A/N: Next chappie, here you go!
There's nothing as good as a high-quality thunderstorm go get rid of any though of sleeping...
Yeay! I got into college! And now I'm completely terrified... D:

Warnings:
Strange English, OOCness

Uploaded: 2012-07-14
Revised: 2014-09-16
Chapter rating: K+
Words: 4,000

Chap. 38
APTX 421 and Alcohol

Kaito smiled as he threw the blue jewel up into the air and watched how it glistened in the warming sunlight; it wasn't Pandora, not that he expected it to be, but it was still beautiful. The thief had decided to begin going after green emeralds since that was the kind of jewel his replica was, but when he was doing reconnaissance the sapphire had made his fingers tingle; he really needed to get it and hold it, so he'd gone after it. Kaito was lying in the sunlight that fell in through his bedroom window, holding the jewel in the air and watched its every detail. If he didn't know better he'd say that he'd fallen in love with the item, but that was absurd. The magician twitched when the alarm on his clock came on and sent it a cheery look as he got up and turned it off; it was time to pay Meitantei-san a visit, and this time he wouldn't give up, not even if he was forced to annoy the detective for days and wake him up every few minutes during the night.

When he entered through the window he found the detective sleeping on the red, and longer than usual, settee in the library. Kaito grinned amused as he studied Meitentei-san; he looked peaceful and innocent, not like a person who could solve cases by phone or dodge bullets, and the book lying on the floor showed that he'd fallen asleep while reading. The only change inside the room was the headlines on the school books on the desk together with a very small half-filled glass bottle, which couldn't contain more than three decilitres when full. Kaito picked it up and raised an eyebrow after he read the label; "Reflected Light". Intrigued, he opened it and carefully smelled it; alcohol, and then he realised what it was. Reflected light, moonshine. Had the detective been drinking? Kaito turned towards the sleeping owner and tilted his head; he might be more prone to tell him things if he was drunk and speaking with a friend.

The thief disguised himself and walked up to the detective.
"Oi, sleepy-head, wake up," Kaito grinned at Shinichi as he stirred in his slumber and turned around. Kaito tilted his head and studied where the cut had been on his chin.
"It healed nicely," he mumbled and traced the jaw with two fingers when a thought hit him; the detective almost died for him. If he had moved a bit slower or discovered it a millisecond too late the bullet would have travelled through his head. Kaito shivered; that was a scene he never wanted to see
"Oi! Wake up!" he called out louder and shook him. Shinichi woke up and smiled a drowsy grin.
"Hattori!" he said happily and yawned, "wha're you doin' in Tokyo?"
Kaito seated himself beside 'his friend' on the settee; messing with an intoxicated detective would be fun.

"Ya' know, I had a case here an' decided ta come by an' check up on ya'! Just to see how ya're doin'," Kaito explained and studied the Detective of the East; he was definitely drunk. "How many bottles of that 'Reflected Light' did ya' drink?"
"The wha'?" Shinichi frowned and seated himself. He hummed as he thought. "Oh, right. That!" He grinned and swayed a bit as he stood up, "I had, one, two, no, a half decilitre of it!" Shinichi walked up to the bottle and held it out towards him. "Want some?"
"No, thank ya'," Kaito answered with a frown; it was impossible that the detective had only had one or two decilitres the way he was slurring and moving.
"Why did ya' drink moonshine?"
"Oh, 'cause Haibara said so, and you do what she says, 'cause otherwise you'll do it anyway, wait that doesn't make any sense," Shinichi said quickly and almost slurred the words together. He frowned and blinked for a while, and Kaito waited patiently. "What was I saying?"

Kaito felt his mouth twitch in amusement as he walked up to the desk where Shinichi still tried to remember; the normally intelligent detective had become very slow.
"Could I taste that?" Kaito asked after he changed his mind and the detective handed over the bottle. The thief deadpanned after he tasted it; it was very weak, the detective would have to drink a whole bunch of bottles in order to get drunk.
"There's no way that ya' only drank a few decilitres of this!" Kaito stated and Shinichi shook his head.
"I can't drink, even after a mouthful of alcohol I get drunk and after a little more I pass out," the detective explained with an airy wave of his hand and yawned, "It's 'omething with the an'idote, since that's wha' it was based on. Ma body can't handle it. Want coffee?" Shinichi turned on his heel and started to walk towards the kitchen followed by a smiling Hattori.

"So," Kaito began as he sat down on a chair beside the kitchen table, "how many people know what Conan-kun's real name is?"
"Same as before, with the exception from James-san and Jodie-sensei, they saw me durin' the take down," Shinichi slurred with his back towards him and Kaito frowned; it didn't sound like the question and answer were related, and the detective was drunk so that might even be the case, "an' I'm considering tellin' Ran the truth, but I'm afraid that that would destroy the little friendsh-ship we have left."
"What truth?" Kaito asked and decided to go wherever the detective's ramblings led them, as long as they didn't get out of hand.
"About everything," he sighed and Kaito felt how his annoyance grew; couldn't he come with clear answers?
"About everything?" Shinichi nodded at Kaito's question, still with his back facing the magician, "what would tha press say if ya' told them tha truth?"
"I've no idea, but I'd be locked up in a mental facility for sure!" the detective chuckled amused.
"Yea, ya' would," Kaito agreed without knowing what he was agreeing to.
"I mean, who would believe something like that?" Kaito felt his eyebrow twitch; he wanted to know what truth.
"Oh, yea, I wasn't really working with the FBI in the beginning; I was just chasing the 'Men in Black' who shrunk ma body. You know, the child called 'The KID-killer', which is an incredibly stupid nickname. I didn't kill anyone," Shinichi was waving his hands and emphasised on different words, "Yea, Edogawa Conan, that's me. Why I didn't come up with a better name? That's none of your business. I moved in with the lousy-disgusting-drunkard loser-detective Mouri Kogoro because I wanned to find information on the 'Men in 'lack', but he was so useless that he didn't get any clients an' I had to put him to sleep for his own good, giving him the name Sleeping Kogoro," Kaito gaped as Shinichi snorted at his own speech, "how fast would they deem me as crazy?"
"Immediately," Kaito answered steady; he'd considered that Tantei-kun was Meitantei-san, but blown it off as impossible, so how was it possible? He had to examine it closer.

"So, you an' KID actually slept in the same bed?" Kaito asked, thinking back on the memory of when he had found the child in the dark alley. Shinichi tensed and Kaito bit his tongue when the detective turned around to stare at him.
"How did you know that?" the detective asked surprised.
"KID told me," Kaito stated confidently, and Shinichi stared at him for a while, but then shrugged.
"Okay... Stupid thief," Shinichi said flimsy and Kaito snickered inside his head; the detective was really drunk if he didn't pick up on that!
"I can't believe that APTX 4869 actually shrinks people," Kaito mumbled loudly enough for the other teenager to hear and Shinichi nodded.
"Yea, it's like it's taken out of a movie," the detective answered and Kaito cheered on the inside. The thief filed away the facts for later examination and focused on the task of coaxing more information out of him as Shinichi handed him a cup of black coffee. Kaito stared down on it, whishing that the bitter liquid was somewhere else, but he knew that he would have to drink the awful oil.

"Ooh! That's right!" Shinichi suddenly snickered loudly and Kaito sent him a glance, "I got a flower from KID! Look-look!" The teenager pushed the small vase with a blue rose, which stood on the table, towards the thief and started ranting quickly. "Isn't it beautiful? I wonder how he got the colour; is it tinted? Or genetically altered? I mean, natural roses lack the pigment that produces blue colour. Do you think he carries an arsenal of roses on him? He has to, he uses them a lot. Do you think he has couple of every colour or simply selects a few colours? But if the blue rose is genetically altered; did he buy it or grow it himself? Or did he simply colour a white rose? In any case, why blue? Blue means mystery, impossible and unattainable. A person who receives the blue rose is the subject of much speculation and thought; is KID thinking about me? Another meaning of the blue rose is that it symbolises the impossible, or the unattainable, and I can't decide it that's good or bad. The blue rose is admired and revered as an unrealisable dream, does KID like me? Or did he simply give me a blue rose because the sapphire was blue?" Shinichi suddenly froze in his movement after he tilted his head with a frown and stared motionless into the wall as he thought of the meaning of the blue rose, while Kaito only blinked in confusion; he'd barely been able to understand the other.

"Eh?" Kaito made a noise and the detective stopped staring and gave the thief his attention, "I think it was because of tha colour of tha jewel."
"But that's so boring," Shinichi whined and pouted, "you know, blue is my favourite colour, but Ran thinks it's red, 'cause I told her that it was, 'cause red is her favourite colour, but when I think red I think of blood." The detective made a slight pause to draw new air and Kaito had deemed that the ramblings had gone far enough so he cleared his throat.

"That takedown of tha DO, how did ya' know that they would come after Pandora?"
"Dad and KID told me not too long ago actually," Shinichi stared into his coffee cup with a small smile and Kaito tensed.
"What did they tell ya'?" the thief asked and barely dared to breathe.
"Nothing important!" Shinichi stated with a grin as he drank the last of his coffee and Kaito wanted nothing more than to strangle him in frustration.
"Oh, come on," he said instead with a smile, "ya' can tell me!"
"Okay," the detective smiled and Kaito pretended to sip his coffee as he waited for the detective to finish pouring himself some more.

"KID stole Pandora from the Black Organisation, ten years ago," Shinichi began explaining slowly and leaned forward, "this caused Whisky to fake his own death and leave the organisation. Whisky didn't know who stole it or what it looked like, so he naturally approached the greatest and most famous thief, the one who could get in everywhere and wasn't afraid of a challenge," Kaito leaned forward in curiosity; this part he'd never heard. "Anyway, Whisky found KID before a heist and asked him to work for him, since he could pay a lot, but KID was honourable and always returned the things he stole so he naturally refused Whisky's offer. Whisky became angry. I was there that heist, I chased KID up to the roof and I stood on a crate as he crouched down to speak with me. I saw Whisky in the shadows by the fire escape. I saw the gun he was holding and I jumped just before he pulled the trigger. That's when my memories get fuzzy, and I only remember the first part 'cause dad told me what KID told him happened. I was shot while I protected KID," the detective smiled when he stood up and pulled up his shirt to Kaito's confusion. "Here's where I was shot," Shinichi stated with a grin and pointed to a tiny round scar in his torso, "and KID told me about the DO, who was after Pandora, just after I broke up with Ran."

"That's something I've never heard before," Kaito mumbled while the detective sat down again.
"She still won't speak to me," Shinichi stated almost immediately after Kaito, and the thief stared at the detective in confusion.
"Who?"
"Ran!" the detective stated like it was obvious, "she doesn't understand that I was hurt too, or how painful it was to break up with her. I understand that she's angry, but I still wonder how long she'll give me 'the silent treatment'. She's together with someone she likes, and-I, and-I," Shinichi bit his lip and stared at the thief for a while, making Kaito nervous, and then sighed frustrated.
"I think I'm gay," the detective declared and Kaito gaped; that wasn't something that he'd ever expected coming from the detective's lips, but he was a gentleman, so he wouldn't reveal it to anyone, "no, I'm not gay! I was in love with Ran, but now… I'm bi, definitely." The detective gasped and slapped a hand over his mouth, realising what he'd said.
"Oi, Hattori, you don't have anything against homosexuals, or bisexuals, do you?" Shinichi asked suspiciously and nervously scratched his neck.
"No. Ya' aren't in love with me, are ya'?" Kaito asked with a small smirk.
"No, not you," the detective stated faintly and grew distant while he stared out the window and a thought struck the thief; Meitantei-san had flirted with Kaitou KID, invited the thief to his home and spoke of him highly using words like 'great' and 'honourable'.
"It's not Kaitou KID, is it?" Kaito asked smugly, and a bit interested, but the detective was only staring into the distance with a small smile.
"Oi, Kudou! Are ya' in love with Kaitou KID?" The detective blinked at him and then laughed.
"According to the media I am!" he cackled and Kaito sighed; of course the detective wasn't in love with him. The thief was strangely disappointed, since it would have been flattering if he'd managed to make a detective fall for him, and a male detective at that.

"Do ya' know where Pandora is?" the thief asked when Shinichi quieted down and the detective nodded.
"Where is it?" Kaito asked eagerly and Shinichi shook his head.
"Nope, can't tell you; it's a secret, but I can say that the light of day won't touch its surface again," Shinichi grinned happily while he drank more coffee and didn't notice that the other deadpanned. Kaito kept trying to coax more information about Pandora out from him, but he kept answering with 'it's a secret' or some absurdity like 'here's where it is, and there's where it's not' while snickering.
"Wouldn't that mean that Pandora is always moving around, since it's never 'there' but always 'here', unless you're speaking out of Pandora's perspective?" Kaito asked in the end and the detective perked up.
"Maybe, possibly, probably," Shinichi grinned mischievously and the thief sighed; the detective was strange when drunk.
"Does Pandora move?"
"Yes, but not always," the detective answered with a smug smirk.

"Are you the guardian of Pandora?" Kaito asked and Shinichi frowned at the question as he realised that the only ones who knew about that was his parents, Haibara and KID. And Hattori was acting strange.
"There's something that I have to check, wait here," the detective mumbled and left the kitchen. Kaito shook his head and followed him immediately. The thief clicked his tongue and raised an eyebrow once the detective began crawling around on the library floor, but then picked up the book from where it had fallen and seated himself on the settee, staring blankly on his guest.

"Forgot what ya' were doing?" Kaito asked grinning and the detective shook his head with a goofy grin.
"How long did it take you to learn how to walk in high heels?"
Kaito frowned; that was absurd. He felt like his head was about to explode from the many strange things he'd found out; the Detective of the East, shrunken to Tantei-kun, and de-shrunken, was in love with a man and knew where Pandora was, while the Detective of the West was a drag queen? This day was too weird, and the only missing would be Hakuba snapping and deciding that he was Kaitou KID and begin stealing.
"KID-chan~, it's rude to trick me into revealing personal information when you're pretending to be someone I trust, so why not answer such an innocent question?" the detective smirked smugly and Kaito blinked as he ignored the changed honorific and then recognised the smirk as the one he'd dubbed Tantei-kun's 'I know who you are'-smile. The thief laughed; that's right, he was sometimes in drag. Kaito switched into his KID outfit and hid behind his poker face.

"It seems like my new detective Meitantei-san is merely my grown up Tantei-kun," Shinichi nodded at his statement, "when did you know that it was me?"
"When you started to ask about the guardian of Pandora I took a look at your eyes; Hattori doesn't have indigo eyes, and then I looked on the floor. You left a dirt trail from the window," the detective suddenly pouted, "now I have to clean."
"Not before that?"
"No, and in my defence; I'm drunk, and you're mean," Shinichi stuck his tongue out, causing the thief to laugh again; he'd never seen the detective so childish, but then a thought of someone else that didn't act childish struck him.
"Oi-oi! Don't tell me that Science-san is also like you!"
"Yea, she is! She's one year older than us."
"Us? Do you even know how old I am?"
"I meant me! But you're still around our age!"
"Our?"
"I meant Haibara and my age! I'm not talking about Pandora, damn it!" Shinichi answered frustrated and ruffled his hair while Kaito blinked confused; he didn't understand how 'our' translated to Shinichi and a jewel. The detective shook his head and then grinned.
"How long did it take for you to learn how to walk in high heels?" he asked again and Kaito frowned.
"That's what you want to know? Not; who are you?"
"I've already told you before! I don't want you in prison! Whose heists am I going to go to in order to amuse myself if you're in prison? But that doesn't mean that I won't give it everything I got!" the detective asserted proudly and Kaito smiled; Meitantei-san really was everything a Kaitou could wish for.
"You'll have to continue to get away from me, otherwise you'll be boring and I won't play," Shinichi said quieter while frowning, and then hissed in pain as he sank to the floor.
"Are you alright?" the thief asked concerned and walked up to Shinichi, who dug his hands into his hair.
"It hurts!" he cried out as Kaito crouched beside him, "it hurts so much!" The thief placed a comforting hand on the detective's shoulder and then carefully caressed his back, uncertain where the pain came from or if he would harm him more with his actions. Slowly the detective's whines became a slow panting.

"Is the pain going away?" Kaito whispered while he sat with the rolled up person in his lap, watching how Shinichi grabbed into his hand and squeezed it painfully.
"It's still the same, I'm just getting used to it," the detective forced out from gritted teeth.
"Where does it hurt?" he murmured and protectively held the detective.
"Everywhere," the quiet answer came back and the teenager slowly relaxed once Kaito began to stroke his back again.
"I'm assuming that this has something to do with the antidote," Kaito murmured and Shinichi winced quietly.
"It does," a loud female voice said from the doorway, making both of them twitch.
"Science-san," Kaito said carefully as he observed the cold-eyed girl, who smirked in amusement, "how long have you been there?"
"Approximately ten minutes, or ever since you pulled him up in your lap, Kaitou KID-san," Haibara stated as she came walking towards them, "I was caught up in analysing his blood, so I was late."

The child in a lab-coat restrained the blood flow to Shinichi's arm, cleansed the crock of his arm with a small cotton swab and pulled out an empty syringe while ignoring the thief. The detective twitched in pain and gritted his teeth when she stuck it into his arm and took a blood sample.
"Can't you be more careful?" Kaito asked annoyed and the girl gave him a firm gaze, studying him methodically. The thief didn't show how uncomfortable he was with the way she looked at him, instead he held his eyes steady.
"Interesting," she murmured and pulled out the needle while the thief grew confused, "maybe he isn't as dense as I thought."
"What's your real name?" Kaito asked in interest while trying to ignore the discomfort he felt and she gave him a cold glare.
"It figures that you'd show up once I was experimenting on him, and of course he'd have to tell you everything he knows," Haibara muttered annoyed and pulled out another syringe, but this one had a fluid in it, "I'm not telling you and he's not telling you. My old identity is dead, and I have nothing to return to."
"Oh, sorry I asked," Kaito said and saw how she jabbed the detective with the needle, causing him to grab hard into the thief's arm which his head was resting on. Once the syringe was empty the child pulled it out and Kaito felt how the detective's grip loosened while his breathing became deep and steady.
"Be a sweetie and put him to bed, will you?" Haibara smirked and left him with a sleeping detective in his arms.

Kaito smiled warmly at Shinichi while he carried him to his room; he'd finally found out why he wasn't able to find the detective when the child was around, and that also explained why the little brat was able to find him so quickly every time he disguised as Kudou Shinichi. The thief changed the detective's clothes in a puff of smoke and seated himself beside the sleeping teenager once he'd pulled the cover over him. Kaito smiled and brushed a lock of hair away from his face while his eyes studied the detective's face; they were very similar, even though Kaito still had an, ever so slightly, more feminine jaw line. Shinichi had thinner lips and another shape of his eyes; Kaito remembered them to be narrower, but that might be because the detective was always looking at everything with suspicion.

Kaito had seen him glare at a cup of coffee once in a café and then refused to drink it. Soon after, a person had died and it had turned out that the waitress had killed a man that was stalking her and breaking into her apartment. It was cyanide poisoning, and the detective's cup had also been toxic; his presence alone had made her frightened and she tried to kill him with the only purpose of self-preservation. Kaito shook his head as he began to feel irate for some reason while thinking of the memory.

The thief began humming as he tilted his head thinking. He was pleased that it wasn't a child that had outsmarted him, but a teenager, and he could see the many similarities between his young and old detective, but then he suddenly understood why the girl had drugged him to sleep; she didn't want Shinichi to tell him any more secrets. Kaito groaned in annoyance after he realised that he'd failed once again to get information about Pandora and that the next time would be harder, if not completely impossible.

A/N: Shinichi is actually referring to himself and Pandora as 'us' and 'our' here.