Note: Happy Belated Birthday Cesela! Not sure if you have this in mind but…here you go! I had fun writing this!
Even though this is turning out to be a little creepy. And weird. And OOC…
And the first time doing a whole fic in Kaito's POV…wheeeee
Unbeta-ed
-o-
It started with a red origami paper crane that he found on his desk one morning in school.
It was folded, just lying sadly on his wooden table, waiting for someone to take the final step and blow it up to life.
The only reason none of his classmates had found out about it was because he had arrived early in school, saw it and kept it hidden. It would not do for the whole school to find out about the inevitable rejection he was going to give the poor, clueless soul who was going to confess their infatuation to him. Between magic, Pandora and a certain detective with the most beautiful, cerulean eyes he had ever seen, he had no time (nor space in his heart) for romance.
For some mysterious reason after Aoko had gotten together with Hakuba – such poor taste! It was a good thing that he did not end up with her in the end – he had gotten quite a number of confessions. It seemed that there was fair game for the majority of the female student population, once it was determined that he was never going to get together with Aoko.
(He had love notes, bentos, and hand-knitted scarves appearing on his desk the very day it was announced that Aoko and Hkuba were going out. And while the number of gifts had decreased in the past few weeks as the number of rejections he gave out rose, there were still some brave souls who were still baring their heart out, and he regconised the beginning of a wooing when he saw on.)
While Kaito may be a jerk who like to play pranks on people and get a certain half-Brit detective's knickers in a twist, he was not an asshole. No one deserved to have their failed romance aired in public by insensitive, gossipy teenagers. He actually knew first hand what went behind the girls' locker room at school to spare someone of such suffering when he could (it was for a prank in his first year! He swears!). And he hoped that the lack of attention he was giving to the origami crane would deter the person from making their romantic advances.
Thinking that it was just a normal teen crush, he had promptly forgotten about the paper crane after shoving it to the bottom of his bag – though he took care not to crush it, it was still a pretty piece of work. Not until lunch time when he took out his store-bought bento box that he bought the night before (don't judge! He was busy preparing for an upcoming heist) and another paper crane, this time pale pink in colour, that must have been slotted between the decorative paper band that was holding the lid of the bento box, came flying out when the took out the band and the paper crane dropped on the floor. He had been trading bards with Hakuba-bastard then, so had not noticed it until Aoko picked it up from the floor.
"Kaito, what's a paper crane doing there?"
"Huh?" By the time Kaito registered the questions, she had put it up in the air to observe it against the light, without so much as your by-leave. (How rude! That's what you get for having a childhood friend. Personal boundaries be damned.)
"Who could be giving Kaito paper cranes this time?" Her bewildered expression had turned into a fearsome smirk. Kaito could practically see the wheels turning in her head as she belted out, "Ho, ho, ho! Is there something you're not telling, Kaito? I mean, this is obviously not for a magic trick."
"Ahouko-" Before he could get a word edgewise, Hakuba decided to give his two-cents worth (even though Kaito really could not give a damn about what he had to say, that smug bastard).
"Maybe it's love note,? Creative." No shit, Sherlock. The pink paper was not a clue in itself at all, nope! Not at all. "If you look closer, you can see some pen marks at the folded edges."
Like no one could have notice-...Wait, what?! Pen marks? Where?
"You're right! Hakuba-kun!" and Aoko started unfolding the paper.
"Aoko, give it back." and with a poof, it disappeared in her hands.
"Kaito!"
"Nah ah! A lady should not be reading a private person's letters, no matter how tempting." He wagged his finger at her.
"Awww. But -"
"Besides, I do think that Kuroba-kun is planning to reject this person." Akako suddenly materialised behind them. Thankfully, he was far too used to her 'apparations' not to be too bothered by it.
Unfortunately, Aoko and Hakuba were not. Hands flinches, butts jumped out of their seats, and bits of rices were flicked out of their chopsticks and decided to make their home on Kaito's bird's nest of a hair.
Resigned, but knowing that there was only one way to get rid of the witch, Kaito merely dusted the rice bits off his hair before turning his attention to her, all the while mustering the most deadpanned expression he could.
"What do you want?" He did his best to ignore Aoko's 'Don't be rude, Kaito!'.
"Just passing a message from Lucifer. He said that it's best if you don't dismiss your...little love notes. You might come to regret it if you do."
"Oh? Why is that?" Kaito turned back to his bento, entirely prepared to dismiss her as soon as possible. "Don't tell me they are from you? I thought you said you weren't interested anymore." Kaito narrowed his eyes at her, remembering her promised that she would not be going after his life (and heart) anymore. (And declaring it out of the blue too, right in the middle of his interrogation on Hakuba when the detective first got together with Aoko)
Though you never know with the witch...
"Oh, you don't have to worry about that. I told you before that that particular boat was not the one for me in the end, since it's already been taken by your blue-eyed angel~." Kaito could not help the tinsy bit of blush that must be colouring his cheeks. He never knew how she found out about his little crush (it was not just a crush, dammit!) on a certain detective who was having a little problem with his physique at the moment.
"Oh really." He was annoyed now, since she was now spilling that beans to Aoko and Hakuba, especially since he had no intention of pursuing Tantei-kun as he was already enamored by another person already. Kaito had every intention of burying those feeling deep down in the caveat and never let it see the light of day.
Suddenly, he could suddenly feel an intense burning hitting the side of his head. Aoko was going to dogged him about it, for sure...
… and that was accompanied by his a feeling of foreboding that his life was about to go down hill for here on out.
"Just heed my warning Kuroba-kun. Lucifer is never wrong~." She gave a small waved as she turned around and sashayed back to her seat, several pair of eyes in the room followed her every move.
"Well, if you aren't so mysterious and vague about it, I would be more incline to listen to you." he mumbled to himself, before he turned back to the couple in front of him, bracing himself for the inevitable...
"So Kaito...who is this 'blue-eyed angel' Akako is talking about." Aoko asked so sweetly that even ice failed to melt. It did not help her case that she was slowly pulling her mop out as well.
"Hmmmm…."
-o-
It was the end of the day. He had successfully evaded Aoko and her relentless questions,
And during that time, he had accumulated four more paper cranes.
Once he reached home, he had unfolded the papers – as hinted by Hakuba – and found the romanji W, I, L, L Y, O, on it.
No. not romanji. English Alphabets.
He had a good idea where this was going...
It's so cheesy!
Kaito flopped on to his bed. He had to give it to his secret admirer, with all the effort putting into this long drawn confession…
Too bad his head and heart was reserved for someone else now...
He had not be worried too much about it, until it occurred to him that some of those paper origami that he found... there was no way that person could have been able to put them there unless they broke into his house somehow and hid it there for him to find. That could only mean one thing...
Stalker!
The call connected before he had processed what he had done.
"Hello?"
"Shinichi!"
"Kuroba! How many times have I told you not to call me that we are on the phone! You're as bad as Hattori!" His heart fluttered from merely hearing the still-high pitched pre-adolencence voice coming through the phone speaker. And since there was no one in the room, Kaito did nothing to stop the stupid grin from forming on his face.
Yes. He was utterly smitten with Kudo Shinichi.
He and the 'Detective of the East' had just brought down the syndicate that were haunting their lives (Turned out that they were the same organisation. Guess black trench coats and fedora hats were not the go-to for all Japanese mafias after all, no matter how much those soap operas were depicting them) They had worked with each other for just over a year before the faithful take down…
And Kaito found out what a brilliant, beautiful, snarky, caring soul hiding underneath that shell of a mere critic he had initially mistakenly thought Kudo Shinichi was. Someone who could only match him in wits (not that his heist did not confirm that little fact already) but someone who could complement him. Someone who valued justice more than mere following the letter of the law. Someone who had not only accepted his past without so much as a blink of an eye, but also got his hands dirty to help him get his justice...
(Kaito had long given up on any romantic notion with his childhood sweetheart. It would not be fair for her, and for him, that he would not be able to share his whole life with her if they got together. She still did not know about his double life, and he still had no intention of telling her so, since he still needs to look for Pandora even though Snake and the syndicate were locked behind bars. And to his surprise, it had been a relief for him when he found out that he was no longer in love with her. )
He got his heart pounding just remembering Shinichi dreamy, good looks that one time Kudo Shinichi was testing the antidote that lasted three days (after they had brought down the syndicate, of course), as he stride out of the room in a too-tight shirt and jeans that just hugged his ass the right way...
...well, you get the picture.
Kaito was head over hills over Kudo Shinichi, in both mind and body. Everything would have been perfect and he would have gone out his way to woo Tantei-kun -
If only his golden boy was bent and not in love with his own childhood sweet heart…
"Awww~! Shin-chan, how cold." Kaito hoped Shinchi could hear the pout that formed on his face and maybe feel a little guilt for snapping at him...even though his authoritative voice was so hot and cute.
"What do you want?" there was a shuffle, and he could hear the background noise of one Mouri Ran asking Shinichi 'Conan-kun, who's that?' 'Just Kaito-nisan.'
...and he could feel his heart plummeted to the bottom of the ocean. Again.
That was right, and didn't help the fact that Shinichi was living with her too.
Pushing away the tumbling jealousy – No, what are you talking about? Jealous? Pshhh…- that was threatening to spill into his voice, he continued on without missing a beat.
"Oh, nothing...just need a little help with a case..."
"Help?" He could hear the concern lacing Shinichi voice. "What's wrong?"
Did Kaito mention what a caring sweetheart Shinichi was?
"Not...in regards to my night-time career - ," the sigh od relief over the phone was clearly audible, and Kaito could feel the warm that was filling up his toes. Damn, how did he stumble into such a gem? "It's...more personal in nature."
"Oh?" The amused curiousity was clear. There was also a click – door closed – Shinichi must have left the Agency.
"I..may have a stalker."
"Stalker?"
"Yeah..." and Kaito proceeded to narrate what had transpired earlier.
However, for some reason, at the end of it, Shinichi replied with a disappointed, uncharacteristic "oh."
"What's wrong?" he had thought that even if this mystery must be a simple case for such a bright mind like Shinichi's, he would at least be interested to help Kaito out and not be too disappointed with the lack of challenge this 'case' would be.
Maybe he should not have framed it as a 'case'.
Opps…
"Nothing, nothing," there was a short pause, "You should just let it play it out?"
Why did Shinichi sound so weird?
"What? Why? Hello, Stalker? Breaking and entering?" Did he hit his head in the last couple of days since Kaito last saw him?
"I mean, obvious, this g….person, put in so much effort into this. You should at least hear them out."
"Do you really think so?"
"Yeah, yeah… Maybe...it's Aoko who let them in...I mean, she has your spare key right?"
"Yes, other than you and Jii-chan."
"So I don't think you have to worry about. Anyway, I got to go, going to meet the kids now. Okay-see-you-bye."
"But wait! Shin-" there was only a dead tone.
With a sigh, he flung the phone away, which bounced off the bed and onto the floor in a clutter.
His life was a mess. While he had tied up loose ends with the organisation that had killed his father, there was still Pandora to be found, he was in love with the a straight guy who was stuck in a body ten years younger than his real age and in love with another woman,
Now he has a stalker to deal with.
Scratch that, his life was not only a mess, but a rom-com that was an utter, blockbluster flopped.
What could be worst than this?
-o-
He was wrong. Things just got worst for him.
Looked who had decided to throw him a surprise birthday party…
... on the day of his heist.
(Aoko had dragged him out with the pretense of a birthday lunch, and before he could escape from her clutches, he had been 'surprised' (ambushed) by his classmates who had, unintentionally, screwed up his plan. (If only full moon had not fallen on his birthday.) Except for Hakuba, who could not attend due to a prior engagement and left his gift, which he later found out was the latestKID paraphalia care package, that he was sure Aoko would not have let him buy for Kaito had she known about it, with Aoko. When he was not trying to be Mr cool-and-swave-british-detective, Hakus was weird and sweet like that.)
Granted, it was in the afternoon at the park with six hours to go till the heist time (it was three o'clock). However, it would have been great if he had been able to use the time to spare to prepare the tiny bits left over that he had not been able to get into in the past few day (instead of shoving everything to Jii-chan).
Unfortunately, with the 'stalker situation' he had to be careful where he went, since there was an off-chance that Stalker-san might accidentally tumble into his little secret. This meant no more evenings working on the upgrade to his card gun; no more after school visit to the Blue Parrot to look over the blue prints with the Jii-chan; no more unexplainable trips to the heist venue to scout around the area.
And he reckon he was justified with his paranoia, since he continue to find the origami love notes at the oddest places. In between the pages of his Lupin book where he had last read (which had no bookmarks or dog ears to indicate where he had last stop reading); between the wooden planks of his favourite bench at Ekoda park where he like to set up his weekly magic show for the elementary school kids who like to hang around after school; on the stack of vinyl records that were at a vintage store he sometimes like to visit on the whim on the way back from school.
And all the origami paper cranes that he had gotten were all in the order that he was supposed to received it. So far, he had got:
T
Well, counting the question mark that was sure to be there – with how meticulous Stalker-san was, that meant that he was left with four more paper crane to go before the inevitable confession.
He was so no looking forward to it.
Kaito let out another inward sigh as he went to get a punch for himself while he tried to sort out his feelings about the whole thing.
Shinichi had not made any other comment, or showed any other reaction to his stalker situation after his phone call to the detective a few days ago. Any attempts to rope Tantei-kun into helping him was met with abrupt change of topics done so naturally that Kaito had forgotten about it until long afterwards (though that might be because he had been a little distracted with what precious little time he had with his crush until he would inevitable return to this normal body and lived the rest of his happy life with Mouri-chan) or was met with a repetitive 'just give them a chance.'
Yeah right. The only way if he would give a 'chance' to Stalker-san was if they were the godly Kudo Shinichi.
Fat chance that would ever happened -
His heart leaped out of his chest at the sight of Shinichi, still in the form of Edogawa Conan, walking towards him. As a little kid, Shinchi was so adorable! With that grey bowtie, black shirt, and matching grey shorts and ever present cowlick (the weather was warm enough for Shinichi to ditch his blazer), carrying a big, bulky box that was sure to be his birthday present!
However, it was as if somebody had suddenly grabbed his wind pipe and crushing it as hard as they could when his eyes landed on the gorgeous Mouri Ran walking just a couple of steps behind Shinichi.
Stay calm, Kaito. Remember. Poker Face. And Remember. You. Are. Not. Jealous. Of. Mouri. Ran.
"Conan-kun! Mouri-san! Thank you for coming!"
"Sorry we are late! It took longer than we thought to make your birthday present."
"Oh?" Kaito took this opportunity to crouch to Shinichi's level (which had the benefit of him being able to give his undivided attention to Shinichi while simultaneously avoided looking at Mouri-chan's face in case he accidentally left his guard slipped and have his feelings rear their ugly head at the innocent girl.
(Because really, she did nothing to warrant his hostility, other than being the love interest of his love interest – which was his own fault in the first place. For letting himself fall in love with the unattainable… But what can you do anyway. No one could really control their own feeling, right?)
"Here," Shinichi pushed the box, as big as the size of his head, into Kaito's hand, "this are for you. Aoko-neesan said they are your favourite."
"Awww. Thank you so much!" Kaito reached out his hand and scuffled Shinichi's hair, knowing that it would annoy the mini detective. Kaito internally squealed at the sight of the adorable glare that Shinichi had sent his way. So cute! "Let me put this with the rest of the gifts."
Just as Kaito was about to say more, Aoko interrupted what would have been the highlight of his day (Every moment that he got to see and talk to Shinichi was a highlight of his day) with her menacing roar that came thundering down on them and dispersed his dreams into the wind. "Kaito! It's cake time!"
-o-
To make his day even worst, he did not have a chance to speak to the detective for the rest of the party.
After cutting the cake, he had been wrestled away to talk with his classmates (lest Aoko decided to shove her mop down his throat for being an 'inconsiderate, ungrateful, anti-social bastard who would never understand the trouble she had to got through to organise this surprise) and entertain them with chit chat and spontaneous magic tricks.
He also had a mini-freak out when he found another paper crane in his pocket. And when he opened the folds, it had an 'H' on it.
Ehhh! Stalker-san must be one of his classmates! Shit was about to hit the ceiling soon!
And it did not help that Akako was snickering into her hands as she watched him struggling to show his interest in his classmates; and the problem with Stalker-san and failing to talk to Shinichi; probably knowing all to well that all he wanted to do was to get out of the party. Preferably with Shinichi.
But alas, that did not happen.
To top it all off, after all that shenanigans, Kimiko-chan, one of his classmates that sat right at the other end of the classroom, came up to him and said that she 'needed to speak to him, alone.'
Ah oh, here we go.
As he followed her, all he could hear was the deafening murmurings from his classmates' indiscrete chattering. She stopped just a few meters away, just enough to provide them (her) with an illusion of privacy as she did the inevitable.
"Kimiko-chan, I -" Just as he was about to say something, she shoved something into his hand. He looked down, and on his hand was an origami rose.
"Kaito-kun! I-I have always a-ad-admired you since we were young-g-g." The girl's face was so red that he would not be surprise to see steam rising from her any moment now. "And since you are not interested in Aoko-chan anymore..." She took a deep breath before taking the plunge.
"Will you go out with me?" She squeaked it out so fast he had would not have been able to understand what she was asking if he had not anticipated it.
"Kimiko-chan..." he began. Then, with the origami paper rose still on his hand, unopened, he handed it back to her. "I'm sorry. I don't have any feelings for you."
She flinched, before her shoulders sank down and she let of a sigh. "Okay. I had guessed that already. I just had to ask, you know?"
"Yeah, I know." He tried his best to sound as sympathetic as he could as he watched her took the rose back. At the back of his mind, he sorely wished that it was Shinichi right in front of him instead, doing the confesssion.
He quickly shoved that thought as quickly as it came. No point thinking, wishing, about things that were never going to happen to him
"And you know," Kaito tried his best to sound as lighthearted as he tried to console her. It would not do for her to brawl her eyes out right now (not that everyone would not have been able to guess what had happened in the last couple of minutes). "Your origami paper crane is a good idea. I'm sure the next guy you use this one will lapped it up..." He paused as he clicked his finger and a white handkerchief appeared right in front of her. She left out a small smile as she took it to wipe the lone tear that escape from her eyes. "Just don't go around putting it in hard to reach places, even though I know some people may find it romantic that you know them well enough to be able to let them find it in sequence?"
"Eh?" She stopped mid-wipe as she gave him the most bewildered look that he had ever seen on her. "What paper crane?"
"You know, the ones you left…." Wait the minute… "You weren't the one who's leaving the paper crane behind for me to find, were you?"
"No. no." She replied, continuing to wipe her way her tears. "I guess that's someone else. I just gave you that origami rose, just because you like to conjure roses and all."
"Oh right." Bummer. Looked like Stalker-san was still out there.
"Hmm. Kaito?" Kimiko-chan handed back his handkerchief, which he took it back absentmindedly. He was checking his pocket. Yeap! Had all his tools here.
"Yes?" It would not do for her go back to the group with the such puffy eyes and smudged eye liner-
"You are in love with someone else right now, aren't you?"
"What?!" In his state of shock, his liquid eyeliner and foundation brush slipped out of his hand as he was pulling out of his pocket. He did a juggle as he tried to grab for them before they fell on the grown. He succeeded, though from the giggle that Kimiko-chan had left out, it must have been quite a sight. "H-how did you know?"
"Just something Akako-san said. She told me not to go through with this...confession."
"Oh." That witch!
"Anyway, I hope you it'll work out for you." She gave him a small, sincere smile as she wished him luck. Regardless of what just happened, he was grateful for her kind words. Thank goodness this affair ended well.
"Thanks, Kimiko-chan." Kaito said. "Anyway, now that that's all over with. Would you like to freshen up a little?"
-o-
They came back to the party after that as if nothing had ever happened.
"Kaito, why do you carry make-up with you?"
"Errr…was going to prank Hakuba with this, but he didn't come, so... don't tell anyone I told you."
"Sure!"
Kaito was sure that word was sure to get out about what had happened in the next fifteen minutes. Though outwardly, none of his classmates commented on it as he mingled with them in the next hour.
By the time that thing had died down, however, Shinichi was no where to be seen.
"Eh? Where, Conan-kun? And Mouri-chan?" Don't tell me they had already left... Just when he finally had his breather.
"Oh, Ran-chan received a call from her friend and had to go. Conan-kun said that he'll give you a call later tonight."
Drats, so much for the highlight of his day. Stupid-
"Kaito?"
"Yes? Aoko?"
"Are you alright? Aoko noticed that Kaito has been rather distracted lately."
"Of course! with Hakuba around – hey!" She bobbed his head and glared at him. He left out a smirk, they both knew he was just joking.
"Don't worry, Ahoko. It's just something that I have to work out by myself." he just had to get over Shinichi, even though he knew that it was not going to happen for a while.
"Okay….so long as you come to me when you need my help." She let out smile. He knew he could always count on her when it mattered.
"Aoko?"
"Hmm?"
"Thank you."
"You can thank me by helping me clear the plates!"
"Eh? But I'm the Birthday Boy here!"
-o-
To console himself for missing out on Shinichi's wonderful company today, the first thing he did when he reached home was to open the gift from Shinichi – to his delight, it was a box of homemade chocolate chip cookies [totally appropriate for an elementary school kid with a limited pocket money]. He let out a squeal (he was in the comfort of his home alone, so that was okay) as he took bite of the still warm and chewy cookie, with the gooey chocolate chip oozing out from the bite that he took. And he did not let the fact that Mouri-chan had helped let him spoil his mood.
Just the way he liked it.
Shinichi was so making it hard for Kaito to get over him.
-o-
Kaito was able to wave off Aoko's concerns about spending the rest of his night without her company, since she would usually attend KID's heist to cheer on her father and now boyfriend, whenever he chooses to attend. ("What? Alone? What do you think Jii-chan is then? F-f-finny things?" "Alright, alright shish, that was not what I meant and you know it! Just thought you might want to do something special since it's your eighteen Birthday.")
Kaito had been able to squeeze in some last-minute work before heading off to the heist site (Thank God for Jii-chan!). He was ready for the heist now. The routine motion of preparing for the heist had calmed and put Shinichi and Stalker-san at the back of his mind.
He had been able to put it all aside as he scaled the buildingat the back, up to the roof and crawled through the air ducts. All was going well…
…until he pushed opened the metal grills from air duct and a paper crane that had been wedge there had fallen out.
Stalker-san! They know he's KID! Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh shit!
Suddenly the existence of the paper crane took an ominous turn.
Despite the panic that was threatening to spill over in the form of dry heaving and tears, he managed to kept a tight lid on it. He maneuvered himself out of the air duct and landed on the floor without making a sound, and on auto-pilot, pocketed the paper crane without a second thought.
This was not a simple teenage stalker crush anymore. Could it be Snake's associates that had managed to escape arrest? Someone else after the Pandora? Whatever it was, he could deal with it. He just had to be extra vigilant tonight until he had more intelligence to work on. With just two more paper cranes to go, it would not be long before that happen.
With five minutes to go, he had no time to lose. He slipped out of the room, already wearing the task force riot gear and joined the stampede that were stationing themselves into the room.
He managed to get himself in position, just into time to hear Nakamouri-keibu bellowed out. "Let's go! Move it people! We don't have much time left!"
And it seemed that Hakuba was really not around, looked like this prior engagement with his family had been legitimate, since Hakuba would usually not miss any chance to catch the elusive Kaitou KID.
Now, if only a certain detective could attend his heist more often. Unfortunately, Mouri-chan only allowed Shinichi to attend heist organized by that Suzuki j i isan….
Ignoring the little clench in his heart, he smothered that imminent jealousy threatening from rising within him. He needed to focus on the heist. Kaito had planned some elaborate tricks, but in light of the current situation, he had better just do a grab-and-go, before things deteriorate like he feared it would.
Today's target was a ruby that had been set on a ring. It's not a large stone, and hence, not likely to be the doublet he was looking for. The only reason he was targeting it was because it was rumoured that the owners of the ring had lived unnaturally long lives. The last owner had lived to 129 years before she passed the ring on to her only surviving granddaughter before passing away herself a few days later. Unfortunately, the granddaughter died in a car accident a few years later, and the ring was donated to the museum, as she had been a patron of the fine arts.
He was pulled out of his thought when he felt short bursts of vibration on his watch.
Three
Two
One
Showtime!
There was a blacked out. Nakamouri-keibu roared out "The generator!" and the lights was back on in five seconds.
But it was five seconds too late… the ring was gone from the display case.
-o-
His heart was pounding against his rib cage so hard that he was likely to have fractured ribs if this went on any longer. And it had nothing to do with the physical assertion that he had put this body through when he had sprinted out of the heist venue and made his way to this small bridge crossing an hour away. He had not dared to fly out in the open sky with his hang glider, in case he became an easy target for snipers because of his white uniform, nor did he dare to stick around in the crowd, in case he was spotted (what with his stalker knowing that he was both Kuroba Kaito and Kaitou KID) and the sniper could start shooting at him in the crowd of police officers. There will be no casualties tonight if he could help it.
So he slipped away without so much as a shuffle, and the only way that Nakamouri-keibu could confirm that Kaitou KID had indeed taken the ring was when it would be returned to his desk a few days later. Just like he did with all the other jewels he had acquired over the years.
If that ruby was not Pandora, of course.
He had not taken the chance to check it. As soon as he had grabbed the ring, he had panicked. And had let his body go on autopilot to make his clean getaway.
Why had he panicked, you asked?
Because there was a damn paper crane that had been attached to the ring with a thread!
This was really bad news.
He had not told Jii-chan or Shinichi yet. Heck, he had barely been able to process his thought without sending himself over the edge with fear, let alone be able to string sentences coherent enough to explain what happened.
He had not dared to head back to his home or to the Blue Parrot yet. On the off-chance someone was following him. But it was likely that he was safe now. Any pursuers would have lost him back at Harajuku anyway, where he had donned on three difference disguises just to get through the crowd.
Kaito took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down enough to think this through. The stalker had been benign for now, other than giving him a shock of his life with the places they decided to place the paper cranes.
Hopefully, Stalker-san was not anyone dangerous. Maybe, for all he knew, it was his mother playing mind games with him again. Maybe.
He let out another sigh as he took out the two paper cranes that he had acquired that evening. Sure enough, the letters M and E were written on it. And the likely code was:
WILL YOU GO OUT WITH ME
So just one more paper crane left.
Whatever it was, he had to brace himself for it. So far, the stalker had been outsmarting him. He had better be careful from here on out.
Still on edge, Kaito sat on the ledge of the bridge as he observed the pedestrian walking across the bridge. So far there were only a few locals that were walking by, it was on the quiet side of the suburb.
He fingered the ring that he had in his pocket. Maybe he should check the ruby. Might as well get it out of the way.
He pulled out the ring, and as soon as he put it against the moon light, there was a red glow that shone rather brightly against the dark patch between two street laps. And when he squinted his eyes, he could make out the fine details of a jewel within a jewel-
What the fuck! Pandora!
In his shock and excitement, kaito had leaned too far back, and he found himself falling down the bridge. With the ring on one hand and the paper cranes on the other, he had not been able to so much as flail. He shut his eyes. He was going to hit the water and there were all those f-f-finny-
– And then there was a jerk, and felt his bum suspending in mid-air. He was opened his eyes and there was –
"Shinichi?!"
"Goddamit, Kaito! Grab on the railing! I can't hold on much longer!"
"Oh right!" Slightly reeling at the fact that Shinichi had appeared out of the blue, and the fact he had called him 'Kaito' and not 'Kuroba' (even though it must be a slip), he managed to pocket the ring and the paper and lift himself up.
"Phew, that was a close one." Kaito took a deep breath. "What are you doing out here?"
"I texted you that I was coming over. And the heist ended ages ago. You usually would have been done by now." Kaito raised his eyebrow, Shinchi was being rather evasive. He would usually go straight to the point (unless he's baiting a criminal though, but that's another story).
"Well, I had a little trouble along the way." Kaito decided to let the issue go now. There were more pressing issues, and since Shinichi's here now. He looked around, making sure that there was no one suspicious was looking at them (he had attracted attention by almost falling into the river below), before he came down to Shinichi's level and whispered, "You know that paper crane I had?"
"Yeah?" Was that apprehension in his voice?
"I think it might be someone after my life!"
"Wait, what?"
"I found them during my heist." He took out the unfolded papers and handed it to Shinichi. "One was stuck to the metal grill for the air duct, and another on tonight's target! I mean, it is just not mere some teenage crush stalker who's breaking into my house to put this paper cranes anymore-"
"Kuroba-"
"This could be some sort of warning, or a taunt. Or-or a message-"
"Kuroba-"
"I mean, it might be my mom, but I don't think it's her, doesn't seem like her style anyway. So I know you were encouraging me to give my supposed secret admirer a chance-"
"Kuroba, listen-"
"But you have got to admit that this is f-f-finny-ish. And how the hell did they know about KID? And-"
"Kaito!" Did he just call him 'Kaito' again.
"What?"
"Here." For the second time today, someone pushing something into his hand.
"wha-?" and Kaito look down to take a look at it…
"Oh."
It's a paper crane. It's the freaking paper crane.
With slightly trembling hands (was this really happening?!), he unfolded the paper. Sure enough, there was that last symbol that he had been expecting staring right back at him.
?
"Ooohhh."
Kaito looked up, and Shinichi's cheeks were pink like the cherry blossom petals. He was looking at the side, as if he could barely able to look at Kaito for some reason. And when he spoke, it was hesitant, and shy, and the first time Kaito had heard the ever-confident Kudo Shinichi stutter.
"hmm, I-I know that we have only known each other for a year or so. But, I'm in love with you."
"How about Mouri-chan?" Don't you love her?
"I thought I was in love with her. But after being shrunken, and living with her…it became really impossible to see each other as romantic partners. Both of us talked about it, a long time ago. And we agreed that that was the best to let go and decided that we are better off as friends."
"And there is one thing that I have learnt since I have been shrunk, and that is that I should not let my reservations and fear hold me back from doing what I want to. And by the time I realised that I needed to do something about it, it was already too late."
Then, finally Shinichi looked at him with those intense blue eyes. His sincerity radiating off of him.
"I don't want to make the same mistake. Not with you. And I know that there's a possibility that I may never regain my body again, even though Haibara is hopeful with the next batch of formula she's working on now. But you have always been able to see me for who I am, supported me when I needed someone to lean on. Know when to push, know when to back off. And you are not only just looking passed Edogawa Conan, but also Kudo Shinichi the detective, or Kudo Shinichi the soccer player, or Kudo Shinichi the reckless bastard…"
"You just see me, Shinichi. And that's all I could ever ask for…So I know you might not think that way about me, especially now. With this." Shinichi gestured at his body, still small and kid size. "But I do hope that you can just think about it, and maybe wait for me till I get my body back. And I know you have a lot of options now, with all those girls confessing to you every other week." Shinichi snorted and rolled his eyes. "Bloody hell, one just did today too.
"But if you have any feelings for me... I would hope you could consider it." And with that, all the conviction Shinichi had had during his speech faded away, and after being too aware that Kaito was staring at him, Shinichi lowered his eyes.
Both of them stood there for a long time, until Shinichi looked like he was about to wilt further. Before Kaito opened his mouth and said...
"Yes."
"What?"
"Yes, to your question. I will go out with you."
"R-really? Don't you want to think about it."
"Please, if I had known that you don't have feelings for Mouri-chan anymore, I would have jumped the gun and asked you out first!"
"What? Really?"
"Yeah….we are bunch of idiots, aren't we?"
"Yes, yes we are."
Kaito was sure that if Shinichi's smile wass any indication, his own was as wide and bright. He could not control it. He was so happy, (and blissful, and elated, and relief, and joyful and still surprised) that the corner of his lips was involuntarily being pulled upwards.
Finally letting go of his impulse, Kaito reached out and gave a soft gentle peck on Shinichi's forehead. The blossoming pink on Shinichi's cheeks was so adorable! "Now that I am sure that there's no nefarious organization or person is after me," Oh! That blush was turning to redder with embarrassment now! So cute! "Let's head back to my place, shall we?"
"Okay."
Kaito stood up, from the kneeling position he was in and took Shinichi's hand and they walked slowly back to his house.
Thank god! His life was finally stepping in the right direction.
"Oh, another thing, Shinichi…"
"Yeah?"
"I found the Pandora."
"Today's heist target?"
"Yes. Totally unexpected, that's why I almost fell into the river."
"Nice."
Yes, that was nice. Pandora's found. There's no stalkers after him. And the person he was in love with had returned his feelings.
And all resolved on his Birthday.
This eighteen birthday was truly something special.
-o-
"And Shinichi?"
"Yes."
"Where did you get the paper crane idea from?" Because Shinichi was not romantic at heart, that much he knew about the detective. And the whole episode smelt of something…funky.
"Oh, it was Haibara. Said something about showing you that I understand you quite well?"
"I knew it!" Kaito murmured to himself.
"What did you say?"
"Oh nothing, nothing…Just... don't get love advise from Hairaba again. Hmmm…I prefer if you're straight forward with me from now on."
"Okay. If you say so."
-o-
owari
Note:
Prompts by Cesela for her birthday fic
1: Jealous Kaito (a sucker for these)
2: The one time Conan/Shinichi catches KID when he is pushed off a building/blimp/bridge (because KID is always the knight in white, need to some rolechanging theree)
3: aRead many a story where Conan/shinichi finds gifts laying around in a weird attempt for Kaito trying to woo him, but this time Kaito is the one who finds odd presents laying around (because its his birthday and he deserves some love, and presents fit the birthday theme)