Mikau: So, I meant to update last weekend, but I was exhausted. Real life has been kicking my butt lately, but I'm told I'm getting a massive promotion in June, and they're already searching for my replacement, so I guess it's okay. I feel really valued at my firm, so it's okay, working hard. But I promise I'll update next weekend too since this chapter's on the short side. Still. I hope you like it. Also! A big thanks to all of the reviewers from last chapter: Elevareth Abarelia, Opal Spirit, Loner Kid, Guest (That's okay. It's just that a lot of people have been nagging me lately, and it's more than I can handle with my mental condition. Thank you.), Guest (Thank you. I'm so glad you're enjoying my current stuff. It's just overwhelming when person after person nags at me to work on something I'm not mentally able to at the moment.), anon (Haha. Thanks! I'm glad you like it. I think people will like Shinichi more in this fic after he gets a chance to speak for himself in chapter nine. There's a reason he is the way he is, and I think readers will like him better once they get a chance to see inside his head.), Yuzurie, DetectivePandaThief, and SkaterGirl246! You guys really keep me going. Sorry for the irregular updates. Enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: If I owned it, there would be a lot more talking and hanging out being regular teenagers. The cast doesn't really get to enjoy their childhood because of all of the murders and evil secret societies.

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Chapter Four: Hakuba – Boundaries

"Kuroba…I'm sorry if this is a bit personal, but I've been wondering…what kind of fey are you?" I ask Kuroba about six weeks into our little meetings.

He gives a start, eyes flashing in alarm. He fumbles and drops the knight he has just captured. "W-What does it matter?"

"Just curious." I shrug nonchalantly, trying to downplay that curiosity even as it burns inside of me. I try to lighten the mood. I smile and teasingly inquire, "Don't you think I have a right to know what exactly I've let into my bedroom?"

His eyes flicker down and to the side as his face takes on a grave pallor. He looks hurt, conflicted…ashamed?

I realize my error and rush to correct it. "I'm terribly sorry. I was merely joking, but… I'm sorry. You're a 'who', not a 'what'. It was insensitive of me."

He shakes it off with a disinterested shrug of his shoulder. "It's fine. I know."

But it's not fine, no matter how unaffected he pretends to be. I've upset him, and even though he puts on that good-humored mask of his, his expression doesn't quite regain the levity it had possessed before.

"…Is it terribly impudent of me to ask what species you are?" I wonder softly, sneaking tentative glances up at him even as I pretend to concentrate on the chess board between us and what my next move should be.

"Weren't you the one that was all like, 'You're a person, Kuroba, not a monster'?" he snorts mockingly, and I cringe.

I set down the bishop I was about to move and look at him full in the face. "I am sorry, Kuroba. I don't mean to be rude, but I don't know any better," I sigh. "Rest assured that I am fully aware of your personhood. It's just that…I've been able to see things that no one else can…supernatural things…since I was very young, and no one's ever been able to tell me anything about it. I've read many books, but…a lot of that seems to be pure myth. There are so many things I've wanted to know my whole life, and now I finally have someone to talk to about them who won't think I'm crazy. You can imagine why I'm so eager, but…I'm not sure what exactly is appropriate and how to ask you without invading your privacy." I look at him shamefacedly for a moment.

He holds my gaze, searching my face for answers that I'm not quite sure of the questions to.

I look down at the chess board and move my bishop.

He takes it with a rook that I have completely overlooked.

"Let's just put it like this," he sighs, lining up the captured bishop with the rest of his prisoners. "I don't ask you your height or weight or whether you sleep with guys or girls or how big your you-know-what is."

He pauses poignantly, allowing my face adequate time to develop third degree burns from the heat of my blush. And then he continues with a sadistic smirk, amused at my mortification. "So you don't ask me about my species, okay?"

"R-Right," I respond weakly, thoroughly embarrassed. "I beg your pardon. I didn't realize…"

His smirk softens as he takes pity on me. "It's okay, Hakuba. You're just a regular human with no clue about fey matters. There's no way you could have known, so don't sweat it."

I nod, studying the pieces before me. After a minute, I move a pawn…and he takes it with a victorious trill of joy.

And he looks so normal, so natural.

"Sometimes it's hard to believe you're not human," I whisper to myself, but he hears and seems almost taken aback.

He smiles sheepishly and—all the while twirling my poor, misguided pawn—admits, "Actually…I am human…part human."

"O-Oh?" I look at him with keen interest, hoping that he'll share more. I really do want to get to know Kuroba better. There's so much about himself that he hides, so any opportunity to peel back a layer and get closer to who he really is is invaluable.

He shrinks a little and sets down my pawn in his steadily growing jail. He makes some pretense of examining the board so that he doesn't have to meet my gaze. "Yeah. My mom's human. My demon blood comes from my dad, so…I actually don't know too much about a lot of fey matters myself."

My mouth drops open as I realize what he means. I'd never stopped to consider it before. "Because you lost your father at such a young age, before he could teach you anything. Kuroba, that must have been incredibly difficult for you." How he must have struggled growing up with no one to help him.

Kuroba gulps, trying to swallow down the emotion welling up inside. He once more pretends to be unaffected, always cool and collected. He puts on his aloof mask and replies, "It wasn't so…I mean…" The mask cracks before he can get out the first sentence.

He sighs and looks up at me, violet eyes full of pain and honesty. "It sucked. Halves don't really start showing much until puberty, and my dad was long gone before then. My mom didn't even know if I was gonna be like him, so she just raised me human. I really only started finding out this fey stuff about six or so years ago when I started to show, and…" He closes his eyes and shakes his head, the suffering he's gone through evident on his face. "Imagine thinking you're normal for the first decade of your life only to have it all turned on its head when you start growing fangs and a tail and…"

"Kuroba…" I reach out and lightly rest my hand on his forearm.

He looks a little startled at the sudden touch, but then he smiles sadly at me, eyes misting over with tears. "God…Hakuba, I felt like such a freak. I still feel like a freak…if people found out about me…if Aoko found out about me…" He winces and shivers.

"It doesn't matter what they think," I snort, angry at the world for his sake and feeling oddly protective of my friend. I want to pull him to me and hold him until he calms down, but I fear that would only complicate our relationship, make things awkward. "They're just a bunch of ignorant, prejudice, species-ist idiots. You don't need their approval. You're fine just the way you are, Kuroba."

Slowly he calms down as he thinks about my words. He blinks back tears and looks at me earnestly. Gradually the hurt drains from his face and he smiles in genuine gratitude. "I wish I could just blow off the entire world's opinion of me that easily, but… Thanks, Hakuba. I really…" He struggles to find the words. "I can't tell you what it means to me, you accepting me like this. After you found out, I was scared out of my mind that you were gonna tell somebody and 'Kuroba Kaito, the Kaitou Kid, is actually a demon!' was gonna end up all over the news. I was afraid a mob was gonna come after me or something, so…I really overreacted, and I'm sorry about that. I can't thank you enough for still being my friend after finding out about the real me, so—"

"—What 'real' you?" I snort softly. "Kuroba, 'you' are the class clown, a magician, and a very intelligent, brave young man with a good heart. I already knew the 'real you' even before I found out about your fey heritage. The tail and the fangs aren't really a big deal. You should be thanking me for putting up with your bad personality."

He stares at me, completely floored, and from the look in his eye, I can tell that he wants to tackle me and cry, he's so completely overjoyed. But he knows that would be awkward.

His lip quivers, and he smiles effulgently. "Thank you, Hakuba."

I want to see more of that smile because it makes Kuroba Kaito glow, and he looks beautiful when he's brimming with radiance.

Getting ahold of himself, Kuroba's smile dims a bit. He rotates his arm in my light grasp so that now his fingertips rest on my forearm as well. "Sorry. This is all really new for me. I mean…I've never been able to share this stuff with anyone before, so…"

My arm feels pleasantly warm where his palm rests against the bare skin of my wrist. The sensation slowly spreads, and soon my whole body is heating up. And I like it. His touch makes my skin tingle, and suddenly I want him to come closer, touch me more. He makes my entire being buzz, and I feel my sense of reason and logic slipping away. Sense is dissolving into intense desire.

He gives a start, as if realizing what effect his touch is having on me. His cheeks redden and he pulls his hand away with a sheepish, "Sorry".

My mind comes back online, and I'm left wondering what in the world just happened, where the hell those feelings came from.

And I feel empty because I liked the way his touch made me burn with passion. And now it's gone. I'm cold. I want that warm, ravenous hunger that he stirred up in me back.

Kuroba looks uncomfortable as he folds his hands in his lap and tries to continue, pretending that that—whatever "that" which had passed between us had been—hadn't happened.

"Um…Anyway…I guess I should say that you're the only human that I've been able to talk with about things." He looks back down at the chess board and thinks about moving a piece…but he can't remember if it's his turn or mine.

I don't know, and I frankly don't care. The game holds no interest for me now. All I want is him. I want him to touch me again with the intensity of a drug addict suffering withdrawal.

Kuroba shifts and pointedly avoids eye contact. It's almost as if he can sense what I'm feeling…and it's making him squirm, though I can't tell if it's in aversion or…

"I should go," he remarks abruptly, rising to his feet. "I need to go," he repeats with increased urgency.

I'm still struck a bit too dumb to offer any intelligent argument as to why he should stay with me.

"I'll…I'll come back tomorrow?" He pauses at the screen glass door and looks back at me, eyes questioning.

"Please," is all I can manage, and I'm afraid that it sounds a bit too desperate.

"See you then, Hakuba." He pretends not to notice my lust-filled tone, but, oddly enough, rather than disturbed, he looks guilty…and hungry…remorseful and yet almost feral.

He leaves, and the spell is broken.

And I feel infinitely weirded out.

Never have I known myself to harbor feelings of that nature for Kuroba Kaito before. I must admit that in the past I have found other males attractive, but…desiring Kuroba…and so intensely… This is a first.

…But now…

I feel weak. I still feel the phantom afterimage of his hand on my wrist. My skin still tingles, and my arm is pink where he touched me.

I'm confused.

And I need a cold shower.