-FIRSTS-
Disclaimer: The works of Detective Conan and Magic Kaito belongs to Gosho Aoyama-sensei.
Warning: KaiShin relationship.
A/N: Writing is coming along really slow these past few days. That's why this chapter update is delayed.
First Change
Kaito looked at the dozen of cardboard boxes all stacked at the center of their newest living space. It felt surreal to move out of their respective homes and into this small apartment. Now begins a new chapter of their life, leaving high-school behind and entering university. The two had opted to move to a place closer to Touto University, deciding to share an actual apartment instead of staying in student accommodations.
'At least here we have our own kitchen and baths even if it's only a studio apartment.' Kaito looked out the window, hearing Shinichi driving the rental car back to the shops. They were only on the third floor so some street level sounds could still penetrate into the room. The small apartment was unfortunately not furnished but they managed to scour the attics of their respective homes to find furniture and accessories to make this more like a home rather than a temporary abode. 'Good thing our parents were willing to foot the first installment.' It was a bonus that the owner had wanted the sell the place and was willing to let them pay for it through rent. Though they had to pay at least a quarter of the selling price before they could do so. With Shinichi becoming an official consultant to the police and taking on more private cases and Kaito having semi permanent shows at surrounding theaters and clubs, the two could afford this place and pay for their bills.
"Well, no time like the present." Kaito rolled up his sleeve and began the arduous work of unpacking the boxes.
Kaito was at it for nearly an hour when Shinichi came back with bags of grocery and their lunch.
"I take it the going is tough?" He looked about forlornly, noticing the emptiness of the place but knows that it would be filled with the clutter of everyday life soon enough. There were still many full boxes in the center of the room, the furniture still haphazardly placed in a single group next to the boxes where he last dropped off their things, even if the larger furniture had been placed strategically such as the bed at the back, and the bookcase to separate the sleeping space with the living space. The only consolation seems to be Kaito having given this place a thorough cleaning and is now devoid of any possible dust. Strangely enough, his doves were picking at the sticky tape by the ground, possibly trying to entertain themselves, but it was the first time Shinichi has seen the birds acting like birds for a change (instead of the usual headache inducing menace that many claims them to be. Shinichi didn't know why people kept insisting as they have been nothing but sweethearts towards him.)
Kaito picked up on Shinichi's mood. "Missing the library already?" He came up to hug his detective, joining at the waist, looking at the empty bookcase. "Think about it this way, you'll be able to start your own collection of books now. Yuusaku-san made the library into his own and now, you can create your own library."
"Don't think there's enough space though." Shinichi placed a kiss on the tip of the nose before pulling slightly away but still maintaining the close contact.
"When your collection has grown beyond what this place could hold, I'm sure it's time we moved out anyways." Kaito returned the gesture, only allowing himself to carry on his actions to extend beyond the face and towards the neck.
"Kaito." Shinichi's stern voice broke through, met with a playful and cheeky grin. Kaito backed off. "Not until we've settled." The detective knew it was impossible to tell him to stop, so better to set the time and place rather than let him do as he pleased.
Kaito's eye widened at the implied free reign. He renewed his efforts in clearing the boxes.
"Lunch." Shinichi stated clearly, pointing at the bag of food on the kitchen counter. Kaito was glad that his detective had finally picked up the habit of eating regularly, though it had taken quite a lot of effort to enforce this idea by both his mother and himself.
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University didn't seem all that different, to Kaito it was still mind numbingly dull with very little in terms of challenge. Unfortunately, Shinichi's chosen discipline had him in another part of the campus, on the side of law, whereas Kaito stuck with the more hands-on mechanical engineering. It seems like worlds apart for Kaito even if they promised each other for lunch. On the plus side, he wasn't alone. Strangely enough, the female detective did not choose law, rather, she went with science.
"You're planning to join the police force aren't you? Wouldn't it have been better to take law or something like that?" Kaito asked out of curiosity as they waited for the rest of their friends; the two detectives, Aoko, Akako, Ran, and Sonoko.
"It's not really a requirement and I hated the memorization we have to do for law based subjects. 'Sides, there's training courses when you join, anything I have to remember, I'll do it then. What about Kudo-kun and Hakuba-kun? Do you know if they're joining the force?"
"Probably only Hakuba. Shinichi seems to have set his eyes on staying a detective consultant."
"Following Holmes' footstep." Sera nodded knowingly. "Shouldn't surprise me given his nickname."
The detectives arrived first before the girls, though it was expected as restaurant they have chosen was closer to the detectives' faculty building.
"Apologies for the lateness, the lecturer would not let us go." Hakuba settled in a free seat, furthest away from Kaito. "He was a fan of our work, or more specifically of Kudo's."
Kaito immediately bristled.
"He was only curious." Shinichi replied, laying a calming kiss at Kaito's temple to sooth his ruffled feathers. "Did you wait for long?"
Instead of letting Shinichi into a free seat, Kaito pulled him onto his lap, startling the detective. Shinichi let out a grunt at the sudden movement and was about to protest when Kaito's arms sneaked around his waist holding him in place.
"Jealousy is unbecoming of you." Shinichi whispered lowly. As much as he wanted to keep this conversation private, their current table companions have excellent hearing and caught every single word for they were trying to hold back the curving of lips but failing spectacularly.
Kaito did not waste the chance, seeing as they were seated in a shadowed corner and away from immediate sight of the other patrons, he began to lay claim to his detective. As his lips crushed against the warm skin and throbbing pulse, he could feel the small shudder Shinichi let out.
"Kaito!" Shinichi renewed his struggle. This was not what he anticipated for lunch, and Kaito was unrelenting. Rather, he doubled his effort to secure Shinichi, wrapping his arms tighter around the waist. Shinichi could feel the warm, slick, appendage licking at his pulse point. Shinichi nearly let out a mew, barely holding the sound of desperation when Kaito stopped his assault.
Like true friends, Sera and Hakuba laughed. The former did not bother with masking the giggles and the latter at least had the decency to turn away and muffle the sounds with his fist.
"Kaito." Shinichi tried to glower angrily but the effect was lost through the vigorous blush and hitched breaths.
Kaito looked at Shinichi's neck with satisfaction. There was a nice red mark peeking above the neckline of the shirt, at the junction between the neck and shoulders. Shinichi noticed the stare and quickly covered the mark with his hand.
"Kaito! Why did you do that!" The blush on Shinichi's cheeks deepened.
"Possessive much Kuroba?" Hakuba turned back to face them now that the action was over. He was wearing an overly amused smile.
"Hakuba, I trusted you to keep those nasty flies away." Kaito whined jokingly.
"Believe me, I've tried but that's the head lecturer for our course. It wouldn't do to earn a fail just because we didn't want to stay behind to have a conversation like civilized beings."
"When's your next lesson with this lecturer?".Kaito was already plotting for some may to ensure the man knew Shinichi was taken.
"No Kaito." Shinichi firmly said. "You will not be doing anything to the poor man."
"But he'll be sabotaging our private time!" Kaito let out the best puppy eyes he managed. He could see Shinichi weakening at his gaze. For added effect, he bit his lower lips, letting out a soft whimper as his lips shuddered.
Shinichi sighed, shoulders sagging slightly as realization that there was nothing he could do to stop his magician. Kaito smiled at the implicit surrender, rewarding Shinichi with a chaste kiss on the edge of the mouth.
"Hey guys!" Sonoko called out, taking the seat next to Kaito. Ran had left the other seat next to Kaito empty and took the one after. "Kaito-kun, have you heard? KID-sama is having another heist!" She said excitedly before degenerating into a one-sided ramble, which had spurred Aoko to start cursing at the thief.
"They've been like this since we bumped into each others outside." Ran shook her head as she placed both Sonoko and her order when the waitress came around. The waitress was smart to avoid the semi arguing pair.
"When did KID's notice come in?" Neither detective had heard. Shinichi looked at Kaito, who was already sporting a mischievous gleam in his eyes.
"Yes, when and how did the notice arrive?"
By Kaito's tone of inquisition, this heist sounds to be fake.
"Just this morning." Akako answered in place of the arguing pair. They were in their own pocket dimension for some reason, not paying attention to the conversation going on in the table. "But I wouldn't be surprised if it was a crow dyed white for this event."
That statement put both detective and magician on alert. It meant this could be a set up, not that they haven't suspected it to be. Though Shinichi had his doubts about Akako's supposed prophecy.
"According to Suzuki-san, the notice came through social media." Akako continued as though she did not notice the the apprehensive looks she was receiving from Kaito. "But Nakamori-san said her father received his through the mail."
"Sorry, have to go." Kaito said in a rush, Shinichi had already jumped up from his laps and was jogging towards the campus gates. Their friends called out in surprise and curiosity. Hakuba looked torn for he wanted to give chase after them at one look from Kaito had him shrinking back to his seat. Aoko had looked at him questioningly but he waved off her concern.
Kaito sprinted towards Shinichi to catch up. His detective slowed to a long stride to let Kaito catch his breath.
"What made you hurry?" Kaito asked though he could somewhat guess the answer.
"Not many people know I've moved out of the mansion, I wanted to see if our KID impostor sent a note to the Beika address." They waved for a taxi instead of taking the train. As they sat down, Shinichi took out his phone to start a search for this morning's heist notice online. Kaito did the same.
"Here." Kaito showed Shinichi his screen. His phone had recognised his search patterns and had displayed KID related articles first, whereas Shinichi usually browse for news and rather than displaying the notice, it showed merely reports of the incidents.
Taking hold of Kaito's phone, Shinichi read the riddle.
Picking the fruit of morning glory in the brightest darkness.
Kaito KID
"Short." Kaito commented. Shinichi's finger had stilled mid action so Kaito helped with scrolling down the page. There were many comments and speculations written below. "You know the time at least?" It was, not exactly easy, the answers were quite obscure but the clues were all these despite its conciseness. Fruit is a result of flowers at a maturity, the fact that morning glories do not produce fruit means when they die. Therefore, the time would be when the sun had fully disappeared in the horizon. Brightest darkness could refer to the date or the gem, though Kaito has a hunch it meant the date, seeing as they were close to an astronomical event.
"Time, location, and possibly gem." On his own phone. Shinichi scrolled to a news article that popped up in his search. It was pure chance he came across the news.
Jewelry show special
In a rare showcase of his personal collection, Mr Philips Christianson has agreed to allow for the showing of his family heirloom piece, a large 40 carat white sapphire strangely named 'White Terror'. This piece had been in his family for nearly a century but darkness and tragedy has always fallen on the family whenever the gem sees the light of day. Mr Christianson, not believing in such 'baseless rumours' as he calls it, decides to go against the wishes of his parents and put the gem on display...
"The gem is to be on display three days from now, with its the display period spanning the lunar eclipse. That's when the KID wannabe would strike." Shinichi interrupted Kaito's reading.
"At least this meant the story behind the gem is not a baseless rumour. Only this time, it's not exactly a tragedy but a crime. Still qualifies as a misfortune" Kaito shrugged. "Though with the crows involved, who knows..."
"You're not supposed to be pessimistic." Shinichi poked at Kaito at the waist, causing him to squirm away on reflex. "By the way, do you really believe in what Koizumi-san said?"
"She might talk in riddles but she did claim to be a witch and so far, all her prophecies came true. I have no reason not to believe her words." Kaito shrugged casually as though there was nothing wrong with knowing a witch.
"But witches..."
"Don't exist right? Then how do you reason why those male leeches were attracted to you at the cruise if not for the pair of earrings she lent you?"
Shinichi opened his mouth, to verbalize an argument, but froze. He really didn't have a clue nor could he come up with a rational answer.
"See? She's a witch, end of story." Kaito looked primped to have won this particular argument. Shinichi pinched the bridge of his nose, it was a difficult concept to follow after all.
Shinichi coughed to clear the throat and refused to admit his defeat. "Despite what she is, she does have a point. It is likely this is a trap."
"Really? What gave that away?!" Kaito over exaggerated his reactions.
"Sarcasm does not suit you either." Shaking his head with exasperation, he turned his attention back to his phone screen. "Like you said, the message was too short. It didn't elude to the history of the gem like all other KID notes do. It lacks... a story I guess... a narrative? It's hard to describe but when I acted as bait, making a believable note was the hardest part of the impersonation."
"Huh, who would have thought there was something you're not good at." Kaito teased as the taxi rounded a familiar corner. "And here I thought you're able to do everything, what with you're superhero attitude and everything."
"Not everyone could be perfect in everything they do like KID does." Shinichi muttered, searching his pocket for his wallet, trying his best not to blush as he complimented his thief.
Kaito grinned widely, the corners of his mouth reaching his eyes. To hear such high praises from his detective was uplifting. He let Shinichi exit the taxi, holding the door ajar like a gentleman then offered his arm to escort his detective, who ducked his head in embarrassment and strolled ahead instead. Not minding the action one bit, Kaito walked leisurely behind and waited until the crossed the threshold and hidden behind the concrete wall before pouncing on Shinichi, tackling him into the wall. Kaito was mindful of the hard surface, of course, and made sure to cradle Shinichi's head. Slowly, he pressed his lips against Shinichi's, driving their bodies closer and pressing into the wall.
When they break for a breather, Shinichi had a dreamy, faraway look on his face. Kaito smiled softly at his expression, cataloging the puffy rosy lips, the strawberry cheeks, and the glowing bright blue eyes. Shinichi looked brilliant, like a shining beacon even in the afternoon sun.
Shinichi poked at Kaito's sides, again earning a reflexive squirm. Before turning around to open the letter box. "I'm thinking of poached salmon for dinner tonight with a serving of tuna salad." He delivered the night's menu with a snarky smile. Kaito shuddered involuntary as he began to whimper at the thought of the monsters of the deep. Shinichi ignored the magician's spluttering at the unfairness.
"How can you expect me to hold myself when you're looking so cute?" Kaito continued to nuzzle at his detective's neck, sucking at the red hickey he left behind a scant hour ago. His own arms snaked its way around the slim waist. "You found something." He stated when Shinichi stilled in his hold.
Shinichi held an envelope between his fore and middle fingers. The silver calligraphy writing in a bright contrast to the black envelope. The letter read 'Kudo Shinichi-sama' and the lack to an address indicates that it was likely to be delivered by hand. Kaito noted Shinichi's lack of gloves for handling the supposed evidence and quirked an eyebrow. Shinichi seems to have picked up the unvoiced question.
"It would be strange if my prints are not on my mail. Besides, whoever wanted to lure me, would not make such elementary mistakes and leave condemning evidence behind." Shinichi flipped the envelope a few times, check for any further markings. On the opening side of the envelope, where the tab meets the body, was a bulls-eye symbol. There were also two cross marks below the bulls-eye. At the lower left corner was a red lipstick mark, made by a person kissing the paper.
"You were saying something about evidence?" Kaito pointed at the obvious bright red colour.
Shinichi sighed, at least they know who their sender is. "Sealed with a kiss..."
"Not exactly since she only kissed the corner. Though I guess she wanted to hint at something more important." Kaito took the envelope with gloved hands. He carefully examine the paper stock, nothing out of the ordinary, it was the everyday envelope available from any stationary shop only it was dyed in black. Though, on the safe side, he wasn't going to let Shinichi handle the letter any more than necessary for fear that the letter might have been laced with poison. 'Wouldn't put it past them to not do something so underhanded.' Kaito released Shinichi from his hold so he could use both his hands to handle the letter.
"Kaito, give it here." Shinichi laid out his palm for the letter.
"But what if it's a love letter? I have to assess my competition." Kaito jumped a few steps back, letter held just out of Shinichi's reach. He hugged the letter as though to protect it.
"I'm thinking we can have taiyaki for dessert, homemade good for you? I think Haibara has a mold I can borrow..."
Kaito shuddered once more. He debated internally whether his detective would follow through with the threat of the specific dinner menu. The look on Shinichi's face said Kaito would undoubtedly regret it if he continued to hold onto the letter. With a sigh, he relented and reluctantly handed the letter over.
Shinichi firstly examined the outside. Without breaking the seal, he ran his finger across the top of the envelope, then on the flat surface. He needed to know if it was rigged. He wasn't afraid if the letter was bugged, that they could easily deal with and probably use it to their advantage. However, there was very little they could do, or react to, if the letter was rigged with an incendiary, it might result in a large injury. The flatness of the envelope indicated there's no hidden mechanism and relatively safe to open. Carefully, he pulled on the envelope flap, revealing a singular card.
Hung above the clouds so high, as moonlight shine with bright coloured eyes, drive the wooden stake so the zombie dies, when light turns to darkness as the phantom flies.
Can you do it?
-Locasta-
The writing was printed with golden ink, shimmering in the afternoon sun. It was as though the sender had expected Shinichi to know about the heist, therefore rather than sending a riddle about it, the letter was issuing a challenge.
"Why deliver it by hand rather than a message by phone? She has the number." Kaito rested his chin on Shinichi's shoulders as he read the letter.
"Her phone might be monitored right now or she's just bored. I'm betting it's the second one." Shinichi tucked the card back into the envelope to pocket it. "Either way, this is not something we can take to the police." He fumbled around for his phone, dialing for the Ekoda precinct to connect with their Division Two so that he would have permission to go to the heist.
Kaito took the phone out of Shinichi's hands just when it connected, and it his detective's voice, asked permission for both Shinichi and himself to be present. Shinichi sent him a glare.
"You were about to only mention yourself," Kaito ended the call after being yelled at by the elder inspector of the Task Force. "I'm not going to let you walk into a known trap, alone, and without backup. Besides, this is a blatant challenge to KID so it's only natural that I go as well."
"Kaito, it's clear that this heist is used to lure KID out..." Shinichi tries to reason.
"All the more reason for me to go." Kaito beamed, before wrapping Shinichi into an embrace. "I promise, I'll stay safe. Though I cannot promise that KID will not make an appearance, however I can make sure there will be minimal injuries on the day."
There was the implication that people will be hurt and Shinichi feared it would be his magician-thief who would be injured. He buried himself into his magician, startling him in the process.
Kaito patted Shinichi, smoothing out the small tuft of hair, in an attempt to soothe whatever anguish that suddenly overcome his detective. They stayed out in the backyard for quite some time, fully aware of the tiredness in their legs, the setting sun, and the lowered temperature. It was when the streetlights started to blink into existence, Kaito finally pulled his detective away. Taking one look at the worried face, Kaito decided he shouldn't breech the subject yet. Instead, he led them out the gate towards the shopping district.
"Food then we'll head back to the apartment." Kaito stated, putting a finger across Shinichi's lips to stop the upcoming protest. "We can plan all we want tomorrow but for now, dinner."
Kaito kept his arm wrapped around Shinichi's shoulders as he guided them down the pedestrian path.
-TBC-
