True Love [ShinKai]

Chapter 8

After reading more and more of the diary, Shinichi and Kaito couldn't help but to relate their own love story to this two lovers.

They were drawn into this story, wanting to know more of their love life, even bringing the books to the dining hall with them as they ate their dinner. Too absorbed in the story, reading them to each other, pretty much in their own world.

Kaito laid his head on Shinichi's lap on their bed, listening to the latter's soothing voice as he read them all in French.

They sounded like they were enjoying themselves while they were alive. Even though their relationship was hidden from the world, they had each other to be their world.

But the happiness ended when Shinichi read the ending of their tragic love story.

December 24th

They had found us. They had taken him away from me. Oh, how cruel the Fates are to us. The tears I shed for my Love could not be stopped. Even now, as I write this with a trembling hand and a broken heart, I cannot stop the tears that trailed down my cheeks. It was not fair. We asked for happiness but why did we received pain instead? This castle I built was vibrant with colour now dull like my life.

K.S.

Both male sat there in silence as they remembered the paintings they saw. "The citizens killed his lover," Kaito weakly whispered.

Shinichi didn't say anything, not that he didn't want to, it was because he couldn't. The lump in his throat, feeling the ache in his chest as if he was the one that lost his lover, was too much to be ignored.

He could only ran through Kaito's hair with his fingers shakily.

Placing the book on the nightstand, both of them went to sleep, cuddling each other tightly.

*          *          *

The next morning, they ate their breakfast with easy banter, the stories that they had read played in their minds but they kept it away for now before heading towards the library to search for more clues if they can find any.

They search and search with new hope, determination and strength wanting to find the hidden room as soon as possible.

This time, Kaito found a small chest box made out of wood. Inside the box were keys and a scroll that read, "Forward to the hallway, you will know what you should do with the keys."

"Shinichi!" Kaito called and the other ran towards him with a confused look. "I found keys and what does he mean by we'll know what we should do with the keys?"

"Forward to the hallway?" Shinichi read in a questioning tone before perking up. "The velvet hallway, it seemed, the one with the tradition joke. Let's go."

They headed to the hallway and searched for anything that they could find something to do with the keys they found in the library.

"Shinichi," he beckoned the said person closer. "Let's do the tradition. He mentioned that we will know what to do with the keys if we go forward here. So, let's try from the scratch." Kaito added, standing at the beginning of the hallway with Shinichi next to him.

Shinichi walked with Kaito, placing his hand firmly on the magician's ass and squeeze it. "If every time we passed here with me groping at your butt cheeks.. and that we should know what to do with the keys, assuming to lead our beloved to have any sexual relation.." he trailed off, climbing at the only staircase that led to the bedroom where the first Kudo stayed in.

".. in the bedroom."

Kaito followed him and they stood outside the only door there, unlocking it with one of the many keys.

They pushed the oak door opened and bit back a gasp when they saw that the place was untouched, left abandoned just the way it was back then.

"Did no one bothered to even look here..?" Kaito wondered out loud, looking at the worn out scrolls, reading the neatly written French with fond smiles, probably documents left from the first of Kudo's generation.

"I guess it's because they found another way to go to the secret place without checking the room? No one knew where the keys were after all before you found it and no one had ever succeeded to get this far," Shinichi said, looking at Kaito.

"I have this strange feeling but I can't really point out what the feeling was," Kaito said and Shinichi nodded. "Me too. I felt that strange feeling in my gut, it's not a bad one. Like, you know.. when we're in danger thing."

"Yeah.. It's more like an instinct thing," Kaito said, moving towards the bookshelf automatically with Shinichi following.

"Think there's a passage behind this like the cliché movie?" the detective asked, eyeing the books before pulling one.

The Angel and The Devil

At first, nothing seemed to happen and Shinichi thought his deduction was wrong until it did. He heard the big gears turning and the floor started to shake albeitly.

It came from the ground and both of them instantly searched for the entrance of it, pulling at the floorboard until they found it. The entrance they all had been searching for through many generations.

Looking at each other, they descended down the spiral stairs, turning on their flashlights that they luckily had brought along with them to the dark passage.

It was quite narrow but it possibly was because of the ancestor escape way from his wife to this place.

They found some rooms filled with treasures, old artifacts and so on but it wasn't what they were really looking for. Shinichi found the latest diary of him before he died.

June 21st

Today is his birthday and I missed him so dearly. I am such a selfish man, being married with a lovely wife, having two kids of my own but still yearn for the presence of my first love. It has been years since his demise and I slowly withered with old age. I hope he would be waiting for me on the other side. I longed to see those beautiful indigo orbs again. I wish we will be together in our next life.

K.S.

Kaito hugged him tightly as he cried. He didn't even know why he was actually crying. The pain in his heart were too heavy. He felt like he knew how painful it feels for the first ancestor. The familiar feeling of being here even though he had never been here before.

That's right.. The feeling both Kaito and I felt were familiarity.

They proceed their journey along the empty stone walls. The closer they get to the place, the more clammy they felt. Especially Shinichi, who was almost having a mental breakdown at how familiar everything feels.

It should make him feel weird but he only experience a deep sense of longing and loss as if his soul was trying to tell him something. He held Kaito's hand tightly as they entered another room and their face went a few shades paler.

Inside the room, on one side of the wall, was a painted picture of Ran- No, that's not her. Thats the first Kudo's wife.

Along with their two children, a son and a daughter.

But she looks exactly like Ran. Her hair flowing down her back, a genuine smile stretched on her lips as she sat on the chair elegantly despite getting old. She still managed to look young as her teenage children stood next to her while standing. Her violet eyes gleamed and Shinichi felt like someone had punched his chest very hard.

Kaito, too, couldn't speak anything. The familiar jealousy suddenly bubbled inside him even though he knew Shinichi and Ran were no more.

Weird.

The room was simple and didn't have much things inside, a desk and a shelf that looked like it was about to collapse if touched.

"Let's.. go, Nichi. Let's find the room," Kaito said, pulling Shinichi along.