Note: "words in english" ... that's it really.

Chapter 18: The Playday II – Battle of Tricks

It should be noted about the many ways a classroom full of rowdy and/or talkative children (or teenagers in this case) can be silenced. The most common ones are the teacher calling for attention. Another is special guests walking through the door. And another is in-classroom surprises, in this case and in this classroom, the Prank King striking again. (How the name came to be is unknown but legend stated that Kaito Kuroba himself spread and promoted the title, which fitted him well, if he do say so himself.)

What had just transpired had been nothing less than silence- inducing shock. The blond detective was dressed in all pink, hair and dress, yes, dress with frills and everything. But that was not new; the Brit was always a target for the Prank King. The substitute teacher, Ookami-sensei, had his hair and skin dyed as well. But that was also nothing new; the King always humiliated the teachers. What was new and the reason for the silence was that the Prank King himself was pranked and by who.

Aoko stood there dumfounded at the desk where her childhood friend should have been; instead, sat that reason with his purple color additions as he grinned and leaned back on the chair. That devil-may- care smirk tempered a bit as he looked at Aoko. He then gave a simple clap. "Bravo, Magician-san. You really had me in trouble there." The smugness was just radiating off him.

As for Hakuba… he was having a mild breakdown over the fact that he was pranked again and that he may have been wrong in his deductions. Specifically that Ookami-sensei may be the Phantom Thief that he accused Kuroba-kun in being.

He didn't understand this at all! Was he wrong about Kuroba-kun being Kid? If that was the case… then what about all of his other cases? He gave a hard glance at the teacher, who blinked and gave a sidelong look at the Brit. And then he did the most damnable (Pardon his language) thing possible; he grinned. That wasn't unusual. No, it purposely reminded him of that annoying Magician under the Moonlight. The glare darkened; the grin widened.

"I'm impressed at the transformation, Kuroba-kun. If no one knows who he is then he would definitely look like a pretty young lady." An amused laugh radiated around the room. A series of British curses can be heard inside Hakuba's head and felt radiating off of him in waves. The grin dialed up in wattage.

"Ookami-sensei?"

"Oh, Nakamouri-san," the teacher turned back to the girl. "The statue should be moving momentarily."

It was at this moment that said statue gave off another sound, this time full of amusement. With no words, Kuroba carefully placed the attendance sheet on the table (He had taken an unusual long time looking at the paper.) He quietly looked at his hands and clothes and sighed. With a bow, he snapped his fingers and the whole classroom once again filled with smoke. A series of coughs and smoke scatter later had the teacher and the student returning to their original places, minus the color additions. Hakuba was unfortunately still wearing that dress. After that Ookami-sensei clapped his hands together. Aoko blinked, stared at her childhood friend then rushed back to her seat before he began.

"Already, class, I must admit that was a fun beginning to this day, but I'm afraid that I must start teaching…" He raised an eyebrow. "May I help you Koizumi-san?" Indeed every head turned in the direction of the redhead near the back of the class. There was a rather sad look on her mildly tired face. Kaito privately wondered what was she up all night, maybe stirring up some witch's brew or something, cackling like mad with thoughts of getting 'her' Kaitou KID in her grasps. He suppressed a shudder.

"Can I speak to you alone, Sensei?" The teacher blinked and gave a quick glance to the magician. After a second of eye contact, he answered, turning his gaze on her, "After I do a little lesson first." She nodded, pleased. He nodded as well and picked up the book laying forgotten on the desk. Quickly flipping through the pages he frowned and then closed the book. He made a show of thinking then snapped his fingers. With a chalk in his hand and a sidelong glance at the detective, who felt a sense of foreboding, Ookami-sensei started to write on the board. Curious whispers circulated around the classroom as fellow students wondered what the teacher was planning; some wanting another magic trick. Those 'some' were unfortunately silenced by the strangely fuming Brit. What is he planning? Why is he here, if he really is Kid? Is it just to mock me? His fist began to shake silently, helpfully hidden in his cumbersome bright dress.

The moment the playful teacher stopped writing on the board and showed the class, everyone stared. He didn't bother erasing his name and had instead written three simple sentences, in English, above it. Those who could understand it, a very few that include Kuroba and Hakuba, blinked in surprised. Rage was the only thing the half-Brit can feel; Kuroba just looked very amused. "I have just written three sentences on the board, these are more to gauge your knowledge then an actual lesson. I suspect that most of you can read these romanji and so, except for Hakuba-kun, I want someone to read them to the best of your ability. I also want you to tell me the subject, object and verb if there is any and translate it to Japanese. Let's start with you." He points to a female student two seats behind Hakuba. She nervously rose from her seat.

"An so, za batooru biginsu. Za porisu waru feeru waaru za shiifusu waru sakkushiido. Pooru ditekkuchibusu!"

"Good, good! But enunciate a bit more." The teacher-thief pointed to a male student at the left side of the room, who also nervously rose, and read the words, albeit a bit better than the first. He chose two more students until finally he chose the manically grinning Kaito. At being picked he confidently rose from his seat, and with a flourish said, with a glance at the detective,

"And so the battle begins. The police will fail while the thieves will succeed. Poor Detectives!" He looked at Ookami-sensei expectantly.

"Excellent!" the teacher clapped, which sparked showers of confetti all over the prankster's desk. The four students who answered before gasped to see a small pile of candy on theirs. "That's for trying! Now for grammar!" He pointed at Aoko, who rose slowly.

She fidgeted for a bit before answering, "The first two sentences have just the subject and the verb. The first sentence has 'battle' as the subject and 'begins' as the verb. The second has 'police' and 'thieves' as the subjects and 'will fail' and 'will succeed' as the verbs. The third sentence is an exclamation." She stared at Ookami-sensei. He snapped his fingers and a small bouquet of flowers appeared in her hands with a poof! The unruly-haired teen glared at him, who smiled back. Ookami-sensei then pointed, expectedly, at the Brit, "Can you translate these for me?"

With a glare that could melt iron and a pointed refusal to rise from his seat, clutching the dress for all its worth, he muttered, loud enough to be heard, "Soshite, tatakai ga hajimarimasu. Dorobō wa seikō shimasuga, keisatsu wa shippai shimasu. Mazushī tantei!" Eyes widened in realization and small looks were turned the blonde's way which were quickly sidelined by the tranquil fury radiating off him in waves.

Grinning and outright ignoring the murderous look he was receiving, the teacher turned to Koizumi-san and nodded. With a returning nod, the red-head walked out the door with him following. When the door slid closed, the tense quiet room exploded.

"Wow, Kuroba! That was a neat trick!"

"Did you involve Ookami-sensei, too?"

"Do you know each other?"

The magician grinned for all his worth and answered each with an air of grace. Noticing the contemplative look on the detective, and wondering to himself what that witch wanted with the teacher, he strolled over to Hakuba's desk and sat on it. The Brit twitched and looked up.

"Hakuba-kun?" The teen seemed to be hesitating, thoughts swirling around his head. I wonder what's wrong.

Appearing to come to a painful decision, he stared at Kaito, and murmured, "I apologize for trying to accuse you for being Kid."

What…

Blinking hard, the magician waited for the punch line…. It didn't come. "Do my ears deceive me? Has a certain 'I'm always right' detective finally admits he had made a mistake?" Hakuba grumbled and sunk lower into his seat, hampered by the dress.

"Can you change me back now?"

"No, that's punishment for mocking me. I wonder what changed you mind? It's not like…!" Kaito schooled his expression into one of pure shock. "You don't thi-!"

BAM! The slight rattle of the blurry window out the door caused a few of the students, Hakuba, Aoko, and Kaito included, to rush out to see Ookami-sensei staring at Akako with a blank expression while the witch herself, leaning against that window, looked at the 'teacher' with slightly wide eyes.

"Sensei?"

The bi-speckled teacher turned in their direction. Those scary shiny glasses returned as he walked to the door. "I'm sorry to disturb your little break, kids. It seems our chat is over, Koizumi-san, so if you please." He gave a graceful bow and gestured towards the door. The witch gave a slight twitch, flicking her hair back (and getting most of the boys in the class to swoon.), and walked past him to the door, but not before muttering something that caused one of his eyebrows to rise as he looked at her. Everyone else rushed to their seats as the teacher reentered. Kaito frowned slightly at the two as they took their respective positions. What was that noise? It sounded like something was slammed hard into the wall. And the way the two looked…. Did that witch did or say something to him to anger him? He didn't know and this day was not the day to ask that much. The witch will not be ruining this day of days.

He needs a little pick-me-up, and Kaito did not like that blank expression on his face. It was now his turn. It will start with his hand raised.

"Kuroba-kun?"

Rising and staring hard at the Ookami-sensei, he purred in a curtain woman's voice, "'Are you okay, Oo-ka-mi-san ~? You seem worried, I'll make it aaall better~!" And with a poof, smoke surrounded the teen to reveal a brown-haired woman with rather large assets…. Most of the boys gaped and swooned louder at the figure while the girls cried in shock. Hakuba's eyes twitched. It twitched again when 'she' blew a kiss in the teacher's direction.

"BAKAITO! WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?" shrieked Nakamouri-chan. The Brit wondered himself. But the actual surprise was the teacher. His glasses fogged up and went a little askew, as he gave a very goofy grin at 'her'. He suddenly appeared in front of the long haired brunet 'woman'. Even Kuroba-kun blinked in the near teleportation. He eyed her near hungrily and then blinked, staring specifically at his chest. He poked one of those … assets. Aoko nearly sputtered in indignation at the gesture. Kaito blinked curiously at him.

"Anything wrong, Ookami-san?"

"She's an F not a D. Your hair is about a few centimeters too short, and her eyes are a slightly lighter brown." But he nodded as he continued to mutter only to the person in front of him, "So realistic though, nearly got me."

"YOU CAN TELL?" the magician somewhat squeaked. Dejected, Kaito pulled off the disguise and sat back in his seat… just as he jumped up and over a mop swing from a now enraged Aoko. With the Mop and Chase going on again, the English teacher quietly looked at the chase in actual wonder. It was not surprising in Hakuba's opinion. The teacher's first encounter involved a near head injury and an introduction late in the end.

The Brit wondered what that look was that Ookami-sensei gave the disguised Kuroba-kun. It looked like lust; but why? It might be that he knew that appearance… But if that's the case, how the magician had knew about her…. It was leading credence to the solution being that they knew each other… And this was starting to bother him, if he believed that this man was Kid. He frowned; there was something off about this day.

To the ex-blonde's horror, he noticed the dark grin on the magician's face with a sense of foreboding (he's been feeling a lot of these lately). Oh bother, Kuroba-kun, what are you up to now?

Kaito landed in front of Ookami-sensei and just as Aoko swung, vanished with a poof, ending up with the teacher once again a target for the female brunet's wrath-swing.

WHACK!

The classroom winced at the resounding hit and a pointed silence could be felt as Aoko stood there dumbstruck with a vengeful Kaito appearing next to her. Hakuba was surprised to see the teacher… Kid… hit on the dead center of his forehead; he would have expected him to dodge like before.

"Ookami-sensei?" chirped Kuroba-kun sarcastically.

"Oh no! Gomenasai!" cried Nakamouri-chan as she pulled back and bowed twice. Both teens frowned at the frozen man, Kuroba-kun going so far as to poke him. "Ookami-sensei?"

The man's body shuddered and to the horrified stares of the students, ballooned then burst, showering everyone with hand-sized odd-shaped somethings. Scowling at the newest trick, the detective picked that something up from his desk.

And blinked.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!"

He saw the normally grinning magician doing a very good impression of a person in the middle of a seizure. Left eye twitching, a full body shaking and quivering lips giving off whimpers… wait…. Hakuba stared once again at the item in his hands. It can't be….

A… toy… fish…?

The entire classroom was covered with the toys. Kuroba-kun's twitching became more violent until his eyes rolled back and he crumpled in a heap.

"Kaito-kun!" cried some of the students.

"Kaito!" cried Nakamouri-chan.

"My, my, that was unexpected!" The classroom gasped and turned to the back of the class where indeed the teacher casually leaned on the wall. There was amusement that overrode the shock on his voice and face. Walking to the front of the room, he gave an innocent blink. Bending down, he straightened the boy until he was face up on the floor. With that infuriating grin, he snapped his fingers. Most of the toys vanished with a poof, leaving the few surrounding Kuroba-kun.

"Chop, chop," chirped the man as he clapped. Low whirs were heard as the things began to move, circle around the unconscious magician, and drove under him. He clapped again and the teen rose a few centimeters. "Nakamouri-san, it seems our playtime is over," he said with a slight pout. "I've broken the poor fellow, so can you guide my toys to the nurse's office?" At her dubious expression, he added, "Don't worry! They're very capable. As punishment for your antics today, you two will receive extra homework, understand? I am planning on visiting him later, so I'll tell him later when he wakes up."

"Hai," Nakamouri-chan nodded. She and the rest watched as the prankster was carted out of the classroom; she followed.

Clapping for the student's attention, Ookami-sensei said with a faint smile, "We only have about twenty minutes of class left, so please open your textbook to page…"

Hakuba tuned out the rest of his lecture, thoughts and theories swirling in his head. Placing his evidence in a bullet point pattern he came out with a few facts about what in the world just happened this moment….

A) The introduction of the substitute teacher

B) The bombshell that he was acting like and was most likely Kaitou Kid

C) Kuroba-kun's tricks were a little more flair-ish

D) Ookami-sensei not only reversing the tricks but actually 'one-upping' the magician

E) How both of them looked like they knew each other

F) Ookami-sensei's name, very unusual

G) The teacher's statement that their 'playtime' was over

The Britton pinched his nose. He hasn't figured out anything yet but if he had to guess…

Kuroba-kun and Ookami-sensei were competing with each other with pranks at the expense of the class.

… A vein made its presence known on the side of the teen's head.

… Oh, those two will pay dearly, mark his words!

- That's the end. For those of you wondering about the actual sentence, it's "そして、戦いが始まります。泥棒は成功しますが、警察は失敗します。貧しい探偵 ！" Right now I have checked and rechecked to have that be as accurate as possible.

- I adore the fact that people are favorite-ing and alerting this story, but please review.

- In the next chapter, as we rewind the clock, in a span of one hour, Ran is suspicious … again, a death is announced and a dark past comes to haunt. See you next time on CvKvL!