Quote: "You won't stand in my way, Detective…"

The boat was off to sea and seemed to be calmly going through the waves. Better then what was going on deck.

Tsukiko simply smiled at what Mr. Snake had said to her. What she said was complete sarcasm. Anyone could see that this party was a drag. But it seemed Tsukiko didn't mind what Mr. Snake said.

Kaito was hiding, but he was frozen-completely. His father's killer was standing right there and he couldn't do anything. If he did do something, it would lead to them trying to use Tsukiko as a shield or something. The only thing he could do is wait out and see what was going to happen.

"Well," Snake said, smiling, "why don't I take you to the artifact?"

Tsukiko nodded.

Soon Snake began walking away with Tsukiko behind him.

Kaito watched as he walked away and noticed that Snake gave a small nod to a waiter. The waiter then set down what he was doing and ran to go speak with the Captain. What is his plan…? Kaito thought. Kaito decided to take a look around the ship, seeing if there was anything he could get that led to Snake's plan.

Soon Snake led Tsukiko down below ship, to where a bunch a crates and such were. "Care to have a look around," Snake said, letting Tsukiko walk into the room. "You should know the artifact when you see it."

Tsukiko turned around and looked at Snake. "Not going to show it to me yourself?" she said, crossing her arms.

Snake gave a small laugh and pointed down the hall. "There is some…other business that I must attend to…" Snake then walked away, leaving Tsukiko alone in a room filled with crates.

Tsukiko walked down the stairs and once she reached the bottom, she began making her way through the maze of crates. She noticed that many crates had the word 'Fragile' on them or they had 'Do Not Open' on them. Wonder what's in them… she thought.

Soon Tsukiko turned a corner and was surprised by a single crate sitting in the open. Tsukiko lifted an eyebrow and gave a small laugh. He did say I would know which one it was… she thought.

Tsukiko took a few steps forward until she reached the crate. When she stopped walking, it was silent once more, minus the sound on mice running across the floor.

Tsukiko put her hands on the crate's lid and gripped it tightly. She then slowly took it off and she was in amazement. Inside-laying in hay-was a blue gem. It was held in the center of a silver shield and it looked priceless. Tsukiko dropped the lid and moved her hands over to touch the shield.

"Magnificent…" she said, picking it up. "Question is, why would they have it in a simple crate…?"

"Simple, My Dear," a voice said.

Tsukiko set down the shield and swiftly turned around. Standing there was a shadow. Tsukiko knew it wasn't Kid, question was-who was it?

"We wanted to get your attention," the figure said, taking a few steps forward into the light.

Tsukiko backed up, but ran into the crate behind her. She looked at the figure and smiled. "And why did you want to get my attention?" she said, a small laugh hidden in her voice.

"That should be simple," the figure said, pointing a small gun at her. "So we could lure Kaitou Kid here." The figure pulled the trigger on the small metallic gun and small Phewp was heard when something left the chamber.

Tsukiko felt a pinch on her arm, kind of like the pinch she got when her cousin shot her with his Stun Gun Wristwatch. She looked at her arm and saw a small tranquilizer. But soon after seeing it, she collapsed to the floor. She struggled to keep her eyes open when the man was walking toward. All she saw before she went unconscious was a pair of black shoes and black pants.

Kaito-now dressed as Kid-was hiding behind one of the ship's walls. Near the window in which he could see through. He was listening to the Captain speak with Snake, and Kaito was very fascinated with what he was hearing.

Soon a third voice joined in the conversation, but Kaito didn't know who it was. The voice was deep and seemed to have an accent to it. But it was hard to tell saying as how the gentleman's speech was perfect.

"Have you finished the preparations?" the man asked.

"Yes," Snake stated, giving a small laugh. "The clock is counting down and we have the boats nearby."

Kaito could practically see the man smile when he heard that. "Good," the man said, "the girl is out of our way and the artifact is still bellow."

"What about that meddling detective?" Snake asked. "Where did you put her?"

"She's in a…safe place."

Snake and the man, along with the Captain began laughing.

Kaito gritted his teeth, letting his poker face slip. How could he let this happen? He should have been there, making sure nothing happened to her. And now-now he had to find her before whatever was going to happen happened.

Kaito jumped slightly when he heard footsteps coming near.

"And what about Kaitou Kid?" Snake asked.

"Oh," the man said, "he's already here… Somewhere that is…"

Kaito felt like the man knew he was listening and he knew that was meant for him.

"But we shouldn't worry," the man said, smiling and looking back at Snake, "he'll be dead soon enough."

Kaito was no gritting his teeth so hard that if he had a stick it would have snapped.

"We should get going," the man said, "we wouldn't want to be here in the next few minutes."

Snake nodded.

The Captain flipped a switch and then left with Snake and the man. Kaito waited until they were gone, he then stood to his feet and ran in to see if there was any information he could get. But he was distracted by a sudden ticking in his ear. He looked around, but saw nothing that it could be from. Soon he crouched down and looked under the command board. That's when he saw the red numbers ticking down on the detonator for a C4 bomb. Three minutes was all he left until the ship would be blown to smithereens.

Kaito gritted his teeth once again and cursed under his breath. He quickly stood to his feet. Knowing them this wouldn't be the only bomb on board… he thought, putting his hand to his chin. Most likely there's another in the engine room and another somewhere else aboard this ship. Now that I know where those are… Kaito looked at the map of the ship laying on the wall. I just need to find Toyoshima-san in time…

Kaito looked over the map and noticed it was a fairly small ship. It was probably originally used as a cargo ship, carrying small goods to-and from-Japan.

The Cargo hold is probably not the place where they kept her, he thought. So maybe they hid her in the engine room? No…they wouldn't risk her waking up and disarming the bomb… So where on earth could she… Kaito cut off his thought when he saw a small area in which they could have hid her. He grinned and then ran out of the room, wanting this to be a small window of hope.

Conan was sitting on the couch in the Mouri Detective agency. He was reading a Sherlock Holmes story and it seemed he was fascinated by it.

Ran was running around, cleaning with Sonoko. And Kogouro sat at his desk and watched TV.

Soon the news appeared on the TV and interrupted the show Kogouro was watching. "Oh, come on!" he shouted.

Ran, Sonoko and Conan all looked up and at the TV. The news woman was standing on the pier with a burning ship behind her. "I'm hear to report breaking news!" she shouted over the roar of the ocean and people talking. "Earlier this evening the Saint Irene was found burning in flames as you see right behind me!"

The women continued on, but Conan and the other didn't listen. Wasn't that the ship Tsukiko was going on? he thought. He then remember the conversation he had with his cousin on the phone.

"Saint Irene?" Conan said, holding the phone to his ear.

"Yeah!" Tsukiko said, sounding cheerful. "Best thing is Kaitou Kid might be showing up to steal the artifact!"

"How is that a good thing?" Conan said. He held the paper in his hands and was looking at the article for the Saint Irene.

"It might be my chance to catch him!"

"Oh," Conan said, sarcastically, "like all the other times weren't chances."

Conan heard the growling on his cousin on the other end. She was angry, very angry.

"Alright," Conan said, "I'm sorry!"

Tsukiko began laughing. "Well," she said, "I better get ready."

"Wait, Tsukiko!" Conan said, a bit of worriment in his voice. "Don't let your guard down, alright?"

Conan knew that Tsukiko gave a small smile, just by hearing it in her voice. "Alright," she said. "Anything else that needs to be said, Tantei-kun?"

Conan smiled. "Stop by Doctor Agasa's, there might be something there that will help you get out of trouble when you need it."

"'Kay," Tsukiko said, laughing. "See ya later, Shinichi!" Then she hung up.

For some reason Conan was feeling a bit uneasy. He had questions about the supposed letter Tsukiko got. But instead of worrying about it, he shrugged it off and set the phone down.

He finally understood why he was feeling uneasy. And now that he's watching the news and listening, he understands why.

"Didn't Toyoshima-chan say she was headed to a ship called the Saint Irene?" Kogouro said, his eyes wide.

"Yeah…" Conan said.

The room fell silent and the announcer was the only person heard. "So far there have been no survivors…" she said.

After that the room was in complete silence and it seemed no one had the courage to shut off the TV.

Kaito was laying on the ground, panting and soaked to the bone. His hat was gone, probably lost somewhere in the sea. But who cared?

He slowly turned his head to the side and saw the girl he was so desperately trying to protect. She seemed to be unconscious from getting her head bumped in the blast. Good thing was she was still alive and breathing. Good thing they both were.

Earlier-when the ship was still floating and the clock was ticking on them-Kaito had managed to find Tsukiko in a small cabin. Ironic thing was she was awake, it seemed she had been for awhile. But since the door was locked and there was no other way out, she had to stay in there with a bomb sitting right next to her. Of course the first idea she got was to try a diffuse the bomb. But it seemed it was harder then expected and there was no way of diffusing it.

So, the smart thing was to run. So the two ran, but before they could manage to get off the ship, the bombs blew and sent them flying into the water. Then after Kaito had to swim them both back to shore, saying as how the girl was knocked cold.

Now the two where lying on the pier, soaked to the bone. Kaito kept his eyes on Tsukiko, thinking and wondering. He just then noticed that Tsukiko didn't have her glasses. Most likely they were at the bottom of the ocean by now. But strange thing was him thinking that she looked absolutely beautiful without her glasses or with her glasses.

Soon Kaito slapped himself of his thought, leaving a red mark on the side of his face. What the hell am I thinking? he thought. I shouldn't be thinking of such things at the moment!

Kaito turned his head again, looking at Tsukiko once again. The burning ship was right behind her and it seemed the flames had gotten bigger since the explosion. But that was to be expected with all the gasoline and such. But what about the artifact? Was it somewhere at the bottom of the ocean or did it burn? Who knew, and truthfully, Kaito didn't care about it. The safety of Tsukiko and himself was more important at the moment.

Tsukiko soon began moving and coughing nonstop. Water must have gotten in her lungs from the dive.

Kaito quickly sat up and put his hands on Tsukiko, helping her turn over. "You okay, Toyoshima-san?" Kaito asked, not even knowing his poker face had slipped.

Tsukiko opened her eyes, she was panting just like him. She began coughing up water once again, but soon-when she could-she said, "Kaito?"

Kaito bit his lip. CRAP! he thought. Did she just figure out that he was Kaitou Kid? Or was it because she couldn't see anything?

Tsukiko sat up with Kaito's help. She put her hand on his arms and could feel the wet cloth. She then looked up, squinting her eyes. She then saw Kaitou Kid. Tsukiko took her hands off of him and slapped his away. "What are you doing, Kaitou Kid?" she said.

Kaito sighed in relief. Good, she didn't notice… he thought. Kaito's poker face once again came to play. "Is that really anyway to thank someone who just rescued you?" he said, crossing his legs.

Tsukiko sighed. "Sorry," she said. "Thank you…"

Kaito's eyes widened, did she really just give in that quickly? "Uh…"Kid stuttered. "Your welcome…"

"Now…" Tsukiko began to get up. Kaito jumped to his feet and helped her stand. Once she was to her feet, she stood there with Kaito's hands on her shoulders. She was shivering and he could feel it. Kaito tightened his grip on her and looked at her. Tsukiko lifted her head and looked Kaito in the eyes, or the best she could without her glasses. But even without them, just could see a touch of worriment in his eyes. But why? She was none of his concern.

Tsukiko looked down at her feet and pushed herself away from Kaito. She then cleared her throat and continued with what she was saying. "Now," she said, "care to tell me who those people were and what they wanted with you?"

Kaito's poker face didn't crack, even with the bitterness in her tone. He sighed and looked at Tsukiko serious. "I can't tell you," he said.

Tsukiko crossed her arms. "Then maybe you can tell me this," she said, her tone still showing bitterness and anger. "Why did they want me?"

Kaito bit his lip, but he decided she deserved to know. "To get to me…" he said.

Tsukiko gritted her teeth and turned away from Kaito. "You pissed off some power enemies, Kid…" she muttered, a small laugh hidden in her voice. Soon she turned back around to look at Kid. "This is going to happen again, isn't it?"

Kaito nodded sadly. There was no real reason in dragging her into this. His battle with Snake and finding Pandora was only his problem. No one else had to get brought into this. But there was a chance that they would be dragged into this.

Tsukiko held out her hand and sighed. Kaito looked at her hand and lifted an eyebrow. "What's this?"

"A thank you," she said. "You saved my tail back there and I owe you one, Kid. But this isn't to be taken lightly and it does not mean I will stop chasing after you. I'm not going to stop chasing you until I get my family's Heirloom back."

Kaito grinned and gave a small laugh. "I completely and fully understand that, Tsukiko-chan," he said. Kaito then got down on one knee, leaving Tsukiko speechless. He then took her hand and pulled her forward, kissing her hand gently.

Tsukiko felt her face warm and the place where Kaito kissed her hand was warm also. Probably warmer then any other part of her body at the moment.

Kaito glanced up at Tsukiko and saw her blushing face. He then gave a chuckle and stood to his feet. He then held out his hand and a rose appeared in it. Tsukiko reluctantly took it and held it.

Kaito gave his famous grin. "I'm terrible sorry about this, Tsukiko-chan…" he muttered.

Tsukiko then felt a bit dizzy and soon understood why. Kaito-or Kaitou Kid in this case-had put sleeping smoke in the rose. Soon Tsukiko lost her footing and collapsed into Kaito's arms.

Kaito sighed in relief. Thank goodness… he thought. He then looked down at Tsukiko and his face went scarlet. I didn't realize how revealing her clothes were until now… Soon Kaito decided that they spent enough time at the pier-and before the police could arrive with friends or before he could do something to Tsukiko in that state-he picked up Tsukiko and began walking off with her. He knew Jii was sitting around somewhere with the car like instructed.

The rest of the night was silent and calm, something that it should have been from the beginning. But Kaito knew that it wouldn't be the last time he saw Snake and his friend. And it wouldn't be the last time they tried using Tsukiko to get to him.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Sorry for mistakes and such. I was hoping to get done with this chapter quickly and put it up. I didn't really look it over before I put it up. So sorry if you get confused or something. Thank you for reading and please keep reviewing.