-FIRSTS-

Disclaimer: The works of Detective Conan and Magic Kaito belongs to Gosho Aoyama-sensei.

Warning: KaiShin relationship.

A/N: A bit of a divergence from the plot. It's...eh...not sure what to call it but I kinda like this arc in the story. Hopefully you'll enjoy it~


First Respite

"Is there really a need to pack so much?" Shinichi picked up another sweatshirt from their luggage. They were invited by Sonoko onto the family cruise ship along with Ran. "And why do we need to be here anyways? I thought I was through with being part of the accompaniment after coming back."

"Well, this is supposed to be a graduation trip of sorts. Think of it as part of the generosity from Suzuki-jou." Kaito took the sweatshirt, re-folded the garment and placed it into the drawers. "Though why did she invite Hakuba as well? I could do without him here."

"To be fair, Sonoko was inviting Aoko and Hakuba was tagging along."

Kaito tsk-ed and muttered something along the lines of "nosy detectives" under his breath.

The cruise was set to do a round trip down to Southern Japan then back to Tokyo, on the way they would be stopping at Osaka where they would be picking up friends of the Suzuki family as well as their favourite Osakan couple.

"Hakuba would no doubt be pestering me for the whole trip." Kaito let out by exaggerated sigh.

"He's mellowed out a bit though..." Shinichi smiled encouragingly, sitting down on the soft queen sized double bed. He wasn't sure whether to thank the girl for being considerate or jump out of the window in embarrassment. "Kaito, you didn't have a hand in the room arrangements did you?"

"Do you think I would stop at a double bed if I did?" Kaito gave his detective a lecherous grin, to which Shinichi shuddered. His magician definitely did not plan this, if he did, there would be a hot tub or they'll be in one of the more luxurious suites. "But I'm sure I can still convince Suzuki-jou to rearrange the rooms..."

"No, no. We shouldn't trouble her. I'm fine with what we're given." Shinichi had to stop the magician before he has any more ideas.

Kaito's grin widened before pouncing onto his detective, tackling him further into to mattress. Shinichi yelped and tried to retaliate.

"Kaito!" Shinichi struggled to push Kaito off his chest but the magician wrapped his arms around Shinichi's and restricted movement.

"We're not meeting up until later and we're both healed well enough. We should indulge ourselves."

Shinichi was trying hard to contain the giggle resulting from Kaito's hair tickling his neck. He wriggled about on the bed, messing up the sheets and tangling them up in the blankets. Kaito took this chance to start a tickle attack on all of Shinichi's weak spots. Joyous laughter soon filled the room.

"What brought that on?" Shinichi said between pants. His eyes had tears and he was still trying to reign in the tail of a laugh ever since Kaito stopped the attack.

Kaito shrugged and flopped next to Shinichi, "don't know. But seeing you flustered just now gave me the urge to do something." He too was heaving for air for Kaito received a fair amount of attacks from Shinichi. "That was fun." It hurt to smile but he could not contain the grin.

"Yea..." They stayed still on the bed, surrounded by a comfortable silence that somehow lulled both to sleep. Kaito reflected later that it must have been because of the vigorous exercise and that both had released all the built up tension and stress with the laughters.

They slept through the whole late morning. At some point, the pair moved closer to the center of the bed and began to snuggle with each other for when they were woken up by the knock on the door, they were not only tangled in the surrounding bed sheets but in each other's arms as well.

"Shinichi? Kuroba-kun?" It was Ran. "Are you guys ok?" There was slight concern in her voice.

"We're fine." They both called out towards the door. Shinichi wasn't sure whether she heard them.

And apparently she didn't as moments later, there was a distinctive beep from the automatic lock opening. Shinichi internally cursed at the Suzuki's choice of soundproof material when Kaito snickered beside him.

"Wait!" Shinichi called out. Their clothes were in disarray and they were on a messed up bed. It would only lead to misinterpretations. But the warning came too late.

Sonoko and Aoko was accompanying Ran and all three girls gasped at the sight of the entangled pair on the bed.

"I knew I made the right decision to put you guys in this room." There was a satisfactory smile on the young heiress's face. "Or do you guys want the honeymoon suite instead? There's quite a few on board."

Shinichi spluttered some half formed sentence, incomprehensible to everyone except himself.

"It's alright Suzuki-chan. No need to trouble yourself." Despite all his earlier teasing, Kaito did not want everyone to know. Some things are better left for the imagination. Though by the blush on Aoko's face, he could easily picture what sorts of conclusions she was coming to. "Aoko~ What naughty thoughts are you thinking?" But a little teasing never hurt.

"Ba-bakaito!" Aoko was hiding behind the giggling Ran. "You...that's indecent!"

"But the lovely, adorable Shinichi is my boyfriend~" Kaito poked Shinichi in the cheeks as he wrapped an arm possessively around his detective's waist. He let his finger trailed down the face, neck, and towards the waist where his hands interlaced forming a loop. This managed to make both Aoko stammer and Shinichi blush. "It's only normal for us to want to explore. But Aoko, you shouldn't imitate me when you're with Hakuba."

"Wh-what?! Don't lump me together with you!" Embarrassed and angered, she stalked over to the edge of the bed with her hands on her hips. "Who would want to imitate you!" She made a grab and Shinichi's wrist, "come on Kudo-kun, let's just leave the stupid magician."

"Ah, wait." Shinichi tries to struggle out of the mess of fabric but somehow, Kaito had tied the white sheets during the conversation so not only it was wrapping around the waist but also making at really hard to leave the bed.

"Shinichi, don't tell me you're really undressed in there." Three pairs eyes suddenly widened.

"What? No! It's definitely not what you girls are thinking!" Shinichi held up his hands frantically as though the physical action could stop their thoughts.

"My Dear, what's there to be embarrassed about?" Kaito purred from beside him, resting his head on Shinichi's shoulders as arms circled tighter around the slim waist. "This isn't the first time..." He let himself rest his lips softly at the junction of Shinichi's neck, nose nuzzling and taking in his detective's unique scent.

"Kaito! You're not helping!" Although what Kaito said was true, it did not mean they have to proclaim it to their friends and the world. He was also trying to will the heated cheeks away but it just intensified at Kaito's every word.

Kaito laughed into Shinichi's shoulders as his detective flustered to clear up this misunderstanding. Really, of all times for the girls to catch them, they weren't really doing anything outside the PG spectrum.

Shinichi was saved by a knock on the door frame as the girls had left the doors ajar.

"Sera-san and Koizumi-san were wondering what took you so long." Hakuba looked at the scene and sighed. "Kuroba, I would say leave your actions to the bedroom but seeing as we're here already, then I'll amend it and tell you to leave something for after the marriage."

"What...?" All the occupants in the room, with the exception of Kaito, had their jaws dropped open.

"Why Hakuba, I never knew you to be able to joke." Kaito teased.

"I'm not." He turned towards the stunned girls. "I think we should leave them to their activities and have lunch without them." He offered his arm to Aoko to escort her out. Sonoko flashed them a wicked grin before following the pair, leaving a contemplative Ran in the room.

"Shinichi." She addressed the detective with an overly sweet voice. Both boys gulped, it could only mean something were about to happen.

"Y...yes Ran?" Shinichi stilled, but his instincts were telling him to flee.

"Would you mind stepping out for a moment? There's something I want to talk to Kuroba-kun about." The overly motherly tone and sweet smile made Ran look even more threatening than her angered face and Shinichi was not about to test her. He nodded, swiftly leaving the bed and subsequently the room. Ran did not speak until she was sure Shinichi had closed the bedroom doors and could not hear a word that transpires on the inside. Not once did her eyes move away from Kaito's form as Shinichi made his exit.

They stayed in the tense silence as Ran waited. Kaito was not willing to make a sound or movement lest it incurs the karate master's wrath.

"Kuroba-kun." Ran broke the silence, earning Kaito another dry swallow.

"Yes Mouri-chan?" Kaito was actually fearful of the girl standing at the end of the bed. To make it worst, he had nothing but pillows to defend himself. In a sense of self preservation, he shifted the blankets about him to form some sort of a fortress around himself.

"I'm quite sure with how Shinichi's parents act, they would have forgotten this so I'll do my part as his best friend and honorary sister." Ran laid a levelled gaze on Kaito. "Hurt him and you'll know first hand what a bent lamp post feels like."

Kaito automatically nodded. Not that he had any reason not to.

"Good. Now that we have that cleared up. Make sure you treat Shinichi well or I might not be the only one you should fear." Ran left Kaito to stew in the room.

When Kaito heard the door shut with a soft click, he took a large intake of breath. He did not realise he had been holding his breath until now.

"Are all woman in Shinichi's life like this?" He turned to the nesting dove on the window. She looked up as though to scoff at Kaito for asking a dumb question. "Not you as well Hime. I raised you from an egg and you're actually on his side?"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Lunch was served at one of the many buffet halls on the ship. This particular one was small in comparison, more like a coffee lounge than a dinning hall. It had a grand view of the ship's deck with its large windows. The tables were set with low sofas, allowing groups of four to gather on one table. As such, Sonoko, her boyfriend, Ran, and Sera sat on one by themselves, leaving Aoko, Hakuba, and Akako to the table on their left and Kaito, and Shinichi to slightly behind them. Their group had the whole hall to themselves, as not many boarded the cruise from Tokyo Bay.

Kaito could not say lunch was a strange affair, though there were quite a few lewd glances from the young Suzuki's direction, but it wasn't normal either. Shinichi kept flinching at the girl's comments that even Kaito's encouraging hand had very little effect. Hakuba kept glancing in their direction with a look of disappointment. Both Shinichi and Kaito managed to corner the blond detective when Aoko left with the other girls for some sunbathing, with the maIe karate master accompanying them saying it is unsafe for the girls to be alone on such a large ship, and when they could no longer bare the look.

"What's the matter with those?" Kaito sat on the lounge chair opposite Hakuba, leaving Shinichi with sitting adjacent.

"By those you mean...?" Hakuba raised an eyebrow for the magician to continue.

"Eyes! Your eyes! You kept looking at us all...funny." Kaito waved his hands about to stress his point.

"I think what he means was that whether you had any ill feelings about...us...together." Shinichi had to pause to see if Hakuba understood. It turns out, the meaning was lost on the blond and that he needed to be more clear. "You know, this morning..."

Hakuba sighed with resignation before turning to address Kaito. "I've already accepted, from the moment that Kudo-san chose you, that despite your infatuation with a white tuxedo, you Kuroba Kaito, must have a reason for anything you do. And this reason is just and sound. Seeing as a detective such as Kudo-san willingly associated himself with you."

"Finally, you're admitting I'm a good person!" Kuroba leaned over the table, nearly spilling the cup of tea, to hug the blond.

"Get off you buffoon!" Hakuba struggled out of the magician's arms to free himself.

"I knew you were a good friend Hakuba!" Kaito was beaming, strangely enough. "But what's with the looks of disappointment?"

"Not disappointment, rather pity that when I do catch you, I'll have to help break you out as well..." Hakuba sighed, reaching for the tea as he observed the confused face of the magician. The Eastern Detective, however, had a sheepish look and tried to focus on anywhere except their current conversation topic. "You seriously don't know what your boyfriend can do, do you Kuroba?"

"Should I?" Kaito looked expectantly at Shinichi, who was still adamantly looking out the window pretending he did not hear a thing and was invisible to the world.

"Kudo-san managed to extract from the police that all matters of KID..."

"Wait! No, don't tell him!" Shinichi held out his hands to grip Hakuba by the wrist, disrupting the flow of conversation. Kaito twitched at the contact but quickly dismissed the illogical jealousy suddenly rising up at the base of his stomach.

"Shinichi...?" Kaito's curiosity was piqued. What did his detective do? He batted his eyelash, giving his detective am irresistible pout.

"Kuroba, that's just disturbing." Hakuba was covering his eyes, trying to avert his gaze to something other than the display in front of him. "If you'll ensure Kudo-san won't maim me then I'll tell you."

"You could always go back to England if Shinichi does try to get retribution for leaking out his secret." Kaito plonked himself onto Shinichi's laps as a restraint. "Now, will you tell me." As an added precaution, Kaito took both Shinichi's hands into his own just in case the detective decided to cover Kaito's ears.

"Did you know that Kudo-san has quite a sway in many of the police's decisions?" Hakuba was discussing this as though it was the weather. "The police, as I've heard, had been trying to recruit him for quite some time now..."

"Hakuba, stop telling him." Shinichi struggled from the magician's grip and continued to disrupt the narration. At this point, Kaito snapped his fingers to produce a roll of duct tape. He twisted himself so he could gag his detective.

"Don't say I didn't warn you." Kaito was smiling with mirth as Shinichi twisted and turned to avoid the sticky tape. But ultimately, his mouth was covered with the silvery band. Though that did not stop him from muffling sounds.

"In exchange for his services, Kudo-san secured many favours and one of them includes your 'get out of jail free' card. But there is a stipulation to it."

Kaito looked meaningfully at Shinichi, who resigned and slumped his head over Kaito's shoulders hoping to contain the embarrassment.

Hakuba continued without much thought to the pair. "The stipulation is that KID must make his own escape. And seeing as now that I know the secret, if I don't do anything about it when KID somehow does end up in chains, well I'm quite sure Kudo-san will have something to say to me after..."

"Aw my Love, you shouldn't have!" Kaito placed a wet, sloppy kiss on Shinichi's cheeks. "You threatened a detective and blackmailed the police for me~"

Shinichi muffled something akin to "get off" to which Kaito actually understood and complied, freeing the detective. Shinichi quickly ripped off the tape with a wince at the stinging pain.

"Kaito, just... just pretend you haven't heard that..." Shinichi looked away in embarrassment.

"You know, I'm curious at how you managed that " Kaito latched onto his detective's neck, leaning closer and ignoring Hakuba's groan of annoyance or complaints.

"It's nothing." Shinichi pushed gently against Kaito, urging him to back away.

"It's not nothing when you have more than half of the TMPD wrapped, and at least a quarter if not a third of the overall judicial force, around your fingers." Hakuba was portraying every bit the calm English gentleman he made himself out to be. Taking another sip from his cup, he calmly informed Kaito, "teenage detectives don't work for free you know Kuroba. Every one of us has an agenda and for me, if you're curious, is to make a name for myself. I'm sure Kudo-san has a different one than myself."

"Shinichi, why do you never talk about yourself?" Kaito looked expectantly at Shinichi. "You can share things with me."

"I know..." Shinichi is still insisting on not meeting the magician's eyes. He fidgeted with the napkin in front of him then abruptly stood and informed them he needed coffee and would they like anything, but not giving anyone a chance to reply.

"Kuroba, I'm no love guru but I am a detective." He waited until Kaito withdrew his gaze from the Eastern Detective's back. "A detective has a tendency to not let people know much about themselves. They deduce and observe, learning everything about their object of focus, but never under any circumstances let others be involved with themselves. I had it easy as I'm not that deep in homicide. Kudo-san, on the other hand, must have learnt how to compartmentalize and lock out anything that could affect his decisions. That is why there is a common trait amongst detectives, not being able to fully express themselves."

Kaito had a wide eyed look on his face as he processed what the blond detective just told him.

"Are you..." there was hesitation as to how Kaito wanted to phrase his thoughts, "are you giving me advice? To how to understand Shinichi?"

There was a definite urge in Hakuba to want to bang his head on the table. Why had he thought the magician would just be gracious enough to take the comment?

"You know what Kuroba, pretend I didn't say anything. Fumble around and see if I care." Hakuba grabbed his mobile on the table, waved goodbye to the returning Shinichi and left for the vast library on the ship. Kaito looked very satisfied, but Shinichi wasn't sure whether it was the 'I had a ton of chocolate ice-cream'-satisfied or the 'I dyed everyone's underwear pink'-satisfied.

"Should I be planning a trip to Hawaii?" Shinichi slowly, and deliberately, placed down his cup. "Or should I be looking for a mountain retreat? What did you do to Hakuba to scare him off?"

"I just found out Hakuba loves me." Kaito beamed at Shinichi.

"O...k then. I should be planning how to dispose of a body..." Carefully, he sat down in his original seat.

"Shinichi Dearest, are you really jealous or are you pretending to be?" Kaito scooted closer to Shinichi, pulling his chair closer, then draped himself over Shinichi's laps.

"Which do you think?" Playfully, Shinichi poked at Kaito's cheeks.

"Shinichi, my lovely darling of a boyfriend, you have nothing to fear." Kaito pulled Shinichi closer to his face. "The law might never capture and put me in chains but you've already made me your prisoner." He leaned up to give a quick touch of lips.

This trip proved to be a hazard for Shinichi as his brain stalled for a second time today. He felt his cheeks heat up, no amount of ice water or air conditioning can cool him down. Turning away, eyes towards the window and hoping a bit of distance could dissipate the heated feeling, he concentrated on the too-blue cloudless sky. He heard Kaito snickered in the background but decided to ignore it.

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They docked Osaka in the early morning and guests started to arrive during the afternoon. On the one hand, girls were eager for Kazuha to join them but not everyone was happy. Sonoko was saddened when Kyogoku had to leave the ship at Osaka seeing as he had training camp in preparation for the next tournament.

"Makoto-san, I'll be missing you." Sonoko hugged the karate champion by the exit ramp. "Call me? Or I'll call you every night?"

"I'm really sorry Sonoko-san, and you took so much pains to arrange for it as well."

"It's fine. There's always next time." The young heiress timidly kissed him on the cheeks. The karate champion immediately flustered and became redder than a tomato.

"Sonoko-san, we're in public." Embarrassed, he eased Sonoko away from him. "It won't be good for your friends to see us like this."

"You mean Ran and the others? They've seen even more." She cast a glance towards the pair of near identical boys. Shinichi sighed, already predicting future conversations filled with innuendoes.

"You know Shinichi, they remind me of some people." Kaito looked meaningfully at the sitting detective next to him with his back towards the railings.

"Who?" Shinichi was not really in the mood to guess his magician's thoughts, too content to enjoy the warm sun and sea breeze.

"Us." Kaito pointed at the pair, Kyogoku have yet to even step foot onto the plank. Sonoko skill gushing out some romantic, sappy lines.

Shinichi looked at the pair, then directed his gaze up towards Kaito's face.

"Did you just admit to being of similar character to Sonoko? Good grief." He joked, "I'm not sure which is scarier, two of you or two of her."

"Now look who's being mean." Kaito laughed along with Shinichi.

"I'm going to have nightmares for days now."

"Aw Sweetie, don't worry, I'll make it all better." Kaito held out his arms to encourage Shinichi to leap into his arms.

"Think again." Shinichi shook his head and inched farther away from the magician.

"I'm not sure whether to say the two of you are sweet or disturbing." Hakuba approached them with drinks in hand, he offered one each to Shinichi and Kaito. "Take your flirting elsewhere will you?"

"Why Hakuba, are you jealous?" Kaito teased.

"Please, what do I have to be jealous about? You're insecurities? Aoko-san and myself are at a comfortable point. Besides, overuse of flirtatious comments only means your relationship is unstable. If two persons are genuinely in love and understand each other, there's no need for such comments."

"So Hakuba, you're a romantic at heart too." Shinichi had to agree to a certain degree, not that he dislike his magician's flirting.

"Shinichi." Kaito had a look of horror on his face. "You... you're...are you... saying...you don't love me?" Kaito overdramatized his reaction, complete with tears in his eyes and sad puppy face. It looked as though someone killed his dog in front of him.

"Urg. Really Kuroba?" Hakuba could not resist the comment.

Shinichi, deciding to take a page out of Kaito's books, stood up and wrap his arms around the sad looking magician. "My darling magician, you are too lovely to garner my hatred. Every time I see your face, my heart palpitates with such irregularity that I can hardly breath."

Not used to be on the receiving end, Kaito hung his mouth open as he blinked away his fake tears. He could feel a blush forming, heating up the cheeks, but he refused to show any more outward signs as Shinichi's eyes were too bright, probably from enjoy seeing Kaito squirm.

"Not you too Kudo." Hakuba, after much persuasion from Shinichi, had finally dropped the polite speech to more friendly terms. "You've corrupted him Kuroba, he had been such a promising detective before you came around."

The pair was having too much fun playing and joking around that they were startled to hear the familiar Osaka-ben calling out to them.

"Oi Kudo!" Hattori waved to attract their attention.

Hakuba groaned, "if it isn't the hot-headed detective."

"What's it to ya?!" In the background, they could hear the cheerful glees from the girls. There were moments of hushed whispers followed by giggling. None of the boys want to find out what had them in such a mood. "Ya 'aven't called in ages. Thought ya'd left the country or somethin'."

"Nice to see you again Hattori." Shinichi waved back, still with a Kaito wrapped in his arms.

"Ya know, I 'aven't repaid ya for the last time ya stopped by." Hattori directed his annoyance at Kaito, who smiled innocently in return.

"Why? You don't owe me anything my friend. It was a gift from me to you, for your hospitality."

"Some gift I'd say. Ya wrecked my room." Muttering along with curses about sticky post-it notes and blackened fingers. "I swear I'll get'ya back for it."

"Oh, but are you sure?" Kaito produced his mobile phone with a puff of smoke. Hakuba backed away reflexively, a reaction now programmed into every person that comes into regular contact with the magician.

Kaito made a few finger gestures, flicking through the many application and photos, before brandishing the screen in Hattori's direction. It was a photo of Hattori with green hair.

"That's no blackmail. I've had worst." Hattori scoffed, confident the magician did not have anything on him.

"There's more where that came from..." his next swipe had the blushing photo of Hattori. Then it was a black screen. "How about this particular sound file? You know, when the three of us were sitting around the dinning table...?"

Kaito had a smile creeping up on his face, it was morphing into a replica of the maniac KID grin. Hattori quickly reached out to grab the phone but it vanished before the finger could brush against the surface.

"Ya didn't!"

"Oh I did. And there's backup, and a backup of the backup. So don't think you can steal my phone and delete the file." Kaito danced a few steps away, waving the phone above his head. "I'm also quite sure Mouri-chan would be more than happy to give me the number to a particular female's phone to send this particular audio message to."

"Get back'ere!" Hattori ran after the magician, circling around the deck.

"Kuroba must be bored." Hakuba said as soon as the chase began. "Either that or he missed being chased with a mop. Kudo, you might want to start taking up fencing or kendo so you could wield a weapon at him for his indecent actions."

"Nah, he's just trying to burn off the embarrassment from before. He might have found it a bit off putting when our roles are reversed." Amusement was apparent in Shinichi's eyes as he watched the display between Kaito and Hattori.

"He's worst than the Energizer Bunny." Shaking his head, Hakuba settled next to the detective to watch the chase interspaced with magic confetti and streamers.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After docking at Osaka for a day, their ship set sail farther south to the tip of Japan, where many water activities had been planned.

"You should go." Kaito pushed Shinichi, now clad in swimming trunks and short sleeved shirt, towards the gathering group of people out for scuba diving. "You'll regret it if you don't."

"But Kaito..." Shinichi hesitated in his steps, not wanting to leave his magician just so he could go out to enjoy himself.

"Just promise me not to take any pictures and we'll call it even." Kaito insisted Shinichi to try enjoy some of the activities on offer. "Besides, you promised Mouri-chan, you wouldn't want to disappoint her right?"

"She'll understand if I explained..."

"You're in your swimwear already, might as well."

"I could be enjoying the pool with you..."

Kaito sighed, not sure how to handle his detective's reluctance.

"Hey Kudo, ya comin'?" Hattori called from the departure boat. "Hurry up!"

"See? You're holding up the group. Now go before I throw you into the water myself."

"Alright..." It felt wrong to Shinichi but Kaito was insistent, and will no doubt carry out his threat if Shinichi dallied any longer.

"Stay safe!" Kaito waved enthusiastically from the edge. "Hakuba, I'm counting on you to keep him away from any mermaids intending to steal him!"

Hakuba shouted something, most likely a complaint, back towards the magician but his voice was drowned out by the engine sound. Kaito watched as the boat sailed out some distance away from the ship, then saw Shinichi dived into the sea fully equipped with the scuba gear. Even at such a distance, Kaito could clearly recognise his detective solely from the hairstyle. When Shinichi disappeared from the surface, Kaito settled down on one of the lounge chairs by the pool, hoping to enjoy the sun and maybe go for a swim later.

"Well Kuroba-kun, it's just you and me now. What say we find somewhere more secluded?" Akako approached the dozing magician, her shadows falling to block out the sun. Dressed in a scarlet red bikini with a black wrap-around at her waist, she should be garnering gazes from every single male.

"Why aren't you out with them in the waters?" Kaito opened an eye to give the sorceress half his attention. He realized no one was paying attention to them.

"Water and red magic mixes badly." She settled on the lounge chair next to Kaito. "Red magic is fire based, coming into contact with water decreases its potency."

"Does that mean you never take a bath?" Kaito joked and closed his eyes once more, hoping she got the message to leave him alone.

Akako glowered but not leaving.

"Ignorant pathetic mortal."

"Seeing as I'm pathetic and ignorant as you've stated, you shouldn't waste your time on me." Although it was against his morals to be so blatantly mean towards the fairer sex, Akako often is the exception. As such, Kaito was adamant at keeping her at a distance.

"I'm here out of the goodness of my heart to warn you of events in the near future." She muttered a string of syllables softly, none that Kaito could immediately identify, and the air became still. Feeling something was off, Kaito opened his eyes to see that the world became muted, like in a black and white film, sounds no longer exist and movement was slowed to a crawling speed.

"What did you do?" He suppressed the annoyance in his tone, preferring to remain neutral so not to anger the sorceress who could trap him in this space.

"I made time so I could speak with you without disrupting my own schedule." It was as though this feat required nothing more than a thought. "My servant Lucifer informed me that Sirens calls to those at sea, in the land is where it's meant to be, redness from those that stand tall, into Poseidon's arms he'll gladly fall."

"Is it so hard to ask for a prophecy that is not a riddle?" Kaito sat up straighter, giving the sorceress his full attention now that he had no further excuse.

"If I'm not speaking in riddles, then that future is set in stone and there's nothing we can do to change it. Riddles are open to interpretation and as long as a prophecy could be fulfilled, Fate generally doesn't mind the details." Kaito had the feeling that Akako looked at him as though he was just an infant.

"Then Wise One, is this an auspicious sign or a sign of danger." Kaito could pretty much guess the content but he hoped the girl would be charitable and give a better explanation.

"Why ask when you know the answer Magician?" Akako snapped her finger and the world returned to normal. People started to move at normal speed, water crashed against the ship's hulls, and the full echo of machines could just be heard in the distance. Just in case, Kaito walked over to the railings to find the small boat containing to scuba divers, there had been no change and the boat was still empty of its passengers. He turned back to talk with Akako but found the girl missing already.

"Sorceresses," he muttered towards the open seas shaking his head. This was why he disliked associating himself with the girl, it only brings headaches and problems.

-TBC-