Akako-sama deserves her grand entry, and as you can see, I tried. (Let's not bring up that I failed, okay?)

Please enjoy!


It appeared that the time has come for Edogawa Conan to fall so deeply in love that he would be beyond saving. And boy, was he completely enchanted. Not that he knew who his newfound love was, after all a day ago he didn't even believe she existed. He didn't believe in witches.

But there she was, dressed in black and red, with a red rose in her hair (Kaito put it there, the show-off), but he couldn't really deny how pretty she was. No, pretty wasn't even close. The girl in front of him was… beautiful, gorgeous… He wanted to come up with a dozen of adjectives, but none of those would be fitting enough. But he so wanted to call her by something! Possibly her name, if it wasn't too impolite from him. Especially since… her first impression of him wasn't probably too good.

It all started with Kid landing on top of a huge mansion in the middle of the night – no surprise there yet. At that time Arthur didn't quite know what to expect, given how odd Kaito was – he kept saying nice things about this witch (and how true they were, Conan admitted with a sigh), but his hands were shaking, his steps were unsteady, and just in general he was unusually clumsy. And the odd things went on, as just a moment after they landed, an old man appeared on the rooftop, saying that they've been waiting for them already. Arthur wanted to ask a bunch of questions at that, like who are "they", did they know that Kaito would come, and so on… but Kid silenced him.

"Also… from now on, I'm not Kaito, got it?" he added quietly, after the old man disappeared behind the old door leading to the roof. He didn't even wait for an answer, but marched forward with puffed up chest and a slightly more confident gait. And thus, they entered the mansion.

It was dark, it was creepy, it was everything Arthur imagined it to be. The corridors had no light aside from the candles or the moonlight that filtered through the dark glasses of the windows. In the darkness he could vaguely see the designs on the carpets on the wall: they all looked terrifying with their large variety of demons and other creatures Arthur couldn't even name.

And then they arrived in front of a large, wooden door. The old man opened it and ushered them inside. It wasn't much brighter, but at least it wasn't like a cave either. Just a small salon with even more candles, a small table, a big red couch, and a sofa in the middle of it. And of course, the witch herself.

She didn't look old, in fact, she was almost too young for a witch – she was around Shinichi's age. Her black hair glittered in the warm light of the candles around her, while her red eyes had a mesmerizing glint – Conan could've stared at her forever. And he kind of did, because by the time he noticed himself, both Kaito and she gave him funny looks. And even then, even in that moment he couldn't pull himself together. No, because his brain chose exactly that time to just fry itself from the girl's beautiful smile, and in the end, he could only breathe out:

"I love you so much…" And he said that while looking straight into her eyes. Normally he would've fainted from embarrassment right after that, but it seemed like fried brain cured shyness like nothing else in the world. That was probably the reason why he didn't quite register Kaito's annoyed groan, only the soft laugh from the witch.

"Of course you do…" Kaito grumbled and put him on the table. And then he, the bastard, led the girl away to the farthest corner of the room to talk. Not only they were too far away, but suddenly a greenish-blueish orb appeared around them too, and from then on, Arthur couldn't hear a single thing they said. He had to stick to guessing from their expressions and gestures.

He gritted his teeth when Kaito began his usual Prince Charming act. Roses, roses, always the roses, and that annoying, alluring smile he had. He got even angrier when he saw how it affected the girl – a small, barely visible blush and a smile. And her smile just grew wider, as she shook her head fondly, while Kid used all the charm he had, on the verge of being melodramatic and ridiculous. And then it all changed when she pointed at herself. They switched roles – Kaito was the one who shook his head, and the girl did the gesturing, though in a fairly calmer manner. Kid's blush was visible even in the dim light, and if Arthur couldn't guess the reason before, he found out soon enough.

Kaito leaned closer, and so did the girl, and then… they just kissed. Arthur's hands clenched into fists as he watched them, because it was so damn frustrating to see how their lips seemingly fit perfectly together. How she put her hands on Kaito's shoulder. Eventually they separated, the witch with a dreamy sigh and Kid with a relieved groan, and then the orb around them disappeared too.

"I'm counting on you, then," Kaito croaked out, then walked over to the couch and all but collapsed there.

"Oh, I won't disappoint you." She smiled. "Just like how you didn't disappoint me." With that, she disappeared behind the door and left the two boys alone.

Arthur kept shooting death glares at him, but the thief was too busy with playing dead to notice.

"I hate you," Conan said in the end. He didn't know why, but when he received no answer, it only annoyed him further. "I really, really hate you."

"I see."

"If you were on fire and I had a glass of water…"

"You'd drink it, right? Yeah, yeah… got it." And then it happened. Kaito let out a small cough, then another, and another. After mere seconds he looked like he would choke right then and there, then collapse on the floor. He raised his hand to his mouth, and when he lowered it again, Arthur saw the dark, red spots on his white glove – he let himself smile at that.

"Hah, she probably cursed you for kissing her like that. Serves you right, you had no right-"

He had to stop. The look Kaito gave him was first disbelieving, then hurt. It didn't last long, Arthur barely could catch a glimpse of those emotions before the other boy smiled at him, his Poker Face effective even when his breath was ragged.

"Haha, I… I know it's not the real you. So… it doesn't hurt. You can taunt me, but it won't hurt." For a few moments he just looked at Arthur, before he pulled a white little box out of his pocket. He put his palm under it and shook it three times: one, two, three pills. He swallowed them with a grimace, then laid down on the couch.

Arthur didn't care – he just wanted to see her again.


After about an hour, the witch appeared again. By that time Kaito switched from laying down to nervously pacing back and forth, while Conan nearly fell asleep.

"It's finished," she said, then left again. Kaito picked up Arthur and followed her. They walked through long and dark corridors, and it seemed like they'd never reach their goal. They just wandered further and further, until there was no moonlight slipping under their feet, and only the flickering candles led the way.

Kaito held Arthur close to his chest, so close that he had trouble with breathing. Still, every time he wanted to tell the thief to "let him breathe at least, for God's sake!", the hurt expression on the other boy's face flashed in front of him, and he choose to stay quiet instead.

Minutes later they seemed to reach their destination: a chamber with dark, rusty iron doors.

"Be honoured, I don't let just anyone enter this place." The witch smiled at Kaito, then pushed the doors open. They gave in with a loud creak, and revealed the room inside.

If Arthur had to remind himself every moment to not think in clichés, while he was at Kaito's place, now he had to realize that the girl's place was nothing but cliché – magic circles drawn with chalk on the floor, goblets with some… dark liquid in them gleaming in candlelight, suspicious bottles in the back of the room with dead animals and other things (was that an eye?) inside, old, dusty books on tables and bookshelves… And Arthur could've sworn he heard a cat somewhere – it was probably black, too.

"Well then, don't be shy, come in." The witch chuckled, and flashed one of THOSE smiles. The ones that could light up everyone's heart, cure cancer and save probably the whole universe in Conan's opinion. The problem was that she didn't smiled at him, but at Kaito – the thief earned a small, but well-aimed punch to his chest for that. Kaito didn't say a word, just put him on a table.

The girl handed Arthur a tiny cup, and said: "This should return you to your original form. Drink it, don't taste it, then put the cup down quickly, because after that you might have to focus more on standing and breathing."

Well, the liquid he was supposed to drink looked just as promising as her words. Disgusting colour? Check. Weird oily bubbles from the bottom? Check? Terrible smell? Check. Conan let himself briefly wonder why all potions had to look like rotten rat intestines, then drank the whole thing at once. But, as he realized, he wasn't quick enough – he felt the bile-like taste on his tongue, and he was close to just throwing it up.

"I told you not to taste it," she chided him, then took the cup with her. Arthur sat down, and seconds later he was already in pain. But for some weird reason he thought that this pain wasn't enough – it wasn't that "bones melting, organs tearing" kind of sensation he got from both the poison and the antidote. This was dull, like a bad headache that slowly spread through his whole body.

"What did you give him?" Kaito asked.

"A simple revealing potion. You called so suddenly and couldn't tell me exactly what made him shrink, so this is all I could do. But it might just work. His real form is hidden, but all we need to do is unveiling it. This is what a revealing potion does."

Arthur gasped. This wasn't good. This really wasn't good. He was foolish, not thinking about it earlier, because he just went with the flow, but… Having his real form revealed meant going back to Conan, or even worse, to Shinichi. What will he do if Kid really find out who he is?

That was the last thought his mind could register before the pain got stronger in his body. Still not quite like the antidote, but just enough to shut down his brain. He only saw dark and bright spots and heard muffled noises as his thumping heartbeat took over his ears. He could only barely feel someone gently touching him and laying him down on the table. He was probably gasping, too, like a fish on a dry shore, but he felt no air in his lungs. And then… it stopped. The pain, as suddenly as it came, disappeared, leaving Arthur drained, tired, and confused.

He was still on top of the table, felt the odd grooves of the wood under him just the way they were before, and everything was still terrifyingly large around him… He didn't change. He didn't return. He was still just Arthur.

"Well, looks like he didn't get bigger, but at least-," the witch started.

"You're right, it didn't work." Kaito interrupted her. "Now… release him. That charm just messes with his head, he doesn't need that right now."

"Oh my… looks like thieves are not quite used to have things stolen from them, even if it's a heart." She smiled, then murmured something, before she continued. "Should I… give you up?"

Kaito wordlessly picked up Arthur and held him to his chest. From then on, he couldn't see a thing, just the thief's clothes up close. But at that moment it bothered him more that he felt confused: the girl's voice, while it still was nice, it didn't feel quite as magical, while the burning hate he suddenly felt for Kaito faded.

"Well, maybe I won't. It would be a trouble if I let a little beansprout like him win you over." She spoke again, and Kaito stepped closer to her.

"As you wish, Princess. But I can't promise you anything." There was a hint of a smile in his voice, as he gave her another rose, a white one this time, then turned towards the door. "Good night."

Her laughter followed them through the hallway for a while, but it quieted down soon enough. Arthur felt himself doze off in Kaito's warm hands, and after a few minutes he was already asleep.