Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan/Case Closed.

Pairing: KaitoxShinichi

Chapter Rating: M

Collection Summary: No matter where or what they are, their lives are always entwined. KaiShin stories in fantasy settings.

Chapter Summary: Their investigation into the death of Kuroba Toichi lands Shinichi and Kaito in the middle of a city-wide battle.

Cloak and Dagger

[Castle Verse]

Part 2

The sky had opened up. Now rain was pounding across the city: dense and freezing cold. Shinichi had no idea what time it was as he had not yet seen a clock and the sky was black with clouds. All he knew was that by the time he stumbled into the Black Pearl Inn, his clothes were soaked through and he felt like a rag doll that had been tossed around by a storm then run over in the mud a few times by a heavy carriage. The physical discomfort was, however, nothing compared to the anxiety twisting in his gut.

He'd hoped—prayed—that Kaito might miraculously make it back before he did, but their room was empty when he got there.

He wanted to run right back out into the storm to find Kaito now that his feet were listening to him again, but common sense made him refrain. They had lost their map in the scramble, and even if they hadn't, the pouring rain meant that it was highly unlikely he'd be able to find anything. That included his way back. Heaving a frustrated sigh, he stripped out of his wet clothes and pulled a dry set out. No point catching a cold. Getting sick would slow him down, and that wouldn't help anyone. The moment the rain stopped, he was heading out to search for Kaito.

If he could see, he was sure that he could find his way back to the pub. From there, he might be able to trace their steps. Sure most of those steps had been taken in great haste, but he'd always had a good memory and a decent sense of direction.

Now that he had a plan and dry clothes, he found himself at a loss. He suspected he should eat something, but he just didn't feel like eating. Instead he sat down on one of the overly fancy chairs, closed his eyes, and set about reviewing the past several hectic hours.

He had noticed something as they were fleeing. Their pursuers, though dressed to conceal their identities in mostly unremarkable clothes, had not in fact been completely thorough. He had noticed when one assailant's cloak flapped open that there was a crest emblazoned on the sheath of the man's sword. What had it been? He conjured up the moment in his mind.

The shape had been jagged. A lightning bolt. Yes, definitely a lightning bolt. A lightning bolt striking through a…a circle? No, a sun.

Blue eyes opened.

He'd seen that crest before. And if he was right then he had the sinking suspicion that they were in even deeper trouble than he had thought.

And here he'd been thinking that things couldn't get any worse. He wouldn't make that mistake again in a hurry.

-0-

The heavy rain continued all through the night, and it wasn't showing any signs of stopping the following day. Trapped in the inn, Shinichi stewed for a while over what he could do and whether or not to go out and try to navigate through the rain after all. Instead he'd forced himself to eat a little then asked for a copy of every newspaper available from over the past few weeks. The inn's staff were rather puzzled as to why he would want outdated papers, but they were happy enough to help. He was in luck and one of the cooks had kept copies of many of the recent papers because they featured news on an actress at the city's largest theater whom he was enamored with. He lent them to Shinichi under the condition that Shinichi keep them in pristine condition.

By evening, he was about to go out of his mind. He'd slept terribly last night, so he was exhausted, but his thoughts were too restless for sleep. He had no appetite, and though his reading had confirmed some of his theories, it wasn't helping.

Did the fact that Kaito hadn't returned yet mean that he was—

No, he couldn't be. Shinichi wouldn't believe it! Kaito was too intelligent and too skilled a magician to go out like that.

Shinichi told himself this every few minutes.

"When do you think this storm will stop?" he asked when he went to return the old papers.

"It's hard to say. Our storms this time of year are always fierce and rather unpredictable. It could stop tomorrow or next week. No one knows. But it's always wonderful clear skies when the rains do go—great for city strolls if your into that sort of thing."

"I see. Thank you." Shinichi turned to go then turned back. "Incidentally, if I were to go for walks, would you happen to have a map I could use?"

"Oh of course. You can get one from the manager."

"Thanks."

New map in hand, he returned to the room. He was determined that, by the time the rain cleared (which was hopefully tomorrow), he would have every tiny bit of the map memorized to the point where he wouldn't need it anymore.

-0-

A shadow slipped into an alley mouth. The buildings to either side, however, were little protection against the storm. The wind simply funneled in through the alley mouth as the rain continued to bombard the earth from above.

Pausing halfway down the alley, the figure raised a hand and gestured back the way he had come. The air shimmered then went still. Satisfied that any pursuers not deceived by the misdirection spell outside the alley would find a nasty surprise inside it, he continued on his way.

He had managed to knock out more than half of the strange cloaked entourage with his first explosive attack, but that still left quite a number of pursuers. And they had wised up and were now generally trying to attack him from a distance. Thy had also stopped approaching him in overly large groups, realizing probably that that made it easier for him to take them all out with a single spell. It meant Kaito had to focus on using mostly small spells lest he waste too much energy at once. It was irritating, but he'd always been good at—tactical games like these.

Reaching the end of the alley, he glanced back once to check for pursuers before climbing expertly up the wall. Flipping over the top, he landed on the other side in a crouch, ready to attack if need be.

It was difficult to see through the rain, but he appeared to have entered someone's yard. It was a very large, very fancy yard complete with its own pond—let's stay away from that—and little stone bridge. The lanterns by the back doors were lit, but the weather meant that no one was outside.

This should be a safe place to rest for a while and get his bearings.

He was just finding himself a seat under the awnings out of the rain when suddenly the door less than a hundred paces away slid open. He tensed. What could anyone want outside in a storm like this?

He got his answer as a young woman stepped out of the house. She had a potted plant in her arms. Humming to herself, she set it down on the ground beneath the rain. Then she turned to go back inside—and spotted the intruder.

Kaito leapt forward and covered her mouth with his hand before she could scream. His other hand intercepted her fist as she made to hit him.

"Please, m'lady, I'm not here to hurt you," he said, giving her his most earnest, pleading look. "The storm caught me unawares. I am new to this city, and I got lost. Please, I just wish to rest out of the rain for a moment. I'll be gone in an hour. Promise."

Seeing that the girl seemed to have calmed, he slowly released his hold on her. She immediately took a step back but didn't scream.

"How did you get in here?" she asked.

"I thought I was taking a shortcut through an alley but ran into a dead end." He pulled on a rueful smile. "I was almost positive my inn had to be just on the other side, but… Well, suffice to say that that was not the case. I must have gotten completely turned around in the storm."

The girl's lips twitched as though she were trying not to laugh. "A lot of people have that problem when they run into their first storm here."

Kaito heaved an exaggerated sigh of relief. "Oh good. Here I was thinking I must be a real idiot."

Now the girl did laugh. "No need to worry about that." She paused before continuing more hesitantly. "You know, if you would like, I can ask my parents if they would let you stay for the night. We do have plenty of guest rooms."

"Oh wow, that's very kind of you to offer. I really couldn't impose on you like that though."

"Oh it wouldn't be any trouble. We have a wing of the house specially fitted for visitors who need to spend the night. These sorts of storms are very common. You wouldn't be the first person who was caught unawares and had to borrow one."

Kaito turned the idea over in his head. He wanted to get back to the inn as soon as possible, but running around in this weather could lead to his winding up farther away instead. His pursuers probably wouldn't expect to find him in a resident's private home, so it would be a good hiding place for the next few hours. There might be a problem if those cloaked men thought to ask around though. However, since it was so dark out, he cast a quick spell to mask his hair and eye colors so that he now had black hair and brown eyes.

He bowed to the young woman. "I guess if it wouldn't be a bother, I would very much appreciate your hospitality."

She smiled. "Just wait here. I'll go talk to them then."

A few minutes later, Kaito found himself seated across a table full of food at the young woman's parents. Apparently he had stumbled into the home of the Oyumi family, a clan of wealthy merchants. Since they constantly had employees shipping merchandize in and out of town for them, they were indeed used to putting people up for the night. They were a rather jovial lot who liked to hear stories of far away places.

So Kaito regaled them with tales of his "many travels" and put all of his considerable charm and wit to good use. It was the least he could do for their kindness. They'd even invited him to join them for dinner.

He just wished Shinichi could be here too. The boy was always fascinated with learning about other peoples and places. He would have enjoyed talking with these people.

-0-

Shinichi was washing his face in the restroom when he thought he heard movement outside. He tensed. He had not heard the door open

Cautiously, he stepped to the door and peered outside. Blue eyes widened.

"Kaito!"

"Hey there. It's good to see you~."

A pillow smacked the magician square in the face. He caught it as it fell and blinked across the room at the source.

"You scared me half to death you jerk!" Shinichi fumed. "Why did you send me away?!"

A second pillow soared through the air. His hands already occupied with the first pillow, Kaito had to duck the second. Before Shinichi could grab a third, he covered the distance between them in quick strides, tossed the pillow he was holding onto the bed, and caught Shinichi's wrists.

"Calm down," he admonished. "And here I thought you'd be happy to see me."

Shinichi flushed with anger. "Wha—you—how dare you even say that to me?! I thought you were hurt—or worse! I—I thought—"

Kaito gave Shinichi's captured wrists an abrupt tug, causing the latter to stumble forward, at which point the magician wrapped his arms around him. He could feel instantly that there were shudders running through Shinichi's slim frame. He felt a pang of guilt. He really shouldn't have been so flippant.

"I'm sorry I scared you," the magician murmured, breath hot in Shinichi's ear. "I really didn't mean to."

"Why didn't you let me stay?" Shinichi asked, voice barely above a whisper. He tried to ignore the way his vision was blurring.

"I…I couldn't." It was the magician's turn to have to pause and clear his throat. "I couldn't lose you. I needed to know that you'd be safe."

Shinichi stilled. The raw sincerity in Kaito's words made his own throat clench. "Don't you think I deserve the same?"

"I… You're right. I'm sorry. It's just…there are times when…"

Shinichi sighed. "I know… I'm sorry I lost my temper. I was just…worried. I know it's unreasonable to expect that you always tell me what you're going to do before you do it. I just…"

"Shinichi, I promise you that no matter what happens or what might come our way, I will always do everything possible—hell, I'll do the impossible if I have to!—in order to come back to you."

"You can't expect me to sit around and do nothing. I'm not that kind of person."

Kaito let out a hoarse laugh. "I know. That's one of the things I love about you. I wouldn't expect you to sit around. All I ask is that you be safe."

"I'll do my best. But if you ever do get lost, I'm going to come find you."

"Sounds good."

They stood there for a long moment, just enjoying the feeling of being wrapped in each other's arms. Then Shinichi remembered something rather important. Kaito was still soaking wet. And, by default due to their embrace, he too was now quite wet.

"We should get changed," he said, pulling away a little. "If we stay like this, we're both going to catch colds."

Kaito made a slightly irritated noise in the back of his throat. Unwinding one arm from around Shinichi, he snapped his fingers. There was a hiss of steam from their clothes. When it had dissipated, both of them were dry. Valid concern or not, he really didn't want to think about anything right now other than Shinichi.

The bout of steam had brought with it a burst of warmth which now left behind a sudden chill. Shinichi shifted unconsciously closer to Kaito for warmth. With his eyes closed, he exhaled slowly. His racing heart was finally beginning to calm, but he continued to cling to Kaito, needing the reassurance that the magician really was there. That he was alive and unhurt. His hands shifted, anxiously checking for any wounds he might have missed. Kaito hadn't acted like he was hurt, but the magician was a born actor, so he could have been hiding it…

Long, calloused fingers caught his chin, lifting his face from where it had been buried against Kaito's shirt. Blue eyes blinked open, meeting indigo orbs for an instant that sent an electric shock through his system.

A hot mouth found his own. His lips parted in a soft gasp, allowing Kaito to dive in, deepening the kiss.

Shinichi moaned quietly. He could feel himself melting into the kiss. His thoughts stuttered. The world grew hazy even as his senses seemed to sharpen.

He wasn't sure how or when his clothes had been stripped away from him. All he knew was that they were gone, and he was now lying naked on the bed with the similarly undressed Kaito leaning over him. He couldn't remember how he'd ended up here, but he didn't care. Right now, this was the only place he wanted to be.

The magician's hands were touching him everywhere: stroking, rubbing, pinching, and just plain driving him crazy. Then a hot, talented mouth joined the fray, and what was left of his coherent thoughts melted into a happy puddle of sensation and pleasure.

One of those oh so talented hands found its way between his legs and he gasped. It began to stroke him as its cousin continued to roam the rest of his body. He squirmed, tossing his head against the fluffy pillows. Teeth scraped over a sensitive nipple and Shinichi's breath hitched. One of his hands found its way into dark, messy hair as the other twisted in the sheets.

A scent he vaguely identified as belonging to one of the bottles of oil the room had come with reached his nose. He didn't think much of it until—

Shinichi let out a breathless whimper as Kaito pushed slick fingers into him. The fingers began thrusting immediately, movements quick and sure as they stroked and pressed and scissored, stretching him. Preparing him for what was to come next. Two fingers soon became three. Shinichi mewled as his back arched. The fingers responded by moving even faster, and he was just thinking that he didn't know how much longer he could withstand their relentless assault on his senses when suddenly they were withdrawing.

He might have whimpered a protest, but he never got the chance.

Instead, he moaned as Kaito entered him. Then he was clinging to Kaito as the magician thrust into him. And all he could think about was Kaito, Kaito, Kaito—

The world seemed to dissolve. It was just the two of them, lost in their own blissful eternity where all was right with the world.

-0-

Shinichi stifled a yawn as he buried his face in the crook of Kaito's neck. "We should get cleaned up…"

Kaito hummed thoughtfully as his hand continued to trace meaningless patterns across Shinichi's back. He could use a spell to clean them up. On the other hand… "We can always try the pool."

"…Are you talking about the ridiculously oversized bath rub?"

Kaito chuckled. Instead of a verbal answer, he rose and gathered Shinichi up into his arms. One blue eye cracked open to give him a mildly annoyed look, but Shinichi made no move to protest.

An hour later, they emerged from the bathroom in a waft of steam, both dressed in loose, comfortable clothes.

"I should totally have a tub like that installed at the castle," Kaito said with a grin before shooting his companion a leer. "Think of all the fun we could have~."

Shinichi blushed. Turning quickly away from the magician, he moved to the small refreshments tray that had come with the room. He poured a glass of water for both himself and Kaito. Setting the glasses on the table, he took a seat. Rather than sitting down across from him, however, Kaito wandered over and squeezed onto the seat beside him. A sinewy arm slid around Shinichi's waist, and a moment later he found himself sitting on Kaito's lap.

Reaching across the table, Shinichi picked up the second glass of water and handed it back to Kaito. "I remembered something I read before."

The magician raised an eyebrow, taking a sip from his own glass. "…Okay? I assume there's more."

Shinichi rolled his eyes. "Yes, there is. I think I know who was trying to kill us."

"Really? I don't suppose you know why too?"

"I have a good guess actually."

Kaito whistled. "Have I ever told you how amazing you are?"

Shinichi's blush returned. "Thank you, but it really wasn't anything. You'd know too if you'd read the papers here."

The magician blinked. "The papers?"

Rising from his seat on Kaito's lap (much to the magician's disappointment), Shinichi began to pace. "About three weeks ago, the royal family of the kingdom this city is part of was robbed. The stolen object was a very special ring that has been passed down from ruler to ruler. It is said that it was blessed by the gods and brings good fortune to this kingdom as long as it is being worn by the king."

"Wait a moment. How'd someone steal it if it was being worn? Did the robber kill him?"

"Actually, the current king is very ill. The coronation of the crown prince was supposed to take place three weeks ago."

"They stole it before it could be bestowed at the ceremony then. Everyone—and everything—is most vulnerable in transit."

"Exactly. The kingdom's been in an uproar ever since. Everyone is desperate to recover the ring. The coronation cannot continue without it."

"You are suggesting," Kaito said slowly, "that the package we were asked to deliver might be this ring."

"Well, what I just said isn't actually enough evidence to draw a conclusion like that," Shinichi admitted. "However, I saw a crest on the sword sheath of one of our assailants. It was a thunderbolt striking a sun."

"That's not the crest of the royal family here. Theirs is a flower of some sort. A starflower if I remember correctly."

"Yeah. I didn't recognize it at first either. But then I remembered seeing it in one of the historical texts in our library. It was the crest of the royal family who ruled this kingdom before the current family took over. They were, by all accounts, a vicious and tyrannical lot, but they were very powerful with many skilled warriors and magicians in their ranks. It was in order to rescue this kingdom that the current royal family's great ancestor received the blessed ring. They say that, while the man wore it, he was surrounded by a holy light through which no weapons or spells could harm him."

"Ah, I've heard that story. It was one of the last recorded incidents of true holy magic."

Shinichi paused. "Really? I didn't know that."

"Not many people do. So you were telling me about this previous royal family?"

"It seems to me that there are at least two plausible reasons," Shinichi said, hand rising to his chin. "Someone, either from the group that attacked us or a third party, stole the ring and are using a series of couriers to confuse the trail and hide the final recipient. In that case, we were just another part of the courier system, and our attackers found that out and decided to intercept the ring and take it for themselves. The other possibility is that our attackers are affiliated with the thieves, but they lost the ring or had it taken from them at some point, and the people who found it or stole it from them are trying the aforementioned misdirection tactic."

"So either way, we were cover for the ring's journey. Makes sense."

"The former tyrants' clan, the Raishu, have made multiple attempts to reclaim the throne in the past. So it wouldn't be surprising if they decided to try again by targeting the royal ring. Although," Shinichi added, "It's mostly speculation at this point."

"There's one way to be sure." Kaito snapped his fingers. The small, wooden box they had been asked to deliver appeared in his hand. "I think it's time we find out exactly what it is we've been carrying around." Setting it down on the table, he studied it for a long moment. The thing had been enchanted so that only the keys could open it. The first order of business was to disable the spell.

Shinichi sat down on the edge of the bed to watch as Kaito worked. Under other circumstances, he would have said it was wrong to open other people's parcels, but considering everything that had happened, he felt quite justified this time. And if they really had been given stolen property…

Three locks clicked softly. Then the lid was being lifted. And there it was.

A gold ring bearing a starflower crest looked up at them from a velvet-cushioned bed. The flower had been encrusted with diamonds. Tiny runes had been etched into the band. It seemed to be glowing against the deep crimson of its backdrop.

Shinichi let out the breath he'd been holding as the corners of his mouth turned down. "It really is the king's ring."

"Looks that way," Kaito agreed, expression serious. "What I want to know is why we were asked to deliver it."

"Could Lady Akako be involved with the plot to steal it? I mean, we were assigned the delivery by her, and the man we received the package from was clearly working for her."

Indigo eyes narrowed in thought. "I wouldn't put it past her to know that the ring was in the box, but she doesn't strike me as the type who would participate in a scheme to overthrow the king. It would cause instability, and that would interfere with her business. If I had to guess, I'd say it's much more likely that she was hired to cover part of the courier system like we were. But by who? Obviously it's not the Raishu, since they were attacking us." Leaving the ring still glittering from its box on the table, Kaito moved to sit down beside Shinichi on the bed.

They sat in silence for a long moment, both their eyes trained on that sparkle. It was Shinichi who eventually broke the silence.

"So what now? We can't deliver stolen property."

"Why not?"

He turned to level Kaito with an incredulous stare. "Why not? It's stolen property! And not just any stolen property. It's a royal heirloom! The right thing to do would be to hand it back over to the royal family."

"If we do that, we'll never get our answers from Lady Akako," Kaito pointed out, unperturbed by Shinichi's distress.

"So you'd be willing to hand this over to who knows what kind of criminals who could cause untold amounts of harm to this kingdom just to get your answers?!"

"Calm down. I didn't mean it like that."

Shinichi did not look impressed.

Kaito elaborated. "The first step will be to figure out exactly who is involved in this and what their goals are. Once we know that, we can arrange it so that, once we've completed the delivery, the ring will make its way back into the hands of the rightful owners. After all, we agreed to deliver it, not to make sure it, ah, stays delivered."

"You make it sound so easy," Shinichi grumbled, though he had to admit that the idea had some merit. Played right, they would even be able to hand the culprits to the authorities. "Although you realize that the chances are high that whoever we're delivering to is also going to try and kill us to tie up loose ends. Especially since we'll have had the ring a lot longer than we're supposed to. It'll make them suspicious about us having looked inside even if you can relock it correctly."

"You mean when I relock it correctly. But yes, I thought of that. But again, there are many ways to deliver something. In person is only one of them. If the lady is as skilled as she seems then she will know we completed the task whatever way we do it."

"How can you even be sure that she'll keep her word?"

"She swore on her craft. That's not a promise a magic user can just break on a whim."

"Oh." Well, that was good to know at least. Shinichi mulled it all over then sighed. "This is going to take a lot longer than two weeks."

"Probably."

"Is it really okay for us to stay in the city for so long?"

Kaito shrugged. "It's not ideal, but Aoko said she'd look after my territory while we were away. So things should be fine for a while. Most people avoid messing with dragons if they can help it."

"We should send a message home though. Let them know we'll be delayed."

"Yeah. It'll have to wait for the storm to pass though. For now, I say we order some room service. Then we can figure out how we're going to do this."

-To Be Continued-