One Shot Six:
Rating: K (safe)
Word count: around 430 words.
Genre: Romance.
Note: French version originally done on a prompt from magicneo given in chat. "Boat, steps, Kid."

Moon Rise.

Kid stepped calmly down the stairs to the outer deck of the boat. He stopped to look up at the starry night above. A few seconds later he heard the metallic chime of the steps, signalling the arrival of his 'prey.'

He smiled nicely towards her. She came near him, using a name that wasn't his own. He answered nothing, approaching her gently, before sending her to the land of nod thanks to a spray bomb.

He hadn't worn any disguise, or his recognizable white suit. His casual appearance had been sufficient, at the bathroom exit, to hook her on his line.

Being gallant, and refusing to dirty in her eyes the reputation of the one who's return she was pining for, he whispered one single phrase before her eyes closed for the night. A cruel phrase that might, who knows, give her nightmares, but that, in the long run, would be much more reassuring for her than silence.

"I am not Shinichi Kudo."

And it had pained him to admit it.
The loving eyes she'd looked at him with, full of worry, but also of joy...

If he hadn't been a gentleman, if he hadn't known she would have started asking questions demanding the truth, when all he had to offer was lies... he would have loved to play along.

But he couldn't, he was not the man she loved.

He tried not to think about it, as he put on his second disguise of the evening. He contemplated his reflection in one of the ship's windows, seeing there Ran Mouri in the moonlight, with her red dress, the deck's small lights shining upon her.

A gust of wind came and ruffled his wig, and, for a short moment, his poker face was blown away.
He thought he'd seen Aoko in the reflection.
Aoko resplendent, mature, with eyes only for him...

He blushed.
Maybe there was hope for him yet.

He pulled out of his pocket a thank you card he'd prepared in advance. He made a tiny white rose appear, which he attached to it, before leaning down to pin it to the top of the sleeping girl's dress. He took the chance to leave a chaste kiss on her forehead.

"Thank you, Ran Mouri."

And on those words, he returned to the party hall, so as to play around with a small detective and steal a pearl as black as the sea was that night.

But somewhere in the darkness of his heart, a small moon had risen...

FIN.

Hahaha. Yes. One-sided Kid loves Ran. But only a smidgeon.