Kai-shin- 34. You can taste what your soulmate is eating at the time.

Whoever Kaito's soulmate was, he had complaints. Every day, his taste buds were assaulted by bitter coffee. Or something sour. Or fish. Okay, not everything they ate was bad but would it kill them to eat something sweet every once in a while? Fruit? Please? Kaito popped a chocolate in his mouth because at least sweet milk chocolate complimented strong black coffee. Soulmate, your stomach lining is going to be burned away with that rot.

Kaito made a point to eat something sweet at least once a day to broaden the horizons of his soulmate's palate. Considering how often they chased it with something of a different flavor profile, they appreciated it about as much as he appreciated the frequent disgusting bitter flavors.

If they didn't have enough of an overlap, Kaito probably would have gone crazy. Thankfully, they both had a Japanese palate.

Supposedly, he was going to find his soulmate someday. Kaito didn't really get how the mechanics worked, just that they did. Now knowing who your soulmate was tended to be the tricky part. Keeping track of what acquaintances were eating at any given time was kind of tedious. Kaito tended to keep a running background note to people that reoccurred in his daily life, the reoccurring flavors (like the damn coffee), and the times he had the taste of something on his tongue. Like normal mealtimes, or those weird days where his soulmate wouldn't eat or drink anything for twelve hours, then get coffee like some kind of insane person. They needed a minder. They needed someone to set a clock for meals because for every three days they had a normal food schedule, there was at least one where they skipped a meal or substituted it with something caffeinated. Did they want an ulcer? Were they an adult and had a weird work schedule? A college student with really bad habits? Kaito had an endless list of theories and absolutely no answers because life was fun like that, and fate was a whimsical bitch sometimes.

Anyway. Point being, he was definitely going to have a talk with this person someday.

*0*

Shinichi's soulmate couldn't take a hint. Whoever they were, they would not stop eating sweet things. Shinichi hated it. He hated the taste of refined sugary crap with fake flavoring. If they were going to eat something sweet, couldn't it at least be something with some redeeming health value? A fruit tart? Something? But no, they drank juice and sweetened their black teas and loved chocolate to an extent that was frankly a little alarming. He was going to have to ask them if they had cavities. Or if they had a family history of diabetes because for goodness's sake there was no way that this was healthy.

Also, they had an aversion to fish? Shinichi never tasted it on their end despite noting quite a lot of other Japanese foods, which was pretty weird since fish was a main staple. Maybe they didn't like the smell? They didn't eat terribly other than that, sweet addiction aside. A bit prone to easy to cook foods and eating out, but Shinichi couldn't judge them; he was a teenage boy fending for himself and ate whatever was most convenient too. He could cook, but it wasn't something he enjoyed much, and he got the impression whoever his soulmate was, they had similar feelings. Or maybe their parent didn't cook. Who knew? They could be anywhere from a few days apart in age to a decade given the average of recorded soulmate age differences. They could be anywhere from a student to someone fully established in a career by now, and Shinichi couldn't bring himself to feel too bothered by the specifics.

That said, he had a theory that they were close to him in age based off the fact that alcohol rarely if ever was consumed, and the food preferences fit closer to what he'd expect of his generation, not someone a bit older. Also, he'd been tasting what they ate all his life, so they definitely weren't younger than him, or if they were, not by much. His current theory was that his soulmate was a university student due to a sudden uptick in snacks at odd hours in the morning, but obviously he didn't have proof to back that up.

Shinichi was just waiting for them to eat something terribly distinctive that he'd also eaten to potentially track them to a restaurant he'd visited at some point, but so far no luck. Japan was large amount of land to cover. They probably weren't even in the Tokyo area no matter how much he hoped they were for the sake of convenience and proximity. So yes, Shinichi did want to eventually meet his soulmate with their horrible sugar addiction, but he wasn't holding his breath about it.

And he wasn't saving his heart. There was nothing wrong with falling in love with someone who wasn't his soulmate. Whoever they were, he couldn't imagine having a deeper connection than he did with Ran. So yeah, the universe could take its time shoving him at his soulmate and his soulmate could learn to like what Ran gave him to eat in the meantime.

*0*

The universe was laughing at both of them as Kaitou Kid split a granola bar with an unhappy-looking Edogawa Conan. "Look," Kaito said, "we don't have to get along permanently. This is just a truce."

"A truce," Edogawa said, taking the chunk of granola from him. "But the moment this is over, so is the truce."

"Fair enough." Kaito bit into the bar. It was sweet, but not as sweet as he'd have liked. Then the flavor hit his tongue again, right as Edogawa scrunched up his nose and chewed a bite.

"Too sweet," he complained. Then he froze as he realized the same thing Kaito did.

Kaito took another bite, just to be sure, and saw Edogawa's face go pale even as his eyes seemed to fill up his whole face behind those awful, oversized glasses.

"Are you serious?" Edogawa said, though it didn't seem to be directed at Kaito so much as it was directed at whatever mysterious force in the world created the soulmate bonds.

Clearly that deity had a terrible sense of humor.

Ten-year age difference, huh? Awkward. Although. Wait a minute…

"Wait. You can't be six. I've been tasting terrible coffee since before you'd have been born."

If possible, Edogawa went even paler. Then the color came rushing back as he scowled. "There is no way my soulmate is a thief."

Kaito bit a pointed chunk of granola. "Mm, sorry, fate says otherwise." He swallowed. "You think I want a detective as my soulmate? Please."

"At least I have the moral high ground."

"Do you?" Kaito asked in a false-pleasant voice. "Do you really?" Because if he wasn't actually six (somehow), then he probably wasn't actually Edogawa Conan, which meant he was lying, possibly to everyone in his life. And really, Edogawa was very willing to push legality in pursuit of what he deemed justice. Kaito didn't think stealing a few gems and returning them, even with all the fanfare, was that much worse. "We're both living a lie 'Conan-kun'."

Edogawa twitched. "There's an explanation."

"And you're not going to tell me, are you?" Edogawa remained silent. Of course. Ugh. About the only thing that Kaito could see in him as a soulmate was the way his brain worked, but he supposed he'd have to make peace with that. He did want to have his soulmate in his life even if it was someone like annoying-terrifying Edogawa. "It wasn't a curse, was it?"

"A what?" Edogawa looked at him like he was crazy. "You're not telling me you believe in magic."

"Oh no, of course not," Kaito lied. Look, he hadn't believed in actual magic either, but facing a witch gave perspective. "Just wondering if there's a cure for it."

"A lot of experimental science and an antidote that doesn't exist yet," Edogawa said.

"Hm."

"… I still don't like you."

Kaito sighed and pressed a hand to his chest like Edogawa had shot him. "Hated by my own soulmate! Tragic!"

"Oh, go jump in a lake."

"Hell no, I don't like swimming that much."

"…I'm still going to try to get you arrested." Edogawa said.

"And I'm still going to steal. This doesn't change anything." Lies; it changed something, but Kaito wasn't sure how it would play out yet.

…He didn't think this was a romantic soulmate situation, but hey, who knew? Maybe under all that detective-ness and six-year-old appearance was someone Kaito could like and admire. …Hmm. Yeah, he wasn't going to deal with that right now.

"Now are you still going to help me catch that gunman?" Edogawa said after an uncomfortably long pause between them.

Kaito snorted. "Of course. I do have lines I don't cross in my morals, detective."

"I know you do, or we'd never have a truce in the first place."

Kaito was going to sit him down someday and pick his brain because Edogawa Conan made no sense. "We're going to get back to you not being six at some point. But I am prioritizing getting rid of a public threat first. And don't think we won't be talking. I know where you live."

"Of course I get a stalker as a soulmate."

"Not a stalker, prepared. Knowing your enemy is a step toward staying ahead of them." Kaito dusted crumbs from his gloves.

Weird as the whole thing was, he supposed he could do worse than Edogawa Conan as a soulmate. At least Edogawa wasn't evil. Annoying, persistent, and reckless yes, but also caring, determined, and smart. They'd work things out. Maybe. Possibly. If they didn't try to kill ach other from their differences first. …Was the universe sure it hadn't made a mistake on this one?