Chapter 2

The Soccer Ball, the Potion and the Bad Luck

Shinichi looked at the giant statue in front of him with a mix feeling of overdoing and amazement. Suzuki Jirokichi had again done unnecessarily impressive thing. The huge iron statue called the reverse iron maiden stood grandly in the middle of the hall. Apparently, this iron statue of a roman goddess was programmed to pull out tons of iron needles all over it when someone approached it within the range of 1 meter if the alarm system was activated. Hence, the reverse iron maiden. The main star of tonight show was placed on the statue's chest. The painite shone brightly and beautifully in its glamorous bloody red color.

Some meters from him, Inspector Nakamori and old man Suzuki had started their argument for the nth time of the night. He sighed. The two men had been fighting over the subject of placing little police force in the room. The inspector wanted to nail Kid with sheer number of force while Suzuki Jirokichi wanted to win him with intelligence, aka Shinichi. Behind him was Ran, as usual who joined due to Sonoko's request and Sonoko, herself. The young Suzuki was also in a great enthusiasm to catch. Like uncle, like niece. The obsession for the phantom thief sure ran in the family.

The young detective checked the time. It was almost ten at night, which was the appointed time that Kid said he would come take the jewel on the reply paper to Suzuki Jirokichi's challenge. He had already double checked the lighting, equipment, and the reverse iron maiden, but they were dealing with Kid here. No one knew what the hell the thief was going to do. The grandfather clocks chimed gracefully as it finally stroke ten. "Still alert!" yelled Inspector Nakamori.

In a moment, Shinichi's vision went blur with red substances. "Rose petals?" Ran and Sonoko exclaimed. "It's raining rose petals." Indeed, thousands of red rose petals were falling from the ceiling.

"What the…" Inspector Nakamori yelled. The police force had already checked the air vents before the heist. There was no way to rain petals in the hall.

"Good evening, Ladies and Gentlemen," Kid's voice appeared in the room.

"Kid the Phantom Thief!" Suzuki Jirokichi and Inspector Nakamori yelled while Sonoko screamed "Kid-sama!"

A figure in white slowly descended on the head of the iron statue. "I had brought these red roses to accommodate the beautiful Blood Rose. Please enjoy." He flicked his wrist, making a curtain of roses surrounded the statue.

"Why isn't the program not working?" the inspector yelled at the senior advisor.

"I don't know." Mr. Suzuki furiously pushed the buttons on the remote control. The rose curtain began to fell apart and by the time the statue was in the view again, both Kid and the gem were gone.

Vroom….

Suddenly, the needles from the statue began to appear and the statue itself, started to move. The people around it dove away as it madly ran across the hall.

"I wasn't told it was mobile." The inspector shouted.

"It is not!" Old man Suzuki replied.

Judging from the previous experiences, Shinichi realized it must be Kid who programed the statue in the first place. That old man seriously needed to check the employees before heists. He furiously thought. What happened to the no harm policy in Kid heist? The mad thing was now guarding the only exit of the room.

"Don't worry. It'll stop in five minutes and as long as you don't go nearer to the exit, you'll save." Kid's voice spread across the room. The detective blew a soccer ball from his belt and kicked down the statue. The huge structure fall down for a moment and he took the chance to get out. The police tried to follow him, but the iron maiden was up in its feet again and guarding it again. He did not care for the blocked police force and tried to follow the thief. Seriously, who decided to build the museum like a maze? He thought. He was already lost while finding the door to the roof.

"Damn it!"

….

Kaito inspected the painite under the moonlight. "Miss again, huh?" he put down the gem. Even one of the rarest gems in the world was not Pandora. Blame, his luck. He placed it inside his breast pocket. Then, he heard a soft chuckle. Not again. He thought. "What do you want, Akako?" He turned around. The young witch was gracefully stepping down from her broom.

"Kid the Phantom Thief, tonight, you'll fell under my spell for sure." She smiled wickedly. He twitched. Man, people around him were just persistent. Akako pulled out a bottle of red tinted liquid from nowhere. "With this, even you won't be able to resist me."

"Another love potion, Akako?"

"No, this time is different. This is one of the greatest potions I'd ever made. It's called…"

"Kid!" They both turned to the sudden interruption from the roof door. A certain object flew towards them before they realized to move. A soccer ball. Both of them jumped backward. However, Akako stepped on her robe and slipped. The potion bottle blew out of her hand. Kid, realizing it would be another up to no good potion, tried to catch it before it reached the ground.

Clack…

The bottle crashed, hitting Shinich's chest with force. The detective looked at the liquid flowing down his body. His shirt was soaked in the liquid. The liquid smelt like a perfume.

"No," Akako screamed. She looked at him in terror. "I'm sorry." She got up and approached Shinichi.

"What's in it?" Kid questioned. "Akako!"

"Catch him," Inspector Nakamori's appeared down the stairs. The sound of footsteps approaches nearer.

"Shit," Kid cursed, "here, tentei-kun, give this back to old man, kay?" He placed the Blood Rose in Shinichi's hand. "Gotta go!" He jumped down from the roof. His paraglide appeared. "And Akako, I don't know what it is, but fix it." He shouted before leaving.

"Hey, what is this?" Shinichi asked the shocked girl in front of him. Now that he looked carefully, the girl was wearing a funny costume. And was that a broom floating there?

"I'm sorry. It won't show its effect till tomorrow. Try not to go out much. I'll fix it ASAP."

"What effect?"

"I need to go," she jumped onto her broom swiftly; "I promise I'll fix it." And she took off.

"What the…" Shinichi shouted, not understanding a thing. The task force finally joined him.

"Oh, Shinich-kun, is that the jewel?" The inspector asked.

"Here," he handed him the gem. "I'm sorry. I need to go back home." He felt eerie now that he was soaked in unknown substance. He needed to shower to get rid of this thing. The girl called Akako did not say what it was and it did not feel save to come in contact with an unknown liquid especially since he had enough incident with the Apotoxin 4869.

…...

Shinichi was woken up from his smart phone furiously vibrating on the nightstand. He picked up and looked at the caller ID. Haibara Ai. "Hey, you got anything?" he asked sleepily. He asked Haibara to test the subject he got on his shirt last night.

"Yes, and you won't believe it."

"Tell me."

"It has several plants and minerals. As far as I know, I've never seen anything compound like this before. It could be anything, a newly developing perfume, cosmetic, drug or something. I'm not sure but I believe it might be safe."

"Might be?" he winced at the use of word. He did not want another drug accident ever again.

"Yes, might be safe for now," said the young scientist. "Did that girl say anything?"

"Haibara, you're not making me reassure at all," Shinichi told her, "She said she'll fix it and not to go out too much."

"Don't go out, huh. Why don't you skip school today? The culprit said she would fix it so don't worry." the younger girl suggested.

"You know I can't. I need extra attendance to pass this grade." Shinichi sighed. "I'll be safe."

"Says the person who is worrying the most."

"Hey!" Shinich yelled. "Anyway, I've got to prepare for school. I'll drop by after school. Later."

"Later," Ai replied. He ended the call. He removed his PJ and headed to the shower. The smell of the liquid was still on him. It did not annoy him very much but it felt so wrong for no reason.

….

THUD…

Women near him screamed while some men also shouted in surprise. He looked at the bloody substance in front of him. Apparently, a body just flew down from the building across him as he got out of his favorite café. This day was just going to start perfectly. Shinichi sarcastically thought.

….

"Shinichi… are you okay?" Ran asked as she opened the infirmary room's door. The boy in question looked up from the bed.

"Ah, yes. I just sprained my ankle," he showed her the leg he was icing. "Got tangle up a bit during the game."

"It's not like you to get hurt in a game," she said, "be careful, will you?"

"Yeah, it's been ages that I got hurt playing soccer."

"I heard you were late for class this morning. What happened?" The girl sat beside the bed.

"A dead body happened," he scowled, "thanks to that, I ended up helping the police and missed first two periods."

"You also left without saying a thing last night, too. Inspector Nakamori said he needed your testimony."

"I'll drop by later."

"Are you really okay? I can help you walk home." Ran asked worriedly.

"It's okay," he assured the girl, "I need to go to the police station. You'll be late for home. Thanks, Ran."

"Okay, be careful, kay?"

"Kay," he smiled at his childhood friend. It was a little cold between them but Ran still cared for him like a sister like she did to Conan and he could say he sometimes missed those times. He smiled faded. He would do anything to get back the relationship they once had before he shrunk.

….

Earlier that day, in Ekoda high school,

Kuroba Kaito glanced at the red haired girl sneakily every now and then. The girl was furiously flipping some old books as if she was searching for something. He was dying to know what the liquid tentei-kun was got sprayed last night. As it was one of Akako's handmade, it was going to be something related to her witchcraft. He saw her dropping the book on the table and sighed.

"Kuroba-kun, if you had something to say, just do it," she told him.

"Nope, nothing," he declined.

"Well, I have," she got up from her seat, "what happened last night…"

"Huh, did something happen last night?" Kaito asked as if he did not know a thing.

"Look, I don't have time to deal with your I-am-not-Kid-the-Phantom-Thief crap," she whispered into his ear angrily, "come with me for a second if you don't want to anger me more." She grabbed him from wrist and got out of the room.

"Kaito, Akako-chan?" Aoko looked at her two friends in confusion.

The young witch closed the door to the roof and released Kaito. "Listen, the potion I had last night is called 'A series of MISFORTUNE'. It's a bad luck potion. And a very powerful one, too."

"And you got that stuff on tentei-kun?" Kaito asked.

"Hey, it's an accident, and I intended to use it on you, not HIM." She yelled.

"Not better. Is it dangerous?"

"Dangerous, you asked? It's one of the most powerful potions in the world. It uses the painite as an ingredient. Just think how rare and powerful it is to use such a rare gem." Kaito blinked.

"Wait, you use the Blood Rose?"

"Yes, I sneaked into the museum the other day. It needs to pour over the painite to perform the final stage. That aside, the problem now is that detective."

"Shinichi?"

"Yes, I tried to use it on you because you have abnormally good luck. Normal, bad luck potions mostly don't on you so I tried a more powerful one. But, he's the one who got the potion on now. The things are going crazy. He had too little luck. It'll cause him disasters."

"What did you say?"

"You heard me. And I need time to make the antidote." She lowered her head a bit, avoiding Kaito's glare.

"Why don't you make the antidote from the start?" He shouted.

"I'm sorry. Okay? Help me before something serious happens to him." Akako told the boy. He looked at her. She looked seriously distress. She did not have her usual prideful expression on her face. Her face was a bit pale and she did not look like she had any sleep last night. He knew she was obsessed with making him hers, but he knew she was still a good person and a dear friend of him.

"Fine."

….….

Shinichi decided he would go to Inspector Nakamori next day. He phoned him that he could not make it that day. His ankle was slightly hurting and it was a pain to go Ekoda. He ended the call. The detective walked slowly not to put too much pressure on his injured leg.

"That idiot," Akako murmured as she looked at the young detective walked, "I told him not to go out."

"Hey, a warning from a shady-looking girl like you, I doubt most people won't listen." Kaito whispered to his friend. Akako stomped on his foot. "Hey!" He bent down to nurse his abused leg. The two of them were following Shinichi in secret. He told her to confront the detective first and foremost, but the girl wanted to look for another way to temporarily cure him before meeting him. So now, they ended up trailing the boy.

"Oh no," he heard Akako shouted, so he looked up.

"What?"

"Kuroba-kun, go!" She pushed him toward Shinichi. He looked at the guy and realized that a car was going to crash him. He ran as fast as he could to pull him away, but luckly, the car missed him just a few inches away. After some tires skipping, and people shouting, he saw the boy was safe except a cut in his hand when he fall back. Akako looked at what she had seen in disbelieve. It was a faint circle of golden light appeared on the ground. It showed up as Kaito was in about 5 meters radius to Shinichi. No way, but maybe she found a clue?

….

Shinichi looked at the car in shock. He was lucky that it missed him. He took a deep breath. He could hear a faint siren from ambulance. The diver got out of the car and asked him if he was okay. He just nodded and looked around. A moment ago, before he got near crushed by the car, he thought he heard the girl from last night yelling. He searched for her, but he could not find her with many onlookers surrounding him. By the time most people left, he did not see a trace of her at all.

….

Haibara Ai opened the door to find one Kudo Shinichi in disarray. "What happened?" She looked at his bandaged leg and hand.

"Two homicides, one car crush, well, almost crushed, and a sprained leg," he lied down on the sofa. He was totally worn out.

"Two homicides? In one day?" Ai said in disbelieve.

"Yes, one on my way to school, one on my way back." The professor got out from his lab and saw the boy and got shocked.

"Shinichi, what happened?" Ai handed him a glass of iced tea.

"Explain him, will you?" Shinichi took the glass and drank. The young girl answered the old man's question.

"Goodness, you're alive." The man sighed. He looked at him worriedly. "Are you okay?"

"No, I'm tired. What's for dinner?" he asked.

"Wait a minute, I'll go warm it." Haibara got into the kitchen. Shinichi looked at the window. He sensed someone outside. He got up to sneak a peek.

"What's wrong, Shinichi?" the Professor asked.

"No, nothing. I thought I saw something but it might be some cats." He smiled at the man to assure him. He ate the dinner peacefully. Thank goodness, it was not his right hand that got hurt. He spent some time to look at what Ai found out about the strange liquid but still she got nothing. He came back to his own house and closed the door.

….

"So, what are you gonna do now?" Kaito asked Akako as leaned against the gate of the Kudo house. "You told me you got a lead to solve it."

"I think, I have," the girl answered.

"Then, let's go meet him." Akako looked unsettled. "Don't tell me you're afraid of him getting angry?"

"No, I'm not…"

"Don't worry. He'll get angry no matter what so you do. So, just told him." He laughed. He found it quite cute of the detective when he was angry.

"I'm sorry I get angry no matter what!" Kaito jumped as the door he was leaning started to open and a sullen Shinichi appeared behind him. "I noticed you two following me. Why don't you get inside and explain me, Kid and Akako-san, I believe?"

….

Julissa: Chapter 2 finished. Applause. I found it a bit difficult to write Kaito and Akako's conversation. They don't have much conversation in the anime and I hope I don't make them anything weird. And although Akako acts all high and mighty but I think she still is a normal school girl who loves her friends and good natured who doesn't want to hurt innocent people with her sorcery.

Thanks to zerefdragneelx791, Riverly-Melody and Opal Spirit for all those reviews, and to those who added favorites and follows. Love you!