Shinichi ran her hands lovingly over the leather of the steering wheel. The engine hummed quietly, a muted growl that could be turned into a roar with the push of a pedal.

Drive me, the car whispered seductively. I complete you.

The car, a birthday present from her mother, was on its first drive, a pointless circuit around the city. Shinichi had been too eager to try it out to wait for a proper reason to drive, or even for morning. It was a pity that she was alone in the car though- both Ran and Hattori had vehemently refused to step foot inside the vehicle with her behind the wheel, Ran even turning an unhealthy shade of green at the thought.

But maybe it was better this way, just Shinichi and the car. A bonding moment like this was best spent alone, after all. The light of the moon shone silver on the car's inky black surface as it rolled through the streets, as silent and graceful as a lion stalking a gazelle.

Shinichi sighed in contentment, a satisfied smile settling on her lips. Maybe she should give it a name, one worthy of such a useful sidekick. She could call it Watson, but Hakuba already had that covered. Conan, possibly, as a tribute to her-

A figure dressed in blinding white darted across the road and Shinichi slammed on the brakes, ripped violently from her musings. The sound of a gunshot split the air and the figure dove across the hood of the car, falling out of sight behind the passenger door. With a familiar sinking feeling, Shinichi saw several people spill out of a building across the road. A lot of them were holding weapons.

The passenger door was yanked open and the figure Shinichi had almost hit threw themselves in.

"Drive!", they shrieked wildly.

The sight of the people leveling their guns at Shinichi's brand new car was the deciding factor. The tires screamed as she floored it, both she and the stranger thrown back in their seats. There was a thunk as the latter hit their head against the window.

"Seat belt!", Shinichi barked, her eyes narrowing at the sound of tires screaming behind them. A midnight chase in her brand new, extremely expensive car? Fabulous.

My mother is going to kill me.

The figure was struggling beside her to pull the seat belt across themselves against the sudden twists and turns Shinichi was taking, occasionally knocking their head against the window as they did so. Through the haze of confusion colouring her mind, Shinichi saw the white suit (now with added blood splatter!), a ridiculous top hat, the glint of a monocle.

"Kaitou KID?!", she screeched, the tires screaming along with her as she took a sudden left turn into a narrow road.

KID braced himself against the movement, feet up against the dashboard, one arm pushing against the ceiling. "What?! Yes?" He squinted at her, trying to see by the light of the streetlamps zipping by them.

"Kaitou KID! You're in my car!"

"Yes, I-" KID froze, violet eyes widening as he finally recognised her. "Oh, sh-"

SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-

Shinichi slammed on the brakes and KID was thrown forwards as they came to a sudden, screeching halt. As he clapped both hands over his mouth, his face slowly turning a delightful shade of yellow-green, Shinichi twisted in her seat and remarked, "I think we lost them."

KID opened the passenger door and spilled out of the car, falling to his knees on the ground outside. The smell of burning rubber filled his nostrils, not helping his backflipping stomach one bit, and he saw smoke rising from the tire tracks stretching back from the end of the street.

The sound of a car door slamming caught his attention and he saw Shinichi walk casually around the end of the car towards him, giving the vehicle an affectionate pat as she did so.

"Oh, don't be pathetic", she said scornfully, seeing him on the ground. "You've done worse things than that. Don't tell me you get travel sick?"

"No", he mumbled, lowering himself carefully onto the cool pavement. "I'm tantei-chan sick- urp." He ended his sentence with a quiet retch.

Shinichi muttered to herself for a second, rolling her eyes at the thief lying face-down on the pavement. He ignored her, electing to wait for the nausea to abate instead. He groaned when she nudged him with her foot.

"Come on", she said, her voice only marginally gentler. "Get up."

"Nooo", he moaned pathetically. "Just leave me here to die."

"Um, no, that's not something that's going to happen."

"Tantei-chan, why are you so mean? This is your fault anyway."

Shinichi raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me? Remind me, who exactly dove into my car and wailed for me to drive?"

"I didn't wail-"

"You wailed. Pathetically."

"Shuddup", he mumbled, feeling the sting of gravel pressing into his cheek. It was oddly soothing.

"Look, I'm not going to leave you lying here. For one, you're rolling around in full Kid-getup in front of my house-"

KID's eyes snapped open. "What?!", he yelped, sitting bolt upright. "You took me to your house- urgh..."

Shinichi waited for the splatter of vomit to abate before she spoke again. "Well, yeah. Where else was I supposed to take you? Besides, you need medical attention, and you can't exactly go to the hospital dressed like that."

KID looked down at himself, seeing scarlet stains decorating his suit. "Not all of it is mine", he volunteered helpfully.

Shinichi's eyes narrowed until they were just two, diamond blue slits in her face. "Get up", she said formidably. "Now." She turned on her heel and stalked down the driveway to her house.

KID stared at her retreating back, then reluctantly got to his feet and followed.

Twenty minutes later, KID was sitting at the counter in the Kudo family kitchen, staring down at the bandages on his arm. He had only a few injuries, the biggest one being his arm, which had been grazed by a bullet. Shinichi had left to get some more bandages for his glass-lacerated face, ordering him not to move until she got back. To his mild surprise, he hadn't.

It was weird though. To think that of all the people he could have bumped into, it would be Shinichi Kudo. Even more weirdly, she was helping him. She hadn't thrown him out of her car in some random place in the city, she hadn't kicked him into oblivion before hauling his limp and bruised body to the police. Instead, she had taken him to her home, her safe and private place, to dress his wounds and keep him from harm. She had even brought down some clothes for him to wear in place of his KID suit, old clothes her father wouldn't miss.

Maybe it was guilt. Time and time again, Shinichi- or, rather, Conan- and KID had issued challenges to each other, had fought each other with magic and deduction, had even helped each other out in tight spots. They had created a strange sort of rivalry, a friendship of sorts from those interactions, one that had come to a sudden halt when Conan had disappeared from the face of the earth. Her disappearance had coincided with the take down of a criminal organisation, one that had spanned the globe, committing many heinous acts before their existence was brought to light. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the two events were connected, especially when the teenage detective Shinichi Kudo once more took her place in the Kudo Manor that had stood empty for so long.

What kind of stung was that Shinichi, his tantei-chan, hadn't returned to his heists after her reappearance. The challenges KID had issued had gone unanswered, even the ones specifically directed to her. It had been over half a year now since their last rooftop meeting- until tonight.

That reminded him...

KID slid his hand into his pocket and came up holding a jewel a large as a chicken egg. Not the one he was looking for, but it obviously had some significance, given that Snake and his employees had been so desperate to get their hands on it. KID couldn't help wondering just how much it was worth-

"Should you really be flaunting stolen items in a detective's house", said Shinichi dryly from the doorway. She looked amused as KID flinched, obviously surprised by her silent entrance.

"You never came to my heists", he said.

The small smile that had settled on her face was extinguished, replaced with a harder expression. KID saw guilt in her eyes before she looked away.

"I'm not obligated to answer to your every beck and call, KID", she said, setting the bandages on the counter. "Will you keep it down? My parents are light sleepers."

"You never answered at all", KID said, setting the jewel down onto the counter. Shinichi's eyes flickered to it and away.

"I had some things to sort out. An organisation to take down, secrets to tell..." She brandished a pair of tweezers and took a hold of KID's chin. "Keep still. You've still got some glass in there."

For a second, KID thought he had misheard her. "You told them- ow!"

Shinichi dropped a shard of bloody glass onto the counter next to them. "Only the people that mattered. Ran was pretty shocked to find out I had been living under her nose all that time." She grinned suddenly, a mischievous expression KID had never seen before lighting her face."Good thing I'm not a boy, huh? I don't think Ran would ever forgive me for all the baths she forced me to take with her as a kid."

KID felt his face heat up at the mental image and received an amused look from the detective as she plucked another shard out. "That still doesn't explain why you've ignored me for all this time", he said, trying to ignore the pleading note in his voice as he spoke. Shinichi's eyes, as deep and blue as the night sky, seemed to be avoiding his, focusing a little too intently on the cuts on his face. "I sent out heist notes and you didn't answer them. I reached out to you and you didn't respond." He paused for a moment, feeling his heartbeat pounding in his chest. "I think you've got all the glass out now", he added softly.

Shinichi closed her eyes in defeat and sat back. She looked down at the tweezers in her hands, twisting them nervously before steeling herself to meet KID's eyes.

"I like you", she said, blurting the words out. Her words seemed too loud in the silent kitchen, rebounding off the walls and repeating the message for all to hear.

Opposite her, KID blinked a few times, nonplussed. He had insisted on keeping his monocle on, for all the good it would do, and his violet eyes had grown wide with surprise. Deep inside, behind the layers of crippling embarrassment and dread, Shinichi felt a little triumphant. Who knew it would take so little to get the thief to drop his poker face?

Shinichi took a deep, shuddering breath, wishing the ground would split open and swallow her. But KID wasn't talking and the silence was growing uncomfortably bigger with each passing second they both stayed silent.

She forced herself to meet the thief's eyes again, those eyes she had secretly loved since over a year ago. "I know it's stupid", she began, hearing her voice waver with nerves. "I've liked you for a long time. For, like, over a year. And... well, I knew you'd never like me back. Not just because I looked like a child, but because I'm a detective, and we both know you're not a fan of detectives." KID's face seemed to harden at those words, but Shinichi plunged on regardless. Too late to turn back now. "When I turned back into an adult, I decided to stay away from you and your heists. I convinced myself it would be better this way- I could fall in love with Ran, like everyone expected us to, and you'd forget about Conan... and some day you'd meet someone as brilliant and insane as yourself and be happy with them."

Shinichi ran out of words and stared down at her knees, feeling her face heat up with mortification. No doubt KID would laugh at her now, or maybe pull some stupid trick to escape without having to answer her. She was an idiot to think-

"Did it work out?"

Shinichi looked up. KID was staring at her, an unreadable expression on his face. His eyes brimmed with an emotion Shinichi couldn't put a name to.

"What?", she said blankly.

"Did it work out? With you and Ran?"

"... No." Too angry and hurt to forgive Shinichi any time soon, Ran had withdrawn from her for over three months, giving Shinichi enough time to realize that any feelings she might have harbored for her childhood friend had long since been eclipsed by her love for KID. Not that she was going to tell him that.

"Good", KID said, and leaned forwards. Shinichi had only a second to realize what was happening, to see the smile on his face before his lips were pressing against hers, soft and perfect. His hand came up to cup her face and she pulled him closer, running her fingers through his hair, marveling at its silkyness.

When they eventually parted, Shinichi grinned up at KID. He was partly straddling her lap, his violet eyes darker than usual. He smiled back at her, for once not the razor-sharp grin he usually displayed, but something sweeter and more honest.

"I never thought I'd get to do that", he said, sounding a little breathless.

"You never thought- at least you know who I am", Shinichi said, rolling her eyes. "Trust me, you had the easier task."

"I invited you to my heists for a reason", KID said, winding a lock of her dark hair around his finger. "And as for not knowing who I really am..." He gave her a sudden mischievous grin. "Well, we'll have to remedy that."

Yusaku yawned as he felt his way down the stairs, half-blinded by sleep. Pausing in heading towards the kitchen for a glass of water, he noticed the library light was on. As he neared the doorway, a whispered conversation could be heard:

You've got hide, seriously, if my dad finds you-

He'll do what? Tantei-chan, I'm a world-renowned thief, I think I can take some middle-aged-

That's not the problem! The teasing will be endless- you think I want everyone to know you were in my house in the middle of the night?

I am not hiding under the table-

Yusaku poked his head around the doorway to see Shinichi standing by an opened window. There were books scattered over the table, some on astrology and a few on precious stones. Odd.

"What are you still doing up?", Yusaku mumbled. He thought he'd heard someone talking, but he was half-asleep...

"I thought I heard something", she said calmly, turning from the window. "But it was nothing."

Yusaku was too tired to be suspicious. He nodded, withdrawing from the room. "Don't stay up too late."

"I won't. 'Night, dad." Shinichi turned and closed the window, ignoring a muffled snicker from the bushes outside.

In hindsight, she probably shouldn't have been surprised when a messy-haired, violet-eyed boy turned up outside the house the next day, offering to take her to lunch.

A/N

Yay, my first oneshot! It's the first time I've ever written a story so short, and I had to keep on resisting the urge to turn it into something bigger.
I may do a few more oneshots in the future, just because my school work makes it incredibly difficult to focus on a multi-chapter story.

Does this story fill you with indescribable delight, or make you lose all faith in humanity? Tell me via review :)