Thank you for the reviews~
This is un-beta'd. Sorry.
—Niihao, Ran—
Over the past week in the Kudo Mansion, Kaito had come to one conclusion: Kudo Shinichi was not human.
Seriously.
And Hattori Heiji probably wasn't, either. Those two were so…scary. More than Hakuba on a rampage; and he could deal with Hakuba, there was only one of him. But Shinichi and Hattori teamed up for anything was steadily becoming something he was trying to avoid. Them teamed up against each other was worse.
(Though, to be honest, Kaito was trying to figure out why Hattori was still at the house. Didn't he have some place to be?)
Now, the thief watched from his position on the kitchen counter as the two detectives sat at the table, arguing over Sherlock Holmes and Ellery Queen while carelessly flinging their breakfast from their chopsticks. He glared when he saw what looked like a piece of octopus fly past his head.
"You two are idiots." He finally said. Shinichi looked up at him, blue eyes wide and Kaito was glad that he was starting to remember the detective again, because if he hadn't, this trick would certainly work on him.
"Eh? Who's yer fav'rit, Kuroba?" Hattori asked blandly. Kaito smirked, leaning on his hand and crossing his legs.
"Maurice Leblanc. I always liked Arsène Lupin." Both detectives gaped before Shinichi snorted.
"Kami. You remind me of Kid, sometimes, you know."
Luckily, Shinichi had turned away, missing the way Kaito's face drained of colour.
Hattori, however, noticed.
--
--
"Shiiiiininchiiii!"
Oh my God, it's a banshee! Was Kaito's first thought as the yell rang throughout the large house. He looked up from his binder and stared at the door as it opened. Then some one stepped in, and Kaito was thrown into a flashback.
"Kaitooooo," Shin-chan called, arms crossed over his chest as he looked for his friend. "Kaito, where are you?"
"Ne?" Kaito looked at his best friend from up-side down as he hung from the tree. "…Did you just scream at me?" He dropped to the ground, blinking.
"No. No I did not." The tiny detective defended, glaring. He lost the look soon, "Hey, c'mon. I want you to meet someone."
Kaito frowned as Shinichi grabbed his hand and practically drug him down the street from the mansion until they were standing in front of a house-apartment. The two seven year olds walked up the sidewalk, and Shinichi knocked on the door. A few minutes later, a girl their age opened it, her eyes lighting up as she saw Shinichi.
"Shinichi-kun!"
"Ran-chan," Shinichi greeted, smiling. He swung his and Kaito's locked hands up, "This is Kuroba Kaito."
"Oh," Ran breathed, wide eyed, "You look like brothers."
"We get that a lot," Kaito said, brows furrowed. Why did Shin-chan want him to meet this girl? Unless…unless Shin-chan wanted to be her friend? Her-her best friend? His chest tightened, and it made him blink. A hot, almost bitter feeling rose up.
"Anyway," Shinichi said, "We've gotta go. But maybe you can come over later?"
"Sure!" Ran said happily. This time it was Kaito who practically drug Shinichi back to the mansion.
"Kaito?" The tiny detective questioned in confusion. The tiny magician bowed his head away, hands clenched in front of him. "Kaito, what's wrong?"
"I…" He bit his lip, "Let's get married, Shin-chan!" Shinichi started in surprise at the declaration. Kaito was staring at him hopefully, with flushed cheeks.
"What?"
"Let's get married."
"But…why?"
"Because!" the magician said, "Remember that American movie we were watching?"
"Kaito, we couldn't understand half of it."
"Still, remember the vows? If we get married then we'll together forever!" He said with a determined nod. Shinichi gave a slow blink, head tilted sideways, indicating that he was thinking.
"Ok…we'll get married." The tiny detective said, grinning. "But! But, you have to be the bride."
Kaito frowned, then shrugged. "Ok. I'll be your bride."
I'll be your hanayome.
The thief blinked, the memory passed in less than a second, and he was left looking at Mouri Ran, who had just closed the door. Kaito was confused—he had seen Ran many times, why did that come up now? Because I've just remembered Shin-chan?
The young woman turned, 'oh'ing in surprise. "Uhm, I'm sorry…hey, have I seen you before?"
Ehehehe…
"Ran-chan," he chirped, ignoring her confusion, and the returning tightness of his chest. "It's been a while."
Ran stared at him hard before recognition lit up her eyes, "Kaito-kun!" She laughed and walked over. "Wow, I haven't seen you in years! How have you been?"
"Good. I'm staying in Beika the rest of the summer."
"Oh, you're visiting Shinichi?"
"I'm living with him for now." The thief said, finding an almost bitter delight at seeing the way Ran's eyes darkened. He knew, he knew Ran was in love with Shinichi, had been since they first met. It was no secret that the two boys had 'planned to get married' (Yukiko and Toichi had made sure of that) and he knew Ran had been disappointed and hurt by the declaration.
And years later, after she had Shinichi all to herself, Kaito was back from the veil, stealing him away again. Which he found unfair, seeing as he had Shinichi before she did.
"T-that's great," the brunette said, smiling. He felt a little pity rise up from the bitterness and sighed.
"Yeah," he said, discreetly closing his binder, "I'm still trying to remember him, though." Ran started.
"You f-forgot Shinichi?"
"Not everything. He was still a little brat tantei," he muttered, "But a lot of it, yeah. Remembering something new every day." And all of its surprising.
They were interrupted by a yell and a shutting door. "Oi, Kaito, you here?" Shinichi walked into the living room casually, his eyes locking onto the thief's instantly. "There you are. Hattori an—Ran?"
Kaito watched with vague amusement as the detective took one look at her, and fled. Ran stood up and pushed her sleeves to her elbows. "."
Well. What kind of bride would I be if I didn't stop my danna from getting hurt?
He blamed the fact that title came so easily on shock. And ignored the way it made his heart beat a little faster.
--
--
"Big ships are good for pilfering. I suggest you bring a grenade and a force field."
Shinichi paused outside of the Library, confusion evident on his face. "Why a grenade and a force field?" He asked as he entered, surprised to see Kaito lounging in one of the chairs with Hattori sprawled out on the sofa.
"'Cause," the Osakan said, "then we ca' blow it up an' not get injured."*
Kaito grinned and nodded decisively with that statement while Shinichi wondered if he even wanted to know. Instead, he held up a newspaper clipping. "Kid left a note."
"What's it say?" Hattori asked, interested while Kaito tilted his head and raised a brow, masking his excitement as well as he could.
"Angrec's laugh and shining jewels fall under the stare of joking fools. A black thorne'd morning glory well before its time with white washed smiles hiding behind silken sheets. Let's see who gets there first—Kid."
"Wha' does that mean?" Hattori asked, brow furrowed. Shinichi said nothing, muttering the words under his breath until a small smile worked its way on his face.
"The Jester's Façade." He said. Kaito bit his cheek to keep from grinning.
"Isn't that some lost treasure from England that's being displayed?" He asked with all the innocence of someone who didn't know any better. Shinichi nodded.
"Yeah. It's a mask with a large diamond in the forehead, said to come directly from Queen Elizabeth the First. Hence 'angrec'. Angrec means 'royalty'. There's also the Mieiga Museum, where the Jester's Façade is being hosted…time," he muttered to himself, "What's the time?"
"'A morning glory well before its time.' The night-blooming morning glory?" The thief questioned. Hattori glanced at him, eyes sparkling in a way that made Kaito wary.
"Y'know yer flow'rs." The Osakan said simply.
"Er, not really." Aoko mentioned it to him once, actually.
"Difficult flower… 8 o'clock!" Shinichi yelled, eyes bright. Neither person questioned him; Hattori because Kudo was usually right—and Kaito because Shinichi was right.
"It'll be tomorrow night." The 'Detective of the East' said, lips curled up predatorily.
Kaito wondered if perhaps he should have waited longer for another heist.
--
--
A/N: Right! The *'d goes to 1412 karasu, who gave me this line. Credit goes to both her and Milky Etoile, for inspiration mostly, but Etoile-chama gave the proposal how-did. What movie they were watching, I haven't a clue.
As for the KID note….er, yeah, had no clue what I was talking about. I just sorta wrote that on a whim, then spent a few minutes trying to figure out how it could be used as a time-date-place thing. Failed? Also, don't ask how Shinichi came to the 8o'clock conclusion. I don't know when the night-blooming Morning Glories come, but I assume its around eight-or nine, so they die around 3 or four am…?
Also…just to let you know, I do not hate Ran. I really like her, actually, and support her character/role in cannon. There are very few het pairings I can stand, and Ran/Shin is one of the ones that don't make me cringe, so yeah, I do like Ran. Just in case I make her out as a bad guy, it doesn't happen 'cause I don't like her.
…wow, long AN. (sweatdrop)