Mikau: Hey, guys! It's great to see you again. First of all I want to thank Raifuujin, Mai-chan63, thezooqueen, MysteryConan, foreverandeveralone, icarusdg, Aniki-xvi, and cand13 for your reviews. I was overjoyed that so many people liked it, and your feedback was super helpful (especially icarusdg's that turned a one-shot into a three-part fic). I was a little worried about what people would think, since the first chapter was kind of weird, so your reassurances were really appreciated. And now, on with the show. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: If I owned it, the male uniform for Ekoda would be a blazer instead of a gakuran. Kaito's the only member of the cast that makes the gakuran work.
…
The Party (For Real This Time)
Throwing together a party in a matter of days turned out to be much harder than Kaito had thought it was going to be. Fortunately, Aoko and his mom helped a great deal.
The day of the event, in the morning he went to his father's grave like he had told Chrisy that he would and was surprised to find a huge crowd gathered together for a party of their own.
The graveyard was crawling with an entire football team and their cheering section's worth of people with the strangest assortment of hair and eye colors. Some of them looked to be Japanese, but a lot of them were most definitely foreign, and they all seemed to have known Kaito when he was in diapers. As Kiku-chan had warned, he was pinched on the cheeks many times and cooed over extensively.
He was sorely tempted to ask how all of these strange people knew his father, but he remembered that he had promised his mother that he wouldn't ask questions. He assumed it was some big secret from his father's Kid days and, for once, decided to let it go and enjoy the festivities.
They cleaned the grave, lit incense, and decorated it with flowers before digging in to the spread of various foods that everyone had brought.
It felt good to be able to go to his father's grave without breaking down and feeling hopeless for the rest of the day. This felt much more like a celebration of Kuroba Toichi's life than a reflection on his death.
Kaito was happy but tired once he finally made it home; however, there was no time to lose doing last minute prep for his own party.
Aoko came over early to set up, and Chikage helped, but they were still bringing food out of the kitchen when the first guest arrived at five-forty-five.
"I'll get it!" Kaito called out as the girls worked on cleaning up the cheese dip for the nachos. He trotted from the kitchen at the back of the house, through the living room, and to the front door, all the while wiping the stupid exploding cheese off of his hands with a paper towel.
Hakuba Saguru blinked in surprise at the sight of his host. "Uh…Happy Birthday, Kuroba, but…you do know you have cheese on your nose, don't you?"
"Yeah. Thanks," Kaito grumbled, stepping to the side to allow his guest passage while futilely trying to get the accursed cheese off of his face.
"Here. Allow me," the Brit offered, taking the towel. He gently cupped Kaito's cheek with one hand and began wiping away the cheese with care.
All the while the scene from Kaito's birthday nightmare kept playing over and over again in his head. He could feel the detective's breath on his face, and they were close enough that if Hakuba leaned in just a fraction…
"There. All done," his rival decreed, stepping back with a faint blush rising on his cheeks. "Though, you may want to go to the restroom and wash up a bit."
Kaito blinked, snapping back to reality. "Uh, yeah. Thanks, Hakuba." He laughed sheepishly. "We were just in the kitchen getting the cheese for the nachos heated, but it kind of exploded just as you rang the bell. Aoko and Mom are cleaning up right now."
"Oh? Then I should go assist them." Hakuba took a step forward with purpose but then paused, looking a little lost. "Sorry, where is your kitchen?"
"Just back through the living room." Kaito gestured vaguely. "But you don't have to help. Wouldn't want you to get your clothes dirty; they look expensive."
The Brit looked down at his designer slacks, dress shirt, and tie. He shrugged. "That's what dry cleaning is for. It is a gentleman's duty to assist a lady in distress." Hakuba began to stride forward again but then stopped. "Incidentally, where should I put your present? Wouldn't want that to get…cheesy."
"P-Present?" Kaito blinked, flashbacks of the dream coming at him again.
"Yes." The blonde shifted awkwardly, pulling out a small, rectangular package. "I know you said I didn't have to bring anything, but this is a birthday party, and I wouldn't feel right coming without one. It's not much, but I thought that maybe you'd like it."
"Th-Thank you, Hakuba." Kaito reached out hesitantly and took the box. "I'll take it upstairs so nothing happens to it. A house full of teenagers is not a safe place; drinks and food get spilled, things get broken…"
"Then I'll see you in the kitchen." Hakuba gave a polite nod and went the way Kaito had indicated to see if he could offer assistance.
Kaito, on the other hand, raced up the stairs to his room and tore open the present. Well, first he admired the hand-made bow, and then he tore into the present, but what he found inside was not what his dream had led him to expect.
It was a DVD collection of all the Lupin movies.
After deliberating for a minute or two, Kaito decided that it was probably a good thing he hadn't received a Kaitou 1412 scrapbook and that the Lupin DVDs were pretty cool.
He hurried downstairs to the kitchen, just in time to see Aoko giggling at something Hakuba had said.
Hmm. He wasn't quite sure how he felt about the way his crush was making eyes at Mr. Tall, Blonde, and Loaded. Scratch that. He was damn sure how he felt about Aoko staring all googoo-eyed at Hakuba.
Kaito was just about to make his displeasure known when the doorbell rang.
The group looked up at him expectantly.
"I'll go get that," the birthday boy sighed.
After that, it seemed like an endless supply of guests kept interrupting him. Being the host sucked.
He put on his poker face grin and greeted everyone cheerfully, helpfully indicating the buffet table, drinks, and restroom. He enthusiastically thanked them for coming and graciously accepted their gifts.
All the while he kept an eye on Aoko as she moved about the room, chatting, snacking, dancing with friends.
At least she was having fun. Geez. Was this the way she felt when she played hostess at her Christmas party every year?
The tired teen was genuinely grateful when Watanabe showed up with a gift, giving him an excuse to retreat upstairs to his bedroom, away from his guests.
Kaito set the little box down on his bed with the others before sinking to the floor, leaning back against his bedframe.
Now that he was further away from the constant murmur of the crowd and the pumping of the base, he could actually here his phone beeping. He had a text.
From Shinichi.
His heart started beating a little faster as he fumbled to open the message.
"Hey, Kai-chan. Happy Birthday! How's it feel to be a whole year older? Any different? Eighteen for me might as well have been eight…or eighty. Age creeps up on you so slowly that one year hardly seems to make a difference, but just think of who you are now compared to who you were when you were ten. Think of all the rights and responsibilities you have now that you didn't then. All those 'just one more year's really piled up, didn't they? Haha. Am I getting too philosophical? Well then forget what I said and just have some cake. You earned it for surviving yet another year in this cruel, crazy world.
"How's the party going, Kaito? Sorry I couldn't make it. I'm still out of town, but I promise to send you a present. I swear I'll try to meet up with you if I'm ever in Tokyo for more than a few hours at a time. It's been so long; I'd really like to see you in person. Well, I'll talk to you later. Sorry this is such a huge text. Have a great birthday!"
Kaito sighed contentedly. "Oh, Shin-chan."
It was sweet and sad all at the same time.
Kaito supposed turning eighteen had been exactly like turning eight again for Shinichi—complete with a Kamen Yaiba-themed party—but the older teen was right. One more year hardly made a difference from year to year, but Kaito was a very different person now than the poor traumatized kid he'd been on his eighth birthday.
"Hey, Shin-chan," Kaito started to type back. "Ask me if I feel any different a week from now. I need some time to let it sink in. Don't sweat it; I like philosophical Shinichi. He's deep. It's sexy. I'm told all the girls go for it. I will, however, have some cake on your behalf. Though, my friend Aoko made it, so I'm not too sure how it'll taste. As for the party…"
Kaito paused. To lie or not to lie?
"Party sucks. There're all these people that I have to greet and be a good host to, so I can't enjoy the food or dancing or games or anything myself. Plus, I'm starting to think that Aoko has a thing for our classmate Hakuba Saguru. He's a detective like you. You know him? Tall, blonde, obnoxious, snarky, uber British? Anyway, I'm kind of bumming since I might have sort of had a thing for her. It's no big deal, though. Though, it just kind of ticks me off, you know? It's my birthday; I'm the one that's supposed to be having a good time. Am I being too whiney? Sorry for unloading on you, Shin-chan….
"I wish you could have been here. It would have been more fun; I wanna see you too, but don't worry about it. I know you're busy with work. I understand. Believe me, I do. Good luck catching the bad guys; I'll try to have fun. Call me later?"
Did that sound too needy? Too insistent?
Kaito went back and added "if you're not too busy" before hitting send.
He waited for nearly ten minutes for a reply before giving up and going back downstairs with a sigh.
Apparently, in his absence, a spirited game of pool had started up on one of the tables that Jii-chan had lent him for the party. His classmates were all gathered round the players, hollering their support and making bets.
"Take that, Goldilocks," a familiar female voice chuckled following the sharp smack of pool balls knocking together as one flew into the corner pocket.
"It seems I have no other choice since you've been running the game ever since I allowed you to break," Hakuba muttered in return, trying his hardest to remain polite. "I shall have to reconsider my 'ladies first' rule."
"I warned you." Chrisy shrugged and began to line up her next shot.
"Kiku-chan?" Kaito stared incredulously at the young woman holding the pool stick. She had Chrisy's voice, but she looked nothing like the Kiku-chan that Kaito had seen earlier that day in the graveyard. This one had brown hair and black eyes instead of the electric blonde and lime green of before.
Unfortunately, Kaito had called out to her just as she made her shot, causing her to jump slightly and miss.
She clicked her tongue in annoyance as one of the solid balls went in. "Table's yours, Goldilocks."
"Are you sure you wouldn't like a redo?" Hakuba bit the inside of his cheek as he struggled internally with his desire to win versus his duty as a gentleman.
"Do you wanna lose?" Chrisy snorted, rolling her eyes as she pushed through the crowd to get to Kaito. "Hey, Kiddo! Happy Birthday! Man, I remember the day you were born; you were so little. When'd you get bigger than me?"
"I don't know. Sometime around fourteen? I hardly recognized you, Kiku-chan. You dye your hair since this morning?"
The woman who was most likely a super cool secret agent…or an extremely dangerous gang member laughed. "I thought the Pikachu blonde and highlighter green eyes would attract too much attention for a birthday party, so I put on a wig and got out my colored contacts. Today's supposed to be about you, and people would have asked too many questions about me. Besides, what would you of told them?"
"You're my dad's friend from Italy, and it's not your fault you were born a freak." Kaito stuck out his tongue, giving his assistant a playful shove.
She shoved back a little harder. "Hey. Watch it. I'm sensitive about my looks. And be nice, or I won't give you your present."
"You're not sensitive about your looks." Kaito roll his eyes with a grin. "You think you look BA. Now where's my present?"
"Damn right I do." Chrisy smiled and handed her little brother figure a small jewelry box. "Open it later. For now, I've gotta get back to trouncing Goldilocks…or maybe being trounced by Goldilocks at this point. Take care, Kiddo, and have a good birthday." With a quick pat on the back, Chrisy turned and began pushing her way back through the oohing and awing crowd.
Kaito slipped the box into one of his inner pockets and renewed his search for Aoko.
Just as he spotted her over by the cake, a slow song started up, and he was intercepted by Keiko-chan.
"Hey there, Kaito-kun. Happy Birthday!" the bespectacled girl giggled.
"Uh…hey, Keiko-chan. Thanks," Kaito stumbled over his words, remembering what had happened at the dream party.
"It's not much, but I got you a present," the normally boisterous girl replied shyly as she offered him a small box. "You can open it later so you don't have to pretend to be excited about it, if you don't like it. For now, I was wondering if you'd dance with me."
Kaito saw her tense almost imperceptibly; he saw the anxious look of anticipation in her eyes, and he knew what he had to do. "Sure, Keiko-chan, though, I'm sure I'll love the gift. It was really kind of you to pick something out for me."
The song lasted an unbelievably long four minutes, and by the time it was over, he'd lost sight of Aoko.
"See ya, Keiko-chan. Thanks again for the present," Kaito called back as he dashed off as soon as the song ended. He didn't want to hang around for any awkward confessions that may or may not be coming. He wasn't taking any chances.
He made his way back to the pool tables, hoping to glimpse her from the centralized location.
No such luck. However he did see that Hakuba had moved on and Kiku-chan was kicking some other guy's behind at a game of nine ball.
"Hey, Kiku-chan, have you seen Aoko?" He doubted she'd seen anything but the balls on the table for the past half hour, but he thought he might as well give it a try.
"Nope," Chrisy shrugged, pocketing the nine ball and winning yet another round. "Sorry."
"What happened to Hakuba?" It was bad enough not knowing where Aoko was; at least he could relax knowing that she wasn't anywhere near his rival in love, but if they were both MIA, that could spell trouble.
"Hakuba? …Oh! That blonde git with the awesome accent. He won the first game, lost the second, and then we settled it like men. I don't know where he went, but I don't like him," Kaito's miracle worker snorted.
"Thanks anyway," Kaito sighed, scanning the room for tall blondes. "Good luck, Kiku-chan."
"Thanks. Don't need it," she laughed as she prepared to take a shot behind her back.
Now where was that detective?
"Over there," a, sadly, familiar voice purred.
Kaito turned, and there was the witch herself.
"You're looking for Nakamori-san, aren't you? She just asked Hakuba-kun to dance." Akako smirked, looking very much like those cobras she used to decorate her skimpy witching outfit.
Kaito looked where the redhead had indicated and frowned. He was gonna go over there and—
"—Here," Akako abruptly put a stop to his devious plans to break up the two policemen's children as she handed him a small cube wrapped in scarlet paper. "Open it."
Kaito sighed and did as ordered before she decided to turn him into a bat or something.
Inside the little package he found an amulet that looked a little bit like an eye. It was round and about the size of a five yen piece. The white of the eye looked to be made out of red jasper, and the iris looked like garnet. Inside of the red rings was a piece of some kind of black stone for the pupil. Jet maybe? He'd have to look at it more closely later.
"Put it on. Wear it under your shirt; I don't care, but put it on," the witch demanded. "It wards off bad luck and evil spirits."
Kaito paused, hesitant to trust the woman that had almost killed him several times with her hexes, spells, and schemes in her quest to capture his heart.
Something flashed through Akako's burnt sienna eyes when she realized the reason for his reluctance—it looked like genuine hurt, but then it was gone. "I just thought…you could use the extra protection what with all the people after Kid nowadays." She turned her head with a delicate little snort. "Wear it or don't; it makes no difference to me."
"Thanks, Akako-chan," Kaito whispered, slipping the amulet over his head and gently tucking it under his shirt. "Though I'm not Kid. I swear. You're as bad as Hakuba. Thanks, though. That was really sweet of you. Wanna dance?"
Akako blinked, her head whipping around so fast that her high, graceful ponytail whapped her in the face.
Kaito laughed warmly and extended a hand to his frienemy. "Come on. I'd be remiss if I didn't ask the prettiest girl here to dance."
"But…you like…" For once the talkative witch was at a loss for words.
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I don't have eyes." Kaito shrugged, forcibly taking her hand and pulling her out to the dance floor. "I know you're pretty; I just prefer the girl next door." Or boy, he mentally added, wondering what his Shin-chan was up to.
Probably solving a murder at the restaurant where the Mouri family had chosen to dine that night. Or, if they were having take-out, he was probably trying to figure out why the delivery guy had just dropped dead on their doorstep. Even if they were eating in tonight, there would probably be some emergency client that came flying into their office, disturbing their meal. The life of a detective was not easy, especially when you were cursed.
Kaito absentmindedly wondered how he'd react if a date with Shin-chan was ever interrupted by a corpse.
Then he thought, Date? Where did that come from? I've been texting the guy for three days, and I'm already subconsciously thinking about a relationship. Geez.
It was then that he caught the tail end of what Akako was saying. Something about flying monkeys? Oh. She meant Kid. Good. Kaito didn't want the Wizard of Oz's Wicked Witch stereotype about airborne simians to be true.
"Though, I've actually become quite a fan, you know," Akako whispered as she stepped in closer and rested her head on Kaito's shoulder so that she was speaking into his neck. "At first I thought of Kid as a self-absorbed, immature pest, but…he's actually very brave…sweet. I worry about him. You understand, don't you? Since you're his biggest fan, I mean."
"Yeah," Kaito hummed softly. "I'm sure he'd be tickled pink to hear you say that."
"Are you ticklish, Kuroba-kun?" the witch replied off-handedly.
"Just in one really weird spot." Kaito fought the urge to blush.
"Ooooooh?" she trilled, her tone scooping down a little before shooting up. She said it in such a suggestive way.
"It's nothing like that." This time, Kaito did blush. "It's just along this rib here, right under my chest."
He could feel the vibrations of Akako snickering against his neck. "And how did you find out about it? It's not like you could have tickled yourself." There was that suggestive tone of voice again.
"It was when I was really little." The blush deepened as Kaito thought of his newest crush. "I had this friend that liked to play doctor."
"Nakamori-san?" She said it flatly, without the playful teasing tone she had been using thus far.
He imagined that if he had been able to see her face, he would have witnessed the flirtatious smirk dropping right off of it to be replaced with a thin line of disapproval paired with frown lines appearing on her forehead and around her garnet eyes.
"No. It was a guy—Kudo Shinichi, my cousin of sorts." Kaito willed the blood pooling in his cheeks to get lost.
"Oh." It sounded as if everything was all caldrons and newt's eyes again for the witch.
They chitchatted some more until the song came to a close, and then Kaito went off to get some cake after thanking Akako again for the amulet.
Kaito reached for the knife to cut himself a slice and jumped when his hand brushed another.
"Oh, Kuroba."
It was Hakuba. Joy.
"After you," the detective laughed sheepishly as he withdrew his hand with a light blush.
"Thanks." Kaito nodded his appreciation as he picked up the knife. He tried not to growl at the stupid, crush-stealer with luscious, wavy blonde hair.
"Enjoying the party thus far?" the socially awkward sleuth attempted to make small talk while he waited for his turn with the knife.
"It's alright." Kaito shrugged, saying as little as possible so as to decrease the chance of being catty. He had a bit of a childish streak, and his living room was not the place to start a food fight by shoving a piece of cake in the pesky Brit's face. His mom would kill him and then make him clean it up all by himself.
"Oh? Just alright?" Hakuba accepted the knife from Kaito, discretely letting his hand brush his classmate's. "I saw you dancing with Koizumi-san." The blonde took a breath, mentally crossing his fingers before continuing. "You two looked…close. You wouldn't happen to be dating, would you?"
Kaito blinked. "Me and Akako-chan? No way. We're just…something kind of resembling friends…. What about you and Aoko? You two looked pretty friendly dancing together."
Hakuba blushed and looked genuinely surprised. "Aoko-kun and…and me? I…no. Sorry if I ever gave you the wrong impression, but there's…there's someone else…that I…" The detective looked perfectly uncomfortable as he turned to gaze elsewhere—anywhere but the magician's face.
"Oh." Kaito visibly perked up. "No. That's cool. Don't worry about. So you two are just friends?"
"I was under the impression that you and Aoko-kun had an understanding. I may have tried to antagonize you at first, but I've never really thought of her as anything more than a friendly acquaintance. Are you two not…?" Hakuba held his breath.
"No," Kaito sighed. "No, we're not, but…"
"…you'd like to be," the smitten detective muttered. "I understand."
Kaito cocked his head to the side. Did Hakuba sound disappointed? He was just about to ask when he felt his phone vibrate in his back pocket.
Shinichi.
"Well, enjoy the rest of the party," Kaito sang, clapping his classmate on the back. "I'm sure I'll see you again later, but I've gotta take this call."
Hakuba blinked and stared at his host's retreating back as the magician-thief ran off in search of a quiet place. "Right. Not a problem," he sighed.
000
"Shin-chan?" Kaito could barely hold in his excitement as he plopped down onto his bed (the part without presents on it, anyway) and answered his phone.
"Kai-chan?" Shinichi mimicked Kaito's bouncy tone. "How's it going? Is the party still going on? I'm not interrupting, am I?"
"No, no! It's fine," Kaito assured, breaking into a grin at the sound of his distant cousin's voice. "I'm not really having a whole lot of fun."
"Oh? I'm sorry to hear that," Shinichi cooed.
"It's okay. I know for next time to only invite a few close friends. The cake was okay, though." Kaito moved some presents out of the way so that he could roll over onto his back.
"Well, that's good," Shinichi chuckled, and Kaito could hear him repositioning himself too.
"So, what are you up to?" Kaito risked sounding flirty. "Surely your evening hasn't been as boring as mine, Mr. Hotshot Detective."
The shrunken sleuth laughed again, making Kaito's stomach go up in knots. "Well, while it wasn't boring, I'd certainly rather be at your party. I went out for what was supposed to be a quiet dinner, but the chef got killed by his ex-girlfriend from high school, so that kind of put a damper on the evening."
Called it.
"But you solved the case, didn't you?" Kaito pressed. "That must have been interesting; at least as far as mental challenges go, anyway. Too bad about dinner, though. I wouldn't have much of an appetite after seeing the cook's dead body."
"That's the reason I'm sort of hesitant to take you anywhere when we finally get to meet up. People seem to drop like flies around me; sometimes I think I'm cursed," the weary detective sighed.
"Poor Shin-chan," Kaito cooed. "Don't worry. I'm sure nothing too terrible would happen around me; I've got awesome luck most of the time. Maybe our luck will cancel each other out?"
"Here's hoping," Shinichi breathed. "Anything else up with you, Kai-chan?"
"Nothing much," Kaito sighed. "I talked to Hakuba, and he said he's not interested in Aoko, so we know he's not a threat. Now I feel kinda bad for being a little short with him. He's obnoxious, but he's actually a nice guy. I think it's because he just doesn't have much experience really with others, so he doesn't know how to act."
Shinichi made a thoughtful noise. "That could be it. You know, the times I've met him, he has seemed a little strange…definitely awkward when it comes to dealing with people. Anyway, I'm glad that he's not interested in Aoko-san, and don't worry about getting jealous and acting like a jerk. If he knows how you feel about her, he'll understand. I know I get all bent out of shape when somebody starts hitting on Ran."
"Thanks, Shin-chan…. By the way, how are things going with Ran-san?" Kaito held his breath while he awaited a response.
It took a while for Shinichi to reply. "Strained," he finally answered.
"Sorry," Kaito whispered back.
"Don't worry about it," the sleuth shrugged it off. "She has every right to be pissed at me. I've kept her waiting in the dark for a long time, and I still don't have an answer for her. This case I've been working on these past couple years is tough, time consuming, and dangerous, so…my hands are kind of tied on this one."
"Are you sure you're okay, Shin-chan?" Kaito wanted nothing more than to pick little Conan up and squeeze him like a teddy bear.
"Yeah, no. I'm fine, Kaito. Thanks," he chuckled softly, but exhaustion was evident in his voice.
"Okay, but if you ever need help or want to talk about something, I'm here for you anytime," Kaito assured.
"Thank you, Kaito." This time a soft smile could be heard. "That really means a lot to me."
You mean a lot to me. Kaito bit his lip to keep from saying it out loud.
"I'm really glad you decided to get back in touch with me," Shinichi continued after a beat. "I didn't realize how much I needed the support until I got your text the other day, but…having someone to talk to really makes a difference. Thanks for being there for me."
"My pleasure, Shin-chan." God, Kaito just wanted to snuggle his shrunken cousin.
"Well, you better get back to your party," Shinichi sighed, looking at his wristwatch. He had to get back home before Ran came looking for him and his cover was blown. "Kaito, try to have fun, okay?"
"No, I wanna talk with Shin-chan some more," the magician pretended to whine.
"Man, Kaito. You're still so cute," Shinichi couldn't help but chuckle. "I remember you used to throw a fit like that every time you had to go home."
"Yeah, and I doubt our parents could pry me off of you nowadays," Kaito snickered.
"Ha! That'd be funny to watch, but…I gotta go. I'll text you later?"
"You'd better," Kaito warned. "Night, night, Shin-chan. Take care of yourself."
"You too, Kai-chan. Goodnight."
And the call ended with a soft click.
Kaito sighed. He wanted a boyfriend. Or a girlfriend. Whatever—someone to be all lovey-dovey with, someone to comfort and be comforted by. That's really all he wanted for his birthday.
However, the DVDs, tie pins, comics, and, yes, even the inappropriate gag gifts that he'd have to hide from his mother were nice.
He went back downstairs to face his guests and was unexpectedly pulled into a game of pool.
Hakuba and Chrisy were having a rematch, and since they were too evenly matched, they had decided to form teams with a weaker player.
Kaito got drafted to be on Kiku-chan's side while Aoko had volunteered herself to help Hakuba.
"If you let your little girlfriend win…" Chrisy hissed under her breath.
That didn't stop him from going easy on Aoko, though he didn't throw the game entirely. He had to look good in front of Hakuba, and heaven knows that Kiku-chan might not be so happy to provide him with spare parts, equipment, blueprints, and the wide array of other goods and services she normally did if he made her lose a game of pool.
The girl had a competitive streak.
While pool was semi-enjoyable, some of the fun was taken out of it by Hakuba and Chrisy glaring and snarling at each other like pitbulls throughout.
Team White Stallion took the first game, and Team Chrysanthemum won the second, but by that point both Aoko and Kaito were tired of playing, and the team captains were left to settle things "like men" once more.
"Though, I don't know if we're really capable of doing it 'like men,'" Chrisy mused. "I, for one, lack the genitalia, and I'm not quite sure if he has 'em either. Just sayin'."
Hakuba growled softly, but refrained from making any vulgar, ungentlemanly remarks, such as "Would you like to see them?"
The woman tried his patience.
Then she said something in English that Kaito didn't quite catch, but he could tell it was antagonistic by the way she smirked and cocked her head to the side.
It was ON.
Hakuba retorted in that awesome British accent that Kaito had been trying to learn, and Chrisy returned his serve in her colorful New Jersey accent. They talked so fast that it was hard to really catch anything they were saying, especially since Kiku-chan kept switching dialects. She didn't get to speak English often, so she was fully taking advantage of the rare opportunity to break out and practice all of her accents.
Aoko blinked as the two verbal combatants stared each other down and barked back and forth. "They look like they're having fun," she mumbled.
"Yeah," Kaito hummed. "I've never seen Hakuba like that before…well, except for at Kid heists, but…they're really tearing into each other, aren't they?"
"Kaito…just who is that Chrisy-san person, anyway? How do you know her?" Aoko's eyebrows knit together, and she pursed her lips as the two got up in each other's face.
Kaito frowned when he realized that Aoko was asking because she was sizing Chrisy up as a possible love rival. He almost said, "She's too old for him," and "Don't worry, she doesn't like other blondes," but he finally decided upon simply, "She's my dad's friend from Italy…. Why do ya ask?"
Aoko shrugged, blushing. "Just curious. Aoko's never met her before, and she thought she knew all of Kaito's friends…. She's pretty."
Kaito returned the shrug. "Yeah, I guess." If you liked foreigners…which most did somewhat, but Kiku-chan wasn't his type. Though, he did think she looked better with her naturally neon-blonde hair, and the black eyes were dull compared to her green ones.
"She and Hakuba-kun look natural together," Aoko sighed. "They suit each other."
"Why? Because they're both European?" Kaito snorted. "You got a thing for him or something?"
His childhood friend shifted uneasily. "A little. Hakuba-kun is kind and refined and mature, and it's none of your business, Ba-Kaito!"
Kaito huffed again, softer this time. He considered saying, "I asked, and he told me he's got someone else, so don't bother going to the trouble," but thought better of it.
"What about you and Akako-chan?" Aoko whispered, calming down much more quickly than normal.
"Geez, why is everybody askin' about that? So we danced once. Big deal. I danced with Keiko-chan too, and you don't see anybody asking about me and her," the childish teen harrumphed.
"But…Akako-chan told Aoko that she liked Kaito…when we went on the ski trip, and Akako-chan is always trying to get Kaito to notice her, and she's always whispering things to Kaito and going to the roof to talk to Kaito, and…and…" Aoko bit her lip, and turned away, trying to hide the look of anguish on her face from her best friend.
Kaito's heart skipped a beat. "You're worried…. Aoko, I don't like Akako-chan, and I'm not too sure that she really likes me either. We have a weird kinda, sorta friendship, but there's nothing romantic going on between us."
Aoko nodded, but her expression flickered between relieved, saddened, and utterly conflicted. "Aoko's a bad friend. She shouldn't be happy that Akako-chan's going to get her heart broken just because it means Aoko may end up in a relationship."
"It's okay to be selfish when you like somebody," Kaito assured softly, trying his hardest to keep a grin from breaking out on his face.
"But…if Aoko really cared about Akako-chan, she'd want Akako-chan and Kaito to end up together so that she could be happy," Aoko sighed feeling guilty.
Kaito blinked. "Wait. You like Akako-chan?!"
"Shhh!" Aoko hissed as her face went up in a flaming red blush. Her eyes pleaded with him to lower his voice.
"You like Akako-chan?!" he whispered.
She glanced around, making sure no one else could hear before she mumbled, "Yes…. Akako-chan is so glamorous and funny and just so cute. Aoko…Aoko really likes her a lot."
"Hn." Kaito had nothing to say.
This was his second worst birthday party ever.
Aoko fidgeted beside him, and he knew he had to come up with some sort of response.
He took a deep breath. "It's okay, you know. Having a crush on another girl, I mean. I mean, up until really, really recently, I thought I just liked girls, but…but then…" He inhaled slowly and tried it again. "Aoko, what I'm trying to say is…me too, so don't worry about it. We're cool."
"You…?" She looked up hesitantly. "Wait. We are?"
He nodded. "Yeah. We're cool, so if you ever need to talk or need advice or whatever…"
"Thanks, Kaito," she whispered, wearing a smile that lit up his world.
He shrugged it off, trying to look cool, even though his heart was breaking. He layered on the poker face and ruffled her hair playfully. "No prob."
Just about the time that Kaito and Aoko were finishing their talk, Hakuba and Kiku-chan were wrapping up their smear-fest as well. Strangely enough, the pair of blondes was now laughing.
"That was actually quite enjoyable," Hakuba reluctantly admitted. "I'm terribly sorry about anything and everything I said that was offensive. I don't usually use such vulgar language."
"Oh, no." Chrisy easily waved it away with a snort. "I had fun too…and no take-backs; you meant most of the things you said. You were spot on about my mother, though."
"Oh really?" The detective loosened the top button of his collar (a nervous gesture Kaito made a note to use next time he dressed up as the Brit). "Which part? I said a lot about your mother, if I remember correctly."
"All of it." The blonde in disguise replied with a shrug. "My mother is Satan in a miniskirt. Now, what was that one m word you said? It sounded like it meant ugly."
"Ugly? …Oh, 'minger'?" The gentleman laughed sheepishly. "Rather than just ugly, minger is more like you'd have to have drunk an entire bottle or two of something to find the person attractive."
"Hmm." Kiku-chan nodded appreciatively at the insult. "And what was pikey? I don't think I've heard that before."
"Means you're trashy…of a low social class," the Brit summarized, somewhat ashamed he had stooped so low.
"And one more: scrubber?"
"A very…loose young woman." Hakuba blushed.
"I'll have to call my sister that sometime," she mused.
"Where did you learn British slang, by the way? You seem pretty knowledgeable, but some of your usage is a bit antiquated," the detective inquired, leaning up against one of the pool tables.
"This from the guy who says 'antiquated' and called me a 'trollop'," Chrisy scoffed. "I've traveled a lot, and when I was little, in England visiting a friend of my mentor, the friend taught me. I picked some of it up just from being there, but he thought it was funny to teach a little kid some British insults. My mentor was, of course, outraged, but my parents got a chuckle out of it."
"I see." Hakuba nodded. "You seem to remember a lot of what you learned."
The older blonde shrugged again. "I've been back for work since then, and I've learned some more. Speaking of work, I've gotta go, but it was great kicking your butt at pool, Goldilocks. Ciao!" She smacked him on the arm, gave a sharp salute, and turned to leave.
"You gotta go to work, Kiku-chan?" Kaito asked as his guest walked past.
"Yep." His assistant gave his hair a fond tussle.
"What kind of job is it tonight? Not a Number 10, is it?" He held his breath. Sometimes she hinted at what she would be doing, and he had figured out that a Number 10 had something to do with guns. Whether she was smuggling them or recovering them from smugglers, he still wasn't sure, but he'd like to hope the latter.
"Bartending, actually," she laughed off his concern.
Probably at some dump that mob bosses went to. People got loose-lipped when drunk, and bartenders were able to pick up a lot. Not as bad as some kind of gun bust, but undercover work could be dangerous too.
"Don't worry. Kei requested the night off so he could pose as a customer and keep an eye on me. You two are overprotective." Chrisy rolled her eyes.
Good. Kei-san was a medic, and he'd do anything to keep Kiku-chan safe.
"Happy Birthday, Kiddo, and it was nice meeting you, Nakamori-chan."
"You too," Aoko returned unenthusiastically.
Chrisy blinked, wondering what was up with the icy reception. Then it clicked. "Oh. Blondie over there? No. Nuh-uh. Even if he were my type, I've already got somebody that everyone thinks is destined for me; you know what that's like. Laters."
Aoko watched her as she left, looking thoughtful. "She's actually kind of cool."
"She's a lot of things." Kaito shrugged. "I think of her as the crazy babysitter that lets you play with fire only to have a panic attack when you get singed a bit." Yes, that summed up their relationship perfectly.
"I, frankly, can't stand her," Hakuba snorted. "She's coarse and arrogant and belligerent and—"
"—Let's play poker," Kaito suggested, cutting off the rant before it could properly start. He rounded up a few others including Yamada-kun, Keiko-chan, Akako-chan, and Watanabe-kun, gathered a couple decks, and started a small tournament.
000
People started trickling out of the party around nine, and by ten thirty, it was just Akako-chan, Hakuba, Aoko, and Kaito himself.
Aoko yawned and looked at her watch. "We should probably start cleaning up."
"You guys don't have to help," the host tried to stop them as they started gathering up trash. (He was surprised that even the witch was assisting.)
"I don't mind at all, Kuroba," Hakuba assured.
Aoko shrugged, and Akako rolled her eyes. They continued cleaning.
"Thanks, guys," Kaito chuckled. "Well, I guess if you girls can work on collecting the trash, Hakuba and I will start on the leftovers and dishes." He took the detective by the sleeve and practically dragged him into the kitchen.
With a sigh, Kaito began to work on storing the remaining food.
"Did…you enjoy the rest of the party?" Hakuba inquired tentatively, following his classmate's lead.
"Poker was fun, but things kind of went downhill from the last time you asked about how I was enjoying myself," Kaito muttered, tossing the godforsaken cheese dip bowl into the sink.
"Oh? I'm terribly sorry. Did something happen, Kuroba?" The blonde wasn't quite sure if he should let it be or risk prying.
Kaito paused, looking up at his rival. "Wanna know why you're in here with me instead of Aoko?"
"I was wondering," Hakuba mumbled.
"I'm being considerate. Aoko has a crush on someone besides you, but you didn't hear it from me," the emotionally crushed teen snorted.
The Brit's mouth would have fallen open, but it was bad manners. "Oh."
"Yeah. So I don't have a chance," Kaito muttered, dumping the potato chip leavings back into the bag.
"I'm sorry, Kuroba." Hakuba prayed to whomever was listening that he sounded sincere on the outside because on the inside, he was jumping for joy. Did that make him a bad person?
"You and me both." Kaito put the chip bowl in with the dip bowl. "But, you know, it's probably for the best. I've only ever liked her, and I hate to think about what if we got married and started wondering if we had missed out on something because we never saw other people."
"Is there….someone else?" The poor detective could already feel the affirmative response coming.
"You know what, there is." Kaito's frown turned up at the ends, becoming the tiniest sliver of a smile. "Since my chances with Aoko are looking pretty grim at the moment, maybe I should put things with her on hold for the time being and go for the other person."
Hakuba nodded, making a non-committal noise as he wrapped up the leftover cake.
Kaito kept talking for a minute or two before he noticed that his classmate was mopey. "Hey, Hakuba. Everything okay?"
The detective jumped slightly at his name. "Sorry. Just a little tired. I didn't mean to zone out on you. I apologize."
"Nah. It's fine." Kaito quickly shrugged it off. "It's just that you looked kind of disappointed."
Hakuba shook his head, keeping his eyes glued on the fruit he was putting into containers. "No. Just tired…. Thank you, though, Kuroba…. And thank you for going to the trouble of inviting me to the party as well. It really means a lot to me."
"Sure." Kaito grinned softly. "No prob. Hey, maybe sometime would you wanna—"
He was abruptly cut off by his phone, which could finally be heard now that the swarm of noisy teens had left.
He instantly snatched it from his pocket and checked the readout.
Shinichi!
Shinichi wishing him goodnight. How sweet!
They were just like a regular couple already!
"That text…is it from the person you like?" Hakuba quietly interrupted a few minutes later.
Now it was Kaito's turn to jump. "Huh? Oh. Yeah. Yeah, it is. Sorry I kinda spaced out on you there."
"It's fine," Hakuba lied. "Is that the same person that called you earlier?"
"Yep," the magician in love chirped as he quickly typed out a reply to his beloved.
Hakuba nodded, wanting more than anything to escape, but he couldn't leave altogether because he had offered his services, and it would not be gentlemanly to go back on his word. Nor could he get away from his crush by going to help the girls because it would be inconsiderate of Aoko-kun's feelings.
Blast it all.
Thankfully, or perhaps not, the rest of the cleanup was fairly quiet. Hakuba was permitted to work in peace as Kaito hummed, texting back and forth with his mystery person.
Somehow they got everything straightened and tidy, and the others headed home before midnight.
Kaito crawled his way up to his bedroom and passed out before bothering to change clothes or climb under the covers. It had been all he could do to move the presents out of his way before collapsing.
Even though other parts of the night had sucked royally, things had ended on a high note with Shinichi almost making up for the rest of the crap.
Of course, he'd have to call and complain tomorrow about the Aoko/Akako situation, but he was sure Shin-chan would be understanding and supportive. Though Aoko's surprise had been a letdown, at least Kaito still had hope.
Smart, funny, exciting hope with a gorgeous pair of cerulean eyes.
Despite the setbacks, it left him feeling optimistic.
….
#(-_-) (Q.Q)
Mikau: So, somebody mentioned that I didn't have an emot for the last chapter, so here're two to make up for it. I present to you: Ticked Kara and Teary-Eyed Kara. Ahem. Anyway, I have news! There's a poll on my profile page that I'd like you guys to take, if you have a minute. I was thinking about starting a forum so that we could all chat and interact and everything, but I'm not sure what kind of forum you guys would be interested in. I have a couple different ideas, but if you guys could weigh in, that would be great. In other news, my brother was sick all last week, and, like a good, loving sister, I took care of him. Now I'm sick. Anyway, as always, feedback about the chapter would be greatly appreciated, if you have the time. Thanks for reading, and take care of yourself!