Disclaimer: Detective Conan and Magic Kaito belong to Aoyama Gosho. I own nothing but this fanfic and My OCs. I write this fic for learning and entertainment.

Chapter 2

Zero's Scheme

Kaitou KID was a difficult person, but surprisingly, his crime was simple. All his heists always consisted the same patterns: announcement, riddle, magic, disguise, escape, and the return of the target after the heist. He almost never used the same trick twice for his magic show. Most of his targets were jewels, and his escape method was quite varied even though many of them involved flying with hang-glider. His announcement always had a specific KID insignia to ascertain that it was truly coming from the phantom thief, not from imposter. His riddles were always interesting. They were never easy to be solved, always challenging. And his disguise, well, from the recent heists, KID usually disguised himself as someone closer to Suzuki Jirokichi's family, such as Ran, Kogoro, Sonoko, and even Professor Agasa. There were times when KID disguised himself as Inspector Nakamori or his daughter, Aoko. One thing for certain was that throughout his career, he had been disguising as police officer so many times that it could not be counted anymore. Also, he always returned his targets. The return time did not have a consistent pattern. Sometimes it took only a day, other times it took until a few weeks.

KID also had a special weapon, a cardgun. Even though it did not use real bullet, the weapon was still threatening and dangerous because the cards that came out from it were sharp like a knive. It was reported that this weapon could break glass window.

Other weapons that KID usually used were sleeping gas and smoke bomb. Sometimes he used explosives to destroy facilities, but he never harmed anyone with all his weapons.

"Hmm, this is impressive. KID is really resourceful. He must have a few capable collaborators behind his back," Rei commented after he read a few reports about Kaitou KID's heists. No wonder PSB and NPA wanted to persuade him to work with them. Having KID at their side could also mean having another zero working for them. It was truly a great idea.

Rei was not interested in thievery, but after reading KID's case files, he had to admit the thief was very intriguing. Rei could see a part of himself in him. Their lives were quite similar. KID at least had two identites, one was his civilian persona, the other was his KID persona. If he was an entertainer in real life (after all, he was a magician), perhaps he also had his own entertainer identity. Rei himself had three identites in his current life: a policeman, a member of Black Organization, and a private detective who worked as a part-time waiter in cafe Poirot.

There were still a few similarities between Rei and KID. KID most certainly had collaborators supporting him, just like Rei himself who worked with many collaborators. Both of them also had a talent for acting and manipulating. If not, they would not be able to live with more than one identity. They would not be able to gain reliable information for their own purposes.

If Rei had to point out their differences, probably it was the way their brains work. Rei enjoyed mystery and had this urge feelings to solve it just like any other detectives, but KID was the opposite. He was a magician. He did not solve mystery. He created it.

"I wonder, if I really have to deal with him, can I really persuade him to come to our side?" Rei mumbled. After reading KID's case files, somehow he was able to get a glimpse of the thief's personality. KID was secretive and manipulative. If he did not stay on guard when facing him, Rei might lose the negotiation. Truly, this thief was going to be a troublesome opponent.

For a few days, Rei spent most of his times investigating Kaitou KID, but even after all these days, he still could not get any idea how to stop black organization from killing KID. He still did not know what to do to convince them. He did not know what kind of story he had to make in order to make them believe in him. It took him more than a week with a few restless nights until he finally came up with a convincing solution.

It all began when he read the reports of KID heists for the umpteenth time. In the reports, there are several cases of KID's canceled heists. The most recent one was the bombing heist. The other ones that were famous in public was the Red Tear heist and the Mystery Train heist. Every time KID canceled his heist, other crimes must have been occurred at the same location. In the bombing heist, the other crime was the bombing. In Red Tear heist, the other crime was the arrival of a mysterious group of criminals who wanted to steal Jody Hopper's Red Tear by force. In Mystery Train heist, there was a murder case on the train before the actual day of heist and after the murder, there was a case of explosion caused by Black Organization who wanted to kill Sherry, their traitor who at the time was also on the Mystery Train. In the end, the heist was canceled because the train was broken and in the custody of police for investigation.

Rei had read those reports countless times. He was beginning to feel bored and depressed, but then something came to his mind.

He remembered he saw a silhouette who looked like Akai in Mystery Train.

Akai was there. Sherry was there. Coincidence?

... No way. This did not look like a coincidence.

That person who looked like Akai threw a grenade to separate Sherry's car from the whole train, but why did he need to do that?

Sherry stubbornly chose to stay in that car even though that car was full of explosives. Why?

Was it because she knew the car would be separated from the train?

If she knew that the car would be separated, did that mean she also knew Akai was there?

Just what was going on that time?

That was the start of Furuya Rei's ultimate mind-blowing scheme. After that, the man who was also known as Amuro Tooru in public was busy investigating the Mystery Train incident. He checked the name of all the passengers in the train and when he found out the discrepancy between the list of passengers and the list of people who ordered the pass ring, his suspicion only grew. He could not find Sherry's name, Miyano Shiho. Later on, from the report of murder case in the train, he also found out that there were two suspects who were not actually on board when the murder occurred. It turned out they received e-mails that notified them about the change of schedule on the day of the train departure. Those people were Komino Natsue and Sumitomo Hiroka.

Rei knew those people. He saw them in the Mystery Train. They were involved as suspects of a murder that happened on the train, but now surprisingly the fact told him that they were not present that day. If they were not there, then who were Komino Natsue and Sumitomo Hiroka that he saw that time? Vermouth? No. She could not possibly disguise herself as them since she had a duty to disguise herself as scar Akai in front of Sera Masumi to confirm whether or not Akai was really dead. Or maybe she asked her acquaintances to disguise as them? But for what reason? The aim of the organization that day were only to kill Sherry and confirm the death of Akai. Those two people had nothing to do with it. If it was not Vermouth, then could it be...?

"KID?"

After he thought about it a bit longer, Rei was convinced Komino Natsue and Sumitomo Hiroka that he saw on the train were KID and his assistant in disguise. The thief wanted to hold a heist on that train, so it was only to be expected of him to enter the Mystery Train before the heist. He needed to inspect the stage for his magic show, did not he? Moreover, it was his only chance since the train was not going to be operated again until the day of the heist.

"But what does this have to do with Sherry and Akai?" Rei questioned himself. He still could not see the connection between KID and those ex-members of organization. When he felt his mind was stuck in dead end, Rei stopped thinking. It seemed the information he had was still not enough to bring him to any conclusion. He could not get anything from Mystery Train case file, so perhaps it was time to look at another place. Black Organization's data might be able to provide him with some information about Sherry and Akai.

A day later, after reading information about Sherry, Rei felt as if his mind had been refreshed. It had been a while since he thought about the top scientist who betrayed the organization. A long time ago, he had also read the same information about Sherry, but he might have forgotten a few things after such a long time.

As he already knew, Sherry was a special scientist, a prodigy that had been nurtured by the organization since she was very young. She had taken over her parents' project even before she reached seventeen. Her research brought tremendous result and development, but after the organization killed her sister, Sherry went of strike. She halted her project and demanded an explanation from the organization for the reason behind her sister's death. The organization did not want to be bothered with this, so they imprisoned Sherry in an enclosed room. There was no window. The room only had a door and a ventilation that was too small for an adult. Moreover, at that time Sherry was handcuffed in a corner of the room. Theoretically she would not be able to go anywhere, but surprisingly, she was able to escape! How? Nobody could answer. Until now, Sherry's escape from that enclosed room remained a mystery.

Rei once read a report made by Gin and Vodka about their meeting with Sherry at Haido City Hotel. At that time, they wanted to kill Sherry, but someone came to save her. The detailed report told him that Gin was attacked by some kind of drugged needle that made him feel sleepy and he had to shoot himself in order to get rid of the needle, leaving Vodka to deal with Sherry by himself, but Sherry was more fortunate than him. She managed to escape before he could kill him with his gun.

Akai was known by his codename, Rye, and his other alias, Moroboshi Dai, in his days in the organization. He was Miyano Akemi's lover. Miyano Akemi was Sherry's sister who died in the hands of the organization, but Akai had already left the organization before Akemi's death.

It could be possible it was Akai who rescued Sherry from that enclosed room, but if he was really the one who saved Sherry, how come Gin and Vodka met the girl in Haido City Hotel? How come Sherry was found in Gunma before she rode on the Mystery Train to her next destination? If Akai had saved her, that girl must have been under FBI's witness protection programme. If she was under FBI's protection, there was no way she would still be in Japan, wandering around by herself like that.

"Or maybe she wasn't alone?" suddenly that thought passed in Rei's mind. Maybe Sherry had someone with her? If that was the case, who was that person? Was that person had a connection with Akai?

Rei's mind was working hard, thinking at full speed. He recalled all the information, analyzing them with his sharp brain.

Akai, Sherry, KID.

A greenade, a car full of explosives, KID and his assistant in disguise.

Enclosed room, Sherry's stubborness, car explosion.

Sherry in Gunma, Sherry in Mystery Train, Sherry in Haido City Hotel.

Someone saved Sherry in Haido City Hotel.

Gin was attacked with a drugged needle at Haido City Hotel—

'Wait.' Rei froze. Sherry indeed had someone with her! Someone was protecting her that time! And that someone used a drugged needle to attack Gin, allowing Sherry to escape!

"Does this mean this person was also the one who rescued Sherry from that enclosed room?" Rei frowned. But the organization had a tight security system. Not just anyone could access their facilities. How in the world that person could gain access and escape together with Sherry? Was he also a member of organization?

"But I don't see any record about another traitor around that time. Hmm... that means that person is an outsider."

The possibility of Sherry having a protector was really interesting. If she truly had one, that means there was a possibility of her being alive. Maybe the explosion in Mystery Train was just her way to fake her death. Besides, it was quite suspicious for Sherry to stubbornly chose to remain in the car full of explosives even though at that time he had conveyed his intention clearly that he wanted to keep her alive. If she already planned her fake death beforehand, of course staying in that car was the right decision.

'But how did she manage to escape from that explosion if she truly faked her death?' Rei questioned himself again. The explosion occurred immediately after the car was separated from the whole train. Could she really escape in such a short time? It sounded impossible no matter how many times he thought about it.

"Hm? But she could escape from that enclosed room," he mumbled again. It was impossible for her to escape on her own, so someone must have helped her. This someone could have helped her escape from Mystery Train as well.

"But I only saw Sherry in that car. She was alone. How could—oh!" Rei gasped. He remembered something—no—a few things! The drugged needle! The impossible escape from that enclosed room! And a certain thief who was present in Mystery Train incident!

"Don't tell me it was KID? KID is Sherry's saviour?"

KID was an escape artist. He surely had plenty of sleeping gas and other kind of anaesthetic tools. That drugged needle too—perhaps it was also one of KID's weapon. Breaking down the organization's security system surely was not a problem for him who was even capable at handling the strongest vault. And KID was a master of disguise. It was possible Sherry whom Rei had seen that day on the train actually was KID in disguise.

But if that was true, why was there someone who looked like Akai there? Was he also someone in disguise?

If Sherry at that time actually was KID, could it be that Akai at that time actually was Sherry?

So... maybe Komino Natsue and Sumitomo Hiroka whom he saw that day were KID and Sherry in disguise? That meant Sherry was acting as KID's assistant?

Wow. Really?

"Now this is what I call mind-blowing deduction," Rei said as he massaged his forehead in shock. To tell the truth, he was not really confident with this deduction because he simply drew conclusion from reports. He lacked evidence for his deduction. If Sherry was still alive, that was great. He would need to find her sooner and have her under the police's protection. If she was truly dead, well, Sherry had been dead for months. It was not going to be any different than the present. If Akai was involved in Mystery Train, he did not need to care much about that. As much as he hated him, he also knew that they had the same enemy. Whatever Akai did that time, he trusted that he did it for good reason. But KID... if it was true that he had been acting as Sherry's protector all this time, that meant he was not an outsider anymore. By protecting Sherry, basically he had declared himself as the enemy of the organization.

An enemy of the organization was an ally of the police. Ah, they really needed to have KID at their side as soon as possible.

"But well, regardless of how much truth in it, this deduction is convincing enough," Rei said after pondering for while. "Right. I can use it to stop the organization."

He had decided. He would use this deduction to prevent the organization from killing KID. If they heard that Sherry might still be alive and had been under Kaitou KID's protection all along, maybe they would change their mind and instead of killing him immediately, they would capture him alive to interrogate him. At a time like this when the organization were threatened by scientists' research, the probability of Sherry being alive could be considered as another dangerous threat. They would want to eliminate her as soon as possible. For that purpose, they would need to know where she was. To know where she was, they had to interrogate KID, her supposed protector.

"With this, hopefully they will change their mind about KID. He's too valuable to be killed." Rei opened his laptop, typing word by word for hours until it became a report about his investigation on Mystery Train incident added with information from Black Organization's data. Of course, he did not include anything that might hint at Akai's survival in his report. If they noticed that the FBI's sniper was still alive, Kir would be in danger. Besides, Edogawa Conan would not just sit and watch as the organization hunted Akai. Rei refused to put the little boy at risk. For these reasons, he decided to let Akai live even though he despised him so much.

Rei typed a few words at his e-mail and after attached the report document, he held his breath as he clicked the icon send. The report had been sent to Rum. Rei exhaled the breath that he had been holding in his lungs, leaning on his chair tiredly. Now he only needed to wait for Rum's decision and pray with all his heart for his plan to succeed.

He really hoped this plan would work out.

TBC