More Than A Gemstone (Kaishin)

Shattered Pokerface and Unresolved Trauma

Akako's smile fell, ever so slightly. Why was Pandora crying? She looked up at Kaito who just frowned back at her.
"What did you tell him?! Why is he crying?!"
Arm wrapping almost automatical around Pandora's waist, Kaito pulled him close into an embrace, comforting him. He didn't like Pandora crying, it made his guts twist.

"...in all fairness, all I asked him to do was take back the curse he spread over those innocent people." Akako didn't seem to happy. She hated it when people cried around her, it was ugly and a bother.
"Obviously you weren't nice about it."
"Believe it or not, I was. I can't tell you why he started crying..."
Akako rested her chin on her hand, falling into a deeper spiral of thoughts.
"Would you mind if I asked some questions? He can't talk for sure, but if I formulate yes or no questions he can shake his head or nod."
Kaito paused, indigos lowering to the sobbing Pandora in his arms.

"...let him calm down first I guess. And... Be the nicest you have ever been, else you probably won't get anything out of him."
The witch rolled her eyes, forcing a smile. She wanted to strangle both of them but she knew Kaito was right. Much to her favor, she managed to dial the sarcasm quite a lot back from her voice.
"I'll try."
Kaito nodded over to a flight of stairs and the three went over to sit down there, Pandora inbetween them. Eyes met for a second before Akako spoke up.

"I'm fluent, so if you have questions just tell me and I'll ask ahead, Kuroba-kun. But make sure to formulate them as a yes or no question."
"Got that."
The two classmates looked down at the boy inbetween who seemed to have calmed down just well enough. The witch cleared her throat. Time to begin.

"Pandora, I'm going to ask you a few questions... Can you nod your head for yes, and shake it for no?"
The boy nodded, not looking up. While the witch didn't seem dangerous he still didn't quite trust her- but she had at least a nice voice.

"The infections, the diseases... came from your curse, right?"
Nod
"Does it have to do with your voice? Does the curse work with it?"
Nod
"Did you infect those people willingly? Be honest, please."
Hesitation

Kaito paused, meeting Akako's eyes. Neither a nod nor a shake of his head. The witch translated for Kaito, and the magician quietly spoke up in return to deliver a possible solution to this.
"Ask him about the individuals. I knew he cursed the Task Force by himself but it didn't look like he wanted to harm this poor lady."
Akako nodded and flashed a glance back at Pandora, oddly quiet and unmoving inbetween them.

"Did you curse the men who ran at you and your friend?"
Nod
"Willingly?"
A rather angry nod
"...what about the woman?"
Shake
"...did you not mean to curse her?"
Shake
"Pandora... Could it be you can't quite control this curse?"
Hesitation

Akako paused again. There must have been a way for Pandora to control it, else Kuroba would have been subject to this disease as well, and yet he came back fit as ever.
"What did he say?" the magician drilled, impatient. He didn't like not being able to take part in this conversation. The witch gave him a short answer, only for the magician to light up.
"I might know. When he cursed that lady, he just... let his voice out. When he cursed the Task Force, I could hear him shout the Latin word for disease... Morbus I believe."
"Morbus..."
Pandora perked up at the mentioning of this word and looked Akako in the eyes, quietly nodding. A lightbulb went off about Kaito's and Akako's heads as realization struck them. To confirm, the witch asked again.

"Pandora. If you speak out the word Morbus... are you able to control your curse while casting it?"
Nod

"Kuroba... he can control it. Just only by saying this word."
"I almost figured it... He seemed so shaken up after he cursed that woman on the bus."
For a moment, silence was audible between them, until Kaito spoke up again.
"Well, ask him then. He's gotta take it back, he has to. Those people's lives go on my- KID's coat if they can't be cured."

"Pandora, will you take back the curse? They are innocent."
Hesitation

Akako bit down on her lip to prevent herself from yelling at him, trying to keep a cool and relaxed facade. This wasn't going to help them but damn was that a brat.
That wasn't until a thought crossed her mind. Hinting a tone of fear, the witch raised her voice once more, quieter than before.

"...don't say... Are... are you able to take back a curse?"
Shake
"You mean you can't undo your bidding?"
Shake
"So you can't cure them? Are you sure?"
Nod
"Do you have any idea about a cure?! Anything?! That must have already happened, there MUST be a way to reverse this, I-"

Pandora flinched away and leaned against Kaito, slow tears rolling down his cheeks again. Kaito sucked in a sharp breath, outraged.
"Akako for Christ's sake, what did you do now again?!"
The witch looked up, unbothered by Kaito's disappointed expression.
"Do you have any idea what he just told me?!"
"Obviously not, baka!"
"Well let me tell you this, your fine gemstone here can curse the entire world but is unable to undo it! He can't revert his curses, can't take them back, they stay forever and ever!"

Kaito turned pale, mouth popping open. He stared down at Pandora, white as a ghost, unable to believe what he just heard.
"...Shin-chan... the Task Force... I..."
Sucking in a sharp breath, the magician tried to keep calm. This was not the moment for panic and yet, he could physically feel the adrenaline and fear rushing through his veins.

Kaito got up, without another word, and took the steps downstairs, following them further and further. Pandora gasped, forest greens growing wide, as he stumbled to keep up with him. Akako was left there, frustrated, without a clue what to do.
And god, Kaito was mad. So mad.

"Why are you even following me?! Go away!"
Kaito snapped towards Pandora, anger brewing inside him. The teenager was so overwhelmed. This was on him, he let this happen.
"You're just ruining my life! You ruined my family, you cursed my favorite detective and rendered him blind, and you cursed a part of the Task Force!! Everywhere you go, you just fuck things up, you know that?"
There was no stopping it now, and Kaito knew that. Soft tears ran down his cheeks as he marched through the school gates out into the open street, without his bag, without a care in the world. He wanted OUT.
His pokerface was crumbling and Kaito was too unnerved to pick up the pieces.

"Even before I knew you, you brought nothing but misfortune over me and my family! Go away! Shoo! Go!"
He took a step towards Pandora, growling like an animal, making a shooing motion. The male stepped back, a bit afraid.
"I SAID LEAVE!" Kaito now yelled, wanting to be alone. Pandora just stood there, pausing like a stupid idiot Kaito knew he was, and that was the moment Kaito had finally had it. He was a teen, for gods sake, why was he dealing with all of this? ALL OF THIS?! He was supposed to live a normal life, go to school and graduate to walk in the footsteps of his father, and here he was, hunting down criminal syndicates and trying to undo the curse of an eldritch horror.

He pulled out his phone, typing his answer into a translator, and retorting back in broken Latin.
"LEAVE! GO AWAY! Go bring your misfortune over someone else!!"
Kaito silenced, panting, glaring at Pandora, the latter doing the same with a certain hurt in his eyes Kaito didn't describe.
"LEAVE!" Kaito yelled again, now taking a step towards him, causing Pandora to stumble back in fear, letting out a quiet whimper.

It rang in Kaito's ears.

Indigos grew wide as Kaito sunk to the ground, silenced, trying to endure what had been coming for him since he had taken up KID's mantle.

Pandora panicked the moment he watched him. Realization overcame him in the next.
A second later, the immortal teen sprinted away from his roommate, unable to look back and recognize what he had just done.