Mikau: Hey everyone! Good to see you again. Thanks to you guys, CTM has breached 150 reviews. Thanks so much to everyone who's contributed. Thanks as well to athieisademon, Cyanide Flowers, Nechangi, Syrus07, Aniki-xvi, and DoodlingPlume for reviewing. Also, good news: I figured out how I want to continue from the point that I was stuck at—Sherlock Holmes and karaoke. I'm actually concentrating more on Love at Long Distance omakes right now, but I'll get back to focusing on CTM soon. Also, I've written something new. It's more HakuKai, and it's called Collisions of Considerable Impact. I should have it up later tonight/tomorrow morning. Give it a look-see if you like HakuKai (which it sounds like it's a good number of you by now). Enjoy the chapter!
Disclaimer: If I owned it, I don't think the homosexual undertones would be as subtle. Have you ever really read the conversations between Kid and Nakamori-keibu? They're totally flirting. When Kaito says things like "I never run or hide from you, Nakamori-keibu. Let's meet again," and leaves him a flower which the good inspector joyously accepts, or when the inspector says "I caught you~! 3" while hugging Kid, it makes me wonder. I find myself thinking, "Just what kind of relationship did Toichi and Ginzo have, anyway? Does Kaito have a thing for older men?" There's also Aoko's blushing whenever Akako's around…and the worrying about Kaito doing perverted things to Akako thing. Anyway, I find it amusing, and I wonder if it's intentional. If I were writing it, the homosexual relationships would be more prominent because, frankly, I feel that there's a lot more canonical support for the same-sex relationships than the hetero ones. But that's just me. However, you're reading my shounen ai fic, so you probably agree. Either way, it's up to you to decide. Enjoy the chapter.
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Reconciliation
"Hey," Saguru greeted shyly from where he sat in bed.
"Hey yourself," Kaito responded, hesitantly lingering in the doorway. "You know, part of me was kind of thinking that you were faking sick because you were mad and avoiding me, but I see now that that's not the case, and I feel like a conceited prick."
"I might have been a little angry and avoiding you, but I was very ill," the blonde assured, motioning his friend inside. "But I'm not mad anymore, and I'm feeling a little better."
"That's good." The shorter teen gave a little half-smile and tentatively sat on the edge of the bed at the foot. "What did you have? You look like death took a fork to you."
"Perfectly common ailment, really. Most people get it at one time or another—a bit like the chicken pox. The doctors couldn't do anything for me, so all I could do was sleep. Only, I couldn't sleep. I couldn't eat, had no energy, and was in terrible pain all the time. I really thought I was going to die. I wanted to die at times. There was this horrendous sucking ache in my chest that felt a little bit like a black hole opening up, to be honest. Worst experience of my life aside from some of the more gruesome murders I've seen."
"God. No wonder you couldn't see me!" Kaito exclaimed. "Are you sure you're okay? Shouldn't you be in the hospital or something?"
Hakuba could only chuckle softly. "I'm maybe running at forty to fifty percent right now, but I'll get better with time. You shouldn't worry about me."
"Are you sure?" Kaito eyed him suspiciously with those liquid amethyst eyes. "Is there anything that I can do to help?"
"Stop worrying," the Brit demanded. "And read this out loud." He handed over his phone to his guest.
The magician looked at it a minute before blinking. "It's the text I sent you last night?"
"Yes. I'd like to hear your apology out loud. I can imagine how you would say it in my head, but I want to hear it coming from your lips," the wronged man explained.
"Oh." Kaito nodded with a blush. "I see. Okay." He cleared his throat before beginning. "Dear Saguru, I was thinking about what I said to you the other day, and I realized that I made a huge mistake. I never should have dismissed your feelings like that. It was wrong of me, and I hope you'll be able to forgive me.
"I realized that whatever you say you feel is what you feel, and it's not my place to tell you your emotions. If you say that you're in love, you're in love. I'm really sorry that I didn't respect your feelings. It was insensitive of me, and I'll work hard on it in the future, if you'll still have me.
"I also want to apologize for telling you to give up on the person you love just because the situation looks hopeless now. If you really love this guy, you should fight for him until the bitter end. You should know, however, that I wasn't just being callous when I told you to forget about him. As your friend, I don't like seeing you in pain, and this guy only seems to bring you heartache. I want you to be happy because you're a great guy, and you really deserve someone who can love you every bit as much as you love them.
"If you want to continue to fight for this guy, I'll support your decision. I'm behind you 100%, so if you ever need me, I'll be there for you. Again, sorry for being a jerk. Get well soon; I miss you. Kaito," the brunette concluded, shifting nervously under the stare of those piercing tawny eyes.
"Thank you," Saguru whispered, a content smile on his face. "And apology accepted."
"I'm glad." Kaito grinned, lying down on his stomach and stretching out. "I was really afraid that I'd screwed things up permanently this time."
"Never," the blonde assured. "As long as we are still alive, there will be time to forgive one another, and I'd forgive you anything short of murder, Kai."
"Oh, Guru," Kaito chuckled, ruffling his companion's hair before going back to fretting. "So, you're sure you're doing better?"
"Bloody hell, Kaito. YES. I'm feeling MUCH better. I could run a marathon for Pete's sake, so stop worrying," the Brit sighed, rubbing his temples.
"Can't help it." The magician shrugged. After a beat he asked again, "You're sure you're sure?"
Hakuba sighed once more and put his hands around Kaito's throat. "I swear. I'm going to ring that pretty little neck of yours."
"You think it's pretty?" the imp teased.
This caused the blonde to color and look away, removing his hands like he'd received an electric shock. "Yes, Kaito, I find your neck very visually stimulating."
"Thought so." The brunette did his best to keep from bursting into giggles. "Oh no. What am I ever going to tell Shin-chan? I suppose we could just elope. What do you think? Will you elope with me, Guru?"
"I'd personally prefer a proper wedding," Hakuba replied honestly, even though he knew his friend was kidding. "I'd rather legally handcuff myself to you in front of our families and friends than just run away together."
"But then there's still the problem of Shin-chan," Kaito hummed, laughing softly.
"How are things going with Shin-chan? Any new developments in the past two weeks?" It was always painful to discuss, but Saguru needed to know if his enemy had gained any ground in his absence.
His beloved chuckled nervously. "A little bit. Ever since he kissed me, I've been craving more. The hormones are driving me nuts! Seriously, anybody would do at this point. I just want to touch and feel and experience it all, but…it's wrong of me to want to kiss him just because I get a rush out of it. I got a little riled up and nearly sucked his face off last night."
"D-did you, now?" Saguru gulped.
"Yeah," Kaito sighed. "I just keep throwing myself at him. It's not right. I know it's not right, but…it's hard to argue with my little brain sometimes. In my head I know that I should put his feelings first and be fair and do the right thing, but it's really difficult when all I want to do is get laid. Maybe I should just sleep with him now and worry about really falling for him later, but I don't want to chance things not working out and him getting hurt. I don't know what the hell I'm doing, Guru. What do you think?"
Hakuba took a deep breath and then turned to face those lovely indigo eyes. "Kaito, do whatever will make you happiest in the long run."
Kaito blinked. "What…makes me happy?"
"Yes."
The shorter teen frowned. "So…I should sleep with him and worry about falling in love later?"
"Will you regret doing things that way?" the detective inquired.
"Yes," Kaito sighed. "Probably."
"There's your answer. Don't sleep with him. You're probably not ready for a relationship with him yet."
"I see." Kaito's head landed with a soft thud on Hakuba's comforter. "God what a mess."
"Your life seems to be full of them," Saguru gently chuckled, patting his love on the head. "You may want to consider a vacation. Some time away from Kudo may do you some good."
"Regardless of whether I want it or not, time away from Shin-chan is what I'm going to get. I don't get to see him for an entire flying-fudge-brownie month." The magician inserted a fake sob at the end of his whine.
"What? Why? Is he going out of town with the Mouris or something?" Hakuba couldn't fathom why the young detective would go off and leave Kaito alone when he'd been doing so well with the magician up to that point.
Aforementioned magician blinked and cocked his head to the side. "I meant big Shin-chan. Little Shin-chan will be around."
Now it was the blonde's turn to blink. "But if the little one is around, why did you say you couldn't see him?"
"I said I can't see big Shin-chan," Kaito reiterated, three deep trenches forming in his brow.
"I know. I understand. You can't see Kudo, but Edogawa will be around, so you can still see him, correct?" Hakuba asked slowly.
"Yes, but I don't want to see Conan. I want to see Shinichi," the smaller boy seethed.
"But if he's not going anywhere, why can't you see Kudo?" This conversation was getting tiresome.
"Because he's not going to be around." Kaito obviously felt the same way.
"But you said he wasn't going anywhere," Hakuba challenged.
"Conan's not," Kaito bit back.
"Bloody hell, Kaito," Saguru fumed, losing his patience for inanities. "I don't know how the devil it works, but I've got enough brains to figure out that they're the same sodding person. Now, if you could please tell me if Edogawa, who is Kudo, is not going anywhere, why the blue blazes can't you see your bloody boyfriend?"
"Oh." The violet-eyed teen was pensive for a moment before saying anything more. "First of all, he's not my boyfriend. We are going on official dates now, but we're not dating yet. Second of all, his mad scientist lady says that he's been using too many of the pills he takes to change back lately. If he doesn't cut back, he risks becoming totally immune to the medicine's effects…. So I don't get to see big Shin-chan for a month."
Saguru nodded, processing the information he had just been fed. "I see. That explains some things while raising a great deal more questions. How did he get like that in the first place?"
Kaito shrugged. "He's never told me, and I've never asked. We kind of have that type of arrangement; he doesn't pry into Kid's business either. As long as he's safe, all I care about is him being able to transform back into Studly Shin-chan for make-out sessions. Honestly, if he ever does become immune to the pills, my 'to sleep with him or not to sleep with him' dilemma goes right out the window for another six years. While Conan's little bespectacled face is downright adorable, sexy it is not. Seriously. It does nothing for me. You turn me on more than that."
"Thank you?" Saguru raised an eyebrow at his guest.
"'S a compliment," Kaito assured with a chimp-like chuckle. "Seriously. You're a good-looking guy. In fact, I'm having trouble not pouncing you right this instant."
"Oh, Kai, I feel the same way about you," the Brit returned.
"No, Guru. We mustn't," the joker gasped, sounding like a woman from the Victorian Period. "Baaya is just downstairs."
"She'd probably gladly step out for an hour or so, if we asked her to," Saguru replied thoughtfully. "She's been trying to set me up again recently."
"Seriously?" Kaito too broke character.
"Seriously." The eligible bachelor nodded with a sigh. "I do have a responsibility to my family to produce heirs, after all. If I fail to provide evidence of a significant other soon, there will be marriage interviews again."
"Yeesh." The magician shuddered. "So…what are you going to do? Are you going to fight to be with that guy you like, or are you going to try to move on? Do you know yet?"
"Kaito, I'm going to fight to the bitter end," the detective declared, staring his intended straight in the eye. "That's what you said I should do, right? If I really love him?"
"Yeah."
"Well, I really, really love him." Saguru was pleased to find that he could say it without stuttering.
"Then, I'll support you 100%." Kaito pledged. "Just let me know, if there's ever anything that I can do."
"I'll let you know, if I ever think of anything." The blonde couldn't help but chuckle.
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Mikau: It's supposed to be a skull, but ff dot net's formatting does funny things to multi-line emots. Anyway, my new fic, Collisions of Considerable Impact is about Hakuba getting hit by a car at a heist and losing his memories. He mistakes his obsession with exposing Kaito as Kid as a crush on Kaito, and things get cute/sad/dramatic from there. Take a look if you have time/interest. So, someone told me today, "Kara, you should smile more often." I guess I don't smile in public often. Hmm. I thought I smiled all the time. Guess not. Well, I hope you liked the chapter. Please send in your thoughts if you have the time. Thanks for reading!