Chapter 1: Sakura

Conan had to pinch himself to force his body and mind to stay awake. With a wince, he sunk his blunt nails into a small sliver of skin, feeling his body start with shock of pain.

Last night had been exhausting, he thought while surveying the white pinch mark with a regretful eye. There had been a Kaitou Kid heist that needed to be dealt with, and on top of that, a murder. Both were so infuriating to handle, and he'd hadn't even gotten a single wink of sleep.

He had lied to Ran, telling her that he would be over at Agasa's house. It had been simple to sneak through the police investigation, owing to all the scrambling officers trying to carry out the final preparations. Really, they should have been more attentive. (Of course, he had darted that security guard.)

Unfortunately, he wasn't able to face-off with Kid. There had been a murder across the street, and solving deaths were top priority. Anyways, the thief was relatively harmless, and always returned the gems he stole. So the boy had dashed to the crime scene and dropped many hints as subtly as he could, putting the police on the right track.

And the victim…Conan shuddered violently as he remembered what he had discovered. And the victim apparently had slim connections to the Black Organization. It wasn't much of a lead, actually, but there had to be more information somewhere. They weren't the ones who killed the man, but Shinichi had a feeling that they were planning to. Luckily, the police were too preoccupied with the murder, allowing him time to snatch a spare key so he could creep back in.

Here he was now, ransacking the dead man's files, trying to search for any compromising leads. Honestly, it was boring, and it consumed way too much time. But he had to use his time wisely – the police were planning to search through the files later, just in case there was anything more linked to the murder. Right now, they were probably questioning the culprit for all the details, and re-examining the evidence.

Conan's eyelids drooped down for a second, lulled into sleep by the silence. He quickly blinked rapidly several times, forcing them to stay open and continue reading. Yet the words seemed to blur into the page as he skimmed between the lines…ugh. Maybe stretching his legs for a second would help.

Groggily, he reached into a drawer of a file cabinet, tucking a few folders underneath a scrawny arm. His sock-covered feet padded lethargically over to a corner of the room, where he flopped down on the carpet-covered floor beneath an open window.

He hadn't risked turning on the lights, in case any neighbors would notice. There was enough sunlight filtering through the open window, which he used instead as his light source. Outside, birds cheeped and twittered, and Conan could hear the soft flutter of feathered wings. A few late crickets continued to chirp, hidden between cobwebbed bushes.

Checking the clock on the wall, he frowned. It was early in the morning, when any sensible person would be asleep. Especially if one hadn't slept all night…oh come on, he should concentrate. He went back to work, shuffling and sifting through the various papers. For several moments, he continued on with his tedious examination, but to no avail. He felt so heavy right now…god, he was tired. But he had to finish reading through all of this…

On the other side of the room, the window pane was flung open deftly, and a white-clad figure slunk into the room. A white cape billowed in the slight breeze before straightening. The young man was dressed in a formal suit, like one would wear to a wedding. He strolled casually over towards Conan, a top hat perched on his head, and a monocle hiding an eye.

"Naughty child, you should be in bed right now," Kaitou Kid clucked cheekily, cape streaming like a flag behind him. He waggled a gloved finger at the boy, tsk-tsk-ing in mock disapproval. Carelessly, the young man flung his cape aside after unbuckling it from his shoulders.

Dumbly, Conan stared at the discarded cape. "Isn't that you're glider, too?" With a wary eye, he kept his gaze trained on the thief, a hand fastened tightly on his watch. He sighed, and without waiting for an answer, he scowled grumpily, "Can you please leave me alone? I have a lot of work to do." The child gestured to the papers sitting on his lap.

"Does work count as entering private property, and reading personal papers without permission?" Kid couldn't help question, amusement glinting in his mocking eyes. Surveying the neat pile of papers the boy had stacked up, he couldn't hide his astonishment at the large amount of them.

"Yes," Conan agreed wearily. He was in no mood to argue. It was actually true, technically, but how else could he find information about them? But there had to be something, somewhere – the dead man had stumbled upon something dangerous enough to endanger his life. Shinichi just couldn't let the opportunity pass – there could be something important.

To Conan's surprise, the thief slumped back against the wall, knees sinking down. Kid yawned loudly, trying to cover it up with a gloved hand.

"You're tired?" the boy observed, raising his eyebrows as he studied the state the thief was in. Well…he wasn't the only one, actually. They both had pretty much a really long night.

"Yep," the magician chirped, futilely struggling to get back up on his feet. But he was so drained of energy…stupid Hakuba. Why the hell did he have to be in Japan? He should have stayed back in London... But at least today was the weekend, and Kaito didn't need to be in school, with the half-British detective pestering him with accusations. (Kaito was glad that Conan hadn't participated in his heist. That made everything much easier.)

"But you're tired too," Kid added. 'Tired' was more of an understatement, really. It was more like 'dead on your feet' – yeah, that would fulfill the description perfectly. Sleep would be nice…sleep would be good…

"Obviously," Conan retorted half-heartedly. But really, he had no energy at all to quarrel or chase or kick or dart - it was all he could do to just continue talking.

Upon closer inspection, one could really perceive the dark shadows under Kid's eyes – Kaito had not only stayed up late on the heist night, but on several nights previous for scouting and planning. And of course, for Conan, he was in a seven-year old body – children really did need more sleep than adults.

Kid abruptly flopped down on the floor next to Conan with unexpected speed. The boy flinched, struggling to remain alert as he watched the thief's every move.

"…what are you doing?" Conan inquired, blue eyes narrowed.

"Sleeping," the thief slurred. And to Shinichi's disbelief, Kid laid his head on the boy's lap, flinging the papers off of it with one skillful movement, and in the process, confiscating the boy's watch.

Petrified with surprise, the child didn't move an inch, only gaping in mortification. But Kid was fast asleep, hat and monocle and all (minus cape).

Under regular circumstances, Shinichi would have immediately flung the thief as far away as possible. But sleep was calling out to him…especially with the thief's warm skin pressed on top of him…listening to his deep, slow breaths as he inhaled and exhaled…pulse throbbing…soft, silky glove on his thigh…warm…

Without a second thought, Conan fumbled with his oversized glasses, placing them beside him. As if the magician was a teddy bear, he gave in to the urge to bury a hand into Kid's velvety, messy dark hair…feeling the warm sun's rays shine on both of them as the sweet scent of flowers wafted through the window…

A single flower petal drifted in, spiraling down in a hypnotic swirl.

When it finally touched the floor, Shinichi had already given himself up to sleep.