justonetruth | (no subject)

Not your chibi, thief. My thief's dead.

[low chuckle, and now he does look at you from under the hat brim, something half crazed in his shadowes eyes]

So casual, chibi-chan.

So very.... casual.

How long did he last? Against you? Hm?

[For an instant he freezes, startled and trapped. He's metantei Kudo Shinichi, the savior of the Japanese police force. If KID could just listen to him and tell... he wasn't slipping up. No. Not him. Not at all.

And this KID is just insane, he can tell from the expression, the stance, the tone.

No one can catch him, he's the Heisei Holmes and the Heisei Moriarty at the same time. Invincible.]

Not long. Not long at all.

[a sideways smile, and he might have laughed if recent events hadn't shaken the core of him]

Then you're not my murderer, are you? Not my chibi...

[straightens up from the wall at last, slipping closer - but not too close, because he may be mad, but he's not stupid]

I wonder how long you'd last against me, chibi-chan?

[He tenses, shifting back. Manipulation, control, finding and twisting the breaking point, he could handle, but hand-to-hand combat? Not his thing.

He keeps his tone light, conversatinal.]

Not long enough, thief. It wouldn't be any fun for you.

[Fun. It would be fun to figure out this one, to wrap threads and pull strings and control and twist. Much more fun than shooting him with the watch at just the right moment. Watch him twitch and fight and fall.]

Pity~

[and then he smiles sweetly, dangerously]

[you hurt me recently, chibi, your stupid ghostie self]

I'd like some payback.

[And that might be fun after all]

[want to play a game?]

Tag, chibi-chan?

[he's not sure what he's said out loud and what he hasn't, the thought of revenge clouding his mind - he won't kill, not without a contract, but damage and restitution are so very sweet]

[Studying, watching, waiting. A shrug.]

That wouldn't be any fun for me. I don't play games if they aren't fun.

[he's not listening to you, because he knows you'll have to play anyway, you'll have to run like a scaredy little rabbit]

Tag, I'm It~

[flicks his hand out, and it's holding something sharp and dangerous, light glinting off of the blade] [grins widely]

Run.

[He stiffens, tenses, watches. Doesn't move.]

I said I wasn't playing, Kaito.

[That name belonged to the thief, or at least, to the thief in his world. There would be, should be, had to be some kind of reaction to it.

KID had reacted, frozen long enough to make a mistake. Shinichi only needed one mistake.]

[unlucky for Conan, that name just made him move faster, angrier - more vengeful]

[how dare he, that was his - not allowed - stupid chibi - his]

[slashes out a hand, flinging the knife at you, aimed to inflict a deep cut on your upper arm][a warning shot, if you will]

I. said. RUN!

[He takes that wound without flinching much, just a tighter clenching of his jaw. It hurts. It burns. But he's Kudo Shinichi. No one can best him. No one.

He said he wasn't going to run. So he won't. KID will have to kill him before he runs.]

Only idiots throw their weapons away, Kaito.

[whoever said that was his only weapon?]

You're not playing right! [not smiling any more, just a wordless snarl on his lips]

Do you want to die? [a lethal hiss]

[and if you say yes, he can- he can actually kill you. say -yes-, chibi]

I said I wasn't going to play with you, Kaito. It's not a game that would be any fun for me.

[He doesn't pull a weapon. To fight back would be to play this game. To play this game would mean he had lost the one he was playing right now. The game of "who breaks first?".]

No, Kaito, I don't want to die. I wouldn't be able to do anything fun if I were dead.

[Repeat the name. Repeat the idea that he wasn't having fun, so the thief wasn't going to have fun either. Repeat the smirk, the mocking tone.]

[growls, then spins abruptly and goes to grab your collar, wanting you at his eye-level]

[if you don't dodge, he'll slam you against the wall, and growl, not caring about pain or poker face, or anythign except getting you to react]

[Being slammed against the wall hurts, yes, makes his breath leave in a woosh, makes him wince slightly, might have even cracked a rib, depending on the force. But this is a fun game.

His own direct involvement isn't usually part of his games, he's prefers watching others write and twist and realize they can't escape. Solving murders he inspired. Making people work for him.

This is fun though, making KID lose Poker Face.

The only reaction he gives is a sharp, predatory smile, and a slight change in his breathing. Now this is a fun game. He is involved in this game.]

[digging his knuckles into your chest as he grips your shirt, face back to the familiar blank smirk, though there's a dark twist to it]

[grabs for your wrist with his free hand and twists enough to cause pain, but not -quite- enough to make anything snap. yet]

Having fun?

[His breath comes in shuddering gasps, heart beating rapidly, words strained, reacting to the danger and the pain but not to fear, because there was no fear. This was beautiful, how the thief had been broken, broken enough to be almost unrecognizable. It's a work of art, even more than the way he plays on emotions and hatred to drive people to murder.]

It's always fun, watching insanity.

[How will the thief react to that accusation? Shinichi wants to see this. Wants to watch. Wants to meet the person that did this to Kuroba Kaito.]

[drawing back just enough with his fist to slam you against the wall again, face a completely unreadable blank mask]

[how dare he - don't you dare - i'm not - did you hear what he said]

[low growl] I'm not mad. Insanity is for fools.

[twisting further on your wrist without really noticing it, glaring at you, wanting to make you understand that he isn't-]

I'm not mad.

[Gasping for breath through a sharp, strained, predatory smile.

Gods this was beautiful.

The pain barely registered, even though he felt ribs crack, felt his wrist twisting towards the breaking point.

Broken, so broken.

Tone light, a mocking childish sing-song.]

Mad, foolish, stupid Kaito. Doesn't even realize he's insane. Poor child.

[howls like a wounded animal, and flings you away from him]

NOT MAD!

[chibi-chibi learnt not to say that, learnt not to push him, never to say that if they wanted to remain rivals, wanted to play one last game together - they'd made a pact after all - but here was this one PUSHING and not STOPPING-]

[shaking a little and glaring at where he threw you, purely by chance not into a wall]

[The floor is cold and hard and hurts as he lands. But KID's reaction. Oh. God. That reaction.

So he rises shakily to his feet, hands in his pockets, smirk on his face.

My win.]

Having fun yet?

[his hands are twitching by his sides, glaring at you, wanting to grab and choke like he's never done before, wanting your death to be so close and personal]

[but he can't, can he? no contract to hold against you - he can't kill you without a contract -]

I will be.

[stalking towards you again, like some kind of avenging wraith]

[He watches, stands still, doesn't run. KID isn't going to kill him.]

I suppose you must have fun, being who you are now.

More fun than the Kaito I knew back home. He was happy, had a family, had a girl he loved. But no games like yours.

[pauses, looking at you with his head cocked slightly to one side]

Girl? A girl he loved?

[shakes his head, fingertips pressing to the side of his forehead, muttering to himself]

Kaito never existed, never had a father, never killed his mother because she wouldn't listen--

[stops suddenly, looking at you with a sharp glare]

Stop calling me Kaito.

The Kaito I know was a happy person.

He wore a suit like you're wearing now, but people loved him, cheered for him. He stole gemstones while the crowds looked on and applauded under the moonlight. No one cared that he was a criminal, no one cared that there were warrents for his arrest in nations all over the globe. He was a magician and the people loved him. International Criminal 1412 was what INTERPOL called him.

[Still light, still mocking. Just enough truth to be true. He hated KID. A criminal and the crowds loved him.]