The soft click of the front door opening without the use of a key didn't even make Shinichi pause anymore, too used to it after the dozen times Kaito had let himself in like that.
The magician had taken a trip to the grocery store, and he was back quite fast. Unusual, even for him.
He called out a greeting, not looking up from the puzzle he was working on with the kids in the library. However, the sound of two frantic footsteps had him jump in alarm.
"Mommy! Daddy!" Sayuri exclaimed, puzzle forgotten as she and Koichi ran to the doorway, where indeed older versions of Kaito and Shinichi were standing.
The younger detective blinked, eyes wide as he watched himself fall to his knees to hug the children close, kissing their hair and muttering about his relief. The magician next to him scratched the back of his head, grinning sheepishly.
"Tadaima." He started. "Sorry for just barging in like that. And thanks for taking care of them." He ruffled his son's wild hair, who hugged him around the middle. "I hope they didn't... well."
"Oh, uh. No, no, they were no trouble." Shinichi said when he found his voice again. He couldn't help notice how... how good Kaito was going to look, all mature.
He had grown another few inches, shoulders a little broader and it appeared he had gained some more muscle mass, even visible through the sweatshirt he was wearing.
"Good." Future-Kaito sighed and picked up his daughter, who snuggled into his shoulder with a giggle. Future-Shinichi straightened next to him, giving him a smile.
Shinichi grudgingly noted that he would still be shorter than Kaito, and while he hadn't quite gained muscle, he looked healthier somehow.
He couldn't quite estimate their age, though. Their appearance indicated they were maybe 30, but that didn't add up to Koichi's age at all. They would've to have him now for that to make sense. And he sure as hell was not having a kid right now.
"We're aging more slowly." His future self said as if reading his thoughts. "Don't bother asking why, the only answer I get from this dork is 'magic'." He rolled his eyes with good humor.
"Right..." Shinichi cleared his throat, shaking his head to get out of his stupor. "Uhm, are you leaving right away or can I offer you some coffee and hot chocolate?"
Damn, this was weird.
Future himself looked at the older Kaito in question, who smiled and nodded. "That'd be awesome. But no coffee for my Shin-chan."
At that, Shinichi's mouth fell open. What? No coffee for him in the future?! His older self chuckled at his expression after he had grumbled something at his soulmate. "I'll... I'll explain that later."
It took Shinichi another few moments to get himself to move, weirded out by this whole situation. When he left the library, the kids were urging their parents to look at their puzzle, and the detective heard the future Kaito exclaim: "Gosh, I totally forgot how adorable you were back then!", which had Shinichi hurry up to get into the kitchen, face red.
He supposed the no coffee rule was about his caffeine intake, so black tea was probably off limits too. Shinichi rummaged through his cupboards while he waited for the chocolate to warm up.
He knew he didn't like the too sweet chocolate, his soulmate and the kids preferred, so he brewed some lemon tea for future-Shinichi, and after a longing glance at the coffee maker, for himself too.
He'd be nice and solitary.
He was just pouring the chocolate in cups when the front door opened again, announcing his Kaito's return.
"Tadaima!"
Shinichi was about to greet him back, when Kaito's own voice called back. "Okaeri!"
A second later, the grocery bags crashed to the floor and footsteps hurried to the library. Another moment of silence. "Oh wow, I'm gonna look even hotter!"
That had the detective deadpan. Of course. The magician would take this all in stride. Shinichi took his time balancing everything on a tray and carrying it to their guests.
When he passed Kaito, he paused. "Welcome back. I hope you plan on cleaning up your mess in the entry."
Kaito's grin was wide as he eyed their future selves for another moment, then he pressed his lips to his soulmate's cheek quickly before hurrying to put away the groceries.
Shinichi was grateful the older adults have thought ahead and placed the puzzle on the floor, where the kids were concentrating on finishing it, so he had room on the coffee table for the tray.
His older self smirked at his choice of drink, taking a sip.
"So, uhm. I'm glad you were able to find them." Shinichi said to fill the silence while they waited for Kaito to join them.
"Yeah, it took a while to follow the trail they left." Future-Kaito said, eyeing his son sternly. "We're going to have words about this, by the way."
Koichi pouted, hunching up his shoulders. "I just wanted to help."
"You could've come to me."
"Let's discuss this when we're back home." Future-Shinichi cut in with a roll of his eyes.
Kaito chose that moment to come back, getting comfortable on the loveseat next to his soulmate, wrapping one arm around his waist while the other accepted his own hot chocolate with a smile.
"How did you manage to pry him from his beloved coffee?" The younger mage asked when he noticed the older Shinichi actually drinking tea.
"He didn't pry me away." Was the grumbled answer, while Future-Kaito laughed.
"Well, when he got pregnant with Koichi he was told to tone it down. One cup in the morning max. And we managed to pull through with it." The muscular arm wrapped around his soulmate's shoulder, pulling him closer. "It totally helped his appetite and sleeping pattern, too."
Kaito nodded attentively, giving his own omega a speculative look. Shinichi glared at him, hunching his shoulders defensively. "I'm not pregnant yet, so leave me alone."
The two Kaito's laughed in sync, making Shinichi pout.
"Don't worry, you're gonna have your fair share of fun on his expanse." The older Shinichi teased.
"Oi, don't give yourself ideas."
"You're going to make quite a fool of yourself, not much input needed."
Shinichi watched them with a smile, liking how easy they're interacting even after so many years.
"So..." he cleared his throat again to get their attention and gave an uneasy one-shouldered shrug, looking at himself. "I actually have a few questions. Regarding this whole... pregnancy thing." He bit at his bottom lip. "I mean, only if you can answer them without the world ending."
The older Kaito nodded after a few moments, hesitantly. "Should be fine. Just don't... you know."
"Who do you think you're talking to?" Future-Shinichi countered, putting his cup down.
"Alrighty then." Future-Kaito stood up and clapped once to get the children's attention. "How about mini-me and I help you two build a fort upstairs?"
The cheers from the kids were heart-warming, but Kaito was torn. He wanted to know what his soulmate was going to ask and be told. On the other hand, it gave him some time to talk to his own future self in relative privacy.
"Sounds good. Let's make it castle-themed." He finally said, pecking his love's cheek before following the others upstairs.
Shinichi stared at his own lap, not quite knowing where to start or how to formulate his questions.
But again, future himself seemed to be a mind reader. "We're not going to go into heats." He began. "After bonding, I mean. Something about the Apotoxin is preventing it. We'll just be a little more... needy." He cleared his throat, a light blush on his face. "But nothing like the real omegas get into."
Shinichi let out a breath he wasn't aware of holding. That had actually been one of his fears. After Kaito had told him about this. He definitely never wanted to become a sex zombie.
"But Kaito will go into his ruts every now and then, so be prepared for more frequent sick leaves. You definitely won't be walking around much when he pounds into you for 24 hours." Both of them were beet-red at that. It was a good thing their alphas had left them alone.
"Okay... but without those heats, we can still get pregnant?"
"Obviously. I can't exactly say much about the technicalties, you should just wait. Oh, but Haibara will work together with a healer when we do, cause we're sort of unique with the poison/antidote mix in our body. It wouldn't hurt to tell her about the omega thing beforehand. It was rather... not so funny when she found out we kept it from her."
Shinichi nodded with a frown. Yeah, he could imagine Haibara's wrath. "When did you tell her?"
"She examined me when I thought I'd caught a stomach bug. Turned out it was Koichi." Future-Shinichi admitted, scratching his cheek with a finger. "I'm still half-convinced she put the coffee-ban on me only to get back at me."
Wincing, Shinichi nodded again. "Uhm. We're... we're not gonna grow strange... parts, are we?"
"Again, I think you should wait."
"And I guess you aren't allowed to tell me when it will happen?"
To his dismay, his older self shook his head. But he glanced to the empty doorway, checking if they were still alone, and leaned forward in his seat. Shinichi mimicked him. They could still hear the laughter from upstairs.
"I can't say anything about why the kids did this," he gestured around them, "but..." he hesitated.
Shinichi blinked. "They said Elemoria would fall..."
Future-Shinichi nodded with a grave expression. "I believe that everything could be prevented. If..." he bit his lip, "if you'd bond with Kaito sooner than I did."
"When did you...?"
"Pretty late. Too late, apparently. I had so many concerns about the whole pregnancy thing, to be honest." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I'm not a hundred percent sure it would change anything, but... but bonding earlier could help."
Shinichi leaned back in his seat, mulling it over. He could definitely imagine himself drawing this out as long as possible if he didn't know what to expect. But now that one of his fears had been taken away, and he'd seen how happy they were, he guessed it wouldn't be so bad.
His older self glanced around anxiously, as if waiting for something to happen.
That something turned out to be Future-Kaito phasing through the ceiling to stand next to his soulmate, arms crossed as he stared down at him.
"What did you do?"
"What happened?" Older Shinichi also got up, anxiously, already taking a step to check for their children. "Are they...?"
The kids and Kaito entered the library then. Sayuri looked the same as before, but Koichi looked older. The clothes he was wearing were a little tight on him, sleeves and pant-legs too short to cover him fully. He blinked at them with wide eyes.
"That happened." Older Kaito said, while both Shinichi's stared.
"Wait," Shinichi shook his head, "what if I decide to not follow the advice? Would it turn him back?"
Future-Shinichi grimaced. "I just told you it could prevent a catastrophe, I doubt you'd prefer that, knowing myself." He looked at his son. "Are you alright?"
"I think so?" Koichi looked down on himself. "I don't have different memories though."
The room at large stared at the future Kaito then, as if he'd have the answer. But the taller alpha just shrugged. "I guess we only find out if it worked when we get back in our time. My... my memories are starting to get fuzzy."
The time travelers suddenly each developed a splitting headache, grabbing at their heads to ease it as their memories shifted. But nothing was going concrete, as if blocked. They'd really have to go back to find out if anything about the catastrophe changed.
When it finally eased, Future-Kaito anxiously looked at his soulmate, who had a hand over his lower stomach. A sigh of relief from him made his mate relax slightly, touching his cheek lovingly. "Everything okay."
Connecting the dots quickly, Shinichi averted his gaze with a blush. He's thought the tiny bump he'd noticed had been because of too much food, but apparently that wasn't it.
The coffee restraint was making lots of sense now.
Kaito, meanwhile, felt his his heart thump in his throat from surprise and happiness. Oh, he couldn't wait for his own Shin-chan to be ready for this. He was staring in awe at the couple, eyes glued to the small bulge hidden underneath a too baggy shirt, as if seeing it for the first time.
Shinichi noticed how captivated his soulmate was, how his eyes glittered. He really wants this, he thought.
The kids were alright, too, fortunately. Sayuri poked Koichi's chest with a frown, since he was even more taller than her, and it annoyed her. She would probably forget that, though. Their memories had shifted, things had changed for sure.
Future-Kaito had his arm around his mate's waist, fingers lovingly touching the side of the tiny bump in an absent-minded way. "I think it's best if we go back now. Before something happens to us."
He smiled at their younger counterparts as the kids came to stand by them. "Thanks again for looking after them. And don't worry, if anything went wrong I'm coming back to change it." He winked, and suddenly they were enveloped by blue and violet light.
Kaito and Shinichi blinked when they were gone. "That was sudden." The detective muttered.
"They had to... time tampering is dangerous on its own already, but staying in the wrong time after changes were triggered is even more dangerous."
Shinichi sighed and sat down on the loveseat, staring at the mugs on the coffee table. "I hope everything is okay with them."
Smiling, Kaito got comfortable next to him and pulled him to sit between his legs, wrapping around him like a koala. "I'm sure they are fine." He nuzzled into the crook of his neck. "You still had the soulmark, the kids were fine, and the baby too."
One of his hands rubbed over Shinichi's flat belly, making him blush.
"That's the important parts. Everything else, we'll have to see." He sighed, referring to the catastrophe.
Shinichi relaxed back into Kaito's embrace and twisted his head to bury his face in his shoulder, breathing in deeply. "Did Kaito tell you anything?"
A hesitant nod was his answer. "Nothing that should change the future, though. What did Shinichi tell you? Something about Koichi, right?"
Heaving a sigh, Shinichi pulled back to look at his soulmate. "He thinks we should bond sooner that they did. It could prevent the catastrophe the kids have been talking about." He shrugged one shoulder. "I have no idea when they bonded, but it was late, apparently, because I was worried about the whole pregnancy thing."
"And you aren't anymore?"
"Talking to my future self kinda calmed me down, I guess. And getting to know our kids too. I want them to be born, after all." He'd miss the two, but knowing they'd have them in the future made him feel better.
Kaito cupped his cheek and kissed his nose. "I'd love to bond with you as soon as possible, but I don't want you to feel pressured into anything, my love."
"I'm not. It's just... what you said about heats made me worry. But Shinichi said the Apotoxin prevents them from happening. I only get a little hornier than usual."
"Oh... that's good I guess? I mean, I'd be worried about how the poison affects you, but you look damn fine in the future."
He laughed when Shinichi slapped his shoulder with a blush and then hugged him tight, nuzzling him and pressing kisses to every inch he could reach. His hands slipped under the shirt and caressed the soft skin of his mate's stomach, tickling lightly. He really really couldn't wait until there was a baby growing in there. Knowing his Shin-chan was open to it was making his heart burst with happiness. He could wait.
After a few moments of enjoying each other's closeness, Shinichi spoke up again. "Hey... this bonding..."
"Yeah?"
"How does it work? What does it entail?"
Kaito hummed as he mulled this over, tracing a finger over the expanse of skin he'd seen the mating mark on the older Shinichi.
"I'm not sure about any bodily changes with the Apotoxin and antidote in you, to be honest." He shrugged the shoulder Shinichi's head wasn't resting on. "As for the 'how', it happens during sex."
At the blunt statement, Shinichi felt his blush renew. Kaito chuckled softly. "Do you want a soft version or can I be blunt?"
Sighing, Shinichi rubbed at his temple. "Is there a third option?"
That had Kaito laughing. "I'll try." He cleared his throat. "We make love, for starters. And when we cum, I'll bite your neck, right here, letting magic flow to make it permanent. While I do that, I push my knot inside you. It will lock us together for a while."
Shinichi closed his eyes to detach himself from the image.
"The mark will show everyone who you belong to." The possessiveness in the statement made the detective shudder. "As for the knotting... it's supposed to feel really good for both of us. Like a prolonged orgasm."
"How... how big is that knot you're talking about?" Shinichi asked, wary of the already quite impressive package he knew Kaito had.
"Oh, about this thick?" The mage used his hands to indicate the diameter. He had of course jerked of when he's been in puberty, so he knew his body well.
"But don't be scared, your body is made to take it."
"That makes me feel so much better..." Shinichi mumbled sarcastically, annoyed how easily Kaito could talk about this. "Anyways, what then? After we've bonded?"
"First, we let my parents know that it happened, so we can introduce you as my bride to the other courts."
Shinichi chocked on thin air and wanted to glare at Kaito, but the alpha had a strong grip on him, holding him where he was.
"It's bad enough I get referred to as 'mommy' in the future, don't push your luck!"
Laughing, Kaito pressed a kiss to his temple. "Sorry, that's just the wording. Either way, you're officially my omega then, assuring that our offspring is part of the ruling family."
"Hm. Like back in the medieval times, right?"
"Yeah, like that. Though with magic it's a lot more complicated. My mom only had me. If I had been a beta or omega, I wouldn't count as a heir, despite me being male."
Shinichi frowned, but gestured for his mate to continue.
"The magic flows strong through each Court's ruling family tree. It branches off to every member, alphas more than others. If one couple has more alpha kids, the firstborn is the next heir. But if the heir isn't able to produce offspring, or no alpha offspring until he's too old, the strong magic strain moves over to his next born alpha sibling.
For example, the old generation Green Court's ruling couple had two alpha sons. The first-born alpha got the most magic and was responsible as the next ruling family with his wife, while the second alpha son is generally weaker. The first-born's alpha son got more magic than his cousin, despite being both alphas. So far he only had one omega daughter. If he doesn't get an alpha before his wife is too old to conceive, the magic strain will move over to his cousin's family branch and he will get weaker in turn."
"What if it's an only child?"
"It's pretty tricky, everything. See, the ruling couples want to get as many alphas as possible to ensure the magic strain stays in their family. In turn, the magic is split up to more people. If they have only one child to be generally stronger, they risk losing the ruling status if the only kid is a beta.
Take my family for example. I am an only child, my dad too, and his dad and grandfather too. All of them alphas. If we don't produce an alpha offspring until we're too old, the Kurobas lose their status as ruling family of the White Court, and the magic strain will move to the next in line. In our case it went so far back that I'm not sure which family would take over, to be honest."
Kaito scratched at his head. "The White Court holds the strongest magic strain in Elemoria so far. Only-children for at least six generations back."
Shinichi put a hand to his chin in thought. "Do you think that has something to do with the catastrophe? Maybe others were jealous of your family's strength and went against the truce."
Face falling, Kaito nodded. "My future self confirmed that. But he didn't go into specifics." He ran a hand through his mate's soft hair, playing with the tuft sticking up.
"Maybe that's why we had more children. To purposefully weaken the strain?"
Kaito tilted his head. "The catastrophe only happened years after we had both of them, and your future self was already carrying at the time."
"But," Shinichi sat up straighter, "what if this was supposed to happen all along? Like, my future self reassured me about the bonding, making me seriously consider it and ask you. It prompted you to explain all this to me, which made me come to this conclusion."
A raise of a brow. "Time loop? I'm not sure, Shin-chan. If it was, Koichi wouldn't have aged after the talk."
"No but maybe Shinichi came to the same conclusion, only later. And by pushing this on, the suggestion of bonding sooner, I figure it out earlier this time. And if I agree to the bond sooner, I'll probably have Koichi sooner, which made him older, which makes sense. Since Sayuri stayed the same and he was still pregnant."
Kaito chuckled lightly. "I'm not sure you're making any sense at all, to be honest. Time Traveling and whatever it entails makes everything too confusing." It made Shinichi deflate slightly, which prompted the mage to pull him closer and kiss him. "That doesn't mean you aren't right. I just think we should wait it all out and not think too much about this. If things really went haywire, my future self would've come back to make it right somehow."
"You think?"
"Definitely. It worked one time already."
Shinichi hummed and relaxed into the embrace again, head still reeling from the complicated string of thoughts.
"Oh," he said after a few moments. "We need to tell Haibara about the omega thing. Shinichi said it would be okay. And that's she'd work with a healer in the future."
"Hm, alright. I'll talk to mom and dad about healers here in this world."
Hesitating a moment, Shinichi twisted around to wrap his arms around Kaito's neck again. "And about the bonding... give me a little time, okay? I haven't even told my parents about any of this yet."
Kaito smiled, kissing his nose. "Take all the time you need, love."
Shinichi's cheeks heated, but he returned the smile. "I'm gonna give them a call tomorrow to invite them over as soon as they're free."
That had the alpha grin. "I'll invite my parents too, then. They should get to know my in-laws, and my gorgeous soulmate of course."
