Never Turn Grey

By: Goover

An I Don't Know Fic Inspired By I Don't Know What.

Revised from a short thing I wrote last year.

His eyes are always blue. They always sparkle in a way like there is a joke he gets and no one else. They shine.

If they turned grey, the smile faded, the meaning of life would be lost. The world is his joke, his toy. Riddles and notes, silly gadgets, practical jokes, the magic. If the magic was gone, there would be nothing left. A glass monocle gleaming in the moonlight, the swirling white cape, the top hat. All gone. If his eyes turned grey.

The Kaitou Kid is a mysterious figure. Made of moonlight and shadows, swirling around. His smile, always there, is knowing. Like he knows the meaning to life. He holds all knowledge in that smile. And in his eyes. But not if they were grey.

His eyes lose you. Staring in, trying to see the bottom, you search and search, but never find it. Like trying to see the ocean floor in the middle of the sea. You know there has to be a bottom. But there isn't. There would be if his eyes turned grey.

He likes to visit now and then. An enemy, a friend, a mysterious shadow. It feels like I've known him forever. It feels like I can trust him. I know I can't. But I do. I wouldn't if his eyes turned grey.

We talk sometimes, on the roof, staring at the moon and stars. We talk of anything that comes to mind. Politics, sports, life, love, school, everything. But never fish. I don't know why. He shies away from that topic. I find it amusing to use fish when he won't let in on something. I can see it in his smile when he doesn't tell the whole truth. But again, his smile always looks like that. Like he knows something the rest of the world doesn't, something incredibly amusing. It shines in his eyes. But wouldn't if they turned grey.

His eyes are like Kuroba's.

So is his smile.

They are so alike, the Phantom Thief and my best friend. And yet, so different. Their eyes... Their eyes hold the same amusement at the world. The same joke and sparkle. If either of their eyes turned grey, I would be lost. The world would be lost.

The day the Kid was captured, the world wept. Nothing seemed worth living for anymore. My dad, the Kaitou Kid Task Force, gone. They no longer had a Phantom Thief to capture. They already had.

His eyes turned grey. The gleam was gone. The monocle lost its mysterious gleam. His clothing their glow. There was no smile.

He sat guarded by ten men. They all looked broken. If he had tried to escape, even get up and walk out of the room, no one would stop him. The smile was gone. So was the fun, the meaning, the mystery. All gone.

Because of one moment caught off guard. One moment when the thief thought he was alone, but wasn't. When he stopped to lean against the wall. He had stopped to let Nakamori catch up, so the chase could resume. That was fun. That was excitement. His smile had shone then. Shone for the last time. Nakamori handcuffed the thief. In that moment, the Kid gasped. The only sound was a slight –click- of the handcuffs. Nakamori hadn't meant to catch him. Hadn't meant to actually close the cuffs around the wrists of the thief.

"You finally did it. Finally won," were Kaitou Kid's only words. His last words. The smile faded. The monocle, concealed by shadows, dimmed. The fight was won.

His eyes turned grey.

I cried. Right there in the police station. I don't know why I did. It was like losing my best friend. I hardly even knew him. There was a feeling in the pit of my stomach, the feeling you get when you think there is one more step then there really is, the sinking feeling as your foot falls through nothing and hits the floor below. Life was nothing now.

That night, I had a dream. The kid, in his murky cell, had one slender beam of moonlight across his face. The monocle shone again, glinting in the moonlight. The smile returned. Shadows still covered his face, but I knew his eyes had turned blue.

In a wisp of smoke, he was gone. The smoke curled towards the ceiling like a serpent and faded. A black mark remained where the smoke had touched. The Kid caricature. It was smiling like never before. Its eyes seemed to sparkle.

A small white shape moved across the sky. It might have been airplane blinkers, or a bird. I think it was the Kid.

The room melted, slowly faded into a mass that looked like dripping paint. My vision fogged, I realized, because of tears. The Kid was free.

I saw him then, on my rooftop. He was smiling, that smile like he knew a joke no one else did, like the world was fun, like nothing could stop him. There was a ladder on the side of my house, near my bedroom window. I climbed it, but it was too short. It didn't reach the roof. Kaitou Kid reached his hand down for me to take. I took it. He pulled me up onto the roof. He told me a story, a beautiful story about a young child who wanted to do good in the world, but had to do it with bad. I knew he was talking about himself in that story.

He then turned to me, told me to hold his hand tight. We were going to fly away from everything. And be free. I turned my back to him. I told him no. when I let go of his hand, the charm fell off his monocle. He still smiled, but sadly this time. He took the charm from the ground, and pressed it into my hand.

He turned and waved, and jumped from the roof. His hang glider opened, and as he flew off into the night, whispered, "Good luck."

I woke up. I knew it was a dream, but it felt so real. I looked at my clenched hand and felt something inside it. The Kaitou Kid's monocle charm!

The silver charm sparkled in the morning light with the same glow as the monocle itself. For the first time since the Kid's capture, I felt happy.

The Kid escaped. It wasn't a dream. The dream felt so real, but that's all it was. But now reality felt like a dream. What was I supposed to believe? Dreams or reality?

I met up with Kaito that morning. He was in his usual place outside, waiting for me. I was glad he was there. I wanted someone besides my father to talk to.

Kuroba seemed tired this morning. He still smiled though, and his eyes were still blue, but I knew something was not right. I asked him about it, but he just smiled at me, smiled like he knew something I didn't. I threatened him with fish. He and the kid shared the same weakness. They shared a lot.

Kuroba wouldn't crack. So I gave up. I told him we were going to the station. I said the Kid escaped. He didn't seem surprised.

At the station, there was a lot going on. People ran around, back and forth, took notes, and looked worried. Mostly like they always did, but there was a bit of tension in the air. It crackled.

The Kid's cell looked normal. There was a chair in the middle, walls pale and empty. So was the cell. No Kid. There was a black smudge on the ceiling though. I wanted to get a closer look, but we were told to leave. Kaito seemed happy to.

I later learned that the mark was the Kid symbol. They tried to wash it off many moths afterward, but nothing would even smear it. Nothing would cover it either. Not even paint. Eventually, it was just left alone, but the room was considered unlucky and was never used again.

Kaito was quiet on the way home. We stopped for ice cream. He didn't talk much. But the smile never faded. I was glad of that.

I studied him for a while. His face was in shadows a bit, only one side. The same side Kaitou Kid wore his monocle. It seemed weird, that he was so much like the famous thief. I had known Kaito for years. He had always been my best friend. He seemed like a stranger then. He seemed mysterious. He seemed a bit sad as well.

I asked him what was wrong again. "Nothing," was my answer. He is so much like the Kid. Even his blue eyes.

I still had the charm. I fiddled with it for a bit, not knowing what to say to break the silence. Kuroba looked up at me. "What's in your hand?"

I looked him in the eye. "Nothing."

"You sure?"

I nodded.

Now it was my turn to look down. I had never really lied to Kaito before. I couldn't start now.

I showed him the charm. I looked into his blue eyes again. "It's yours, isn't it?"

He looked genuinely shocked. But he nodded.

"You're the Phantom Thief. The Kaitou Kid."

Again, he nodded. "Please, don't tell."

"I won't."

"Promise?" now he looked worried.

"Friends help friends. You're my best friend. I would never ever tell. Ever. You can trust me."

His smile looked amused now. "I know I can trust you. That's why I gave you the charm. I knew you would keep it safe."

We left the ice cream parlor and headed back to my house. It was nearly dark. I suggested the roof so we could talk. Neither of us said much for a while.

"Will the Kid fly again?" I asked after a long period of silence. We had been on the roof for nearly ten minutes. It was fully dark now. The moon was our only light. Dad was working late that night.

He sighed. "I don't know. He might never." Kaito reached into his pocket and pulled something out. It glittered and glinted in the moonlight, much like someone slyly winking. It was the monocle. He held it up to the moon and looked through it from far away. "The world looks different through this. Everything is still the same, yet different. The moon shines just as bright and is just as round, but seems... different."

He handed me the monocle. I put it on. I knew what he meant. The world was different through the eyes of the Kaitou Kid. It was happier.

Fin

Author's Note:

Ooooookkkkkkaaaaayyyyy... Now that was different. I have no idea why I wrote that. I just kinda... did. I started this last year and forgot about it. I just found it, revised it and finished it. Oo It's weird.

Oh, and this line: "There was a feeling in the pit of my stomach, the feeling you get when you think there is one more step then there really is, the sinking feeling as your foot falls through nothing and hits the floor below." Yeah, I know Lemony Snicket has a line like that. I will let you know, when I first wrote part of this last year, it was before Snicket even had the movie. I had never read any of the books. That is one fricken bizarre coincidence.

Well, I hope everyone likes it. One shot, no sequel, no next chapter. Its done.

I suck at angsty-ish stories. This is kinda angst. I think. Oo

Goover