Rating: K+
word count: 2,212
Chapter 8
- Being in love makes you blind. True love opens your eyes -
"KID!" Nakamori-keibu bellowed from his spot on the wall—Kaito had glued him there with a beautifully pink slime that wouldn't let go unless toothpaste was applied. He loved the fact that no one in the whole task force knew that and it would take a lot of hot water and scratching before he'd be free. Kaito really didn't feel like doing a heist at the moment.
Laughing maniacally, he said, "My dear keibu, I don't know what it is with you and pink. The two of you are just made for each other!" This drew another wave of angry shouts accompanied by occasional cursing. Not only had the thief glued him to the wall, he had changed the man's outfit to a frighteningly pink version of the police officer's suit. Even so, Kaito couldn't find it in him to really laugh at the scene since he really didn't want to be there.
"Wait a minute! KID, stop right there!" Nakamori shouted as the thief clad in white gracefully jumped off the display case he'd been standing on and went to take the huge ruby, taking his time as all the officers were either asleep or glued to some surface.
"Sorry, keibu, but the ruby is mine now, and since none of you can stop me at the moment, I think it's time for me to take my leave." He grinned, then released a smoke bomb, disappearing from the hall. In the air vents above the room, Kaito put his hands on his hears, trying to protect them from Nakamori's angry cries. "Damn it, keibu. I'll be deaf before my forties if you keep doing that." He muttered as he continued crawling through the maze of pipes. It didn't take long before he reached the room he was planning to escape from. He lowered himself after making sure that no one was in the room and opened the window.
Looking down at the streetlights below, he remembered that he hadn't met Shinichi again this time. He was probably waiting on the rooftop. Shrugging, he put a foot on the windowsill, but something kept him from jumping down. He'd be able to talk to Shinichi about last time, wouldn't he?
Last time. During his last heist, Snake had used a sniper to try and take him down. Not exactly knowing what had happened, Kaito had gone hope, scared to death since he was covered in blood and thinking he would need to clean the wound as soon as possible. However, when he came home and took off his clothing, he didn't find a bullet wound anywhere. Looking at his clothing, he saw that they didn't have any holes in them either. On closer inspection, it even looked as if the blood hadn't spilled from him, but rather on him. The problem was, whose blood? He hadn't seen anyone: not when he had fallen down, not when he looked up at the one pushing him down—saving his life in the process—nor at any other moment during the whole event.
Maybe if he talked to Shinichi about it, he'd figure something out. He knew about Snake, so would it matter if he asked advice about this? They weren't exactly friends though, but rivals or enemies weren't accurate either. More like two acquaintances having problems that only the other could understand. Opening the door in front of him, it was only then that Kaito noticed he'd walked towards the rooftop during his contemplations as if drawn there by a beautiful lullaby.
And a beautiful lullaby it was. As he raised his eyes, he saw his favorite detective sitting on the railing of the rooftop, his back leaning against the wall of the building next to it. With sunglasses covering his eyes, he looked over the city with an emotion the thief couldn't read, and it wasn't only because of the glasses and bandages. One knee bent upwards so his arm could rest comfortably on it as the other leg dangled over the edge with the other arm lying in his lap. The black tuxedo showed thin features as though he hadn't eaten for years and he held the fedora with the hand in his lap. Even so, Kaito wasn't able to see any more than he had with it, since even the detective's hair was covered with bandages.
"Liking the view up here?" Kaito asked suddenly, stepping forward to stand beside the man to watch the city as well. Shinichi's head only turned a little, acknowledging Kaito with a sideways glance before turning back. Kaito smiled; he was getting better at reading the other's actions.
"It's nice," came the monotone reply. Pouting slightly, the thief poked him in his side. Shinichi jumped and gasped, almost falling off the railing in the process. He looked at Kaito, bewilderment showing in his body language.
"Why are you always so gloomy?" Kaito asked, grinning now that he knew one of the detective's weak spots. He watched as the teen grumbled something incoherently and rubbed his side slowly.
"I was just saying it was nice, nothing more, nothing less." Kaito wanted to reply teasingly, but Shinichi cut him off. "I'm curious, though," he said as he lowered himself from the railing, now leaning on it with his elbows. "Your last heist note, what was with the last few sentences?" Blinking, Kaito thought back to his last heist note—geez that seemed to have been so long ago! Seeing the confusion in his eyes, Shinichi continued. "When the bird flies away on white wings, the invisible orbs will twinkle as he brings the beauty of the world to its sight," he recited. "What beauty did you want to show me?"
Kaito blinked. Oh yeah, he'd totally forgotten, hadn't he? It was because of that sniper that his plan had been totally ruined and disappeared from his mind. Giving Shinichi a smirk, he took the bandaged hand and pulled the teen towards the center of the roof. Looking at the thief warily, the latter waited for him to do something. "Now stay put, watch, and relax." Kaito said mysteriously. He took a few steps back and started to snap with his fingers as if trying to light a lighter. After a few attempts, Shinichi relaxed, looking a bit skeptical.
"KID, what are you—"
"Shh," Kaito shushed, putting a finger to his lips and winking. Keeping eye contact, he snapped his fingers one last time and with it, blue flames spun from his hands. They quickly grew and danced in some kind of whirlpool towards Shinichi, causing the detective to take a step back, but the flames didn't burn him, because as soon as they reached him,the whirlpool was so big that it encircled his whole body.
Shinichi watched as the flames burned calmly around him before slowly rising towards the sky. They curled in different directions, getting smaller within seconds and Shinichi noticed them taking off towards the stars. Several stars blinked as the flames seemed to disappear inside them, like small black—or rather white—holes sucking up the fire.
Not a second later, he watched the stars come towards them and his eyes widened as he had no idea what to do. They grew slightly and changed form. They became five-point stars and slowed down as soon as they got in range. They circled around him like the flames had done. He reached out his hand and tried to touch one, but as soon as he did, the stars exploded, twinkling blue dust falling down around him. The others followed one by one and soon Shinichi was covered in the blue stardust, looking at the smiling thief standing to the side.
"You said you didn't like stars, so I thought I'd show you just how beautiful they are." An uncontrollable grin spread across his face. The stunned look on Shinichi's face was priceless, even if the bandages covered most of it. Grabbing both of the detective's hands, he spun around, making the dust on the roof and Shinichi whirl up again. They laughed joyfully and fell down on their backs next to each other.
"Alright, I admit it!" Shinichi said between laughs. "Everything has its good sides." Kaito grinned and looked at the bandaged face next to him. How long had this been going on? Quite a few weeks actually, and he hadn't even seen Shinichi's face once.
Raising a hand, he placed it on the other's cheek. The teen next to him stilled. His laughter died out and his face became impassive, or at least Kaito thought it did. He let his hand search for the beginning of the bandages, searching those sunglasses for the eyes he wanted to see so badly. His hands finally found the roughly cut end and was about to unravel it when a hand stopped him. He felt the detective start to shiver, whether from cold, fear or something else, he didn't know.
"Don't," was the only thing Shinichi said, and Kaito removed his hand slowly. Sitting up, he shook his head.
"Sorry, I just…I don't know… I don't understand why you wear those bandages all the time." Kaito said, putting his arms around his knees. "I want to know what you look like. I want to know who you really are. I just want to know you." Where did this all come from? What was he saying? Why was he being so cheesy? Kaito didn't understand… He hugged his legs closer to his chest.
"Asking me to remove my bandages is like me asking you to remove your hat and monocle. Would you do that?" That made Kaito think. He really wanted to understand Shinichi, but to the point of revealing himself? He was a detective, so revealing his secrets…would he be able to trust Shinichi?
He looked at the Bandaged Detective next to him. Head lowered slightly, his pose said it all. Kaito's actions had totally ruined the moment and now his favorite critic was sad and probably had depressing thoughts roaming around in his mind. Well, he couldn't have that now, could he?
He was too late though, as Shinichi stood up to move away. "Well, I guess I'll se—" A pained cry escaped his lips. Grabbing his side, he groaned in pain.
"Shinichi!" Kaito stood up quickly, putting a hand on the other's back. "What's wrong?" He asked, looking over the teen in search of the source of his pain. Nothing seemed to be wrong at first sight, but the hand was still pressed tightly against his side.
"I'm fine." He got out just before a coughing fit hit him. The bandages where his mouth should have been turned a weird dark color that caught Kaito's attention almost immediately. It was crimson….blood. Shinichi was coughing blood. That meant…
Eyes widening, Kaito almost ripped the tuxedo apart to look at the white shirt underneath and his suspicions were confirmed as he saw the same bloody liquid drenching the white fabric just above Shinichi's hip. "Shinichi, what the hell happened?" He asked, voice rising in slight anger and worry.
Shinichi groaned and whispered something, but it was too soft for Kaito to hear, so he took matters in own hands and went to unbutton the shirt. This got a reaction out of Shinichi that Kaito couldn't understand. "No!" he screamed and pushed the magician away, the force sending both of them on their butts.
"Shinichi, we've got to take care of that wound!" he urged, but the detective shook his head fiercely.
"I'll be fine," he got out hoarsely. Kaito crawled back to him. Pinning Shinichi to the ground, he stubbornly continued unbuttoning the shirt. "No! Don't!" The detective struggled beneath him, making even more blood spill from the wound in his side. Kaito took the bandaged hands trying to push him away and held them against Shinichi's chest, so that he wouldn't be able to sit up, use his hands or put any strain on the wound. His other hand continued the work until a bandaged stomach came to sight.
"Please, stop!" Shinichi screamed at top of his lungs, but Kaito had already pulled the bandages loose. The sight that met his eyes…it just wasn't possible. He looked at the chest beneath him and saw…nothing… Well, that wasn't true. He saw the bandages lying on the floor, but on top of those bandages should have been Shinichi's belly. He should have seen the sight of a belly with a wound on the side, but there was nothing. Eyes widening, Kaito loosened his grip unconsciously. He met the detective's face and saw the bandages beneath the glasses soaked with tears.
"Sh-…" He didn't know what to say. What should he say? Was this all some kind of joke? Then what was with Shinichi's reaction? Tears… "Shinichi, what…?" Kaito almost didn't register the hands slipping away from his grasp and said limbs pushing him away in a quick shove. Not a second later, the detective scrambled to his feet and ran.
Kaito could only stare at the spot where Shinichi had lain. Where he should've been able to see a belly.
Invisible…
Man…
So, I should stop promising things... Seeing as I will be busy the next few weeks and my beta-reader also has less and less time to be reading my stories -.-
anyway, I'll try to upload the next chappie within one or two weeks hopefully, but as I said I'm not going to promise anything.
Oh, btw I'm very sorry about the cliffhanger from last chapter~! Hohohohoho~! :)
Hope you guys liked this chapter and a big thanks to Moku-chan as always for spending her free time beta-reading my story!
Also thanks to everyone who reviewed namely; Sirastar, RoxyConan-Kun, The Magnetic Witch, treasure family, Clams-and-Rainbows, ILoveFanfiction-AnimeAdik, Aanaya, mochiusagi, D, Jelp, Xanaelle, Mokuren no Ken and CrescentMoonTenshi ^^
Lastly, I'll answer your reviews tomorrow. I really gotta go to bed right now since I have to get up early tomorrow ^^
Answers to guests:
D: Yes, I am :) hehe...yes sorry about that -.-"
Jelp: Oh well, hope you had fun reading two chapters^^ Of course, he's invisible not invincible :D...:( he should be though...
