Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan/Case Closed.

Pairing: KaitoxShinichi

Rating: M

Genre: Romance/Humor

Chapter 1/3

Summary: Shinichi appreciates Kaito's efforts to be a gentleman and not push him too much on certain aspects of their relationship, but now he's ready, and he has no idea how to broach the issue. Sometimes he wishes that Kaito could read minds. But maybe they're both thinking too much.

Note: This series uses my version of the ABO setup.

The chronological order of the installments of this series currently up is "The Long Way Round", "A Shocking Turn", "The Art of Introductions", this fic, "The Trouble with Love", "The Ups and Downs of Mating" and "If You've Got It". Ratings vary.

It's About Communication

[Nature of Love series]

Part 1

Shinichi knows better than anyone that he's no expert on relationships. Although frankly, he would like to point out that relationships are probably one field in which no one could ever truly be considered an expert. After all, every single person in the world was different, and so every relationship was also a hundred percent unique. And even if you were to grow to become on expert in dealing with one particular person, that did not necessarily mean you would be an expert at dealing with another, even if that other technically had the same type of relationship with you (two different friends, for instance, or two different business partners. They would always be different). Therefore, the appropriate methods of communication also varied greatly for each individual from relationship to relationship.

But he was getting ahead of himself. Back to the point.

Shinichi was no expert in relationships. Romantic relationships in particular have always befuddled him. It probably didn't help that he had next to no personal experience in the area, and his secondhand experience lay mostly in the numerous ways in which romance has led to murder and other less severe but equally illogical acts. Perhaps then it was no surprise that he had never actually cared about his lack of experience or insight into romantic relationships.

He'd never actually expected to fall in love.

But then he'd met Kuroba Kaito (or rather Kaitou KID to begin with).

It had taken Shinichi a long time to acknowledge the attraction, but even after he had, he had written it off as an impossible (not to mention unwise) crush. But one blind date (forced upon him by one Suzuki Sonoko) had changed everything.

He and Kaito had been dating for about a year now, and if he hadn't been sure whether he was in love before, he knew it without a doubt now.

Which brought him to his current dilemma.

Though Kaito could be overbearing and pushy about many things, when it came to the physical aspects of their relationship, the magician had thus far been a perfect gentleman.

"We don't have to do anything you're not comfortable with," he'd told Shinichi once near the beginning of their relationship, and he had been as good as his word.

Shinichi had truly appreciated his efforts in this matter, especially since the detective really hadn't been ready for that sort of physical intimacy back when they'd first started dating. Yes, Shinichi knew that most omegas moved rather quickly in that portion of a relationship once they had found an acceptable alpha—sometimes even with an unacceptable one, but he'd never approved of people—omegas or otherwise—who let their hormones control them, and he wasn't about to be one of them. And he supposed he had to admit that he had been more than a little nervous about the whole idea. After all, he'd never been intimate with anyone before—he'd never met anyone before Kaito that he had wanted to be intimate with (even had he had the time, which he hadn't). So even thinking about letting someone that close to him had been ever so slightly terrifying.

He particularly appreciated Kaito's patience because he could tell that it was taking the alpha quite a bit of effort to keep from pushing. Shinichi could sense it in the way his hand lingers when they touch and see it in the look in Kaito's eyes after they kiss. The hunger there makes Shinichi's skin tingle and his heart race with a mix of trepidation and answering desire that is so new to him it throws him off balance.

As time had passed, however, and Shinichi became more comfortable in and confident of their relationship, he had gradually begun to wish for more. But though he thought he might be ready now, he had no idea how to broach the subject. Saying so outright was simply too embarrassing to contemplate.

He found himself wishing that Kaito could read his mind.

The question had lingered in the back of Shinichi's mind unanswered for some time as he went about his daily life. With university classes and cases all piled sky high though, he might have put off actually trying to do anything about the matter if things hadn't come to a head last month.

They had been at a party being thrown by Suzuki Sonoko to celebrate both Makoto's latest triumphant victory in a major, overseas competition and the less prestigious but equally laudable accomplishments of their university's karate team, which included a certain Mouri Ran. Though the team hadn't won their tournament, they had made it all the way to the semifinals—no small feat and certainly worth a celebration or two. Sonoko had chosen the venue, which turned out to be a vacation rental house typically used by tourists visiting Tokyo. She had rented it out for them for the party though, and the rest of the party planners had dealt with the decorations and getting the food and music. Shinichi himself had brought a large pot of curry and an even larger pot of white rice for any guests who wanted a real meal instead of a lot of miscellaneous junk food.

The party had technically gone well, in so far as such things could go well in Shinichi's opinion. There were too many people, all being loud, a lot of noisy music, too much alcohol, and yeah… You get the picture. Typical, wild, college party.

It was only when a guy Shinichi recognized as being one of Ran's karate teammates approached him and asked him to dance that Shinichi had realized abruptly that he had forgotten to apply a scent masker that morning. And he was only a few days away from his heat. And the karate guy knew it too. The clear interest in his eyes as he offered Shinichi his hand was not a man's interest in a dance partner but an alpha's interest in a potential lover.

Before Shinichi could respond, however, Kaito had materialized beside him like a vengeful spirit and wrapped an arm around Shinichi's waist in a very pointed fashion. The other alpha had flashed his teeth at the interloper, but Kaito only stared him down, indigo eyes flat and unreadable. Apparently freaked out, the karate guy had beat a hasty retreat.

"You aren't wearing a scent masker," Kaito had hissed into his ear as he steered Shinichi to a currently unoccupied room in the vacation house. It was a small sitting room with an open stretch of floor that could be used for dancing. "Your scent is getting stronger. You should go home. If you go into heat here…"

He let the statement hang. After all, as an omega, Shinichi knew all too well how vulnerable an omega in heat could be, especially when surrounded by people who were already more than halfway drunk.

"I won't. It's fine. Really," Shinichi had insisted. "I still have a few days. Besides, Sonoko will kill me if we leave before the cake is cut. We can go right after that."

Kaito didn't look entirely satisfied, but he didn't object. "Fine. But stay here for now. Just tell me what you want to eat, and I'll bring them to you."

It was the way Kaito had been looking through the room's open doorway at the couples dancing outside as he spoke that had had Shinichi making the spur of the moment decision to rise and take his arm.

"We could dance," he'd offered, shy and a little uncertain how the proposal would be taken, but the pleasure on Kaito's face was all the answer Shinichi needed.

"I don't really know how to dance though," he'd warned the magician as the two of them stood face to face in the middle of the sitting room's open floor. The music piping in from the party out in the main areas of the house was muted here but still clear enough to act as a guide.

"Then let me teach you," the thief had murmured, stepping forward and dropping into a showman's bow before gently taking Shinichi's hands in his own. He placed one of Shinichi's hands on his shoulder and clasped the other as his own free hand found its way to Shinichi's hips.

Then he showed Shinichi how to waltz. They glided about the room, drew apart and came together, spun and curled in close. Dipped backward so far he was almost lying down, Shinichi stared up into his thief's indigo eyes, and his breath caught in his throat. Then they were up again, wrapped in each other's arms. Another spin, another dip, and a lift, all grace and motion and the feel of two bodies moving in sync.

And in that dream-like whirl of motion and rising heat, their lips had met, and it was as though fireworks had gone off inside them.

The next thing Shinichi knew, he had been pinned up against the wall with Kaito's knee wedged between his thighs. The feel of being trapped between his magician's strong body and the wall had sent a wave of arousal coursing through his veins. Caught up in the heat of the moment, he had twined his fingers through Kaito's wild hair and yanked him down into a heated kiss that was all tongue and teeth. By then the magician's hands had been under his shirt, and Shinichi might very well have lost his virginity that night if they hadn't been interrupted by a gaggle of other party guests bursting into the room, laughing and joking.

Shinichi had stiffened, and Kaito had backed off immediately. There had ensued a moment of awkwardness followed by jumbled apologies from both sides. Kaito had clearly been feeling guilty for his loss of control, and Shinichi had felt terrible that Kaito felt bad about it. After all, Shinichi was the one who had forgotten to wear a scent masker when he was only a few days away from going into heat.

After all the apologies, they had managed to laugh the incident off, but the awkwardness had lingered the rest of the evening.

That night, Shinichi had dreamed that he was at a Kaitou KID heist. The police had all run off somewhere, but he had returned to the central chamber of the museum where the target of the heist had been held, convinced for some reason that the jewel was still there and that KID would be there soon to claim it. Alone in that vast and elegant room, which was wreathed in blue-tinted shadows but for a single pillar of light illuminating the large, glass display at the center of the floor, Shinichi had listened to the ring of his own footsteps as he approached the display. And there the jewel sat on a white velvet cushion behind the glass as he had somehow known it would be. The jewel was a sapphire set into a silver coronet shaped like a ring of woven feathers.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" a familiar voice had asked, and he had whirled around to find the Kaitou KID standing right behind him.

"You can't have the jewel," Shinichi had told him sternly. "They need it for the coronation tomorrow. There'll be problems if it's not there."

The thief had only chuckled. "Don't worry. I'm not here for the coronet."

"You're not?" Shinichi asked, confused. It was only then that he had realized that the thief had moved closer—he was so close, in fact, that Shinichi could feel the warmth radiating from his body, and he had to tilt his head back to meet the thief's indigo eyes.

"Didn't you know?" KID murmured, lips a hair's breadth from touching his. "I came for you."

That was when Shinichi had realized that he was lying naked on a pristine, white bed that had replaced the jewel's display with KID leaning over him, twining large, soft, blue ribbons the same blue as the ribbon on KID's hat around Shinichi's wrists to secure him to the headboard. Bound and exposed, Shinichi had found himself unable to do anything but gasp and whimper in helpless pleasure as the thief's hands and mouth roamed every inch of his sensitive body. He had felt himself growing more aroused with every touch. Then something hot and hard was pressing into him, and he'd heard Kaito's voice by his ear.

"I'm making you mine tonight, Meitantei."

Shinichi had woken from that dream panting hard, impossibly aroused, and literally shaking with need. He realized right away that he had gone into heat early, and the strength of the desire pulsating through every nerve in his body had been far more intense than anything he had ever experienced before. The erotic dreams still fresh in his mind hadn't helped.

He'd almost called Kaito then and there and begged him to come over, but even in the grip of his heat, he'd known he couldn't. If he called Kaito while he was in this state, he would be putting unfair pressure on the alpha, who would no doubt assume that Shinichi wasn't thinking straight (and he might be right). In that scenario, he would only end up making Kaito feel guilty both if he came and if he didn't come—the former because the magician might feel like he was taking advantage of Shinichi's condition and the latter because he was ignoring Shinichi in the omega's moment of need. Both outcomes were unacceptable.

When they took the next step in their relationship, Shinichi needed Kaito to know that Shinichi wanted it.

It was as he worked through these thoughts, curled up in a nest of blankets and pillows with a book (and wearing an oversized shirt that he may or may not have stolen from his thief's closet), that Shinichi became certain that he really was ready.

The problem was, how was he supposed to communicate this to Kaito?

Shinichi strongly suspected that people like Ran would say he could just say as much, but just imagining doing so made the detective's insides writhe in mortification. Some subjects were simply too embarrassing to just talk about—or at least Shinichi thought so. He'd probably implode from blood rushing to his face if he tried. But then what were his options?

The possibilities danced through his thoughts as his mind drifted between the book he was trying to read and fantasies about a certain magician thief that followed him into his dreams.

A few days later, when his body was cooperating properly with his brain again, Shinichi set to work.

-TBC-