Part Six

Heiji admired the gardens surrounding the building as he entered the Umeda Sky Building at 11:45. The weather was still too cool to not have an overcoat at night, and he shrugged into his coat to ward off the chill. The Task Force was buzzing around everywhere, as were several members of the Osaka police force, many smiling and waving as they saw their teen star and boss's son. Heiji looked up to the building, towers of mirrored lights against a starless sky, and he frowned before glancing down at his supposed partner.

Conan was also staring up at the building, his face very far away, his eyes narrow and distant. Heiji wondered what he was thinking; they hadn't really talked since their argument, and Heiji was kicking himself for (once again) sticking his foot in his mouth.

"Hey," he started, but his best friend-turned-grade schooler cut him off.

"Here," he said simply, lifting his fist up. Heiji offered his own hand and Conan dropped a pin into it. A Detective Boys pin. "You won't be able to hear me," he said slowly, his eyes looking away in guilt. "But you can hear Ran, and if anything goes wrong, she'll coordinate with you."

It was his best attempt at a compromise. Heiji nodded and accepted the pin, putting it on the collar of his jacket. "Well, have fun with whateve' y're up ta," Heiji said, putting on a bravado, "I'll be busy catchin' a thief!"

Conan grinned. "Ah."

The pair entered the building and went their separate ways. The jewel was held on the twentieth floor, and Heiji quickly made his way up and, as soon as he entered, had his cheek pinched.

"Ow! What th' hell izzat for?" he demanded, rubbing the injured side of his face.

"You're not Kid," Nakamori muttered, chewing on his pipe so hard Heiji was impressed it hadn't snapped in two.

"He ain't gonna be here fer another hour," Heiji offered, "an' if he was in disguise, it'd be too good fer you ta just pinch an' know it was him."

"You shut up," Nakamori growled, stomping off to give more orders. Heiji glared after him before shoving his hands into his pockets, stalking off to look at the Birth of Spring. Finding it, he eyed it critically. It was mostly deep amber, honey-brown almost. The collector knew how to light it, however, because he could see the red light inside it, surrounded by blue and purple pinpricks of color that also shown. It was big, too, just big enough to wrap his fist around it, and Heiji wondered why Kid was always after such large jewels. Most of them were downright gaudy, but at least this one had an allure to it.

"It may be safer to admire from a distance," a sickeningly smooth voice offered from behind. "I laid my own fair number of traps on that stand."

Heiji put on his best disgusted face as he turned around to face his "favorite" foreigner.

"I heard that Kid invited ya," Heiji said, not without some venom.

The blond detective wannabe shrugged and offered an absurdly polite smile. "Far be it from me to refuse a personal invite," he said lightly. Heiji had the instinctive urge to hit him. Hard.

Instead, he put on that bravado again and shrugged his shoulders, putting on a cocky grin. "Yeah, well, I betcha woulda had a hard time figurin' out th' Birth o' Spring if it weren't fer me, so y're welcome."

"Indeed, thank you for informing us of your deduction."

Damn bastard!

A thought shot through Heiji, and his cocky grin turned evil. "I hear congrat'lations 're in order," he said in a deceptively light tone.

"Congratulations?" Hakuba asked, his eyebrow quirking.

"Yeah, 'Nee-chan was tellin' me 'bout how ya solved a murder at Budokan," Heiji drawled, wanting to enjoy this. He wasn't disappointed when he saw the British snoop stiffen - his stiff-upper-lip unable to react to the reference. No doubt he still had no idea what or how that case had happened. And that Heiji was one of the privileged people in-the-know made it all the more funny.

"I take it this friend of yours was there?"

"Oh, yeah," Heiji said lightly, shifting his weight to the balls of his feet and bouncing on them slightly. "Said ya sudd'nly fell asleep 'n' then bam! Ya went an' solved th' case. Wha's th' matter? Couldn't solve it awake?"

Hakuba's eyebrow twitched, and his lips thinned. This, this was too good, Heiji decided. He wondered if there was a way he could thank Kudo for this moment and not be obvious about it.

"I heard you solved a case similarly," Hakuba said in even tones, looking around to case the immediate area.

"Oh, yeah," Heiji said, rolling it off. "I heard 'bout this guy who did it all th' time; figured I'd try it once an' see what it was like."

Wait for it, wait for it...

Hakuba turned slowly, his face completely neutral.

Wait for it...

"Do you mean to say you know what happened?"

Bingo! It was taking everything in his power to prevent Heiji from laughing outright; it was just too funny! "Oh, yeah," he said in a miraculously smooth voice, trying to contain himself. "It was easy."

Hakuba was staring at him outright now, eyes narrow as he tried to assess the validity of Heiji's claim. The Detective of the West could only keep his too-amused grin on his face, gulping down his giggles. Heiji knew exactly what was going through the other detective's mind, and he tried to wait to see if English pride would win out over insatiable curiosity.

"So then, detective, what do you think happened?"

Heiji could contain himself no longer, and he burst out laughing, drawing looks from several police and Task Force officers, causing intense mortification in the blond Hakuba. Heiji could have cared less; he was laughing so hard his sides were hurting. It was only when the tanned teen finally got himself under control that he put a hand on Hakuba's shoulders, his face schooled to solemn. "Hakuba-kun," he said in deep, serious tones. "Ya ain't much of a detective if ya can' figure it out!" and he burst out laughing again.

Ah! The look on the detective's face would keep Heiji entertained for months to come! For the rest of the evening the Osakan couldn't look at the other teen detective without smirking or snorting, and it kept a confused grin on many an officer, distracting them from the tension of oh-my-god-Kaitou-Kid-is-coming.

At twelve-thirty, Heiji took a breath and put it all aside. With Hakuba out of his system, he took a tour of the room and the floor before taking up his post back by the Mojave agate. He didn't see anything that Hakuba had done, but that didn't mean something wasn't there. He'd read about the time the foreign detective had chained a statue to the floor, just to prevent Kid from taking it; extreme to say the least, but clever just the same. Heiji himself was wondering if it hadn't already been replaced with a fake and it was just about waiting for the show. Any thief, and magician thieves in particular, required a lot of set up in order to steal a jewel of any kind. There was an equal chance of Kid hiding in ductwork versus impersonating someone. Nakamori was still running around pinching cheeks and breathing fire, but Heiji swept his eyes over the personnel himself.

"It's twelve-forty-five," someone muttered. "Ten minutes."

Heiji saw Hakuba stiffen and pull out a watch old enough to look like an heirloom, though Heiji was no expert. The Detective of the West raised his eyes, tracing patterns in the ceiling. The thief showed a preference for height, and the Osakan wanted this heist bad. It was a thank-you gift specifically for him, and Heiji wasn't about to let anything spoil this mental duel of wit and deduction against cunning and luck. Wait, those patterns on the ceiling...

"Twelve-fifty and thirty-seven seconds," Hakuba intoned.

Heiji ignored it and pulled his eyes back down, looking for something to step on. Spying a bench, he thrust a hand under it and dragged it over to what he was seeing before hopping onto it.

"Keep your eyes sharp, men!" Nakamori growled. "We're sure to catch Kid this time!"

Heiji was almost too short even with the bench, but standing on his toes he was able to trace his fingers along the grain he had seen on the ceiling tiles. The pattern was perfectly regular, but it wasn't quite repeating at the same rate as the other patterns in the tiles, and when Heiji ran his fingers along it, he realized why.

They were wires. And the tiles were vibrating.

"Twelve-fifty-three and forty-nine seconds," Hakuba muttered, though he was eyeing what Heiji was doing.

Heiji visually traced where the wires were going. They were spread out across the entire ceiling, disappearing up into the tiles or branching off to other areas, but the dark skinned detective couldn't see where they started or stopped, until he realized they were supposed to go up behind the tiles.

"Hey!" he called out.

"Twelve-fifty-five," Hakuba said.

And then the lights went out.

Six point eight seconds later (according to Hakuba) the lights came back on, and the general pandemonium that erupted quickly dissipated. It hadn't been enough for every one to really get mixed up - and the Task Force members at least had been on enough heists to know to wait ten seconds before panicking. Everyone paused, looking around, trying to assess if anything had changed. "... Nothing happened?" someone muttered.

Heiji knew better; something had definitely happened. "The Kid jus' did that ta set up his next trick," he explained, hopping off the bench now and making a beeline to the agate. "Which'll be a bigger distraction so's he can get th'-"

Then the ceiling exploded, exactly like Heiji expected, the tiles cracking and crumbling - the tiles had been replaced with something of a thinner material, likely to break at a certain vibration frequency that the wires were emitting. From the ceiling came a curtain of pink; hundreds, perhaps thousands, of cherry blossom petals gently fell from the ceiling and showered everyone with petals and the scent of flowers. Several people started sneezing.

Heiji blew through all of it. It was a brilliant distraction; the eye couldn't help but follow the floating sakura petals, and Heiji had to fight to keep himself focused. Nakamori was already cursing a blue, black, and purple streak in between shouts of orders and reprimands, but when Heiji finally made it to the agate, he knew it was too late; it was already gone.

"He's got the stone!" he called out, spinning around and trying to see through the maze of pale pink.

"You're more perceptive than the rest, tantei-han," came that damn infuriating voice, and Heiji spun around and saw him.

The pink curtain finally faded away, and there was Kaitou Kid, large as life, grinning at him like the Cheshire cat. The brim of his hat cast a surprisingly dark shadow over the thief's face, only the monocle could reflect the light, and the austere whiteness of his suit also served as distractions, preventing people from looking at the defining facial features of the Kid, assuming he wasn't wearing a mask of any kind.

"I'm glad you could make it to the party, tantei-han," the thief said casually, seemingly unaware of the fact that they were both surrounded by dozens of officers. "Oh, and I need to thank you for the teasing of Hakuba-san," he added, almost as an afterthought, leaning forward, and grinning even wider. "I was laughing so hard I almost got caught before the show started."

Heiji took a deep breath through his nose and exhaled, centering himself and locking his eyes on the Kid's torso and feet. Magic was slight of hand and distraction. If Heiji wanted to know what the Kid was going to do next, he'd have to look not at his hands or his words, but at his feet and his body, like one did in kendo.

"Already reading my movements, tantei-han? I'm honored," Kaitou Kid said, giving a sweeping bow, gloved hand on his oversized top hat. Heiji saw something that looked like honey amber in the other gloved hand that went for the breast pocket. The Detective of the West spread his feet apart, taking a kendo stance. So help him, he wasn't going to take his eyes off the thief.

"But even someone as good as you can get distracted."

"Kid!"

"It's Kid!"

"He's right in front of me, follow me!"

"No, no, stop chasing me!"

"Heeeeelp!"

Heiji ripped his eyes away to see at least a dozen Task Force officers and Osakan police had at some point during the downpour of cherry blossoms received the gift of white capes, and were all chasing each other in circles; not only that but,

"*$%^ you pieces of (*%$ stop !#%^ spinning *&^%$# like (*%$ around me!"

Heiji needed a full ten seconds to realize what had happened; in keeping with the theme of Birth of Spring, not only had Kid utilized cherry blossoms - a Japanese symbol of spring - he'd managed to make Nakamori a living maypole - and English symbol of spring or at least part of the celebration of May Day. The officers chasing each other's white capes also had ribbons on their capes, which had somehow attached to Nakamori, making him the pole that was slowly being tied up by his men. The image was comical, and exactly what Kid had said - a distraction.

Spinning back, he saw Kid still there, grinning at him placidly. "I thought it was rather clever, don't you?" he asked, brushing off stray petals off his white uniform. Everyone was rushing to the Nakamori-maypole to try and fix the mess, the Inspector swearing away, and Heiji realized just why Kid was still there. And he grinned.

"Almost all th' other players 're gone," he said with confidence. "Ya really did want this heist ta be jus' you an' me."

"One does one's best," Kid said brightly. "Shall the chase begin?"

And with that there was a puff of pink smoke and the magician disappeared.

Logic knew where he was going: up. But Kid was ornery enough to go down in order to go up, and Heiji forced himself to keep still and think. He looked around; trying to spy anyone making for the door. There were none, and so he looked up at the shattered ceiling, random petals still floating down here and there, but there were no wisps of white. Frowning, he spun to the windows, but there was no change there, either.

Taking a chance, he went out the exit, scanning the hallways. Hakuba was there, looking left and right.

"You let him get away," he accused the Osakan.

Heiji stilled and turned back to the other detective. "Ya're too smooth ta say that," he announced, reaching out to grab at the British snoop.

"Very good, tantei-han," the blond said, still in Hakuba's voice. "He's still in there," he added, gesturing to the mob that was being created. "We'll see if he can pass the test I set up for him, assuming he isn't feeling too crabby. Now then, shall we begin properly?"

Heiji grinned. "Ah," he agreed.

Kid disappeared in another puff of smoke, but Heiji was ready this time, and he was already on the move, having seen the directional shifts in the smoke and used it to calculate the direction Kid had gone and, having studied the building floor plans with Kudo, had a good idea where Kid was going. If he wanted a personal chase like this - which was clearly the case - then what better way to do it than by using one of the Sky Building's towers for distractions and the other one for the true chase? And, here on the twentieth floor, was the floor with the bridge between the two towers.

Heiji plowed through the door to the bridge and blew across it. Glancing down at the ground, he wondered how Kudo and Nee-chan were doing. "Is he enjoyin' th' show?" he asked, holding the collar with his pin closer to his mouth.

"He hasn't said much," Ran's voice came over the miniature speaker, "but when he does I can hear a very wide grin on his face."

Heiji panted out a laugh. "Tha's jus' like'm," he muttered, skidding to a halt to open the doors and spill into the other tower. Taking a moment to catch his breath, he scanned the area, wondering if he'd beaten Kid here or not. The doors clicking closed behind him startled him, and he turned around quicker than he'd like to admit. On the door, however, was a small sticky note pasted to it. Frowning, he looked at it more closely.

"Tantei-han," it read. "This first clue should be simple:

AEFHIKLMNTVWXYZ

BCDGJOPQRSU

Split the differencE."

Heiji rolled his eyes and glared at the note. Quickly, he added up the top and bottom rows of the letters and took their difference; fifteen minus eleven. Four. He looked at the capital E, wondering what it was for, but ran to the nearest elevator anyway. He had to go up four floors and look for the next clue.

Conan shivered. The wind up here was strong, and cut into him. There weren't many hiding places on the roof, the Sky Garden, but Conan had found one of the few that was unoccupied by a sniper. Hattori had said that the collector only had them for show, but Conan hid all the same, listening to the chatter Ran had filtered into his upgraded glasses. She had quickly turned into quite the whiz with her necklace, and had been more than happy to be in charge of the communications, having become so proficient.

Hattori was crossing the bridge between the buildings, from what his glasses said, and Conan settled down to wait.

He actually didn't have to wait long. There was a flash of white from one of the entrances and Kaitou Kid arrived on the roof. "He's here," he said softly. "Wish me luck; I'll talk to you later."

Ran answered just as quietly. "Okay, good luck."

Nodding, Shinichi fiddled with is glasses and turned off the receiver and lowered his badge. Stuffing his hands in his pockets to stave off the cold, he stood up and boldly walked up behind the white suit, his cape flapping almost violently in the wind. "You beat Hattori up here," he called out.

Kaito Kid smoothly turned around, his face hidden in shadows. "Ah, tantei-kun," he said in perfectly even tones, no surprise whatever in his voice. "What brings you out here to Osaka?"

Conan fell away and Shinichi snorted. "Like you didn't know I was here when I got off the train," he replied, edging towards what he wanted to say.

"Couldn't pass up the opportunity?"

"No," Shinichi said. "I'm not here for the heist. It's Hattori's, and I won't take that from him."

Kid cocked his head to the side, a visual marker of confusion that he allowed to show. "Then, pray tell, why are you here?"

"To talk to you."

"Ooh, now this is unusual. You're not here to catch me?"

Shinichi looked down, the wind whipping through his hair and tugging at Kid's cape. "I... don't know what to do about that yet," he answered honestly. It hurt to say it out loud, but there was only one truth, after all. "That's... that's why I'm here." He looked up again, his blue eyes unusually bright. Taking a step forward, Shinichi continued. "I learned something about you recently. It wasn't on a heist, it wasn't on a chase, although I think it was when you were planning for a heist."

Kid stepped to the side, Shinichi doing the same. The two were circling each other like giant cats, vying for the best ground to strike.

"Since then, I've done a lot of thinking about it, and I can honestly say I don't know what to do. So I thought it was best to talk to you about it."

Kid's smile didn't falter, didn't change. Not even his eyes stopped being politely interested but, much like that night at the hospital, Shinichi knew he had gotten a reaction. It should have given him cause to smile, but he could only frown, side-stepping some more.

"I wondered why you didn't start stalking me again, after that case," Shinichi pressed. "I wondered why you suddenly decided to keep your distance. But now I think I know; I think something about that case scared you." The conversation they shared at his hospital room went unsaid, that private moment obvious to the both of them. "And it was because of that case that I was able to learn that thing about you."

"You're weaving a very interesting tale, tantei-kun," Kid said smoothly. The angle of light changed, and Shinichi finally saw parts of the thief's face; the reflective monocle, wisps of that wild hair the same color as his own, the smooth curve of his cheekbones, and at last the bright blue of his visible eye. "Your presentation is admirable, but then, that's to be expected of a detective like yourself."

"You're trying to distract me, but this needs to be said," Shinichi said, stepping forward instead of to the side. Kid did not respond to the motion, and the pint-sized detective took another step forward.

"You're running out of time, tantei-kun," the phantom thief said, making a grand motion of checking his watch. "Tantei-han will be here soon, if he's anything like you."

Shinichi grinned. "In some ways, he's better than me." Hattori had one beautiful quality about him that had been shredded out of Shinichi: honesty. He was so honest he needed to be kicked to remember not to call him "Kudo" in public. He didn't have to worry about lies piling on top of him, of keeping a scorecard on who knew what and how much. Hattori was... good... in a way Shinichi never could be again. The boy shook his head and focused, taking his hands out of his pockets.

"I have a trick for you," Shinichi said. "In one hand," he raised it, holding up the tiny piece of evidence. The lighting was horribly poor, but he knew Kid would know exactly what it was. "In one hand is a smoke capsule that is yours. I'm certain it can be checked against any of the others Inspector Nakamori has collected since your rebirth," he said, choosing his words very carefully.

"In the other hand," Shinichi continued, holding up his second piece of evidence and, for the first time, he saw the poker face crack, that one blue eye widening just enough to be noticed.

"In the other hand is another smoke capsule, again easy to be compared. These two pieces on their own mean nothing; even together, there isn't much to be said about them, until you realize where they came from. The first," he said, lowering a hand, "was obtained during that case. I'm sure you know from when.

"The second," he held up his other hand, "was taken from a very different location, from when you had a little accident when you were preparing for a heist. Do I need to explain where you-"

"Shinichi!"

The boy stiffened; surprised that Ran's voice came over his pin. He'd turned it off...

"Shinichi, I know I shouldn't be interrupting, but I've been listening to the radio bands, and one of the snipers is taking aim!"

No time to think. Just react. "Kid!" he shouted, running towards him. "The snipers-!"

Kid didn't need any further information. He plunged down and Shinichi was suddenly stepping over air as the thief hoisted him up and then gracefully leapt up onto one of the safety rails. "Going down, tan-"

Something stopped the Kid from finishing his sentence, and instead of a leap like Shinichi was expecting, he watched as Kid's feet slid off the rails, and everything was up and over and around; sky and ground and mirrors and the frightening vision of Hattori on an escalator staring up in horror, all spinning around in Shinichi's eyes; wind and screams from his own throat deafening his ears. There was no up or down, everything was everywhere, and then somewhere else and then somewhere else. It wasn't until something crashed into his arm and his head slammed into something hard, his glasses quite nearly skittering off his face that he finally felt that something stopped.

It took him a minute to realize he needed to stop screaming. Then it took him even longer to get air in his lungs. This was nothing compared to figuring out what the hell just happened. Breath shaky at best, Shinichi pulled an arm out from under something warm to adjust his glasses. He could hear Ran in his ear, calling his name out in a panic.

"Ran," he whispered, then coughed and tried again. "Ran, can you hear me?"

"Shi-chi! I c-n bare- -ear yo-! Wh- -pened, there w- - -cream and then..."

He grunted, trying to fiddle with his glasses but unable to get a better reception. He'd probably broken something when he landed and...

Shit! Shinichi sat up with a start, grunting and holding his arm before looking around. Where...

Holy shit!

The Umeda Sky Building was known for many things: the Sky Garden on the roof, the circular atrium of the top two floors, the bridge halfway up the building, the gardens below, the shops underground, etc. It was also known for its escalators connecting the two towers. Shinichi had landed on the small roof of the room that the escalators lowered to. Spinning to his right, he saw the structured V rising up four floors to the giant circle above him. He must have fallen at least four stories, and Kid-

Kid!

Spinning back again he realized what he was half trapped under: the white suit and cape of Kaitou Kid. And the thief wasn't moving.

"Shit," he cursed, pulling his legs out from under the body. "Kid? Kid!" He crawled forward, half climbing over a shoulder, leaning in to his ear. "Kuroba," he whispered harshly. "Open your eyes, damn it."

"Shut up," came and equally harsh response. Shinichi blinked, surprised by the hoarseness in the other teen's voice, or at least he was until he realized his hand had been so warm... and sticky. He saw the red color when a floodlight blew over them, the people above trying to find them. They were behind the bend of the building, but Shinichi tugged at Kid's cape, pulling it closer to him and away from the floodlights.

Tugging and pulling and cursing his lack of height, he finally got his arms under Kid's shoulder and lifted. The thief grunted, his eyes opening and spinning around, trying to orient himself. Shinichi, meanwhile, was too busy staring at the shadows of his uniform before mentally cursing his stupidity and fumbling for his watch flashlight. That proved to be much more helpful.

He was expecting more blood, to be honest. He'd come across so many bodies that had bled out, dark red staining everything and pooling everywhere that he forgot that sometimes it took a while to bleed. He took a deep, shuddering breath as a strong wind whipped through them again - made stronger by the wind tunnel-like area they were sheltered in. Shinichi tried to poke at the jacket and probe the wound, but Kid only growled and inelegantly shoved the tiny hands away.

"Hands off the goods," he said slowly, his words clearing as he went. "Wouldn't want to be assaulted by a minor, would I?"

Shinichi didn't glare or roll his eyes, he sighed in relief. "Kid, do you know what happened?"

"Snipers," he said slowly, eyes still darting everywhere. "I slipped on the guard rail... I never slip... then I was just trying to stop." The teen thief moved to get up and gasped when his torso bent, falling back. "... and I must have broken a rib."

"No, Kid, you were shot."

Kuroba's - not Kid's - Kuroba's eyes widened and he craned his head up to look, and Shinichi watched in growing trepidation as that face, so like his own, paled and his breathing quickened. "Blood," he whispered. "There's blood... blood... shit, don't panic... don't panic... blood..."

The pint-sized detective couldn't believe that he was watching the mighty Phantom Thief 1412 entering a panic attack. It was cause for panic just on principal, and Shinichi had to override it before it was too late. Shaking his head in disbelief, he leaned forward, filling Kid's field of vision and feeling more than a twinge of guilt as he deliberately pressed against the wound. That got the Phantom Thief's attention, and the wide blue eyes - Shinichi could finally see both - locked onto the child.

"We need to get out of here," he said in low tones.

Kuroba blinked rapidly, processing, before Kid bloomed on his face and he nodded. "Need a lift?" he asked, his voice steady, even cocky.

Shinichi snorted, but crawled off the other teen. Kid took a deep, preparatory breath, and grimaced as he rolled onto his knees. Shinichi saw the blood spurt out of the wound, and he stomped very hard on his own panic as he hoped that he wasn't making a mistake. Kid swayed on his feet, a hand going up to steady himself against a wall. A twitch of the wrist and Shinichi watched as the hang glider came to life, the cape lifting and spreading, rigging snapping into place and taking form.

"Get on my back, tantei-kun," Kid grunted, rolling his shoulders and cracking his neck. "This is going to be a rough ride."

Nodding, the Detective of the East hopped up, feeling the pulled muscles in his arm and saying nothing, and settled himself on Kid's good shoulder. Kid took a moment to steady himself further with the new weight, and turned vaguely to the east. "Please make sure all safety belts are secured on Kaitou Airlines," Kid intoned, humor lacking in his voice. "Keep hands and feet in bounds at all times, and remember, no screams; wouldn't want to tip off-"

The floodlights swung back and finally stayed, having locked onto the white triangle of his hang glider.

"-the cops," he finished. "Lady Luck must have something against me tonight," he added, more to himself.

It was then, with no warning whatsoever, that Kid leapt off the building, Shinichi struggling to hold on.

Author's Notes: Hmm, what to say about this chapter... Can we say "Turning Point?" Much the way chapter of Ran finding everything out in the Hidden Epidemic fic was, and the chapter where Conan learned of Kaitou Kid's identity was in the Magic Bullet fic, this was the premise of this fic: what would Conan do on a heist now that he knows, and what will he do now that things have gone to pot?

I've lost track of the number of ideas that were bouncing back and forth when we were trying to figure out the logistics of this. At first all we knew was that it was a Heist and that Things Went Wrong. It wasn't until we were writing the finale of the Hidden Epidemic that we realized it had to be on Osaka for this to work, and it gave us the wonderful idea of involving Hattori. It's very tempting for authors (us included, let us reassure you) to turn these kinds of stories into the "Kaito and Shinichi Show," and we didn't feel that did any kind of justice to Hattori and what he is and represents in the Conan universe.

It must have taken an hour of poking around wikipedia and tourist sites in both English and Japanese before we settled on Umeda Sky Building - the look of the building was too good to pass up for a Kid heist, and things just kind of grew from there. We sincerely hope we're even half right on the set up of the building; wikipedia wasn't exactly detailed (it's not a site meant for the kind of detailed searches we tend to do) and google just refused to give us the building-specific information we wanted - like what floor the bridge between buildings was on, or how many floors the escalator rose (or at least, if it did give us the information it sure wasn't in English), and so if there are inaccuracies, we deeply apologize. We really do try; Virgos like us are rather detail oriented.

Once we figured out it would happen in spring, that led to Golden Week, which led to Mayday, which led to looking up what kind of English stones would perk a magical thief's interest, which grew into the Birth of Spring. Wikipedia is great for these kind of small-scale searches.

The heist itself fell together surprisingly neatly; there was the Hattori half and the Conan half. On the Hattori half, please understand we are not yet far enough in the manga to understand why so many fics have animosity between Hattori and Hakuba, and so we just assumed it was the clash between Osakan rashness and recklessness versus British reserve and decorum. We were giggling like fangirls when we wrote all that teasing; we hope it's half as funny as we think it is. And Conan, of course, practically wrote himself as he always does. We hope you enjoyed.

Next chapter, er, well, everyone tries to figure out What on Earth Happened to Kaitou Kid.