Disclaimer: I don't own MK or DC, or any other manga/anime to be exact. I just like to let my imagination run loose :D

Ladies and gentlemen! I humbly welcome you to the next chapter of this story.

This chapter I will present you, a bit more about how attached our favorite kaitou is getting to his detectives. He probably really should decide on his priorities, or finish with the defense against them x)

I must admit it is lately ridiculously hard for me to find enough peace to write. And this doesn't help my muse at all xD For most time because of that I felt like I was hitting a wall in some spots ^^" I really do hope I didn't make any silly mistakes (but don't hesitate to tell me if you find any xD). So, I'm sorry it took me so long. Unfortunately I can't promise next chapter will be any faster ^^"

At the very least this chapter turned out exceptionally long xD It's nearly 10 times longer than the first one xD I hope you'll appreciate it ;)

Oh my~! There's over 100 reviews now~! Thank you guys so much :D

SilverSapphire34523 - Glad you liked it :D and I promise your question will be answered in this chapter ;)

Kensy Echo - I'm always happy to reply to the reviews, since I'm so glad to receive them in the first place :D Yeah - pranking Hattori is far more amusing than Hakuba, who just accepts his fate xD And as for Chikage - despite how she is, she just wants all the best for her baby-boy xD And she sure doesn't want him to suffer alone.

Boogum - Oh~ So many nice reviews :D I'm glad you like the whole story so much - don't worry for writing them short, I'm honored that you read this during your work xD

JarayZ - I do like to read about your guesses - too bad I can't comment on them too much ;) But be sure that it brings a smile to my face to read them. As for the bra.. I just was thinking about the most absurd place to hide it xD

Lady paper - Glad you enjoy this :D

Mists - Nice to hear that you liked the pranks, took me a while to think them out xD And how peotic way to describe them~ Thank you so much~ Of course it will lead to some things, just not right now ;)

Yuzurie - Sorry my writing has became slower xD Unfortunately there isn't much I can do about it ^^" I was actually waiting for somebody to shout 'Gin! Gin!' after that chapter xD Thank you for it - it made my day xD I'm very happy to have a new reader who enjoys my story - hope I won't dissapoint you in the future :)

Loyal DC Fan - Well I didn't say that those Organizations are one (but I don't see much reason to why it couldn't be). And why would that be impossible for a guy who's been gathering information about active criminals in the area to not know about it? But your review made me decide to shed some light on my view of BO - so I wrote a side note on them at the end of the chapter. Hope you'll like it and that it will clear some things :)

Dark Calamity of Princess – I'm glad you like my story so much :D And as for Conan, it's Rather easy. I don't like to see him as a dense, ungrateful guy, I just figure out that – just like much you said – he's too busy with his own problem to give much thought to KID. He started here to approach him with the others to get something about the Organization from Kaito, but this way he is kinda forced to think about the thief more and more. And this way it is getting clear to him how much he owns to the guy. As well as how much Kaito needs help. In the series Conan does tend to feel guilty when he didn't notice something going on in the background and here we have a similar situation. He would find out himself that something was going wrong around KID, but he just didn't care enough to check.

So without further delay…

Please enjoy and review! :)


Chapter 18: Hiding from the crows


Only when Kaito felt the need to hide his detectives it occured to him how much each of them was standing out. And to make matters worse Tantei-han was also loud. So when he noticed that ominous car, it felt only natural to first of all make the dark-skinned teen quiet and a lot paler. Tantei-san already had his hair dyed and the magician didn't want to take too much time forcing him into a costume also… It was far more important to take them away from those guys, before his nosy detectives sniffed out a case. Because those guys driving that car weren't the type anybody should be messing with. What worried him more was the fact that those guys used alcoholic codenames and Kaito clearly remembered the nicknames he learned during the Bell Tree Express incident. There was the chance Tantei-kun already caught their scent and got interested with them. And if he was on their track, Tantei-han could be too. In worst case scenario the Organization was aware that they were sniffing around, so it would be very bad if this loud-mouth was spotted by the two men who traveled with that car. The magician only hoped that Tantei-san wasn't involved in it. At least yet.

Kaito looked over his shoulder and was glad to notice that Hakuba decided to join the chase through the park. Only that himself and Tantei-han had an advantage in distance over him and the Brit wasn't as athletic as Hattori. The Osakan was looking very pissed, so further messing with him might end up bad, if he managed to place a grab on the magician. The problem was that he was very near, so it would be tricky to let Tantei-san gain on them. Kaito clucked his tongue, concluding that he had to show off a bit. Ah well, those guys would figure out sooner or later that he wasn't injured anymore and luring them away was far more important.

The magician made a tight turn and disappeared for a moment from Heiji's view behind a tree. As he didn't re-emerge behind it, the detective looked up and spotted his target grinning at him, while standing on a high branch, several feet above, playing with his phone. Hattori let out a muffled yell, demanding for the other teen to get down. Kaito crooked his head.

"Huh? Oh, alright~ I'll watch your trick, you can start~" He promised, grimly taking note that a dove he released back at home has returned, meaning she failed to find her pint-sized target. Of course he didn't let even a hint of worry show on his mischievously smiling face.

Tantei-kun could be anywhere in the city. What were the odds that he was in this area? Rather slim, but then again, considering his exceptional luck of getting into trouble made Kaito worry. Aya-chan would undoubtedly continue her search, resting only at his house, but the chances she could find her target were very poor by now. The magician cursed in his mind that he didn't send her earlier, instead of after Hakuba came.

He let out a mocking laugh, seeing Hattori climbing the tree. With one last glimpse on his special phone-app, he confirmed that the other dove which he let out just now to keep watch over the car was still in the same spot. Maybe he had a chance after he ditched his detectives to tail those guys and figure out the location of another hideout? He was mad at himself that he didn't take his special, untraceable bug. He had to return to his safe-house to get one, but there wasn't any near here. Also, to keep clear conscience, he had to make sure all of his critics were safe. Jumping off the tree the turned on another app and dialed Conan's number, laughing at growling Hattori and ignoring Hakuba's plead to stop.

"Moshi moshi? Who is it?" The boy spoke with his childish chirping voice, sounding surprised, most probably because of the unidentified number his phone showed.

"Yo, Tantei-kun…" He spoke with his KID voice "I was wondering how my favorite critic was doing. I hope you didn't bruise your face, hitting it into the table." He chuckled and threw a confetti bomb behind himself to startle Hattori, who was getting a bit too close for his comfort.

He could nearly hear the shrunken detective frown, as he hissed quietly towards the receiver "Why are you calling me? You were supposed to be with Hattori and Hakuba-kun… Did something happen?" It seemed to Kaito that he heard in the background voices of those other kids who often followed his tiny detective.

"Hum? I'm afraid you failed to notify me during our rendezvous that I was to meet them. Anyway… care to tell me where are you~?"

"Why do you want to know that?" Kaito could barely make out details of his detective's background. It seemed there were a lot of people around, besides the kids.

"Ah~! I wanted to talk to you face to face about our mutual friend." He chuckled, checking if the other two detectives were still following him "I've got a bit worried about how much Tantei-han was blushing during our meeting~! It did seem he was interested in me and I would hate to be a cause of his break up with that cute Osakan girl~…" He wondered idly, if Hattori would kill him for saying this out loud. And figured that he would.

"What the hell are you implying, Kuroba..?" The child's voice was so amusingly annoyed and perplexed.

He noticed that Hattori was losing his breath. Kaito figured that since he had his mouth taped shut it must have been hard for him to breath properly "Hum? 'Kuroba'? Well I guess I can roll with this name, if it's convenient for you. I guess you're not in a situation when you can talk freely?" Kaito grabbed a branch and leveled up a tree, using only one hand as support.

"…Are you running? What is going on there?"

At last the magician could focus more on the background sounds he heard through the phone. He heard flushed water and a slight echo, which indicated a toilet most probably. But there was also faint music from faraway. So most probably some kind of a mall?

Kaito spared a glance down and saw Hattori who leaned on the trunk, panting hard. Maybe taping his mouth wasn't such a good idea? But then again he would start shouting, if he didn't do it. Hakuba was in much better shape and was suspiciously eyeing the magician who was talking through the phone.

He continued speaking with light tone, too quiet for the two down there to hear anything "Ah, you know me~ Can't stay put for too long~"

"And you couldn't call me after you stop?" Children voices in the background became louder, with whining tones.

Kaito wanted to lead the two detectives following him further away, before losing them, but he could let them have a moment to catch their breath "That would be an awful waste of time~"

He heard a knock on the door at the other side of the line and a girlish voice calling the shrunken detective to come out. "I'm hanging up now…"

"But Tantei-kun! You didn't tell me where you are~!" He laughed loudly and jumped off the tree, ending the brief pause in the chase.

Shinichi sighed with annoyance "Because I don't want you to come here… Go and talk directly with Hattori, if you need to and stop giving them a hard time…"

"Hum~… Alright… if you put it that way, I'll play a detective this time around and seek you out~"

"What..? How are you… No matter, just don't come. I'll make you feel sorry, if you will."

"Oh come on Tantei-kun~ Do you know how many people would love to be in your shoes~?"

"I'm hanging up now and you better stay with Hattori and Hakuba-kun." After those words he really did hang up. Fortunately the app had enough time to point out roughly his location

Kaito couldn't decide if he should praise his luck for noticing the car or damn Tantei-kun's misfortune for being dangerously close to its location. Shinichi didn't sound stressed out, so most probably he either didn't know about the Porsche and its passengers, or he didn't notice them. Yet. And it wasn't just Tantei-kun this time, since he was with his grade school friends. Shinichi had a chance to take care of himself, but what about his little friends? It was clear that the magician had to hurry before they snuffed out a case. He would get another chance to investigate those guys. He just had to be patient.

He dropped a few smoke bombs and hoped his perceptive critics noticed the direction the shadow he prepared jumped, suggesting his route of escape, while he himself hid on the tree. Hakuba groaned tiredly after Hattori, who for some reason didn't want to let up.

Kaito chuckled, idly wondering if everything he put him through this day was good enough for a reason for him to avoid the Osakan openly next time. Hopefully they wouldn't even insist on another meeting like this ever again~ That thought made Kaito sadden a bit, he really did like to be with them. It would be even better, if he didn't feel the need to spook them away… He shook his head to throw away those thoughts. He quickly regained control over his emotions and headed back, wondering what disguise he could come up with, considering how little equipment he was left with.

While running, he started writing a message to Hakuba, hoping that his classmate took to heart what he told him a while ago in class. He couldn't have them returning to the place he lead them out of.


Conan frowned at his phone after he hang up. He wanted to write a message to Hattori to ask what was going on there, but it seemed his friends started getting anxious.

"Come on, Conan-kun! How long are you going to take? Let's go get some ice-cream and find ourselves a case!" Ayumi moaned, seeing him staring at his phone, as he exited the toilet.

"Yeah! I'm hungry and we need to work hard on our reputation you know!" Genta added with a grimace.

"And you have been running off alone by yourself lately…" Mitsuhiko pointed out crossing his arms.

"That's right. Don't you like to play with us anymore?" The little girl asked pleadingly.

Before Conan could respond to this, the thin boy continued with his accusation "We know you've been meeting with that blonde detective from Britain and that you've been working on a case together. It's not nice when you're trying to keep us out like that!"

Haibara walked behind him and smirked in amusement "You can't underestimate us like that anymore, Edogawa-kun. Better say what you've been up to all this time and what was this phone call about."

The shrunken detective sighed mentally. It wasn't like he could tell them what he was working on lately, so he decided on a half-truth "Sorry guys, I've been helping Hakuba-niisan with a personal matter. He didn't want too many people to know about it, so I didn't fill you in." He smiled apologetically.

The scientist narrowed her eyes, eyeing him with her piercing gaze.

Ayumi on the other hand gasped and smiled widely, with her eyes sparkling "Oh! Was it about a girl he likes~?"

Conan laughed dryly, recalling KID dressed up as 'Hana' "No, it's nothing like that. It was about a friend he was worried about. But I can't tell you the details. Anyway, it wasn't a case or anything like that anyway. Just a few misunderstandings."

The children tried to pry more into whatever Conan was doing lately, but he didn't let them get any more details. Eventually he promised them that he would ask Hakuba to meet with the Detective Boys. The vision of meeting with yet another famous teenage detective and, to add it, one from so far away made them very excited and Shinichi only hoped that the Brit wouldn't mind that. Afterwards the kids asked him questions about the blonde himself, forgetting all about how Conan's been recently neglecting them and the phone call. It seemed that only Haibara was still wondering about it and the shrunken detective wondered if she would let it go, or would she interrogate him later.

They were passing their day casually at a mall when suddenly they heard a scream and Conan mentally prepared himself for a sight of a dead body, as he and his friends rushed to the scene. As they were getting closer, they heard angered and accusing shouts. Turns out, it wasn't a murder, but a daring theft. They weren't allowed to enter the shop, but they overheard that somebody stole a golden statue from the jeweler's exposition. The strange thing was that nobody saw it happen and just a few minutes ago it was still there. An impossible theft, one might say, that idly reminded Conan of the person he just spoke to. But it couldn't be him. Not flashy enough. It seemed that the Detective Boys were also thinking about this particular thief. As they weren't permitted to come closer, they stayed outside the shop, waiting for the police to come, so they could slip in and help solve the case. They started chatting to pass time faster.

"Amazing! It must have been KID." Genta cheered and turned to Shinichi "Oi Conan, can't you go tell them who you are, so we can solve this case?"

The addressed boy rolled his eyes "Baka... they wouldn't listen to me, it's better if we wait for the police. And it couldn't have been him. KID always makes a show and here nobody saw the culprit."

"He is right. Besides KID wouldn't do that. The lady over there is crying, he would give her a flower, so she wouldn't be sad." Ayumi pointed out, pursing her lips.

Conan raised his eyebrow "Are you a fan of his, Ayumi?"

The girl blushed a bit and turned her gaze "Well... he is handsome and daring, and he is nice. And I love his magic!"

Mitsuhiko narrowed his eyes, not happy with the girl's dedication, but decided to support her words. "And it is true that he does return everything he steals, so there is no harm in what he does."

"But he is still a criminal." Added a new voice from behind them, so the kids quickly turned around to see who it was. The person smiled at them as their gazes reached him "Yo! Nice to see you kids again."

Conan gasped, unable to speak for a moment, too preoccupied with his racing thoughts. Haibara was looking just as surprised and she hastily hid her face under her hood. Fortunately the other children didn't notice it as they were swarming around the newcomer, cheerfully happy to see him.

"Shinichi-oniisan!" They yelled in unison.

He smirked at them and focused his gaze on the exposition. "So there was a theft, huh?" He mumbled more to himself than anybody else.

"That's right. But they don't let us enter and help them with investigation. Could you maybe talk to them in our behalf?" Mitsuhiko asked with so much hope and two other children added to his pleas.

The teen raised an eyebrow "Oh? You want to help and solve this case?" He received in return three eager nods and two suspicious gazes. "And do you promise to not trample on any evidence?" He nearly laughed, hearing three indignant whines "Alright, I'll talk to the police when they'll come. But in the meantime we should move a bit away."

Genta looked confused "Huh? Why not start now? The thief can escape, if we wait too long!"

"Not really…" The teen started explaining, focusing his attention back to the shop, as he led them a bit further away. "If they could have, they would have already escaped. Hopefully they didn't, but if we cause a commotion, trying to get to the scene we might make an opening for them. We'd better keep out guard up for now and enter a few moments after the police. When they'll come, it will be the last moment for the thief to escape." He smiled softly at them and received in return for his explanation three impressed hums.

Conan frowned at that. That was a rather poor excuse and he didn't buy it for a second. More so, he was fairly sure now that KID was the culprit, although he wasn't sure why he would do that. Maybe it was his way of earning for his heists? Quiet and fast steal in a broad daylight that nobody would connect to the elusive phantom. But it couldn't be the case because of the phone call. And he wouldn't approach him just like that now, if it was. So maybe it was a distraction? KID loved them after all… But what could he be trying to achieve with it..? Keep them here? Why?

As he was pondering over the matter, his friends kept talking to the teen "Nee… Shinichi-oniisan? Do you think it could be KID behind it?" Ayumi asked sheepishly.

"Hm… well, I haven't seen the scene yet, but I doubt it. It doesn't fit this thief's profile. Also, I'd expect that if he wanted to steal something outside of his heist, he would do it in a way that nobody would notice it for a while." He explained rubbing his chin.

Mitsuhiko nodded his head, folding his arms over his chest "I thought so too. And besides I just don't believe he would do it. He isn't bad." He added shooting a glance at the girl.

She grinned happily "Yep~ KID is too nice for that~! But I'm sorry we won't be able to see his magic…" She added a bit disappointed.

The teen smirked at them hiding his hands in his pockets "Oh? So you guys like him actually? You know, you should rather look up to more respectable people than a thief."

Ayumi smiled at him and nodded her head "We do! We like detectives like you the best~!" She chirped.

Genta chuckled sheepishly "But still his magic is fun to watch…"

All three kids nodded their heads and Mitsuhiko added "I hope nobody can catch him until we grow up, so we can achieve it and prove ourselves!"

"Oh that would be great~!" The fat boy cheered, imagining a vision of himself holding down the white-clad thief.

The children started chirping among themselves, as the teen smirked and murmured quietly "I'll be looking forward to it~" Only Haibara smiled softly at that, probably being the only one who heard it.

It didn't last long until they heard the police sirens, indicating that soon they would be probably able to solve the theft.


When the police came, the fake Shinichi was carefully observing the situation, trying to notice if anybody was trying to slip out. Conan wondered if maybe this case was just a coincidence and KID was really trying to help out. Undoubtedly, it was his field of expertise and he should be able to find out the trick. But even if the thief was innocent here, the question of why he was here, remained. The boy figured he should try and talk to him privately. If it wasn't a prank (and he doubted Kuroba would want to use his KID-persona for this), it could be something important. The second question was if it was Kuroba now under the mask… But first the case.

Since this wasn't a homicide, but a robbery case, the police officers who came were from 2 Division. There were a couple of familiar faces, known to them from KID heists, but none of them were officially met by Shinichi. Conan hoped that the kaitou wouldn't make a mistake like that. Mixing into a robbery case was already acting against the character, since Shinichi wasn't usually interested in thieves. Letting some kids tag along was another slip. But the boy had to give it to KID – he definitely was a smooth talker. It also seemed he managed to pick officers who had a soft spot for children to talk to, so it was easier for him to convince that the Detective Boys won't cause any problems and he promised that would be keeping an eye on them. Before they entered the crime scene, he instructed the kids to not wander off from his side.

Conan wondered how it would be to observe KID solve a case. He knew for a fact that this guy was able to sometimes spot connections that he himself had a problem to notice at first glance. But then again, he wasn't sure if his goal wasn't to humiliate him. That is why the detective was primarily more focused on observing the kaitou, instead of solving the case at hand. Since it wasn't a murder he had to admit that he wasn't all that interested in it in anyway.

From the start it was obvious for him that KID didn't have much of an idea how to move around at a crime scene. It wasn't very surprising to see that he decided to investigate the trick first. But it was very frustrating to see him smirk and leave it be, before Conan could even start to figure it out himself. On the other hand, he was fascinated to notice the kaitou scolding Genta, when the boy moved a bit too far to the entrance. After that the detective had it easier to notice that during his investigation KID was doing his best to keep the children out of sight.

When he finished with his swift exposition inspection, he approached a female customer, who was present during the theft. It was surprising how much the kaitou was interested in her, until Conan noticed how she was acting. All of the suspects were nervous and that was only natural, but this woman tried hard to hide her anger that didn't seem to be directed at KID. Besides her, there were three other people – the owner, a male client and a female cashier.


It was funny for him to notice that it seemed that the kaitou had some trouble while questioning the suspects. Nobody wanted to be seen as a culprit, so they all were flooding him with unimportant information and gossips. As he was acting as a famous detective, the suspects were afraid of him and it seemed that was a problem for him. Clearly he didn't know how to loosen up the atmosphere as Shinichi and Conan noticed signs of frustration slipping from under his Poker Face. Since it was for the good of the case, he decided to lend him a hand and started doing it himself or provoking his friends to ask or do things to either loosen the atmosphere or provide them with real hints.


"Oooh~! Amazing! You have such wonderful earrings!" Ayumi chirped to the customer, who gladly accepted the praise and boasted a bit. She patted the girl gently on her head while eyeing slightly the owner, to make sure he noticed.


"Hey mister…" The shrunken detective spoke out to the owner pointing at the cashier who was biting on her nail "Why isn't she wearing any jewelry? Is it against the shop policy?"

"No, it's not like that. We don't limit things like that. I've spoken with her about it actually, but it seems she just doesn't want to do it herself. A pity actually." He added with a sigh and Conan barely noticed a frown on the customers face.


"Lady you shouldn't be doing that!" Genta scowled the cashier "My mom said that if you bite your nails they will grow ugly later on!"

She gave him a sheepish smile and clenched her hands on her lap "I-I know, but you see, boy, I'm very nervous. And it's a nasty habit that I have…" She answered very quietly.

"Huh? Why would you be? We will find the thief, so you don't have to worry, if you're innocent, that is…" He narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

She assured him that she wasn't at fault there, but still she seemed very scared and wasn't looking at anybody, unless personally addressed.


"Mister, mister! Why did you come here today?" Mitsuhiko asked the male client.

The man eyed the boy carefully, but relaxed slightly seeing it was just a child. He shrugged and growled at him "I'm looking for something special to buy, but it's a secret. So leave me be, alright?"

The boy winced at that and backed away to 'Shinichi' who shot a glare at the man, causing him to look away.


It was fascinating when Conan noticed that KID was actually following his lead. He somehow seemed to notice when the detective was not happy with his acting and he reacted fast, but naturally to it. Actually he was reacting remarkably fast to everybody like that. And he was learning, not making the same mistake again.


Just like when he was talking with an officer and made a slight pun. Conan was fairly sure that the thief couldn't see him, but it was enough for him to shoot a glare at KID and a moment later, he cut out the laugh, asking the officer a serious question instead, so it looked like he just loosened the atmosphere before. And he didn't try that again anymore.

It was also a bit creepy when the boy was looking at something intensively and when he wanted to back away he always bumped into the thief. But it happened only when the detective found something particularly interesting. Later he noticed KID being more precise with his own findings.


Conan was fairly convinced that perhaps after another one or two cases like this and his 'Shinichi' act could be perfect. And he wasn't sure if it was good or bad. But he started to understand how he managed to impersonate Sera sometime ago without knowing even basic information about her.

Unfortunately now his act was still imperfect and for some reason KID seemed nervous, so he did make a couple of mistakes. Once Conan noticed him staring at one place for a while. When Conan focused over there he noticed a chipped piece of a jewel, stuck on the woman's coat and he understood that the thief had no idea what to do with the evidence. It was funny for him, but he decided not to laugh and lend a hand to him again.


"Huh? Shinichi-niisan, what are you looking at over there?" He spoke loud enough to bring everybody's attention to them.

The teen turned to him, with a hint of a pleased smile, indicating he was glad for the offered help "Well I was just wondering if I really saw a glint from this lady's coat." He turned to the female costumer with an apologetic smile "Would you mind if I looked closer?"

She looked around and they could practically see her sweating "Um… I don't…"

'Shinichi' smirked only "Thank you for your cooperation." He said already bending over, taking out a handkerchief out of his pocket.

She gasped, but couldn't find a reason to stop him, especially because an alarmed officer approached them throwing a perplexed gaze at the teen. "Did you find something Kudo-kun?"

"Oh, it must be a piece of glass stuck there. Nothing much. I actually broke a vase at my house when I was leaving. I thought I've cleaned it up." The woman offered a fast explanation.

The jewel thief smirked at her, taking out the glinting piece and 'accidently' pulling up the corner of her coat "Oh I'm sorry… What's this?" He asked innocently, looking at a black wire attached to the inner part of her coat.

"Let go, you brat!" she snapped, forcing the material from his hand "It's an inner belt, if you must know. I had my coat open before and forgot to tie it."

"I'm sorry, I didn't intend to be rude." He apologized, getting up and looking at the piece in his hand "And unless you have diamond vases at your home, this is not a piece of it. Glass doesn't have facets." He explained passing the evidence to the officer and apparently losing interest with the woman.


At some point he was trying to talk with a cashier and keep Mitsuhiko from getting in his way, so he hinted something to the boy to keep him interested. Thanks to that, the thin child discovered where the statue was hidden and the fault seemed to have fallen on the unlucky cashier. Judging from kaitou's enforced Poker Face and a victorious spark in the female clients eye, Conan managed to solve the puzzle. And it seemed that KID still had trouble with proving it, despite that from what it seemed that he knew nearly from the start who was the culprit.

Conan had to guide the kaitou through it and thanks to how fast he was with catching up, it went smooth. Much to kids joy, he allowed the Detective Boys to help him make the final deduction, although he had to correct them every now and then, and looked rather tired when they finished.

The culprit turned out to be the female customer, who previously was a lover of the owner. She believed she got rejected because of the cashier interfering, who was a nice looking, but very shy young woman. The customer decided to take revenge on her by framing her into a theft. The police found even a memo with an address of a collector, who could be interested in buying the statue planted in the cashier's purse. Unfortunately the memo was written with a pen containing a very unique ink. And although the letters were written in a way that imitated the cashiers style, the pauses the writer made were similar in style to the ones the culprit was used to make. The cashier didn't suspect the woman at all, so she wasn't wary of her and when the woman tripped and dropped 'by accident' her pen, she didn't hesitate to bend over and pick it up. During that distraction the woman managed to cover the statue with her coat and pick it up thanks to an previously prepared loop inside. After that, during the commotion she made the cashier leave from behind the counter and she hid the statue there.

The case went rather smoothly, even despite how the kaitou was inexperienced as a detective. He was perceptive and helped the shrunken boy spot some things faster than he would, if he was working alone. Honestly he wasn't sure he would notice it all. Conan had to admit that KID was a far better investigator than Kogoro and he did a rather good job at his first case. He wondered only how fast the thief could have concluded it by himself, if he didn't have any help.


The officers were patching up the case and the group was about to leave the scene, when Conan noticed a familiar figure's back from the corner of his eye. The sight of a man dressed in black, with pale, long hair made the shrunken detective's heart beat faster with fear and anticipation. He wanted to follow the man, but somebody grabbed his arm and stopped him.

"And where do you think you're going?" KID asked with light tone, but his gaze was resolute, when Conan looked at him, he threw a fast glance at the other kids.

The boy cursed in his mind, understanding what he meant, he forced himself to smile sheepishly and chirp to 'Shinichi' "Ah, I just needed to go to the toilet. Could you guys wait for me at the café? I promise to be fast."

The teen smirked at that, but didn't let him go "I think you should get your bladder checked up kid. It seems you go there far too often."

"You're not trying to ditch us again, are you, Conan-kun?" Mitsuhiko asked, narrowing his eyes.

Ayumi asked disbelievingly. "Conan-kun! You wouldn't, would you?"

The shrunken detective noticed that Haibara seemed anxious, looking around carefully as the children were accusing him. It didn't seem that she noticed Gin just yet, but she definitely sensed him. She was staying near 'Shinichi', clenching her hands on his clothing. Conan gasped and snapped his head to look at the teen's face. It would be bad, if THEY noticed him like this. And he couldn't ask him to change into another outfit next to the Detective Boys. They had to get out of here and fast. He squeezed his little hand on the teen's and smiled to his friends.

"I'm sorry. Maybe I really should go to a doctor. But I guess I can hold it. Why don't we go to a park? Shinichi-niichan? Maybe you could show us some soccer tricks?"

"I would love to at any other occasion, but unfortunately I had an accident and my leg is still recovering." He answered with an apologetic smile.

"Oh, are y-" Ayumi started with worry, but was cut out, by Conan, who was in a hurry to get them out from here.

"Alright, but we can still go there now and show you what we can do. Maybe you can give us some tips? Please?" He pulled the teen's hand to make him move.

"No. we're not going to the park." He answered putting much stress to his voice, smiling softly and promised "Come on, I'll treat you to something tasty~"

"Yay~!" Genta cheered and grabbed his other hand, pulling the teen towards the café, before he changed his mind.

Conan frowned, slightly shocked, and allowed them to pull him to the café. As they sat away from the windows it became perfectly clear now. KID knew about what was going on and was trying to keep them away from Gin, for this whole time. He most probably knew that they were here and he came to make sure the kids and Conan were safe. Most probably the park was dangerous now and that was why he declined the possibility to go there so strongly. The boy wanted to talk about it to the thief right now, but they couldn't.

The teen praised the children for their help at the case, while they chattered cheerfully. At some point, the children asked him to tell them about another case he solved lately. It was hilarious for Conan to hear out his deductions. KID clearly didn't have a lot of knowledge about detective work, but still it was enough to fool most people. After a while 'Shinichi' checked his phone again and smiled to whatever he saw there. He excused himself and much to the kid's regret he explained he had to leave now.

The detective gasped at that and spoke before the teen could get up "Shinichi-niichan, could we talk first before you go?"

"Conan… are you trying to conceal anything from us again..?" Genta growled, narrowing his eyes.

"N-no! It's not like that, I just-"

"Conan-kun, don't start again!" Ayumi whined.

"Haha, sorry kid. I stayed too long anyway and I'm a bit late for an appointment. If you need anything, just contact me as usual, by phone." 'Shinichi' cut in, stopping the quarrel, while getting up from the table "So see you guys later, keep up the good work." He finished with a wink, for which Conan threw him a flat stare. He didn't wink like that…

"But I- I think I lost your number. Could you tell me it again?"

"Oh have you? Alright…" He dictated a familiar number, waved again and walked to the exit of the café.

Conan wrote down the number in his phone and let out a dry laugh. It was his 'Shinichi' cell phone number. He looked up, but of course the teen was nowhere in sight anymore. He wondered how he got this number, but then remembered that Kaito took hold of Heiji's phone at least two times by now. Damn thief… To his distress he noticed that the other kids recorded the number on their phones. That was not funny, it could pose a real problem in the future…


That was surely an annoying day for Kaito. And since he had that appointment with her, it didn't look like it would turn out as anything better. He growled annoyed while jogging to her place. He didn't want to go there, but he did have a dept to pay, so he had no choice. The magician focused back on his detectives, deciding that he definitely should think of a counterattack, in case those guys would try to get stuck to him again. And he hated his conscience now so much. Why on Earth did he have to start playing hero again? As if being kaitou wasn't enough. Nobody would even thank him for all his hard work anyway. Such ungrateful jobs he's taken on, jeez… At least this time he didn't get hurt in the process, but it was still unnecessarily dangerous, without even providing him his usual fun.

The fun part was only seeing Tantei-kun's reactions to his appearance and his slight teases. He figured that this time he could loosen up his act, since Conan would know from the start that he wasn't who he was disguising himself as. In the end, he only needed to convince the children, who most likely never saw the real deal and the Division 2 officers, whom he knew well enough from his heists and who didn't know Shinichi themselves either. That's why he allowed himself to slip in bits and pieces of his own act and highlight some habits typical for Kudo. It was also funny for him to notice that Tantei-kun at the start seemed rather convinced that KID was the culprit behind the theft. Fortunately he seemed to change his mind about that fast enough, before it became a hindrance.

He was happy to notice on his phone, before they went to solve the case, that the bug he left on Hattori, showed that the detective left the park towards Hakuba's house. He was very glad that his classmate decided to act accordingly to his request he sent through mail. It meant that both of them were together and wouldn't get into more trouble. At least not with those dangerous guys.

Kaito made up something on the spot to keep the children away from the crime scene, before the police came. That allowed him to keep the kids out of the spotlight and having a good spot himself to make sure that nobody was watching them. When they came to the actual scene, it wasn't that hard to keep them hidden behind officers. Sure, people would know that there were children, but it only created a crowd, and KID loved crowds for concealing what he wanted to hide. He was fairly sure he managed to achieve his goal. The kids were rather obedient, since they didn't want to be kicked out and he didn't have to scold them too much to make them stay by his side, with faces safely hidden from onlookers.

He definitely wasn't cut out to be a detective though. Sure, he could make connections, search for a hidden truth and such. He did it for his kaitou job, so he figured it wouldn't be much harder as a detective, especially since it was a case up his alley. That was a reason he didn't resign approaching the kids as Shinichi. He would definitely try something else, if it was a murder case. He decided he could have at least some fun teasing Tantei-kun with his slips while focusing on keeping them all safe and perfecting his new act.

From the start Kaito didn't like the idea of helping the police in such a way. He felt eerie, aiming to arrest a regular thief, since he was a kaitou himself. He would rather prefer to retrieve the missing item and return it, so everybody would be happy and nobody would have to pay for the crime. But he figured it would be hellishly hard to peel those kids away from a case, once they stumbled on one. And, once he confirmed that THOSE guys were not involved directly, he had to admit that being surrounded by the police would be safe for them. So in the end he decided to go with the flow and check out his skills as a detective. And it turned out that it wasn't fun at all.

Unfortunately only after he stepped into the crime scene, it occurred to him that he actually never saw any of his detectives in a situation like this. Except for Tantei-kun, but he was seen as a child, whom nobody treated seriously and didn't ask any questions. He only ran around the crime scene, gathering evidence and making connections in his mind, from time to time jumping out with his annoying 'Arerere?' act to provide some tips. And that wasn't helpful to tell Kaito how a teenage detective should act, or how to sum up his deductions at the end. He knew Shinichi made a show from it, but it wasn't like a detective would make magic tricks, acrobatics or shoot of fireworks.

It was very helpful that Tantei-kun was present. Although Kaito couldn't directly follow his lead, he got some hints for his act from the vibes he got from the tiny detective. That way it was easier for the kaitou to move around the crime scene and talk to the police, without making any fatal errors. He also knew when he was focusing too much on things he shouldn't have. And while it was somewhat similar to when he was impersonating an unfamiliar person, he felt more tense this time, as there was much more at stake here.

He started off with the easiest task, which was finding out how the theft was made. He probably wasn't doing it as a detective would, but since nobody could peek into his mind, it was all fine. He just had to figure out how he, himself would have done it. He even toyed with an idea of adding a bit of a show there. He wasn't very pleased with seeing how it was done, since it was sloppy and not fun in the slightest. The culprit just took it, distracting the cashier first. How he knew it went like that? Because every other way he could think of would leave a clue, a scratch here, a brunt mark there and details like that. And he was fairly sure that as long as it wasn't another kaitou, nobody would be able to think of a way that he couldn't figure out. And he didn't even consider another phantom present there.

Next he could focus on finding the culprit. But since there was only one person giving him a strong spiteful vibe, it wasn't very hard. The woman wasn't even a very good liar. Alright, maybe she was, she even had a rather good cover up story, it was just that her Poker Face wasn't in the slightest good enough to fool him. The motive was a bit more tricky thing to figure out. Because of the emotions she was showing, he could rule out greed, so there had to be something more to it. It was challenging to talk to people present as a detective, because they were wary of him this way. It was annoying that even the innocent tried to mislead him, unconsciously trying to pull the suspicions away from themselves as far away as they could. Kaito felt the urge to go and change into another disguise, so he wouldn't have to deal with their fears that a famous detective caused. Actually Tantei-kun and his fan-club came in helpful here, with their childish act that loosened up the atmosphere.

Gathering evidence was just a pain. Kaito wanted to growl in annoyance and leave, or better yet – steal the damn statue back and then leave. Irked, he practically did point out where it was, but it wasn't a very good move. It made the wrong person a prime suspect.

Thanks to watching his Task Force, he had a rough idea how to gather evidence and secure them at a crime scene, since he saw them do it after his heists. And as a kaitou he knew all too well what an evidence could be and how to get rid of them. But a funny thing was that it wasn't helpful at all. He was just all too sure people wouldn't leave around some stuff. And when he actually found something, he caught himself wondering whether he should secure it himself or just point it out to the officers, without touching it. Thankfully Tantei-kun came in helpful here as well.

Concluding everything and making the full deduction at the end, with helpful (or rather annoyingly distracting) cuts in from the Detective Boys was another pain, but he probably made it enough convincing and theatric. Even though Tantei-kun seemed annoyed with him again, but that was just a nice bonus actually. After everything turned out right and the children were more than happy to stay with him a bit longer. Too bad Tantei-kun had to notice that guy, as they were leaving… He was sure the imp would be a pain now.

He felt relieved when the signal from the dove he left to guard the car started moving. The magician regretted once again that he didn't have at least the gray pigeon with himself, before he sent a signal to the bird to finish the mission and return home. The last thing he needed was for them to notice it.

This whole mess had one upside. The reddish-brown haired girl, who quickly covered her face with her hood and was avoiding his gaze when he came, made him wonder. The few glimpses he took of her was enough to remind him of the woman he disguised himself as during the Bell Tree Express incident. In the end, she calmed down and he could confirm that her voice was similar to the one that instructed him what to say to Bourbon. He was fairly sure now that this girl wasn't a child, much as like Tantei-kun. He was pleased to notice that she eventually managed to relax around him, but it was curious how tense she got when that black dressed guy was near. It was all very interesting for Kaito, but he decided that he didn't want to pry into the girl, even if she was in reality 'Sherry'. He knew from his talk with 'Bourbon' that she was an escapee from the Organization and he probably could learn some interesting fact about it from her. But he decided to leave her be, figuring that questioning her wouldn't be fair.


This day sure turned out for a surprise for Shinichi. He finally got a proof that KID did possess some knowledge about the Organization. And what was more important, he stumbled on some kind of business with Gin involved. He only hoped that the thief didn't mess with the security cameras and that he would be able to investigate in the mall to get some juicy information. He only had to get rid of the other kids before that and contact Hattori. He wondered if he should involve Hakuba. From this point forward, things could get dangerous again and he wasn't sure how the Brit would deal with it. He did seem careful and that was probably the reason he couldn't get along with Hattori, but Shinichi was still worried about everything that could go wrong.

After they parted with the Detective Boys, they didn't go far when Haibara spoke. And it was with her demanding voice that creeped out Shinichi.

"Spit it out Kudo. Why was KID there?"

He knew it was in vain, but he had to try, right? At least that way he could try and conceal some part of the truth. Probably…

He smiled sheepishly and spoke with a perplexed voice. "Well… I'm not sure?" It wasn't meant to be a question, but looking at her, he had a hard time lying.

She rolled her eyes and sighed "So this is what you've been really up to all this time? You've been investigating him?"

Just give it to Haibara to hit on the spot. But at least it seemed she wasn't aware of the Organization's connection to the case "Heh... I might have?"

She stopped and crossed her arms giving him a suspicious glare "You said you wouldn't be investigating him outside of his heists. So what changed?"

Shinichi tried to shrug in a carefree matter and hoped it managed to fool her "Well I grew interested with him. I want to know what makes him tick and I'm sure there's something more to his heists then we know. I want to know what it is and I'm not going to get that info running after him. It's not like we can talk about everything even when I reach him there."

She raised an eyebrow "So you're going to catch him and throw him behind bars?"

At least with this he could be honest "No. I'd rather have him tell me that during a friendly conversation."

Haibara's expression turned to a shocked one "So you managed to figure out his identity?" As Shinichi smiled and gave a nod, she continued "Call me impressed."

Shinichi smirked and started walking with her again "Well, it wasn't my achievement. Hakuba-kun had him figured out for some time now. We don't have any proof, but since we're not trying to turn him in, we're not trying to get any."

She hummed and nodded her head "That explains why you suddenly decided to team up with him. So how is he, I mean the KID, as an everyday person?" She asked with carefully uninterested tone.

The detective smirked, figuring why she was interested. He didn't miss the fact that she seemed to feel more secure around the thief at the mall, when Gin was near. Shinichi figured that Haibara still felt grateful to KID for his help back at the train. And she never was able to thank him for it, or show her gratitude in any other way. Conan did push the thief to help them back then, but the truth was that he could have just ditched them, if he wanted to. And then they wouldn't be able to shake off the Organization from Haibara's trail. Instead he kept his act, even when things have gotten very serious. The fact that Shinichi didn't like to think about it too much didn't change that they both owned him a lot for that time.

"Well, he isn't very pleased that we broke into his personal space. And as a person he isn't what I expected him to be. I can tell you that during his heists he is rather timid, compared to him acting as himself while around us." He chuckled recalling Kaito's pranks "He can be such a pain, I tell you. But when he isn't trying to shake us off, he is rather fun. He might be nice to have around once we get him to accept that we don't mean any harm for him."

"Sounds to me like it's you guys who are a pain to him." She smirked and sighed "So… Am I to expect seeing more of him around? I will be very unpleased if you make me a target for him, Kudo… I still wonder why he appeared today. He wasn't very annoying and didn't try to make a fool out of your teenage self… Does it bother you that much when he disguises himself as you?"

Shinichi grimaced "Can't say that I'm happy when he does, but I guess I can deal with it, as long as he isn't doing anything weird around Ran, or isn't humiliating me. But he sure did have too much fun making his slips back there…" He sighed "Anyway, he's a hard one to figure out why he does things. He might be just planning something for the future. Who knows?" He saw her narrow her eyes, clearly feeling that he was hiding something from her, so he continued "Anyway, would you like to talk with him, if you got the chance? I mean like him, him, not hidden under a disguise?"

She got annoyed and averted her gaze from him "And why would I want that? I don't have anything to talk to him about."

He smiled sheepishly, glad that his diversion worked "Sorry, you just seemed interested in him. I must have gotten the wrong impression."

"Clearly."

Shinichi laughed dryly, not willing to push on the conversation in that way "So, could I ask you to cover for me a bit? That way I can promise to try and keep him away, at least until we can manage to settle things between us."

"Why? Is your 'big sister' not happy with you spending time with much older boys?" She asked with an amused smirk and received an annoyed glare in return "Sure, I can try. Just promise me you don't plan anything stupid. I… I got a bit uneasy back at the mall." She admitted carefully.

Despite what she said, he never thought about chasing the Organization as a 'stupid idea'. Dangerous, yes, but not stupid. So it wasn't hard for him to promise her that.

After this chat they parted soon, so he could return to the mall. On his way there he called Hattori, still unsure if he wanted to notify Hakuba as well. It wasn't hard for him to decide that he could leave KID and any information he had about the Organization alone for now. It wasn't like Kuroba was getting away from them anytime soon.


I hope you liked the chapter despite that there wasn't any direct confrontation with Gin and Vodka ;) But as you can see – there is still more to come about it ;)

Phew… That took me so long to write… But I'm not sure if it will be any better next week… Still I hope to keep up at least one time a week update :)

I can tell you guys now that I simply HATE writing about cases xD I was just so tempted to finish it with saying 'they solved it' and get on with the chapter xD It's thanks to madelita that I did write more there, but I do intend to try and avoid it in the future x)

Side note: Loyal DC fan brought it up and I guess it is possible that more of you guys are interested in it. So I'll give you a piece of my mind about the BO ;) At least now I won't have to do it in the story xD
First of all if an organization wants to keep power and control in the underground it cannot be a ghost. Let's be honest Gin and Vodka are recognizable - they dress like wanna-be-gangstas and are driving a flashy car. If they wanted to be unnoticed they would dress like other members (see: Korn, Bourbon, others). Hence the assumption - they are meant to be seen and recognized my certain people. It is meant for people to know that things get serious when 'men in black' come and that they would be afraid. Nobody would be afraid that they didn't know anything. So hence my conclusion that digging in the right place it would be possible for KID to find out at least the bare bones of the organization existence.
Gin, Vodka, Tequila – guys like that are a 'semi-visual face' of the Org. They are the ones to contact outside people and make deals – that's why they interact with people who are not a part of BO and are not meant to know anything about the Org. itself. If an undercover agent (like Kir, Bourbon and guys like that) a special agent (like sharp shooters eg. Chanti), facility workers (eg. Sherry) and probably many other would do it – they wouldn't be able to fully fulfill their roles. Most probably 'face' agents are protected somewhat due to the additional danger they are in.
Don't get me wrong here – I know BO is a hidden Org. that works mostly in the shadows and it is extremely hard (if not impossible) to get any accurate info on them (it's size, it's goals, identities of other types of agents or even their existence, facilities, hideouts and so on) and that is why the huge security organizations (FBI, CIA, so on) put their agents inside.

So I hope that explains enough :D I know that you guys may have a different point of view on the BO, but then again it isn't possible for one story to cover ALL the visions regarding them. I can only hope that you like mine enough ;)

Anyway this concludes this chapter so… Next time we will start from the insight from the other two detective's perspective, just in case you guys were wondering what was going on over there ;)

See you next chapter *evil grin*