[fic] Price You Pay: For Freedom Snippet
Jun. 22nd, 2004 01:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ickaimpGoing to Hentai Night pt 2 tonight, so dunno who much ficcage we're gonna get done today. Really should catch up on art anyway.
-sorry for the depressive mood in our comments lately. Going thru a temp agency to try to get a job, and the waiting is just killing me. ~_~ Still no reason to get all growly at people tho.
+++
"You told him, didn't you?" the Kid's voice was undemanding, neither disapproval nor approval in his demeanour and tone. "That I was helping you with the case."
"Yeah." He sighed, looking away, feeling the disappointment coil in his belly again. "It didn't go so well."
"Ah."
Heiji paused, turning to look at the poker faced teen. "Wait.. how did you know that I told him?"
"In this case, it was written all over your face." A grin spread across the Kid's face. "You've got a good game face, but your poker face could use some work."
"Heh." The detective played with the brim of his hat for a moment before becoming serious again. "How come you're okay with this? He is your twin after all, you can't get much closer than that."
The thief shrugged. "I think I expected it... Everything has its price, especially for knowledge and intelligence. For him, it's the secrecy and lies. For me, its isolation." he paused, peering at the Osaka boy with wise eyes that appeared violet in the light. "Don't know what your price is yet. Perhaps your karma is balanced enough that you don't have to yet. You don't tend to trust to luck as much as my brother or I do."
"Karma, huh?" Heiji grinned. "Wouldn't strike ya as the mystic sort."
"Oh, I'm not." the Kid assured him with a light-hearted grin. "Prefer to make my own luck and all that. But sometimes it's nice to believe in something greater than ourselves."
Heiji felt the reassuring weight of the omamori Kazuha gave him around his neck, and found it hard to argue.
"How come you're so... relaxed about all this anyway?" Heiji grumped. "He's your twin and all that, and you're actin' like you're out on a moonlight stroll."
The Kid chuckled, stretching. "Two reasons for that, I think."
"And that would be-?"
"Well, for starters..." the Kid slowly bent at the waist, keeping his legs straight and leaned forward until his palms were flat on the ground. "I've known about this adoption thing longer than you have. I've had a bit more time to think about everything and adjust."
Hands firmly planted on the ground, Kid lifted his feet up into the air until he was doing a handstand, his cape falling around his head, the hat miraculously staying on. Heiji raised an eyebrow. "And the second reason?"
A grin made it's presence known through the concealing shadows and folds of fabric as the Kid then began to bend -backwards-, until his feet were back on the ground, in line with the back of his head, the tips of his fingers pointed towards his toes. His hat miraculously stayed on, touching the ground. "Magicians are extremely flexible."
Heiji's eyebrow rose as he gave a low whistle. "I'll say. Whoever ya end up marryin' is gonna be extremely lucky..."
A flash of blankness flickered across the thief's grinning face, and he realized that he had just said something wrong. "Sorry." He apologised, not quite sure what he was apologising for, but feeling the need to.
"No, don't worry about it." the Kid dismissed his worry, strenuously raising his feet back up into the air again, straightening his arms and torso. "I just have a friend too, you know." the Kid commented conversationally. "Like your Kazuha or Kudo's Ran-kun. She doesn't know either."
"To keep her safe?" Heiji ventured as the Kid's feet reached as high into the air as they could go, then his body folded down like a jack-knife, the tops of his shoes level with his head.
"More like self preservation, actually." The thief's tone turned wry as he shifted his grip on the rooftop to rotate his body down, like a gymnast on the high bars. "She'd like nothing more than to repeatedly take a blunt object to the Kid's head before throwing him in a deep dark cell and losing the key down a well."
"That's a good reason." Heiji admitted. The Kid's legs were now parallel to the ground, being held up by the strength of his arms. "Ya can't sit still much, can ya?" He commented, amused.
"Only when absolutely necessary." the Kid flashed him a grin. "Moving targets and all that."
He chuckled. "Alright, one more personal question and then ta work."
An amused suspicious eyebrow rose at the comment. "-Personal question for the moment anyway." He amended with a sheepish grin.
"Fair enough."
"You call the former Kid your Father, but ya know you were adopted and created in the lab. Why?" It didn't make sense. The Kid seemed to be fond of the previous Phantom Thief, and he'd made comments to Agasa-hakase about his mother as well, without the slightest bit of hesitation.
The Kid looked surprised, then lifted his hands in the air to fall cross-legged on the ground with a muffled 'thump'. "You don't?" He asked, looking slightly puzzled.
"Ehh..." Heiji scratched the back of his head nervously and the Kid snorted.
"To me, my father is... well, my father." the Kid scratched the back of his head, tilting the brim of the top hat farther over his face. He reached up, and almost hesitantly removed the monocle that masked half his face. The shadows from the brim of the hat continued to obscure his features as he looked at the glass lens. "The man who raised me as his son is the person I call Father. Not some mess of genetic goop in a lab."
The urge to close the few metres that separated them and remove his hat, to unmask the Kid once and for all, now that his monocle was off rose, and Heiji struggled with it for a moment. It was a great temptation, but at the same time, it felt wrong to do so. The Kid was unmasked, yes. But the act was like a gift. A gift of trust, a moment of truth without masks.
And Heiji found he didn't want to break that.
He waited instead.
"I didn't know that Kudo was my brother until you told me that Lupin and Holmes were twins. But we looked so much alike that I figured it couldn't be just a coincidence." Kid gave out a soft sardonic sounding chuckle. "Hell, I wasn't even sure I was one of the experiments until you put it all together."
"But ya suspected."
"Yeah." Kid sighed ruefully, putting the monocle back on again, like he was wearily shouldering a heavy burden once more. "Just another thing to set me apart." He muttered.
The words were probably more bitter than the thief intended. "Naw." Heiji shot him a grin. "Just an interesting twist to the family."
The deer-in-the-headlights look was priceless. Especially since it appeared that Kid's eyes extended past the monocle.
Heiji felt his grin stretch wide enough that it felt like it was ear to ear. Kid blinked at him, then grinned back, extending his hand. Heiji took it, giving the Kid a firm shake. "Agreed."
He chuckled, feeling a lot better. "So, did you find anything interesting about our dear Seigen-san? I'm afraid all I was able to get was a likely name before I got dragged off."
"I heard about that, the pick pocket case. Good job by the way." Kid straightened, all business again. "I couldn't get a name, but I did find something else of interest."
"Yeah?"
"Yes. One of our dear Seigen-san's rescuers is a regular at a sushi bar down the way from our impromptu party last night. He stops there for a light meal and a drink before going home."
"I'm beginning to think you're a bad influence on me." Heiji grumbled good naturedly as he rolled to his feet.
"Really?" Kid followed, doing a handstand before flipping to his feet. "Why?"
"I haven't been to bars this much in a long time."
"If it's any consolation, I don't drink."
-tbc-
-sorry for the depressive mood in our comments lately. Going thru a temp agency to try to get a job, and the waiting is just killing me. ~_~ Still no reason to get all growly at people tho.
+++
"You told him, didn't you?" the Kid's voice was undemanding, neither disapproval nor approval in his demeanour and tone. "That I was helping you with the case."
"Yeah." He sighed, looking away, feeling the disappointment coil in his belly again. "It didn't go so well."
"Ah."
Heiji paused, turning to look at the poker faced teen. "Wait.. how did you know that I told him?"
"In this case, it was written all over your face." A grin spread across the Kid's face. "You've got a good game face, but your poker face could use some work."
"Heh." The detective played with the brim of his hat for a moment before becoming serious again. "How come you're okay with this? He is your twin after all, you can't get much closer than that."
The thief shrugged. "I think I expected it... Everything has its price, especially for knowledge and intelligence. For him, it's the secrecy and lies. For me, its isolation." he paused, peering at the Osaka boy with wise eyes that appeared violet in the light. "Don't know what your price is yet. Perhaps your karma is balanced enough that you don't have to yet. You don't tend to trust to luck as much as my brother or I do."
"Karma, huh?" Heiji grinned. "Wouldn't strike ya as the mystic sort."
"Oh, I'm not." the Kid assured him with a light-hearted grin. "Prefer to make my own luck and all that. But sometimes it's nice to believe in something greater than ourselves."
Heiji felt the reassuring weight of the omamori Kazuha gave him around his neck, and found it hard to argue.
"How come you're so... relaxed about all this anyway?" Heiji grumped. "He's your twin and all that, and you're actin' like you're out on a moonlight stroll."
The Kid chuckled, stretching. "Two reasons for that, I think."
"And that would be-?"
"Well, for starters..." the Kid slowly bent at the waist, keeping his legs straight and leaned forward until his palms were flat on the ground. "I've known about this adoption thing longer than you have. I've had a bit more time to think about everything and adjust."
Hands firmly planted on the ground, Kid lifted his feet up into the air until he was doing a handstand, his cape falling around his head, the hat miraculously staying on. Heiji raised an eyebrow. "And the second reason?"
A grin made it's presence known through the concealing shadows and folds of fabric as the Kid then began to bend -backwards-, until his feet were back on the ground, in line with the back of his head, the tips of his fingers pointed towards his toes. His hat miraculously stayed on, touching the ground. "Magicians are extremely flexible."
Heiji's eyebrow rose as he gave a low whistle. "I'll say. Whoever ya end up marryin' is gonna be extremely lucky..."
A flash of blankness flickered across the thief's grinning face, and he realized that he had just said something wrong. "Sorry." He apologised, not quite sure what he was apologising for, but feeling the need to.
"No, don't worry about it." the Kid dismissed his worry, strenuously raising his feet back up into the air again, straightening his arms and torso. "I just have a friend too, you know." the Kid commented conversationally. "Like your Kazuha or Kudo's Ran-kun. She doesn't know either."
"To keep her safe?" Heiji ventured as the Kid's feet reached as high into the air as they could go, then his body folded down like a jack-knife, the tops of his shoes level with his head.
"More like self preservation, actually." The thief's tone turned wry as he shifted his grip on the rooftop to rotate his body down, like a gymnast on the high bars. "She'd like nothing more than to repeatedly take a blunt object to the Kid's head before throwing him in a deep dark cell and losing the key down a well."
"That's a good reason." Heiji admitted. The Kid's legs were now parallel to the ground, being held up by the strength of his arms. "Ya can't sit still much, can ya?" He commented, amused.
"Only when absolutely necessary." the Kid flashed him a grin. "Moving targets and all that."
He chuckled. "Alright, one more personal question and then ta work."
An amused suspicious eyebrow rose at the comment. "-Personal question for the moment anyway." He amended with a sheepish grin.
"Fair enough."
"You call the former Kid your Father, but ya know you were adopted and created in the lab. Why?" It didn't make sense. The Kid seemed to be fond of the previous Phantom Thief, and he'd made comments to Agasa-hakase about his mother as well, without the slightest bit of hesitation.
The Kid looked surprised, then lifted his hands in the air to fall cross-legged on the ground with a muffled 'thump'. "You don't?" He asked, looking slightly puzzled.
"Ehh..." Heiji scratched the back of his head nervously and the Kid snorted.
"To me, my father is... well, my father." the Kid scratched the back of his head, tilting the brim of the top hat farther over his face. He reached up, and almost hesitantly removed the monocle that masked half his face. The shadows from the brim of the hat continued to obscure his features as he looked at the glass lens. "The man who raised me as his son is the person I call Father. Not some mess of genetic goop in a lab."
The urge to close the few metres that separated them and remove his hat, to unmask the Kid once and for all, now that his monocle was off rose, and Heiji struggled with it for a moment. It was a great temptation, but at the same time, it felt wrong to do so. The Kid was unmasked, yes. But the act was like a gift. A gift of trust, a moment of truth without masks.
And Heiji found he didn't want to break that.
He waited instead.
"I didn't know that Kudo was my brother until you told me that Lupin and Holmes were twins. But we looked so much alike that I figured it couldn't be just a coincidence." Kid gave out a soft sardonic sounding chuckle. "Hell, I wasn't even sure I was one of the experiments until you put it all together."
"But ya suspected."
"Yeah." Kid sighed ruefully, putting the monocle back on again, like he was wearily shouldering a heavy burden once more. "Just another thing to set me apart." He muttered.
The words were probably more bitter than the thief intended. "Naw." Heiji shot him a grin. "Just an interesting twist to the family."
The deer-in-the-headlights look was priceless. Especially since it appeared that Kid's eyes extended past the monocle.
Heiji felt his grin stretch wide enough that it felt like it was ear to ear. Kid blinked at him, then grinned back, extending his hand. Heiji took it, giving the Kid a firm shake. "Agreed."
He chuckled, feeling a lot better. "So, did you find anything interesting about our dear Seigen-san? I'm afraid all I was able to get was a likely name before I got dragged off."
"I heard about that, the pick pocket case. Good job by the way." Kid straightened, all business again. "I couldn't get a name, but I did find something else of interest."
"Yeah?"
"Yes. One of our dear Seigen-san's rescuers is a regular at a sushi bar down the way from our impromptu party last night. He stops there for a light meal and a drink before going home."
"I'm beginning to think you're a bad influence on me." Heiji grumbled good naturedly as he rolled to his feet.
"Really?" Kid followed, doing a handstand before flipping to his feet. "Why?"
"I haven't been to bars this much in a long time."
"If it's any consolation, I don't drink."
-tbc-
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2004-06-22 08:55 pm (UTC)Was just thinking... like outside of PYP... ever done kid x heiji? Would be interesting in a... strange way...
yah...
no subject
Date: 2004-06-23 11:45 pm (UTC)Kid in the headlights...
Date: 2004-06-22 10:17 pm (UTC)Re: Kid in the headlights...
Date: 2004-06-23 11:49 pm (UTC)S'getting those two guys to shut up and solve the mystery that's hard. ^^;;
no subject
Date: 2004-06-22 11:21 pm (UTC)I like it. I really, really do. And the "interesting twist to the family" bit was my fave. :)
no subject
Date: 2004-06-24 12:06 am (UTC)Voices have informed me that their chibi-Heiji is bouncing happily now too. ^^
no subject
Date: 2004-06-23 03:41 am (UTC)These two boys work so well together. Interesting twist to the family indeed!
no subject
Date: 2004-06-24 12:04 am (UTC)*snerks* Make that error on a pretty frequent basis. Ysabet's Windfall ('WF') gets changed to 'WTF' about the same amount too...
Thanks! ((Huggles!))
no subject
Date: 2004-06-23 10:16 pm (UTC)I like the Heiji & Kid interaction... ehehe... the two jokers amongst all 4 boys. <3 Imagine the mischief and pranks these two miscreants could cause! Both to their cousins/brother and the world in general. Nobody's be left standing!!!
.....*cough* Not that PYP gets to prank playing much. And that 'genetic goop' comment of Kid makes me rather think of a certain game by Konami which so far has a total of 6 games for which a 7th is coming out...
And Heiji....Heiji's such a softie. Love the comment about a twist to the family. <33 Kid deserves looove and acceptance in any form and manner. More! I say. Moooooooooooooore!!!! :D
no subject
Date: 2004-06-24 12:01 am (UTC)Just wait, next chapter is the comedy one, before we get hit with the major angsty stuff. Hakuba and Conan aren't gonna know what hit them. ^___^
Game by Konami? *curious*
More is coming, we just have to get Heiji and Kaito to
Ysabetthe Murder's house.no subject
Date: 2004-06-24 12:59 am (UTC)o_O Oooooh!!! Comedy chapter! XD Something to look /forward/ to! ^____^ Will Kid and Heiji hit the two of them with squeaky mallets upside the head?
Something called Suikoden. XD; We're obsessed by it. It's a /great/ series, although terribly overshadowed by Square's FF series which /needs/ to end /today/ 'cos how is it a FINAL Fantasy when there's a thousand or more continuations of it? ¬¬
I thought Ysabet was the murderee, nor the murderer? O_o