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

Pairing: KaitoxShinichi

Rating: T

Genre: Romance/Humor

Summary: Both heirs to wealthy family businesses, neither Kaito nor Shinichi were pleased to be told that their parents had arranged that they tie the knot. But it seems they have no choice but to play along with the marriage until some problems are solved. On the other hand, good things are sometimes found in strange places.

Take it or Leave it

Chapter 1 - The News

"…What?" Kudo Shinichi couldn't keep the incredulity out of his voice as he stared at his mother in mixed horror and—to a degree—amazement because he would never have thought that even his crazy parents would come up with something like this. It had to be his ears playing tricks on him.

"You're getting married," his mother said again, beaming at him like this was supposed to be wonderful news. Her lips continued to move as she described how and when this would happen and to whom she had apparently taken it upon herself to promise him, but none of the words registered through the numb fog that had descended over Shinichi's brain.

So his parents could reach new heights of insanity after all. He wasn't sure why this surprised him, but it did.

He glanced over at his father. The man was reading the newspaper like none of this was any of his business. Was that a smile? Clearly there would be no help from that quarter. Not that there ever was.

He turned back to his mother. "Mom," he said in a moment when she paused to take a breath. "You do remember that I'm your son, right? Not your daughter." Of course, that had never mattered to the woman when she wanted to dress him up, but just this once he thought it was a tidbit worth mentioning. Just in case it had slipped her mind. Again.

Kudo Yukiko blinked at her son. "Of course I do. Is there a problem?"

Shinichi stared back at her for a moment, weighing his options, then deflated as he realized that there was no point. His parents always did whatever they liked regardless of anyone else's thoughts on things. Even so, he had to say something. "Mom, I've never even met this Kaito person. How—"

"Oh but you have!" she cut in before he could finish. "You two used to play together when you were little. You know, back when we were still living in Japan. But of course then we decided to move to America and Toichi and Chikage went back to France. Oh it's been such a long time since we've seen them! What a beautiful occasion for a reunion!"

Shinichi opened his mouth then closed it again. For a moment he seriously considered the merits of screaming, but he decided against wasting the effort. His second thought was to run away. That might be nice, but he knew he wouldn't. Crazy as his parents were, he still cared about them. And they did usually have reasons for the things they did, whether or not those reasons made sense to other people. Besides, it was pretty unlikely he'd be able to actually hide from them for long.

"I don't suppose either of you wants to explain to me the real reason why you're doing this?" he asked instead, not really expecting anything. He was not disappointed.

"We just don't want you to be lonely," Yukiko gushed. "You're always keeping to yourself, and you never want to go out and have fun with real people. It isn't healthy! Your studies are important and books are great and all, but there's so much more to real life that you need to experience!"

"That has nothing to do with getting married," Shinichi objected, but his mother steamrolled right over his protests.

Kudo Yuusaku turned a page of his newspaper, never once bothering to look up.

Groaning, Shinichi dropped his head into his hands. Maybe this was all just a nightmare and he was going to wake up at any second. Yeah, that was it. Just a nightmare…

Ha! If only he could be so lucky.

On the bright side, if he kept quiet, there was always the chance that it would all blow over. Aside from being prone to spontaneity, his parents also tended to change their minds on a whim. It was why they spent so much of their lives moving from one place to another. He'd just have to keep his fingers crossed.

-0-

In another part of the world, one Kuroba Kaito was taking the news much more calmly than Shinichi had. He wasn't, however, any more pleased to hear it. He had never been one to let others decide things for him. Learning that his parents had found him a fiancé without consulting him therefore did not put him in a good mood.

He didn't really care if they'd played together as toddlers. That was so long ago that he didn't remember a thing about it. And even if he did, you could hardly know a person from a few meetings when you were two. Besides, he was perfectly capable of finding a romantic interest on his own. Just because he had not yet decided to do so didn't mean he didn't have ideas about what kind of person he wanted to spend his life with.

Kaito's parents, however, had explained things to him much more thoroughly than the Kudos had to Shinichi.

"You remember the Koizumis."

It wasn't a question because both Kuroba Toichi and his son knew that the answer was a yes.

The Koizumis were, Kaito reflected, hard to forget. The whole family was… Well, if he had to put it politely, they were not pleasant people. He had met their daughter, Akako, at a jewelry convention the previous year. She was a beauty, he'd admit that much, but being nice to look at was about the only redeeming quality she had as far as he was concerned (though her massive following of fans would probably disagree).

She had, to his chagrin, taken a liking to him at the time. She didn't say as much, but he could tell from their conversations each time they met at the convention and her less than subtle attempts to get close that she did. Not only that, but she was also certain that he should feel honored by her favor. Her assumption that everyone should fall happily at her feet had annoyed him, and her forwardness had fanned the flames. She wasn't so much confident as officious, and it had been absolutely maddening. If it hadn't been for the fact that his father had drilled it into him that there were things gentlemen just did not say to ladies, he would have liked to tell her exactly what he thought about her behavior.

Pulling his thoughts back to the present, Kaito shrugged. "What about them?"

"We've been losing a lot of business to them lately," his mother, Kuroba Chikage, replied. "Well, not just us actually. Now they're angling to buy us out."

"Can they do that?"

Toichi picked up the thread. "Not yet. However, they have been gaining a lot of weight lately."

"Possibly through a few unscrupulous means," Chikage muttered under her breath. She had always had a strong dislike for businessmen who employed underhanded tactics.

Toichi shrugged. "That may or may not be the case. However, the problem that we need to deal with right now is how not to become another of their victims."

It was the threat of being absorbed by the rapidly expanding Koizumi Foundation that had awakened this idea in both sets of parents' heads. Apparently, Kaito was informed, this wasn't an entirely new idea. The two families had always been good friends, having known each other since their younger years in school. When Kaito had been born then Yukiko was found to be pregnant later the same year, the two mothers had been stuck by the thought that their children could really bring the families together. Yukiko had wanted a girl, and being Yukiko had been certain that, therefore, girl she would get. Then nine months later Shinichi had arrived and they'd all had a good laugh at the ways of fate and the idea of a marriage had been shelved. Now however, with both family businesses on the verge of being swallowed by the Koizumi Foundation, it had occurred to them that the old agreement might serve as a good defense.

"You both have different fortes," his father had told him. "I believe you will work very well together."

Kaito considered asking why joining business forces had to have anything to do with joining families. Then he realized that it was just the fast way that needed the least explanation. It would also draw attention.

Where Shinichi had left his discussion with a general dread of the upcoming future, Kaito left in a more thoughtful mood. He still wasn't happy about the arrangement, but he understood a few important things.

One, this was, in essence, a political matter.

Two, it was more about the show than the facts.

Three, these facts meant that the arrangement could be temporary.

Four, temporary or not, if his parents were right and he and this Shinichi could work well together (in the business sense), it would be beneficial. If they found that they couldn't get along, they could always go their separate ways after the Koizumis were dealt with.

When all was said and done, there was no real harm in going along with it for now. At least until he had a better grasp of how to work the situation.

With that in mind, he set about researching the Kudos.

He started with Kudo Yukiko because her name was the most familiar. She had started as an actress at quite an early age. Soon after her marriage, however, she had decided that it was time for a change of scenery. During her last movie, a mishap with the props had led to a hurried reassembling of costumes in which Yukiko's quick improvising had saved the production from a long delay. The incident had sparked an interest for fashion in the young actress, and she had decided to explore the field. Her status as a famous actress had attracted an audience and her own talents had made her first show a great success. It grew from there, and soon she was expanding into accessories and so forth.

And that was where her husband came in. Kudo Yuusaku, according to his parents, had always been a good writer. He used to write little stories for their school papers as well as for his own entertainment. When his wife started designing, he'd started writing little stories to go with her work. And as it often was with art, the stories made people even more enthusiastic about it all than they might otherwise have been.

Long story short, they were now known all over the world.

Their son, according to all accounts, was a highly intelligent young man who preferred to keep to himself. Like Kaito himself, he was currently attending university. He did, however, help manage quite a few accounts for his busy parents. Every now and then he attended events with them, but most accounts made him out to be quite taciturn.

It wasn't much to go on, Kaito mused, but it was a start.

-0-

Standing in the airport as his mother hugged him farewell, Shinichi wondered where all the time had gone. It seemed like only yesterday that his parents had broken the news to him, but in reality it had been a whole two weeks. It hadn't been nearly long enough. He still couldn't quite believe this was happening.

But believe it or not, he was being swept into the gate by the other passengers and soon he was buckled into his seat. Now only a handful of hours stood between him and utter insanity. The plane was headed for Japan because his parents and the Kurobas had thought it would be perfect for the meeting to take place where they had purportedly met as children. Shinichi was a little surprised that his parents weren't tagging along, but that was the one ray of light he'd had in this whole situation. It meant he wouldn't have them breathing down his neck when he met this Kuroba Kaito.

He sagged in his seat. Maybe he should just throw himself out of the plane and be done with it.

-TBC-