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

Pairing: KaitoxShinichi

Chapter Rating: T

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 7

Hattori took one look at the expression on Shinichi's face and sighed. "I take it you two didn't have any luck finding anything either."

"No," the shorter detective said with a sigh of his own. "Wherever the souls were taken, it wasn't here."

"Look on the bright side," said Kaito. "Finding out where something isn't still takes us one step closer to finding out where it is."

Hattori snorted. "That might be true, but there are a hell of a lot more places where they could be. It's like looking for a needle in a haystack. We've only gone through one handful of hay. There's still a mountain of it to go. If only there was some other way to at least get a better idea of where to look next."

"Well," Shinichi said slowly, frowning. "I remember they said that they followed the man who came looking for the pendants to somewhere around Red Wind Park. We could start in that area and use a wide ranged scan. Then we just have to be methodical and keep track of each area we check…"

Hattori grimaced. "I guess that's one way. But just because they lost the guy in that area doesn't mean that that was where he was headed. For all we know, he could've gone right on out of the city. Then we'd really be out of luck."

"It's still worth a try though."

"But not today," Kaito cut in, tone firm. "You overdid it on that last scan. You need rest."

"I should be able to manage at least one more wide range scan."

"No." The demon's tone forbad argument. "It won't do anyone any good if you overexert yourself and collapse."

Shinichi opened his mouth to argue anyway, but he caught the steel in Kaito's eyes and changed his mind. His thoughts flashed back to their conversation back in Takaharu's workroom.

Hattori looked from Shinichi to Kaito and back again then shrugged. "You do seem a bit pale. You should go home and get some rest. I'll let Amuro know what we found—or, well, didn't find. But anyway. I'll pass a word along to the rest of the department too. Some of the other officers are pretty good at search spells too, even if they can't cover as much ground in one go as you can. If we all do what we can, I'm sure we'll find them sooner or later."

"It had better be sooner," Shinichi said grimly. "Much later and there won't be much point."

"It won't come to that," the dark-skinned detective declared in his typical optimistic fashion. "We'll think of something. We always do."

Shinichi nodded, though he couldn't help but think that there was always a first time for everything. No one could succeed every time. But no, he couldn't think like that. No matter what, they would employ every skill that they possessed to recover the stolen souls before their respective bodies expired. Failure was not an option.

-0-

The journey home was a silent one. Shinichi was still a little dizzy, though he kept the fact to himself, not wanting the others to worry. Despite that, he suspected that Kaito knew. The demon kept close to him, indigo eyes ever watchful. They bid Hattori farewell where their paths diverged and stopped at a small eatery to pick up some takeout for dinner. Shinichi spent the rest of the evening devising a search strategy over maps of the city. Their earlier work at the estate had given him a better grasp of his own range. That knowledge would help him learn to better conserve his energy and improve his efficiency once they started scouring the city.

It wasn't until a hand on his shoulder startled him out of a half doze that he realized just how late it had gotten. Sighing, he rose to his feet only to sway as he found that his muscles had gone stiff and his eyes wouldn't focus.

"Honestly Shin-chan," the demon murmured in fond exasperation as he reached out to steady the detective. Then he changed his mind and simply swept Shinichi off his feet and into a bridal carry. "Weariness dulls even the sharpest of minds. You should know that."

"Sorry," the detective murmured through a yawn. "I lost track of the time."

"I realized that." Carrying Shinichi into their bedroom, he lay the detective down on the bed and pulled the blanket over him.

Shinichi woke up a little when he sensed Kaito pulling away. "Where are you going?"

"Just checking the doors and windows. I'll be right back."

The demon made a circuit of their home, turning off the lights and making sure that all the entrances were secure. When he was done, he returned and slipped under the covers next to Shinichi. He smiled when the detective immediately shifted closer to him, tucking his head under Kaito's chin. The demon wrapped his arms around his beloved's slim waist, feeling content. The sound of Shinichi's soft, even breathing brought a soft smile to his lips.

It was strange, he mused. If he stopped and really thought about it logically, he had no reason to care about what tangled webs the humans wanted to wave for themselves. So many of them let their fear and greed drive their actions, ignoring their common sense, that it really was no wonder they got into so much trouble. No, their follies were none of his concern. And, once upon a time, he would have looked upon their little squabbles and skirmishes with great amusement. These days, however, he couldn't look at things quite the same way.

Nowadays, though he couldn't exactly claim to feel particularly invested in the triumphs or failures of the humans he watched, he also couldn't claim to be completely impartial either. Even now, he hoped that they did indeed find the missing souls in time. This was largely because he knew that that was what Shinichi wanted, but there was also a part of him that harbored this hope purely because he, Kaito, would prefer such an outcome. The realization was surprising but, he supposed, not unexpected. Perhaps that was another part of what it meant to love—to learn to appreciate not only that special someone but also those things which they held dear. And thus the world expanded and became more colorful. More vivid. More beautiful.

Strange really, he thought, amused, that it was he, the immortal, and not Shinichi who had changed more over the centuries. But it was as he had told his dear detective back at the estate. There were so many things about life and about living that humans took for granted that he had had to learn—that he was still learning.

-0-

The search commenced early the following morning. It was funny, Kaito mused, how Shinichi, who typically had great difficulty getting up in the morning and generally sleepwalked until he finished at least his first cup and a half of coffee, could somehow manage to be down at the police station by seven in the morning when there were lives on the line. Then again, that was one of the things he loved about Shinichi. His ability to care for people who had nothing to do with him and his willingness to put aside his own interests to protect the ideals that so many humans claimed to believe but so few truly followed through on. Although Kaito would have been happier if Shinichi put a little more effort into taking care of himself too. This morning, for instance, Shinichi would have left home without eating breakfast ("No, Shin-chan, coffee is not breakfast") if Kaito hadn't been there.

With three other officers who could cast the requisite search spells and a handful of additional men and women for support, they headed to Red Wind Park, where Shinichi handed out copies of the search plan and instructions on how to proceed. They had to make a few adjustments to the search strategy according to each officer's optimum spell casting range.

"Will you be searching too?" Sera asked Kaito. The boyish female officer had taken charge of the master map and would be regularly checking in with every search party to track their progress and findings.

"Not my area of expertise," the demon replied with a shrug. "But I'll be helping Shinichi."

Once everyone was up to date, they set off in groups, each headed in a different direction.

It was tedious work. They would cast the spell, note the results, cross out the area searched, and move on to the next spot to repeat the process over and over and over again.

They hadn't found any wayward souls yet by the time they broke for lunch, but they had inadvertently caught a burglar whom they saw climbing out of someone's back window. The man was subsequently arrested and his loot returned to its rightful owners.

Lunch was a quiet affair. The humans were all tired, and Kaito was busy keeping an eye on anyone and everyone who so much as glanced in Shinichi's direction. There were quite a lot of those glances, he noted with growing irritation. There was a lot of elbowing and giggling too. Fortunately, Shinichi noticed none of it, too lost in thoughts of how to improve their search efficiency.

"Kai?"

Tearing his gaze from a huddle of teens who had been pointing at Shinichi and whispering the entire time they had been at this café, Kaito found Shinichi watching him with a contemplative expression.

"What?" he asked.

"I was just wondering… I mean, after we signed our contract…"

"Yes?" the demon prodded, wondering where this was headed.

"You always seem to know where I am," the detective explained. "I was just wondering how that works."

"What do you mean? It's in the contract," Kaito said bluntly. "Contracts create a bond between a wizard and a demon. That's just how they work. You should know that."

"Well, yes, I know that, but that wasn't what I meant. I was just thinking… Well, for example, if someone killed me—"

"That is never going to happen," Kaito snarled with such ferocity that Shinichi jerked back in his seat. The demon's hands clenched into fists under the table.

Never again.

"I was just talking hypothetically," Shinichi said hastily. "I don't plan on getting killed anytime soon."

"You'd better not," Kaito grunted. Inhaling deeply, he counted to ten and forced himself to calm down. "So what did you want to know?"

Shinichi hesitated, trying to gage the demon's mood before proceeding. "I was wondering if our contract means that you would know where my body was."

"Yes," the demon said quietly. "But only until the soul fully leaves the body. After that, the body is just an empty shell. My contract is with you, the essence of your being. And therefore it is anchored to your soul, not your body. But all contracts are inevitably dissolved the moment that a wizard's soul moves on after the death of the body."

"I see."

"Why did you ask?"

Shinichi shifted a little uneasily under Kaito's piercing stare. "I'm not really sure yet. It was just a passing thought."

The demon's eyes narrowed. He would have pressed the issue, but Shinichi's phone chose that moment to ring. The way Shinichi's face brightened as he spoke to whoever was on the other end of the line was enough to convince Kaito to leave the interrogation for later.

"I take it there's some good news," he said when Shinichi finally hung up. "Did someone strike gold with their search spells?"

Shinichi shook his head. "Unfortunately, no, but there's a chance we won't need that. They've just located the cult's home base. They'll be moving in tonight."

"And we're invited?"

"Er, well, sort of. Officer Amuro has asked us to perform a quick scan of the building in question before they make a move. If the souls are there, they'd like to know where so that they can be more careful if things get tense."

"And if the souls aren't there?"

"Then we'll have people to question."

Kaito nodded sagely. "Sounds good." He downed the rest of his mocha then hopped to his feet. "Shall we be on our way then?"

Shinichi rose to follow him. "We can scan a few more blocks before we have to head over to the rendezvous point."

-To be Continued-