The Beast Within (Shinkai/Kaishin)

Loneliness

Where?

Where was KID?

Was Shinichi too late?
A gaze out of the window showed him the setting sun, he came punctual before dusk. Kidnapped? You don't just kidnap the Kaitou KID.
Shinichi did his best to suppress his tears. Suddenly, the house was so empty and lonely. He had come to depend on KID to be there for him, always and forever... why wasn't KID here, now that he needed him so much?

Haibara didn't know what to do. On her right side was Shinichi, close to a panic attack, cheeks stained with tears while on her left side Hakuba was quiet, dull expression on his face, he didn't even look like he was breathing.
"Focus Shinichi!" she finally spat and the man flinched next to her, then lowered his head and shambled out of the room.
"I need a coffee..."
Hakuba followed almost immediately.
"For me too, please."
Haibara turned and sighed, coming along. She knew she couldn't leave now, both Shinichi and Hakuba were emotionally ready to do anything stupid and she was the only voice of reason they had left.
Inside the kitchen, the only noise was the brooding coffee machine which finished in record time a coffee for both the detectives. Beaten and worn, Shinichi fell down onto one of the chairs and took a large sip. He burned himself but couldn't care less, he was used to pain by now.
"Show me your files. KID was taken by them, I'm sure."
Hakuba hesitated a moment, then pushed it slowly over towards the brunet. Haibara flashed a glance over his shoulder, reading the new information together with him.

"Gunther von Goldberg..." Shinichi muttered absentminedly and Hakuba nodded quietly, taking a sip of his coffee.
"I'm sure that's not even his real name. But his codename is Spider, an assassine. I chased him through Europe and now towards Japan... He once was after the KID but failed to kill him."
Shinichi began to chew on his bottom lip, deep in thought.
"...where is he now? Do you know anything about someone else called Snake?"
Hakuba closed his eyes for a second, falling into deep thoughts. Right, where was he? Honestly, he had lost track of him some time ago but he couldn't tell Shinichi that.
"Sadly I don't, no... About Spider... I believe he is still in Japan. Despite that... it's unlikely that someone else could have turned KID into... this."
The halfbrit gestured onto his companion, disbelief all over his face, "It's still hard to digest that Kaitou KID is responsible for all your pain... Kudo-kun, do you want to stay over for a while? Isolated as you have probably been for the past month, socializing should be a hassle to you and I would like to get you used to society again."
Shinichi shook his head almost immediately. Hakuba was joking, right? No matter how void the house was without his deadly magician around, Shinichi couldn't bring himself to leave simply and ban his memories of their spent time.
"Kudo, you can't sit here and become even more depressed than you already are. That isn't good for your mentality," Haibara warned with a stern voice; Shinichi didn't care. He wanted to stay.
He wasn't going to leave.

Shinichi was more than glad when the door fell shut and he was alone inside his large house. Without bothering to dignify the other rooms with a single glance, he shambled upstairs and into the room he had shared with KID until now. Hissing quietly in pain, the detective lowered himself onto the sheets and began to stare at the ceiling.
What to do?
The bed still smelled a little like KID and the male took deep breaths of it. He could attempt to find Spider and squish him out on his own... no way he was going to pull Hakuba into this. Would Haibara try to hold him back if he tried to? Shinichi lifted his left arm and stared at the large snow white bandage around his hand. KID had stabbed him through his hand with one of those tiny fruit knives.
A tiny grimace came over his face as he remembered it. The blood, the pain and everything accompanied by KID's gentle humming. Shinichi had collapsed onto the ground, clutching his hand, howling out in pain... but as he looked up, KID had crouched down and was observing his tearstained face with such passion he almost forgot what had happened just seconds ago.
Shinichi sighed and shifted into a more comfortable position. KID had never favored a side of his, on each part of his body cuts made his flesh visible. A wonder he was still alive... Shinichi was barely able to find a position which didn't burn like fire. At least KID had enough mercy to leave his most sensitive area be, a silent agreement of their pact.
It didn't last long until Shinichi's eyelids became heavy and he fell into a deep slumber.

***

Days passed without any sign of Kaitou KID. Shinichi refused to leave his house until the point where Haibara had to bring him food. He just couldn't understand it. Why? Why did KID leave him? He could have escaped since long. There wasn't any enemy which could hold Kaitou KID prisoner for more than a few minutes, with luck a few hours.
But as Shinichi woke up, every single day alone inside his bed, another wave of depression hit him. His wounds were healing but he, certainly, was not. Day by day he sat in front of his laptop, researching, observing, he was obsessed with surveilling Gunther von Goldberg. Perhaps he would lead him one day to Snake.

Shinichi opened his eyes, for a moment too dizzy to get up right away. He stared monotonously at the ceiling for a while, then exhaled a deep breath and flashed a glance over towards his right side before he sat slowly up.
"Still not back, hm...? Don't worry KID... I'm searching..." he muttered, getting out of the far too comfortable sheets. His bed had lost the addicting and calming smell of his tormentor and it made Shinichi sick.
After a black coffee, Shinichi followed his usual routine which ended at the laptop in his father's study. Grumbling quietly, Shinichi sat down and pressed the power button.
Today was the day. Today he was going to confront Spider... He didn't have the slightest piece of evidence that Gunther von Goldberg was in fact Spider but he believed Hakuba's research and his own.
The detective glared at the ticket inside his hands and clenched it slightly. For the first time since weeks, Gunther von Goldberg was going to perform today evening.

Shinichi was going to attend, no matter the price... not matter the loss.