Part Five

It was early, early morning when Conan quietly snuck into Ran's room. He'd had a restless night, going over how to get Kaitou Kid alone during the heist to have a proper conversation about things, to say nothing of how he was going to do that under Hattori's nose. Really, Hattori was a good friend, his best friend, but Hattori's one failing was that he was so honest. Proved by the simple fact that the Osakan needed to damn near be hit over the head before he remembered to refer to Conan as Conan instead of by his true name. Because of that, Hattori couldn't know what Conan was planning. It just made things more complicated and difficult. So the small detective sought out someone that he could speak more frankly to about this.

"Shinichi," Ran whispered, rubbing her eyes when he sat on her bed.

"Hey, Ran."

She yawned, stretched under the blankets, and Shinichi gave her a few minutes to wake up. While she had always been an extremely heavy sleeper (despite her protests to the contrary), she had trained herself to wake up when these times came. It still took time for her to get enough of her brain online to discuss things, but Shinichi didn't mind the time to admire her sleep-tousled form.

With one final stretch, Ran sat up, reached over to the nightstand, and turned on a flashlight, pointing it to the ceiling. It gave them some light to talk with. "Can I assume I'll get a proper explanation for your behavior today?"

Oh yeah. That. Shinichi let out a sigh, running a hand through his hair. "During that magic bullet murder case at the Budokan, I... learned something about Kuroba."

Ran raised an eyebrow. "Oh? You didn't reveal anything through Hakuba-san."

Shinichi hesitated. He'd avoided talking about Kuroba's big secret. Ran didn't even know it had existed. But Shinichi had promised to be honest, and he was going to be as honest as possible.

"Kuroba's secret... It didn't really have bearing on that case... Not that way... His secret is... It's just..." He struggled. It would be easier to discuss this if Ran knew, but Kuroba's secret was a big one. One that didn't just affect Shinichi, but could have side-effects on Ran. Like it or not, Shinichi's ingrained habit of keeping Ran safe by keeping her ignorant was still a strong instinct. But he also understood that Kuroba's secret of being the Phantom Thief Kaitou Kid was something that really wasn't Shinichi's secret to tell. He hadn't learned it on a heist, he'd stumbled upon it outside of the game. That wasn't fair and it was why he needed to talk to Kuroba.

"It's not your secret to tell, is it Shinichi?"

He shook his head. "I'm sorry, Ran. I hate keeping things from you. But this... It's big and complicated. I need to talk to him, but there were too many people around." Shinichi shrugged his shoulders and looked away. "I took out my frustration by teasing him. I couldn't talk to him so I behaved childishly." A dry, bitter chuckle. "Of course, one would expect that from a child."

"Shi-Ni-Chi," Ran drawled out his name in annoyance.

"Sorry, Ran."

She nodded imperiously. "That's better." They smiled at each other before Ran let out another sigh. "When will I know?"

"That depends on a lot of things. I'll... talk to Kuroba after the heist. Kaitou Kid comes first and that's why I came in."

"I'm going to help you."

Shinichi cringed. He'd been expecting that. He couldn't deter her when she got that look in her eye, he'd just have to work with it. Better than arguing with her on the merit of her even being there.

"The problem is going to be Hattori. He can't know about this."

A muscle under Ran's eye twitched. "You're going to keep secrets from him?"

Shinichi sighed. "Please, give me an alternative. Hattori's so perceptive, so insightful, he's going to notice when I start mentioning places I want to be or where you should be. He's going to know that I'm not at this heist to catch Kid, but for something else. But he's going to be there to catch Kid. Both of those desires conflict. We're going to get in each other's way. Plus, he'll be interacting with Nakamori. You've seen how difficult it is for him to even call me 'Conan'. Can you picture him not slipping anything to Nakamori? Even if Nakamori doesn't notice, Hakuba will."

"Hakuba-san?" Ran blinked. "He'll be there as well?"

Shinichi nodded. "With Kaitou Kid? Hell yes, he'll be there." Another sigh. "Besides, this is Hattori's heist. Kid invited him specifically as a 'thank you' from when the two of them saved my ass from Psycho-sensei. By trying to talk to Kid, I'm essentially hijacking the heist from Hattori. I don't want to take that away from him by barging in and saying I need to talk to Kid. This is his heist. Please, Ran, if you have a better option, I am all ears."

She was silent for a while, turning the problem over in her mind. Shinichi was sincere. He'd known the terrible price of secrets for a long time now. He himself was buried under so many that sometimes it was hard to breath, especially if he got even a hint of Them anywhere. But making and keeping secrets had become an ingrained survival instinct so thoroughly a part of him now that it was hard to see ways to not keep secrets. It was one of the things that made Ran so wonderful. She was an outside set of eyes for him.

Time continued to tick by while Ran mulled the problem over. Shinichi knew it was a difficult one and if he had any sort of option, he would be glad to hear it.

Ran finally let out a small sigh. "Shinichi," she said with a tender quality to her voice, "if you weren't trying to be so considerate of Hattori-kun, this would be so much easier."

He gave a small grin.

"All right. We won't tell Hattori-kun. But we're not going to lie to him either."

Shinichi hung his small head. "Another case of 'I can't tell you, so just trust me'?"

"Yes."

Stretching back, he replied. "It's Hattori. He'll probably understand better than anyone else, but he's going to pester the hell out of me."

Ran gave a wry grin. "And whose fault is that?"

"Kid's," he replied flatly.

They both chuckled quietly. Shinichi nodded to himself and scooted to the side of her bed, ready to maybe get some actual sleep, when Ran touched his shoulder.

"By the way, Shinichi. About marrying me when you grow up..."

Heiji did not consider himself a suspicious person. Oh, when he was on a case, he followed clues and deductions and held a lot of suspicions of people, but generally in his everyday life, he considered himself very laid back. Things happened as they did and things worked out fine as they would. Unless something sketchy deliberately caught his attention, Heiji didn't really go about looking in people's closets to find their deepest, darkest secrets.

But looking at the map of the Umeda Sky Building, and looking at where Kudo was suggesting that he and Nee-chan should be, Heiji found himself incredibly suspicious of his best friend.

Nobody else was currently in the house. Kazuha and Nee-chan had gone out for breakfast with that Nakamori girl, and given the look that Nee-chan had given Kudo, it was understood that she would be part of the festivities. May Day was just over a day away, and he and Kudo both knew that Kaitou Kid would be going for the Birth of Spring at 12:55. That very particular time being 57.5 degrees. Or rather, the angle between the minute and hour hand when it made a 'V' on the clock. Alternatively, since Kid hadn't specified which was the minute or hour hand, the time could also be 11:05. But both Hattori and Kudo had looked at the weather reports. For one o'clock in the morning for the first of May, it would be a clear night. But for 11:05 at night on the first of May, thunderstorms would be rolling in.

And as for which jewel the Birth of Spring was, Heiji had done some research. There was only one jewel that didn't have a translation for the name: a stone of fire agate with a large red light in the middle surrounded by blue and purple pinpricks. Legend around the rock was that it was a Mojave treasure from the Native Americans that had been sold to a British trader as a gift for some English royalty. The stone had supposedly been lost around Florida and rumors around it included it being dipped in Florida's legendary Fountain of Youth before it turned up in a British private collection. Just the type of jewel that Kaitou Kid would like and given that it went under its Mojave name (which was damn near unpronounceable to the Japanese tongue) and Mojave had no written language, both Heiji and Kudo were fairly sure they had the right jewel.

But what had Heiji looking twice at his shrunken friend was where Kudo wanted to be stationed and where he wanted Nee-chan stationed during the heist.

Nee-chan would be on the street with a laptop that would be linked to the cameras in the building, keeping an eye on everything and relaying information. It would keep her involved, but she would be out of harm's way. Assuming, of course, that she accepted that, but Heiji was pretty sure that Kudo could convince her. Heiji would be in the thick of things with Nakamori and his men, keeping a keen eye out for anything out of the ordinary. (Heiji did not like this because it meant he'd be in the same room as Hakuba, but he couldn't quite let himself pass up the opportunity to poke at Hakuba for his sleeping-detective routine that Kudo had pulled off. He was going to enjoy that...) Kudo, however, should be planning to also be with Heiji and Hakuba in spotting the thief. But he wasn't.

Kudo wanted to station himself on the top of the building for when Kid tried to escape via hand-glider. For starters, that was already assuming that Heiji wouldn't have been able to catch Kid, and secondly, it was unlike Kudo to not be in the thick of things.

"Hey, what are ya playin' at?"

"Hn?" Kudo was still studying the maps and building layouts.

"Seriously, Kudo. Why're ya puttin' yerself there instead of with me?"

"...This is your heist, Hattori."

"Bullshit."

The truncated detective sighed. "Look, Hattori. I'm not going to this heist for the same reason as you. I'm placing myself where I need to be. Can't we just leave it at that?"

"Hell no, Kudo. You are gonna tell me what is goin' through that thick skull o' yours."

"No."

"Why the hell not?"

Kudo looked away. "This is different for me, Hattori. I can't explain why. Not until after the heist. And maybe not even then. I have a damn good reason to be on the roof instead of with you at the exhibition. I won't interfere with you. This is your heist and I don't want to take that away from you, but there is something that I need to do there."

... What the hell? Heiji leaned forward, invading Kudo's personal space. "That don't make any sense, Kudo."

"That's all I can give, Hattori. Take it or leave it."

"'scuze me? That's it? That's all I get? Don' I deserve better 'n that?"

"Yes. You do."

"Then why-"

"It's not my place!" Kudo yelled, looking him in the eye. "It's not my place. I can't be part of the game like I usually am. So I'm pulling myself out and dealing with it differently."

Heiji narrowed his eyes, not believing what he was hearing. "So that's it? Leave yer best friend 'n the dark 'n' go off chasin' things alone? Kudo, you... you... ahou!" He gestured at the difference in their stature. "Didn't ya learn anything 'bout workin' alone the last time ya did?"

Kudo winced for a fraction of a second before glaring at Heiji icily. The Osakan detective knew that last sentence had crossed a line and he'd regretted it the instant he'd said it.

"Sorry, Kudo... That wuz uncalled for... I..."

But the small detective said nothing, glaring at him. Standing he walked to the doorway before turning. "I'll be on the roof. You may deserve better, but I'm giving everything I can. And, Hattori I deserve better than having this," he gestured to himself, "thrown back in my face."

"Oi, Kudo!"

But it was too late. The small form had stomped away and disappeared upstairs, slamming a door.

Heiji sat back, regretting what he'd said, but still stinging over Kudo not telling him anything. "Well this sure wasn' how I wanted ta spend my Gold'n Week."

When Aoko had packed to head down to Osaka, she had known that Kaito would be off with family and that her father would be busy with the heist. She knew that most of her trip would be her alone. It was no surprise, and she had rather been looking forward to playing the tourist. She had even called some travel agents and asked around to try and find some tours that might be a good way for her to take in the sights while those close to her were busy.

She was delighted, however, when she'd come across Ran on the platform, and even more pleased to have Ran invite her out to breakfast with another friend, Kazuha. Spending time with friends was infinitely more preferable to taking a tour alone. Why, just the past hour, she and Kazuha had spent a great deal of time getting to know each other, sharing stories, growling at the idiocy of guys, and laughing.

"So Hattori-kun has no idea how you feel?" she said around giggles. "That didn't even give him a clue?"

"Nope," Kazuha replied, taking another bite of a large cinnamon bun with frosting dripping down the side. "I swear, he may be a swell detective, but he c'n be so clueless."

Ran shrugged between them, sipping her juice. "Then why don't you clarify things for him, Kazuha-chan?"

And the Osakan's face went scarlet. "He ought ta figure it out!" she defended before whirling to Ran. "'n' what 'bout Kudo? Has he gotten a clue yet?"

To that, Ran absolutely beamed. Aoko turned to Kazuha, and Kazuha turned to Aoko.

"Do tell!" they both squealed.

Ran blushed, but still smiled sweetly. "He talked to me the other day."

"Ov'r the phone? That dimwit."

"No, no, when he gave me this," Ran replied, gesturing to the necklace. "We talked about... marriage."

"He proposed!" Aoko gushed. She may be a tomboy, but she did understand romance.

"No, not quite," Ran looked down, stroking the jewelry. "He's not in any position to propose properly, he told me that flat out. He doesn't know when he'll be able to be back properly and he's frustrated by that, but we did talk about marriage." And Ran's smile seemed to sadden slightly. "When he comes back, we'll still need to work out a few things, we both know that, but if everything works out..."

"That damn Kudo," Kazuha growled. "He's still leavin' ya hangin' around waitin' for him."

"No," Ran shook her head. "He's actually being very honest. He knows what he wants, but he doesn't know if he can manage it right now."

Aoko smiled, patting Ran's hand. "That's very mature of him. I've always felt that straightforward and direct are the better way to handle things."

"Not always," Ran replied, raising an eyebrow. "Haven't I been telling you?"

"Yes, yes," Aoko scowled. "I know. Everyone keeps secrets and sometimes, no matter how much it hurts, they can have a good reason to."

Kazuha looked intently at Ran. "When'd ya get that sorta logic?"

"Last fall, when Shinichi finally talked to me about what he's doing." There was a distinct look in her eye. "No, you won't find out what. I made a promise and I'm going to keep it."

Both Aoko and Kazuha gave Ran puppy eyes.

She laughed. "No!"

"Hn," Aoko scowled again as she sat back, crossing her arms in the air of a huff. She grabbed another piece of French toast to munch on as she thought. She could be wrong, but the previous day, she had realized something.

"I'm a magician," he offered happily. "I can't let you know all my secrets."

She snorted. "Like you have any secrets."

Maybe Kaito did have secrets. But then, how could she not know? They were best friends, knew each other inside out, etc. But Kaito was always able to keep his magical secrets, to the point where Aoko didn't bother to try and figure out how he did things any more. But if he kept those secrets so well, if he was training for a job that held secrecy close to the chest, what else could he be hiding that she wasn't aware of? It couldn't be anything major. But if it wasn't, why not just share with her?

"What 'bout you, Aoko-chan?" Kazuha asked brightly. "You 'n' that magician goin' out?"

"That pervert? No way," was her automatic response. "He's my best friend and he's too much of a moron to be anything more." It was good to distract her from thoughts of what Kaito may or may not be hiding.

"Pervert?" Kazuha asked.

"Yup," Aoko sat forward, taking another bite of her toast. "He's always flipping my skirt, and just last week, I'd wrangled a promise out of him not to do so, so he flipped my shirt instead. And that night! He also..." Aoko trailed off as her face turned bright red. Not only had he flipped her shirt while they had been frosting the cake, he'd taken some of that frosting and placed it... Gah! She couldn't even think about it!

Ran and Kazuha smiled knowingly at each other. "My, my, Aoko-chan."

"I'd say yer m'gician's got th' hots fer ya."

Aoko's blush intensified. "No way! He's way too immature, way too stupid, way too obsessed with Kaitou Kid..."

"Does he flip anyone else's skirt?"

"...No..." No way. Kaito? And her? But they were best friends! She didn't look at him like that, there was no way he'd look at her that way either! Flipping her skirt because he wanted to look at her not just a girl's butt or to annoy her? Flipping her shirt to check her out instead of retaliation for being denied flipping her skirt? Using his own fingertips to put frosting... To touch her... To caress her... NO EVER LOVING WAY!

"Does he tease anyone else as much as you?"

"Hakuba-kun." Yes, Kaito teased Hakuba as much as he teased her. In fact, Kaito probably teased Hakuba more just to make up for lost time in not having the half-British detective in class for so many years the way he'd had Aoko. So there was no way that Kaito looked at her differently than any other friend.

"Hakuba-san?" Ran questioned. "He's that classmate of yours who solved that murder at the Budokan, correct?"

Aoko nodded, pushing away thoughts that didn't need to be given attention. "Yes, he's also always following my father along whenever there's a Kid heist. I'm willing to bet he'll be here for this Birth of Spring thing." Better to divert the topic. She didn't want to think about Kaito right now. Kaitou Kid was a safer topic.

"Hakuba?" Kazuha drawled. "Here? Oh, that's gonna make Heiji mad! He can't stand Hakuba. An' at this heist? There's gonna be blood."

"Why's that?" Aoko asked.

"Heiji's been sayin' how Kid invited him specifically. That a few months back, Kid promised Heiji a proper heist as a 'thank ya'. An' now yer tellin' me Hakuba, the one detective Heiji despises, will be at a heist meant fer Heiji?" Kazuha rubbed her temples at some sort of headache. "There'll be hell ta pay. I better check yer medical kit before the heist in case Heiji comes back bleedin'."

Aoko gave a slight grin. "I'll give Hakuba-kun a call and be sure to tell him to behave."

Ran shook her head. "I'm not sure that will do any good."

"Hakuba-kun's seen me and my mop. I'm sure I can make him understand."

"Mop?" Kazuha asked.

Ran and Aoko chuckled, both starting to explain.

Elsewhere, on an elevator in the Umeda Sky Building, Hakuba let out a sneeze. Sniffling, he was grateful that he was alone in the elevator so that nobody could have seen him. Some of his cousins still made fun of the way he sneezed.

With a ding the door opened and the British detective stepped out to the large conference hall. This was where the jewels were going to be exhibited and Hakuba wanted to know the lay of the land, where the ducts were, pipes and electrical wires, windows and doors, everything.

"*^#%#&!"

So did Inspector Nakamori, apparently.

"Inspector," he greeted politely. "I see we both have the same idea."

The inspector whirled, glared at Hakuba, before letting out a puff of smoke from his pipe. "Hakuba-kun. I see you were invited as well."

He gave a small bow. "Yes. I see that we have both arrived at the same conclusion for where Kaitou Kid's latest heist is to take place?"

Nakamori grunted. "Got the date and I think I've got the time. I just don't know which damned jewel in the collection is being targeted."

Hakuba nodded. It hadn't been until late the previous evening, when Hakuba had looked at his heirloom watch that he'd realized just what the 57.5 degrees were. "I also am uncertain which jewel is in his sights. How are things going for you?"

His only response was a string of curses that made Hakuba start blushing, even after his prolonged exposure to the foul-mouthed inspector. "Sir?"

"Our dear jewel collector decided it would be a good idea to hire snipers."

Hakuba couldn't help but pale. The idea of Kuroba shot through the heart was... ugly. Hakuba had read reports on rumors of Kid being gunned down and such, but Kuroba never appeared that severely injured and Kaitou Kid would always steal again, never showing any signs of having needed to recuperate. So the illusion of Kaitou Kid seeming immortal and unchanging continued. But that never meant the threat wasn't real. Hakuba wanted Kid in handcuffs, not a coffin. The thought of someone willingly bringing snipers into play was just... horrid. What if something went wrong? What if...?

"I know," Nakamori growled. "He says they'll just be for show. He says that they won't have live ammo, just stuff to shake Kid up, maybe heard him, but I can't seem to call them off and it's #*$+& pissing me off!"

Hakuba had to agree. Better to think of something else. "Sir? How are the men to be deployed?"

"Spread out. Far too spread out, since I don't have a =&$# idea which &*$ jewel he's going to (&^&!#+ steal."

Hakuba nodded, looking around the conference hall as well. "Might I suggest a few layouts?"

Nakamori gave a cold glare at him, which Hakuba believed was meant more for the whole concept of snipers than at him specifically. With a jerk of his head, the two headed over to a table that had been set up with plans of the building, specifically the floor they were on. Hakuba's eyes swept over them as he and Nakamori started to discuss ideal placements and plan for every possible contingency. Granted, some were impossible to plan for, such as the idea of Kaitou Kid flooding the floor in order to get the desired gem, but the two of them tried to think of any possible tricks the Moonlight Magician might try to commit his larceny.

During it, Hakuba kept picturing a prone, bleeding form on the floor. He did not want to lose Kuroba... Strike that, he didn't want to lose the chance to catch Kuroba. Hakuba hadn't crossed the line to friendship. He wouldn't miss Kuroba any more than his other classmates. He wouldn't. Because Hakuba always kept things professional. They were rivals, both in and out of monocle. That was all they were. Nothing more. Nothing more.

The image flashed across his mind and Hakuba shook his head. No. Kuroba, Kid, would not get shot. There wouldn't be any bloodshed, because Nakamori's men and Kaitou Kid himself ran a clean, non-violent show. Nothing else would get in the way, because those were the rules.

(Unknown to Nakamori and Hakuba, a small device in the cuff of Nakamori's pants relayed every word they said.)

"Oh, Hakuba-kun. We'll have another detective here tonight."

"Oh?"

"I found out when I got here to Osaka. A local kid named Hattori got an invite from Kid. He's another foot to stumble over."

"Hattori?" Hakuba asked. "Hattori... Heiji?"

Nakamori grunted, flipping one page of maps to another.

Hakuba winced. He and the hot-tempered fool just did not get along well. That was going to make things... difficult.

...Somehow, Hakuba was getting an extremely bad feeling for this heist.

Author's Note: In case the explanation of time went by a little fast for you. A clock is a circle, 360 degrees. From 12-1 or from 4-5 or any other hour of time on a clock is 360/12 which is 30 degrees. Since we were looking for another 27.5 degrees (57.5 - 30), we set up a proportion. 27.5/30 = x/60. Solve and the answer is 55. Now look at the clock, put one of the hands at the 11 (55/60 minutes) and the other one would have to be just before the 1, making the clock read 12:55. And the hands make a nice little V for "rebealed". And yes, we're that obsessed with math.

*ahem* This is a chapter that would not go the way it was meant to and kept veering off into different directions. Hattori and Conan's conversation was supposed to include a teasing bit about the marriage line, but the ended up in this huge argument, much to my shock. So the conversation about marriage had to somehow get squeezed into the girl's talk. I had some specific points that I forget now that I wanted to discuss with the girls, but they never got there.

Next time: The Heist. Need we say more?

Oh, and we're reposting Hidden Epidemic weekly over at our livejournal page: http:/ mirrorandimage . livejournal . com. If anyone's interested.