FIC: Conjour's Masqurade (6/?)
Story Information:
Title:Conjour's Masquerade
Authour: Saitaina
Rating: NC-17 (chapter)/NC-17 (full story)
Characters: Kuroba Kaito, Hakuba Saguru, Koizumi Akako, Edogowa Conan/Kudo Shinichi, Kuroba Mika (Kaito's Mother), Jii, Nakamori Aoko, Nakamori Ginzo, Edward St. Claire, Pierre Lemont, Ask, Eva, Pan, Kuma, Honua, Bohdona, Edogowa Kiden.
Pairings Kuroba Kaito/Hakuba Saguru, Edogowa Conan/Koizumi Akako, Kuroba Mika/Jii, Nakamori Aoko/Pierre Lemont, Kuroba Kaito/Edogowa Kiden/Hakuba Saguru, Eden/Ask, Eva/Pan, Kuma/Honua, Nakamori Ginzo/Nakamori Maria,
Summary: It's been seven years, since the death of Kaitou Kid, but there is still one thing out there, Kaito and Kiden left un-finished.
WARNINGS: Sex, death, illness, MAGIC, blood/gore, slight religious lunch content later.
Chapter Information:
Title: Bitter Taste
Summary: Kaito and Kiden finally talk, Ask meets his family and confronts his past...and the first loss comes.
Notes: Extreme violence/blood/gore in this chapter.
Chapter Six: Bitter Taste
Someone should sue Disney for planting the ideas in little kids heads that every girl has a prince and everything ends up happily ever after. -Author Unknown
Hakuba Thomas was not often a man startled. One didn't make it this far in his profession by being taken by surprise. Granted, once or twice a case came along that made him blink, but rarely did he find the jaw dropping surprise one heard of.
That was, of course, until his supposedly dead seventeen-year-old son wheeled himself into Thomas' office, sitting across from him as if the boy had dropped in for Sunday tea.
"Yuki," Thomas said, recovering himself as he glanced beyond the boy and into the room beyond, wondering how many people had seen Yuki.
"You haven't called me that since I was seven, father." Ask said, smiling a bit as he watched the older man look behind him. "Relax, no one saw me come up, except your secretary of course, lovely woman, she must be new."
"Where have you been?"
"Not important. I want to know what your plans are for Kaitou Kid."
'To arres..."
"Don't play games, father. I'm not your subordinate you can speak pretty little lies to. What are your plans for Edogowa Kiden?"
"Well, I rather hoped to kill him, but we know how well that worked the first time. Survival seems to be a trait between you two."
"And nii-san? Will you kill him too, when he finds out that Kiden is really alive?"
"If necessary."
Ask blinked at this, taken by surprise. Their father had always considered Saguru his true son, the one graced with the family name and all that came with it. Saguru could do no wrong in Thomas' eyes, at least, until he started sleeping with the enemy. "Why?"
"Why what, Yuki?"
Ask opened his mouth, and then realized he didn't really have a question. Thomas has proven before that blood meant nothing to him. He had no problem getting rid of those in his way, even if the thorn in his side was his own child. "I can't stop him."
"You mean you won't."
Ask shrugged, remaining silent.
"I will kill you both, you do realize that, don't you?"
"It wouldn't be the first time, father. Will you make sure it sticks this time?"
"Of course. I don't like loose ends."
Ask nodded, his business done. He started to wheel himself backwards, intending to leave, when his father's voice stopped him.
"Why do you even care, Yuki? What's so special about him that he melted that cold heart of yours?"
Ask smiled at his father, his head tilting slightly. "I'm a teenager, am I not supposed to rebel against my parents?"
"Is that what this is? A rebellion?" Thomas asked, raising an eyebrow at his youngest son.
Ask shrugged, the innocent look fading from his face like a broken mask. "May I ask you something and have you answer it honestly?"
Thomas waved his hand, a careless gesture for Ask to continue, not promising to answer, honestly or otherwise, but curious as to what the boy would ask.
"Why did you remove me from the Genesis Project? Why did you order mother to kill me?"
Thomas leaned in closer to the boy, resting his chin on his hands. "You asked for one question, that's two." Thomas said, before running a hand through his thinning brown hair. "But, I will answer. I removed you from the project, because you were becoming a liability. Kiden was coming too close, and with him, your brother. I could not have either of you two meet. I had intended to re-assign you to technology, before you're little...tantrum."
Ask looked away, wincing slightly as Thomas mentioned the boy's outburst when he found out he had been removed from the project he had been working on for four years. He had acted...like the spoiled ten year old boy he was at the time.
"As for your mother...who better? She was the best assassin at my disposal, and she was getting to attached to you anyway. It was weakening her."
"She didn't, you know. Well, she tried, but in the end...she turned me over to Vodka." Ask's hand trembled and he clenched it against his thigh, willing the sign of weakness away. "She left me with him, for a week, before he finally dumped me on the side of the road. There were nights I were begging for death, if just to get away from him."
"That wasn't what I intended, Yuki."
"Yeah...but you didn't care much when you found out, did you?" Ask turned his wheelchair, leaving his father behind, and the last traces of his life as a Black Organization member.
--
Soft, gentle lips slid over Kaito's jaw and cheek, gently caressing the smooth skin as if the kisser was trying to map out every small millimeter by feel. The lips gently caressed the closed eyelids, pausing for a moment to brush over temple and forehead, before darting down a nose and finally, meeting their match.
Kiden's hand gently caressed the side of Kaito's face and jaw as his lips moved over his other half's, the feel of warm, moist breath darting over his lips as Kaito breathed. Kid shifted, moving closer to Kaito, wrapping his legs around the other's as he pressed their bodies close, his tongue darting out for a taste, a groan spilling from his lips as memories seven years old burst forth in his mind.
He wiggled even closer, almost laying on top of the other man as his fingers slid into wild brunette strands, gently massaging the scalp as he nibbled on those delicious lips, lounge darting out again for another sneak taste.
"You know, generally one must be conscious to give consent. Otherwise it's considered rape," an amused voice said.
Kid opened one eye to glare at his boyfriend before returning to snuggling the un-conscious Kaito, ignoring Ask as the teenager wheeled himself into the room and over to the desk, opening the waiting laptop to check up on news both in London and back home in Tokyo.
Growing bored with his non-responsive twin, Kid settled for simply holding Kaito tighter then he should, watching the blond. "How did things go at the embassy?"
Ask shrugged, not taking his eyes off the monitor. "They're still fucking around with my visa, but so long as you get things done within six months, it shouldn't be too much of a hassle. Eva and Pan should be arriving tonight, by the way, and Lily is upstairs."
Kiden nodded, resting his head on Kaito's chest. It felt odd, to be doing something without Bohdie helping him along. For so long he had her right by his side and now to some stupid loophole that they couldn't get around, Bohdie was stuck in Japan while the rest of them trapezed around Britain. Kiden swore, the first thing he was doing when he was returning to Japan, was to find a forger to add to the group. Kiden was good, but there were still some documents he could not reproduce, and travel visa's were one of them for some odd reason.
"How long are you going to keep him here?" Ask finally questioned after a moment of silence, watching Kiden and Kaito in the mirror. He had to admit, his brother did have fine taste in lovers. "Hakuba-san will notice he's missing eventually."
"Only a bit. He passed out before I could talk to him and I don't think leaving him there to think he imagined the whole thing would be good for his health."
"Well, you had better think of a way to wake him soon, because last I saw of your detective he was heading towards Kaito's warehouses to help him un-pack." Ask said off-hand, smiling as he heard a thump that indicated Kiden had fallen out of bed.
"What?! Why didn't you say something earlier?!"
"Because it amuses me to watch you run around like a headless chicken." Ask said with a shrug, ducking the smack Kiden aimed at him. "Now run along and play nice, I want a nap."
Kiden grumbled under his breath as he stripped Kaito of pants, shirt and shoes, trying to dress and run out the door at the same time, all the while cursing Ask's ancestry. Ask held out the keys to their rented car, waving merrily at the thief who dashed out the door. The teenager shook his head before setting his laptop to download a few telly shows, pulling off his shirt as he wheeled himself closer to to the bed. He eyed the man hogging most of it before nudging Kaito's limp body over, sliding into the bed and pulling the blankets up around him, yawning as jet lag hit him hard. Rolling over, he wrapped an arm around Kaito's waist, smiling slightly as the other man shifted, closer to waking even with the added effects of Kiden's sleeping gas. Nuzzling Kaito's neck, Ask soon fell asleep, images of hyperactive brunettes in his head.
--
Kaito's eyes slowly blinked, his nose wrinkling at the too sweet taste in his mouth. He blinked again, realizing that this wasn't his bedroom at home, nor the bedroom he shared with Saguru at the Hakuba Estate. He stilled, as his hand rested on something that was even stranger...another body next to him, and a body that he wasn't familiar with.
"Relax and go back to sleep," Ask muttered, shifting a bit to put room between himself and Kaito, grumpy and eager to go back to sleep.
"And how am I supposed to do that?" Kaito grumbled, propping himself up on his elbows and looking down at the teenager who cracked a green eye open long enough to glare before flipping over so he could attempt sleep again.
He growled as Kaito started poking at him, before pulling himself up into a sitting position. "Do you mind?"
"Yes. Who are you, where am I..." Kaito paused, looking under the blanket before glaring at Ask. "And where are my pants?"
"Tanaka Ask, The Shaftesbury, and Eden has them, now Shut. Up."
"Who the fuck is Eden?!"
Ask groaned, burring his head under a pillow. "Koizumi Eden, or as you would know him, Edogowa Kiden, now for the love of..." He was cut off as Kaito snatched the pillow, staring at him in shock.
"Kiden?" Kaito said and Ask jerked up as the other man started to hyperventilate.
"Whoa! Breathe!" Ask demanded, before smacking Kaito a few times, not in the mood to be nice. "Yes, Kiden, your other half, the psycho twin of your soul, whatever."
"Impossible, he's dead." Kaito said, once he was able to speak.
Ask groaned. "Why does no one ever think that he might have faked his death? Honestly, it's the most obvious thing in the world and you all go merrily along assuming what you see is reality. You're a fucking magician! You should know better."
"He...he faked his death? Why?!"
Ask shrugged. "You'd have to ask him, not my place to say.
"But..."
"Kaito, please...just...leave it. Really. Kiden will be back soon enough and you can ask him then."
There was a moment of silence, and then Kaito shifted, looking at Ask who was already glaring at him. "How do you know Kiden?"
"I'm his whore, now please hut up." Ask said, and instead of covering his head with a pillow, he put it on Kaito's, laying on the other man. Thankfully for Kaito's health, Kiden walked in then, grumbling under his breath about annoying detectives as he pulled off Kaito's shirt, tossing it at his twin, his other hand dropping a bag of candy on Ask's stomach. Ask blinked and picked up the bag, studying it for a moment before opening the plastic bag worth of three pounds of candy, studying them.
Inside the bag was one of Ask's greatest weaknesses, Necco Sweetheart Conversation Hearts, but, unlike most bags of bulk candy one could find in any candy store, these hearts were specially picked to only feature Ask's favorite flavor, wintergreen. He blinked at the three pounds of green candy before glancing at Kiden who was too busy stripping to notice. Ask allowed a small smile to cross his face, taking one of the hearts and popping it onto his mouth, sucking on the sweet, smile vanishing as Kiden approached the bed, managing to wiggle between them, his back to Ask as he stared at Kaito.
Kaito blinked at the familiar eyes, studying the small changes in Kiden that had happened over the past seven years. He wanted to believe it was a lie, that this was some horrible trick and the mask that looked like his other half would be pulled away while everyone laughed.
But as the silence stretched, he realized that this wasn't a joke and that wasn't a mask. He reached up brushed his hand over Kiden's cheek, trailing his fingers down over the other man's lips, chin and throat, before his hand tightened and Kiden suddenly found himself on his back, a knife pressed to his throat just above Kaito's hand, teary blue eyes staring down at him.
"Why?" Kaito asked brokenly.
Ask blinked at the pair, wondering if he should intervene, before deciding it wasn't worth it and going back to his candy. Kiden reached up, touching Kaito's face with one hand, pushing with the other to remove the knife from his throat, pulling it from Kaito's rather slack grip.
"Because I had to try," Kiden whispered, before lifting up, kissing Kaito, pouring seven years of pain and loss into the kiss. He pulled away after a moment, smiled at the slightly dazed look on Kaito's face.
"Try...what?" Kaito asked, lowering himself onto Kiden so their bodies were fully touching.
"To keep you save, it's what I do , Kaito. Remember, my whole creation was to protect you. They made me an offer, a promise that if I died, you would be safe."
"Why didn't you tellus?"
"Because it didn't matter. Would you have really just let me walk away and never speak to me or see me again?"
"We wouldn't have had to..."
"Yes, we would have, Kaito. I had to be dead, meaning I couldn't be in you life anymore. If you knew I was still alive, you would have tried to have me in your life, you would have given a sign to them, that I didn't hold up my end and that would have ended up with you paying the price."
"So...why now? Why did you reveal yourself now? Everything was fine until now."
"Because we forgot something, Kaito."
"Huh?"
"Pandora, gem that supposedly gives immortal life? The whole reason your father died and you became Kaitou Kid? Idiot." Ask muttered, earning a dual glare from the pair before Kaito frowned, blinking, realizing the two were right.
He couldn't believe they were right. He couldn't believehe forgot in everything that had happened, in the seven years after...that he had left the search for Pandora behind. He stared, his eyes blank as he mentally beat the shit out of himself for such a thing.
Kiden raised his hand, threading it through Kaito's thick strands of hair, pulling sharply and smiling when the boy growled, focusing back on the now. "It's alright, Kaito. This has actually been a good thing, we have resources now, we have partners willing to help us. We'll find the stupid gem, destroy it and everything will be fine."
Ask snorted and Kiden glared at him. "What?"
Ask looked at them, before lazily selecting a candy, popping it into his mouth and sucking on it, turning it around a few times in his mouth before deciding to reply. "The Genesis Project has been going on for longer then even your father was alive. If they hadn't found it, what makes you think any of us can?"
"Genesis Project?" Kaito questioned, reminding the pair that he was new to what they knew.
"The Genesis Project is a group of the Black Org that exists above and beyond any other. Even the head of the BO defers to them. They are the ones responsible for the BO's search for immortality, via every method they can find, Pandora, Mermaid Skin, Elixirs, The Fountain of Youth, so on and so forth. Everything that the BO is and does, is to fuel their search." Ask said, in between eating the small candy hearts.
Kaito blinked, staring at the blond teenager. He glanced at Kiden before looking back at Ask, confused. "How do you even know that?" He asked, curious considering how much information Saguru, Conan, Heiji and himself had come up with before Kiden's death and none of that was even hinted at.
"Because I was one of them," Ask said, offering a candy heart to Kiden, fighting a smile as the thief wrapped his mouth around Ask's fingers, sucking the candy heart into his mouth. "From the age of six until ten, I was one of their researcher's."
Kaito stared, trying to figure out what to think about such an admission.
--
"A single female victim, found by the night guard as he was closing up."
Saguru rubbed the bridge of his nose, staring at his boss, well, former boss, no matter how many times Edward refused to accept his resignation. "You called me down here for a murder? This is London, Edward, murder isn't exactly surprising."
"Follow me," Edward said, crooking a finger before turning and heading through the indoor market, weaving his way through booths and people alike.
Saguru sighed and followed, shoving his hands into the pockets of his overcoat, wondering what the hell his boss had been smoking to think that a murder case would interest him. He blinked as he approached the scene, raising a hand to block out the smell, gagging slightly. A young officer near-by offered him a jar of menthol rub, which Saguru accepted with a nod of thanks, using a bit under his nose to block the smell, before pulling a pair of gloves from his inner pocket, pulling them on as he ducked under the crime scene tape. "Dear lord," he breathed, staring at the sight.
The victim was laid out, her left arm up over her left breast, with her legs drawn up so that her feet were resting on the floor, toes pressed up against a booth to keep them in that position, though the knees bowed out a bit. The woman's face was swollen, and turned towards the right, though thankfully someone had closed her eyes so that she wasn't staring at them.
Saguru knelt, careful not to stand in the blood pools, gently turning the woman's face, wincing as he saw the lounge poking out at him, swallowing and lifting the woman's head, studying the gaping wound across her neck.
"The wound on her neck and the one in her abdomen were done by the same weapon, possibly six to eight inches in length." Edward said, kneeling next to Saguru. Edward gestured with a hand, careful not to touch the body as he didn't have a glove. "They start at the left and move right, along with the other wounds, indicating a left handed perpetrator."
Saguru nodded in agreement, before taking a steadying breath, and turning his attention back to the rest of the woman. Her abdomen was entirely slid open and bared, her intestines removed and placed on her shoulder. He swallowed again, before gently reaching into the victim, feeling around for a moment before cursing. "Any sign of..."
Edward shook his head. "The uterus, part of her bladder and vagina are missing." he confirmed.
Saguru cursed again, removing his hand from the victim and pulling off the glove, tossing it into an evidence bag an officer held out. "This is the second one."
Edward nodded, rubbing a hand over his face. "I had hoped that I had just been imagining things, reading too much into it but..."
"Coincidence doesn't work that way." Saguru said before brushing a lock of black hair from the woman's face. "Did she have any ID?"
"Yes, in fact, she had two." Edward made a gesture and an officer handed over four pieces of ID to the man, whom passed them over to Saguru.
Saguru blinked, studying the four pieces of identification, each picture matching the woman before them. "Britney Brown, place of residence, Beverly Hills California." he read, matching the California driver's license to the Japanese Visa which stated that Britney was currently living in Japan on a student visa. "Lilith Capone, residence Tokyo Japan." He frowned at the Japanese driver's license, flipping to the United Kingdom visa which said that Lilith Capone was currently visiting the UK on a work visa."
"Wonder which one is real," Edward murmured.
"Both," Saguru said, ignoring Edward's look. "Somewhere between the United States and Japan, she managed to get a false identity, but the identity is still her, as far as the Japanese government is concerned, as these are real."
"We called the hotel she had in her date book, she's registered there with a block of rooms rented out by one Koizumi Eden."
"That name is becoming far too familiar," Saguru muttered.
--
Kiden blinked as there came a sharp knock at the door, followed by a thickly accented voice stating that it was the hotel manager. Ask shrugged as Kiden looked at him, before pushing himself out of the bed and into his wheelchair, allowing Kiden out of the bed.
The thief wiggled out of the bed, pulling on his own pants as he opened the door, blinking at the uniformed man, and the two men with him, before cursing. "Come on in," he muttered, turning away from the door and allowing the two detectives into the room.
Saguru entered, confused as to why his lover was in the man's hotel room before blinking in shock, as he stared at Kiden and Kaito, now highly confused. Edward dismissed Saguru's confusion, staring at the twins and the kid in a wheelchair before displaying his badge. "We're looking for a Eden Koizumi," he said, glancing at each man.
Kiden raised his hand, tilting his head. "I'm Eden, what's up?"
"Can we see your ID and visa's?" Saguru asked, finding his voice.
Kiden and Ask looked at each other, before finding their wallets and the requested information, handing them over to the blond.
Saguru studied them for a moment, before waving in a uniformed officer who had been lurking in the hall. "Arrest them."
"On what charge?!" Kaito said, moving in front of Kiden.
"Entering the country under false pretenses."
"..what?" Kiden said, trying to follow that.
"Your identifications are fake, well, they're legally obtained, but under false pretenses thus, they're invalid."
"I...what?" Ask sputtered, having never faced this before.
"Saguru, are you sure?"
"I should be, considering I've lived with one of them for over a year and I know the other's family." Saguru said.
"Saguru-chan..." Kiden started.
Saguru however, turned and left, leaving behind the three and two very confused police officers.
--
"Edward let them go," Kaito said, staring at the back of his lover's head. Saguru remained silent, and Kaito frowned, moving around, to stare at Saguru's face. He sighed and reached out, plucking the glass of whiskey from his lover's hand, downing it before sitting on the blond's lap. "He told them one of their friend's died."
Saguru's only action was to wrap an arm around Kaito's waist, holding him while he poured another glass of whiskey.
"You should have been there, Saguru. He needed you. I've never seen him so...broken." Kaito whispered, before laying his head on Saguru's shoulder. "I want him home."
"It's too late for that, Kaito. He made his own choice, has a different life."
"I don't care, I want him home. Now."
--
Kiden held Ask tightly as the teenager cried in his sleep, his own heart torn and twisted with the news that Lily had been murdered. He buried his face in Ask's hair, trying to keep out the sense of lose and pain that came with the thought, trying to pretend, if just for a moment, that everything was normal.
He knew, realistically, that not all of them would survive to see the end of their game. The odds were stacked against any of them surviving and Kiden was prepared for that. He just didn't expect it to happen so soon...or so randomly. He had expected his little gang to die fighting the good fight, not be victims of a senseless serial killer.
But she was, and now Kiden had to figure out how to tell Eva and Pan. How to tell Bohdie they lost another family member, had to watch, as Honua broke down. Kiden had faced many things, but he didn't know how to face that. He didn't even know if he could, but he was their leader, and it was his job to be the strong one, no matter how much he just wanted to run away.
Brushing his fingers through Ask's hair, Kiden gently tilted the boy's head up, thumbs brushing away the tears as he placed a gentle kiss against the boy's lips before pulling the covers up over them, shielding them from the horrors of reality. Tomorrow. Tomorrow he could deal with everything, but right now...he just wanted to escape. He closed his eyes, allowing sleep to overcome him.
The room was silent for a moment, before Kiden's eyes opened again, rather confused. He sat up, glancing around before running a hand through his hair. "Where am I?"
Note: As there is some confusion, Kiden is the same guy we've known since Magician's Waltz. Eden is his alternate name that he now uses (except now because Saguru, Conan, Akako, Aoko and Kaito know him as Kiden), Kidoko is his female persona that he uses while cross-dressing.
Title:Conjour's Masquerade
Authour: Saitaina
Rating: NC-17 (chapter)/NC-17 (full story)
Characters: Kuroba Kaito, Hakuba Saguru, Koizumi Akako, Edogowa Conan/Kudo Shinichi, Kuroba Mika (Kaito's Mother), Jii, Nakamori Aoko, Nakamori Ginzo, Edward St. Claire, Pierre Lemont, Ask, Eva, Pan, Kuma, Honua, Bohdona, Edogowa Kiden.
Pairings Kuroba Kaito/Hakuba Saguru, Edogowa Conan/Koizumi Akako, Kuroba Mika/Jii, Nakamori Aoko/Pierre Lemont, Kuroba Kaito/Edogowa Kiden/Hakuba Saguru, Eden/Ask, Eva/Pan, Kuma/Honua, Nakamori Ginzo/Nakamori Maria,
Summary: It's been seven years, since the death of Kaitou Kid, but there is still one thing out there, Kaito and Kiden left un-finished.
WARNINGS: Sex, death, illness, MAGIC, blood/gore, slight religious lunch content later.
Chapter Information:
Title: Bitter Taste
Summary: Kaito and Kiden finally talk, Ask meets his family and confronts his past...and the first loss comes.
Notes: Extreme violence/blood/gore in this chapter.
Chapter Six: Bitter Taste
Someone should sue Disney for planting the ideas in little kids heads that every girl has a prince and everything ends up happily ever after. -Author Unknown
Hakuba Thomas was not often a man startled. One didn't make it this far in his profession by being taken by surprise. Granted, once or twice a case came along that made him blink, but rarely did he find the jaw dropping surprise one heard of.
That was, of course, until his supposedly dead seventeen-year-old son wheeled himself into Thomas' office, sitting across from him as if the boy had dropped in for Sunday tea.
"Yuki," Thomas said, recovering himself as he glanced beyond the boy and into the room beyond, wondering how many people had seen Yuki.
"You haven't called me that since I was seven, father." Ask said, smiling a bit as he watched the older man look behind him. "Relax, no one saw me come up, except your secretary of course, lovely woman, she must be new."
"Where have you been?"
"Not important. I want to know what your plans are for Kaitou Kid."
'To arres..."
"Don't play games, father. I'm not your subordinate you can speak pretty little lies to. What are your plans for Edogowa Kiden?"
"Well, I rather hoped to kill him, but we know how well that worked the first time. Survival seems to be a trait between you two."
"And nii-san? Will you kill him too, when he finds out that Kiden is really alive?"
"If necessary."
Ask blinked at this, taken by surprise. Their father had always considered Saguru his true son, the one graced with the family name and all that came with it. Saguru could do no wrong in Thomas' eyes, at least, until he started sleeping with the enemy. "Why?"
"Why what, Yuki?"
Ask opened his mouth, and then realized he didn't really have a question. Thomas has proven before that blood meant nothing to him. He had no problem getting rid of those in his way, even if the thorn in his side was his own child. "I can't stop him."
"You mean you won't."
Ask shrugged, remaining silent.
"I will kill you both, you do realize that, don't you?"
"It wouldn't be the first time, father. Will you make sure it sticks this time?"
"Of course. I don't like loose ends."
Ask nodded, his business done. He started to wheel himself backwards, intending to leave, when his father's voice stopped him.
"Why do you even care, Yuki? What's so special about him that he melted that cold heart of yours?"
Ask smiled at his father, his head tilting slightly. "I'm a teenager, am I not supposed to rebel against my parents?"
"Is that what this is? A rebellion?" Thomas asked, raising an eyebrow at his youngest son.
Ask shrugged, the innocent look fading from his face like a broken mask. "May I ask you something and have you answer it honestly?"
Thomas waved his hand, a careless gesture for Ask to continue, not promising to answer, honestly or otherwise, but curious as to what the boy would ask.
"Why did you remove me from the Genesis Project? Why did you order mother to kill me?"
Thomas leaned in closer to the boy, resting his chin on his hands. "You asked for one question, that's two." Thomas said, before running a hand through his thinning brown hair. "But, I will answer. I removed you from the project, because you were becoming a liability. Kiden was coming too close, and with him, your brother. I could not have either of you two meet. I had intended to re-assign you to technology, before you're little...tantrum."
Ask looked away, wincing slightly as Thomas mentioned the boy's outburst when he found out he had been removed from the project he had been working on for four years. He had acted...like the spoiled ten year old boy he was at the time.
"As for your mother...who better? She was the best assassin at my disposal, and she was getting to attached to you anyway. It was weakening her."
"She didn't, you know. Well, she tried, but in the end...she turned me over to Vodka." Ask's hand trembled and he clenched it against his thigh, willing the sign of weakness away. "She left me with him, for a week, before he finally dumped me on the side of the road. There were nights I were begging for death, if just to get away from him."
"That wasn't what I intended, Yuki."
"Yeah...but you didn't care much when you found out, did you?" Ask turned his wheelchair, leaving his father behind, and the last traces of his life as a Black Organization member.
--
Soft, gentle lips slid over Kaito's jaw and cheek, gently caressing the smooth skin as if the kisser was trying to map out every small millimeter by feel. The lips gently caressed the closed eyelids, pausing for a moment to brush over temple and forehead, before darting down a nose and finally, meeting their match.
Kiden's hand gently caressed the side of Kaito's face and jaw as his lips moved over his other half's, the feel of warm, moist breath darting over his lips as Kaito breathed. Kid shifted, moving closer to Kaito, wrapping his legs around the other's as he pressed their bodies close, his tongue darting out for a taste, a groan spilling from his lips as memories seven years old burst forth in his mind.
He wiggled even closer, almost laying on top of the other man as his fingers slid into wild brunette strands, gently massaging the scalp as he nibbled on those delicious lips, lounge darting out again for another sneak taste.
"You know, generally one must be conscious to give consent. Otherwise it's considered rape," an amused voice said.
Kid opened one eye to glare at his boyfriend before returning to snuggling the un-conscious Kaito, ignoring Ask as the teenager wheeled himself into the room and over to the desk, opening the waiting laptop to check up on news both in London and back home in Tokyo.
Growing bored with his non-responsive twin, Kid settled for simply holding Kaito tighter then he should, watching the blond. "How did things go at the embassy?"
Ask shrugged, not taking his eyes off the monitor. "They're still fucking around with my visa, but so long as you get things done within six months, it shouldn't be too much of a hassle. Eva and Pan should be arriving tonight, by the way, and Lily is upstairs."
Kiden nodded, resting his head on Kaito's chest. It felt odd, to be doing something without Bohdie helping him along. For so long he had her right by his side and now to some stupid loophole that they couldn't get around, Bohdie was stuck in Japan while the rest of them trapezed around Britain. Kiden swore, the first thing he was doing when he was returning to Japan, was to find a forger to add to the group. Kiden was good, but there were still some documents he could not reproduce, and travel visa's were one of them for some odd reason.
"How long are you going to keep him here?" Ask finally questioned after a moment of silence, watching Kiden and Kaito in the mirror. He had to admit, his brother did have fine taste in lovers. "Hakuba-san will notice he's missing eventually."
"Only a bit. He passed out before I could talk to him and I don't think leaving him there to think he imagined the whole thing would be good for his health."
"Well, you had better think of a way to wake him soon, because last I saw of your detective he was heading towards Kaito's warehouses to help him un-pack." Ask said off-hand, smiling as he heard a thump that indicated Kiden had fallen out of bed.
"What?! Why didn't you say something earlier?!"
"Because it amuses me to watch you run around like a headless chicken." Ask said with a shrug, ducking the smack Kiden aimed at him. "Now run along and play nice, I want a nap."
Kiden grumbled under his breath as he stripped Kaito of pants, shirt and shoes, trying to dress and run out the door at the same time, all the while cursing Ask's ancestry. Ask held out the keys to their rented car, waving merrily at the thief who dashed out the door. The teenager shook his head before setting his laptop to download a few telly shows, pulling off his shirt as he wheeled himself closer to to the bed. He eyed the man hogging most of it before nudging Kaito's limp body over, sliding into the bed and pulling the blankets up around him, yawning as jet lag hit him hard. Rolling over, he wrapped an arm around Kaito's waist, smiling slightly as the other man shifted, closer to waking even with the added effects of Kiden's sleeping gas. Nuzzling Kaito's neck, Ask soon fell asleep, images of hyperactive brunettes in his head.
--
Kaito's eyes slowly blinked, his nose wrinkling at the too sweet taste in his mouth. He blinked again, realizing that this wasn't his bedroom at home, nor the bedroom he shared with Saguru at the Hakuba Estate. He stilled, as his hand rested on something that was even stranger...another body next to him, and a body that he wasn't familiar with.
"Relax and go back to sleep," Ask muttered, shifting a bit to put room between himself and Kaito, grumpy and eager to go back to sleep.
"And how am I supposed to do that?" Kaito grumbled, propping himself up on his elbows and looking down at the teenager who cracked a green eye open long enough to glare before flipping over so he could attempt sleep again.
He growled as Kaito started poking at him, before pulling himself up into a sitting position. "Do you mind?"
"Yes. Who are you, where am I..." Kaito paused, looking under the blanket before glaring at Ask. "And where are my pants?"
"Tanaka Ask, The Shaftesbury, and Eden has them, now Shut. Up."
"Who the fuck is Eden?!"
Ask groaned, burring his head under a pillow. "Koizumi Eden, or as you would know him, Edogowa Kiden, now for the love of..." He was cut off as Kaito snatched the pillow, staring at him in shock.
"Kiden?" Kaito said and Ask jerked up as the other man started to hyperventilate.
"Whoa! Breathe!" Ask demanded, before smacking Kaito a few times, not in the mood to be nice. "Yes, Kiden, your other half, the psycho twin of your soul, whatever."
"Impossible, he's dead." Kaito said, once he was able to speak.
Ask groaned. "Why does no one ever think that he might have faked his death? Honestly, it's the most obvious thing in the world and you all go merrily along assuming what you see is reality. You're a fucking magician! You should know better."
"He...he faked his death? Why?!"
Ask shrugged. "You'd have to ask him, not my place to say.
"But..."
"Kaito, please...just...leave it. Really. Kiden will be back soon enough and you can ask him then."
There was a moment of silence, and then Kaito shifted, looking at Ask who was already glaring at him. "How do you know Kiden?"
"I'm his whore, now please hut up." Ask said, and instead of covering his head with a pillow, he put it on Kaito's, laying on the other man. Thankfully for Kaito's health, Kiden walked in then, grumbling under his breath about annoying detectives as he pulled off Kaito's shirt, tossing it at his twin, his other hand dropping a bag of candy on Ask's stomach. Ask blinked and picked up the bag, studying it for a moment before opening the plastic bag worth of three pounds of candy, studying them.
Inside the bag was one of Ask's greatest weaknesses, Necco Sweetheart Conversation Hearts, but, unlike most bags of bulk candy one could find in any candy store, these hearts were specially picked to only feature Ask's favorite flavor, wintergreen. He blinked at the three pounds of green candy before glancing at Kiden who was too busy stripping to notice. Ask allowed a small smile to cross his face, taking one of the hearts and popping it onto his mouth, sucking on the sweet, smile vanishing as Kiden approached the bed, managing to wiggle between them, his back to Ask as he stared at Kaito.
Kaito blinked at the familiar eyes, studying the small changes in Kiden that had happened over the past seven years. He wanted to believe it was a lie, that this was some horrible trick and the mask that looked like his other half would be pulled away while everyone laughed.
But as the silence stretched, he realized that this wasn't a joke and that wasn't a mask. He reached up brushed his hand over Kiden's cheek, trailing his fingers down over the other man's lips, chin and throat, before his hand tightened and Kiden suddenly found himself on his back, a knife pressed to his throat just above Kaito's hand, teary blue eyes staring down at him.
"Why?" Kaito asked brokenly.
Ask blinked at the pair, wondering if he should intervene, before deciding it wasn't worth it and going back to his candy. Kiden reached up, touching Kaito's face with one hand, pushing with the other to remove the knife from his throat, pulling it from Kaito's rather slack grip.
"Because I had to try," Kiden whispered, before lifting up, kissing Kaito, pouring seven years of pain and loss into the kiss. He pulled away after a moment, smiled at the slightly dazed look on Kaito's face.
"Try...what?" Kaito asked, lowering himself onto Kiden so their bodies were fully touching.
"To keep you save, it's what I do , Kaito. Remember, my whole creation was to protect you. They made me an offer, a promise that if I died, you would be safe."
"Why didn't you tellus?"
"Because it didn't matter. Would you have really just let me walk away and never speak to me or see me again?"
"We wouldn't have had to..."
"Yes, we would have, Kaito. I had to be dead, meaning I couldn't be in you life anymore. If you knew I was still alive, you would have tried to have me in your life, you would have given a sign to them, that I didn't hold up my end and that would have ended up with you paying the price."
"So...why now? Why did you reveal yourself now? Everything was fine until now."
"Because we forgot something, Kaito."
"Huh?"
"Pandora, gem that supposedly gives immortal life? The whole reason your father died and you became Kaitou Kid? Idiot." Ask muttered, earning a dual glare from the pair before Kaito frowned, blinking, realizing the two were right.
He couldn't believe they were right. He couldn't believehe forgot in everything that had happened, in the seven years after...that he had left the search for Pandora behind. He stared, his eyes blank as he mentally beat the shit out of himself for such a thing.
Kiden raised his hand, threading it through Kaito's thick strands of hair, pulling sharply and smiling when the boy growled, focusing back on the now. "It's alright, Kaito. This has actually been a good thing, we have resources now, we have partners willing to help us. We'll find the stupid gem, destroy it and everything will be fine."
Ask snorted and Kiden glared at him. "What?"
Ask looked at them, before lazily selecting a candy, popping it into his mouth and sucking on it, turning it around a few times in his mouth before deciding to reply. "The Genesis Project has been going on for longer then even your father was alive. If they hadn't found it, what makes you think any of us can?"
"Genesis Project?" Kaito questioned, reminding the pair that he was new to what they knew.
"The Genesis Project is a group of the Black Org that exists above and beyond any other. Even the head of the BO defers to them. They are the ones responsible for the BO's search for immortality, via every method they can find, Pandora, Mermaid Skin, Elixirs, The Fountain of Youth, so on and so forth. Everything that the BO is and does, is to fuel their search." Ask said, in between eating the small candy hearts.
Kaito blinked, staring at the blond teenager. He glanced at Kiden before looking back at Ask, confused. "How do you even know that?" He asked, curious considering how much information Saguru, Conan, Heiji and himself had come up with before Kiden's death and none of that was even hinted at.
"Because I was one of them," Ask said, offering a candy heart to Kiden, fighting a smile as the thief wrapped his mouth around Ask's fingers, sucking the candy heart into his mouth. "From the age of six until ten, I was one of their researcher's."
Kaito stared, trying to figure out what to think about such an admission.
--
"A single female victim, found by the night guard as he was closing up."
Saguru rubbed the bridge of his nose, staring at his boss, well, former boss, no matter how many times Edward refused to accept his resignation. "You called me down here for a murder? This is London, Edward, murder isn't exactly surprising."
"Follow me," Edward said, crooking a finger before turning and heading through the indoor market, weaving his way through booths and people alike.
Saguru sighed and followed, shoving his hands into the pockets of his overcoat, wondering what the hell his boss had been smoking to think that a murder case would interest him. He blinked as he approached the scene, raising a hand to block out the smell, gagging slightly. A young officer near-by offered him a jar of menthol rub, which Saguru accepted with a nod of thanks, using a bit under his nose to block the smell, before pulling a pair of gloves from his inner pocket, pulling them on as he ducked under the crime scene tape. "Dear lord," he breathed, staring at the sight.
The victim was laid out, her left arm up over her left breast, with her legs drawn up so that her feet were resting on the floor, toes pressed up against a booth to keep them in that position, though the knees bowed out a bit. The woman's face was swollen, and turned towards the right, though thankfully someone had closed her eyes so that she wasn't staring at them.
Saguru knelt, careful not to stand in the blood pools, gently turning the woman's face, wincing as he saw the lounge poking out at him, swallowing and lifting the woman's head, studying the gaping wound across her neck.
"The wound on her neck and the one in her abdomen were done by the same weapon, possibly six to eight inches in length." Edward said, kneeling next to Saguru. Edward gestured with a hand, careful not to touch the body as he didn't have a glove. "They start at the left and move right, along with the other wounds, indicating a left handed perpetrator."
Saguru nodded in agreement, before taking a steadying breath, and turning his attention back to the rest of the woman. Her abdomen was entirely slid open and bared, her intestines removed and placed on her shoulder. He swallowed again, before gently reaching into the victim, feeling around for a moment before cursing. "Any sign of..."
Edward shook his head. "The uterus, part of her bladder and vagina are missing." he confirmed.
Saguru cursed again, removing his hand from the victim and pulling off the glove, tossing it into an evidence bag an officer held out. "This is the second one."
Edward nodded, rubbing a hand over his face. "I had hoped that I had just been imagining things, reading too much into it but..."
"Coincidence doesn't work that way." Saguru said before brushing a lock of black hair from the woman's face. "Did she have any ID?"
"Yes, in fact, she had two." Edward made a gesture and an officer handed over four pieces of ID to the man, whom passed them over to Saguru.
Saguru blinked, studying the four pieces of identification, each picture matching the woman before them. "Britney Brown, place of residence, Beverly Hills California." he read, matching the California driver's license to the Japanese Visa which stated that Britney was currently living in Japan on a student visa. "Lilith Capone, residence Tokyo Japan." He frowned at the Japanese driver's license, flipping to the United Kingdom visa which said that Lilith Capone was currently visiting the UK on a work visa."
"Wonder which one is real," Edward murmured.
"Both," Saguru said, ignoring Edward's look. "Somewhere between the United States and Japan, she managed to get a false identity, but the identity is still her, as far as the Japanese government is concerned, as these are real."
"We called the hotel she had in her date book, she's registered there with a block of rooms rented out by one Koizumi Eden."
"That name is becoming far too familiar," Saguru muttered.
--
Kiden blinked as there came a sharp knock at the door, followed by a thickly accented voice stating that it was the hotel manager. Ask shrugged as Kiden looked at him, before pushing himself out of the bed and into his wheelchair, allowing Kiden out of the bed.
The thief wiggled out of the bed, pulling on his own pants as he opened the door, blinking at the uniformed man, and the two men with him, before cursing. "Come on in," he muttered, turning away from the door and allowing the two detectives into the room.
Saguru entered, confused as to why his lover was in the man's hotel room before blinking in shock, as he stared at Kiden and Kaito, now highly confused. Edward dismissed Saguru's confusion, staring at the twins and the kid in a wheelchair before displaying his badge. "We're looking for a Eden Koizumi," he said, glancing at each man.
Kiden raised his hand, tilting his head. "I'm Eden, what's up?"
"Can we see your ID and visa's?" Saguru asked, finding his voice.
Kiden and Ask looked at each other, before finding their wallets and the requested information, handing them over to the blond.
Saguru studied them for a moment, before waving in a uniformed officer who had been lurking in the hall. "Arrest them."
"On what charge?!" Kaito said, moving in front of Kiden.
"Entering the country under false pretenses."
"..what?" Kiden said, trying to follow that.
"Your identifications are fake, well, they're legally obtained, but under false pretenses thus, they're invalid."
"I...what?" Ask sputtered, having never faced this before.
"Saguru, are you sure?"
"I should be, considering I've lived with one of them for over a year and I know the other's family." Saguru said.
"Saguru-chan..." Kiden started.
Saguru however, turned and left, leaving behind the three and two very confused police officers.
--
"Edward let them go," Kaito said, staring at the back of his lover's head. Saguru remained silent, and Kaito frowned, moving around, to stare at Saguru's face. He sighed and reached out, plucking the glass of whiskey from his lover's hand, downing it before sitting on the blond's lap. "He told them one of their friend's died."
Saguru's only action was to wrap an arm around Kaito's waist, holding him while he poured another glass of whiskey.
"You should have been there, Saguru. He needed you. I've never seen him so...broken." Kaito whispered, before laying his head on Saguru's shoulder. "I want him home."
"It's too late for that, Kaito. He made his own choice, has a different life."
"I don't care, I want him home. Now."
--
Kiden held Ask tightly as the teenager cried in his sleep, his own heart torn and twisted with the news that Lily had been murdered. He buried his face in Ask's hair, trying to keep out the sense of lose and pain that came with the thought, trying to pretend, if just for a moment, that everything was normal.
He knew, realistically, that not all of them would survive to see the end of their game. The odds were stacked against any of them surviving and Kiden was prepared for that. He just didn't expect it to happen so soon...or so randomly. He had expected his little gang to die fighting the good fight, not be victims of a senseless serial killer.
But she was, and now Kiden had to figure out how to tell Eva and Pan. How to tell Bohdie they lost another family member, had to watch, as Honua broke down. Kiden had faced many things, but he didn't know how to face that. He didn't even know if he could, but he was their leader, and it was his job to be the strong one, no matter how much he just wanted to run away.
Brushing his fingers through Ask's hair, Kiden gently tilted the boy's head up, thumbs brushing away the tears as he placed a gentle kiss against the boy's lips before pulling the covers up over them, shielding them from the horrors of reality. Tomorrow. Tomorrow he could deal with everything, but right now...he just wanted to escape. He closed his eyes, allowing sleep to overcome him.
The room was silent for a moment, before Kiden's eyes opened again, rather confused. He sat up, glancing around before running a hand through his hair. "Where am I?"
Note: As there is some confusion, Kiden is the same guy we've known since Magician's Waltz. Eden is his alternate name that he now uses (except now because Saguru, Conan, Akako, Aoko and Kaito know him as Kiden), Kidoko is his female persona that he uses while cross-dressing.