A/N: Haa, I got it done... I have some (bad) news for you guys. I gotta take about two weeks break from writing due entrance exams that are at the door. So I don't know when the next chapter will come.
Chapter 45.
"Catch her!" Inspector Nakamori shouted. A horde of officers ran after a black-clad young woman who ran through the corridors. In his fist he was clutching a heist note that had been delivered to the police station five hours prior Red Moon's… excursion. Heists they couldn't be called since she didn't steal anything. She only visited places unnoticed and gave a warning when and where she'd come. And because she was associated with Kaitou Kid, Nakamori was the one to go after her.
"Damn you, Red Moon…"
"Today I shall come.
Today I shall have fun.
You won't see me.
You won't find me.
But watch me fly.
Red Moon."
Only the last word had been written in red. And there they were. In a thirty store hotel where her signature could be found from the lobby, painted in the middle of the marble floor. All the exists had been blocked once the signature had been detected(the paint had still been wet). And from the surveillance cameras it had been confirmed that she was still in the hotel, running to the upper floors.
"Sir, I got a message for group B. They've cornered her to one of the rooms in the last floor." An officer came to tell Nakamori.
"Why haven't they caught her yet then?!" The inspector answered.
"The door is blocked, sir."
"Then unblock it! It's not that hard is it?"
"No, sir. Right away, sir." And the officer ran off. Nakamori boarded the elevator to the top floor after casting a spiteful glance outside. A crowd was there, cheering on the female… intruder, because someone had accidentally leaked the note to the media. There were surprisingly many people despite the only five-hour-timeframe. The inspector of Kaitou Kid taskforce guessed that they were interested in her looks more than her skills. He had seen many of those people with a camera.
Red Moon grinned as she dug out her escape method underneath the bed of the hotel room. Those police officer's thought she was trapped when actually she had no intention of going into a dead end voluntarily. At least into a one she couldn't escape. She had prepared this makeshift parachute a week ago and now was the time to test it.
"It's only thirty stores. With a parachute made of shower curtains. Call me crazy, that's exactly me." The girl muttered as she fastened the harness around her body and walked to the window then. The glass panel was pushed aside quickly as the locked and dead bolted door wouldn't hold the police officers for long. Red Moon could already hear Nakamori barking orders to his men. She gathered the parachute to her arms and climbed to sit on the windowsill. She glanced down in the crowd gathered beneath. Perfect.
Crash!
The door broke down.
"Catch her!"
"I don't think so…" Red Moon leaned forward. "It was myth confirmed!"
And she jumped while tossing the shower curtain in the air above her. She fell a few meters until it opened properly and she descended softly. Back in the room, Nakamori was in the window with a few other officers and cursing loudly. No wonder. She had gotten away and written on her parachute were the words 'You lose'.
The female's feet touched the ground and she got rid of the harness while the parachute covered her and several of her 'fans'. The trick was a similar to the one Kid had used when escaping Kudou Shinichi at the clock tower heist. She shed her jacket and discarded her hat and sunglasses, and stuffed them into her back pack and pulled a lilac hoodie over her dress shirt. In the slight chaos no one noticed anything and she was able to walk away calmly.
"Until next time… Nakamori-keibu. Until next time…" Red Moon smirked as she took off her neck tie and zipped up her hoodie.
"I still can't believe it actually worked…" Kaito mumbled when the two were sitting on the backseat of Jii's car and riding to Kuroba's. "And you are supposed to have fear of heights!"
"It was a myth confirmed. And as long as I'm in control of my falling or it doesn't come as a surprise, I'm fine. Besides it was only thirty stories, not several hundred meters like back in Bell Tree First." Tsukiko argued back.
"You said that to Nakamori too… 'Myth confirmed'. What is it?" Kaito frowned.
"It's from an American TV show called Mythbusters. I absolutely love it. They tested the shower curtain parachute myth once and they confirmed it as long as the person has enough time and proper instructions. You should watch that program sometime…" The blonde giggled. The other teenager watched her for moment before smirking too.
"Well, I wonder what sort of headlines we'll get tomorrow."
"Oh yeah! I can't wait for it either! I gotta be careful when reading it though… I can't have Mai-san to figure it out…"
"A detective on your class too? That must be a pain."
"Mai-san isn't a pain. She is my first and best friend here…" The girl trailed off when seeing the kicked-puppy face that Kaito made. "Don't worry, you are one of my best friends too. The pain is Hanajima who snoops around for rumors to sell forward."
"Ouch… I can imagine that."
Red Moon made a spectacular escape!
After her debut appearance alongside with famous phantom thief Kaitou Kid, Red Moon has made yet another appearance. It's questionable whether she will team up with Kaitou Kid again or what is her exact relationship with him. Her objectives are currently unclear too. She visits and leaves hints how to improve security but doesn't steal anything like her supposed mentor Kid.
On last night's visit she once again painted her signature Moon on the floor of Hotel Hanabi before escaping through the upper floors. She used a parachute made of shower curtains which had a taunting message 'You lose'. It was most likely meant to the Kaitou Kid taskforce who were set to chase and capture her. In the parachute she abandoned was also a message 'Because I can' written underneath the cloth. It's unclear whether it indicates to her motive or the fact that the parachute was made of shower curtains.
This female intruder has already gathered a massive fan base which is almost as extensive as Kaitou Kid's. The theories of her identity and relationship with Kid are the current hot topics among the citizens of Tokyo and the rest of Japan…
"Okay, that's creepy…" Tsukiko muttered as she read a couple of the theories printed underneath the article. One of them suggested that RM and Kid were lovers DESPITE the fact that to the outer world Kid was supposed to be in his thirties-forties and RM was estimated to be in her early twenties.
"Ah, you read that one too." Mai leaned to take a closer look on the page of the blonde's newspaper.
"Yeah… I wonder what these guys are thinking… Or smoking…"
"Tsukiko-chan!" The class president shushed the other girl.
"What? Sensei isn't in the class yet."
"I think that these people should take their own writings into a critical scrutinity…" A quiet voice said behind the two. Namida was sitting on her seat once again. To be honest it was surprising considering how many times she had been absent lately.
"Ohayoo, Namida-chan." Tsukiko greeted the girl. "I definitely agree with you. They should take a look on their own writings and realize how crazy they are."
"I wonder why the paper is even publishing those theories…" The shy girl continued before blushing bright red once again when Mai's gaze fell upon her.
"They're taking anything that'll help them make more money." The bespectacled girl shrugged. "Even the craziest theories. Like this one suggesting that Red Moon is Kaitou Kid's daughter." She pointed the part of text right below the lover-theory.
"People really are bored then… Not wanting to accept the explanation given by them themselves: that she's his apprentice." Tsukiko sighed, folding the paper then. Kawaoka-sensei stepped into the room and Mai stood up. It was the time for the morning routine once again.
"Stand."
"Salute."
"Sit."
Tsukiko did it all without any hesitation. It kind of reminded her when she was in elementary school and they stood up next to their desks first thing in the morning. The teacher said: 'Good morning, students.' to which they all chorused: 'Good morning, teacher'. It stopped when she went to the third grade though…
"Times change…" The blonde mused as she took her note books and pencil case on her desk.
A week later came the heist note from Kid to Suzuki Jirokichi. It was the time for Kirin Heist. Tsukiko and Kaito made a plan that could include the both of them inside the temple designed by Samizu Kichiemon (once again him…). Kid would disguise as Nakamori while Red Moon would take the female reporter's role. But she wouldn't need to be that old lady like in the original Plot. She could be a younger one, Wakahisa Minako, age 27, single with a few admirers at her workplace.
And now she was on her way to the temple alongside with the kids.
"Oh look at you. Those DB parkas suit you definitely well." She smiled to the five children.
"Thank you!" Ayumi, Mitsuhiko and Genta chorused.
"Now, let me introduce myself. I'm the reporter of this case, Wakahisa Minako. Next to me is sitting our cameraman Masui Shougo…"
"Nice to meet you!" The man greeted.
"And in the front seat is… uh…" What was his name again?
"Hello… I'm the soundman, Hisumi…" The man in the front stated not too friendlily.
"Oh… I heard that the soundman was a bit younger…" Yep, Kaito had messed up in the lines a bit. Singed up to come as his role but then dropping out of contact so they had to pick up a veteran soundman.
"They couldn't get in contact with him, so they called me at the last minute…"
"It's got to be the typhoon…" Masui looked out of the window to the mountains. "That youngster must've gotten cold feet."
"Well, we all can't be equally dedicated to our work…" Tsukiko mused while checking her disguise via a makeup mirror. Everything was in order: both her short-cut chestnut brown hair and the mask alongside with the chocolate brown contact lenses. Her voice changer was snugly beneath her collar, out of view. She smiled at her reflection a bit. Everything was set now.
They arrived to the temple and Tsukiko helped the rest of the crew to set up their equipment. Meanwhile Jirokichi explained to the Detective Boys how the mechanism in the temple worked. The demonstration began.
Piii
Piii
Piii
Piii
The electricity was shut off now. Tsukiko glanced at the direction of Kid/Nakamori but didn't make an eye contact. There were too many keen eyes looking around. Well, soon one of those would be closed.
The upper half of the central pillar rose up as Nakamori's subordinates turned the four keys in the four pedestals, revealing a Kirin statue with a horn made of amber on its head. The pillar was closed soon enough though and the conversation turned to the creator of the temple, Samizu Kichiemon.
"There's writing on the base of the pillar!" Conan noted suddenly. "'One who desires to find Kirin without depending on the correct way must devote themselves to changing.' Do you understand the meaning of this?"
"No, not yet…" Jirokichi admitted. "But it's okay as long as I have these four keys in my hands! It won't be stolen!" He laughed confidently.
"Optimistic old man. If we assume that guy has three accomplices, all he needs to do is cut the lights and steal the keys for an easy heist…" Nakamori muttered.
"That's true…" Haibara agreed. "And if Kid were to tamper with these artificial lights, it seems the power would instantly go out… Not to mention that he most likely has Red Moon helping him…"
"Yeah… And then the electrical current in the pedestals would be off too… At least I can be assured that if the lights go out, the pedestals are being guarded. Though I don't know if they've been switched with Kid's underlings…" The man/teen glanced at the taskforce members. "I can't trust those three from the TV crew either…" Except for one… "Damn it! If there was just one keyhole… I could guard it by myself…" Nice manipulation Kid! The kids agreed immediately. Even Haibara didn't suspect anything.
Tsukiko smiled and turned to address the crew with her then.
"Okay, shall be begin? The broadcast of the decade?"
"So here we are! It's only ten minutes before the time Kaitou Kid and his accomplice Red Moon announced! Will Kid really show up at this mountain temple where the Shounen Tantei are lying in wait?" Tsukiko spoke to her microphone, half copying the words from the original Plot. She crouched by the kids and gave the mike for them to speak to. "Okay, let's catch Kid!" In your dreams…
"Okay!"
"Don't change channel!" Jirokichi told the camera before they cut it.
"Let's take a five minute break!" Tsukiko announced. "We'll be on standby three minutes before show time. I'm counting on you guys."
The Detective Boys sans Conan rushed to guard the pedestals and Jirokichi nailed the keys to the wall with a hook. And right on cue the lights went off.
"It's show time indeed…" The blonde girl grinned and removed the stun gun from her pocket. She couldn't leave her spot but she had done the smuggling in.
"A blackout?" Kid said with Nakamori's voice. The girl tossed the stun gun towards the voice and heard a soft sound of it being caught.
"Don't get flustered, a blackout is to be expected!" Jirokichi barked. And right then the wind blew in.
"Are you getting this?" The girl asked immediately from the two men behind her.
"Yes, but in this darkness, there's nothing…" Masui replied.
"And the audio!?"
"We're picking it up, for now…" Hisumi answered.
"Keep it going then. Get everything you can!"
Bzzt… Tsukiko heard the stun gun. And then the four beeps. And then…
"This sound…" Jirokichi gritted his teeth.
"Could it be!?" Nakamori shouted.
There was a flash of a light from the taser and Conan's shout. Ayumi ran to him immediately, the rest of the Detective Boys following her. Mitsuhiko pointed his flashlight at the Kirin. The horn was gone!
But that moment no one paid any attention to it as Ayumi's cries and begs for Conan to open his eyes and wake up filled the small room of the temple.
"What are you doing!?" Jirokichi demanded. "Why aren't the lights back on!?"
"Calm down!" Nakamori shouted then. "Everyone stay where you are!"
"Wait, what exactly happened!?" Tsukiko asked.
"Did Kid come!?"
"Who knows…" The crew spoke behind her.
And the lights came back. Now the attention went immediately to the missing horn of the Kirin and to the fact that the keys were still nailed to the wall.
"How in the world did…" Jirokichi muttered.
"I don't know how, but during the approximately one minute long black out, he or his accomplice ran around in the dark and got to the four pedestals with the keyholes. That much is certain…" Ai stated. And indeed, there were four cards on each pedestal, right above the keyholes. Nakamori got reports from outside the temple and began barking orders. He wanted to take Conan immediately to a hospital and set cars to pursue Kid who supposedly was fleeing by some other means than flying due the typhoon going on. But…
"What!? Due to a landslide, the roads are closed!? Are you sure!?" The inspector asked the task force member who was by the window.
"Yes, sir. They say it'll take two to three hours to get it cleaned up…"
"Hey now, if that youngster was given poison or something…"
"It wasn't poison!" Ai announced from the central pillar from which she picked up the stun gun. "Look! A stun gun… It seems as if Edogawa-kun was knocked out using this… It seems Red Moon is also here…" The girl showed a note taped on the handle of the gun. 'I'm here too! RM' it said.
"I see… That guy took out his toughest opponent first. I'm sorry…" Jirokichi was kneeled down beside Conan with Ayumi.
"It's not 'I see'!" Nakamori muttered and approached the old man. "It's because you made a huge fuss to the media about that jewel you found last week! You provoked that guy before you had a proper security team set up!"
"It was a month ago…" And Jirokichi began explaining the extensive safety measures he had taken to catch Kid this time.
"The rich and their money…" Tsukiko sweatdropped internally. It was a pity that she had to stay in the side lines in this role. At Bell Tree First it had been much funnier…
"…Kid and any of his accomplices are still here!" The advisor of Suzuki Corporation announced.
"Huh?" Tsukiko blinked. "Uh oh…"
"Well then, it's your turn, Nakamori-keibu! Other than the children, go ahead and pinch everyone's face…"
"Before that, there's something I want you to clear up for me…" Nakamori/Kid stated. "That horn, made from amber… How did Kid steal it from that statue!?"
A retell of the situation at hand followed along with an observation of fluorescent paint being in the keyhole of the pedestals and in the keys too. Nakamori/Kid made a 'deduction' of Jirokichi being the Magician of Moonlight in disguise.
"Wait!" Ai called then. "Why not allow the Shounen Tantei to conduct the searches? If the inspector and the advisor are Kid and his accomplice there's the possibility you could pretend to conduct a search to deceive us…"
"That's right!"
"You can relax if it's us!"
"There's no way we could be Kid's accomplices!" The rest of the kids agreed.
"That's true but…" Nakamori muttered.
"Though, we'll also search everyone else. That's okay, right?" Ai addressed the TV crew. Tsukiko let out a sigh, just like her role would in that situation.
"Alright. You're just kids after all." She smiled.
The search was conducted but nothing was found. Nakamori/Kid and Jirokichi began arguing once again. Tsukiko suppressed a chuckle. Kid truly could pretend to be that inspector really well. Maybe it came from the constant interactions with him.
Eventually the girl tuned out the arguing though and began following Ai who was doing her silent deductions. She got a vital clue from Mitsuhiko and from there the Detective Boys got to the real start of the solution of the case.
"What? You want to review the video and audio from the blackout?" Masui asked. "If you wish to do that, you can probably review it once you go to the broadcasting van parked outside, but…"
"Why would you want to do that?" Tsukiko tilted her head confusedly. God, this woman was a real 'blonde'.
"We want to see whether you caught any odd lights or sounds." Ai explained.
"That's a good point… Since in that darkness to turn the four keys in the pedestals at the same time would require some sort of signal." Jirokichi agreed.
"I don't mind, but there weren't really any odd sounds…" Nakamori added a bit grumpily. "The only thing that shined was the light from the stun gun that Kid used to knock that youngster unconscious and the lights these brats used when they ran over to that youngster, I believe…"
"But what to do… I want to review the video and audio, but I cannot allow anyone suspected leave this temple…" The advisor realized then.
"Ah, but I can contact the broadcasting van and ask them to bring over a monitor and other stuff we need. Then we can replay the video and audio from the blackout." Tsukiko pointed out.
"With the keys nailed to the wall like that, we won't see a trace of him! It's my victory!"
"Blackout?!"
"Don't get flustered, a blackout is to be expected!"
"Are you getting this?"
"Yes, but in this darkness, there's nothing…"
"And the audio!?"
"We're picking it up, for now…"
"Good, keep it going! Get everything you can!"
"This sound…"
"Could it be!?"
"Uwaaaaa!"
"Co-Conan-kun!? Hang in there, Conan-kun!"
"Kirin's horn… It's gone!"
"Why aren't the lights back on!?"
"Calm down! Everyone, stay where you are!"
"Wait, what happened!?"
"Did Kid come!?"
"Who knows…"
They watched the footage but in all honesty there wasn't much to see. The screen remained black throughout the feed. The only exceptions were the light from the stun gun, the Detective Boy's flash lights and then when the lights finally came back on. The Detective Boys proceeded to explain to Suzuki Jirokichi how they had protected each pedestal and Nakamori questioning the condition of the floor panels. And then was Tsukiko's turn.
"Umm… Excuse me, if you're saying that Kid has accomplices among us, I know someone that's suspicious…"
"The guy in charge of the audio!" Masui pointed at Hisumi. "Even though is was supposed to be a young staff member, he suddenly got replaced.
"I told you… That's because they suddenly couldn't get in touch with that guy!" Hisumi protested. "If you're going to go that far, then you're suspicious too, aren't you!?"
"Huh?"
"I heard about it! The person who is really in charge of the camera for this program was a lower classman of mine from college, but you somehow forcefully took it from him!"
"What are you saying!? He's the one who asked me to substitute for him because he didn't have the confidence to so a live broadcast fresh out of college!"
"I also heard about it from the director over the phone… Since advisor Suzuki was going through the trouble of getting children matching parkas that they wanted to replace him with a veteran…" Tsukiko added.
"Going through trouble, you say…" Jirokichi approached them. "I only paid for the Shounen Tantei's clothes to be made because the TV station said it'd be more thrilling that way! And also… weren't you the one who called me and recommended a merchant to get the clothes from?"
"Eh? Me? But I don't know…" Tsukiko made a confused face. Well, she had done that call as Wakahisa Minako but of course she couldn't show that. It had to be made like Kid had pulled strings behind everything(well, he had).
"Hey, what's going on over here?" Prefect intervention Kid/Nakamori! Tsukiko let out an inward sigh of relief.
"Hey… Did you call us Shounen Tantei here because someone else told you to?" Ai stepped forward.
"No, it was written in the postscript of that guy's advance notice. 'This time, we're done with child's play. We shall do battle as adults.' That's when I realized that guy was weak against kids, so I called in the Shounen Tantei!" Jirokichi explained.
Ai went back to Conan and the rest of the Detective Boy's to ponder the puzzle they had at hand. Tsukiko followed from the corner of her eye when Conan woke up and figured out the mystery.
"I figured it out! Why Kid knocked me out… And of course Kid's identity… Which of those people he is!"
"Y-You figured it out, Conan-kun!?" Ayumi asked. "You know who Kid is disguised as?"
"Yeah. I think I know who Red Moon is too. She didn't trigger the trap but I know she's been watching us the entire time…"
The kids told the task force members to look for a person tied up somewhere and sleeping and then began confronting Kid.
"You cannot open the door!" Ai told Jirokichi and Nakamori. "Because right now, his escape has been delayed and with no accomplices here, he's breaking out in a cold sweat."
"N-No accomplices, you say?" The advisor stuttered.
"Hey now, did you forget? In order to make the pillar slide and the statue of Kirin appear, he'd need help." Kid/Nakamori reminded the children of the mechanics of the temple. "…Not to mention that he most likely has dragged that apprentice of his here too."
At that the Detective Boys began explaining how they themselves had made the pillar slide and how inspector Nakamori was actually Kid in disguise. Naturally the fake inspector defended himself, pointing out the existence of the cards in the pedestals. To that the kids told about the sound they had heard.
"Mosquito sound…" Conan stood up. The time of faking unconsciousness was over now. "After the age of 20, hearing begins to deteriorate and it becomes difficult to hear high frequency waves. Only the Kids could hear sounds which instructed them on the timing of the pedestals. Even if there's a sound, if nobody says anything it won't be questioned. That's why you impersonated a member of the TV staff and got the young member out of the way, right? To prevent him from noticing those sounds."
"You didn't tell us that part about the mosquito sound…" Ai deadpanned.
"Ah, sorry…"
"Then, where's Kirin's Horn?" Jirokichi asked.
"About that…" The bespectacled young detective dug his hood a bit and pulled out the amber horn. "It was in the hood of my parka! His plan was to pretend to take me to the hospital while I was unconscious, and then slip away with the jewel. Of course, I realized it right away when I got up because of the jewel's weight. Incidentally, the fluorescent pain was applied when he borrowed the keys from advisor Suzuki to show us Kirin. That way, when the keys were inserted into the keyholes, fluorescent paint would be applied to them as well!"
After that explanation they could hear… well, one would be quite deaf if they didn't hear the real Nakamori's knocking and yelling outside the temple.
"Hey, it's me! Nakamori! Open the door! That's Kid disguised as me in there!"
Jirokichi gave the command to let the inspector in. As soon as the door was opened, the real Nakamori stamped all the adults of the room(including Tsukiko in disguise) except Kid.
"How's this, Kid! I've tagged all of the adults except for you! The inspector pressed the stamp on his own forehead too. "With this, you won't be able to secretly disguise as anyone with ease! Because the only one without my seal IS YOU!" The stamp/seal was thrown outside the temple and the door was closed. "Alright, old man! Don't open the door no matter what! This time, his number is up!"
"Alright then… How's this?" Kid shot the wires of the lights with his card gun, causing yet another blackout. A hole blew into a floor and Genta was pushed through it.
"Spotlights!" Nakamori yelled. The temple got lit up once again. "Find him! The one without my seal on his face! He is Kid!"
"B-But inspector…"
"Everyone has a seal on their face…"
"It's only Kid that has disappeared!" The task force members answered upon inspecting the occupants of the room.
"How… How's that possible!?"
"Hey, a little help?" A voice asked nearby. It was 'Genta', stuck in the hole on the floor. From his explanation, Ai's earlier observations and Conan's deductions, Nakamori concluded that Kid was probably under the floor. The door was opened and people rushed out, including Tsukiko and Detective Boys. Soon Conan realized though that it was Kid and not Genta who had slyly directed them outside the temple. So he ran back inside.
Meanwhile Tsukiko headed with the rest of the camera crew to the van and began setting their things ready for leaving. They did get on a tape though when Kid, disguised as a taskforce member, flew out of the temple by the force of Conan's soccer ball.
"That squad member is Kid! Arrest him!" The boy yelled. Kid escaped to the forest, the police on his heels. With a sigh Tuskiko pulled out her phone.
"Watch your back. Literally." She sent to him and stretched her arms then. The disguise was beginning to feel uncomfortable. The wig, the mask, the figure of that woman(Wakahisa Minako was bustier than the girl), and the scratchy material of the collared shirt. It was some expensive mark or something.
"Okay, guys! Time to go! Let's take the children home too!" She called to Masui and Hisumi. Neither of them had suspected anything the whole time.
A/N: And here it was! I hope you liked this one. BTW, I just watched the Lupin III vs. Conan movie.(chinese subs, I have no idea what they were saying.) It was quite good actually. Oh, and Mythbusters are awesome!
Review replies:
-Kitty Katrona:
Thank you! You must be the first one to use the word epic on my fic! :D
-GeekyGenius:
Thank you and you're welcome. I try my best. :)
-Shiori-tama:
Thank you! :D
Well, I dunno, but I'm glad you like this.
-Zeladious:
Yes, I use Akai Tsuki at DCTP Cbox. That's where I got it to my fic too. :)
-Akai4Ever:
His name is Yamato Ishikawa but he changed it to Kurosawa when getting out of the Organization. Sanjuu is his nickname which will be explained later.
Yamato's hair is blonde because I didn't want him to be exact copy of his brothers. I also think Gin's hair silver.
-LynnZela:
'So many new people emerging'? It was only Yamato... And Namida finally made a proper appearance.
I don't think they are. At least not Namida. Mai might. I have plans for her. But not Namida. She isn't that smart even. About the same than Ran I think.