My brain randomly handed me the prompt "significant present" while I was reading around in the Bleach section on Archive of Our Own. I decided, "Well, there isn't a shortage of symbolic objects in DC, so why not?" and rolled with it, and thus, this was born.

AU info: Two years after start of series, meaning Shinichi has been Conan for two years. Cool? Cool.

Warnings… uh… introspective, senseless fluff, shounen-ai, probable grammar mistakes/errors… the usual, basically.

Beginnings

Cupping his chin in his hand, Kuroba Kaito absently traced his thumb over his bottom lip as he contemplated the object sitting calmly on the desk before him.

A pair of glasses.

Not just any glasses, really. Oversized, wide frames with heavy modifications – at the click of a button, one side clouded into a grid of sorts, and it seemed the end of one arm hid a small microphone.

It was fairly obvious who they had belonged too.

Kaito had found them the previous night, waiting for him in a small, unmarked box on the rooftop of his heist spot, the Beika Museum of Fine Art. He wouldn't have noticed the box at all had it not been placed directly at the exact spot he needed to use to launch his hang glider due to the erratic wind patterns.

That alone had sparked his curiosity. Clearly someone knew his penchant for leaving via the rooftop after heists and also had studied his hang glider to the point that they could calculate what wind conditions were necessary for a successful takeoff.

It was incredibly impressive, considering that obviously Kaito wouldn't allow anyone to study his hang glider voluntarily, and the person would have to understand the design through only seeing it from a distance.

While Kaito had been reasonably cautious when approaching the unmarked box, he had eventually opened it to find, at first, a pile of newspaper clippings.

The clippings, upon closer inspection, were not just simple packing supplies and actually appeared to be all related to the Kaitou Kid – articles about heist announcements, pieces on the origins of heist targets, stories on Kid being accused of murder. The oldest one dated to about two years prior. Most of them were comfortably worn around the edges, as if they'd been handled often.

Despite the slight creepy factor, Kaito had continued to dig through the papers until his hand bumped into an object that hadn't felt like paper in the least. Kaito had shoved aside the paper until he had uncovered it to find a pair of glasses.

Initially, Kaito had just been vaguely confused until he really looked at the glasses. It became increasing clear who their owner was.

Edogawa Conan.

The gesture confused Kaito. These were obviously rather important to the man – er, kid – an essential part of his paper-thin disguise (though honestly, Kaito probably couldn't say anything in that regard). If Conan lost the glasses, he lost the one item that protected his identity from Ran.

Kaito had gotten it at that point.

Once the glasses were gone, Conan's identity was no longer of consequence.

Kudou Shinichi would be returning.

And now, Kaito sat staring at the glasses. Ever since he'd realized that, he'd been puzzling over the meaning of tantei-kun's action – though he was starting to think he was overthinking it just so he could find some deeper meaning that might make Kaito feel better about not getting a real goodbye.

Wouldn't the glasses he'd always worn during the rather important two-year-long part of his life he'd been a six-year-old mean something to him, be a symbol he'd want to save for the memories? Some sort of keepsake, maybe? Kaito could even imagine him giving them to Ran one day when he explained Conan to her.

So how had they ended up in Kaito's possession? Wasn't he just a pesky annoyance that Kudou occasionally deemed worthy of his attention? Wasn't that all he was to the detective?

And to be honest, Kaito almost would've preferred Kudou explaining in boring detail that Conan was leaving and he was returning? What, was it too difficult or something for him to say that kind of thing?

Kaito's gaze slid over to the box that was perched on the edge of his desk. The newspaper clippings seemed to stare back at him, as if asking, You got a problem with us?

And what did they mean? It seemed Kudou had personally cut and saved each article on him. They looked a little tattered, too, as if Kudou went through them often. Didn't that imply that he liked to read about Kid?

All things considered, didn't that imply that during his incredibly significant time as Conan, Kid had been the most memorable, important person to –?

Oh.

A wave of understanding rolled over Kaito, and he had to smile. Tantei-kun loved his roundabout little mysteries, didn't he?

- two months later -

Kudou Shinichi stuck his toothbrush firmly in his mouth as he scrolled down the page of news displayed on his phone. He made a sound of surprise as one headline in particular caught his attention – "Kid leaves the stage, claims to retire."

Shinichi blinked, surprised. The toothbrush dangled unbidden from between his lips, but he didn't bother to right it. Kid was retiring?! Now?!

He stood in his bathroom, frozen, for a long moment before he shook himself and set his phone down, going back to his usual morning routine. It wasn't his business what Kid did, as much as he wanted it to be. And Shinichi doubted Kid's sudden retirement had anything to do with his own recent reappearance. Shinichi hadn't been in contact with him since he'd returned, anyway. He couldn't have any remaining members of the Black Organization that might've escaped thinking Kid would make a good target to get under Shinichi's skin.

It was a little funny how Shinichi kind of, sort of missed the phantom thief. He almost wished he'd said a goodbye in person instead of just leaving the box with his old glasses. Gripping the handle on his toothbrush a little harder, Shinichi wondered if he'd managed to get the calculations right when he'd placed the box. With any luck, he had, and the farewell gesture hadn't been missed by the intended recipient.

He inwardly flinched a little as he remembered how he'd used the newspaper clippings as cushioning. He couldn't have very well asked Ran, really, for packaging, as that would led to all sorts of prying, curious questions, and asking the professor for some would pique Haibara's curiosity, and if Shinichi explained himself, he would probably get accused of being in love with Kid. Which, while, er, admittedly true, it was not the kind of thing he wanted to discuss with Haibara of all people.

In the end, Shinichi hadn't been able to find anything else. He could only hope that Kid didn't think he was some sort of obsessive stalker.

A few minutes later, Shinichi spat out toothpaste and rinsed out his mouth, catching his reflection in the mirror. It was still so odd to see his own face, his own now eighteen-year-old face, staring back at him. A good kind of odd, though.

Still slightly troubled by the whole deal with Kid – he'd give anything to know what that guy was thinking – Shinichi was just stepping into a pair of jeans when he heard the doorbell chime downstairs.

Clicking on his phone, Shinichi raised an eyebrow at the 8:04 a.m. that was written across the screen. Eight in the morning on a Sunday? Wasn't it a bit early for Ran to be popping in? He could understand, though. The past two months, she'd been frantically surprise visiting him, as if to check that he was there to stay.

Hurriedly buttoning up his shirt, Shinichi headed for the front door, calling a, "Coming, coming," as he tried his best to flatten his bedhead into something respectable. By the time he reached the door, he had given up.

Shinichi opened the door dismissively, expecting to see a perfectly assembled Ran smiling brightly at him. "What's up, R…"

He trailed off at the sight of a very familiar indigo-eyed man standing awkwardly on his doorstep, one hand in the pocket of his jacket and the other pressed against the back of his neck.

At first glance, it was painfully obvious who he was.

"Kid." Shinichi blinked once, twice, thrice, racking his brain to find a reason that the Kaitou Kid would have come to his house. It had always felt, to him at least, that they'd had an agreement that neither of them would approach the other outside of heists.

"Kudou." Kid smirked. "Good to see you, too."

"Why are you here?" asked Shinichi hesitantly, frowning at him. But damn if it wasn't nice to see him again. Shinichi himself had to admit that he most definitely missed that stupid smirk.

Kid seemed to falter at that, dropping his hand from his neck. "Well…" He smiled, this time a just the slightest bit uncertainly, and pulled out something from his jacket pocket. Taking one last stabilizing breath, he extended his hand to Shinichi with an expression that clearly read Take this.

Eyebrows drawing together, Shinichi offered his own hand, and Kid dropped the object into it. Shinichi held it up to the light to find that it was Kid's monocle, pristinely clear with the familiar clover charm dangling off one side.

This…

"This is your monocle," Shinichi said softly, looking up to meet Kid's eyes bemusedly. "Why are you giving this to me?"

Kid met his gaze steadily, though Shinichi detected the slightest hint of pink in his cheeks. "For the same reason you gave your glasses to me."

What?

Shinichi had given his glasses to Kid as a subtle way of showing how much Kid had meant to Shinichi during his time as Conan. He'd given his glasses to Kid as a way to thank him for a good many fun times and a relationship he treasured.

But most important and most obviously… he'd given his glasses to Kid as a goodbye.

Shinichi's hand tightened around the monocle.

"So this is goodbye, then," he managed, surprised at how steady his voice was.

"In a way, yes," Kid agreed, and Shinichi was positive his heart dropped to his feet at that. "This is Kid's farewell to tantei-kun."

Of course.

Shinichi was about to give a stiff nod and shut the door –

Wait… Kid's farewell…?

Kid stuck out one hand, smiling impishly. "Hi. I'm Kuroba Kaito, magician extraordinaire."

Shinichi stared at him for a second before he grinned back and clasped Kaito's hand in a handshake. "Nice to meet you. I'm Kudou Shinichi, amateur detective."

Yep, just some more fluff to tide everyone over until I get myself into gear and actually finish that fic I started. Ugh.

Sorry it got a bit senseless. I'm a bit more than tired (as in, drop-dead exhausted), but I thought I should try to post something. Yeah.

Well, if you enjoyed it, consider dropping me a review, k? Till we meet again, darlings! - Luna