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

Pairings: Kaito x Shinichi

WARNINGS: shounan ai (boy/boy pairing), you have been warned

Dark Side Chances

By V. Shalyr

File 12

Return

It took no time at all for the news to spread through Beika; Kudou Shinichi was back after years of unexplained absence. The air buzzed with rumor and speculation, made all the wilder and more outlandish by the detective's refusal to provide a satisfactory explanation for his disappearance.

"We heard that you've been overseas. Is that true?"

"I did do some traveling."

"Can you confirm that you were involved in the recent disbandment of a worldwide criminal organization?"

"Sorry, I'm not sure what you're talking about."

"Have you been secretly helping the police all this time? Or what about rumors that you've been working with the FBI?"

"You shouldn't believe everything you hear."

"Please tell us about some of your recent cases."

"Sorry, but I'd prefer not to."

It was a good thing that Shinichi wasn't living at his old residence anymore, because the last time he'd attempted to return and collect some of his things, he'd found journalists practically camping on the front lawn. If this kept up, he'd have to start going out in disguise just to avoid being ambushed by eager reporters.

"I could always sneak you in sometime," Kaito offered. "Or I could go pick up whatever it is you wanted if you make a list."

Shinichi lowered the arm he had placed over his eyes and stared up at the living room ceiling. "Thanks, but it's just been such a long time. I wouldn't even know where to start if I don't get a look around."

Kaito came to stand by the couch, looking thoughtfully down at him. "I could always disguise myself as you and lure the reporters away. Could be fun."

Shinichi considered this seriously. It was highly unlikely that these journalists would be able to catch up with Kaito, and even if they did, the thief was a master at answering questions without giving away any real information.

"Just... please don't say anything I wouldn't say."

The magician scoffed. "Who do you think you're talking to?"

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Rounds

"Kudou!"

Shinichi winced at the loud shout that reached him even where he was situated in his room on the second floor of his family manor. Somehow, it didn't surprise him that Hattori would be one of the first to seek him out. He stayed sitting on the floor for a moment, staring at the suitcase he was packing, then sighed and stood up. He had better go let the Osaka detective in before he brought the reporters back or broke down the door with the way he was pounding on it.

"Why didn't you tell me you took the antidote? I had to find out through the newspapers!"

Oops.

"Sorry. A lot's been happening, and I sort of forgot."

Well, maybe not "forgot" exactly. He'd hoped to put off reintroducing himself to his old friends and acquaintances until he'd gotten used to being back.

"But you're back to working with the Beika police."

"Yeah."

Hattori deflated somewhat. His friend looked pale and thin—and just not quite the same as the Kudou Shinichi he remembered. He'd seen the growing weariness in the other detective's eyes before he left the Mouri Detective Agency, but still... He looked tired.

"Hey, are you feeling okay? That antidote didn't have any side effects or anything, did it?"

"I'm just still adjusting."

"And you're still living... wherever it is you've been living?"

Shinichi nodded.

"You going to tell me where that is now?"

The blue-eyed detective hesitated. "I'm sharing an apartment with someone closer to Ekoda. He's... a friend."

He couldn't explain more than that without giving away secrets that weren't his to give. He and the magician had yet to discuss how to formally introduce Kuroba Kaito into Kudou Shinichi's life.

"A friend, huh? So am I going to meet this guy or what?"

"I'm hoping that you will, when things settle down."

Hattori's gaze dropped to the open suitcase. There was no need to state the obvious—that Shinichi wasn't moving back.

"Congratulations, by the way," Shinichi said at last, breaking the uncomfortable silence. "I heard that you've officially joined the police force. I guess that makes you a full-fledged detective now."

"Yeah, it was about time anyway. Not that it feels that different, to be honest."

They weren't in high school anymore. Somewhere along the way, they'd moved on. Grown up.

Hattori thought with sudden clarity that maybe that was what felt different.

"So... have you spoken to her yet?"

Shinichi looked away. "Not yet. I was going to go see her after this."

"I see." Hattori sighed. "Listen, I know we kind of left off on the wrong foot last time we talked... I guess you've had a lot going on, and maybe I should have listened a bit more. Just... don't forget that I'm your friend, okay? Don't go disappearing on us again."

Shinichi looked at his suitcase. He might not be moving back here, but all the same, "I'm not planning to."

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Unsaid

Ran lowered her phone and glanced at the clock for the umpteenth time that afternoon. Shinichi had said that he wanted to talk, and she did want to see him... But honestly, she had no idea what they were going to talk about. Their last conversation had been painful for both of them.

"I can't do this anymore, Shinichi. I can't just keep waiting for you like this."

"Ran..."

"Do you even realize how much I worry about you? Always wondering if you're hurt. Always wondering if you're going to come back at all. Why can't you just come home? Or at least visit a little more? Is that really so much to ask?"

"I'm sorry."

An apology hadn't been what she'd wanted.

The doorbell rang, and Ran jumped. She'd kicked her father out of the agency for this, so the apartment was almost eerily quiet. Taking a deep breath, she squared her shoulders and marched across the living room to open the door.

The young man on her doorstep had a baseball hat pulled low over his face. He kept casting anxious glances over his slightly hunched shoulders, and the blue jacket he had on seemed slightly too big for him.

"You know you look really suspicious right now," Ran said dryly, although she stepped aside and shut the door behind him without waiting for an explanation.

Shinichi pulled the hat off with a heavy sigh. "Sorry. It's the reporters. They just won't leave me alone."

"You can't really blame them. You're a famous person, remember?"

She wasn't sure what she'd expected. What she had not expected was the resigned, "I know. I'm really starting to wish that I wasn't."

An awkward silence descended between them. Shinichi glanced down at his shoes then around at the familiar sitting room. Finally, Ran cleared her throat.

"Coffee?"

"Um, coffee sounds good. Thanks."

Neither of them spoke while she retrieved two clean mugs from the kitchen and poured them each a cup of the steaming, brown liquid. Shinichi thanked her, and they sat facing one another on the office couches, the mugs warming their hands.

She hated feeling so uncomfortable.

She hated the fact that the person facing her across the low table seemed like a stranger, even though he didn't look that different from the Shinichi she remembered. It was little consolation that she could tell he felt it too. There was something not unlike sadness in his eyes, and it made her feel a little sad too. Like they'd lost something that maybe they wouldn't be able to get back.

"I'm glad that you aren't hurt," she said at last. "Are you... back for good?"

"I think so. The case I was helping with... We finally wrapped everything up a few weeks ago."

Ran nodded. "I'm glad."

And she was—she really was, even though she wished he'd come back looking happier and that she felt happier to see him.

Shinichi looked down into the depths of his coffee then back up at her face. "So... you'll be graduating soon?"

"In spring. And I'm interning at mother's law firm."

"You've decided on becoming a lawyer too?"

"That's the plan at least. So far, it's been great."

She didn't ask him where he had been or what he'd been doing. She'd already asked those questions too many times before.

.

Mending Bridges

"Invite her."

"What?"

Kaito handed him the phone. "We'll have dinner at the Ivy House. I've already made reservations."

"Isn't this kind of sudden? And what if she has class?"

"She doesn't, and not at all. You've been moping around for days." The magician's expression was serious when he continued. "You're not like me. You have friends that you can hold on to. Good friends. You should hold onto them."

So it was that that evening found Kaito, Shinichi, and Ran seated on the veranda of a classy, Italian restaurant surrounded by other tables of cheerful, chattering customers intent on enjoying a relaxing night out. The detective had been nervous about this. He had no idea what Ran would think of his new companion, and what would he say if she asked him how they'd met? How the hell was he going to explain why they were living together?

He really needn't have worried.

The moment the waiter left with their orders, Kaito introduced himself with a winning smile and handed Ran a rose. He'd met Shinichi during a KID heist in the past, he explained, and then helped him out on a recent case. That was all true, and it explained both a lot and very little. It could have applied to all manner of people, but Kaito made that seem unimportant.

"He's told me a lot about you," he said, "and I'm glad to meet such a good friend of his. Is it true that your father is the detective Mouri Kogoro?"

And with that, the conversation became about her. Kaito asked her about her classes and her work with her mother, and he laughed with her about the little oddities and worries of college life—a lot of which Shinichi knew the magician hadn't really taken part in or experienced.

Shinichi wasn't sure if it was the rose or the smile—or just the way the magician could portray such genuine interest and affability, but by the time their food arrived, Ran had already warmed up to him. Now and then, Kaito would ask Shinichi a question and bring the detective into the conversation, and each time he did this, the ice that had built up between the two childhood friends melted a little bit more. It was all orchestrated so naturally that Shinichi didn't realize it was happening until he found himself laughing with them too.

Part of him wondered at how frighteningly good Kaito was at this, how easy it was for the magician to manipulate the relationships between different people. But most of him was just incredibly grateful that he finally felt as though he was beginning to tie together the broken ends of his past with the new threads of his future.

.

Missing

The car was quiet on the way back to their apartment after they had dropped Ran off before the Mouri Detective Agency.

"I'd say that went well," Kaito said.

Shinichi made a sound of agreement in his throat, his gaze wandering to the streetlights passing by beyond the passenger side window.

"So then why the long face?"

It took the detective a moment to find the right words. "I guess it just sank in that I missed out on almost my entire high school career. And college... I mean, I never got to attend classes with everyone."

Sure, he'd already gotten his degree, but taking online classes just wasn't the same.

"You've applied to the police academy though."

"I know. But... I can't help feeling like part of my life is missing."

Stolen from him really.

"The past few years... It's been nothing like the life I thought I'd have."

Kaito turned the car onto their street and then into the parking garage under the building. "You're on your way to making an official career as a detective. That's what you wanted, right? Maybe you didn't get here the way you thought you would, but you're here now. Sounds like a good enough deal to me."

Shinichi considered this. "I know. It's just that it suddenly feels like there's so much I never got a chance to do. I ended up going through elementary school twice, and then suddenly, I'm twenty-one—only part of me still feels like I'm supposed to be sixteen."

Kaito parked the car and turned off the engine, but made no move to get out. The two of them sat in the silent vehicle looking out at the dimly lit rows of other cars, and it felt suddenly strange just how different from normal their lives had been. Not that they hadn't realized this before, of course, but talking with Ran had brought it all home somehow.

"Why don't we make a list?" Kaito said finally. "Anything you've ever thought of doing as a teenager, and things that most people have done that you want to do just so you can think to yourself that you've done them. It could even be a list of what "normal" people do—just for fun. We've got time."

Shinichi snorted. "You know that's not really the same."

The magician shrugged. "Normal's overrated anyway. What's the fun in being just like everyone else?"

It was just such a "Kaito" thing to say that Shinichi had to smile. The disquieting sense of melancholy that had settled over him eased, and when Kaito moved around to open the passenger's side door for him and offered him a rose with the declaration that they could start their list with a trip to the theatre and unhealthy amounts of popcorn, Shinichi accepted the flower with a minimum of embarrassed grumbling. Once they got upstairs, he found a tall, glass cup, filled it with water, placed the rose in it, and set it on the nightstand in his room.

Ran's rose had been yellow.

Shinichi's was red.

He endeavored not to notice this.

TBC...

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