Disclaimer: I don't own Detective Conan/Magic Kaitou
Edit: So apparently this site banned songfics due to copyright violations so I had to take the lyrics out. You can still listen to the song as you read and also the full version is still up on my tumblr and I may put it on Ao3 as well. Sorry guys and thanks for the support =)
A cheerful, upbeat tune wafted through the residence's rooms along with the occasional flutter of small birds' wings, white feathers sprinkling the floor. The bookshelves were a fairly large and ever growing library of mystery, action, adventure, and romance; a few Sherlock novels were stacked on the desk and spread open on the living room table. A pot of cooled coffee still remained in the maker right next to the chocolate fudge he and his tantei made the night before.
Kaito snipped another flower, sighing nostalgically before hiding it on his person. He twirled a white camellia, giggling to himself. His tantei-kun~, he reminisced, thinking upon his lover's chibi form. He'd teased the detective relentlessly, and upon discovering his situation, teased him for his short stature even more. Even now, he'd talk about how cute 'Conan-kun' was with his little bow tie and glasses, and it never failed to create a beautiful blush on Shinichi's cheeks. Kaito recalled declaring their friendship with the swirling indigo of the blue periwinkle, a sunny rose, an ivory wallflower. He grinned at the tantei's half-hearted protests when Mouri-chan explained their meaning, and flushed at the memory of the golden rose changing to a fully bloomed red one. The change had not gone unnoticed by his tantei. Kaito smiled, starring at the forget-me-nots. Then again nothing ever did.
He slipped into the cliché bookshelf secret passageway Shinichi had insisted upon. Not that he didn't absolutely love the halls in the walls, and besides he too demanded they recreate KID's room. It always got him laughing seeing his scattered heist plans right beside Shinichi's neatly organized case files. The irony was lost on neither of them, a detective and a thief. Kaito had spent hours crafting Plans A-Z, gooey, glitter traps, and thoroughly thought out heist riddles for his detectives to decipher. He'd hint about his intentions by mysteriously lifting each jewel to the sky so the moonlight could shimmer through it, before vaguely mumbling something along the lines of "this isn't what I'm looking for." He'd hide his disappointment behind his infamous poker face but somehow the meitantei still seemed to figure it out.
He picked up his card gun, shooting it dramatically and swerving as though he was dodging one of tantei-kun's soccer balls. "Tantei-kun's Soccer Ball of Death," he'd titled it; Conan-kun most certainly had been amused. Rooftop battles were the best, Kaito decided fondly. The whistling breeze flowing through his cape and rustling tantei-kun's hair as they starred each other down, smug smiles on their faces, just daring each other to make a move. That awful dart watch, the witty banter they'd exchange. "Yo, kid what are you doing in a place like this?" "Fireworks. Look there's a helicopter," Conan-kun had shouted excitedly - his little kid persona had always creeped Kaito out. It still made him giddy thinking on how easily he'd outsmarted Meitantei that night and made him scowl at the thought of swimming home in that freezing water with all the f-f- best not to say. It was the first time he met his meitantei face to face. It was one of his favorite heists.
He remembered tantei-kun slipping under his radar and showing up at a heist Kaito had come to with Aoko. Apparently Mouri-san was at the hotel for some adultery case and the chibi tagged along. The two had been up to their usual antics with the Bakaito Ahouko routine, when a certain pint sized detective was suddenly at their feet playing cute to Aoko while Kaito momentarily panicked. After he recovered, he participated in the whole spiel of "kids shouldn't be here. Kids get in the way." Shinichi had glared at him suspiciously with a "why are you here?" to which he exclaimed "I'm KID's number one fan!" confirmed by an irked Aoko. Except then he had to listen to Sonoko scream in his ear the rest of the evening about how SHE was Kaitou KID's number one fan. Even so Aoko became friends with Ran-chan and Kaito and the chibi would occasionally tag along exchanging snide comments in a less obvious way than their rooftop battles. Kaito flirted incessantly just to get a rise out of the tantei, the girls finding it endearing, until at some point it turned genuine and Shinichi started taking him out to dinner (or more like Kaito taking them for dessert).
Love. He reflected upon how his parents met. The elastic bandages flowing in the wind like he and his father's cape, wrapped tightly around her head, concealing his mother's identity. According to his mother, his father was just as cheeky the first time she met him as Kaito is in everyday life (had to have learned it from somewhere). "You married into a family of thieves Shin-chan," he pointed out, receiving as "oi, oi," and then a moment later a sputtered "wait, MARRIED?" Kaito quickly stole a kiss after that and proceeded to tease him about it as well. Despite his boasting though, the women were the first to figure out the mutual crush when they saw the interaction between him and Shinichi. The two had to put up with the girls' sly comments for weeks, the little girl living with the professor being the worst. Upon Kaito's realization, he'd spent the next week with a singular thought, "I've fallen for a detective. I'm in love with a detective. Detective, detective, detective." Of course Shinichi went through the same process and he had not been quiet about it AT ALL to Kaito's amusement.
Before he'd encountered Shinichi as himself (but after countless rooftop battles), sometimes he and tantei-kun would spend hours atop the buildings just talking. The detective would often seem bitter and melancholy (he later learned about the poison and organization), and he'd invite his tantei to chat, no strings attached, free of charge. They'd play silly question, truth or dare games, in which he'd ask the detective and most ridiculous, asinine things including getting the chibi to dress in his most humiliating outfits. Shinichi quickly learned that Kaito has NO shame, to the detective's bemusement, although he did accidentally discover the thief's phobia with an innocent "least favorite kind of food?" (Anything with chocolate was naturally Kaito's favorite). Eventually they confessed the heart of matters: both hiding secrets and letting someone down, both up against something they don't know they can handle, both at the risk of dying at any moment. Kaito'd half-listened with an eyebrow raised about how he was "painting himself a white target," while Kaito countered how it wasn't any different from Conan-kun's reckless behavior on cases, and besides he hadn't seemed concerned when Kaito almost got blown up numerous times.
The tension had snapped and they burst out laughing. Even though the struggles themselves weren't, the similarities were simply just funny, uncanny even (especially with their mirrored appearances). Ultimately they discerned their enemies were one and the same. Next thing they knew the pair was dodging bullets left and right, jumping in front of the other, and later chastising each other for getting hurt. Hattori and Hakuba even got involved; the arguments between those two were endless, and Kaito quickly took a liking to tantei-han's comical, hot-headed personality much to Meitantei's vexation. Story short: Shinichi got his body back and Kaito continued his night time pursuit. He paused his musing at the sound of the door, bouncing up the stairs and glomping his tantei. Shinichi, used to the antics by now managed a "hi Kaito," through the death squeeze. Kaito grinned, offering Shinichi a formal bow before presenting him a forget-me-not. The detective laughed, accepting the flower gracefully, earning a blush with "it matches your eyes," and planting a kiss upon the kaitou's lips. Kaito's face lit up as bright as the spotlights shined at his heists; he chased his Shin-chan with a bounce, settling curled up on the sofa on Shinichi as his 'nichi' returned to his book.
Shinichi smiled at the routine "welcome home," performed by none other than his absurd phantom thief. A forget-me-not (Shinichi by now was well versed in the language of flowers): the symbol of true love and memories. Remember? Shinichi's days as Conan flooded back in a wave, every distressing detail from that day in Tropical Land to hiding in the coin locker to witnessing crimson stain the silver fabric and pool below the thief's prone form in seemingly never-ending streams. He remembered Ran frowning at the phone, crying in her room, wondering why he was gone; recalled his frustration and desperation of being trapped in a child's body. Nonetheless, through Conan he'd met the Shounen Tantei, Hattori, Haibara. He sparked potential in the children, especially Mitsuhiko, to become skilled investigators, gained a true friend in Hattori, and provided Haibara a reason to continue on with her life. Most of all, he found a rival, friend, and lover in the Kaitou KID.
While his progress with discovering the Black Organization crawled, he'd busied himself with other cases and the thief's heists. While chasing KID, Shinichi rarely had to concern himself with senseless murders as the thief couldn't stand killing even more than Shinichi, and always did his utmost to prevent anyone from getting hurt (except, to Shinichi's chagrin, the thief himself). To the two, it was a simple game of cat and mouse: KID had immediately recognized 'tantei-kun' as an intellectual equal and treated him as such. He recalled the night of the Black Star heist, his first face off against the thief. He'd been certain the magician was nothing more than a flashy, cat burglar that he could easily knock out with his wristwatch. How wrong he'd been. "A thief is a creative artist who takes his prey in style... But a detective is nothing more than a critic, who follows our footsteps," the quote remained etched in his mind. "Ara ara, did I say that?" Kaito would inquire whenever Shinichi brought it up and then proceed to tease him for knowing KID quote's word for word.
The thief earned Shinichi's respect and admiration that night for such a clever trick but only for a moment, before the first incident with Ran. After that Shinichi became convinced he had to capture the thief for gambling with his pride as a detective. He and Hattori would spend hours investing themselves in solving the kaitou's riddles and creating plots to foil KID's plans. He remembered dashing up the stairs to the roof, a sly smirk planted on his face rivaling KID's smug one, turning the dial on his shoes to a higher notch, fiddling with the dart watch behind his back. Kaito'd later confessed a little too lightly, as much as he enjoyed the "rooftop battles" he'd sometimes been slightly paranoid he wouldn't be able to dodge - what had he called it? - the "Soccer Ball of Death" after a previous face off with Snake. The comment caused Shinichi to realize how reckless they both were. Even so, their dangerous games eventually changed to melancholy rooftop conversations with a touch of hilarity thrown in (Kaito had gotten him in a maid's outfit for Kami-sama's sake). That's when he realized how similar their situations were.
Kaito was always smiling even as he talked about his darkest struggles which contrasted strangely with Shinichi's downcast mood. When he'd thought about it, KID was always smiling. Smug smiles atop the rooftop, his teasing smile at Conan's capture-the-KID efforts, an amused smile at Shinichi's and Hattori's antics, a smile of longing as he talked about his best friend, a sad smile as he revealed bits and pieces of his past, a mysterious but heartsick smile when Shinichi questioned his goals. As he learned to know Kaito outside the costume, he saw the cheerful, happy-go-lucky smiles, his prankster grin very similar yet slightly different than KID's, and yes, even Kaito's pervy smile. An act, Shinichi eventually concluded, just like Conan's little kid persona. "Po-ker face," Kaito eventually admitted with a smirk. It was hard to see who Kaito really was, behind all the masks and acting. As they started dating, Shinichi saw a slightly lonely boy with a passion for stage magic. Eventually Shinichi concluded Kaito just wants lots of affection and is VERY affectionate in return.
Shinichi's mind shifted direction, reflecting upon their dates. Oh he had to put up for weeks with the giggling girls while he was oblivious and later the never-ending teasing from Hattori for falling in love with The Kaitou KID. Kaito had gotten the same treatment from Aoko, Hakuba, and even Akako, although Shinichi decided that was nothing compared to the incessant questions from Ayumi, Mitsuhiko, and Genta since Haibara just had to drop hints. Apparently his didactic detective work had been effective because the children figured it out, leaving a bright red, slightly mortified Conan and a highly amused Kaito. He and Kaito still kept in touch with the kids though. With some help from the women, he and Kaito started dating, spending time downtown, at the beach, skiing (Kaito was exceptional), and ice skating (interestingly enough Kaito couldn't skate). Shinichi took his date to the same place he'd taken Ran although he later figured out anything with desserts would make Kaito happy, especially chocolate.
Eventually Shinichi's frustration of being trapped as a little kid caused him to insist upon making a move on the Black Organization. The detective and thief gathered up their contacts, plotted, and of course Hattori and Hakuba had to get involved despite Kaito's and Shinichi's protests. Quite quickly, everything went to hell. Everyone was nearly dying left and right, confessions had to be made, Kaito's witch friend ended up assisting (the existence of real magic was quite a shock). Ultimately Vermouth was the only reason they were able to pull it off, and the Black Organization was put to an end although not without causalities. To Shinichi's distress, Kaito vowed to continue his search for Pandora. For a while they continued their games, but to Kaito's disappointment Shinichi eventually stopped chasing the thief all together, only showing up to make sure his love was safe.
"Ne, ne 'nichi'," Shinichi heard, looking up to stare into Kaito's amethysts. Shinichi had set his novel down and had been starring off into space. "What are you thinking about?"
"You," Shinichi grinned, earning a blush.
"Oh, me?" Kaito questioned with a grin. Shinichi flicked him on the nose.
"You're ridiculous," he laughed. Kaito bounced out of his arms, snapping his fingers. In a flash streamers covered the walls and ceiling, confetti sprinkling the floor. The walls were covered in a kaleidoscope of color, his birds perched everywhere, and sentimentals decorating the walls - old photos and news articles Kaito had probably collected and dug out of Shinichi's case files, Conan's bowtie, glasses, belt and other gadgets encased, their favorite quotes from books and each other framed. "So this is what you've been up to all day," Shinichi snickered.
"Our house was soo boring," Kaito complained. "Now it's the best," he declared. Shinichi eyed the room some more, recognizing KID's signature in the splattered colors.
"Get over here," he demanded, trying to stifle his laughing. Kaito happily obliged, pouncing on Shinchi and kissing him zealously. "Love you, Shin-chan," he murmured happily.
"Love you too, Kai-chan," Shinichi smiled. Kaito beamed at the nickname, snuggling closer.
"Best meitantei," Kaito murmured.
"My adorable kaitou," Shinichi responded back. They stared into each other's brilliant blue eyes, then burst out laughing. At life. At the irony. At each other. For everything they'd been through, everything lost, and everything gained~