More Than A Gemstone (Kaishin)

Awkward Smalltalk

"Is there anything on my face, or will you kindly stop that?"

Kaito flinched and shot a smile at Shinichi before looking away. He hadn't even noticed how much he had stared at Shinichi the past couple of weeks, only now once the sleuth could actually see again his habit had been discovered.

"Not at all. I apologize."
Shinichi let out a noise of agreement and faced back forward again. Kaito nearly caught himself looking his direction once more and forced himself to stop once again.
He sighed. Difficult.
"Are you going home, Meitantei?"
Sapphires flickered back to KID, now looking at him once again. What a weird guy.
"Yes. Whatelse is there to do? We don't have any information, we are stuck until your... acquaintance... finds a lead."
"Indeed, indeed..." KID let out a sigh and folded his arms behind his head, shooting a shark grin towards Shinichi.
"I have no choice but to escort you home, then."
"What?!"
"The streets at night are dangerous, and we both have just broken into an exhibition."
Shinichi rolled his eyes and rounded the next corner, keeping up the pace. Only two minutes and they were back at the entrance Shinichi had come from.
"I can pay attention to myself very well."
"Says the one who has been blind for weeks."
"Pandora cursed you as well."
"So now you believe me it was a curse?"
Shinichi shot a glare towards Kaito who let out a laugh and shook his head.
"Alright, alright, relax. I'm just concerned for my Meitantei's wellbeing~"
"Oh fuck off."

Shinichi was the first one to host himself onto the window sill and swing himself outside, KID followed shortly after, not without inspecting the window first. How clever, Shinichi had dismantled the automatic alarm system attached to this one. Now without any fear of being recognized, he followed Shinichi through the open window and landed with a barely audible thud on his feet once again.
"Should we call someone?"
"What do you mean, why?"
"Well, our escapades just left open a perfect window for burglary."
KID raised one eyebrow and turned around towards the window, quickly fixing up the alarm system before shutting it again.
"There you go, all back to normal."

"I should be surprised but knowing you, I am not." Shinichi wrinkled his nose, eying the thief from head to toe.
"We should go before the nightshift finds us."
KID let out an agreeing hum and strolled quietly after Shinichi, making it past the security office without so much as causing suspicion.
It wasn't long until these two arrived at the Kudo manor, and Shinichi paused at the door.
"Come in, for a coffee."
"Oh?"
Shinichi inwardly rolled his eyes at the smugness in KID's voice, he did his best not to retort with something snarky.
"You should get a call soon or not? I expect us to continue the search this very night."
Another soft hum of agreement, and KID followed inside. Shinichi knew the thief inside and out... Thus he didn't bother turning on the big lamps that would have certainly caused the thief to shy away, but instead flicked the switch of a small reading lamp in his study.

"Good enough?"
"Perfect."
KID let himself down on one of the chairs inside Shinichi's library and the detective went about his business in the kitchen, quickly fixing two mugs of coffee. Handing one to KID who stared very attentively at the liquid inside the mug, he sat down a few meters further in a different chair. The detective wasn't surprised in the slightest- for sure that thief had watched him prepare those drinks with some hidden camera he had installed inside his kitchen.
They sat in silence for a bit, Shinichi engrossed into a small novel and Kaito silently sipping his drink. It was peaceful, too peaceful, and while this was a moment for both of them to wind down, it was just the calm before the storm for them.
They had to find Pandora before anything else was going to happen.

Soon enough, Kaito's phone let out a soft noise, startling the two males. He immediately fished it out of his pockets- a work phone, obviously, he was not going to use his private phone in front of Shinichi.
"I found them," Shinichi heard a female voice say and the thief shuffled a little, a smug smile on his face. Well he did put a good amount of trust into his acquaintance to do the job well.
"Where are they?"
"I've sent you exact coordinates. But I'm going back to bed now, and I swear to god if you disturb my beauty sleep again-"
Kaito hung up quickly, wincing a little. He paused and stiffed once he saw the amused expression on Shinichi's face, then deflated a bit and made a dismissive hand gesture.
"Women."
Shinichi couldn't help but snort. Both stood up, Shinichi putting his book down, and the thief led the way out of the door.
"Hopefully they'll stay where they are right now."
"Even if, we will find them if not."

Both exchanged a glance of contentment and headed for the front door.
"Let's take my car..." Shinichi said, heading off towards his garage. KID swallowed- he was not sure if he wanted to see Shinichi's driving skills, regarding the one of his mother. And yet, he followed behind.

Someone had to pay attention to this idiot, after all.

All buckled up, Shinichi made sure to pull out quietly- Haibara as his neighbor would have killed him if he had raced out of the garage in middle of the night
Yet, the moment he had passed a block, he was slamming down onto the gas- forcing out a surprisingly adorable squeak from the magician next to him. Barely managing to suppress the grin on his face, Shinichi glanced over to the very tensed looking magician next to him.

"So, KID. I need directions."

A nod was all he got in return before the thief pulled out his phone to check his messages.
"This way," he calmly pointed out and Shinichi followed suit with no effort.

Tension rose once more as sirens drew closer, and an ambulance passed them at full speed. Kaito swallowed.
It was going exactly where they were headed.