Hi again~! I'm so sorry that my updates are slow. :( I was going to update in August, but I joined the swim team. Now that I've quit (for family reasons), I'll have more time to write, I think. I mean I just watched Lupin III vs Detective Conan, just because, and now I'm SUPER pumped to write more for you all~! :D

Please enjoy~!

Chapter Name: Nante Utsukushii Hoshi

Normal POV

The night of the heist arrived quickly. It had been a slight issue convincing Ran and Kogoro to let him go when it was so late on a school night, but he managed. What mattered was that he got an apology from KID because of it; the full moon couldn't be controlled, after all.

"This heist isn't even in Beika and you're still here?!" Nakamori-keibu yelled over the sounds of excited KID fans screaming and chanting for the thief's success. An angry tick made itself visible on his temple.

Conan laughed nervously and held up the invite. "Shukatanai… right?" He shrugged, a smile frozen on his features.

Suzuki Star Hotel's security came out of the front doors at that point, and began to herd the fans and reporters outside the gates. Using this as a distraction, Conan slipped inside the building and away from Nakamori-keibu's angry speeches.

Police officers surrounded the lobby. As expected, security is tight throughout the entire building. Conan thought to himself. As he walked further inside and became visible, a sudden hush fell over the officer's chattering and they became still.

"The KID Killer came…?" He heard an officer whisper.

"This is all the way in Adachi, so why?"

Conan ignored them all, despite the gazes on him, and walked into the elevator across the room. He didn't breathe until he was inside, however. Sometimes, he wasn't sure how Division 2 felt about him. He couldn't tell if they only put up with him because of his work or not.

At the end of the day, it didn't really matter though. KID had invited him, and that was enough in and of itself. It was also a bit exciting.

He went out of his way to drag me all the way out to Adachi with the Hakase watching me, so this better be a damn good heist. He thought to himself, humming as the elevator took him to one of the top floors. Despite that, Conan had a feeling KID was thinking something along the same lines.

When he arrived on the floor where the Emerald Etude was being showcased, Conan stepped back and allowed the officers to their work, running checks and making sure that everyone was prepared for the thief's show.

The chibi tantei resisted the urge to cheat and find KID before the notice time using the Red Strings, partially because he refused to acknowledge that they connected in the first place, but mostly because he enjoyed a challenge. He leaned against the wall comfortably and waited the ten minutes until the start time.

"TWO MINUTES!" An officer shrieked loudly over the noise of the men chattering. Conan didn't usually watch the guards too much (he tried to attend the meeting right before the heist for planning), but he had noticed that whenever the two minute warning was sent out, all units would move into their final positions and preparations would stop. Conan thought it strange that they had to keep getting ready until the very last minutes, but in a way, it was also very commendable.

"ONE MINUTE!" Another voice called out, and Nakamori-keibu readied his megaphone.

The tension in the atmosphere was thick and seemed to weigh heavily on everyone's shoulders. Conan had involuntarily tensed up his muscles as his watch told him that there were 30 seconds left. It was dead silent, as if he were in a small, soundproof box. He couldn't hear anyone breathing, and not a single radio went off in the room as all the people anticipated the night's events, some hoping to finally catch KID and others wondering why they were even assigned to this division in the first place.

"Ten…" An officer next to Nakamori-keibu called out softly. The atmosphere became heavy enough to choke on it.

"Seven…" Conan touched his bowtie and watch, checking to make sure his weapons were ready.

"Four…"

The room tensed as two voices called out the next number, one the tense seriousness of the officer and and the other the cocky voice of certain thief. "Three…" The officer yelped.

"Two!" Just KID's voice echoed through the room, seeming to come from every direction at once. Conan stood erect and ready.

"One~!"

There was the sound of an explosion when smoke suddenly glided through the room, swallowing everything in it's path. Music began playing at a loud volume, and officers began yelling loudly.

When the smoke cleared, KID was standing in his favorite spot: on top of the show case.

"Gentlemen and child," He began in an elegant tone, laughing at the end of his sentence as he waved lightly to Conan. "It is with great pleasure that I perform this magic show for you tonight!"

"It's no good, Nakamori-keibu!" An officer yelled. "The radio channels are all blaring 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star', as well as the hotel's PA system!"

KID laughed cockily before smirking his signature smirk and saying, "Correct~! I didn't want any interruptions before the show was over~!"

"GET HIM!" Nakamori-keibu screamed into the megaphone (as if it wasn't loud enough), pointing a finger at the thief.

Various colors exploded in the room as the thief waved a finger at the officers, still smirking. The first few officers and the keibu that had reacted to the order were tied together with a rope in the middle of the room. "Ah, ah~ I can't have you interrupting just yet, Keibu-san!" Suddenly his expression changed. "Unless… you and your friends were just volunteering? In that case, say something other than 'get him'!" The thief laughed heartily. "Let's begin!"

The lights shut off all at once when the magician snapped his fingers. Suzuki Star Hotel had its own little world on a bit of land, just enough to get them away from the city lights. The harvest moon, now tiger blood orange, was visible through the floor to ceiling windows behind KID.

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star changed to a piano version on the speakers and radios and the volume was lowered a bit. "Here we go~!" KID sing-songed happily as two spotlights flashed on. One was on KID and the case, and the other on Nakamori-keibu and his officers.

"KID!" Nakamori-keibu roared as he bucked against the ropes, unknowingly hurting the other officers tied to him. An X of duct tape appeared over his mouth and the officers sighed with relief.

Conan returned his attention to KID with a sharp gaze as the magician began humming along to the song before grinning. "Three… Two… One!"

Suddenly the ceiling above came to life. Thousands of small, blue lights began glowing, very similar to fireflies. In the next second, KID raised his arms, as if he was going to hug someone, and the small lights fell slowly, like snow. He resumed his humming at the gasps of awe with a satisfied smirk. "Now for my volunteers~!" He sang, and a small smoke bomb went off around the officers.

"Now, I wonder where they all disappeared to?" KID questioned, tilting his head with his false wondering tone. "Hai, kimi~." He said, pointing to an officer as if this were a class and he were the teacher. The officer hadn't been raising his hand, so KID must be one of those teachers.

"U-Uhh…" The officer stammered out as he struggled to come up with an answer. "I don't know…" He deflated.

"Thanks for trying," he nodded almost sympathetically as the stars continued to fall. "Next?" None of the officers moved. "Hmm, no one? Jaa, Tantei-kun?" The thief turned to his rival, who had been watching silently.

Conan met his eyes and smirk past the falling stars before his eyes darted around the room. "The ceiling?" He suggested. Ever since the heist had started, 'up' had been a reoccuring theme. Go up to the top floor. Look up to the moon. Look up at KID towering over everyone from his place on the case. Look up at the stars.

"Seikai~!" KID began applauding. A puff of smoke once more and a few more spotlights came on.

The room froze as several officers and Nakamori-keibu were lowered by ropes among the falling stars, just out of reach from the officers on the ground. Nakamori-keibu was dressed like a prima ballerina on a music box, strings holding him into an arabesque pose. His legs making a 90 angle and one arm reaching gently above his head. The other officers were dressed in bulky foam star costumes, all in gold or silver colors.

Conan couldn't help himself- he let out a snort in a lame attempt to smother his laughter behind his hands. Nakamori-keibu began screaming behind his tape. Conan's laughter seemed to set fire to the gasoline because the room erupted into various forms of laughter. Boisterous, nervous, "my sides hurt", "I'm gonna pee stop", "I can't stop laughing because the guy next to me is laughing", and finally "I can't even stand". Conan was in the last category, leaning on the wall with one hand supporting him and another over his mouth as he struggled to calm down.

But the image of the Keibu in a big, sparkly, and very very pink tutu matched with pale shimmering stockings, the proper leotard piece, and what looked like real ballet shoes kept flashing in his mind. Conan looked away and screwed his eyes shut, taking deep breaths. He removed his glass and wiped his eyes before returning his attention to KID an- he was no longer on the case.

He was no longer on the case. The thought took a moment to process before he sucked in a breath and shouted. "KID's gone!"

The laughter stopped abruptly and the squad's attention was switched back to the stand.

"The emerald is gone!" An officer yelled in alarm.

This calls for drastic measures. Conan cupped his hands around his mouth after tinkering with his bowtie. "YOU FOOLS! AFTER HIM! GET ALL UNITS SEARCHING FOR THAT THIEF!" He called out in Nakamori's voice.

The men all scattered like teenagers at a party when caught, scampering through all the exits. The music stopped and the radios returned to normal. Conan swiped one off an officer as he ran past and used his bow tie to talk into the device. He stayed out of hearing range and sight from the men hanging from the ceiling. "Unit 1, activate the anti-KID security measures!"

"Unit 1, ryōkai!" Was the response. A siren began wailing and red lights flashed as metal shutters slammed down on all the outer exits and windows. The exit to the room was also sealed.

Conan stepped out of the shadows and looked up at the ceiling of the display room again. He cocked his head up at Nakamori-keibu.

"Done yet?" The faux child asked.

Nakamori-keibu nodded his head and in a poof of smoke, he disappeared off the rope and returned to his original costume, his top hat and mantel.

"When did you figure it out?"

"Nakamori-keibu" picked off his mustache gently, with one and holding the other side of his face.

"You want to hear from the beginning?" Conan smirked.

The thief looked around the room and shrugged. "Looks like I'm not going anywhere… so sure." He nodded with a grin before sitting on the floor indian style.

Conan pattered over to the thief and sat across from him, sitting the same way. The thief magicked playing cards and poker chips onto the floor between them with a grin. The detective rolled his eyes as the smirking idiot began dealing.

"I first noticed your presence when I got onto the elevator." Conan began as he scanned his hand with a smooth poker face.

"Acha!" KID slammed a hand to his forehead. "You really did notice, didn't you?"

"Atarimaida, barou." Conan deadpanned. "Nakamori-keibu does have 20 years worth of chasing KID, ya know? There's no way he would leave an elevator unguarded like that." The thief took note of how the child had said 'chasing KID' instead of 'chasing you' with slight discomfort.

"For it to be empty when the lobby was already guarded meant that you were in the middle of switching with the police officer in there when the elevator began moving due to my call. You rushed to hoist both yourself and the unconscious officer up on top of the elevator, which I know because there was a fresh shoe scuff mark on the elevator's support handles… people don't usually put their feet there."

"Nothing gets past you, does it, Tantei-kun?" KID said, playing a card.

"When I knew that you were going to hide as an inside man, it was obvious you were going to be in the display room before the notice time, waiting." Conan continued as he set a card down as well. "You switched with Nakamori-keibu later, so that you were on the ceiling the whole time."

"Eh~? How do you figure?" The Emerald Etude appeared among the poker chips, and the stakes rose higher.

Conan merely glanced at it before looking back at KID and then his hand. "Because you noticed his knee too." He replied with a nonchalant shrug. "Nakamori-keibu has been walking around with a slight limp all night. It's not very visible… in fact, it might just be old age or stress causing it, but knowing your personality, I knew you weren't going to force him to do ballet poses that could potentially aggravate it." The detective smiled genuinely. "Despite everything you put this squad through, you still take good care of everyone here."

KID grinned at his rival. "Wouldn't it have been easier if I had just switched his role to a star instead of the ballerina and let someone else fill in for him?"

Conan rolled his eyes. "You couldn't because all the other officers are dummies." He responded as he glanced up at the ceiling. He moved a few chips and the jewel closer to himself. "There's no way you didn't know about the security system here. You also knew I was going to set it off, meaning you didn't want anyone in here while we…" Conan was momentarily stumped.

"Faced off? Went head to head?" KID suggested with a smirk.

Conan blushed lightly out of embarrassment. The radio at his side suddenly began screaming much more loudly than it had been going this entire time. "KID has been spotted escaping by glider from the roof! He's heading east!"

The chibi-tantei grabbed the radio. "Send all helicopters and standby cars east!"

"Ryōkai!" Came several voices.

"Oi oi, first pick-pocketing and now helping an internationally wanted thief? I think you picked the wrong occupation, Tantei-kun." KID shook his head and laughed at him.

Conan's embarrassed blush grew heavier. "Sh-Shut up! I was just saying what Nakamori-keibu would have said if he was here now!"

"Hai, hai, whatever you say, Kaitou-kun." He teased, very much enjoying the redness crawling up the child's neck and coloring his cheeks.

"Oi!" Conan yelled sharply. He set a card down and picked up another one. "Anyway, when it became clear that you wanted to stay in here, I just followed along." He said, getting back to the conversation before the radio had interrupted them.

"What makes you think I wanted to stay here?" KID cocked his head to the side.

Conan tilted his head cutely as well (which KID grinned at because it meant that Conan's attention was completely centered on him) and replied, "Like I said earlier, there's no way you didn't know about the metal shutters. We both know that if you really wanted to, you could leave right now." Conan smirked and let his sentence hang in the air for a moment.

Suddenly, the room's entrance lifted and officers stormed in and surrounded the pair. "Oi oi, there's no way you that was a coincidence." KID deadpanned. "You planned some other things and timed that perfectly, didn't you?"

Conan shrugged. "'Send all helicopters and standby cars east' was actually code for 'surround the room you last saw Nakamori-keibu in'."

"So you knew I was going to disguise as Nakamori-keibu before all of this?" KID pouted. "And you knew my dummy was going to fly east because of the winds, right?"

"You've made picking the weakest officer to disguise as a habit, and yes." Conan answered as he set down card and picked up another. "When I heard that Nakamori-keibu had a limp this morning, but everyone else was in full health, I used Agasa-Hakase to ask if we could try the code."

KID let out a low whistle. "Nothing gets past you, Tantei-kun." He grinned. "Let's finish up, shall we? These officers are staring at me like a pack of hungry wolves." He let out a false shiver. Or a real one. Conan couldn't tell. "Four of a kind." KID set down his cards.

Conan set down his with a triumphant smirk. "Royal Flush." He purred lowly in his adult voice.

The thief shivered before sighing. "Kono shoubu is Tantei-kun's win. The Emerald Etude is yours." He shook his head. "But don't assume you'll have the lead for long." His smirk grew slightly with excitement and insanity. "Well." He looked up at the officers still surrounding the pair.

"Kaito KID! You are under arrest for several breaking and enterings and robbery!" An officer began.

KID interrupted with an irritated huff. "How rude. It's not breaking and entering if I never break anything. It's just entering." He pouted. "Either way, I don't really have time to play around with everyone anymore! We have to wrap this up quickly so Conan-kun here can go to bed~!"

"Move, KID, and I will shoot." Conan said darkly, holding up his wristwatch. The crosshair was up and ready.

"Uwaa, I think I struck a nerve!" KID cried falsely as he threw his hands up. An officer behind him cuffed one hand before the thief closed his free hand into a fist. He opened it slowly until a bright pink ball appeared. "Gihi~!" He laughed before the group was blinded by a bright pink flash.

Everyone threw their hands over their eyes. "Kuso!" Conan bit out as he squinted against the light and looked for KID.

The thief appeared in front of him and Conan momentarily flashbacked to the April Fool's day they met on. "Let's play again when you can come up with better plans than this." He teased.

"Invite me again when you can come up with better notice riddles." Conan shot back heatedly.

KID chuckled. "Touchè." He said before disappearing, a single flower left behind. Conan now held both the pea flower and the Emerald Etude in his hands, surrounded by questions from the officers.

Let's just say that despite KID's efforts, Conan didn't get to go to bed as soon as he would have liked to.

OMAKE

This calls for drastic measures. Conan cupped his hands around his mouth as a microphone. "KAITOU KID IS A FAKE MAGICIAN!"

Somewhere in the crowd, a voice responded with, "WhAt tHE FLYING FUCK DID YOu JusT SAY, YOu HOlmES FREAK?!"

"THERE HE IS! KID! GRAB HIM!"

OWARI

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I had a blast writing this heist, honestly! Please drop a review and tell me how I did! Also, please note I have absolutely no idea how to play poker, but I do know that the Royal Flush ranks above Four of a Kind so don't read into it too much. XD

Everlasting Pea: An appointed meeting, lasting pleasure

Thanks for reading~!

~Crescent T.