When Pandora bleeds... (Shinkai)

A Lifetime Curse

Kaito opened his eyes to be greeted by chirping birds and the sunlight pooling through a window into the room. Dizzy, he allowed his eyes to wander through the room, yet he felt too much out of it to properly registrate anything his eyes were telling him. Kaito felt warm, cozy, so comfortable he didn't even want to move. Warmth was collecting at his stomach, it had been a long time since Kaito had had such feelings, even if numbed down by his recent awakening.
Indigos closed and Kaito allowed himself to sink into a lasting daze, scooting closer to this incredibly cozy source of heat right next to him. Somehow, it made him feel at peace...

His reddish arm in front of his eyes went just past his mind like a small innocent bird.

A few hours ago

Clipboard in hand, Haibara mused over the notes she had taken on her two patients, a damping cup of tea sitting untouched on the table in front of her. It was quiet without her best friend running straight into danger, maybe a bit too quiet considering Haibara's personal opinion, yet she also welcomed this break from all the stress she had been succumbed to the past months.

It has been three weeks now since KID and Kudo wanted to travel together... Three weeks since they have last been awake.

Haibara bit down onto the small pen she was tapping impatiently down against her papers, trying to suppress the the voice of reason deep down inside her that honestly questioned how long this coma was going to last. She wasn't even quite sure how many months of sleep and nutrients both Shinichi and KID had missed due to Pandora. Was it really catching up to them? Was it something else that had forced them into a death-like sleep? Haibara didn't know the answer and it annoyed her to no end.
Her eyes wandered down towards her lonely cup and a smile hushed over her lips before she took it, lifted it and enjoyed a sip of her favorite brand.

Which she nearly got in the wrong way as the doorbell rang soundly, startling her. Coughing, the woman stood up and marched towards the door, trying to calm a bit down before peeking through the doorspy, only to pause in astonishment. There was a woman in front of her door, and she was breathtaking. Smooth and silky dark red hair, a black shoulderfree blouse and a pencil skirt, together with a quite expensive looking pair of highheels.

Does she need directions? Is she lost?

Haibara fought herself for a moment yet opened the door, forcing a pleased expression upon her arrival.
"May I help you?"
The woman tilted her head, eyes that had seen death and beyond slowly sliding up and down her body, examining every inch. Her voice was gentle, luring, sweet like candy. No doubt, this woman was special.
"Yes, you may. Can I come inside?"
A soft breeze played with her hair, and she brushed a bit of it back behind her ear. It was uncomfortable to say the least, Haibara knew this woman was more than she was giving away at the first gaze. Her entire aura reeked of someone unique, someone not quite fitting with the world as it was. Haibara didn't quite know what to make of her. She didn't seem to be a threat, she wasn't what Haibara would confirm as a dangerous adult or god beware, someone with the same personal aura of a member of the Black Organization, and yet she struggled to allow her to come into her house.

The woman immediately eyed the interior of Haibara's home, and said one felt only more cornered. What was she thinking, letting such a person inside her room? This beauty to her was unnatural, it was almost like her entire appearance was calling to her, luring her to come close.
"It's my pleasure to meet you, Haibara-san," the woman smiled, yet her eyes kept roaming over the place, almost as if she was trying to find anything. Haibara narrowed her eyebrows, taking a step back from her, even if her entire body was urging her to come closer.
"You know me?" Haibara finally asked, trying to remain innocent, "I wonder why."
Her guest allowed herself a soft and high laugh, finally acknowledging her instead of her surroundings.
"You are all over the news. Famous worldmagician Kuroba Kaito and his mysterious twin Kuroba Shinobu passed out in the middle of the airport, in broad daylight, and have remained inside a death-like coma ever since."

Is she a fan?  Haibara wondered.

"Kuroba-kun and I..." she began, quietly, a hint of nostalgia filling her sweet voice, a hand extending to brush absentmindly over the table to her left, "...we used to be classmates. We didn't quite like each other... he loved to meddle with my business, and I certainly enjoyed meddling with his. It was a hate-love, you could say..." She trailed off, persuading eyes fixating Haibara's.
"Where did you hide Pandora, Haibara-san?"
Haibara's breath stopped for a moment, together with her heart. That was the reason she was here. A classmate? Probably a blatant lie. All she wanted was Pandora.

"I don't understand," Haibara responded firmly, taking a step towards her yet without much success of her taking the hint and leaving again the very way she came. Instead, the sweet smile she was giving her turned sorrowful, and Haibara could feel her own heart cracking into two. She felt bewitched by her guest, so captivated like it couldn't have happened under normal circumstances. Only reasons more for Haibara to force her guest out of the house.

"I'm certain you do, Haibara-san. Please excuse my rudeness... My name is Koizumi Akako," she introduced herself, "I came to save your friend and Kuroba-kun from their very death."
Haibara narrowed her eyebrows, long gone the friendly smile she had greeted Akako with, replaced by a frown.
"What are you talking about? I know what this coma is. It'll leave on its own, and there is nothing that will change it." "Oh, there is," Akako insisted, "you just don't know about it. At least, about this very important part of Pandora's curse. Allow me to explain."

Haibara swallowed yet her body began to move on its own. Slowly, with trembling hands, she led the mysterious woman forward into the depths of the house, and towsrds the chamber she had sworn to protect. What was she doing with her? Haibara wanted to throw her out but she couldn't, her body wouldn't obey her any longer.
"Kuroba-kun..." Akako hummed, approaching the male resting inside the bed, a gentle hand placed onto his cheek to stroke it soothingly, "I knew you weren't able to handle Pandora like this... you infected yourself... and now you are going to die... you are such a fool..."
Akako looked back up at her host, and Haibara automatically swallowed.
"We need to split Pandora again. Kudo-san and Kuroba-kun need to be infected. This is the punishment Pandora bestows upon those who came in contact with it. It was far too late to lift the curse from them... their bodies relied for too long on Pandora's power... slowly, their life force will be drained from their shells... and if we don't act, soon all that remains of them is ash."

Haibara knew for sure she turned a shade paler.
"How would you know?! The last ones who became infected with Pandora were able to die just like every human, too!"
Akako let out a laugh so weak and hopeless that it overshadowed Haibara's panic, "You're mistaking 'dying' and 'dying like a normal human'. This is exactly what happened to the Keepers of Pandora as soon as they resurrected the stones. The lack of records might lead to the assumption, but I know better."
"Why?!" Haibara exclaimed, agitated, she couldn't believe her best friend was doomed for such a fate, "How exactly are, of all people, you the one who knows about this so well?! This is just blatant nonsense without any proof!"

Akako's head lowered ever so slightly, and her hand clutched the small handbag she was carrying. Haibara saw she was tensed but couldn't figure out why the answer would make her so uncomfortable until her words silenced the storm of emotions that was overcoming her.

"The last Keeper... she... she was my mother."