-FIRSTS-
Disclaimer: The works of Detective Conan and Magic Kaito belongs to Gosho Aoyama-sensei.
Warning: (Really) Slow developing KaiShin relationship.
A/N: This is a strange one...the romance is actually developing (?). Apologies in advanced for the French, I'm a bit rusty.
A/N (2): Updated the French. Thanks heaps Opal Spirit ^.^
First Mistake
He tried bugging the classroom of Teitan high, sent his reconnaissance team (aka spy doves) to monitor the detective's friends, made regular visits to the police headquarters, and now he is down to his last option - staking out at the Kudo Manor. Or more specifically, inside the Manor. He made himself comfortable in one of the many guest rooms on the second floor. This way, he would hear the detective coming home.
He had wanted to clarify with the detective what happened after the Raven's Soul heist. After said heist ended, he rushed back to their shared room, only to find the detective's luggage gone. He asked around the hostel but the staff gave him a negative reply.
"Where are you?" Kaito asked the empty room, sitting on the stiff mattress. He wanted to see what the detective meant by his actions. Whether it was on a whim or if there were feelings behind it. Laying down on his back, he stared up at the bland ceiling. The guest bed was not as comfortable as the detective's but he wanted to catch him unawares.
'Figures a thief has to catch a detective. Well, at least I won't have to steal him away.' Kaito thought wryly. He ruffled his hair, making it an even more unrecognizable mess. He was frustrated by the lack of presence from the blue-eyed detective. He was considering holding a heist just to see him, but it was not guaranteed he would appear, pretty much like last time when he missed the detective. So learning from that lesson and dismissed the idea.
"Arg!" He groaned, burying his face on the pillow that he stole from the detective's bed (he tried to reason that the original pillow was dust covered and probably not hygienic but nothing a good dusting and a change of pillow covers couldn't fix, still, he preferred the detective's pillow), breathing in the musky, woody scent left in the material. He snuggled deeper, seeking comfort in the soft bedding.
Lying to himself was something he refused to do. The light peck on the cheeks had stunned him but it also roused something in him. After the initial shock had worn off, and when the adrenaline ran out, he closely examined what the action meant to him. He wasn't disgusted, nor hated it. He somehow thought it to be sweet, how Shinichi's face tinged with a hint of pink, how the lids of the sapphire eyes relaxed just a fraction as he pulled away, and how the strands of hair was loosened from the back of his ears and shadowed the eyes as the detective's head ducked slightly to move away. Kaito was also touched,and nearly melted, when the detective leaned in to whisper into his ear with a soft and warm voice. He wasn't sure where these warm and fuzzy feelings would lead but he just knew he had to see the detective.
He glanced over at the window, where the sun had mostly disappeared beneath the horizon. The clock on the bedside table showed it to be just before 6, a time where white collared workers would be preparing to go home, when student activities would finish and release the hoards of teenagers back into the street, and the mothers would be busy cooking dinner and urging children to clean up the table. It was also the time that Kaito would expect the detective would return.
Two hours into the waiting, and Kaito was feeling impatient. The detective should be at home, there was no way that he couldn't hear the front doors opening or the footsteps on the staircase. Yet there had been no sound.
'At least the manor doesn't feel as oppressive as last time.'
He turned to get off the bed to wander about the hallways, just in case he detective had the same skills as Kaito. However, there were no signs of the detective to have returned. He took out his phone and opened up an application that links to the devices he strapped onto his reconnaissance doves. He wanted to see if the detective was stuck at the police station or held up at a crime scene. But there was no news. In an instant, his heart raced, fearing the detective might have landed in a kidnapping (in the best case scenario. He does not wish to think that the detective was laying in a gutter or trash somewhere for people to find his cold and stiff body). After spending a minute doing breathing exercises to calm himself down, he went back up to the guest room to grab some gear before exiting from said room's window (he is a thief after all, so the obvious route would be entering and exiting through the window and not the door).
He considered going straight to the hospital but he thought he should stop by the neighbour's place first. If anyone were to know the whereabouts of Shinichi, it would be the little scientist. Ringing the doorbell instead of sneaking in, for he feared that the resident (aka the little scientist) would shoot him, he waited with baited breath. If someone answers the door, there is a high probability that Shinichi would be safe, but if the house is unoccupied it would give Kaito the reason to panic.
"What do you want?" The young scientist said with much discontent. She blocked the entryway with her small frame, forcing Kaito back down to the porch.
"Do you know where Shinichi is?" He actually knelt down to her level to have a better look it her facial expression.
Thwack!
At the same time, Kaito was hit on the side of the head.
"What was that for?!" He rubbed the sore spot, for someone so young, she sure has a mean slap.
"That's for your idiocy." She them slammed the door in his face, with enough force to cause Kaito to fall on his backside. He heard muffled sounds of a conversation between the young voice of the scientist and that of an elderly, then the door opened again to reveal the aging professor.
"Sorry about Ai-kun, you should probably come inside." He extended the invitation and helped him up.
"Why did she feel the need to abuse me?" He dusted off the dirt from his jeans.
"It's because you hurt Kudo-kun, KID...again!" She was by the cooking stove this time, with a spatula in her hands. Kaito took one of the bar stools in front.
"He's not injured again is he?" Kaito doubts it as Haibara did not act overly worried.
"It does not change the fact you still hurt him. I'm beginning to think you're actually bad for him." She was evading his question.
"Ojou-san, what did I do that hurt him?"
"It's more like what you haven't done." She sighed, with a look that borders on disbelief. "I thought being dense was a trait reserved for detectives but I guess it extends to phantom thieves as well."
Kaito was now officially confused.
"Do I actually look like a counsellor to you?" She crossed her arms. Kaito suddenly had the distinct feeling she would have hit him with the spatula should her reach be far enough standing where she was. "It's been a whole week, nearly two, and you still haven't done anything!"
"I don't get..."
"YOU!" She cut him off and pointed the spatula in his face. "You didn't respond, didn't act, haven't even sought him out!"
"I have!" Kaito defended, nearly knocking over the cup of water the professor placed in front of him.
"No you haven't!" She managed to lean over and whacked the thief's head with the spatula. "Placing bugs, using your spy doves, and other such indirect means Does Not Count!" To emphasize this, she pointed the spatula in his face and moved it up and down to the beat of the final three syllables.
A startled look formed on his face, he had thought his actions were not detected by anyone other than Shinichi. He briefly wondered where he left his Poker Face today, to have him show such a wide range of his emotions and thoughts without filter.
"For nearly two weeks, he hasn't heard from you! What do you think he's feeling?" She sighed in exasperation. She then continued, even though she noticed the guilty look on the thief's face. "You better up your game Kaitou KID-san."
"What...?"
She went back to tending to the pot. Ignoring the sitting thief's inquisition.
"What Ai-kun means is that you should probably go look for Shinichi-kun." The professor was smart enough to have stayed out of the dress-down just then.
"Can I borrow the trackers?" Kaito asked hopefully.
"No he may not Hakase." She forcefully slammed down the small bowl of stew, making little droplets of the juice fall onto the counter. "He will be leaving now as well, not over staying his welcome." She glared at him, to the point where cold sweat was beginning to form on Kaito's forehead.
"Yes," Kaito said mechanically, "I will be leaving now. Thank you for the drink." Then left quickly and swiftly out the front door.
'Scary.' Were his only thoughts as he walked down the street, looking for clues as to where the detective may be. He guessed he should head over to the Ekoda Clock Tower first seeing as that place seems to hold special meaning for Shinichi.
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To Kaito, the Clock Tower has been a symbol of many things and to know that Shinichi also has fond memories of this place really warmed his heart. Traversing through the halls and staircase, he had not seen a single sign of the detective.
'This is too much like a heist...' the quietness, the search, to constant vigilance, everything is reminding Kaito of his escapade as KID. 'But any gem worth keeping is worth the effort.'
Arriving at the top of the staircase, in the backroom leading to the service entrance, he still had not found the one he was looking for. He was about to leave to look for another place when he noticed the slightly opened service entrance door. Curiosity burned inside him and he approached the light.
Opening the service entrance fully, Kaito was thankful that the detective had not decide to re-enact KID's action to stand out on the clock face. Leaning onto the small ledge, he looked out into the night sky, silently asking the hanging moon to show him the location of the one he seek. It was then he noticed a note tucked at the top of the ledge, between the crevice. The note was written in English in the detective's writing from a torn page of his notebook no doubt.
A reversal of roles between you and me
A chase by the thief for a misplaced detective
From his place of waiting to his place of eternal rest
When the bell tolls four times will return to his nest
To forget and never to appear again
In the moonlight where it all began.
'A riddle?' Kaito turned the page over and held it up into the moonlight just in case there were any hidden messages. 'Quite phantom-thief-like my dear Meitantei.'
He figured he could ignore the first two lines and the third line, since it was just laying out the rules. The note indicates that if he could not find the detective with an hour of discovering the note then the detective would stop going to heists and pretend nothing has happened, which also could extend to never meeting with Kuroba Kaito again.
'How would he know when I'd find this?' Cautiously, he looked around for hidden cameras and/or sensors. But nothing was out of place. Thinking back, the only reason the detective would know is if the little scientist had called to inform Shinichi when Kaito left their place. This also meant that the detective had managed to predict all his actions. Kaito felt warmed at this thought. He had thought there would be no person on Earth that would understand him, but apparently, Shinichi has.
'Now to decipher the note...' Although he was more used to writing riddles, but one needs to know how to solve a riddle before attempting to write one. 'The easiest phrase to make meaning out of would be his place of eternal rest. It might be slightly out of his character but I might check the closest memorial in this area. I have a one hour limit so it would be reasonable to have the location close.' He remembered there was a statue in the center of the park that the Clock Tower was placed in. If not, he could try the cemetery two blocks over.
The memorial turned out to be a bust, there was no detective nor note. However, at the gate to the cemetery and tied to one of the bushes close to the entrance with a silky white satin ribbon, he found another note, still written in English.
This is costly, as you will see
For this is not the location which you seek
But for your effort, an advice is rewarded
Look into your memories and have them sorted.
The key of the day is the 'he' which you seek
Follow the sequence and try to be quick.
Kaito forced down a growl that was threatening to rise through his throat. He could now understand the frustrations that the KID taskforce must feel every time he sends a heist notice.
'But I have to admit, he is quite good at this riddle thing.' Kaito could appreciate the intelligence that went into this. As maddening as this is, it is actually interesting to be on this side of things. It could be that this is the detective's way of sharing his world with him. 'Strange, but understandable.'
Back to the newest note, this indicates that he was on the wrong track. It suggested him to backtrack and look through his memories.
'The key being the 'he' which you seek...? I'm looking for the detective so it should have to do with how we met? I just came from the Clock Tower, and that heist did not require any waiting. The second time we met was when he was Conan, on the April Fools heist.' That was an unforgettable heist in many ways. KID had been cornered by a supposed seven year old atop a hotel rooftop, then at the boiler room of a cruise ship. He cringed at the memory, the row back towards the shore had earned him a week of muscle pain. 'He waited for KID at Haido City Hotel. Might as well check it out.'
The fifteen minute ride on the train gave Kaito time to think. What could he say when facing the detective? 'What if he asked me to forget about what happened? Or maybe he just wants to say it was all a mistake?' Rubbing his face in the palm of his hands, he was grateful there weren't that many people on the train, else it would have been embarrassing to have people see him stressing out so much. He dearly hoped it wasn't the case. He did not want the previous exchange to turn out to be a case of misplaced emotions. Touching the cheek that the detective had placed his lips on, he felt the ghostly feeling of warmth and pressure, still lingering even though it has been nearly two weeks. He could also feel a faint blush forming at the thought.
As soon as he left the platform, he broke out into a light jog towards the hotel. It would have been a ten minute walk, but he made it in less than half the time. The roof access was locked but he made quick work of it. Arriving at the exact same place of their previous exchange, he found a white card held down by a cheap oversized glass diamond, ones easily bought at accessory shops or a miscellany shop.
'Never have pegged you for a romantic nut.' He held the blue glass up towards the moonlight, mimicking what he always do for his heist target. 'Must be habit by now.' He thought to himself, knowing this was just a piece of glass, he still did the ritual. As the moon shone through, he could actually see laser engravings. It was small and barely noticeable. Angling the glass, Kaito could just make out a pair of symbols; clubs and spades.
'A custom piece?' He flipped the card over to reveal a line of writing. It was French this time.
Je rends retourne ce coeur à son propriétaire légitime. Si la déesse le permet, pourrions nous nous rencontrer encore une fois
'I return this heart to its rightful owner, if the goddess allows we shall meet once more?' He scratched his head. He never would have guessed the detective knew French. 'Really, knowing the language of love...wait...love, the return of a heart, white ribbon from before, message, eternal rest, and the sentence about the goddess and fate. Kuso!' Kaito was tempted to swear using the phrases he learnt from listening to Nakamori-keibu but that would just be a waste to time and breath. Instead, he quickly dashed back towards the stairwell, down one flight of stairs and towards the elevator.
'How could I be so stupid! The engraved clubs is synonymous with clover, representing me, and the spade, if I remembered correctly, was once used to symbolize Shinichi in a case. The return of my heart and to give me his heart, meaning unrequited love. Couple that with the language...he has feelings for me? And thought I don't feel the same?' He forcefully pushed the button for the ground floor of the hotel, wishing the elevator would go faster. 'Then there is the white ribbon from the previous message and talk of goddess. If I bring in the location of the last note, it draws a very grim picture...' Frowning, he briskly walked out of the building before breaking into a run.
He remembered reading once there are many meanings to a white ribbon, but the one that keeps coming to mind in this situation is the one about suicide by hanging oneself with a white ribbon upon the rafters. 'If the goddess allows, there are not that many significant females around Shinichi's life. The little scientist, his mother, and Mouri-chan.' He paused briefly to look at the street signs to see if he missed an intersection as he had been to caught up in his thought. He nearly overshot and ran passed the small set of staircase leading up to the Mouri Detective Agency.
He knocked on the third floor apartment in rapid succession, praying that the karate master was not asleep. His prayers were answered as he heard a soft feminine reply from beyond the door.
"Kuroba-kun?" There was confusion in her voice. "Are you alright?"
"Mouri-chan," he ranted. Still panting from his run, "is Shinichi here?"
"No, is something wrong?" Her face contorted with worry at the question.
"Did he leave a message with you?"
"No." She drew out her mobile from her pocket. "I'll give him a call."
Kaito waited patiently, the seconds for waiting the phone to connect seems like a torture.
"Hello, Shinichi?"
"Ran? What's the matter?"
"Kuroba-kun is here in front of the apartment, he's..."
"Shinichi!" Kaito snatched the phone from her hands. "Don't do anything stupid!"
"What?" His voice paused. "What?! You did not just jump to conclusions did you? Oh boy, you probably just spooked Ran. Change back to her."
"Not unless you tell me where you are." Kaito demanded.
"Kaito." It seems the voice had compelled him to act and he obediently returned the phone to the waiting girl.
"Shinichi? Are you ok? Should I worry?"
"I'm fine, only that Kaito took my notes quite literally."
"What did you do to warrant his worry?"
"..."
"Kuroba-kun, would you mind waiting downstairs at Poirot?" Sensing his reluctance to answer, she asked Kaito to leave. Kaito really would have preferred to stay, but the steely eyes forced him to comply and he slowly walked back down to the cafe.
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The brief call had not dissipated any of his worries. He sat down in one of the booths and ordered a plate of sandwiches with hot chocolate as he had yet to eat dinner. The waitress, Asuza by the name tag, served him with a bright smile to which he replied half-heartedly. He nibbled through his plate and it wasn't until he was half way through when Mouri-chan entered. She greeted the waitress and purposefully walked towards him.
She was staring at him intensely, studying him. It felt as though she was dissecting him with her eyes.
"I'm not sure which one of you is more ignorant." She commented after a minute of silence. "I can understand why Shinichi would be awkward at such situations, but from my conversations with Aoko-chan, you should be apt at these kinds of things. Especially considering you're a magician."
"Did he tell you where he is? I need to find him." Kaito urged, earning him another steely glare from the girl.
"Convince me why I should tell you Kuroba-kun. If what Shinichi told me is true, you should have everything needed to find him."
Kaito was silenced, his gaze focused upon the boring tabletop. What could he say to her to make her give up the location? She sighed when she saw his downtroddened face.
"Take out your phone Kuroba-kun." She took pity on him. Kaito hoped she was giving him Shinichi's mobile number. But it seems all he received was a file transfer.
This time, it was a digital picture of a hand-drawn circle.
"Whatever does this mean?" Kaito said out loud, he had not intended for anyone to hear.
"I'm guessing this is the Holmes Otaku's way of letting you choose. This is just a suggestion, but I feel that you should make yourself clear to him. He's prone to overanalyzing when dealing with people that he is emotionally attached." She stood up and gave Kaito a pat of encouragement. "Good Luck Kuroba-kun."
Kaito sat frozen in his seat for a full fifteen minutes, to a point where Asuza came and shook him to check whether he was ok. Kaito searched within himself, to see what it was he truly wanted out of the exchanged. He was conflicted and confused. On the one hand, he quite like the relationship they were having at the moment, to move beyond could risk everything. On the other hand, he wasn't fully satisfied with the current situation between the two of them.
Then, as though summoned by his uncertainty, his phone rang. It was the tone for incoming message. There was no caller ID and he did not recognise the number. Normally, he would have ignored it and deleted the message, but in his current state, he accidentally pressed the view button and opened the anonymous message. He hoped it was not a virus.
The message only consisted of a single symbol.
?
Kaito laughed out loud, startling Asuza from her place by the entrance. The answer was simple and it had been in his head all along.
He wondered if Shinichi was secretly a psychic or did he just know Kaito that well to determine when he would want to send a direct reply. Carefully, he typed his response.
!
o}-,-'-
I shall leave no stone unturned
For the sapphire my heart would burn
As one light fades, and another appears
By the Goddesses' blessings the rose will be near
The engraved glass will bear witness to this
For glass will turn to diamond, forever, in eternal bliss.
-'-,-{o
The moment Kaito pressed send, he felt giddy. He now had a lot of planning to do if he were to impress and surprise the one and only person who can read him like an open book.
-TBC-
Explanation
1) First riddle: written in English because 'Conan' = Arthur Conan Doyle, English author. Shinichi wanted Kaito to consider where Conan first waited for KID and where Conan generally returns to. Shinichi had always been trying to return to Ran, so he was directing Kaito to go find Ran for the next set of instructions. Actually, the last line is the place where Kaito could find Shinichi, somewhere under the clear sky where Conan returns to i.e. Rooftop of Mouri Detective Agency.
2) Second riddle: the white ribbon explanation according to wikipedia entry that I'm going for is its representation and linkage with women. Shinichi was hoping to direct Kaito to find Ran. Kaito, unfortunately, did not use wikipedia. Instead he was referring to Chinese folklore/history where Emperor grant their concubines/consort the 'honour' of hanging themselves in situations where the King finds them guilty of crime. In this case, the Emperor 'gifts' them a white ribbon for hanging themselves.
3) French 'riddle': It was to reinforce the second riddle in case Kaito missed it.
4) Hand-drawn circle: Meaning everything coming to a full circle, everthing to do with Conan and Shinichi is with Ran...
5) Kaito's reply: It's a love declaration.
In case you don't know 'Kuso' = damn/shit
If you're wondering, Shinichi actually told Ran beforehand that he would be hiding out at her rooftop ^_^;;
