Mikau: x.x I need more free time. Things have been crazy hectic at the firm the past few weeks, so I've been skipping lunch break, working overtime…I came in and worked seven hours yesterday (Saturday). Anyway. Enough complaining. Well, I finally got time to edit this. Thanks for your patience. Also, thank you to the reviewers from last time:

AngelsBeast, Loner Kid, 10th Squad 3rd Seat, Hebiaczek, Guest (Hi there. Thanks for writing in. I'm sorry you're disappointed, but if you'll reread the very end of chapter one, that's where it's revealed that Kaito's just been putting up a front the whole time. It's not like things changed between the pilot and the expanded fic. Also, I encourage you to consider that I've fundamentally changed Shinichi's life circumstances by making him a shinigami. It would be completely unrealistic for shinigami Shinichi to end up the same as canon Shinichi, so of course I tweaked his personality accordingly. Thanks for reading, though.), Opal Spirit, Guest (That's okay. Just keep in mind that it's very difficult to read tone in a text-based medium, so you might want to think before you write so you're not misunderstood.), DetectivePandaThief, and Guest (Well, I'm glad you like my work, but isn't it better to get something new than absolutely no updates at all? It's not like my new stuff is getting in the way of my writing old. So it's this or nothing, and it hurts when a lot of people gang up on me and say I should work on this or that. It makes me feel like what I'm working on at present isn't good enough so maybe I should go away and never come back. I don't think anyone ever realizes how bad it makes me feel when people use reviews for my newer works to tell me I should be working on old stuff.).

Disclaimer: If I owned it, I'd be able to quit my day job…which might actually not be as great as it sounds. I really enjoy my work at the firm, and I'd miss my coworkers terribly.

Chapter Three: Kaito – Reign of Terror

I cling to Aoko the next day at school, desperate to keep Hakuba away from her.

I'm sleep deprived and paranoid. I jump every time the classroom door slides open, expecting it to be him.

"Kaito's really high-strung today," Aoko observes with a raised eyebrow.

"Lots of coffee this morning," I inform her with an impish grin. "I am sooo wired."

She rolls her eyes, not looking very excited for the day ahead of us. "Great," she sighs, probably thinking about all of the pranks I'm going to pull.

Hakuba walks in just a minute before the bell, narrowly avoiding being late. He looks in bad shape with a pasty complexion and dark circles under his bloodshot eyes. He's functioning on coffee too…only he's not functioning well.

He looks at me, really looks at me with a penetrating gaze, like he's trying to decide if last night actually happened.

I decide to help him out by frowning and looking confused. "What's your deal, man?" is clearly written on my face. Maybe if I mess with him, he'll think he's nuts and leave me alone. One can hope.

It seems to work, though. He shakes his head, shivers, and looks away.

About halfway through the day he goes to the infirmary to sleep, and I feel like this is my chance. If I can get my hands on him, I can do what Auntie Yukiko showed me and use my abilities to put him under my power.

I just hope I can make it work, because, honestly, I don't know what I'm doing. My dad was never around to teach me, and Auntie Yukiko isn't sure it'll be the same for me as it is for her. There's enough of a difference between succubae and incubi that she's never been much help in learning to control my powers.

I wait half an hour, and then I ask the teacher to go to the infirmary too.

I whisper in a sheepish chuckle to Aoko as I get up to leave, "Caffeine is wearing off and I'm crashing hard."

She rolls her eyes at me again.

I walk into the infirmary and am hit like roadkill by the stench of two freshmen fumbling as quietly as they can on the cot in the corner. Shouldn't they be prioritizing their studies? Teenage hormones literally make me sick. I fleetingly wonder if they'd mind if I joined in.

I also wonder where the nurse on duty is. I really don't want to be walked in upon while I'm dealing with Hakuba.

I take a deep breath (but not too deep for fear of inhaling the freshmen's scent) and slowly, soundlessly move over to Hakuba's bedside. He's taken the cot by the window, all the way across the room from the frisky teenagers.

I draw the curtain around us so that no one will see, and I gulp as I stretch out my hand to cup his cheek. I concentrate on making him burn.

He takes a long inhale and groans a bit as his body temperature starts to rise.

I don't have a good handle on my powers. I can't regulate them, and I don't know how much is too much or not enough for my purposes. I just want to make him want me. I'm probably going to have to dose him with lust a couple times on a steady basis to get it to stick.

I wish my dad had been around to teach me. I know nothing about making love slaves, and I don't want to hurt Hakuba. It's not his fault. He's a good guy. I'm the one in the wrong. I'm the one that there's something wrong with.

I feel a brutal stab of guilt as my fingers ghost down Hakuba's face and wrap feather-light around his throat. One thing I do know for certain is that the power of my touch is somewhat effective through clothing but more potent when transmitted directly, skin on skin. The effect is multiplied when I touch sensitive areas where the veins cluster—the writs, the throat.

I put my fingers to the pulse point, and the reaction is instantaneous.

He gasps in pleasure, and I can smell his arousal mixing with the antiseptic of the infirmary along with the odor of the freshmen. He's got a kind of musky, masculine pine scent in general, but the sexual energy coming off of him is like luscious, sensual dark chocolate coating my tongue.

It's making me hungry. Would it be bad if tore off his pants and sucked him dry like a man in the desert dying of thirst? …Yeah. Yeah, I think so.

He begins to stir, and I'm ripped from my fantasies. I start to panic. There's only one thing I can think to do to keep him asleep without the aid of my knockout gas, but I've never tried it before. I know other fey can do it, but I'm not even sure it'll work for me. Though, there's no harm in trying, I guess, seeing as I don't have any of my usual tools on me.

"Saguru," I whisper softly but in an authoritative tone. "Saguru, go back to sleep," I order.

And he does. He settles back down into an uneasy slumber as my powers continue to make his body sizzle with lust.

I breathe a sigh of relief because I have never tried controlling a human with their given name before. I don't really want to have to do it a second time. It feels icky and wrong, like I'm going against my conscience and doing something I know is bad.

This whole situation is bad. I'm bad…wrong.

Hakuba is the victim here.

…I can't do this.

I retract my hand with a sigh and look down at poor Hakuba's troubled sleeping face.

We were just getting to be friends too. He was figuring things out about Kid, and he was starting to help me—sending me tips, letting things slip in front of me. He was starting to cover for me, tease me, joke with me. We were actually getting to know one another, and then…

This had to happen. And now I'm hurting him.

Have I mentioned how much I hate this monster inside of me?

Hakuba calms down and settles into a deeper sleep now that I've released my hold on him.

I frown at him as I try to reformulate my plan…because this is NOT working.

Should I try to explain things to him? Do I say I'm sorry and try to convince him that I'm not evil after all? Somehow I don't see that going over well after the ugly side of myself that he saw last night. I know he's seen a lot of ugly before, but I must take the cake.

"What the hell am I going to do with you?" I sigh, reaching out and smoothing the cowlick his squirming about has created.

His hair is really soft. It's kind of like a doll's—one of those super expensive porcelain ones that Keiko got for her tenth birthday and Aoko was really jealous of…might still be jealous of.

I tentatively stroke his messy, honey-colored locks again, and sleeping Hakuba leans into my touch.

I smile sadly, feeling miserable…because he's kind of cute, and we really would have been friends if he'd never found out.

Tears start to spill over and trickle down my cheeks. Maybe I should just run away…. But…my life is here. My family, my friends… I don't want to be pushed out. I want to stay here and fight. But I'm not sure whom I'm fighting…is it myself?

I run my hand through Hakuba's hair again. It's calming.

It's certainly not Hakuba whom I'm up against. He's not the enemy; the fey part of me is.

So I need to decide where to go from here. I want to stay, but how can I do that with the threat of Hakuba blackmailing me hanging over my head? Something needs to be done about him.

I stare down into his sleeping face, peaceful now that he's no longer under my influence, and I feel like a true criminal. I don't want to control him. He's brilliant and he does a lot of good as a detective. I don't want to mess any of that up because he's a part of something that's bigger than I am.

So that means I have to terrorize the guy…but not here, not now. We're at school—where my friends are, where someone else could see me. I want to be normal, human Kuroba Kaito here. I'll save the demonic displays for his balcony at night.

The stark contrast between Kuroba his classmate and that monster at his window will help my case, maybe make him doubt himself, question what he considers reality.

And maybe I can trick him into granting me entrance. Knowing that a terrifying, ruthless beast like me can come into his room at will should be enough to scare him silent.

I hope.

For now, I feel drained. The coffee really has worn off, and I'm dragging. I feel marginally better now that I have a plan…however heinous that plan happens to be…and I need some sleep.

I slide the curtain open and make myself comfortable on the cot next to Hakuba's. I try to ignore the aching hunger inside of me and get some rest.

It's dusk when I awake, and Hakuba is gone. It suits me well enough. I'll see him tonight at his window anyway.

I go to haunt him almost nightly, jeering, taunting, teasing, menacing, crooning, cajoling…. I laugh at him, cackling and sneering as he fidgets, safe behind the glass.

Physically safe. Mentally…I'm getting to him. He's unnerved.

It sort of pisses me off. Am I really so horrible, so repulsive?

Sometimes I lash out at him like he's a strawman standing in for the whole of humanity that could never accept me.

But then I feel bad. I feel lowly and miserable. I know he's right to be afraid when all I've done is snarl and menace and threaten to kill him.

Shinichi spends the night with me a lot. He holds me as I cry myself to sleep; he holds me together.

Shinichi accepts me exactly as I am, mess that I am. I owe him a lot for all of his time, his patience…even though he doesn't understand how I feel or why.

"Kaito, you're fey," he whispers against my temple, holding me as I shake like a laundromat dryer. "Stop trying to be something you're not; it's only hurting you, and I can't stand to see you like this…. You shouldn't feel guilty, Kaito. If you're not willing to let me speak some sense into him and you don't want to turn him into your mind slave, controlling him with fear is the only option we have left. You have to do this."

"But I'm only doing this so that I can keep living as a human," I mutter, exhausted from my nightly campaign of terror. It takes everything out of me. "Is it really worth it if it makes me feel inhuman, doing these things?"

Shinichi doesn't understand, but he tries to comfort me anyway, and I appreciate it. Just having him there makes me feel a little better.

Finally the day comes that I'm invited in. Hakuba, Aoko, and I are supposed to work on a group project for school together, and we're meeting in Hakuba's room. I feel like I've cheated, but I'll take whatever victory I can get at this point.

Only things get complicated when I actually spend time with him. I'm reminded of the camaraderie we were just starting to share before he found out my little secret, and I can't help but fall into a familiar, snarky tete-a-tete with him. We laugh together, trade blows. It hurts because it gives me a glimpse of the way things could have been if not for that one stray bullet that took out my shimmer.

As I leave, though, I remind the both of us where we really stand, the way it has to be between us. I thank him for inviting me and let the double meaning of those words do the work for me.

That night I go back to his balcony, and I hold my breath as I try the sliding glass door. My hands are shaking so bad, but the lock eventually comes undone and the door opens with a rattle.

He's fallen asleep sitting up on the couch, and as the moonlight whitewashes his face, he looks fatigued and ill.

My stomach twists up in a knot as I realize that I've done this to him. I'm slowly eroding his health, his peace of mind. I feel wicked and selfish. What right do I have to destroy someone else's life just so that I can keep up this charade of being human?

He wakes with a start, but instead of letting out a scream or calling for help or even leveling a weapon at me, he sighs.

He looks at me with beautifully weary golden eyes and says the very last thing I ever expected to hear from his lips—he accepts me. He understands me. He's not afraid. I'm a person, not a beast.

Oh, how wrong he is! If he only knew what I really was…but for now he accepts me, welcomes me into his home and offers me hot chocolate, asks if I want to play chess…as if he wants me here, as if I'm his friend.

I can't help but cry, I'm so happy. Even if it can't last forever, even if he'll turn on me one day, for now…I'm overjoyed that he can look past the teeth and the tail and see the human part of me.

He goes over to turn the light on, and I hastily put on my shimmer. I don't want to be a scary demon anymore; I want to be the human that he sees inside of me.

He smiles reassuringly at me, as if he's dealing with a wounded animal that's not sure if it should trust him. "Kuroba, why don't you take a seat?" He motions to the couch. "I'll have your chocolate ready in just a minute."

I hesitantly slink over to the couch and make myself as comfortable as possible under the circumstances. I feel so awkward. Was I really just here earlier today laughing and chatting with him as classmates? At night it feels so weird…wrong. Because he's invited an incubus into his bedroom, and he has no clue. Worse: he trusts that I'll behave myself. He has no idea what danger he's in. I could lose control and jump him at the slightest provocation, but…he trusts me. He believes in my humanity…and I feel like an imposter.

Hakuba sets the mug down on the coffee table in front of me and smiles disarmingly again—It's okay, fella. You don't have to be afraid. I'm your friend.

He gets out the chess set from his closet and lines up the pieces. "White or black?"

Black. Black like my name, black like my soul…but he turns the white pieces towards me.

"It'll be good to have a competent opponent," he laughs easily, somehow comfortable in my presence. "Baaya humors me from time to time, but she doesn't have much of a head for chess. Back Gammon is her game."

"…I'm sorry," I whisper, tearing up anew. "After the way I've acted…I don't deserve—"

"—It's all right, Kuroba," he cuts me off firmly.

I stare at him, still trying to convince myself that this is all actually happening. "But…"

Tentatively, cautiously he reaches out and places a hand on my shoulder. "You were scared, weren't you?"

I could shoot the same words right back at him. He was the one with the blood-thirsty demon stalking him.

"You've got a lot to lose, so it's natural that you'd lash out like that." Thankfully he doesn't compare me to a cornered animal or speak of animal instincts. I already think of myself as a beast; I don't want him thinking like that about me too.

He continues, oblivious to (or maybe just ignoring) my distress. "Hopefully now that we've reached an understanding, we can both settle down a bit. It must have been difficult for you, coming out every night to posture and carry on like that when your heart wasn't really in it."

I frown. What about how hard it was on him? Or is he just trying to save my feelings, make me feel better? "How do you know my heart wasn't in it?" I challenge.

He raises an eyebrow at me, his expression reading "Give me a break." He shakes his head. "Kuroba, I've been observing you long enough to know that you despise seeing others hurt. You're not a bad or even a mean-spirited person. Putting on that vicious monster act every night must have taken a lot out of you."

I look down at the chessboard and feel ashamed. He's clueless and way too nice to me.

"How can you be so calm when there's a demon in your room?" I grumble. I can't take this level of kindness. He should be leading a mob with torches and pitchforks against me.

He rolls his eyes. "I believe I mentioned this before, but you're not some dangerous creature, Kuroba; you're a person. You're my classmate, my rival, my…my friend, so…"

So I'm not the only one who was starting to think of us as friends. That he still considers me as such despite everything that's happened…I can't say how much that means to me.

"Besides," he moves on quickly, his cheeks coloring slightly. "I'm sadly all too used to the supernatural. The faceless in the shower and the little children that run up and down the halls at night freak me out more than you do…and I'm mostly used to them, so that's not saying much, Kuroba."

I can't think of a thing to say to that besides, "You see ghosts and spirits and stuff?"

He nods.

I nod. "Oh. So…this is kind of…old news to you, the whole fey thing. You're not…your mind's not blown by the existence of supernatural creatures?"

He shakes his head. "No. I've seen spirits ever since I was a child, so the other night when I saw you, I was merely shocked that you were fey, not that fey exist."

I nod again. "So…Cool."

There's a gap in our conversation, and the silence turns awkward.

"Well, shall we play chess, then?" he suggests and then starts on the lighter subject of our math teacher's recent suspicious activity. Hakuba suspects him of dating someone in our year—one of the boys from class D.

After that, we discuss the plausibility of the walking dead versus the infected, and we both decide that either would be horribly terrifying, but we prefer the shambling, traditional zombies over those crazy sprinters, the infected.

"I have to say that the evolution of the 'zombie' is terrifying," Hakuba confides. "I miss the original Chinese model, the ones that hopped and couldn't enter households because they couldn't get over the doorstep."

He wins the first game of chess, but I get him back with a vengeance in the second. By this time we're comparing various flavors of Kit Kats and speculating as to whether Principal Kishimura's hair is actually a rug or not.

Midnight comes and goes without our notice, but at two o'clock I get a call from Shinichi, wondering where I am and if I'm okay. Usually I've called him weeping uncontrollably by this point, so he's already at my house, awaiting my return so that he can hold me as I sob myself silly.

"Uh…so…I guess I'll see you at school tomorrow," I remark a little awkwardly as I get up to go. How do I tell him how much all that he's done has meant to me? A simple "Thank you for having me over" isn't enough.

"You should come again tomorrow night," he offers, quickly adding on, "If you'd like, that is, but…I'd love to have you. This was…I had fun." He bites his lip and fidgets a bit. "I'd like to hang out again sometime."

"I would too." I cast him an appreciative smile and hope the overwhelming gratitude in my voice and expression get through to him.

Shinichi's wary about this arrangement at first, but after a few nights, he eventually decides that, "Kaito, if you're happy, I'm fine with it, but if he goes back on you, if he betrays you…"

Shinichi lets the threat hang, and I gulp, knowing that Hakuba's toast if he makes one wrong move around me so long as Shinichi has my back.

…But my late nights over at Hakuba's continue happily. We banter, play games, and chat about nonsense like our favorite brands of cereal and what Power Ranger we would be and why. He introduces me to higher forms of television like Red Dwarf and Doctor Who, and we watch some movies while eating Baaya's special blend of popcorn with nuts and chocolate pieces. Sometimes he asks me about fey stuff, like is this real and is that actually legit, or did humans just make it up?

I'm sharing a lot with him during our meetings. He asks about my childhood, my likes and dislikes, and a lot about fey culture. He hasn't asked about me specifically yet, and I'm dreading the day because I can feel it coming, but… I'm learning a lot about him too.

Saguru comes from a broken family with a history of dysfunctional families. He's really just got Baaya that he can count on and be himself around. He's more like me than I originally thought. He's thoughtful and astute, nothing like that snotty blowhard he pretended to be when he first came to Japan. He wears a mask in public like I do, so he understands me more than I gave him credit for.

I feel bad that we got off on the wrong foot with this fey business. He really is a good, kind man with a really sexy butt.

…Yeah. Just something I've noticed while spending more time with him. He's attractive, and he smells good. He's funny and compassionate and smart and fun to be around…and he's making me wonder if there's any way I could make things work with a human. Could I love him without killing him? Is there any way I could join my body to his without feeding? Could I learn to control my powers so that I could be with him?

Or is this all a waste of time because would he ever be able to care for me in return? Should I kill this little crush now before it even has a chance to make me miserable?

"I think I like him," I report to Shinichi, worried about what he'll say.

Shinichi shifts beside me on the bed, switching the cross of his legs. He clears his throat, but he doesn't say anything.

I purse my lips. "Well? What do you think?"

Shinichi sighs, shaking his head. "I'm really glad that you have a little human friend now that you can trust with your secret, and I think he actually is a great guy from my study of him, but…I don't want you to be in a relationship."

"W-Why?" I ask hesitantly, wondering if Shinichi is about to make some daring declaration of love to me.

If he does, I'm his. He has every right to claim me after all of the time and effort and understanding he's put into me. Shinichi has always been an inevitability to me. There was only Aoko until I changed, but then after that, when Aoko was no longer an option, I had always accepted the fact that Shinichi and I were destined to end up together. Since then I've always treated Shinichi kind of like the betrothed that my parents picked for me via arranged marriage. I've kept saving myself in case some other true love came along, but I've always thought of myself eventually ending up with Shinichi.

Hakuba has really been the first person to pose any kind of challenge to Shinichi's assumed claim on me, but if Shinichi wants me…I wouldn't mind setting this crush on Hakuba aside. I know to whom I owe my loyalty, and it's not like there's any lack of affection between us.

Shinichi sighs, rubbing the back of his neck as he confesses, "Kaito, relationships are messy. If things don't go well, you're just going to end up hurt. I don't want that."

I smile softly, grateful for his concern. He's always looking out for me. "Thanks, Shinichi, but if your only objection is to me getting hurt, I think I'd like to try this out."

He gives me a skeptical look. "Do you even know if he likes guys? This could be a losing battle from the very start."

I chew on the inside of my cheek and think because that's a good question.

"Well, if he doesn't, I'm sure you'll be able to change his mind about that," Shinichi offers by way of encouragement. "You're an awesome person, even if you're a pathetic excuse for a fey, so he should be able to see that and appreciate that about you."

"Thanks, Shin-chan," I whisper as I nuzzle his shoulder and proceed to rest my head on it.

"Just be happy, okay?" he sighs. I stress him out, but still he loves me.

"You look hungry," Hakuba notes as he pauses the movie. "And you've been kind of out of it all night; you okay, Kuroba?"

Of course I'm hungry. I'm sitting alone with my crush in his bedroom, and we're watching this foreign film in Spanish with random sex scenes thrown in seemingly just to make me squirm.

He's stopped right at the climax, and it's giving me ideas. I wonder if he's as worked up as I am and if I could knock him down, impale myself on him, and finish up before Baaya comes up to investigate the source of the loud crashing sound. I wonder what he would do if he knew what I was thinking at the moment. Would he be in favor and eagerly join in, or would he be disturbed and revoke my unconditional invitation into his room?

I put on my mask and smile. "Nah, I'm fine. I ate before I came, and those snacks Baaya made us will last me until breakfast tomorrow. Thanks."

He frowns.

Stop frowning. It makes me want to lean in and lick your cheek.

"That's…not the kind of hunger I meant."

He just has to go there, doesn't he? Can't we pretend that I'm normal? Please? I don't want to discuss this with you unless you're gonna help me reenact the scene on screen right now.

"It's nothing. I'm fine," I lie, avoiding eye contact. Denial is my best friend, and if he doesn't stare down at my pants too hard, he'll never know what a mess I am at the moment.

"Well…if you ever need to feed, Kuroba… I mean, as long as it's not going to make me sick or take years off of my life or anything," he fumbles over the words, struggling to get his meaning across. "What I'm trying to say is that I wouldn't mind letting you use me."

He has no idea how wrong those words sound.

"Thanks, but…I can't. I need to go," I practically throw over my shoulder as I struggle to stand up quickly and get my back to him before he sees what's going on in my trousers.

"Kuroba." I hear him get up behind me, but I don't turn around.

I need to get out now before I do something the both of us will regret.

"Thanks for having me. I'll come again tomorrow!" And I am down the oak tree outside his window before he can stop me.

"I am soooooo horny right now," I whine into the receiver as I flop facedown onto my bed and writhe in vain.

Shinichi is silent on the other end.

"Shin-chan," I groan. It's supposed to be an annoying pout, but it comes out a little more lusty than I intend.

"Kaito," he sighs, frustrated desire evident in his voice. "Why would you call and tell me that? Is that supposed to be an invitation? If so, I can be at your house and inside of you in fifteen minutes if you can stay horny that long. If not, I can be at your house and strangling you in ten."

"…Sorry," I mumble, feeling guilty. "I suck."

"I'd like you to," Shinichi mutters through clenched teeth. "…So? Why are you calling me?"

"Hakuba offered to be my donor," I inform, but the words get a little jumbled together in my haste to get them out.

"…Does he know what it would mean to be your donor?" Shinichi inquires a little testily, jealous.

"…No." I wince.

I can almost see Shinichi rolling his eyes at me. "Kaito, why don't you just tell him?"

"Because he would think I was gross and icky, and he'd hate me and never speak to me again!" I exclaim, tears coming on.

And now he's shaking his head. I can tell. "Kaito…You're a moron. Hakuba wouldn't turn on you like that."

"But what if he does?" I whimper.

"Then…he wasn't worth your time in the first place, and you can come cry on my shoulder about it," Shinichi sighs softly, and if he were here beside me, I just know he'd be petting my hair and holding me until I calmed down.

"You're too good to me," I chuckle, feeling a little better.

"You deserve to be treated well," Shinichi mumbles in return, making my heart skip, but then he ruins it by adding, "Besides, it's not your fault that you were raised wrong and turned out to be such a train wreck. You would have been fine if you were raised fey."

"…Has anyone ever told you that you know just how to charm the pants right off a guy?" I snort, my indignation quickly replacing the fear and doubt of moments before.

"You're the only one that ever tells me that, and one hundred percent of the time you're being sarcastic," Shinichi retorts. "But in all seriousness, you're being ridiculous about not telling Hakuba about the whole incubus thing. Tell him, and let me know if you need me to harvest his soul for you."

I can't help but smile at that.

Shinichi doesn't understand the human side of me, and he frankly sucks at being romantic, but he takes care of me.

"Thanks, Shin-chan, but I think I want to wait a little longer."