Slightly plotless, overly dramatic fluff, because everyone needs it sometimes. Enjoy! - Luna

Something Like Love

Kudou Shinichi sat in his oversized and overly sterilized hospital room at Ekoda General, which he had been allotted only an hour ago. A gorgeous but pushy brunette nurse had bandaged up his wound, despite his protests that it was nothing.

In return, he had received a sharp glare, a sarcastic, "Of course it's nothing. You've only been shot, after all," and a promise to be checked in on later. She had then left, leaving only a distasteful tsk and the glassy clack of heels against linoleum in her wake. Odd for a nurse to wear heels during her shift, Shinichi thought absently to himself.

Lounging back against surprisingly soft pillows and cringing at the throb of pain at his side, Shinichi allowed a small smile to slowly slip across his face as he remembered the events of the past three hours.

three hours earlier –

Shinichi ran up the stairwell, his breath preceding him in short bursts. He had to smile though, even as his lungs burned. With his original body back, it made Kid heists easier. The running bit, at least.

Reaching the top of the stairs, Shinichi forced the door to the roof open and lunged forward, catching his breath easily. Across the rooftop stood a figure dressed in white with a whispery cape rippling behind it, holding up a glittering gem so that the moonlight filtered through it.

The figure turned – easily recognizable as the infamous Phantom Thief 1412, or Kaitou Kid. He was smiling behind that damn monocle, which made Shinichi want to smack him, because even he could see the thief's disappointment.

"No matter how many smiles you tack on, Kid, we all know you're just faking." The words, shivering in the night air, hurried over to the thief and nestled against his neck, breathing down his shirt.

Kid raised one long, delicately gloved finger, allowing the Kid-esque grin to drop right off, replaced by a bleak affair that barely counted as a smile. "Not true, tantei-kun. Inspector Nakamori and the rest of the population don't seem to notice anything."

Shinichi eyed the ghost cautiously. "You've been stealing for eight years now, Kid. I've been chasing you for seven of those, six as Conan and one as me." He motioned at his twenty-four-year-old body. "It would be hard not to notice how you've been getting… ridiculous."

"Ridiculous?" The thief arched an eyebrow as he tucked the jewel into his breast pocket with practiced deftness. "Whatever do you mean?"

"Your heists. They're getting less dramatic and more frequent, hinting that something's going wrong. You're worried about something, aren't you? I've barely been able to catch you at the rooftops recently, like usual," Shinichi said, gesturing at their surroundings. "You always take off too fast."

Kid shrugged, a little raise of shoulders that hung in the air like a tangible thing. "Could be I'm avoiding you."

Shinichi gave an irate snort. Both he and Kid knew they were just dancing around the issue. Over the years spent pursuing the phantom thief, Shinichi had grown dangerously fond of him, and he was sure the converse was true. The rivalry had faded, leaving just two… friends? The word didn't quite suit the situation. It was like they were more than friends, almost… almost…

Leaving the thought unfinished, Shinichi handed his attention back to the white-clad thief, who was simply standing there with his gloved hands trapped in his pockets. "So really, Kid, what's up?"

Kid sent his gaze to the ground, avoiding Shinichi's carefully. "It's not that I'm getting desperate, really, it's that they are," he muttered, then cringed upon realizing Shinichi had heard him.

"They?" Shinichi's eyes narrowed. He couldn't possibly be referring to the Black Organization, could he? Shinichi had taken them down long ago, when he had first returned to being himself.

"I… nothing," Kid said in a distinctly nervous, un-Kid-esque sort of way.

Shinichi's eyes hardened as he stared at Kid, trying to read the thief's body language. It wasn't proving much, as he had long since dropped into the familiar stance of elbows loose, hands locked in pockets, head tilted downward with that damn grin on the lips.

Suddenly his gaze shifted to the side, to the abandoned, dilapidated building situated across the street, behind Kid. The grimy, jagged teeth of the broken windows gave way to the darkness inside, and normally Shinichi wouldn't have noticed anything out of the ordinary with the building. But for a second he had thought he'd seen a glint, something out of place when all shiny surfaces were hidden beneath dirt…

His eyes widened as he realized he had seen a glint – the glint of moonlight off the barrel of a rifle, a rifle that was aimed directly at Kid's back. And as soon as he had made that realization, he saw the flash – the flash signaling that a bullet had just exited the weapon.

Time slowed down. Shinichi seemed to fly, a "Kid, move!" escaping from his lips. Kid's indigo eyes widened as Shinichi crashed into him, shoving him to the side.

And then pain shot through Shinichi, stemming from his side as the bullet tore through. A gasp cut off from his lips as he dropped to his knees, heavy breaths dropping from his opened mouth. Panting, he looked back up to see the shooter re-aiming, again for a still shocked Kid.

"Kid," Shinichi gasped, and Kid looked down, eyes still huge. Taking his chance, Shinichi snatched the thief's card gun out of his pocket.

Stumbling to his feet and ignoring Kid's worried, "Don't move, you're shot!" he took careful aim and kicked the card gun as hard as he could, watching with satisfaction as it met its mark, hitting the sniper straight in the face. Even from the roof, he could hear that surprised grunt and the thud of a body hitting the ground.

Then Shinichi collapsed, jagged breaths still tearing from his mouth. He pressed a hand to his pulsing side and pulled it away, grimacing at the crimson that dripped from it. In the back of his mind, he heard footsteps rattling up the stairs, footsteps belonging to Nakamori and the Kid task force.

"Tantei-kun –" Kid started, his voice laced with alarm, but Shinichi gasped out, "Leave. Go."

"But –" the thief protested, only to be cut off as Shinichi gave him a glare.

"They're coming," he got out. "You need to leave before the shooter gets back up or Nakamori gets here."

Hesitating as the footsteps grew louder, Kid stood at the edge of the roof, opening his hang glider. "You just…"

"I'll be fine!" Shinichi snapped. "Now go!"

Kid barely made it off the roof as the door exploded and officers swarmed the rooftop. As Nakamori shouted, "Kudou-kun, you've been shot?!" he smiled, despite the pain, as Kid disappeared into the night sky like the phantom he was.

Because Shinichi although didn't know why, he was feeling something like love.

- present –

The returning tap of heels pulled Shinichi from his memories. He looked up to see the pretty nurse returning, wearing a sour expression. She set down a tray with water to the side of the bed and sat down in the chair meant for visitors, surprising Shinichi.

"So, I heard you got shot at a Kid heist," she started, not meeting his eyes.

"Yes, I suppose that would technically be correct," Shinichi agreed.

The nurse didn't speak for a moment, and Shinichi looked into her lap to see her fingers clenching tightly.

"What's wrong?" he asked, perplexed.

"It was a Kid heist!" she burst finally. "Nobody's supposed to get hurt at a Kid heist, but you… you got shot…"

"Are you a Kid fan, then?" Shinichi blinked, still puzzled by her behavior.

"Not at the moment," she answered, averting her gaze. "I'm so incredibly mad at him that he let somebody like you get hurt…"

Shinichi stared at her. "Uh, what do you mean by 'somebody like me'?"

She looked at him, and he was surprised at the strangely familiar shade of indigo her eyes were. They were almost like… almost like… "I mean exactly that. Somebody like you, ta…" The nurse suddenly cut off. "Nothing." She paused, and Shinichi frowned, hearing heavy footsteps hurrying down the hall towards the room.

"I'd better be going, then," the nurse quickly excused herself, nearly running from the room.

Left gaping, Shinichi started when the door flew open and Mouri Ran, his childhood friend, stormed in, eyes wide with concern. "I'm sorry, Shinichi, I would've come earlier, but I had to wait for Eisuke to get home so he could take care of Hanako, since Sonoko and Kyogoku-san are in Izu visiting Kyogoku-san's family and Satou-san wasn't picking up."

"Is it really okay to leave your husband with your six-month-old daughter?" Shinichi wondered, quirking an eyebrow and laughing at Ran's irritated expression.

"Kazuha-chan and Hattori-kun should be coming soon. I called them after Inspector Nakamori called me," Ran continued. "Anyway, have you gotten attention yet?"

Shinichi nodded. "A nurse came in and bandaged me up. Since the bullet went all the way through, it's –"

"Stop, stop, I do not need to hear about that," Ran groaned, sitting down in the recently vacated guest chair. "Has a doctor come in yet?"

"No, only that nurse," Shinichi replied.

Ran nodded. "Let's see… I think the doctor they assigned you was… Kurata? K… Kagura? K –"

"Are you talking about me?" Both Shinichi and Ran looked up as the door opened once more. In stepped an attractive young man with very messy brown hair, an amiable smile, and… indigo eyes?

Shinichi's eyes widened.

Oblivious to her childhood friend's plight, Ran stood and bowed. "Are you going to be Shinichi's doctor?" she asked politely.

"Yes." The man nodded. "Kuroba Kaito at your service."

Shinichi's mind was going blank. It couldn't be.

The man smiled placating as he strode forward and stood beside Shinichi's bed.

Shinichi was now positive. Those eyes…

"Excuse me, miss, but would you mind giving us some privacy? I would like to check his wound," Kuroba asked, turning to direct the request at Ran, who nodded and excused herself quietly.

Shinichi was still gawking at the doctor, who was looking down at him, seemingly contemplating something.

"You…" Shinichi got out, but that was all he could before lips were suddenly pressed against his, warm and intense.

When Kuroba finally pulled back an eternity later, blushing madly and looking ready to apologize, Shinichi could only stare at him, shell-shocked.

But the shock was soon replaced by a smirk as he pulled a slightly surprised Kuroba back down. "Hey there, Kid," he murmured before proceeding to kiss the magician senseless.

He was definitely feeling something like love.


Yep, that was pretty much fluff. But honestly, fluff is so fun to write! I read a ton of it this morning in the Fairy Tail section, which probably explains how this was born.

Yeah, I know it doesn't make sense for Kaito to be a doctor, but I wanted him to be, so I kind of just... made him one. Yay?

Don't forget to take the poll on my profile! You get to decide what I write next~

Gem of a Person may or may not be on hold for a bit, since it seems to be losing popularity.

Till the next oneshot!

- Luna