Ride With Me

by A Green Crayon

Shinichi moves in next door to possibly the most odd person on the planet.

Uh, hi. So, here's a new story. I don't even know what it is, but... here you go!

I was just trying to write more with less words. Something tells me I didn't do it right. Just a feeling though. Yeah.

This is AU, sort of.

Also, let me put up a little disclaimer: I don't own any of the sonnets that make appearances in this fiction. They're just so short that I didn't think it'd do them justice to not tell them in full.

Anywho, enjoy the story.

---

"Aw… I can't believe my little Shin-chan is leaving me."

Shinichi sent his mother a dry glower from where he was packing the last of his things away. Closing the box, he slapped some tape over it, then he grabbed it by the base and hoisted it up.

"Please, mother, nobody's around, and yet you still embarrass me," Shinichi muttered as he passed her, placing the box on top of a stack. With that, he stood up with a sigh. Now all he had to do was wait for the movers.

Yukiko walked up behind him, and wrapped her arms around him in a motherly hug. Shinichi's glower returned.

"But I'm your mother! And I'm going to miss you! I reserve the right to embarrass you for as long as I can," she said, snuggling him like an oversized koala.

Shinichi just accepted it with a frown. He couldn't escape anyway. The woman was wearing heels, but even he knew not to underestimate her agility with the things. Former soccer player or not.

Though he did eye the door with longing.

"I'm twenty-four. I think it's about time you stopped treating me like a child," he retorted with disdain.

People took their siblings for granted. Shinichi dared them to try living as an only child to a fashion designer and actor of a mother with a penchant for dressing up anyone she could find. He wished he had a sibling, if for nothing else but to use them as a scapegoat to her madness. She doted on him like her favorite little doll.

"Aw, you'll always be my little Shin-chan~"

Shinichi let out a groan.

"I'm going to go wait for the movers. In the living room. With dad. Where it's safe. Please don't follow me."

Shinichi managed to find his way out of his mother's grasp. She pouted at him as he hurried his way out of the room that was once his own.

He hurried down the stairs, resting his hand along the railing as he went, and into the living room where his father was sitting on the couch with a cup of coffee in one hand, and a book in the other.

His father looked it up to him as he approached, and he smiled. Shinichi sent him an irritated grimace back.

"Why did you marry that woman? She's insane," Shinichi muttered. He cast a glower over his shoulder up the stairs. "I think she's going to keep calling me Shin-chan until I'm as old as you people."

Yusaku laughed merrily.

"Well, she was pretty," his dad said with a leer. Shinichi wished he hadn't asked.

It was then that something that looked long and awfully sharp flew by between them. It had gone too fast to see, and had just barely missed Yusaku's head.

There was a resounding thunk as it hit the wall, and when Shinichi looked over with wide, terrified eyes, noticed it was a stiletto heel. He heard his father let out a nervous chuckle and a few coughs.

"What I meant to say was, she is beautiful. And intelligent, and talented, and wonderful. I love her. Ha, ha," Yusaku said, then he brought his mug of coffee up to his lips to take a few quiet sips.

Yukiko was standing at the top of the steps with a fierce grimace. She then turned, gracefully, in the opposite direction to walk down the hall, muttering something along the lines of, "Men. Why couldn't I have had a girl?"

Shinichi let out a relieved breath, then he plopped down onto the couch next to his father. He leaned in discreetly next to the man to whisper, "I still stand by my last statement. She is insane."

"I heard that, Shin-chan~"

Shinichi quickly straightened, panicked at the sound of his mother's shout from upstairs.

His father chuckled (a bit nervously), and gave him a pat on the shoulder.

"Anyway, how do you feel? You're about to attain your independence," Yusaku said.

Shinichi sighed, and slumped his shoulders. "About time. I can't wait to get away from you people."

Yusaku grinned at him.

"You should be careful what you wish for. You never know what fresh hell you'll stumble into next," his father told him with a wink.

Shinichi sent him an unimpressed look.

"Can't be as bad as you and Satan. Think that's about as close to hell as I can get."

"Shin-chan~ You're starting to make me mad."

Shinichi felt another pang of panic.

"How can she even hear from all the way up there?!" he muttered harshly.

His father laughed again, and gave him another pat.

"So, how's the job at the police department suiting you? Is it everything you'd hoped it would be?" Yusaku asked.

Shinichi leaned back against the couch. "Eh, yeah. I like it."

Yusaku grinned. "Don't like being ordered around?"

Shinichi let out a sigh as he said, "It was easier when I was in high school. Now that I'm officially a part of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, I'm starting at the bottom. I have to constantly clear everything I do through inspector Megure. At least when I was in high school, they let me come in as a consultant, and just chalked everything I did up to me being a civilian, and not actually reflecting on them personally."

Yusaku let out another chuckle. "You'll climb up the chain of command soon enough. They already know you're plenty capable."

"I guess," Shinichi grumbled.

It was then that Yukiko walked down the stairs. She moved in front of Shinichi with a smile on her face.

"Oh, who cares about all that job stuff," she said with a wave of her finger. Then she leaned forward to hover over Shinichi. "What I'm worried about is my Shin-chan being all alone! Aren't you going to be lonely without me?"

Shinichi rolled his eyes. Of course his mother would pester him about something like that.

"I'll be fine, mom."

Yukiko pouted as she stood back up straight. She placed her hands on her hips and leveled him with a look. Shinichi didn't like it much.

"I wish you had a girlfriend. I'd feel better about all this if you did."

"Oh please don't…" Shinichi began to mutter in dismay.

"I'm serious, Shin-chan! You don't get out enough. All you do in your spare time is cover yourself up to your eyeballs in death and murder. At least your father's obsession with crime is fictional," she exclaimed at him. Then she went back to pouting. "I'm worried about you. What kind of mother would I be if I didn't shove my ideals for your future in your face?"

Shinichi gave a lackadaisical shrug. "I don't know, a normal one?"

"Shin-chan!"

Shinichi rubbed at one of his ears after flinching horribly at his mother's exclamation.

"I hear you, mother. I'll… take walks in the neighborhood… or something."

Yukiko still didn't look particularly happy.

"What happened with you and Ran-chan? She was such a sweet girl," she asked. Shinichi resisted the urge to groan.

"Can we not talk about that? Ran is my best friend. She's like a sister to me," Shinichi retorted with disdain. His face scrunched up at the mere thought. "And she's been in a stable relationship for almost four years now…" Yukiko continued to pout.

"Then you better say hello to your neighbors at least. I'm going to visit you every day until you're settled. And I'm going to make sure I scope out the neighborhood thoroughly too. I can't have my Shin-chan living next to anyone shady."

Shinichi stared at her dryly as she went on with her rambling. She stopped, only for a moment, to ask, "Are you listening to me, Shin-chan? You better be."

There wasn't going to be a difference in his life at all, was there?

---

Kaito was lying on his back on his couch, bored. He had his phone pressed to his ear as he idly counted all the little dots on his ceiling, listening to his best friend ramble something to him that he honestly couldn't be bothered to pay attention to.

"And then he just walks out of the room! Can you believe that? I hadn't even finished explaining what colors I wanted for the room!"

Kaito sighed dramatically.

"Aoko…"

"What?!"

"I really don't care what color you paint your kid's room."

Aoko let out an affronted noise from over the line.

"Well, I didn't ask you to care. I was just telling you how rude Saguru was being."

One-hundred and twenty-two dots so far. Or… wait… did he skip one?

"Yeah, I really don't care about your husband either," Kaito muttered. Then he paused a moment. "I think I care more about what specific shade of blue you want your kid's walls to be more than him, actually."

Aoko huffed. "Men. All of you are good-for-nothing, lazy jerks."

"Love you too!" Kaito chirped.

Aoko let out some long-suffering sigh. "By the way, Kaito," she went on to say.

"Hm?"

"Aren't you getting a new neighbor today?"

Kaito sighed as he started to recount. He was pretty sure he did skip one, but he wasn't sure which one.

"Yeah, I am."

"Well, that sounds exciting, doesn't it? Maybe they'll be someone our age. You could use a new friend," Aoko said with a bit of intrigue.

Kaito shrugged even though she couldn't see it.

"Meh," was all he offered in reply. He didn't think he needed a new nuisance. Uh… friend.

Now, what he wanted was something much better.

"Oh yeah, how did your date go with that guy? Wasn't he a magician like you?" she asked him.

Kaito flinched. "Yeah… that… didn't go well. Too clingy. And he did nothing but card tricks."

"What a shame. He was cute too."

"Cute is for puppies and kittens. I don't like cute," Kaito mumbled.

Was it too much to ask for a guy that was both intelligent and independent? Preferably not a magnet? And also beautiful. Not cute.

"You're too picky," Aoko concluded. Kaito huffed.

"If I'm going to be looking for my life partner out in the sea of mundane and dull, then I reserve the right to be a little picky," he muttered back.

He heard Aoko chuckle. The noise brought a pout to his lips. Great, now she found his endeavor to find a perfect match amusing. His life was not her live sit-com, damn it.

"What do you even look for in a guy, Kaito?"

Kaito let out a sigh.

Let's see… If he had to describe his type…

The sound of a truck then sounded outside of his house to interrupt his thoughts. It came to a stop, and he heard the truck's doors open to then slam shut.

Kaito sat up with a curious blink. He got off the couch to walk over to his window. Pressing down on the blinds, he peeked through them.

Ah. It seemed his neighbor was finally settling in. Some guys looked to be hauling in several boxes into the house next to his. He watched them a moment.

There didn't seem to be too many boxes being moved. It seemed his new neighbor wasn't much one for material items. They sounded awfully boring already. Though, he guessed the person could be planning on getting more things after moving in.

It was a pity he didn't know what was in the boxes. He was kind of curious to know what kind of person this new neighbor was. Was he young? Old? Or maybe it was a woman.

He wasn't too interested. It was on the same level of interest a child might have viewing the effects of shining sunlight through a magnifying glass onto a trail of ants—passing.

And just like that scenario, the end result was much less climactic than the initial excitement suggested.

Kaito pouted when all he saw were men in uniforms, and no neighbor.

"Kaito?" he heard Aoko say over the phone.

"Ah, yeah, sorry…"

But he trailed off as two workers moved out of the way, carrying a box between them, to reveal a person.

Specifically, a man. A young man. He had a surly look on his face and his hands shoved in the pockets of his dress slacks.

He stood there, watching the movers go back and forth between the truck and the house. The way he was scowling made it seem as if he had a bone to pick with the world.

Speaking of worlds, Kaito's just stopped.

The man was… beautiful.

Dark hair, blue eyes, tall, slender, handsome, everything….

What was the question he was answering before? What was his type?

"Kaito? Are you going to answer me?"

Kaito had to remind himself how to talk, and when he did, he mumbled, "Hold that thought. I'll call you back."

"Wait what? Kait-"

Kaito lowered his hand to shove his phone into his pocket, and then he rushed over to his front door to swing it open.

---

Shinichi let out a long yawn. Finally, he had gotten away from his parents. How he had managed to convince his mother not to follow him to his new house, he had no idea. He vaguely remembered promising to say hello to at least one neighbor.

He was just waiting for the movers to move the few things he needed for the time being inside before he went in to scope the place out. He'd need a nap after this, he concluded. Packing and unpacking was a chore. That, and he still had some paperwork to fill out for the case he had been working on with Takagi. It was going to be a long day.

He was in the process of suppressing another yawn behind his hand when he heard a voice.

"Hello there, neighbor~"

It was a smooth sounding voice, dripping with sly delight and charming eloquence.

Shinichi blinked in confusion, and then he turned his head.

Standing some little ways away in the yard adjacent to his, stood a man in casual garb. He had a particularly sly look on his face. A lazy kind of expression, all hazed over and assessing, calculating, that he had aimed right at Shinichi.

Those eyes of his roved over Shinichi, not so discreetly, before they made their way back up to Shinichi's face, where they stayed.

Shinichi felt mildly disturbed by the unsubtle way he was clearly just checked out, but he ignored it in favor of being friendly, as he had promised he would be.

"Hi," he said. It came out a little more perturbed than he was aiming for, but it would have to do.

"You wouldn't, by chance, be the lovely new neighbor, would you?" the stranger asked, overtly pleasant. His voice maintained that velvety smoothness, and had a hint of sweetness. "I would find it… most pleasing, if you were."

The man's posture was lax, and he moved, languidly, to lean against the trunk of a tree that was positioned in his yard. A smirk played against his lips, almost predatory, as the arm he wasn't using to lean on slipped casually into his pocket. He leaned forward, and even though there was a sizeable distance between them, Shinichi found himself taking a step back.

"Uh… yeah, I am," Shinichi replied dubiously.

"Excellent~" the man said, and his smirk widened. Then he took his hand out of his pocket to make a motion towards Shinichi's new yard. "May I?"

Shinichi blinked a few times before he realized the guy was asking if he could walk over.

He was about to say no, now's not a good time, but then he remembered his mother's harsh words. He glowered at the memory.

"Sure, why not," Shinichi muttered. He supposed he should at least try to be remotely friendly. Once.

The man didn't seem put-off by Shinichi's cynical approval. He simply strode over with the all the grace and poise of a feline until he was next to Shinichi. Shinichi had to try, pretty hard actually, not to step away. There was something weird about this guy.

"I'm afraid I have no gifts for you, my dear. Your arrival was much too soon, and yet, not soon enough," the man said, and with a grandiose sweep of his arm, bowed. Shinichi felt his brow start to twitch.

"Um… that's… fine…"

The man straightened with a brilliant smile. "Oh, but that just won't due at all." He then lifted his hand. "I hope that this meager gift might suffice until I have acquired something of more substance."

With a poof of smoke, the man's raised hand produced a red rose. He then presented it to Shinichi.

Against his better judgement, Shinichi took the flower. He eyed it briefly before looking back up to the stranger's face.

"Uh, thanks. I guess?"

The stranger gave a grin.

"I hope you won't mind my asking, but does that pretty face have a name?"

To say Shinichi felt irked by the man in front of him would have been an understatement. He was awfully disturbed.

Where did this guy think he was? A Shakespearean play? And seriously? Pretty face… lovely neighbor… dear?

He wondered, absently, if he could start backing away slowly now without drawing too much attention to himself.

"I hope you aren't planning on leaving me so soon~"

Damn it.

Shinichi let out an ahem, and dusted off his dress shirt and slacks idly as he stopped in place where he had begun to move away.

"Kudou Shinichi," he said, as he glanced back up to his new neighbor.

"Kudou… Shinichi," the man parroted, rolling the name off his tongue as if he could taste it. "What a wonderful name. It suits you."

Shinichi gave a single nod in acknowledgement of the compliment. "Thanks…" The stranger grinned brightly at him.

"Kuroba Kaito, magician extraordinaire, and your most charming and handsome neighbor, at your service," the man said, giving another grand sweep of his arm. "But for you, my dear, you may call me Kaito."

Shinichi coughed awkwardly a few times. "Right… Kuroba-san…It was nice meeting you, but uh… I um… I'm really busy right now, if you'll excuse me."

Shinichi quickly turned around to hurry into what was to be his new house. He almost ran into one of the workers trying to move a sofa into the living room. He quickly sidestepped the disgruntled man to get inside.

Kaito stayed where he was, eyeing the spot in which his incredibly gorgeous neighbor had just disappeared. His charming grin upgraded into a wide leer as he lifted a hand to tap thoughtfully at his chin.

"I think he likes me."

---

Shinichi let out a long groan as he rubbed at his sore neck and shoulders. It'd been a long couple of days so far.

He had finally gotten everything situated. For the most part, anyway. There were still far too many boxes left to unpack. They were scattered about his house in random places.

Shinichi trudged his way up the stairs into his new room. He let out a content sigh as he entered it.

At least he had managed to get it in order, out of all the rooms. It was exactly as he wanted it too. Orderly and modern.

Shinichi stretched his sore arms above his head, then plopped them down to his sides with a sigh. He could really go for a shower. Afterwards, a good book and some much-needed relaxation before he set about to finishing the unpacking sounded wonderful.

Shinichi smiled, and walked towards the bathroom.

He took longer in the shower than what was probably necessary, but the warm water running over his tired muscles felt soothing. He eventually managed to get himself out after a good thirty minutes. By that time, steam had filled up the small space to create a misty haze, and it fogged the bathroom mirror.

Shinichi stepped out onto the bathroom mat, scrubbing his dark hair into a tousled mess. Afterwards, he wrapped the towel around his shoulders, and reached out a hand to rub the condensation off the mirror's glass with a single swipe.

His reflection stared back at him from the small section he had cleared, and he smiled. The steam kept his skin a light shade of pink from its heat, and when he moved to open the door to walk back into his room, the resulting influx of colder air made him shiver.

Shinichi took the towel from around his shoulders to wrap it around his waist. He languidly walked over to his dresser to find himself some clothes.

This was nice. It was peaceful, quiet. He didn't have to listen to his mother fawn over him, or his father complain about his editors.

He had his own space. Something that he could call his own, away from the chaotic mess of everyone else's lives. It was perfect.

Shinichi hesitated as he was reaching for a clean shirt.

Well… almost perfect.

His… neighbor seemed somewhat… eccentric. He hoped any further interactions wouldn't turn into something bothersome. The last thing he needed was so have some grievance with the person who lived directly next door to him.

Shinichi eventually shrugged off the apprehension with a roll of his shoulders, and continued searching for clothes. What will happen will happen, he supposed. He would just try to be as polite as he could to avoid any unnecessary conflict.

"Hello neighbor~"

Shinichi started so horribly at the sudden voice, that he near about jumped right out of his towel.

Shinichi's head swiveled so fast it let out an angry crack, as he turned in the direction it had come from.

His frantic stare caught sight of his new neighbor, who was leaning on his windowsill from the outside with his arms crossed and his head perched on them. He grinned at Shinichi, then he seemed to realize the state of dress he was in.

"Oh my, have I come at a… perfect time?"

Shinichi began to splutter.

"Wha-… You… what?!"

Shinichi didn't so much as see as he felt Kuroba-san's eyes rove over his mostly naked body. The immediate sense of self-consciousness overtook him, and he felt his cheeks start to flush.

Kuroba-san's eyes stopped at Shinichi's torso, and they examined it at length. He let out a hum soon after.

"What's that? A bullet wound?" the man asked smoothly. He let out something akin to an appreciative sigh. "I adore a man with battle scars~"

Shinichi let out a strangled gasp, and looked down at his naked torso, at the faded scar he had received back in high school during a chase gone awry. He looked back up quickly in embarrassment.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Shinichi exclaimed when he had gotten control of his tongue enough to speak.

The man tilted his head, staring at him with sultry eyes and a whimsical smile.

"Why, I'm enjoying the view, of course."

Shinichi near about choked.

He rushed over to the windowsill with a flustered, "G-get out of here!"

With that, Shinichi grabbed his opened window, and slammed it down in the man's face. Kuroba-san looked startled, and he promptly fell.

Shinichi let out a few harsh pants from the excitement that whole scene had incited. When he felt recollected enough to think, he started to fume inside.

What the hell?!

But it was then that a thought occurred to Shinichi in his renewed clarity.

This was the second floor…

"K-Kuroba-san!" Shinichi exclaimed as he scrambled to reopen his window. He leaned out of it, panicked.

But he blinked in confusion, because as he scanned the ground for any signs of a possibly pancaked and/or injured neighbor, there was nothing there. Just the side of his lawn.

What… in the world?

"What are we looking at?" A sudden voice questioned beside him. Shinichi looked over to his right to see Kuroba-san leaning over the windowsill with him.

Shinichi let out a yelp of surprise, and spun around in the air, arms swinging; he made a quick descent to the floor as he lost his footing with the action.

He hit something. He wasn't sure what, but it felt pliant. He wasn't really concerned about that, however. He was more concerned with falling and the fact that someone was in his house.

But before he could fall, two hands latched onto his wrists, and pulled him back up. He fell against something sturdy and warm with an, 'oof!' instead.

"Careful, my dear. It would be such a shame if you injured yourself on my account. How would I ever forgive myself?"

Shinichi opened his eyes from when he had scrunched them in anticipation of his impending fall. He blinked, and realized the sturdy object he was pressed against was a chest. His eyes widened in shock.

Shinichi scrambled back, and he lashed out yet again to get away from the intruder.

Said intruder let out a grunt as he fumbled backwards and away from Shinichi.

Shinichi stumbled back, and once he felt balanced enough, looked up.

Kuroba-san was standing a little way away from him. He looked a little less thrilled than he had before, with twin red handprints printed on either cheek of his disgruntled face.

"You are… quite feisty. I will have to remember that for future reference."

Shinichi let out a pant, and with it, he felt a wave of rage wash over him.

"Y-you!" he started, livid.

The man recovered easily, and he bowed. "Me."

Shinichi felt a vein start to throb against his temple. He pointed at the man standing before him with accusatory irritation.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? And so help me, if you say 'enjoying the view,' I will-"

Shinichi was interrupted from his irate tirade when he felt something slip from off his waist. His eyes immediately widened.

Kuroba-san's eyes went straight down. There was a low whistle.

The next thing to transpire went a little something like this,

Kuroba-san was promptly tossed out of a flustered and horribly embarrassed Shinichi's front door with very little regard for gentleness.

Kaito hit the ground hard. He heard the door of his… very sexy neighbor… slam shut behind him so hard the whole house rattled.

He picked his face up from the dirt, and spit out a clump of grass that had found its way into his mouth. He grinned after.

"Oh yeah, he's totally into me."

---

"He's despicable. Deplorable."

Ran sat quietly on her best friend's sofa as he paced in front of her. She watched him, from left to right, then back again, as he continued to rant.

"I can't believe he would break into someone's house. I don't even know how he knew which window was my bedroom… How did he know? Is he insane? Is everyone insane?"

Shinichi stopped pacing, and turned to her for answers. Ran cleared her throat.

"Um, perhaps he just wanted to be friendly," she offered. Shinichi scoffed.

"By somehow climbing up to my two-story bedroom window? To peek through after I had just gotten out of the shower? They made front doors for a reason."

Ran gave a small shrug. "Maybe he just wanted to make a dramatic entrance. You did say he was a magician, didn't you?"

Shinichi let out a sigh. "He said he was, yes."

Ran smiled up at him. "Maybe you should go say hello to him. He seems to want to be your friend."

Shinichi sent her a stare so incredulous, Ran was afraid his face might get stuck that way. She let out a sheepish laugh.

"I think the only thing he wants to do is find his way into my pants…" Shinichi muttered brusquely.

He then let out an exasperated sigh, and walked over to sit on the couch along with Ran. She looked over to him with a sympathetic smile.

"Well, besides your neighbor, how is everything so far?" Ran asked. She looked around at the space around her. "It's very quaint from what I've seen so far."

"Yeah, it's not so bad. The house is great. Spacious."

Ran chuckled. "I'm sure your mother thought it was too spacious."

Shinichi heaved a dramatic sigh. "She's going to run me into the ground with her pestering. She seems to think I need someone."

Ran's smile was bright as she stared at her best friend. "I think it would be good for you! Have you found anyone that interests you yet?"

"Oh no, not you too. I already get plenty too much of that from her…" Shinichi muttered as he leaned forward on his knees, rubbing circles into his temples.

Ran rolled her eyes. "Sorry, sorry," she said, but her smile didn't abate.

Shinichi looked up to her. "Enough about me, how about you? How have you and Eisuke been?"

Ran felt a pang of excitement hit her. She bounced on the couch, and extended her hand to Shinichi, showing off a brilliant ring on her finger.

"He proposed!" she exclaimed in high-pitch glee. Shinichi stared down at the ring in surprise.

"Oh. Wow, congratulations."

Ran nodded enthusiastically, then she turned somewhat sheepish.

"Yeah, between Hattori-kun and Kazuha-chan getting engaged, and Sonoko and Makoto-kun being married, you're the only one who hasn't even found anyone yet," Ran said thoughtfully. Shinichi grimaced.

"Gosh, you sound just like her," he mumbled in despair. Ran just smiled at him.

"We're just worried about you, Shinichi. We want you to be happy," she said sweetly, batting her eyelashes at him. She laughed when he glared at her. "You should give that neighbor of yours a chance! You never know, maybe he's better than you think."

Shinichi groaned, planting his face in his hands in utter dismay. "Why do you people want to torture me so much?" he asked miserably. Ran patted his shoulder.

"You don't have to if you don't want to," she said. "I just think it would be good for you to, you know, try, I guess. He seems sweet."

Shinichi turned a glower on her.

"He's a freaking creep, Ran."

"Now that's just rude."

"Ugh…"

Ran snickered.

"All I'm saying is, don't write him off so fast," she said after a moment. Shinichi picked his face up off his hands to send her a look. She returned a stern one of her own. "Promise me you'll at least give him one chance. Just one."

Shinichi let out a resigned sigh, and nodded.

"Fine… I'll… try." Ran beamed at him. When she did, he grimaced. "But I make no promises. If he crawls into my bedroom window while I'm sleeping one day, I'm filing a restraining order."

Ran nodded in consideration.

"Fair enough."

---

Inside Shinichi's room, all was quiet, save for the soft sound of a page being flipped.

Shinichi was reclining on his bed, reading a new mystery book that had just been released. His bedside lamp cast a dim, orange light against the crisp pages.

It was just starting to get late in the day, and the sky had darkened to reveal the small, glittering lights of the stars through his window.

Shinichi let out a quiet breath as he flipped another page.

It was tranquil.

He had had another productive day today. He had finished the rest of the unpacking. Now all that was left to do was relax.

Thankfully, he hadn't seen his odd neighbor today. He still was rather sore about the whole fiasco with the man breaking into his house. It also meant that he didn't have to make good on his promise that he would give him a chance. He wasn't really looking forward to it.

Shinichi let out a sigh as he flipped another page.

He, at the very least, was glad that none of his other neighbors seemed to be so… strange. They had come over, only once, to offer welcomes into the neighborhood and homemade pies and other things of that nature. It was quite the relief.

He hoped the man's weird fascination with him would fade soon. He really didn't want to have to board his windows, or something equally as drastic.

Another flip of a page, and Shinichi smiled, content.

But for now, he didn't have to worry about it.

Or… at least… he hadn't thought he did.

The relaxed smile fell from his lips at the sound of something hitting the glass of his window.

Tink.

Shinichi looked up, confused. When another tink sounded, he put the book down on his nightstand and stood up.

Carefully, and with growing trepidation, he walked over to his window.

He unlocked it, and, grabbing it by its base, lifted it so he could look outside.

Something hit him as soon as he opened the window, and he made a face. When he looked down, he noticed a playing card drifting slowly down through the air.

"Woops!" came a voice, and Shinichi looked back up.

Across the space between his house and his neighbor's, was… well… his neighbor.

Kuroba-san was leaning out of his own window, one that was directly across from his own.

Shinichi stared at him, perturbed, as a sudden realization began to dawn on him.

Wait… was that his room?

Could he… see inside Shinichi's?

Shinichi began to feel utterly disturbed.

Is… is that how he knew which room was his?

Shinichi felt his brow start up a steady twitch.

"Hello, my dear. It is a treat to see your lovely face on a night as splendid as this~"

Shinichi stare hardened. He noticed Kuroba-san was wearing a solid white suit, with a blue dress shirt and a red tie.

"My sincerest apologies for not visiting you sooner. I had a prior engagement to attend," Kuroba-san continued with overly dramatic embellishment.

"Do you talk like that to everyone you meet?" Shinichi grumbled.

Seriously, how did the guy even hold down a job talking like that? Unless he worked at a damn circus. The pretentious creep.

The man gasped dramatically, and placed a white-gloved hand over the spot where his heart ought to be.

"Never! I wouldn't even dream of it! It is for your ears, and your ears alone~"

Shinichi sent him a withering look.

"Lucky me…"

The man smiled brilliantly at him. It was so bright, Shinichi almost had to squint to keep from being blinded.

"As an apology for keeping you waiting," Kuroba-san went on to say.

"Oh, trust me, I wasn't waiting…" Shinichi grumbled.

"I will serenade you with a sonnet~" Kuroba-san finished as if Shinichi hadn't spoken.

"You're joking…"

Kuroba-san cleared his throat.

"O, my love is like a red, red rose that's newly sprung in June; O my love is like the melody that's sweetly played in tune,"

Shinichi nearly hurled. "Worse… you're serious..."

"O fair art thou, my bonnie lad, so deep in love am I; and I will love thee still, my dear, till a' the seas gang dry,"

He contemplated for a moment if there was anything in his room he disliked enough to throw at the man across from him.

"Till a' the seas gang dry, my dear, and the rocks melt wi' the sun; I will love thee still, my dear, while the sands o' life shall run,"

"And fare thee well, my only love! And fare thee well a while! And I will come again, my love, though it were ten thousand mile."

After he was finished, Shinichi glared at him dryly.

"A Red, Red Rose by Robert Burns? Seriously?" Shinichi muttered. Kuroba-san beamed over at him.

"You are familiar with him?" he asked. Shinichi scoffed.

"Of course I am. That doesn't mean I want to be serenaded with his sonnet, however…"

The man's smile was radiant in the moonlight that shone down on him.

"How about this one, then?" he asked.

Shinichi groaned. "No, no… not another one…"

Kuroba-san conveniently didn't hear him.

"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate:"

Shinichi almost wanted to cry.

"Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, and summer's lease hath all too short a date: Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, and often is his gold complexion dimm'd;"

"And every fair from fair sometime declines, by chance, or nature's changing course, untrimm'd; But thy eternal summer shall not fade nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st;"

"Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade, when in eternal lines to time thou grow'st; So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, so long lives this, and this gives life to thee."

Shinichi was in the process of smoothing out the harsh lines that had surfaced on his forehead when he had started making too many irritated faces once Kuroba-san had finished. He looked up to him after.

"Shakespeare's sonnet 18. Why am I not surprised?" Shinichi said with a grumble.

Kuroba-san looked positively delighted.

"I suppose that one is more well known. How about this one then?" the man asked as he cleared his throat once more.

Shinichi really did throw something at him this time. A spare sock he picked up from out of his drawer. It, unfortunately, didn't make it very far. It merely smacked the side of Kuroba-san's house about five feet below him.

"I have been one acquainted with the night. I have walked out in rain—and back in rain. I have outwalked the furthest city light,"

"I have looked down the saddest city lane. I have passed by the watchman on his beat and dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain,"

"I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet when far away an interrupted cry came over houses from another street,"

"But not to call me back or say good-bye; And further still at an unearthly height, one luminary clock against the sky,"

"Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right. I have been one acquainted with the night."

"Acquainted with the Night, Robert Frost," Shinichi mumbled in appreciation. "An interesting choice."

"Quite the solemn tale, isn't it?" Kuroba-san asked, leaning on his windowsill with his elbows, resting his chin in his open hand.

"Indeed," Shinichi agreed. Kuroba-san smiled at him.

"I must confess, I am pleasantly surprised, my dear," the man started. "You are as cultured and enlightened as you are stunning."

Shinichi rolled his eyes. "I'm going to go to sleep now. Goodnight, Kuroba-san. Please stop throwing cards at my window."

With that, Shinichi shut his bedroom window, but he didn't bother to lock it.

---

"So let me get this straight,"

Aoko was sitting on Kaito's couch when she had spoken. Kaito was sipping at some tea he had prepared for them, sitting next to her as he let out a dreamy sigh.

"You say you've found the perfect guy, and he just so happens to be your new next-door neighbor?"

Kaito nodded absently.

Aoko let out a surprised, 'huh,' at that.

"Well that's awfully convenient," she said after. She looked to him curiously. "What makes him so special? You've been looking for 'the perfect guy' for years."

Kaito let out another dreamy sigh.

"He's intelligent, beautiful, independent, and remarkable in every way," he said into his cup of tea. "He even has a bullet scar."

Aoko hummed in approval. "O~o, a battle scar. Those are attractive."

"Aren't they?!" Kaito exclaimed in agreement.

"Do you know what he does for a living?" she asked, taking a sip of her own tea. Kaito felt his excitement deflate a tad.

"Um, no. I don't," he admitted.

Aoko looked to him in surprise.

"You don't even know what he does?"

Kaito pouted.

"I know he's a modernist. His room looked very simple and western."

Aoko nodded at that.

"Oh. So you've talked to him enough that he invited you into his room?"

Kaito froze. He let out a nervous chuckle after.

"Uh… yeah."

Aoko sent him an unimpressed look.

"Kaito…"

"Look, I wanted to see him. His front door was so far away."

Aoko slapped him across the back of his head. Kaito let out a yelp.

"Kaito! You can't just break into people's houses!" she reprimanded. Kaito had put his cup down to rub at the forming lump. "He could have called the police on you!" Kaito scooted a little away from her rage.

She turned away from him with an angry huff.

"God, why are you so socially challenged? How hard is it to act like a normal person?"

Kaito went back to pouting. "Normal is boring," he muttered. Aoko shook her head in exasperation.

"Hopefully you didn't… serenade the poor guy under the moonlight too, or something equally as ridiculous."

Kaito started to fidget uncomfortably.

"Heh, heh. Oops."

Aoko stared at him, then she placed her face in her free hand.

"Oh, Kaito, you poor pathetic moron."

Kaito glared surly at her.

"…not a moron. You're a moron…"

Aoko placed her cup of tea on the coffee table in front of them. Then she reached over to place her hand on Kaito's shoulder.

"It's okay. You see, this is why you have friends. They help you make the important decisions you're too stupid to handle," she started. Kaito glared at her. "Now, instead of trying to crawl through his windows, why don't you try going up to his door and knocking? Ask him what he does for a living. Learn about him. Get to know him."

Kaito looked away, and shrugged his shoulders with a pout. "…I guess I could… try."

Aoko nodded approvingly.

"Very good," she said. "Why don't you bring him something too? Something romantic. Like flowers."

Kaito quirked an eyebrow.

"Flowers? He's a guy. Why would he like flowers?"

"Just try it, Kaito."

---

Kaito walked up to his neighbor's front door. He stared at it warily before clearing his throat. He adjusted his suit tie, and rearranged the bouquet of flowers resting in the crook of his elbow. A fairly large arrangement of roses.

Kaito took a breath in, and then exhaled. He lifted his hand to rap his knuckles against the front door belonging to his future partner.

It didn't take a long time before the doorknob rustled, and the door was pulled away to reveal the beautiful inhabitant. The man stared at him warily from the slight crack he'd made in his door. Kaito put on his most brilliant smile.

"Um… Kuroba-san?" Shinichi mumbled uncertainly.

"Hello, my dear. I hope I am not intruding upon anything most dire," he responded with a bow.

Shinichi looked particularly put-out when Kaito stood back up straight to look at him.

"No. Unfortunately not," he muttered, but he did open his door fully to address Kaito appropriately.

Kaito then remembered he brought flowers. He extended them to the man.

"For you~"

Shinichi looked only slightly disturbed by the dramatic gift. But he still took them.

"Uh, thanks?"

Kaito stood in place, somewhat awkwardly. He fidgeted with the hem of his dress shirt. He heard Shinichi let out a sigh, and looked back up to him.

"Do you want to come in?" Shinichi asked. Kaito's face brightened instantly.

"I would love to~"

Shinichi let out another sigh, and stepped away from the entrance to his house. Kaito walked in as Shinichi was heading towards his kitchen.

"Would you like anything to drink?" his impeccable neighbor asked.

Kaito gave a nod. "If you would offer it, I would gladly accept."

Shinichi rolled his eyes. "All right. What would you like? I have water, coffee, juice…"

"Anything you would like to give me, I will take."

Shinichi stared at him a moment, then he shrugged. "All right." Then he walked off into his kitchen.

Kaito stood in the living room patiently. He examined it briefly as he waited for his host to return.

Just like his room, Shinichi didn't appear to have too many possessions. There weren't many pictures, and the walls were plain. There was a TV in the living room, and one sofa. There wasn't even a coffee, or end table.

Kaito leaned over to look into the kitchen where his host was preparing two drinks. He noticed the bouquet of flowers had been placed on the counter. A single rose was sitting in a vase on the windowsill just above the sink. Kaito blinked at it. Was that the rose he had given him on their first meeting?

As Shinichi walked back into the living room, he handed Kaito a mug of what smelled like coffee. Kaito took it with a smile.

"Thank you. You are most courteous."

Shinichi nodded as he brought up his own mug to sip at it carefully.

Kaito flashed him a grin, and brought the mug up to take a sip.

He almost spat it out all over his host.

Kaito felt the most absolute disgust spread across his face in the most horrified expression he thought he'd ever made.

He didn't know his future beloved drank battery acid willingly.

That's something they would definitely have to work out in the future.

Kaito discreetly poured out the remainder of the toxic waste into a single potted plant that was next to the door when Shinichi looked away.

He grinned sheepishly when Shinichi faced him again.

"So um," Kaito started to ramble. "What is that you do? For work, I mean."

Shinichi's eyes brightened at the question. It was a beautiful look on him.

"Oh. I'm a police detective. I work for the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department."

Kaito nodded appraisingly. "I see," he said, then he gave his neighbor a sly look. "Is that how you acquired that scar?"

A blush bloomed across Shinichi's handsome face that reached his ears.

"Uh… yeah, it is," The man said, lifting a hand to place over the spot. "I used to be an amateur detective back in high school. I chased down an armed man without really thinking about it."

Kaito winced. He imagined that hadn't turned out so well.

"Anyway…" Shinichi went on to say. "What about you? What do you do for a living?"

The way he sounded genuinely curious was rather cute.

"I am a magician, my dear. I perform."

Shinichi blinked at him.

"Oh. You were serious."

Kaito immediately started to pout.

"Well, of course I was serious…" he mumbled.

Kaito stared, a bit askance, at the man standing before him. He didn't know Shinichi would belittle him for his choice in occupation. It was a minor turn off, he supposed, but he could look past it. The man was still amazingly adorable.

"That's pretty cool," Shinichi then said. "I suppose you really are extraordinary."

Kaito looked up in surprise. A grin was quick to find its way to his lips.

"I am nothing if not the best," he said easily. Shinichi smirked at him.

"You sound pretty sure of that."

Kaito smirked right back.

"I am only sure of what I can readily prove."

Shinichi looked suitably impressed by the response. He tipped his head at Kaito.

"I'll have to see for myself sometime."

Kaito beamed.

"I would love it if you would~"

Shinichi smiled at him, and it was possibly the most beautiful thing Kaito had ever seen. He could swear the room just got the smallest bit warmer. He had to blink to break the trance the man had unwittingly put him in.

"So, what do you do in your spare time, Shinichi?" he asked eventually. His neighbor looked slightly thrown-off by the use of his first name. He recovered well enough, though.

"Ah, well, I do a lot of reading," Shinichi replied. He then shrugged. "Not the most exciting hobby."

Kaito smiled, and took a step closer. "On the contrary, my dear, I think it's very exciting. What do you read?"

Shinichi looked somewhat surprised by the response, and he sent Kaito another one of those enthralling smiles.

"I read a lot of mystery novels. Sherlock Holmes is my favorite."

Kaito chuckled. "The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree as far as where your interests are concerned, it seems."

Shinichi looked bashful at that. "Eh… you have to be a little more motivated in the field to do my job, I guess."

"Fair enough," Kaito replied.

"What about you? Have any interesting hobbies?" Shinichi asked him, taking another sip of his coffee.

"I'm not all that unlike you in that regard. I rehearse, I hone my skills. In my profession, one must be at the top of their game at all times, lest they lose their light."

Shinichi nodded in consideration.

"Occasionally I spend time with friends," Kaito continued off-handedly.

"You have friends?" Shinichi asked. Kaito couldn't quite tell if he was genuinely shocked or not. He pouted.

"You wound me," Kaito said. Shinichi laughed.

And Kaito took the pout back, because he'd do just about anything to listen to that wonderful sound again.

"Sorry, you just seem like so much of a handful. It's hard to imagine anyone would willingly put up with you for more than thirty minutes at a time," Shinichi said with a cheeky grin. "You'd be so much more handsome if you just toned it down a bit."

Kaito's eyebrows rose in surprise from that last bit. A smirk slowly surfaced on his lips. "Is that so?"

Shinichi himself only seemed to realize what he had said after he caught Kaito's look. He started to blush.

"U-uh… what I meant to say was… You look… okay… you're just…" He then promptly stopped his rambling. He looked away from Kaito's face to the mug in Kaito's hands. "O-oh! You're out of coffee! I-I'll go get you some more! I didn't even notice you drank it all."

The smirk on Kaito's face fell away into panic, but he didn't get a chance to tell his host that, no, he would be quite all right without his black tar, because Shinichi's face then turned calculating.

"I didn't notice you drank any…" Shinichi said again, seemingly perplexed at this discovery. "I would have noticed."

He then sent Kaito a dull, unimpressed grimace.

"Kuroba-san…" he started tersely. Kaito felt a drop of sweat fall from his temple. He let out a nervous chuckle.

Shinichi's eyes immediately snapped to the lone potted plant next to his door. He looked back up to Kaito's nervous face after.

"If you didn't want the coffee, you could have just told me…"

Kaito scratched sheepishly at the back of his hair.

"I didn't want to refuse your hospitality?" Kaito tried.

Shinichi let out a steady breath through his nose. He then walked up to Kaito, and snatched the empty mug out of his hand.

"As fun as this has been, I'm afraid I'm still rather busy," Shinichi said as he began to herd Kaito to the door.

Kaito was pushed out of it. He spun back around on the doorstep to face Shinichi before the man could close the door.

"Wait!"

Shinichi stopped, and looked to him through the crack.

"What?" Shinichi asked, though he didn't sound harsh. Slightly curious. Kaito could still see the tinge of pink on Shinichi's exposed ear. He grinned.

"Go on a date with me," Kaito said. "I'll make it worth your while."

Shinichi's eyes widened, and his blush darkened. He averted his gaze.

"Um… I would love to…"

A surge of joy rushed through him.

"But…"

Instant deflation.

"I really am busy. Maybe some other time?"

Kaito let out a forlorn sigh.

"Of course. Some other time then," Kaito said as he directed his stare to his shoes.

"Have a good day, Kuroba-kun."

Kaito looked up to see Shinichi give him one last smile before he closed the door.

Kaito stood there for a moment. Then he grinned.

Overall, a success.

---

Shinichi let out a dejected sigh as he exited inspector Megure's office. He'd just been reprimanded. Not too harshly, he was more upset with himself than anything.

He had found one of the primary suspects to the case he'd been working on with Takagi, and somehow, the suspect had escaped.

Shinichi had chased the man down, but unfortunately, it seemed the escape had been planned, and he had a getaway car along with an accomplice. Shinichi could only run so far before they had sped off and out of sight. The car unfortunately didn't have a license plate, but he had remembered the model and make of it.

Takagi had received a similar reprimand not too long ago, and he walked up to Shinichi to give him a consoling pat on the shoulder.

"Don't worry about it too much, Kudou-kun. We'll find them."

Shinichi sent the man a small smile, and Takagi returned it before walking down the hall.

Welp, guess he'd better go… do paperwork or something.

Ugh… and he hadn't even gotten the chance to eat at all today. He was starving.

Shinichi walked into the break room on his way to his own office.

There was a water jug positioned next to a bunch of other appliances in the room. He walked up to it. Grabbing a small paper cup, he poured himself some water. He turned around, and leaned on the counter as he took a sip.

He couldn't believe he'd let something like that happen. How would he ever get promoted to inspector doing things like that?

"So this is where you work."

Shinichi ended up spitting out his water on his second sip. He turned so fast, he almost slipped on the tiled floor. That voice sounded far too familiar.

When he had successfully managed the rotation, he spotted Kuroba-kun standing next to the counter, examining the coffee machine and microwave.

"K-Kuroba-kun! What are you doing here?!" Shinichi exclaimed.

Kuroba-kun looked over to him. He grinned after.

"Just dropping by to say hello. I noticed you weren't at home. I figured you were off fighting crime. Besides," he said as he walked up to the water jug to pour himself a cup. "I've never actually been inside a police station before."

Shinichi sent him a dry grimace.

"You don't say?"

Kuroba-kun nodded as he took a sip of his water. Shinichi watched him with an eye twitch.

"Kuroba… how did you know I wasn't home?"

Kuroba looked over the small rim of his paper cup. He let out a nervous laugh.

"Well, after you didn't answer when I knocked, I thought something bad might have happened to you!" he exclaimed. Shinichi was not impressed.

"You broke into my house, didn't you?"

Kuroba pouted. "Only for a second~"

"And now you're stalking me at work."

"I was worried!"

"You do know this police station is real, don't you? We have real handcuffs. And real Tasers."

There was a pause.

"Please don't send me to prison, I'm saving myself for someone special."

Before Shinichi could think too much about that statement and what it implied, the door to the breakroom opened, and revealed another member of the police department.

"Oh, Kudou-kun. Hello there," came the voice of Miwako Sato, an assistant inspector to inspector Megure.

Shinichi looked to her in panic. He stood in front of Kuroba quickly.

"U-uh… Sato-san! Hello!"

Sato-san walked in. She smiled pleasantly at him as she stopped by the small coffee machine.

"I heard about the escaped suspect. I'm sorry to hear you got scolded," she said.

Shinichi shrugged.

"Ah, well, you know how that goes. Things happen sometimes," he said with a nervous chuckle.

Sato-san eyed him suspiciously.

"You're handling it rather well. I would have thought you'd be far more upset about it. You're so particular about these things."

"You let a criminal escape?" came the voice of Kuroba, who popped up from behind Shinichi with a curious look on his face.

Shinichi looked over his shoulder in irritation.

"Kuroba-kun!" he whispered harshly at the clueless man.

Sato-san looked startled by the additional person in the room. She turned around to face the both of them.

"Kudou-kun?" Sato-san asked. Shinichi looked back around with a sheepish smile. "Who's that?"

He started to wave dismissively.

"Oh, him?" he asked. "He's nobody. Nobody important." Shinichi ignored the surly look he received from Kuroba for his comment.

Sato-san stared at them in consideration for a time. The longer the silent staring went on, the more nervous Shinichi became.

"Kudou-kun…" she started. "Is that… your boyfriend?"

Shinichi blinked. Then blinked some more.

Wait… what?

"What?! No! He's-"

"Oh! He's so handsome, Kudou-kun! The whole department thought you were asexual for the longest time! But I knew better!" Sato-san interrupted him. She walked over to him to nudge him in the side with her elbow. "Good for you, Kudou-kun. He's a looker."

Shinichi blushed quite the red shade as he tried to frantically shake his head.

"No, no, you got it all wrong. He's my-"

"Kuroba Kaito," Kuroba interrupted. He approached Sato-san, and raised his hand to poof a rose into view. He handed it to her.

Sato-san took it with a happy smile. She looked way too impressed by the minor magic trick.

Shinichi sent Kuroba a sour look.

"Do you give roses to everyone you meet?" Shinichi asked in irritation. Kuroba turned a grin on him.

"Are you jealous, my dear?"

Shinichi let out an exasperated sigh.

"Oh! This is so exciting! I'm going to go tell everyone!" Sato-san exclaimed. She turned around and rushed out before Shinichi could even get another word out.

Shinichi stared after her in growing dread, and let out a long groan.

Why was the world insane?

"I did, um, want to ask you something, by the way," Kuroba said now that they were alone. Shinichi looked up to glare at him.

"And what, pray tell, would that reason be?" Shinichi asked as he lifted a hand to rub soothing circles into his brow. It just wouldn't relax. "Because it seems you've gotten what you wanted."

Kuroba laughed sheepishly.

"Actually, I wanted to ask you if now would fall into the appropriate timeslot of 'maybe some other time,' for that date?"

Shinichi glared at the man standing beside him.

"You break into my house, stalk me to work, convince my coworker that we're a couple, and then ask me if now would be an appropriate time for a date?"

Kuroba coughed a couple of times into his hand. He shifted a bit awkwardly from foot to foot, and then he looked back up to Shinichi's horribly unimpressed glower.

"Well, I mean… after you finish your shift, of course."

Shinichi felt a vein throb against his temple.

"No."

Kuroba pouted.

"Worth a shot…" his neighbor mumbled. Shinichi resisted the urge to reach out and strangle him.

"Would you please leave my workplace? I have a lot to do."

Kuroba pouted some more. He averted his gaze to the floor, and pulled off quite the remarkable impression of a kicked puppy. But he did do as Shinichi asked. He started to head towards the door.

Before he made it all the way, he turned back around.

He pulled something out of somewhere, Shinichi wasn't sure how he did it, and he offered it to Shinichi.

"Here," he said, holding out what looked to be a small bento.

Shinichi's irritation faded into surprise. Tentatively, he reached out to take the bento. He stared down at it in a mix of confusion and mild appreciation.

"I thought you might be hungry. It didn't look like you had actually used anything in your kitchen, and nothing looked out of place. So, I figured you didn't bring yourself anything. And since it seems like you've had a busy day, so I doubt you got yourself something either."

Gosh, it looked amazing. He heard his stomach start to growl.

"I guess I'll see you later then," Kuroba then said, as he started to continue his way to the door.

Shinichi looked up, and hurried over to Kuroba before he could leave the room. He grabbed him by the arm, halting his progress.

"…Thank you," Shinichi mumbled. He felt somewhat shy. "I appreciate it… Kaito-kun."

Kaito-kun's pouty face lifted into a genuine smile.

"No problem."

---

"I guess he isn't that bad," Shinichi said one day to Ran, who was sitting at his kitchen counter one afternoon.

Ran was leaning against the counter on her elbows when Shinichi placed a cup of tea in front of her. She picked it up, and took a sip of the freshly brewed beverage.

She had a knowing smile on her lips when she lowered it. "Your neighbor, you mean?" she asked.

Shinichi sat down across from her with a cup of coffee. He sent her a glower once he was situated.

"Yes, my neighbor. He's not that bad. Or, at least, he's not as bad as I thought he was."

He could see Ran's, 'I told you so,' face before she even started to speak.

"I figured he wouldn't be."

Shinichi rolled his eyes. "Just because he's not as bad as I initially thought doesn't mean he isn't bad," he muttered derisively. "He stalked me to work just to ask me out and bring me lunch."

Ran quirked an eyebrow as she said, "Oh? Sounds like he really wants your attention." Shinichi scoffed.

"Yeah, I'll say. I think he wants a little more than my attention."

Ran seemed to consider him a moment as she sipped thoughtfully at her tea. Eventually, she spoke.

"You should give it to him."

Shinichi almost spit out the coffee he had been in the process of sipping from his mug.

"What?" he exclaimed after. "Did you completely miss the part where I said, 'he stalked me'? Why should I indulge him at all? If I do, I'll just be encouraging him…"

Ran shrugged. "What's wrong with that? I think it's cute. Didn't you say he brought you lunch too?"

Shinichi groaned, and placed his face in his hands.

"He broke into my house!" he exclaimed as he looked back up to her. When he did, Ran simply smiled at him.

"Sounds like he really wanted to see you. It's adorable."

Shinichi eyed her, slightly repulsed and awfully disturbed.

"Okay… you clearly aren't listening to a single thing I'm saying."

Ran laughed at him. "You should let him take you out! You've been working so hard lately. It would really do you some good."

Shinichi let out another pitiful groan.

"Remind me to never ask you for advice on anything at any point in the future."

Ran merely giggled in reply.

---

The next time Shinichi saw his neighbor, he was in the process of walking up to his door from grocery shopping. Because Kaito-kun had been right. He hadn't brought anything from his house that day, because he hadn't had anything to bring. He hadn't even remembered to buy anything. Or had any time to.

So he stood on his doorstep, fumbling with his keys with one hand as he placed the bag on his hip. When he managed to find the right key, he opened his door.

"Welcome home, Shinichi~"

Shinichi almost dropped the entire bag of produce all over the floor.

No matter how many times Kaito-kun seemed to love doing that to him, he was not getting used to it. In the slightest.

However, his recovery time was vastly improving.

"Kaito-kun," Shinichi hissed.

Kaito-kun was sitting on the couch with one leg crossed. He looked far too relaxed for someone who was making a habit out of breaking into someone else's home.

"I brought you some coffee~" Kaito-kun chirped. He pointed towards the kitchen with his thumb. "I left it in the microwave for you~"

Shinichi let out a resigned sigh, and walked into his house to kick the door shut behind him. He walked by the man to get to his kitchen to put the bag away.

"Black, with one sugar. That's how you like it, right?" He heard Kaito-kun ask as he placed the bag on the counter.

Shinichi looked over to the microwave. Coffee didn't sound all too bad right now. He hadn't made any earlier before he left for the store.

He walked over to it, and pulled out the cup to walk back into the living room.

His neighbor looked delighted to see his gift had been accepted. Shinichi merely rolled his eyes as he took a sip. It wasn't hot, but it was still good.

"So," Shinichi started. "What brings you to break into my house today, Kaito-kun?"

Kaito-kun beamed at him.

"Oh, you know, I just stopped by to recite more sonnets to you."

Shinichi made a face. Kaito-kun chuckled.

"I don't think my ears could take any more of that abuse…" Shinichi muttered.

Kaito-kun mock pouted at him. "Aw, are you saying you don't like my eloquent, dramatic readings of famous poems?"

Shinichi scoffed. "I think I prefer it when you stalk me. At least I get free food out of it."

Kaito-kun let out a laugh. "Touché~"

Shinichi found himself smiling. It was a small smile, nothing major. He took another sip of his coffee, and walked to sit down on the couch. Kaito-kun actually looked genuinely surprised that he had sat down next to him. There was even a blush on his face, much to Shinichi's amusement.

"What?" Shinichi asked with a forming smirk. "Can I not sit on my own couch?"

His neighbor blinked, and averted his gaze as he cleared his throat.

"Anyway, there was a reason I stopped by. Besides just to woo you with coffee," Kaito-kun said after. There was still a faint blush on his cheeks. Shinichi quirked an eyebrow.

"Do tell," Shinichi said over the rim of the cup. He cast his neighbor a sly, side-long glance as he pressed his lips to the rim to take another sip. Kaito-kun cleared his throat again.

"Yes actually, if I can manage to remember what that might be. I seem to have lost my train of thought," the man mumbled. Shinichi found himself laughing.

"I'm sorry for being such a distraction," he said with a grin. Kaito-kun smirked back at him.

"Oh, no, that's quite all right. Don't hold back on my account."

Shinichi rolled his eyes, but he still held onto his smile.

"What is it that you need, Kaito-kun?" he asked.

Kaito-kun looked over to him, more sheepishly this time.

"Uhm, well, I was hoping that I uh… maybe could convince you to uh…" the man trailed off awkwardly with a muttered curse.

Shinichi's raised eyebrow trekked higher up on his forehead.

"Wow," he said with a laugh. "After all that charming eloquence." Shinichi let out a snort of laughter when Kaito-kun glared at him with a petulant frown. "If I had known all I had to do was flirt with you a little bit to reduce you to nothing more than a prepubescent boy attempting to confess his feelings to his first crush, I would have done it ages ago."

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" Kaito-kun asked, looking particularly surly. Shinichi just grinned at him. Kaito-kun sighed. "I was actually hoping I could get you to go on that date with me."

Shinichi eyed his persistent neighbor. The man fidgeted a bit under his gaze. Shinichi eventually let up with his staring, and reclined back on his couch.

"Why should I?" he asked nonchalantly, idly picking at a stray hair that had managed to find its way onto his white dress shirt.

When Shinichi turned to look back over to his neighbor, the man looked surprised by the question. He didn't look like he was properly prepared for it. Which, incidentally, was surprising. The man seemed the type to have backup plans for his backup plans.

"Uh, I… well…"

Shinichi was actually far more amused by witnessing his neighbor getting so flustered than he'd thought he'd be.

The man then cleared his throat again, and pulled something out from behind him with the most absent look on his face.

"I figured you'd you no…"

Shinichi chuckled.

What, did the man switch to autopilot? Had he been rehearsing the night before in front of his mirror, or something?

But Shinichi didn't get a chance to be amused for too much longer, because then Kaito-kun moved the object he was holding towards him.

When Shinichi looked down to it, his eyes widened in shock.

It was a mystery book that he'd been tracking for quite some time, by an author that he happened to be quite the fan of.

"Since you're a mystery buff, I thought you might like it."

Might like it? Shinichi couldn't even take his eyes off it.

"Kaito-kun… how did you get this?" Shinichi asked in astonishment. "It's not even supposed to be on the shelves for another week…"

Kaito-kun shrugged.

"I have connections. It wasn't too hard to get ahold of."

Shinichi took the book carefully from Kaito-kun's outstretched hand. He ran his hand over the smooth, hard cover in awe.

A wave of excitement hit him, and a wide, childish grin broke out onto his face.

He had to read it. Immediately.

"So um… about that date," Shinichi heard Kaito-kun say as he opened the cover to read the acknowledgements. He looked up to him.

"Oh, right. Yeah, I'll go on a date with you."

Shinichi turned his attention back to the book, and he grinned at it in pure delight.

He couldn't believe it. An actual hard copy. One week early. In his hands.

He was going to read it once, just to get the gist of it. Then he was going to read it a second time, for clarity. Then he was going to read it a third time, for enjoyment.

"I thought you might say n-" Kaito-kun started, then he stopped abruptly. "Wait what? You will?"

Shinichi nodded absently.

"Yeah, sure. You said you'd make it worth my while, right?"

Kaito-kun laughed awkwardly. "Oh, yeah, definitely. I know exactly what we'll do."

---

"I have no idea what we're going to do."

Aoko watched as Kaito paced back and forth, wearing a mark into his hardwood floors.

He'd been pacing for the past thirty minutes. He couldn't stop for more than five minutes before he felt the need to fidget.

But who could blame him? He was going on a date. With Shinichi. Only the most attractive, handsome, beautiful neighbor to ever grace his life with his mere presence.

"Kaito, calm down. It's not like you proposed to him. It's just a date," Aoko said, looking particularly dizzy from watching Kaito pace for so long.

Kaito stopped, and turned to her.

"How am I supposed to calm down?! I don't even know what to do! I don't even know where to take him!"

He resumed his pacing, placing a hand to his chin as he tried to think of something that could hold up to his promise of, 'making it worth his while.' It was hard.

"I don't know, why don't you… take him somewhere simple? It's only the first date. It doesn't have to be extremely well thought out."

Kaito spun around on Aoko when she said that. He felt miffed by it, to say the least.

"What are you even talking about, woman?! Of course it has to be well thought out. This is where first impressions are made!" Kaito exclaimed, pulling at his unruly hair in distress.

Aoko scoffed.

"So?"

Kaito looked over to her like a wild animal. He was just short of foaming at the mouth. She rolled her eyes.

"Look, think of it this way," she started. "If you set the bar too high on your first date, he'll expect future dates to be just as good, if not better. If you set the bar kind of low, you give yourself room to really impress him later. The first date just has to be good enough, right? Just enough to get him interested. Don't stress so much about it."

And then she shrugged.

"Besides, you said this guy was simple. Maybe he'd prefer simpler things. It doesn't matter what you have to offer, it only matters how well you use it. So, take a simple date and make the most of it."

Kaito eyed her with a frown, but he did take her words into consideration.

"Okay…" he said after a moment. "What do you suggest then?"

Aoko let out a thoughtful, 'hmmm…'

"Uh, I don't know. How about… the park? That's always a romantic date spot."

Kaito sent her the most unimpressed grimace he could muster.

"That is the worst idea ever. I mean, the park? Really?"

---

"So yeah, this is the park."

Shinichi looked over to Kaito with a quirked brow. He walked forward, and looked around at the neatly kept hedges and shrubs.

Night had descended upon the small park, blanketing it in a dark shade. Crickets chirped, adding to the night's calm ambiance, as street lamps cast a soft, yellow glow in patches along the grass.

"I… know this is the park, Kaito-kun. I've been here. Several times," Shinichi deadpanned. He moved over to sit down on a bench with a sigh.

Kaito let out an awkward chuckle. "Ah, right. Hasn't everyone?" His question was followed by more awkward chuckling.

I can't believe I listened to her. I trusted her. 'Take him to the park,' she says. 'He's a simple guy,' she says.

'First dates don't have to be special,' she says.

"Gotta say, I wasn't expecting this," he heard Shinichi say. "I was sort of expecting something really extravagant or crazy."

Kaito felt so embarrassed he almost wanted to say, 'you know what? Let's just go back. Give me one more day? I'll think of something, I swear.'

"But this isn't so bad," Shinichi went on. Kaito jerked his head over to look at the man in surprise.

Shinichi had his head tilted back over the bench. He took in a deep breath, and exhaled slowly. His eyes were closed, and there was a faint smile on his beautiful lips.

"The last time I was here, I was solving a missing person's case. Someone had kidnapped a child," Shinichi said, and then his eyes scrunched up in distress. "It took a whole two days to find her. Enjoying the scenery wasn't exactly the first thing on my mind."

Kaito blinked in surprise, but he didn't comment on Shinichi's story. Instead, he walked around the bench to sit beside his neighbor.

Shinichi opened his eyes when he heard Kaito sit down. He looked over to Kaito with a sheepish look.

"Sorry. That's probably a pretty inappropriate thing to say on a date."

Kaito shook his head with a smile. "It's quite all right, my dear. That memory is a part of you. You shouldn't feel ashamed to share it."

Shinichi looked surprised by that. Then a smile found its way to his lips.

"All this time, I've been trying to convince myself that you're a creepy weirdo." Kaito looked over to him, slightly aghast, and he laughed. "But I'm finding it harder to make up excuses. Maybe you're more charming than I first gave you credit for."

Kaito found himself beaming.

"So I'm told~" Kaito started smugly. Shinichi quirked an amused brow at his blatant cockiness. Kaito grinned at him. "Especially by that sweet, old lady down the street. She's quite smitten with me."

Shinichi hadn't quite been expecting that. It caught him by surprise enough to get a snort of laughter out of him.

"Oh, I'm sure you attract all the sweet, old ladies," Shinichi said with a chuckle.

Kaito nodded, mock sagely.

"Oh, yes. But I draw the line when they start getting too handsy."

Shinichi's laugh was like a chorus of trumpets played perfectly in tune. It was that uplifting. It had sent Kaito straight up to the clouds. God, he never wanted to come down.

"You mean you don't like it when old ladies feel you up?" Shinichi asked with a grin.

Kaito leaned back on the bench, and crossed one leg over the other.

"Not particularly. I'm sure they mean well. Though I have no idea who Keisuke is. The only lady down the street keeps telling me I look just like him. Right before she feels me up."

Shinichi let out another snort. He was trying desperately to hide giggles behind his hand. Kaito grinned at him.

Eventually, Shinichi calmed his mirth into the occasional snort. He turned to Kaito soon after.

"If not for old ladies," Shinichi then said, quiet and almost alluring. "Who do you want to feel you up?"

Ah… Shinichi was hitting on him. It was hard to think when he did that. His brain went straight to scrambled.

"…Attractive people…"

Shinichi recoiled at his answer. His face twisted into confusion, and he looked somewhat put-off. Kaito wanted to facepalm.

Wow, brain. Really? Attractive people? Real smooth. How hard was it to say, 'you?' Apparently pretty hard.

"Uhm, okay," Shinichi said after a moment. He still didn't seem to know what to make of Kaito's response.

An awkward silence fell over them after that. Kaito was busy thinking of all the creative ways he could kick himself in the ass, while Shinichi was looking about the park and fiddling with his thumbs.

He had to salvage this situation. Hopefully without making himself look like an idiot. Preferably without making himself look like an idiot.

"So, ah… have you been to any magic shows?" Kaito asked, lifting a hand to scratch idly at his hair.

Shinichi looked to him, and he nodded. "Of course," came his easy reply.

Kaito slowly felt his confidence return to him. He smirked at his date.

"What about a magic show just for you?"

Shinichi looked surprised. The light blush that surfaced to his face was awfully cute.

"No, I haven't."

Kaito's smirk widened back into a grin, and he hopped off the bench to stand in front of a startled Shinichi.

"Well, my dear, you're in luck, because I just so happen to know an incredibly handsome and talented magician who can give you a private show~"

Shinichi blinked the surprise from his face before his expression settled into a smirk. He leaned back against the bench and rested his folded hands in his lap.

"Oh yeah? When he gets here, let me know. Maybe he'll take me somewhere fancier than a park," Shinichi quipped.

Kaito's enthusiasm died a little, his raised arms drooping slightly. He pouted at Shinichi.

"You're mean…" Kaito muttered.

Shinichi chuckled. "Hey, this is what you signed up for," he said, gesturing towards himself. "All of this sass."

Kaito's pout turned into a thoughtful nod.

"Yes, you do have a nice ass. Can confirm. I have looked."

Shinichi's face immediately exploded with red. He glared at Kaito fiercely.

"I said sass, not ass!"

Kaito merely grinned at him lecherously. Then he took a few steps back.

Shinichi was still glaring at him with a pride-wounded frown. He crossed his arms and sniffed disdainfully, acting uninterested.

Kaito kept ahold of his grin, and spread his arms out wide. He stood, inhumanly still, as Shinichi cast him an incredulous glance.

Then, with a few flicks of his wrist, little flickers of light started popping up into view. He kept going, one by one, until they littered the ground and area around them like stars.

Shinichi looked startled. He looked around as they flickered to life around him. They lit up the park with a soft, orange glow. Shinichi looked over, around the arm of the bench, to see one of the lights spark to life beside him. It was a small tealight.

When Shinichi looked up to survey the park, it was entirely lit up. The small candles in the distance looked like fireflies.

Kaito smiled at the look of wonder on Shinichi's face. When the man noticed Kaito's stare, he blushed, and coughed into his hand, pretending to be unimpressed.

"We need the proper lighting before the show can commence," Kaito stated, as he took a bow. "Are you ready?"

He looked up to see Shinichi's curious look.

"Uhm, sure…" he said, and Kaito smirked.

He stood up straight from his bow, and held out his arms once again.

"Then, welcome to the show, gentleman, just the one," Kaito started. Shinichi fidgeted on his seat. "Allow me to enthrall you with wonders of which you have never seen."

Kaito reached into his blue dress shirt, and pulled out something flat and circular. With a flourish, he flicked it, and it popped up into a white top hat. He placed it on his head and tipped it at Shinichi.

"It's show time."

Kaito fell easily into familiar territory with his magic.

He performed trick after trick, and after loads of colorful streamers, lights, and levitating tricks, Shinichi seemed to forget that he was supposed to be unimpressed. A smile had lit up his face brighter than all the little tealights combined that Kaito had placed around the park prior to their date.

It went way past midnight before Kaito had ended his private show. And even then, it had been difficult. Seeing Shinichi looking like he was actually enjoying his time with him instead of frowning was something that took him a great deal of effort to end. Especially since Shinichi hadn't even once brought up that they'd been sitting in that park for several hours.

But he ended up not needing to bother fretting over the night's end, because Shinichi willingly offered to allow him to spend the night at his house. He had claimed he wanted to see some of those card and levitating tricks again, that he had a theory on how Kaito had done them, and simply wanted to confirm.

Kaito had grinned, and had offered no objections.

---

Shinichi woke up with a long yawn. He blinked the fatigue from his eyes for a moment before he pulled himself up to sit. Raising his hands, he rubbed his palms into his weary eyes.

Another yawn escaped him, and he groaned.

God, he felt dead tired.

Shinichi wasn't a morning person. He never had been. He had always needed coffee in the mornings to even begin functioning.

But right now, he felt so much more tired than usual.

Ugh, what had he done to feel so much like a reanimated corpse?

Shinichi fell back against his bed with another weary groan. He contemplated for a moment on just going back to sleep. Deciding that yes, that would be a great idea, Shinichi closed his eyes.

As he lay there, though, he started to smell something.

Shinichi took a slow, deep breath in through his nose. Whatever that smell was, it was heavenly.

He tried to ignore it so he could possibly go back to sleep, but after several minutes of smelling coffee and breakfast, he couldn't keep his eyes closed.

Shinichi sat up with a tired frown. He grabbed his blankets and pulled them aside so he could stand up.

He walked down the stairs, following the pleasant aroma all the way down, and into his kitchen.

He peeked inside, and was surprised by what he saw.

Kaito was standing there, by the stove. He was humming to himself, hovering over a rice cooker with a smile on his face. When Shinichi stumbled into the kitchen, he stopped humming to look over at him.

"Good morning~" the man said, and Shinichi blinked rather stupidly.

"Uh… good morning," he returned with a mumble. Kaito beamed at him.

Shinichi walked over to his counter, and climbed up on one of his stools. He braced his elbows on it and tried to rub the sleep off his face.

The smell of miso soup, steamed rice, and eggs filled his nose, and he near about let out a moan. When he didn't, his stomach did.

Kaito moved back over to him, and placed a mug in front of him, along with tamagoyaki, some of that miso soup, and a bowl of rice.

Shinichi stared down at it like a starved wolf. He grabbed a pair of chopsticks (that had popped up mysteriously beside him, imagine that) and started on pretty much everything he could fit into his mouth at once.

It was only after he had stuffed half of the tamagoyaki into his face that he remembered that manners were a good thing, and looked up to see Kaito staring at him in amusement. He blushed darkly.

Shinichi swallowed down the bite he had in his mouth, and took a sip of coffee (to function, of course) before he clapped his hands together and mumbled, "thank you for the food."

Kaito sent him an amused smirk.

Shinichi was about to start on finishing his breakfast, but had a thought. He looked back up to Kaito.

"I didn't know you could cook."

Kaito's smile was bright. "I do a little. I'm not very good."

Shinichi scoffed.

Could have fooled him.

Shinichi shrugged it off before picking up some steamed rice with his chopsticks. But then he had another thought.

"Why are you here?" he asked dumbly. Kaito chuckled.

"Wow, you really can't function in the mornings, can you?"

Shinichi grumbled a bit before stuffing some rice into his mouth.

Kaito grinned at him as he said, "I spent the night, remember? You didn't want to sleep until you figured out how I got the ace of spades to levitate."

Shinichi swallowed the rice, and blinked once, slowly.

"Oh… right."

Kaito looked way too delighted by his slow awakening process. It was most annoying.

"You're adorable when you're tired," Kaito commented. Shinichi glowered at him.

He wanted to protest Kaito's false accusation that he was adorable, but he was interrupted when there was a knock at his door.

Shinichi glared over at it in irritation. Who would even be knocking this early in the morning? Kaito was already here.

With a grumble, Shinichi stood up. He walked out of the kitchen to head to his front door, leaving Kaito to snicker at him and the way he stumbled a little bit on his way there.

Shinichi opened the door, glare at the ready, but let out a groan as soon as he saw who it was.

"Hi, Shin-chan!"

Of course it would be his mother.

Of all the most inopportune times.

"Mom, what are you doing here?"

His mother pouted at him, and pushed her way inside.

"What? I can't come see my baby? Do I need a reason?"

Shinichi let out a sigh as his mother walked farther in and looked around.

"You still haven't gotten more furniture yet? This looks so bland, Shin-chan!"

He glowered at her as she spun around to face him.

"I haven't really had time…" he said, glancing around at his single couch and sparse picture frames. He probably could at least get the walls painted, he supposed. His mother walked up to him. She had a giddy smile on her face.

"How have you been doing? Has everything been going okay? How's everything going at the police department?"

Shinichi tried to process all the questions posed on him. It took some effort.

"Uh… it's been great. I'm doing fine. Job is fine," he mumbled. Yukiko looked pleased enough with his answer.

"What about the neighbors? Have they been nice to you?" she asked.

Shinichi nodded. "Yeah, I haven't had any problems."

Well, okay, sort of, but there was no way he was going to tell his mother about Kaito. Even if the man was sitting just some few feet away in his kitchen. If he could hide him there, he would.

A conspiratorial gleam appeared in his mother's eyes, and she leaned in close to Shinichi, as if she were imparting to him a well-kept secret.

"How's everything going with… you know… finding a girlfriend? You haven't been lonely all this time, have you?"

Shinichi blinked a few times, trying to recollect his thoughts from that question. Then he glared at his mother.

"Mom… really?" he grumbled with a forming blush. As soon as Yukiko saw it, she started squealing..

"Oh my gosh! You found one! I want to meet her! What's her name?!" she exclaimed, then she started looking about the house frantically. "Is she here?!"

Shinichi's blush darkened, and he lifted his hands in an effort to calm his mother's excitement.

"Wait, mother! Stop!"

But Yukiko didn't listen to him as she started to walk about the house. Shinichi ran over to her just as she was about to enter the kitchen, and starfish'd himself across the threshold.

"Will you just… hold on a second?!" he exclaimed at her.

Yukiko let out another high-pitch squeal.

"She's in there, isn't she?" she asked, then she reached out to squish Shinichi while he was vulnerable and couldn't properly defend himself with his arms spread out across the threshold. "Oh, Shin-chan~ Let me meet her!"

"Mom…" he tried again, but at this point, he knew it was futile.

"Is there something wrong, my dear?" That particular voice asked behind him. Shinichi froze.

Yukiko let Shinichi go, and stood up straight to look over his shoulder.

"Oh?" she started, and Shinichi started to panic inside. "Who is this, Shin-chan?"

"Uh… he… he's… just uh…" Shinichi rambled. He was trying valiantly to stave off the flush in his cheeks.

Shinichi quickly looked over his shoulder at Kaito. The man stared back at him with an innocent blink. He turned back around.

"He's…"

Yukiko tilted her head.

"He's…"

Then Shinichi let out a weary sigh, and lowered his arms to his sides. He looked back up to his mother with a shrug of his shoulders.

"He's my boyfriend."

Two simultaneous and confused shouts resounded on either side of him.

"He is?!"

"I am?!"

Shinichi simply nodded. "Yeah," he said, lifting his hands to straighten out the kinks in his pajama pants. "Ask the police force."

Yukiko looked mystified, and she looked from Shinichi to Kaito in wonder. Kaito did the same, though his stare was far more flabbergasted.

Yukiko walked around Shinichi to stand in front of Kaito. She gave him a thorough examination.

It was a pretty tense couple of seconds, Shinichi concluded, as he stared at the two of them.

Kaito let out a nervous laugh, and lifted his hand to poof a rose into it. He offered it to a dazed Yukiko, who took it with a curious look.

Another long silence stretched on, and it made Shinichi wonder if he should start running away or not.

But then Yukiko spun around to face him.

"I love him! He's adorable!" she exclaimed, and reached out to crush Shinichi to her chest. Then she spun around to give Kaito similar treatment.

She finally let them go from her death grasp, and walked around Kaito to examine the kitchen. She let it a deep breath before turning back around.

"Oh, were you guys having breakfast? I'm so sorry I interrupted!"

Shinichi shrugged. "It's fine-"

But Yukiko interrupted him with a dismissive wave of her hand.

"Oh, don't be ridiculous, Shin-chan! I didn't know I was interrupting your special time with your special someone." She let out some high-pitch giggles. "I should go."

Yukiko walked past them to head back to the front door. She looked back over her shoulder to send Shinichi a wink. One which Shinichi let out an embarrassed sigh at.

"You two take care now! I'll be back later today~ I want to hear all about how you two met!"

With that, she walked out the door, sending Shinichi a little wave and a cheery smile before closing it.

Now that it was just the two of them, Shinichi felt somewhat awkward. He licked his lips, and turned around to face Kaito.

Kaito, for his part, still looked like he was in the transitioning phase. His face was a mix of what looked like confusion, surprise, and out-right glee.

Eventually, the man looked up to Shinichi. There was a (interestingly enough) shy look that won out over the other expressions on his face. He shuffled a bit from foot to foot.

"Um… so… your boyfriend?" Kaito asked uncertainly. Shinichi gave another shrug.

That blush finally did win. It covered Shinichi's face completely, and even ran up to his ears and down his neck.

"I don't know. It felt like the right thing to say…"

Kaito's expression turned hopeful, but the shyness still lingered in his smile.

"Um… So… your mom seems nice…" Kaito mumbled.

Shinichi scoffed despite his embarrassment.

"She's annoying. She's been nagging me to find a partner for years."

Kaito licked his lips, and bit at his lower one. He looked contemplative.

"So… did you just say all that for your mom's benefit?" he asked eventually.

Shinichi looked him over.

Kaito looked awfully fidgety. Like he wanted to say something. Puffy, white clouds of happiness were rolling behind his eyes, but he was containing it. Shinichi smirked at him.

"No."

Kaito's eyes widened comically large. It was pretty amusing to watch.

Shinichi had to admit, he had gotten rather… fond… of Kaito as of late. The man was more thoughtful than most of his friends were. He still had the book that Kaito had given him in his room. He hadn't put it away yet.

Kaito was really weird too, but it was kind of endearing. Especially now that he knew him a bit better. The man was just as much childish as he was charming.

That feeling of fondness must have snuck up on him when he wasn't paying attention, though. Through all the little things. Kaito bringing him lunch when he needed it, the book, the coffee, the little personal magic show, …the amazing breakfast, and not to mention all the uninvited visits.

Shinichi found that he wouldn't mind giving Kaito a chance. He probably earned it somewhere along the way.

"But… I don't know…" Shinichi started, trailing off with a smirk. Kaito regained his composure enough to look aghast at Shinichi's deliberate hesitation. Shinichi looked at him slyly. "You didn't even kiss me after our first date. Pretty bad for a boyfriend, I'd say."

Kaito jumped forward like a rabbit on steroids. He looked like a kid getting thrown into a candy store and told he could take one of everything.

"Can I?" Kaito asked, eyes bright and wild.

Shinichi shrugged. "I don't know, can you?"

Kaito swallowed down the apparent lump that had lodged itself in his throat. Then he looked up to Shinichi with a far more subdued, sultry look.

"May I?" he asked again, slower this time.

Shinichi felt his skin start to tingle. He quirked an eyebrow at the man standing in front of him.

"Do I need to write it across my forehead, Casanova?"

Kaito grinned, and moved forward ever so tantalizingly slow. He moved in close, and Shinichi could smell his subtle cologne and musky scent.

Shinichi stood still as Kaito leaned in to be just a breath away from him. He licked his lips.

Kaito smirked at him, and leaned in the rest of the way to press his lips to Shinichi's slightly parted ones.

Kaito lingered there, and Shinichi felt his pulse start to pick up speed. When Kaito moved away to lean back in with that same amount of gentleness, he got chills.

Kaito eventually moved back to stare at him. Shinichi opened his eyes with a blink. He hadn't even realized he'd closed them. Kaito smirked.

"Was that good?" Kaito asked.

Shinichi stood there for a moment without responding, mulling over the feeling of Kaito's lips in his mind. Eventually, he looked up.

"I don't know. We'll have to try again for me to confirm."

Kaito grinned, and leaned back in.