Disclaimer: Detective Conan & Magic Kaito belong to Aoyama Gosho.

Ship: Eventual Kaitou KID (Kuroba Kaito) x Edogawa Conan (Kudou Shinichi)

Words: 1015

A/N: A sequel to my last fic in little time. I strongly recommend you read that first because this fic refers back to it quite a bit.

I can't take...

Chapter 1: Bet

Edogawa Conan winced. This was perhaps the most disapproving look he had seen on Haibara Ai's face, he mused. After he told her about what happened during the day and why he'd ended up at Agasa-hakase's place, he had been on the receiving end of the shrunken-scientist's creepy eye laser. He'd block it with the scarf he got from KID, but he had no doubt that her proverbial eye laser would burn right through it. While he agreed that hanging out with Kaitou KID alone like that was probably not the brightest thing to do, it's not like he had a choice since he was literally kidnapped by the thief and was completely disarmed. Oh man, now the girl let out probably one of the most exasperated sigh he had ever seen from her. Why was she rolling her eyes at him like that? He wasn't hurt after all so everything was fine, right? There was no reason for her to be mad.

"Like I said, I had no idea why he'd kidnap me out of the blue like that. Stop glaring at me."

Uh-oh, her eyebrows started to twitch. It seemed his attempt to diffuse her anger had failed. This wasn't looking good. Maybe he should take shelter somewhere now before he sustains any physical or psychological damage. That glare from her oddly made him feel like he was being taken apart under a microscope.

"Kudou-kun, you're hopelessly oblivious." Ai let out another long suffering sigh, but this time, accompanied with a face-palm.

"…why?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Ai faced Conan again, equipped with a smug expression that read she was going to drop the bomb the next second. "He likes you."

"…who?"

"Kaitou KID, duh."

Conan felt like his brain just froze from being unable to process that information. Did she just say that Kaitou KID liked him? Perhaps his ears had malfunctioned from staying in the cold for too long today. This probably required a soft reboot of his brain, and oh, he might as well ask her to clarify. "Sorry, I didn't quite catch that. Could you repeat… and maybe elaborate if you don't mind?"

"This isn't rocket science, detective," Ai spoke as she picked up KID's red rose and shoved said rose right at Conan's face. "He dragged you out for a date, insisted on taking photos together, maintained contact by holding your hand or carrying you around, gave you a red rose before he left…" Using her free hand, Ai grabbed the scarf from the couch, where Conan had deposited upon entering indoor. "If I remember correctly, KID's monocle had a four-leaf clover pattern on it. This scarf, bearing a resembling pattern, could imply that he wanted to be possessive of you. After all, its flower language is 'be mine.' And of course, the red rose was also a dead giveaway."

Conan blinked again as he continued to stare at Ai as if a mushroom just grew out of her head, while trying to fix his jaw that dislocated itself from the shock delivered by Ai's 'elaboration.' He totally wasn't expecting the child-sized scientist to make such an absurd and insane claim. "…that couldn't be possible."

"Why not?"

Conan deadpanned. "This is KID we're talking about. Someone who flirts with every other woman he meets. In case you've forgotten, I'm a guy."

"So? He could be bisexual. Or perhaps it was a gesture to hide his true sexual orientation."

"Can we stop analyzing KID already? This is getting more and more bizarre by the second. It's just KID being KID."

"Well then, give me a more plausible reason that could explain why KID chose to spend time with you instead of his loved ones before the so-called Mayan apocalypse. From what you said, it sounded like he believed in that prophecy. I'd want to spend time with people I care about as well if the world was going to end." Crossing her arm, Ai continued to hold an expression that says she won't be convinced otherwise unless he produces a more conceivable rationale.

"Honestly, this–" Before Conan could retort, he was interrupted by the breaking news shown on the TV screen. As if it was perfectly timed, the screen displayed huge texts that read 'Kaitou KID's next heist announcement,' completed with KID's trademark doodle on the side. The two not-children both put their heated debate on hold as they concentrated on the heist details recited by the reporter.

"Ooh, he wanted you guys' next date on New Year's Eve night. How romantic. Suzuki-san is gonna be so jealous," commented Ai in an amused tone that sent chills down his spine. "How about a bet, Kudou-kun?"

"…what bet?" Conan sighed as he averted his eyes from that sinister expression on Ai's face. Why did he dig his own grave when Ai questioned him about the scarf? He should've said that he bought it. Though it seemed the girl had the ability to tell whenever he was lying. And why did he feel compelled to keep that stupid rose when he could've just thrown it away?

"Let's go to that heist together to check KID out. If I was right about that he likes you, you buy me one of Fusae Campbell's latest accessories. If I was wrong, I'll grant one request from you. Deal?"

Conan flinched when Ai mentioned the 'like' word again. She was really starting to drive him nuts and it was obvious that she was enjoying it. "Fine, if you were wrong, I'm totally sending you to a shrink. You sounded like you needed it."

"Why thank you. That's very thoughtful of you," smirking with beaming confidence, Ai handed the remote control to Conan before making her way to her lab. "You might want to review the news to see if you could decipher anything else from it. I'm gonna browse the shopping catalogue."

After sticking his tongue out at the parting girl's back, Conan focused on the news report with renewed determination. KID will definitely pay for all the pain and suffering he went through today!

TBC.

Afterword: Thanks for reading! Please review and tell me your thoughts! Big thanks to everyone who fav-ed/alert-ed/reviewed my other stories, as well as everyone who put me on their author fav/alert list! ^o^

Sorry about the short chapter. The plot might not be very coherent so please bear with me XD;

Title adapted from GARNET CROW's I can't take… It's catchy and gets stuck in my head often. You'll see why I chose this title later. =3

PS. Stupid ff dot net removed the ellipsis from the title... -,_-+
PS2. Oh I got some Conan doujinshis for sale =w= please check out my profile page for link, thanks~