Fandom: Detective Conan/Magic Kaitou
Title: But the Damage Is Done
Author: Jeva
Theme: #31 alternate - Bloodlust
Characters: Kuroba Kaito, Koizumi Akako, Nakamori Aoko
Rating: Strong R (NSFW, methinks)
Warnings: ...heh...vampires
Disclaimer: All things Detective Conan/Magic Kaitou belong to one, Aoyama Gosho. I don't claim to have created any of these characters...just the tormenting situations I put them in. :D
Summary: Death is merely a name people give to when things just stop being as they were.
His life--unlife...whatever it was now that he had died and was now...hungering for the blood of mortals--was simply unfair.
Now, Kuroba Kaito was a quick learner and was even quicker at adapting to a situation that didn't fit into his plans. Improvision was something highly respected among thieves--phantom thieves especially. But even a legendary thief like the Kaitou Kid had trouble adapting to a situation.
...especially when said situation involved him being a vampire, of all things.
So he took it all in. Slowly. Careful to keep that side of him that kept listening to that internal metronome that just kept beating again and again in perfect rhythm (at least his mother was healthy for a woman in her late-30s) from getting out of his control, he had cautiously done small experiments that would determine just how...vampiric he was.
...apparently, not very.
Except for the never-ending thirst he felt when he wasn't biting the inside of his cheek, there was nothing that would really say that he was, in fact, a vampire. He could walk in the daylight--a test of courage that he never wanted to try again...he'd just barely gathered the courage to stick his hand out into the morning sun. He could stare at a crucifix for hours without getting any symptoms except for boredom--pieces of wood carved into pretty shapes held little interest for him if he wasn't trying to steal them, apparently.
All these things that lore and vampire legends said that couldn't be done he could do. And the things that it said that he could do...well, they weren't as pronounced as he would have liked.
Super physical strength would have been nifty, but sadly, he still couldn't lift the car that was in his father's old Kid lair. No telepathy that he knew of since his mother still wouldn't let him get a motocycle, not matter how much he thought at her. But on a more positive note, his night vision had gotten a bit better, but that could have been his imagination for all he knew.
It was strange. It wasn't funny. And he wanted to stop feeling so hungry wherever he went. At home, it was simple to stifle the gnawing need by simply...gnawing on his own finger or an arm. Of course, his mother was starting to notice the band aids he'd have to place over the small wounds, so that plan of action would have to go sooner or later.
But worst of all was when he left his house...and intermingled with other people.
Japan was a small country, despite its population. Which meant that everywhere he went, there were people, and where there were people, there were pulses. Literally hundreds of different-timed thump-thumps pounding into his skull wherever he walked. It gave him a headache just to walk to class--never mind sitting within the classroom.
...how he'd managed to not just...attack someone was something he was most surprised about. Chances were that Poker Face really did come in handy for moments like these--not that Kaito ever thought that his father would have known anything about his situation. It was just...so far-fetched and crazy--it shouldn't have ever happened.
...then again, he knew of a teenaged genius detective who was shrunken into a 7-year-old, so it really wasn't as far-fetched as he would like.
Still...it wasn't fair. Every second of every day since he woke up after that night of the Kaitou Kid heist, he'd felt that hunger burning inside of him, he'd felt sick whenever he even considered just a small taste of the liquid that he was craving, he'd gotten headaches and migraines from just having to be a part of society and continue on with his teenaged life--whatever was left of it, that is.
...if things were this bad when it was just him in his civilian life, how on earth was he going to handle those crowds and sights and smells and sounds at the Kaitou Kid heists? That was one thought that kept him hesitant to schedule his next performance. He had a target in mind, but he couldn't very well do anything about it if he was just going to collapse in the middle of the heist from too much sensory data hitting him from all sides like that.
So, no heists for a while. He was grounded--just like when that thing ripped his hang glider from his back--which reminded him, he needed to fix another one which would require calling Jii and--no, best not to think of getting Jii involved yet...
He mentally groaned at his situation as he sat in his English class, barely able to focus on vocabulary and grammar structure because he couldn't help but to notice that somebody in the classroom had a heart condition. Sheesh. Did the person even know they might keel over from clogged arteries or something?
...and he didn't just think that to himself, did he?
He sighed aloud, propping his chin on his hand, trying to tune out the sounds that were attacking him from all sides. It worked--to a certain degree.
Until Nakamori Aoko decided to lean over from her seat next to him to poke his shoulder with her pen.
He looked over to her with a disgruntled look, knowing she was just going to tell him to stop being so noisy because--hey, not everyone can pull off fantastic marks like you can, Kuroba Kaito, and blah blah blah...
But Aoko didn't seem to be annoyed. Instead, she seemed concerned. Puzzled, he quietly mouthed at her a simple question: What?
She looked to see if the teacher was watching and then mouthed something back.
...either Aoko thought his hair looked like a porcupine or he totally missed her point. Kaito gave her a raised eyebrow, definitely sure she wasn't worried about his hair.
Ah, there was the exasperation. Aoko could have the cutest expressions when she was mad or upset or frustrated...hell, anything that made her cheeks flush up like that and her heart pound that hard--
And stopping there, he thought to himself, firmly shoving down his hunger for the nth time that day as he watched Aoko scribble a note, which she then nonchalantly tossed onto his desk.
Note passing, eh? Hadn't done that since Junior High.
He opened the piece of paper and skimmed the note before pausing uncertainly. Now...how does one tell their best friend what was wrong with them, why they looked so pale, and whether or not they knew they look malnourished?
Kaito gave a wry smile and scribbled a short answer before sending the note off back to where it originated. A bug. Sick. Maybe a stomach virus. Good enough answer, since Aoko only frowned at him before turning back to the lesson.
He propped his chin up again, inwardly sighing.
If only it had been a stomach virus.
...but a stomach virus did not make your hearing focus in on your best friend's heart beat as it slowed a bit to a more calm and steady pace now that there was nothing to be frightened or truly worried about. It would start racing again when she could spare the time to actually take a good look at him, but right then, Kaito couldn't seem to care very much.
...the sound of Aoko's heartbeat was the most relaxing thing he'd heard all day.
-
-
Kaito jerked when he felt someone brush at his forehead, startled that he'd zoned out enough so that someone--anyone had managed to sneak up on him. "Buh?" he managed to get out when he peered out from under the hand that was placed firmly on his skin and saw a few people gathered around his desk.
"Oh, so you are alive," Aoko said from her position at his left side. He inwardly laughed at her words--if only she knew... "Class ended five minutes ago and you've just been sitting here like a bump on a log--"
"He doesn't seem to have a fever," another voice murmured--a lower one...with sugary know-it-allness that could only mean one person.
The hand withdrew from Kaito's forehead just as he started to splutter, "Hakuba?"
The detective watched him carefully for a long moment, and Kaito suddenly--once again--felt like a bug in a glass jar, though he eyed the half-British boy just a sharply before the blond turned to address Aoko and her friend Keiko. "If anything, he feels a bit on the cold side...probably a few degrees lower than his normal temperature--"
"Oi, oi..." Kaito spoke up as he carefully stood up from his seat, a hand on his desk as he suddenly felt a bit shaky--damn this hunger! It was going to eat him alive if something didn't--he shoved that thought from his mind as he continued to object, "you didn't have to go and get all doctor on me--I told Aoko, it's just a bug--"
"One that makes you that pale and that out of it?" Aoko challenged, making Kaito shrink back a bit. He was not in any condition to have a mop-chase. His best friend since childhood, however, approached him with enough fiery anger that he could smell the blood pooling into her cheeks, making them go red.
Just a bit closer, he found himself thinking, watching Aoko's face carefully with a predator's eyes. Just a bit--
A finger poking his ribs snapped him out of it, thankfully. "And look at you! You're going to fall over at any second!" she shouted, drawing back her hand to clench it into a fist at her side. "Just what's going on with you, Kaito! You're starting to worry me!"
The magician visibly winced at that. It had only been a few days since the Kaitou Kid heist...did he really look so awful? Then again...he hadn't really looked in a mirror lately...hadn't tried to test that particular myth...
He opened his mouth to say something reassuring, but then Hakuba Saguru spoke up, asking a simple but awful question, "Kuroba...are you on drugs?"
Everyone gaped at the detective. Kuroba Kaito? Drugs? Not possible!
"Of course I'm not!" he denied fiercely, making Aoko and Keiko spin back to him with wide eyes. He paused for a moment, realizing that hadn't exactly helped his argument, acting out of character like that. He started to laugh a bit, running a hand through his wild hair. "Seriously. I'm not. Just...I haven't been feeling well lately and--"
"Kuroba," Hakuba interrupted seriously, cutting him off effectively, though he wasn't happy at all with the look the Brit kept giving him. "You look like a person who is suffering something called withdrawal--"
"I know what that is--" Kaito said impatiently only to be cut off again.
"--and if it's not drugs--as you say it's not," the detective continued in that manner that most detectives got when they were hit upside the head with a clue, "then kindly tell all of us what it is that is wrong with you because your story of an illness isn't very compelling considering the fact that you haven't even gone to a doctor for it--"
"Look," Kaito broke in firmly, eyes narrowing into a rarely-seen glare. He was already having to focus all of his control on keeping himself from just...attacking any one of the three standing in front of him, so having to keep his temper in check was not something he could really handle at the moment. "I'll be fine. I've just got a stomach virus or something. I haven't been very hungry lately--" Lies. So many lies! "--and my mom's been worried, too, but she's been helping me out, so I don't see what business it is of yours, otaku."
He expected Aoko to scold him for being so rude to Hakuba, or Hakuba to say something cutting in return--a battle of wits would actually be kind of soothing right then. At least it would have been normal. Instead, all he got in reply was a silent stare from the larger teenager while the two girls watched the two of them with some trepidation.
Kaito's shoulders slumped tiredly as he sighed again, rubbing a hand over his eyes. He was too tired to even stay angry anymore. Especially since the pounding in his head was getting noticeably louder with each passing second.
He froze, his eyes widening under his hand as he realized.
...he was starting to lose control.
His hands were shaking, his body was shivering--he had to lean on his arm whose hand was still flat on the desk as he nearly doubled over at the pain that hit his gut. That sharp pain of hunger that he hadn't really felt with such intensity since the night he first woke up like this.
Shouts of alarm rose up from Aoko and Keiko while Hakuba tried to keep them calm, but everything was being drowned out by the flurry of sounds their racing hearts made--even Hakuba's was faster than normal. Apparently, the detective was worried about him--how noble, he couldn't help but to think with a bit of amusement before the pain twisted in his gut like a hot knife.
He clenched his teeth, determined not to cry out in pain. Kuroba Kaito did not let things like this get the best of him. He wasn't going to let it--even though he had no strength left since it was all being used to keep from falling over or, even worse, doing anything to hurt people he actually considered his friends and loved ones. Strange how Hakuba somehow wormed his way in there, but--
His muddled and racing thoughts suddenly came to a stop when out of the rush that was going on near him came a calm and steady presence.
Someone who knew what was wrong and maybe how to help.
Kaito forced an eye open, having not realized he'd closed them, to see Koizumi Akako talking things over with the three who had been with him when the "attack" started. Apparently, Koizumi was offering to take him to a doctor while Hakuba walked the girls home and Aoko would call Kaito's mother to let her know that he'd be home late that day.
It was a semblance of order that the three of them took to immediately, though Kaito could have sworn he saw Hakuba give him one last look before he led the girls out of the classroom.
Kaito relaxed a bit, the pain easing a bit to the point where he could catch his breath. As he gasped in enough air to soothe his aching lungs--funny, why did his lungs hurt from lack of air?--he watched as the witch approached him without any worry at all--calm as could be.
"I don't..." he started to say tiredly before pausing to wince a bit as he lowered his hand from his eyes to his stomach, "I don't think...y-you should get any...closer, K-Koizumi--"
A small laugh, almost patronizing in sound, escaped the teenaged girl as she stopped right beside him, her arm brushing against his shoulder. Then with a bit of amusement, she bent over so she could see his sweating face. "Hurts, doesn't it, Kuroba Kaito?" she asked with a smile.
Not seeing anything funny about his situation--he hadn't found anything funny about it since it happened--Kaito responded with a feral grin, "No, not--at all...perfectly fine--will be a-able to do all--sorts of stunts...just gimme a minute."
The witch chuckled lowly at that, standing straight and watching him for a long moment. Then came the words...those sweet, beautiful words Kaito thought he would never hear. "I know something that could temporarily ease the pain," Koizumi stated with perfect honesty.
He could have sobbed in relief. Instead, he took a deep breath and let it out in a slow, shaky sigh before turning his head to look up at her with a suspicious look. "And? ...what's the catch?"
The girl held up her hand in a shrugging manner. "No catch," she insisted lightly before lowering her hands and grinning down at him. "Of course. You should know that once you've taken this small remedy, it will be hard to stop--"
"Will it work or not?" he asked shortly, not interested in hearing about the consequences.
He could deal with that later--he always could deal with the consequences later.
The witch's expression closed. She wasn't smiling anymore. "Of course it will work," she answered before sitting herself on the top of the desk he was leaning on. As if she had all the time in the world, she continued to explain, "It's hard, isn't it? Feeling that sort of hunger, that sort of need--only your morals, your own mind is fighting against those new instincts that have been forced into your very being. Most of the young ones die this way...the way you're dying right now--"
"I've already died," he bit out before looking down at the desktop again as he numbly recalled that night. "I died...and now I'm like this...living but dead?"
A sigh came from above him. "Not dead," Koizumi said patiently. "But--oh, yes...you did, indeed, die that night, Kuroba Kaito. And he--that one that did this to you...he merely brought you back from the grave, marking you as something that is now rarely seen in this day and age--given a gift that few truly manage to receive, though they struggle to attain it."
"What?" Kaito asked with a bit of laughter in his voice--he could hardly believe he was having this conversation! "Immortality? I never wanted it--"
"Does that matter?" the girl responded with an amused tone of her own. "Now...do you want a temporary solution? I assure you...you will be well again, but it is only temporary. Fledglings such as yourself always struggle with this and, as I've said, most win the battle of morality but lose the war of life."
The magician screwed his eyes shut as he could feel the hunger grow as his exhaustion stole his strength away. To think...he'd felt fine that morning...just fine...when he was still at home...away from everyone else who were filled with the living substance that he craved.
But it was like Koizumi said...a battle of morality versus that painful hunger. If morality won, he would starve and die--again...permanently this time, he was sure. If the hunger won--
He was loathed to say it, but he choked out the words, "Give me the temporary solution..."
Kaito could practically feel her eyes on his back.
There was a long pause in which Koizumi slipped down from the desk and walked around from behind him again, this time actually reaching out to put a hand to his shoulder--an action that made the hunger spike within him, and Kaito resisted the urge by biting into his lower lip.
The witch's amused voice came then. "None of that anymore, Kuroba Kaito," she said lowly, inching even closer and putting her other hand on his trembling arm. "I told you that I have a solution. You said that you wanted it. Now...tell me again. Do you want this solution?"
His breath was catching in his throat again, the pain returning with a vengeance as he struggled to come up with the answer he needed.
He didn't want to do this.
But he couldn't die right there--right then--like that.
Kaito was mortified as he felt his closed eyes moisten with tears that he wouldn't allow to fall. This wasn't the time...it wasn't the place--he didn't want to, but he had to--
"Please...Koizumi..." he managed to get out through the lump that was forming in his throat.
It hurt.
But it wasn't just the physical pain the hunger created that kept him doubled-over. Somehow...he felt as if he was sentencing himself to a different sort of death--one that he couldn't be revived from.
The witch said nothing, merely slid her hands along his arm and shoulders so that she could help him up from his almost-curled position, so that she could turn him to face her, so that she could hold him in her arms, his head laying almost awkwardly on her shoulder. And for a long moment, neither of them spoke or moved.
Kaito continued to shake and tremble, from both fear and pure and utter exhaustion that the pain had created.
...nothing was happening.
But the hunger was slowly dying away--
Thump-thump.
His damp eyes shot open, staring almost fearfully at the skin that lay before him. Koizumi tilt her head back at such an angle that Kaito could easily see the vein that lay temptingly underneath.
Thump-thump.
"What are you waiting for, Kuroba Kaito?" Koizumi asked quietly when he remained stock-still in her arms. "Here is your solution. Take it."
Thump-thump.
He licked his lips the way a man who'd seen the first sign of water in days would. But he still didn't move. He couldn't.
Thump-thump.
But oh...how he was tempted...
Thump-thump.
The witch lifted a hand from one of his shoulders to place it tenderly against his cheek, slowly pushing him toward her. "What is morality when all you have left is your own life--your own duties?" she whispered in his ear. "Will you simply stop your search here? Let it all end in such a way?"
Thump-thump.
No, of course not, he thought to himself, but the words wouldn't go any farther than his own mind. Instead, his hands that had fallen to his sides when Koizumi had taken him into her arms drifted to her waist as he slowly started to stand on his own again.
Thump-thump.
She was smiling. He could tell even without having to look. "Good..." she cooed softly, her hand calmly stroking his cheek as he stood straight, no longer needing her strength to support him--just needing--
Thump-thump.
There wasn't any thinking--or if there was, he couldn't recall any actual words being processed as a thought. All there was, was simply sensations--smells, touches, sounds...especially that sound. That special sound that had him hypnotized. Just like on that night--
Thump-thump.
Whatever doubts left in his mind were gone as the sound continued on, perfectly in time with the pulsing stabs of pain caused by his hunger. Koizumi said she had the solution. And she did.
Thump-thump.
In abundance.
Thum-thump.
It was a pure delight...listening and practically feeling that pulse quicken as he drew her into his arms. So much of one, that he actually felt a low chuckle escape him. This was right. This was necessary.
Th-thump.
It was practically perfect, he thought idly to himself as he leaned forward, pulled her closer.
Th-thump.
Her heart was racing--just for him, only for him as he nuzzled her neck for a moment. No, he didn't want it done the way it was done to him--that hadn't been enjoyable at all. But this...he knew that she had to be enjoying it.
Th-thump.
Afterall...wasn't she one of the ones that was always chasing after him?
Th-thump.
"Shhh..." he murmured with a grin on his face before kissing her neck softly. He could hear her breath catching in her chest, though it wouldn't have been noticeable to anyone else--if there had been anyone else in the room. That was it, then...that was the way it should be done...
Th-thump.
Even with the hunger building steadily throughout his body, he didn't hurry, didn't rush. It was fine...he could take his time. She wouldn't move unless he wanted her to. She wanted it just as much as he did...and to show his appreciation, he pulled her closer, allowed his hands to wrap around her smaller frame and run along her spine in a way that had her back arching.
Th-thump.
A gasp actually escaped her then as he took advantage of her positioning and leaned in to kiss her neck again--this time a deeper kiss, one accompanied by small nips that made small tears in the skin that he quickly lapped the blood from. Even with such a little amount, it was so very satisfying--potent in a way he was sure was rare in other people.
Th-thump.
Her hands were now the ones taking advantage of their positioning. The one on his face slid down along his cheek and neck before falling onto his chest, almost in a manner that was a safe-guard--ridiculous notion that it was. There wasn't a safe-guard. What was hers was now his--
Th-thump.
Every lost drop.
Th-thump.
It was in the next kiss that he let the hunger take over, allowing it to drive his teeth into her flesh--into that very vein that had been driving him mad with want, need, hunger. And she made no sound--going completely still in his arms, body shaking with that pain and pleasure he knew she felt.
Th-thump-th-thump.
He had felt that sort of pain and pleasure before--but now...he only felt the pleasure--relieving his hunger, energizing his weary bones--as he continued to drink from that fount that almost seemed to never want to give its last--
Th-thump-th-thump-th-thump.
Funny how there was still enough room between them that he could still pull her to him--until she was firmly pressed against his body--not in such a frightening, painful way like he had been that night...but rather...something a little more intimate--
Th-thump-th-thump-th-thump.
She was clinging to him now. Finish it. Finish it! that was what she was thinking, he was sure. Who wouldn't? It was rapture, that kind of pleasure and pain mixed together. But of course, it was too soon--much, much too soon--
Th-thump-th-thump-th-th-thump
He froze, blood in his mouth and still flowing from the wound, but Kaito himself froze. Part of him was puzzled. He was pretty sure that wasn't how the rhythm was supposed to go...
Another part of him was just reawakening to a horrible sight and realization.
He was killing Koizumi.
Almost as if she were on fire, he pushed her away from himself as he backed away, tripping over his own feet and falling onto the floor, his back striking hard again a student seat. Koizumi herself hit another student seat but managed not to fall over like Kaito had. Instead, she stood there, blood running down her neck, panting.
It was only when he was sure that for the moment she would be all right that Kaito put a hand to his mouth, feeling sick about what he'd just done--about how he'd done what he'd just done. How could he have just...? And in such a way like that--!
"Feel better, Kuroba Kaito?"
He looked over to the witch to see her standing straight and--wait...where was the blood?
Kaito stared at her unblemished neck, dumbfounded.
Koizumi flicked some of her hair behind her shoulder, still panting, still sweating, but a sly smile on her face.
...she was smiling like the cat who'd gotten the canary.
Disbelief was the main reason Kaito stammered as he shouted, "H-how did--when--w-what--?"
She blinked innocently at him--though at that moment, Kaito was pretty sure she was about as innocent as a well-practiced servant girl from the red light distract. "What are you going on about, Kuroba Kaito? Weren't you sick? Good to see that you've gotten better," she said with a polite smile as she closed her eyes to mimic a kind expression. "I'm sure the others will be so relieved."
"...huh?" he demanded in the most direct way he could think of while he was sitting there on his ass--in a classroom where he'd just--and she--!
...right?
Koizumi turned her back to him, reaching over the student desk to gather a couple of student packs. She idly tossed one over to him while heading for the exit. "Be sure to lock up when you leave, Kuroba Kaito. Wouldn't want any hoodlums to use this school as their playground, now would we?"
And then she calmly walked out, leaving Kaito on the ground in the classroom, confused beyond all hell.
They...had--hadn't they?
-
-
Kaito shut the door to his house as he took off his shoes. "I'm home," he called out to his mother, who had most likely been waiting for him ever since Aoko had called earlier.
He heard a sound from the kitchen and dropped his school bag at the doorway--something he was always scolded for doing--before shuffling over to the location of the house he was sure his mother was in. Hands in his pockets--one way to help him keep up his Poker Face, he entered the kitchen to see his mother calmly washing dishes.
He leaned against the doorway, smiling a bit, happy for a bit of normalcy.
...despite the fact that even though his hunger was at least somewhat satiated, he could still hear that terrible rhythm.
"Hey, Mom," he spoke up, catching her attention and making her look up with a bit of a smile. "Sorry I'm a bit late, but--"
And in less than two seconds, Kaito found himself in the middle of a fierce hug. Caught off-guard--this was becoming a habit that he needed to fix, apparently--he just stood there for a long moment, fists clenching in his pockets. "Thank goodness you're all right, Kai-chan," his mother said quietly in his ear as one of her hands ran over his mussed hair as it was wont to do ever since he had been a kid.
Then she released him, and he awkwardly tried to fix his hair--which couldn't ever be fixed, but he ignored that--as he laughed a bit. "Yeah...sorry to scare everyone," he said as he shoved the hand back into his pocket. "Aoko called you about me being sick, right?"
The woman sighed in a tolerant manner, crossing her arms. "Honestly, sometimes the only way I know something is going on with you is through Aoko-chan," she said in a matronly manner that left Kaito wanting to sneak off right then and there. His mother could have her moments, but more often than not, they usually meant-- "So I was thinking. Why don't we go out to eat sometime this week? It has been a while since we've been able to sit down together..."
Kaito smiled brightly before agreeing. "Sure, Mom. I don't think I'm doing very much this week at work anyway," he answered in the manner he knew she would want.
For his mother, he would be the perfect son--perfectly troublesome son at times, but who was really paying attention to things like that? Besides that, though...he was honestly afraid of agreeing to doing any sort of thing alone with her. He didn't want anything to happen--lest he lose control when he didn't expect it.
But his mother gave him a wide smile and another hug before taking him by the shoulders and facing him toward the exit of the kitchen. "Now," she said cheerfully. "You know the routine--"
"Yeah, yeah," he said with a good-naturedly disgruntled tone that he softened with a smile over his shoulder as he headed toward his room.
He heard his mother sigh in exasperation just as he began to close the door. "That boy...always leaving his things around...what will I do with him...just like his father...maybe even worse--"
Kaito tried not to think about the danger he was to her as he shut the door.
-
-
All through that night and the morning of the next day, Kaito couldn't stop thinking about what had exactly happened in the classroom with Koizumi. It wasn't just his imagination. He had bitten her--she had been bleeding from her neck in that way--and they had been...
But there was still some things that weren't adding up. How did Koizumi manage to not have a bleeding neck when he looked at her again? Well, he knew she was a witch and everything, but wasn't that going a bit too far with the hocus-pocus mumbo-jumbo? And another thing that bothered him was the simple fact that she had told him that there was no catch to her solution--temporary, though it was, as she had told him.
There had been a catch.
He had been her catch. The one thing she'd been chasing after for so long since she first tried to offer him chocolate and he refused. The only person not to fall under her spell--Kaitou Kid and Kuroba Kaito, the same person--was how she'd found out his secret, even if he continued to deny it.
The hours ticked by. Kaito went through his normal routine of meeting up with Aoko on the way to school--which resulted in her trying to thwack him for scaring her like he did yesterday--making it to class before the tardy bell rang, and receiving a suspicious look from Hakuba as he took his seat in class.
Kaito had a sinking feeling that he wasn't being watched for a chance to find proof of his being Kaitou Kid for once.
As all of these things continued on as per normal--though with all the headaches and pangs of hunger he felt now--one thing was happening to him that wasn't normal at all.
He was more than acutely aware of Koizumi's presence wherever he went. He could practically smell the witch and her blood from across the school building during a break period.
...and it was driving him nuts.
Kaito didn't want any more blood. He didn't want to be this...monster that did things like that--especially the way he'd done it to Koizumi--!
But it was just as he had thought to himself when he was faced with the choice of starving to death with that hunger ripping through him with wave after wave of pure agony or surviving until the next time it got that bad--surviving until he finished what he had started in his search for the Pandora--vampires be damned!
Something within Kaito himself had died...and now that bit of control that he had managed to keep in place in order to not attack anyone at random was completely shot.
Now the want to attack everyone was solely focused on Koizumi--especially since he could see her, hear her, smell her, taste--
He wanted to beat his head in, that's what he wanted to do.
He'd never once had those sorts of feelings or thoughts about the witch before that incident, but now she was plaguing his mind and all his five senses plus whatever new ones he'd gotten from this...curse. Yet another thing that was completely and utterly unfair. In saving his life, the girl--evil woman--had sentenced him to following her every movement whether or not he consciously realized it.
...and most of the time he did consciously realize it.
It was so unfair.
Then again, he was a bit relieved to not be tracking Aoko in such a way. That had definitely been a near thing. If Koizumi hadn't come in when she did yesterday, Aoko, Keiko...hell, even Hakuba would have probably been killed--maybe. Either that, or he'd be the dead one because he could only really attack them one at a time...
And once again, he was caught off-guard by someone surprising him with a mop swing to the head.
Kaito managed to duck at the last moment before he spluttered up at his childhood friend from his crouched position, "W-what the hell, Aoko! I wasn't doing anything this time, I swear!"
The girl eyed him suspiciously but withdrew her mop. She didn't put it away, but it was better that it was now in a position where she couldn't swing it at him so easily without some warning. Kaito stood up, rubbing his head, giving the impression of some relief while he still remained inwardly bewildered. "Jeez, what are you doing sneaking out of no where like a ninja like that? It's not good for the heart, you know--"
He paused, as if listening to his own words. Something...was off.
Kaito blinked as he stared at Aoko who remained silent in front of him. "Aoko?" he asked with some hesitation. Silence was never a good thing, especially when that sound beat like that. "O-oi, Aoko? Are you okay? Is something--waaah!"
However she managed to get that mop up and swinging so fast, Kaito had no clue, but he managed to duck each blow she gave. "W-wait a minute, Aoko!" he managed to shout at her while he danced nimbly away from her. "What's wrong with you? You at least start yelling insults at this point--"
It was as though those words were magic. "Kaito, you--YOU JERK!"
Heh? was what his brain was thinking. What his mouth automatically said without much thought was a laughing, "See? Now there's the Aoko I kno--ack! ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME OR SOMETHING, MAD WOMAN!"
Aoko shrieked back, "TAKE IT LIKE A MAN, YOU--YOU BOY!"
And thus, the first mop-chase since that Kaitou Kid heist began. Kaito would have enjoyed it more if it hadn't started off so oddly. First of all, he didn't do anything to instigate the whole thing--a bit unusual but not uncommon. Second of all, Aoko hadn't insulted him or started yelling until he mentioned it--something she only did when she was obviously troubled by something she didn't want to admit to or talk about, which was fine.
But worst of all was reason number three.
Even with most of all of his hunger's attention directed toward the witch he somehow knew was a couple of classrooms away, doing some task before they had to get to History, there was this small bit of his hunger that was taking sharp notice of Aoko.
A swing from the mop almost caught him in the left side as he realized this. Of course, even when he realized it, it didn't necessarily hit him until he found himself admiring the sight of her reddening face, listening intently to that strong heart of hers that just continued to beat faster and faster as she continued to try to hit him--it didn't seem like it would ever really reach its true top speed anytime soon, either.
And even as his realization began to dawn and he started to become more than a bit fearful for Aoko's safety, one simple thought made him freeze at the wrong moment and--BAM!
Aoko froze as well, looking puzzled. She tilted her head, studying the kneeling position of her best friend and the mop that had broken when it hit him across his head.
Only when Kaito blinked at her and reached up to feel the lump, his hand lowering a bit afterward with some blood on it, did Aoko drop the handle of the mop, crying out in alarm, "Kaito! Are you okay? You're bleeding! You idiot--why didn't you dodge?"
Kaito laughed a bit at that question--almost afraid to answer the question, lest the truth slipped out.
The girl knelt next to him, pushing his hand away as she tilted his head to inspect the wound. "Jeez...always dodging and dodging and the one time you don't, all you do is laugh at yourself while you're bleeding," she muttered without noticing his odd behavior--a relieving thing, Kaito thought to himself as he continued to look anywhere else except for Aoko. "This is just so typical of you. You have no sense of self-preservation at all! Even when you were so sick, you still insisted you were fine--and now this!"
Kaito didn't interrupt her rambling. Let her ramble. Let her be distracted. Because if she focused her attention on him--that was it, he'd lose it.
He swallowed heavily as he stared at the blood on his hand.
Such a little amount really, compared to the almost feast he'd had with Koizumi, but still...just watching as the blood began to drip down his hand onto his wrist and then further...
He shut his eyes as Aoko continued to still call him an idiot and babble about doctors and phone calls to his mother--he didn't catch all of it, but that was a good thing. That meant all of his focus was on keeping his hunger from turning its head any further to see Aoko sitting there innocently beside him, helping him.
Kaito didn't want to hurt her.
His hunger didn't care what Kaito wanted.
Luck, however, was atypically on Kaito's side as a new voice broke in through Aoko's ramblings.
"Oh? Something wrong with Kuroba-kun again, Nakamori-chan?"
Kaito looked up to see Koizumi looking down at him with a smile.
That same smile she'd given him the day before.
Aoko smiled in relief. "Oh, Akako-chan!" she said cheerfully, perfectly oblivious to the silent exchange passing between the witch and magician. "Yeah, this idiot didn't get out of the way of a swinging mop and now he's just sitting there like the idiot he is."
"Is that right?" Koizumi responded with a raised eyebrow while Kaito bit the inside of his cheek, not wanting to say anything different than what Aoko had said, not wanting to lose control.
"Yeah," Aoko sighed before turning her attention to said idiot, pushing his hair out of the way to get a better look of the wound. "Well, it's not really that bad, but it bled a lot for such a small injury...no surprise there, really. Kaito's such an idiot, all the blood rushes to his head and slows his movements."
At that, he couldn't help but to laugh. "Yeah, probably," he agreed before carefully leaning away from Aoko's touch--it was not what he needed right then, as much as he appreciated the thought behind her actions. "But I'll be fine. I'll just head to the doctor's office and get a head-wrap or something."
Again came that not right feeling that he'd gotten before the whole mop-chase had started. Kaito looked to Aoko--a mistake in the fact that now his hunger had almost its full attention on her. He fought it back before anything happened. "Something wrong, Aoko?"
The girl sat up straight as if she was caught in the act of doing something she shouldn't have been doing. "What? Wrong? No! Why would you ask that, Kaito?" she quickly denied, waving a hand at him as she stood up.
He almost reached out to stop her, but the sight of blood on his hand put a stop to that quick enough. Instead, Aoko brushed herself off and sighed. "Well, you should go on ahead and get that thing looked at. I'll tell the teacher where you've gone off to--"
"Could you also tell him that I'll be accompanying Kuroba-kun there?" Koizumi asked in a perfectly innocent manner than made Kaito shoot a discreet suspicious look at her. This person was not innocent in any way, he thought grimly to himself.
But Aoko--unknowing, caring Aoko just shrugged as she pushed some hair behind her ear. "Sure. You have an injury that needs looking at, too, Akako-chan?"
What Kaito saw as a sly smile but anyone else would mistaken for a genuinely sweet one crossed the witch's face as she answered, "Something like that, yes."
Aoko nodded, agreeing to deliver the message, and then her attention was on Kaito again as she shook his head. "Honestly, only you would get lucky enough to skip History and not have your grades effected--you better be happy I hit you in the head, Kuroba Kaito."
He didn't even get a chance to object--even as the pleading Please don't leave me alone with this woman! I promise I'll never flip your skirt again! ran through his head, he just dumbly stared at her as she smartly pivoted on her feet, turning her back to him and then marching off.
...he was doomed.
"Hm?" Koizumi spoke up as soon as Aoko was out of sight--out of mind. Kaito turned to see that she was leaning toward him, studying his face intently with that smile. "Didn't I say that you didn't have to do that any longer, Kuroba Kaito? You'll just kill yourself by sucking yourself dry that way."
He grudgingly released his cheek from between his teeth and shot back with some dry irony, "It sure seems like you know a lot about this sort of thing. What? Was your last boyfriend a vampire?"
The witch remained undeterred and simply shrugged. "Not at all. I simply know more about these sorts of things because they're what I specialize in," she said with an air of superiority. She stood up straight, putting a finger to her chin in thought. "Yes, just like how I knew that by having you feed from me, you wouldn't feel as pressured to find someone to willingly give you what you sought."
She glanced down at him again, taking in his blank but dumbfounded expression. "Didn't I tell you? This was the step most fledglings such as yourself fail to take. They take morality into their own hands and let themselves die rather than tell anyone about their changes, rather than be looked at with horror." She turned away from him for a moment, glancing down the hall. "But you're one of the lucky ones, Kuroba Kaito. You have a willing source--one that won't take this secret of yours with any amount of distaste.
"In fact," she continued with an amused and thoughtful tone, "dare I say that you actually surprised me? Such gentle ministrations--truly in a manner of a gentleman--"
"So you knew that this would happen," Kaito broke in before she could go on about it any further. He still felt a bit weirded out and sick about the way he had done things. "That I'd--"
She looked to him over her shoulder. "That you'd seek me out again for more?" she asked with mild amusement. "Of course. After all...wouldn't you rather continue to hurt a person you have no personal attachments to?"
An incredulous eyebrow was raised. "I would rather not have to deal with this at all."
The witch shrugged, holding her hands in the air. "C'est la vie, Kuroba Kaito. Or in your case--such is immortality." She paused before completely turning away from him again and walking off. "If you think things are hard now, I'll warn you just this once. You have yet to get to the most troublesome and painful points of your new life."
That made Kaito stop short from shooting back any harsh words. There was something worse than all these things that he'd had to deal with up to this point. The whole dying bit, the constant hunger, the sounds of people's heartbeats banging a headache into his skull wherever he went--there was something worse than thinking such horrible thoughts about his childhood friend and the person he really and truly cared for--even if he'd rather die again than admit it and hurt her with his secrets...especially now, he couldn't say anything about that.
Thoughts that ran along the lines of: Such strength, such passion, such a intoxicating smell--I have to have her! Have to know her, taste her, keep her--as mine alone...
...what could possibly be worse?
"W-wait, Koizumi," he called out before she got too far. The witch paused, turning back to face him, arms crossing over her chest as he stood himself up onto his feet. Kaito took in a deep breath before he asked the dreaded question. "What can you tell me about vampires?"
That smile crossed her face again. "Right now? Hardly anything."
He inwardly winced. Yeah, he expected this. "So...what would it take for you to give me more information?" he asked almost daringly, though secretly fearing he already knew the answer.
That smile softened on her face, and unless his eyes were deceiving him, Koizumi almost seemed...saddened. But then before he could think on it any further, she spun on her heel--in much the same manner Aoko had but without that certain...spark that made Aoko's so much more graceful--and started to walk off.
Alarmed, thinking he'd asked the wrong question, Kaito opened his mouth to call out again only to be cut off by her voice calmly commanding, "Come."
He hesitated, watching as she continued to walk.
Kaito clenched his hands into fists for a moment before shaking them loose. The witch knew he would follow. He needed that information. He needed her help to survive whatever trials were set before him now thanks to that person who'd done this to him.
...he hated himself for calmly following her lead.
-
-
How they managed to avoid detection from any teachers or faculty members when all they were doing was walking straight through the building, up stairs, until they reached the roof was beyond Kaito. Normally, he'd have to at least sneak while skipping class--not that he regularly did anything of the sort--but still, it was...odd.
And yet not, especially when he reminded himself yet again who it was he was following.
But their walk was over. They were now standing several feet from each other, watching each other--one uncertain and one seemingly calm. There was no one there--the only people who would have been on the roof, skipping class, had apparently been forewarned not to come at that particular time. Instead, they were alone.
And the door was shut behind him.
Kaito calmed his raw nerves even as his hunger expressed its need to be satiated. Not yet. He still needed answers.
"I came," he stated flatly. "Now what?"
Koizumi remained silent but closed her eyes as she smiled--that smile he thought he'd caught a glimpse of before. "You act as if I'm giving you a death sentence," she said after a long moment of silence.
"Well," Kaito responded as amicably as possible, stuffing his hands into his pockets in a relaxed manner, "I can't really say I'm happy about having to go through all of this. Not your fault that what happened to me happened, but this...this is really--"
He stopped and shook his head. "Never mind what this is," he said, reminding himself that he had told himself that he would deal with the consequences. This was just part of the consequences he would face for the choice he made. "Like I asked before: now what?"
"Kiss me."
Even Poker Face couldn't have saved him from hiding his shock at hearing such a request. "What?"
The witch's face was blank. She wasn't going to give anything away without a price. "You heard what I said, Kuroba Kaito," she stated firmly.
...oh, well then, Kaito thought to himself with some irony. At least he wasn't mishearing things--or misinterpreting her intentions.
But he shook his head, more at the idea that this was being asked of him than giving her a negative answer to her request--command, even. "Koizumi..." he started slowly before furrowing his brow, letting her know that he was confused and didn't understand. "What is it exactly that you want out of this? To help me? To take advantage of my situation? I don't know anything about what's going on, but that's part of the reason I'm willing to listen to your requests. But...this--"
He stopped himself again, sighing tiredly.
It was almost getting ridiculous how many times he'd thought to himself those same three words: This isn't fair.
Apparently, Koizumi knew what he was going to say and merely continued his thought for him. "Isn't fair?" she asked, a cynical air rising with her words as she spoke. "After everything you have gone through, is that all that you can say? Life isn't fair, Kuroba Kaito. Life does not choose--people like you make the choice to live or die--"
"And what about people like you?" Kaito broke in calmly. "Didn't you make a choice on whether or not to help me yesterday?"
The witch smirked at that. "Have you ever heard someone say the phrase, 'A secret is what makes a woman, woman,' Kuroba Kaito?" she asked instead of answering. "You should probably take it to heart--"
"And you're avoiding the question," he pointed out.
"There is no answer to give," she retorted smoothly. Then, almost immediately after she finished speaking, she started to walk toward him.
Kaito instinctively backed away, not wanting the hunger that was rising within him to grow even stronger as she came closer. "Koizumi--" he started to say in almost a warning but didn't get to finish as his back hit the door and wall behind him.
Trapped.
And in more ways than one.
She kept walking to him, and his hunger continued to rise, striking his gut with that knife-like pain that made him lean against the wall more, a hand going to his abdomen as he winced.
And she kept coming closer.
"K-Koizumi..." he gritted out, an eye sliding shut as he tried to focus on pushing the hunger back.
It wouldn't be deterred. It had missed its chance with Aoko, now it had a supply it knew well coming straight at him. It wouldn't back down, just continued to make him gasp in pain.
...it hurt even worse than it did the day before.
"Each time it gets worse," Koizumi's voice said from directly in front of him--just barely out of his reach. "With every feeding you have, the pain grows steadily worse. If you even try to fight against the hunger once it's awaken in such a way--you will die."
So that was another consequence, he thought to himself as he screwed both of his eyes shut, turning his head away from her as her heartbeat finally made it past his last layer of defense against that gnawing hunger.
Thump-thump.
The steady beat was ripping his control from him. Bit by bit. Slowly...in the most agonizing way possible.
Thump-thump.
Even though she was at a distance he couldn't reach her, part of him was sure that not much was needed to close that distance.
Thump-thump.
While the other part of him refused to go down without a fight.
Thump-thump.
He continued to hiss out uneasy breaths through clenched teeth until he was able to collect himself just enough to get out a strangled, "Just...tell me why." He opened his eyes to meet hers and would have been surprised to see how saddened they were--if the last of his control hadn't slipped.
Thump-thump.
He closed his eyes again, but this time it was to calm his shaking form. A smirk caught onto his face without much thought to it. Then almost as if it was an entirely different person speaking, he calmly said in a steady voice, "If that's what you want..."
Thump-thump.
He opened his eyes again to meet her watching eyes with the sharp stare of a predator. He slowly straightened himself, and once he was firmly on his feet again, he finished what he had meant to say, "...but that isn't all there is to it, is it?"
Thum-thump.
Even though she should have been out of immediate reach, somehow he was able to just reach out and grab her by the wrist, pulling her toward him--past him. Only when she had her back to the wall did he press in close, his hands taking hers and pinning them firmly against the wall on either side of her head.
Th-thump.
It was almost reminiscent to the position he'd found himself in only days ago, when he'd been pinned onto the ground on the roof of that building. The difference was that he wasn't going to be so cruel. No...like before, he would take his time.
Th-thump.
It was what she wanted, after all.
Th-thump.
"So which is it?" he asked her quietly in a low voice as he continued to watch her eyes that were staring into his own almost numbly. She wouldn't answer.
Th-thump.
Because he already knew.
Th-thump.
He pushed his body against hers so that there was no room left to spare. It had her holding her breath so that she wouldn't make a sound. Smart girl. Who knew what kind of peeping toms would be out there? But wait...she had taken care of that, hadn't she? She definitely knew what she wanted.
Th-thump.
And there was only so many ways to say "thank you" before things got boring.
Th-thump.
It was the perfect time-keeper, really--her racing heart. He nuzzled at her neck just as he had the day before, this time taking the time to breathe in her scent, memorizing it for later use. It would always be good know where to find his little fountain of blood that sustained him.
Th-thump.
He gently kissed her throat at the same time he rocked his hips against hers. Her hands clenched then while she gasped in a breath, not able to keep from breathing. He merely chuckled lowly at her reaction and continued with his "careful ministrations."
Th-thump.
She was like putty in his hands, leaning against him as he pushed against her. It put an interesting spin to the pleasure he already knew from the last time he had drunk from her. Even with that hunger making him want to just bite down and not let go this time, he waited and decided to pull her hands above her head, crossing them at the wrist so that he could hold them there with one hand.
Th-thump.
She was shaking with excitement and lack of air, since every time she gasped a breath in it seemed to leave her just as quickly. So he carefully lowered his now-free hand down to her hair, which he let his fingers trail through listlessly until they touched soft skin. Perhaps during a moment of just pure instinct, she turned her head toward those fingers until they were brushing across her lips--
Th-thump.
Until they continued to trail their way down along her jaw and then to her neck. It was there that his quick and clever hand snaked its way between her body and the wall to push her neck forward, dipping her head back, giving him a larger area to roam, which he took great pleasure in doing.
Th-thump.
Nipping at the soft flesh and then sucking at the small beads of blood that would well up combined with their bodies' motions was just enough to make him actually let out a low groan of pleasure.
Th-thump.
He could feel her shudder against him as he continued his methodic work. All the shaking and quaking was just making his hunger more intense--but not just his hunger. After all, she had told him herself that he wasn't necessarily the vampire legends depicted--he could breathe, could hurt, could become aroused...
Th-thump.
And it just added to the pleasure he got hearing her heat beat so frantically, hearing her breath in sharply, smelling her skin, and tasting her very self in the blood her body readily wept for him...
Th-thump.
Like before, it was almost perfect.
Th-thump.
Almost.
Th-thump.
But he didn't focus on any of that, too engrossed in the sensations--sound, sight, touch, taste, smell...it was all building together in his gut the same way his hunger was--only it wasn't painful.
Th-thump.
It was nothing but utter pleasure.
Th-thump.
It was around then that he decided to do a little exploring. His hand bravely went ahead, sliding past her shoulder before curving around her side to come up against her right breast. A shaky breath informed him that she hadn't been expecting such a bold move. He grinned as he carefully ran a canine tooth along the throbbing vein in her neck.
Th-thump.
Her back arched her body forward to meet his in a rather lascivious manner that made him almost involuntarily bite down on her neck--
Th-thump.
Though he did respond heartily by gently cupping her breast and then biting into her.
Th-thump-th-thump.
Just like before, it was an almost never-ending flow pouring from that one vein. Unlike before, however, he knew to expect the unusual rhythm that would come when he'd taken enough to satisfy his hunger.
Th-thump-th-thump-th-thump.
The question was now...did he feel generous enough to stop once that time came?
Th-thump-th-thump-th-thump.
This time, even when under the pain and pleasure from the bite, she didn't go still. She continued to move along with him, meeting his body with hers, gasping at the different sensations that practically over loaded her own mind. It didn't matter to him, though, he was just as deeply moved by their movements.
Th-thump-th-thump-th-th-thump.
And this time he knew what that irregular sound meant and pulled away from her, his hunger satisfied but not yet finished. He found himself grinning at her as he pulled himself from the flowing blood and lifted his hand from her chest to turn her face toward him.
She was pale, glistening with sweat, and panting heavily, but she still watched him...with those eyes that just always seemed to look just a bit too deep.
"So about that kiss," he murmured, and just as her eyes widened slightly as she realized what he meant to do, he bent closer to her face--
And planted a kiss on her cheek.
Koizumi blinked at this sudden change as he then released her hands and turned away from her to lean against the wall, where he hunched his shoulders and collected himself.
That, Kaito thought firmly to himself once he was sure he was in control again--though he was feeling more than a bit embarrassed at the problem he had at the moment, was the most unfair thing to have happened to him ever since that night!
But there wasn't really anything he could do about the behavior he exhibited when...that happened.
Still...to have let things go that far...Kaito could feel the shame burning within him, fueling his anger and fear toward a certain witch.
But he shoved all of that down the same as he did to the hunger which he could have sworn was purring like a kitten within him, even when it still wasn't gone. It wouldn't ever be gone, he found himself thinking almost despairingly before he winced at his own temperament.
It wasn't as if it was the worst thing that could happen. After all...he could have died that night, instead. He could have told Koizumi the day before that no, he didn't need her temporary solution. But had he? No. He was the stubborn idiot that had to keep moving forward in order to find the murderers of his father, recover Pandora. Consequences? What were those again?
Kaito gave a small laugh at his own thoughts--well, at least they were a bit more normal now--just as he heard Koizumi move up behind him. He froze as she asked with an almost innocent curiosity that had to be false, "Something the matter, Kuroba Kaito?"
The teenaged boy muttered something under his breath about privacy as he pressed against the wall--hoping to be like a lizard and blend into the color so that she could go away, thinking him gone.
Instead, Koizumi positioned herself so that he could see her out of the corner of his eyes. She had an eyebrow raised and a hand on her hip. He sweated a bit, nervous, before he finally burst out, "Do ya mind? It's not like I wanted this to happen, you know!"
And then she laughed at him.
Grumbling about witches who torment young men just to satisfy their own libido, Kaito let her know that he was not happy by eyeing her darkly. He would eventually find some way to pay her back for this--but how does one going about embarrassing someone who was obviously not very closed-minded about a lot of things.
Just as he was formulating a way to mutilate her in her sleep--he was sure his father would forgive him just this once for breaking the No One Gets Hurt Rule; after all, his embarrassment had nothing to do with a heist--Koizumi decided then to offer, "I can help if you want."
Kaito slowly turned his head to stare at her with a half-moon gaze that he was sure clearly gave his answer.
But to make sure there was no mistake, he gritted out, "No. Thanks."
She'd done enough damage already.
-
-
Hours later, Kaito found himself walking home with Aoko, thinking over the events of the day. Sure, every time he thought about...that happening, he firmly shut it from his mind, but it still burned him to think that he had done any of...well, that.
It had only taken a short while for him to finally calm himself--his whole self down enough so that he could face Koizumi and get some of the answers he needed from her. And the witch was surprisingly very giving once he asked again for information on what he was--vampire, immortal...or just some odd mix of both.
It was this information that he had churned over and over in his mind since he'd gotten back to class--just in time for the end of Calculus, the last class of the day. And since today had been their day to go home without having to do any clean-up, Aoko had patiently handed him his things, which he actually took the time to thank her for--though he couldn't exactly look her in the eye when he said it.
...some things just shouldn't happen right before you were faced with that one person like Aoko.
So now the two of them were walking home--quietly, for once. Apparently, whatever had been bothering Aoko during that mop-chase was still bothering her, and even though Kaito was really becoming worried that something was wrong, he did have a few things that were weighing down heavily on his mind.
Such as the fact that Koizumi had told him, even after he sort of already figured it out himself, that even though he was a vampire, he wasn't dead or undead. Just immortal...with an insatiable hunger for the blood of mortals. Which meant that all bodily functions still worked.
"To put it into prospective, it would probably be easier to think of it like this: you died, correct? Your heart stopped beating and you were clinically dead. However--and this is the important part, Kuroba Kaito--your sire, the one who did this to you gave you back your life by giving you the blood he had taken from you. Your heart started to beat again, but now it's almost silent--so soft that it would leave doctors puzzled, in fact."
And wasn't that just grand? A walking, talking, breathing person who had died and now was perfectly normal except their heart could hardly be a murmur, though it beat within his chest, and they had to drink blood to keep on living that way.
It had taken a bit for him to actually understand why this was the case, but Koizumi had patiently broke it down for him as he was obviously someone who didn't dabble in this sort of thing--before he was actually that sort of thing.
"Do you know why the pagans often offered blood sacrifices to the gods, Kuroba Kaito? It is because the immortal gods could not live without the blood of another. Sometimes, animals could be used as substitutes, but you've heard tales of the virgin women tied to the stakes as an offering? Do you know why such people are given as an offering? Because a god...an immortal such as what you've become desires that sort of flesh...that blood. It is what keeps you alive--immortal."
Kaito sighed quietly to himself as he remembered how he'd reacted to that particular speech. Disbelief warring with the fact that he somehow knew Koizumi was right had him staring at her for a long while before he announced his distaste for being what he was.
She had a good laugh at that one.
But honestly, he thought crossly to himself as he and his childhood friend neared her house, who would want immortality for a price like that? It was just ridiculous--especially considering what a danger you would be to other people--
"Why are you looking for Pandora?"
Kaito froze, a foot hovering above the ground as that memory hit him, joining itself to the knowledge he'd learn that day and--
...no...that--that wasn't possible, was it?
"Kaito?"
"Heh?" He automatically responded as he looked up to see Aoko looking concerned at him a few steps in front of him. He put his foot down and laughed a bit. "Sorry. Was just thinking about something and realized--"
"You don't have to explain."
The shortness of her tone made him pause, blinking uncertainly. What was...? "Aoko?" he asked, wondering if that thing that had been bothering earlier was the culprit for her behavior right then.
She turned her back to him--so that he couldn't see her face. He knew that trick well enough to know it when he saw. Then she continued on as if she hadn't heard him, "I mean...what do you have to explain things to me for, anyway? All I am is just some silly girl you've known since you were a kid that you happen to walk to school with everyday. That...that doesn't mean you have to explain yourself to me, does it?"
Kaito felt like kicking himself in the head as he listened to her voice growing smaller and sadder as she continued on. "Aoko..." he said, not knowing what else to say.
The girl that he'd grown up with--grown to love and care for, even if he never showed it in any other way than pranks and childish insults--straightened her stance, squaring her shoulders before she calmly said, "You should just head home now and forget about walking me to the door. After all, you're probably going to be busy anyway--"
He cut her off the only way he could think of. Sneaking up behind her and slinging an arm around her to produce a flower before her eyes. "Hey," he said with a a soft but light tone, "don't be so upset. I know I'm not the best at being there all the time, but I haven't once thought of just leaving you on the street like that."
She didn't answer, didn't take his peace offering.
So he continued on, ignoring the fact that she had already told him that he didn't need to explain himself to her, "And anyway...I wouldn't explain myself to anyone else but you--and my mom...but she's kind of an exception with almost all of the rules--"
Aoko's hand on top of his own cut off his babbling long enough for him to take the time to begin peer around to see her face--out of habit and without thought to the hunger that was slowly reawakening. Though it was sluggish, it could mean danger to Aoko.
And Kaito didn't want anything bad to happen to that girl.
So he shoved the hunger back down and lay his head sideways on her shoulder, trying to get a look of her face, but she stubbornly kept it face away from him. "C'mon, Aoko," he said with a childishly pleading tone before he poked her with his free hand in a spot he knew was ticklish.
She twitched, but other than that and the fact that she was still holding his hand, she didn't give him an inch.
"C'mon..." he egged her on, grinning, even though he was becoming more and more afraid of that hunger awakening fully again. "You know you want to turn to me and just laugh at how silly we're both being--well, maybe you're not acting silly, but I bet you could if you'd just look at me."
Aoko finally released a sigh that was similar to the one his mother would give him at times--exasperated, a "what am I going to do with you?" in one simple breath--before she finally turned to look at him.
Kaito had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from letting the hunger grow more than it already was.
Some things about Aoko...just made Kaito wish he wasn't the Kaitou Kid and wasn't some immortal out for blood. Both were hazards to her own safety and health and both he would give up in an instant if he could--
"See?" he said cheerily, giving her a typical grin, as wide as it would go with a bit of a snickering edge to it. "No need to be so upset. Things have just been a little weird for me lately, so I haven't exactly been the most communicative person in the world--"
"When have you ever been except when you're trying to avoid something?" she tossed back hotly, though he knew it was steam that was quickly going cold.
Kaito continued, undeterred, as if she hadn't spoken, "--and I didn't really mean to ignore anyone--though I wish I could have done a better job at ignoring Hakuba, but you know him...he's just so...British."
That got him a thwack on the head with her free hand. "Idiot," she muttered, though unless Kaito's ears were deceiving him, there was a fond undertone that meant she was holding back a smile. "You shouldn't pick on Hakuba-kun like that. Especially when you were so rude to him yesterday--!"
"Yes, yes," he responded lightly while he watched her for a moment as she seriously considered whether or not he would get another thwack or not. Before she could carry out her obvious sentence of a good smack upside the head, however, Kaito asked her in a quiet but serious manner, "Forgive me?"
Aoko glanced away from him for a moment, obviously trying to think of a reason not give him yet another chance. He didn't mind this at all as it gave him a moment to wince at the first sign of pain that the hunger had given him since he'd feed that afternoon.
When she turned back, however, he was smiling again--as if nothing had happened.
Aoko gave yet another tolerant sigh before patting his head in a manner that suggested they were meant to be a punishment and not a comfort. "Fine. Fine," she agreed, making his grin widen. "But next time you get sick like that don't just let me worry all night long! If you were okay after you saw the doctor, you should have let me know!"
He lifted his head from her shoulder, laughing. "Yeah, sorry about that. Like I said--been real weird lately--eh?"
Kaito blinked at the feeling of Aoko's other hand cupping over his hand with the flower still waiting to be taken.
"Idiot," she said with a soft voice, "You should tell me if something's wrong with you...especially when things are weird with you. Understand?"
The magician continued to stare for a moment before nodding--before realizing she couldn't see his nod and answering, "Yeah, I understand. I'll do better--"
"Good," Aoko broke in with a more happy tone that was such a complete 180 that Kaito almost didn't follow along as she snatched the flower from his hand and sniffed it appreciatively. Just before he could think of anything smart to say about bi-polar tendencies, she rather viciously informed him, "Oh, Himejima-sensei gave me your assignments--and since you didn't have the class period to work them in, I hope you don't have anything planned tonight, otherwise it'll never get done--"
"Eh?" Kaito shouted in disbelief before he looked into his carry-around, startled to see that there was, indeed, a lot of work to be done. "No way! How can he just do that to me when I was injured?"
Aoko spun around to stick her tongue out at him. "That's what you get for being an idiot and not dodging when you should!" she sing-songed at him before running off ahead of him as he chased after her, shouting, "I wouldn't have had to dodge if you weren't so determined to hit me, crazy woman!"
She laughed at him as she retorted just as loudly, "I wouldn't try to hit you if you weren't such an idiot, idiot!"
"Oi!" he exclaimed indignantly, glad for some normalcy that actually helped him combat against that hunger that was still sluggishly awakening within him. "Come back here and say that to my face, little girl!"
"I'LL SHOW YOU LITTLE!"
It was nice to have things stay the same--especially when he'd just realized that everything up to this point in his life--ever since he'd donned the cape, hat, and monocle rested solely on that thought that had froze him in his tracks.
The one who had made him that way--his sire--had cornered him that way in order to gift him with immortality because he knew of Pandora--because of who he was.
It was now obvious that that person knew exactly what and where Pandora was.
It was now painfully obvious who that person might have been.
But right then, Kuroba Kaito pushed that thought from his mind.
Just a little longer, he inwardly pleaded to whoever or whatever would listen to his plea. Just a little more time as himself, then he'd take on the night once again to find that person and Pandora.
...if only to keep him from totally losing everything he had once he found a man who should have been well over eight years dead.
Author's Notes: Well...this is part of the reason that the rating is high is because of...well...scenes like the ones in this one thing :D;;; Yeah...and uber-longness, yes.
For those of you who may be squicked by the pairing or the things that happened in general--you'll get no apologies from me. You think you're bad off? Pfft! I had to write this stuff! XD But seriously. Don't be squicked! This little series of stories about vampire!Kaito is actually a Kaito/Aoko pairing, mostly. ...it's just very...weird. -sweatdrops- Yeah. Whatever. I bet I hurt more than a few brains with this thing. -snerk-
Hope you all enjoyed!