"Do you have anything for me?" Conan asked, shrinking even further into his darkened corner to avoid anyone's notice. Haibara shifted in from of him to block him out of immediate sight. It wouldn't be good for anyone to notice he was on the phone with the police.

"That picture you sent was identified. Yamaguchi Sousuke. He's the ringleader in the group and responsible for over nine bank robberies set up just like this one," Hattori said, voice muffled through the phone. Conan could hear police in the background, the Osaka branch scrambling to do something about the televised heist they had in their hands.

"And the rest of them?"

"New to crime, as far as we can tell. None of them match any of the groups Yamaguchi put together for the other robberies. So they're going to be really jumpy."

"And on your end?"

"We have the building surrounded, but with all of the hostages inside and the live television broadcast, we're limited on what we can do."

Conan frowned, scanning the room for anything else to offer Hattori that could help him get everyone out of the bank safely. There were seven robbers and their ringleader stationed in a perimeter around the lobby. They'd trapped in Conan, Haibara, and Jirokichi, along with the regular bank patrons and a television crew following Jirokichi and Conan, interviewing Jirokichi about his experiences with Kid.

"They're just getting into the vault right now. I'll figure something out and we'll let you know, Hattori." He hung up the phone and tucked it away. Haibara glanced over her shoulder at him.

"Any ideas?" she asked, tracking him as he moved to crouch beside her. Jirokichi and the television crew were standing in front of them, and several other bank patrons were standing near the front counter, corralled by the armed robbers.

"Everyone here is new to armed robbery as far as Hattori can tell. The only one with any priors is their leader, the one who shot that first clerk." Conan's eyes fell on the wounded clerk, sitting against the counter with one of the female tellers applying pressure to his injured shoulder.

"They're going to be nervous," Haibara observed, tapping a finger against the floor in thought. "If we try anything, they might shoot someone."

"They might. Or they'll be less likely to want a murder charge on top of armed robbery."

One of the robbers started organizing the clerks into a corner and away from the counter, four men and nine women excluding the two by the counter. They were urged down to their knees, one at a time and slowly. One of the women started crying, bringing shaking hands up to her mouth to muffle her sobs.

"This isn't good. There's too many people and too few robbers. If someone panics, we'll have more than injuries," Haibara said, both of them watching the crying woman start to shake in place despite her colleague's whispered reassurances.

"We can't just sit here and do nothing," Conan shot back, tensing as the robbers pushed the other woman away from her crying friend and started shoving the crying woman with the barrels of their guns.

She stumbled, caching herself before she fell. Her brooch came loose, the pearl rolling loose away from the gold pin. It rolled across the room to Conan's foot, and he grabbed it. One of the robbers came up behind her and pushed her to the ground by her shoulder. She sobbed as she hit the ground, her glasses sliding down her nose, her hair falling out of the neat bun, and her hands sliding on the waxed floor.

He clenched the pearl in his hand, taking a step forward as the woman suddenly locked eyes with him. Her face was wet with tears, but her eyes were cold and angry, the emotion in them banked back by a glaze of tears that dripped down her chin. She relaxed a split second, the anger vanishing under a wink, and she mouthed the word "moon" before looking away with gasping sobs.

He forced himself to relax and moved back, away from the immediate sight of the robbers corralling the tellers into a line against on of the walls.

"That woman is a friend," he whispered, rolling the pear in his hand. He wasn't sure if it was a flash bomb, smoke bomb, or sleeping gas, but he felt better about having it in his hand anyway. And a little better that someone else was here that he could use in his plans.

"Not one of mine, right?" Haibara asked, her own hands in fists at her side as she studied the woman.

"Mine. Speak of the devil and he shall appear."

Haibara's shoulders relaxed minutely. "Do you have an idea, now?"

"Everyone here is new. They're nervous, they're easily startled, and they're dangerous for those reasons. But I think if it's us, we can make them hesitate long enough to knock them out." He tucked the pearl into his pocket and took off his watch. He held it out to Haibara. "If you get close, you can use this."

"The shoes and soccer ball aren't subtle," she reprimanded, but she took the watch from him, not fastening it but holding it in her palm.

"I think my friend has something for me," he said, taking the pearl back out and holding it out between them. "Their leader might already be in the vault, and once he gets back, his attention will shift to the hostages he can use against the police. Hattori said there's a cordon of officers, but with the live feed inside the building, they're limited. He might start executing people on television if the situation gets desperate."

"We can get the robbers in this room, but not under these conditions. Too exposed and too high a risk of injuring someone else."

"I'll get Hattori to cut the power in the building. That'll disable the security cameras inside, but it'll also disable the security and lighting in the vault. You saw it earlier. There's only one exit and that entire hallway is underground. The power goes out and the building switches to emergency systems, it'll lock the vault. That's enough time to get the robbers out here and then Yamaguchi inside."

"You're putting a lot of faith in your friend." Haibara didn't say anything else, but her silence was very loud.

"I'm texting Hattori." Conan shifted his phone behind Haibara's back, keeping his focus off the phone and on the woman across the room, who he was certain had read their lips and knew exactly what they needed to do.

"Two minutes," Conan said, hiding the phone away again and creeping forward as slowly as he could. Jirokichi and the television crew ignored them, their eyes and the camera on the bleeding teller and how increasingly paler he was becoming.

Haibara crouched on his opposite side. "I'll go left, you go right?"

"Fine with me," he said, tensing as the woman across the room tapped a finger under her right eye and repeated the word "moon." A smoke bomb, then.

He took a breath, and the power went out.

He threw the pearl as hard as he could into the dim lighting, the afternoon light streaming in through the windows turning everything a shade of gold and red. And then it was all swallowed in a haze of thick smoke as the pearl broke apart. He felt more than heard Haibara take off.

Conan ran towards the woman just as the robbers started to panic and the hostages scream. Something flashed through the smoke and he caught it, steadying his grip on Kid's card gun as the first robber came into view. He fired, knocking the gun out of the robber's hands and a gloved hand was reaching out of the plumes of smoke to cover the robber's mouth with a white cloth.

Kid, still dressed as the female teller, stepped out of the smoke next, catching the robber as he fell and lowering him silently to the floor. Conan went passed, already aiming for the next robber as Kid threw another pearl over his shoulder, this one flashing brightly as it broke, illuminating two robbers wildly swinging their guns in the smoke.

Conan disarmed them as Kid followed after, knocking them out and ziptieing their hands. Kid knelt next to him, palming his monocle and exchanging his glasses for the more familiar monocle. The glass lit up, a thermal image on the lens that Conan could barely make out. Kid's hands flashed through police codes, indicating positions. Conan nodded and crept around them, even as Kid threw more flash bombs to disorient them.

The robbers were yelling, firing shots randomly after they got no response from their unconscious friends. But they weren't giving up and some of them might shoot someone by accident. Kid tapped his shoulder, a small aerosol can in his other hand.

Kid's gun and signature sleeping gas, both handed over with barely a thought, and Kid was grinning at him, face split into the familiar smirk. Conan had to clench his teeth to keep from hissing at the thief.

Kid straightened, dropping a hand down to his skirt and tugging the hemline up. Conan jerked hi eyes away as the top of Kid's stockings were exposed. He could tell Kid was laughing at him, despite there being no noise from the thief. When he glanced back, Kid's skirt was back down and there was a coil of fishing wire in his right hand.

Kid pulled one end taunt, raising his eyebrows in the direction of the last two robbers. Conan scowled and nodded back, letting Kid take the lead.

"Someone! Someone help, please!" Kid's feminine voice echoed through the room, and it gave the two robbers something to focus on in the smoke. Kid pushed him to the side as soon as the shooting started, moving in the opposite direction and twirling the weighted end of the wire. Conan tracked the bright weight as it flashed through the smoke, but missed where it landed.

Someone shouted in pain and one of the rifles landed with a clatter to Conan's right. He crept closer and there was another shout of pain. One of the men went running past, obviously searching for the gun, and Conan chased after him.

"Help!" Kid's voice echoed again, and the man whirled in place. Conan used the chance to bring Kid's gun down on the back of the man's knee, dropping him to the floor and getting him in range of the knockout gas.

He jumped when a hand grabbed his shoulder, but it was only Kid, now lacking the wire.

"Last man is in the vault." Kid nodded toward the vault entrance.

"Do you have a plan for Yamaguchi?" Conan asked, as Kid flexed his hands and used his monocle to monitor the rest of the lobby.

"Your little scientist friend is helping treat that bank teller." Kid held out a hand and Conan gave back the aerosol can. "Don't you have a plan for Yamaguchi?"

"But I'm sure you have a better understanding of the building's layout than the ten minute tour I had." Conan kept the card gun. It was lighter than anything police-issued, but even better maintained. Kid didn't insist on getting it back, but he doubted that meant Kid was defenseless.

"The tricky parts in the building were the limited staff able to access the vault and the narrow hallway leading to it. No air vents large enough to crawl through. No space overhead in the ceiling to move through. It's one straight hallway."

"And he still has the bank manager," Conan said, turning to stare at the vault entrance behind the counter. It was pitch-dark inside, the light from the windows barely reaching the doorway. Yamaguchi wouldn't need strategy. He had to know that the rest of his team was incapacitated and his only real chance at getting out of the situation would be to surrender.

"I'll be the distraction and you can take out Yamaguchi." Kid held out a hand. "You have a tracker for those glasses. I'll get it on Yamaguchi."

"You better be wearing a vest under all that," Conan said, dropping one of his trackers into the thief's palm. "If we recover your blood on the scene, you'll be charged along with Yamaguchi and his team."

"I wouldn't worry about that, tantei-kun," Kid said, the skirt barely hindering him as he jumped over the counter and pressed his back against the wall, edging near to the doorway. Conan grit his teeth and signaled the idiot to wait, relying on his memory to get him near to Haibara.

She looked up at him as he dropped to the floor next to her.

"Your friend is an idiot," she said, and someone must have taken to chance to move the injured bank teller, because she was sitting alone and obviously waiting for him.

"I know," Conan agreed. "Can you make sure everyone's out?"

"It shouldn't be hard now. Suzuki-san and the television crew are likely already trying." She looked past him to the hazy room. "But I'll do what I can."

"Thanks," Conan said, running back towards the thief.

"The bank manager is still alive. Yamaguchi is getting more desperate." Kid leaned around the edge of the door, his monocle visibly lit up. Yamaguchi fired at the only bright spot in his sightline, sending Kid backwards with a hiss. "I'll get the tracker on Yamaguchi. Stay behind me and take the first chance you get, understand?"

Conan kept his silence, swatting away the playful hand Kid mused through his hair. Kid's monocle glowed in the darkness around the vault, and Yamaguchi fired at them again. Kid stepped down the hallway, moving at a brisk pace that Conan had to jog to keep up with.

"You're the last one. No one is coming to help you. It would be better for you to give up now," Kid called out, pitching his voice to echo down the hall and muffle their advance. Yamaguchi fired at them, stray bullets peppered around them. He heard Kid yelp, but he wasn't slowing down.

"I don't think so!" Yamaguchi shouted, firing even more. Bullets struck around Conan, and one narrowly avoided hitting his shoulder.

Kid was moving too fast, sprinting down the hallway. Conan activated his tracking glasses, chasing after the thief and holding the card gun awkwardly at his side as he ran.

Kid hadn't placed the tracker yet, and Conan could hear the sound of a struggle as he came closer.

"I think it's time for you to give up," Kid said, "Do it!"

Conan aimed for the tracker and fired the card gun. Yamaguchi's gun went flying and Conan could hear the sound of a struggle. He used Kid's monocle to track the action, but it was over once he came up on them, fumbling for the watch and turning on the flashlight. Kid had Yamaguchi pinned against the wall, mouths sealed together and Yamaguchi's hands locked around Kid's neck. Kid pulled back as Yamaguchi went limp, pushing the man hard against the wall as he slumped to the floor.

"Really?" Conan asked, even as Kid turned to meet his eyes. Half the thief's face was in darkness, but it didn't hide the devious lilt of Kid's smirk.

"New trick I planned to use the next time tantei-san decided to get too close," Kid said, tracing his dark-stained lips with a finger. "If I get to be the femme fatale, might as well go for the best trick, right?"

"I'm sure Hakuba-san will appreciate it," Conan shot back, face a little warm in embarrassment as Kid shrugged and stepped next to the unconscious form of the bank manager.

"He's still alive. Yamaguchi must have knocked him out after he opened the vault door." Kid crouched down and lifted the man upright, settling his shoulders against the wall. There was a dark stain at his temple, likely knocked out with the butt of Yamaguchi' rifle. "Leave him here or take him with us?"

"Can you carry him?" Conan asked, offering the card gun to Kid. Kid grabbed it without looking, tucking it away somewhere in the folds of his jacket.

"I can get him upright." Kid pulled one of the man's arms over his shoulders and took a breath before standing it. They teetered dangerously before Kid leaned the man against the wall and held him in place. "I don't think I can get him all the way outside without help."

"Okay. I'll be back." Conan turned on his heel as Kid leaned against the bank manager, wobbling in his kitten heels. He stumbled out of the dark hallway and nearly right into a police officer in riot gear. "We need help!"

"What are you still doing inside? I thought we'd gotten everyone out!" The police officer was already reaching for him, a hand covering his shoulder and pulling him away. "We've got a civilian!"

"Stop! The manager's back there! He needs help!" Conan tried to pull away, but the man wasn't letting go. He grimaced as he thought about kicking the man to get someone to listen.

"Wait! I'll get him!" Hattori, also dressed in riot gear, shoved through several officers and stopped the one towing Conan with a glare. He grabbed Conan's other shoulder and muscled between them, dropping to a knee and pointedly ignoring the officer's irritated huff. "Are you alright?"

"Fine. The bank manager's back there. He needs to get checked over. Yamaguchi knocked him out." Conan narrowed his eyes as Hattori nodded along, overly large and dramatic gestures.

"That's good. You did really well. Show me where they are, and we'll get them help, okay?" Hattori patted his shoulder, grimacing apologetically and tapping the side of his helmet. Conan rolled his eyes and pasted on his worried-innocent-child expression.

"Over here," Conan said, grabbing Hattori's hand and leading him back through the officers to the vault. The power flickered on, lighting up the narrow hallway and the figures slumped near the end by the vault entrance.

Conan dropped Hattori's hand and ran, stuttering to a halt with a worried frown.

"What happened?" he barked, taking in Kid and the manager slumped side by side, Kid's face washed pale under his makeup.

"I guess we've been rescued," Kid aid, smiling up as Hattori stopped just behind Conan. "Officer, I think we need medical attention."

Kid held a red-stained palm between them, the color matching his lipstick.

"I have two civilians in need of medical and Yamaguchi in custody by the vault," Hattori said into his radio, kneeling by Kid. "Miss, can you make it outside?"

"Yes. I'm sorry for running back here and messing things up. I couldn't leave Takao-kun back here with that man. I think I ran into him and knocked him out," Kid said, turning to press his face against the manager's shoulder and shaking in fear. "He'll be alright?"

"We'll make sure of it," Hattori promised, taking Kid's arm gently and pulling him away. Kid went went a heavy breath, leaning into Hattori as they got upright. Two officers came trotting up, faces dark with concern as they took in the scene. "I'm going to walk her out. Get the bank manager to the other ambulance and someone put Yamaguchi in the van."

"Come on, little boy. We'll make sure you're alright, too." Kid offered a hand and Conan took it with a fake smile.

It was an awkward walk to the ambulance. Hattori didn't know who he had his arm around and was still trying to be respectful, and he kept shooting looks at Conan when Kid wasn't looking. As soon as they got to one of the ambulances, Hattori handed Kid over with a smile and grabbed Conan's arm before he could get away.

"Go ahead with her. I'll make sure he gets looked over at the other van," Hattori said when the male EMP tried to stop them.

"Thank you for your help, officer," Kid said, a cloying smile on his lips that made Hattori stutter. The female EMP pulled him into the van and partially shut the door.

"Who was that? One of them? Your mom in disguise?" Hattori demanded as soon as they were out of earshot.

Conan could see officers leading Yamaguchi and his team into police vans over Hattori's shoulder. Jirokichi and the news team were on the opposite side of the street, the reporter and Jirokichi in conference as they were filmed. Haibara wasn't anywhere he could see.

"That was Kaitou Kid," Conan snapped back, nose wrinkling in disgust at the thought of his mother kissing Yamaguchi with knockout lipstick.

"Kid?" Hattori hissed, startling in place and whipping his head around to glare at the ambulance. "And we're just going to let him go?"

"Today we are. How would we prove it's really Kid, anyway?" Because Conan was sure anything incriminating would be conveniently missing, and the scene in the hallway had been staged for any security cameras.

"What was he even doing here?" Hattori muttered, crossing his arm and sighing. "So what happened? Didn't look like anyone was knocked out with a soccer ball."

"Kid tossed me a smoke bomb. When we got you to cut the power, I used it to make a smoke screen and got Kid to help me take out everyone in the lobby. Then, Kid knocked out Yamaguchi. That's it." Conan edited as he went, not really sure what details Hattori was looking for or how to answer what Kid was doing at the bank to begin with. Whatever Kid spouted likely wasn't the truth.

"I guess it could make some sense that the bank manager's girlfriend would be willing to try and stop the robbers. The rest of the bank tellers said it was really unusual for Tachibana-san to cry. She used to be in a private security firm and then got a job here to be closer to her boyfriend." Hattori said, crossing his arms with a pensive frown. "That's why Kid was like that in the hallway. What are the odds he was really shot?"

"High," Cona said, thinking back to Yamaguchi's wild shooting in the hallway. "But he went with that woman-"

He stopped, running back towards the ambulance and grabbing the handle.

"Close the door!" The EMP barked, sliding in front of Kid, but not before Conan got a good look at what was going on inside the van. Kid's jacket was off, his blouse was open, and underneath the left bra cup was a bloody bandage in the process of being taped in place.

"Sorry!" Conan backed away quickly, and the EMP slammed the door.

"What was that about?" Hattori demanded, glancing between Conan and the ambulance.

"I thought... Nothing. I made a mistake," Conan admitted, trying to meet Hattori's stare. "Nothing to do about it now. How long do you think we'll be needed?"

"Not much longer," Hattori said, narrowing his eyes and crossing his arms. He sighed heavily when Conan just stood there and ignored him. "The girls are probably already on their way. This was televised, remember."

"Yeah," Conan said, scuffing one foot on the ground and staring at the bank entrance. "Yeah."

-X-

"Why do all the interesting things happen to you two?" Genta complained, slamming the door to his shoe locker.

"It wasn't interesting. It was dangerous," Haibara corrected, organizing her books into her backpack.

"I can't believe the bank manager's girlfriend saved everyone." Mitsuhiko said, turning to share a grin with Ayumi.

"She was really brave," Ayumi agreed, shouldering her backpack and leading the way to the door. "Did you know she was going to try, Conan-kun?"

"Yeah," Conan said, dropping to the back o the group as Mitsuhiko and Genta flanked Ayumi. Haibara gave him an arch look as she followed, lingering just close enough to talk in a low voice without the rest of the group hearing.

"Something happen to your idiot friend?" she asked, glancing over her shoulder.

"No."

"Right."

She was quiet as they left school grounds and started down the sidewalk towards Mitsuhiko's home.

"You've been acting off, in any case," she said, "So, something happened."

"Nothing-"

"Edogawa-kun!" That was a girl's voice.

The entire group stopped and turned, staring at the high school girl waving as she came up the sidewalk, past the school gates, and towards the group.

"I didn't mean to be so late! Sorry!" Her school uniform was a darker shade of blue than Ran's, and instead of wearing a jacket and tie, she had on the traditional blouse and red tie. Her hair was messy and held out of her face with a clover pin. She smiled wide as she stopped, transferring her bag to her left hand and holding out her other. "Suzuki-chan invited Mouri-chan out with some of our friends, and since your school is on the way, I offered to meet you to walk you over."

That was a horrible cover-up, but only if he didn't go along with it.

"That's right! I forgot about it." Conan sent apologetic looks to Ayumi, Mitsuhko, and Genta, and ignored the smirk Haibara gave back. He took the girl's offered hand, waving with his other one as she lead him the opposite direction. "I'll see you tomorrow, everyone!"

"Tomorrow, Conan-kun!" Haibara called back, wiggling her fingers as the rest of them waved halfheartedly, frowning at Conan and the girl. They weren't going to let it drop. Tomorrow, he'd have to answer a million questions about Ran's new friend and why they'd never heard of her before from Conan or Haibara.

"Do you like the park, Edogawa-kun?" she asked, smiling at the people they passed on the sidewalk. She tightened her grip on his hand when he tried to pull away. "I think a nice walk in the park will really help us relax."

"Okay, nee-chan," he said, loud enough that several other high school girls giggled as they passed them by.

The sidewalk never fully cleared, but she dialed back the cutesy act and silently pulled him along. He focused more on studying her than on their path to the park, trying to match this girl to the adversary he'd been facing off against for months.

The calluses on her palms were the same, from what he remembered of the few times he'd touched the thief's hands. She was smaller all around, less width to her shoulders, less bulk on average, really. He'd known he'd been chasing after someone younger than what was generally believed about the thief, but without the lines of the costume covering her slim figure, she was likely younger than he'd thought.

Once they're through the park gates, she lead them passed the busier locations to a bench tucked out of sight under some trees. She dropped his hand and collapsed on the bench, bracing her arms on the seat and leaning back. With the shadows from the trees blurring her features, he could almost imagine the monocle and hat.

"You know they're going to suspect something's up," he began, but she laughed and the grin dispelled any doubt.

"I couldn't leave the situation as it was, considering what happened." She was studying him, narrowing her eyes as he stood there and stared back. "Get a good look?"

He coughed, feeling his face grow hot in shame and embarrassment, and shook his head quickly. "I didn't mean to-"

"You just thought I'd gassed her and ran, didn't you?" The tension in her shoulders melted away. "You really had no idea at all."

"No!" He fidgeted in place, casting his eyes around anywhere that wasn't her. "I thought something was weird, but not that-"

"I'm not a girl," she interrupted, leaning back and crossing her ankles. "It's a complicated situation, but my mind and body aren't aligned together. Something I think you can understand."

"So when you go out as Kid-"

"That's who I am. This is as temporary as I can make it." He gestured to himself and shrugged a shoulder. "You can understand that some goals are more important."

"Yeah. I guess I can." Conan studied his face, taking in all the soft lines made even softer with the hair pin, the faint sheen of lip gloss, and the dark line around his eyes. "It's a really good cover."

"You have no idea," Kid said, muffling a smile with one of his hands. "Tantei-san got a handful once, and he hasn't been able to get within a foot of me since. I think he thinks I was messing with him, in particular, since he tries so hard to be a gentleman and a professional."

Kid wiggled his hands in front of his chest, emphasizing what happened with a squeezing motion and a dirty grin. Conan jerked his head away from the sight, scowling darkly when he started laughing even harder.

"I had no idea you detective types were so squeamish."

"Could you pretend to have some dignity?" Conan demanded, only turning back to face Kid when he was sure there wasn't anymore psuedo-groping going on.

"I'll try to control myself," Kid said.

"So when you accomplish your goal..."

"I'll get to be the real me." Kid looked away, eyes settling on the trees and not meeting his eyes. "Like I imagine you'll do when your own problems are resolved."

"Yeah," Conan agreed, but hopefully, his problem could be resolved with an antidote and a week long recovery. Kid's change wasn't going to be as clear cut. The time, the money, the lifestyle, and everything that came along with it... "You already have a plan, don't you?"

"Every good thief does," Kid said, straightening his shoulders and brushing his skirt off as he stood up. "I think we understand one another. I'll see you at the next game, tantei-kun?"

"Of course," Conan shot back, tensing as Kid bent over in front of him, tilting Conan's chin with a finger and pressing a quick kiss to his cheek. "Hey!"

"See you around," Kid purred, pulling away as Conan blushed and sputtered, dodging out of sight with a flirty laugh.