Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan/Case Closed.

Pairing: KaitoxShinichi

Chapter Rating: M

Collection Summary: No matter where or what they are, their lives are always entwined. KaiShin stories in fantasy settings.

Chapter Summary: Shinichi is the new detective at the magical crimes division, and Kaito is the demon he's made a contract with to help him on his cases. Their successes are drawing a lot of attention—perhaps too much.

A Demon's Jealousy

[Demon Verse]

Part 5

With the immediate danger over, everyone's attention turned to searching for an explanation. The story was unearthed, unraveled, and retold at breakneck speed. Soon, all the party guests new of the fate they had narrowly avoided and that it was the quick work of one Kudo Shinichi who had prevented the tragedy.

Shinichi was instantly swamped by grateful party guests wanting to shake his hand and buy him meals or drinks and throw parties in his honor. Never a fan of noisy crowds, Shinichi would have liked very much to take an early leave, but he could understand that all these people were delirious with relief. They needed to get the excess energy of diverted worries out of their systems. That, and it was part of his job to reassure them that the whole fiasco was over. Privately though, he was afraid that it was not. Today's catastrophe had been averted, but the extensive research they had found in Takaharu's workroom was not the work of a lone fanatic.

There were others involved in this, and that meant that this matter was not over.

Hattori sat off to the side of the mob chattering at Shinichi and Amuro with an ice pack held to the rather large bump on his head. The injury had given him an excuse to stay out of the line of fire of the many confused party guests, and he was grateful for that. Seated next to him, Hakuba was nursing a similar bump. Sera had gotten off with more minor injuries, so she was directing the crime scene officers who had arrived to go over Takaharu's workroom along with the rest of the house.

Kaito leaned against the wall next to their seats, watching the press of people around Shinichi like a hawk.

"How many times do they need to ask the same questions?" the demon asked eventually with more than a little exasperation. More than an hour had passed, but there was no sign that the crowd was ready to call it a day.

"They need reassurance," Hakuba said sternly. "But I suppose your people would not understand."

"No, we wouldn't," Kaito shot back. "We know how to think for ourselves."

The blonde bristled. "A creature like you has no right to make such judgments of real people."

"You're rather full of yourself for someone who spent the whole time anything important was happening lying unconscious and useless on the floor."

Hattori cut off Hakuba's reply with a loud sigh. "Give it a rest, would ya? We've had a long day."

"What, not get enough rest on the nutcase's workroom floor?" the demon asked dryly. "You guys are pathetic."

"Kaito!" Shinichi exclaimed, having finally made it over to his colleagues' side just in time to hear the demon's last comment. "That was uncalled for."

Kaito shrugged. "I'm going home."

Catching the inquiry in the demon's indigo eyes, Shinichi smiled ruefully. "I'll catch up with you after I check in with the officers downstairs."

Kaito nodded and vanished into thin air.

Shinichi turned back to Hattori and Hakuba. "I'm sorry. He shouldn't have said that. I don't know what's going on with him lately, but I'm sure he didn't really mean it."

Hattori shrugged. "Don't worry about it. Everyone gets a bit irrational when they're jealous. Bad moods ain't a crime."

Shinichi blinked. "Jealous?"

His friend gave him a mildly incredulous look then laughed. "Well yeah. Seemed obvious to me."

Later, as he made his way home through the bustling city streets, Shinichi found that conversation with Heiji bouncing around and around in his head.

Was Hattori right? Was Kaito feeling jealous? It was such a simple answer, but it would explain a lot. And now Shinichi had to wonder why it hadn't occurred to him before that that was the problem. Maybe he was just too used to Kaito being complicated.

But maybe it really was that simple… If it was true then he had a lot to think about.

He wasn't particularly surprised when he shut the door to his home and was immediately spun around and pinned against it with a hot mouth devouring his own. Instead of protesting, he wrapped his arms around his 'assailant's neck and let Kaito have his way.

Kaito had once told him that many demons developed fixations on things over their centuries. It was, he'd theorized, a side effect of living for such a long time. The way he'd spoken about it, however, had always given Shinichi the impression that Kaito considered himself an exception—or at least he'd never mentioned any obsessions to Shinichi. Neither had the detective ever observed any signs of such an inclination in his partner before.

Now, however, looking up into Kaito's burning eyes, he realized that he'd been overlooking it this whole time. Kaito's obsession was him.

That was what Kaito's odd behavior lately had been about. His outbursts had been more than just fits of possessive jealousy. They were snarls of frustration from an ancient soul who was all too aware that the one thing that mattered most was so very fragile and finite compared to his own existence.

That night, lying with his head on Kaito's chest and the demon's arms wrapped securely around his waist, Shinichi found himself unable to sleep. The realizations he'd come to throughout the day buzzed like bees in his mind.

A new worry had begun to nag at him. While he was happy that he mattered so much to Kaito, he couldn't help but worry about what was going to happen to the demon when he was gone. He was only human after all. That meant he was mortal whereas Kaito was not. No matter how much they wished otherwise, time would eventually force them to part.

The thought of leaving Kaito made Shinichi's heart ache.

Unable to rid himself of these troubling thoughts, he fell into a fitful slumber.

-0-

"Forensics just sent these over," Hakuba said, setting a teetering stack of files on the office table. "They cover everything they found in Takaharu's workroom and office."

Sera let out a low whistle. "Busy guy."

"Indeed. I don't suppose he has said anything."

"He hasn't," Hattori reported. "The backlash from the spell and his injury overtaxed him both physically and mentally. He's in a coma at the moment. The doctors didn't seem ta think he'd be waking up anytime soon."

"I thought this case was being handled by the organized crime guys," Sera put in. "How come they're not here poring over this stuff with us?"

"Amuro told me that they have several other men that they're investigating right now in connection to Takaharu," Shinichi said. "Once they've checked a few things out, they'd like to schedule a meeting with us. But, in the meantime, since we're the magical crimes specialists, he wants us to figure out what exactly Takaharu's goal was."

"Why does he get to tell us what to do?" Heiji grumbled. "We're the ones doing him a favor."

"He has been following this case long before we got involved," Hakuba droned. "Therefore, he has seniority."

Hattori stuck out his tongue at the blond but continued sorting through the folders. He ran a finger down one of the many pages of Takaharu's notes and let out a groan. "Damn, it's in code!"

"We'd probably make better progress if we divided everything up," Sera said.

"Kudo had better take these." Hattori handed Shinichi a thick folder overflowing with magical diagrams. "I doubt any of the rest of us could make heads or tails out of these. I'll work on decoding those notes since I'm more familiar with all the magic jargon than our new recruits here. I'll be sure to let you know what I figure out just in case it helps with those diagrams. You two newbies can divvy the rest up between yourselves."

The four set to sorting the information into piles before they sat down to review those piles. Kaito, who had been lounging against the wall and watching Shinichi's every move, wandered over to lean over his detective's shoulder and examine the diagrams he was perusing. There were several detailed copies of the two large magic circles they had found in Takaharu's workroom as well as more than thirty similar circles. Some had annotations next to them that suggested they were copied from some other source while others appeared to be Takaharu's own work like those workroom circles. Eight more had apparently been discovered positioned around the estate itself. Those, Shinichi had thought were pieces of a protective barrier until he took a second look and realized they weren't quite right for that either.

He sighed. "This is going to take a long time."

"You should start with the two in the workroom," Kaito said. "We saw part of what they did, so we have some idea of the way the forces were moving. And remember to look at both these diagrams as a single unit. They were meant to be connected from the beginning."

Shinichi nodded. Having sorted and organized all the copied diagrams into a new set of folders he'd labeled for his own reference, he looked up at the office clock to find that it was already four in the after noon. His eyes were beginning to have difficulty focusing, and his stomach was beginning to protest its lack of input.

"I'm going to take these home with me," he told the other officers as he rose and packed all his folders into his bag. "That shouldn't be a problem, right?"

"Shouldn't be. Just don't lose 'em."

Slinging his bag over his shoulder, Shinichi turned to Kaito. "Are you ready to go?"

"I'm always ready," the demon replied with a sly grin that made Shinichi feel the sudden urge to blush. He coughed and turned away. "Um, let's drop these off at home then and go to that café you told me about. The one with the cocoa coffee cream pie."

"Ah, so you're finally going to try it?" Kaito asked. He strode over, casually sliding Shinichi's bag off his shoulder and slinging it over his own before taking Shinichi's hand. "I promise you, you won't regret it. It's a truly divine dish. And pretty to look at too. I tell you, their dessert chef is going to go places."

So the two went back to Shinichi's apartment, dropped off the papers as they'd planned to, and were soon at the café with the purportedly divine pie. It turned out they served excellent breakfast omelets all day as well. The pie, when it came, was every bit as large as the entre had been, but though Shinichi had had his reservations, he still polished off his entire piece almost before he'd realized it.

"Tasty, right?" Kaito teased, grinning. "And think, you would have had the chance to try it two times already if you'd come with me the last two times I invited you."

"I didn't come those times because I had time-sensitive work to do for Megure-keibu," Shinichi reminded him.

Kaito let his grin melt into a softer smile. "I know. I was just teasing."

They fell into a comfortable silence, each nursing their own drinks. Seeing Kaito like this, Shinichi mused, it was easy to forget that he wasn't human. Most of the time, Shinichi didn't think that that distinction was of any real importance in the grand scheme of things. Like he told his colleagues, Kaito was Kaito, and that, in the end, was what mattered. But…was it?

His recent epiphanies were forcing him to reconsider the question—not for himself but for Kaito.

"Kaito…"

"Yes?"

"Do you…can your people… I mean, do demons ever…" Shinichi trailed off. "Never mind."

Kaito raised an eyebrow. What was that about?

They were broken from their thoughts by a sudden uproar and the sound of clapping outside. Since they had finished with their meals, the two curious young men (well, one young man and one ageless demon) went outside to see what the commotion was. They were greeted by the sight of a dozen men and women with instruments setting up at the edge of the market plaza they were in. Torches had been lit at random intervals all over the plaza to give it a festive atmosphere. Soon, the musicians struck up a jaunty tune, and people began to laugh and clap along while others started to dance.

"Is there a festival today?" Shinichi wondered aloud.

"A wedding, actually," a large woman wearing a colorful dress told him with a smile. "Of the only daughter of the man who owns the inn over there." She pointed. "She's a very sweet girl, and we're all happy to see she's found someone worthwhile. Come, you two should join us."

"Thank you for the offer, but we—"

Laughing, Kaito grabbed Shinichi's hand and pulled him into the whirling masses before he could finish making his excuses. Reaching a lull in the torrent, Kaito pulled Shinichi around, grasping one of his hands with his own and placing his other hand on Shinichi's hip. Hesitantly, Shinichi rested his free hand on Kaito's shoulder, and suddenly they were off. Kaito led him through a quick and energetic dance full of spins and dips that left Shinichi's head spinning. He was only able to keep moving because he could feel Kaito's body against his, and the demon's movements guided his own. It was as though his body knew exactly what Kaito was going to do even though they had never danced like this before. And so they danced and they laughed because it was a kind of elation, that feeling of moving together in perfect sync to the beating of the drums and the plucking of the strings.

Then the music slowed, and Kaito pulled him close. They were now pressed flush against each other as they moved to the music, hearts still pounding and bodies warm. Shinichi blushed as he felt Kaito's clothed arousal grind against him. A shudder raced up his spine, and he unconsciously leaned into the demon's embrace, his body responding to every touch.

Shinichi found himself clinging more and more to Kaito as the dance progressed, yearning for the feeling of those strong arms around him, both trapping and protecting him. This was Kaito, the man he had come to rely on. The man he trusted with his life, his body, and even his soul. The man he knew would always be there for him. The man who loved him. Except, of course, that Kaito was no man nor any other mortal being. He was a demon. For all that he had started to wonder what exactly that might mean for them, Shinichi knew that, in this very moment, he didn't want to think about it at all. For now, let all that matter be that Kaito was Kaito, the person Shinichi never wanted to lose. The person he loved more than he had ever thought it was possible for him to love someone. The person he would one day have to leave.

His heart clenched, and he wrapped his arms around Kaito's neck, pulling him down into a deep, almost desperate kiss.

"Take me home," he requested, pressing himself even closer to the demon's strong body.

In response, Kaito caught his detective's lips in another searing kiss. Around them, the world blurred.

When it steadied, they were standing back in their apartment right inside their bedroom. With barely a thought, Kaito stripped off their clothes. His hands roamed over Shinichi's body, groping him roughly as he pulled Shinichi against him, grinding their hips together in a way that had Shinichi's gasps morphing into mewls.

Shinichi broke away from yet another bruising kiss to gasp. "Kai, please. I want to feel you inside me."

Kaito let out a low chuckle. "As you wish." He scooped Shinichi up and laid him down on the bed, licking his lips when Shinichi immediately spread his legs. He had no idea what had gotten into Shinichi to make him so uncharacteristically bold, but it was definitely turning Kaito on. Shinichi was usually rather shy about more physical things. To have him all but demanding that Kaito take him was making the demon's already hard arousal throb with anticipation. He fought back the almost overwhelming urge to just grab the detective and plunge himself deep into Shinichi's tight heat, reminding himself that he had to be careful no matter how tempting Shinichi was being. After all, he didn't want to accidentally hurt his detective.

Summoning the lube from the nightstand, he slid onto the bed between Shinichi's legs. He wasted no time coating his fingers and pressing two into Shinichi's waiting entrance. His detective immediately clenched around the fingers easing into him as his hips rocked in an instinctive response to help Kaito's fingers thrust deeper inside him.

Kaito made a sound that was half a growl and half a laugh. Gripping Shinichi's hip with his free hand to keep him still, the demon leaned over to drop a brief kiss on the detective's lips.

"Patience, Shin-chan. You'll get what you want soon enough." His voice dropped into a low purr full of dark promises that made Shinichi shudder in a mixture of excitement and sudden trepidation. "I guarantee you that."

Honestly, the demon thought half in fond exasperation and half in sadistic pleasure, seeing his typically reserved Shin-chan so desperate to be ravished made Kaito want to tease. So he took his time preparing the detective, paying special attention to that spot that made Shinichi cry out as he stroked and pressed and stretched his lover's sensitive inner walls until Shinichi was a squirming, moaning mess.

"Kaito," he whimpered, hands twisting into the sheets beneath him as he teetered on the verge of release because of those skillful hands working magic on his sensitive body. But though every nerve in his body was tingling with heat and pleasure, it wasn't Kaito's fingers he wanted inside him.

Deciding that he'd teased Shinichi enough (and frankly he couldn't hold himself back any longer), Kaito shifted into position. In a single smooth thrust, he pushed himself into his lover, not stopping until he was fully sheathed in Shinichi's deliciously tight passage. Shinichi let out a breathless cry as his rear clenched around the new intrusion. It was thick and hard and it pulsed as it stretched him to his limit. His breaths were coming now in short, panting gasps. He didn't even realize that he had closed his eyes until a pair of lips brushed over his own, and he opened his eyes to meet Kaito's indigo gaze. A small, fond smile was playing about the demon's lips.

"Relax," Kaito murmured, kissing Shinichi softly on the lips before moving to nuzzle into the side of his neck.

Shinichi slid his arms around Kaito's neck and closed his eyes as he tried to do as he'd been told, allowing himself to adjust to the penetration. Kaito waited patiently until he felt the tension ease from the body underneath him. When he was certain that Shinichi was ready, he pulled out slowly then thrust back in again.

Shinichi moaned in pleasure as he felt Kaito begin to move inside him—filling him. His back arched and his toes curled as each thrust sent waves of pleasure racing through his body. And he lost himself in the sensations.

-0-

Kaito frowned faintly as he watched Shinichi quietly eating his dinner. For the last few days, the detective had been acting odd. He was unusually silent and withdrawn. When he wasn't working, his expression would be pensive and his eyes clouded with unspoken troubles. Sometimes Kaito would catch him looking out the window with such a sad expression that the demon just wanted to pull him into a tight embrace and promise to fix everything. The problem was that he didn't know what to fix, and Shinichi wasn't talking.

Sometimes he wished he was one of the small handful of demons who could actually read minds.

Just last night, Shinichi had crawled onto his lap in the middle of a movie they were watching and kissed him. Kaito had been surprised, but he wasn't about to pass up any chance to kiss his detective senseless. The movie had been boring anyway. Everything had been splendid until he noticed the gleam of a tear on Shinichi's face. Confused and worried that he might have inadvertently hurt the detective, he'd apologized.

But Shinichi had only shaken his head and pulled Kaito down into another kiss. Unable to resist the siren's call of his beloved's body arching under his, Kaito set aside his earlier concerns.

Later though, as he lay there cradling a slumbering Shinichi and watching the moon creep across the night sky through the window, Kaito worried that Shinichi's sudden need for physical intimacy was a sign of impending trouble. Was Shinichi expecting something bad to happen? But surely he wouldn't hide that from Kaito, would he? Well, he might try out of some misguided notion that he shouldn't worry other people. Kaito scowled and his arms tightened protectively around the sleeping detective.

"I won't let anyone hurt you," he whispered fiercely. "Never again."

-0-

Shinichi was making frustratingly slow progress in figuring out what Takaharu's spell diagrams were supposed to do.

"Parts of it are obviously a summoning," he explained to the team in exasperation. "But it's not actually summoning anything."

"…Say what?" Heiji scratched his chin. "That didn't make any sense. How can it be a summoning if it doesn't summon anything?"

"I just told you I didn't know what it meant," Shinichi snapped. "What did you need me for anyway? I was going to go to the library today to see if I could find some helpful references."

"Oh. Well, I'll make this quick then. That Amuro guy's people found this in a concealed vault under Takaharu's workroom floor." Heiji set a small chest on the table between them. "It's magically sealed. They wanted us to open it and tell them what we find."

Shinichi took the chest for a better look. "It's a pretty powerful seal."

"Can you break it?" asked Hakuba.

"I should be able to."

"Shouldn't we do this somewhere less public?" Sera gestured at the café around them. "You know, in case there's something dangerous in there."

Shinichi turned to Kaito. "What do you think?"

The demon looked up from his hot fudge sundae and studied the chest through narrowed eyes. "I don't sense anything volatile in there."

"Then I'll just open it now."

"But what if there's something demons can't sense in there?" Hakuba asked warily.

Kaito rolled his eyes. "Anything too weak to be sensed through a seal like that will be easy to contain."

To forestall any further arguments, Shinichi placed his hands on either side of the chest and focused. Breaking seals was a lot like solving puzzles. It took some maneuvering, but he soon had the spells off. Flipping open the latches on the chest, he lifted the lid.

Five pairs of eyes stared.

"No way," Heiji breathed. "Those can't really be…"

"The same pendants those girls have," Sera finished. "Well, this certainly complicates things."

-To be Continued-