Chapter 11

Shinichi looked at Kaito with his eyes wide. "Yes? What is it? Did something happen when you were in the building?"

"You could say that," Kaito said, a growl low in his throat and his poker face abandoned for something far more menacing. He paced around Shinichi, circling him like a buzzard about to descend on a carcass. His nostrils flared. Could Shinichi really be guilty? He had to be. Coincidences like this just don't happen. "I found something rather interesting, Kudo. Would you like to know what?" Shinichi said nothing. He just crossed his arms. "It was a little piece of paper in a case file. My case file."

He blinked in shock. Kaito continued. "I was so shocked by what I read. After all, it isn't every day that you learn that Mage Healers were supposed to fix you up during your coma." A mix of fear and guilt shaped Shinichi's expression as realization dawned on him. Most of Kaito felt a sick pleasure at this; the rest of him just felt sick. He tapped his chin in mock thought. "Funny that Akako said the Mages wouldn't heal me, especially since they were going to do so on the DAY YOU SENT HER TO ME!" he roared and Shinichi flinched.

Confusion and fear tugged at their Bond and Kaito pushed all his anger and hurt back at Shinichi. "Kaito…" Shinichi said, his hands up and palms forward. Kaito hissed. "I assure you, I had no idea—"

"Bullshit!"

Kaito lunged for the liar, his hands outstretched and aimed for his throat. He collided into a blue barrier. A magick shield had sprouted from Shinichi's palms, protecting him from Kaito. The Demon roared inhumanly. Liar! He pounded at the shield in an attempt to shatter it. He'd pay! He'd pay for lying to him!
His efforts were for not because the barrier wouldn't break. Damn it! He snarled. Frustrated, Kaito flung his arm out.

And the air reacted. It swirled around him, reacting to his will, and bombarded Shinichi's shield. It shattered, much to Kaito's joy. He drew back a fist, wind swirling around it, and punched.

A ball of torrential wind shot at Shinichi. He dodged, but couldn't get up, leaving Kaito free to go for the Mage's throat.

He was slung back by some unseen force—magick, it was always magick—and pinned to the wall. Kaito struggled to break free, but his invisible bonds were stronger than he was and no amount of wind was going to surprise Shinichi again. Kaito was forced to watch as Shinichi slowly stood up, leaning heavily on his cane and in visible pain. A small tinge of regret echoed in his chest, but the flames of his rage ate it quickly.

Shinichi looked at him and for once Kaito couldn't read the expression there. "Kaito…please listen to me. I didn't know. I swear I didn't know—"

"Liar!" Kaito's scream radiated throughout the house. Something wet—tears, those were tears, he didn't know he could still cry—dripped down his face. "How could you!? How could you just do this to me like it's nothing!? You turned me into a monster!" Kaito's voice broke as he admitted the truth for the first time. "I'm a monster… I could have protected my family as a human! I could have seen them again without them being horrified! But no! You wanted another Demon as your slave!"

Shinichi flinched back, his body trembling. He bit his lip and looked away with a little shake of his head. "Kaito…magick can do a lot of things, but it couldn't have saved you. I knew that from the moment I saw the doctor's report."

Kaito sneered. "What are you going on about?"

"Healing magick has gone a long way in the past few years, but it can't perform miracles. There are still things it can't do: bring back the dead, regrow limbs, and fix brain and nerve damage." Kaito's eyes widened as a cold, horrifying realization emerged in him. "And you… your spine was nicked by a bullet and you had enough brain trauma to make you have an out of body experience. The only reason you're walking and talking now is because the Humanoid ritual transformed both your nerves and brain into an uninjured, Demonic form while you were unconscious."

Tears fell more rapidly now. Kaito's chest heaved as he desperately tried to get more air in between sobs. He messed up.

Oh, God, he messed up so bad.

He hurt Shinichi over nothing. Kaito was so horrified with himself that he didn't even notice when Shinichi's magick released him and he slid to the floor. What had he done!? God, he was a monster! He should be killed—

He stilled when Shinichi wrapped his arms around him.

More tears slipped out as Shinichi guided Kaito's face into the crook of his neck. How could he touch Kaito? He was disgusting, he wasn't worth a single moment of Shinichi's time after what he did! Kaito wrapped his tremble arms around Shinichi's solid form. "I'm sorry, Kaito," Shinichi whispered, much to Kaito's shock. "I'm sorry I took your life away from you. I never wanted that."

"I know," Kaito whispered back. "It's not your fault. I chose to become this. You didn't know." Relief and gratitude flooded their Bond, but it did nothing to alleviate his pain.

Shinichi nodded. "Still, it doesn't change the fact that I'm the reason why you can't let your family see you again… I promise I won't bring them into this. I'll make sure your mom and Aoko don't get hurt."

Kaito had promised to protect them too, it was the only reason he had let Akako kidnap him, but it didn't change the fact that it was hurting them. "Thank you, Shinichi… And…I'm sorry too. I didn't mean what I said. You're…amazing and I don't deserve to be your friend." He gave Shinichi one final squeeze and let go.

He hurt Shinichi, emotionally and probably physically. Kaito felt disgust at his actions. What he did was…unforgivable. He had no chance with Shinichi after his disgraceful behavior. Hell, he wouldn't be surprised if he hated Kaito now. The thought made Kaito sick to his stomach. No, he had to stay friends with him. Just friends.

After standing up, Kaito helped Shinichi to his feet and grabbed his forgotten bag. The Mage looked concerned. "Will you be alright?"

A bitter smile twisted his lips. "Yeah." Eventually. Maybe. No. "You should go keep an eye on the news; the story of KID's return heist should break soon."

"What will you do?"

"I…I think I'll take a nap. I'm pretty tired after using my powers all day." Shinichi nodded and left, only giving him one last worried glance over his shoulder as he went. Kaito appreciated his respect of Kaito's privacy.

When he managed to stumble to his room, Kaito encountered an annoying problem. Lucifer was sprawled out on his bed, staring up at him with the smuggest expression his deformed face could make. Kaito's eyes narrowed. "Ass."

Giving absolutely no shits, Kaito collapsed onto the bed, avoiding and ignoring the smallish Chupacabra. He was too tired for this. A few more tears leaked out and onto the bedspread.

A moment later, a rough, wet tongue dragged over his face. Kaito looked up from where he was trying to smother himself to see Lucifer crouched over him. The Chupacabra whined pathetically.

Cautiously, Kaito reached up and scratched Lucifer's ears, causing his stubby tail to wag and his tongue to roll dopily out of his mouth. Kaito's lips twitched up.

Lucifer eventually lied down next to Kaito, curled up near his chest. His body was like a small furnace, heating Kaito up well beyond normal body temperature. Kaito sighed. Well…it wouldn't be too bad to just hug him, right? Just for a few minutes?

So Kaito cuddled with Lucifer and, in few minutes, both were fast asleep.