Title: Connected
Author: Tsugumi Winters
Fandom: Detective Conan / Magic Kaito
Word Count: 2138
Rating: T (PG-13)
Warning: Swearing
Characters: Kaito Kuroba, Conan Edogawa, Koizumi Akako & her servant
Disclaimer: I, Tsugumi "Tsu" Winters, own neither the characters nor the animes/mangas mentioned in this fic. Animes/Mangas and characters are owned by the illustrious Gosho Aoyama.
Notes: I'm sorry I took so long. My only excuses are school and my inability to think continuations up quickly...
(1) Oni - I refer you to en(dot)wikipedia(dot)org/wiki/Oni_(folklore)
Also, this takes place on the same night as Chapter 1.
He stared at the mansion. It was a creepy mansion— in fact, it looked like it had come out of a horror movie. The mansion was western-styled but seemingly abandoned— the paint on its walls was peeling off, pieces of the roof were gone, and the garden surrounding it was overgrown with weeds. Though its windows were dark, it seemed as if there were shadows moving beyond them. If those weren't enough, the night sky was filled with clouds that blocked the moon and shrouded everything in darkness. Lightning flashed in the distance— and even then, the light-created shadows oozed malice from the pillar-like extensions of the mansion.
What was he doing here again?
'She should be here.'
Oh right, that.
"We need to get rid of it- this... telepathy, or whatever it is!" Conan exclaimed. He would not be able to live like this! Not when he had an identity to keep, an organization to bring down, and a girlfriend to fantasize about! Well, he couldn't really call her his girlfriend given that he hadn't really proposed that they go steady yet, and he couldn't do so until the organization was brought down, but still...
"I'm not sure there's anything to counter this," KID said, "except the jewel itself."
Conan opened his mouth to say something— he didn't really know what he planned to say, but he needed to say something— however, he was cut off by KID. "Wait," he said suddenly with realization, "I might know a way." This was followed by a barrage of thoughts from KID that did nothing but confuse Conan, and give him a headache worse than what he already had.
Well, he did manage to get an idea of what KID was thinking about.
"A witch? You've got to be kidding me," he muttered but, given his current situation, he was going to try to keep an open mind. His perception on what was possible and impossible seemed to be taking quite a beating recently— Really, talking jewels? Telepathic links? Heck, shrinking people?
Had true magic been in existence all this time?
What if he'd been arresting all the wrong people?
Conan shivered. He'd had more than 200 cases as Conan, and had come across more than 500 as Shinichi. What was the possibility that some of them were mistaken?
Still, the people he'd pointed his finger at had confessed to being the culprits... Could they have been spelled into doing so?
'Tantei-kun,' Conan's head snapped up, 'don't think about it.'
A hundred protests came to mind, but suddenly he was being lifted up and the only protest that stayed was "Oi! Put me down!"
"Hold on tight, Tantei-kun!" KID said cheerfully as he held the struggling boy— who froze— to his chest and activated his hangglider, "We're off to see the witch!"
After the rather long ride via hangglider, in which Conan was surprised by the overwhelming euphoria KID felt from being in the air (wherein KID had thought of absolutely nothing but the wind, and the freedom), they'd landed on the borders of a forest. The mansion they were standing in front of could, apparently, only be accessed by walking through the forest— there hadn't even been a path! An—
"Are you coming, Tantei-kun?" KID was already at the front steps and directing a raised eyebrow at him.
"Right," Conan coughed in slight embarrassment. Detectives were supposed to be observant, but he did not notice when KID started to walk to the door. He hurriedly followed the magician thief through the weeds that reached his knees in height. Damn his size.
As Conan approached, KID raised his hand to the chipped knocker shaped like a snake's head, but the door swung open and revealed a man before his hand even touched it. The man was hunchbacked and reminiscent of an oni(1). His hair was a shocking white and his eyes seemed a beady black. The man grinned, showing off rows of pointy teeth. "My mistress has been expecting you, Kaitou KID," his gaze slid down to the boy as he said, "Your little friend too."
Conan stared dubiously, but followed when they were ushered into the house. It was possible that the man said that to everyone, but he was willing to keep an open mind—who knows, this might be the real deal (plus, the 'witch' might be able to turn him back).
"So, what's your name, Ojisan?" KID's voice came lightly as they walked through the halls. 'I think I've seen this guy with Koizumi a few times.'
Koizumi? Who was that?
'The local witch— used voodoo and black magic on me once.' Conan blinked as his vision changed. Suddenly he was outside the mansion again, but standing in a circular array while facing a teenage girl whose hair was a dark red and whose eyes were a shocking red. It seemed like there was glass over his right eye, and his left eye felt odd, like there was a thick liquid attempting to get into it but cou— and his vision returned to normal, leaving him blinking. A hand flew up to feel over his left eye. He knew that feeling— that was the feeling of having blood trying to get into your eye. As the hand fixed the glasses it had pushed up, he glanced at KID, who was staring right back at him with an unreadable face... Was that vision from KID? Was that an effect of their link? He hoped to kami that that was a fluke. "— have no names." Conan blinked once again. The man-servant was talking.
KID made a noise of curiosity as his gaze moved from Conan to where he was walking, "What are we supposed to call you then?"
"A name for him is unnecessary," came a soft voice.
All three stopped walking, and the man bowed to the teenage girl in front of them. Conan frowned. This girl was the one in his 'vision' earlier, and she brought out mixed feelings in him. This girl hurt KID, whose policy is 'No one gets hurt'. This made him want to think ill of her but, then again, she was so pretty. Her hair seemed like strands of silk that made him want to run his hands through them, and her skin was so fair and looked so soft that it made him want to touch her. Her eyes were so beautiful that he wanted to see nothing but happiness expressed in them and maybe a bit of lo— Okay, stop, stop, stop! Conan shook his head. Ugh, I now know how having cobwebs in my mind feels like. What the hell was that?
KID glanced back at him, and he thought he could see a bit of concern in his eyes.
'You okay, Tantei-kun?'
... Yeah.. I think..
"May I ask what you mean, Ojousan?" KID asked as his wary attention returned to her.
"Witch-servants know when they are being called or addressed and thus don't need a name," said the girl dismissively with what seemed to be a shrug. Conan fought to not be enthralled by the voice as well as the movement— the way the hair fell to one side, the way the skin stretched... What the hell was this!? "No one but us witches shall be calling them anyway." Her lips curved up into a secretive smile (Damnit, damnit, damnit!) as she said, "But you two aren't here to discuss that, are you?"
In response to this, a Cheshire's grin found its way onto KID's face. "You're right, Ojousan. We've come to ask if you could undo a situation we're in."
"Ah, yes, that... telepathic link of yours," the girl— Koizumi— spoke, and the part of Conan's mind that could still function wondered at how she could know. "Unfortunately, I'm not allowed to help you with that."
It took an enormous amount of effort on Conan's part to pay attention and get his mind working. Able to, but may not. "Why not?" He asked, unable to bring himself to demand the answer from such a pretty gi— stop thinking, damnit. And as he did, he noticed that the witch-servant was gone— when had he left? He didn't notice any movement at all!
'It's possible that it slipped your notice, Tantei-kun, as you have been battling against Koizumi's charm, but it was the shadows that moved, not that... guy.' Following that was a string of thought-mumble which consisted of 'Was that even a guy? What was he? ... it? ... whatever?'
"Because it increases your chances of staying alive," she said bluntly. And though the statement was directed at KID rather than the one in the body of a child, it still captured Conan's attention— if only because of the seductress' voice. The detective almost missed the way KID's eyebrow raised. "Don't get me wrong," she continued haughtily, "I don't care if you die— since it means that all men will be my slaves— but you are a great source of entertainment for me, so I'll keep you alive if only for that."
The grin returned as KID, apparently ignoring Koizumi's words, said, "Thank you for caring, Ojousan." He was given an annoyed glare, and Conan was torn between the part that wanted to tell KID off since Koizumi-sama (-sama? Why the heck am I addressing her like that?) already said that she didn't care, the part that wanted to drown in euphoria of the possibility that Koizumi cared, and the part that was logical and telling himself to shove all the meaningless emotions aside since they weren't his at all. "I suppose we'll take our leave now."
In the back of Conan's mind, KID's footsteps, which were getting farther away, registered, but the shrunken teen couldn't bring himself to care as he continued staring at the goddess-like being in front of him. Said beauty was looking back at him in amusement. I'm being graced with Koizumi-sama's notice! ('Tantei-kun? ... Oh dear...') And that same corner of his mind noted KID's footsteps, this time getting closer.
The world tilted, and he yelped, all thoughts of Koizumi-sama chased away by the thought of being manhandled again by KID.
"Oi! Put me down!"
"Only if you promise to not look back."
He didn't need to ask.
Once she felt the two's auras step out of her front door, Akako allowed her frown to show. "That boy... he shouldn't have been so affected by my allure..."
"Not a boy, Ojousama," her servant supplied.
"I am well aware of that," Akako snapped. "The boy has a powerful aura with the aggressiveness of the devil. The aura is exactly the same as the one who almost captured Kuroba-kun at that heist."
"... What do you plan to do, Ojousama? The link will only get stronger, until the two bleed into each other and they become one person."
"Kuroba-kun is strong, and so is that boy," the witch said. "That boy was affected by my allure, but was able to fight it enough that he was actually able to question me."
"I could feel his resistance, Ojousama, but is that enough?"
"Yes, it is. They will make it work."
