Chapter 7
"Nice alias, KID, but it's a little obvious, don't you think?"
Kaito blinked at Shinichi's reply. He…thought that was an alias? How rude. "This is the real me, Tantei-kun. No mask, no disguise, no aliases. Just you, me, and Rei-chan."
Shinichi stared up at him, Rei forgotten in his arms. "You…trust me?" he whispered, disbelief coloring his voice. "Why? I'm a detective, I've been trying to put you in jail for over a year, but…you trust me with your identity?"
Smirking at the detective, Kaito tucked his thumbs into his jean pockets. "What's life without some risks, Tantei-kun? Besides, I trust you with my life. Why wouldn't I trust you with my identity?"
A blush erupted across Shinichi's face. "Those are two completely different things and you know it!" Kaito was about to feint ignorance when Rei made a distressed noise. Shinichi frowned down at him. "I think he needs to be fed… Here, you feed him while I go take a shower and change."
He took the offered child hesitantly. "Uh…how exactly do I do that?"
Shinichi rolled his eyes. "There are a few bottles of formula in the fridge. Heat one up for a few seconds, enough so that it's not cold but not actually hot ether. Then just feed it too him. Remember to burp him afterwards; I assume that you know the basics of that." Without waiting for a reply, Shinichi left the room, leaving the overgrown man-child with the actual child.
Kaito studied the baby in his arms. He'd…never actually been alone with Rei before. Shinichi was always there, even if he was sleeping. He wanted to bang his head into the wall; of course they had never been alone together, Rei was only a day old! But still…it felt like so much longer. Already, their "happy little accident" had wormed his way into his heart, almost…like…magic… His lips thinned into a line as Rei sniffled. That was definitely something to mention to Akako when she got back to him. But for now… He smiled down at Rei. "Let's get you fed, little man."
Following Shinichi's instructions, Kaito managed to feed Rei half a bottle of formula before he refused to drink anymore, pushing the bottle away every time Kaito held it towards his mouth. Positioning Rei so his head hung over his shoulder, Kaito began lightly patting his back. This was how you burped babies, right? He'd only seen this in TV shows and knew you had to be gentle, but Kaito wasn't entire sure why babies had to be burped. Could they not burp on their own? Was Rei too old to be burped? Too young? While he was busy pondering over the questions, Rei finally burped and something wet splattered onto Kaito's t-shirt.
"Oh, gross!" Kaito stared in dismay at the spit-up on his shoulder and the culprit who put it there. Rei squirmed around unhappily in his arms. "I can't wear this!" he grumbled as he wet a paper towel and cleaned up the remaining liquid from around Rei's mouth. Kaito placed the baby temporarily on the floor and shrugged off his shirt, balling it up so he could keep the spit-up safely on the inside, before picking up Rei again. "Come on, Rei-chan. Let's see if Mommy has another shirt I can use. We're practically the same size."
They trotted up the stairs, Rei entertained by his bunny toy that Kaito had grabbed from the living room. Due to a previous reconnaissance of the house while Shinichi and Rei were still asleep, Kaito knew exactly where the detective's room was. That was the reason Kaito used to convince himself to barge in without knocking. "Hey, Tantei-kun, do you have a spare shirt I can borrow—" His voice suddenly died as Kaito took in what Shinichi was wearing.
Or, more accurately, what he wasn't wearing.
"Get out!" Shinichi covered his dripping wet chest with his arms, leaving his towel to hang around his waist. Kaito's mind stopped working as a violent blush consumed his face. He wasn't… There was so much… Shinichi was so… He was abruptly pulled from his thoughts by the door slamming in his face and by Shinichi half-scream of "Pervert!"
Running a hand over his face, Kaito looked down at Rei, who was cuddled against his chest. He tried desperately to forget what had just happened. "Well, that could have gone better."
