DCMK || KaiShin || DCMK || KaiShin || The Glow of Love || KaiShin || DCMK || KaiShin || DCMK
Title: The Glow of Love – Soulmates Shining Bright
Fandom: Detective Conan / Magic Kaito
Disclaimer: All rights reserved to Gosho Aoyama for he created the awesomeness that is Kaitou KID. Ah, and Detective Conan, too. This fanfiction on the other hand is entirely mine. No money is made with this, though reviews are more than welcomed.
Tags: m/m, soulmate AU, fluff, angst, f/f, m/f
Main Pairing: Kaito/Shinichi
Side Pairings: Ran/Aoko, Makoto/Sonoko
DC/MK Characters: Kudou Shinichi | Edogawa Conan, Kuroba Kaito | Kaitou KID, Nakamori Aoko, Mouri Ran, Suzuki Sonoko, Sera Masumi, Kyogoku Makoto, Hakuba Saguru
Summary: Soulmates knew they found their match by touch. During a heist, Aoko and Ran touch. They're eager to meet each other's friends. While he had never touched Kaitou KID's bare skin before, Conan touched Kuroba Kaito that afternoon – and doesn't know what to do with that.
The Glow of Love
Soulmates Shining Bright
Sonoko had been the first one to find her soulmate – and Makoto was pretty much everything the fairy tales made it out to be. He looked at her like she hung the stars and the moon into the sky, carrying her on his arms like she was a princess. It had made Shinichi feel slightly envious, because he'd always dreamed of finding his soulmate. Yes, he wasn't a very romantic person, but there was something about the idea of soulmates that appealed to him. His parents were soulmates, he'd always seen the love that soulmates could share, the camaraderie and ease to a soul-bond. When he had first met Ran, he had been eager to shake her hand and then deflated when nothing happened.
Soulmates found each other through touch. The first time soulmates touched, the touch emitted a bright, silver light. When the light ebbed down, there would be matching marks at the place their skin had contact. Shinichi always wondered who his would be and what their mark would be.
It was after a regular heist, the kind Shinichi had attended surely a dozen times at this point, when his entire body was still buzzing with the adrenaline of the chase and he was grinning from the excitement of figuring another one of Kaitou KID's riddles out, that his too-short legs carried him back over toward Sonoko and Ran, just to find them even more excited than him. Well, Sonoko was always excited about heists, even though she had found her soulmate, she still admired her KID-sama. Seeing Ran jump up and down with her though? Flustered brightly?
"Ne, ne, Ran-nee-chan? What's going on?" Shinichi asked in his best Conan voice.
It was so frustrating to him, to have to pretend to be a little child just because he was stuck in this body. That was one of the reasons why he loved KID heists so much. As the KID Killer, he had earned himself a certain amount of respect from the cops involved, even Nakamori begrudgingly shared intel with him, without Shinichi needing some adult he could con into asking the questions he wanted answered. He got his most freedom at heists, not to mention the mystery that KID presented. The white-clad thief was brilliant, he was a true challenge and without the deaths that his usual mysteries accompanied. Even beyond the thievery and mystery, when the two of them would meet up on the rooftop at the end of a heist, Shinichi would get to talk to someone who didn't look down on him, who treated him like an equal. Sure, he had the professor, Haibara and Hattori, but – it was different with KID. He couldn't entirely pinpoint it, but it just was.
"Ran met her soulmate!" exclaimed Sonoko, voice high in excitement.
Shinichi blinked slowly. Oh. He hadn't expected that. He'd always hoped he'd at least get to be there, as Shinichi, to hug his best friend and congratulate her. But he was still stuck as Conan. He was stuck as Conan while Ran found her soulmate. Quickly, he forced a smile.
"Wow! That is amazing, Ran-nee-chan! Who is it?" Conan craned his neck.
"Oh, she... she left already," Ran flushed brightly, giggling a bit. "It's Nakamori Aoko, Nakamori-keibu's daughter. I... I've seen her before during heists, she apparently drops off lunch for her father on occasion. But me and Sonoko were with her uncle, near the inspector, and so we... talked, after she gave the food to her father and then we introduced ourselves and shook hands and-"
"It glowed so brightly!" Sonoko gasped, throwing her hands up. "I've never actually seen it. I mean, I saw mine and Makoto's, but it was my own, that's different. I've never seen soulmates find each other before, oh, it was beautiful and then they both blushed and look!"
She grabbed Ran's hand and pulled it down to show it to Conan. On her palm sat a blue orchid. A small smile spread over Conan's face at that, his heart heavy. He was happy for her, but he also felt envious because he had dreamed of this for so long and now it seemed he would be the last among his friends who was going to find his soulmate. If he ever found his soulmate. It'd be just his luck if he was one of the people who never found his soulmate. Then again, considering his current situation, it was probably for the best. Having a soulmate to worry about and a soulmark to hide...
/break\
Sonoko had invited Makoto along, of course, to meet Ran's soulmate properly. Ran and Aoko had arranged for a meeting with each other and their best friends. Sera, Sonoko and Makoto. And, of course, Conan. He wanted to meet his best friend's soulmate. Ran had called him on his Shinichi-phone last night, voice so excited. She'd asked him if he could come over and it broke his heart that he couldn't be there, but he promised her that as soon as he'd return, he wanted to meet her.
"Aoko-chan," Ran's face brightened as three people entered the room.
She was cute, with the messiest brown hair Shinichi had ever seen, a big smile on her face as she spotted Ran and waved at her. Following her were two boys, one of them Hakuba Saguru, the teen detective, and the other a brunette boy with similarly messy brown hair. Her brother, perhaps?
"Ran-chan!" Aoko pulled her soulmate into a hug. "I'm so glad to see you again. These are my friends, Kuroba Kaito and Hakuba Saguru."
Everyone sat down together as they made introductions. Apparently, Kuroba and Hakuba were classmates of Aoko's, Kuroba being her childhood best friend. It made Ran laugh and bring up Shinichi and how much she wished she could introduce him too. Making Shinichi feel guilty and sink down in his chair. Sonoko hit it off right away with Kuroba, both gushing about Kaitou KID and the heist. The irony of Nakamori-keibu's daughter being best friends with a KID fan. Not that Shinichi minded that, Kuroba seemed nice enough. He performed a few small tricks throughout their meal and talked with so much passion and excitement about magic, the same kind Shinichi recognized from himself when he was talking about Holmes.
"See, I would have done this trick differently, but I guess KID-san aimed for showman ship and had to cover a broader audience," noted Kuroba with a thoughtful frown.
Shinichi tilted his head, listening interested. "So you come up with your own tricks too, Kaito-nii-chan? Not just small tricks, even bigger ones?"
Kuroba looked startled and laughed a little. "Yeah, you could say that, I guess."
"You guess?" Aoko huffed and turned toward Shinichi. "Conan-kun, you should see the elaborate pranks Kaito performs in class! KID channels his magic into breaking the law and theft, Kaito channels his magic into being a brat and a general nuisance."
There was an amused smirk on Hakuba's lips, as though there was something else. Shinichi wondered what that was about. Just the outsider looking into the banter between childhood friends? Or was there more? His eyes narrowed as he turned toward Kuroba, watching him closely.
"Ah! She's dead!" someone screeched from the back of the restaurant.
Hakuba, Sera and Shinichi immediately jumped up to run over and check. It was nice to have Hakuba there, the blonde had been very accepting of Shinichi's deductions during the Sunset Mansion case and even more so when they met again at the Detective Koushien. He didn't try to hold Shinichi back because Conan was just a little boy, he accepted that Conan was very bright.
"If my deductions are correct, then the culprit must be-" Hakuba broke off as the murderer ran.
"Damn it," Sera cussed beneath her breath, taking off after the man.
So did Shinichi. His short legs made it hard to keep up but his height also had the advantage that he could push past people's legs where Hakuba and Sera were being held back by the crowd. Shinichi ran with single-minded focus. So single-minded, he didn't notice they were heading for the open street. He didn't watch out for traffic, too wrapped up in the chase to notice the car heading straight toward him and if not for someone grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and yanking him back, he would now be detective pancake. Conan hung slack in the grip of whoever had saved him.
"Oi, oi, little detective, you need to watch out for yourself bett...er..."
The shock of near-death was quickly replaced by a different kind of shock as a blindingly bright silver light spread out from his neck, over his shoulders. With terrified, wide eyes did Shinichi turn to look at Kuroba Kaito, whose purple-blue eyes were just as wide. At least he put Conan down gently instead of dropping him on the ground. The teenager gulped hard, his mouth hanging open.
No. This couldn't be happening. And not like this. Shinichi had always imagined meeting someone and immediately feeling this spark, this connection, and then they'd touch and the soul-bond would confirm it. Kuroba seemed like a nice enough guy, but it hadn't felt that way. Never mind that this was an absolute disaster. Shinichi was Conan. He looked like an eight year old child, what was Kuroba supposed to think now? And if – if – Shinichi ever managed to turn back, how was he supposed to explain this? Or was he supposed to explain it now? Endanger his soulmate by dragging him into this mess? How much must Kuroba hate him for that, then?
Struggling, Shinichi dislodged himself from the other's grip and ran off as fast as his legs could carry him, to the Kudou Mansion. Once there, he remembered to at least type a quick message to Ran, a stupid excuse that he had forgotten he was supposed to meet Haibara to study for a test. He found his way to his bedroom and curled together on his bed, legs drawn up against his chest.
He had a soulmate. He should be happy about this. He'd wanted this for so long. But now... Now was the worst possible time for him to find his soulmate. The Black Organization still wanted him dead. If they ever realized who he was, his soulmate would have the biggest target on his back. He was dragging Kuroba into his awful, grim, dark life. Into danger.
It'd be better like this. If he just... hid. Avoided Kuroba. There was no way Kuroba had missed what had happened, the light was very blinding and he must have a mark – where? On his fingers? Knuckles, perhaps – but Kuroba might not want this either. Must not want this. What teenager would want to be stuck with a damn child? Everyone dreamed of an epic romance with their soulmate, or a bond of deep, unbreakable friendship. What kind of joke must this be to him? Settled with some random brat? No, Kuroba would probably be happy to avoid him too.
Shinichi gritted his teeth, his grip on his legs tightening as another thought crossed his mind. An involuntary thought. A flash of white, a bright, downright manic smirk splitting his face, monocle sparkling in the moonlight. Kaitou KID. Shinichi groaned, hiding his face in his knees. He knew he liked the thief. He hadn't considered how much he might like the thief. But yes. Perhaps he'd thought about it once or twice before, that during some occasion, his skin would grace KID's and the night-sky would brighten with the light of their soul-bond and he'd know. He'd finally know why this thief was so special, why he kept coming back for more even though he didn't care for thieves, why no one could challenge his mind the way KID did. But apparently not. Apparently, all of that had just been in his head and he had made up this stupid fairy tale story.
/break\
Kaito had been surprised two nights ago, after the heist, when Aoko had tackled him in a hug and laughed, exclaiming that she had found her soulmate. She'd arranged a meeting, because she wanted him to meet her. What Kaito had not seen coming was for it to be Mouri Ran and for her to bring Sonoko, Makoto, Sera and tantei-kun. This was going to be a test, Kaito had known it the second those too wise blue eyes zeroed in on Kaito. For the entirety of dinner, Kaito was tense and feared for tantei-kun to figure out who he was. Thankfully, he found distraction in conversation with Sonoko, while Hakuba seemed too distracted by talking to Sera about detective stuff, so at least the blonde annoyance couldn't blow Kaito's cover. Though the few times he actually did talk to tantei-kun had Kaito all excited. It was different, outside a heist.
And then someone died. Because of course did someone die. Kaito rolled his eyes fondly as he saw his Great Detective run off, trailed directly by Hakuba and Sera. It was nice to see Shinichi in his element like this, solving a crime, without having to fear for his own skin because he was the criminal Shinichi tried to nail. But then the culprit took off, thinking he could escape. Kaito was out of his seat, following right away, trying to stop him but also knowing that his tantei-kun had a tendency to run headfirst into danger without even thinking.
As proven by the fact that Edogawa Conan ran straight into traffic without checking. Thankfully, Kaito had good reflexes because he reached out for his detective and grabbed him by the collar to lift him up and pull him off the street. He wasn't wearing gloves. During heists, he always wore gloves. Even when he was in a civilian disguise, he wore latex-like, skin-colored gloves, to prevent leaving finger-prints anywhere. His costume also covered all of his skin, aside from his face, and no one got close enough to touch that. He had carried his detective around so often in the past, cradling him against his chest as they soared through the night-sky, but he had never touched Conan before. Never touched bare skin to bare skin in any capacity, even though they'd been doing this for one and a half years now, their game of cat and mouse. Not once had their skin graced.
Until now. Until Kaito the civilian, with his guard down and no costume or cover, had acted on impulse and saved Shinichi's life, yet again. The glow emitting from where their skin touched was the most amazing thing Kaito had ever seen. He had slowly put Conan down and his mind raced with a billion questions and things he wanted or should say. What should be said in that situation? He had been overcome with joy and excitement, laughter bubbling in his chest.
Before he had fully gathered himself, Conan had taken off, running down the street. Not even chasing the suspect anymore. Running away. Away from Kaito. His chest hurt at that and his eyes wandered down to his right hand. On his fingers, beneath his knuckles, sat one symbol each, because he had graced Conan's neck as he grabbed him by the collar. A black clover, a red diamond, a white spade and a blue heart, the shade of KID's hat-band. He quirked his lips at the mark and then shoved his hand deep into his pocket. By the time he returned to the restaurant, Ran had already gotten a text from Conan saying he had to study, which was so clearly an excuse to avoid Kaito. What a blow to the guts. His soulmate – worse yet, his tantei-kun – had fled from him.
It took him some, the walk home and then feeding his doves, for him to come around on it. This was different for Shinichi than it was for Kaito. Kaito knew. Kaito knew that Conan was Shinichi, that this was his tantei-kun, the one he considered his rival, friend and ally, the one he would talk to under the moonlight, the one he had saved a plane with and defeated terrorists with. All these months of history between them... Shinichi didn't know that he shared those with Kaito. To him, Kuroba Kaito was just a stranger. Perhaps, instead of sulking on his own, he should seek out his soulmate, so they could talk. Instead of making up worst case scenarios in his head about why Shinichi had rejected him, he should go and actually talk to his soulmate. Ask him.
In a moment, he was changed. Changed into an outfit that might make it easier for Shinichi to talk to him. He took his hang-glider to the Kudou Manor, suspecting that this was where tantei-kun was hiding out. Light in Shinichi's bedroom. Landing on the roof, he got in through the window.
"Now, now, tantei-kun, isn't it past little detectives' bedtime," teased Kaito.
Conan's head snapped up and he looked at KID wide-eyed. "What are you doing here?"
"Checking up on my favorite critic. Are you doing okay?" Kaito's voice dropped to a soft whisper.
He walked over to Shinichi to sit next to him on the bed. The way the detective sat hunched over, chin resting on his knees, it bared his neck. The same row of four symbols were there, just below his collar, and it made Kaito feel warm and possessive and flustered.
"I found my soulmate," Conan sighed heavily, tilting his head to look at KID.
"That's... reason to celebrate, isn't it? You don't look cheerful," noted Kaito.
"I'm sure the guy's gonna be ecstatic that his soulmate is an eight year old brat," Conan snorted with a sardonic look on his face. "Every teenage boy's dream, some shota match-up."
"Oi, oi, it's not like you're really eight," argued Kaito, nudging the detective gently.
"What do you suggest?" Conan huffed darkly. "That I drag him into the mess that is my life? 'Hey, yes, I'm not actually eight! I'm supposed to be eighteen by now but I got poisoned and the poison shrank me! Yes, the evil syndicate of assassins is still after me, thanks for asking, and now you, a completely innocent civilian, have a target on your back too, just because you're stuck with me as your soulmate! Sweet deal, right? But at least the universe doesn't want you to be a pedophile!'..."
Kaito couldn't help but laugh at how surreal all that sounded and how relieved he felt. So Shinichi hadn't been immediately repulsed by him or anything. He was worried about Kaito. Conan glared at him, the glare that suggested Kaito was going to earn a soccer to the guts if he didn't stop soon. As he calmed down, he slowly folded his hands in his lap, holding his right hand by the fingers.
"You know the thing about soulmates, tantei-kun?" asked Kaito gently. "They're a gift from the universe. They are the person who is best suited for you. In your case, that has to be someone who can share your burden. Help you on your mission. Not someone who can only be used against you."
"That's the dream," muttered Shinichi with a sad look on his face. "But you know my luck. I'm probably going to get my soulmate killed after severely freaking him out."
"I'm not that freaked out. And I'm pretty good at not getting killed," quipped Kaito.
He grasped the tips of his glove and slowly started to tug it off, while Conan grunted. "What are you talking about, stupid thief? We were talking about me and my problems for a change. Don't be so egotistic to turn everything into being about you."
"But..." Kaito's glove came off and he put it in his pocket before wiggling his fingers at Conan.
"Why would you show me your soul-mark? Are you actually stupid?" Shinichi stared wide-eyed at him. "That's distinguishable! You know how easy it'll be to track you down based on that-"
"Oh," Kaito huffed out a laugh and shook his head. "Right. Back of your neck. You haven't even seen it yet yourself, have you? Wait, let me help you out with that."
In a puff of pink smoke did he make a large hand-mirror appear and then he held it so Shinichi could actually see the mark on his neck. The detective froze, staring at the four symbols on his neck and then turning to look at KID's ungloved hand and the matching symbols on it.
"As I was saying, but... this is also about me, tantei-kun," Kaito grinned. "Call me Kaito, mh?"
In another puff of pink smoke did he change out of his costume and into the same clothes he had been wearing earlier at the restaurant. Conan's eyes widened, before he doubled over in laughter, resting his forehead against Kaito's stomach as all unease and worry melted off him.
"You might be right," whispered Conan softly. "About the soulmate-thing."
~*~ The End ~*~
Author's note: Seeing as Valentine's Day fell onto a Monday, I figured I'd do something extra fun! So, a lil KaiShin soulmate AU it is! This was brought to you by: The MK opening when Ran and Aoko look at each other and touch and it starts glowing because my brain went "oooh soulmate AU visual. oh wait Ran/Aoko soulmates to make Shin and Kaito meet and realize THEY are also soulmates? :O"