DCMK || KaiShin || DCMK || The Burden of Immortality || DCMK || KaiShin || DCMK

Title: The Burden of Immortality – Forever and a Day

Fandom: Detective Conan / Magic Kaito

Disclaimer: All rights reserved to Gosho Aoyama for he created the awesomeness that is Kaitou KID. Ah, and Detective Conan, too. This fanfiction on the other hand is entirely mine. No money is made with this, though reviews are more than welcomed.

Tags: m/m, mutual pining, hurt/comfort, immortality, future fic, past character deaths

Main Pairing: Kaito/Shinichi

DC/MK Characters: Kudou Shinichi | Edogawa Conan, Kuroba Kaito | Kaitou KID

Summary: They hadn't talked in decades. But KID - no, Kaito - had just suffered a loss and Shinichi knew where to find him today. To comfort him, but also to talk. It was due time they talked. Talked about the burden of immortality that they now both shared, thanks to Pandora, and the feelings that still stood unspoken between them, even after all this time.

The Burden of Immortality

Forever and a Day

Shinichi ducked his head as he made his way through the graveyard. Knowing what grave he was heading for today. This place. Filled with people and by now with too many people Shinichi had once known. The rain hitting him was cold and harsh, muddling everything. Grey, all the world seemed kind of gray. Aside from that white figure, kneeling in front of the grave.

"It's been a long time," Shinichi's voice was a whisper. "I'm sorry for your loss."

"She died of old age," KID's voice was wobbly, because though this was a good thing for her, it did not lessen the pain KID experienced about it. "Surrounded by her kids and grandkids."

"Yeah?" Shinichi smiled, a small, sad one.

"I couldn't stay away," admitted KID, voice breaking. "I just... had to see her one last time. She recognized me, even after all these decades. Talked like... like we were back in high school."

Shinichi knew that Hakuba Aoko had suffered from dementia in her final years, so most likely she had been living in high school when she'd seen KID again. Shinichi refrained from commenting that, he knew KID was aware of this too. So instead, Shinichi just remained quiet.

"Where..." KID cleared his throat. "Where have you been lately?"

"Hawaii," Shinichi smiled a little. "I've been learning how to surf. Never got around to that."

"That sounds nice," a pause, like a thought had just crossed the thief's mind. "What's your name? This time around. The last time I saw you, you were... still Conan."

"Shinichi," Shinichi chuckled. "Edogawa Shinichi, Conan's son, named after his beloved cousin."

"Heh," a genuine laugh from KID. "I'm Kaito. Still. Again. Both, I guess. Jii Kaito, right now."

Jii. If Shinichi remembered it right, that had been Kaito's assistant. Slowly, Shinichi stepped closer, resting a hand on KID's – on Kaito's shoulder. The thief got up and turned around to face him. It'd been so many years since he had last looked into those indigo-violet eyes that it took Shinichi's breath away. And it took him every ounce of self-control not to flinch at the fraction of blood-red. That cursed heterochromia. Shinichi knew it better than anything, he saw it every day in his own mirror. Looking at Kaito was like looking at a mirror, because the red in Kaito's right eye was in Shinichi's left eye, it was mirrored. A physical, visual reminder of their curse.

"She's gone, tantei-kun," Kaito's voice was so weak, so fragile. "She's really gone. All this time, I... I knew she was out there. It hadn't felt... hadn't felt real yet, not really. But now... now she's gone."

Tantei-kun. How long had it been since Shinichi had heard that name? Thirty years? Forty? He hadn't realized how much he had missed it. Had missed KID's voice, calling him that.

"I was thinking about coming back here, to Tokyo," Shinichi turned a bit away from Kaito. "I... Ran is very... Most people who knew me as Kudou Shinichi are gone, or have moved on. The... The Detective Boys have... moved on. Ayumi and Mitsuhiko have a kid, you know?"

"I do. I met Tsuburaya-keibu. She's kind of terrifying, you know."

"Oh yeah, that was Haibara's influence," Shinichi snorted softly. "Favorite auntie."

Last time Shinichi had seen Haibara, she was already spotting a bit of gray hair herself. Even she was old now. Ran, Shinichi knew Ran didn't have that much time either. He tried not to think about it, but it was hard not to, especially here, at the grave of Kaito's childhood friend.

"She had kids too, didn't she?" Kaito frowned at that. "I thought I met a doctor called that."

"Yes. Two daughters, both doctors," Shinichi shifted a little. "It's hard, Kaito. I know. I... Nobody knows better than me. The two of us, we will.. outlive them all. And their kids. And grandkids."

Kaito turned away from him like he'd gotten slapped in the face. "I know. I'm... I'm sorry."

"What for?" Shinichi frowned confused and then it dawned on him.

Was that it? For decades, Shinichi had wondered why KID had pushed him away. Why the thief had insisted Shinichi stop attending heists. For the better part of it, Shinichi had rationalized that the lime-light, the potential of gaining a reputation as the KID Killer would be revived and his secret might be revealed, people might put together that Kudou Shinichi, Edogawa Conan and Edogawa Shinichi were one and the same person. But that wasn't it, was it? It was guilt.

"It wasn't your fault, Kaito," Shinichi put as much conviction into his voice as he could.

"Of course it was!" Kaito sounded desperate and Shinichi wasn't sure if it was rain or tears running down the thief's cheeks. "If you hadn't been chasing me, you wouldn't have been up there. If I hadn't destroyed Pandora that night, you wouldn't be cursed! If I hadn't..."

Kaito's knees buckled and he went down a sobbing mess. Shinichi was quickly at his side, pulling him into a hug, as though he tried to shield the thief from the world. Pulling him as close as he could, resting his chin on Kaito's shoulder. The thief felt guilty, because by completing his own mission of destroying the cursed gem forever, he had just activated the gem's magic. It had turned Kaito immortal. And it had also turned Shinichi immortal, who had been right there, following the thief, chasing him, as he always did. The flash of blood red light that blinded them both, Shinichi would never forget it. Neither would he ever forget how KID had grabbed him, tried to turn him away. The brute force had hit them both as they held each other, which was why the red heterochromia was mirrored in their eyes. The side of them that had been hit.

"It wasn't your fault," Shinichi's voice was softer now, a warm whisper against Kaito's rain-cold skin. "It was my choice to be there. And you didn't know what would happen. You thought you'd destroy it for good so nobody would ever get it. You didn't know that'd activate the curse. I... don't blame you for what happened, Kaito. Please, stop blaming yourself."

When Kaito stepped back some, there was barely any distance between the two of them, between their lips. There was something so familiar about this, though the two of them had never kissed. There had always been a tension between them, Shinichi had felt the longing even back when he had still been a kid as Conan. But many things had changed since them. For one, they were on eye-level now. For another... there was nobody alive who knew what it was like to be them. To outlive everybody they loved. To fake aging and then change identities when one got too old. To be an immortal, stuck watching from the sidelines, unable to open up to anyone. Yes, Shinichi had had relationships over the decades, but nobody who'd ever understood. Nobody ever could.

"Nobody will ever understand, the way we understand," Shinichi whispered, unable to hide the yearning from his voice. "Only we can understand each other. Let me be your solace, Kaito."

It was as though the thief melted into him at these words and for the first time, they kissed. All these years of Kaito practically being gone, only existing as KID, trying to pay a debt. It was time the thief got to steal something all for himself and Shinichi was happy to be stolen, finally.

~*~ The End ~*~

Author's note: Wanted to write something angsty and immortal! I'm sorry for killing Aoko, but at one point, down the road, that's bound to happen ;-;