#clover conversates

Kaito was acting strange.

Aoko knew better than anyone, Kaito was acting super strange. For one thing, he missed a day of school. Kaito often had perfect attendance, even though he lived in another town. But to miss an entire day and not tell anyone?

Plus, he wasn't answering his phone.

And, as Aoko watched him, she noticed that he seemed to be focusing on something.

But his eyes are closed...

"Hey, Kaito!" Aoko put her hand on his shoulder, causing him to lightly jump and whip around to look at her. It was an unnaturally fast movement, and Aoko felt it was... uncanny. "...

"You weren't in school yesterday, is everything okay?"

"Aoko..."

She tilted her head.

"How strange, when I look at you, I feel so many conflicting emotions.

"I wonder, does it mean I love you?"

The entire class went silent, before they start whispering amongst each other.

"I just don't understand..." Kaito shook his head, but Aoko simply smiled.

"You must be feeling sick. Don't worry, I'm sure you'll feel better soon!"

—

After school, Aoko ran to the Kudo residence. She'd been there often to take care of Kaito's pets, so she had a spare key just in case she needed to get in when no one was home.

If Aoko recalls correctly, the only person who would be home this week is...

She unlocked the door and had just started taking off her shoes when there was the sound of running from upstairs, and then down the stairs.

"KAI-... Nakamori-san?"

"Kudo-kun! Is Kaito here?"

"H-huh? He wasn't at school?"

"Well....the thing is-"

—

Aoko sat with a can of juice in her lap, having just explained the strange behavior she noticed in Kaito lately.

"Aoko know it's only been a day, but..."

Shinichi shook his head. "No, he's been missing since the day before. We were supposed to walk home together, but he ended up staying late because he had four different clubs to check in with."

Aoko tilted her head, glancing to the side. She was well aware of Kaito's apparent obsession with sports and clubs, to the point where he's joined nearly all of them at school.

Where does he find the time?

"You said he came to school today and acted strange, what exactly was so strange about him?"

"Well, he talked with a weird vibe..."

"Vibe? Like, a cadence?"

"Yes, yes! It sounded a bit like...

"It sounded like this."

Shinichi raised an eyebrow before putting a hand to his chin. Aoko wondered if maybe he had an idea of what was going on, but if he knew, he didn't share anything with her.

"What should we do?"

"We need to find him, first and foremost. But I don't know where to look to find him if he won't come home."

Aoko pulled out her phone just as a message from her father came through.

"Ugh... That Kaitou Kid..."

"Who?" Shinichi looked up, hearing 'Kaito'.

"Oh, it's nothing! Just some silly thing Aoko's dad is obsessed with!" She ignored the message, scrolling instead through her photos. "Here, Aoko took some pictures of Kaito today."

She held out her phone to him, letting him scroll through the photos she took. Shinichi's face immediately fell.

"That's not Kaito."

"Y-you think so too??"

"I mean, he looks like him, but there's something... What's the word?"

"Uncanny!" Aoko completed, and Shinichi quickly nodded in agreement. "He moved in really weird ways and made weird sounds when he thought no one was around, like tik-tik-tik! It was kinda like he's a—"

"A robot..." Shinichi frowned, once again lost in thought. Surely it wasn't possible to create a robot that could mimic a human, but he'd heard about things like animatronics at amusement parks.

But could an animatronic take over the life of a normal human?

Shinichi wasn't so sure.

The front door opened, startling them both from their conversation.

Kaito had trudged into the living room, slowly turning to look at them.

"K-Kaito?" Aoko murmured, forcing a shaky smile. "I was just... We were worried about you! You hadn't been home in a couple days, Kudo-kun-"

He slowly tilted his head, and Aoko slapped a hand over her mouth. She was so scared, she had forgotten to speak in the third person. Luckily, Shinichi stood and approached him, clapping a hand on Kaito's shoulder.

"If you're going to be out for a while, you have to call home! So, where did you go?"

Kaito smiled in a strange, crooked way that nearly made Shinichi recoil.

"I've just been busy, is all. Don't worry!"

It was Aoko's turn to stand up quickly, watching as Kaito left them and walked up the stairs.

"H-he wasn't talking in that strange way anymore!"

"He must've realized that it wasn't the proper way to act, and modified his behavior." Shinichi looked down at his hand. "He's a robot, for sure. Or at the very least, isn't organic. His shoulder was stiff, like hard plastic. And when he moved, you could faintly hear creaking."

"W-what do we do then??"

Shinichi once again fell into deep thought, but he didn't have any clues. He didn't even know if Kaito was still alive, and if the imposter was dangerous, then pressing it in any regard might cause it to lash out.

『In other news, minutes ago a large explosion rocked Tokyo.』

"Argh, I can't focus with that noise! Nakamori, turn off that tv!"

Aoko grabbed the remote, wondering why the volume had gotten so loud when she was certain she had turned it down when they had started talking.

It only went up in volume when Kaito walked past...

『The Ogami Electronics Laboratory situated on a cliff on the outskirts of Tokyo exploded within itself, damaging the structure of the cliff. While it's uncertain whether this would cause an issue for any coastal towns nearby, an evacuation order has been issued.』

"An electronics lab?" Aoko blinked, and Shinichi had ended up joining her in watching.

『Authorities are combing through what's left of the building, but efforts to contact Doctor Ogami, the owner of the lease, have proven fruitl—』

Suddenly, the remote was snatched from Aoko's hand and the tv shut off.

"No more tv." Kaito said from beside them, tossing the remote onto the floor. "It will melt your brain."

"O-oh, okay-"

He turned, walking towards the front door.

"Hey, where are you going? You just got home!"

"I have something to do." Kaito left, slamming the door behind him. Aoko scrambled for the remote to turn the tv back on, but the news had already moved on to a different story.

"No!" she threw the remote back onto the ground, causing the screen to go black again.

"Hey, careful with that- Oof!" Shinichi paused as Aoko grabbed him by his jacket, shaking him back and forth.

"That story had clues! Did you see how Kaito reacted to it?? It might be tied to where he came from!"

"Eh-eh-eh-even if we knew that, the place was destroyed!" He grabbed her wrists to stop her assault. "He must've tied up the loose ends before coming here!"

"But what if the real Kaito was in there?!"

The two turned back to the tv, staring at their own reflections in the black screen.

—

"Am I...going to die...?"

Kaito knelt over his double, who was nothing more than a twitching husk of metal.

tik-tik-tik

"... Do you want to die?"

"....It is...to be human...right?"

tik-tik-tik-tik

Kaito frowned. "You're not human. You don't need to die to prove that to anyone."

"I was made to be...you. But I cannot be you... So, my only option is to die..."

He reached into his lapel, taking out a case of dual-port USB drives. Kaito often carried them around in case he needed to hack security systems, but perhaps this would be enough.

He removed one from the case and leant over the frame of wires and rods, plugging the USB into the base of its neck.

"W-what are you..."

"I can't let you be me, but I can find another purpose for you.

"So don't accept death with such a sad look on a face similar to mine."

"...You should run away... The damage to my frame will lead to a self-destruct.

"If you remain here, you will die too."

Kaito ignored him, connecting the second port to his phone, tapping furiously. There was no countdown, but Kaito couldn't be bothered with worrying about that. A countdown would just distract him.

tik-tik-tik

tik-tik

tik

kachack

—

『More explosions in central Ekoda. Tokyo Metropolitan Police believe this may be the work of a serial bomber, yet there were no casualties nor rhyme or reason for the targeted location.』

『The heist that had taken place prior was reported to not be related to KID at all, which has lead authorities to believe that this imposter may have been the same one who set off the explosive charges.』

Shinichi blinked slowly, hearing the words being said, but not processing them at all. He and Aoko had been checking all of the news stations for more word on the electronics lab that had been blown up, but the only thing the reporters were talking about was something in regards to a thief.

That doesn't matter here at all. He huffed to himself, turning the tv off and leaving them awash in darkness.

Aoko was leaned against his side, dozing softly. It had gotten late, and they didn't receive any word from Kaito nor his doppelganger. Shinichi folded his hands, leaning forward with a tense expression.

What if he never comes back?

What if that robot killed him and stole his place?

What if—

The front door opened, startling him from his thoughts and jolting Aoko awake.

"What the- Geez, it's dark as hell in here! Guess no one's home..."

The two jumped up from the couch, scaring Kaito silly.

"WAAUGH!!"

"It's you!!"

"Really you!"

Kaito clutched his chest, wheezing a tad before getting angry. "Who else would it be?? Why were you two just laying in the dark??" He blinked, before grinning mischievously. "Could it be you two are—"

"Don't even finish that thought." Shinichi warned, crossing his arms. "We were worried about you! Where have you been, and where did that robot go?"

"Robot? Oh! You mean RoboKai? He's right here!" Kaito rummaged in his pocket before pulling out a Furby. "He lost his old body, so I got him this temporary one from the konbini down the street!

"Tomorrow, we're gonna scour some shops to find the perfect new body for him.

"He didn't really get a choice to pick his own appearance when he was created, so I wanted to include him in every step along the way!

"Say hello, RoboKai!"

The Furby's eyes opened, and its ears twitched a tad before it opened its mouth.

"Hello again, Aoko and Shin-chan."

Aoko and Shinichi stared at him, then glanced down at the Furby, before glancing at Kaito again.

"Isn't he adorable?" Kaito beamed.

"...

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!!"

"Ehhhhn??"

When Ichiro looked in the mirror, he saw a man he didn't recognize.

Deep red hair, unnaturally blue eyes, and the scars; oh god the scars.

His body had splotches of severe burn scars; his reward for escaping death the first time. These areas were practically dead, there was no nerve responses in them. Though he didn't feel pain much at all naturally, pain was still a sensation that he could recognize. These areas felt nothing at all, and it frustrated him.

But there was nothing he could do about that; those scars were forever a part of him.

They weren't important here either way, what was important was the scar in the center of his chest; a strange star shaped anomaly that wasn't caused by anything natural.

Slowly, he closed his eyes, thinking back to that day Vermouth brought him to the Black Organization for a proper introduction.

It was almost two years after the death of Toichi Kuroba that Vermouth came to him.

She sat in the front row of one of his Vegas shows, smiling in that way she often did when she wanted something.

When the show ended, he sat alone in his dressing room. He had looked down for only a second before she appeared behind him, snaking her hand along his left shoulder.

With the burns, he didn't even feel it.

"Ichiro-chan, how have you been?" Vermouth asked, despite knowing the answer. His wounds were more severe than first thought, so he spent more time recuperating than actually working for the Organization.

But he knew what answer she was looking for.

"I am well enough to travel."

Vermouth smiled, standing behind him and putting both hands on his shoulders, looking into the mirror.

"Look at that; that's the face of a wonderful asset."

Ichiro's eyes lidded.

"How soon do they want me?"

"By tomorrow afternoon." She stood up straight. "Do you have anything else to do tonight?"

Even if he did, she would still force him to leave.

"...

"No."

"Good answer."

—

When they landed in Japan, Ichiro was blindfolded.

"Chris?"

"Sorry, Ichiro. You have an eidetic memory; the boss doesn't want you to remember the way to the hideout."

A pair of earmuffs were placed on his head, blocking out all sound.

They really don't want me to know this location...

Not that he cared much, he already had a good idea where most of their hideouts were from his time tailing Snake.

Ichiro sat in near full sense depravation, only able to tell when the vehicle was moving or stopped from the rumble of the engine and the wheels crossing over both regular roads and what seemed to be gravel paths.

Eventually, the car stopped for the last time, and two pairs of hands pulled him out.

He was perfectly able of walking on his own, and yet they insisted on dragging him wherever they wanted him to go, and quite roughly as well.

Eventually he was thrown chest first onto the floor, knocking the wind out of him.

"Guhh-"

The earmuffs and blindfold were removed, and now he could properly take in his surroundings.

It was a warehouse of sorts, entirely empty save for multiple figures standing around him.

"Keh. Are we sure this isn't just one of that woman's little boy toys?" The man on the left scoffed, glaring at Vermouth with an overpowering murderous intent.

"Oh my, so you think he's attractive enough to be by my side? I didn't think you had a type, Gin."

"Kill her."

There was a dull thud from the rafters and Vermouth's glasses were blown off the top of her head, causing her hair to fall around her shoulders. She turned towards the sound of the thud and smiled.

"Hello, Chianti~ You missed!"

I missed on purpose, you bitch! Came a faint voice from the rafters.

"Aniki, you can't just order her death like that-! What if Chianti actually did it-?" muttered the thug beside Gin.

"Then the world would be a slightly less annoying place, Vodka"

"Colorful crew you have." Ichiro went and picked up Vermouth's destroyed glasses, handing them over to her. "So which of you is the Boss?"

"That Person has better things to do than shake your hand. We're here to test your loyalty to the gang." Gin held up a golf ball sized ruby. "Do you recognize this?"

"It's a gemstone, a ruby by the looks of it. I am well acquainted with them."

"Not quite," Gin held the stone up to the high windows of the warehouse, towards the full moon glowing overhead. When the moonlight hit it, the ruby glowed with an unnaturally bright light. "When a large gem is held up to the moon's light,"

"Pandora reveals herself when the time is right..." Ichiro concluded, staring at the ruby.

Pandora? They had actually found it?

"Or, so they say." Gin tossed the gem into the air repeatedly, catching it flat on his palm. "See, Pandora was apparently a vein of minerals that, when mined, encased themselves in hard, gemstone-like shells.

"The only way to know if a gemstone held the Pandora mineral was the hold it up to moonlight, which reveals the mineral within and causes it to glow. Something similar to charging phosphorescent pigments with UV light to make them glow in the dark.

"A mineral that, when processed, can grant someone eternal life."

Suddenly, Ichiro was on guard.

"... And what does this have to do with me and my loyalty?"

"Well, we don't actually know how true that is. And this is the only stone we have, so we would need to test it first before finding more and cultivating it." Gin held the ruby in front of his eye, looking through it at Ichiro. "A little birdie told me that this mineral is at its most potent in its natural state. But potency is fatal.

"That's where you come in."

"Do you... want me to eat it? What are you getting at?"

"Correct that I want this within your body, but incorrect that you get something as simple as ingesting it.

"Hold him down."

The other figures grabbed Ichiro and slammed him onto his back. Gin pulled out a knife, walking towards him.

"Wait-!" Vermouth stepped forward, but another bullet whizzed past her head.

"Stay back, Vermouth, unless you want whatever's in that skull of yours to be spattered across the floor."

Gin pressed his knee into Ichiro's abdomen, kneeling down over him.

"Survive this, and I'll accept you as one of us."

Ichiro said nothing.

"Do you feel fear, pretty boy?"

"I feel it in some regard, yes."

"But not now?"

"Am I supposed to fear you?"

Gin scoffed, flipping the knife to point downwards. "You can feel whatever you wish towards me and the lot life cast for you."

Did Ichiro feel fear?

He hadn't ever had a reason to fear for anything, not even his life. But as the knife carved into his skin, slicing over his sternum and exposing muscle and bone, he felt a strange itch in the back of his head.

Was he afraid? Excited?

In some way, he was excited. He wanted to know what Pandora was capable of, but at the potential cost of his life... was he excited about that?

Perhaps he was.

They didn't need to hold him down; he would have let Gin approach him without a fight. And yet, the henchmen held his arms down in uncomfortable positions, threatening to dislocate or even break a bone.

But he couldn't force himself to care.

He watched as Gin pushed the still glowing ruby into his chest, feeling the strange and uncomfortable pull of the gem slipping past bone, past muscles and arteries and organs.

After what felt like hours (but he knew was only 15 or so minutes), Gin pulled away. He tossed the knife aside for another henchman to collect, pulling off his blood-soaked gloves.

"You survived, though I'm more impressed that you didn't even scream."

Ichiro was finally allowed to move and Vermouth quickly approached him, pressing a bundled up jacket to his chest.

"Don't move, you must've lost so much blood-"

"Oh don't coddle him, Vermouth. Can't you see? He's proven himself worthy.

"He survived the surgery, and Pandora hasn't killed him yet." Gin nodded towards the door, leaving with Vodka and the others.

"Welcome to the Organization, Menthe."

—

That was almost 8 years ago now.

The wound had healed into this star-shaped scar within a week, and he felt no adverse effects from Pandora. But Ichiro was aware that he was different. More so that usual.

For one thing, his threshold for pain was now so high that he wasn't even sure that he could feel pain anymore. And any wounds he received healed without a trace within days.

Pandora changed him, made him more resilient and harder to kill.

His heart still beat, and his lungs still heaved, and his neurons still fired, so he knew that he was still very much mortal.

Perhaps it wasn't immortality that Pandora gave you, but a durability that almost felt like immortality.

Another thing; he seemed to have stopped aging. Over 8 years, he didn't gain a single wrinkle or gray hair. He felt and looked like a young man, and that didn't seem to be changing anytime soon.

Ichiro looked entirely normal; but he felt like a monster.

Pandora changed him, his eyes gained the same strange phosphorescent abilities as the gem itself. If he didn't shade his eyes from the sun or the moon, they would begin to glow.

An unnatural, eerie blue glow.

And sometimes, if he was in complete darkness, he could see a faint red glow emanating from the scar on his chest.

Slowly, he leant towards the mirror and pressed his forehead to the cool glass. Those eerie eyes stared back at him, but he felt nothing.

"...

"Did you too, die? If Toichi is dead, and Ichiro is dead, then who is the man looking back at me?"

His eyes lidded.

A stupid question.

The man before me now is Menthe.

The timed motion lights in the bathroom shut off, leaving him in the darkness.

Alone with those two eerie lights.