December 26

The doorbell rang, and Shinichi's hands were busy washing a dish. He turned to Heiji, who was the only other inhabitant in the kitchen, and asked him to get the door.

Heiji opened the front door cheerfully with a loud, "Hellooooo, welcome—" until he realized who was at the door; his face immediately turned to one of unadulterated disgust. "Oh. You." He begrudgingly stepped aside to allow the annoyed detective to enter the house.

"Hello, Hattori," Saguru greeted coolly. Heiji grunted in return, shutting the door and stomping away from him.

"At least I'm trying to be civil!" Saguru shouted after the Osakan.

Heiji ignored him and returned to the kitchen, glaring at Shinichi. "Who the hell," he asked in irritation, "invited the Holmes freak?"

"Firstly," Shinichi replied, drying his hands after washing the last dish. "Don't insult Holmes. Secondly, he's Kaito's friend."

The two ventured into the living room, seeing Saguru already being antagonized by Kaito's wild tricks. Kaito was chasing him around, throwing what looked like Christmas ornaments at him, although they exploded when they hit him.

"Kaito, stop that," Shinichi ordered.

Kaito instantly stopped and smiled. "But Shinichi! It's a party! Aren't we supposed to be having fun?"

"Not by torturing people," Shinichi retorted, patting the magician on the head.

Shinichi sat on the couch, Kaito following suit. They both watched for a few moments as Heiji and Saguru fought over some trivial matter.

"They really don't like each other, do they?" Kaito asked, snickering.

"Nope," Shinichi responded. "But you knew that, right? Isn't that why you invited Hakuba?"

Kaito pouted. "I'm not that mean! Actually, I figured Aoko would come too, but she was busy. Hakuba decided to come alone though. Ugh…" He paused for a moment, and then his face lit up. "Hey, didn't Hattori bring beer?!"

Shinichi hung his head in disappointment. "Yes, he did. But you don't get any!"

The magician used his trickery to muster up a cute puppy-pout. "Why not?"

Shinichi rolled his eyes, although Kaito noticed the twitch of his lips as he tried not to smile. "Because you're underage, doofus. I'm not drinking either. It'll just get us into trouble."

"But it would be so fun!"

"No!"

Kaito blinked dramatically and leaned his head on Shinichi's warm shoulder. "Don't pretend to be so stern. You love me," he hummed.

"I do," the detective replied with a slight smile. "But that doesn't mean you get to drink alcohol."

Kaito glared. "You're no fun."