When Pandora bleeds... (Shinkai)

Trying to find a clue

Kaito slowly but surely began to feel uncomfortable inside his own four walls. He didn't have an exact residence to live in, especially because that made it difficult for the Crows to find him, but every hotel he had been living in with the earned money during his world tour never felt right.

Something inside him screamed at him to go back to Japan, but why? Kaito didn't want to go back and see anything from his old life, not that anything there would have been left for him. Aoko wasn't going to accept him back in her near, he wasn't going to push Nakamori on his old days further to the edge of his nerves and Hakuba was gone since long, back to Britain to continue his career inside Scotland Yard. He had no idea where Akako was- If Kaito thought about it, nobody had ever known where Akako lived. The only one who could have made his stay enjoyable was Kudo Shinichi but he wasn't going to visit him. Not after his last performance for him.
Kaito eyed himself in his mirror, full of make up and fake skin to conceal his red body. A few inches of normal skin had been left for him, mainly on his back and private parts- his feet had still their normal colour, too.

I did my very best for you to despise me, Meitantei. I hope you still do.

This was one of those many moments Kaito spent in front of a mirror, glancing over his body and trying to make out any spot of red he might have overseen. If public would have gotten hint of his skin condition, sleepless nights and bursts of energy, he would have been forced to go into hiding. The attention of the Crows was the last thing he had wanted, now that Pandora was in his hand.
Kaito breathed out a deep and frustrated sigh. He was lonely. He couldn't even videochat with his mother because she would surely see past his disguise. Hand closing around his gem, Kaito tried to get rid of his thoughts by causing himself a bit of pain.
Sadly it didn't work as well as he wanted it.

***

Haibara hadn't left her lab the last two days. Nothing and nobody could have brought her out of it. She sat in front of her laptop, empty eyes glacing towards the cup of green tea before he took a sip of it, letting the welcome liquid run down her throat.
"Kudo..."
She glanced at the clock and began to chew on her bottom lip. Almost night time.

Are you still awake, Kudo?

She breathed out a deep sigh and raised herself slowly. It was time to make the last preparations to go to bed. She didn't have the slightest idea of what she could do with the amount of time Shinichi had now.
Her thoughts began to drift off while she dragged herself out of the laboratory and upstairs into her room. If Pandora was in fact real, what did this mean for other legends? What if there was more magic in this world, things she had never noticed or taken a glance at because she was a woman of science? Haibara swallowed that tiny sigh which wanted to leave her lips and just closed the door of the bathroom behind herself, ready to take a shower. A gaze into the mirror reminded her of Shinichi's utterly red body and a mix of guilt and frustration flooded her guts.

Is there any day you don't dive into reckless situations?!

She had to tell him. Haibara knew, she had to tell Shinichi about his condition, what he was about to face. A terrible fate, she could imagine years and years without growing older, watching his friends die on him, unable to see the sweet release of death coming over him... A fear tears began to roll down her cheeks. Disbelief sprawling out over her face, she lifted a hand to dip her index finger into one of the tears.

Why am I crying? I'm not the one who has to suffer.

Haibara tsked and shushed herself down. Without another word, she crawled into her bed and shut off the lights. Wanting to sleep, her thoughts kept raging around inside her brain, forcing her to lay wide away on her sheets, listening to the unbearable loud ticking of her alarm clock.
Why was she so scared? Why didn't she reach for her phone, scroll through her contacts and call her best friend? He had the right to know. Deep down, Haibara knew the answer. Being unable to return to his own body was already enough to crush most of Shinichi's life, now the message he wasn't going to age any further would make an entire mess out of him. Innocence? Perhaps that was, what she wanted to refrain from destroying. A tiny grumble rumbled inside her throat. Conan had seen dead bodies beyond any measurements, and she had the nerve to try and protect him? Technically, she was the older one, she had always taken some kind of sisterly role to him. Someone had to pull this guy out of the daily bullshit he got himself into whenever possible.
Haibara opened her eyes to stare at the ceiling, trying to count sheeps to fall asleep, as a thought crossed her mind.

Maybe I shouldn't only focus onto a solution. Maybe someone else already found it.

All this mess had begun with Kaitou KID and the garden of statues he had created for his Meitantei to bid his farewell. Unable to sleep now, Haibara sat up again and threw her morning robe over before she marched back downstairs, took her shoes on and left the house. Cold night air greeted her as she snuck over to the Kudo house, sincerely hoping not to be noticed by her friend.

I'll inspect Shinichi's statue again... Maybe I'll find something.

All she knew for sure... she was definitely going to find KID, no matter what. Haibara had a bad feeling about all of this. What if KID had the same problem...?