Traffic

Kuroba Kaito was not happy. This fact was not terribly significant, unless of course, you were stuck within the confines of a car with the magician, who made the fact that he was upset loud and clear. Poor Kudo Shinichi was miserable.

"Kaito, I know this isn't exactly what you had in mind for the day, but seriously, this is getting ridiculous. Even you should have enough sense not to prank someone while they're driving!"

"Since when do you have a license, anyway?" Kaito grumbled. His idea of spending the day with his boyfriend was not being stuck in traffic on the way to the airport to pick up his boyfriend's parent…who didn't actually know that their son was gay. "Do we have to do this?"

Shinichi sighed. "I have an international license that I got in America. And yes, we have to. They asked me specifically to come pick them up, said they had some sort of surprise." He groaned. He wasn't looking forward to something his mother considered a 'surprise'.

Pouting, Kaito took out his ire on the nearest lamppost, setting it up so that the lights would flash iridescently and send out spews of sparkles every fifteen minutes once the lamp turned on. Shinichi gave him a flat look full of exasperated fondness.

"I know you're not looking forward to seeing my parents." He reached out with one hand and clasped Kaito's. "I promise, I'm going to tell them. It's not like it matters if they don't approve. I've been living on my own since I was fourteen, so it's not like they can throw me out of a house they don't live in anymore."

"If anything happens, you can come stay with me," Kaito offered. Shinichi grinned at him in thanks.

Silently, they pulled into the airport, waiting in front of the proper terminal entrance. Soon enough, his parents appeared, hauling ridiculous amounts of luggage behind them. Groaning slightly, Shinichi got out of the car to help them struggle it into the trunk, Kaito following behind him.

"Shin-chan!" His mother screamed, smothering him in a suffocating hug. "Guess what, guess what, guess what!?"

Shinichi choked, unable to get enough air into his lungs to respond. Kaito gently unwrapped Yukiko's arms from his boyfriend, apologizing softly while explaining that he needed a little something called oxygen. Yukiko blinked at him. "Who are you? Oh, never mind. Shin-chan, you need to guess!"

Shinichi stared at her, eyes watering and still gasping for gratuitous amounts of air. "I don't think I really care to guess right now, 'Kaa-chan." He coughed.

"But it's so wonderful! You see, this old friend of mine from America has this daughter who has agreed to meet with you. I know you and Ran-chan didn't work out, but I really think you'll like this girl. She's absolutely adorable and she likes mysteries too, so you won't have to worry about that, and – "

"Uh, Mom?" Shinichi interrupted, holding up a hand. Yusaku helpfully placed a hand over his wife's mouth, giving his son a chance to speak. "I think maybe I should introduce my companion. This is Kuroba Kaito, my boyfriend."

There was silence for a long moment, Yukiko's eyes going wide and muffled exclamations trying to get out from under Yusaku's hand. The senior Kudo apparently didn't have the current thought processes available to move it.

"Your…boyfriend…"

"Yeah. You know, like the guy I'm currently dating? It's, uh, not actually that uncommon. Well, I mean, it is here, I guess, but you just came from America and it's not really uncommon there and…yeah." Shinichi rambled slightly.

Kaito grinned over his shoulder. "If it's any consolation, I can also appear as a fairly hot girl if the circumstances call for it."

Shinichi groaned. "That's not helping, Kaito."

"But it does make things interesting, you have to admit." He leered at the gob smacked parents. No way was some gaijin girl taking Shinichi from him.