When Pandora bleeds... (Shinkai)

The Walls Are Coming Closer

Haibara stared down at the coffin displayed with dull eyes, disbelieving. She had been wrong, so wrong, entirely wrong. Edogawa Conan had died in the same night she had wanted to force Pandora off of him; how could she have had any idea that Conan was going to throw himself off of a building?
For a victim of a fall from a roof countless levels above the ground, Conan looked quite well. She had made sure to push his irrational skin condition onto the fall- nobody cared at this point anymore. The young scientist sighed, clenching her hand around the mysterious diamond Conan hadn't left out of his eyes only one minute.

She wanted to take the gem with her but in all honesty, what did it help? Conan was gone, confirmed by the hospital, cold and never going to be alive again. Haibara wasn't a need to cure whatever had possessed her best friend... as he was no longer there.
Tears prinkled in the corner of her eyes while she gave her last farewell. Haibara allowed herself a tiny glance around, eying the group of people who had come to honor Edogawa Conan a last time. Much to her surprise, even Mouri Kogoro had attended the funeral of the boy he had raised for years under his roof.

Shinichi never knew how much this old man actually cared for Conan...

Taking a deep breath, Haibara squeezed her eyes shut and allowed one tiny tear out of thousands of suppressed ones to slip out, landing on Conan's cheek. Hattori Heiji had come from Osaka for this occasion, clenched fists and bloody lip making it obvious how hard he tried not to break out in violent tears. Kazuha clung to his arm, bawling into his chest, and the Detective Boys had come, too. Even people like the main FBI group Conan had used to work with, even Black's CIA group had come to attend. No one, absolutely no one, couldn't grieve over the loss of the child with scarily accurate deductions skills.

Haibara clenched her fingers around the warm and pulsing gem inside her hand. No, she couldn't take Pandora with her, even if she had wanted to. And where on this entire cursed planet could it have been safer?
Haibara slipped the stone unsuspiciously into Conan's pocket, then turned around and made her way silently back to the Shounen Tantei who made place for her to give a few last words.
"...I've lost a neighbor... a friend... a brother. Edogawa Conan... We will never forget you," she said in a monotonous voice, suppressing every bit of emotion inside her. No, Haibara didn't want to cry... not in front of the children.

Not at the funeral of her best friend.

***

A teenager, sweat trickling down his bruised and battern body, panic flaring in his veins, calling out for help with a hoarse voice, hands bloody of attempts to break out of his cage, darkness surrounding him...

Kaito shot up with a scream of fear, panic in his bones. For a moment he just sat there, trembling, remembering himself where he was and what had happened.
The backstage area.
About to perform in front of thousands of people.
Absentminedly, his hand searched for Pandora inside his pocket. Feeling its warm and familiar surface did a great deal of calming the famous magician.

Again such a daydream... Am I going insane? Am I hallucinating?

The door was slammed open and a breathless staff member stormed the room, looking around to face whatever had upsetted the magician.
"Kuroba-san?!"
Both parties froze on the spot, eying each other, one with caution and one with concern. Kaito shook his head, setting up a gentle smile to ease the situation. His pokerface was being tested.
"I'm alright. Don't worry. I just got a little startled."
The staff member retreated after another wordless gaze filled with concern, and Kaito breathed out a deep and troubled sigh, gaze wandering to his hands. His magic show was about to begin and his hands shook like crazy.
What had he been doing anyway before the daydream? Hallucination? Whatever it was called, it disturbed the concentration of the young male and was incredibly awful to witness.

Sighing, Kaito slipped Pandora into his pocket again after cradling it possessively inside his hands and left his private backstage area to head onstage. His heartbeat began to slow down as he faced the blinding lights and cheers of people waiting to be intoxicated by him.
Kaito smirked and took a deep bow before he opened his arms in an elegant move, earning roaring applause of the crowd before him. Tonight was going to be his night, and Kaito wasn't going to let this be ruined by anything.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!"

***

Conan finally froze after the moment had passed, panicking heartbeat ringing in his ears. His muscles stilled, trembling and bloodied hands slowly sinking back down left and right to his body, gripping his pocket where he could clearly feel the outlines of Pandora.

I can barely move... I can barely breathe... I can't see and there is nothing but silence...

Conan couldn't hear a single tone from his prison. Nothing, absolutely nothing. No animals, no people... Nothing. Swallowing the lump inside his throat, Conan tried to push the lid again, more softly than before, realization dawning upon him together with the latest events he could remember.

...I... I'm laying inside a coffin... buried... underground...

Another swell of panic rose and Conan took difficult yet deep breaths to calm down again. He couldn't need another panic attack now. First of all-

Conan flinched involuntarily, blinded by the sudden light shining directly into his eyes and the roar of a cheering crowd in front of him. A stage, decorated with nothing, but clearly the act was a person itself. A gloved white hand made an exaggerated move in front of him and he heard those words he had sworn not to forget the moment he had heard them. The voice was familiar, so goddamn familiar.

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN~!