Disclaimer: The owner of Detective Conan and Magic Kaito, I is not.

Beats me if I know where this came from.

She stared down at the body on the floor. Blood pooled, just very recently dead. Messy brown hair splayed out, a gun in her hand. Her father's. He'd most likely be the one to find the body. A hurried call for an ambulance, or checking to see if she was still alive, which would come first? And then what?

Her soliloquy was interrupted by someone crashing through the open kitchen window. How anyone had even managed to fit through it, let alone tumble through it the way the stranger had, she didn't even hazard to guess. Two leathery black wings waved in the air before the stranger stood up, looked at the body, cursed, and then punched the fridge in that order.

Then he looked at her, and she saw his face. "Oh my god... oh my god it's you..." She staggered backwards, nearly tripping over a chair – now how had she managed that? "I go through all this, just to get away from you, and here you are. You're dead, aren't you? Oh what perfect timing!" she shouted angrily. She collapsed into the chair she had nearly tripped over. "What perfect timing," she sobbed.

That person blinked. "I know we look alike, but I was really hoping at least you would be able to tell us apart."

She looked at him again. "You're not him?" Now that she was thinking, she realized that everything was just a little bit off.

The stranger bowed. "Kudo Shinichi, at your service. Now please tell me why the hell you just did something so incredibly stupid?"

"Isn't that obvious?" she deadpanned. "Clearly you're familiar with him, if you knew who I thought you were."

Shinichi sat down next to her, sideways on a second chair so his wings wouldn't get in the way of the back. "Well yes I'm familiar with him, I've chased him. That doesn't mean I understand why you did this."

"You weren't there!" Aoko was screaming again. "He was flying low over the crowd, just for his damn theatrics! And then suddenly his suit was all red and he fell right in front of me! That damn hat went flying and that damn monocle was shattered and he looked like he was dead and there was blood everywhere! And damn it Kudo Shinichi, I thought I loved him!"

Shinichi folded his arms. "And so when you thought you didn't love him anymore you decided to off yourself? Please, leave the sappy romance out of this."

"It's not romantic at all! When was the last time you tried loving and hating someone at the same time?"

Shinichi didn't answer that. Instead he followed up with another question, sounding angry. "So you decided not to even give him a chance to explain himself? When he does wake up, how do you think he'll feel about this? He's shot while stealing a sparkly rock for reasons neither of us can comprehend, he nearly dies, and then when he finally wakes up it's with the full expectation of going straight to a jail cell. At that point, what is the one thing you can take away that he still has going for him? You." This last word was with a finger pointing straight at Aoko.

"If he wakes up," Aoko grumbled, grasping at straws.

Shinichi was exasperated. "Dear god it's Romeo and Juliet all over again."

"Except, you know, the part where Juliet knew Romeo was a Montague," Aoko argued sarcastically. "It's not like that at all."

Shinichi waved an arm. "Imagine the scene: After hovering between life and death one Kuroba Kaito wakes up in the hospital with a hole in his chest and an armed guard. He's been arrested, his identity found out, and when you don't come to visit he's pretty sure you hate him. Then when Inspector Nakamori comes to get into the dirty business, he asks just how much you hate him. Now remember, the window of a second-story hospital room is just five feet to the right."

"Your point?"

"Juliet goes to sleep, doesn't wake up. Because she can't tell Romeo what's going on, Romeo thinks that everything is hopeless and kills himself. Juliet wakes up, discovers that Romeo's dead, kills herself. End of play."

Aoko found herself chuckling slightly at the mental image of Kaito in a red wig and a long pink dress, waxing lyrical about roses. "He'd do that too," she murmured.

"Besides, you'd have better luck avoiding him here when he's in prison. The Afterlife is starting to get pretty crowded."

Aoko remained silent, staring at the body on the floor.

Shinichi took her hands in his, drawing her attention to him. "You didn't even give him a chance to explain himself. Do you really think he'd do such a thing without a very good reason?"

"Well... no," Aoko admitted.

"He's still Kuroba Kaito. Sure, he's been keeping secrets from you. But he's still the person you love."

"He's the person I hate," Aoko argued again.

"No, he's the person you love who for an unknown reason decided to also be the person you hate. Now why do you suppose he would do that?"

"I'd rather not wonder. It's too late now anyway, the deed is already done." Aoko gestured to the body on the floor.

Shinichi shook his head. "No it isn't. I know you want to find out now. No it isn't."

Aoko glared. "In case you haven't noticed, I've got a bullet in my brain."

"Yes you do, and it isn't the most becoming look I've ever seen either. I can fix that though, but for a price."

"You're daft," Aoko argued.

"You are a ghost arguing with a great detective with bat wings. You might want to reevaluate your concept of what is insane and what isn't."

Aoko looked at the body again. "What's the price?" she finally asked.

"Bodies," Shinichi replied glumly. "You yourself will never die until it is your time, but dead bodies will follow you everywhere. Also, you'll gain a rather nice pair of wings."

"How the hell am I supposed to hide a pair of wings?"

Shinichi shrugged. "Unless you put some actual effort into it, they'll vanish whenever anyone still alive is looking at you. Do you want the deal or not? Your father will be coming home soon, and I have to be gone before then."

Aoko glanced at the body. Lifeless eyes stared back at her, and she could have sworn one of them winked. "Yes," she agreed. "I want the deal."

Shinichi nodded. "Okay then. This is going to hurt." While Aoko watched he stood up and knelt down next to the body. He poked a finger into her skull and dug around with it. Aoko's head started to feel really funny. When Shinichi's blood-covered finger came out, Aoko could see the tip of the bullet. Then he pulled it out and set it on the floor. He pulled the gun out of the hand and set it aside as well.

Then before she could comprehend Shinichi had suddenly grabbed her hard by the throat and was dragging her towards the body. She clawed at him, panic settling in. He was kneeling next to the body again, trying to force her in, and it hurt oh it hurt.

Slowly her limbs started to feel heavier. And then she finally realized that Shinichi was holding her throat so tightly she couldn't breathe, and she gasped for air. Shinichi let go and she panted, trying to get her breath back. But before she could the pain started again, this time from her back, and she heard a ripping sound and felt blood. She screamed and then finally passed out.

When she awoke, the first thing she felt was an all-encompassing ache and the distinct desire to not move for a very long time. She then realized that she was lying in her bed in the dark, dressed in fresh clothes, and that Shinichi was gone. Pervert. She forced herself to reach over and turn on the light on the end table. The motion pulled something in an appendage she was pretty sure she hadn't had before and a wing, black and leathery like Shinichi's, freed itself from underneath her. She experimentally flapped it, and it nearly knocked a painting off the wall. She growled, and then noticed the note underneath the lamp.

Nakamori-san:

I've cleaned up the blood and put the gun away. Please think about our discussion. You will probably feel very sore and groggy for several days, so don't do anything too strenuous. I'll head over to the hospital next to see what I can do. I've also left the card of a lawyer I know underneath this note. When it's time, go see her and tell her that Kudo Shinichi sent you. She'll help the two of you.

Kudo-san

The note was definitely right when it said she'd feel awful. She set the note down and picked up the card on the table, reading the name Kisaki Eri from it. She pulled out a drawer and slipped both the note and the card into it.

No sooner had she done so than someone knocked on her door. "Aoko? Are you awake?" her father's voice filtered through.

"Yeah Dad. You can come in."

Ginzo opened the door and poked his head in. "It's dark in here. Were you taking a nap?"

Aoko nodded. "Yeah. I don't feel so good."

"Oh," he said quietly. He turned to go, but stopped. "Also, Aoko... about Kaito-kun..." he trailed off.

"What about him?" Aoko asked, worried.

"He's... it's just he's regained consciousness. I know you probably don't want to see him, but if he asks is there anything you'd like me to tell him?"

Aoko shook her head, knowing that this was somehow Shinichi's doing. "No, I think I'll go see him myself. Not just yet, but... in a couple days maybe."

Ginzo nodded. "I'll let you take your nap then." He shut the door quietly behind himself.

Aoko turned the light off and rolled over, careful of the wings. When she felt like leaving her bed again, she would go see Kaito. And if he could make her see why he'd done what he'd done, then she'd wait to hit him until doing so wouldn't kill him.

In the end it took Aoko longer to get to the hospital than she'd assumed. Having lunch at a café first turned out to be the wrong idea, as one of the other patrons keeled over from being poisoned. As she watched she saw a small boy crawling around the crime scene looking for clues. Then he turned his head towards her and an eye behind large glasses winked. Phantom wind from a phantom wing beat tugged at her hair, and she suddenly got a very interesting inkling.

Ah ha ha. Another dead Aoko and implied dead Shinichi, add them to the list (this brings my published DC body count up to 17). I had fun with this one. Muses say Eri was the one to bring Shinichi back to life and that Shinichi can appear as himself, but only when his wings are showing. Reviews are love.