More Than A Gemstone (Kaishin)

Hope Remains Forever

Kaito could only imagine what was going down the moment they were rolling towards a storage unit surrounded by police cars, an ambulance nearby. He was clearly getting nervous, and yet Shinichi didn't seem to pay him any mind.

The sleuth parked and unbuckled his seatbelt, shooting a warning glance at Kaito.
"Wait here. I'll see what's going on."
Kaito didn't answer as Shinichi slid out of the car and marched towards the troups of armed forces. His phone said it loud and clear- this were the coordinates for Pandora's location.

A few minutes later and Shinichi was still talking to the police. Kaito was slowly becoming annoyed. Waiting like this was not his kind of thing.
Without further hesitation, the car door opened and the thief all dressed in black moved himself out of the car as well, using the mantle of darkness to vanish into surrounding shadows. He took out his phone, checking the coordinates once again.

Yes, that was for sure the place.

Kaito wasted no time, he slipped past the armed forces with ease and made it into the mass of storage containers nearly built like a labyrinth. It was almost impossible to see like this, and Kaito hated it. They could be anywhere.
With a swift jump, Kaito made it up onto one of the containers to try and overlook the others.

Success!

And then... not.

Well shit, he couldn't see anything suspicious. There was nothing and nobody beyond that frontline of police.
Further and further Kaito ran, jumping on container after container, trying to find something, anything.

"Kaito."
That made him pause. The gentleman thief froze; that voice was unfamiliar. He had never heard it before in his life, and he knew that for sure.
"Kaito?"
There it was again, this time accompanied by soft and gentle humming. Kaito followed the noise, the soft and gentle lure. This voice ran shivers down his back, and the humming was at least something familiar to him.

Right?

Only seconds later, he came face to face with a... smiling (?) Pandora and a very much smug looking accomplice.
"Pandora...!" he cursed, stepping closer, "get away from him. He's no good for you."
Pandora smiled at him, almost hesitant. Kaito didn't seem mad anymore, right? No.
"Kaito!" he now exclaimed, leaping at the male to pull him into a tight hug. Said one let out a puff of air at the sudden surprise, eyes wide in horror, expecting the pain to come and overwhelm him, drain him-

Nothing... was happening?

The boy next to Pandora stopped humming and cleared his throat.
"You maniacs tried to stop me and look where it took you. You almost disturbed the unification."
Kaito paused, a little confused. The what now? And yet, just like before, this voice made him feel at ease. With a gleeful Pandora still in his arms, he couldn't help but stare at the man.

"What, thief got your tongue? Look, KID... Kuroba Kaito, if you prefer that."
A pause, and Kaito frowned only worse.
"You are meddling with things you don't understand. Pandora doesn't belong to you, he never has. He is mine."
"Now wait a moment, what on earth could you possibly know about Pandora?"

A laugh. Cold and hollow. He spoke something in Latin to Pandora, who sheepishly let go of Kaito and returned to his side once more. Kaito frowned- what the fuck. He was so confused and that was very seldom for this thief here.
"Pandora, you see... is not human. Neither am I."
"I've known that so far. What's your point? You're not suitable to take care of Pandora. You're, quite frankly, an asshole."
Kaito wrinkled his nose, earning a playful gasp of shock.
"Ouch, oh my, you wound me. And you're so much better doing exactly that, hm? It's not like Pandora managed to curse... what, 39 people up til now? Within two months? Oh wait, he did."

He threw his hands up dramatically, cutting the argument short.
"Point is... Pandora is incomplete without me. I am incomplete without Pandora."
He paused for a second and yet Kaito didn't answer, allowing him to continue.
"We cannot exist balanced without one another."

Kaito frowned. Something... was adding up here, actually. The ability. The curses. Finally, he opened his mouth to counter.
"...You never told Kudo your name. I know why."
"Oh please, enlighten me."
"You're his counterpart, aren't you. The 'Hope' I am searching for that may contain Pandora's powers. I am right, ain't I? Your name resembles 'hope' as well, doesn't it."
A laugh.

The young man walked past Kaito, out of the shadows and into the moonlit clearance.
"My name is not for you to know, either. But yes, you're right. I am hope... The personified hope set free to spread among people, to heal and enforce the belief of the gods."
He let out another laugh, face turning grim.
"Thing is... Life gets boring, helping people all the time. It fucking sucks. I want mayhem. Chaos. Let people believe in themselves only to fall back into the harsh reality of life once again."

Kaito knew he was becoming angry at this point, he could feel the danger radiating from this man.
"I wanted his powers all along, you know that? Who needs the abilities of helping people when all you're ever gonna hear are complaints! And that's when I found it... the ability to control people with just this little sentence of mine... for once, you can feel and act like gods themselves!"
He spread his arms, laughing eerily. Kaito felt like staring directly into the barrel of a gun.

"Isn't it fun? Oh I loved it. Watching people destroy themselves and others the moment they think they're in control. Almost everyone went for murder, do you know that? Even you, Kuroba Kaito... "
...
"Who could have known your target was going to be your very own life~?"

Kaito took a step forward, glaring at him. This... no, not even a person. Not even a human. This thing was utterly crazy.
"You've caused... so many murders, across history. All because of nothing?! Because it was... fun?!"
"YES! Yes and yes, a thousand times yes! And I would do it again, over and over! I am the hope of humanity, the god amongst men, and I am eternal. I will always remain, I will always be in control! And Pandora is nothing but my counterpart, spreading disease and bacteria across mankind, illness will be at my beck and call. Together we are unstoppable~!"

"There was a reason ancient gods sealed Pandora away from me, but now he is in my hands once again, and he will do everything for me now that I am enabling him to speak when I allow him to! And know what~?"
Kaito narrowed his eyebrows.
"Let's have a show. Kuroba... KID..."

Credo in-

A gunshot split the air apart, the last word stuck in his throat. Eyes grew wide, the man whirled around to see a smirking detective 10 feet behind him, a tranquilizer gun aimed at him.
"Oh, pardon me. I believe in you as well. Good night, you lunatic."