6:35 pm

Mouri Kogoro and his family had been invited to a party that the Suzuki Company was holding for a family member's birthday…well, that was the story. The "party" was being held at Beika Museum to show off their latest acquisition, the 'Sunset Ruby'. The cover story was to keep the media away, because this new jewel had caught the attention of a certain thief. The Suzuki Company couldn't suffer another humiliating defeat at the hands of the white-clad thief so the information was kept within the police, Suzuki family and a few attending detectives.

Mouri Kogoro was one of these attending detectives, but the invitation to the party invited his family to make him appear less suspicious, so he was currently waiting for Ran and Conan. He took another piece of paper out of his pocket and read the small message again:

When Virgo is born and the moon has followed

I will copy the sun and steal her Ruby

- Kaito Kid (Drawing)

Kogoro blew out a breath and put the note away, Nakamori-keibu had worked out most of the message. The Zodiac for Virgo began on the 23rd of August, so that was the date; "the moon has followed" is when the moon rises on the 23rd, which was 9:13pm. The second line had not been worked out properly, "I will copy the sun and steal her ruby" was obviously talking about the 'Sunset Ruby' but the "I will copy the sun" was the part that no-one could work out.

"Ran, Conan hurry up" Kogoro yelled gruffly up the stairs, "the party starts at 7"

There was an affirmative call from Ran before she hurried down the stairs with Conan in tow. Ran was wearing a long light blue halter-neck dress and had her hair down and flowing around her face. Conan was wearing a small black tuxedo with a shirt the same light blue as Ran's and a black tie, Ran had picked his outfit so he would match her.

Kogoro herded them both into the car and set off.

Conan sat in the back of the car while Ran sat in the front with her father. He didn't want to go to this party, he felt tired and hot and had been sneezing most of last night. Unfortunately Ran hadn't heard over Ojichan's snoring and she thought he was lying to get out of going. Conan didn't understand why he had to go; he didn't even know the person whose party they were attending.

Twenty minutes later the three pulled up outside the Museum and they parked before making their way into the party. At the East door were two of the Suzuki Company's private guards. They took Kogoro's invitation and looked at it before grabbing his and Ran's cheeks and pulling.

"Itai!" Ran yelled, "Otousan, why did they do that?" Ran asked as they were let into the building.

"I wasn't meant to tell you until we were inside, Kaito Kid sent a message to the Beika police announcing that he's going to steal the Sunset Ruby" Kogoro said gruffly before walking to the bar and ordering a drink.

"He could have warned me" Ran mumbled before running after her father to pull him away from the bar, leaving Conan by the entrance.

Conan looked around dazedly, he had heard what Ojichan said but he was too tired to really think much about it. He wandered over to a table of non-alcoholic drinks and picked up some water before retreating to a table away from the dance floor.

"My head is pounding, it's so hot in here" Conan thought as he lay his head on the table, he heard someone sit down beside him and looked up to see a young lady sitting next to him, she had very long hair that covered part of her face which looked quite defined and masculine. Her figure was rather tomboy-like, she obviously hadn't started… growing yet. She had a red mark on her face, most likely from when she came in.

"Hi, I'm Tsukina Haruko, my Otousan is on the Kid force" she said "You look bored here, don't worry, I didn't even want to come, I hate parties but I was forced to be here" she smiled slightly and Conan sat up a bit.

"Edogawa Conan, I came here with Mouri Kogoro" he said slowly, as though he was thinking through each word.

"Mouri Kogoro? Wow, he's amazing isn't he? What's he like…ne are you okay?" Haruko looked concerned as he put a hand up to his head.

"Yeah I'm fine" Conan mumbled,

"You don't look fine" Haruko said in a disapproving voice and she put a hand to his forehead "See, you have a fever. Perhaps you should leave." Conan hummed but just put his head down on the table again. Haruko was about to continue when the lights dimmed.

A man got up on the stage where the band had been playing.

"Now that all our guests have arrived the doors will be locked to keep Kid out" it was Nakamori-keibu speaking "the only people now in this room are the police, their families and the Suzuki family. It is now 7:15; Kid should be here in just under 2 hours. Until then you can do what you want" Nakamori-keibu got off the stage and started talking to some of the Suzuki company guards.

Conan put his arms on the table and rested his chin on them so he could watch the crowd. But before the band could start again another person stepped up onto the stage, if Conan remembered correctly it was Sonoko's Obaasan.

"Minna, to make sure that Kid doesn't impersonate anyone I want everyone to pair up and make a secret sign, name, question or password between you so you can check whenever you think you need to or when I say." This was followed by everyone's mumblings as they followed her orders.

"Ne Conan-kun, what should we use?" Haruko asked

"There isn't much point, if Kid is already here then it's pointless" Conan mumbled remembering the last time this method was used.

"Demou…what if he isn't?" Haruko responded, "how about we use a sign…Ano….this" Haruko lifted up her right hand and made a 'V' sign and then tapped Conan's left hand with the two fingers. Conan nodded unenthusiastically and looked around the room again. He noticed two men dressed in unobtrusive colours leaning against the wall, they both looked suspicious, and Conan knew that Kid had used accomplices before.

"You look really pale" Haruko noted, lifting a hand to his head, "You're burning up, I'll go and see if the guards will let you out" the girl flitted out of her seat and disappeared into the crowd. Conan drained the last of his water and looked around to see if there were any water jugs nearby….there weren't.

Conan moaned in frustration, his muscles were aching, stopping any thoughts of getting up to get some more water, and he felt more tired than he had before. The air in the room seemed so stifling. Conan curled up in the comfortable chair, sitting sideways in a little ball with his body leaning against the backrest.

"Mou Conan-kun, you look worse" Haruko was back it seemed, and she was decidedly not leaving Conan in peace. "The guards told me that they couldn't let anyone out or in until after the Heist time passes." Haruko sounded a little angry at this, "they care more about catching that thief than looking after ill kids" she continued to mutter under her breath.

"It's not going to work" Conan slurred

"What's not?" Haruko asked

"The plan, if Kid's not already here he'll probably come through a window, and they can't exactly seal up the windows because it would become dangerous for the people in here" Conan said, his words stumbling over each other. Haruko raised her eyebrows; the child seemed to be getting worse. She put her hand to his head again and felt that his temperature had risen higher.

"I'm going to get you some water" she said and disappeared again.

Conan let his head rest against the chair back and closed his eyes, he let his thoughts splutter to a stop as he relished in the darkness of his own closed eyes. The lights of the party were becoming too bright for him to handle. Conan jumped as something freezing cold was placed against his forehead. He opened his eyes to see Haruko standing there with a glass of water holding it out to him.

"So I took so long, I tried to find Ran-san but I couldn't, does she know you're ill?"

Conan took the water gratefully and shook his head,

"iie she doesn't…do you know Ran-neechan?" Conan asked as he drained half of the glass.

Haruko stuttered slightly before answering

"..Ano…hai I do, I met her at a previous heist when my Otousan dragged me along" she laughed a bit and it struck Conan as strange. He shrugged the feeling off, putting it down to the fever before finishing the water off and putting it on the table.

"I'll get you some more water and try to get you out of here again" Haruko said and hurried off for the third time.

Conan rubbed the bridge of his nose; he was starting to get a headache. But then he felt it…someone was watching. Conan flicked his eyes up and glanced around quickly, trying to place the source. He found it quickly; Haruko was talking to the guard at the West door nearby and they were both looking at him. Conan sighed and got himself more comfortable on the chair as he watched Haruko got to the non-alcoholic table and pour him some more water. Conan closed his eyes against the glare as some of the brighter spotlights that were turned on and pointed at the dance floor.

"Maybe you should get some rest" Haruko said as she arrived back at the table. "I'll wake you up before 9 if you like" she handed him the water but Conan narrowed his eyes

"Why is the water fizzing?" he shot at her, she looked at the glass before looking concernedly at him.

"The water isn't fizzing" she said and Conan looked at the glass again…she was right.

"Gomen" he muttered, taking the glass, he must be seeing things.

"At least rest your eyes for a bit" Haruko suggested and Conan nodded

"Just keep an eye on those two" he said, motioning to the two men leaning against the wall. Haruko nodded, giving him a strange smile before handing him the glass of water.

Conan slowly slipped at the water until it was gone while Haruko was talking about mundane things such as school and about the latest sports equipment that she could buy at the shops. Conan felt his eyes drift closed. He didn't even notice the smirk that Haruko held as she watched him go to sleep…

9:15 pm

It had become very noisy all of a sudden, and someone was shaking him.

"Wha-?" Conan said bewilderedly as he looked around. The room was dark, most of the lights except two from the stage were out, but he could hear people running about and shouting to each other in confusion.

"Conan-kun" it was Haruko "Conan-kun, Kid stole the Sunset jewel, he's hiding as one of the guests, you were right" Conan looked around as he tried to focus his fuzzy mind on the situation

"Those two guards?" Conan asked as he sat up and shook his head.

"I was watching them but they vanished just before Kid came" Haruko said, "I can't see a thing with most of the lights down" she said and pulled her phone out of a little purse, she turned on the phone light and looked around. "This is chaos" she mumbled and Conan hummed in agreement.

In a suddenly flourish hundreds of lights flickered on, all pointing at the West door. The whole room stilled as the two guards flanking the doorway were lit up. The one standing to the left of the door who Haruko had spoken to earlier grinned and walked over to Conan, he picked him up and walked back to the door with him sitting in his arms. Conan heard Ran shout his name but couldn't look through the blinding lights to find where she was. Conan looked and saw Haruko following the guard.

What was going on?

The guard holding Conan stood in the middle of the lit-up doorway with Haruko to his right and the other guard to his left. The two men that Conan had seen before that had been leaning against the wall appeared from either side, flanking the guard and Haruko.

"What the hell is going on?" Nakamori-keibu called from just outside the lit area.

"I thought that it was obvious" the guard holding Conan said and dropped something out of his hand.

Smoke appeared at the doorway, covering the area and Conan closed his eyes and covered his mouth against the smoke, he felt the guard put him on the ground and heard movement behind him. The smoke began to clear and he was hoisted up again into the arms of Kaito Kid. The guard disguise had been removed.

There were several shouts as the smoke completely clear to reveal Kid and four accomplices wearing black suits and black caps that covered their faces. The four black suited people made a stark contrast to Kid in his pristine white, and the thief really seemed to glow against the dark wooden doors.

"What are you doing with Conan-kun?" Conan heard Ran shout.

"I'm looking after him off course, my friend here" he motioned to the person who had been disguised as Haruko "has been looking after little Tantei-kun all evening"

"Nani, what have you done to him?" Ran shouted. Kid smiled and shifted Conan so he was facing away from the lights and leaning on Kids shoulder.

"I have done nothing except get my friend to look after him, he looks rather ill doesn't he; I wonder why you didn't notice before?" Kid said, smirking

"He was fine when we came in" Ran said, stuttering a little

"He may have been fine then but he has steadily been getting worse through the night, yet none of the guards would let him out even though he was falling ill" Kids' smiled dropped and he became more serious. "Shouldn't you look after children?" he asked and silence greeted his statement. "Well, maybe I should look after him myself"

Conan cringed as a riot of noise started after Kid spoke, the room was becoming too hot and stuffy for him, and he felt as though he was trying to move though honey. He gave up moving and just laid against Kid's side, much to his mental disgust at the idea of a world renowned thief cuddling him.

"Kidnapping is a serious offense Kid" said another voice that had a tinge of a British accent.

"Ahhhh, Tantei-san. I was wondering where you had gotten to" Kid smirked "and I believe that kidnapping is a form of thievery…and as you all know, I give back what I steal"

The room erupted into shouts again and Conan risked a glance around but the bright lights forced him to bury his head back into Kid's shoulder. His headache had developed into a migraine during the two hours he'd been asleep and the bright lights had painfully reminded him of that. He felt Kid shift and felt his eyes on him again, he then heard a sound that was like a sigh and a huff put together.

"I bid you adios, until next heist." Kid said in English, bowed with a flourish and clicked his fingers. The four black-clad helpers threw smoke bombs into the crowd and another few on the ground in front of them. The bombs smelled sickly sweet and Conan knew what that meant.

"You go first and clear the way" Conan heard Kid mutter among the sounds of falling bodies. Everything was fading. "Sealed rooms are never good, ne Tantei-kun?" Conan made a noncommittal hum and then felt a mask being placed over his mouth "almost forgot" he heard Kid say then his attention was turned back to the room, the smoke was clearing and Conan could faintly bodies, the two nearest figures were Hakuba and Ran.

"Ran" Conan mumbled, he saw Kid look in the same direction as him then smile a little creepily.

"Tantei-kun, I'll bring you back to her soon enough, but I think that they all need to learn a little lesson first" with that they swept through the doors after the four black suited people.

Kid and Conan moved through the building in silence, Conan watched as they walked past unconscious guards and police and out of the building, Kid sighed

"They didn't even tell the media" Kid said in lament, obviously missing his regular crowd of fans. Conan breathed in the cold fresh air before speaking

"I think there was a reason for that, who would want everyone to know that you'd beat them again?" Conan huffed and Kid smiled down at him before hoisting him onto a motorbike. Kid threw down another smoke bomb and appeared wearing civilian clothes and cap to hide his face.

"Are you admitting defeat Tantei-kun?" Kid asked and he hopped onto the motorbike behind his small charge before giving him a helmet, tucking a blanket around him and starting the bike.

"I wasn't actively trying to catch you this time. Otherwise you wouldn't have gotten the Ruby" Conan mumbled in his own defence as Kid started the bike moving and zoomed down the streets.

10:30 pm

The bike stopped outside a nondescript house but Conan was only half awake, he had the distinct feeling that Kid had rode around in circles for some time to confuse him; it pained him to say that it had.

"Yosh, into the hideout, ne Tantei-kun?" Kid said happily and pulled Conan off the bike

"'m nota toy" Conan slurred

"Hai hai, you're a little boy, and little boy's need sleep" Kid countered easily as he opened the door to the house and went inside.

"More mature than you" Conan answered and closed his eyes. Too tired to think about the fact he was going to sleep in the arms of an annoying thief.

The Next Day – 12 pm

Conan opened his eyes groggily and looked around the small bedroom he was in; it was flooded with light from the open window but quite bare, unlived in. A rustling sound caught his attention and he sat up quickly only to groan at the nausea that threatened to overwhelm him.

"I thought you'd have known better than that Tantei-kun" said the person who walked through the door, Conan looked up at him and glared

"Why are you disguised as me?" Conan groused

"I can't have you seeing my real face now can I?" was the smug reply

"I understand that, but why dress up as me?" Conan asked with a vein throbbing on his head. The thief only answered with a huge grin.

"Breakfasts downstairs, I got a friend of mine to make it so there's no need to worry about my cooking skills" said 'Shinichi' as he picked Conan up and dragged him down the stairs and into a kitchen that had a TV on the counter with the Tokyo news channel on.

Conan eyed his light meal dubiously before taking an experimental bite…it tasted like rice and there were no obvious side effects like an explosion so Conan decided it was safe to eat. After all, why would he have looked after him most of the night just to poison him now?

"And now we speak to the Kid force leader Nakamori-keibu. Keibu, what do you have to say about last nights incident?"

Conan looked up from his food to see a picture of himself on the TV screen next to Nakamori-keibu

"Nani?" Conan gasped and focused his full attention onto the news piece. Kid leaned against the table and looked at the screen silently, a hint of a smile playing on his lips

"Kid has committed a terrible atrocity and the Force has been working since the kidnapping to try and locate Edogawa Conan…his guardians are worried sick and urge anyone with any information to come forward and report it as soon as possible"

Conan shot the thief a dirty look.

"You've brought too much attention to me, I'm going to have reporters around me for days when I get back" Conan moaned "AND you worried Ran." The small detective glanced around surreptitiously, looking for his stun-dart watch.

"Tantei-kun" Kid sang as he swung the watch around his finger and looked at him mockingly. Conan huffed and finished his breakfast while watching the thief suspiciously. "I'm hurt Tantei-kun…I would never harm you" Kid said dramatically when he noticed Conan's sharp eyes on him.

"So when are you going to let me leave" Conan said after finishing his food. He had no doubt in his mind that he wouldn't be able to sneak away from the thief easily so he would find out how long said thief was planning to keep him and make a plan from there.

"Well Tantei-kun" Kid drawled with a smirk "I was originally going to bring you to my next heist and let you leave then. But I have a strange feeling that if I wait we will be found"

Conan cocked a brow at him "a strange feeling?" he repeated questioningly

Kid was about to answer when the news caught their attention because of a familiar voice.

"I'll find Ku-Ku…Conan-kun with Neechan and Occhan. With my tracking skills and Neechan's karate we can make a good team. Kaito Kid, if you're watching this then you bet your ass we're coming for ya"

Conan hissed under his breath about Hattori's almost-slip about his name.

"I'm guessing that you meant Hattori then?" Conan asked

Kid nodded with a grin firmly plastered across his face which looked odd on 'Shinichi'.

"Exactly Tantei-kun" Kid agreed "so I will find a nice place to leave you for Tantei-han and Ran-san to find" he picked Conan up again, much to his annoyance and started carrying him up the stairs.

"Kid, why do you think that Hattori and Ran-neechan will find me? I didn't leave any clues because of my…illness and you certainly didn't either"

Kid put him down on the bed and pulled the covers up to him in a parody of mothering and patted his head with a smirk.

"Because my dear Tantei…he is very special." Conan quirked an eyebrow. "Now sleep, you have a fever and I have things to plan"

Kid left and Conan pushed the covers away. He wasn't going to give the thief another minute of his company; he checked the windows first and then looked through his clothes to see if his phone or glasses were there…they weren't.

He growled under his breath and stalked to the door; he opened it cautiously and peaked around only to find Kid standing right in front of him, holding a white can.

"Do you think I would be so naive Tantei-kun? I would have been captured by now if I didn't think ahead" he said and sprayed the can at him. The sickly sweet smell was overpowering and Conan had been too off guard from his illness to even react in time. He began to fall but Kid scooped him up and dropped him back onto the bed before leaving again. He had plans to make.

6pm

Conan woke up slowly, awareness slowly filtering in. He sat up in the large bed and found that he didn't feel the same head rush he had last time he'd woken up. But he could hear noises, talking mostly. He slipped off the bed and padded quietly to the door.

"Are we ready to leave?" That sounded like Kid

"Yes, the place is set up. Just bring him and I'll get the lights" Conan didn't recognise this persons voice but he filed it away for later and went down the stairs.

"Should I assume that I'll be able to go home soon?" Conan asked dryly as he walked in to the kitchen to find Kid packing a backpack and talking to someone who was wearing a black cloak. The person left very quickly when Conan entered and Kid picked Conan up, waltzing him around before plonking him on the table.

"Just in time. We are about to depart" Kid sang as he stood the backpack up and lifted Conan inside

"What?" Conan yelped as he tried to jump out of the bag.

"Tantei-kun I can't have you wiggling about" Kid said mock threateningly as he held up the white can again. Conan ceased his movement at the sight of it and slumped down in the bag.

"I have a feel that I'll be too embarrassed to show my face ever again" Conan muttered as Kid did the flaps and hoisted him up onto his back.

"I hope that doesn't apply to my heists Tantei, I need to stretch me wings once in a while with a true opponent" Kid said as he began walking, presumably out of the house. Conan's theory was confirmed when the temperature dropped dramatically to indicated they were outside. "Let's leave then shall we? I think you should remain quiet from now Tantei-kun." Conan grudgingly agreed, seeing as the thief was wearing his face.

The minutes dragged on at Conan sat in the backpack, wishing he had his watch to knock out the thief or a Holmes book to read. Conan heard noise and decided that they must be in the shopping district.

"Here we are Tantei…your stage" Conan heard Kid mutter to him as the backpack was jostled as Kid placed the bag on the floor. "Just a little bit longer"

Suddenly there was a hush and Conan could hear voices:

"The lights have gone out"

"What happened?"

"Is it a blackout?"

Conan heard the backpack undo and felt himself picked up gently, the whole area was pitch black so Conan couldn't tell where he was but he could hear ticking somewhere above them.

The lights all appeared at the same time, all shining directly at Conan who covered his eyes. He could hear the excited chatter of people who had obviously spotted and recognised him from the news.

"It's that child!"

"Kid brought him back"

"Why did he bring him here?"

Conan heard the police cars before he saw them and the lights were finally dimmed so Conan could see that a police barrier had been erected around him. He jumped off the pedestal he'd been place on a looked around.

He had been put in front of the clock tower in Edoka.

"Conan-kun!"

Conan turned and saw Ran running past the police officers, followed by Hattori.

"Conan-kun we were so worried when we found all your things in the park nearby" Ran said, digging in her pockets and producing his glasses and watch. Conan put on his glasses and watch but felt a rustling in his sleeve. He quickly turned away from everyone and saw Hattori come up beside him

"Kid left me a note" he explained to him

"Wha' it say?" he asked and Conan opened to the note so they could both read it.

Do you recognise this place Tantei?

Our first clash.

Let's hope there are more like it.

Kaitou Kid (Drawing)

Conan looked up at Hattori who'd also read the note. They grinned at each other in a mutual understanding of Kid's understanding of Conan's secret.

Hattori took the note and put it in his pocket before they turned back to the police who were clamouring for Conan's statement.

"Kid's right, this is my stage" Conan mused and Hattori grinned

"Mine too."

A/N: "I will copy the sun" … did anyone work that part out? If you didn't then I'm an unofficial genius *grin*. Review and tell me what you thought.

(I know the in the Manga, Kid doesn't know about Conan's secret. But it fit the one-shot to have him know it so I went with the anime adaption for this.)