Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan/Case Closed.
Pairing: KaitoxShinichi
The Dragon's Curse
Chapter 9 – Branching Out
"How are you feeling?"
"Shouldn't I be the one asking you that?" Kaito asked lightly, though his expression was serious as he looked Shinichi over from head to toe.
"He only grabbed my shoulder," Shinichi explained, though he found himself feeling touched at the magician's open show of concern. Still. That wasn't what they were here to talk about.
"Your hand," he said finally. "Can I see it?"
He didn't miss Kaito's moment of hesitation before the magician extended his hand. "Go ahead."
Gingerly taking the magician's outstretched hand in both his own, Shinichi examined it closely. The magician's hand was calloused from years of nonstop practice with his many gadgets and other props. He had strong, nimble fingers well suited to his trade. But though the hand clearly belonged to a very active person, it showed no signs of being anything strange. The temperature of his skin was normal, and there was no sign of any trick that might be able to induce burns (not that Shinichi believed Kaito would have set up a trick to hurt someone like that on purpose, but it was a detective's job to consider all the possibilities). Nor was the hand itself burned. But Shinichi knew what he had seen.
"Does anything feel strange to you?" he asked, still studying the magician's hand. "Is there any pain?"
"I'm fine," Kaito insisted. Catching one of Shinichi's hands with his own, he pulled it up and brushed a kiss across the detective's knuckles. "Really."
Shinichi blushed, hurriedly tugging his hand out of the other's grasp. "I'm being serious here. Do you remember everything that happened just now?"
Kaito's grin faded as his eyes grew serious. "I do. And no, I don't know how he got those burns. I'm sorry."
Shinichi sighed. "You don't have to apologize. But, well, I noticed you didn't seem surprised…?"
Kaito grimaced. "At the time, I wasn't. It's…a little difficult to describe. I…" He scowled, frustrated by his own peculiar ineloquence. He was usually good with words, but how did you go about telling someone that you hadn't been yourself and yet you had been at the same time? It sounded nonsensical even in his own head. He thought sardonically that maybe this was all those years of laughing when people called him crazy coming back to bite him.
Pale hands came to rest on his shoulders, and he looked up into Shinichi's earnest sapphire gaze. "It's okay. We'll figure it out."
Kaito smiled. "You're right." Leaning forward quickly, he stole a kiss from the startled detective's soft lips and drew back. "Thanks."
The detective's cheeks went pink. Kaito smiled. Shinichi turned away, trying not to fidget. He was suddenly very aware of the fact that he and Kaito were alone, and he still didn't know where the thief was planning to stay the night. He wanted to ask, but at the same time he didn't want to ask.
"Um, I brought something for you," he said hastily in an attempt to distract himself and, hopefully, lighten the mood at the same time. "I'll go get it."
Kaito watched in mounting curiosity as Shinichi opened the hotel refrigerator door and pulled out a box. The detective then carried the box to the hotel's round table and set it down. When the box opened, it revealed a chocolate cake. A homemade chocolate cake with "To the Future" written on it in carefully icing-ed letters.
Kaito stared. Flashes of his dream from the other night rose up unbidden in his thoughts, and, for the first time in years, he felt his face beginning to turn red.
Fortunately, Shinichi was still fussing over the cake. By the time he looked up again, Kaito had already gotten his expression—if not his thoughts—under control.
"It was my first time baking with this recipe," he was saying. "But I think it turned out okay. And I thought, well, you've been feeling a bit stressed out about all this. And I just wanted to…" He cut himself off because he knew he was babbling. "Um, so…did you want some? I know we just came from the party, but—"
"I'd love to have some cake," Kaito said, cutting him off. "I didn't have the opportunity to enjoy the snacks they were offering at the party. So this is perfect."
"It might not taste very good," Shinichi warned. But he cut two neat slices out of the cake and placed them on the paper plates he had brought with him.
It wasn't the best cake Kaito had ever had, but, he decided, it was still one of his favorites.
He got seconds once he was done, though Shinichi ate only one slice. Then, together, they sat on the bed and turned on the television to see two reporters discussing the upcoming KID heist. Kaito grinned when he saw them. He always did love hearing people talk about him and his daring exploits. Both reporters were female too and clearly fans. They were both gushing over what a perfect time of the year it was for one of KID's unforgettable shows.
"You know, I'm starting to think you're a narcissist," Shinichi commented dryly from over the top of his coffee cup. He had poured the cup after his cake and hadn't let go of it since.
Kaito only laughed. "Nothing wrong with knowing that you're awesome." But he flipped to a different channel where a holiday movie was just starting. Then he tossed the remote behind them and looped an arm around Shinichi's waist, pulling the detective flush against his side.
Shinichi buried his nose in his cup to hide his blush, but he leaned into the half embrace, feeling warm and content. With the evening as hectic as it had been, the detective hadn't realized just how tired he really was. A mere ten minutes into the movie, he had already fallen asleep with his head on Kaito's shoulder as he snuggled up more firmly against the magician's side.
Kaito looked down at the detective's slumbering face and smiled, running his fingers through the soft, black hair.
Mine.
The word whispered in his head, and, for a moment, he almost thought he heard an echo of it from somewhere in the back of his mind as though someone else was thinking inside his head. He frowned, shaking away the odd sensation.
Carefully extracting Shinichi's empty coffee cup from his limp hands, Kaito leaned over to put the cup on the hotel table. Then he gathered Shinichi onto his lap and settled down to finish the movie.
-0-
Shinichi woke to find the suite empty. There was a note on the table from Kaito.
"I have a few preparations to attend to," he read out loud from the notepad. "I'll see you at the show."
Shinichi smiled and folded up the note before tucking it into one of the nightstand drawers. After that, he went through his morning ablutions, pulled on more casual clothes, and headed out in search of Ran. After all, he really should check up on her too after her disappearance last night.
It turned out that Ran was pretty easy to find. She was sitting on one of the soft couches in the hotel breakfast lounge. She had a plate of pancakes on the table before her and a bottle of syrup. There was an empty seat across from her that she kept looking at, but Shinichi didn't see Sonoko anywhere in the area.
"Ran?" he said by way of greeting as he approached her table. "I was looking for you last night at the party. Did you go back to your room early?"
She started when she heard his voice then looked up with an apologetic smile. "Oh, no, no. Actually, I met this guy, and he asked me to dance. I'm sorry I didn't say anything to you."
"It's okay," he said after a moment's thought. Judging from Ran's flustered behavior, this was starting to sound…like the beginning of a relationship.
He frowned. He had nothing against Ran dating. Not anymore anyway. But he wasn't going to let his best friend go out with any random man. There were far too many crazy people out there these days for that. Then he looked at the empty chair again.
"Are you meeting him for breakfast?"
Ran blushed, started to stammer a denial, then deflated and nodded. "We ran into each other in the hallway this morning, and he asked if I'd eaten yet. Since I hadn't…"
That made sense, Shinichi noted. "Then why isn't he here?"
"He's going to exchange his order. He forgot to tell them that he's allergic to cheese, so he needs them to get him the omelet without the cheese."
"Ah, I see." That sounded reasonable too. He looked at Ran again, wondering how to ask if he could join the two for breakfast without making it overly obvious that he wanted to cross examine her new friend.
He was saved from having to do so by a young man coming to the table and sitting down across from Ran. The boy was probably in college, Shinichi decided. Older than Ran, but not by much. He looked to be of mixed Asian and Caucasian descent. His clothes were plain but clearly of high quality.
The newcomer looked up then and spotted Shinichi. His eyes lit up in delight—something that probably meant he wasn't a wanted criminal in hiding.
"You're Kudo Shinichi, right?" he asked. "Ran's told me a lot about you. I'm Luke Suzuhara—oops, I mean Suzuhara Luke."
"It's nice to meet you," Shinichi replied politely, taking a seat. "I take it you're from overseas?"
"Yeah. My parents moved to America when I was in high school, but I decided to come back for graduate school."
"He's studying medicine in Tokyo," Ran supplied, although she was giving Shinichi a distinctly warning look.
"So what brings you here to Hokkaido?" the detective asked, curious.
"One of my classmates invited me and several of our friends. She and her fiancé are getting married here next year. She wanted to come see the facilities in person beforehand. And since it's the holidays, we all decided to make a vacation out of it. What about you? Mouri-san said you came here on a case, right?"
Shinichi stared at him then looked at Ran. "You mean you haven't heard of the KID heist?"
The med student looked blank. "KID?"
"Kaitou KID," Ran explained. "He's having a heist here on Christmas Eve. My other friend is a big fan, so she came to watch."
"Wait. I don't understand. Watch? But a heist means he's stealing something, isn't he?"
Ran looked just as surprised as Shinichi felt. "You mean you really don't know?"
"Know what?"
"Well, KID is a thief, but he's also a magician. A lot of people really love his magic shows. He's actually really famous."
"Oh! I heard people talking about a magician. I didn't realize they were talking about a thief." Suzuhara shook his head. "I'm not sure I understand, but good luck with your work," he said, nodding to Shinichi. "I guess I should watch the news more. It's just there's always so much negativity in the news that I, well…" He shrugged, looking sheepish.
Ran sighed. "I know what you mean."
The conversation lulled as a waitress came by with a replacement order for Suzuhara that didn't contain cheese. Shinichi ordered a cup of coffee and, under Ran's pointed look, pancakes. Honestly, she often acted more like his mother than his real mother ever did. He didn't really mind (had sort of gotten used to it after being a child in her care for a few years), but it was a little embarrassing sometimes too. After all, he wasn't seven anymore. On the bright side, they had company to distract her this morning.
Speaking of company, he supposed this young man didn't seem too bad. He appeared to be a nice, ordinary person with decent prospects and an open disposition. Still, Shinichi decided to reserve judgment. He had seen far too many people who appeared to be nice and turned out to be rotten. Deep down though, he found he hoped the guy really was sincere. Ran deserved to find someone nice, and maybe then Sonoko would get off his back.
-TBC-
