A/N:

Warnings:
Strange English, OOCness

Uploaded: 2012-07-09
Revised: 2014-09-16
Chapter rating: T
Words: 3,300

Chap. 37
Mind(s) Over Body

Pandora smirked in amusement as he lay on his red bed and ran through a kidnapping scenario with a bad outcome; Shinichi didn't even stir his sleep when the gem explored crimes or fights, unlike when he analysed magic, old heists or the possible results of their plan. The gem opened his eyes and stared up on the ceiling in confusion. It was completely dark and he was feeling strangely tired, but there was something else; he needed to pee. Pandora blinked puzzled; he knew that they had been growing closer and that Shinichi was aware of it, but he'd never expected it to feel like he had a body. The gem yawned while he waited for the detective to wake up, until he grew bored and simply got up. He stretched his body with another yawn and decided to go to the library, but as soon as he opened the door to his room he stopped frozen; the lamp in the hallway wasn't shining in red like it usually did. Pandora could see colours, and the only time he could actually do that was when he saw the world through the eyes of the body.

Pandora ran to the bathroom, switched on the lights and stared into the mirror with a grin; slightly glowing, red eyes instead of blue ones stared back at him and he moved the hands in the mirror. He was moving their body while Shinichi's conscious was still sleeping. Pandora cleared his throat.
"Hello," he said to the image in the mirror and blinked, "how awesome!" The jewel grinned in amusement; what would he do first? Pandora glanced to the toilet; pee, first he would pee, and then take a bath.

When Shinichi woke up he was staring down on a book.
"Good morning!" his voice said out loud while his hand changed page and Shinichi felt himself panic; he wasn't controlling anything.
'Pandora! What the hell!'
'Calm down,' Pandora grumbled as he leaned back and closed his eyes. They were suddenly standing in front of each other in complete darkness.
'What's happening?' Shinichi glared at the red figure.
'To be honest; I don't know, but it seems like I can control our body too!'
'Okay,' Shinichi paused and held up his hands, shielding himself, 'I'm guessing that we're going to have a problem now.' Pandora raised an eyebrow. 'We can't share the body with any kind of system; we can't go one day you and one day me. So how do we do it?'
'Oh, that won't be a problem,' Pandora smiled, 'when I have control over our body our eyes glow red, which is kind of unusual among humans so I'll just sit back and enjoy the ride, but maybe you'll let me take over from time to time when no one can see us. I can go for a walk in the forest, take a bath and annoy Haibara.'
'Okay, so that solves everything,' Shinichi sighed while Pandora sat down in his library chair, watching the other and causing the library to appear, 'how do I take over?' The gem leaned back with a smug smile.
'Have you tried to opening your eyes?'
'No... Of course I have!' Shinichi glared at the red shape.
'Okay, this is something we have to train. We need to be able to switch fast. Close your eyes.'
'My eyes are closed.'
'Not in here they're not. Close your eyes,' Shinichi did as he was told, 'remember what it's like to open your eyes when you wake up. And then open your eyes.' Shinichi opened his eyes and saw the real library in his home. 'Okay, that's funny; I was just bullshitting! I had no idea of how you were supposed to take over.'
'Baaroo,' Shinichi smiled as he got up and went to get ready for the heist.

The detective had been laughed at when he handed the heist note over to Nakamori, but Hakuba had agreed with Shinichi and together they had argued about its meaning until they'd deciphered it. The worst part was when someone had leaked the note to the press and Shinichi had a hunch that it was Ryota, but there was no evidence since the note had been copied and anonymously sent to a newspaper as a letter. Shinichi had immediately been swarmed by reporters the very next day, and been forced to laugh it off as a joke while they bombarded him with questions. Even though he had an answer for everything they kept ambushing him by his school, until he scaled the wall after school in order to avoid them and realised that he actually understood his parents' behaviour; he was becoming like them.

Shinichi accepted the blue sapphire as Nakamori handed it to him with a disapproving grunt. The Dark Vivaldi, also known as The Blue Fire, which was displayed at the Ekoda Museum of Art, was said to be cursed and burn down every building it was brought into. The detectives had deciphered that Kaitou KID would show up that next Sunday due to his mention of 'the day of rest', while 'classical music', 'define the solo form of concerto' and 'the changing of the created season' let them know that he would appear at 17.33.30, given that Vivaldi created his concerto 'The Four Seasons' in 1723 and the first season changed after 10 minutes and 30 seconds.

Hakuba, after glaring at Shinichi's completely purple-free hair, had commented that; 'Kudou should protect it since he's a magician' just after they had solved the note. Everyone had stared at Shinichi in confusion while Hakuba leered at him; the Brit knew that putting him in the direct path of KID could only bring embarrassment to him, and Shinichi hadn't been aware that he was constantly making coins and other small objects, like pencils and erasers, appear and disappear while he thought about the note. And since none other than Nakamori was willing to protect the jewel from the thief's greedy paws they had all agreed; the Detective of the East was going to guard it.

Shinichi stared up on the skylight; the day was getting darker, but it was no way that moonlight would fall through the window during the heist so that meant that KID had given him information about which way he would enter. The detective stifled a yawn and went to the restrooms, where he splashed water in his face.

'Pandora,' he grumbled and glared at his own image; he wasn't looking tired, but he felt like death wasn't far away, 'whatever you do; never take over our body during the night. It's supposed to rest.' The detective stared at the stalls behind him while he waited for an answer; he was alone in the restroom. 'Pandora?' he waited some more and sighed in annoyance. 'Pandora!' he called out in thought but received no answer, so he walked into one of the stalls and seated himself cross-legged on top of the toilet after locking the door. He closed his eyes and calmed his breathing as he tried to sink into a waken slumber, but every noise made him twitch slightly; he didn't want to fall asleep.

Shinichi looked around in the red room; he was standing in the library, where he'd been last time and he made his way to the desk. There were books with the glowing red writing opened on it but no Pandora.
"Pandora!" he called out and then searched the house. Shinichi quickly found the gem and glared at the curled up person on the bed.
"Pandora!" Shinichi shook his head in annoyance as Pandora woke up.
'What?'
'You traitor, you're sleeping when I'm forced to stay awake! I've been up for days before, but I've never felt this tired! When our body is resting it's resting and neither of us is allowed to use it! Or maybe it's you who's making me tired,' Shinichi sighed and opened his eyes.
'Sorry, I got exhausted from controlling the body. I don't even have the strength to move right now,' the jewel yawned sheepishly and went back to sleep.

Shinichi's muscles felt stiff as he moved and he looked at the watch; one hour had gone by, which meant that he'd fallen asleep for a while. After he'd made sure that no one was inside the restroom he got out from the stall and started washing his face again, knowing that someone would be looking for him by now, and right on cue Hakuba opened the door.
"Where have you been?" the Brit raised an eyebrow and Shinichi sent him a glance.
"I've been around," the detective answered avoiding, "and I hid the sapphire."
"So no one but you knows where it is?" Hakuba smiled, hoping that the thief would humiliate Shinichi thoroughly for not telling him how he got the slime out of his hair.

Kaito was frustrated; he'd seen Meitantei-san receive the blue sapphire, but he'd been forced to patrol the corridors, and then the detective had been gone for a while, only to show up from the restrooms to announce that he hid the jewel somewhere. Kaito spent the remaining time studying him and trying to figure out where he hid it, but wasn't able to so he only had one option left; trickery.

At exactly 17.33.30 the lights went out and Shinichi took a harder grip around the target as the darkness pressed against his eyes. No light entered the room, not even from the skylight, but then the room suddenly came alive as candles flared up everywhere around them.
"Where is he?" Nakamori roared and glared around the room, but then eyed at the small table, set for two, which had appeared in front of the display case. There was silence for a moment until the song started playing from everywhere; it was perfectly loud as background music and Shinichi realised with a smirk that the thief had jumped over the first season; spring and gone directly to summer. The detective glanced towards where he knew that the thief would appear and watched how he fell from seemingly nowhere.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Welcome!" KID grinned as he stood up.
"Get him!" Nakamori hollered and the thief threw his arms out as the taskforce made a jump for him. Smoke exploded everywhere and Shinichi saw his opportunity. He opened the beige egg and threw it where he knew Hakuba stood. When the smoke cleared the taskforce was completely gone and Hakuba was covered in purple slime. KID grinned towards the Brit; he'd finally gotten his confirmation on where the unwanted bombs came from, since it was impossible for any taskforce member to have done it, it only left a very naughty Meitantei-san.

Shinichi smiled and met the thief's eyes; he seemed to enjoying something tremendously when pulled up the blue sapphire from nowhere, "I found something peculiar, might this be yours?" Shinichi smirked and consciously moved his left hand a centimetre towards his left pocket and saw how the thief's poker face sharpened at the movement.

"No, of course not," Shinichi answered steadily and KID made the gem to a blue rose.
"The only reason you could know that this jewel is fake, is because you never hid it in the first place. You are still carrying it on you," the thief bowed slightly, holding into the edges of the mantle and spreading it out behind him. Shinichi's breath caught in his chest when what seemed like moonlight illuminated the thief and he felt himself feeling sorry for the sleeping gem; he couldn't even describe the beauty of the moment. KID must have planned to look astounding.
"May I have this dance," KID asked and started to walk towards Shinichi. They circled each other, illuminated by the spreading moonlight and KID made a grab for the gem in his left pocket while Shinichi avoided him.

He closed a pair of cuffs on KID's wrist but found his hand locked in the thief's. KID grinned as the detective became trapped against his chest. The moonlight caused the monocle to reflect it all and hide his face in shadows and then the thief spun him around. Shinichi gasped; they were dancing. His brain went into a state of shock as the thief used his attempts to get away to make him dance. The helpful logical part of his brain told him that KID was only teasing him for the media's sake and that he wasn't interested in him, yet.

Shinichi blinked confused when KID released him after spinning him around and wobbled a few steps, until he collapsed on the floor. His entire world was whirling, and he was pretty sure that it wasn't only the spinning at the end of the dance that made him this light-headed. Shinichi rubbed his eyes, feeling the gem at the end of his sleeve and then focused on the thief that had taken a seat by the table, studying the jewel with a disgruntled look and drinking a glass of what seemed to be wine, but Shinichi doubted that it was.

"This is a good fake," he smiled calmly and eyed the dazed detective on the middle of the floor.
"Thank you," Shinichi muttered, blinking as he tried to regain his sense of balance and stood up, "stealing from thieves is what I love the most, but be careful; it's not a game." The thief's eyes widened and he grinned in amusement.
"It's a passion that has to be controlled," KID continued and the wine glass disappeared as he got up, "I never expected to hear you the Modern Holmes say anything like that. I never suspected that you were a fan of Arsène Lupin either." The thief hummed in interest and started to circle Shinichi, carefully observed by Hakuba, who was frozen in the corner because of the hardened purple slime.
"I'm not. But the question you want an answer to is; where is the real one?" Shinichi smirked and held up a sapphire. He flicked his other wrist and held up another jewel. Shinichi closed his hands and the jewels were gone.

Kaito grinned; he'd been waiting for Meitantei-san to bring our some of his 'Imposter-magic' given that any kind of magician would want to either see Kaitou KID perform magic or try to outwit him with their own, and Kaito was happy that his new detective went with the second choice; it made heists more fun. He grinned and the detective studied his every move, causing him to shiver in anticipation. Meitantei-san's eyes glittered while his smile and calm demeanour told him that the detective would do everything in his power to win. They circled each other in remembrance of the game they played during the staged heist and the thief eyed the shoes and belt; the detective was wearing adult versions of Tantei-kun's gadgets this time.

Shinichi smiled and pulled out the four fakes he had. He made them disappear while watching the thief follow them with his eyes and then threw one of them high into the air. KID had been focusing on the sapphire and reflexively followed it with his eyes. Shinichi made a run for him and cuffed one arm as he grabbed into it, but when he twisted it behind the thief's back it came off and he stared dumbfounded on it. KID grinned and before Shinichi knew it he was tied up, hanging in the air just over the floor with his arms above his head. The thief hummed to the song as he searched the detective's pockets and pulled out the four replicas.

"Fake, fake, fake, fake," KID stated as he examined the sapphires and then tilted his head while grinning mischievously, "do I have to get you naked?" Shinichi gasped and sent the Brit a glance, wishing that he wasn't there to witness everything.
"But it's only the third date," Shinichi blurted out and the thief examined his ankles; if they had been alone he'd definitely would have said something more suggestive, "as you so delightfully wrote in your heist note."
"Yes," KID smirked as he brushed his hands over the detective's chest, checking for hidden pockets, and Shinichi was greatly relieved that he and Pandora had come to an agreement, otherwise he'd been thoroughly embarrassed by now, "and that would mean that I get to kiss you before this heist ends." Shinichi stared frozen at him, trying to see if the thief was joking, since KID might actually be insane enough to do it, but the thief's poker face was impeccable and Shinichi couldn't tell if he was serious.
"Ooh~, no comeback," the thief said gleefully and then found the real sapphire inside his sleeve, "bingo!"

The detective rolled his eyes when Kaito mockingly held the jewel in front of his face and the thief couldn't help but to smile; Meitantei-san had a constant blush, which made him look ridiculously adorable.
"Thank you for a lovely date, Meitantei-san, I had fun," he smiled fondly and gently grabbed into the confused teenager's chin. Kaito didn't know why de did it or what made him do it, but when his lips touched the detective's warm cheek in a tender kiss he realised that he would need to restrain some of his spontaneity, because it didn't look good when Kaitou KID flirted with a male detective like he flirted with his female fans. Kaito grinned when he saw the look of his detective; Meitantei-san looked completely shell-shocked and it was somehow very gratifying to see his face rise in colour.

"See you around," Kaito placed a blue rose behind the detective's ear and pulled out his card gun when he walked to the window facing his fans. He dropped a smoke bomb and while he was hidden in the cloud he fired a card so that it cut the lines holding the taskforce in the ceiling, causing them to slowly move downwards, and then escaped through the window.

Kudou sighed and Saguru sent him a glance; after Nakamori had cut him down he'd poured alcohol over the Brit causing the purple slime to become porous and dust-like. Saguru had been more grateful than he'd admitted and he felt bad about hoping that Kuroba would embarrass him after what the thief had actually done. The blonde gave the dark haired teenager another calculating scan when they got out from the building, confirming that he was still blushing.

"Hey, don't worry about it," Saguru said quietly and patted the other's shoulder.
"I lost the jewel in less than five minutes," Kudou muttered and the Brit raised an eyebrow.
"That's what you're worrying about?" Saguru lowered his voice and continued, "not about what KID did to you?"
"I'm going to pretend that it never happened," the detective muttered and his blush deepened, "and double my efforts to catch him." Saguru unnoticeably tensed, understanding that he would need to study the Detective of the East further, and find out what kind of plans he could come up with.
"Are you free from school?" he asked and Kudou smiled.
"Yes, but only three days, why?"
"Would you go to lunch with me? And we can discuss ways to capture KID," Saguru smiled, "two heads are, after all, better than one."
"Sure I'd love to, it'll be great to work with you," the Detective of the East answered smiling and his phone started ringing.

"Kudou-kun, go home," Haibara ordered him the moment he answered and Shinichi raised an eyebrow.
"Why?"
"You used one of those eggs and then the alcohol, right?"
"Yes, why?"
"There's a side effect to the cure, which I discovered by a fluke. You have to get home, otherwise you might end up in a whole lot of trouble," Haibara informed quickly.
"What kind?" he whispered and felt how anxiety twisted his stomach; if he turned back into Conan in front of everyone he would be completely destroyed.
"I'll examine you tonight, experiment on you in the morning and then do regular checkups during the day," she informed him and hung up.
"Why can't she stop doing that?" Shinichi muttered while he glared at the phone and Hakuba eyed him in interest.
"So, lunch on Tuesday?" the Detective of the East asked smiling and the blonde Brit agreed.