Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan/Case Closed.

Lure

Chapter 13 - Step One

The little gold ball spun into the dish, and the man behind the counter rang the bell. "We have a winner!"

"Yes!" Ran cheered. Smiling happily, she accepted the envelope and complementary keychain from the man running the booth. This particular prize, a one-week stay at a vacation resort for four, was being offered at multiple such booths around the city, but each booth offered only one package. She'd had to go to three of them before finding one where someone else hadn't gotten the prize first. But her hard work had paid off. This trip was going to be the perfect opportunity to get her parents back together!

Tucking the envelope continuing the vacation vouchers into her bag, she hooked the keychain featuring the resort mascot onto the handle and set off down the street. Behind her, half of the substantial line of other hopefuls intending to test their luck heaved disappointed sighs and dispersed.

The package was for four people though. That meant she had an extra voucher. So who should she give it to?

A certain detective popped into her head almost instantly. Shinichi was always so busy, running around after criminals in addition to his studies. She'd noticed how he often had dark circles under his eyes and a cup of coffee in his hands (though admittedly he would probably have the coffee no matter what else was going on. He just loved the stuff that much). Of all the people she knew, he was definitely one of the most in need of a good vacation. He would probably also appreciate the temporary escape from the areas where the media hounds were still searching for him.

Nodding to herself, she changed the direction of her steps to head for Shinichi's house. On second thought, she changed direction again, choosing instead to head for the café the detective had been using as a hideaway.

The sight of a familiar cowlick in the corner of the café proved that she had made the right decision. Today, Shinichi had a textbook open before him instead of case files, but he looked just as engrossed in the material as he would have been if it had been a case.

Not wanting to startle him, Ran cleared her throat before sitting down. "Hey Shinichi. Do you have a moment?"

Blue eyes blinked across the table at her before recognition dawned. "Oh, Ran. Did you need something?"

"I just got these vouchers for a week's stay at a vacation resort," she explained, pulling out the envelope and dumping said passes on the table. "The offer is for four, so I have an extra. I was thinking you could have it."

"Oh, uh, thanks. But I have a lot of work—"

"That's exactly why I'm giving it to you. Every time I see you, you look tired. You could really use the break."

"…" The detective wasn't entirely sure whether to be grateful or protest. He didn't work that much, did he? He was just doing what had to be done after all. Okay, so sometimes that meant staying up late and all that, but it wasn't like he didn't find the occasional spare hour or day for personal things like reading and spending time with…

Feeling his face turning pink, he hurried to pick up the passes, holding them up to hide his face. He looked them over while he was at it and blinked. "But these passes are only for two rooms,"

"Yep. Mom, Dad, and I will take one, and you can have the other."

"Your parents aren't going to agree to that."

"They don't have a choice," Ran said airily, a dangerous gleam in her eyes. Shinichi shivered, suddenly feeling sorry for the two in question. "That's why I'm giving you the pass for the second room now. If I only have the one pass then there won't be a second room for either of them to run off to." Ran's face set into an expression that was both triumphant and grimly determined. "This time I'm going to force them to spend time together! And I'll be there to make sure no one gets in the way this time."

Shinichi had his doubts about the soundness of the plan. For one, Ran's mother was a very successful lawyer who was more than capable of simply getting her own room at the resort if push came to shove. On the other hand, mentioning the many holes in her plan to Ran would probably be a suicidal move when she was so fired up about it. So he took the voucher she held out to him with a somewhat sheepish smile.

"I guess some time away does sound nice."

-0-

"Moshi moshi."

"Kaito?"

"Ah, Aoko. Such a pleasure to hear your beautiful voice again." Signaling for the tech crew members helping him adjust the theater lights to take a short break, he stepped to the side of the stage with his cell. "So to what do I owe this honor?"

"I was wondering if I could meet you for lunch. There's something I need to talk to you about."

The magician glanced at his watch. It was just two minutes to noon. "Ah, I would love to, but I'm afraid I still have a lot of loose ends to tie up for my show tomorrow. Can it wait?"

"That's what you said the last six times I asked to see you too." He could hear the scowl in her voice. "Are you avoiding me?"

"Oh come on Aoko, you said yourself that I'm a busy person. I would never avoid you."

"Then you can at least spare five minutes to come out here and talk to me face to face."

"You're here?"

"I'm right outside the main doors. And if you say you don't have time for one short little talk then I'll never speak to you again!"

"Alright, alright, I'm coming. Jeez, no need to get so belligerent about it."

The line went dead. Smiling to himself, Kaito pocketed his phone and headed for the performance hall doors. Aoko's fiery temper was one of her most endearing qualities in his opinion. And it hadn't dulled at all over the years. He really was sorry that he hadn't been as in touch with her as he should be lately, but it was all for a good cause. He'd make it up to her when this was all over.

Aoko was indeed waiting for him just outside the theater's main doors. Her somewhat stony expression softened slightly when she saw him emerge.

"So what'd you want to talk to me about?" he asked.

"Keiko won these vouchers for a trip to a vacation resort, but she gave them to me because her family already has a trip planned for that time. So I was wondering if you wanted one of the passes. Since we haven't been able to meet up much lately what with classes and your shows, I thought it would be a great opportunity for us to do some catching up." She turned expectant eyes on him. "So?"

"When was this trip exactly?"

"The first week of next month."

"Beginning of next month, eh?" Kaito thought for a moment. "I don't have any shows scheduled for that week. There's one right after, but I should be able to get all the preparations done beforehand"

Aoko's face lit up. "So you'll go?"

He answered her smile with a grin of his own. "Sure. Sounds fun."

"Promise? You won't suddenly back out even if someone comes asking you to do a magic show at their new theater that week or something?"

He laughed. "I promise."

"Great. Here, let me get you your voucher then." She rummaged through her purse as she spoke. Pulling out her phone, keys, and an assortment of other items, she finally found what she was looking for. She handed the envelope to him. "Don't lose it."

"I won't," he said. His gaze, however, had zeroed in on the ornament attached to the young woman's keys. It was a rather cartoony fish patterned and colored like a koi complete with whiskers and large, watery eyes. "What the hell is that?"

Aoko followed his gaze down. "Oh, this? It's a keychain. Isn't it obvious?"

"Well yeah, but why are you using it? If you couldn't find anything better, I can help."

"What're you talking about? It's really cute."

Kaito scoffed. "Only a crazy person could think such a disgusting, bug-eyed monstrosity is cute."

"Hey, you of all people have no right to call someone crazy!"

The magician shrugged. "Whatever. So why do you have that thing anyway?"

"It represents the resort that Keiko won tickets to. So they gave one out with every set of vouchers. Keiko really liked it, but she said it would feel strange to use it when she isn't going to go herself. So she gave it to me and asked me to get her something else with the mascot on it for her from the resort. That way it'll mean something."

"Wait… That ugly thing represents the vacation resort you just invited me to?!"

"Well yes. It's a resort with an ocean theme. I think it's a little strange since koi aren't ocean fish, but I heard the owners insisted because they liked koi or something."

"Ahoko! Are you insane? Who in their right minds would want to go to an ocean-themed vacation resort?!" The way he pronounced the word "ocean" was rather more like how Aoko might have expected someone to pronounce the word "cockroach".

She gave her friend an exasperated look. "Just about everyone but you, probably."

"Then go and leave me out of it!"

"But you just agreed you'd go like five seconds ago!"

"That was before I found out just what kind of resort it was going to be! I'll bet you didn't tell me first on purpose."

"Bakaito!" Aoko stamped her foot. "I just want to spend some time together for once! Can't you understand that? Or do you not think of me as a friend anymore?"

The magician's jaw dropped. "What? No, of course I do! How can you even ask me that?"

"What do you expect me to think? You're never around anymore. And when you finally promise that you'll go on this trip with me, you end up breaking your promise just because of a stupid little theme! It's not like I'm asking you to go fishing. It's a resort! It just so happens to have an ocean theme. There are lots of things besides fish in the ocean." Aoko paused, breathing heavily after her outburst. "So are you going with me or not?"

Kaito didn't answer immediately. Aoko crossed her arms and glared. The magician eventually let out a resigned sigh. "Fine. I'll go."

The fierce expression on the young woman's face gave way to a smile. "Good. I'm sure we're all going to have fun."

"Wait. We?"

"Of course. You didn't think you were the only one I was inviting, did you? All the packages they're giving out are for four. You, me, my dad, and Saguru make four."

Kaito scowled. "I should've known. This is going to be the worst vacation ever."

Aoko turned dangerous eyes on him. "What was that?"

"Nothing, nothing." He shook his head to himself when the girl's back was turned. She sure was getting sneaky. On the other hand, everything was going exactly how he'd planned.

-TBC-