The Mop Girl and the Kaitou
Chapter 3: Themes 7-9

By Lucathia

Disclaimer: Detective Conan and Magic Kaitou belong to Aoyoma Gosho.

7. superstar

He stood there, or rather, perched there on top of the roof, white cape billowing in the wind. The figure couldn't have been more visible--white tall hat, glinting monocles, and a grin that flashed white teeth. The figure pivoted around and jumped off the building, the wind rushing up to keep him afloat.

Watching that figure take off in the night had somehow become a secret pride of his.

Jii Konosuke had been through quite a lot in his long life. He had been around the Kuroba family ever since Kuroba Toichi had been a mere child himself. He had been there when the first Kaitou Kid began a legend never to be forgotten. He had been there when Kuroba Kaito opened his tiny eyes to the world. He had been there when Toichi's wife held young Kaito close to her, red eyes staring at a large photo, the last of what they had of Toichi. He had been there during the magic show's so-called accident, the fatal accident that took away Toichi from his family. He had been there, watching Kaito grow up without a father.

He had been there when Kaito first appeared wearing his father's legacy.

He was proud of Kaito for taking up such a dangerous pastime if only to find his father's killers. He was sure that Kaito's father would have been proud as well, His Botchama was so young yet so skilled and determined at the same time. Kaito was only a mere child, a child who should still have been enjoying school, laughing with his friends, showing off in front of them with his magic tricks, and wooing over the girl he liked, stealing quick pecks at her cheeks. Instead, Kaito navigated through the night as the infamous, international thief, hiding his identity during the day from everyone--even his mother and the girl he grew up with.

When the white figure disappeared into the night, Jii descended from the building as well, hurrying to finish his part of the heist.

Following Kuroba Toichi's footsteps had a huge price, but his Botchama wasn't going to back down from the challenge. Even if it meant becoming a criminal, Kaito would don that white cape. Even if it meant risking his life, Kaito would fix that tall hat on his head. Even if it meant destroying the trust between him and the inspector's daughter, Kaito's poker face would never waver.

Well, maybe 'never' was too strong a word. Jii smiled to himself. Sometimes, he missed being young.

8. our own world

Tap, tap, tap.

Click, tap, tap.

Her small fingers flew across the keyboard swiftly. Millions of words appeared on screen in front of her, a screen that was illuminating her face with an eerie green. Moving the mouse next to her, she clicked on a word. Immediately, a picture of a pill flashed onto the screen.

Both she and Kudo were stuck in their own little world because of her foolish poison. If only she could find the cure to their problem…

She grimaced and continued typing. The room was completely silent except for the constant tapping sounds from her fingers. Her screen kept flashing as she sifted through the information. Her mouth moved in silence as the letters APTX 4869 appeared on the screen.

She continued typing and typing endlessly for many hours down in the basement by herself. Finally, she paused, her eyes widening with disbelief. Her fingers froze as she went over what she saw once again.

Here was the solution to her constant worries.

She forced her fingers to work, to click on the screen again. She managed it somehow and watched as a picture of a blood-red jewel slowly loaded onto the screen.

The reddish-blonde girl ripped out a few pieces of paper from her notepad and quickly scribbled down the information she needed. She tucked the paper in her pocket and turned off the monitor, swiveling around on her chair before jumping off.

Haibara Ai took one last glance at her notes, touching them to her lips as she hurried out of the room. If she were right about her predictions, the jewel, the Last Dawn, would aid her in making the cure.

9. dash

His meeting with Minamino Shinkyo hadn't been too pleasant. The young, freelancing photographer was a heavy smoker, filling the Red Room with unpleasant smoke as Conan tried to question him about the jewel.

"Ne, Ojisan, can you tell me more about the jewel?" asked Conan in his fake, childish voice. It was sickening sweet, like kisses and cotton candy, and Conan knew that Hattori would laugh at him if he heard it. But it wasn't like the other, not-vertically-challenged teenager was present at the moment, even though Conan was sure that Hattori would show up at some point given that the case was in Osaka. Anyway, Conan was allowed his slight exaggeration of his disguise. It made the people he questioned much less wary as an innocent though curious child.

The man scowled, his arms folded across his chest, one of his hands holding a dangling, lit cigarette. "Hey, I have a name kid. Minamino Shinkyo. Since you're in a house filled with Minaminos and I don't want to be mistaken for my brother, you better call me Shinkyo-san. Not some old, withering ojisan."

Be grateful I didn't all you Ojiisan, thought Conan to himself. After all, in all appearances, Conan was an elementary school kid at the moment, and any person over twenty five was...well, old. That was how little kids were supposed to think, wasn't it?

"Ja, Shinkyo-san, can you tell me more about the pretty jewel? Why is it in this weird looking room?"

Shinkyo walked over to the desk in the back of the room, picking up the jewel carelessly. "Che, like I would know what's special about this jewel. All I know is that we've had it in our family for generations. I'm sort of the unofficial guard for it, in this bizarre, disgustingly red and pink room that Dad built for housing the jewel." He swung the red jewel in front of the short boy, Conan's eyes following the glinting jewel warily, before Shinkyo swung it back it his hands.

"Now, if you ask me," continued the freelancing photographer, "I could care less about this jewel. But damn it, I'm not going to give in to the likes of Kaitou Kid. I'm sure I can outrun him and put an end to this mad chase."

Conan nodded politely and all, but the other guy's words really hadn't helped in his investigation much. Still, he finally saw the jewel with his own eyes. Now he just had to devise a plan...and wait for Kaitou Kid to make his grand appearance.

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to be continued

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Characters that appeared: (Minamino Shinkyo, age 28, photographer)

Next up:

Theme 10: 10!
Theme 11: gardenia
Theme 12: in a good mood