Card Game
by Icka! M. Chif

"Hey." Kuroba Kaito sat down on the bench next to a very bored looking Hattori Heiji. Ran and Kazuha had dragged their guys to the local mall for a shopping trip. Not wanting to be used as life sized mannequins, the detectives had slipped outside the store to wait in the safer environment.

Hattori gave him a weak half wave by way of greeting. "Don't tell me. Your girl found ours."

"Okay. I won't tell you." Kuroba flashed a grin. "How's it going there, Edogawa?"

On Hattori's other side, Conan looked half asleep. "I had forgotten how boring this was when I was big." The boy grumbled, not bothering to stifle a yawn. "It's even worse small."

"Just be grateful you were able to slip out when you did." A cool voice spoke up from Kuroba's side of the bench. They all jumped slightly when they realised that Haibara Ai had somehow joined them with out their knowledge. The grown up child regarded their reaction with a dry sort of humour. "They're currently looking at underwear."

"There are some things I just don't need to know, Haibara." Conan grumbled. She quietly snickered while the taller boys agreed.

"Haibara Ai, this is Hattori Heiji and Kuroba Kaitou. Hattori and Kuroba, this is Haibara." Conan chanted.

Haibara raised an eyebrow. "I've heard of you. The teenage detective from Osaka and the Magician."

"That's us." Kuroba grinned. With a flourish of his hand and a puff of smoke, a small flower appearing in his hand. He offered it to her. She looked at it for a moment, then took it with a small smile and tucked it behind an ear.

"Well, they're going to be in there for a while." Hattori sighed, ignoring Kuroba's playing. "Any suggestions?"

None of the boys were willing to voice it, but they all knew that if they weren't someplace visible when the girls came out, there would be hell to pay. It was just one of those things.

Conan eyed Kuroba thoughtfully. "You're the magician. You wouldn't happen to have a deck of playing cards, would you?"

Kuroba paused. "Let me check."

People passing by were suddenly entertained by an impromptu magic performance as Kuroba proceeded to look for a deck of cards. Confetti, balloons, random loose cards, mini-flags tied together, even a few doves and a white rabbit suddenly appeared as the magician searched his pockets, shirt sleeves, collar and where ever else he hid his magic tricks.

He finally found an un-opened deck in his left sock. "Found it!" He declared triumphantly, holding it up.

"How did you..." Hattori gawked; he'd never seen Kuroba in action before. The Osaka detective paused, then shook his head. "Never mind, I don't want to know."

"It's probably for the best." Conan agreed cheerfully. Haibara snickered.

"So." Kuroba drawled, a mischievous smile lighting up his face. "What do we want to play?"

Three blank looks greeted him.

"Oh. Right." He slapped his forehead. "Poker."

****

Two World Class Detectives, both trained in putting clues together and reading people. One Magician Thief, trained in hiding his body language. And one frosty scientist, who was just plain hard to read in the best of times and impossible the rest.

The stakes weren't as spectacular. A quick run to a couple of vending machines and they had their chips to bet with, various Meiji candies. Haibara supplied pocky to act as fake cigarettes, just for the amusement factor.

It was quickly agreed that Kuroba was NOT to deal, despite his flair for shuffling cards in extraordinary ways.

Kuroba was amused by their decision, but didn't argue. He had gotten a handy pile of candy before they had stepped in.

And he supposed that dealing himself the second straight flush -had- been a bit much.

****

"I'll see your Apollos* and raise you some Marble Chocolates*!" Hattori put his bet down in the middle of the table. Conan's narrowed as he looked at his cards, then glancing over at Kuroba, who had the same small smug smile he'd had since they started playing.

"Something wrong?" Kuroba asked innocently.

"I think you have a card up your sleeve." The small detectives said bluntly.

The magician beamed at him. "You're right."

"What?!"

Kuroba chuckled as he started to pull cards out of seemingly nowhere. He spread them out onto the table, as if they were poker hands. Which they were. Full House, Royal Flush, Aces and Eights, Straight Flush, he had them all.

Hattori and Haibara gawked. "You-" Hattori began, getting mad.

"-Unfortunately, they're the wrong deck." Conan cut him off, holding up the backs of the cards. The cards that Kuroba had just pulled out all had red backs. They were playing cards with one that had blue backs. "Getting sloppy, Kuroba."

Kuroba waved it off. "It's one thing to deal myself the cards, it's another to blatantly cheat." He said loftily.

"Then how come you only pulled cards out of one sleeves?" Hattori deadpanned.

Kuroba blinked. "Wow. You're almost as good as Kudo."

"Hey!"

"That's it." Haibara said, folding her cards together and looking slightly disgruntled. "Next time I play cards with you, it's going to be -strip- poker."

Before the boys could refute that statement, they were interrupted by the approach of the girls. "Uh-oh. Quick! Hide the cards!"

"Why?"

"Too late, they saw us already."

"We're screwed."

"Maybe you big boys are, but I'm just an 'innocent little girl'" Haibara smirked. She'd get away without getting scolded.

Conan cleared his throat and spoke up in a high, clear voice. "Sorry, no Eights. Go Fish!"

Kuroba shuddered and took a card from the pile next to Hattori, who's turn it had been to play dealer. "I hate this game."

Hattori raised an inquisitive eyebrow, but Kuroba refused to comment further, instead using the distraction to quickly hide the cards he had just pulled out of his sleeve. "Any Aces?"

Haibara sighed and handed him a pair that she had been holding on to. He grinned and set 4 aces down on the table.

"Looks like you guys are keeping yourself amused." Kazuha remarked, leaning over the back of Hattori's chair. She blithely reached over and took a few pieces of candy for herself. He glared at her, which she breezily ignored.

"Would you like some candy, Ran-neechan?" Conan grinned, playing the 'cute innocent' kid act. "I've got lots!"

"Thank you, Conan-kun." Ran smiled at the small boy, taking some from his larger pile.

Aoko looked at Kuroba's smaller pile. "Looks like you ate it all before we got here." She commented.

Kuroba just sweat dropped and laughed, a slightly nervous tinge to it. Before the girls had showed up, he had been just about tied with Hattori over who had the smaller pile.

Haibara peeked out from her very large pile of candy. "What game were we playing again?" She asked innocently.

As one, the guys all turned and glared at the scientist.

She just grinned.

Fin.

Moral of the Story: Never trust the innocent looking ones.

Notes:
Meiji is a Japanese candy manufacturer. Think the Japanese equivalent of 'Hershey' or 'Nestlé'. They make various chocolates, candies, cookies, cocoa, gum, curry, soups, biscuits and the Fran brand of pocky. (very good pocky and chocolate! Yum!)
Website: http://www.foods.meiji.co.jp/