Warning: None

A.N: Bathing together can be cute. Or super awkward. Can be seen as pre-slash on Shinichi's end while Kaito is legit c'mon-i'm-dating-material at him. Also written in memory of the kid who never fails to scream in the shower because the water's too hot for him.

"It's scalding in here!"

A splash, then a hand catches him before he could fall and slip, a warm chuckle at his ear.

"It's just the right temperature." The owner of the hand dips a hand into the water, and swishes it around. "Don't be a baby, Conan-kun. It's just right."

"I'm going to be boiled alive."

"Absolute piffle. And you call me dramatic?"

Still, he doesn't relent until the other reaches over to twist the tap open, adding cold water into the steaming tub. He watches the water level rise, slightly, then carefully puts a hand in to test the temperature.

"Better," he allows, and the tap is twisted off again.

"You're ruining my bath, that's what you're doing. In you go." There is some quiet grumbling, and then he squawks when the towel is tugged loose from around his waist, before he is lifted and deposited into the tub with a fair bit of splashing.

"You're the one who came up with the idea," Shinichi says mulishly as Kaito (it's still weird, thinking of him as Kaito after all the time spent thinking about him as Kid) drops his own towel and wades in, settling into the water with a sigh of relief. "Children are more sensitive to heat than adults, and I could have done just as well with the shower."

"Do you live on just bread and cheese?" Kaito cracks open an eye to peer at him. "You need to learn to have fun and relax."

There's a retort on the tip of his tongue, but then Kaito has already closed his eyes again, settling back against the side of the bathtub, so Shinichi swallows whatever he is about to say, and rests his chin on the ledge of the tub.

Why had he agreed in the first place? He has no idea. It probably had been the pseudo-date that Kaito had brought him out on prior, although it had involved a grisly murder at the end (which he had solved, thank you), and a badly timed mugging attempt which Kaito had intercepted quickly.

The thief had called it - what did he say again - scouting and casing. It hadn't been the case. There had been flowers, sticky bubbles, chocolate cake and coffee, bookstores and video games. The murder and the mugging was a complication, but it hadn't dampened the mood the day had put him in at all. It had, however, made it so that it was too late to return home, and so Kaito had invited him to stay the night instead, where the thief had made dinner (surprisingly well versed in culinary skills), and he'd been roped into a bath together.

A hand around his middle makes him jump, but it only pulls him backwards to rest against the thief, letting go only when it was sure he would stay.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

"Nothing in particular."

Kaito runs a hand through his hair, smoothing the wet strands back and tucking them behind his ears, warm against the back of his neck. "You're always a loud thinker," Kaito murmurs, and when Shinichi looks up, he is smiling, a satisfied, pleased satisfaction on his face, and Shinichi is suddenly made aware of how close they are sitting together in the tub, damp heat between them and pressed skin to skin.

He's suddenly aware of how Kaito's fingers had lingered over his shoulders, trailing down his arms and when he'd rubbed the sponge in small circles down his calves to his feet, lathering up a fine foam as he went. He'd pressed his thumbs firmly into the soles of his feet, causing his toes to curl, and Shinichi doesn't think that he'd imagined the edge to Kaito's expression then. A little dark, a little hungry, skirting around all that pleasantry and courtesy, although Kaito is careful to keep it masked.

"Is there something on my face?" Kaito asks curiously when he stares for a second longer than he should have.

Shinichi turns back to the wall facing them, settling back against the thief's chest, mustering the blandest expression that he can manage on his face. "Probably just stupidity.

"That's not a very nice thing to say… "

"If I'm not being nice, I would be slapping handcuffs on you right now."

The thief snorts unattractively behind him, but Shinichi is already tuning him out, turning his mind to this new development.

It could be interesting.