Chapter 14: Revelations
So Spring break means more time to write...aka, faster updates...so here we are! ENJOY! OH, and THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR REVIEWS! As always, but they never fail to make me super-happy, so please keep them coming!
I do not own Meitantei Conan~
R&R~!
"So basically, you're going as Kudou leave the way open for future PDA between you two?" Hattori said as he shoved another large bite of his Okonomiyaki in his mouth, grinning mirthfully at the panic-laced stares Kaito was shooting him from across the table as he tried to put more distance between himself and the Kansai detective.
Conan grabbed his hand under the table to stop him from fleeing. "Come on, Kaito. You can deal with this," he said sternly.
"But Shin-channnn! You said you warned him not to order anything with f-f-..oh, blast it all…swimming creatures…in it…but he did it anyway!" He whined in high fashion, drawing more than a few stares from the other occupants of the restaurant.
Shaking his head with a slight groan, Conan patted Kaito's hand comfortingly. He was a lost cause in this department, after all... and turned instead to glare at Hattori. "And you," he hissed. "Could you quit flaunting it? Sorry, but it's a little gross to see you slurping up that crap the way you are."
"Aw, come on, Kudou. It tastes better this way, and why should I stop my enjoyment for this AHO, here?. Here, you try some!" He took a squid-filled bite from his plate and thrust it across the table at Conan, whose glare increased in intensity as Hattori managed to drop it in his lap…and onto Kaito's hand.
"Noooooo! EW! Get it off of me, Shin-chan! Get it off!"
Quite used to this by now, Conan calmly picked up the bit of food, grimacing a little, but managing to move it to a safe distance from Kaito (covering it with a napkin for good measure), but Kaito continued to whimper and shake. Sighing, Conan just clutched Kaito's hand and stroked his back, aware of but choosing not to concentrate on, the increasing stares around them.
Hattori wasn't helping at all, but rather looking as if he were about to burst apart from laughter, clutching his chest as he collapsed back in his seat. "You," he said breathlessly between fits of laughter, "have got to be," pointing his chopsticks at Kaito for emphasis, "the biggest AHO I have ever met."
"Shin-chan, make him stop," Kaito continued to whine, clutching Conan's arm with both of his, shaking him back and forth.
It was time to take control of the situation.
"Hattori, shut up. Kaito, Hattori's going to stop pushing that crap in your face, so CALM DOWN. I don't know if it's occurred to you two, but people seem to find it odd when the one who looks like a damn kid is having to be a frickin parent to two grown men," he said, motioning to the suspicious glances and nervous whispering coming from behind the bar.
"Well, Kudou, maybe it's just about time you loosened up! Who cares about those people!"
Brightening up instantly, Kaito grinned at his newfound ally "Hei-chan, you are SO right. Hear that, Shin-chan? It's just like I told you, 'Kaito-days' are good for your soul." He leaned in and squeezed him tightly. Conan sighed, but let him.
Hattori just watched them, amusement dancing in his eyes, from across the table.
"It's odd…" he seemed to be talking to himself.
"Hm? What are you talking about, Hattori?" Conan asked as he pried himself from Kaito's grasp before taking his hand to stop his quickly-forming pout.
Seeing Conan's initiative in taking Kaito's hand, and the light blushes that settled themselves on their faces, Hattori smiled more widely-somewhat genuinely, somewhat connivingly.
"It's just…you guys kind of work well together, in a weird way. Even though Kudou looks like a little gaki, all that maturity trapped in a little body kind of balances this real brat in an adult's," he said, motioning pointedly at the confused look on Kaito's face. "See what I mean?"
"Well, but you haven't seen us together with Shin-chan AS Shin-chan, yet, Heiji-kun. When the time comes, I can PROMISE you a show so dazzling, you'll have to close your eyes," Kaito grinned, his thoughts drifting away, probably to the details of said 'show.'
"W-wait a second, Kuroba. And, Kudou, what is he saying? When were you together in your real body? J-just how long have you been, er…seeing each other?" Anger suddenly flashing onto his face a little, he continued "Have you been lying to me for over a year or something? Ya never even told me when you stopped liking Neechan! Spill it, Kudou, you lying AHO!"
Not intimidated by Hattori's tone, but hesitating about how he could explain the weird…changes…that had happened, he sighed a little and shook his head. "No, Hattori, I didn't lie. I just didn't tell you the details of what has been going on. You see…a lot of stuff happened and I was, uh, shot at a heist."
Kaito's face lost all traces of humor. Grimacing, he clenched Conan's hand with both of his, pressing it against his heart.
"Wait, you were SHOT?" Hattori had the presence of mind to hiss out the last word to avoid REAL suspicion from the restaurant occupants who had gone back to minding their own business for the time being.
"Yes," Conan said quietly. "It was by this sniper who's after Kaito…well, KID, because he doesn't seem to know his identity, thank god."
"So…so you were at a heist, and this sniper guy shot you instead of KID?"
Conan shifted uncomfortably, shooting Kaito a sidelong glance. He knew how uncomfortable this topic would make him, the thought of Conan getting hurt in his stead…so he just pressed on, leaving the obvious answer for Hattori to do with what he would.
"I should have died. The shot was right through my chest, and it was direct…but Kaito, here, grabbed me and got me away from the scene almost instantly. He must have plugged the wound with something, because I don't know how the pressure and movement as we flew didn't kill me considering how much blood I was losing, but…somehow, I didn't die and even the pain, when he held me, seemed to lessen. And then…the wounds totally disappeared…and I was once again Kudou Shinichi."
Conan turned to answer the owner of the persistent poke on his shoulder blade. "Yes?" He asked, looking up at Kaito.
"Aren't you forgetting something?" Kaito asked.
"Well, I don't need to tell him EVERYTHING," Conan rationalized.
"Hmph. This isn't telling him EVERYTHING, Shin-chan, but it's an important detail! He transformed when I kissed him," he said simply to Hattori as if it were a clear and obvious explanation which required no further questions asked.
Hattori shook his head back and forth, trying to clear it of that image, but was too confused, suspicious, and interested. "Uh...okay...So? What next? You're obviously not Kudou, now, so…"
"Well, the next morning, I was Conan again…but then…" A traitorous blush took over Conan's face again.
"He kissed you again," Hattori supplied, but paused, eyes wide, when Conan looked a little uncomfortable. "You kissed him?"
"It was complicated…he'd just told me a lot of stuff and…"
"Oh man, this is good…so you went back to being Kudou…and then time passed and you shrunk again? Okay, well let's see it, then. Go into that bathroom and make-out." Hattori said, laughing.
"God, Hattori, you barou…"
"What? Don't tell me you WANT to stay as Conan with him, Kudou… that's…" he shot Kaito a disgusted look. "Don't tell me you like KIDS, KID."
That was too much for Kaito, who squealed a little, collapsing over Conan to shake in laughter into the crook of his neck. Finally recovering, he turned to Hattori, but kept an arm around Conan's shoulders, pulling him closer to him. "Trust me. I don't have any odd tendencies as you are imagining, detective. If I have any kind of fixation or obsession to speak of, it would, however, be directed at this person right here…and that does extend to both of his persons."
Turning down to smile at Conan, Kaito said "If he could turn back to Kudou Shinichi right now, I'd be thrilled, but I love him as he is-we're together, and that's all that matters to me."
A slight compression on his chest loosened, and Conan smiled up at Kaito.
Letting out a low whistle, Hattori said, "Oi, oi. Please don't make me cry, now, with your lovebird speech. Okay, so if that isn't it, do you know why ya can't turn back anymore?"
Kaito froze, and Conan stiffened. Gripping Kaito's hand more tightly for encouragement, Conan sighed. "It was…well, this night we were at an amusement park and I…ran into someone who told me the whole thing was a spell-that she used magic on me to make me fall for Kaito and that it was all so she could hurt him…"
Kaito looked down, his heart pounding. Conan had never told him the details of what had happened that night.
"I thought it was crazy, but…the transformation itself didn't make any sense. It wasn't anything like when I used to use the drugs Haibara made. It didn't hurt, my injuries all vanished, even my clothing grew with me. After experiencing that several times, how could I help believing I was under the influence of some sort of magic?"
Hattori just stared, doubt obvious in his eyes, but then the obvious question came to him: "Wait, so this person told you you were under a spell to like Kuroba?"
Conan nodded, grimacing. "Yeah, the…witch…convinced me that Kaito's feelings for me had been clear for a long time, while mine were still so confused and…"
Kaito started. "Wait. The witch. What witch? You never mentioned…" And a million questions dawned on him. "Shinichi, there are things you're keeping from me. You were funny earlier that day, too. In the restaurant at the park, you looked like you'd seen a ghost before racing off to the 'bathroom.' I figured you'd seen someone you recognized, but didn't press the issue…and then, when I told you to wait for me, you ran off anyway. It was right after that you told me about the spell."
It was all becoming clearer to Kaito, who could have smacked himself for not asking more about this earlier. "You left because you saw that person, again., didn't you? The person you'd glimpsed at the restaurant. And you'd met her before…when, Shinichi? We're not supposed to keep anything from each other!"
Conan's heart ached at Kaito's voice, hurt and worry obvious.
Conan sighed. "Kaito, I'm sorry…but I didn't tell you, at first, because I didn't believe it; it just didn't make sense… Look. I saw that witch once before, but it was in a dream. It was after I'd taken the 'antidote' to Apotoxin 4869 and had fallen unconscious. Suddenly, this girl appears in my mind and tells me that her magic is the only way I can return to being Kudou Shinichi…"
"And?" Kaito was leaning in, Hattori still just staring wide-eyed, not quite sure if he was just being had by the two who had pranked him not long before.
"Hn. I thought it was total, utter bullshit. She said the only power that could help me was…uh…" He blushed again and mumbled… "true love…"
Hattori burst out laughing, but Kaito looked thoughtful. After all, wouldn't that fill in the gaps as to what had happened those times? And besides…he knew someone who liked to play with love-magic…Kaito shivered a little at the thought.
"I thought it was crazy, too…and then I woke up, and I was stuck as Conan, and I just pushed it to the back of my mind because there was nothing…else to do. But the stupid words did come back to me a few times."
"And those were?" Kaito looked down at him, eyes piercing. Conan gulped a little, and his heart clenched at the thought of telling him the next part. Part of him felt he'd betrayed Kaito for not having told him sooner.
"True love
Heals all
Revealed
At first
By love's
First kiss."
As he finished reciting the chant which had been hanging in his heart, he felt an odd sensation brush over him, like a warm breeze. Suddenly, Kaito's touch on his hand felt hot, as if he could have burned him with his grip…but the heat was comfortable, loving…
"Shin-chan, this is…"
"Yeah, it fits, doesn't it? With the transformation, the injuries healing…" Conan looked up to meet Kaito's eyes, and something that hadn't totally voiced itself internally hit him. "I didn't tell you, Kaito, because I was scared. First of the obvious implication…that you are my…"
"True love?" Kaito smiled and gently leaned down, settling his face in Conan's hair.
"I knew it was different…I…4 months after the Apo toxin didn't work, I thought I'd see if the damn spell did anything and I…" he looked up, guilt in his eyes, to meet Kaito's. "I tried kissing…Ran…"
Despite himself, Kaito flinched a little, but only held Conan closer to him.
"But I knew, instantly, that there was something wrong. When I…kissed her…I felt almost repulsed. It was so different from how I imagined it…it was like trying to French-kiss your mother, or your sister…it felt so indescribably wrong…and then, that night, with you, Kaito. It was the opposite." He smiled up at him.
"I'm sure you felt it too, right? That feeling of everything else washing away, nothing else mattering because this was the way it should be. I felt whole, as if the pain and loneliness and confusion of my life had suddenly fled, and I could actually breathe. Like I could live for the future, not just having to re-tread the same old steps, hiding my true identity all the time, as I looked forward to enduring a second puberty…"
Kaito looked down, nodding, something suspiciously like tears glistening in his eyes. "S-Shinichi…"
"I knew it, then, Kaito, and the transformation confirmed it, but I was scared-too scared of what I really wanted, really needed. I was so used to living in a protective shell…if not as Conan, then as a detective, or just as someone who lived for logic, reason…and therefore, didn't have to deal with emotions… I built up this solid, icy exterior to hide behind, but I wasn't as strong as I tried to make it appear. I wanted, desperately, for someone who understood me. I was starving to really be myself, to get out of the hellish life I'd almost grown comfortable in…"
Kaito held him closer, and in his touch, Conan knew. Kaito understood, because he himself was the same way...always hiding behind his poker-face, his act as KID, as the prankster-magician of Ekoda... The feelings Conan had just expressed could have just as easily been said for him. He would have shivered, but the warmth circling them as they held eachother fended off any unpleasant sensations.
"Then faced with the possibility of...love...I was scared. Could I really have a relationship anymore? After the feelings I'd thought I'd had for so long for Ran were suddenly nonexistent? I wanted to believe it, but I wouldn't let myself…but you wormed your way through my shell, anyway, you slippery thief."
Kaito smiled into his hair.
"Then another fear took its place, and this is what blew up so completely in face that night. Being someone who depends on logic, the idea of magic being involved totally unnerved me. How could I trust my own feelings? How could I prove that this unfamiliar feeling was real? It was driving me crazy, and so when I saw the one who started it, I knew I needed to get some answers. But what she told me…"
He gulped. "What she told me completely supported my worst fears. That what I felt wasn't real, that I was hurting Kaito by dragging him along…I could have questioned her. I could have really looked into myself, but I didn't. I wasn't strong enough, and so, I pushed him away. I convinced myself it was the right thing to do, even though…" He began to shake violently as the image of Kaito's raw tears as he ripped at ground on all fours flashed through his mind, as the pain of those nights, of the horrible emptiness of that period came back to him in full force. Kaito wrapped him in his arms once again, whispering his name over and over again.
Finally, a little smile crept onto Conan's face. "But during that time, I realized. The only thing controlling me, really, was my own doubt. I love Kaito and some spell which may have led me to drop my inhibitions or something…that can only do so much…
But honestly, I just stopped caring about what percentage of the feelings were caused by what...instaed, I looked at the facts to find the truth. And the fact was my life without Kaito was pure misery. I realized, then, that I could never again go back to the way I was before we were together. I'm stuck. There's nothing I can do about it."
"But would you? If you weren't stuck?" Kaito purred, stroking a hand through his hair.
Conan smirked up at him, melting into the touch of his hand.
"ERM-HEM." Kaito and Conan broke apart to look at a very annoyed and embarrassed Hattori Heiji. "That was a beautiful story and all…but could you two AHOS get a damn room? Forget my eyes, do you know how this looks?"
"Heiji-kun, you're concerned about us?"
"Seriously, Hattori, when were you one to give a shit about appearances?" Conan's voice was full of sarcasm but he was, nevertheless, blushing and looking around nervously. Lost in memories and thoughts of Kaito, it had slipped his mind that they weren't actually in their own private world.
"Th-that's…look, I have a limit, okay? And I'd say when it looks like a 20-year old and frickin ten-year-old're about to rip each other's clothes off in a public restaurant, that that's a limit. A limit I'm starting to enforce now, anyway. So spare my eyes, please." Hattori sighed in relief at having gotten that much-needed rant out. When he'd said he wanted to see Kudou 'transformed by the power of love,' he just meant he wanted to see his friend not being depressed, for once! And maybe seeing some other poor sucker having to deal with the brunt of Kudou's issues! But it sounded like this 'transformation' had more to it than he'd thought…
Kaito just burst out laughing, and Conan crossed his arms, glowering across at the Kansai detective.
Hattori waved his arms to defend himself from Kudou's terrifying glare. "Well, okay, good. So you guys got back together, and it's all happy now. But why did the curse, er, spell stop working? Don't tell me you haven't had a make-up kiss, yet," he said, a mischievous glint coming back to settle in his eyes.
"BA-ROU! Don't ask things like that!" Conan yelled as Kaito responded "Why of COURSE we have, Hei-chan!"
Looking serious again, Conan said "The witch said she'd remove the spell so I could work out my own feelings…but some of the magic definitely hung on, because when I was shot the second time-"
"WHAT?"
Ignoring Hattori, he continued "-the wounds healed up when Kaito kissed me again…but anyway, the important thing is that I really don't care anymore. Sure, I wish that other part of the spell would kick in again, but…I really just don't want anything to drag us apart, again…"
"Nothing will, Shinichi." Kaito's serious voice was back in full force as he held his hands in his own, staring down into his eyes.
Hattori's face was contorted with a mix of emotions. Most obvious were amusement, embarrassment and slight nausea… "Okay, guys. SERIOUSLY. You need to back off on the sickening sweetness before I lose any confidence in myself as a man. And Kuroba, if this is just you playing me so I can see how 'sincere' your earlier statements were, just stop. I'm convinced, okay? You don't have to overdo it…or at least…please stop overdoing it…before I lose my…lunch."
Hattori did look quite green, which seemed to give Kaito a grand idea, but his reach for a green flash bomb was stopped by a stern look and shake-of-the-head from Conan.
Hattori's head jerked up suddenly, and he looked to be in a much better mood. "Oi, Kuroba...so you were planning on walking Kudou over to Neechan's, right? Pretending to be Kudou?"
"Uh, yes..." Kaito started, wondering what Hattori was getting at with that creepy smile.
"Oh, I see...well, I'm going to stick around and join you guys for that...of course, by 'join,' I just mean sit back and enjoy the show."
"Heiji-kun? Why? Is there something I be worried about?" Kaito asked innocently, head tipped to the side.
"Oh, I don't know...whatEVER might give you cause for alarm, to just waltz, as the ever-missing Kudou Shinichi, into his home neighborhood? Neechan having to pretend you're Kudou isn't the whole thing, you know...Occhan's not Kudou's greatest fan, and unfortunately for you, Megure-keibu IS...so I just wanted to say...good luck." His smile has continued to widen tremendously as Kaito's face had gotten increasingly nervous. Conan looked thoughtful.
"Yeah, I thought about that, but I'm with him, so at least I can stop him from making TOO many screw-ups...I mean, he IS a screw-up, but that's a different matter."
Kaito pouted.
"Kidding, kidding," Conan said, patting his arm. "Don't let Hattori freak you out...it's just the life I used to deal with we're talking about. You'll be fine."
Kaito didn't look convinced.
"Anyway, first things first..." Hattori said, his conniving smile still set on his face. "How do you work this, Kudou?" He took out the spy camera he'd swiped earlier, handing it across the table to his little friend while Kaito looked on in horror at the events he would soon be thrown into...that he had volunteered himself to be thrown into..."
Yay~! There's another chapter (longer this time)! :D Hope you enjoyed it! Do we see a chance for plot development looming? We shall see ;D
Anyway, I know I sound like a broken record X 10000000, but please review! THANKS!
tess4aria