Disclaimer: I don't own DCMK

Sky Colored Eyes

39: A Heart to Heart

The air in the room was thick with tension. No one had said a word in the last five minutes.

Seated by the round table, Shinichi glanced at the place where the bomb had been sitting. It was gone now. They had taken the thing apart and Kaito had disappeared with the gunpowder. To where, Shinichi didn't know, but the magician had rather cheerfully said something about not needing to acquire any more of the stuff on his own for a while. Shinichi hadn't wanted to think too hard about that, though he supposed he didn't have to in order to understand. All that was left on the table now was the assorted pieces of the detonation device and the controller that had been connected to it.

And the card gun.

Blue eyes lingered on the rather unique weapon. Kaito had set it down on the table very deliberately just before he left with the gunpowder container. Clearly, it was a sign.

The magician had said that they would talk. Now Shinichi had an idea of what they might be talking about. He bit his lip and looked away.

There was a large painting of peony blossoms on the wall. Their luxuriant, pink petals complimented the creamy tones of the room's furnishings. A flower of good fortune, he mused. Was it just him or was it a bit ironic? Or maybe it was a sign of better times to come. That would certainly be nice. Too bad he wasn't one for omens.

All too soon, the door opened, admitting Kaito. The magician disappeared into the bathroom then reemerged a few moments later looking like himself rather than the scarred man he'd been disguised as all morning. Shinichi felt his stomach do something funny when he saw Kaito's face again—a sort of flutter. It was just…nice to see Kaito as himself, he decided. It had been a bit jarring suddenly being faced with a stranger when he'd expected to see Kaito. Even knowing that it was the magician behind that face, it was still hard to get over the discrepancy. It was just like that jolt whenever he heard KID's voice coming out of a face it didn't match—

His eyes returned to the card gun on the table as his own thoughts came full circle.

His hands clenched on his knees. He really wasn't sure if he was ready for this.

"Are you hurt anywhere?"

Shinichi blinked and looked up in surprise. Kaito was standing by his seat, examining him with concern in his indigo orbs.

"I'm fine," Shinichi said, taking a moment to gather his thoughts. His muscles were aching a little, and he had a mild headache. But other than that and a slightly elevated heart rate, he felt fine. "How about you?"

"Just a bruise or two. The janitor guy wasn't really a fighter. Though he did have bony elbows."

"I don't think either of them were really criminals."

"Uh, hello, did you miss the fact that they just tried to murder you? I thought it was obvious."

"I meant that they didn't strike me as the kind of people who would think of doing these things on their own. I think they were—pushed into it somehow. They didn't really know what they were doing."

"Well it's pretty obvious someone else has to have been pulling the strings. No way two regular staff members could have had the power to get the store to close its restaurant for half a day."

"Yeah…"

The awkward silence returned. Shinichi watched out of the corner of his eye as Kaito stepped to the curtains shielding them from the balcony. The magician tweaked them aside just enough to peer out across the street. The flames had long since been put out. Now there were police swarming the building. From their vantage point, they couldn't actually see into the rooftop garden or the adjoining restaurant, but every now and then they could catch a glimpse of an officer moving along the safety rails. Kaito watched them for several long moments before letting the curtain fall back into place.

"Whoever was behind that has got to have either a lot of connections, deep pockets, or both."

Shinichi nodded slowly.

"And we still haven't lain eyes on our writer."

Shinichi didn't respond. There really wasn't anything to say. And he was having a hard time focusing on the conversation. The curtains were a translucent white that glowed with the sunlight shining on them from the outside. Silhouetted against them, Kaito was a shadow with a gleam of indigo eyes. When he had his head turned, the sharp angles of his profile were stark while his features remained veiled by darkness.

Shinichi recognized that profile—the way the other's indigo eye gleamed. It was strange, but looking at Kaito in this light where almost everything about the taller teen was shrouded in shadows, Shinichi felt like he was seeing Kaito more clearly . He was seeing Kuroba Kaito, the prankster magician he had come to consider a friend, but he was also seeing the Kaitou KID, the man who had matched wits with him and challenged him—helped and hindered him—so many times in the past. With his face blurred by darkness and only his voice and silhouette to focus on, Shinichi could finally see them both at the same time. The edges were all matched up, and it was no longer about one man being or not being the other. This was Kaito, who was more than just his classmate or Kaitou KID. Rather, there was no difference in those identities at all. Not now, because they were both looking back at him.

What was this ominous feeling? He was finding it hard to breathe. The tension in the air was growing thicker. Something was going to have to give soon, and then there was going to be an explosion. He just knew it. But it wasn't going to be an explosion of the smoke and flames variety. He almost wished it would. He knew how to deal with those. What he didn't know was what he was supposed to be doing now.

What did Kaito expect him to do? He'd said they had to talk, but so far he'd just been analyzing the incident back in the restaurant. But KID's card gun was still sitting on the table—out in the open where anyone could see. It was a statement. But of what? What did the magician have planned? What was he expecting?

Unable to hold it in anymore, Shinichi blurted, "You're Kaitou KID."

"And you're Conan-kun."

Shinichi's jaw dropped as he reeled at those unexpected words. How in the world—when had he—!

"Seeing as your expression seems to be of the "how did he know" variety and not the "this guy is a nutcase" variety, I'm guessing I'm right." Kaito dropped onto the only other chair in the room and studied Shinichi's face. His own was an amiable mask.

"How did you know?" Shinichi asked, voice quiet.

The magician's lips quirked into a smirk. "As you detectives like to put it, it really wasn't that hard to figure out. You disappear and Conan-kun appears. He disappears, and you appear. While Conan was around, he was just about the only person who could get a hold of you whenever he wanted—or so I've heard. And yet you have a very close relationship to a grade school girl who moved into your neighborhood after your disappearance. I thought at first that you'd been sick those two years, and so they must have hidden you somewhere to recuperate where you wouldn't be bothered. But being in hiding fits the bill just as well. Though I'm not sure where the medication stuff comes in. If I had to guess, I suppose I have to suspect your growth spurt. Oh, and those pictures at your house. Looking similar is one thing. Looking exactly the same is another story entirely. I should know. Shall I go on?"

Completely blindsided by the turn in conversation, Shinichi sat frozen in his seat. Never in a hundred years had he expected to hear Kaito—or anyone else for that matter—reveal his secret now that it was a matter of the past. It was, after all, a crazy thing to think that a teenager could actually turn back the hands of time and become a child again even if it was only for a few years. But more than the shock of hearing that Kaito had made the connection between him and Conan was the way the magician hadn't even bothered denying that he was KID.

"Would you like a cup of coffee? You look like you're about to pass out."

Snapping out of his shocked daze, Shinichi blushed. "I—no, I wasn't. I'm just… I never thought that… What did you mean when you said you thought I was sick?"

"I saw you collapse twice. Once at school, and once when you went chasing after that robber like an idiot and nearly got yourself shot. Seeing as the Haibara girl keeps going on about how you need to take your medicine, it was pretty easy to see that your health isn't exactly up to snuff."

Shinichi's lips thinned as his hands clenched on his knees. So it was that obvious, was it? Was Haibara right? She kept telling him that he had to make a change, but… Giving himself a hard shake, he pushed those depressing thoughts into the darkest corner of his mind, determined not to think about them again. At least not for a good while. He had other, more important things to think about right now.

"You said we needed to talk," he said, voice quiet. "I assume you weren't just referring to my…my condition."

Kaito didn't answer immediately. He took a moment to study the detective seated by the hotel table. The boy's shoulders were hunched slightly, and everything about his posture was stiff. Clearly, Shinichi was uncomfortable. Probably because he was confused and didn't know what to expect. And perhaps because the subject of his 'absent' years was a painful one for Shinichi. Whatever had happened, it had clearly left scars. Seeing his expression, Kaito almost felt bad for having brought it up, but he'd had to know.

Well, here we go.

"Hey Shinichi," he began, tone light and cheerful as it usually was. "Has that blond bastard ever told you anything about me when I wasn't around?"

Shinichi blinked. "Huh? Who—oh. Uh, no, nothing comes to mind…"

"Well that's a bit surprising. I expected him to be shoving it down your throat at every opportunity, but I guess he never had much luck. You detectives are all a bit like that though, aren't you?"

Shinichi remained silent. His thoughts flitted back over all the conversations he'd had with Hakuba and all those snide remarks and subtle (as well as not so subtle) jabs he and the magician had traded. It was clear the blonde suspected that Kaito was the man behind the monocle. Though the blonde had never managed to say as much, Shinichi couldn't claim to have been completely ignorant of his suggestions. He'd just been avoiding thinking about them.

When had he started running away from his own deductions? It was ludicrous, but… He'd wanted to hold on to the illusion.

He couldn't do that now though.

Reaching across to the table, Kaito picked up the card gun. He readjusted the settings, hands working deftly at the familiar task. "You recognize this, don't you."

It wasn't a question, but Shinichi answered it anyway. "It's KID's gun."

"It's completely my own design. I'm quite proud of it. It wasn't in Dad's arsenal, but I figured it fit the image. And it's been pretty damned useful."

"Your father was the first KID."

"He was," Kaito agreed, leaning back in his chair and folding his arms behind his head. The gun swung lazily from his fingers. "He was truly a master of our arts. I wanted to be just like him for as far back as I can remember. He was like… He could do anything. But then one day he goes out on stage as he always did to give another spectacular performance and the entire place goes up in flames. Everyone said it was an accident. I thought so too until a few years ago. That was when I found out that it was murder. My dad died again that day, you know. It was like the memories I'd come to terms with all got turned on their heads. It hadn't been an accident, and that meant it was personal. Now…Now I want to get those bastards who had the nerve to kill him, and I'm going to make them regret ever even hearing the name Kaitou KID. I'm going to be the one to get the prize, and they're going to watch me destroy it from behind some cold hard prison bars."

Shinichi digested this new information, mind putting together the pieces with the fragments of knowledge he'd gleaned over the years from his encounters with the gentleman thief. "So the jewel you're searching for… You're not the only one looking for it."

"And they'll kill to get it." Kaito's voice was dark. "That was what it was all about. Just a hunk of rock with a fancy tale. Humans really are a pathetic species when you think about it: always fighting over pointless things. They're ruining their own lives and they don't even know it."

"What kind of gem is it?" Shinichi asked, unable to curb his own curiosity. "I mean, you always target large stones, but they're not always the same type. So I guess that means you don't know what it looks like. So how will you even know when you find it? And what makes what you're looking for different from those other gems you've given back? Most of those were ridiculously valuable too."

"All these questions!" Kaito laughed before his expression fell into one more serious. "Listen, I haven't told anyone else about this. And I'm telling you because I trust that you aren't going to let it slip into the wrong hands. The name of the jewel is Pandora."

"Pandora?" Shinichi repeated, puzzled. He'd never heard of a jewel with that name before. "Like Pandora's Box?"

"Yeah. And like Pandora's Box, it's something that really shouldn't be opened lest it unleash upon us its terrible curse."

Shinichi deadpanned. "Now you're just being overdramatic."

"Maybe. But you can decide that after you consider this. If there is a gem that can grant a person immortality, what do you think would happen?"

"The owner would live a very long and lonely life."

Kaito paused then laughed. "That's the logical answer. But most people don't think that way. What I meant was that there are people out there who are driven by the fear of death. Those people might be willing to go to any lengths to secure something that could grant them eternal life. And so they commit crimes: steal and kill and all that stuff. Wouldn't you say that that's a problem?"

"Is that a rhetorical question?"

"So it is."

The room fell into yet another spate of silence, but this time the silence was less tense and more thoughtful.

"So you're telling me that Kaitou KID is going after this Pandora jewel, which is a jewel that can grant people immortality. You want to keep it out of the hands of those who would murder for it and get your revenge on the people who murdered your father by destroying it—and their goals—completely."

"Sounds about right."

"And you really think it exists? This Pandora stone?"

"Not sure. I didn't really believe it was possible before. But now that I know people can actually get younger, it doesn't seem so farfetched. What really matters isn't if it's real though. It's that they believe it is."

"You've thought a lot about this," the detective murmured, more to himself than to Kaito.

Kaito chuckled. "Well, I'm not all crazy. Believe it or not, I think through everything I do very carefully~."

Shinichi snorted. "I knew that already. If you weren't a meticulous planner, you would have been caught a long time ago." He stopped abruptly at the sound of his own words. For a moment, he had almost forgotten the awkwardness of their current situation. But now it came rushing back.

The magician arched an eyebrow, looking every bit as relaxed as if they were just having a chat about the weather (was it an act?). "What's the matter?"

Personally, Shinichi was inclined to think that the answer to that particular question couldn't be more obvious. But he supposed he could be wrong.

"Why did you tell me all that?"

"Didn't you want to know?"

"…That's not the point! You just… I'm a detective!"

"I know that already." Kaito watched Shinichi's face scrunch up in mixed exasperation, annoyance, and confusion for a moment longer (Shinichi really was too fun to tease) before he let his expression soften. Banishing his card gun with a flick of the wrist, he let his hands drop to his knees and assumed a more appropriately serious posture. Then he caught Shinichi's gaze and held it.

"I told you because I think you can understand. Am I wrong?"

Shinichi opened his mouth then shut it again. He did understand—not just the story and the reasons, but that pent up desire for someone else to share them with. He knew that desire all too well. It was a need—not for approval exactly, but perhaps more for a confirmation. A confirmation that there was another soul out there who knew the truth who could tell you that your decisions, right or wrong, had at least been sound. That whatever sacrifices you had made and whatever your losses or gains, there was another who might have done the same. Sometimes you just needed someone there to tell you that you'd done the best you could with what you had whether or not those actions had led you to where you wanted to go.

He was thinking about himself now, he knew, but though he wasn't certain, he thought he could see that same turmoil reflected back at him in Kaito's dark indigo eyes.

"But I'm a detective," he said again, not sure what more he wanted to say on the subject but feeling that it needed more of an acknowledgment than it had received thus far.

"Doesn't mean we can't be friends," Kaito quipped.

"I'm…supposed to tell the police what I know about criminals they're searching for."

"Do you want to turn me in?" Kaito's tone was entirely curious, no hint of threat or suspicion. "Hypothetically speaking, of course. Seeing as you don't have any hard evidence you can bring to court."

Oh. Shinichi had almost forgotten about that. How ironic. He'd heard it from the thief's own mouth, but he didn't have any evidence that a court could look at. He was almost relieved, but that wasn't the soul of the question. He looked back at the table with the disassembled bomb bits then at the fog of gray he could see through the curtains that suggested the neighboring building was still smoldering.

Kaito let him ponder. They had the whole day—weekend too if necessary—to straighten this out. This hotel room was one he'd booked the other day under an alias as a possible escape route. They had it for the rest of the weekend and two days after that.

Rising from his chair, he set about making coffee. When it was done, he handed a cup to Shinichi and went back to his own seat.

"Thank you." The detective took a sip then grimaced. "It's not very good coffee."

"Beggars can't be choosers."

"Hmm." Shinichi turned the cup around and around in his hands before lowering it to the table with a soft sigh. Then he looked across at Kaito, meeting his eyes for the first time in the last several minutes. "I don't want to turn you in. But I want to make this clear. It's not because you're my friend."

Kaito blinked. "Yeah? What, so it's the lack of evidence?"

"No!" Shinichi glared at him, feeling a bit offended and maybe even a bit hurt though he wasn't entirely sure why. "I don't want to turn you in because I… What you're doing, it's something you feel that you have to do. And you're doing it to help make things right. I think your methods could have been better, but your goals are noble, and you don't really harm people."

"So not for friendship but for a righteous cause," Kaito summarized then laughed. The detective's cheeks flushed pink. "That's good enough for me. We are friends though, yes?"

Blush darkening a shade, Shinichi buried his face in his coffee cup. He couldn't say it out loud—couldn't tell Kaito that, somehow, the magician had become one of the most important friends he had ever had.

The silence that followed was much softer than the one that had come before. More comfortable.

"There was one more reason I wanted to tell you about me—about KID," Kaito said when he'd finished his own cup of coffee. Setting the cup aside, he leaned over to grasp Shinichi's free hand. With the detective's slim hand clasped warm in his own, he looked deep into brilliant, sapphire eyes and felt his chest swell with warmth and a desire he couldn't quite put a shape to. "I want to get to know you better. And I felt that the only way I could really do that was by helping you get to know me better too. My secrets for yours, I suppose."

Shinichi blinked, somewhat taken aback by the declaration. "That's… You really didn't have to go that far."

"Oh? So you were planning to tell me about Conan-kun?"

"Er, no…"

"That's what I thought." Kaito shot him a rather smug smirk. "So, will you tell me what happened?"

After everything the magician had just told him, Shinichi thought, it was nigh near impossible for him to say no. The strange thing was that he found he didn't want to say no. He wanted to tell Kaito—wanted to share those memories he'd been keeping bottled up inside.

Taking a deep breath, he nodded.

TBC

A.N: And both cats are out of their bags, hehe. ^_^