More Than A Gemstone (Kaishin)

Bacterial Contamination

Kaito's jaw dropped as he witnessed the scene around himself. What had just happened? A second ago he had seen the Task Force approach from all directions, and Kudo Shinichi too. He was about to be done for!
Now all those men sat on the floor, some leaned against a wall, clutching their faces and cursing him out. Especially Kudo Shinichi was a surprised to him, quietly staggering towards him, eyes covered by his hand. What the actual fuck just happened?

The magician's thoughts got interrupted by someone's fingers interlacing with his own, and he looked down onto the boy who watched him with a half smile. Right. They had to leave. Kaito nodded and tugged him softly into one direction, making his exit as fast as possible and leaving the small part of the Task Force behind.

On their way home, it sank in. Kaito's eyes flashed over to his company, as silent as usual. No, he didn't imagine it. He spoke. He spoke Latin, on top of that. But...
Kaito was so confused. Hadn't he tried talking to him in Latin already? And he never answered? The thief paused for a second, then tried it again, in Latin.

"What is your name?"

The boy looked up and pursed his lips as he studied Kaito's face, then back down. So... did he understand him or not? Kaito wasn't sure and it annoyed him. That boy was an utter riddle and he didn't like not being able to know about it. With a deep and dramatic sigh, the magician leaned back into his seat and closed his eyes. What a hassle. He had a lot to think about right now.

***

The next morning, Kaito absentmindly turned on the news during his breakfast. He wanted to take a look at the events of last heist. The male watched him curiously, then the magic television box.

"-12 members of the entire Task Force plus Kudo Shinichi. What are we going to do, now that Japan's hunters number 1 are down?"

Kaito frowned. Was it so bad? He flashed a glance at his company, then back at the television.
"Currently the Task Force suffered a huge dent. It's still a mystery how they all became infected with the same, in such a short amount of time. Some speculate KID's experiments have become too cruel- are his bombs now laced with chemical diseases?"
Kaito blinked twice, then shook his head. Disease? What kind of disease? He looked down again at the boy.

Morbus... isn't that Latin for 'disease'?

"We managed to get a statement from Kudo Shinichi, currently residing in the local hospital with the rest of the infected Task Force."
The camera switched to a hospital room, a blindfolded Kudo Shinichi sitting quietly on the bed. He seemed calm yet stiff, something was more than off about him. He paused for a second before starting to speak.
"According to my knowledge, all of us have caught the same- a heavy bacterial infection to our eyes that had spread rapidly... from one second to another, not only I but my colleagues as well have suffered from blindness and severe pain in our eyes."
The reporter frowned and held her microphone back out towards Shinichi, who quietly continued.
"KID wasn't alone today, that much I know. He was protecting someone today, someone dear to him, and while I do not recall KID attacking with any sort of weaponry, I believe his company did so."

Shinichi silenced, holding back the rest of information. Of course he knew what had happened, but it was too crazy to even imagine. A boy, probably 16 years old, had come out of KID's coat, speaking the Latin word for disease.
The moment it had left his lips, Shinichi had felt an incredible pain inside his eyes, and his vision had turned black.
"As of now," he began once more, "the doctors assured us that while it seemed a very aggressive bacteria, it doesn't seem like it will spread to the brain. I can only hope his words are true."

Kaito at home was covering his mouth, shocked and appalled. He looked back and forth between those innocent green eyes and the picture inside the television where his favorite critic was injured.

This... this is his work. He caused this. He... he caused this, somehow.

Kaito swallowed and turned off the tv, slowly getting up again. He had to attend school now. Green eyes followed him towards his school bag before the boy turned away again, obviously understanding. He did figure out that Kaito would always leave somewhere important once he grabbed this bag.
The thief went on his merry way to school, unusually silent while Aoko kept blabbering his ears off- of course she wouldn't talk about anything else than KID, and while she did seem glad the infection didn't hit her father, she was reasonably mad it laid a part of the Task Force completely flat.

What worth had a blind officer?

The moment he stepped into the classroom, he could not only feel Hakuba's eyes drilling into him, but Akako's as well. She was glaring at him in her best expression, as if she wished death and murder upon him. Kaito took his seat, tensed, refusing to follow any of his planned shenanigans today. He had to think, and to plan.

Morbus... Disease...

Kaito sincerely wondered if it had actually happened. And yet, media was full of that. Was that a chemical reaction? Some sort of that? But no, then he would have been infected as well. It was just this boy... Speaking for the first time... before all heck went loose around him.

"Kuroba Kaito, we need to talk, now...!"
Kaito looked up to see his witch tower over his table, still glaring.
"You'll get wrinkles if you don't ease up," he jokingly replied, only to earn an unamused huff. Much to his surprise, the voice of Akako turned softer upon this.
"Kuroba please, this is very important."
"It usually is. Can't you see I'm busy?"
"I do not give a single fuck about whatever you're busy with, get up and follow me....!"

Kaito paused, dumbfounded. Did Akako just curse at him? She never did that. Well, it was worth a shot. He quietly stood up and shot a warning glance at Aoko before following the witch out of the classroom and into a more private corner of the school.
"Thank you," Akako began, breathing out in relief, "You've been avoiding me the entire time until now."
"So you figured it out," Kaito lazily replied, earning a glare once again.
"Look, Kuroba, I'm serious. You found something very dangerous, and I mean VERY dangerous. Erradicating your life dangerous. I can sense the supernatural energy all over you."

Golden eyes stared at the magician and the witch, quietly absorbing their body language. He could barely understand them but whatever it was, he knew one fact for sure.
Koizumi Akako knew about Kuroba's secret double life.