The night after—
"Kid, is that you?" Shinichi saw movement from something that slipped away from around a corner. There was no response, so he climbed up the stairs after it. His room door was left open, slightly apart in an inviting way. "I know you're here." He pushed it in, letting some of the lights from the hallway into the pitch-black room.
Her voice appeared from the furthest end, out of reach from the light. "It's good to meet again so soon."
He rested against the doorframe and crossed his arms, the conversation from last night still fresh in his mind. "You want to hear my answer, am I right?"
Emerging from the edges of the shadow, Kid stepped forward but only enough to keep the top half of herself hidden. One foot set in front of the other, she stood in a relaxed manner. "Heh heh, I hope you weren't stressing too much over it. If you wish, you can think about it for longer or I can leave now and forget everything that happened these past few days. Your choice."
Stunned silent as he was yesterday, the answer to Kid's advance came to him rather easily soon after she had left. Shinichi stopped leaning against the doorframe and walked in to join her inside, pulling the doorknob behind after himself. A solid click sounded out, and he could no longer see anything except the few spots of light bleeding through his curtains.
Despite Kid offering to ignore their previous conversations if he were to refuse her, Shinichi never had the intention of returning to his routine—one he had tried to break out of for a long time. There was an unmatched sense of thrill that came with taking leaps of faith, even one as seemingly minor as this in the eyes of the world.
After locking the door with a twist, he straightened his back. "There. Is this enough privacy?" Shinichi suddenly felt Kid take his wrist.
"Are you sure about this?" She spoke in a hushed tone right into his ear. "I won't take responsibility for any upset feelings that may arise, if you know what I mean."
"...There won't be any. I promise."
A thoughtful silence came from Kid, but not for long. She huffed through her nose, part sigh and part laugh. "Let's get rid of this uptight mood then, to see where this goes from now on…"
His breath hitched when his hand was guided under what felt like her shirt, and up to her chest. Even though a sports bra sat between her skin and his touch, the sensation wasn't dulled by any means. The warmth beneath her clothes almost felt overwhelming yet immensely comforting.
Kid pushed herself closer until their lips touched. There was a teasing poke of her tongue midway through the kiss. When Shinichi parted his mouth to breathe, she pulled away and laughed. "Let me take my shirt off first. It's getting in the way."
"...Oh, sure." During the kiss, the hand he had under her shirt had gone up until his thumb found itself in between her cleavage from beneath.
His past self would have believed that the current him was letting Kid have her way, and he wouldn't be far from the truth.
Shinichi had entertained the idea of things getting...heated with her ever since last night. In fact, Kid reminded him that he hadn't had any close physical contact with anyone for such a long time. The part of him he had wanted to remain unacknowledged had been awakened and brought to the foreground, drawn to what her body could feel like. He needed to know.
Pulling him out of his brief thoughts, Kid took both his hands like she had a few days ago and raised them up to her now bare chest. "Here…I wasn't 'overstuffing' it."
"Y-you're still hung up on that?"
"Imagine the shock you gave me. Memorizing a girl's measurements so precisely that you could tell it wasn't her, you closet pervert..." She let go of his wrists after a playful click of the tongue.
Giving them a gentle squeeze, her breasts were soft yet firm under his fingers. They filled his palms as he ran his hands around her chest, his thumb brushing against her nipples.
"Mm." A small bit of noise escaped as she flinched from it, breaking the steady sounds of their increasingly bated breaths.
His own excitement grew when the once-soft nipples hardened the more he rubbed his thumbs over them. It wasn't everyday that he got to tease her for all the pranks she pulled on him at past heists.
With a soft sigh, Kid put her whole weight against him into a hug. He backed into a wall, slowly sinking down to the floor as she continued to push on him. Soon, he found himself sitting with his back resting on the solid surface. In this darkness, she held the reins on where they were going.
After tilting her head down to breathe into his neck, she took one of his hands. His other free hand currently helped him maintain his sitting position. She kneeled down closer to him, her legs parted to enclose Shinichi's legs between her thighs. Without warning, Kid licked the tip of his pinky finger. He gulped at the sensation as she proceeded to drag her tongue across it before sucking on his finger, and in the process she let out an overacted moan.
Heart beating erratically, Shinichi shifted his posture a little. "Th-that was a bit unnecessary." The wet warmth from the inside of her mouth and the way her tongue moved around had taken a stranglehold on his imagination.
Taking it out from her mouth, Kid moved back just enough so she could bend down further over him. "Just a little payback."
She dragged her hands between his inner thighs, starting from his knees before reaching for his hips which sent shivers through his body. With skilled ease, she undid his belt. Shinichi felt much better with his erection being out of its constricted space.
Her fingers caressed it, exploring around much like he did with her body. Gently, she traced circles around the tip until the entire head became slick with pre-cum. When her tongue made contact, she ran it from the base all the way up the shaft in an agonizingly slow trail.
Her breath so close to him only got Shinichi panting heavily and filled with desire for her to commit. "Just do it already..." His eyes had grown more accustomed to the darkness. All he could see of her was some of her hair and the smooth outline of her topless back hunched down close to his crotch.
"I thought you would enjoy hanging at the edge." Kid moved to lie down on her side, supported by her elbows between his parted legs. "But if you insist, I'll give in…"
Feeling her mouth wrap around his cock, Shinichi was overwhelmed by how pleasurable it felt. The intense heat and wetness along with the motion of her tongue made him gasp and shudder with each movement. It was far better than what he had imagined.
With his half-opened eyes, he saw how her head turned and moved slightly. Was it strange that he wanted to see her face at a time like this? The only hint he could spot in regards to her true appearance was the top of her hair—a little messy in a charming way. All he could do to currently satisfy himself of that wish was to lay a hand on her, careful as to only run his fingers through her hair lightly.
As his thoughts continued to flow sporadically, the stimulation distracted Shinichi more and more from them. He eventually let the pleasure take over his mind. Inevitably, a euphoric wave drowned his senses and reached its peak before sliding down to a calmer state.
He awakened from his daze when he noticed Kid raising herself from the floor, bringing the back of her hand to her obscured face. She was quick on her feet, and stood up before he could move or speak a word about what just happened.
"...Pretty good start, isn't it?"
"Y-yeah." His heart rate had somehow slowed down significantly while also fluttering with increasing nervousness from reality coming back to focus. He then heard rustling of clothes. "You're leaving already?"
"Don't sound so disappointed." Kid chuckled airily, walking towards the door. "If you want to try it for real, then I'll come back next time with the right protection. Bye bye now!"
By the time he got back on his own feet and put his own clothes in order, she had already left with the light coming through his open door temporarily blinding him. Her last words repeated themselves inside of his head as the events that unfolded mere moments ago replayed themselves. Heat rose to his cheeks from lewd thoughts and desires returning. The flustered air to her sudden departure had apparently spread to him.
His rational side knew what he had started with Kid was wrong, to some degree. He was indulging himself by deciding to feel good for once as a way to push back against the numbing disappointment from his fruitless attempts at rekindling the spark he had before with Ran. In his heart of hearts, she would always remain his number one priority… Right?
As soon as Kid kissed him and claimed to be after him for his body, Shinichi incidentally agreed to let her do as she pleased with him. The seeds of doubts were sown before he knew it. Regardless, the bitter reality was that the emotional intimacy he once shared with Ran had already been on a decline—not long before Kid had met him when he was still 'Conan'. The cautious distance he put between him and Ran took its toll sooner than he had believed. Perhaps it was high time to jump ship, yet he didn't have the will to do so. He knew Kid from their friendship, but he didn't know the person beneath the white costume and countless masks. So far, he had only seen a glimpse of the girl that called herself 'Kaitou Kid'.
With a tired sigh, Kid leaned forward on his heaving chest to rest. "...I think I'll get better with more practice."
Coasting down from the excitement, Shinichi lifted a hand to touch her bare thigh. "You shouldn't force yourself."
She laughed in between her breaths. "Have some faith in me, will you? I wouldn't have gone through with it if it was all pain."
"Hm, if you say so." He had no way to know for sure apart from her words, but he trusted her to be somewhat honest now.
She whispered as she ran a hand slowly over the top of his stomach with a light giggle, returning to her playful act. "Do you want me to clean it too?"
"I think I've got enough for now." Shinichi pushed himself up from lying on his back.
Taking a moment, she tucked everything back inside his pants and zipped it up. After giving a couple of teasing pats, a strange quiet passed by for much longer than he felt comfortable with.
"…Is this weird? I mean, having sex with me. Someone who is visiting you just to…do things to you." Kid moved to sit next to him on his bed.
"Well, it was a big leap in such a short time. But I don't mind. It's good to have company." He wasn't ready to admit that she was compensating for the physical intimacy he craved from Ran. "Although…"
"Hm?" Kid brought her knees closer to her chin and held them with her arms.
"We've started this, and I still have no idea what you look like." As for her name, that could wait. Kid could remain as 'Kid' for the time being, all for the sake of maintaining the boundaries they had set before.
"Why? Can't you use your imagination to replace me with her?"
Understanding who she implied, Shinichi shook his head. He sometimes forgot how Kid could read him so easily. "I can't. You're nothing like Ran. Even if I tried to envision her during it, I would find it hard to believe." Maybe some part of him had given up on Ran while the rest still clung to that dream-like desire, which became hazier over time and more difficult to grasp its concept. Imagining her acting like Kid had during her visits felt wrong.
"Huh." A few seconds later, Kid relaxed her posture to tuck her legs underneath herself. "In that case, this is the best I can do for now."
Shinichi felt some of her hair brush against his collarbone as she tilted her head in closer, nearly resting it in the crook of his neck. Taking it as an invitation to touch her, he lifted a hand and laid it on her bare back. He slid it upward, feeling his palm glide along the soft ridges of her spine and shoulder blades until he hit the base of her neck. During her previous drop-by, Shinichi managed to briefly touch the top of her head to feel that she had somewhat unruly hair. Now that he combed his fingers through it properly, he could determine that Kid had a short hairstyle similar to Sera but trimmed more neatly.
Combining all that information with his memory of seeing her face up close in the past, Kid looked…not bad. Well, it was difficult to judge as the image of her in his mind resembled more of a police sketch created by describing separate features and then mashed together.
"…"
A few minutes later, Shinichi noticed how her forehead dipped down further until she leaned her head closer to his neck. Hearing her breathing steadying itself while she remained motionless, he realized that she had nodded off. "Kid?"
Her shoulders tensed up as she snapped awake. "A-are you done?"
The way she pulled away after a barely audible gasp gave him the impression that she was caught off guard, which he found greatly amusing. "Ha, you were almost asleep there."
"I'd rather sleep in my own bed, thank you very much." With a defensive air, Kid got off from the top of his bed. "I'll clean myself up before leaving, if you don't mind me borrowing the bathroom."
"Did you even need to ask? You already treat my place as your own." He heard her agree with a laugh as she collected her clothes from the floor. Out of courtesy, his back stayed turned when she opened the door and left. "Good night, Kid."
Back to the present, after the Phantom Lady's 'return'—
"Ha…haa…" One last shiver coursed through him before he collapsed back down on top of his pillows.
Similarly breathless, Kid rested her head on his stomach. "I...won again."
"When did it turn into a contest?" Despite how he could only see her silhouette, he pictured a smile from the tone of her voice. It was hard to miss the fact that he was always at the receiving end, with Kid being the one to initiate. "Are you…always holding back? Or is there a problem with me?"
She crawled forward to curl up at his side. "I just don't feel like it. Getting a reaction out of you is enough for me." A small laugh came from her as she settled in. "Hold me, you idiot. Or go fetch the covers. It's cold."
Just when he was about to get up, her arms entangled themselves around his shoulders and neck. Moving was like a chore at the moment, so he satisfied himself with bringing her closer until the air from her warm breath tickled his skin. "Sonoko was going insane in our group chat a few hours ago. She said that Phantom Lady showed up right after Kaitou Kid left. That was you too, wasn't it?"
"My mother needed some distraction to throw a few old enemies off her scent trail. Now I have to make Phantom Lady show up once in a while to make the story more convincing. Tsk, what a pain in my ass…" A heavy silence followed afterwards before she continued. "She's been hiding something from me, and I'll find out for myself one of these days. Even if I know I won't like what I find."
"Your mother might have reasons outside of keeping you from feeling upset." Very quickly, Shinichi had found Kid tended to speak about herself more when they laid together with only each other's company in the dark. It was in this manner that he learned about some of her school life, her classmates, and her recent family troubles. "Well either way, I don't think it will be easy to hide anything from you for long."
"Heh, true. I'll think of a real plan later when I'm not as busy." Tightening her arms, she inched forward to use his shoulder as a pillow to rest on. "…I'm feeling a bit petered out tonight… Let me sleep a little, please."
"Mm-hm." In a rare instance of Kid asking something from him, Shinichi had no problem with a small favor.
…
…
Morning arrived, and he was alone again.
The ear-grating sound of his alarm yanked Shinichi out of his sleep. After putting an end to the noise, he sat up. It occurred to him that he didn't remember when he had fallen asleep. Kid's gentle breathing must have lulled him to sleep.
One of his hands could feel the depression in the bed she had left behind. The barely-present warmth remaining indicated she had left quite a while ago. A chill hit him when he threw his blankets off, reminding him that it was another cold day in the middle of January.
Something caught his eyes as he was putting on a fresh set of clothes. He walked over toward his personal desk, hands busy with buttoning his shirt while his tie was draped around his neck.
"This is…?" There appeared to be a pendant made from gold with a large ruby encrusted at the center resting atop the table. A white note card with Kid's caricature laid immediately beside it. Once he finished pulling up the knot of his tie, he picked the card up.
'This is not what I seek, however I am certain it would look fantastic on your person. I offer you the prize I claimed last night.'
Putting the card down to glance back at the ornate piece of jewelry, Shinichi had to scoff. "No way." That thing would clash garishly with his style, and he would rather not keep a stolen item. "I guess I'll drop it off at the closest police station," he murmured to himself, pocketing the item. At this point, he might as well be Kid's unofficial, secret accomplice.
As for the note, he read it over again. The words did their job of conveying the message, but he wished to hear her say it. The characters on the card seemed hollow compared to—
What am I doing? I need to get ready for school. Shinichi stopped himself from continuing to stare blankly at the note card.
Keeping up with that train of thought would only worsen the craving that already ate at him. For the entire duration of his small breakfast, he wanted Kid to drop by his place soon—even if it was to ask for another favor.
Each visit lately had been ingrained into his memories, for both the physical aspect and the discoveries he made about her. During those seemingly short snippets of time, he could almost read the elusive Kaitou Kid as well as she could read him. She was a mischievous soul and prideful like the Kaitou Kid the public knew, yet grounded with worries of her own. She had a tendency to keep her hand of cards to herself while pretending to have complete control over the playing field; a shrewd character born out of the need to keep herself safe and level-headed.
As a self-proclaimed mystery enthusiast, he had been hooked, unwilling to back out until he figured her out. The last big pieces Shinichi needed to complete the puzzle was a face and a name.