When Pandora bleeds... (Shinkai)

Don't ever cook again, Shinichi

Haibara woke up to a weird smell wavering through her house, mixed with the scent of breakfast. Sluggish eyes blinked open as the hakase sat up, drinking in her surroundings.

Breakfast? Who is making breakfast?

She needed another moment to gather herself before this information sank in. "KID! Shinichi!" she hissed, immediately jumping out of her bed and within seconds, she had thrown her morning robe over and marched downstairs, tying the band around her waist.

They're awake! And very much alive!

Haibara stopped dead in her tracks as she entered the kitchen. Kaito, who had sensed her coming, dignified her with a small glance of superiority as he watched an utterly defeated Shinichi scrape the remains of absolutely disgusting black sludge out of a pot into the garbage can.
"Okay okay, I'll admit defeat," the sleuth reluctantly agreed, putting the pot into the sink and facing Kaito with a soft pout. Said one merely shrugged and stuffed his hands into his pockets.
"Cooking is mere chemistry. You should know not to mess with me when it's about chemistry."
Shinichi grumbled something under his breath but the sour mood about his loss was gone immediately as he heard Kaito giggle. It wasn't usual for the magician to laugh these days, especially because it sounded so genuine and different than his KID-laugh, and Shinichi found he loved it.

He must have stared because the next thing he knew was a soft slap to the back of his head and Haibara whispering "If you stare too long at the sun you might get blinded," at him. Shinichi flinched- he hadn't noticed Haibara yet and her words didn't make it better. Turning away, he tried to hide a soft hint of red on his cheeks.
"Shut the hell up, Haibara."
"I made breakfast for you," Kaito instead announced and nodded over to a table full of admittedly delicious looking goods. Haibara's mouth began to water almost immediately and she took a seat without thinking.
"That's... unexpectedly nice of you, KI- Kuroba-kun." She paused and looked up at her companion for approval to call him by his name, yet he didn't seem fazed.
"Itadakimasu..."

Kaito watched her eat for a moment before sitting down as well, next to a still sulking Shinichi.
"What happened?" was the first thing Kaito asked, voice hesitant and careful. He wasn't even sure he wanted to know what was going on. Haibara paused, then sighed and lowered her chopsticks again.
"You were okay again... Mortal. But... I've got to know some information I've missed, apparantly... you've been too long under the influence of Pandora. The stone would have, while reclaiming its energy from your bodies, drained your entire life energy until your remains would have been nothing but ashes. So... We made sure to split Pandora again and infected you once more. Though this time we made sure to leave you a bit of a humanoid appearance, that's why your hands and faces are clean."
Shinichi froze, realizing Haibara had most likely seen him naked and wiped him down from the blood, while Kaito had perked up at something else.
"We?" he asked, suspicious.

Haibara, again about to stuff some delicious food into her mouth, paused once more. Akako hadn't been vocal about it but it was obvious she wasn't too fond of Kaito finding out about her visit. Yet, since she knew the magician would lose a good amount of trust in her if she wouldn't have answered, Haibara reluctantly opened her mouth.
"I was surprised myself... Out of the blue, a woman showed up at the door. Claimed to be an old friend of yours, Kuroba-kun..."
"Woman?" Kaito repeated, eyebrows narrowing. For a moment, his face turned a shade paler as realization overcame him.

Aoko?!

She hadn't arrested him yet. Did she forgive him? Kaito felt a wave of emotions overcome him he hadn't felt since long. He was scared, so scared, and at the same time he couldn't have been more excited. Haibara nodded.
"Yes. She said her name was Koizumi Akako, an old classmate of yours."
Kaito froze and swallowed dryly, face immediately turning stone cold. Shinichi, who had watched this, rolled his eyes unamused. This stupid pokerface of his.

Obviously, he thought of someone else. I wonder who it is...

"I see," Kaito finally broke his silence and Haibara took this as her cue to continue.
"I didn't believe her at first, I even thought she was a secret member of the Black Organization... but she was quite convincing and she just had something about her that... I can't quite describe it but it was captivating. However..." Haibara pushed a bit of tasty goods into her mouth and chewed, then swallowed.
"She told me all about Pandora's effects. Said Lucifer informed her about your condition, Kuroba-kun. If we didn't act fast enough, it would have killed you two. Kuroba-kun... were you aware Koizumi-san is a witch?"
Kaito simply nodded, silent. This was a bit much to work with. So Akako knew exactly where he was now, huh?

Shinichi exchanged a worried glance with Haibara, of course noticing how much Kaito's mood had soured.
"...what exactly was that blop of sludge you just threw away?"
Almost in the same second, Kaito brightened up again and smirked, "Meitantei tried to make pancakes. And burned them."
"You didn't warn me at all!" Shinichi cried out, sulking, cheeks heating up. He didn't like being called out on his sucky cooking skills.
"Please don't ever cook again, Shinichi. I still need my kitchen and that pot is ruined," Haibara demanded with a deadpan expression and the sleuth slumped a little down on his chair, grumbling.
"It's not like I have to again, I'm immortal."
"Why did you even suggest a competition if you knew your cooking sucks?" Kaito chimed in and earned himself a glare which softened the moment he saw the amused glim inside Kaito's eyes. A good moment for revenge.
"Because you looked so hopeless. I wanted to cheer you up. Competing with me always brightened you up."

Kaito froze, indigos growing wide in a mix of surprise and embarassment.
"I wasn't hopeless. I'm used to this, it's no big deal. But... thank you, Meitantei."
Satisfaction overcame Shinichi which turned into a soft flutter of butterflies at the soft and fond expression Kaito had on his face as he simply focused onto shuffling a deck of cards to distract himself.
Haibara grinned into her cup of morning tea, desperately trying to hide it. Shinichi did a good work helping KID become a bit more approachable, the resentment and uncomfortableness the magician openly displayed had become less and less. She was going to ignore the fondness in Kaito's eyes whenever Shinichi spoke to him- at least for now.