Grigori

by Ryuosen

Genre: Supernatural, Romance (somewhat), Yaoi (little bits)
Pairings: Kaito/Aoko (onesided), Kaito/Shinichi (or the other way around)
Rating: PG13
Word count: 8232
Warnings: mentions of yaoi, supernatural, somewhat questionable morals

Author's notes: The sequel to Homunculus.

Summary:
After Halloween Kaito thought, that life would slowly get back to normal. He would adapt as he always did. Sadly he hadn't counted on emotional attachments he didn't want to let go off and wings, which were just plain irritating. It was all tantei-kun's fault anyway.

"Talking"
thoughts

Meifu – the land of the dead, demons and the dead reside there (name taken from YnM)

Enjoy the show....

The Watchers (from Greek egrḗgoroi (ἐγρήγοροι)) or Grigori („fallen ones") are a group of fallen angels told of in Biblical apocrypha who mated with mortal women, giving rise to a race of hybrids known as the Nephilim.

"KAITO!!!"

The loud shrill voice was the only real warning he got before a mop was forcefully swung at his head. Luckily for him his body had long since gotten used to this particular action. So without conscious thought he used the nearest chair and jumped upwards and thus barely evading the mop his best friend had used. Landing he stumbled briefly, the additional weight upsetting his balance before evaded her again. Nimbly dancing away from her attacks. Some things just didn't change. And how right he was, because even after over six years Aoko still chased him with a mop.

The first weird thing about it? He wasn't even in her class. As if he would willingly pursue a career in the law system.

The second unusual thing about it? For once he hadn't had any intention of teasing or riling her up. Hell, he hadn't flipped her skirt in ages. Hmmm, that needed to be remedied in the foreseeable future....

Sadly the whole day hadn't gone as expected. He had been in the area and had decided to visit Aoko during lunch break. Had even gone as far as to buy her an ice cream before entering her university campus. Only to find out, that she had stayed behind to ask her sensei something.

As it was, the young woman had decided to commit herself to become a profiler, clearly wanting to follow in her father's footsteps. Though hopefully not all the way, because the day she announced she wanted to catch KID, things would become quite a bit more complicated. Nevertheless it was the reason she was taking a psychology minor in addition to her major in criminal science.

Which led him back to his current problem, namely Aoko chasing him with a mop through her psychology classroom. After finding out that she had stayed behind, he had simply asked for the appropriate directions and taken off to bring her the ice cream before it had melted. Finding the specified room had been easy and his childhood friend had been one of the last students inside. Having already finished his own chocolate cone, he had raised his hand to greet her. And … once more forgot about the new appendages that graced his back.

God damn those wings! Bet tantei-kun gets a kick out of my miserable situation!! That's all his fault!!

With a carefully controlled twist the mop missed him again. An action that was followed by enraged scream of Aoko before the brunette upped her pace and swung her weapon of choice even faster at him. He really needed to visit her more, her speed and agility had gotten a lot better compared to their last chase back in high school. If she continued to follow her training schedule, maybe she would even catch him.

Seeing the wooden utensil nearly shatter a solid concrete wall, a feat that shouldn't be possible. He resolved to get his wings and balance problem under control as soon as he was able to. Her new found strength was marginally frightening.

How had it come to this somewhat typical situation?

The wings in question had again gotten stuck behind a desk, as he had forgotten about their existence. Again! And Kaito had learned once more than that while the card, which had been left for him by tantei-kun, hid their appearance, it didn't vanish them. Thus his wings, while being invisible to him and any other onlooker, were still very much there and more important corporal!

Them getting stuck had cost his balance, cleared the desk behind of all items, notably Aoko's and caused him to loose the hold on the ice cream for his friend. Predictably it flew in a wide beautiful arc and ended on Aoko's head. A few blessed seconds of silence was all he got before the brunette gi.. woman realized what happened. The ice cream dripping down her face and onto her clothes not helping matters at all.

Barely twenty seconds later she had somehow gotten hold of a mop and before he had even the chance to apologize, he was being chased throughout the classroom. Probably to the surprise of the few onlookers they had. After all, Kaito doubted that Aoko behaved normally like this in their presence.

He dimly wondered what it said about him, that only he and KID, meaning only him could bring out the more violent side of Aoko..

As the mop missed his face by less than an inch, the upcoming magician decided that he might pay a bit more attention to the enraged female. Otherwise she really might get him. Knowing how painful that experience would be, he scanned the area for a distraction to make a quick getaway.

The thief wasn't really surprised that he found it in Hakuba, former classmate and still annoying meitantei trying to catch him. And now he was Aoko's classmate.

With quick and long practiced movements, he adjusted his position and let himself be pushed by the brunette in the direction of the detective. The moment the distance was less than a foot Kaito made his move, using one of his many hidden smoke grenades to effectively blind the whole class. It earned him another rage filled scream from Aoko. He ignored it in favor of changing Hakuba's current outfit with a spar disguise. Luckily he never left his apartment without a girl's school uniform and he bet it would suit Hakuba well.

The gaping faces of Aoko and her classmates would be worth the pain of an extra grumpy Hakuba during the next heist.

A few more adjustments and voila. The smoke screen lifted and then silence... satisfied Kaito took in the stunned faces surrounding him. Briefly his eyes slid over Hakuba's form and could clearly say, that no one quite made the uniform look as good as he did. Maybe it was his more lithe and slender built compared to the Eurasian detective.

I love it, when I'm right!

This time he had no warning as Aoko used his moment of rest to get a shot at him. Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on how you looked at it, the mop failed to reach his head. Instead he felt a sharp pain spreading from one of his wings and had to bite down on his lips to keep from vocalizing the pain. After all for onlookers the mop was simply suspended in midair. Kaito knew better though, he could feel the wooden pole, which was stuck between the two wings. Another smoke grenade and he had Hakuba back in his normal clothes and a good deal of distance between himself and Aoko. The mop on the floor before her.

The brunette just huffed, her initial anger had finally blown over. With a brief comment about cleaning up, she left the room. Kaito's gaze followed her, before he went to her desk and started to collect her things. Well most had landed on the floor, so carefully crouching down he put her things in her book-bag. The feeling of enjoyment at the others' shocked face blown away like a leaf in the wind.

"Why is it, that every time you turn up, you have to make a spectacle of yourself, Kuroba-kun?"

Glancing upwards, he was confronted with Hakuba. The detective was frowning at him. Probably disapproving of his actions, as always. Though it might also have been the fact, that he used the blond as distraction to get Aoko's mind off the ice cream that had landed on her head. Closing the bag he stood, ignoring the glare as he turned to leave. He couldn't deal with Hakuba right now.

Not with his own emotions stretched so thinly all over him. He had hoped that visiting Aoko would make him feel better, like their closeness had always done. But now... now he felt even more separated from her, them as before. His wings reminding him of the secrets he kept beyond KID.

"You've known me long enough, figure it out!"

Aoko chose that moment to return, sadly not alone, but with her boyfriend. Barely succeeding in keeping his pokerface intact, he greeted the other man. Kaito had never liked Migurushii Juumen and the feeling was definitely mutual. The other brunet had noticed early, that Aoko was pretty much the most important person in his life. That had led to a whole lot of posturing with that asshole always making it clear, just who Aoko's lover was.

"Lost chance!"

Was what that bastard had said to him on their first official meeting. If he only knew, that Kaito had basically stalked him for weeks, after Aoko had announced that he was her boyfriend. At one point Kaito had thought that his childhood friend would dump that idiot after only a few months. But after nearly three years the thief had to concede, that maybe she really did love him. Though he couldn't begin to fathom why. She clearly could do better.

"There you are Kaito, c'mon let's eat something."

She took her bag from him before dragging her boyfriend along, not waiting for him to follow. Probably thought he would anyway and she was right. With a quiet sigh he stuck his hands in his pockets before following them towards the canteen. If was honest he could do with a bite. Yet he couldn't help but feel a shiver of foreboding. It felt like something bad was about to happen, but he couldn't figure out what. Shrugging he hurried after them. Maybe they would have a chocolate dessert.

Lunch turned out to be a disaster, a real disaster. It made him slam his apartment door before he sank onto his couch. For once not caring that his wings were squished uncomfortably against his back. He was far too busy fighting against the tears that were threatening to escape. No tears, no crying! He hadn't cried since his father's funeral.

Why had he not noticed beforehand?!

Because he had been busy evading Aoko's mop, because he had for once not anticipated this happening. Taking a deep breath, he counted to ten before exhaling. Repeating the process over and over until he was sure, that he wouldn't break into tears during the next moments.

Lowering his hands he stood up and pulled the card out of the hidden pocket. It fell to the floor and with it came the collapse of the cloaking magic that hid his appearance. Like in slow motion did his ears shimmer before the magic fell away, revealing his longer pointier ones and the wings became visible, as if they had sprouted only moments before. He snorted at the thought, remembering the first morning in the hotel room and the shirt, that he had to ruin completely for the wings to fit through the fabric. Though true to his word, the card had hidden the wings, ears and even the mauled shirt.

Staring at them now, made him feel wretched, like a symbol for all secrets he had kept from Aoko. One he couldn't get rid off. Not that it mattered anymore, she had made her choice and it had been against him, though she probably didn't know it. When it came down to it, Kaito was glad that his pokerface had held. Glad and furious that for all appearances Aoko hadn't noticed a thing, while Juumen had smirked at him.

Smug git!!

He wondered how that idiot would react to a few of his trick, but then decided against testing them on him. His fiancee would immediately know who was responsible.

Fiancee …

She had said yes. Aoko had agreed to marry that idiot and all he could do was once more congratulate and wish her luck. All while her future husband was staring at him with that knowing smile, arm firmly around her shoulders. Without a doubt Juumen knew of Kaito's feelings for his girlfriend.. fiancee.

Suppressing a groan, he started the process of undressing, which with the emerging of his wings turned into a challenge itself. Luckily for him he didn't go to university like Aoko or Hakuba did. After high school he had chosen to become a magician, just like his father. Hell he even wore the same tux while on stage and he was good. Almost every show was sold out, just like he liked it.

Though he was glad that he didn't have one since Halloween. In his current state he was in no shape to perform one of his more complicated tricks, especially those which entailed flexibility or the art of dislocating shoulders to escape chains. No, before another show he would need to see Kudo. And their rendezvous was still five days away. Five more agonizing days of being absolutely clueless on what to do with his wings.

Not that he hadn't tried, dozens of hours had gone into figuring out on how they worked, with little results to show.

He didn't bother with his clothes, simply leaving them where they had been dropped, as he entered his bathroom. The only luxury he had allowed himself aside from the spare room, where he worked on his tricks. Instead of a western bath, which had become quite a typical sight in modern buildings, he had chosen one of the few houses, which still had the traditional eastern bathrooms. Good thing too, because getting clean was a challenge as it was without having to be mindful of tight spaces. Looking at his reflection he barely recognized himself, barely recognized the man, who loved Aoko so much.

Aoko...

During Halloween he had wanted to give her up, had barely thought of her while he and tantei-kun had been .. intimate? .. but wanting and doing were different things and Kaito didn't know whether he could just let her go. His mind felt split, like two separate persona insisting on different paths. It was bloody confusing. He hated being confused. Later he decided, after he had solved the problem with his appearance, he would think about Aoko.

There were only five more days to survive before he would meet with the detective. Hopefully that meeting would leave him with the means to treat his wings right, because their size was starting to bother him quite a bit. Not to forget the fact that he lost feathers like his doves and had to ruin quite a few shirts so far.

The water was soothing as it cascaded over his skin, droplets dripping the planes of his body, others clinging in his hair, overcoming the natural state of chaos to drag it down. It helped him calm down, to let go off the emotional turmoil that ensnared him earlier, as he had noticed the slender silver band that enclosed the ring finger of Aoko's left hand. The shock had been all too real, especially as she had noticed his attention and proudly displayed it. Announcing with such joy, that come spring she would no longer be Nakamori Aoko, but Migurushii Aoko.

Another deep breath and he stepped into the tub, mindful to not crush his wings again. Balancing his arms on the rim, he nestled his chin on them, completely submerged. Sighing in pleasure, the thief finally relaxed. Letting his thoughts drift to more pleasant things. Drifting to the memories of the past days and his explorations.

Turning all those girls down before, now that had been stupid. Though he had to admit the encounter in that club two days after Halloween had been quite good. The whole wing problem aside, yet it hadn't been as pleasureful, as Hallows eve. Despite the fact, that the girl had been bloody gorgeous. It made him wonder... with a inaudible sigh he let his thoughts drag him away.

Only five more days to go...

The remaining week passed slowly yet productively for Kaito. Since his wings still gave him problems and there was no way that he ruined one of his KID suits for them, he hadn't send another heist note. Although there was a nice sparkling diamond currently displayed in Ekoda museum, but he would get it in time. He was after all already finished with his research. The jewel would be his.

Maybe it was finally Pandora.

But the next heist was saved for another night, now it was time to face Kudo. And, hopefully, solve the annoying little problem their last encounter had left him with. While he was pretty sure, that if it came down to it, he could work around them and adapt. He also knew how time consuming it would be. Retraining body in balance, movements, strategies and everything.

No, for now it was better to see what Kudo had for him.

The moon shone brightly as he approached the Clock tower. Only few pedestrians were still out and none of them paid attention to him as he had foregone his white suit for this evening. A jeans, a dark blue shirt with a simple jacket helped him blend in as he stood in front of the tower. It took few twists to pick the lock and Kaito really had to wonder about the security. Not that the tower was more secure when the police was there..

Tilting his head upwards, he had to smile.

Nakamori-keibu was persistent and dictated with his task force, but they had never proven to be any challenge at all. Sure they deciphered his heist notes and set traps, sadly most of them blindingly obvious to him. Then there was Hakuba, exceptionally intelligent and out to catch him as well. True enough he was harder to fool than the rest of the police force, but in all their clashes he had gone down again and again. The detective still thought too linear and narrow minded. He was no match for a magician!

And then came Kudo, tantei-kun...

It was pure irony. The Clock tower, where he had met Aoko for the first time, was also the place, where Kudo Shinichi had stepped into his life. And while they hadn't stood face to face, they had tangled and he still could remember the shock, at being discovered not once but twice by the police. Yet even more vibrant were the exhilarating feelings that rushed through his body at the thought of a real challenge. Of someone, who could challenge him.

Surprisingly Kaito had found that in the older detective. Of course he had never caught him either. Though more often than not it would end in a draw, because the thief was forced to give up his prize, or tantei-kun somehow still managed to hit him with his blasting soccer ball. Connecting Kudo and tantei-kun had taken time. As magician he had to be creative, had to think outside of the box so to speak, but the thought of a poison that could regress peoples' age.. more of a joke than anything else, even for him. Then again, he was hunting a jewel that was supposed to give immortality in combination with a comet, which came every 10.000 years. Maybe not too far from the realm of possibilities.

In the end the similarities had been striking and he realized what should have been obvious from the start. It made him wonder whether the old Mori knew.. nah probably not.

Entering he frowned briefly. He had never gotten a meeting place and the tower wasn't exactly small. The decision was taken from him as the card, which had been his constant companion during the last days, started to glow. It struggled free from where he had hidden it, floating a few feet above the floor, causing the illusion around him to fade. He quirked an eyebrow, now that was odd.

And with a small burst of light the card moved, leading him up the stairs until they ended. Then he stood behind the face of the clock and his gaze fell on Kudo Shinichi. The brunet was sitting or rather more like crouching on a crate, his disguise gone. The wings were folded tightly across his body with the tail swishing around his legs and a rather thick tome in front of him. He didn't look up.

Seconds later light behind him flared. With reflexes ingrained in his body through years of experience he threw himself aside, gun already drawn. Only to watch as symbols of unknown origin crawled along the floor, the walls and the ceiling, bathing the whole area in an eery crimson light. Another sound made him face the detective again, who met his gaze with a nod. Tantei-kun stood and stepped off the crate, the book floating after him at an even pace.

"I see you brought my book."

Kudo raised and eyebrow and gave him a deadpan look. It made him smile, while it wasn't as easy to rile him up as Hakuba, it was still possible, as long as one knew which barbs to use. Pretending to have stolen Mori-san's dress and leaving her in her underwear for example, the girl was like the Achilles heel for Kudo.

"Yours? No, but I brought it to help you as much as I can."

With a gesture the book turned around to show him the title. What a surprise, he couldn't read it, the foreign letters having no meaning except looking pretty. In the end he simply shrugged and tucked his gun away.

"I cannot understand it."

Another nod before tantei-kun beckoned him to the crate. Before long they were both seated on it with the book open before them. The older man was calmly reading to him, explaining history and making it sound like a fairytale. Kaito had to admit that the detective was a good storyteller, at least for a critic.

"So we belong to the same family but different genera, which makes us distantly related to humans."

"Right, humans, demons and Grigori have a common ancestor, but due to geographical and genetic factors the genera are split into homo, demon and Grigori."

Kaito looked at the different charts depicted before frowning. He hadn't expected a lesson in biology. Truth to be told he hadn't even imagined that there was something like a classification to their beings.

"I take it, that we aren't some mystical beings then."

The sleuth shook his head briefly and snorted, eyes still focused on the text in the book.

"To some extent. Normal humans meaning Homo Sapiens have no clue about us. While Homo Magus, a subspecies of the Homo genus generally know about us."

"Magus, Latin for magical? Original!"

The sarcasm earned him another flat look from the demon. Silver lines glowing briefly in the pupils before fading. In reply he offered a smirk, before turning his attention back to the tome.

"As I was saying Homo Magus, most commonly known as witches, wizards, sorcerers and the like have a general knowledge of our species. Simply because some of them are powerful enough to see through our disguises or other illusions."

"So need to know basis only? Are there exceptions?"

"Exceptions exist, are necessary if one of our species decides to intermingle with another, for example marriage or other commitments. However I don't know, whether such laws exist for your kind as well."

With that he turned to another page. This one full of texts and different symbols, which resembled the ones his card had emitted earlier. The thief guessed that they were finally coming to magical things.

"Why necessary?"

"In most cases of intermingling species, there will be no offspring. Therefore the demons have a law in effect that forces the demon in question to come clean so to speak, otherwise the marriage or relationship will not be legitimate."

Kaito froze. The implications bringing the past days back with a vengeance. Aoko's laughter and smile; her happiness at finally getting married to the man she loved. Would she, would they have had a future if he had made his feelings known.

"But you said, that you have a mixed heritage. According to you, that should be impossible!"

The brunet offered him an indecipherable look before nodding. After placing a bookmark, he shut the tome. Sending it away with another seemingly harmless gesture.

"You remember... it's quite right, but my parents are a tatsu tenma and a succubus. Succubi can be impregnated by almost everything, which belongs to the same family. A human, a magical human, children with wings or another demon. But humans are a different case, they can only have children within their genus."

"What about me then?"

"Another exception, but much more rare. Children with wings, who fall for humans are called Grigori."

With that he moved his right index finger in slow circular motions. Kaito couldn't help but be fascinated by the way letters began to form in the air, their crimson color only adding to the atmosphere that encased the room. They floated around almost lazily until words were formed.

The Watchers (from Greek egrḗgoroi (ἐγρήγοροι)) or Grigori („fallen ones") are a group of fallen angels told of in Biblical apocrypha who mated with mortal women, giving rise to a race of hybrids known as the Nephilim.

"An excerpt from wikipedia. It's also one, that holds a bit of truth. In my language we say child with wings, while magical humans would say angel and the species is called Grigori. Angels, who fell in love with human women. Grigori are always male in gender."

The tome snapped open again, though on a different page than before. He craned his neck to get a better view, but the detective simply twisted a bit and allowed him to move closer. For some weird reason Kaito would have expected to feel heat coming off the demon, yet the nearer he got the colder he felt. Not that it stopped him from pressing closer than strictly necessary. Kudo, apparently, wasn't bothered by it, despite the sense of propriety, which he had displayed before.

Then again after Halloween sitting together was nothing.

A picture was the first thing he noticed, the image of another like him. The pair of wings, larger than his own with blue tinted feathers instead of golden ones. His ears were longer too, decorated with jewelery. The demon beside him was reading again. Reciting the text for his benefit and Kaito couldn't do anything, but soak it up like sponge. This was what his father had been. Another secret he might never have known, hadn't he decided to confront tantei-kun after stealing the diamond.

Why didn't he tell me?

"He might not have known."

Huh...

Did he say that aloud? Seemed that way, tantei-kun had turned towards him. They were close enough that he could see the short silver lines that split the dark blue eyes and he imagined that Shinichi was confronted with his own golden flecked ones. The demon's nose twitched and the somewhat angel could see the way the other shuddered, a dark tongue poking out, sweeping over slim lips.

He didn't know if it was a good idea, but before he was even aware, he had pulled Shinichi closer. And was busy swallowing his tongue whole. For a moment the thief was sure he made the wrong decision, that the detective would hit him like his best friend would do. Until sharp nails dug into his side and pulled him even closer. He just moaned in approval. The prickly feeling he had missed at the club days ago was back too, making his body tingle.

Only as his need to breathe made itself known, did he pull away; gulping air down as fast as he could. Kudo was panting too, chest rising and falling with every breath he took. Bemused Kaito noticed that he was wearing formal clothes tonight; slacks, a white dress shirt, a bow tie, hell even suspenders! Though he had to admit it suited the older man, it suited him very much. His gaze swept over the body next to him in a blatant manner.

"So why might my father might not have known?"

Only too late he realized, that beforehand tantei-kun hadn't had any idea about that little tidbit of information. Something the other realized as well, the quirked eyebrow was a dead giveaway. But he only nodded, blinking a few times as well. Then he shook his head briefly, with the ears flattening against his skull.

"The information on Wikipedia is only partly right. According to the history my people have on the Grigori, the meaning "fallen" in their name is quite accurate. Once they have been intimate with a human, they loose their wings, the ears, the eyes, everything. Magic is beyond them then. In spite of it, the birthrate between human and Grigori is very low and most of the time the children are human. The book says, that only every 500th birth is a child with wings. Given that we have a rough estimate of about 1000 Grigori living in the whole world. With not all of them being with humans..."

Shinichi trailed off, offering him a silence to process the information before he continued. The solemn look on the youthful face, Kaito stayed silent and waited for him to go on.

"The blooming, which is the synonym for puberty in our world, begins when the child is around nine. Though sometimes signs surface earlier. If your father died before that, he couldn't have known. At the age of ten the wings are pulled out. It's easier when they are still small since their growth is influenced by emotions. You're a very emotional creature, that's why it was so painful to pull them out. They had grown so much under your skin."

He wasn't sure, that he liked the words the detective used. A very emotional creature... it sounded like he wasn't human, which he well... kinda wasn't. Except that a month ago he had been. It made him wonder, would he have been better off not knowing. All the different facts made his head spin.

Well oyaji, seems like you left me a lot more than just KID...

"You make it sound like I wasn't normal."

"It's not something I encountered before. Most demons are drawn to magic, like moths to a flame. I would have thought it would be the same for Grigori."

The brunet shrugged, voice getting quieter. One of the claws fiddled idly with one of the suspenders before he noticed what he was doing. Instead he levitated the tome again and opened it on the marked page. Kaito hid his smirk, good to know that the detective wasn't as self-assured as he seemed. Pity, that the flush was already gone.

"How do you distinguish magic from non-magic?"

"Demons have different methods. Most common among us is the sense of smell. Magic has a very unique smell, you can't describe it as anything other than magic. Additionally Tatsu tenma also have the all seeing eyes, meaning they can see the magic surrounding a person. I inherited them from my father. While Grigori to my knowledge use only their eyes."

Suddenly the whole eye glowed silver, any trace of blue banished. The thief suppressed a shiver that threatened to run down his spine. It was like the other could see right through him, bypassing skin and flesh, and going directly for his soul. Keeping his face calm, he forced himself to continue.

"How did you know I had magic?"

Silver turned back to a bluish silver and Kaito breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn't sure, that he liked those eyes. It was unsettling to have someone pierce through his defenses so easily. His whole body tensed as he noticed that during his little internal monologue Shinichi had slipped into his personal space, nose nearly touching his neck. Seemed like he wasn't the only one, who enjoyed making someone uncomfortable. Ha, tantei-kun was welcome to try, it wouldn't get him anywhere.

"I smelled it, right from the beginning."

Okaaaay, he had counted on the detective trying to make him uncomfortable, not the exact opposite. Cold breath flowed over his neck, making him shiver, goosebumps breaking out all over his skin. Where the hell was Kudo's sense of propriety?

"As you were here, holding onto one of the hands and I in the chopper. Sure I couldn't see you, but smelling? That I could. Do you have any idea how good you smell?"

Yes, he was getting an idea as he felt a rough and wet tongue slid over his neck. Well that was probably payback for the kiss, but oh hell... It wasn't really payback, when he enjoyed it, right? One of the dark suspenders slipped of the brunet's shoulder as the gentlemen thief curled his hand around it. He felt the tail twine around his waist and shuddered as the familiar feeling of arousal spread through his body.

Sadly the movement seemed to have snapped the demon from whatever mood he was in. He pulled back and left Kaito with more room to breathe and feeling cold. Another deep breath, inhale, exhale and he continued to talk; much to the thief's consternation.

"The next time we met, I had been de-aged and with that my demonic senses. No eyes, no smell, no magic, not much of anything! As we met on Halloween...."

"Our first meeting since you returned to normal.."

"Yes and I couldn't see your magic, even though I wasn't disguised. And you still smelled like it. It made me curios."

By now he had slipped the second suspender down and busied himself by loosening the bow-tie. So that he could get that blasted shirt off. Growling low in his throat, Kaito straddled the detective. Finally a better angle to get that thing off.

"What made you think I was afraid of fish?"

The question earned him a low chuckle. Tantei-kun was looking at him with a small smirk of his own, while one hand wandered over his shoulder and came to rest on the roots of his wings. The claws scratching the sensitive feather, making him bite his lips to keep quiet.

"Grigori have wings, they fly. The air is their home, while the sea and its inhabitants their worst enemies. Or have you ever enjoyed a vacation at the sea?"

Nipping at a scaled ear, he shook his head in acknowledgment. Well aware that the other couldn't see what he was doing. Energy tingled on his lips and he had to stop himself from groaning pleasure. So good.

"So when will I learn to control my wings, so that I can fly on my own?"

Kaito trailed off shuddering as the demon hiked his shirt and jacket up. Cold fingers caressed his skin and nearly made him miss the answer. In response he just tightened the grip he had, pressing them close to share air.

"Sorry.. what?"

"I can't teach.. you... since... I have ..no... no idea.. of your physiology... do that again."

Gladly!

He hadn't needed the encouragement, but appreciated it all the same. Blunt teeth sunk once more in the sensitive skin covered by tiny fine red scales. The detective groaned, one hand clawing through the thief's messy hair, creating even more disorder. If that was possible.

"What about... shrinking them?"

"That, we... are pre.. preparing for."

Huh?

What did the detective mean with that? How was a full blown snogging session preparation for shrinking his wings! Regretfully he disentangled himself and stared at the flushed face of the demon. Who stared back, quite calmly despite breathing heavily with his face so close to his own. Finally he sighed, leaning against the back of the clock's face before answering.

"Magic is influenced by emotions. Therefore we need powerful emotions and I thought passion would benefit us more than anger. Besides I am rather good at rousing passion."

Yeah, that made sense he supposed. But further thought was cut off, as Shinichi choose that moment to kiss him again. His breath was literally sucked away, but before he could voice his pleasure in any shape or form the other pulled back. His eyes were still half-closed as he felt the whispers puff against his lips.

"The tingling sensation is magic, concentrate on it... it's there... inside you."

He honestly tried, but every time their came into contact again, he was quiet distracted. The prickling feeling on his mouth making it very hard to to focus. With skill his fingers undid button after button on the white shirt, fingers splayed out over the taunt skin of the sculptured torso.

"Now use that overactive imagination of yours and picture them shrinking like you saw mine doing on Halloween."

Claws slid over his skin, probably leaving red streams, but he didn't care. Not as long as the detective kept doing that. His back tingled again and he shivered, before his clothes were suddenly pulled up and over his head. Without getting stuck on his additional appendages!

"See, method's working like a charm."

Twisting his head, Kaito was surprised. True to Kudo's words his wings had shrunken or turned invisible for that matter. He couldn't see them anymore and as loathe as he was to separate their contact, this took definitely priority. Letting go of the white shirt, he tried to get a feel of them and yes his wings had indeed shrunken. His fingers brushed against the tips. An action that still send shivers down his spine.

"The sensitivity will be gone in a few weeks. Nothing to worry about."

He pouted, not knowing whether to be relieved or disappointed. The memory of a rough tongue on his wings nearly made him blush. Thankfully only nearly. Facing the demon again, the thief wondered what was so fascinating for Kudo.

"At least you can move them."

For a moment he was confused about what the brunet was talking about until he heard the small sounds, he usually associated with the arrival of his doves. Moving they did, or rather flapping like he wanted to fly away. How had that happened?? The whole time up to this meeting he had tried to move them with all methods he could think of. And now they did.. and he had no idea how he had done that.

"It's like your arm or leg, you body knows how to move them. No need to consciously think about it."

That's it?!

All his efforts didn't mean a thing, because he was trying too hard!! Sometimes the world was really unfair.

"See, easy!"

He didn't like the smirk on tantei-kun's face, the one of smug self-assurance that he always wore when another criminal went down. Not that he had ever managed to catch him. Relinquish his treasure maybe, but as he returned anyway, that wasn't a big loss for him at all.

Arrogant git!

There was no malice nor bite in his words as he watched his wings growing again, then shrinking and reversing it again. He wouldn't admit it, but he felt giddy. Like when he attempted a new trick and succeeded. A Sharp claws on his thigh brought him out of his thoughts and he met Shinichi's gaze.

"Not so often, you'll loose more feathers that way!"

A sweeping gesture indicated the dozens of small feathers that littered on the ground surrounding the crate. Kaito hadn't noticed before, far too entranced with the success of getting his feathery limbs under control.

"Camouflage next."

Just like that they were back to the book, that had risen once more from the ground. Reluctantly he had been forced to move and sit next to the detective again. The thief listened with quiet rapture to the tales of magic, that his people were supposed to be capable of. Then he practiced and practiced more until he felt empty, like all power had been zapped from him. Sitting on the cold stones of the tower wasn't his idea of fun, but at least he had mastered a chameleon like technique that allowed him to disguise his wings.

Panting, now for an entirely else reason, he leaned back against the crate. Now they didn't bother him anymore, too tiny to be a real hindrance. A few jumps and twists had even proved that his sense of balance was almost back to normal. As for the small derivations? Little adjustments were as natural to him as breathing. Stretching his arms, Kaito sighed in satisfaction.

The night had been a success, almost as exhilarating as one of his heists.

Tilting his head he studied tantei-kun, who still crouched on the crate. Though at the moment his attention was once again on the book. One claw continually following the lines of the tiny script. While the other hand he was taking notes. And the phantom thief? He was being ignored.

Kaito hated being ignored.

He sat next to the detective again and watched him translate the text. It didn't come as a surprise to him that his notes would be as thorough as his planning, neat with precise lines. Reading the lines he pulled back in slight surprise.

"Why are writing it down?"

"For you, I fear we have yet to catch up with humans. No digital media in any shape or form. All our lore is being passed on by mouth or in forms of tomes."

"In that case thank you."

The brunet simply nodded. Mercury colored eyes never leaving the book as the pen danced over the paper. Then with another flick of the wrist the paper began to fold itself. Once it was down to a decent size, the detective stuffed it into a envelope and Kaito made a move to grab the information, he was provided with. Only have the demon move the thick envelope out of reach, mumbling a phrase the thief couldn't understand but associated with the words written in the book. Then the notes were passed to him. Curios he turned the thick package around, but his sharp eyes couldn't find any obvious changes.
"Secrecy clause, so no one but you will be able to read this. You'll need to sign or pledge one too."

"Why?"

"Our communities have no right to interfere with the knowledge of your ancestry, but now you also know about my secrets and I won't have you talking about them!"

There was a hard note in the normally apathetic voice and the brunet couldn't understand were it come from. But seeing the distressed expression on the demon's face gave him all the answer he wanted and some he didn't want.

"Someone betrayed your secrets..."

He couldn't imagine who would do it, but that had to be the reason. Otherwise it wouldn't make much sense. But the detective shook his head once more. Fiddling with the pen for a few seconds before continuing.

"No, I made the mistake of not asking for a secrecy pledge. In the end I had to erase four memories. Nearly got myself dragged back to meifu."

"Mori-san..."

Another nod, it was beginning to annoy Kaito quite a bit.

"Ran has a great heart, but there was only so much she could take... and my heritage... well it broke the camel's back."

"Why?"

Sighing the detective vanished both the tome and the pen before turning to the thief. The violet bluish golden eyes were watching him with apt interest. For a second he hesitated but in the end plowed on. It would also show him how flexible the moralities of the other were. Ran's had snapped after only a few sentences.

"Hmm... the charming was unacceptable to her. She could accept the risk of having no children or them being essentially demons, but the charming and the energy gathering... that she couldn't accept."

Kaito frowned. Dozens of thoughts exploding in his head, birthing hundreds of possibilities on how the young woman, who had held Shinichi's heart for so long, could have reacted. She had to have been told the whole thing, but now what was it about the charming that offended her?

"She thought it to be no better than rape."

He turned his head and face the detective, but the older man wasn't looking at him. Instead he had curled himself up, scaled wings tightly folded over the whole body like a cocoon. Still Kaito could see the silver color, once more dominating the eyes entirely. Proving him the lack of humanity in a most effective way.

It made sense in a way, the thief had to acknowledge. He remembered how the demon had taken his own free will away, how he had been forced to stand on the roof without being able to escape. Being at the mercy of someone else, helpless in everything but thought.

"You don't think it is."

"No, it's survival and instinct. Besides the charm doesn't work on anyone."

Survival? Instinct!

"How do you mean that?"

"Without energy in certain amounts I'll die and my instincts tell me to use the lure to get it in order to survive. Simple as that. Only the humans make it an issue!"

He couldn't help the urge to defend humanity, himself. His conscious defined himself as human despite wings on his back and pointed ears. Obviously Shinichi didn't, because this time his voice had carried a note of something else. Bitterness perhaps or even disgust.

"What did you mean with the not working on anyone?"

"If there isn't any attraction at all, the charm won't take hold."

Definitely disgust, the voice of the detective sounded like he had repeated the whole speech a few times before, probably for the benefit of Mori-san. But that meant.... no chance in hell!

"Yes, it means that even you are attracted to me, though it might be only on a subconscious level."

Relaxing a bit his wings folded behind his back as he studied the thief next to him. The KID was one of the most intriguing people he had ever met... and the most infuriating! Again and again the young man defied every logic that he attempted to pin on him. While now and then he was able to predict how the thief would react, the other always adapted to the situation. More often than not by defying the laws of nature. As a detective he hated it, as a demon … there was a grudging respect.

"Actually I was thinking about Nakamori-keibu...."

The thief felt the demon wince.... before shaking his head in hasty manner. Good to know that he hadn't lost his touch. He felt more than saw the glare tantei-kun bestowed upon him, but as he was used to Hakuba's presence, ignoring it proved to be easy.

"Do NOT mention that ever again! Thanks for the future nightmares!"

The dark blush was certainly more about humiliation of Nakamori's reaction to his charm or the fact, that the thrall took effect than actual embarrassment, but Kaito could barely suppress a cackle. How long had it been since he had any real fun. Right, Halloween and the heist, he really needed to announce the next heist soon. Wouldn't want to lull Nakamori-keibu in a false sense of security.

"Does that mean that I'll develop instincts as well?"

Another shrug.

"Don't know, you'll probably have less than me but more than the average human."

"What instincts do you have aside from feeding?"

Before he could blink the demon was crouching again, but this time between his legs, which were suddenly splayed over the crate. Claws dug into his back as he was saved from hitting his head on the floor beneath. He felt the lips speaking against his ear, the warm breath making him shiver as the tail loosened around his waist and slipped beneath his jeans.

"My other instincts are a bit more... primal... in nature..!"

Was that supposed be a challenge? Did tantei-kun expect him to shy away? He should have learned by now, that the KID never turned down a challenge. With that thought in mind Kaito twisted them off the crate and onto the ground, straddling the brunet after rolling him under his own body.

"Good thing then, that I am all for practical demonstrations, isn't it?"

He didn't wait for a verbal answer, pressing his body down and bathing in the reaction he got. Hearing the hissing breath that escaped the demon assured him that the attentions were very welcome. Claws splayed over his skin, a groan escaping his lips, as one of his more sensitive zones was scratched. Meeting the heated gaze of the demon, Kaito knew without doubt, that while he wasn't over Aoko yet, he was on his way to accept it and everything else that came with it.

Including moving on.

fin