Chapter Text
Shiho was standing outside. The air was chilly for the night was clear and the moon's light painted the city cold silver, but she didn't even notice. Her eyes were on him. Her stupid detective. He had saved her and now he was lying there in a hospital bed, Ran by his side and his mom in a corner behind them. And Shiho was standing on the balcony of his room, unable to join them, unable to hide her inner state from the other women so she kept to herself. Ran didn't know who she was anyway, only Yukiko vouched for her to make Ran let her stay.
Shiho just wasn't a people person and didn't know what to say. She wished she didn't care, but wasn't able to forget even for a second the fragile situation they were stuck in.
She felt the goosbumps as if they were far away while she was standing there, praying he would just wake up and smile and being his stupid self, banter with her.
But he didn't wake up. For three days now he hadn't woken up.
Three days had gone by since the organization had taken a tough blow. FBI, CIA and PSB involved, they managed to arrest several members, some others died. But Gin was still on the run.
Shiho was almost able to feel him out there, plotting his revenge. That man usually tended to take things personally. The organization was probably about to regroup around him, since the FBI team had not been able to get through to the boss, Gin, Rum or Vermouth. A huge miscalculation, the whole mission had blown up. Covers had been made to hit from the inside, and yes, they had taken a hit, maybe the organization was taking it's last breath right now, but the people Shiho feared the most were still out there, hurt and therefore especially dangerous.
But the only true fear she felt now, was him. Why wouldn't he wake up? The only person to get her through this. Hurt in the operation.
When she felt a presence behind her, it ripped her out of her thoughts. Puzzled, she glanced at the figure wearing a hoodie and jeans, standing in a full moon's shine. She knew who he was within a second although she'd never met him in civilian clothing and realized she didn't even know his real name after all this time. They've been working together for the past few weeks, but he'd never given anything away. Instead he was always the one knowing more than anyone else. Or at least he easily made everyone believe so.
He noticed the look in her eyes, had expected it. But what was the point in hiding now. They'd planned the whole operation together to bring the organization down, and his own goal was finally fulfilled. He had known Kudou's and her secret almost from the beginning, and now they were standing here, in the middle of the night, hoping for the boy to wake up, who had made it all possible.
He wanted to check on them. The charming signature grin on his face he bowed, making it a show as usual: "Kuroba Kaito, at your service."
Falling back into her role, Shiho raised an eyebrow in amusement.
"Kaito. Seriously, that's your name?"
"I guess my father had a great sense of humor."
Kaito wouldn't stop smiling and she wondered if he actually meant that or if he played one of his games, but Shiho let it go for the moment, her gaze went back into the room.
Ran had fallen asleep in her chair, Yukiko was reading. This woman was so unbelievable. Strong and always full of optimism, ideas, always capable of acting unlike Shiho. She had felt unable to move for days. With Shinichi she had taken the antidote to operate with the team, only hours before their departure. Ran was still oblivious about everything and avoiding her questions was tiresome. Shiho still didn't know if the newest version of the antidote was even permanent. The scientist inside of her calculated 10 days at best, it had been three days now and she felt like a wreck already. On top of the mission and her worries for her partner to wake up, there were side effects of growing up over night, which she added to a long list in the back of her head. She was 19 after all and her teen hormones had finally kicked in, making her anxious, keeping her on edge. Meanwhile everything had calmed down around them and Kudou, Akai and Satou were hospitalized. With the calmness her tears came. It was just all too much. Gin on the run, the fear of losing Kudou, that she wasn't able to sit beside him with Ran in the same room… A memory of a fight they had had that night. Shiho noticed how her thoughts went too far when she teared up and a shiver went down her spine. A second later she felt a welcome warmth from behind. Kaito had wrapped his zipper hoodie around her, being left in his white shirt, the loose collar seesawing in the wind.
"You should go inside or you will catch a cold."
"I can't."
"How so?"
"It's complicated."
"It always is."
Kaito took a step back and glanced inside. He knew Ran, he knew how she waited for a boy to come back, who had changed so much that they could never work out. He knew the woman tried to move on but tonight she was sitting beside him again. After helping them out every now and then, despite the little games they played, he considered them somewhat like friends. Well, and of course he needed to be up to date with all the roles he liked to impersonate occasionally, so he kept track of them. At least that's what he told himself in the beginning, before he had to admit how much he enjoyed their games, the heists, being chased by the only detective able to challenge him.
But what did he know about the strawberry blonde exactly, besides the obvious? In the past weeks while working with them he had to admit how little he actually thought about it. He'd been quite impressed on how deep those roots of that so-called organization reached, and he was well aware that everyone he had talked to only told him what was necessary for his role in the operation. He trusted the girl because Kudou did. Kaito was a spotlight-loving impersonator and for the best show you want to be a stickler for detail but sometimes, if he couldn't use somthing to his advantage, he failed to observe it altogether, making him feel like a fucking amateur. Like this time. With a bittersweet expression on his face he turned to her.
"You love him."
"It's complicated." she repeated herself, unable to think of anything else.
"Come with me." Kaito proposed without thinking twice. He scrubbed her arms casually from behind to warm her up.
"It is cold. Your Hakase will call you right away if anything changes I am sure. Come on."
He took a step back holding out a hand.
The magician in civilian clothes wasn't sure about his own intentions but he couldn't just leave her there. When knowledge is your job, it could get frustrating at times. Seeing people beating around the bush. He had seen it in his eyes, whenever Kudou worked with her. The admiration. His respect for the most un-japanese yawny girl, how he called her sometimes to tease her, while she would roll her eyes at him.
Working with them had been quite fun, Kaito admitted, surprised it hadn't hit him earlier. But Kudou wasn't here now and someone had to make sure she was alright.
Shiho didn't move when he asked her to, so he pulled her away from the window. When she finally looked at him, Shiho acknowledged she was unable to elude his charms. He resembled him, didn't he? A lot. Why didn't she notice it earlier? Probably because they had been kids most of the time around the thief. She wouldn't exactly say it out loud, but the gentleman-thief seemed to be a good one. She had liked him from the start.
And now she had to admit, just giving in was easier. Relaxing, almost. He led her to the balustrade and the next thing she felt was the wind when he dropped down with her from the second floor, his arm tight around her back, gliding smoothly and slowly to the ground. She felt his warmth and how the tension of the past hours eased.
"Jii-chan. Let's go home" she heard him say to an elderly man in a dapper suit waiting beside a black limousine. She’d never met him but remembered Kid mentioning a partner before.
And "We'll have a guest overnight."
"I should have known," Shiho said, finding back to her teasing self, sitting in the back of the car next to Kaito. "You're a fat cat" she deadpanned, raising her eyebrows.
He laughed wholeheartedly. "And now you're kidnapping me back to your mansion." "Kind of!" He answered with an honest tone in his voice. Much to her surprise it was very easy to talk to him. He was entertaining but it didn't feel phony, nor superficial. He was a rare one… made her laugh with him within the first minute. With him. Not about her or anyone else. “A good one indeed”… she thought, almost enjoying this first time being alone with him.
Seeing the expression in her eyes, he knew it worked. Giving a restless mind something to process was the best way to pull them out of that downward spiral it could become. The girl in front of him was trying to take in what she witnessed, what he was telling her in a chit-chatty manner. When they arrived at the mansion and walked through the hallways stuffed with art and images of magicians, she more than once stopped to look around. Kuroba's home felt like a collection of oddities, he knew how it appeared to visitors and always enjoyed the reaction.
“The Okusama is residing in her wing, she planned on staying until next week and asked to have breakfast tomorrow.” The man Kuroba called Jii-chan informed him, sounding formal. “Hai hai… Jii-chan, our guest here is pretty much in the know about Kid, so I guess we can drop the act. When it comes to mom…” and he started to mutter to himself “I don’t really know why she’s even around..” while he jumped up a few stairs, hands in his pockets. Grinning, he turned around at the top of the stairs to face both of them “Jii-chan, would you check on mum, I don’t think we will need you tonight. I’ll see you for breakfast.”
Shiho was amused to witness something so domestic, considering all she knew about him before was his identity as a phantom thief. They had barely talked the past few weeks, usually about the operation. She had noticed him observing almost everyone pretty sharply and only had got a glimpse of his lighthearted character when he'd cracked a little joke every now and then, impersonating someone in the room, usually only noticed by her or Kudou. The compulsive entertainer in him just couldn’t help himself, could he?
Jii-chan wished both of them a good night and left, rolling his eyes and muttering something about "the botchama not blowing up his wing again like last time he cooked dinner alone" while Kuroba chuckled and pulled his guest forward.
The scientist stepped out of the shower feeling like a decent human being for the first time in days. Entering the guestroom Kuroba-kun had assigned her to, she found several clothes to change in a cabinet and chose the short and light yukata of black silk for the night.
Her host would enter the room minutes later to place tea and sandwiches on a nightstand next to the only lamp bathing the room in dimmed diffused light. She didn't refuse his company when he dropped himself right beside her on the edge of the bed throwing a long black shadow over the sheets shimmering silvery in the moonlight.
"I am worried too, you know."
Kaito began, well aware that some time alone must have started those wheels in her head again.
"Ara? Is stealing some chunks from big-headed billionaires not exciting enough without a corpse-magnet of a detective around? What's that about anyway… Stealing and leaving the stuff. How the fat cat just likes to play with some poor mice."
Kaito laughed out with unexpected honesty, throwing his head back before just letting go and falling back to the mattress. Her deadpan kind of humor was after his own taste. Looking up to the ceiling, he answered. "I never took the time to think about it, but if you look at it like that… sounds about right!" He grinned. Shiho turned to the side to look at him half amused, half interested in this new subject of study. Something that was after her own taste.
"The missing excitement or the cat and mouse thing?" She teased, avoiding what she was actually interested in. She knew he would notice. She'd already learned how openly he shared stuff if he wanted to.
"Haha.. yeah I deserve that. I take the compliment though. You make it sound like it was a piece of cake to pull those things, as if I had no opponents on my level. But it's hard work, you know!" The pride in his words was subtle compared to the look on his face and she couldn't help but chuckle at that.
"But to what end? You said we had the same goal, but never mentioned your connection to them."
"You can't blame me, not a single person in the inner circle of our operation gave anything away at that point. Not even you two. It seemed personal for everyone, though. Not just a job. Felt like no one wanted to enter a contest whose loss had been more painful. I stopped asking and eventually I stopped sneaking around either."
Shiho hmmed in agreement. She remembered those past weeks like a bad dream. An underground facility full of dedicated people working towards the same goal. Lots of new faces, and more than few had looked at her like a rare animal in a tank. Some had not even tried to hide their aversion against her and her past role in the organization's doings. To be fair she hadn't been the only one. Some had openly disagreed with having the thief or some highschool detectives around and the Japanese intelligence hadn't been all too fond of having to accept help from overseas. But not a single one had throwen a wrench in the works. That's how determined they all had been…
As if he could read her mind, Kaito noticed that look on her face and made the connection. The training in mentalistic skills came in handy every now and then but it didn't make him omniscient so he used those with caution. After some time had passed in silence he decided to not ask about the hatred she had faced, the story everyone except him seemed to know. Instead he answered her initial question:
"They killed my father. Easy as that. Years ago, when he was the first Kaito Kid. I took his identity and even recreated some of his tricks to lure the perpetrators out but got wined up in this organisation's doings in no time. I got stuck there. Wasn't able to confirm anything for the longest time. But now I know what happened, I helped to make them pay, I am done. Thanks to him." Kaito spoke with a calm, soothing voice. It was unlike him, Shiho thought. But felt oddly familiar at the same time.
A somewhat far-fetched thought crossed her mind when she saw the look on his face and amused she teased "Are you crushing on the Pseudo-Holmes?" To her surprise his answer was a genuine "Well… I never made it a secret." He grinned while rubbing his nose awkwardly. Shiho chuckled softly at that.
So that's what it was. Two people licking their wounds over the same idiot, she thought. That very same guy she had a serious quarrel with while in standby only minutes prior to their team's boarding. She had to set it right… why would he even ask her to stop working on a permanent antidote that night? She'd been pissed at that.. couldn't he see how important it was to her to give him back what she initially had taken from him? But they had departed before she had the chance to backpedal when she'd realized her overreaction back then.
Kaito noticed her change of mood when she was silent for too long. He wanted to ask her so many things, to fill in the blanks about the organization, about herself but mostly, he admitted, if he could do something, anything, to make her feel better. But he figured it wasn't the time nor his place right now. Instead he tried to act casual to cheer her up. With some momentum the magician sat up, nudging her shoulder softly. "No worries, I promise a fair fight!" He joked with his soothing voice. "Oh boy, I'm out. Can you imagine fighting over that idiot?" She asked, playing along, nudging back as if he was an old friend, while he laughed, enjoying the banter. She smiled for a brief moment before her eyes went far away again. Shiho wouldn't take it if their last conversation would be a fight, he had to wake up. "I just need to talk to him again… nothing else matters before I can set this right…" she whispered.
In a well-meant last attempt, he went through his hair in a fluid gesture while clearing his throat. In an instant a tired and slightly chaotic looking Shinichi was sitting right next to her, saying "I'm here if you need m…." And he stopped right there.
Knee-jerked asshole move, he thought to himself. Why couldn't he stop himself from ridiculing everything. Well-meant, as if…
It was a mistake and he knew it the very moment he heard himself talking with Kudou's voice…the hurt in her eyes was heartbreaking but disappeared within a heartbeat. She wasn't angry, he noticed with relieve, but still.. "I’m sorry. No more games" he whispered. Too late he realized how close they were, the tip of his nose almost touching hers and he froze. He felt drawn to her but stopped himself right there. She was in love with someone else, someone he wasn’t disinclined to himself, and yet here they were. Probably both thinking of this other person in question. Her eyes met his, he almost felt her struggle for a second and the next moment she just kissed him.
She was very much aware how twisted it was, but she couldn't stop herself… their lives already were one overproduced shitshow, but his lips were taking her away from that mess.
The mess her emotions were in right now, that mess the organization had left for them all to clean up, that mess in the hospital she couldn't think about any longer.
The next thing she knew, she pressed against his chest, feeling Kuroba's heartbeat and his hands around her waist… god, what was she doing? She couldn't remember, didn't care… They kissed, with this pressing urge to feel a connection, and a rushing high had already taken over her senses. She felt his breath going rough, between kisses she dared to look at him and yeah, he resembled him… but he smelled different. Stronger but sweet, and there was his playful signature grin in the moonlight. For the moment, she decided, it was fine to give in. Shiho didn't kiss him because he looked like Shinichi. He was different, and maybe exactly what she needed right now.
Kaito didn't push, enjoyed her soft lips, waited for her to decide the next step… he couldn't explain why, but he felt like he knew her inner troubles. Meeting her gaze it was obvious to him, but he couldn't help but smile… his crush on the detective was one thing, maybe even just part of their games. This was different and he welcomed it since for the moment she seemed to wash this misery of unexplored emotions away, he'd kept hidden under his unwavering cheerfulness, while she was probably feeling the same deep down. The urge to forget the dumb detective for once, the one who caused so much trouble… or heartbreak for that matter.
When she kissed him this time, he felt it… there wasn't sorrow anymore but desire. For him, for something real to feel right now and he gave in in a heartbeat.
Shiho was sleeping to his left, her back to his chest and the moon gave away a peaceful expression on the woman's face but it also revealed some terrors of her past. Tenderly he brushed his fingers over the scarred skin of her shoulder and realized how much he still didn't know… she had always seemed so strong when they met, he knew she'd been some kind of hostage back in the organization and a scientist of course. Vital to the operation for her knowledge of the facility they had stormed and the drug that changed their appearance. He decided he had to change that soon, had to uncover the mystery she still was to him. Tonight he had added her scent to her file in his head… and her sweet taste, and how her voice went low, the moonlight in her eyes when she was about to come.
It was already too late when it hit him, he was about to fall hard for her and maybe the feeling wasn't entirely unwelcome.