Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan/Case Closed.

Pairing: KaitoxShinichi

The Dragon's Curse

Chapter 4 - Foreboding

Aoko didn't bother holding back her exasperated groan when she saw Kaito's outline for their presentation. "Bakaito! We're giving a history presentation, not a magic show! We are not writing our main points out in flaming letters! And there will be absolutely no confetti or glitter!"

"But we're supposed to have visual aids," Kaito argued, tossing the juggling balls he'd been spinning through the air even higher and adding three more brightly covered spheres.

"We're supposed to have a power point or projection slides or something like that!"

The magician pulled a disgusted face. "But that's so predictable." He pronounced the word 'predictable' like it was the name of something gross he'd found stuck to the bottom of his shoe. "And boring. Why not put on the best presentation we can? I'm sure our classmates would appreciate it."

Aoko did not look mollified. If anything, her scowl deepened. "We only get ten minutes. And I'm not failing a general ed requirement because you set fire to our classroom!"

"Aoko, I'm hurt. Do you really think I'd be that careless?"

Deciding she'd had enough of this argument, Aoko whipped a large, stuffed salmon out of her book bag. "No magic tricks during the presentation! I mean it!"

Kaito blanched and leapt backward off of the park bench they'd been working on. Since when had Aoko started hauling monstrosities like that around on a daily basis?!

"well?" Aoko demanded, raising the stuffed fish threateningly.

It was Kaito's turn to scowl. "Fine. Whatever. No fire writing during the presentation."

"Or confetti or glitter!"

Damn. She'd gotten better at spotting his loopholes. "Or confetti or glitter. Sheesh. This is going to be boring."

Now all smiles again, Aoko returned her scaly weapon to her bag.

Kaito smirked inwardly. She might have gotten better at spotting the loopholes, but she still wasn't quite good enough.

Now that that argument was over, the two settled back down to working out their presentation. Aoko didn't even bat an eye as several of Kaito's juggling balls popped and turned into doves as they worked. But the other visitors to the park certainly took notice, and they soon had a small audience of wide-eyed children.

The day was going pretty much as Aoko would have expected if it hadn't been for that incident. It was, the inspector's daughter thought, one afternoon she was never going to forget. Even years later, looking back, she could never provide herself with an explanation for any of it, and that chilled her almost as much as the incident itself.

It happened right after Kaito concluded the impromptu magic show he'd put on when they'd finished working on their presentation.

The audience had dispersed, and Kaito whistled to call his doves back. They returned in a flurry of wings and lined up on the bench where the two university students had been working. The magician had glanced over the line and noticed immediately that one dove was missing.

"Hold on, Aoko. I'm going to go look for her real fast. I'll be right back."

Aoko had no sooner nodded when they both heard the laughter drifting to them on the breeze.

"Man, I can't believe you nailed it," one voice was saying.

"Told you I had good aim," another voice replied, sounding smug.

"Oh come on, one lucky shot doesn't make you skilled," a third voice said.

"Yeah? I'll just have to prove it again then. Just point out a target and I'll prove it wasn't a fluke."

Kaito had glanced in the direction of the voices more out of reflex than any real interest, but the moment he had, his sharp eyes had spotted the small, white shape lying in the grass some fifty meters away. Even from this distance, Kaito could see the splash of red on those white feathers. Another fifty meters past it, three teenage boys were walking away. One was tossing a rock up and down in his hand.

Aoko had also looked in the same direction. Being an inspector's daughter who was aiming to follow in her father's footsteps one day, she'd gotten pretty good at picking up and putting together clues too. And she read the situation almost as quickly as Kaito did. Her temper flared, but, before she could even open her mouth, Kaito had shot across the field.

Aoko was left by the bench with her mouth hanging open. But it was not the uncouth teens who had her frozen to her spot.

She had known Kaito for pretty much forever. Ever since that day they had met in front of the Ekoda clock tower, they had been good friends. He had, as long as she could recall, always been a cheerful and laid back if rather mischievous boy. Sure, his sense of humor could be more than a little twisted sometimes, but he'd always been slow to anger. In fact, she couldn't remember ever seeing him really, truly angry. Or, well, no, she supposed that wasn't entirely true. Kaito was human too. Of course he got angry at things. But he usually dealt with anger with a smile and a boatload of humiliating pranks. He'd never been the sort of person to resort to violence.

Which was why Aoko couldn't believe what she was seeing.

The first teen landed in the park's fountain head first with a huge splash. One of his friends let out a yelp as he was yanked up into a tree by one leg. The force with which he was dragged into the air had him smacking hard into the trunk of the tree. He was definitely going to have bruises tomorrow, but he might actually mind those less than the vomit-colored mess his hair had become. That was typical Kaito though. What wasn't was the way he had the last of the trio, the one with the rock, pinned to the ground with a knee in the boy's stomach and a hand around his throat. And Kaito now had his rock. The magician was tossing that rock up and down in his free hand in a manner that made Aoko's blood go cold. She couldn't hear what he was saying, but, whatever he'd said, it drained all the color right out of the teen's face.

Breaking out of her trance, Aoko ran forward, grabbing Kaito's arm. "Kaito! What are you doing?!"

She almost let go and retreated herself when Kaito's head whipped around. The eyes that met hers were bright orange. And they were burning with fury. For an instant, she was afraid.

She reacted without thinking. Her hand came up, and she smacked the magician across the face.

"Ow! Ahoko! What the hell was that for?"

The young woman let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. The eyes glaring at her were indigo again like they should be.

"What were you about to do?"

Kaito stared at her blankly then looked down. He seemed honestly surprised to see the blubbering teen under him.

"I—I'm sorry," the teen whimpered, eyes all but bugging out with terror. "I didn't know it was yours. I swear!"

Kaito's expression smoothed into a stony mask as he remembered exactly what this person's transgression had been. But to everyone's relief, he discarded the rock

"If I ever see you do such a thing again—"

"I—I won't! I won't!"

Kaito snorted, but he released his terrified captive and strode back to where his dove was lying. Behind him, the teen and his sopping wet friend scurried to get their last companion out of the tree so they could flee. Aoko watched them go, feeling odd. What they had done was unforgiveable, but Kaito…

She moved to stand beside him as he gently picked up the dove. Her heart rose when she saw the bird flutter weakly. "She's alive!"

"Her wing bones have been shattered," Kaito murmured, face grim. "I'm going home. You okay walking back to your dorm by yourself?"

"Of course I'll be okay," she said.

"Right. I'll see you tomorrow then."

And he was gone.

Aoko sighed. What an awful way to end the day.

Already well on his way home, Kaito was feeling conflicted. He was still angry at those creeps who'd injured his dove, but he was also worried. One moment, he'd been standing with Aoko. He remembered the instant when he'd seen his dove and realized what had happened. The next thing he knew, Aoko had slapped him. He couldn't remember anything that had happened in between those two moments, but the look on Aoko's face had told him more than enough.

If she hadn't stopped him, what would he have done?

Something was seriously wrong. He had to do something. He had to figure out what was going on with him.

Before he did something he'd seriously regret.

But, considering his spates of memory loss, he couldn't do this alone.

-0-

Shinichi made his way up the path to his own front door with slow steps, gaze fixed ahead but unseeing. His mind was still back in the hospital at the police interview. The two girls who had been found outside KID's heist building had woken up today. The things they'd had to say though…

What did it all mean?

Unlocking his door on autopilot, Shinichi stepped inside, slipped out of his shoes, and made his way into the kitchen to make coffee. He started the coffeemaker then turned to lean back against the counter as he waited. Or at least that had been the plan. He hadn't expected to turn around to find the Kaitou KID standing right there in his kitchen.

It was a good thing he hadn't poured his coffee yet because, if he had, there would have been a shattered mug and coffee all over the floor by now. Though they had been dating (he blushed at the thought) for a little over a month now, this was the first time they had met anywhere outside of the café. Nor had he seen the thief without a disguise yet (in person anyway. Aoko had showed him a photograph of her friend Kaito to prove just how alike they looked. One look at that photo had been the last piece of evidence Shinichi needed to be sure that he'd found KID. It had been in the color of his eyes and the way he smirked. But Shinichi had decided to hold off on revealing that he now knew KID's identity for the day the thief told him himself). It was startling to suddenly see him standing here in Shinichi's own house.

"KID! He exclaimed. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

The thief cracked a strained smile that instantly put Shinichi on edge. "My apologies. I did not mean to startle you."

Shinichi gave the thief a long, searching look then turned back to his cabinets to retrieve a pair of mugs. "Would you like some coffee?"

"As long as it comes with sugar and cream."

Shinichi rolled his eyes but complied. His mind raced as he rummaged through the cabinets for the sugar. Something was clearly bothering the thief. Considering that KID was a master actor, the fact that his unease was so clear was, well, actually kind of frightening. But he shouldn't be making wild hypotheses when he had no information to work with. Best let the thief explain it himself.

A few minutes later, they were seated at the kitchen table, each with a mug of coffee in hand. It was KID who broke the silence.

"Tantei-kun, I…"

"Yes?" Shinichi prompted. He had never seen the thief at a loss for words before. It was unnerving. This had to be really, really important.

"I need your help."

-To Be Continued-