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


The Dragon's Curse

Chapter 8 - Rumble of Thunder

Shinichi looked around his hotel room. It wasn't the largest hotel room he'd ever stayed in, but it was clean and elegant. There was a beautiful landscape painting on the wall, and the view through the massive windows was breathtaking.

Shinichi wondered whether Kaito had booked another room for himself or if he had planned for them to room together. The detective couldn't help but notice that there was only one king-sized bed. If they were rooming together...

He found himself wondering whether KID had plans for this vacation other than his heist.

Heat climbed up into Shinichi's cheeks, and he hurried to put his luggage away. He had ended up bringing more clothes than he'd intended. Then again, anyone who attended KID heists regularly knew the importance of having spare clothes ready. That, and he'd been informed that he had better have formal party clothes ready if he didn't want Sonoko to strangle him.

When he was done unpacking, he checked the clock. He still had half an hour before he had to meet up with Ran and Sonoko again. He sat down on the edge of the bed. His thoughts wandered back to the question about sleeping arrangements, which naturally led back to his wonderings about a certain magician thief's intentions.

The thought sent a pang of both panic and anticipation through Shinichi. Was he ready for something like that? They hadn't exactly been dating for what he would consider a decent amount of time, but they had known each other for many years. Long enough for Shinichi to be fairly sure that he felt seriously about this relationship. On the other hand, KID had yet to even formally introduce himself. Did that mean that the thief didn't trust him yet?

That thought made Shinichi feel abruptly cold. But, thinking back over the thief's behavior, he decided that the thief was serious about this too like he'd claimed. The thief was just a cautious person—rightfully so. Still, it would be nice to be able to be sure…

-0-

Kaito sipped slowly at the cola he'd bought as he read through the documents Shinichi had given him. He was sitting in one of the hotel's restaurants. He'd finished his sandwich some time ago—the same time he'd finished reading the documents for the first time. He was now on his third rereading. It wasn't really necessary. His memory was impeccable. The problem was that the story was both stranger than he'd anticipated and rather more simple than he'd imagined.

The information Shinichi had given him revolved around two instances when the Dragon's Heart had purportedly been destroyed and a few more less concrete instances when it had been 'lost'. Of the more substantial stories, the first told how one owner of the jewel, a gold merchant, had been shot by robbers. The bullet had, in true drama fashion, hit the jewel pendant instead of the merchant's heart, saving his life but shattering in the process.

Or at least the assistant who had witnessed the incident had claimed to have seen the cracked jewel. The strange thing was that, the following day, the same assistant had seen the pendant again—whole and unmarred. The general opinion was that the assistant had just been mistaken. Even the merchant had claimed as much. The incident, therefore, passed without receiving much attention.

The second incident was a lot less dramatic. It involved a man who'd gotten a hold of the jewel illegally and decided to cut it in order to make it easier to hide. He had cut it, let it in his safe overnight, then found that it had miraculously restored itself to its former shape the following morning. Two more tries later, he got scared, believing it some kind of haunting, and turned himself in.

The other incidents all spoke of occasions when the gem was thought to be lost. It had been on a ship that sank. A fisherman's daughter found it on the seashore. The jewel was only recognized years later because it apparently matched a photograph taken of it before the ship had sunk. And that was only the tip of the iceberg.

For the most part, the tales struck Kaito as trivial, but Shinichi wouldn't have given him the information if he thought it was trivial. So what was Shinichi trying to tell him with these?

A beep from his watch alerted Kaito to the time. He sighed, finishing off his soda.

There was time for the stories later. Right now, he had a party to attend. A party that was going to be full of potential backup disguises for his upcoming heist. Time to do some research.

-0-

"You can at least pretend you're happy to be here."

Shinichi glared over the rim of his coffee mug at Sonoko. He didn't bother saying anything. After all, he had just endured a two hour formal dinner during which he had to be impeccably polite while fending off overly curious questions from a bunch of aristocrats all eager to interrogate him about his 'years away', apparently under the impression that they should be exempt from any restrictions in regards to the confidential parts of the case. Those, however, had at least been better than the people who'd obviously believed he was some kind of fraud riding on his parents' fame to get attention. That lot had apparently decided that his refusal to talk about his absent years was due to some great, secret shame over some big failures in his detective work. How that story had gotten started, he neither knew nor cared, but having to endure their snide comments all through dinner had been exhausting.

And now that the dinner was over, he was not pleased to discover that his attendance at the dance party afterward was not optional. The least they could do was allow him to drink his coffee in peace in a nice quiet corner.

But no~.

"You owe Ran at least one dance," Sonoko informed him, crossing her arms. "For all that time you made her worry about you."

Shinichi sighed. It wasn't that he had anything against dancing with Ran. But he knew that Sonoko still thought he and Ran should get together, and she was always on the lookout for any signs that she was right. He didn't want to give her any ammunition to begin her matchmaking schemes again.

"Actually," Ran said. "That guy over there asked me for a dance earlier at dinner."

"What? Who?" Whirling around, Sonoko stared then shrieked. "No way! You stay away from that guy! He's the Arimas' second son, and he's a real player. He's one of those guys who thinks anyone he wants should be honored to sleep with him. His parents aren't sure what to do with him. He's even been arrested a few times for brawling while drunk. I think he would have been disowned already if he wasn't such a wiz at marketing when he's sober."

Taken aback, Ran could only nod mutely. The young man in question had been charming when she'd spoken to him. It was startling to learn he hadn't been the smart, handsome young businessman he'd presented himself as. They'd only had one conversation, but she'd actually kind of liked him. No wonder he was a good marketing agent. At the same time, the discovery was kind of depressing.

Sometimes, it felt like you really couldn't trust anyone anymore. Maybe it was because she was surrounded by detectives and police officers, but it often seemed like every other person she met was either a blackmailer, a murderer, or some other kind of criminal. She felt sorry for thinking it, but one thing she was growing more and more sure of was that she did not want her future partner to be a member of law enforcement. Detectives and police did important work, and they were generally great people with good intentions, but she didn't think she could stand living her entire life having to worry about the people she loved getting hurt chasing criminals. She didn't want to see crime around every corner and have to question the sincerity of everyone she met.

Was she being a disloyal friend? She should at least be supportive, but it was hard to be supportive of your friend's hobbies when those hobbies regularly landed said friend in the hospital.

"Ran? What's wrong?"

Looking around, she found both Shinichi and Sonoko looking at her with concern. She forced a smile onto her face. "Sorry. I was just thinking."

Her two friends traded looks.

"If you're not feeling well," Sonoko began.

"No, no, really," she insisted. When her friend didn't look appeased, she gave in. "I guess finding somewhere to sit for a while would be nice."

"There are chairs this way. Oi, detective geek! Go get Ran a drink."

Shinichi might have commented on Sonoko and her tendency to boss him around, but concern for his childhood friend had him walking away in search of beverages.

Ran let Sonoko guide her to a chair before insisting that her friend go enjoy the rest of the party. It took some persuading, but eventually Sonoko consented, promising that they would leave as soon as they could politely do so.

Taking a small plate of fancy little cakes from a passing waiter, Ran settled down for a little respite from the hubbub of the party. Lost in her own thoughts, she was surprised when someone cleared his throat beside her. She turned to see a smartly dressed young man.

"Good evening," he said with a shy smile. "I was wondering, might I trouble you for a dance?"

-0-

Shinichi frowned as he scanned the seating areas around the ballroom.

He had gotten Ran her drink, but now he couldn't find her. The girl wasn't sitting at any of the tables or other rest areas in any of the series of ballrooms being used for the party. He had checked them all already three times. So either she had ditched him and left already, or she had decided she felt better and gone back to rejoin the festivities. After all, even a detective couldn't be expected to pick out one girl out of the contorting, colorful masses at a glance. Either way, it left him at a loss as to what to do with this cup of ginger ale he was carrying around for her. He could drink it himself, but it was a little sweet for his tastes.

"Stop!" a girl's voice said, shrill with fear.

Shinichi turned around immediately. It didn't take long for his detective-honed senses to locate the problem.

A man, the very one Sonoko had warned them about, was leaning over one of the serving girls. Her tray was empty, and she was holding it in front of her like a shield, but he had her backed into a corner where she couldn't escape.

"Come on," he was saying in a wheedling tone. "It's a party. Don't you want to enjoy yourself a little?"

Not liking the way this was going, Shinichi marched up to the pair.

"Excuse me," he said.

The man, clearly drunk beyond reasoning, didn't even bother to look at him. "Beat it. We're busy."

"Sir. You're drunk," Shinichi said bluntly, undeterred by the fact that the guy was more than a head taller than he was. "You should leave before you embarrass yourself further."

"What?! Who the hell do you think you are?" he snarled then had to lean against the wall for support. He looked like he was going to throw up.

Now a little worried, Shinichi pushed the girl behind him and approached the drunk carefully. "Do you need help?"

Dark eyes locked onto his bright blue ones. Though they were unfocused, somehow managed to leer. "You know, you're pretty cute. Didn't notice before."

Shinichi twitched. "Excuse me?"

The drunk leaned over him, and Shinichi could smell the rancid odor of alcohol on his breath as he spoke. "I'll forget about that wench if you and me go get a room instead."

Shinichi flushed in anger. The alcohol was obviously making the guy stupid. Deciding the creep wasn't worth wasting any more of his time with, he turned to the quivering waitress.

"Come on, let's go."

A hand seized Shinichi's shoulder, jerking him back. "No one ignores me!"

"Let go," Shinichi said coldly.

The man sneered. "Not 'ntil you 'pologize." His grip tightened on, squeezing hard enough to hurt.

Shinichi scowled, but before he could say anything, a hand closed around the drunk's wrist. The man let out an abrupt cry of pain and released Shinichi, jerking back. Shinichi too jumped, spilling ginger ale all over himself. His eyes widened when he saw what looked like burn on the drunk's wrist. Both he and the drunk turned to the newcomer, one in rage and one in shock.

"Ka—Koji," Shinichi gasped. "What did you—" he started to say then stopped. Kaito was still wearing colored contacts, but his eyes had turned orange—the color seeming to burn right through the contacts. And the cold fury on his face… It made him look like a completely different person.

"You bastard!" the drunk snarled, drawing back his fist.

Clang!

Both Shinichi and Kaito could only stare as the drunk keeled over unconscious. Standing behind him was the waitress with her serving tray held up high. She stared down at her handiwork then clutched the tray to her again, stammering.

"I—I'm sorry."

"It's all right," Shinichi said, recovering from his shock.

"Yeah. He was asking for that," Kaito added.

Shinichi cast the magician a sidelong look. Kaito looked normal again, he was relieved to see, but he couldn't help but notice the tiny hint of strain to the magician's smile. For Kaito, that said a lot.

The waitress smiled weakly. "Um, I'm not really sure…" She looked down at the unconscious body.

"Don't worry," said Shinichi. "We'll call someone. You go on."

"Thank you." She bowed and hurried away.

"Can you see about getting someone to take him back to his room?" the detective continued, turning back to Kaito. "I'll stay here to keep an eye on him."

"I'd rather you go and let me watch him," the magician said frankly, giving the heap of drunk a disdainful look. "If he wakes up, I'll gas him."

Shinichi hesitated a moment, uncertain as to whether it was wise to leave Kaito to watch the guy. He still remembered that look Kaito had been wearing earlier. It had been…kind of terrifying. And those burns… But he didn't want to waste time arguing about it. The sooner they got out of here, the sooner they could talk.

"All right. I'll be right back."


-TBC-