Conan clutched the rooftop railing as he watched Kaitou Kid glide through the sky, once again slipping through his fingers with a successful heist. It was always like that. Kid always won. It didn't matter what detective or force he went up against, he never lost. Sure, he might not get the jewel, but it was in his possession once and it wasn't a victory until the thief was caught. Until then, they'd always lose.

He didn't know how the phantom thief did it. He was prepared for everything, down to the last detail. Dodging the Nakamori-keibu and his unit easily, he only seemed to be slowed by three people: Hakuba, Heiji, and himself. Even when the three were teamed up, he won.

And, like always, he'd go home after a failure all depressed and bummed, only for Ran to try and cheer him up, saying that they'd get the slippery thief next time. Conan knew that she meant well and always felt better after those few words.

Ran could always do that to him, calm him down. She was a calming presence to him, a sister. During the time he was shrunk, he realized he loved Ran, but not in the way she loved him. He loved her as a sister, not as a girlfriend. It always hurt him to hear her and Sonoko talk about her asking him out when he returns, knowing full well that he would hurt her by turning her down.

He had thought he was in love with Ran once upon a time, but it's as they say: detectives are oblivious to their own emotions. He had never really loved anyone in the type that Ran loved him. His strong feeling of like towards the Mouri girl had him interpret it as attraction. He felt guilty, stupid and pathetic about only realizing it now, when he was technically a child and not when he was nearly an adult. Only when he gained an even stronger feeling towards another did he discover the mistake.

It had been two years since he was shrunk, and Haibara was indeed getting closer and closer to the antidote, but she was taking too long! In this shrunken form, it was impossible to be with the one he truly loved. Yes, that person knew he was Kudo Shinichi and treated him as such, but he didn't see him as his real age, he only saw him as Conan. He didn't see him as Shinichi.

Kaitou Kid…

The only thing that's ever escaped his grasp, the only person that can outsmart him in a battle of wits and win by a landslide, he was the only thing that was out of his reach. It never ceased to amaze him when the Kid would show up with nearly impossible to gain information, like his shrinking for example.

The phantom would send a riddle and Shinichi would crack it, meeting the thief at the exact time in the exact place, staring into those dark lavender eyes and that confident smirk before, once again, the phantom would fly away from him, jumping into the sky an soar…reaching a place he never could.

Kaitou Kid was an enigma. It was only after the first year of his shrinkage did he realize his true feelings for the phantom thief and he started to realize something was changing. Heists were more often, almost monthly and sometimes weekly. Why? Why'd he steal then return the gem after?

Shinichi knew very well that Kaitou was looking for something and that someone didn't want him to find it. After one heist, he remembered the horrifying feeling of deep coldness and emptiness when he heard the silent gunshot and the red that flew out of the Kid's shoulder. He'd never panicked so much in his life, feeling that somehow the thief would die before him, would die and leave him. Surprisingly, Kid quickly got up and tossed the gem back to him, proving it wasn't that gem, it wasn't the one he was searching for and he vanished once again, leaving Conan behind.

It was then that he realized the real situation. Whatever Kaitou was looking for, someone would kill to get it first. The thief was in danger, yet he was still looking for his target despite that. What horrified him even more was that the likelihood of Kid disappearing when he found his intended target was high, too high for Shinichi's comfort. He found himself worried, nervous that the next heist would be it and the game of cat and mouse would come to a permanent end.

That's why he chases him. He can't let him find that gem or get killed. If he catches the Kid, then he'd be one step closer to being with the thief. He knew he had false hope; after all, this was Kaitou Kid he was in love with. This was the one that flirted with his fangirls endlessly. He was probably as straight as a board. Besides, why would he notice Conan if he looked like he was seven?

So until he was normal again, he'd keep chasing. Until he was fully Shinichi again, he'd keep solving. Until the thief was in his grasp, he'd never give up. And every time that he slips through his fingers he'll just be that much more prepared next time. Kid was in a place he couldn't reach yet, but he won't stop until he can. Until he can reach the sky like him, he'd keep on trying.

Kid once told Ran that it was fitting for a thief to steal even love. Well, who says that a detective can't play the thief once and a while?

Rage: Hoped you liked it. Review please!