The Beast Within (Shinkai/Kaishin)

Deceit and Truth

Hakuba froze for a second before his instincts kicked in; without any further hesitation he threw himself against the door. From his shoulder came a deafening crunching sound as he collided with the door but Hakuba didn't care. KID was right behind the door with Kudo Shinichi, there wasn't any else possibility.

Finally the door flung open and Hakuba stormed the house, golden eyes searching hastily left and right for any sign of the phantom and his victim. Nothing.
"KUDO! KID!" he yelled, inspecting the closest room which was a kitchen. From upstairs he heard another tiny mewl and his blood curdled at how vulnerable Kudo sounded. Hakuba dismissed the kitchen and bolted upstairs, trying to make out another sign of KID and him.
Door after door slammed open to reveal nothing and Hakuba was close to crying. But as he finally ran into the last room, the one KID had vanished from the first time, his breath became stuck in his throat.
Kudo Shinichi sat in a chair, trembling, a few drops of blood on his hands. Hakuba was frozen for a second, then swallowed dry.
"W-where is he?!"
Shinichi tilted his head, dead sapphire eyes drilling into his body like they had never done before.
"K-KID isn't here. He left." He nodded towards the opened window and Hakuba wanted to scream. Shoulders slumping down in defeat, he shambled over towards the bed and sat down with an exhausted and hopeless sigh.
"Y-you promised it," he accused the detective who quirked an eyebrow and Hakuba cursed the crack in his voice, "We had a deal. My information against a talk with him. I held up my part, I believed your honor would force you to do the same. Hand him over, Kudo-kun...!"
Hakuba clenched his teeth, glaring onto the ground. Shinichi remained quiet, unmoving, almost too relaxed for someone in his condition.

"Why do you want to speak to him?"
"Why? Yea, why actually?" Hakuba repeated, eyes closing for a moment to think about his words, "We both... We both know who he is. Kuroba Kaito. I... I need to see the damage myself. I-I can't be sure wether I just want to see him to leave this behind me... or to be able to search for a different cure."
Shinichi kept staring holes into him and it made Hakuba uncomfortable. Instead of keeping the silence, he lifted his head and checked him for any injuries.
"What... what has he done to you, Kudo...?" Hakuba asked carefully, knowing out of experience that a victim of abuse was sensitive and not very keen on talking about their abuser. Shinichi, however, was quite the opposite of a scared individual. He was trembling but... something was off, Hakuba felt it in his bones.
"KID harms me so he won't kill me. This is the agreement we both made. I love him and he loves me. The cure is gone with Spider, and we worked everything out. We are happy. Don't come anymore."

Hakuba's jaw almost fell at those words.
"K-Kudo-kun... you cannot be serious. KID is torturing you and you just accept that? We can both help him! I did some research, too, and already found a few individuals which might be able to help."
"What help? KID cannot visit any other individual to be cured. This is equal to selling hin out, no matter how much you trust them, this will backfire."
"Kudo-kun-"
"No. Please leave my property."
Shinichi's voice was stern and cold, so similar to his detective voice whenever he was presenting his deductions but at the same time couldn't have been more different. Hakuba swallowed and slowly raised himself from the bed he had been sitting on, golden eyes glaring down onto the brunet male.
"I can't believe you've just given up on him."
"I never did. But the cure is gone and I can only be there for him in his condition."
Hakuba shook his head and turned to leave the room but froze at the door. Cogs turned and finally, everything clicked together.

Hakuba turned slowly back towards the still glaring male and tried to suppress the roller coaster of emotions he was feeling right now. Slowly, step by step he came closer and Shinichi narrowed his eyebrows.
"Hakuba-kun, please leave my property or I am forced to call the police."
The London detective came to a stop in front of him and crouched slowly down, hands gripping Shinichi's who looked honestly weirded out by now.
"Kuroba..." Hakuba said with tears in his eyes and Shinichi froze on his chair, blood running cold. He was visibly angry now.
"What?! I told you to leave!"
"Kuroba-kun, you can't fool me that easily. You've done a great job with those scars, even the eyecolour is on point. But your eyes... your eyes aren't the same at all. Your eyes are too cold to be Kudo-kun's. Also... your hands are bloody but there is no visible wound on them where you could have gotten it. Every patch and bandage I see on you is bright white... But if you hurt Kudo-kun every day... there should be older patches from yesterday and the day before, too."
His voice was quiet but confident, just as always when he was sharing his deductions. Almost immediately Shinichi's eyes began to sparkle in the bit of sunlight coming from the opened window. It was a murderous sparkle which sent shivers down Hakuba's spine... but dear god, this meant he was right.
"Kuroba-kun," he repeated, tightening his grip on KID's wrists, "You really forgot me... Kuroba-kun, after all those months..."

KID didn't answer to him. He kept staring him down like he was nothing more than vomit, a disgusting piece of dirt. However, suddenly the wardrobe bursted open and Shinichi stormed out, tackling Hakuba onto the ground. Yelping in surprise, Hakuba used Shinichi's speed and rolled over with him to pin him down instead.
"Why did you do that?!" he snarled at the detective but notice how KID had left his chair to loom over him like death itself, as well as promising it. Hakuba knew, one wrong move and KID would kill him. He was honestly relieved KID was generous enough to allow him in near of his... yeah, what was Kudo Shinichi to him? They obviously had a relationship, a toxic one on top of that, but Hakuba honestly wondered if the KID was able to feel something akin to affection... to his target.
"You won't take him from me Hakuba!" Shinichi snarled under him and Hakuba glared back, calm, unfazed by the trembling bundle of nerves who used to be the confident and collected detective he knew.
"You don't understand, Kudo-kun," Hakuba replied, trying to control his emotions not to frighten him any more, "He was my classmate! Do you really think I am going to flood this place with police or hand him over to cops?! In this condition?! I don't like KID and I doubt I ever will, I am not even particular comfortable in Kuroba-kun's near..."
"Then why?!" Shinichi spat, struggling to free himself but Hakuba was holding him tight on the ground, "Why are you coming every day?! Why are you trying to destroy what I've worked for?!"

Hakuba wanted to answer but stilled as he felt the cold metal of a knife at his neck. He paused for a moment to gather his words, then glared deep into Shinichi's tearful, sapphire eyes.
"Kuroba-kun is not a particular pleasant person, especially with his pranks on me and others. But... I can't just go past someone who needs help. And you shouldn't either, Kudo-kun, because that is what a detective is made of. I'm not here on behalf of the Task Force. I'm here to help a rival."
Shinichi blinked twice, taken aback by how unfazed Hakuba was with a knife at his pulsing veins. He flashed a glance at his doppelganger who was still bent over Hakuba, glaring emotionlessly down onto him.
"...it's fine, KID. Please back off."