Shinichi pulled to a stop just outside the door, eyes narrowing as he heard quiet chatter and frantic shushing. No one should be in the room, as it was well after both visiting hours and any nightly check ups from the nurses.

He pushed the door open with a hard shove, catching it before it could rebound on the wall.

"Kuroba-san, I thought you were instructed to keep your visits to visiting hours only," he said, striding to loom over the guilty party.

Kuroba slumped in exaggerated disappointment, winking at Kenta when he thought Shinichi wouldn't notice. Shinichi ignored it, playing his role dutifully and waiting for the charade to end.

"Sorry, Kudou-san, I promise not to do it again," Kuroba said, crossing his heart and nodding solemnly.

Kenta giggled.

"I'm going to escort you out. You can visit Kenta-kun in the morning, alright?" Shinichi waved a hand, tapping his foot once when Kaito huffed and climbed off the bed.

"Look like I've been caught. Sorry, Ken-chan. We'll just have to be sneakier next time," Kuroba murmured, ruffling Kenta's blond hair. He straightened and marched like a condemned man out of the hospital room.

Shinichi sighed once Kuroba was out of the room. He stepped to the side of the bed and checked over the machines and Kenta's condition.

"Did Kuroba-san show you his new card trick?" he asked, settling on the edge of the bed near Kenta's IV and the heart monitor.

"Yeah. And he read that story about the man with the tree card trick. Did you know that he had a man sign a card and waited for 18 years for the man to come back and reveal his card in the tree?" Kenta turned his head to the side at Shinichi's prompting, letting him check his pupils.

"Really? I never heard of that," Shinichi said, satisfied that Kuroba's late visit hadn't agitated Kenta in any way.

"Yeah. Kaito-nii said magicians have to play the long game sometimes so people keep believing in them." Kenta grinned, looking over at the deck of cards Kuoba left on his night stand. "He said he'll teach me actual tricks soon."

"You'll have something to show off to your friends when they visit over the weekend, then." Shinichi said, adjusting the overhead light to the lowest setting and handing over the remote for the bed. "He'll be back in the morning, I'm sure, so get some sleep. Hamada-san will be here first thing to check on you."

"I like Tadashi-nii. He's going to build a robot that'll help people like me get better." Kenta's voice grew heavy, and the tension slowly left his body. Shinichi glanced over the machines again, swallowing past the thickness in his throat and putting himself together to face Kuroba.

Kuroba was still in the hallway, standing by a window and staring up at the cloudy sky. He ignored Shinichi as he came over, until Shinichi cleared his throat loudly.

"I understand you're attached to him, but if I find you in there again after hours, I'll have to report you. I don't want to. Do not make this an issue I have to have addressed. Kenta needs you there for him, so do not make me the one responsible for separating you." Shinichi kept his eyes away from Kuroba, aware of how tense this was making the other man.

"I know," Kuroba said. "Is that all?"

"For now." Shinichi watched Kuroba walk away, disappearing around the corner without a single look back.

-X-

"How would you rate your pain?"

Shiichi paused outside the door, angling to look through the window without being seen. Hamada was on one side of the bed, colorful scrubs and a smile, and Kuroba was on the other, white coat pristine and hair slicked back. Kenta was on the bed between them, doing a breathing exercise as he clenched Kuroba's hand.

"Four," Kenta said, clear enough even through the door.

"Alright. Let's work on bringing that down." Hamada offered a hand and bent low next to Kenta's head.

"Did you ever hear about the magician of fire?" Kuroba brought a hand down to Kenta's back and rubbed at one shoulder. "Not a creative name, but he had fire in his chest. He could make fire dance around him like a dragon. He was best known for his fire flowers."

"Fire flowers?" Kenta asked, the color returning to his face.

"He could hold his hand out like this," Kuroba paused and pulled away from Kenta, raising a hand in front of his mouth. "And then he'd blow this really gentle stream of fire and catch it as a bouquet."

Kuroba did a magician's pass and held a bouquet of red flowers out to Kenta. The insides flickered with light, splashing Kenta's face with a warm glow.

"How would you rate your pain now?" Hamada asked.

"One," Kenta said, taking the flowers and tugging at one of the lights. It flickered in his hand until he resettled it in the flower. "How do the lights work?"

"There's a switch right here." Kuroba guided his small hands to the stems and clicked the light off.

-X-

Shinichi arrived halfway through the birthday party, brushing aside streamers and balloons as he made his way into the room. Genta and Mitsuhiko stopped in the middle of whatever drama they were acting out for Kenta and Ayumi, who were both seated on the hospital bed wearing pointy party hats. Hamada and his younger brother were nearest to the window, the youngest Hamada guiltily hiding something shiny behind his back while his older brother stepped in front of him. Kuroba was between Kenta and the IV stand, all of the machines covered in a gauzy white drape.

"Happy birthday, Kenta," Shiichi said, ignoring the rest of them and pushing himself past Kuroba to get to the machines. He pulled off the cloth and let it puddle on the floor then took Kuroba's shoulders and marched him out of the way. "How are you feeling?"

"Really good, Shinichi-san." Kenta obligingly turning into his prodding. "Are you going to stay for the cake?"

"Maybe just one piece. What kind of cake did you get?" Shinichi picked up the chart at the end of the bed and started methodically recording Kenta's progress, glancing over once as Kuroba started to read over his shoulder.

"Strawberry," Kenta said. "Kaito-nii's mother made it."

"I'll definitely stay for that," Shinichi said, catching Kuroba's eye and holding.

Gradually, Kuroba relaxed and nodded.

"Awesome!" Kenta moved closer to Ayumi, making a space on the bed for Shinichi. "Hiro-nii was going to show us his robot after Genta-kun and Mitsuhiko-kun showed us their parts in the school play." Kenta grabbed his arm and tugged once. "Then Kaito-nii was going to do magic."

"That sounds like fun," Shinichi said, resting a hip against the bed instead of sinking down onto it. Kuroba reclaimed his prior position, snagging the cloth off the ground and covering the machines again. Shinichi watched him from the corner of his eye, tensing as Kuroba drifted into his space and lingered there.

-X-

"It's months, realistically. His father waited too long after the first attack to get a serious diagnosis, instead of just visiting a pediatrician. If we'd caught it months after the first attack, he might have had a chance. As it stands, there's nothing we can do except make him comfortable. Kudou-san tries everything he can to increase expectancy, but we're working against a clock."

Shinichi stopped down the hallway, Hamada's words to his younger brother reaching him. They were outside Kenta's room, Hamada's arm on his brother's shoulder as the younger man stared into the room through the window.

"And there's nothing you can do?"

"If we had more time and better procedures, we could have." Hamada hugged his brother closer. "Thank you for coming here with me today."

"Yeah."

Shinichi pretended to ignore them as he bypassed the boys for the door. They startled, but didn't follow him in.

Kuroba was the last one left, a bag of supplies over one shoulder and the rest of the balloons tied to his wrist. Kenta was sleeping, a party hat and small pile of gifts on his side table. Shinichi walked around Kuroba as he checked Kenta.

"You're not giving up."

Shinichi stopped as he marked down the updates on Kenta's chart and scheduled an increase in Kenta's pain medication for the following morning.

"I'm not giving up," Shinichi agreed.

"But he's not-"

"No. He's not."

Kuroba's shoulders tightened, the lines of his face growing deeper as he scowled. "And that's not giving up?"

"We all go eventually. I'm not giving up because I'm not letting it be tomorrow. Or the next day. Or next week. Or next month. It's going to happen, but not before it has to."

"And if I had more money? If I was actually his family and could get his useless father-"

"Anyone in the hospital could give you the same diagnosis. We caught it too late to stop it. There's nothing more you can do for him."

Kuroba flinched like Shinichi gutted him, bent over with a harsh rasp and trembling.

Shinichi let the silent grow, placing the chart back and watching Kenta's soft breathing. Kuroba made a wounded noise and rushed out of the room before he could turn to the other man.

-X-

"And here's the trick; watch closely," Kuroba said, freezing as Shinichi came into the hospital room with Hamada trailing quietly behind him. He turned away and grinned, holding a deck of cards between himself and Kenta. "Ignore whatever flash the magician's going to try. It's always a diversion. See? I shuffle this in an arc, make it really showy, and most people ignore my other hand drawing a card out of my sleeve."

Shinichi waited for the trick to finish, watching how Kenta panted slowly and with a red face until Kuroba finished. His eyes were lightly glazed, sweat on his forehead and a pillow propped up behind his back.

"When did you plant the card?" Kenta asked, obviously working hard for it.

"Just before I handed over the deck to cut, remember? You stack the deck and people suspect something. Let them fuss and toy with it. Let them try to be smarter than you. It's okay. They're only seeing half the game, anyway." Kuroba tucked the deck away, hand drifting out to hover over Kenta's shoulder as he closed his eyes and struggled to breath calmly.

Shinichi settled his hand on Kuroba's shoulder and Kuroba leaned into the support. Hamada went to the IV immediately, and Shinichi stepped into Kuroba's line of sight.

-X-

Kuroba wasn't demonstrating any magic, just shuffling a deck between his hands and watching Kenta sleep with a blank face. If he noticed Shinichi, he was ignoring him. Shinichi didn't let that bother him.

"How was he today?"

"Don't you already know?"

Shinichi ignored the hostility. "I haven't been back since ten. Hamada-san was here earlier."

"You decided..."

Shinichi stopped and kept his eyes on Kenta instead of Kuroba. "I have a team dedicated to Kenta's progress. And we're hitting dead ends. We're doing everything we can and he's maintaining. He's staying steady. There will be days like this. But there'll be days like his birthday, too. We can't predict everything."

"But he's not going to live. He's dying."

"He is." Shinichi held a hand out between them and waited. Kuroba took it right when Shinichi was sure he wouldn't try. "Being here for him like this does so much more for him than anything I can do."

"It won't save him. I can't-" Kuroba's voice broke and his fingers tightened around Shinichi's.

Shinichi squeezed back hard enough his fingers went numb.

"You make him happy. You keep him here. Do you know how hard that is to do?"

When Kuroba started crying, Shinichi moved to his side and leaned into him.