Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Mischievous sunbeams peeked into the room through open blinds, sneaking up on the tangled twosome on the bedroom floor.
They tickled the pair with their warm little bodies, intent on rousing them, enticing them to play.
Yet the couple paid the morning's children no mind, perfectly content with the warmth their partner provided.
But the sunlight did achieve a small triumph managing to get one dazed, drowsy indigo eye half-open. The victory was short-lived however as the bleary blue-purple eye caught sight of a sleep-tousled dark chocolate head with an improbable yet cute cowlick sticking out, the boy suddenly aware of the warm weight on him.
The boy with azure-amethyst eyes shifted just enough to reach the long plastic stick dangling from the window and in a moment of coherence, twisted it, shutting the blinds and shutting out the sun's impish little ones.
What's a few hours more?
He scooted deeper into the mess of sheets, cuddling his human plushie to him.
The girl unconsciously snuggled deeper into his embrace, her breath on his neck, his pulse against her cheek.
They were usually such poised people with perfect poker faces, which was why their position came across as unusually expressive.
Tender.
Vulnerable.
Trusting.
Another peculiarity was that the ordinarily extraordinarily perceptive pair failed to sense the presence of two silent spectators at the ajar bedroom door.
"So that's what made such a noise last night..." Kuroba Chikage mused amused, gently pulling the door shut.
The Kuroba household hostess and her guest sat in the companionable silence of those who may not know each other well but through the virtue of the same tragedy are bonded by that single tie of Fate.
That tie was Kuroba Toichi.
And now it would seem that second tie is soon to be made through Toichi's son.
"It's been too long, Jii-san."
"Far too long, Mistress Chikage."
Those words and two steaming cups of milk tea were between them.
"You are my Toichi's most trusted and loyal friend and confidant. Call me Chikage, onegaishimasu." Stirring then a sip followed.
"Arigatou gozaimasu. But you are still my master's wife, Toichi-sama's 'most beloved and cherished jewel'. Allow me to address you with the respect becoming of you."
A sad smile gave the beautiful Chikage a melancholic aura.
"Arigatou, Jii-san."
Another sip and the melancholy quickly turned nostalgic. " '...beloved and cherished jewel' as opposed to 'prized and treasured'..."
A hum and the nostalgia transformed into mischief.
"It's obvious where Kaito gets his charm from~"
The memory of the two tangled teenagers still fast asleep upstairs flashed through their minds.
"Yet unlike I with Toichi, Shinichi-chan put up- and is still putting up- quite a fight before giving in." The giggle after was affectionate.
Hesitation then a sip.
The old man sighed. "Well... Yes, Mistress. That is actually what I have come to discuss with you."
Another sip.
"Oh?"
Another sigh.
"The detective girl and this increasing... 'closeness' between her... and Kaito-bocchama."
Another sip.
"Why? What about it, Jii-san? I personally think they'd make a cute couple. And I'm certain I'll have even cuter grandchildren." She winked over the rim of her cup.
Another sigh.
For a grown woman to act like such a teenage girl...
Even in the face of the possibility of her own son being endangered...
He smiled small.
Toichi-sama was the same way, making light of a situation, whistling- laughing- through the graveyard.
Their son turned out the same way, as well.
Master Toichi and Mistress Chikage suited each other well.
"I'm just concerned, Mistress. You know of Kaito-bocchama's... 'inheritance' from Toichi-sama... His father's nighttime persona. The Kudou detective is his prime enemy. The only person I have ever seen, and I even concede, to be capable of beating and unmasking Kaitou Kid. She is smart. Fast. Clever. She can beat him." Jii voiced.
And it was true.
From the day of the female high school detective's return, debuted during a Kid heist, he knew the girl was a dangerous adversary for his master's son.
She decoded the note ten minutes into her appearance inside the taskforce headquarters, the same note that had been an arduous trial for the entire force for three weeks. (The young master had been especially particular about that one; someone "special" was expected that heist and he wanted to put his best, he said.)
She uncovered Kaito-bocchama disguised amongst the crowd. He was costumed as an unassuming salesman who was supposed to blend into the crowd and was only recognized because the man he dressed as had died just hours before. She should know. She solved his murder and caught his killer. (What luck.)
She was three steps ahead of him, preventing him from stealing that night's conquest, coordinating the usually bumbling taskforce well enough to actually corner him, kept the people on-site small enough to discourage another disguise and dodged every single one of his tricks and traps.
"As expected from Kudou Yuusaku's daughter! In fact, she's actually better than Yuusaku-kun!" Chikage remarked with delight... and just a hint of pride.
The night of that heist, Jii was in attendance due to his concern over the young master's growing fixation on that little seven-year old elementary school detective, Edogawa Christie. That night marked not only the passing of the title "Kaitou Kid Enemy #1", and Kid's fascination, from Christie to Shinichi, but also Jii's continued presence at the young master's next heists thereafter.
He saw Kaito's determination to beat her.
He saw his persistence to get to know her.
His insistence that he hated her.
His tenderness towards her that suggested otherwise.
The denial.
The acceptance.
The confession.
That kiss...
The girl reeked of trouble. And he could not resist that scent of it. The seductive scent of his doom.
"I fear for him, Mistress. This 'closeness'. The detective could very well find out. Anytime now. Nakamori-chan is an innocent, but Kudou Shinichi cannot afford to be so naive. In fact, it is even surprising that she still does not know, or even suspect, that Kuroba Kaito-"
"-is Kaitou Kid? She already knows." Chikage finished for him with her own reply.
Jii's concern swiftly turned into alarm.
"She knows?! He told her?!"
"No. She figured it out herself."
Alarm became incredulity.
"By herself? How long has she known?"
"Since the first ten seconds they've met, if you believe Kaito."
Incredulity changed into disbelief.
"She just walked right up to him in a bookstore and said, "You are Kaitou Kid.", then walked away. Kaito stood there for about two minutes gaping before he had the mind to run after her and ask her out." Chikage continued, halfway through her drink. "She said yes. And here we are."
Disbelief into confusion.
"Then why has she not turn him in...?"
A pause.
A gasp.
Pondering.
Chikage looked up from her cup, leveling her gaze with the old, frail man's. Never had he seen the bubbly, buoyant, nonchalant Chikage so serious.
"I..." She began, as if not knowing how to continue.
"... have..."
"... no idea!" She clapped delightedly. Jii sweatdropped. Of course.
"But.." She began once more, much more contemplative.
"For whatever reason Shinichi-chan has for keeping Kaitou Kid's true identity a secret... I am eternally grateful to her, nonetheless."
She smiled.
"For saving his life... For keeping him safe... For helping him fight his enemies..."
The smile turned sweeter.
"... And for making him happy."
Really.
Whatever that reason may be, the fact that her son was not missing, in jail or dead was enough for Chikage to entrust her boy's life and safety to Shinichi.
Along with his secret.
Along with his heart.
"Won't she be just a wonderful daughter-in-law?" She cooed.
"Ne, what's with all this talk about in-laws and turning someone in?"A voice called from the doorway.
There in a white T-shirt and striped flannel pajama bottoms was the yawning, rumpled-haired man of the morning, Kaito.
"It isn't polite to leave a woman in bed, Kaito."
"It's more impolite to wake someone up when you know they're dead beat tired . And even more so when some people have the nerve to talk about said exhausted person whilst she's out cold and dead to the world." Kaito retorted, grabbing a carton of chocolate milk and a glass, reheating that morning's coffee on his way to a seat at the breakfast table.
"And hey, Jii-chan? I'd really appreciate it if you'd quit saying mean things about Shin-chan. I know you're worried and all but you don't have to be, 'kay?"
Silence was punctuated by sips, gulps and the soft simmering of black coffee.
"The detective girl is trouble, Kaito-bocchama. And you certainly need no more of that."
Another silence.
Amethyst met onyx.
"She's worth the trouble."
"Ohayou, minna." A soft, sleepy voice greeted.
Kudou Shinichi, tousled and rassled in a white buttoned-down long-sleeved shirt three sizes larger than her stepped in.
"Gomen. I slept in."
"Ohayou, Shin-chan~!"
"I'll make pancakes."
Taking the mug of black, sugarless coffee from Kaito's hand, Shinichi smiled at them, then looked at the old, frail man.
"Ohayou, Jii-san."
"Ohayou gozaimasu, Musume-san." Jii smiled, a fail in the Poker Face Test.
Author's Ramble: Musume-san means "daughter".