More Than A Gemstone (Kaishin)

Find Home

"Ohhh I remember! That's your family friend, right? What was his name again?"
Aoko smiled at her best friend, who paused for a second. With Hakuba in near, he couldn't exactly give up his real name... Right? Was it going to matter?

Actually, it did not. Hakuba had no idea what Pandora actually was, not the gemstone he represented, the powers he held. Kaito gave himself a push and wrapped his arm around Pandora's shoulders.
"His name is Pandora. He's here on vacation. He doesn't speak our language and is mute, but I've begun teaching him sign language."
He turned to Pandora who quietly signed what he had been practicing so much.

My name is Pandora. Nice to meet you.

Hakuba set up a soft frown.
"Is it really such a good idea to host someone incapable of finding himself around Tokyo?"
"Shut up Hakuba."
The Brit breathed out a sigh and shook his head, then looked back down at the scrawny boy.
"Saguru Hakuba," and he motioned towards himself. Pandora followed his lips and mouthed his name along, before Aoko threw herself in.
"Aoko! Aoko Nakamori!"
Her eyes filled with glee, she pulled Pandora into a hug. Ah, she loved meeting new people. The boy was so, so confused but just wrapped his arms around the girl after a questioning look towards the amused Kaito.

"It's nice to have you here, Pandora, but I'm on break. I'm not done with school. Go home."
Kaito signed along to his words, before repeating himself slow and clear.
"Go. Home."
Aoko looked back and forth between Kaito and his company. Was he going to manage the way home if he didn't even speak their language? Hakuba seemed to have the same concern, regarding the soft frown on his face.
"...Kuroba-kun, is it really such a good idea to send him back by himself?"
"He came here by himself, he can go back by himself. Besides that, I'm sure he'll probably go out exploring on his own again."

Pandora was clearly disgruntled about being asked to leave, yet did so without much of a fuss. After all, he didn't want to upset Kaito. And he could take a walk! He was just going to be back when Kaito came home. Maybe he could learn something today? Maybe a new method to make food? Pandora always looked forward to Kaito's cooking.
"...I still don't think this is a good idea. What if he gets lost? He probably can't read Japanese either."
"Pandora came here once, weeks ago, and still knows the way just fine. He'll make his way home."
"If you say so."

Hakuba was not convinced.

***

A beautiful and sunny day, nothing to do for once in his life, and no one was nagging him to do something for them. Shinichi was enjoying life, for once, and upon seeing the sun outside he thought about going out.

Just take a random train, see where he was going to end up in Tokyo. His gaze fell back towards one of his books, and he smiled to himself. He was going to take it along. Maybe he found a nice calm spot for himself to read? He could stop at a coffee shop for some of his black gold, too.
Shinichi slid the book into his bag, grabbed his keys, wallet and phone, and marched out of the house, confident as ever. Today was going to be a good day. Arriving at the train station, he just bought a ticket to the next arriving train and stepped inside.

Pause.

Shinichi stopped in his tracks, crossing a street. Right... in front of him.

Now passing.

Behind him.

Shinichi whirled around and grabbed his arm, green eyes met sapphire. For a second, time stood still. That couldn't be...

It was.

Goddammit, KID.

"Pandora," Shinichi breathed out, shaking his head. There was no doubt it was him, right here, in front of him, on- on the street. Goddammit, they were in middle of a street, and he was holding his arm in an iron grip.
Shinichi grew sheepish and quickly ushered Pandora off of the street, then eyed the confused and frightened lad up with a much softer look.

Why is he even here? KID promised to keep him safe, why was he wandering about all by himself? Goddammit, one mistake and this boy could curse the entire city.
Shinichi shivered.
Not again.

"Pandora." Shinichi repeated himself. He shouldn't interfer with KID's decisions... the thief was not going to return, after all. But he had to know.
"Pandora, what are you doing here?"

Pandora pursed his lips, staring at Shinichi's. He didn't understand. What?

"Why are you here?"

Nothing.

"Are you alright?"

"Do you know where you are?"

"Are you running an errand?"

Shinichi could see Pandora growing increasingly aggravated, and it was frustrating to know he couldn't communicate with him. He didn't want to upset the fragile boy, but at this point there wasn't exactly a way around it, right?
Until...

"Pandora, do you know where to go? Do you know your way home?"

Pandora perked up. Home. Kaito used that a lot.

Go home. Stay home.

Pandora lit up like a candle and took Shinichi's hands. Yes, he knew home. But Shinichi didn't. He was asking for home! Surely he was.
And he was a friend. A friend for sure. Kaito would never let him near a non-friend. He trusted him far too much to do so.

"W-wait, hey, where are we going?!"
Shinichi felt himself yanked by the arm as a merry Pandora did a 180 and marched with the most confident expression he had ever had around the sleuth into a seemingly random direction.
Oh god, Shinichi was so confused.

That went poof the moment Pandora took a left and suddenly stopped right in front of a... a house. And it all clicked into place.

Home.

Shinichi turned white. Pandora let go of him and skipped towards the front door, opening it up with a key. A key. Pandora knew this house, Pandora lived here, Pandora-

Home.

"Oh... my god... I... found KID's house..."
Shinichi threw a quick glance around. Nobody nearby. What was he even doing here? This was clearly something he should have never known. The thief was retired, obviously Pandora had been what he had searched for all along.
Was KID inside?
He didn't hear any commotion beyond Pandora staring at him from the entrance, obviously proud he knew his way home. Shinichi would have been glad about that fact as well if it wasn't for the fact he was standing right outside KID's house, in broad daylight.

"What am I gonna do..."
Shinichi was so overwhelmed. Should he just leave? Should he take a peek at the address? Ah curse his memory, he wasn't going to forget this neighborhood anymore.
He flashed a glance at his watch. About 3pm.

There was no chance knowing when KID would return. He had to choose quickly. Was he going to investigate or leave?

I'm leaving this one up for debate!! Do you guys want Shinichi to stay or to leave? I have a good route for both plays, so go ahead and vote in the comments for what you'll prefer!
I'll start on the next part as soon as I got a couple of votes!