Kid vs united rivals. The Trap on the Sky.

Second day: Conclusion

"How? How?!"

Kaito grinned as the class discussed Kid's latest heist. So far, all social networks were talking about him nonstop, both about the interview revelations and the mysterious performance. It sure improved his self confidence. Maybe because of that, today he felt content while paying the paper of a good student.

"Bakaito. Keep smiling like that and you won't be able to eat my cooking for a week." A whisper, no more, but the message was strong and clear.

Kaito returned his attention to his best friend and, while maintaining his smile (she probably would've cooked him fish anyways, in the mood she is) he motioned for her to keep silent as their class hadn't finished yet, thought no one was really paying any attention. Some couldn't hide their giggles and others couldn't hide their admiration. It was a great day so far. Too bad the interview was ineffective, however, to make Aoko have a better opinion about his other self. If only she knew he was apologising mostly to her...

A folded piece of paper suddenly fell towards his table and a quick look towards his classmates explained who the one responsible was: Akako.

Sigh. 'What now?' He unfolded the paper.

'Meet me now on the rooftop. It's about tonight. No excuses.'

Kaito folded again the paper while suppressing a groan. Oh, how he wanted to avoid this... Still, he couldn't just run away from someone like her. Might as well get over with it...

The bell announcing the end of the class sounded, and Akako wasted no time leaving the class, successfully avoiding all her followers. Kaito stood up as well.

"Hey, Kaito... any ideas how he might have managed it?" Aoko asked, sounding beaten.

"Of course." Kaito announced, hating people doubting him. "I'm not going to tell, thought: a magician never reveals his secrets. Now, please excuse me as I go to the restroom." Aoko's hand successfully managed to keep him in place. She didn't look like her usual self.

"Kaito... please... can you tell me just this once?" She looked... stressed, to Kaito's amazement. Why? She's usually so light headed. He didn't like this.

"Why do you want to know?"

"I... it's just..." She bit her lips, feeling unsecure. "I don't know! I have a bad feeling... I think it may have something to do with tonight. Maybe Hakuba will steal my father's chance of unmasking Kid or maybe he's going to end up hurt or... I don't know... I feel like there's something I should be doing today that I'm not... could you stay with me today?"

Aoko...

Puff! A flower appeared out of nowhere.

"Its a buck beam: it signifies a calm response." Kaito smiled, while putting it on Aoko's hair. "You are thinking too much about this, Aoko. I told you yesterday why I can't be with you today, right? But, if it makes you feel any better you can keep the flower, okay? Just treat it nicely: it looks great on you." Aoko blushed. Kaito wasn't usually so handsome, was he?

"O... okay." She managed to whisper out.

"If you need anything ask Keiko, okay? Tell her you'll spend today at her house again." Aoko nodded, looking much better.

"Thanks."

"Now, wait for me outside okay? I won't be long."

Kaito made sure no one noticed where he was going as he reached the school deck. Once there, he closed the door and eyed Akako wearily as he got close to her. He still didn't trust her. Akako chuckled.

"I don't bite, you know?" She turned around, looking as a model extracted from a magazine while her hair blew around her.

"Of course not." 'You do, however, place spells and curses on whomever you want.'

"Listen, you... I just wanted to warn you since..." She sighted. Now THAT was unusual. Okay, maybe he should be worried for tonight. "I know whatever I'm going to say won't stop you from going at the heist tonight so listen carefully, unless you want to end up getting caught: tonight there will only be one fright. Only one. Understood? The police will either be your greatest ally or your biggest disadvantage. You have to stay calm and only worry about yourself or the situation will get bad. If you run as always, everything shall be successful and you'll have to worry about no one."

"Mmm... could you be a bit clearer?" Kaito wasn't sure how to take this. She was worried about him. She was obviously hiding something she didn't want him to know. But what?

"If I tell you more I'll be putting you in danger."

"In danger of... what? Who should I be aware of?"

"Just... don't lose your calm."

Keep your poker face intact.

Today would be a long night...

"Good night, citizens of Japan. Tonight we will witness the second performance of Kaitou Kid's magnificent ghost crossing trick. It seems like there's been some checkouts on the net and it's been revealed that, thought nothing seems unusual, at the very least no smoke bombs will be blocking today's events. Will Kaitou Kid's trick be revealed by doing so? Will we manage to get a better view at tonight's events? Jirokichi has decided to call for the assistance of a few police helicopters for aerial support, and have been keeping watch on the surroundings for quite a while now. They are also provided with cameras and lights to help us figure out the mistery of the Phantom Thief."

Nakamori sighted as he made sure all the members piloting the helicopters were his men and in no way Kid or his accomplice: he had taken it further than usual by asking them questions only he and them knew the answers of and asked them to keep an eye on any suspicious behaviour, including from himself.

"Tonight is the night! Tonight we will finally capture Kaitou Kid and find out who he is!" Nakamori declared, shouting as always. Jirokichi kept talking with his phone, also making sure everything was alright and giving instructions while the camera men kept themselves busy. In theory, today they would let Kid make his escape without fighting back, but that didn't mean they wouldn't try to figure out how his trick worked.

So far, Conan and Hakuba had no clue how he'd managed it.

"Could he have circled it? His previously placed smoke bombs proves he knew what was coming from him and were only undetected due to their size, probably. Maybe his usual hang glider was replaced with plastic-like materials or others un-magnetized like-" Hakuba pointed out.

"He still would've flown directly towards the centre of the net. The fans are too strong and precise. It being metal would only secure his stay there." Conan remarked. It wasn't so simple. There was something else...

"So he must've done something during the time the smoke was covering him. Thus their use." Hakuba continued. The kid was proving a great help, no wonder he had the fame of the 'Kid-killer'. He had to admit, it was really impressive.

"Something he doesn't want us to figure out..."

"Agreed." Hakuba nodded, lifting his head, once again, staring at the net, which this time was visible from the start. He was also glad to give someone complete trust on a Kid heist, since he obviously wasn't Kid in disguise, no matter what happened in the events of the Kirin's Horn Case.

"But what?"

"But he knew he wouldn't be able to use them today. Is he so confident in his trick he's figured he'd still manage to escape two times in a row?"

"Or maybe he'll take advantage of our attention focused solely at the net to focus his escape on another spot-" Conan interrupted himself while staring at Makoto, who looked surprised at his change of attitude, more childish yet sounding really interested. "Ne, Makoto-san, when is Sonoko's birthday? It should be sometime soon, right?"

"Soon? No, it was three months ago, remember? You were there as well, Conan-kun. It was at the bowling center, in Ekoda."

"Oh, you're right! I could've sworn it was this month!" Conan feigned innocence while taking note that the exit was as secure as ever. Makoto was real, and Hakuba wasn't in disguise either. A camera men then? Jirokichi again? Nakamori perhaps? No... so what was Kid planning exactly.

"Conan." Makoto suddenly called out. As he turned around he noticed Makotos hand holding something tied at his shirt. It looked like...

"A shirt tag?"

"You must've forgotten to cut it off. I'm guessing it's your first time wearing this shirt? It must've been really well hidden for you not to notice until now when it was always there."

...really well hidden for you not to notice until now when it was always there...

"It was always there!" Conan pointed out, surprising Makoto yet again this time by his strong conviction. "A frequent magic trick. It's been hidden from view all this time!" Hakuba followed his line of thought.

"Like the famous ring trick. Illusionary at it's finest." Conan nodded. "We can't do anything then." Conan sighted.

"No, I can still make a few calls with Nakamori's support . Be right back."

"Be fast: he's already here." He pointed out, forcing them to witness Kid's entrancing appearance once again.

Once more, everyone positioned themselves at a safe distance as Kid landed skilfully on the rooftop. As soon as he touched to floor the fans started working under Jirokichi's instructions. Yet, it seemed he hadn't planned for something different tonight.

He stood there for a moment and redid his steps from the night before, this time having an easy access to the jewel that was displayed for him. He lift it up for the people around the world to witness as the cameras took a good look at him and playfully hid it from their views, magician style. He smirked once again.

"My guests, I appreciate once again you meeting me tonight." He vowed, gracefully. "I assume you will be keeping your end of a bargain?" Nakamori growled.

"Do what you must." Jirokichi stated, not feeling happier about it. "However as soon as you leave this rooftop, we will begin chasing you once again."

"Exactly! So don't you get too comfortable, Kid!" Nakamori roared, frustrated.

"Mmm..." Luckily for him, Kid didn't proceed with mockery. Instead he decided to address the rest of his audience. "Why so silent, detectives? How inappropriate of you. Mind sharing what's on your minds with us? I won't promise it may change anything, thought."

"Just wondering if there's something we might have missed, since you see..." Conan started, starting with a sweet voice.

"... we've already know what you've planned for tonight." Hakuba finished, with a smirk.

"Oh?" Kid smirked back.

"It's a rather simple trick if you think about it, really: while the smoke took place you activated a small mechanism that allowed a portion of the net to slightly unhook itself, therefore providing your door to the other side. The smoke was to hide the fact that the net had been previously manipulated by your hands, and the fact that we couldn't find anything wrong with it was the same reason an audience doesn't find anything wrong while inspecting the items the magician provides them, just like the commonly known ring trick." Hakuba explained. Conan nodded and stepped forward.

"The ring trick is a simple trick in which the magician surprises the audience by joining two or more rings together and separating them while doing th- ah!" Conan quickly jumped back, skilfully avoiding a card aimed to his face.

"Not under my watch, tantei-kun." Kid lectured, frowning a bit, as if talking to a child who had just misbehaved. He hid his gun inside his pocket as if he never took it out in the first place and continued his lecture. "When alone, we can speak about whatever you want for as long as you want but in public, well, that's not going to happen. I'm not going to let you ruin the magic for all our audience. And that goes for you as well, Hakuba: I wouldn't want you to get jealous." He winked, obviously having a lot of fun. "If you really want to brag so badly, I'm sure both of you can do so another time, yes? In the meantime let's just enjoy the show for now." He pointed his finger towards the sky and smiled as he leaped towards the border of the rooftop, playfully. The crowd cheered enthusiastic, hoping to see yet another performance from their favourite thief. However the night seemed to pause as the sound of a sudden shot was heard, forcing Kid to lose his balance and recover just enough to fall in the right direction, avoiding the high fall that would've secured his death. He fell by the side he had been shot, quickly spreading the stain that had just appeared all over the higher left spot from his suit.

The sudden silence that followed was suddenly increased by screams from every corner.

"Kid! Lie down!" Conan shouted as Hakuba ran fast towards the thief, Conan following suit. Kid seemed to have blanked out as he stared at his increasing red stain from the shot. Makoto moved faster and pushed both, Conan and Hakuba towards the floor, not wanting the child or mate to be between Kid and a possible following bullet.

"Everyone, stay down! You too, you stupid thief!" Nakamori roared as he felt his face whiten at the view of his uncatchable thief hesitantly grab a section on his suit, presumably the place where he was hurt and, after acknowledging Nakamori's voice, take cover as well behind the small wall the rooftop provided them. He sighted, relieved for a small while before heading closer to him himself to search for the origin of the shot. Kid didn't let him, thought.

"Nakamori-keibu, stop it. Just because you are the only high rating police officer here doesn't mean you should risk your life like this. Whoever it was, it's a beginner: my injury is nothing serious. He's careless. You should have no trouble catching him... or she." Kid groaned, and licked his lips while attempting to ignore the taste of blood from his throat. 'Oh, wow, the pain... thought, I'm so lucky it didn't hit anywhere serious... not losing too much blood. I can still think straight. Adrenaline rush? But, ouch... got to have to bear with this for a while. Poker face. First things first...'

"Kid! Hey, you're safe. Just stop talking." Nakamori called out, carefully and worried. So far, no more shots had been fired. Had the culprit already fled? He had to be sure.

"Now then, I apologise for what I'm about to do..."

"Kid, what are you mumbling about?! Now, stay still and let me-" Nakamori gasped as a sudden pink smoke engulfed his face, forcing him to sleep. "Kid, you bastard... not... now..."

"I'm only doing so in behalf of your daughter, keibu. She must be worried sick now." Kid whispered as he pointed towards the filming camera. Nakamori aknowledged it slowly as he faded onto the sleeping world. Kid sighted.

'Tonight there will only be one fright' He remembered. So this is what she meant, huh? In other words, only one shot to freak me out. I shoul-

"The shot came from a lower building..." Kid heard Conan say.

"Not so fast, gentlemen." Kid warned as he eyed the problematic trio approaching him for whatever reason, shooting his card gone towards them. He wasn't sure if it would have any effect on Makoto, being an expert at defence, but he had the decency of staying still seeing he was injured and therefore deserved a kind treatment of sorts.

"Kid!"

"Are you out of your mind?!"

"What are you doing?!"

Kid stood up, surprising everyone by irrationally taking his place at the same spot he had stood on no more than a minute ago, still pointing the gun at them, ignoring their reactions yet feeling a bit offended at their approach.

"No need to worry, I know what I'm doing. There won't be another shot, of that I'm sure."

"What the-?! Get down! This is not the time for this! You need to get that looked up!"

"What? You mean this?" Kid asked, as he grabbed his left forearm. "Yeah, about that... I would like to apologise to our fellow viewers tonight for the nasty spectacle that just took place moments ago and, on another note, I would like to make a petition to my fellow fans as to help me cover up for this. Would you mind lending me a hand and covering this same spot from the rest of the world for the rest... say, ten days?" He asked, winking towards the camera which hadn't stopped filming during the whole incident. "Make me proud." Kid whispered as he jumped back from the rooftop and fell in between the buildings once again.

Once again, Kid managed to ride the wind as he leapt towards higher grounds just at the same time police officers showed up from the only door the rooftop provided them, now being unguarded by Makoto after the sudden event. Not having prepared for this, yet expecting it, Kaito knew he had once again made the right choice. However, due to whatever reason, it seemed the helicopters remained close to the net, making it impossible for him to escape using the same ways.

'However...', he thought with a grin as he waited for the perfect spot to let himself go from the hang glider, this one following the trajectory towards the net while Kaito fell 'I've prepared myself for this'.

'Oh, please don't make this hurt too much...'

He waited until he reached to a certain floor to open a second mean to fly away: a parachute. While the fans successfully created a current of winds, the hang glider had provided him to distance himself from some of them. The fact he didn't wear anything to stop the fall forced his body to become a heavy weight, ineffective by the fans, and just now that he found the perfect spot to escape did he resort to the parachute.

The crowed screamed at the fearless performance they had just witnessed. But, soon after, proceeded to cheer excitedly glad to see their thief making another successful escape. Fans everywhere who witnessed the heist them started talking non-stop about the events that just happened: Kid had asked for their help.

And help him they would do.

'D*mn, that hurts!', Kaito moaned.

He heist had been successful until the very end but, though he managed to hide it really well, the fact of forcing his wound like this wasn't a matter to take lightly. Luckily, Jii knew what he was doing and he confirmed he had being extremely lucky with the shot: whomever it was that did it, he really had no idea what he was doing. It wasn't the appropriate rifle, not even one to cause serious injuries. In any case it was treated and needed some rest.

He would have to investigate about this fact later... maybe Japan's criminals had started offering a price for his head. He knew too much and had seen things that he shouldn't have seen, and he had even helped the police solve a few cases...

He should stay low for a while...

His mobile phone rang. He didn't wear it at heists, but at Jii's he had no problem using it. It was Aoko. He needed to act natural.

'This being said while I'm currently entering all of Kaitou Kid's forums, hoping to whatever God there is my fans will support me with my request as I fake all sorts of affirmative responses...'

"Oh, hey Aoko. How did it go?"

"Kaito! It was horrible! Kid was shot! He got shot!"

"Wh-what?! What do you mean?! Is he alright now?!" Kaito interpreted his paper while feeling dirty inside. He hated lying like this. He really did.

"Nobody knows who did it but... as he was attempting to escape he got... oh God... it was horrible... but my dad says he's going to be just fine... my dad! Kaito, he... Kid, he..."

"Did he do something to your dad, Aoko? Is he fine?"

"Yes, he's fine." She quickly explained, trying to find the right words. She sighted. "He helped my dad."

"..." Kaito sighted as well. Once again he had manage to make Aoko worry too much. He waited. She didn't say anything else. "Aoko?"

"I'm glad."

"What?" Kaito was confused.

"Well, it's true. Oh, not about the shooting of course! It's just that... while I was watching the live, I... I got so scared, Kaito! My dad was there! He's always trying to do the right thing! I thought for sure he was going to be the next target... but Kid didn't let him. He guessed the turn of events and left him to sleep... and for that... I'm thankful."

"Aoko..." Kaito knew then she had cried. He tightened his fists, feeling angry with himself.

"But, you know what, Kaito?"

"Mmm?"

"I think... I'll give him a chance."

Kaito smiled.

"What are you doing here?"

Hakuba was feeling angry. Oh, definitely real angry. Kaito lifted his eyebrows, looking annoyed.

"What's that supposed to mean? I go to school here."

"You know what I mean!" Hakuba couldn't take it anymore. He snapped.

"..." Kaito widened his eyes. He had never seen Hakuba act like this before. "Relax, man, you look tense."

"Oh, and you guess what's making me so tense? Well perhaps this can explain it!" Before Kaito could stop him Hakuba had took a firm grasp of his left wrist and had placed his other hand on the end of his sleeve. He the proceeded to lift it up.

"L... let me go, you idiot!" Kaito tried to push him back, uncomfortable under the strong contact Hakuba had on him.

Suddenly, the class gasped.

Kaito had a thick bandage at the same exact place Kid had pointed out the day before.

"Well that proves nothing." Kaito rolled his eyes, and faced the rest of the class. "Keiko has one too... and she's not the only one. In case you hadn't noticed people all over Tokyo have these... maybe even the rest of Japan." He sighted, acting fed up with the situation. "How many times do I have to tell you? I am not Kid! You even witnessed a Kid heist while having me at your side! What more do you need to make me proof my innocence?!"

"You and I both know there was something fishy about that heist..." Kaito's eye twitched.

'Oh for the love of... seriously? Focus, Kuroba...'

"Now, where were you after the heist? And please don't tell me you were at home." 'That's the first place I looked', Hakuba thought, remembering all the effort he had put looking for him. He still couldn't believe he had made the right choice coming to see if he was in class.

"That's a wonderful question you've pointed out, Hakuba, but I've got a better one: who cares?!" The class laughed loudly but Hakuba had had enough of this. He grabbed Kaito by his school collar and, with strength he didn't knew he had, he pulled him up towards his face.

"I care!" The class silenced, suddenly, unsure on how to react under their classmates worries. Sure they knew he suspected Kaito to be the Phantom Thief but didn't he already proof so far it was a mistaken suspicion.

Hakuba didn't care about the scene he was making, so unusual of him. He just felt angry.

'Don't you see how worried I was?'

Kaito stared at him for a while, apparently cold towards him but feeling quite uneasy inside. He didn't know what to say or react... he wasn't used at this sort of... concern.

He suddenly felt guilty.

Guilty and disgusted.

At himself. For letting this happen. There wouldn't be another chance. But for now...

"Fine, you asked for it..." Kaito then proceeded to strip his forearm from the bandages that covered it, surprising the rest of the class as they leaned forward to have a better view. Could it be...? Hakuba, then, seemed taken back and even started to look worried as he realized what was going on. He was having second thoughts, but wasn't this what he had always wanted?

...

"There, happy?" Kaito said as he showed his exposed forearm for the entire class to see. "There's nothing there, genius, since I'm not Kid. Yes?"

"But... how...?" Hakuba seemed incapable of formulating a proper sentence. "You are a moron." He groaned, finally, in defeat. "I'm going home. Haven't had any sleep for a while."

"Are you okay, Kaito?" Aoko was the first one to ask, quickly reaching his side. She had been absent for the first part as she has arrived just now, but it seemed like it was all over now.

"Yeah, don't worry about it, he's obviously very tired..." 'God, I'm so selfish!' Kaito thought as he distractedly rubbed his shoulder, the place where he had actually been shot at. He took advantage of the bloody stain that hid the whole zone, spread during the fall. The spot he had shown on television was a lie in order to keep his secret identity intact. He didn't want to end his days running away, after all, much less from such a young age. Akako had helped him with that, warning him to stay calm. He guessed he should thank her later.

'I'm sorry Hakuba... I'm sorry'

THE END!

Any guesses on how he managed? The thing is, as I stated on the first chapter there are lights positioned on the net itself. The lights need to hook onto the net, so some little sections of the net are hidden from ordinary viewers. Remember this ring trick I mentioned? Well if you really want to know (and ruin this awesome trick) you can witness the magician presenting a ring to the audience and joining them together with others or separating them once again for a repeated number of times but if you actually grab a few of these rings that he kindly offers to you if you ask for them then you'll see there's no hidden mechanism or hole in it. That's because he's the one holding the rings with the holes on it, but the magician's ability is so great he keeps on playing with them in front of your eyes and yet you witness nothing. It's both being insanely fast and precise. Kid did the same thing but instead of using hands to cover the holes he used the lights (inspectors only inspected the light where it was positioned and the net, therefore ignoring this possibility.) The doves that appear from the smoke are to increase expectation, divert the attention a bit and maybe help Kid move the net door without producing questions. He also probably used doves discreetly to put the smoke bombs up there in the first place. By the way, if somebody is wondering: no, the lights have no reason to work bad under a magnetic field. It has nothing to do with it. On another note, I'm not sure if the speed of the flight was successful enough to allow Kid through the net while flying with his usual hang glider or in fact had the materials change for them not to be affected by the magnetic net, but in any case he'd manage while breaking trough.

Leave a comment if you've enjoyed it! It took me quite a while to imagine a decent Kid heist, but I think it came out pretty well: the trick is to imagine you've got lots of money and little care on how or what to spend it with. I actually planned on making one heist involving fans and another one involving a magnetic trap (Kid glued to the floor and forced to abandon his only means of escape or something) but it ended up like this, combined. I can perfectly imagine Gosho making a heist involving these two factors, especially since it really takes advantage of Kid's advantage to make it a weakness, so I decided to write it before he decides to do it first lol But seriously, that would suck

Oh, by the way, anyone found a working link on Conan's 19th movie? It would be highly appreciated if you shared it on the reviews!

Also, English is my third language so I hope grammar nazis won't show up.