Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan/Case Closed.

Pairing: KaitoxShinichi

Rating: T

Genre: Romance

Summary: Every color holds a memory.

Spectrum

Red

Red is the color of roses: soft, deep, and full of warmth and passion.

Or rather, that is what they are now. It had not been so at the beginning.

The first rose was a joke, presented laughingly at a particularly colorful heist. Possibly in honor of the coming of spring, KID had decided that night to dress everyone who came to the art gallery as flowers. Nakamori was a giant sunflower with a wide frill of bright yellow petals around his face and massive, green leaves attached to his arms. There were daisies and tulips, camellias and lilies, lilacs and daffodils and orchids and a whole lot else besides. Hakuba, however, was the only unfortunate soul to be made into a dandelion. This was unfortunate because it meant his entire head had been wrapped in a huge ball of white fluff. Unable to see where he was going, he was being buffeted this way and that as he struggled and failed to pull the cover off his head. His muffled curses were almost as bad as Nakamori's.

As for Shinichi, he had found himself standing beside the night's target—a large, pink diamond ring—dressed in a gown entirely composed of Sakura blossoms. He knew instantly that he'd been cast as the princess said to have been the ring's first owner. The story went that her beloved had given her the ring under the cherry blossom trees in her palace the day before he went into battle. He never returned. However, the princess never did love another, and her ghost was said to still linger in the ring. There were even rumors that you could hear her weeping on warm, spring nights when the moon was full.

He glared at the grinning thief standing before him. The thief who had swept into a courtly bow and offered him a crimson rose.

"Alas, I am afraid I must borrow your ring, my lady, but do accept this token as a sign of my appreciation," the thief had said, indigo eyes bright with laughter. Then he'd pressed the flower into Shinichi's hands before the detective could protest, leaned in and whispered "Welcome back", and vanished in a shower of flower petals.

It wasn't until much later that Shinichi learned that he had gotten the princess role because Kaito had decided that giving the detective three-inch heels would be a wonderful way to prevent any kicking. Shinichi decided that day that he was going to learn how to kick well while wearing high heels.

As rivalry shifted into friendship, and friendship grew into love, the roses began to take on new meaning, blossoming into what, perhaps, they had meant to be all along.

Shinichi noticed the change when he found himself growing more and more unwilling to simply throw the roses away. Kaito noticed because he found himself feeling pleased that Shinichi was starting to keep his roses.

The first rose that was given without a hint of teasing, however, was given indirectly and not at a heist. Shinichi was in the hospital that day. He had, once again, been at the site of a bombing. Though he had managed to get everyone out in time to avoid any deaths, he, along with the last two people to leave the building with him, had been caught on the edge of the explosion. None of them were too severely hurt, but their injuries were enough to land them in the hospital for a few days. On Shinichi's first night, a bouquet of roses arrived for him with a 'get well soon' card attached. The sender didn't give a name, but Shinichi knew instantly who the flowers were from. The fact that no one had seen the person who left them at the front desk for him was something of a giveaway.

It was as he lay in his hospital bed, looking at the roses that a nurse had helped him put in a vase, that Shinichi suddenly understood why he'd started keeping KID's roses. The realization made him blush, but it made him happy too.

The next time KID teasingly offered him a rose on the roof of a new hotel, Shinichi accepted the bloom and smiled up into the thief's shadowed face. He was rewarded by a flicker of surprise in the thief's usually unreadable eyes. The KID's manic grin softened into a warmer, much more genuine smile. And Shinichi knew that the thief had understood too.

For the longest time, the roses were all that connected them when they parted to return to their own lives. Their own worlds.

Because of that, even years later, roses continued to hold a special place in their hearts.

"Kai, I told you to stop covering the bedroom with rose petals. I'm tired of sweeping them up all the time."

"Aww but Shin-chan, they add to the atmosphere."

Orange

Orange was the color of Kaito's tie the night they finally "met" as themselves. Yes, orange, not red. It was a Halloween party, you see. It was being thrown by the Suzuki family in one of the hotels they owned. Shinichi had been invited because, though they often had their differences, he was technically one of Suzuki Sonoko's friends. Also on the guest list had been Nakamori Ginzo. It was the family's way of thanking him for all his hard work in the many cases in which Kaitou KID had targeted jewels owned by the family (whether by chance or because of another of Jirokichi's challenges). The man had brought his daughter, and his daughter had brought four friends. One of those four friends had been Kuroba Kaito.

It was a costume party, being on Halloween and all, and the magician had come in what looked suspiciously like Kaitou KID's uniform complete with cape. However, instead of the blue dress shirt, he'd been wearing a black one. And instead of a red tie, he'd had an orange one. The ribbon on his hat too had been orange rather than blue.

He started pulling tricks almost as soon as he walked through the hotel doors. He was an instant hit. The younger party attendees in particular all crowded around him, excited to see more tricks and to get to know a real magician. It wasn't every day you got to meet a real stage magician, let alone one that was around your own age. It was, Sonoko declared, just oh so exciting!

Shinichi had rolled his eyes at that, but he'd been smart enough not to do it while the heiress was looking. Parties weren't really his thing. Costume parties were even less so. But Ran and Sonoko had insisted that he come. They had also bullied him into a costume. It was a cat costume of all things, complete with furry black ears and a long tail. It was a bit embarrassing, but he knew it could have been much worse.

Anyway, he hadn't had any idea that Kaito was at the party too until Sonoko had dragged him and Ran across the ballroom towards a particularly excited crowd.

"So then, who'd like to volunteer?" Kaito was asking as they pushed their way through the crowd.

Sonoko's hand shot up and began to wave wildly. "Oh, oh! I will!"

Kaito's head turned in her direction, but it was Shinichi's eyes that he met. Their gazes locked, and for a moment it seemed as though they were the only two people in the world. Then indigo eyes moved on to Sonoko as Kaito welcomed her to his makeshift stage.

After the show, Sonoko had insisted on introducing the magician to her two friends.

And Kudo Shinichi met Kuroba Kaito.

Yellow

When anyone brings up the color yellow, the same image crosses both their minds. That image was of a small yellow buggy. Agasa's yellow buggy, to be exact.

It was supposed to be another camping trip with the Shounan Tantei. However, the professor had gotten a last minute invitation to attend an inventors' convention in America. Thrilled at the opportunity, the professor had asked Shinichi to take the kids camping instead. When Kaito caught wind of the trip, he invited himself to join them. Not that anyone minded. The Shounan Tantei all loved the eccentric magician. Haibara was a bit more reserved on the issue. After all, she knew exactly who Kaito was, and so she knew that he was far from harmless. But she had come to appreciate his presence in Shinichi's life.

The problems started somewhere in the middle of nowhere. The road they had been taking had been blocked by a bad accident. Because of it, they were forced to take a detour through some long and very remote little back roads. Somewhere in the midst of those narrow, winding roads, the engine of the buggy let out a very unnatural sound and stopped working. Kaito, being quite experienced with mechanics from building all sorts of gadgets and whatnot, popped the hood. He announced ten minutes later that, while the problem could be fixed, it required replacement parts. Replacement parts that they did not have.

"You mean we're stuck here?!" Genta exclaimed. His horror was mirrored on Mitsuhiko and Ayumi's faces.

Haibara wordlessly pulled out her cell. "There's no reception."

"Maybe someone will pass by," Mitsuhiko suggested hopefully. "Then we could ask them for a ride. Then we could call a tow truck to come here for the car."

"That's a possibility, but I'm afraid it might not work," Shinichi said, frowning. "We haven't seen a single other car for the past two hours and a half."

There was a moment of silence during which everyone thought back and realized that this was true.

The map revealed that it would take an entire day of walking to get anywhere inhabited. Since it was already late in the afternoon, it was decided that they would just have to camp out here and start walking first thing in the morning. They made their way into the forest and found a suitable clearing. It was as they began setting up camp that Ayumi gasped and pointed.

"Look! There's a light."

And there was. Peeking from between the trees a long way off was a tiny speck of light. A short debate later, it was decided that they would all go to investigate. It was a good thing too, since it turned out that the source of the light was much farther than it looked.

It was a large building that bore a certain resemblance to a log cabin except that it was supersized and had three floors. The light they had seen was coming from one of the windows on the top floor.

"It looks haunted," Ayumi said in a quavering voice, eyes wide in the dark.

"Sure does," Kaito agreed with a wicked grin. "It must be some rich guy's old, abandoned villa. It must be full of old ghosts just waiting to drag unsuspecting intruders into the underworld!"

Shinichi scowled and jabbed his elbow into the magician's side. "Don't scare them." Then he turned to the kids. "It's old, but it looks like someone still lives here. Let's see if they'll let us stay the night."

"But are you sure it's safe?" Mitsuhiko asked uncertainly. "I mean, this house is in the middle of nowhere! Maybe it's a hideout for some criminal trying to avoid the law."

Kaito nodded sagely. "He has a good point. This place would be an awesome hideout. I mean, what could be more inconspicuous than a three-story log cabin?"

Shinichi elbowed him again. Sarcasm wasn't going to help them either. Knowing that further discussion would only lead them in circles, Shinichi stepped up to the front door and knocked.

There was no answer.

He knocked again.

Still, no answer. Then again, the only light was on the third floor. Perhaps it wasn't surprising that whoever it was couldn't hear.

"Let's try the door," Kaito suggested, nudging Shinichi aside. Using his body to block his actions from view, the thief deftly dealt with the lock. "Oh hey, it's open."

Shinichi gave him a look but didn't comment.

Kaito poked his head into the dark hall beyond and shouted at the top of his lungs. "Hello! Is anyone home? Sorry to intrude, but we need a little help!"

They all listened intently as the silence settled back in. It was several minutes before they heard the distinct sound of slow footsteps. The footsteps were accompanied by a low, groaning creaking sound that made the kids huddle together and begin whispering about ghosts and villains again.

The wrinkled face that loomed out of the darkness with a lamp casting upward shadows across its ridges elicited stifled screams from the trio, though Haibara hushed them.

The old woman blinked owlishly at them and lifted her oil lamp a little higher. "My goodness," she murmured. "And who might you be?"

"We're sorry to bother you, but our car broke down near here," Shinichi explained. "We were wondering if we might be able to borrow a phone."

"There aren't any phones here," the old woman said with a chuckle. "The family only comes here when they want to get away."

"In that case, would it be possible for us to stay the night here?" asked Kaito.

The old woman considered them for a moment then nodded. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt. Only Lady Akiko is here right now, and she welcomes guests."

It turned out that they had stumbled across a wealthy family's private retreat. The old woman, her husband, and their two sons were the caretakers of the place. The Lady Akiko the old woman had mentioned was the youngest daughter of the family. She often visited the place on her own (it appeared that she and the caretakers' elder son were involved). The whole lot of them had been in the middle of dinner when the little camping party had arrived. The light they had seen had been from the dining room, which had been built on the top floor because of the view. Lady Akiko invited them to join in the meal. This made her an instant favorite with the Shounan Tantei.

It was near the end of the meal that Genta let slip that they had suspected the house was abandoned and haunted when they'd first lain eyes on it.

"Oh, but there is a ghost here," the caretakers' younger son said.

All three real children froze. "What?!"

"We call her the Blue Lady because saying her real name brings bad luck. As long as you don't name her though, she's harmless."

"So who was she?" Kaito asked, curious.

"Well, the story goes that she was the youngest daughter of the man who first built this house," Lady Akiko replied with the lighthearted cheer of the utterly un-superstitious. "They say she went mad with grief when her fiancé died in a landslide just three weeks before their wedding day. The family didn't know what to do with her then, so they kept her here. It was all rather sad. They say you can hear her crying in the night even now."

The Shounan Tantei gasped in fascinated horror.

"I haven't heard a thing though," the caretakers' elder son told them, laughing. "And I used to stay up all night listening."

"Well I've heard her," his younger brother boasted. "I've seen her too! She was floating by the window at the end of the hall outside this dining room. Oh, and I've seen her in the bathroom mirror too."

"I told you those were the curtain and the patterns on the bathroom walls," his father said with a kindly smile, shaking his head. "You don't want to go around frightening people with such stories, do you?"

There was no more talk of ghosts at the dinner table.

"Wouldn't it be interesting if we really saw a ghost?" Kaito remarked later as he and Shinichi got ready for bed. They had been given two guest rooms. The kids took one, and their two chaperones took the second.

Shinichi snorted from where he was folding his jacket. "No, it would not."

"Why not?"

"Aren't ghosts supposed to be unhappy souls with unfinished business? If they were real—and that's a big if—then seeing one would just mean that there was someone who was so unhappy that they couldn't even move on. If you ask me, that would be much more tragic than interesting."

Kaito blinked then chuckled, shaking his head. "I guess you have a point." Stepping up behind Shinichi, he wrapped his arms around the detective's waist. "We certainly were lucky to find this place," he murmured into Shinichi's ear. "Even if it is haunted."

Shinichi shivered at the feel of warm breath tickling his ear. "I'm just glad no one's turned up dead."

"That would have been a bummer," Kaito agreed with a soft chuckle that Shinichi thought was a little inappropriate for the subject at hand. The magician's somewhat calloused hands slid up under Shinichi's shirt to lie flat against his stomach. Kaito's touch was warm, and it tickled. Shinichi had to swallow the urge to giggle. He elbowed Kaito instead.

"Stop that," he hissed, trying and failing to wriggle out of Kaito's grasp. "Let go of me already."

"Don't wanna~," Kaito sang out into his ear before leaning down to kiss and nibble at Shinichi's neck. The detective shuddered involuntarily. He could feel his resolve to resist slipping away. He began leaning back into Kaito's embrace and tilting his head to give the thief better access to his neck.

That was when the door crashed open and the Shounan Tantei came tumbling into their room in a gasping, wide-eyed heap of flailing limbs.

Shinichi sprang away from Kaito so fast that it looked like he had teleported.

"Ghost! There's a ghost!" Genta was yelling.

"We saw her!" Mitsuhiko was saying at the same time, eyes wide with mixed terror and excitement.

"She was there!" Ayumi blurted along with them. "At the end of the hall just like he said!"

All three children continued to babble. Flashlights rolled across the floor as they waved their arms to illustrate the story. With all of them talking at once, it was all but impossible to actually hear any of them. But it didn't take a genius to figure out what had happened. Obviously the three had gone ghost hunting (again), and they had found what they were looking for. Or at least they thought they had.

Shinichi looked from the kids to Haibara, who was standing in the doorway with an amused look on her face. The little scientist shrugged.

"It did seem like there was someone there," she said.

"What are you talking about?" Genta demanded. "Of course there was! It was the ghost lady!"

Eventually, Shinichi had offered to accompany the kids back to the hall where they had seen the ghost. The whole group did just that, but, though they scoured the place from end to end, they found no signs of another person, ghost or otherwise. Despite that, the children ended up sleeping in Kaito and Shinichi's room.

"They really can be troublesome little brats can't they?" Kaito muttered into Shinichi's ear later as they lay side by side on a blanket on the floor (they'd given the kids the beds). Shinichi elbowed him. "Seriously Shin-chan, you've got really bony elbows."

The following morning, the caretakers gave them a map and instructions on how to find the nearest payphone.

As they were leaving, Shinichi chanced to look back at the lodge. That was when he saw the face looking out of one of the third floor windows. His hand shot out to seize Kaito's arm. The magician turned around in surprise then followed Shinichi's gaze up to the window.

"Is that Akiko-san?" Shinichi asked even though he knew the answer.

"Doesn't look like her to me."

Their gazes met before they both glanced up at the window again.

The woman was gone.

Green

According to Shakespeare, jealousy is a green-eyed monster. Shinichi doesn't know about green eyes, but the monster bit he can see. Many of the criminals he has helped the police arrest had been driven to commit crimes by jealousy. Those cases, he thinks, went to prove just how horrid and pointless jealousy was.

Of course, he has to concede that such emotions are all part of being human. It was how you dealt with it that determined if it made you a monster or not.

It was of this knowledge of just what a terrible and irrational thing jealousy is that he reminds himself whenever Kaito starts flirting with the women they meet. It is just the way Kaito is, after all. The magician doesn't mean anything by it, and it really would be stupid to get upset over something so trivial. And Shinichi doesn't do stupid.

If he occasionally locks Kaito out of the house or forgets to make the magician's portion of dinner, well, he is still human. He is entitled to a little bit of upset. Besides, Kaito is perfectly capable of buying himself dinner. And the man would be a poor excuse for a phantom thief if he couldn't let himself into the house without a key.

For Kaito, things are completely different. He never saw the point to trying to reason away your own feelings. He has always and would always walk a careful line between impulse and reason. He understands Shinichi's point about the dangers of jealousy, but he sees no point in endeavoring not to feel something. Futile battles aren't his thing. That being said, he has his own ways of dealing with it when the monster rears its head (he doesn't know if it has green eyes either).

Kaito knows that he would regret it later if he lashes out at the offenders. For one, Shinichi would be disappointed. Kaito would be disappointed in himself as well. For another, only fools solved their problems with violence, and Kaito was no fool.

So, instead, he lulls the monster to rest by reassuring himself that there is nothing to worry about. He does this by pulling Shinichi aside and kissing him senseless (among other things). Shinichi is and would always be his. Others might look, but Kaito is the only one allowed to touch his detective.

And when he has Shinichi pinned under him and crying out his name, he knows that he really does have nothing to be upset about.

No force in heaven or hell would ever make Shinichi admit it, but he finds the dangerous gleam that appears in Kaito's eyes when the magician is jealous kind of hot.

And that probably means he's losing his mind. Especially since he might sometimes—only sometimes, mind you—be fanning the flames a little on purpose. He does this simply by pretending not to notice what's happening.

Okay, to be honest, he didn't used to notice. But years of being in an intimate relationship with an unrepentant master liar means that he's picked up a few things out of necessity. Nowadays, he's not quite as oblivious as he used to be.

So he does notice at the mystery convention that Kaito is getting irritated with all the people crowding around, eager to speak with a real live detective. And such a famous, young one at that.

He notices, but he pretends he hasn't and goes on chatting enthusiastically about the latest mystery novels with his new acquaintances. After all, he loves discussing books, and good discussions about mystery novels didn't come around every day.

He isn't at all surprised when, later, he walks into one of the many small reading lounges set up for the convention to get a book and instead finds himself cornered.

"You know," Kaito purred into his ear, low and dark and dangerous. "I'm beginning to think you like provoking me."

The lock on the lounge door clicks, sealing them in even as it kept the rest of the world at bay. Shinichi knows that his fate too has been sealed.

A blush rises to his face as his heart begins to race. He's backed up against the large desk in front of the bookshelves. Kaito leans over him, his hands resting on the desk to either side of Shinichi's hips, trapping the detective under him. Their bodies are pressed flush against each other.

Shinichi finds he can't breathe.

There is no escape, and Shinichi knows it. But that's okay. He is exactly where he wants to be.

Blue

Blue is the color of freedom. It is the open sky: vast and all-encompassing.

When he is flying, Kaito feels invincible—well, more than he usually does. He feels as though the world is his and his alone.

He has the same feeling when he looks into Shinichi's eyes. He can see the sky in them. When he looks into Shinichi's eyes, he feels like he is flying.

Purple

Purple is the color of promise.

It began with a scarf.

It was winter. They were both in university. It was not the first winter that they had spent together. Rather, this particular winter was memorable because it was the first time that Kaito was invited to perform abroad.

It was December 6th when Kaito boarded the plane for New York. Shinichi watched the plane take off from inside the airport. The machine was a silver speck against the grayish blue of the evening sky.

They didn't trade calls very often. The time difference and their busy schedules made coordinating calls far too difficult. And, of course, long distance calls were costly. Instead, they traded texts. They were short little messages about random little, inconsequential things: the weather, funny things they'd seen, what they'd eaten, and whatever else came to mind.

The one thing they didn't talk about was how much they missed each other. There wasn't really any point. They both knew it was true. Saying it would serve no purpose other than to bring their spirits down.

Though they didn't bring it up, both their hearts lifted as the date of Kaito's return flight drew near.

Then it snowed.

First it snowed in New York.

Kaito's flight was delayed.

Then it snowed in Tokyo. It was a veritable blizzard.

Kaito's flight was delayed again.

By the time the plane was cleared to fly, Kaito was thoroughly annoyed with snow.

It was Christmas Eve. The festive lights all over New York were beautiful, but all Kaito could think about was that he would be home soon.

Shinichi arrived at the airport exactly one hour before Kaito's plane was to land. He knew he was too early, but he'd found his mind wandering all day. If he couldn't focus then there was no reason to keep trying to do any work.

When he arrived at the waiting area, it had begun to snow again.

Sitting by the window, he could feel the cold of the snow radiating through the glass.

Overhead, the monitors displaying the arrival times flashed. The landing time for the flight from New York kept getting later and later.

Still, Shinichi waited.

The snowflakes drifting past were fluffy and pure. They spiraled out of the deepening darkness: silent and coldly beautiful.

Something warm and soft landed on his shoulders. Shinichi looked up in surprise. And there, smiling at him, was Kaito.

"You're going to catch a cold like that," the magician said, wrapping the purple scarf he had just deposited on Shinichi's shoulders more securely around the detective's neck. "Sorry to keep you waiting."

Shinichi returned his smile and let Kaito pull him to his feet. "I didn't mind waiting."

He didn't mind waiting for Kaito because he knew that Kaito would always come back for him. Kaito had promised to, after all. The magician would bend reality if he had to in order to keep his promise to Shinichi. Therefore, the least Shinichi could do was wait for him

He didn't say any of this, but he knew that Kaito understood. He could see it in the magician's warm grin and the (slightly possessive) arm that Kaito wrapped around his waist.

Now, Kaito always brings him something with the color purple on it when he returns from extended trips.

Pink

The world was pink with cherry blossoms. It is soft and ethereal. It is the color of friendship and of family.

It was the spring of the year they graduated from university. Both of them had been busy, but they had made plans to meet for the cherry blossom festival. All their friends were going to be there. It was one of the first times they'd all been free for a while.

Kaito had secretly arranged for both his mother and Shinichi's parents to be there. The elder Kudos hadn't been back to Japan for almost two whole years, and they had to be at a conference that would coincide with Shinichi's graduation, meaning they wouldn't be able to attend. So Kaito had decided that they could celebrate early.

He picked up his mother first then drove to the airport to pick up the mystery novelist and his wife. Together, they had gone to the cherry blossom festival.

Unbeknownst to Kaito at the time, their friends had planned a surprise of their own. How they had coaxed Shinichi into cooperating, Kaito would never know.

The sight of a blushing Shinichi all dressed up in a festive, floral kimono to match the cherry blossom theme had managed to do what everyone else had thought was impossible and render Kuroba Kaito speechless (a sight Shinichi would recall fondly for all the years to come. The morning of being treated like a life-sized doll the girls could dress up that he had endured had been worth it just for that. That look of shocked awe had made him feel warm and tingly and rather like he'd accomplished something big. But he was going to keep that thought to himself).

The moment had shattered when Kudo Yukiko squealed and proceeded to try and squeeze all the air out of her embarrassed son.

The rest of the day had been spent in the bright, blissful dream world of floating petals and laughter. There had been good food and much cheer. If a day could be perfect, that day had been.

The picture on the wallpaper of Kaito's phone is of himself and Shinichi sitting beneath the cherry blossoms that day, surrounded by a haze of pink. He still likes to tease Shinichi about how pretty and delicate he'd looked all dolled out. The blush on Shinichi's face whenever he does this is, he fancies, the same shade of pink as those blossoms had been.

Black

Shinichi's nightmares still writhe with black clad shadows with cruel little eyes and grotesque grins. Usually, they go away once he wakes up, fading back into the past and the dustier corners of his mind. But sometimes the darkness lingers, and he'll find himself lying stiff as a board, staring up at the ceiling. He'll be drenched in a cold sweat and trembling all over but unable to move. Sometimes, he can't breathe, and his heart would be pounding away inside his chest so loud that it drowns out all other sounds.

When he is alone, he will lie there unmoving until the first rays of dawn begin to creep in through the window, chasing away the darkness. It is only when the shadows are gone that he can move again.

When Kaito is there, things are better. The thief is a light sleeper, and he always seems to know when Shinichi has a nightmare. On those nights when the blackness strikes, Kaito will gather his trembling, silent detective into his arms and carry him downstairs where he makes them hot chocolate. Then they sit together in the warm glow of the living room lights until Shinichi falls asleep with his head on Kaito's shoulder and his fingers twined with the thief's fingers so tightly that he might never let go.

And when Shinichi wakes up again from a dreamless sleep, he will be back in bed with Kaito's arms wrapped protectively around him. At those times, cliché as it might sound, he thinks that he falls in love all over again.

White

White is a lot of things, but, more than anything else, it is the color of moonlight. It's only natural.

They had first met under the moonlight. And it had colored almost all of their early encounters.

Even now, years later, moments in the moonlight feel special to them—like they have stepped into a world of their own.

Leaning on the balcony railing, Shinichi closed his eyes and tilted his head back, inhaling deeply. His lungs filled with the clear, crisp air of the night. Below, the city lights spread away in a glittering sea. Overhead, the moon hung, bathing the world in silver light.

In his mind's eye, he saw again that moment on a hotel roof when a phantom in white had descended from the sky, a silent shadow with a dangerous, all-knowing smirk. He remembered the shiver that had run through him. It had been a thrill of excitement mixed with awe and trepidation.

Never would he have guessed back then that he would end up not only becoming friends with the infamous thief but becoming lovers.

He started as strong arms wrapped around him from behind, pulling him back against a warm, solid body. "What are you thinking about?"

Shinichi smiled, letting himself relax into the embrace. "I was thinking that I'm glad we met."

Kaito paused for a moment then chuckled. Unwinding one arm from around his detective's slim waist, he cupped Shinichi's face, turning it just as he leaned forward to steal a soft, lingering kiss. "Me too."

-End-

Notes: Happy holidays!