Mikau: Hello everyone! Thanks for checking this story out! This is actually my submission for the writing challenge on the Poirot Café forum. One of the prompts was a gem surrounded by fish, so here this is. Some background info first since this fic takes place in a world where I have a lot of headcanons in place that you might not be privy to. You should be able to pick up on it without a problem, but here's just so people don't get confused: the boys are twenty years old, and Hakuba and Kaito are second year students at Beika U, living as roommates in the dorms there. When they were eighteen, Hakuba walked in on Snake shooting Kid and thus found out about Pandora and the Organization. Kaito is trying to keep the Brit out of it, but Hakuba really wants to help save the world, so he butts in and assists Kaito in little ways like leaving museum blueprints open on his laptop or just happening to mention if Nakamori and the Taskforce have any particularly devious traps in place. Shinichi, meanwhile, is still Conan after four years, and he's kind of getting a little down about it, especially after Ran moves on. Kid has been endeavoring to cheer his Tantei-kun up by popping up in random places and trying to befriend the shrunken sleuth outside of heists. Hakuba has also been paying Conan visits over the past few months, and they're cultivating a friendship as colleagues and fellow Sherlockians. This heist takes place in winter (January or February). I think that's all the important stuff, so let's get this show on the road!

Disclaimer: If I owned it, it would be published in Asuka DX. Yeah. Because that's just what I happen to write. But obviously you're interested in the genre since you're reading this, so…

…

Drowning in Fear

Kaito was beginning to realize just how much he'd ticked Hakuba off with that last little prank.

"They're moving the jewel, you know," Saguru had informed his roommate the day before the heist, smirking into his calculous textbook all the while.

"Oh?" Kaito dropped his bag by the door, toed off his shoes, and belly flopped onto the bottom bunk (which didn't belong to him, even though he rolled around in the covers like it did).

"Yes," Saguru snickered. "At my behest. I didn't think it would be safe in a museum that you've broken into at least a dozen times before."

"Rightly so," Kaito chuckled, not yet knowing what hellish terrors awaited him. "So? Where's it going? Is this part of our little game and I have to figure it out myself? Or were you just afraid of snipers showing up at the museum so you had them move the jewel someplace with more cover? You got blueprints for me to surreptitiously sneak a look at when you accidentally leave your laptop open, or do I have to go dig them up after I finish my stats homework?"

Saguru laughed softly, but it sounded strangely…diabolical for some reason to Kaito's ears.

"Haku-chan?" Kaito sat up on the bed and called when his best friend didn't answer.

"Did you know the Suzukis just opened an aquarium a couple months ago?" Hakuba remarked in a conversational tone.

Kaito really, really hoped that his roommate was just making small talk for some odd reason. "…Uh…no? You know how I feel about such heinous establishments. Why do you ask?"

"Because that's where the Mermaid's Bubble is going to be displayed tomorrow night," Saguru sang, a self-satisfied grin on that smug face of his.

Kaito waited in tense silence for Hakuba to start laughing and bragging about how Kaito had fallen for his joke.

It didn't happen.

"Remember last week when you publically humiliated me, replaced all my tea with bags full of pepper, and then convinced the girl that I like that I'm actually your gay lover? A lie that she still believes no matter how hard I deny it, by the way," Saguru snarled.

"Yeah?" Kaito whimpered, just thinking of all of the fishy horrors lying in wait at the aquarium. Had Kaito's pranks really been bad enough to deserve this? Surely not! Though…when Saguru recounted the wrongs done against him…they really had been bad, hadn't they? Especially the last one.

"What's the expression? 'Payback's a beach'?" Saguru chuckled evilly.

Kaito forlornly shook his head. "I hate beaches. They're always next to large bodies of water containing Kaito-eating aquatic monsters."

Saguru chortled to himself as he pulled out his laptop and logged on. "I'm going for a walk and conveniently leaving my computer open to the blueprints of the aquarium. Do have fun getting ready for tomorrow, Kuroba."

"Big meanie!" Kaito pouted, going over and sitting down at Saguru's desk. "It's not too late to cancel, you know."

Saguru hung back in the doorway. "But, Kuroba…what if this gem turns out to be Pandora? Don't you have a duty to check? It's only going to be in the country until the end of this week."

Kaito's eye began to twitch.

In a slightly less patronizing tone (but only slightly) Hakuba continued, "Besides, your boyfriend's going to be there…your full-sized boyfriend. You wouldn't want to disappoint Kudo-kun, would you?"

Kaito momentarily forgot his impending doom and perked up, responding brightly, "Really?! Full-sized Shin-chan is coming?!" And then he caught himself. "…I mean…He's not my boyfriend! Geez…."

"Riiiight." Saguru nodded slowly, indicating that Kaito was fooling no one. "And yes. I spoke with Edogawa-kun just the other day, and he reported that 'Shinichi-niichan' was very excited about the prospect of facing Kid once more."

"Awesome!" Kaito squealed in delight, forgetting to hide evidence of his growing crush from his roommate.

Saguru turned to leave, but then he started having second thoughts. "Kuroba…is that actually okay, Kudo-kun coming? You always have to be extra careful around him, especially sharp. You can't make any mistakes. Are you going to be able to do this heist in an aquarium? I mean…I know fish bother you, but…just how much do they bother you?"

Kaito tensed, looking back at the computer screen and putting on a stony, impassive expression. "A lot, but it's too late to do anything about it, isn't it? I'm just gonna have to find some way to deal. I've been doing this for four years now, Haku-chan; I'm a professional."

…

Saguru forwent his planned excursion to the campus library's café in favor of booking it down to HQ to see if it were too late to stop the relocation of the gem. He'd been rash and childish when he'd suggested using Kaito's fear against him before out of anger.

Even though Saguru and Kaito called heists a "game", much like chess, that they played together, the search for Pandora was no laughing matter. There were always trained killers with guns hiding in the shadows, and if Kudo did succeed in capturing Kid because of Saguru's juvenile temper tantrum…Kuroba would be dead before they could book him.

Sadly, plans were already in motion, and there was nothing Saguru could do to change Adviser Suzuki's mind yet again. The old man was set on exhibiting his priceless Mermaid's Bubble in the choicest setting of his aquarium. Jirokichi had always been dramatic, and he claimed that he couldn't pass up the chance to display the jewel with such an ideal setup, the perfect atmosphere—an underwater palace for his precious gem.

And so Kaito worked tirelessly that evening and much of the following day on new plans for the heist.

Saguru, feeling infinitely guilty, did whatever he could to help. He started out bringing Kaito hot chocolate, chocolate milk, and snacks of a high sugar concentration, but, ultimately, he ended up helping to strategically pick the best places to install traps so as to incapacitate as many officers as possible and lessen the chances of Kuroba getting caught.

Kaito was actually forced to let Saguru help, breaking the protocol that they'd had in place for the last two and a half years since Hakuba had found out about Pandora and the Organization.

"I think your best bet is to knock everyone out when you enter. Don't waste any time on it," Saguru advised. "God, I am so sorry, Kuroba."

"Stop apologizing at the end of every sentence." Kaito rolled his eyes, pushing the futon out of the way so that he could roll out a big floor plan of the museum on the dorm floor. "I forgive you already. I know I can be a total bastard, and I definitely crossed the line with my last barrage of tricks. You had every right to be ticked. I really do get it, so let's just move on and get me through this personal hell alive, okay?"

Saguru nodded. "What do you want me to do with Kudo-kun? I could try to distract him or—"

"—Nah. Leave him alone." Kaito shrugged.

"You're sure?" Saguru pursed his lips, suspecting that love was making his friend blind. "Kuroba, I know this is one of the rare chances that you get to see him when he's not jailbait, but—"

"—He'll get suspicious if you mess around too much," Kaito reasoned, but Saguru still suspected that his true aim was to briefly meet up with the guy he liked after the heist. "The last thing we need is for doubt to be thrown on you. It's not like you're a real accomplice or anything."

Saguru frowned, mentally grumbling, "Only because you won't let me."

Instead, Hakuba replied, "Kuroba…it's getting late. You should get some sleep."

Kaito opened his mouth to protest.

"Just an hour," Saguru haggled. "Set an alarm. I'll wake you up in an hour. Some rest is better than none, and you need to be able to function tomorrow night. Let me keep working while you sleep."

Kaito bit his lip and, after a minute or so of consideration, he nodded, going over to Saguru's bottom bunk and slipping underneath the covers. "Just one hour. If you let me sleep any longer than that, I'll kill you."

They worked through the night with Kaito alternating between sleeping one hour and working the next, giving Saguru tasks to complete while he slept.

In the morning, Kaito was still not exactly optimistic about his chances, but he was as confident as he could hope to be considering the situation.

In any case, he really felt like strangling Hakuba because, really? Fish? But whenever he wanted to scream and throw things and beat the Holmes-loving hell out of his best friend, he reminded himself that this was his own fault. Hakuba had had the right to be angry after what Kaito had done, and, normally, the blonde suffered through Kaito's abuse with a grimace and a bottle of Excedrin. Hakuba put up with Kaito's antics (for the most part) ninety percent of the time. It was just this one time when Saguru had completely lost his temper, and it was just this one time that Kaito was really paying the price.

Hopefully they'd both survive this and go on with their lives and annoy the crap out of each other for many years to come. Heck, maybe this rock would end up being Pandora and they could go out for ice cream afterwards. Maybe they'd invite Shinichi too, and then Kaito could tell Shinichi why, explain the reasons he stole, tell the guy about his dad, share with Shinichi his real name, his real face. Maybe then Kaito would finally have a shot.

But, as stated before, tonight, Kaito wasn't feeling very optimistic.

Still, he tried to think happy thoughts as he crawled through the ventilation system inside of the aquarium. He reminded himself to focus. Poker face. Chocolate. Ice cream. Puppies. Big Shin-chan. Oh, God, what was that noise?!

He could hear the pumps going, water lapping in the smaller tanks. He could imagine the little demons circling round and round beneath him with their slippery, scaly skin and their soulless eyes. What if the floor of the ventilation duct gave out underneath him and he fell into one of the tanks?!

He tried to calm himself down, to be reasonable. He knew it wasn't actually going to happen (he hoped), but…he was deep in enemy territory, and anything and everything could go wrong. And if he slipped up, he was lost.

With that cheery thought in mind, he got into position. He looked down through the slits in the grate and scanned the room. Everything looked good. Especially Kudo Shinichi off to the left, talking with Hakuba. Kaito tried to focus on that instead of the many tanks full of malevolent monsters surrounding him.

…

Shinichi had had to beg, borrow, and eventually steal a temporary antidote from Haibara. She just didn't understand why Kid heists had held such a draw for him lately. He didn't exactly understand it either, but…ever since he'd found out that Ran had moved on…ever since Kid had started popping up in random places, seemingly trying to befriend him outside of heists…ever since Hakuba and Kid had invited him to join their "game" of cat and mouse…Shinichi had been thinking about Kid and the heists a lot.

He tried explaining that to Haibara, but she just stared blank-faced at him. Her eyes clearly communicated that she thought he was an imbecile. "So you have a crush on the Kaitou Kid."

"No!" he'd exclaimed, blushing madly, his ears turning red like a matador's cape. "No! It's not like that at all!"

"Then why do you have to have the antidote to go? You've gone to Kid heists as Conan before and there hasn't been any problem, so you can't claim that it's because your shrunken body limits you."

Shinichi pursed his lips, unable to give a satisfactory answer. Honestly, she was right, but…for some reason, lately, he just wanted to be himself around Kid.

And so he pretended to agree with her and relent…and then he stole one of the temporary antidotes out of her medicine box. But, really, who was he kidding? He knew that she'd allowed him to do so.

He'd arrived at the heist a little later than he would have liked, only twenty minutes before Kid was set to appear. He found Hakuba Saguru standing over to the left of the display case, looking oddly nervous, so he trotted on over to his fellow detective.

They'd been getting to know each other better in the preceding months whenever Hakuba would drop in on Conan, and now Shinichi would almost consider the blonde a close friend. At least…they were close enough to drop the "-kun" part off each other's names, and Shinichi kind of got the feeling that Hakuba knew about the whole Conan thing.

"Hey. Hakuba. What's up?" Shinichi came to a stop in front of the blonde, giving the room a quick once-over before focusing on his friend.

Saguru gave a start. "Oh! Kudo! Yes, hello. Sorry. I'm…not feeling well today…didn't sleep much."

Shinichi nodded, knowing the feeling. He'd pulled all-nighters in the past to prepare for heists before, and he could testify to how rough it got to be staying focused. Especially since it was now close to two in the morning.

"I guess you've already gone through and checked the place for Kid's traps?" Shinichi inquired, eyeing the numerous traps in that very room with them in suspicion. Maybe there was a reason that Hakuba had left them there? Had he tampered with them so that they'd backfire on the thief? Had he disengaged the trap mechanisms but left the outer workings undisturbed in order to throw the phantom into a false sense of security? Or…maybe was Hakuba just that tired that he hadn't even noticed the obvious tricks?

Saguru glanced at some of the setups around the room, most of which he had just helped to put in place earlier that day. He frowned.

Shinichi's own brow furrowed when it looked like his colleague would not be answering his question. Had Hakuba even heard him? The blonde really did look out of it. "Funny place for a heist, huh?" Shinichi attempted chitchat.

"Quite," Hakuba sighed.

"I heard you were the one to suggest it." Shinichi was beginning to feel awkward.

"And I wish I hadn't," Saguru lamented.

Shinichi was about to inquire into the matter further when there was a blinding flash of light. It looked like Kid was making his appearance…only…he was seven minutes early. Odd.

…

Truthfully, Kaito couldn't stay up in that air vent any longer. He couldn't stand it. This whole building was more loathsome than the pits of hell to Kaito, and he couldn't take it any longer. He had to get out and away from those devilish creatures just waiting to smoother him with their slimy bodies, drag him down, drown him, and then eat his flesh.

The lights came on, all of them at once, blinding the Taskforce members and Shinichi and Saguru alike.

Without a word of his usual playful banter, Kaito dropped down, smashed the case, grabbed the jewel, and bolted, tossing sleeping gas capsules and activating those traps that were in a position to take out police officers.

But Kaito himself was rather out of it, and it was hard to judge where exactly everyone was, and he couldn't remember where all the traps had been placed because the entire room was wall-to-wall fish tanks, and he could see the deadly little creatures eying him.

He ran, but there were officers giving chase. He could hear Nakamori-keibu shouting instructions, hear Meitantei himself yelling different instructions. And he could hear the bubbling around him of fish breathing. Though, that was probably all in his head. But it didn't matter! Because it was all very real to Kaito at the moment, and he was just so scared! He could feel them looking at him, predators slowly stalking towards wounded prey.

He came to stop at the four-way crossroads. He knew he wasn't supposed to keep going straight, but was it a left or a right? It was supposed to be left, left, right, left, right, right…right? Or was it a right first and then two lefts and…No. It was definitely a left first…or was it that he didn't want to take a left because that was the way to the exhibit with the big fish that actually could swallow him whole?

God! What he wouldn't give for some whales or some sharks or even a dolphin or something right about now! He was freaking out, and it was destroying his concentration. He couldn't remember. He just couldn't remember, damn it all!

But the police were right on his heels, so he went left. Hakuba tried to help him out by "accidentally" falling for one of the traps they'd set earlier, taking out more than half of Kaito's pursuers with him. There were only four officers left…and Kudo Shinichi…so there may as well have been a hundred Taskforce members on Kaito's tail.

And then Kaito realized he really had gone the wrong way after all when he entered a room and found a massive tank with gargantuan fish assassins swimming around in it.

He would have let out a yelp if he could have found his voice, but at that point he was so terror-stricken that all he could do was turn and run as fast as possible before they grew legs and gained the ability to come after him and hunt him down.

…

Shinichi mentally noted that Kid was acting weird. Meanwhile, his four remaining colleagues activated an obvious trap and ended up suspended from the ceiling by a cargo net. Shinichi merely rolled his eyes and sped up his gait.

He followed Kid out onto one of the two elevated walkways connecting the east and west wings of the aquarium on the second floor, spanning over the lobby where dozens of smaller, open tanks were displayed.

Kid was pausing there to hold the Mermaid's Bubble up to the light of the moon coming in through the skylight. When nothing seemed to happen, Kid sighed in defeat, hopping up onto the railing. It looked like he was going to jump down to the first level and head out the front door from there. A good plan, actually, since the front door wasn't exactly guarded. All of the security had been relegated to the inside of the aquarium. Admittedly, a bad plan on the part of law enforcement, but…

Kid got ready to jump, but then he seemed to realize that there was a fish tank right below him. A look of horror overtook the thief's face, and when he tried to backpedal, he slipped and fell, toppling headfirst into the tank.

Kaito screamed as he hit the water, beginning to thrash wildly as he felt the hundreds of little bodies swirling around him. He tried to swim, but his clothes were weighing him down. He couldn't stop shrieking frantically even as water filled his lungs. He couldn't tell which way was up anymore as memories like a half-forgotten nightmare came back to him—when he was a child…the first time he'd almost drown. The terrifying memories surrounded him just like the fish encircling his body, and everything faded to black.

At the same time Shinichi looked on in…surprise…shock…horror, really. But only for a moment. As soon as he realized that Kid either couldn't swim or was afraid of water or something and thus needed saving, Shinichi was diving in after the thief and praying that Kid didn't drown them both. There wasn't time nor anything Shinichi could hold out for Kid to grab onto.

As Shinichi tried to get a hold on the other young man, Kid slowly stopped fighting. Either the kaitou had calmed down and realized that Shinichi was there to help him or he'd swallowed too much water and had lost consciousness. Shinichi was betting on door number two.

With some difficulty, Shinichi dragged Kid's limp form from the tank. He struggled to get Kid to the floor so that he could check for a pulse and make sure Kid was still breathing. Luckily, the pulse was still strong, but Kid's breathing had stopped.

Before Shinichi could think about it too much, he dove right in and started CPR, telling himself that this was nothing like kissing, that he wasn't molesting Kid—he was just saving the other guy's life. And it was taking too long.

Shinichi was starting to panic, wondering if he should call an ambulance. But then what would happen to the thief? There had to be some way of saving him without sending the guy to the slammer afterwards.

Just when Shinichi was truly beginning to get hysterical, Kid coughed up a lungful of water and his eyelids began to flutter open. There was the momentary haze and confusion at first, and then Kid jolted back to life, remembering the fall, the water, the fish.

Shinichi surged forward, clamping a hand over his rival's mouth and making what he hoped were calming sounds. "Shh! It's okay. You're alright. Shh! Someone will hear you."

And hear him they did. Some of the officers that had been posted on guard and had not been involved in the chase before had heard the commotion and were making their way to the lobby at that very moment to check it out.

Hearing the oncoming threat, Shinichi pulled Kaito more or less to his feet and half carried the other young man to the nearest utility closet. His only concern was to protect Kid. The thought of dragging Kid out and presenting him to the police for arrest never crossed Shinichi's mind.

They stayed there in the closet for a good ten or fifteen minutes, until it was once more quiet.

"I think they're gone." Shinichi finally dared to speak, casting Kid a weak smile.

Kid was sitting in the corner, head down and hunched over in a bit of a loose ball.

"Hey…you okay?" Shinichi swallowed, not certain how to handle a Kid that wasn't teasing and joking and laughing his fool head off.

"Define 'okay'," Kaito chuckled bitterly.

"Are you hurt anywhere?" Shinichi decided to start broad with the immediate, most pressing concerns because obviously something was wrong. "Any physical injuries?"

"No," Kaito mumbled, still hanging his head in shame. "…Thank you…for saving me…and for asking."

"Of course. I wouldn't just let you drown when I was standing right there," Shinichi snorted lightly.

"But I could have killed you," Kaito whispered, utterly ashamed of his cowardice and feeling a sharp stab of guilt like a stiletto to his gut.

"But you didn't." Shinichi shrugged.

It was quiet for a moment before Shinichi finally decided to ask, "Kid…would you mind telling me what happened? Is something wrong? You haven't been acting like yourself at all tonight."

Kaito squeezed his eyes closed and gritted his teeth. He didn't want to say it. Not to Shinichi. He never liked anyone finding out, but the thought of Shinichi knowing his secret…! But he owed the man for saving his life…for risking his own life in the process.

"I…It's called ichthyophobia. I…have a really, really bad case," Kaito finally managed to get out.

And there was horrible, horrible silence where Kaito waited for Shinichi to start laughing and pointing and ridiculing like they always did.

Instead he got a soft, thoughtful, "You're afraid of fish."

Kaito nodded, shoulders shaking. "Everything from those little itty-bitty ones to enormous ones. And not just live ones either. Videos, pictures, even cartoon drawings."

Shinichi came over and sat on the floor beside Kaito. "Wow. God. It must of took a lot of guts for you to come here and do the heist. No wonder you were such a mess tonight. No wonder you panicked like you did."

Kaito slowly gained the courage to look up at Shinichi in disbelief. "…You're not gonna make fun of me?"

Shinichi raised an eyebrow incredulously. "Why would I do that? Sure, it's not a common fear, but…there's a reason you're afraid, isn't there?"

Kaito gulped, nodding slowly until he finally found his voice. "When I was really little, about four, I was on a boat with my parents. I don't really remember how, I was probably playing too close to the railing, but I ended up going overboard. I almost drown, but…I got caught up in a fisherman's net, and…all of those slimy, finny things squirming around me, crushing me." Kaito shivered as he remembered the terrifying feeling of slick scales against his skin, smothering him. "So…I'm absolutely petrified."

"Who wouldn't be?" Shinichi let out a wry laugh. "We need to get you out of here. It's bad enough that you're wet and it's freezing outside. Do you have a change of clothes or a disguise or something around here? If you stay wet any longer you'll catch a cold. And do you think you'll be able to get home okay by yourself or…I mean…is there anyone I can call?"

Kaito blinked stupidly. "You're letting me go? W-Why?"

Shinichi shrugged, smiling that reassuring grin that instilled confidence (mostly in women and small children, but it was working pretty well on Kaito at the moment). "Because a lot of reasons. Would you accept 'Because this was in no way a fair fight'? You're the real victor tonight, Kid. No one else had to deal with a crippling fear around every turn this evening, so I concede this battle to you…. I would like the gem back, however. I mean…I trust it's not what you're looking for as you're always saying?"

Kaito nodded, digging the Mermaid's Bubble out of his pocket and handing it over. "Thank you," he whispered, getting up on shaky legs and preparing to take his leave.

"I'll catch you next time," Shinichi assured.

"Yeah right," Kaito snorted, regaining a little bit of his spunk. "Good luck with that."

"Are you sure you'll be able to get home okay?" Shinichi bit his lip nervously as Kid turned the door handle. He really felt like he should be escorting the guy home or something.

Kaito smiled, his heart quickening at his crush's obvious apprehensions. "It's okay, Tantei-kun. I've got a ride, but thanks for your concern."

"I just don't want anything to happen to my…" Shinichi stopped. What word belonged in that blank? His greatest rival? His biggest challenge? His most interesting puzzle? His…friend?

"Your…what?" Kaito's poker face showed a calm expression with a touch of smug, but on the inside he was bouncing like a super-ball in exhilaration and anticipation. "Your…thief?"

"I don't know," Shinichi admitted. "In the past few months you've become a lot of different things to me. We can go with 'my thief' for now."

With a parting nod and an ostentatious bow, Kid was off.

Meanwhile, Shinichi hung back. He made a quick call to Haibara and the Professor, and then he went back over and considered the evening while he waited. It had been dramatic and emotional to say the very least.

Shinichi had been absolutely panic-stricken when Kid had stopped breathing, and then there was the odd protective instinct that had overtaken him when he'd heard the guards approaching. Also in the mix was Kid's unexpected fear…how Kid had been ashamed of it…how, despite being terrified, Kid had gathered his courage and done the heist anyway…how sweet and innocent Kid had looked sitting there in the corner, trembling.

Yes, this evening left much to be reviewed and considered…and this precious glimpse at Kid's vulnerable, human side only made the thief that much more intriguing.

…...

Mikau: How was it? I hope you liked it. There were some places where I thought it could have been better, but I'm happy enough with it. I don't think I'll win the contest, but this was a good practice anyway. ^.^; If you guys are interested in this universe, I'm thinking about actually turning this world into a multi-chapter fic, dealing with Kid and Shinichi getting closer (eventual KaiShin as you can kind of see here) along with HakuKai friendship and HakuShin friendship too. There would be a lot of heists, and I think it would be a ton of fun. What do you guys think? It wouldn't be until later when I tie up some of the fics I'm currently working on, but I'd like to work on this eventually if interest is there. Thanks so much for reading! I'm looking forward to hearing what you think!