As soon as Shinichi heard the knock to his door, he knew who it would be. He grinned to himself as he put down his case file and hurried to the door. Sure enough, his next door neighbor and aspiring magician, Kuroba Kaito was lounging in the doorway, bag of take-out in hand.

"Hey, Shinichi, hungry?" Kaito asked, already entering the apartment before Shinichi could answer.

"Stove not working again?" Shinichi asked, closing the door behind him and following him back into the kitchen.

"Bingo! Man, you detective types sure are clever," Kaito sang out, back turned so he missed Shinichi's blush, fortunately.

"You really should let the landlord know about it," Shinichi stepped around Kaito and opened his cabinets, passing plates and cups over to Kaito.

"Eh. I can fix it. Just wanted something to eat before I wasted my time." Kaito started opening containers, balancing plates and the cups on his elbow. Shinichi groaned.

"Don't break my dinnerware," he warned, opening his fridge. "Want a beer? Or chocolate milk?"

"Chocolate milk?" Kaito paused. "But you don't like it."

"You do." Shinichi didn't turn around until his blush was gone. "So you want some?"

"Yes, please!" Kaito chirped, waiting for Shinichi to settle at the counter before juggling the boxes, plates, and cups, setting the table with smooth showmanship. Shinichi clapped his hands slowly, a bored look on his face. "Not impressed?"

"I'm extremely happy my fragile dishes survived another one of your performances," Shinichi said, pouring chocolate milk in one of the glasses and water in the other. "Any other reason you felt like stopping by?"

"I can't just come to see you?" Kaito asked, fingers brushing Shinichi's as he handed Kaito's glass over. Shinichi pulled his hands away quickly, looking over the feast that Kaito had provided.

"Felt like a little bit of everything?" Shinichi asked, uncovering boxes of curry, khao soi kai, sweet and sour pork, white rice, and dango.

"I made a few stops on my way home." Kaito started serving himself from several containers, piling the food high on his plate. Shinichi grinned to himself as he did the same.

Somehow, he was sure Kaito knew he was having a bad day and needed cheered up. Otherwise, he doubted the magician would buy Shinichi's favorite take-out dishes, when he knew the only place that sold khao soi kai was three stops past their apartment building.

"How did your performance go?" he asked, relaxing as Kaito started telling him about his day and the tricks he'd used in his routines.

Shinichi had some doubts when Kaito moved in next door. He'd been used to Agasa-hakase and his experiments when he lived in his parents' house. The increasingly bizarre noises and smells from next door alarmed him, right up until his neighbor introduced himself as KID the Phantom Magician. A little research and Shinichi stopped being alarmed when he noticed colored smoke pouring out of the balcony and from under Kaito's door. Instead, he started to be relieved that was all that it was.

The fact that Kaito was gorgeous certainly helped, but that was a reason he was keeping to himself. The one time he'd invited Ran over and introduced her to Kaito, she'd spent the entire time sending him knowing looks and asking teasing questions. He imagined if Kaito knew about it, the teasing and embarrassment would only triple.

"Hey? You still there, tantei-kun?" Kaito snapped his fingers under Shinichi's chin, a tentative smile on his face as Shinichi blinked himself out of his thoughts.

"Sorry." Shinichi grabbed his glass of water and drank half of it. Kaito watched him set the glass down, eyebrows drawn and lips curved into a frown. "I had a long day."

"I know," Kaito said, suddenly dropping his eyes to the table. "I, uh, called Hakuba when I couldn't get your cell. He said you'd been involved in that hostage case."

"Yeah. It wasn't good." His number one suspect in a homicide cold case panicked when Shinichi called him to set up an interview, taking a class of children on tour of the museum he worked security for hostage. He'd managed to injure one of the children before they could save them, but thankfully not fatally.

"Considering you usually put up more of a fuss when I try to barge in, I gathered." Kaito reached out to hold his wrist, drawing Shinichi's eyes to his own soft smile. "Everything turned out alright."

"It did," Shinichi agreed, slipping his hand from under Kaito's, unable to stop grinning.

"And my day went well, since you obviously didn't hear a word I said earlier." Kaito started eating again, draining his entire glass of chocolate milk when he paused for breath. Shinichi wasn't sure if being horrified or impressed was appropriate.

"Sorry," he apologized, getting up to refill Kaito's glass.

"Ah! Sit and eat! You've been working all day so I know you haven't eaten! I've been here enough that you don't have to treat me like a guest." Kaito moved quickly, pressing Shinichi back down into his chair and digging through the refrigerator in moments.

"You're over here enough I should be charging you for rent and utilities," Shinichi muttered, taking a larger portion of the sweet and sour pork. Kaito hip-checked the fridge closed and hummed.

"It's not my fault the appliances in my apartment are determined to rise up against me." Kaito settled back in his seat with a heavy thud, finishing off everything on his plate as Shinichi finished his portion of pork.

"Just the appliances? I remember your shower extracting some revenge on you last week." It had brought Kaito, clad in only a towel and carrying his clothes and shower caddy under his arm, to Shinichi's door and begging to use his shower. He'd barely had enough concentration to agree, just pushed the door open and gaped as Kaito brushed past him for the bathroom.

"I've talked to the landlord, but you know how much good that does. If I can fix it myself, I might as well." Kaito shrugged, as if engineering his appliances to work, not only better but certainly stranger, was an every day occurrence. Shinichi still had nightmares about the toaster Kaito had cannibalized and rebuilt using parts of a robotic vacuum, so it would zip up and down his counter tops offering toast.

"It seems to happen a lot," Shinichi commented, thinking back over how often Kaito would pop in with a problem, once even letting himself in by picking the lock. Kaito froze, paling a little as Shinichi studied him. "In fact, it seems to happen more than it should."

"Uh. Hate to eat and run, but I've got an early show tomorrow. How about you finish everything, yeah?" Kaito asked, pushing away from the table and hurriedly making his way to the door.

"Kaito! Wait a second!" Shinichi chased after him, not making it to the door before Kaito was outside, striding down the hallway and unlocking his own door with a flick of his wrist. Shinichi lunged for the door before Kaito could close it. "Hey!"

"Are we really going to do this now?" Kaito whined, giving up the door with a sigh. Shinichi backed him into his apartment, glancing around for the treacherous obstacles Kaito couldn't help but leave around. "I know what you're going to say, alright. I just need some time to get over it."

"I have no idea what you're talking about, but shut up," Shinichi said, picking his way through the odds and ends Kaito had scattered over his floor. Somehow the weird little toaster had made its way to the floor, traveling around the hallway in haphazard lines.

"You have to know what I'm talking about. I've been pretty transparent about the whole situation." Kaito picked up his toaster and carried it into his kitchen, setting it on the counter. It rolled past them to the charging station by the stove. An electric stove, Shinichi noticed, that seemed to be in working condition.

"Not to me it isn't." Shinichi waved a hand at the stove. "You don't need an excuse to come hang out."

Kaito rolled his eyes, running both his hands through his hair with a huff. "Okay. Then I'll tell you plainly. I am in love with you."

"No."

"Yes." Kaito spread his arms, face as open as he'd ever seen it. "Since the time you moved in, really."

"You aren't," Shinichi maintained. He felt like they were having two separate conversations, because what Kaito was saying made no sense at all.

"I am." Kaito shrugged, looking for all the world like this wasn't an important detail. Like Shinichi just asked if it was raining. "I wasn't going to tell you."

"Why not?" Shinichi brought a hand up to his mouth. He hadn't meant to sound so upset. Kaito obviously didn't expect it either, because his face creased in worry and embarrassment.

"Well, you've got your life together, you know? I've met all your friends and co-workers. They're really great people, passionate. I don't really compete." Kaito looked away, hands clenching into fists at his side. "So I wasn't going to burden you with it. As long as you could be happy, I'd be fine."

It did explain Kaito's fake enthusiasm when Ran suggested taking him to a goukon. And his tendency to wander over whenever he thought Shinichi might need to be cheered up. And the fact that he'd never seen the magician go out with anyone, or talk about going out with anyone, in all the time he'd known him.

"You're really stupid," Shinichi said, shocking both of them. Kaito's face darkened, but Shinichi stepped forward and threw his arms around Kaito's shoulders tightly. "Haven't you realized you make me happy?"

Then Kaito's arms were coming up and catching him about the waist, turning his head to bury his nose in Shinichi's hair as he pulled the detective in tighter. Shinichi let him press in close, enough that he could feel Kaito's chest moving with each breath.