Warning: Pirate AU, unrequited love.
You never wished as much for a rain to fall than you are right now.
The burning feeling that crawling on your skin as if flames itself running up your body. As if the flame is not burning the village in front of you, the flame that burns friends, family, and a happy life that you know down to ashes.
You feel tears making its way down your cheeks. It's simply too much to bear for a 14-years-old like you, watching your village burned down in the middle of the night, watching only a few people manage to escape, not to mention being saved by a stranger with a weird hat.
A comforting hand on the shoulder, "You okay kid?"
Shinichi jolts awake with soundless scream.
-KSKSKS-
"Nice weather isn't it?"
Shinichi looks up to see his captain, The Great Kaito Kuroba, and grins, "A perfect weather to wreck a havoc captain."
"How right you are," Kaito chuckles, he turns around and leans on the ship's railing, "Where are we heading again Hakuba?"
"Lady Vermouth mansion, right on the next island captain, a maiden that is known for her sharp-mind and beau-"
"Vermouth, whose brother runs bunch of corrupted factory that ruin many lives," Kaito cuts off the blond's words, "And worse, Vermouth help him."
"You and your inability to talk something bad about women, Blondie!" Heiji shouts from the deck, making the crews laugh and Hakuba bristles angrily.
Kaito laughs heartily at the banter that following Heiji's thoughtless little comment, "Stop harassing my goody first-mate you git," He makes a 'come on' hand motion toward Shinichi and starts strolling to the kitchen, "Now get your arses to the kitchen so we can eat before playing around in this Lady Vermouth house~"
-KSKSKS-
Five years ago Shinichi would never believe if someone told him he would become a navigator in a pirate ship.
Yet here he is, having lunch in the middle of Phantom Thief's busy kitchen. Trying so hard to dodges Heiji's hand that failing miserably stealing his eggroll. Shinichi glances at his captain who devours his meal quietly in the middle of chaotic table. Shinichi once wonder why Kaito would want to eat with the rest of the crew when he could has a nice, private meal in the captain cabin. He even asked Kaito about it, and got quite an answer.
"Why would I want to do that? It's more fun when we're all sit and eat together, bonding time you know!"
Kaito was the one that brought Shinichi to Phantom Thief, making him his youngest crew; he was the one that save him from that burning village years ago, the one that whispered soothingly every time he got nightmares after the fire, the one that covers him whenever he falls asleep in the map room.
Kaito is the one that Shinichi's been in love with for a long time.
Someone taps his forehead with a wooden spoon, effectively cutting his staring at the captain. Ai, the only girl on the ship who is strong enough to deal with the crew's crazy antics, gives him a knowing look. Shinichi simply sticks his tongue out at her and carry on with the lunch.
-KSKSKS-
Feast that following the successful heist was crazy; you could even see some poor, drunk crew that got slapped because they tried to woo the ship's cooks. Shinichi, as drunk as Jack Sparrow, is happily clutching the captain's hand as Kaito tries to maneuver him back to his room.
"Today was great captain; we got so much from Lady Vermouth!"
"Yes it was, we got enough money for this ship and to share," The young captain grins, " I can't wait to see Mother Ran face when we meet her, It's been a while since we went to the orphanage."
Despite his talk earlier, Kaito is not the usual pirate captain. He don't steal for appeasing want, amusement, or fulfilling some sadistic pleasure of seeing burned village, like Shinichi had seen from some ruthless pirate that set a fire on his village. Kaito just take money from the wrong rich, use for his crew needs, and give the rest to the orphanage where he grew up.
As cliché and Robin Hood like as it sounds, Kaito does that.
"I bet the kids will be happy, too bad we don't get to buy candies for them!"
Shinichi watches as his captain struggles to open the room's door and keeps him standing at the same time. Despite being five years older than Shinichi himself, Kaito looks like he's still a teenager. Shinichi smiles fondly at Kaito's clumsiness, His captain just look so irresistible.
"I love you Kaito."
Kaito freezes, his jaw drops slightly. Shinichi pouts at the other lack of reaction, he shrugs of the captain's hand from his shoulder and sling his own hand to Kaito's neck. Shinichi stars peppering butterfly kisses along the slightly taller man's jaw.
"I love you; I love you so much that it hurts just thinking about it."
Then he kisses Kaito straight on the lips.
As if someone just slapped him across the face, Kaito grabs the navigator shoulder and holds him on the arm length, "I sorry but I can't-" Kaito feels heat start creeping on his cheek as he continue stutters, "I love you, you are my adorable little brother. Just not like that."
Realization dawns on Shinichi and he starts backing off, calmly he opens the door to his room and start walking to the bed, not even bother closing the door.
"Good night captain."
-KSKSKS-
Shinichi wakes up to someone shaking his shoulder and Heiji's yell about breakfast. When he manages to open his eyes, a blonde head and a concerned face come into view.
"You okay mate? You were pretty drunk last night."
Shinichi just nods at his friend concern. He really wants to curls on his bed, doesn't feel really good about the hangover. But Heiji start dragging him to the bathroom and throw in some spare clothes, says he will wait him in the ship's kitchen. So much for trying to sleep his pain away.
Everyone's already at the kitchen when Shinichi arrived, he calmly takes his seat beside the captain and stars munching on some bread. Kaito still doing everything like usual, as if there was no navigator confessed to him, as if nothing happened between them last night. But he is okay with mutual indifference, as long as his captain doesn't forbid him to love; Shinichi really is okay with that.
Even if this feeling is unrequited, but as long as we fight under the same Jolly Roger. I will always love you, always hoping that someday you would say yes, forever if it is what it takes.