Chapter Nine

"Tomorrow is a thief of pleasure."

-Rex Harrison

The Eye of Odin sat comfortably on a cushion inside the display case where it was surrounded by the KID task force members.

"Obviously, the heist is going to take place tonight at midnight...but...there's nothing else. Just those two lines..."

Ruri was currently brooding over the fact that KID's note was beginning to look very much like a fake. Hakuba had tentatively agreed and they both thought they would think on it.

The only thing that really bothers me is that there are already two things that don't line up with the original show. Has my presence somehow messed with the plot?

"Ah! Ruri-chan! Hakuba-kun!" a familiar voice rang through the rather empty room.

Ruri looked up and saw Aoko waving at them with Kaito trailing behind her, looking around the room. The girl was carrying a box wrapped in a dark green cloth.

"Did you come to see your father?" Ruri asked when they were close enough.

"Eh? How'd you know?" Aoko asked, looking both shocked and awed.

"Well, you're carrying a bento that doesn't seem to belong to a girl or a boy. More like an older man," Ruri smiled and pointed at the wrapped box. "It doesn't seem like it was meant for any of the officers since they didn't really react when you came in."

"Aoko!"

And there was Nakamori-keibu, right on cue.

"Not to mention both you and Nakamori-keibu have the same names," Ruri finished right as the inspector came up to them.

"What are you and Kaito-kun doing here?" Nakamori-keibu asked.

"Mou, otou-san! You forgot your dinner at home!" Aoko looked at her father and pouted a bit as she held out the wrapped box.

"And I just wanted to tag along!" Kaito grinned.

Or maybe get a head start, Ruri thought, smiling and shaking her head.

"Hmph, what is Kuroba-san doing here?" Hakuba came up behind Ruri.

Kaito stuck his tongue out. "Obviously not here to see you, baaaaka."

All of a sudden, he directed his attention to Nakamori-keibu.

"Ah. Nakamori-san, your tie is crooked," Kaito took a step forward and readjusted the tie.

"Oh, thank you, Kaito-kun," the inspector looked a bit embarrassed. "I must've ruffled it a bit while getting ready."

Kaito straightened up and grinned. "No problem at all."

"Well, now that we've made our delivery, Kaito and I are going to head out now," Aoko smiled at Ruri and Hakuba. "I hope you catch that petty thief!"

"U-Un," Ruri replied, giving a strained smile. I'd like to avoid that, though.

"Bye bye, Ruri-chan!" Kaito gave Ruri a pat on the shoulder and was soon following Aoko out of the building.

As soon as the pair had left, Ruri grazed the spot where Kaito had patted her, and sure enough, he had planted a bug.

She gave an inward sigh.

"Oh, Ruri-san, do you mind if I look at your shoulder?" Hakuba asked, startling Ruri.

Gripping the bug and shoving it into her pocket, she nodded.

Hakuba is definitely committed to the idea Kaito is KID...he's not wrong, unfortunately, Ruri thought as the Brit inspected her shoulder.

"Ok, you're clean," he eventually said, standing back.

"Clean?" Ruri asked, simply for effect.

"Well," Hakuba paused and leaned in. "It is of my personal belief that Kuroba Kaito is Kaitou KID."

Ruri blinked, looking stunned.

She started to giggle and then soon it was full-on laughter.

"Kaito-san? No way!" she said, wiping away tears. "He may be a magician and have the athletic ability, but he isn't serious enough!"

That would normally be true, aside from the fact that he's stubborn and has the determination to do anything.

Hakuba straightened up and pouted a bit.

"I thought maybe you would agree with me," he mumbled.

Unknown to Ruri, he gave a little sincere smile.

At least I don't have to worry about her being an enemy, yet, he thought to himself.

"5 minutes to midnight!" a task force member yelled.

Since she had determined that the note was indeed a fake (she had decided to keep this information to herself for the time being), Ruri was beginning to feel paranoid. The old woman didn't strike her as the type to put out a fake note, so Ruri was almost 100% certain the Black Organization (or more specifically, Snake) was behind this. She had also placed the bug Kaito had originally planted on her shoulder on the collar of her blouse. Better safe than sorry, she reasoned.

"No one gets hurt," Ruri mumbled to herself.

She had been saying that for the past hour or so when she had determined the note had been sent by the organization and not KID. Somewhere inside, she believed that if she repeated that, she wouldn't die.

"3 minutes!"

"No one gets hurt."

"2 minutes!"

"No one gets hurt."

"1 minute!"

Everyone tensed up considerably.

"No one gets hurt."

"5!"

"4!"

"3!"

"2!"

"1!"

No one gets hurt.

With a click, the power was out.

Short chapter, I know, but I thought this would be a good place to end. I honestly wasn't expecting to write this until tomorrow, but I had a sudden inspiration and thus, this was born!

THANK YOU EVERYONE WHO READS THIS AND DFTBA EVERYONE!