On the eigth day of Christmas my true love sent to me

Disclaimer: Works of Meitantei Conan and Magic Kaito belong to Gosho Aoyama-sensei. Lyrics were taken from the 1909 Austin version.

A/N: HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone! 4 more chapters to go!


8 Maids a Milking

On the day of the New Years, Ran and Sonoko both came by the Kudo Manor and rang incessantly at the doorbell. Shinichi had stayed up the night before, seeing as his parents called at midnight, Japanese time, to wish him a "Happy New Year!" and telling him the should be able to return before that evening. Of course, that being said, his mother had hogged the phone for nearly an hour, chatting his ear off (and constantly asking whether there was anyone he fancied, if not she might be able to do something about it, at which point Shinichi began sputtering and stuttering incoherently while trying his best impersonation of a ripe tomato).

"Ran," he yawned as he opened the door to let the two girls in, "why are you two here at…" glancing up at the grandfather clock in the hallways, it read "eight thirty?" Shinichi internally cursed.

"It's New Years Day, we're going to the shrine to pray for good luck. You're coming with us Shinichi-kun." Sonoko announced with an impatient tap of her foot. "Well Shinichi-kun? Hurry it up will you?"

Ran looked slightly apologetic on the side as she stood with Sonoko in the entry. It seems both did not wish to wait inside the manor. Shinichi left them in the entry hall with the two sets of guest slippers placed in front of them. Noticing the young heiress was quite set on leaving as soon as possible, Shinichi sighed.

"Fine. Give me ten minutes." Shinichi slowly ambled back up the stairs (Sonoko shouted for him to hurry his backside) to take care of his morning rituals and rummaged around for something to wear in the cool weather. Grabbing the first set of clothing in his closet, he threw on a new pair of jeans and made sure to snatch the wallet and phone on the desk before walking out of his room.

"Took you long enough." Sonoko complained, even though Shinichi was sure they have been chatting away in earnest for the past five minutes.

The three of them headed over to the Beika shrine, already filled with people praying for good fortune for the new year. After cleansing themselves with the well water, they went towards the main temple to pay their respect. Shinichi saw the intense concentration on Sonoko's face and the small smile on Ran's face as they bowed their heads and said their prayers and wishes for the new year. Shinichi did the same, threw his coins into the wooden box, clapped then bowed and kept his eyes closed.

He blanked his mind to try and think up of a wish for the new year. But instead of seeing the darkness behind his eyes, he saw the colour of the sky framed by white, a large shining crystal shone at the forefront of his mind. Shinichi wondered if one could be blinded when they have their eyes closed for the vision he saw was definitely bright and blinding. He focused his mind to trying to decipher the meaning behind the image, remembering the tales told to him by his classmates at how the residing deity in the Beika shrine likes to give Its believers glimpses of their future.

"Well? What did you wish for?" The ever inquisitive Sonoko asked, breaking Shinichi out of his semi-trance like state. "Beika shrine is known for granting great wishes and accurate in their predictions. Speaking of," she pointed to the side wooden structure where large hexagonal box stood on the wooden table in front of a large selection of drawers. "Let's go see what our fortunes are!"

Sonoko pulled Ran by her wrist and Shinichi followed sedately behind, shaking his head as he muttered how fickle and sporadic the young heiress was. Picking up a nearby box, he gave it a good shake to dislodge his fortune. He threw in the 100 Yen into the donations box before retrieving the fortune from the drawers.

"Shinichi?" Ran tapped Shinichi on the shoulder as he was too immersed into his fortune. "What did you get?"

"Uh…" Shinichi quickly stuffed the small sheet of paper into his pocket as he tried to hide his embarrassment. "Great Fortune."

"Ooh." Sonoko peered from behind Ran, she had in her hands her own fortune. "Mine's Fortune, same with Ran. So? What did you ask?"

Shinichi sighed, he knew the girl would continue to pester him if he did not show it. Finally, he pulled the small sheet of paper back out and let the girl have it.

"Let's see...Health, good health for the coming year but beware of the change in weather. Quite generic. Wealth, you are not for wont. Predictable seeing as both your parents are famous and your father's books are sold out the moment it reaches the shelves, not to mention you're helping as a consultant for the police, I hear they pay you pretty well."

"I work for free Sonoko. The only payment I've received are in certificates and recognition." Shinichi reminded. He never asked the police for actual monetary payment but they do give him quite a lot of leeway in terms of what he could do in an investigation (providing it was within legal limits) and had allowed him in on many cases, which is more important for him than the money (on the rare occasion where there have been actual reward money involved).

"Career, your professionalism is well recognised and jobs will come find you rather than you finding it. Typical seeing as murders actually appear wherever you go. Ah, here we are! Romance, realise your romance and take it in your grasp for the red string is one that has been festering."

Shinichi turned to look away, the trees in the surrounding suddenly seemed more interesting, as are the grey paving stones beneath his feet.

"Shinichi? Is there something you want to tell me? Perhaps a special someone?" Ran sidled up closer to Shinichi, conveniently blocking his view of the trees.

"No such thing and no such person. You of all people know where I've been for the past year or so, where and how would I meet someone?"

"Then let me fix that for you!" Sonoko announced proudly. "None of us had breakfast yet and I know just the place for us."

They took a bus and a fifteen minute ride later, they arrived at a commercial district. A short walk after that and they were standing in front of a generic building with a short set of steps leading to the elevator lobby. Sonoko pressed for the 3rd floor, smiling widely all the way.

"You'll love it, both of you! It serves really cute cakes and the servers are all really cute as well! Though I come here for the food rather than the servers." She admitted before giving both Ran and Shinichi a suggestive look as she exited the bland metallic insides of the elevator.

Shinichi was the last to exit the elevator, so he had no idea what the young heiress had been telling the girl at the counter, only that she had been showing her something on her phone. The girl at the counter smiled conspiratorially and called over another waitress to lead them towards a table.

As they sat in a booth seat, Shinichi saw quite a few numbers of waitresses glancing at their direction, some even giggled and called out a chef from the kitchen. He had to admit, they were quite easy on the eye though his traitorous mind somehow was comparing these people with a certain cross-dressing thief (Shinichi had to wonder why did that suddenly pop up in his mind, must have been seen a trigger somewhere). Strangely enough, they did not have to order, though Shinichi suspected it had something to do with Sonoko hovering over the counter as they entered the store.

Two waitresses set down a plate of food and drinks in front of the three, Shinichi's eyes were drawn to the plate of full breakfast complete with eggs, bacon, ham, and toast which had been buttered and sprinkled with icing sugar. A hand appeared before Shinichi's vision as it decorated the toast with chocolate sauce in front of his eyes. There were now actually writings and drawings on that piece of toast, a heart and the word 'LOVE' written in a manner that is often seen on omelets rather than bread. However, it was not the piece of art (for the heart shape was too perfect and the surrounding small flowers were too delicate to be considered as anything but a piece of artwork) that drew Shinichi's attention, rather it was the set of hands. He reached out to grab the wrist, stopping its retreat, then looked up at the face belonging to the waitress.

Though the term waitress must be used extremely loosely in this sense.

"Kuroba?" Shinichi was unsure but the eyes and the feeling of the wrist leant him some confidence.

"Hey." Even the voice was more feminine than what he was used to. Shinichi had to wonder what urged the magician to play the role of a waitress on a New Years Day (though he did make a believable female, with his long slender legs showing from beneath the maid costume and knee-high white socks, to the light makeup applied to highlight the cheekbones and the bright eyes. Shinichi once again had to resist the urge to throw himself out the window as his mind took in way too much detail).

"Any particular reason for cross-dressing today?" Shinichi noticed how the second waitress was busy explaining Ran's particular breakfast plate that was more elaborate than his own, no doubt the work of Sonoko who is now busy hiding the snicker behind her fist as her other hand held her smartphone and was apparently taking a video of the two of them (Shinichi had to remember to steal the phone and erase the footage at a later time today, who knows what the heiress would do with the video). "By the way, Happy New Year."

"Happy New Year to you too Kudo. As for me being here...my mother's friend own this place and I somehow...offended...my mother a few days back. So she dragged me out of the house this morning, set me up here, and told me on no uncertain terms am I to escape unless I want to find my worst fear waiting for me in my bedroom." He grimaced at the thought, shuddering slightly, to which Shinichi felt the urge to suddenly pull the magician down onto his laps and start soothing him (ok...now Shinichi's brain was going way out of line). "Her threats are generally carried out without mercy for the victim so I cannot leave this shop until closing time…"

"Well...for what it's worth, at least you look the part here? Though I'm not even sure what this shop is, apart from it being a cafe…" Shinichi hoped that it sounded like a compliment.

"It's a maid cafe Kudo. You really need to get out more." The magician sighed before fixing the napkin onto Shinichi's laps. "And you're supposed to thank me for my efforts in preparing your meal."

"Ah. Thank you then."

"You make that sound like a chore Kudo." He shook his head, the ponytail that had been part of the wig flicked about with the motion.

"It's not. Not when…" Shinichi had to hesitate. All the words he wanted to use sounded too suggestive in this setting and it wouldn't do if Sonoko had caught it on video. He finally settled for "it looks too good to eat."

"I'm an artist, though I chose magic as my medium for displaying my skills." The magician stood by the side of the table, waiting for Shinichi to take a bite. "Well?"

"Um…" Shinichi picked up the piece of toast and nibbled the crust. It was really too sweet for his taste but he was not about to let the magician's efforts go to waste. Also, who knows what other forms of strange punishment the magician's mother might give if she heard a paying customer was displeased with his performance. "It's really nice."

"Too sweet for your taste I take it?" The magician let out a smile before pushing the cup of coffee into Shinichi's direction. Shinichi took a long gulp to wash away the icing sugar sticking at his throat. "I did tone it down, using dark chocolate instead of the sweet red syrup they call strawberry sauce around here. I noticed you drank your coffee plain last time and knew you wouldn't be the type with a sweet tooth."

"You pay quite a lot of attention to…" Shinichi took another bite instead of sounding like he was accusing the magician to be a stalker. "...everything around you."

"My surroundings are generally my audience. I make it my job to know about my audience and to bring them the most joy and happiness I can." He said proudly before reaching for the near empty coffee cup. "Let me get you a refill. You don't have to finish everything on the plate you know."

Shinichi watched the retreating back and despite the sweetness of the toast, he took another bite, determined to finish at least this piece on his plate even if all the other food were not to his liking much.