Kuroba… lover… Kuroba was my lover… Past lives… Kuroba was my lover …

Shinichi's mind whirled as he stared at Ai. He felt like he was about to collapse. Ai seemed to sense this, and gestured toward a chair, which Shinichi gladly sat down on. Swallowing, he said, "You have to be lying. Him… Me…"

Ai sighed. "Kudo-kun, I'm afraid I'm telling the truth. You and Kid were most certainly in romantic relationships in multiple, if not all of your past lives. I don't know how else to explain the fact that you remember while everyone else doesn't. I'm not sure why you'd get involved with someone as old as your father in this life, but-"

"He's not that old," Shinichi blurted out. "He's my age."

Ai stared at him for a moment, then smiled. "That certainly does make more sense. And you had started to say another name earlier before you corrected yourself to Kid. I'm guessing you know his civilian identity?"

Shinichi nodded. "Yeah. It's not my secret to tell, though, so I'm not going to tell you his name."

Ai made a noise of understanding. "You were in such a foul mood when you came in, Kudo-kun. Why is that?"

"Kid found out, as his civilian identity, that I knew he was Kid," Shinichi whispered softly. "During these past few weeks, we had become friends… But when he found out, he thought it was all a lie. That I had only wanted to become close to him to expose his identity as Kid and eventually arrest him."

"Makes sense," Ai admitted. "Did you not try to explain yourself to him?"

Shinichi swallowed. "I did, but he reacted so badly he wouldn't let me speak. I had to leave in the end." Interlacing his fingers, he continued. "I care about him a lot, Haibara. Maybe not like a lover, like you suggested, though." But even as he spoke the last words, Shinichi knew that was a lie. Ai's theory had made him start to realize…

Even back as Conan, Shinichi had started to fall for Kaitou Kid. Meeting Kuroba Kaito only made him more in love with the magician. Shinichi was most certainly smitten.

Ai gave him a look, but didn't ask about that. "How exactly did you figure out he was Kid anyway?"

"A classmate of his told me," Shinichi said. "She claimed to be a witch, and that Kid had a curse. He would die in a fire. There's a chance she was telling the truth, and even with just that, I knew I couldn't risk it. And now, knowing that those dreams were my past lives, I know she was telling the truth. I have to save him, Haibara, I just don't know how yet, because clearly spending time with him didn't help at all."

Sighing, Ai closed her eyes. "Let's get Hakase and talk," she suggested. "With the three of us, I'm sure we can figure something out. Some invention, perhaps."

Shinichi nodded. "Alright." His mind was still in turmoil, and he wanted to protect Kaito with his own two hands, but… This was all he could do for now.

Emotions ran through Kaito, so many of them that the magician felt lost in the confusion. What was going on? Who could he trust?

Akako told him that she just wanted to give him happiness, but instead, by forcing him to go to that festival, she had caused the domino effect that would lead to his eventual arrest. It felt horrible. It was horrible, and he hated it, because Kudo Shinichi…

Kaito was in love with Kudo Shinichi, there was no denying that. He wasn't sure when exactly he had fallen for the detective. Back when he was Conan? When he had returned to his original body? Or was it when they first started hanging out together, as friends? It didn't matter in the long run, what did matter was that these feelings made Shinichi's betrayal hurt so badly. Kaito hated how much they hurt, because he didn't want to hurt so much, didn't want to be in love with Shinichi anymore, the traitor, the one who just wanted to prove he was Kid…

Kaito felt alone.

A soft cooing sound came from nearby. Kaito jerked his head up to see Tamago staring at him. "Not now, Tamago," he muttered, but the dove cooed again. Sighing, Kaito looked up at it. "What is it?"

Tamago fluttered closer to Kaito and onto his shoulder, rubbing itself against his cheek. Kaito was about to tell it to leave, when he paused.

The dove was trying to comfort him.

Sighing, Kaito laid a hand on its body and stroked it. "Thank you," he whispered.

Tamago cooed again.

To distract himself from the pain, Kaito turned to planning out his next heist. Finding a heart shaped gem called the Soul Temporal, he researched its mythology and past, and saw that it had a lot of history. If he himself didn't go for this gem, the organization sure would, and Kaito had to get to it before they did.

This heist would be risky, he knew that. The organization would most certainly be there, putting Kaito in danger. His current distressed mental state wouldn't help at all, especially if Shinichi had the audacity to show up. He probably would, searching for excuses, or perhaps having enough of tiptoeing around, and finally telling Nakamori his theory. Nakamori had suspected him of being Kid once, why not again? And if Saguru backed Shinichi up… Well, there would sure be a lot of trouble heading his way.

Pulling up the plan of the building where the Soul Temporal would be located, he saw it was a rather old one, purchased by Suzuki Jirokichi for the sole purpose of trying to catch Kid. The building didn't even have windows . Sighing, Kaito looked into the traps the old man would have planned. Most of them were simple, easy to avoid, but he paused as he noticed that the entire floor would be blocked off by a cage the moment Kid took the gem from its display. He'd have to work around that to find an escape route. But he was Kaitou Kid, the elusive phantom thief- he wouldn't get caught.

Looking at the roof and neighboring buildings as well, Kaito marked down places where Snake would most likely come from. Snake and his gunmen preferred to be close to their target when they shot. Thankfully, they were never great shots, but they were still good enough to be considered a serious threat. Kaito also marked out places for snipers. Snipers were a rare addition to the heists, but recently, Snake had grown more agitated and had began to bring some new friends along. It was rather irritating, but Kaito had adjusted quickly.

Kaito wasn't sure exactly how long he had spent planning, but it was well past 3 AM when he finally decided to take a break and get some sleep. Letting out a yawn, the boy fell onto his bed and curled up. He would be tired in the morning, especially since he had school as well, but he would adjust.

When Shinichi saw Kid's new heist notice, he sighed. Unlike his past notices, often written in riddles in order to challenge detectives like himself and Saguru, this specific notice just said: "I will steal the Soul Temporal at 2:00 AM in four days." Kuroba's really distressed, isn't he? To not even have put in the effort to come up with a riddle… A pang of worry hit Shinichi. He'd hurt Kaito badly, and now…

A ring distracted him from his thoughts. Looking at his phone, he saw an incoming call from Akako. Taking it, he said, "Hello?"

"Hello, Kudo-kun," Akako responded calmly. "I have something important to tell you."

Shinichi narrowed his eyes. "What is it?"

"When the demons awake and their cackles are heard, one's tongue will swallow the dove whole," Akako said, her voice seeming to change as she spoke her words.

Shinichi froze, his mind trying to decipher her meaning. "What…"

"Do I mean?" Akako questioned. "Who knows? Yet Lucifer himself told me this, so how could I be wrong?" Laughing, she said, "Well then, Kudo-kun. Doesn't this mean you have to save your dear dove, Kuroba-kun?"

Shinichi muttered a quick goodbye before hanging up, his arm dropping down to his side. He knew that the dove must be Kaito, and Akako had just confirmed his theory. He wasn't quite sure what everything else meant yet, but he had to warn Kaito against this heist. He found himself heading in the direction of his house, but paused. No, he couldn't…

"Kudo-kun?"

Shinichi turned to see Ai standing at the door of Agasa's house, looking at him curiously. "Haibara, why are you outside?"

"I'm going to meet Yoshida-san soon," Ai explained. "The real question is, what are you doing around here, standing there like an idiot?"

Shinichi paused, then he explained. "Kid's in danger. I just got warned that something will happen to him in his next heist, and I have to warn him too."

Ai nodded. "Then why don't you?"

A flash of memory came to Shinichi, Kaito clinging desperately on his card gun and shouting at him to leave. "Well… It's not like we parted on good terms," he muttered.

Ai rolled her eyes. "Kudo-kun, it'll never get better if you don't talk to him. If you're worried about him, if you care about him, then tell him he's in danger. Try to convince him not to go to the heist, whatever. But you can't just stand around here, knowing you had the chance to do something . You'll hate yourself, especially if he ends up dying. So, you have to go, explain yourself, and convince him. Even if you can't…" She let out a smile. "At least you'll know you tried." She pushed at Shinichi's leg, leading to him stumbling forward a bit in the direction of Kaito's house. "Go already, will you?"

Shinichi smiled slightly. "Thank you, Haibara," he whispered, heading off.

Ringing Kaito's doorbell, Shinichi stood awkwardly outside. He wasn't sure how to start this conversation. "Hey, your witch friend Koizumi-san gave me an ominous prophecy, and yeah, we've been in contact this whole time without your knowledge" didn't seem like a great conversation starter. But… he had to explain himself. He had lied to Kaito, hidden things from him… just like he did with Ran and all his other friends back when he was Conan. The awkwardness whenever he talked to them remained, even after Ran had forgiven him but…

Why do I keep making the same mistakes over and over again?

The door finally opened, and it almost immediately began to close again once Kaito seemed to realize exactly who had rung the bell. Shinichi gripped the doorknob tightly, trying to prevent the closure of the door. "Kuroba, wait."

"What do you want, Kudo?" Kaito's voice was cold, and Shinichi flinched. This was different from the breaking boy he had last seen. Kaito was hiding away his emotions.

"Can I come inside… please?" Shinichi whispered, looking away. "I want to explain myself."

Kaito looked over Shinichi before sighing. "Fine. But if I ask you to leave, you leave ."

Shinichi nodded. "I will." Stepping inside the Kuroba home for the first time in a while, he was immediately startled by Tamago. The dove landed on his shoulder with soft cooing noises, rubbing its face against Shinichi's.

"Tamago, you traitor," Kaito muttered, heading inside to flop down on the couch.

Shinichi sat down on the same chair he had sat on the first day. "I'm sorry," he said quickly. "Before all of this, before you think I'm trying to make excuses, I want you to know I am genuinely sorry for hurting you."

Kaito's cold face scanned Shinichi over. "Go on."

Shinichi took a deep breath and let it out. "Your friend, Koizumi-san, told me your identity. But I didn't become your friend to confirm this or anything." He clenched his fists. Finding the correct words to tell Kaito was hard. "She told me… that you were cursed to die in a fire."

Kaito sucked in a sudden breath. "A Kuroba is destined to die in a fire," he recited, as if this was a phrase he heard many times before. "But my father died in a fire. The prophecy should be fulfilled already."

Shinichi shook his head. "Your father must have been a coincidence, because you are the one who's going to die. Koizumi-san asked me to protect you, save you from your curse. And I had already grown fond of Kid, so… I had to protect you, Kuroba. Becoming your friend, becoming close to you, seemed to be the only option."

Kaito looked away. "I see," he muttered.

"Today, she gave me a cryptic prophecy," Shinichi said, swallowing. "Your next heist… that could be the day you die."

"The heist will be risky," Kaito admitted slowly. "The organization after the same jewel as me is likely to show up."

"Then don't go!" Shinichi said quickly. Kaito turned sharply towards him, and continued. "Don't go and endanger yourself!"

"I have to," Kaito responded. "I need to do this. If that gem is the one I'm searching for, then I need to, for my father's sake."

"And what if you die?!"

Kaito looked Shinichi in the eye. "It's just a risk I have to take."

You can't die! Shinichi's thoughts screamed as he stared at Kaito in horror. You can't die, you're my friend, and I…

And without truly thinking, Shinichi had shot forward and kissed Kaito.

Kaito froze beneath him for a second, and then he was kissing back. Shinichi reluctantly broke apart the kiss to look at Kaito's shocked expression. "Please," he whispered. "I love you." Maybe saying love was too quick, especially since he and Kaito weren't even in a relationship. But that's what he felt for Kaito. Pure romantic love. And he didn't want him to go.

Kaito suddenly leaned into Shinichi. "I love you too," he whispered. "That's why it hurt so much when I found out you were Kid." Kaito looked up at him. "You're right, I might die." When Shinichi opened his mouth, Kaito cut him off and continued. "So maybe, just for one night…" He blushed and looked away.

Shinichi knew exactly what he was talking about, and a faint blush appeared on his face as well.

"It could be the last chance we get," Kaito pointed out in a soft voice.

Shinichi hesitated, but only for a moment. "Alright," he whispered. It wasn't exactly the course of events he expected this day to take, but how could he say no? After all, if Kaito did die…

Kaito led Shinichi up to his room and laid on the bed with a smile. "Come on, Shinichi, join me," he whispered, and the use of his first name made Shinichi's heart beat. Putting his hands on Kaito's shoulders, he leaned in for another kiss, which Kaito quickly gave in to.

Afterwards, when they were both laying in bed, completely exhausted, Kaito spoke up. "I'm still going to go to that heist."

Shinichi looked at him. "I understand," he whispered. "But if you die…"

Kaito smiled lightly. "At least I'll die with happy memories," he whispered.

"I'll come to your heist," Shinichi promised. Kaito let himself be pulled into Shinichi's embrace as the detective continued. "I'll try my best to protect you."

"Thank you," Kaito whispered. "And I'll take more precautions, too."

Kaito felt Shinichi nod. "Alright."

Kaito swallowed, thinking about their love confessions to each other. They both felt the same way, but…

If Kaito was going to die, he couldn't cement those feelings. Being in a relationship with Shinichi would only hurt him more. It was best that this was just a one time thing, for now.

The next morning, Kaito was greeted by a sudden visitor in his kitchen, making herself some toast. He stared at Akako for a few moments before sighing. "What are you doing here?"

Akako smiled pleasantly at Kaito. "Well, Kuroba-kun, there was something I wanted to say to you."

"Some ominous prophecy about demons and doves," Kaito said before Akako could say it herself. "Yeah, I heard. I might die next heist."

Akako sighed. "I see Kudo-kun already told you the news. But if you know that you might die, then why is it that my crystal ball still tells me you are going to do the heist?"

Kaito smiled. "Akako, I have to take risks. And at least if I die…" He thought of the previous day, a faint blush appearing on his face. "I'd die happy." Looking Akako in the eye, he continued. "You told me you'd bring me happiness if I went to the festival. And you have. Thank you."

"Kuro-" Akako started, but Kaito shook his head.

"Do you want to eat all that toast?" He asked. "Or can I have some?"

"How will we save Kid from the fire?" Shinichi wondered out loud, sitting in Agasa's house with said professor and Ai.

"Kid usually goes onto the roof," Ai pointed out. "If he can't sneak out via a disguise, that is. And he usually talks to you there as well." Ai shot Shinichi a pointed look, and he glared back at her. She definitely knew that something had happened yesterday.

"That doesn't help," Shinichi muttered.

"It might," Agasa spoke up. "If we could make you a fire resistant outfit and something like a fire resistant trampoline down below…"

Shinichi sighed. "We don't even know where the fire will come from."

"But we know the time," Ai said. "When the demons awake refers to witching hour, does it not?" She stared directly at Shinichi. "3 AM."

Shinichi's eyes widened. "That's true. But what about their laughs?"

Ai thought for a moment. "I'm not too sure."

"Maybe gunshots?" Agasa suggested.

Shinichi snapped his finger. "Right, gunshots! That's probably it!"

"And then the fire will swallow Kid whole," Ai finished. "So we know the time and what pushes him into the fire. Now how do we prevent it?"

It was time for the heist.

Kaito readied his disguise - Sonoko, this time. The real Sonoko was currently still at her house, unconscious in her room and unaware that Kid had stolen her face. Kaito was certain, though, that when she woke up and found out, she would happily let him keep using it - she was a good go-to disguise for a reason. Finally completing the disguise, Kaito - now Kid - crept out of the alley he had been hiding in and walked inside of the building.

In less than an hour, it would be showtime.

Hanging around Ran, Kaito kept an eye out for Shinichi, trying not to let his cheeks heat up when he spotted him. Ran would find that suspicious. Thankfully, Shinichi seemed to prefer hanging around the jewel and keeping an eye out for anyone who approached it over observing his friends. If Shinichi caught him, would he reveal his disguise just to prevent him from doing this heist? He wouldn't, Kaito thought.

Nonetheless, it was best to be careful.

When the clock struck the time of the heist, Kaito grinned. Immediately, the room was plunged into darkness. The taskforce had been prepared with night vision goggles, but Kaito wasn't too worried about that. Clicking a button he had in his pocket, bright lights suddenly flared up everywhere. Everyone in the room seemed to cry out, their vision stolen from them, but Kaito had been prepared, his contacts having been darkened so as to withstand the light. Casually strolling forward, the thief picked up the jewel. "The Soul Temporal is mine!" he called out as Kid, taking off his Sonoko disguise.

"Get him!" Nakamori shouted, and the officers all leaped in the direction of his voice. Kaito clicked his tongue in irritation, and stepped to the side, leaving all the blinded officers to jump onto each other.

"Is this all the Japanese police force can offer?" He questioned, boredly staring at the officers getting up. Walking away, he called out, "Find me if you can~!"

But when Kaito saw a soccer ball heading his way, he immediately started running. Goddammit, Kudo…

The heist had been on the fifth floor of a 25 story one, for some reason. Kaito suspected that the taskforce believed that the location made it harder for Kaito to get in and out, especially considering the cage which had closed around the room the moment Kaito had grabbed the Soul Temporal. Reaching the top of the stairs, Kaito saw it was blocked off, but he had a plan to fix that. "Jii-chan, open sesame," he said quietly into his comm, and in moments, the cage began to open. Sneaking Jii into the staff had been way too easy, in Kaito's opinion, but he'd take it.

"Kid's escaping!" Nakamori shouted, but before he could charge onto the stairs, Kaito saw Shinichi cut in front of him and start running. Kaito quickly jumped onto the next floor and told Jii to close the cage again, but Shinichi was quick, sliding onto the sixth floor right before the cage door slammed close. Cursing, Kaito started running again, the detective chasing him.

Running up twenty sets of stairs was enough to exhaust anyone, even Kaitou Kid. Kaito wondered if this was another reason for the jewel's placement on the fifth floor. Even the taskforce must have found out by now that Kaito preferred the roof. Yet as he kept running, a voice in his comms almost made him stop.

"Botchama!" Jii's voice cried out. "You won't believe this! The lower floors are on fire!"

"How did that happen?!" Kaito demanded, forcing his legs to keep moving.

"It looks like arson!"

"Crap," Kaito muttered, a certain man appearing in his mind. Of course Snake would use that . "Well, all the more reason to get to the roof!" And he kept running.

A Kuroba was destined to die in a fire. For years, Kaito believed this referred to his father, who had perished in flames. But now, he knew it referred to himself. And this was most likely the day he would die. It wasn't just Shinichi he was running from, but his fate.

When Kaito finally reached the roof, he relaxed too soon. The feeling of a gun pressing against the back of his head made him freeze. "Well hello there, Toichi."

"Snake," Kaito acknowledged, raising his hands up slowly. "A pleasure to see you, as always."

The door opened behind Kaito, and he winced as he knew exactly who came through. "Hold him back!" Snake called out as his henchmen, and half of them did so. The other half was still pouring…

Kaito sucked in a breath. Gasoline. They were going to set the roof on fire as well.

Sneaking his hand into his pocket, Kaito pulled out the jewel and held it to the moon. The lack of a red glow made him put the Soul Temporal back into another pocket. "It's not Pandora."

"We don't care," Snake sneered. "Besides, even if it isn't Pandora, this is the perfect chance to kill you off."

Taking a quick glance at his watch, Kaito determined that it was almost 3:00. "Isn't it too late for baby reptiles to be up?" He asked calmly, internally wincing at how bad the line sounded. He was not doing his best tonight, huh.

The muzzle of the gun shoved into his head roughly, making Kaito stumble forward. "Are you trying to make me mad?" He snarled.

Kaito shrugged. "Perhaps."

And then one of the henchmen dropped a match, and the roof burst into flames.

Kaito sucked in a deep breath, eyes widening, trembling in fear. He'd been expecting this to happen, and had prepared his poker face well enough, but seeing it was still terrifying. He thought of his father, dead, dead, dead, flames around him-

Stop. Focus on the now.

"Walk forward," Snake commanded, and Kaito did so. Snake forced him onto a platform sticking out from the roof, and stopped walking. "You, keep on going forward," he snarled, and Kaito continued, getting to the end. Looking down, he almost wished he didn't. The street seemed to be consumed with fire. He had figured he could avoid the fire around him, but it was everywhere .

"Turn around," Snake demanded, and Kaito slowly did so. And before he could say anything the bang of a gun sounded through the air and pierced the right side of his body. Kaito gasped, hand immediately going to grab his side, and then Snake fired again.

The bullet went straight towards his heart.

Gasping for breath, trembling out of fear and pain, feeling the Soul Temporal shatter, Kaito began to fall.

He barely even heard Shinichi's cry of "NO!" before his feet completely left the ground.

When Shinichi saw Snake shoot Kaito, he reacted instinctively, pushing through his attackers, elbowing one in the gut, and running towards Snake. He thought he heard himself shout something, but he wasn't too sure. All he could think about was Kaito.

At three o'clock, the demons began laughing… the gunshots. And now, another demon, the fire, is going to kill Kuroba. And I can't let that happen!

Quickly shooting his tranquilizing dart at Snake, Shinichi yelled "Kuroba!" before he dived into the fire.

Kaito was approaching the worst of it quickly. Shinichi reached out his hand, but felt like Kaito was too far away to touch. Memories sliced through him. Happy ones, with him and Kaito. "I'll save you!" Shinichi yelled. "This time, I'll save you, Kaito!"

And Shinichi grabbed Kaito's wrist, pulled the barely conscious thief closer to him, and shielded his body from the fire.

Pain sliced through the parts of Shinichi left exposed as the fire from the building licked his skin. His response was to curl himself tighter around Kaito, trying his best to protect the thief. His outfit was fireproof, but Kaito's wasn't. He wouldn't have survived the fire. Feeling almost lost for breath, Shinichi resolved to never let Kaito go, even if he himself died. They seemed to fall for hours, and then Shinichi's back hit Agasa's trampoline.

"Kudo-kun!" Ai's voice called out, and then the trampoline let out streams of water, shooting everywhere, even onto Shinichi and Kaito. Shinichi grimaced, getting up and looking down at the magician. Finally, he had lost consciousness. Shinichi took a look at his injuries.

Kaito had put the Soul Temporal in the pocket in front of his heart, but the bullet was fierce and the jewel fragile. It had shattered, and its pieces dug into Kaito's body. One seemed dangerously close to his heart. "Kaito," he whispered, voice seeming broken, before turning towards Ai. "He needs an ambulance! Fast!"

Ai nodded. "Mouri-san's nearby, I'll ask her to call." The small girl ran off.

Shinichi just looked at Kaito again. He was worried about Ran, of course, but Ai had implied she was safe. However, Kaito was most certainly not. Shinichi slipped his hand into Kaito's own and stared at him. Please, Kaito, please be alright…

It was only after the ambulance picked him up, shocked to see Kid himself injured so badly, that Shinichi realized he had been calling Kaito by his first name this whole time.

Now, Kaito would get treatment. But afterwards, there was another problem to deal with…

Kaito was surprised to wake up, but after he got past the fact that he was alive, he wasn't surprised to see he was in a hospital, with a handcuff connecting him to the bed, and two taskforce officers watching him. He smiled weakly. "Uh. Hey."

One of them glanced at him before saying to the other, "You know, we should have suspected that Kuroba Kaito kid of being Kaitou Kid since the start. His given name is Kaito, after all."

The other rolled his eyes. "And that's why I didn't suspect him. Seriously, his parents must have a sense of humor."

"They did," Kaito said plainly. "Especially my father." He narrowed his eyes slightly, and the officers seemed to get the hint that this wasn't a topic he wanted discussed. Sighing, he asked, "Where's Nakamori-keibu?"

The officers glanced at each other before the first one spoke up. "He's shocked, learning that you were Kid, but he's still very worried about you. His daughter is angry but worried too."

"She should be," Kaito admitted softly, but didn't elaborate even when the officers gave him curious glances. "What about Kudo?"

A memory flashed back to him of Shinichi calling his name as they fell. Not his surname, his given name . Kaito felt a small blush creeping onto his face, and angled his head so that the officers didn't see.

"He wants to see you later today," one of the officers said. "He said he has a right to, since he saved your life and everything."

Kaito felt his heart skip a beat, but he didn't show any visible reaction. "Really?"

The officers both nodded.

Kaito grinned. "Great. I do have to thank him for that, you know. I mean," he pulled on his handcuff slightly. "Yeah, he got me arrested, apparently." Something Kaito was annoyed about, but he could see that Shinichi had no other choice. "And I highly doubt you guys left me with any lockpicks. Hell, I'm not even wearing the Kid suit now! But this is really all preferable to me being dead."

"Glad you think of it that way," the second officer muttered. Huh. Clearly the grumpier one.

"When's he coming?" Kaito leaned forward a bit and then, wincing with pain, he decided maybe lying down on the bed really was the best option.

"Soon," Mr. Grumpy Officer said.

"Very specific," Kaito said. "Veryyyyy specific."

A few moments passed in silence before a knock came on the door. "Hey, can I come in?" Shinichi's voice called out.

The other officer immediately headed over and opened the door. "Of course, Kudo-kun." Glancing at Mr. Grumpy Officer, he questioned, "Would you like us to leave the room?"

Kaito stared in surprise. They were willing to leave the room for Shinichi?

"I'd like that," Shinichi admitted. The two officers nodded and began to head out, with Mr. Grumpy Officer closing the door. Shinichi sat down on a chair next to Kaito's bed. "Kai- Kuroba," he fixed, wincing. "Are you okay?"

"What do you think?" Kaito chuckled. "And Kaito's fine, as long as I get to call you Shinichi."

Shinichi coughed awkwardly. "Alright then, Kaito."

"Thank you," Kaito said quickly. "For saving my life."

"It was no problem," Shinichi whispered. "It's just…" He paused, then sighed. "I was afraid I couldn't do it. I've been having dreams of our past lives, and in each one, you died in a fire."

"Oh, uh, that's…" Kaito paused, not sure what to say to that.

"Haibara said we were lovers back then," Shinichi admitted softly. "In each one of those lives. And that was what made me realize that I am in love with you, and I couldn't let you die in this life either. Kuroba Kaito, I'd like to spend the rest of my life with you."

Kaito smiled softly. He leaned forward a bit, and Shinichi connected the distance between their lips in a kiss. Soon, Kaito broke off. "I'd like that too, but you know… We can't." He raised the wrist that was handcuffed to the bed. "It's sad that we can't get together, but…"

Shinichi held Kaito's hand in his. "We'll talk about that later. Bye, Kaito." Letting go, Shinichi smiled and left the room.

"Bye, Shinichi," Kaito whispered. Looking down at his fist, he moved it underneath the covers before opening it and revealing the lockpick hidden inside. He smiled.

If you enjoyed reading, please leave a comment!

Concurrent Works

-Comfort

Date: 8/15/2022

Fandoms: Detective Conan, Magic Kaito

Series: Nico's Writer's Month 2022

Pairings: Shinichi/Shiho/Kaito

Summary: Kaito feels insecure about his place in Shinichi and Shiho's relationship.

Upcoming Works

-School Life Chapter 1

Date: 8/16/2022

Fandoms: Digimon Adventure Series

Series: Nico's Digimon Events

Pairings: Daisuke/Ken

Summary: Seven snippets of Ken's life in high school, from his first day to his graduation. Written (late) for Digiweek 2022.

-Shadows

Date: 8/16/2022

Fandoms: Detective Conan, Magic Kaito

Series: Nico's Writer's Month 2022

Pairings: Heiji/Kaito

Summary: Kaito is a thief, hiding in the shadows of the night. Heiji is a knight, guarding the halls of the castle.

-Fatigue

Date: 8/17/2022

Fandoms: The Mentalist

Series: N/A

Pairings: Cho/Jane

Summary: Cho gets to the couch first, but Jane still wants to sleep on it.

-Connection

Date: 8/19/2022

Fandoms: Detective Conan, Magic Kaito

Series: Friday Funtimes

Pairings: Shinichi/Shiho

Summary: After taking the APTX permanent antidote, Shiho attempts to adjust to normal life.

Upcoming Events

-HakuKai Week 2022

An event that I am hosting, celebrating the pairing of Hakuba Saguru and Kuroba Kaito. Prompts are now on my friend's tumblr (Radibe5), as well as on my AO3 collection, and reblogged on my own tumblr!