Brief Existence

by Mitsuye-san

Everyone knows they have to stay away from those who are 'different', but what happens when Kaito suddenly jumps into Shinichi's life? KaiShin

A/N: I got this story ide while reading Black Phantom 1412's The Raven and the Dove, so if you manage to stick with this story and enjoy it, I highly recommend you to go and read The Raven and the Dove and the many fanfictions that Black Phantom 1412 has made.

Disclaimer: I will never, ever own Detective Conan and/or Magic Kaito. They belong to Gosho Aoyama.

---

" Boy, are you alright?"

In this world, there are creatures lurking about without you even knowing it. These creatures are what you may think are fictional, are creatures that should be hunted down, killed, and shunned by the human race. They are considered monsters that should have never been born.

The boy looked up at the man with hazy eyes, he was hungry and this man had a particularly tasty scent emitting off of him.

"I'm fine." The boy replied curtly, shaking his head to get rid of the thoughts of hunger as he moved to get up.

They are forced to live in hiding because of the disgust and hatred directed towards them from humans. They hide in plain sight, they conceal their abnormal features so that they can walk out into the open with you being as oblivious as ever. They could be just about anyone you know, laughing and talking with you behind a mask they're forced to wear for the rest of their lives.

"Ah! Here, let me help you up, boy." The man gently put a hand on his back as he helped him stand up. The boy looked at him again with the same clouded and hazy eyes, he licked his dry lips hungrily.

"I'm sorry." His mouth opened widely, showing large fangs before the boy bit his neck, eating his life force. The man's vision blurred, but before he went completely unconscious, one thought went through his mind.

'Monster.'

The boy looked down at the unconscious man, he didn't eat so much of his life force that he would die, but he certainly did eat a lot of it. He looked around warily, when the man woke up, he wouldn't remember anything, so the boy rushed off at an inhuman speed towards his house. Master warned him his time would be coming soon, the time were he would awaken and become someone like him. He shook his head vigorously, no time to dwell on thoughts, he needed to see Master.

These creatures are called Mystics.

---

"Shinichi," A voice faintly sounded above his head, the urgency clear even in his sleep clouded mind. "Wake up." Shinichi opened his eyes a crack to see who was interrupting his sleep. A man wearing a knee-length coat with a matching brown fedora stood before him, the moonlight coloring his face, as well as the light brown hair sticking out under the fedora, with a tint of silver. Shinichi bolted upright, and cast the man a questioning gaze. The man, ignoring the gaze, abruptly grabbed his wrist and began dragging him out of the house and into the chilly winter air where he stopped a moment to let Shinichi get control over his footing and set off at an inhuman speed with Shinichi following closely next to him.

"Whats going on?" He asked quietly. Something must be going on because Master didn't get this distressed where he would be this jumpy.

"Slayers." Master replied, never shifting his gaze to meet Shinichi's startled eyes. Slayers were humans who hated Mystics and thought that the world would be at peace once every last Mystic was hunted down and killed. Mystics are, of course, stronger than the Slayers, but most keep from hurting or killing them since it'll only cause more problems for them, so when the Slayers are close, the Mystics will give them a false lead and go to the nearest hideout and stay there until the Slayers leave. Hideouts, as the name clearly states, are places that are strategically set up around Japan so that when a Mystic is being hunted down, they can stay there until the Slayers leave. Hideouts are run by Mystics who have high magical powers because large amounts of magic are needed to take care of injured Mystics or to help other Mystics who need spells casted onto them or potions to drink.

"Do the know about the tree?" Shinichi asked, wary.

The 'tree' is a sacred tree for each type of Mystic. These trees hold an infinite amount of magic that replenishes itself with moonlight, the magical power from the moon. The sacred trees differ from each other depending on which type of Mystic it is for. For example, the Elves have an oak tree with sturdy, cream-colored branches that are used to make the bows and arrows that they wield when in battle, and smooth, bright green leaves that are an important ingredient for the medicines that they make, while the fairies have a willow tree that they can use to make several different magical potions, while they use the bark and leaves to make talismans or amulets for other Mystics.

"No, they only figured out that we were in Beika Town." Master replied, turning another corner and slowing down to a stop in front of a rather large building. He knocked on the door, took a step back, and motioned for Shinichi to come stand next to him.

The door opened to show a seemingly ordinary looking woman if not for her pointed ears. "Come on in." Was her quiet welcome as she walked back to the counter and motioned for them to sit down. "So, what did you two do this time?" She asked with a sigh.

Master chuckled. "Honestly, I don't think we did anything, Saya. I was informed about some Slayers coming towards us from the fairy named Tsubasa." Saya made a thoughtful sound from her throat and nodded.

"Well then, you two can stay in the usual rooms. Do you need anything before you sleep?" She asked as she glanced at Shinichi.

"I'm fine, just tired." Shinichi answered. Master nodded in agreement.

"Alright then, good night." Saya said as she got out different herbs and began mixing them together.

"Good night." The duo said in unison.

---

Shinichi woke up to the slightly muffled noises and groaned when he got up. He and Master had stayed here for about three days, but he couldn't seem to get used to the noise he'd wake up to every morning. He threw on a white, long-sleeved button up shirt and some dark blue jeans, and headed towards the mess of voices downstairs.

"Oh, Shinichi, you're up!" Master was sitting at a with several other Mystics as he motioned for Shinichi to come and sit down.

"So how are you doing, Prince?" A centaur named Atsuko asked as she let out a light chuckle. Shinichi gave Atsuko a light glare, after all, the centaur meant no harm. She put both her hands up in a gesture that showed that she didn't mean any trouble.

"Sorry, sorry, Shinichi. We all know I'm just teasing you." Atsuko said with a laugh, while Shinichi rolled his eyes.

"Well then, Shinichi, I have something to tell you." Master started out, gaining Shinichi's full attention. "As you probably heard awhile ago, there was a newly awakened Mystic that was a demon, correct?" Shinichi nodded as confirmation and a signal to continue. "Well, as you all know, there are only very few demons left, me and Shinichi here being one of the few. Since Shinichi is able to take care of himself and control his powers, the parents of the newly awakened demon wanted me to train him."

Shinichi, chin in hand, had a thoughtful expression on his face. "Why can't they train him themselves?" Master sighed at this. "It seems like the father, who was the one who carried the genes, had been skipped and therefore, hadn't awakened to be a demon, while the mother was a human. Since they have no experience whatsoever with training or taking care of a Mystic, they asked me, one of the demon instructors, to help them, and, of course, I agreed."

Shinichi hummed in thought. "I see, so when do you plan to leave?"

"As soon as possible. In other words, in about fifteen minutes." Master replied. Shinichi sighed. He was used to this kind of behavior from his parents, coming and going as they did, so he accepted it with a sigh. It was for the best, anyway.

"Well then, you should hurry and go, seeing as how that family needs you as soon as possible. Just be careful and stay away from the Slayers." Shinichi said.

Master chuckled. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say that you're trying to get rid of me, Shinichi!" He shook his head good-naturedly. "But I know that you're actually doing what you think is best, so you better take care of yourself as well. We don't know who those Slayers were aiming for, so its best if you try to stay on the safe side."

"Right, I'll try. So do you need to pack some things or are you going to leave now?" Shinichi asked as he got up with Master.

Master shook his head. "I'll be leaving now. I already have my things packed and ready to go." Shinichi nodded.

"Well then, I'll see you later?" Shinichi said hopefully. Master chuckled.

"Definitely." He said as he walked outside, his body disintegrating into small ashes, riding the wind to his destination.

Shinichi stood there for a moment before turning back inside and into the busy hideout. Saya looked up and motioned him to come over and held up a white envelope that was most likely from Master.

"..." Saya glanced at him curiously. Shinichi was practically glaring at the contents of the envelope with glare that could kill.

"What's in it?" Saya asked curiously leaning over the counter to see what was written. Shinichi, in response to her movement, shoved the papers back inside the cursed envelope and sighed, shaking his head.

"Nothing, Saya. Just Master and his crazy ways." Shinichi answered, displeased. He growled, shook his head, and looked at the time. "I'll be at the tree if you need me, otherwise, don't bother me." He told Saya as he made his way to the door, who responded with a slight nod that he couldn't see before going back to her work.

"Hey, Saya," Saya looked up to see Atsuko looking at her. "Where's Shinichi going? Isn't he still being tracked down by the Slayers?" Atsuko asked, curiously looking at Saya.

"You don't know?" Saya asked, which Atsuko shook her head in response. "Well, you know that demons have to have both magical power and a certain amount of life force to work properly and live, right?" Atsuko nodded."To get the life force, the demon has to extract it from a human. No, they aren't like vampires who drink blood, but they can if they wanted to. To extract the life force they need, all they have to do is have some sort of skin to skin contact with the human and their done, but Shinichi doesn't like doing that." Saya held up a hand when Atsuko was about to form another question.

"He says he doesn't like doing that because he doesn't want to steal another person's life just to lengthen his own, so he goes to the demons' sacred tree, the one that has - strangely - the greatest amount of magical power out of all the sacred trees, and absorbs a minimum amount of magic from it." Saya stopped a moment to take a breath before continuing on.

"He only does this when it is the new moon because with no moon, he doesn't have enough magical power to override the hunger for some life force. Shinichi keeps his magical energy levels high so that he could use that instead, so when he's low, like he was before, he'd go to the tree and stay there for one to three days until his magical levels are high enough." Saya ended and looked at Atsuko who had a thoughtful look on her face before she spoke again.

"You said that demons need both magical power and life force to function properly." Atsuko started and looked to Saya for confirmation. Saya nodded, signaling her to continue. "So he's bound to go extract someone else's life force sooner or later, right?" Saya nodded.

"I don't know what he does when it comes down to that, but if you're so curious, you should go ask Shinchi yourself, Atsuko." Saya said with a smile. Atsuko sighed, but then her eyes lit up with another question.

"You said they needed skin to skin contact to extract life force, right?" Saya nodded as she began mixing herbs together. "Does that mean whenever he touches a human, that he automatically absorbs their life force?" Saya shook her head.

"No, Shinichi gets to choose when he wants to absorb it, but if someone touches him when he's unconscious and his life force level is low, they'll most likely die right then and there unless Shinichi wakes up, or become considerably weak." Atsuko laughed.

"At least he's safe from any rapists." Saya chuckled good-naturedly.

"Yeah, I guess so."

---

Shinichi sighed as he staggered towards the base of the maple tree. Each sacred tree had a spell casted around them that made them invisible to the human eye, so it was always safe to come to the trees whenever you wanted to. He stood before the tree, the sunset coloring the grass and forest trees a faint red-orange, and murmured a few foreign words. He took off the spell that hid his demon characteristics, so his silver-grey feathered wings, black, arrow-like tail, and horns were present for all to see. Except, of course, the humans who couldn't see him. He sighed contentedly as he stretched his stiff wings and tail, flapped his wings a few times, and sat down, his back propped up against the tree.

He closed his eyes contentedly as he allowed sleep to take over. He fell asleep rather quickly, quicker than the other times where he had to sit here for hours before he would finally be carried off into the blissful land of sleep.

---

The sound of a branch breaking into two could be heard throughout the quiet forest. The figure stopped, panting heavily, as they looked behind them fearfully, and set off once again in a random direction. The sun had gone down now, the sky was dark with only the shining stars attempting to light it. The figure kept running, their legs numb with pain and tiredness, out of breath and scared, to anywhere where they couldn't find him.

The figure, male and dressed in white with a matching top hat and a monocle the clover charm swung vigorously as the owner continued to run, was being chased down by people he didn't know, people who wanted to kill him for one unknown reason or another.

Like one organization wasn't enough. The figure thought bitterly as he continued to run. Now I have another one chasing me.

He saw a rather large maple tree, seemingly isolated from the other forest trees, and he decided that its dense leaves would be able to cover him from his pursuers' sight. He increased his running speed and swiftly jumped onto a branch without disturbing the sturdy tree. He stopped breathing when he heard a voice sounding very close to the part of the tree that he was residing in.

"You can come out now."

He didn't budge. It was a trap, and he wasn't going to fall for it. He heard a faint sigh.

"Well, would you mind telling me who you are? Suddenly jumping into the sacred tree and waking me up. Plus, I don't recognize your scent."

He felt a mixture of emotions then. It wasn't one of his pursuers, his pursuers would've said something like 'Get down here, KID, so that we could slaughter you.' But the voice said he didn't recognize his scent, and that scared him. Humans didn't have a keen sense of smell, but he heard of a group of people who fit the bill. Mystics. If there was a Mystic down there and he had just crossed onto their territory, there was no telling what could happen to him then.

"Oii, if you're not going to come down, then do you want me to come get you myself?" The voice called.

He gulped. Well, hopefully Lady Luck would smile upon him and make sure he didn't end up dead by tomorrow. He jumped down the branch and looked around to find the owner of the voice. His eyes landed on a person with slightly pointed ears, wings, horns, and a tail. He lost all hope as he identified the Mystic with some of the knowledge he had. This Mystic was a demon. He had heard that demons were killing machines, sparing no mercy or pity for the human beings that they fed upon. The demon's eyes were blue and calculating as he looked him over before sighing.

"So, what's your name?" The demon asked as he looked him in the eyes

Kaito swallowed thickly. "Kuroba Kaito." He said quietly. The demon nodded.

"Well, Kuroba-kun, why did you jump into the sacred tree?" Kaito stared at him.

"That's a sacred tree?" Kaito couldn't help but ask. The demon looked at him, perplexed, before nodding.

"Of course it is, can't you tell?" The demon's voice had a touch of wariness that Kaito didn't fail to notice.

"No, not really. I did feel it was oddly different from the rest of the trees though." Kaito answered honestly.

"What kind of Mystic are you Kaito, that you can't even tell that this was a sacred tree?" The demon asked, narrowing his eyes slightly at Kaito.

"I'm not a Mystic." Kaito answered, his voice firm and level. On the inside though, his emotions were in a wreck. This demon was going to kill him now, he was sure of it.

The demon stared at him. "You're not?" Kaito nodded, trying to think of some way out of this mess without having to die.

He heard a groan come from the demon as he ran a hand through his hair, muttering barely loud enough for Kaito to hear. "Problems, problems, problems! If it's not death, then it's problems. Am I cursed or something?" The demon shook his head and sighed.

The demon pointed a finger straight at him, its nail sharp. "Follow me." Kaito obliged, more time for him to think up a plan to escape.

They traveled around in a circle, the demon checking the barks of trees and the ground under bushes for something. At the last one he sighed, aggravated.

"All the runes for the spell are in place. How did you get in here?" The demon turned to look at him, curiosity shone bright in his eyes.

"I was just running from a couple of people chasing me, and then I saw the maple tree here and jumped into it." Kaito said with a shrug. The demon looked lost in thought, probably not even hearing a word Kaito had just said.

"Great." The demon muttered with his eyes closed.

Kaito looked the demon over curiously. He didn't look like how most people described demons. This one looked more...Human. True, he had horns sticking out of his head along with pointed ears and a pair of silver wings and a tail sticking out of his back as well, but he looked a lot more human that the mental pictures Kaito got when someone tried explaining what a demon looked like to him.

He was brought out of his musings by another sigh. The demon looked at him apologetically.

"I'm sorry, but I can't travel too far from the tree right now, and I'm worried about the people who were chasing you, so if you don't mind, can you just stick around for about another hour or two?" The demon asked as he continued to look at Kaito.

Kaito reluctantly nodded and sat down at the base of the tree with the demon a few paces away, laying down on the grass. Kaito was relieved that demon was at least an arm's length away from Kaito, but he couldn't help but look at him with a questioning look. The demon seemed to catch it out of the corner of his eye and let a faint smile appear on his lips.

"You want me to be near you?" The demon asked humorously. Kaito stayed silent and looked off to the side a bit embarrassed.

The demon chuckled. "It's alright, I don't mind. It's not really your fault anyways."

Kaito brought his gaze back to the demon laying in the grass. "You don't mind being afraid of?"

"Well, it is kind of tiring, being afraid by everyone because of some legends or myths, but it's not their fault that the chose to believe it, so I don't really mind." The demon answered.

"So you're saying you're different from what the legends say?" Kaito inquired. The demon sat up, offended.

"Why, of course I am!" The demon exclaimed with mock hurt. He smiled and laughed for a bit. "Really, I thought you would notice when I didn't outright kill you when you jumped out of the tree."

Kaito nodded a bit, ashamed with what he was thinking about the demon before him and let out a small apology. The demon, still smiling, continued.

"I'm a monster in your eyes." He started out quietly once again. "It's reasonable to fear monsters since they're different. But you know," He sat up and looked straight at Kaito. "We have feelings, too. We're not some emotionless, brainless, killing machines; we're just as real and human as you guys are, but you guys don't seem to get that." Shinichi sighed softly as he looked up at the tree.

As Kaito finished processed the information, he began to pity the demon and felt guilty. The demon said exactly what Kaito thought he was - an emotionless killing machine, and Kaito felt bad for it.

The slight wind carried the demon's voice to his ears. "You should go to sleep." He looked at the demon doubtfully. Sleep? How could anyone get any sleep here? "You look like you need it." Was all the demon said as he laid back down on the grass and closed his eyes. Kaito stared at the demon, observing him, gathering every detail he could about him. This demon was kind, not at all like how his classmates described them to be. Then again, he got it from Aoko and his female classmates, and of course they would over exaggerate things that they were scared of.

He didn't want to sleep. He was curious, and that beat the sleep right out of him whether he needed it or not. So, he started saying every question that came to mind.

"What's your name?" Kaito started, looking at the demon that suddenly cracked an eye open at his question.

"Don't want to sleep do you?" He asked. Kaito shook his head with a grin.

"Well," The demon started. "My name is Kudo Shinichi." Kaito mentally stored that info and asked another question.

"How old are you?" Shinichi looked at him, as if he was trying to figure out what to say.

"Seventeen." Shinichi answered.

"You aren't like a thousand years old or something?" Kaito wondered as Shinichi chuckled.

"I can be, but I'm not." Shinichi said as he turned his gaze up to the stars above him.

"Why are you here?" Kaito asked as he looked up at the leaves above him.

"Because of the sacred tree." Was Shinichi's blunt answer.

"Well, what can this sacred tree do that made you come here?" Kaito asked as he ran his fingers along the base of the tree.

"I can absorb magical energy from it when there's no moon." Shinichi said as he rolled onto his side, now facing Kaito and the tree. Kaito looked up at the tree's leaves, wondering if he could get magical energy from it too, but dismissed the thought.

"Is there anything else it can do?" Kaito asked as he made a move to pluck one of the leaves off. He was abruptly stopped by a hand roughly grabbing his. He looked up to see Shinichi looking down at him. Kaito, who spent countless nights avoiding the police's grasp while stealing gems, immediately felt like he was caught and started to pull his hand out of Shinichi's steel hold.

"This tree," Shinichi said, a firm grip on Kaito's forearm. "Has the power to turn select humans into Mystics." Kaito stopped squirming as he stared back up at Shinichi. "Each type of Mystic has a family with royal blood, the blood of their first ancestors. Those of the royal family supervise the act of a human turning into a Mystic, in other words, they have to be present to initiate the act. If there is none, then both the human and the Mystic will die instant deaths for disturbing the tree's power.

"Each of the trees' leaves have large amounts of magical powers in it, so if you take one, that will also be an equivalent of disturbing the tree's power, and you will die. You wouldn't want that, now would you, Kaito?" Shinichi said as he let go of Kaito's hand. He reached up and plucked a leaf from the tree, holding it out for Kaito to take, while Kaito stared wide-eyed at him.

"Aren't you going to die an instant death?" Kaito asked, cautiously looking over the leaf being held out to him. Shinichi chuckled and shook his head.

"I'm of royal blood, so no. Only people of royal blood can pluck the leaves of this tree." Shinichi answered as he twirled the leaf between his fingers. The leaf in turn, glowed a brilliant silver-white, illuminating his and Kaito's face. Kaito hesitantly took the leaf into his fingers, twirling it in his fingers as Shinichi did, but this time, more slowly and carefully.

"Extraordinary." Kaito breathed. He had seen several extraordinary gems of different sizes and colors, but nothing like this. The glowing leaf was exceedingly beautiful, breathtaking even, and he was holding it. He tore his gaze from the leaf as he heard Shinichi sit down, his back against the tree with his eyes closed.

"Hey Shinichi," Kaito said as he unconsciously scooted closer to the demon. "How is it glowing like this?"

"The magical energy in it." Shinichi mumbled as he tried to get some rest. Unfortunately for him, Kaito was persistent with keeping him up.

"Shinichi! Don't fall asleep on me! I'll get bored!" Kaito whined as he poked and nudged Shinichi's arm. Shinichi growled and turned so that his back was facing Kaito and the tree was supporting his shoulder.

"Leave me alone, Kaito." Shinichi muttered, annoyance all too clear in his voice. Kaito pouted at this and continued to poke his back.

"I can't sleep. Stay awake and talk to me." Kaito complained. Shinichi sighed, knowing all too well that this particular human wasn't going to leave him alone. Back still facing Kaito, he spoke, voice quiet and tired.

"What do you want to talk about?" Kaito grinned.

"Well, for starters, I can't really talk to you when your back is facing me, Shinichi." Shinichi shrugged.

"I say we're doing pretty well. No need for me to turn around." Shinichi replied lazily. Kaito frowned at his answer.

"Then I'll just face you!" Kaito said happily as he got up to his feet and sat across from Shinichi whose eyes were still closed. Shinichi frowned slightly and scooted back, away from Kaito. Kaito noticed the movement and scooted closer, and in response to the movement, Shinichi scooted away.

"Kaito," Shinichi said, his voice strained. "Can you please keep out of my personal space?" Kaito shook his head, and realizing that Shinichi couldn't see it he spoke. "Nope." Shinichi sighed as he got up to his feet, Kaito mirroring the movement, and stretched his wings before silently shooting up into the tree. If it weren't for the slight rustling of leaves, Kaito wouldn't have known where Shinichi was.

"Stay down there, Kaito." Shinichi's voice sounded clearly above him.

"Why should I?" Kaito retorted, glaring at a spot in the leaves where he knew Shinichi would be.

"For your safety." Was all Shinichi said before going silent once again. Kaito refused to accept that answer and began to carefully climb the tree, making sure not to move the leaves too much in fear of dying an instant death.

He climbed nearly to the top before he spotted Shinichi, his head tightly clutched in his white knuckled hands. Worried, he climbed closer, but was quickly stopped by a branch that moved to block his way. 'Seriously?' He thought. 'This tree can move on its own?' He stayed crouched on the branch since it was the closest one to Shinichi

"Shinichi." He called out softly. Shinichi looked up, his sharp blue eyes glowing in the dark. He narrowed his eyes at him for a moment before snapping his eyes shut once again like he didn't want to see him. Kaito attempted to get closer to Shinichi, carefully moving the branch up so that he could move forward. Another branch shot out, once again blocking his path, and irritating Kaito.

"Shinichi." He called again, this time louder. Shinichi shook his head miserably.

"Kaito, get away." Shinichi bit out, harsher than he meant, but had the same effect he intended it to have. Kaito flinched back at Shinichi's harsh tone, but seeing as how the kind demon forced himself to add some venom to his words, he reluctantly jumped down from the tree, leaving Shinichi alone like he wanted.

Shinichi cracked one of this eyes open slightly, checking to see if Kaito was still there, and sighed in relief when he saw he was gone. Though with his sharper senses, he could still smell him, but it wasn't as strong as when he was practically right next to him. He clenched his jaw closed and gripped his head tightly with his hands as he tried to fight off the hunger for Katio's life force.

'If only Saya were here.' Shinichi thought grimly as he swallowed thickly, intending to stay up all night now so that if Kaito decided to suddenly come up here and touch him, he wouldn't end up dead the in the next second to come.

Saya, like all the other Mystics who managed the hideouts, had very high levels of magical energy, one of the highest that Mystics have seen in decades. Saya was an elf, which made it all the more confusing as to why she had larger amounts of magical power than the typical fairy or warlock, since elves' strength was speed and agility not magic - although they did have large amounts of magical power as well, just not as much as fairies or warlocks like Saya did. Saya was kind enough to make Shinichi magical bracelets that could be put on humans so that he wouldn't crave their life force. These bracelets were specifically made for Shinichi since he was the only demon who dared to weaken himself by not having at least a weekly meal of life force.

The two stayed where they were for a few hours, silent and tired. Shinichi, whose keen ears could hear Kaito's steady breathing as he lightly slept, felt it was safe enough to go down and stretch his stiff muscles without any problems. He landed silently on his feet and walked a few paces away from Kaito, whom was sitting right under the area Shinichi's branch was hanging from. He stretched his limbs, feeling better when hearing his joints pop and crack. He felt incredibly better, not at all feeling the immense desire for life force from earlier and relaxed as he sat down across Kaito, content with just looking at the strange human before him.

A soft smile found its way on his lips. He was rather fond of Kaito, he noticed, and chuckled softly at the absurdity of what he just thought. No way on Earth would the human he felt rather attached to would feel the same way - it was just crazy and improbable.

But not impossible. His mind supplied for him.

He blinked. A bitter smile etched across his face and he began to laugh just as bitterly, small tears coming out of his eyes. He was going crazy - no, scratch that - He was already insane. What kind of Mystic in their right mind would think of such an improbable thought like that? Oh man, what would Master say if he heard this? His laughter died down all too soon, the silence of the forest meeting his ears once again.

"What were you laughing about?"

Shinichi's head snapped towards the tree. Kaito was looking at him curiously with an amused smirk on his face. He had woken Kaito up.

"Nothing you should concern yourself over. Just a stupid thought that came up, that's all." Shinichi said as yawned. He walked up to Kaito and pulled him up from his sitting position, and, with a few complaints and protests, dragged him towards the direction of the hideout.

"Oi, oi! Where are we going?" Kaito protested, stumbling over his feet a few steps before pacing himself with Shinichi.

"Somewhere." Shinichi said, not even sparing him a glance in his alert state. His eyes darted back and forth every so often and he tensed slightly at every sound made. Seeing Shinichi like this wasn't very comforting to Kaito, so he, too, stayed alert for only-Shinichi-knows-what.

Shinichi suddenly stopped, muttered a few colorful words before pulling Kaito into a tree, and placed his wings around him protectively as he covered his mouth to keep him from speaking. That didn't stop Kaito from making any noise, though, since he was now trying to unsuccessfully speak, the sounds coming out as 'mmfh's or 'uuhm's. Shinichi pressed his hand harder against Kaito's mouth. "Be quiet, Kaito. Do you want to die?" Shinichi quietly murmured behind his ear. That made Kaito stop his utter attempts at speaking as he waited in silence for the thing that Shinichi seemed so intent on staying away from.

A rustle of leaves came from his right, making Shinichi's wings come closer around him as well as pressing Kaito closer to his chest. Kaito couldn't see what it was since Shinichi's wings covered his sight, but he remained content with just listening to them, gauging what they were doing from their movements. A quiet voice came, the anger in that voice clear even though it was quiet.

"Damn it! I swear we were going to get him this time!" The voice's owner growled softly. His accomplice snorted at his partner's anger.

"He's a demon, what do you expect? A simple mouse trap or a net to catch him? Ha, if it were that easy, we wouldn't even be here now would we?" The accomplice voice was much louder than the first, older as well, so it was safe to assume he was the older of the two.

At the words demon, Kaito tried to crane his head back to look at Shinichi, but Shinichi kept his head in place, refusing to let him look at the other. Kaito frowned, but remained in place, focusing his attention back to the two that were under them.

"No, but we had pretty elaborate traps set up to get him, right? We even positioned several people around this forest since he came here more often that not. Besides, even if he didn't fall into one of our traps, one of our men would've surely got him even if he is a demon." The younger one retorted, then sighed, looking around for any signs of said demon.

"Do not group him with the others, Aehisu." The older accomplice said. "He is the demon prince, do not underestimate him. The is cold, heartless, Mystic we have on our hands, and we cannot afford failure. You know what we have to do, don't you?"

"Of course I know what to do, Yammata. It's actually my simplest mission yet, and you're asking if I remember it? Man, you probably don't trust me all that much, do you?" Aehisu mocked a sigh, but a dark, confident smirk came across his features.

"Kill him."

All seemed to have gone into a stand still for Kaito. The birds chirping, the leaves rustling in the wind, and Shinichi's chest moving up and down with his breathing were the only signs of him still being in reality. Kill him? Kill Shinichi? What had he done to them to make these people go after him? Sure he was a demon and all, but he was really nice once you get to know him. Kaito narrowed his eyes and brought his head up to look at Shinichi, but once again, Shinichi kept him from doing so.

"Kaito, please, stay still and be quiet." Shinichi murmured, slowly and gently removing his hand from Kaito's mouth, knowing that wouldn't cause too much of a problem.

"You're telling me to stay still and quiet when these people are hunting you down?" Kaito muttered angrily, not facing Shinichi, but looking through the gap in the pair of wings that surrounded him trying to see the two men that were under them.

"So you do know what you're supposed to do after all, Aehisu." Yammata said, nodding his head slightly. "But do you know why?" Aehisu paused in his pacing for a moment to regard the question that was asked.

"Isn't it because he's a monster, something that shouldn't have been born or created?" Aehisu asked, looking to Yammata for confirmation.

Yammata grinned. "Yes, he is a monster, but that is not the complete reason." Yammata stated. "We are hunting him down because as our duties as Slayers, we have to protect the human species from these monster that call themselves Mystics. But as you know, some Mystics are deadlier than others, and those are the ones we target first since their more dangerous. It seems that the Demon Prince has made it to the top of the list as well as all the other demons since we learned that they need to extract certain amounts of life force from humans." Yammata looked over at Aehisu to see his reaction, and was rewarded when his face turned pale and he stared at him wide-eyed.

Little did they know that Kaito was doing the same thing.

"Re-Really..?" Aehisu asked, frightened at what he had just learned. Yammata nodded delightfully at him. "How?" Was the hoarse question that came out of Aehisu's mouth.

Yammata place his chin in his hand, acting as if he was actually thinking about it, then his face lit up. "Well, I think the boss said that the demons only needed skin to skin contact to extract the energy they need, but they can control when and how much they want to extract. Unfortunately, they can't last long without it since they need both magical power and life force to survive, that's why their at the top of the list. They're dangerous to us. All of the Mystics are. Those heartless killing machines." Yammata shook his head in disgust.

The two moved on, leaving Kaito tense in Shinichi's hold. Shinichi actually takes the life of humans. Who would've thought? Certainly not Kaito that's for sure. Shinichi slowly moved to stand on the branch, taking in a deep breath and letting it out. Not looking at Kaito, Shinichi murmured something that Kaito had to strain his ears to hear, but he heard it as Shinichi jumped down the tree, walking away from Kaito.

"Nice meeting you, Kaito."

Sure that quote alone didn't have much meaning for anyone else, but for Kaito, it meant a lot and could mean a range of things. "It was nice having you around" or "This is where we go our separate ways". Seriously, Kaito had no idea that he was even running until he clumsily tripped over his own feet, almost falling face first if not for his amazing reflexes. He didn't even know where he was going for kami's sake!

He got up and continued to run wherever his legs wanted to take him. He saw a faint flickering light ahead of him and decided that he should go and see what it was being the curious person he was. As he came closer, he saw that the lights were coming from several fireflies hovering over a pond, sometimes flying over to the lone figure under the tree's shade, dimly lighting up its face before going back to the pond. The figure was, in fact, Shinichi. The demon was just sitting there, exposed to the Slayers if they happened to come by, but before Kaito could run up to him and ask why in the world did he walk off like that, another figure showed up, long light brown hair slightly blown back by the wind, as she advanced on Shinichi.

Shinichi looked up slightly, but he seemed to see past the female figure that was approaching him and instead, looked a little ways past her shoulder to where there was a human, dressed in slightly dirty white clothes. His eyes widened and he moved to get up, but was quickly stopped by the elf that was now towering over him, bright hazel eyes staring intently on him before taking something out of her pockets and depositing it on Shinichi's lap.

"Ah, thank you, Saya." Shinichi said as he took the bracelets and placed them carefully into his pocket. Saya nodded in response.

"So, are those bracelets for the human hiding in the trees over there?" Saya moved her head slightly to indicate the area Kaito was residing in. Shinichi nodded and got up, patting his clothes to get any loose dirt off.

Kaito blinked. The female figure and Shinichi suddenly disappeared, well, he knew that the female faded away to go to wherever she was going to, but Shinichi just vanished. Kaito hesitantly came out from his hiding place when a hand shot out behind him and in a fluid motion, placed a dark grey bracelet on his wrist. Kaito pulled his arm away in an immediate response to the sudden movement. He looked up to see who was his offender, but he only saw trees and bushes, so he shrugged the thought since he had a pretty good idea of who it was, and dropped his gaze to his wrist, inspecting the strange ornament that was placed on it.

The bracelet was dark grey, almost black if you will, two small silver feathers on it, making the form on an 'X', and a strange inscription on the inside on it, written in what seemed like glitter.

'For your safety'.

Kaito snorted softly at the inscription. He was Kaitou KID for crying out loud! He didn't need this - what should he call it? A good luck charm? A talisman? Amulet? - bracelet thing when he was able to take care of himself perfectly fine with no problem. Though as he turned the bracelet around, his eyes softened and a smile formed on his lips. It was nice to be given something like this from Shinichi. It was like he was trying to say that he cared about Kaito, and that made Kaito feel warm and giddy inside. He looked around him, a thought coming into mind that caused a long-suffering sigh to come from Kaito.

'He didn't know how to get back home.'

---

Kaito was tired. After he finally found his home yesterday, he went to take a nice, long, hot shower and found out that he couldn't take the cursed bracelet off of him. He spent several wasted minutes trying to pry the thing off his wrist. He gave up and stepped into the shower just to have part of his skin burn off with the intense heat of the water. He slipped into bed, hair still slightly damp with water, and couldn't sleep until he had to gas himself with his own sleeping gas.

Now, though, he didn't let the tiredness show. He bounced around his aching legs and pranked every student he could, dyeing their hair either a bright neon orange or a blinding yellow, or some other prank that he felt was needed. Before he could continue one of his pranks, he was roughly tugged back by his wrist. A complaint already ready in his mouth, he gave a glare to the person responsible and found Hakuba looking at his through narrowed eyes. Thank kami that Akako was gone for whatever she was gone for because Hakuba, even if he didn't admit it, was better than Akako.

"Kuroba-kun, where did you get that bracelet?" Hakuba asked quietly, studying said bracelet hanging around his wrist. Maybe he spoke too soon, he'd probably like one of Akako's riddles instead of a detective's nosiness.

Kaito brought his wrist up to inspect it. "Well, I don't really remember, but I think someone gave it to me." Kaito answered, not lying, but not not telling the whole truth either. Hakuba sighed, aggravated, and glared at the class prankster.

"Kuroba-kun, I'm serious. Where. Did. You. Get. It?" He asked, obviously stressed and now annoyed by the boy feigning innocence before him. Seriously, he knew Kaito had a very good memory, so how can he not know?

Kaito was about to give him another half-truth, but was thankfully saved by the glorious sound of the ringing bell, signaling the start of class. He gratefully sat down, thankful for the bell for giving him the rest he needed, and looked up at the teacher walking in with a plastered smile on her face that made one of Kaito's eyebrow go up. The teacher never really smiled since this was her most bothersome class thanks to a certain magician residing in it, and only really smiled when it was time for school to be let out, or when she was able to do her own things.

"Now, class," The teacher said sweetly, an evil aura was being emitted around her. "There is a new student that had just decided to join starting today, and I would like all of you," There was a glare directed to Kaito as she said this. "To make him feel welcome. Do you understand?"

A chorus of agreement was the reply she received, and happy with the answer - though she did send another glare towards Kaito - and called for the student to come in. Kaito grinned, happy he set up a prank at the door way. Originally, it was for the teacher because really, do you want to let the teacher to be left out? No, but Kaito was so happy that he was able to sit after all the pranks he pulled that he just left her alone.

Now, though. Now was the best time to use it. A perfect welcome for the new student.

The door was pushed opened quietly, but no one walked inside. The teacher, thinking it was shyness from being in a new school, attempted to coax the new student in, but silence herself when said student tossed a coin in the air. It didn't go far, it wasn't supposed to anyway, but it did set off Kaito's prank which included glitter, paint, and feathers of all kinds of colors. The students and the teacher snapped their head towards Kaito's direction, some incredulous looks and some fearful looks resided in his fellow classmates' faces which he distractedly ignored, curious as to who the new student was.

His eyes widened slightly before his Poker Face automatically slammed down on his face. The new student walked up to the front of the class, a calm aura surrounding him as he wrote his name on the board and turned around.

"Hello, everyone. My name is Kudo Shinichi, nice to meet you." His voice sounded tired, though he kept a small grin on his face. He was directed to sit at the first seat next to the window and quietly sat as class started, seemingly oblivious to some stares and glances directed towards him. One of those who were staring at him was none other than Kuroba Kaito.

Once the last bell rang, Kaito hurriedly placed his things in his bag and attempted to make his way towards Shinichi until a persistent Hakuba got in his way, once again looking at him through those narrowed eyes. Kaito inwardly groaned at Hakuba's antics, didn't he have anything better to do?

"Where do you think you're going, Kuroba-kun?" Hakuba asked, suspiciousness in his tone as he observed Kaito.

Kaito glared at the detective Brit blocking his way, then looked over Hakuba's shoulder to where Shinichi was walking towards the door.

"Ne, ne, Hakuba." Kaito whispered as he moved closer to the Brit who instinctively took a step back. "Do you want to know what happens when I'm annoyed?" Kaito asked dangerously as he showed him a way-too-happy-and-sweet smile. Hakuba shook his head hesitantly as he took another step back, scared that he might have his hair dyed a disastrous neon orange or yellow.

"That's good. Now, mind you, I have to get moving." Kaito said happily as he bounded across the room and out the door, leaving Hakuba looking after him, a slightly disturbed expression on his face before sighing dejectedly.

"Shinichi!" Kaito called as he ran towards the human-disguised-demon that was running away from him. The students looked apologetically at Shinichi as he ran away from the crazed magician, but he gave them no mind, after all it's not like they were at fault. He sighed as he turned sharply, jumping over the wall and running across a busy street before the walking light turned red. He sighed, relieved that Kaito would be delayed in his mad chase to catch up to him, and ran for a short distance before walking to make sure that he and Kaito wouldn't cross paths anytime soon.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair as he yet again turned another corner. He didn't know why he was avoiding Kaito, and he probably wasn't going to speak to him anytime soon, but he did have a good idea of why Kaito wanted to talk to him so much. Ignoring that for a second, he thought about the students in his class. Most were normal humans, but there was one Mystic he found - a warlock, the one that confronted Kaito earlier and helped him - even if he didn't know it - get away from Kaito's grasp.

He was weak. He was exhausted. It killed him to know that it was because he hadn't had a healthy dose of life force, but he had to or else Saya would confront him again. He scowled slightly at the conversation they had yesterday.

"Shinichi." Saya said sternly as she watched the demon she left a few minutes ago come staggering into the hideout. "Shinichi, you need some life force in you. You don't want to die now, do you?" Shinichi barely spared her a glance as he threw himself onto a chair, his breathing was quick and deep, almost like panting.

"I don't need it now." Shinichi stated softly, but he knew he wouldn't last much longer. He hadn't had any life force since four months ago, and he was drained. The only thing keeping him sane was the magical energy residing in him, but he knew he would drain that just as quickly. Heh, he might as well stay at the tree for the rest of his life if he continued like this.

"You and I both know that you're going to drop dead if you continue this any longer, Shinichi, so just go out and get some. There's no hurt in getting at least a week of life from a human." Saya said worriedly, as she looked at the tired demon.

"Yes, it won't hurt, but I don't want to unless I really need it, Saya." Shinichi said quietly, a small smile started to form at what he knew was going to come.

"Unless you really need it, Shinichi? You need it every day for you to survive! You don't have to exhaust yourself just to prolong the humans' life when they're going to die anyway!" Saya snapped. "At least get the next Slayer's life force, alright? I mean, they hadn't done anything but cause you trouble the moment you awakened." Shinichi simply sat there, his eyes closed and his breathing leveled out.

"Come on ,Shinichi. Just this once." Saya pleaded, and was relieved at the slight nod of a head from Shinichi. She grinned. "Alright, then, what do you want to have for dinner?"

Shinichi knew she was just trying to do what was best for him. She always has and would continue to do so, but he couldn't help but think that she was just a little too insistent on this promise, and that annoyed him for a reason he cannot define. He turned another corner to come face to face with Kaito.

Great.

Absolutely wonderful.

He made a run for it, running straight ahead instead of turning the corner like he originally wanted to, with Kaito on his heels.

"Shinichi!" Kaito called out to the running figure ahead of him.

Shinichi muttered a few things about persistent people and ran wherever he felt like running to since he didn't have an exact destination in mind. He could hear Kaito running after him, panting lightly, and still calling out his name. He ran and ran, with Kaito still following him, around Ekoda. He came up to the woods, and deciding that it was the best place to hide at, he slipped into the trees' shade, walking further into the silent woods. Kaito still followed right behind him, a bit tired from running without rest, but otherwise he was fine and determined.

Shinichi slowed to a stop at the sight ahead of him, and stood in place like a frozen statue. Kaito noticed this, and quickened his pace to catch up to Shinichi, but was quickly pushed back as Shinichi tackled him to the ground, covering up his mouth with his hand and a finger to his lips, telling him to stay quiet. Kaito nodded his understanding, and Shinichi cautiously took his hand away from Kaito's mouth and slowly sat up, Kaito mirroring him. He saw two people, too far for his eyes to make out their gender, but it was obvious that they figured out he and Shinichi were behind the bush since they stared intently at it, slowly bringing their weapons up, ready to shoot.

Shinichi made a motion for Kaito to stay, and in a split second, Shinichi had taken off the spell that suppressed his demon characteristics and shot out from the bush, evading all shots aim at him and getting closer to the two Slayers. One of the said Slayers managed to get a shot at Shinichi's wing in their panicked state and decided to run when they saw the demon advancing even closer on them. Unfortunately for them, Shinichi was much quicker and caught up to them in no time, bounding both the shorter Slayer's wrists with one hand while doing the same to the other's.

Remembering what he promised to Saya - though he wished he didn't, he allowed himself to take most of their life force, leaving them weak and unconscious afterwards as he set them on the ground. He breathed in the cool air and stretched, forgetting about his injured wing until the pain made him wince. He certainly felt better, but a damaged wing meant bad news since most of his magical power was stored in his wings. He heard Kaito jump out from the bushes and head towards him, and at the sight of his bloodied wing, he quickened his pace and stopped in front of the wing, concerned.

"...Shinichi, your wing." Kaito murmured, the worry in his voice was well hidden, but Shinichi detected it. This made Shinichi smile warmly at his concern. He shrugged light-heartedly.

"There's nothing wrong with it. It'll heal eventually." Shinichi said as he abruptly moved the wing away from Kaito's quickly approaching hand. The sudden movement made him cringe slightly, but Kaito caught it out of the corner of his eyes.

"It hurts doesn't it?" Kaito asked as he looked at Shinichi.

"Just a bit. Nothing that you should concern yourself over." Shinichi replied off-handedly. Kaito narrowed his eyes at him, and his hand suddenly shot out to touch the injured wing. This caused a reaction from Shinichi, who gave a small cry and jerked away from Kaito to keep him from causing anymore damage to his wing.

"See! It probably hurts like hell right now, Shinichi, and you say there's nothing wrong with it!" Kaito accused. Shinichi growled at Kaito, but otherwise did nothing but cast the spell over himself so Kaito wouldn't bother him about his wings.

"Nothing wrong. I can hide it and, as I said before, it'll heal eventually." Shinichi grounded out as he walked past him. Kaito followed closely behind him. Deciding it was better not to press on it, Kaito changed the subject.

"Where are we going?" Kaito asked as he looked at their surrounds. Trees. Oh, and grass. Don't forget the grass.

"You, are going home. I on the other hand, have to get some business taken care of." Shinichi answered.

"I'll follow you, then." Kaito said happily as he continued to follow Shinichi who gave no complaint at Kaito's decision.

They went deeper into the forest until they came across the pond where he had been given the strange bracelet, the fireflies still hovering over the water, illuminating it. The walked past it, and came face to face with a certain odd-looking tree, but Kaito couldn't say what was so odd about it. Shinichi placed his hand gently against the tree and muttered a few foreign words before continuing to go forward where they came face to face with a huge building. Kaito inwardly gaped at the elegance of the building before he snapped out of his thoughts and followed Shinichi inside where his ears were instantly bombarded with a variety of voices that hushed altogether when his sight was covered by the back of Shinichi's head. Craning his head ever-so-slightly, Kaito saw a Mystic standing before Shinichi, blocking the way,.

"Shinichi, who is it you brought here?" A male voice sounded through his ears.

"Just a friend." Shinichi answered calmly, his gaze locked with the Mystic that was standing before him with an arrow pointed right between his eyes.

"A human as a friend? What kind of nonsense are you spouting, Shinichi?" The Mystic asked incredulously, looking back and forth between the human and the demon.

"I suppose it is too early to call him a friend, so I guess acquaintance would do." Shinichi spoke off-handedly with a shrug.

"I don't care what his relationship is with you, but rather the reason you brought him here, Shinichi." The Mystic growled out hotly, narrowing his eyes at Shinichi.

"Oh, if that's the case, Kurai, he came here because he wanted to follow me." Shinichi answered coolly, looking Kurai straight in the eye, his gaze unwavering.

"And you let him?" He asked indignantly, staring disbelieving at Shinichi.

"Well why wouldn't I?" Shinichi asked curiously, tilting his head to the side slightly. Kaito mentally snickered at the display Shinichi was doing. It was obvious that he was just doing it to make the other annoyed or angry.

"First of all, he's a human. Humans hate our guts." Kurai said harshly.

"Well, first, this human has a name, and its Kaito." Kaito plastered a wide grin and gave a small bow, knowing that Kurai would be the only one to see it. "Second, this ones special, he was able to get to the demons' sacred tree, passing all the spells casted to hide it from the human eyes."

"I don't care if he's special or not. He's still a human!" Kurai growled angrily. "If you don't get this filthy human off our ground, then I'll kill you for it." He threatened.

"As if you really could." Shinichi retorted, a smug look on his face.

"Of course I can. A demon like you that is weakened because you don't want to take the life of your enemies would not stand a chance against a demon like me." Kurai stated, a smirk on his face.

"I beg to differ." Shinichi drawled out, rolling his eyes. "I have plenty of life force to take you on."

"Would you like to test to see if your words speak the truth?" Kurai asked dangerously.

"If you wish." Shinichi answered lazily. Kaito frowned and tugged Shinichi's sleeve, making Shinichi look back with a questioning gaze.

"Aren't you still hu-" Kaito was quickly cut off at someone's sudden outburst.

"I refuse!" All heads turned to the counter where Saya had both her palms flat against it, a mix of annoyance and anger on her face. "Are you all so ignorant that you cannot even notice the magical power that is leaking from Shinichi?" All but two Mystics looked away from the elf, noticing the magical leak that they hadn't sensed earlier.

Kurai scoffed. "This demon obviously doesn't care since he agreed with the battle." Saya glared at him, saying nothing as she walked up to Shinichi and canceled the spell that covered up his injured wing.

Kaito backed away slightly as Kurai stared wide-eyed and Saya gasped while the other Mystics stared, silent. Shinichi looked at his wing and moved it experimentally, not caring at the looks he received at his bloodied wing. His wing was nearly drenched in blood, dripping a bit on the ground as he moved it around, wincing slightly at the movement, but soon got used to it and the pain dulled considerably.

"There's nothing wrong with it, Saya, it'll heal itself in no time." Shinichi said to reassure the elf that was eyeing him worriedly.

"Listen to him, elf. He said he was alright, so let's get this battle going." Kurai snorted impatiently, ignoring the sharp glare that both Saya and Kaito directed at him.

"Yeah," Shinichi said with a small yawn. "Let's just get this over with." They walked to a clearing, a few other Mystics followed to see the battle between the two demons, one a prince, and the other respected for his battling skills. Saya stood next to Kaito with the rest of the observing Mystics and sighed as she glanced over to Kaito who looked worriedly between Shinichi and Kurai standing a couple of yards away.

"Don't worry about Shinichi, Kaito-kun." Saya said. "Even though Kurai is a well-known and respected battler, he won't be able to land a fatal hit on Shinichi." Kaito looked at her and seeing the confidence in her eyes, he relaxed a bit and watched intently as the battle commenced.

Kurai had a predatory grin on his face, while Shinichi had a bored expression standing there as he waited for Kurai to make the first move. His wish was granted as Kurai did make the first move, moving at such a fast rate that Kaito's eyes only saw a faint blur of movement, and appeared behind Shinichi, taloned fingers drawn back to pierce through Shinichi's flesh. Shinichi, expecting this, side-stepped quickly and watched expressionless as he saw Kurai fall forward, missing his target.

Shinichi jumped back several feet, evading Kurai's magical lance as he attempted to stab it at Shinichi's chest. The pattern continued, Shinichi dodging, while Kurai wasted his stamina chasing and attacking Shinichi, his rising anger clouding his mind. Kurai charged forward, lance pointed straight ahead at Shinichi, who evaded it a moment too late and had a small fabric of his shirt cut off. He mentally scowled, then angled himself slightly and kicked Kurai into an unsuspecting tree several meters away with an amazing force.

"See." Saya said, a faint smile on her lips. "Shinichi doesn't go down that easily." Kaito grinned, looking at the demon who had his face smashed against a tree with satisfaction before he bounced up to Shinichi who was still scowling at his torn shirt.

"You have to teach me how to do that, Shinichi!" Kaito exclaimed happily, knowing that no matter what Shinichi did, he wouldn't be able to kick that far and hard. Shinichi chuckled a bit and ruffled his hair, his scowl turning into a soft smile.

"Maybe later." Was his reply as he turned and walked towards the tree where the demon was implanted in.

Kaito's eyes narrowed as Kurai's body disappeared, but didn't have much time to do anything when his back was suddenly pulled into someone's chest, their hand covering his mouth. He looked at Shinichi's expressionless face, then up to whoever held him captive. You can't say he was surprised to meet Kurai's grinning face. The Mystics who were observing stayed silent, watching the scene before them with anticipation. All except for one - Saya, who was watching bitterly, but remained silent like the rest.

"Now, now, Shinichi, it seems I have your little pet human." Kurai said wickedly as his grip on Kaito became rougher. "You wouldn't want me to hurt him, would you?" And at Shinichi's silence, he grinned magically. "Good, good. Now Shinichi, I just want you to do one thing for me. Can you stand there as I slowly take this human's life with my own hands?" Kurai looked at Shinichi and was surprised at the unconcerned expression of the demon prince.

Shinichi shrugged. "If that's what you want me to do, then fine." He said off-handedly. Kaito stared wide-eyed at him, not believing what he had just heard. He felt betrayed and disappointed. He had thought he and Shinichi were closer than that, but he was apparently wrong. He frowned bitterly at the thought and focused his attention back on the two demons, wanting to get away from the negative thoughts that were residing in his head.

"Oh?" Was all Kurai said.

"Sure." Shinichi answered, looking at Kaito for a split second before returning his gaze back to Kurai who grinned like a madman.

The hand on Kaito's mouth loosened slightly, and Kurai's breathing slowed down, preparing himself to cast a spell on Kaito. Kaito looked nervously to Saya, who was staring intently at Shinichi, then swallowed thickly and closed his eyes, waiting for the slow and painful death that was awaiting him. A moment passed and there was an ear-splitting yelp. Kaito's eyes snapped open, as he felt the body behind him suddenly disappear. Looking behind him at the demon who was now being glared at furiously by Shinichi, his face dark with rage.

"O-Oi, Shinichi..." He didn't get to finish his sentence as he was thrown several meters to Shinichi's right and through several trees that split in half at the sheer force of the throw. Some of the Mystics that were watching, moved back hesitantly, in fear of the angered demon prince.

"Now, now, Kurai." Shinichi said viciously as he walked up to the frightened Kurai. It was perfectly reasonable. Shinichi never actually fought or got angered easily, and if he did, he did an amazing job at covering it up. Sure when he fought he would land a few attacks on someone, but he usually refrained from hurting someone too much when in battle and only caused light injuries. Seeing this angered Shinichi, this demon that had the ability to kill him off in a split second, unnerved him greatly.

"Sh-Shinichi...?" Kurai croaked, backing away from the approaching demon, his bangs casting a shadow over his eyes, enabling him to read his emotions.

"Kurai." Shinichi's voice was cold and firm. "What gives to the right to try to damage what is mine?" Kurai's back lightly his a tree. He mentally cursed himself and looked hesitantly at the ground, not wanting to look up at the angered prince.

"Why do you think that I wouldn't do anything to protect what's mine, Kurai? Did you really think that I wouldn't do something about it? You should have kept Kaito out of this, after all, he was a bystander, he was watching the battle, not participating in it." Kurai flinched at the cold tone that Shinichi used, not daring to look up at the demon prince's eyes.

"Well?" Shinichi asked, still looking down at the frightened demon. Kurai let out a nervous sigh.

"I-I just wanted everyone to know that I was a worthy Mystic - a strong and powerful Mystic that other Mystics would look up to, so I decided that if I could defeat you in battle, then..." Kurai bit his bottom lip and looked up at Shinichi with determination. "I thought that if I could defeat you, the demon prince, then people would recognize my worth and ability. So when I felt like I was on the loosing end, I took the human hostage so that I could use him against you." Kurai sighed, shaking his head ashamed at his actions.

"I apologize, Shinichi." Kurai muttered, his head drooping down to move his gaze back to the ground, missing the slight upwards movement of Shinichi's lips. Shinichi made a mock thoughtful noise from his throat and nodded.

"Just don't do it again. Besides, I, and many other Mystics, feel that you are already a worthy Mystic. You don't need to do anything to prove yourself worthy any longer." Shinichi said as he turned around silently and made his way to Kaito.

At the unnatural silence, Kurai brought his head up, expecting to see Shinichi still standing there with his piercing gaze on him, but no, he found Shinichi a few yards away, walking out into the clearing. He scrambled up to his feet and quickly made his way out into the clearing too.

As he was greeted by the large field of grass, he saw Shinichi walk towards the human boy - Kaito, was it? - and was roughly poked by said boy once he was in poking range. Of course, it unusually wouldn't affect Shinichi, but Kaito poked his injured wing, its wound seemed to reopen slightly during their battle. His eyebrow rose at the huma- no, Kaito's perceptiveness towards Shinichi.

"Ne, ne, Shinichi." He his keen ears faintly caught what Kaito said. "Are you alright?"

Shinichi glanced at him and chuckled. Kurai froze dead in his tracks. Shinichi just chuckled. Chuckled. What the hell is wrong with him? He looked at the other Mystics to see that none of them caught the alien noise coming from Shinichi so he pushed the thought aside, focusing more on their conversation.

"You were the one that was being held captive by someone who could kill you without a sweat and you're asking me if I'm alright?" Shinichi asked amusedly glancing back at the group of Mystics behind him to see if Saya was there. She was. And she was now talking intently with Kurai who had just joined the group.

"Well I'm not the one who fought with a wound." Kaito retorted. "Plus," He added before Shinichi could give a witty remark. "I didn't die, now did I?" He gave Shinichi a wide grin.

"You could have." Shinichi muttered quietly, his eyes darting around the scenery behind Kaito. "That's exactly why you should keep away from me, Kaito. You have a higher chance of dying at any given moment if the Slayers figured out that I'm actually 'friends' with you."

Kaito looked hurt, putting his hand dramatically over his heart. "You don't consider me as a friend, Shinichi?" Kaito gasped theatrically, while Shinichi just rolled his eyes.

"I never said that." Shinichi shrugged, wincing slightly at the pain that shot up his back. Kaito looked at Shinichi worriedly, planning to see what was wrong before Shinichi quickly shuffled back, just out of Kaito's reach. Narrowing his eyes, Kaito took a determined step forward to which Shinichi responded with a stiff step backwards.

"Shinichi." Both teens looked to the side to find Saya and nervous Kurai.

"What is it, Saya?" Shinichi asked, happy for the distraction as he regained his lost composure and turned to face the two Mystics.

"Kurai was training on a new spell recently, have you heard?" Shinichi nodded in response, looking slightly away from Saya who narrowed her eyes at him.

"Do you know what kind of spell it was?" Shinichi mentally cringed and stiffly nodded his head once more.

"It's a spell that messes with the opponent's immune system, making them fall seriously ill, and if perfected, could kill them within days or even hours." Shinichi answered. Saya nodded while Kurai started to fidget nervously.

"When Kurai took," A nod of head towards Kaito. "Kaito-kun here, he decided to use that spell to see if he could figure out what he should do to perfect it." Kaito's eyes widened before his Poker Face did his job. Shinichi continued to look at Saya, she doing the same, while Kurai seemed intensely nervous. "But I do not see him in the slightest bit of pain, and I don't see any symptoms of sickness. I have a good guess at what had happened, but I want to hear it for myself. So pray tell, Shinchi - enlighten us all and tell us what you did." Saya grounded out, her gaze hot and steady as they bore into Shinichi's blue eyes.

After a good moment of silence, Shinichi spoke. "I cast a transfer spell on the bracelet." Shinichi sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. Kaito looked questionably between the three Mystics, but he had a good idea at where this was going.

"You what?" Kurai blurted out, unable to keep in his unease any longer. "Why the hell would you even think of doing that, Shinichi? Do you know what would happen to you if he got seriously injured or even killed?" At Saya's death glare, Kurai resorted to muttering incoherent words under his breath.

"Even though that outburst was completely unnecessary, I agree with Kurai. Why would you think of doing that? Do you know how much trouble you just got yourself into? True, the spell might not have as strong of an effect on a powerful Mystic like you, but it could still cause major problems, Shinchi!" Saya gave him a disapproving frown, but Shinichi ignored it.

"I have my reasons for doing the things I do, Saya."

"I never said you didn't. I'm just saying that what you did was reckless." Saya retorted, narrowing her eyes.

"Reckless as it may be, I still have my reasons for doing it." Shinichi was starting to feel the effects of the spell. Closing his eyes tightly and dipping his head back a bit, he took a deep breath and let it out, wanting to get rid of a headache that was starting to form. He opened his eyes and looked back at Saya, who was observing him worriedly, as well as Kaito and Kurai.

"I'm fine." He growled out, annoyed at the unneeded worry. He took a step forward, planning to go past Kaito and to the sacred tree so he could rest there, but it seemed that his body was too exhausted to even walk and he fell forward, blacking out.

---

Kaito looked down at the figure resting on the bed, the little moonlight lighting his face an enchanting silver as he slept peacefully, his chest rising and falling with his breathing. Kaito gently moved the bangs out of the sleeping figure's face, his fingers tingling when he ever so slightly touched his burning skin. With his cheeks crimson red from sickness and the thin layer of sweat covering his forehead that glistening every so slightly with the moon's rays, he looked entrancing - captivating at an impossible level. Kaito flushed, and swallowed thickly, running his hand smoothly down Shinichi's jaw and lightly traced his fingers over his soft lips.

Breath-taking.

How he would love to claim those lovely lips, would love to trace his hand soothingly down his chest and back, feeling and remembering every little detail of the body before him. How he would love to make him his. The lust and hunger gnawed at him persistently, chewing away bits of his self-control. He sighed, giving up to the temptation slightly. He looked at the demon, his eyes softening at his blissful, peaceful slumber. Kaito leaned in until his lips were hovering over Shinichi's, drinking in every detail of his face that were clearer thanks to the close proximity. He slowly closed his eyes and closed the little distance between them, his lips gently kissing Shinichi's warm lips.

He pulled back quickly, refraining himself from doing anymore, and brought his hand up to trace his fingertips across his lips, the feeling of warmth still lingering from the short kiss. His lips curled up into a giddy smile and his eyes glowed with silent happiness as he got up to make his way to his own bed across the room where he knew he wouldn't get much sleep, not with the celestial-like creature laying in his line of sight.

He laid down, content with watching Shinichi sleep until he, too, drifted off into the realm of dreams.

Kaito woke up to find an empty bed across from him. He narrowed his sleep clouded eyes and swiftly got up, running down the short flight of stairs. He looked around the empty and spacious room, eyes wandering over every little detail, trying to find Shinichi.

---

"So you're awake?" A voice spoke from behind him. Kaito twirled around, his reactions still quick even in his tired state. He found Saya, holding a small velvet pouch in her small hand, walk swiftly past him the second there was enough room to pass.

She placed the pouch carefully on the counter and rummaged through the cabinets and drawers, her eyebrows drawn together in a look of concentration. She looked through a certain drawer and her eyes lit up slightly as she withdrew her hand, revealing another small pouch and began pouring out its contents with what seemed like little care into the other velvet pouch that was sitting on the counter. Kaito raised his eyebrow in curiosity, momentarily forgetting about the missing Shinichi, and sat down, observing Saya in her working state. She hurriedly closed the pouch with its two little rope strings and shook it vigorously before she set it back down and looked inside of it. Kaito leaned forward, wondering at what was inside, but Saya's little elf hands shot out from under the counter and grabbed the wrist that was sporting the dark bracelet, making Kaito jerk in surprise.

"O-Oi! Saya!" Kaito exclaimed as he fought against the surprisingly iron grip of Saya's hand.

"Keep still." She ordered. Kaito obeyed instantly, not wanting to mess her up. She turned the loose bracelet over, her eyebrows once again drawn together in concentration, observing it intently as if she was trying to find something odd about it. She drew back, an aggravated sound coming from her throat.

"What's wrong?" Kaito looked at her curiously.

"Nothing." She answered crisply, and begun to sprinkle the powder in the pouch on his bracelet, some landing on his wrist during the process. They both looked at the bracelet expectantly, and as if answering to their expectant looks, the bracelet glowed a vibrant blue before dulling and disappearing all together.

"What was that about?" Kaito asked, twisting the bracelet back and forth to see if anything changed.

"I was just checking if I could undo the spell that Shinichi casted on it." Saya sighed, closing the pouch and placing it in a random drawer of choice and closing it before looking up at Kaito.

"Listen here, Kaito." Saya spoke, her voice not angry or bitter, just firm. "The spell casted on this bracelet," She gestured at the bracelet resting on his rest loosely, "is called the 'transfer spell'. Yes, not the most incredible and exciting name ever, but it is a very powerful spell that links the user, which in this case, Shinichi, and whoever the user wants to link with, which means you. This spell will, as it is hinted in the name, transfer your physical pain to Shinichi when it's needed." As Kaito opened his mouth to speak, he was cut off by Saya starting again.

"I don't know what triggers the transfer, though, but I know that the object that links you two together is that bracelet there." Saya pointed at the bracelet, an accusing look in her eyes as if she blamed the thing for all her troubles. She let out an exhausted sigh and plopped down onto one of the chairs, hands in her arms.

"If only I didn't give him that stupid bracelet." She mumbled to herself, not expecting Kaito to hear it.

"Oh? Why did you give him the bracelet?" Kaito asked, curiosity once again lacing his voice as he fingered the treasured bracelet.

Not looking up at him and keeping her face in her arms, she answered, her voice muffled. "He asked me to. The bracelet has its own magical properties, Kaito. I should know since I made it after all." At this, she gave a small half-smile even though she knew Kaito couldn't see it. "It's mostly used for its traditional reason - marking what belongs to them." Kaito's eyebrow rose, surprised, but remained silent. "But I modified the one you're wearing right now. It still marks you as Shinichi's," Kaito let a grin take over his face, a warm and fuzzy feeling in his stomach at him being considered Shinichi's. "but with a modification that I made specially for Shinichi, it keeps him, and others, from taking your life force when he's craving some - not like he needs that modification anyway, he has enough self-control to keep doing that." Saya sighed again, bringing her face out of her arms to stretch her stiff limbs freely.

"So," Kaito started. "this thing right here," He pointed to the bracelet. "is supposed to keep Shinichi from killing me?"

Saya rolled her eyes. "You make it sound like a bad thing, Kaito. Did you not read the inscription on it? He obviously cares about you and your well-being." She stretched farther and slumped in her chair, a yawn escaping her lips. "Besides, even if you didn't have that bracelet I'd bet he would refrain from taking any life force from you."

Kaito, remembering why he had come down here - really, when did he become so forgetful? - quickly asked Saya if she knew where Shinichi went.

"What do you mean, 'Do you know where Shinichi went?'? He's supposed to stay up there and rest! He's not in the most stable state and he shouldn't even be able to move a foot!" Saya exclaimed, rising immediately, the shock and worry clear in her voice.

"The tree! We have to check the tree - he's always there!" Saya blurted out after a moment of thinking, hurriedly making her way to the door, Kaito following closely behind.

They walked a distance before Saya spun around to face Kaito and regard him with a serious look. "Remain quiet. Do not make a sound. Slayers are in the area trying to capture any Mystic they set their eyes upon." Kaito nodded quickly and they silently made their way to the sacred tree, hoping to find Shinichi there.

The sight they found was unpleasant.

The first thing that caught Kaito's eye was the sacred tree. The tree that was so vibrant and beautiful when he first laid eyes on it was now seemingly on the verge of death. Its branches drooped low, the leaves were brown and falling, making a pile on the equally dead-looking grass around it, but as he rushed closer, he found Shinichi, leaning on the base of the tree, bloody all over where various arrows and bullets shot at him. Kaito gasped, hovering over Shinichi, terrified at the bloody wounds that planted themselves all over the demon.

"Move." Saya ordered, her voice calm voice contradicting her turmoil of feelings inside. Kaito obeyed, knowing that, maybe, Saya could heal him.

Saya began muttering foreign words - at least, foreign to Kaito - a faint glow came from her fingertips and Shinichi's wounds, making Kaito's eyes go wide. He stood there and watched, watched knowing that he couldn't do anything to help the one he just figured out he loved the night before. He felt weak, powerless, but most of all, he felt useless not being able to do anything, and it struck him to the very core.

He held his breath as he saw Shinichi wince, and would've jumped for joy and brought him into a bone-crushing hug if not for the serious condition he was in. Shinichi then barely cracked his eyes open, but both elf and human noticed it for they were paying close attention to him.

"Shinichi?" Kaito whispered, his throat had somehow gone dry. Shinichi gradually brought his head up to look at him, his half-lidded eyes clouded and unfocused.

"Kaito?" Shinichi rasped out, his voice hoarse, as he attempted to focus his eyes on Kaito. Kaito gently took his hand, soothingly rubbing his thumb over the back of it. Shinichi made a move to get closer to Kaito, but pain quickly shot up his back and he leaned against the tree in agony.

"Don't move, Shinichi." Saya sternly said, still concentrating on healing Shinichi.

Shinichi seemed to just notice Saya attempting to heal him and gave a strained laugh. "It's not going to work, Saya."

"What do you mean it's not going to work? Do you doubt my healing abilities, Shinichi?" Saya inquired, an eyebrow raising to hide in her bangs.

"I don't doubt them, Saya, but it has been awhile since they shot at me, and I can say for sure that they were prepared because once one had found me, I was immediately surrounded. Believe me when I say that it was a miracle that I even made it to the tree." Shinichi's voice was lined with some slight humor despite the dire situation.

"Don't talk like that, Shinichi. Knowing your luck, you might die within a minute." Saya stated gravely.

"Alright, alright, but I want to do something first if Kaito agrees." Shinichi chose that time to cough a handful of blood, startling the other two and making them fret even more, but Shinichi waved it aside saying, "It's really not as bad as it looks.", before moving his gaze to look at Kaito and he held out a glowing silver leaf, like the one that Shinichi had plucked from the tree the day they had met. Saya stared wide-eyed at Shinichi.

"No, no, no, no, no! Shinichi you are not planning that! I won't let you!" Saya growled angrily. Shinichi ignored her, his full attention still on Kaito.

"Kaito, do you remember what I told you about these leaves?" Shinichi murmured, twirling the leaf between his fingers, staring at it distantly. Kaito nodded affirmative and Shinichi continued on.

"Then you remember me saying that it could turn humans into Mystics, right?" Shinichi asked, his eyebrow raised at Kaito.

"Yes, I remember, bu -" Kaito's eyes went wide. "You aren't planning to make me a demon, are you, Shinichi?" Shinichi smiled.

"Not without your consent." Was all he said.

Kaito bit his lip nervously, he didn't know why Shinichi suddenly wanted to do this, and that was what unnerved him. He was used to knowing what people were thinking, but now, he couldn't find any reason for Shinichi wanting him to be a demon. Maybe to be with him forever. Ha! Shinichi was half dead. So there was no way would he stay forever. He didn't have any reason to not trust Shinichi, really, all he did was protect him. Well, maybe Shinichi was doing this to protect him.

From what?

He pushed the thought aside, he couldn't keep a dying Shinichi waiting. Kaito slowly nodded his head, and under the small splash of blood on his face, Shinichi gave Kaito a warm smile. Shinichi slowly held out the leaf, internally wincing at the movement, and motioned for Kaito to hold it as well.

The leaf's silver glow glowed much brighter, more vibrant, engulfing the three in a calming light. Kaito's bracelet glowed a bright silver as well, but before he could question it, he doubled over in a sudden pain, his hand letting go of the leaf in the process. Saya, understanding that Shinichi would rather her help Kaito than him, shuffled over to Kaito and ran her hand up and down him back in a soothing motion, murmuring to him that it was alright and it'd be over soon. Shinichi looked up at the tree he was sitting under and was satisfied at the enormous change in its health. Its leaves began to glow brightly once again, the branches rising from their drooped state to stand tall and strong, and the grass around them became a luscious healthy green. He closed his eyes, his breathing becoming shallow and slow, and slumped even more against the sacred tree that he had looked after for a short while.

He managed a small smile as it became harder and harder to focus on anything, the sounds became blurry, his thoughts in a jumble mess, and he could faintly feel the serious wounds that covered him.

He felt a slight warmth on his leg, but remained still.

He heard some movement, someone getting closer. It was probably Saya checking if he was alive or not.

He sensed someone's eyes on him as they came face to face with him, he guessed only a few inches apart.

The person's hand caressed his cheek, the motion soothing and heart-warming. Their fingers lightly traced over his lips, and in less than a second after, he felt a pair of warm, loving lips on his.

He opened his unfocused eyes slowly, his body weak and tired, to see who it was even though he had a good guess, and saw Kaito in his demon glory with unshed tears brimming in his eyes - from sadness or the pain, he didn't know. He kissed back weakly, but Kaito noticed it and desperately brought him closer into a hug, his warmth engulfing him.

"I love you, Shinichi." Kaito whispered hoarsely into his ear, refusing to let him go.

"I love you, too, Kaito." Shinichi weakly murmured, his voice quiet and gentle.

Kaito pushed in face into the crook of Shinichi's neck, hearing his slow and quiet pulse, and tightened his hold on him. They stayed like that, silent and unmoving, until Shinichi's pulse faded away, never to sound again. He did something he hadn't done in years. He cried. He silently cried his eyes out, mourning for another lost loved one. Someone whom he only knew for a few days, yet he felt like he had known him long before that, long enough to say that he had loved him with his whole heart.

The body in his arms began to slowly fade away, leaving a shocked Kaito on his knees, grief-stricken and heavy-hearted.

"Come on, Kaito." Saya coaxed softly after a few silent moments, she, too, mourning silently for the loss of a fellow Mystic and friend. She help Kaito stand up, and with one last look at the tree, they trotted back to the hideout, hearts heavy and melancholy.

A heavy wind blew, and with it, Shinichi's voice faintly sounded through Kaito's ears, so quietly that he thought he had imagined it.

"Goodbye," It softly spoke. "Kaito."

~oOo~

---

I have to say that this story, in my opinion, felt quite rushed. I could've also left out a few things here and there, but I didn't because I thought I should keep it for the heck of it.

If you have anything to say about my writing ability, then please do so. I would very much like to hear your thoughts since I'm still an amateur writer and would love to fix the mistakes or improve on how I write so that you would be able to understand it better.