Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan/Case Closed.

Pairing: KaitoxShinichi

Genre: Romance/Supernatural

Warning: Some mild implications of sexual contents at the end of section one

The Dragon's Curse

Chapter 14 - Portents

The city beyond the hotel window glittered as though it were filled with stars. Above that shining expanse, fireworks exploded in expanding rings and cascades of color, the deafening bangs of their eruptions considerably muted by both the distance and the walls of the hotel. He couldn't see the real stars with all those manmade lights both above and below, and Shinichi lamented that loss.

He heard the door open and close, and he saw Kaito's reflection in the glass. The magician set a tray bearing two tall glasses and a handful of small plates bearing tiny sandwiches and cakes on the suite's large, mahogany table. Then he padded up behind Shinichi and slid his arms around the detective's waist, pulling him back flush against Kaito's strong chest.

Shinichi relaxed into the embrace, letting his eyes flutter shut and just relishing in the feeling of safety and warmth that he couldn't help but feel when he was with Kaito. Part of him wished they could just stay here like this forever.

"Are you hungry?" Kaito asked, nibbling lightly on Shinichi's ear. "I highly recommend the those little mango cake tart things. They're rather good."

"Maybe later," Shinichi replied without opening his eyes as he turned around to slip his arms around Kaito and tuck his head under the magician's chin. He let out a happy sigh as he snuggled closer to the magician's warmth. He was simply too content where he was right now to want to move.

He felt more than heard Kaito's quiet chuckle. One of his arms remained wrapped protectively around Shinichi while his other hand began to rub slow circles on Shinichi's lower back.

They stayed like that for a long moment, just enjoying the fact that they were together. Gradually though, Kaito's hands migrated from Shinichi's back and waist down to his hips, fingertips teasing under the hem of Shinichi's shirt to trace the warm skin beneath. Shinichi looked up then, and Kaito took the opportunity to claim his lips in a slow, deep kiss.

Shinichi melted into the kiss.

He made no objections when Kaito abruptly scooped him up into a bridal carry. He only wrapped his arms around Kaito's neck and let his head rest against the magician's shoulder. Kaito carried him into the suite's large bedroom and laid him down on the king-sized bed before crawling on top of him, skilled hands already busy stripping Shinichi bare.

A hot mouth descended hungrily over Shinichi's own as those same hands proceeded to roam every inch of his body before finding that secret place inside him that made his spine arch and cries of pleasure tear themselves from his lips. And all Shinichi could think about (all he really wanted to think about) as he wrapped his legs around his thief to pull him closer—deeper—was Kaito.

-0-

Two figures lay entwined in a mess of soft sheets. The room was quiet. Only the sound of soft, even breathing could be heard. On the nightstand stood a pair of empty drinking glasses and a neat stack of empty plates.

A pair of indigo eyes snapped open. In the darkness of the room, they almost seemed to glow, and if anyone had been there and looked more closely into those eyes, they might have seen a spark of orange like reflections of a nonexistent fire.

For a long moment, Kaito lay perfectly still, listening to Shinichi's quiet breaths and wondering what had woken him. Sensing, seeing, and hearing nothing out of the ordinary, he let his gaze settle on his detective's peacefully sleeping face. Shinichi was half curled up on his side facing Kaito with one hand tucked under the pillow. Warmth swelled in his chest at the sight. Gently, he ran a hand through that silky soft, black hair then traced his fingertips down his side before letting his hand come to a rest lightly cupping the detective's hip. He smiled when Shinichi unconsciously shifted closer to him, mumbling something incoherent in his sleep. His detective really was adorable, and the fact that he was the one who got to see Shinichi like this was a pleasure on in itself.

His gaze traced the beautiful lines of Shinichi's face before trailing down the pale curve of his neck. There, he lingered on the rather prominent mark he'd left right on the juncture between Shinichi's neck and shoulder. He felt a surge of satisfaction seeing that mark—his mark—on Shinichi's skin. It was only one of many he'd left on his detective's body.

Mine.

The thought was a low, dark purr in the back of his mind that sent a thrill through his very being.

Careful not to wake his love, he gathered Shinichi to his chest and tucked the detective's head under his chin. Then he closed his eyes and allowed himself to drift back to sleep feeling oddly like he had reached some kind of agreement, though with whom and what about, he couldn't say.

-0-

With the holidays over, classes resumed. Life settled back into normalcy almost shockingly quickly, though no one was really surprised. It was the way of the holidays to blow in with all their sparkling lights then leave again with promises of future years. They were a highlight only because they came and went.

In any case, though life had returned to normal, some things had not because normal now meant that Kaito, Aoko, and Hakuba often spent their lunch hours or days off with one Kudo Shinichi and his friends Mouri Ran, Suzuki Sonoko, and the surprising Suzuhara Luke. Now that they had all been introduced and hit it off, if not well then not poorly, they had started to gravitate towards each other even when they returned to the university campus.

That being said, Suzuhara was a medical student, so he didn't share many if any classes with any of them and typically worked in another building, but with his growing relationship with Ran, the brunette could often be seen heading over to the Medical Labs or local hospitals to eat lunch with him.

"Homemade lunches too," Sonoko observed as she watched Ran go one of those days from the window of an empty classroom they had commandeered for lunch. Then she heaved a groan and flopped onto her desk. "It isn't fair. Why can't Makoto just come home? He's already fought like, I don't know, whole bunches of really skilled guys, right? The least he could do is get back here so we could actually celebrate his victories together."

"Would you like a rice ball?" Aoko offered in an attempt to cheer the other girl up. "I'm trying out a few new fillings."

Sonoko continued to grumble under her breath about men and their inconsiderateness, but she took a rice ball and nibbled on it then blinked. "Hey, this is really good."

Aoko beamed. "Really? I'm pretty proud of them too." She quickly took the opportunity to redirect the conversation to food.

A few seats away, Shinichi was carefully reading through all the various local newspapers for signs of more Sleeping Sickness victims while he waited for Kaito, whose class wouldn't be letting out for another ten minutes or so. He hadn't seen any since the new year had begun, and he wanted to believe that was a good thing, but, with his life, he had long since learned not to assume anything. He knew some people believed that no news was good news, but he couldn't help but wonder if no news simply meant that the people in charge of searching for news had not yet smelled the stink and so they had yet to find the rot.

On the bright side, Kaito didn't seem worried. If anything, he had been in a rather good mood, though he had told Shinichi that he often dreamed of strange, ancient forests and great mountain ranges like scenes out of a fantasy movie. The wonder with which he described those scenes worried Shinichi a little, but he tried not to over think it. After all, most people could appreciate the immense beauty that only mother nature could create. Shinichi was no exception. And it was only natural to think of those wonders with a certain wistfulness when you compared it to the rampant destruction being inflicted upon the earth every day by human hands.

At least Kaito didn't think he'd had any more unexplained memory blanks recently. Of course, the problem with this was that a memory blank was a memory blank, and therefore not remembering having one only said so much.

"Kudo-kun, there's something I needed to speak with you about."

Shinichi looked up to find Hakuba sitting down across from him. "What is it?"

The blond seemed to mull over what he was going to say for a long moment, perhaps not sure what words to use, before he eventually spoke. "I couldn't help but notice that you and Kuroba have been spending quite a lot of time together."

Shinichi blinked. "Oh. Well, I guess we have. A lot of our breaks overlap."

"I heard you two attended the university orchestra's beginning of the year concert together."

"We did," Shinichi agreed, wondering what the blond was getting at. "Is there a problem?"

Hakuba hesitated again before speaking. "I was wondering what your impression of Kuroba is."

Shinichi blinked again. "My…impression?"

"Yes."

"Well, he's easy to talk to," Shinichi offered after some thought. "And he's been really helpful on the few cases I ran into while he was with me. There was this one murderer who might have gotten away if Kaito hadn't super glued his pants to his chair when no one was looking." Shinichi hid a smile at the memory. It probably shouldn't have been funny, but even the police had had a hard time keeping their faces straight as the man had to be carried out of the building, chair and all, for modesty's sake. "Though I have to admit I'm still not sure how he managed that. He's a very skilled magician. I can see what Aoko-san meant when she said she's not sure where he finds the time."

Hakuba quirked an eyebrow at him. "You have a high opinion of him then."

Feeling a blush rising, Shinichi ducked his head and hoped the blond didn't notice. "Well, he's…different. He can be pretty unorthodox, but his heart's in the right place, and I've never met anyone so good at thinking outside the box. He'd make a good detective if he were ever inclined to try it out."

Hakuba made a choking sound. "Have you ever told him that?"

Shinichi chuckled. "I did. He looked quite horrified."

"I would imagine so," Hakuba said dryly.

"So why did you want to know what I thought about him?" asked Shinichi. "I mean, you've known him a lot longer than I have."

"Well, you see…" The blond glanced over at Aoko and Sonoko then leaned over the table close to Shinichi as he dropped his voice into a whisper. "I have had this theory…or rather, I suppose I should say that I am convinced that Kuroba is Kaitou KID."

Behind the blond, the classroom door opened to admit the very magician they were discussing. Kaito paused just inside the classroom to survey its occupants. He spied Hakuba and Shinichi at once. The blond was leaning over the table between them, bringing the two detectives' faces so close together that it almost looked like they were about to kiss. Logically, Kaito knew that that was ridiculous, but that knowledge didn't stop him from making a low growl in the back of his throat.

He was moving towards them before he'd made the conscious decision to do so, gaze fixated on the back of the blonde's head. An irrational anger coursed through his veins. As he neared however, Shinichi glanced past Hakuba and met his eyes. The look of shock that flashed across Shinichi's face before the detective managed to hide it snapped Kaito back to his senses. By the time Hakuba turned around, Kaito had already reassembled his Poker Face and was grinning his typical, devil-may-care grin.

"Yo, that's a lot of newspapers you've got there," he commented, dropping into the seat next to Shinichi's. He couldn't resist slinging an arm over his detective's shoulders. "Anything interesting in the news?"

"Two more of the Sleeping Sickness victims have woken up," Shinichi reported, pointing to the relevant article. "They're still undergoing examinations at the hospital, but they both appear to be recovering well. Neither of them remember anything about who or what attacked them—if anything."

"I suppose that's good news of a sort," the magician mused. "That makes, what, two thirds of the victims all back on their feet and about ready to go home, right? Maybe it really is just a strange bug going around."

"There is also a new KID heist notice," Hakuba interjected.

Kaito brightened like the huge KID fan he was supposed to be. "Really? Hey, let me see." He snatched the top newspaper from Shinichi's pile and rifled through it until he found the notice. He laughed when he spotted the comments from Nakamori-keibu that accompanied the notice. "I see old man Nakamori's still as feisty as ever."

"I was just asking Kudo-kun if he would be attending," Hakuba said. "Perhaps you would like to join us. Or will you be busy that night?"

"What night is it?" Kaito asked.

Hakuba opened his mouth then shut it again.

"The police are still working on the riddle," Shinichi supplied.

"Will you be going?"

Shinichi shrugged. "As long as Division One doesn't need me, I think I will."

"Cool. Then let me know when, and I'll see if I can make it." Kaito hid a smirk at Hakuba's startled stare. "It was a real bummer missing the Christmas one. The videos of it online were awesome. It gave me quite a few ideas for my next show. Which reminds me." He flicked his wrist, pulling a small envelope out of thin air and handing it to Shinichi with a charming smile. "I got you a ticket to my next show. One of the best seats in the house."

"O—oh, thank you," Shinichi stammered, turning faintly pink. "You really didn't have to."

"It's no trouble. Just promise me you'll come."

"I will."

Across from them, Hakuba looked from one of the two to the other and back again and had to shake his head in befuddlement. He honestly had no idea what to make of what he was seeing. The two were so…comfortable with each other, and there was something almost, dare he say, possessive about the arm Kuroba had put around Shinichi's shoulders. It almost looked as if…

But no, that couldn't be it. He had to be missing something. Even Kuroba wouldn't be crazy enough to actually court a detective, especially not one who had begun going to his heists.

-0-

"So what were you two talking about?" Kaito asked. He was walking Shinichi to his next lecture, after which he would be headed to an interview with a national magazine that wanted to write a feature on Japan's rising star.

"He was informing him of his apparently extremely long term investigation into Kaitou KID," Shinichi replied. "Hakuba-san really has an amazing memory."

Kaito scowled. "You mean he's anal retentive."

Shinichi thought with some private amusement that Kaito and Hattori would get along swimmingly on certain topics. "To be honest, I'm surprised he didn't bring it up sooner."

"Aoko gets annoyed at him when he does it too much."

"Ah." They proceeded in silence for a few minutes before Shinichi broke it with a hesitant question. "When you came in. What were you thinking about?"

Kaito coughed lightly. "Nothing you need to worry about."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely. Why do you ask?"

"Your eyes were orange for a moment."

If he hadn't been such a well trained actor, Kaito might have missed a step. Instead, all he said was, "I see."

Shinichi waited, letting Kaito mull over what he wanted to say. Eventually, the magician sighed.

"I was just a little upset," he admitted. "I didn't like seeing the nuisance so close to you."

Shinichi blinked. "Why?" It wasn't like Kaito hadn't seen him with Hakuba before. They did work the occasional case together.

Kaito shot him a sidelong look then started to laugh. "Just forget about it. This…condition seems to have had a negative impact on my temper. But it's nothing I can't handle."

Shinichi nodded slowly, not exactly satisfied but aware that there was little he could do other than to be there for Kaito if he needed him. "You'll tell me, right?" he asked softly. "If anything happens."

Kaito's eyes softened, and he caught Shinichi's hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "Of course. Thief's honor."

"I don't think thieves and honor typically have much to do with each other."

"Ah, but a gentleman thief like myself has standards. We're not your run of the mill thieves."

-To be Continued-