A/N:I know, the chapter title is hilarious. I just came up with that randomly. Since a DC friend on Deviantart deactivated her account, suddenly all my DC plunnies started to come back! It's a miracle! They've been dead for so long and now they're back! Wahoo! Well, time to update this story. It's been dead for two months. Aw, man, it's rotting! Much better! *wipes off dust.* Well, Merry Heistmas to you all and a Happy New...Steal? Okay, that was a stupid joke and I know it.

Chapter 19 Heistmas time is here again

"Hmm..." Shinichi Kudo just frowned, as he sat there, trying hard to make heads or tails of Kaito's story. Some of it made sense, while other parts just seemed absurd or like something out of Kaito's head. But he knew Kaito wasn't the type to lie, nor was he the type to exaggerate things. Sure, his cousin had a penchant for making up tales, but he wouldn't lie about something as serious as this.

"Say, don't you think we should give this time of the year a new name? How about Merry Heistmas?" Kaito teased. Both detectives looked at him as though he were nuts.

"That would be the stupidest name for a holiday ever," Shinichi said dryly.

Saguru nodded. "For once, the two of us can agree on one thing: KID is even stupider than we thought he is."

"Oi, oi, Kaitou KID or not, he is my cousin. You can't make fun of him without my permission!" Shinichi scolded.

"Thanks for the endorsement, Shinichi. I'll remember it when I'm sitting rotting away in prison." Kaito said darkly, looking away from them.

"Relax," Shinichi said, "We'll get through everything together. It's not like we'll be actually caught by these organization guys. We're smart."

"Shinichi, you don't understand. These guys are no laughing matter," Kaito said seriously, in a tone he rarely used with his cousin.

Shinichi noted the serious tone and his eyes narrowed. "I see. You want me to back out of this, for your sake. It's your own battle you're fighting."

Kaito nodded. "For my father. No one else can do it."

"I always knew you were a fool, Kuroba," Saguru said, earning him a glare from both Shinichi and Kaito. He winced. "Well, that is to say...he shouldn't do everything by himself!"

"Who's to say you won't wind up putting my own cousin in jail?" Shinichi said menacingly.

"I never thought the day would come when my own dear cousin would be defending Kaitou Kid. You've finally come to your senses!" He cried.

"Get a grip. The only reason I didn't arrest KID is because he's my damned cousin. Do you think I would honestly put you in jail?" Shinichi said seriously.

Kaito stared at him seriously. "Hmm...you're right. Here you are again, being silly, stupid cousin!"

"Your attempts at humor here just seem stupid, Kuroba," Saguru pointed out. "Don't ruin the seriousness here."

Shinichi raised a brow. "Someone takes themselves a bit too seriously, if you ask me."

"What was that?" Saguru growled, looking very irritated indeed. "Just because you suck up to Inspector Nakamori, that doesn't mean you can go insulting me!"

"Oi, oi, he practically forced me to do the whole thing against my will!" Shinichi protested. "You think I like being with Nightmare Inspector?"

"No one does," Kaito said.

"I now understand why you complain so much about him," Shinichi said before flashing an understanding look in Kaito's direction. "Now that we know there's a deadly organization after Kaito's head, what should we do? I think we should notify the cops or the FBI."

"Can't. These guys are important and high up in the police departments," Kaito said, "I did some research on some of these guys. I noticed you seemed to have been investigating them too, cousin. What if they set their eyes on you?"

"It's not like they'll turn me into a seven-year old child with some weird drug that will make me sweat like crazy."

Kaito and Saguru looked at Shinichi as though he were nuts.

"Oi, oi, that was one of the weirdest dreams I've ever had in my life! You weren't related to me, I was living with Ran's drunk and useless father, and worst of all, I had to be in an elementary school with children. Thank god it was all a dream," He huffed.

"Who would ever come up with an idea that stupid, Shinichi? I guarantee, it'd make for a pretty stupid series." Kaito said.

Saguru nodded. "I'm so glad I'm not little anymore."

"Things like that can't happen," Shinichi said before smirking brightly.

Kaito knew that look. It was the look that meant that Shinichi had now figured out some brilliant scheme and was about to explain it all to them. "Tell us, meitantei-san, what's your plan?"

"I was afraid you wouldn't ask. Now, let me explain the first part of it..."

Kaito smirked by the time he was finished while Saguru just looked at him like he was nuts.

"Everyone wonders whether or not I'm sane. Who cares what they think?" Shinichi said before grinning a very KID-esque grin.

"I just don't think I like the idea of you masquerading as me. That sounds too dangerous. You don't know how to do it. It's harder than it looks, Shinichi," Kaito said worriedly.

Seeing the worried Kaito only made Shinichi want to try harder to cheer him up. "How about Saguru plays the part of the thief?"

The horrified look on the British detective's face told them all they needed to know.

"No," He said, shuddering, "I could never dress up like a common criminal. If we get caught doing this, we are all going to jail or worse."

"That's a consequence I'm prepared to face," Kaito said confidently. "What about you, cousin?"

"I'm not sure. I think I want to go to the police about this first. Then we can do the rash stuff later. I don't want to do something so stupid that I would wind up dying, or-"

"What, shrink like a little kid like you mentioned moments earlier? You have such a weird imagination, Shin-chan!" Kaito taunted, suddenly morphing into the crazy little boy who made fun of everyone in his way.

"Shut up. That was just a stupid dream. There's nothing like that in real life."

'At least, I don't think so.' He thought to himself.

The young blond girl had never been outside of the laboratory that often, and even if she had been, she would only be allowed out escorted by guards, for her own protection, they said. She had long grown accustomed to it, however her older sister Akemi had not and was always uncomfortable about it.

One of these days, she feared her foolhardy older sister would do something stupid and get herself killed. She didn't know what she would do if her older sister died...she was all she had left. Her parents had died a long time ago, under mysterious circumstances. She didn't remember them too well, either...all she knew is that by the time she was old enough to talk, she had been to at least several different places and homes.

She had always been working behind the scenes in the Black Organization, helping them blackmail people, and eventually she had been ordered to start poisoning people. At first, she had been rather reluctant to do it, but the format under which they prescribed it was not personal at all so she didn't have to come face to face with Death himself.

But today, the woman who hated her guts more than any other, for some reason had pulled her aside.

"Sherry, do you think you could infiltrate the school known as Beika and keep tabs on this boy?" Vermouth said sweetly, though there was a sense of hatred in that voice.

Sherry, or Shiho Miyano as she called herself, did not like Vermouth either and she did not understand why Vermouth hated her so much. She didn't think it would be wise to ask. For many BO members, asking them stupid questions could result in a bullet in your head.

"Kudo Shinichi? Why?" She asked curiously. He certainly seemed ordinary enough, though appearances were deceiving. No one could ever suspect her of being a genius chemist due to her age.

"He's a detective who's been nosing around." She said sharply.

"Do I have to-"

Vermouth's look hardened. "You are not allowed to kill him. I forbid it."

Shiho looked at her, wondering why she suddenly changed her tune all of a sudden. "Why?"

"Go, Sherry. Your sister wants you." She said distantly. A wistful look crossed her face as she looked at a picture of little Shinichi with his twin Kaito. "Do we really have to split them apart?" She asked softly.

No answer came to her mind.

The next day appeared and school dawned bright and early for the three "trespassers" of the law...though only one could be called that. First period was Gym. Shinichi and Kaito happened to share this class.

While Shinichi was getting changed, he heard screams coming from the girl's room. He whacked his forehead. "Kaito," He growled. Sighing again, he waited for chaos to ensue, just like it always did with his cousin.

He could hear the girls screaming and cursing out loud and then his cousin's yelps of fear and then he heard an explosion. Obviously that one had been a dummy. Then the next thing he knew, a figure leapt beside Shinichi.

"Hello there, meitantei-san!"

"What did you do, Kaito?" Shinichi asked in annoyance.

"I just paid the ladies a little visit...got some interesting panties...hmm, this one has turtles on it...this one has...wait a second, this one has...OH, DEAR GOD, NO, IT HAS FISH ON IT!"

Kaito screamed a girly scream and threw the underwear back, utterly terrified of the innocuous drawings on the underwear. Shinichi started to laugh loudly. The rest of the boys were all watching in stunned silence.

"Dude, someone actually managed to snatch panties from the girls? That's gotta be a world record."

"Um, Kaito...I think you got Ran's in here, too..." Shinichi said, shaking slightly.

Kaito paled. "Oh, dear god...that's bad. Really, really bad..."

Sure enough, the second the two boys ventured out onto the field, a team of angry girls was standing there, looking ticked. Ran was in the front, glaring at Kaito...she smiled at Shinichi.

"Kaito, you'd better give me my panties back..." She said.

"I think I'll keep them..." Kaito whispered.

"Oh...is that so?" She said as she dented the wall she was leaning on with her fist.

Everyone in the room shivered, except for Sonoko, who looked absolutely thrilled.

"Doesn't that woman have any fear?" Kaito asked.

"She's too dense to know what it is." Shinichi whispered.

"Shinichi...I hope you didn't partake in this immature prank, too...because if you did..." Ran's aura suddenly turned terrifyingly evil as black shadows radiated from her.

"I didn't..." Shinichi said weakly.

"That's good," She said before glaring at Kaito, who had a pathetic innocent face on, "Today, Kaito, you are going down!"

Kaito dodged her every attempt. "You're not as good as Bakoko is!" He cried.

"Do you know what was on my panties?" Ran said softly.

"What?" Kaito asked.

"Fish," She said evilly, and at that point, poor Kaito couldn't take it anymore and screamed again.

Shinichi hit his forehead. "Idiot."

"I can't believe she hits that hard," Kaito whined, now sporting a black eye.

"She does, doesn't she?" Shinichi laughed nervously.

Sonoko snickered at them for a moment, but froze upon seeing Kaito shoot her a frosty look.

"Just ignore her, Kaito," Shinichi said softly. As they left for their next class, Shinichi noticed a girl with curly blond hair watching him closely. Her turquoise eyes were full of curiosity. She seemed emotionless, too.

Shinichi shuddered.

"What's wrong?" Kaito asked.

"Nothing...there's someone watching us." He said.

Kaito turned and saw the blond. "Yeah, there is something funny about her. Think we should go introduce ourselves, or..."

"Hello, I'm Haibara Ai. Nice to meet you," The girl said emotionlessly.

Shinichi and Kaito blinked, neither taking her hand.

"I'm not going to kill you," She said darkly. "Kudo Shinichi-kun, the great detective, and you are his cousin, Kuroba Kaito, the genius magician."

"How do you-"

"I've heard a lot of gossip here and there," She said vaguely as she sat down, only causing Shinichi to become more and more suspicious of her by every passing second. He didn't buy her acting one bit and besides, her emotionless nature was a common trait he'd seen in criminals.

"So, how's life as a detective going? I hear you like to hunt thieves." She said.

Shinichi and Kaito both blinked.