A/N: Err… I know it's been months since I promised this, and I'm really sorry for not posting it sooner, but I just didn't have the time. Don't get me wrong, I did write occasionally, but with my losing the first script, which was over one third of the chapter, I had a bit of a writer's block when it came to paper. And with my mom lurking around and chasing me off the computer every time she saw me, I couldn't exactly find the time to do it. -.- Oh, how I long for the day when I get my own laptop…
Anyway, here's Chapter 2! :D Mind you, it's just an introductory chapter to the simple plot of the story, and I'm sure by the end of it you'll have a general feeling of what the next chapter will entail, but bear with me trying to make this a good quality fic with more than just 1000 words per chapter. And I dedicate this chapter to Alice-chan, who was so kind as to beta it and find a lot of mistakes that sure would have diminished your fun while reading this :)
Title: Raven, Tantei-kun?
Author: Teah no kitsune
Warnings: Angst on Shin-chan's part, again small mention of blood
Chapter 2: Musings
The creaking sound of the window pane opening was a large contrast to the eerily silent atmosphere of the house. Kaito winced at the echoing noise, the sound his feet made touching the hallway floor barely audible. He closed it again in one swift move followed by a much shorter creak, and vowed to fix it as soon as possible. That meaning after he got some sleep, because the constant alertness and still fresh happenings of the last few days were finally catching up to him, demanding he lay down right that instant and give his body its much deserved sleep.
Treading step by silent step down the dark hallway only lit by the soft glow of moonlight peeking through the window he just entered through, he made sure to linger a moment or two longer by a slightly ajar door. His breath was caught for that short amount of time, his ears hyper-sensitive against every sound around him, listening for any sign of awakening souls residing behind it. Only when his ears were met by methodical, slow breathing, unbroken by his louder than normal entrance to the house, only then did he let out a relieved puff of air. Quietly, his hand reached for the knob and closed the door to his mother's room completely.
The stillness of the night was broken by the light flutter of cloth and wings. Two sets of feet landed with barely a sound on the concrete of the construction site's rooftop. A white cape billowed in the wind as the hang-glider collapsed back into its original state.
His continued trek led him past the stairway (really, entering through the front door was overrated, and overly predictable for any lurking entities nearby, especially if they had a thing for cosplaying as Sherlock Holmes) and past his own room, to which he almost gave another sigh, this time in regret. Oh, how he wished he could just throw himself in the warm folds of his blanket and fall asleep then and there… But he knew better than that, and in his line of night-work, precautions were what was asked for every second of it.
He would first have to make a small detour to the rec-room's 'adjacent room' and get rid of a few of the more incriminating pieces of evidence, like the white suit he carried in his duffel bag and the numerous gadgets he still held concealed beneath the clothes of his latest disguise.
As said before: Precautions, precautions.
The thief admired the way the feathers lightly swayed in the strong wind of the rooftop. The abandoned construction site the other had chosen was of a mostly finished skyscraper, yet still lacking some fundamental things, like paint and people to inhabit it. Perfect for a secret meeting like this one.
His own cape had wound around his form tightly, enveloping and giving him a more demented, yet more humble look than normal. Those appendages, however… They stayed strong, refusing to give in to the tide and curling almost protectively around its bearer in an arc, half concealing him from the magician's view.
Simply depositing the bag on the floor of the small windowless room seemed at that moment like a much better idea than busying himself by putting everything in its original place one by one, the call for sleep already making his movements more sluggish and slow. He quickly rid himself of the many additions he still carried on his person and tiredly made his way to his room, steps still silent and careful in the dark house.
Truthfully, he hadn't planned on making it home this late in the night, but with his flight being delayed and part of the airport still closed because of renovations (he still cringed remembering that incident), it couldn't be helped. He was sure his mother would understand though, even if 'visiting Jii-chan in Sendai' would fail to explain his late return. He could always say he got held up somehow. She would understand.
She always did.
The not-child in question was turned away from him, having landed a fair distance away after depositing him and his hang-glider on the flat surface. He stood there, not making any move to turn around, as if to give him time and space on the off-chance he still decided to make a run for it.
Kaito wasn't having any of it, however, as his violet eyes, shadowed by the rim of his top-hat in the moonlight overhead, continued to observe the small figure protectively encircled by two much larger ones. Waiting a moment or two, the small feet of his counterpart stepped forward, away from him, slowly making their way to the edge of the roof.
He entered his room with the same cautiousness as within the rest of the house, his feet expertly avoiding the pile of books he knew was positioned right next to his door.
Unlike what most people thought, Kaito wasn't a messy person, nor an overly unorganized one (how would he be able to even plan his heists if he were one?), he just had a… specific sense of organization. It was true his room appeared untidy (more like a bomb exploded in it) to most anyone that cared to take a look in it, but Kaito always knew where he left his things, and which of the 'piles of what-not', as Aoko had called them, were more important than others. Not even his mother entered the room to tidy it up anymore, knowing it appeared to be more than it was. Only Aoko ever cared to shuffle the things out of the way, and even then her attempts had decreased a lot after she got a handful of confetti in her face that one time she'd messed with the wrong 'pile of what-not'.
The soft click of the door falling shut was closely followed by an almost audible sigh of relief, Kaito's straight back finally losing some of its invisible tenseness and shoulders slumping forward ever so slightly. His legs automatically carried him to the adjacent bathroom, his body set in the familiar routine that he'd missed so much these days, as he let his mind wander.
Even turned away, hiding behind that dark veil of feathers, the thief could just imagine those haunted eyes gazing indifferently at the city life below. Faintly, the thought that no one, none of the nameless faces below, would probably ever know of this meeting nor of this conversation ever taking place, rung through his head.
He stood there, the wind howling in his ears, cape winding around him, mind running through endless theories of such a possibility existing (and, excluding a meeting with the resident witch, which he honestly doubted, unsurprisingly coming up blank), and waited for the not-child to start.
The teen gave a soft sigh as his face met the heavenly soft pillow on his bed, his body already shutting down in its dire need for sleep. With one hand he grabbed said pillow, tiredly fluffing it up as the other one sluggishly reached for the blanket neatly folded at the foot of the bed and threw it over himself.
And waited. Really, he was starting to get cold at the high altitude! Love for high places he may have, but that didn't include the cold that came with being too still for too long. Neither Kaito nor Kaitou Kid were prone to standing still for any amount of time, especially not for small detectives.
But said small detective seemed lost in thought, still leisurely standing at the edge of the building, still absent-mindedly gazing down below, still with a posture unmoving and slumped. It was for all of the world as if he had completely forgotten about the magician even being there.
And Kaitou Kid didn't do well when not paid attention to. So he made the first move.
Yet his mind refused to rest. It didn't matter how many times he tossed or turned, his body restless for its inability to settle for the night, he just couldn't bring himself to that blissful state of tranquility and half-awareness.
"Tantei-kun… What are you?"
No. Not with that meeting, that night still on his mind, unprocessed and buried deep in order to function normally during the remainder of the heist.
A small twitch in the shoulder blades, magnified by the small flap of the wings, indicated his question had come across, despite the strong wind and traffic noise all around muffling it. It was almost as if the boy was surprised he was still there, still waiting, still demanding answers and still standing tall without a need to run.
These last few days had been unpredictable at best and downright nerve-wracking at worst. Every miniscule part of the heist had to be planned, every possible deviation taken into consideration and every bit of information he'd managed to get on Kudo Shinichi perfectly utilized. That last part had mostly depended on sheer luck and similarities between Kudo's behavior and his own. Well, his behavior before encountering his 'small' problem.
Taking into account the… surprising discovery he'd made about Tantei-kun, the random murder on the plane (one of many that seemed to follow the detective around it seemed), the poisoning and abrupt need of a replacement pilot and co-pilot (thank god his dad deemed it necessary for him to learn how to operate a plane on their vacation to Hawaii when he was a kid)… well, you could say he needed all his nerves and thoughts strictly concentrated to the task at hand, namely getting a plane full of people to the relative safety of firm ground below.
Now, after all the euphoria and adrenaline rush had finally left his system, now that he was finally left with a clear head to think and calmly go over the last few days properly and critically, only now was the full impact, the full life-altering seriousness of the discovery he had made able to ring through his head.
Wings.
He could still remember that anguished look of resignation, and of equal determination, as Tantei-kun, that great mind trapped within the helpless body of a child, had plummeted to the pavement below, the distance between their two out-stretched arms increasing rapidly with each passing second.
Wings.
Kudo- no, Tantei-kun (he couldn't let himself get familiar with him on more than the usual rival-acquaintance basis, that was just a big 'No no') had almost died that day, had almost become a small dark-red speck on the pavement below, had almost lost his life because he couldn't have controlled his instinctive reactions for one god damn second, couldn't have reached his hand one bit further for the elusive child-sized one of his rival…
Wings.
But then… he hadn't.
…Hadn't hit the ground, hadn't impacted, hadn't fallen at all—He'd just… hovered there, in the air, calm as if he belonged there all along, suspended by those, those…
And suddenly, wide awake as a mentally exhausted night-time gentleman thief could only get after so many days spent hyper-aware, he made the realization that was probably long due.
'Dear kami, Tantei-kun had sprouted wings from his back!'
A breathless chuckle escaped him, disbelief showing clearly through as he now stared, eyes fully opened and no longer able to sleep, at the dark ceiling above him. The possibility, the sheer percentage of something like that happening…
Hell, this was Kudo Shinichi he was talking about – cold-facts, firm-on-the-ground (hah!) detective geek Kudo Shinichi, with not an ounce of sense for the illogical and supernatural. Yet, to Kaito's growing amusement, slowly penetrating through the thick haze of shock he'd just experienced, the detective's entire being was the perfect example of everything abnormal and illogical.
Trouble seemed to just find the guy on every corner he made. Really, to not only be a living biological anomaly with a lack of ten years aging sprung from who-knows-what (Kaito was still debating about that, though he suspected it had something to do with the equally not-so-young ojou-chan that sometimes trailed after him), but to not be human at all…
'Trouble always seemed to find him…'
Vacant eyes blinked at the ceiling.
'Whether he wants it or not.'
A flash of that expression, so young and vulnerable in that one fleeting moment before a mask of impassiveness had taken over again; blue eyes reflecting fear, fear of being feared, before they had hardened into ice chips, tucking those too revealing feelings beneath the dimmed surface that had steadily gazed at him over the tip of the white hang-glider…
Frowning, he stuck an arm out in the direction of the nightstand, his fingers scrambling in the dark for the target they sought after. His tired body protested the movement, but Kaito ignored it as his mind ran over those words again and again.
It seemed there was much more beneath the surface of that child-teen-whatever, than anyone had thought before.
Shifting slightly, one wing drew back a bit, still arcing around the small form yet now giving him a limited view of the expressionless face, with the moonlight reflected off those glasses, much like his own monocle, not making it any easier for the thief to read it.
He felt frustrated.
And suddenly the magician felt as if he'd been swept up by a vertigo and deposited on the wrong side of the deal. Looking at the mysterious and almost unpredictable, almost wild entity before him, for the first time ever he felt like one of his chasers might feel when pursuing a phantom that was unattainable, unreachable to those bound tight to the ground, wings clipped and unable to give chase any further.
Well, crap. That was just depressing.
His fingers closed around their target, his arm going limp with the accomplishment. He just rested it there for a moment, reassuring himself that what he witnessed, what he had heard was not just a part of his imagination.
Because…
A bitter smile crossed those lips.
And he spoke.
There was much much more than anyone had thought.
"I don't know," was the simple answer. He shrugged as if to make the words more nonchalant, and the wings flapped in response to the movement. Blue eyes trailed over his movements watchfully, as if waiting for a reaction (A flinch? An expression of fear?) before looking into the distance again. "Demon, hellspawn, shinigami, monster, freak… nobody really knows. …Or wants to know, for that matter. Some mysteries are better left untouched after all."
Was that… Was that really what Tantei-kun thought of himself?
A long moment passed, too short for the thief to make a proper response when faced with such a case of self-revulsion (or perhaps the revulsion of the unexplainable part of himself?), before the not-child abruptly turned on his heel, the wings following the movement elegantly and stretching out to their full length behind him as the momentum decreased. They flapped with an audible snap, and a strangely bright and entirely displaced smile suddenly adorned his face.
He brought his hand to himself, fingers stroking the item within it almost caringly.
"What do you, Kaitou Kid-san," he asked with another flap and an eyebrow raised in false amusement. His voice was loud and forcibly cheerful. "think I am?"
And as he lay there in his room stroking the dark feather he'd acquired that night, as the waning moonlight outside was slowly being replaced by the warm feel of the breaking sun, the teen thought of those words, of those gestures and those momentary emotions again and again, his resolve steadying with every passing second of it.
Grunting, he pulled himself up to lay on his stomach, elbows propping up to gently hold the feather over the edge of the bed, in the growing light streaking through the window blinds. It was purely black, almost shimmering in the weak sunlight, the color darkening only on the parts still covered by what he knew was blood. Those parts, unlike the rest of the feather that seemed almost soft despite its stiffness, those parts seemed like they were spiked sharply, dried as the blood on them was.
Tantei-kun had seemed entirely too sad that night.
Like him, all those years ago. Like Aoko, on that night when she received the call.
A chuckle filled the air, any amusement behind it as fake as the indifferent stare of the magician receiving it. The wind howled, and he strained to hear the sound.
And Kaito vowed to never be that sad again, or see another person feeling like that again.
The sound of wings wrapping tightly around a body met his ears, and his shocked gaze, hidden by his poker-face, refocused on the not-child standing on the edge of the roof once again.
A small fluttering feeling made itself known from the pit of his stomach, growing steadily in synch with the smile on his lips. His hand closed around the feather, clutching it tightly and ignoring the slight prick it gave as the sharpened parts of it pierced his skin. His elbows, which he had used to prop himself up, gave under the exhaustion and let his chest collide with the mattress abruptly.
"Hn."
By now, it was a full blown grin that was almost splitting his face in two, his eyes half-closing as his mind was finally at peace, finally finding a resolve he'd act upon as soon as he was physically ready.
And with a small jump backwards, he was gone, leaving only a gentleman thief tightly enveloped by his cloak on the deserted construction site's rooftop, giving him much to think, yet little time to process it.
Plans needed to be made, proper excuses thought of, disguises chosen and daily schedules of shrunken detectives acquired.
And soon the stage was deserted completely, bereft of both of its actors. The first act was finished, and it was time to start a new one. One that would lead to many, many more.
Because… Because Kaito planned to have the small detective rid himself of that revulsion, that sadness, that loneliness that came with being the bearer of that over-helming secret that shouldn't, couldn't be shared with anyone else. He wasn't alone, not anymore, because Kaito now knew too.
And he was damn well going to impart it on the kid to stop angsting over himself and enjoy life more the way it presented itself to him. That he promised.
And as he drifted off into sleep, the too large to be normal dark feather still clutched in his hand, his last words before he succumbed drifted through the silent bedroom, and into the new morning.
He hadn't known then, but he knew it now.
"An angel, a fallen angel. That's what you are."
A/N: I had problems writing the first part, but the last part I enjoyed SO much *snickers* Pity this isn't KaiShin, but as mentioned before *eyes Ran evilly*, as this is a Movie 8 AU, such a thing is simply not possible *sighs* Oh well. I'll make it a close friendship, but romance, as I discovered, isn't my thing to write. *still blushes remembering the first and only french kiss scene she wrote.*
Next chapter should be up in maximum two weeks, because this one is so full of tests and examinations that I doubt the number can be counted on two hands ^^;
Oh, and review please! I want to know what you think of it. I live off reviews, the more I get, the more I feel motivated to bring the next chapter to you! n_n
Next up: Conan goes through aforementioned daily schedule, only to find out he's being followed in the most peculiar of ways. XD
