*grins*
Despite the fact that he felt the really strong urge to shout at the magician for disappearing, Shinichi didn't even consider "breaking his wings", as the witch had put it. Because deep under the anger he felt, there was worry. So much that Shinichi felt like he was going crazy with it. And just when he was already stressed out, Kid just had to have a heist. He couldn't have chosen a worse time.
So after his brief, but all the more frightening meeting with the witch, Shinichi headed home while his mind was running a million miles per minute. He wanted to laugh at himself until he cried, for being so miserable, for possibly overthinking and worrying too much, before he realized that it was no laughing matter. Kid's life was in danger now, and he was absolutely sure that the idiotic thief would do absolutely nothing to avoid trouble. Which could mean only one thing – Shinichi had to take care of it himself. Sure, it was a bit problematic, since he was, annoyingly, still stuck in a child's body and thus had to face ridiculous limitations like early curfew, but if he decided that he would help Kid, he truly would, even if that was the last thing he did.
Words were all nice, but they meant nothing unless action followed them, though. So, on the day of the heist, (two days after his meeting with the witch, that is), he showed up at the museum, while dragging a slightly grouchy Mouri Kogoro and a still frantic and worried Ran along. The task force, as always, was there, having just enough members ready so that faces wouldn't be remembered and others could sneak in with no problems. Shinichi shook his head at that – some things never change.
Shinichi was slowly getting sick of all the noise. They were nowhere near the mayhem Kid was going to cause, but maybe because he was on the edge on that evening, the constant shouting of Nakamori irked him more than ever. Just spending another minute in the area seemed to be an impossible task. But still, he tried to hold on and, well… keep wondering around. Not that he was looking for anything specific. He just wanted to make sure that people wouldn't pay too much attention to him. Once they got used to him walking around, disappearing from one place and appearing at another, supposedly looking for clues on what Kid might plan, he could slip away just fine.
It was a shame, but he wasn't going to watch the chaos unfold around the gem this time. It would most probably the same as usual: Kid stealing his target, and then escaping. And if Shinichi was right, he would do so through the roof. There, he would intercept the thief, and make sure that they don't start flying around. To be honest, he couldn't possibly imagine why the thief would even want to do that, but after living with him for three weeks, he was… a bit used to him and his antics. Maybe he didn't need a reason, he'd just do it on a whim. Shinichi huffed. His reasons didn't matter now – keeping him alive did.
With that thought, half an hour later he knocked out two guards on his way to the roof. Normally he might've tried to sweettalk them into letting him through, but this time he was too desperate. After a moment, he decided to hide them behind the door. He had to cringe at his behaviour, though. He almost felt like a criminal.
"Kid, you better appreciate this…" he grumbled, though he knew that Kid would probably do anything but that. Still, he gathered himself and run up the stairs.
At 9 pm, Shinichi heard the distant rumble of an explosion. It seemed that the heist started just on time, according to schedule. He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, as he leaned back against the railing on the roof. He didn't like how shaky it sounded, nor the way his palms got clammy. Damn... he was nervous.
It was crazy how he didn't realize before that he didn't have a plan. But there he was, standing on his own, the only thought on his mind being "stop him." But as for how to do it… He didn't know what he could say to Kid. He could try to joke, to laugh everything that happened between them off, but then Kid wouldn't understand how important it is that they don't fly. Thinking about it all… waiting for him on the roof would be entirely stupid.
"I have to stop him before he even reaches the roof," he breathed out, and dashed over to the door. He tore it open and-
"Hey. I was wondering where you went."
Kid was standing right in front of him. His first instinct was to reach out, to make sure he's not seeing a ghost – he had to clench his hands into fists to hold himself back.
"Then again, I should've expected this." Kid went on as he brushed past Shinichi. "We always meet on the rooftop after all. It's like a secret tradition, just between the two of us." He turned back, and the Moon drew a silver aura around him. "When I plan my heists, I sometimes ask myself what you might say. Playing with my dear task force is always fun, but they can be a bit predictable sometimes… But you? You are always so interesting." With slow, careful steps, he walked back to Shinichi, and crouched in front of him. "And I keep wondering… with the next heist, with my next trick…" He stopped for a moment, showing his own sad smile, as he reached out to touch Shinichi's cheek. "…will I make you smile?"
Shinichi took a shuddering breath, and Kid pulled away.
"I'm lucky, though. I was hoping you would wait for me here, so I wouldn't have to fetch you." He grinned. "I planned something funny."
"You're getting your revenge because I didn't watch your performance?" Shinichi snorted.
"That's not a bad idea. How do you feel about golden glitter?"
"Not very enthusiastic. Listen, there's something-"
"That's good, because I don't have any left!" Kid laughed. "Well come on, we only have this night!"
"What are you-"
"I'm showing you something pretty!" And with that, he picked up Shinichi like he was nothing. "It's a bit far away, so we'll have to fly, though." He laughed again, and strode towards the edge. The breath got stuck in Shinichi's throat and then… they jumped.
For one endless moment, they were falling as they leapt off the edge of the roof, before something pulled them back up in the air and the wind carried them away. Shinichi looked up, and he could've sworn he saw wings on Kid's back. One blink was all it took though for him to realize that he was wrong – the glider. He already felt the fear bubble up in him, numbing his limbs, clutching his heart.
And the worst thing was that Kid was grinning - he had no idea what was coming for him. He had to warn him, he had to-
"I imagined it a bit differently, but I always thought that one day we'd fly around like this," Kid said, and beneath his Poker Face and the barely audible, nervous edge of his tone, there was joy, genuine joy. For just a second, Shinichi wished that he could let himself feel it too, before he returned to reality.
"Look, we need to land somewhere. Right now."
"I though you don't have problems with heights."
"I don't, but we have to. We can't just-"
"But of course we can!" Kid laughed triumphantly, and looked down at Shinichi. This is how someone looks like when they think they own the whole world, he thought, and he would've felt bad for ruining it for Kaito, if it wasn't for the fact that both of them were going to die unless they disappear as quickly as they can.
"No, we can't. Listen to me! You'll get shot if we don't land right now and hide somewhere."
"Shot? What makes you think-"
Gunshot shook the air. The sound from his nightmares, Shinichi remembered, loud and clear. For a moment, nothing moved, like the universe was holding its breath. And then, they were falling again, like they were on a rollercoaster, only it ended in concrete and blood. Shinichi wanted to scream, filled with frustration, because even when he knew, even when he had to chance to stop it and save them both, he failed.
The arms around him never loosened, though. If anything, they held him tighter, closer, and Shinichi looked up with a gasp.
"Hey, you okay there?" Kid asked as he was grinning down at him. This had to be a dream, some stupid fragment of his imagination compensating for the reality, this had to be-
"Yeah," he breathed out in the end.
"Great. I'll try to make the shooter believe that he succeeded, maybe they'll leave us alone then. I don't know about you, but I don't like getting shot.
"You'll try wha-"
And then the breath was knocked out of Shinichi as they landed on a rooftop rather roughly. It wasn't a spine crashing fall, sure, but it wasn't too comfortable either. When he tried to raise his head to grumble, however, Kid pushed him down again and hissed in his ear: "Stay low a bit." And so he did. For long, tense moments he could only hear their breathing and his own thundering heartbeat, before the world cleared out once again, and he could hear the city rumbling under them. A few more moments later Kid patted him on the back. "I think you can get up now. But we should get out of here." They both stood up and headed to the door, leading off the rooftop.
When it closed behind them, Kid grinned at him.
"I didn't know you could predict the future."
"What?"
"You knew that someone is going to shoot at me. That's why you were so desperate." Shinichi could hear the shift in his tone. It sounded joking, like he was just laughing at it all, but there was a question behind it, or even worse – suspicion. He didn't know what Kid suspected, but he assumed that it wasn't anything good.
"I did."
"How?"
"I… uh… I had these dreams." Kid looked at him like he was urging him to go on. "Nightmares. We were flying, just like we did now, and then you would get shot. Someone would shoot you and we would fall down."
"You never told me…" It sounded like confusion was slowly building up inside Kid. No wonder. But Shinichi just wanted to roll his eyes – lately the thief hasn't exactly given him the chance to tell him anything.
"I didn't think they were important. I had a bad feeling about them, but that's the same with every nightmare."
"And then something made you change your mind."
"Yes." And now came the difficult part. Talking about the witch made Shinichi uneasy. Also, he had a feeling that it might upset Kid, and he wanted to avoid that. Still, he had to tell him, Kid wanted, if not demanded answers. "I met her. The witch. She told me that the dreams were… predictions."
"How come you can see them?" The look Kid was giving him meant that he wouldn't accept any lies. He would see through Shinichi if he tried.
"She… made me see them. She thought that if I'll be the one warning you, you'll listen." The more he spoke, he higher his voice got, and the more he shrank away from Kid. And for a reason. The thief looked downright murderous, and the way he clenched his fists promised nothing good. Shinichi felt lucky that this anger probably wasn't directed at him.
"Why…" Kid whispered to himself. He probably didn't want Shinichi to hear, but somehow, it seemed like he forgot that he wasn't on his own. "Why is it that even if I let you go, you still get in trouble because of me?"
As he looked at him closer, Kid looked like he was ready to run off again, so Shinichi quickly grabbed his hand to stop him. That earned him a gasp and a surprised look that, for reason he knew awfully well already, made him blush a bit. He had to fight a little to find his voice again, but when he did, he tried to sound confident, though he knew that Kid would see through him anyway.
"I don't want you to leave. I told you that I trust you, right? The first time I freaked out, but now I know that I do." Kid just smiled sadly at him.
"I know. And I'm glad that you do."
"Then what more do you expect from me? If you think that you're protecting me this way, you have to know that you're wrong. Something always happens, whether I'm with you or not. But if-"
"You don't know what you're saying."
"I know perfectly what I'm saying! Don't you get it? Even if you're not with me, this won't change, so at least… at least…"
"You are a child!" Kid cried out. "You're weak and fragile, it wouldn't take too much to break you. And if you're near me, someone might just… They might just take you and hurt you until they get what they want from me! You are my weakness, but I can't afford to have any! So just let me go just like I let you go!"
They just stood there, staring at each other in silence for a few moments.
"Now… now you get it." When Kid spoke again, his voice was shaky and quiet. "I'm not as selfless as you think I am. Did you think that it was all for your sake?" He gave another sad smile, before he disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Shinichi leaned tiredly against the door, as he looked up, staring at the ceiling with empty eyes.
"You… you don't know what you're saying. It doesn't make sense at all."
