TOAK Chapter:

Alternate Universe Chapter

Pandora Academy Pt 3

"Ladies and Gentlemen!"

The voice rang out through the halls.

"Are you trying to wake everyone?!" Hakuba demanded, yanking Kaito down as the boy grinned happily; his teeth a vibrant white in the dark around them.

Shinichi ignored the two as he turned to Aoko.

"Are they always like this?" he whispered.

"Worse. Much worse," she whispered back, sighing.

The four had decided to get another look at the monster tonight and since it was Shinichi's first time ever seeing anything of the supernatural, and they decided why not make it something of a celebration.

In other words, there was cake and pop to drink well into the night before finally, the clock struck one and they were making their way "stealthily" through the halls.

"So you take the hunter's exam tomorrow morning, right?" Shinichi whispered to Hakuba.

The blonde nodded, silently walking beside him through the school halls, his eyes peeled for anything that looked to be moving.

"That is correct. Myself, Aoko, and Hattori will be taking it."

Shinichi nodded, a contemplative expression on his face. Hakuba noticed.

"You know, it's not impossible for a supernatural being to become a hunter, Conan-kun. It's just not as common."

"Why isn't it?" Shinichi whispered, "Is the test harder or something?"

Hattori and Aoko slowed, staring at Conan who blinked back, confused by their reactions.

"What?"

Kaito who had also heard the ongoing conversation turned and answered, albeit a bit hesitantly.

"They… part of the test is killing a supernatural being they captured and is considered too dangerous to let live. In other words, you have to have the will power to actually pull the trigger."

"Execution…" Shinichi whispered, realizing what that meant.

"For someone like us, when another supernatural being is killed, let's just say…our spirit knows it."

Conan frowned, confused.

"I don't understand."

Kaito grimaced and Hakuba stepped in.

"He means because you both are somewhat able to form a link with other beings, you can always feel the death through that link. It isn't fun and for certain types of supernatural beings, it's downright torturous to them, as well as the being they are killing. Of course for others, it's a natural feeling, but then most of those who consider it natural are killers themselves being hunted by us, the hunters."

Conan nodded.

"That's why most don't become hunters. They can feel the death?"

"Mostly, yes. As I said, it is not unheard of, just more uncommon. Some types feel it, but they can take it. Others can't feel it, but they still feel sick after such a task. Even humans… we too feel sick by taking the life of another. It's just how it must be, else you risk the lives of your team and other victims if you are too weak to pull the trigger and end such a beast as the one we are hunting."

Conan nodded, silent as they walked. His eyes lingered on Kaito who had since not spoken a word.

"He's not a hunter, is he?"

Hakuba looked up and where he was pointing, his frown deepening.

"No, Kuroba is not a hunter. His parents were both hunters of the night, taking on various forms of killers with their own secret identities."

Seeing Conan's confusion, Hakuba quickly explained.

"Some hunters create alternate identities to separate their everyday lives from their hunting lives. His father for instance, went by the known name Kaitou Kid."

Conan's eyes widened.

"See, you know it," Hakuba nodded, "His mother was Phantom Lady. They both hunted the supernatural. Specifically, a syndicate made up of the worst of the worst; killers who wanted nothing more than to bring the world to its knees. They even have locations in America, England, Germany, France, China, Russia, and even here in Japan and I am betting, in other countries as well, though they have yet to show themselves."

"And they hunted people like that?" Conan whispered, awed.

Hakuba nodded grimly and Shinichi noticed Kaito wince from where he walked, listening in on their words.

"What happened?" he asked, curiously.

"They got too close. Kid and Lady were internationally known, but one day Kid wandered into a trap and he was killed. Lady… she was very angry, to say the least. Kuroba tells me she is now traveling the world, looking for any sign of the syndicate. She plans to eradicate them once and for all as vengeance for her husband and the lives they continue to steal."

"Isn't that suicide?" Conan whispered.

Kaito stopped walking and the four froze, all watching him. Turning slowly, he looked at Conan with masked eyes.

"Yeah, it is little detective," he said and Conan felt sudden guilt for his investigation into the matter. He could see the deep pain in the other boy's eyes and he knew he had struck him where it hurt most.

"I'm sorry, Kaito. I didn't mean…"

"No, its fine. You would have found out eventually."

The boy took a deep breath.

"I'm not a hunter per say…" he hesitated, "I do however, have a license."

Conan narrowed his eyes, confused. "But you guys said…"

Kaito held up a hand, silencing him.

"Conan, I'm eight years old. Most don't get a license until they are sixteen, but we…" he motioned to the other three, "are the children of some of the worlds greatest. We are not normal children. When my father died, his license had been in the name of Kaitou Kid 1412. I took his identity for myself before the judge with my mother's permission. I didn't have to kill anyone, luckily, to become the owner of a family license, but I did…" he hesitated, "I did have to prove myself by hunting with a person you might consider a supervisor who would say yay or nay on whether or not I could keep the license and use it as my age."

Conan nodded, intrigued.

"I went on a hunt and we found someone… different. Not necessarily a killer, but dangerous nonetheless. I…"

"Kaito, you don't have tell this story," Aoko interrupted, her eyes sad, "he can understand without this."

Kuroba shook his head, his eyes dull. "He needs to hear this or he won't understand the duty he wishes to take on by hunting with us."

Aoko nodded and backed up a step, silent and a bit grieved she couldn't stop her friend. It was obvious this story hurt the other terribly.

"I chased after the monster. He wasn't a killer, but he had been scaring the neighborhood. When we closed in on him, he found himself on the edge of a building. I had hoped he would give himself up, but instead he made a run for it and my supervisor attacked him. The guy knocked her out, sending her flying into the building behind us, but he himself also began to fall. I…" Kaito grimaced, "attempted, to save him. I had his hand, but my gloves… they were slipping. I couldn't hang on and… he fell."

Conan closed his eyes.

Why was it, he could almost imagine this happening? He could feel the pain the boy across from him is going through in telling that story and it was tremendous. He couldn't imagine the pain of having actually been there.

"I later found out he had been stealing from the local's different food and clothing. He wasn't a killer, but he had wanted to make sure no one would stop him, so he had tried to use fear to his advantage. In truth, all he wanted was to care for his young son…the only family he had left."

Conan gasped and the others looked crestfallen. It seems they had all heard this story before.

"So you see, I passed my exam, but do I want to be a hunter… hell no. I do however have a mission and I will complete it, before I rip up the identity of Kid and be done with him forever."

"You want to hunt down the syndicate?" Conan guessed.

Kaito turned to him, his expression determined.

"I am a phantom… a thief who steals the luck of others and hunts for vengeance, those who murdered me. I am a phantom and I pass by those who commit crime for a valid reason, because I am a vengeful spirit and I myself, consider my own petty desires, criminalistic. When my deed is done, so shall Kid be."

Turning to the halls that echoed in the silence of the night, he sighed and turned to his friends.

"I do not think our beast is out tonight. Let us return to bed."

And in the blink of an eye, Kaito was gone.

Hakuba sighed.

"Sorry, I wouldn't have brought it up if I knew it would have hurt him like this. I got to go talk to him for a while. Later Conan."

"I am heading to bed as well. Ai is probably still up. Night Conan-kun."

Shinichi watched them as they vanished down the hall before turning to Hattori who rubbed his neck a bit nervously.

"I should have mentioned Kuroba doesn't like to talk about his past and his reasons for hunting, but…" he sighed, "it is something you needed to understand. Hunting isn't all its made out to be. Honestly, I wouldn't be hunter either, if not for Kaito."

Conan gave him a curious look.

"Come on, walk with me. I will explain."

The two headed towards their room, chatting at they went.

"We all met here at this school two years ago. We were six and we all knew of the supernatural, but not a lot about it concerning the rules and laws all that crap you have to abide by when hunting. We met Kaito and he was… different than he is now. He had just lost his father and basically, his mother as well. She abandoned him here at boarding school to go hunt around the world and it hurt him, badly. With the help of a family friend, he found out about his father's hunting identity that ended up killing him and he was angry. He despised all hunters."

"Kaito did?"

"Yeah. He despised hunters because he blamed them for his father's death. His family friend had taken on Kid, but Kaito found out and confronted him, demanding him to tell him the truth regarding his father's death, but the man didn't have too. Instead, the murderers themselves did. They saw the old man and child and they thought they hadn't killed the original kid as they had planned. They attacked and Kaito heard them tell of his father's death at their hands."

"He was only six?"

Hattori nodded.

"Yeah. Imagine a six year old hearing all that. It changed him. He no longer despised hunters, but he still doesn't like them. He had a new target for his hatred and that was the syndicate. Of course, it changed again when he went out on his first hunt with the supervisor and all that you heard earlier happened. He felt… pity, I guess… for those who choose the way of a criminal."

"I see."

The two were silent as they entered their bedroom and crawled into bed.

"You know Conan, sometimes I wonder…"

"Wonder what?"

Hattori hummed and stared up at the ceiling, his arms tucked behind his head.

"I wonder why I myself want to be a hunter, when I hear stories like his."

Conan was silent, thinking those words over.

"Maybe because… you would rather become a hunter, then watch the madness unfold around you and do nothing."

Hattori chuckled.

"Is that your philosophy for being a detective, Shinichi Kudo-san?" he asked.

Conan was silent.

"It was," he muttered, "now… I think it's truer than ever before."

Hattori didn't reply and Conan didn't expect him too. Closing his eyes, he wondered what tomorrow might bring.

TOAK

When Conan woke up the next day, Hattori was already gone. Stretching, the young sleuth wandered down the hall and looked around for any sign of his friends, but he didn't see anyone.

"Oi," a voice behind him, startled him.

Snapping around, he took a deep breath.

"Ai-san, you scared me."

Ai just stared at him.

"I noticed," she deadpanned, "If you're looking for the others, they went to the exam. Kaito is outside."

Conan frowned. "Outside?"

"Yup. I don't think he rested well last night."

Conan watched the girl as she vanished into the cafeteria before he sighed and sought out the magician. It had been his fault the boy hadn't slept well and he felt he owed him an apology.

Stepping out into the early morning breeze, he glanced around for any sign of the thief, but saw no one until he heard a faint rustling from the tree branches above his head.

Blinking and shielding his eyes from the sun, he called up.

"Kaito?"

Suddenly a body hunt in front of him, staring at him with a large grin.

"Ah!" Shinichi hollered, stumbling back, holding a hand to his heart.

Kaito snickered, his hair falling with gravity towards the ground, allowing Conan to take in for the first time, just how truly violet his eyes were. Nearly like sparkling amethysts.

"Good morning, Shin-chan," he crooned, "Want to join me?" he asked, waving to indicate the tree.

Conan sighed as Kaito climbed back up the next couple branches back to where he had been lounging. Following him at a much slower and more cautious place, Shinichi finally reached the branch on which he was located.

"Do you always climb this high?" he asked, a bit breathless.

Kaito chuckled.

"You are out of shape, Shin-chan."

Conan pouted. "Am not."

Kaito just shook his head, still smiling.

"I talked to Hattori this morning before he and the others went to take the exam. He said he told you about… my father."

Conan nodded.

"I'm sorry, Kaito. I didn't mean to bring up bad memories for you."

Kuroba shrugged.

"It happened. Can't change the past, but you can…" he said, turning to Shinichi, "…you can change the future."

The two boys sat in silence, just enjoying the breeze against their skin.

"You know Kaito… I should thank you."

Kuroba raised an eyebrow, obviously confused. Conan smiled.

"When I first came to this school, I was really afraid I would be all alone. You, Hakuba, and Aoko were the first ones to reach out to me and… since then, a lot of strange things have happened, but you guys have always accepted it without question. Not even when you heard I was Shinichi Kudo, did you ask me what happened or why. It…it really meant a lot to me."

Kaito just shrugged, feeling a bit awkward.

"It was no big deal. I mean, I'm not normal and the others are closer to normal, but it just… your story felt…tragic, I guess. We didn't want to… to ask you only to hurt you. We figured when the time was right, you would tell us on your own.

Shinichi was silent. No one had ever trusted him like that before.

"I would like to tell you my story… I think."

Kaito regarded him seriously for a moment before smiling and throwing an arm around the young detective.

"Thought you'd never decide to trust us," he snickered, "come on. The others should be back soon. We should throw them a congratulations party!"

Conan cried out and gripped the other as Kaito catapulted them off the branch and towards the ground. Laughing, Kaito tightened his hold on the other and gently set them down on the ground.

Staring, Conan lifted his head to look at the other.

"That was…"

"Amazing right?" Kaito grinned, "I forgot to mention Shin-chan, as a specter, I have the ability to fly."

Shinichi just sighed, before smiling.

"Is there nothing you can't do?"

Kuroba chuckled as the two headed inside, but he turned, his smiling falling as he peered up at the sunshiny sky.

"I can't save those I care about…" he whispered, turning to look at the boy still chatting to himself as he walked. A small smile twitched on the thief's lips when he noticed the other hadn't even realized Kaito wasn't behind him. "But perhaps… I can save you."

Conan stopped and turned, blinking.

"Kaito? Come on, I thought you wanted to plan a party."

Kuroba laughed and sprinted up to his friend, throwing his arm once again, across his shoulders. "Your right. We got a lot of work to do, Shinichi. Better get started."

Conan just shook his head.

"I was just waiting on you, dork."

Kaito flashed mock hurt.

"That wounds me Shin-chan, seriously. Right here," he said patting his chest, "I am not a dork."

Shinichi rolled his eyes.

"Only you, Kaito, only you."

Kuroba grinned.

"You better believe it Meitantei, I'm only me."

AUTHORS NOTE:

Alright, so I said five chapters for this story and next chapter we hear Shinichi's story of how he became Conan which is chapter four. I hope you guys are enjoying this!