When Pandora bleeds... (Shinkai)

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Kaito paused, immediately lifting his arm to look at it. Red, deep and crimson red, just like when he used to be under the influence of-

His breath stopped for a moment as his eyes caught an all too familiar pair of stone halfs on the nightdesk. Almost immediately, Kaito lunged over Shinichi to snatch a half of the gemstone away, cradling it close to his chest, eyes blown wide.
"What is going on...?! I thought-"
Kaito interupted himself again, eyes wandering over to the seriously confused and worried Shinichi.

He's just as red but not like before. His face is crystal clear, but the rest is... No. His hands are also normal.

"Meitantei, your skin... it's red, too."
Shinichi's eyes grew wide and he looked down at himself, pushing the blanket which covered half of him away to take a better look at himself. True, the only clean parts of his skin were his hands, the rest of him was red. And out of the blue, his chest tightened. Something was missing. Something incredibly important was missing. Sapphires flickered towards the nightdesk and his breath stopped for a second as Shinichi took the second half, holding it protectively inside his hands, allowing Pandora's soothing energy to flow into his body again.
"What is going on," Shinichi breathed out, trying to remain calm, "The gem was restored, we had our normal colour back, I-"

Kaito watched Shinichi ramble, slowly drifting further into panic. Yet before he could interfere, Shinichi himself paused, took a deep breath, then swiftly moved his legs out of the comfortable bed to get up. Kaito decided to follow.
"Let's go to the bathroom," he suggested quietly and the sleuth seemed content with that. Quietly, the two of them shambled out of the room and Shinichi led them towards the Hakase's bathroom. As soon as he flicked the light switch on, both headed straight towards the large mirror, only to gasp at what they were seeing.

My face is clean. My head is okay. Even my hands are fine. But the rest...

Kaito turned, examining his behind in front of the mirror. He didn't even want to think about who undressed the two of them to their boxers.

My back is just as red... What the fuck.

Shinichi quietly spoke up next to him, asking what Kaito dreaded to even think.
"...are we still immortal?"
Kaito stilled and turned to look at his companion, eyes holding a mix of confusion and fear. Shinichi's breath halted, he had never seen such an emotion in KID's eyes and he hated it with all his passion.
"We could try to eat something," Shinichi carefully prodded further and earned himself a soft yet not very convinced nod.

By now, Kaito just moved along on autopilot. He knew they were still immortal. It was obvious and yet Shinichi still clung onto the faint string of hope that this all was just a big misunderstanding. Pandora inside his hands wasn't bleeding and yet, at the bottom line, he still had only a single half of Pandora and was just as unwilling to let go of it as before. It was so obvious.
Kaito wanted to cry but his eyes remained dry. He wasn't going to let himself become weak in front of the guy who had made it his personal goal to arrest him years prior. It was merely an agreement these two had- nothing more, nothing less. But Kaito did seriously wonder why Shinichi was so keen on being physically close. The amount of times Shinichi had touched him in these few days was well beyond normal for him.

His thoughts got cut short as a glass of orange juice was set down in front of his nose. Kaito blinked twice and looked up at the unsure looking sleuth who had his own glass cradled inside his hands. Slowly, Kaito lifted his own and the two exchanged a determined nod, before the fluid found its way into their mouths.
Not even a second later, both Kaito and Shinichi made a bee-line for the next sink, spewing it all into the drain and washing their mouths out, before Kaito and Shinichi shared a glance.

Silence. None of them dared to speak out the obvious.

"So... It's done. Nothing has changed," Shinichi breathed out in a defeated tone, shoulders slumping down. His companion instead looked onto his hands, quietly fiddling with his fingers, obviously thinking about what to do next.
"We should wait for Haibara-san to wake up," he suggested after a while, "She will at least know what happened before we woke up in here..."
Shinichi found himself nodding along, then flashing a glance at the clock. Suddenly, a small smile began to play around his lips, sapphires eying the former Kaitou in a playfully challenging manner.
"I've got an idea to pass time. How good can you cook, Kuroba-kun?"
Indigos narrowed at the amused detective in front of him, a weird feeling of nostalgia and excitement started to bubble up inside his stomach. A cooking match? Who was going to make the best breakfast for Haibara-san? Kaito found himself accepting the challenge without a second thought.

Only moments after, the two of them ran as chaotic as possible around inside the kitchen, trying to be as quiet as possible while grinning like idiots. Shinichi welcomed such a change of pace, all he regretted was to not offer the retired Kaitou a challenge earlier. Because now that he looked at him, indigo's blooming with excitement and the will to win this meaningless competition, he found himself recognizing the smug thief he used to know and cherish within him.
Kaitou always appreciated a challenge, did they? Shinichi felt a bit stupid he hadn't realized this before.

"You've got something behind your ear," Kaito announced next to him, eyes staring at the sleuth's ear. Shinichi paused and slapped a hand onto his ear, trying to find whatever the phantom was hinting at, yet froze when he felt Kaito's hand brush against his before an egg appeared inside it.
"There's my egg! You shouldn't resort to thievery, Meitantei."
The sleuth stared at Kaito, dumbly trying to progress what just happened, before he rolled his eyes and turned back to the stove, unable to hide the smile on his lips.
"Thievery is your part, I wasn't going to begin with it."

Kaito's lips curled up into an amused grin.