Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan/Case Closed.
Pairing: KaitoxShinichi
Rating: T
Genre: Romance/Humor
Summary: Sometimes the most simple things can be the most important.
Warnings: Kaito's thoughts get a little risqué in the fifth drabble, but that's it.
Notes: This is going to be the first installation in the "Little Steps" series. Each installation will have its own theme or running plot, and ratings will vary. Enjoy!
Little Steps: Simple Joys
Express
Kaito has always been rather forward when it comes to expressing his feelings for the love of his life. He showers Shinichi with roses and gifts (sometimes literally), steals kisses from Shinichi whenever and wherever he can (even when it isn't appropriate), and writes his love in fireworks across the sky (and roses across the campus lawns, and in chocolate across Shinichi himself, and, well, anywhere else that strikes his fancy).
In comparison, Shinichi's forms of expression are much more subtle.
"Shin-chan, what are you doing?"
Shinichi nearly jumps out of his skin. Spinning around, he presses his back against the kitchen counter. "Kaito! What are you doing back so early?!"
"The professor cut the lecture short because his daughter's baby just arrived. They called him just as class was starting. What about you? I thought you said you were going to the police station today?"
"I—um, I was just…I…"
Kaito watches in amusement as Shinichi's face grows progressively redder. His detective is adorable when he's blushing.
"Are you cooking something?" he prompts when Shinichi is still stuttering a whole minute later. The assorted ingredients, bowls, measuring tools, and other cooking utensils strewn all around the kitchen are something of a give away, but he asks the question anyway.
"Oh, yeah, yes, it's, um…" Shinichi struggles for a moment before his shoulders sag and he mumbles, "I thought I'd bake a cake."
"Without a recipe?"
The detective turns determinedly back to his task, cheeks still pink. "I've been taking classes…"
Kaito remembers the brochures he saw Shinichi hiding some time ago. "Is it that course at the local culinary school? The special, three-month one they've been advertising everywhere?"
"Yeah."
"But that course is focused on desserts."
"I know."
"You don't like sweets."
"What, so that means I can't take the class?"
Kaito hides a smile. "No, it doesn't." He watches Shinichi work for a moment longer before excusing himself. He pauses by the kitchen door though. "Oh, and Shin-chan?"
"What?"
"It looks delicious."
"But I haven't made it yet."
"Believe me, I can tell."
Shinichi gives him a weird look then goes back to his mixing and measuring.
Kaito leaves him to it, still grinning to himself. And he knows that it's going to be the best cake he's ever eaten because he knows that Shinichi learned how to make it just for him.
Reward
Shinichi doesn't like the coffee at this café, and his opinion of the food isn't much better. Therefore, Kaito is understandably confused as to why Shinichi had wanted to come here. A few minutes later though, he gets his answer as he follows Shinichi's gaze out the window to the hospital across the street.
A little girl is walking out of the front doors with her hands in those of her parents on either side of her. She is smiling brightly even though there is still a scar barely visible peeking out from beneath her sleeve.
Kaito recognizes her as one of the victims from a serial kidnapping case Shinichi helped close three weeks ago. The girl had been injured during the capture of the married couple behind the kidnappings (he remembers Shinichi feeling terribly guilty about it even though it hadn't been his fault), but it seems that she is now fully healed and none the worse for her experiences.
The relieved smile on Shinichi's face as he watches the happy family leave the hospital is one of the most beautiful things Kaito has ever seen.
"Do you want to go say hello?" he asks.
Shinichi bites his lip, thinking, then shakes his head. "They don't need to be reminded of—you know. I just wanted to make sure that everything was okay." Because that is the best reward any detective can ask for.
Fairytale
"If we were a story, we'd be a fairytale."
Shinichi raises an eyebrow. "I would have thought we'd be a crime novel or at least some other kind of mystery."
"I was talking about our romantic relationship, Shin-chan, not our jobs or night jobs, as the case may be."
"We met at a crime scene."
"That doesn't make our story a crime novel."
"What about a comedy then?"
They both think about this suggestion for a moment.
"No," they say in unison. They had both encountered too many tragedies and made too many sacrifices.
"We might make a pretty convincing tragedy," Shinichi sighs.
Kaito gives him a flat look. "I refuse to be a tragedy. You're not allowed to be one either. Like I said. We're going to be a fairytale."
"But why a fairytale?"
"Because you're my lovely princess—the one I've rescued countless times—and I'm going to sweep you off your feet, and we're going to live happily ever after."
"What do you mean by rescued countless times?"
"Let's see. There was the fire, the plane, the river, the bomb, the blimp, the—"
"Okay, okay, I get the point."
"So we're agreed."
Shinichi blushes and grumbles because he doesn't know why it matters if he agrees or not, but secretly he's actually kind of happy. He doesn't mind being Kaito's princess if it means they really can live happily ever after together.
Heaven
For Shinichi, heaven is a large cup of hot coffee and a good mystery novel on a peaceful afternoon. Nowadays, his idea of heaven has expanded a little to include a certain magician and his strong, reassuring embrace.
But the coffee and the novels are still a must.
Simple…?
Kaito is, in his own not at all humble opinion, a man of simple needs. There are really only a few things he needs in life to be happy. There is the awe and worship of his audience as he captivates them with his magic and the proud smiles of his mother and Jii at the things that he has accomplished. There is his task force and Hakuba all there for him to torment whenever he needs a good laugh and the endless, open skies through which he soars with his father's memory, a master in his element. There's chocolate and hot coco, and all the other great foods out there waiting for him to eat them. He also wants all murderers—especially murderers of people's parents—to be hunted down, thrown in jail, and preferably scheduled for the electric chair, but he tries not to spend too much time thinking about that. He refuses to let the existence of bastards like Snake sour his outlook on life. Besides, Shinichi doesn't believe in the death penalty. He would probably be disappointed to find out that Kaito believes certain criminals deserve it as long as it is carried out through the proper legal channels.
And that brings him to the last but most certainly not the least of his joys.
It is a certain brilliant, blue-eyed detective—the small, shy smile he wears when he accepts the rose Kaito gives him and the adorable blush that comes so easily to his face even now, the beautiful intensity in his eyes when he is working on a puzzle and his fierce determination to protect life and find justice, and there is the delicious way he moans when Kaito has him pinned to the bed, those soft lips that open so eagerly beneath his own, the thrill when those warm thighs part for him—
"Kaito, why are you looking at me like that?"
"Like what?"
Like I'm you're next piece of chocolate cake, Shinichi thinks, face turning pink. "Like—that."
"You're not making yourself very clear, Shin-chan."
"Never mind. I don't want to know."
Kaito laughs. So maybe his earlier statement wasn't entirely correct. The only thing he really needs to be happy is Shinichi to be his forever. Everything else just adds icing to the already sumptuous cake.
Flavor
Kaito loves chocolate. Shinichi loves coffee. They both love chocolate-covered coffee beans. The flavor reminds them of each other.
Beautiful
"Isn't it beautiful?"
Beautiful wasn't really the word Shinichi would have picked.
Below them, the KID Task Force is in a riot. Half of them are trying to stay up on ten-foot stilts today. The other half are having it out with oversized carnival games. Even Hakuba is wiggling wildly where he's been tied up in front of a giant water canon. There is just enough wiggle room for him to avoid the massive bursts of pink paint the canon is launching at him if he's diligent, but it looks like he's getting tired. It's only a matter of time before he's painted pink. And in the middle of it all, Nakamori-keibu is bellowing as he goes round and round a merry-go-round at near supersonic speeds.
Shinichi is torn between groaning and laughing (because it's funny even if he doesn't want to admit it). "Only you would find mass mayhem beautiful."
The thief laughs, leaning down to steal a kiss. "But it's not as beautiful as you."
Shinichi isn't sure if he should be flattered or not at being compared to the scene below. It's Kaito though, so he decides to be flattered.
Words
"I love you."
Three little words with so much meaning. They make Shinichi's breath hitch in his throat and his whole being feel warm.
Blushing, he looks up into Kaito's indigo eyes. "I love you too." The words come out shy and stumbling because this kind of thing is still hard for him, but he means every word and they want to be said.
-END-