The second Kudou Shinichi stepped through the front doors of the Suzuki mansion, he could feel something was off – a strange, subtle shift in the large entry as eyes turned on him.

He was somewhat surprised – Hattori was there, for one, as well as Kazuha, Ran, Sonoko, Hakuba, Haibara, and Sera, and their eyes were all glued on him. The only people not watching him was Nakamori and his devoted Kid task force, who were bustling, pulling cheeks and re-analyzing Kid's heist note.

"Hey guys. I said I'd be attending the next Kid heist, didn't I?" Shinichi said, blinking under their combined scrutiny. Shaking back the sleeve of his suit jacket, he checked his watch before he looked up. "It's supposed to start in ten minutes, no?"

Hattori seemed to shake himself out of his trance and walked forward, smiling coyly at Shinichi, who could see a faint blush showing through his dark skin. "Hey, can I talk ta ya?"

"Wh – Uh, sure." Shinichi, frowning in slight confusion, followed his best friend into a more secluded room.

"Listen, Shinichi –" Hattori started before Shinichi raised a hand.

"Hattori, what is wrong with you? Why are you blushing and why aren't you calling me 'Kudou' like usual?" Shinichi placed his raised hand on the other teenager's shoulder and looked concernedly into his green eyes. "You can tell me. I'm your best friend, aren't I?"

Hattori glanced at the hand, his stomach immediately swirling at the sight. Damn you for being such a... "Shinichi, the reason I wanted ta talk to you privately is 'cuz... I want to be more than best friends." He looked down, a furious blush spreading across his face.

"Wait, in a romantic way?"

"Uh... yes." Hattori's eyes were large and pleading. "Most definitely yes."

Shinichi blinked, unconsciously jerking his hand away. "Hattori. I – no."

It was Hattori's turn to blink. "Well... that was fast. Didn't even sound like ya thought of considerin' it. Is the idea really that..." He looked down, his bangs hiding his face.

"It's not that – I'm already with someone else," Shinichi answered before questioning himself, Am I really? I'm not sure if they... share my feelings.

Hattori's head jerked up. "What?!" But I was careful to make sure nobody got too close to him since he turned back –

"Yeah," Shinichi murmured softly, his face turning pink.

Upon seeing the usually calculating detective go rosy, the other detective flinched. "Okay then. Forget about this, Shi – Kudou-kun."

Shinichi frowned at the sudden use of honorifics and turned to Hattori questioningly, but the other detective pushed open the door and left.

As Shinichi stepped out of the room, Hakuba, who had been leaning against the wall beside the doorframe waiting, ambushed him.

"Hakuba-kun?"

The blond detective took a deep breath and turned bright red before he launched into his speech. "Look, Kudou-kun, I've been a big fan of yours for a long time, and I met you during when you were Edogawa Conan. I'm positive that I've fallen for you. Could – would you consider me?"

The hell.

"I – I'm taken already? Sorry, Hakuba-kun," Shinichi automatically responded.

Hakuba regarded him warily for a moment before asking, "It's Hattori, isn't it?" There was plain loathing in his voice. "You guys are together now, aren't you?"

"What the hell? No way!" shouted Shinichi, face going red. I can't – I don't even – no!

Unfortunately, Hakuba took this as confirmation, his face darkening drastically. "That damn –" he muttered under his breath as he hurried off, intent on turning Hattori's life into a living hell.

Shinichi blinked after him. Two confessions from two detectives in two minutes. Weird. Spotting his childhood friend standing amongst a small group of girls, he strode over, interrupting Ran , Sonoko, Kazuha, and Sera's conversation.

"Hi," said Shinichi, feeling somewhat uncomfortable as silence fell over the group.

Sonoko opened her mouth, then closed it and elbowed Ran pointedly. Ran, flushing, glared at her. The two other girls motioned wide-eyed at Shinichi.

Ran groaned, and, mock-hitting them, grabbed a clueless Shinichi's arm and pulled him off. "Look, Shinichi, it's been some time since you came back, and I haven't confessed to you yet, so –"

Oh dear God. "Ran –"

"Shinichi, I love you!" she shouted, ignoring his warning, blushing, and squeezing her eyes shut.

Shinichi clamped his mouth shut before biting his lips. "Ran, I'm sorry," he tenderly explained, lifting her face so she opened suddenly tear-filled eyes, "but I'm already with someone else."

"Oh." Ran smiled through her streaming tears. "Well then, I hope you're happy and..." She broke off, sobbing, and ran off. Shinichi almost wanted to stop her, but he didn't.

"Hey."

Turning, Shinichi found himself face-to-face with Kazuha, who was looking at him for confirmation on the situation regarding Ran. He shook his head apologetically and sighed.

Face brightening, she said, "You don't like Ran?"

"No...?" responded Shinichi, confused and disturbed by her response.

"Great! This is going to sound really weird, Kudou-kun, but I – er – kind of have a thing for you. Can we... you know... date?" Kazuha stuttered.

"No, because then I'd be cheating on the person I love. Sorry, Kazuha-chan," Shinichi replied, feeling resigned.

"Oh... that's... okay," Kazuha forced a smile and speed-walked away.

Gripping his forehead, Shinichi sighed. Who else is it going to be –

"Hi, Kudou-kun!" sang a voice.

"No, I do not love you!" he immediately snapped, whirling around.

Sera blinked at him. "I wasn't going to confess."

"Oh." Shinichi exhaled.

"Well, actually, I'm here to ask for Haibara-chan over there and also for Sonoko. Do you like either of them?"

"No!"

"'Kay then." Sera grinned and bounced shyly, lower lip tucked between her teeth. "Then... how about me?"

Shinichi gaped at her. "Hell no!"

"I was joking, Kudou-kun," Sera laughed. "But for the record, who do you actually like? According to Hattori, Hakuba, Ran, and Kazuha, you said you were already taken."

"I..."

"That's a really good question, Shinichi. Who is it that ya really like?" Hattori popped out of nowhere, Hakuba on his tail.

"The idiot has a good point," Hakuba agreed, glaring viciously at Hattori who mirrored his expression.

"Who do you like, Kudou-kun?" Haibara asked, walking up with her slow steps. "Judging how Sera-san hasn't come back to me, I'm guessing it's not me."

"Or me," Sonoko added, followed by a still-crying Ran and Kazuha. She glanced back and rolled her eyes. "Or them."

Shinichi stared at people he had considered his friends until roughly ten minutes when life became hell. "It's..."

"Well?" all of them said simultaneously.

Suddenly, with a bright flash of light, Kaitou Kid appeared, standing by the gem case, arms, outstretched. "Welcome, ladies and gentlemen!" he called out in English. Nakamori and the task force scrambled to catch him, but Shinichi shoved past his crowd of admirers and reached Kid first.

Grabbing Kid's by the tie and jerking him forward, Shinichi leaned in and kissed Kid with everything he had. It was a full minute later when he released him, the other falling backward with a shocked but happy expression on his face.

Turning to the silent crowd, Shinichi smiled. "Any more questions?"

Written in 45 minutes. Hope you like it. A bit inspired by Mikauzoran's "The Truth in the Subconscious." Thanks and sorry for kinda stealing your idea. ^_^;;