Thanks to all my lovely reviewers! I'm glad you're all enjoying the story so far, and I adore hearing from you~! :D

I wanted to give a little more background info for anyone who wants it: One of you was wondering if Chikage is in France or America in-canon, since in this story I say she's in America. In the Magic Kaito special #1 (the canon one released in 2010) she asks Kaito to guess where she is. After he guesses wrong she shows him a view of Las Vegas, which Kaito then recognizes and calls out. In this way, we know she's in America at least sometimes in-canon. Like the Kudos though, I'm guessing she does a lot of traveling too (did she later mention also going to France? In spite of seeing all the specials over a dozen times I don't remember exactly; I'd have to watch again to check haha). She and Toichi did originally meet in Paris France as well, so that could cause some confusion too (see Magic Kaito manga Chapter 29: The Phantom Lady Part 1). It's even theorized that Chikage is at least part French, but we don't know for sure. (Personal head-canon? I like to suspect that Chikage is part French and a descendant/extended relative of the Lupins, but that's just my personal wish, I love the idea that Kaito is practically bred to be a gentleman thief haha.) Anyway, hope that cleared up any questions!

Back to the story now~!

Chapter 2: Throwback Heist

Conan sighed heavily, hopping off of the close-lidded toilet he'd been sitting on during the call, utilizing his usual tactic of entering the restroom for a private location of conversation.

Why did his father have to call him within the hour before a big heist and unsettle him like this? Did Yusaku know something about tonight specifically that Conan didn't yet? It was all frustrating and unusual, and Conan didn't like it in the slightest.

He huffed and looked back down at his phone, intending to go ahead and text his father's new number to the publishers when he noticed the time. 'Shoot, less than 45 minutes until the heist starts, and knowing KID, he's probably already out there setting things up! I have to go figure out what he's up to!' Texting the publishers could wait. For now he dashed out of the communal restrooms of the museum, first confirming that it was still as empty as when he'd entered. A single strand of his hair that he'd placed on the doorknob when he'd entered was still there, unmoved, which confirmed that no one had entered or been able to overhear his conversation. If they had he would have heard them, and even if they'd done so incredibly quietly the doorknob would have twisted when they opened the door and dropped the hair. A little trick he'd thought of recently that he thought would be useful from now on, just in case anyone was looking to listen in on him.

Conan made his way through the crowds, surveying the location that the jewel was being kept in and keeping his keen eyes at attention, searching for anything suspicious. Now he didn't know if he should still be angry at his dad or thank him: He'd thought the conversation they had would have thrown him off tonight for making him feel uneasy, but instead it gave a new sense of purpose to figuring out what KID was up to. It felt more important somehow; he couldn't shake the feeling that tonight more than ever he really needed to solve the riddles and dodge all the misdirections KID tended to play.

He ignored the part of him that said he just wanted to see the insufferable thief now, just wanted to confirm that he was alive and healthy. Whatever alternatives this meant he was internally considering, he tried not to pay them much mind.

The time left before the heist was short, but in that small allotment Conan made fast work of the clues. He could feel more sharply the whole time as if someone was watching him work: Probably KID keeping a closer eye on him tonight, no doubt wondering why his shortest detective was more determined than usual. Conan was studying the faces in the crowd with more scrutiny, something he usually didn't bother trying to do. He knew he couldn't pick KID out of a large crowd while he was in disguise, his disguises were impeccable, so why was he memorizing every face he could see? Did he expect one of them to turn into trouble and that he'd need to remember what they looked like later? Was he expecting to see someone else beside KID here he had to look for? Whatever it was, it set the Kaitou on edge….

But of course, he'd never let that show. Regardless of how his Tantei-kun acted, the show must go on!

At precisely 8:00pm KID appeared as if from thin air, perched confidently on the display case of that night's target: The Red Drop, a massive Champaign-tinted pearl which had been discovered in the Red Sea, just off the coast of the Suzuki's latest land acquisition. The abandoned pearl farm had been opened in Dungunab Bay by a Japanese man in 1962, the first ever pearl farm to use the Red Sea. Years later the Suzukis had 'by chance' run into the descendants of that man and purchased the abandoned location. When they found the massive pearl in a large clam while diving just off shore, it was announced as the newest addition to the Suzuki family's collection and, just days later, KID had promised that he would once again acquire the Suzukis' pearl.

This heist certainly brought back memories. Just like the first time he met Edogawa Conan, KID was once again after a pearl owned by the Suzukis. The color, location, and date may be different, but KID had been looking forward to this heist all the same. A repeat chance to play a fun game with the little detective~!

Or it would be, if only that damn detective wasn't taking it so overly serious tonight.

Conan had already pieced all the pieces of the puzzle together by the time the heist even began. He noticed the pearl in its display case was a fake. True to form, Suzuki Tomoko, the mother of Sonoko, had taken it upon herself to have a replica made and the real pearl hidden. This time, she made the mistake of placing it in a hair-pin her daughter Sonoko was wearing without informing her about it. How she didn't realize that KID could easily seduce the girl and take it was anyone's guess, it was obvious Sonoko was a huge fan of the thief. Maybe she'd figured that because KID tended to avoid Sonoko as a result of her attachment, he wouldn't notice her hair-piece?

In any regard, she'd been mistaken. KID was certainly not above playing the flirt if it helped him acquire his target more smoothly. He made a general comment about the one in the display being a fake before dodging the police who lunged at him. With a puff of smoke he disappeared and the Task Force was moments later found unable to remove themselves from the display case.

A strong, clear adhesive had been applied to the case by the Suzukis in an attempt to stick KID to it, but when it became apparent that he wasn't planning to reach down and touch it the police had reverted to their old dogpile tactics and stuck themselves to the surface, caught unaware of the family's plans. [2]

Conan had already noticed five minutes ago, too, that the top of the case had two layers: KID had laid a second square of clear glass on top of the sticky surface in advance so that he could stand on it without his shoes getting stuck. Any officer that touched the sides of the pedestal though were well and thoroughly trapped until they could remove the clothes where it was touching. With how interwoven in each other they were, it would really take them some time.

While the officers were busy, KID reappeared, this time at Suzuki Sonoko's side. He lifted one of her hands and planted a soft kiss onto the back of it, thoroughly distracting her while he swiftly and gently removed her hair clip with the pearl on it.

But Conan was there too. He'd known KID's next move would be to approach Sonoko, so he'd been prepared and stuck close to her until the thief's arrival. As KID was finishing his little hand-kiss flirt with her, Conan pulled up his watch and fired. KID, still leaning down in his bow to the heiress, noticed the short boy more easily among the crowd near him and dodged. The dart flew past the edge of the thief's collar and embedded itself instead into the neck of Suzuki Sonoko.

'Shimatta,' Conan and KID both thought simultaneously as the girl suddenly swayed and sunk to the ground. Luckily, to anyone else it just looked like she feinted from the excitement of seeing KID so close in person. It was well-known that she was a massive fan, so for her to faint from the little peck on her hand wasn't out of the question. To her mother and friend, she'd later be heard saying "he was so dreamy I just couldn't help it!"

'I guess I can't really kick a ball at him in this enclosed space either, I'd probably just hit someone else too,' Conan thought in frustration as KID sent him a wide-eyed and mischievous smirk before launching himself towards the wall of the room, stepping first off the backs of the tangled officers for height and then sticking in a crouch to the wall…. Where he then stood horizontally out sideways to look out at his audience.

He tipped his hat as the museum-goers, most of them his avid fans, cheered at the miracle of him standing on the wall, his cape flowing down towards the ground. If they tilted their heads 90-degrees sideways it would look as if he were standing flat on ground normally with his cape caught in a harsh wind, held up sideways.

This trick, too, was something Conan already knew about. Using the same strong adhesive the Suzukis had planned to trap him with, KID had glued clear hooks onto the wall ahead of time, high enough up that an average passer-by didn't risk seeing it. He'd even adjusted the lighting in the room to beat down more harshly to the lower ends of the wall and center-room, more effectively hiding the hooks from view. In a room centered around a display case, the central lighting focus didn't stand out at all. His assistant was probably among the crowd too, Conan guessed, ready to remove the hooks with a releasing agent while the crowd was distracted after KID's departure, so that no one would go back and find the evidence of how the trick was done later.

KID's shoes were customized to have slots on the bottom, designed to latch into the hooks and also easily dislodge if KID twisted his shoe slightly in a certain direction. Like that KID stood, latched to the wall by three of the hidden hooks per shoe at a time for stability. After a short time showing off, letting the audience process what they were seeing, he unstuck one foot first and replaced it in another spot before moving the other, giving the appearance that he was casually strolling out of the room while walking sideways on the wall. Conan would bet that the shoes also had metal rods built into the inner sides that mounted with brackets up near the thief's knees, something to give a bit more support and strength to it so KID could still run freely but also stand firmly out horizontally like that. Or maybe his ankles were really strong enough to withstand it, KID was pretty athletic, but Conan doubted he could stroll so casually and stand out so evenly if he wasn't using some form of additional support. Even the greatest athletes could only withstand something like that for so long.

Regardless, Conan had noticed the slight glitter of the clear hooks refracting light before the heist began, and had followed the line down ahead of time, so he knew which exit the thief was aiming for. He quickly began trying to shove his way through the crowd towards the direction he knew KID was going. The thief noticed the detective's efforts and with the wave of a peace sign and a wink at his audience he said "I really must be going now, I hope you enjoyed my show!" Then he ran, only using every third set of hooks as his strides widened considerably. He still maintained the performance, moving with fast but carefully planned precision to look as natural as if he'd been running on flat ground, but he reached the exit he'd been aiming for much faster than if he'd walked the whole way, making it there before Conan could emerge from the crowd.

KID hopped off the wall and disappeared around the corner of a door frame, the fans still cheering and murmuring as he went. Conan managed to push out this far end of the crowd just moments after the thief exited the room and didn't hesitate in following him out into the hall. KID was already half way down the hall, still running knowing that Conan would be after him, but he glanced back just in time to see Conan lean down and turn up the dial on his shoe.

With wide eyes and a very slight yelp KID dove to the side and wholly collided with a wall just as a soccer ball went flying past him with tremendous speed and force. It impacted on the far wall with a resolute and terrifying 'pang' before bouncing innocently to the ground. He was thankful his fans hadn't yet made it into the hall or that would have been terribly embarrassing! And glad that he'd been able to dodge it because that would have really hurt!

"Hey, Tantei-kun, didn't anyone ever tell you not to play with that indoors! This is a museum, you could break something important, like me!" He teased, continuing to run now that the small detective had used his last weapon. Conan cursed under his breath and ran after him, now a few strides further behind than before but still intent on following the Moonlit Magician until the last moment when he'd glide off into the night.

[2] This whole story was spontaneous, so every single trick and idea I came up with just as I was writing. They just kind of unfolded as I typed without any pre-planning, but hopefully they're decent enough anyway. At least I think I'm pleased with them? Really, really nice coincidence that I randomly thought to myself "what if it's a pearl from the Red Sea he's after," just randomly picking his target, whatever came to mind first, then when I did a little research it turned out that the first ever pearl farm at the Red Sea was founded by a Japanese man. What a coincidence huh? Love it when odd little details like that happen and things fall into place so nicely, makes me feel like the whole world was made just for me~ (Though yes, I know it wasn't!)

Anyway, I sincerely hope you enjoyed the chapter! If you have a moment, reviews are much appreciated~! ^^