was also stunning. She had watched it being decorated, but it was truly magnificent now. As the people would walk through the entrance, they passed under a gate made to look like a metal gate, along a red carpet, past the tables, to the large dance floor. There were glistening colored lights and chandeliers all throughout the room to give a special, intimate atmosphere. White balloons almost crept along the floor while being gently blown by the vents. Music was already playing and lights were flashing from several different places in the large room.

About three dozen people were already in there now, and more were coming. She had before now seen Ms. Starling walk in with Mr. Camel, Ms. Haibara with Dr. Agasa, and surprisingly Mr. Akai with Ms. Miyano. She had wondered if these were just friendly pairs as she waved them in.

A large group was coming in now. She smiled again and welcomed them in. Ms. Kisaki was starting to have to speak up now, over the music which seemed to get louder and louder…

Kaito led the way through the gate with Aoko at his side. Behind him were Shinichi and Ran, Heiji and Kazuha, Makoto and Sonoko, Genta and Ayumi, Mitsuhiko, Eisuke, and Hakuba. Shinichi had asked Akako if she would come too, but she had declined when she heard of Kaito's decision of a date. He thought the older girl might be sulking, but it was her choice.

The group looked around in wonder at the décor inside. They also noticed the interesting couples around the room.

"Look, there's Mr. and Mrs. Kudo!" Kazuha said, pointing over to a table where some of the teachers were talking animatedly. "I wonder how she got him out of his libraries. I hear he has another one at home, even though he spends so much time at the school one!"

The others laughed. They met a few more friends, ate some of the food, and began dancing to the music. They all got into their favorite songs: complex ones, slower ones and just plain fun ones. Sometimes Kaito would be the center of attention, other times, Sonoko and Makoto would, forgetting about everything else in their intense moment of joy at being together.

This felt like the best night of their lives.

A little over two hours later, as everyone started to feel tired and some people moved off the dance floor, the songs started to become increasingly slow and romantic. Pairs were locked in intimate embraces, slowly swaying to the beat of the love melodies. While sitting at a table with most of the others, Kaito watched Shinichi and Ran on the floor and thought about how happy they both looked.

They were the only ones who were really deep in the moment right now. Those two would probably be dancing all night and they would never notice anything else. It was so cute, Kaito thought to himself, how they were so wrapped up with each other.

That meant that his time to act was now.

Kaito had paid attention to Shinichi's words. He had tried to keep himself under control. But he couldn't help it. Playing for a crowd was what he lived for. And besides, it wasn't like no one was going to enjoy it. When no one was watching, he had set up a very elaborate trick. Now, it was time to set it in motion.

He furtively pressed a button on a small remote and several things happened at once. Bubble machines began to drop a round, hollow column of thousands of bubbles from the ceiling, perfectly framing the area where Ran and Shinichi were. And, also from the ceiling, doves and pigeons descended and began flying at the people. There were small pops from around the room and odd flashes of light.

Of course, everyone in the room worried that it was another "mysterious" prank, and forgot about the dance instantly to make a mad dash for the door, afraid of what would happen next. Kaito joined in this, smirking to himself as he took one last look at the one couple that hadn't noticed anything.

"Have fun together, you two," he whispered, but it was lost in the murmuring crowd.

And, hidden by the bubble-curtain, as the song merged into another one, Shinichi stopped moving with Ran. She looked up, her eyes mirroring the reflections of the light-filled bubbles still raining from the curtains. They hardly noticed their situation as they gazed at each other, waiting for a word or a motion to break their emotional vigil.

Finally, it was Shinichi. "Ran," he breathed. "I love you. And I'm so glad I can spend this time with you."

Ran smiled shyly. "I love you too, Shinichi. I don't want this night to end."

"It doesn't matter if it ends," Shinichi said. "Because the sun will come up tomorrow, and then later, the moon and stars will come out too. And even if we're not at a dance, it doesn't mean we can't still love the time we have together."

"Thank you Shinichi," Ran said, about to lay her head on his shoulder, but he shifted his hands. One was gently holding her soft hand in his own. The other tilted her head back to face him. Their eyes locked again, as if there was nothing else in the world. And, slowly, their faces moved closer to each other. She could smell the carnation on his suit and he could hear the whisper of her hair in the faint breeze from the vent over the sweet music.

'Hold me close and hold me fast, the magic spell you cast, this is, La Vie en Rose…"

The world seemed to stop as their lips met. Shinichi's hands still held Ran softly, and she still seemed to hang from his presence. But as they kissed, their feelings resonated with each other, and they felt like there was nothing in existence but this.

Outside…

Apart from Shinichi Kuroba and Ran Mouri, the entirety of the turnout for the dance was out on the grassy lawn outside the building that housed the ballroom. They were all watching one of the most spectacular meteor showers Japan had experienced for a while, and it was worth missing the rest of the dance for it.

Kaito leaned against the building, pleased. He couldn't have finished the night any better. When he had heard about this, he thought it would be perfect for the end of the dance. He looked up as he saw a particularly large streak shoot across the sky and heard the whole mass of people gasp in awe at this.

Apparently, some famous comet called the Volley something was also supposed to pass by. Kaito felt like he had heard the name somewhere, but decided it most likely was just his imagination. It didn't matter anyway. This display was just for these people to enjoy. All of them had probably forgotten about the prank. Which was a good thing, because it meant Shinichi wouldn't know about it.

"Hmm, Shin-chan," Kaito mused. "I wonder how he's doing right now…"

Kimiko: I hope this was still good. I liked the idea, but I'm just hoping I didn't rush it…I actually had this idea biting at me for over a week, but I never really wrote any of it down until today.

Flanagan: Well, I think it was okay. It's one of your longest Beika High chapters.

Kimiko: But after this, I'm going to have to start getting ready for my exams. So that means that if I'm updating, I'm probably neglecting my studying.

Flanagan: You can handle both, I think. And once you're done, you can start up again. Maybe even start a new fic.

Kimiko: Ooo! That sounds fun! All right, that's enough of my moping around. I wanted to mention that I had Genta write a sonnet because I'm in love with them right now. And the song is part of La Vie en Rose, an old song, but one of my favorite love songs (it doens't have to be new to be good, right). I'll see what I get inspired to write after this chapter. This one was mostly a one-timer. I don't intend to do another dance. But I guess I can toss this in at the end:

Omake: Wait a minute…

Shinichi and Ran suddenly realized how quiet it was in the room. They looked around and were surprised to see a film of bubbles falling around them. Confused, they walked through it and stared wide-eyed around the room.

It was empty. The sweet music still played and the lights still shone romantically, but the room was completely empty of anyone except them. They were pretty sure they hadn't missed the end of the dance.

"Where is everyone?" Ran asked the void.

Kimiko and Flanagan: Review, please!