-FIRSTS-

Disclaimer: The works of Detective Conan and Magic Kaito belongs to Gosho Aoyama-sensei.

Warning: KaiShin relationship.

A/N: A bit of plot plus a bit of fluff, add in some vague movie references, and this is the result. OMAKE may contain some mature suggestions...


First Search

It should come as no surprise for Kaito to having to enter the police headquarters for no other purpose than to retrieve his wayward detective. It was nearing midnight and Shinichi had not checked in with him since the last of their lectures released them. Kaito had suspected his detective to be involved in a crime of some sort (when was he never involved?) so, he refrained from texting or calling up Shinichi. However, Kaito had to draw the line when the sun had set completely and most shops have begun closing for the day. A phone call later to a somewhat hesitant Takagi, Kaito found his detective had secluded himself in a data center inside the police headquarters since he left the university campus.

The large white building loomed overhead and the KID side of Kaito was reluctant to set foot into the pristine building. He greeted the receptionist, offering a small stem of flower, before registering himself. One of them already knew Kaito on sight alone and told him where Shinichi could be found (basement, filing room 5) and Kaito could not help but sigh. It just goes to show how many times he had ventured these halls to bring Shinichi back out into civilisation.

Knocking softly on the door, he waited for a signal, though he really had not expected any from anyone (if there really was someone other than Shinichi) inside the room. From what the receptionist said, only Shinichi should be occupying the filing room at this hour, most of the officers have returned to their assigned offices already to finish of their paperwork of the day. Ten seconds later Kaito opened the door, and crept into the dark confines filled with shelves upon shelves full of boxes and binders. He knew enough to know there was a small wooden desk set up at the end of the rows of shelving, and knew for certain his detective would be buried underneath the mounds of paper and evidence photo. Why his detective found it prudent to actually come in to view the information instead of up at the Division One office, where there were ample sunlight and officers that would periodically remind Shinichi to take a breather, Kaito could never understand. Humans are generally social by nature yet his detective would rather seek the company of the non-living (dead corpses mostly, but there were the occasional case files and novels from the library).

Crossing three sets of selves, and no where near the end of the room, Kaito nearly overlooked the hunch figure of his detective, perching precariously on a step ladder with a manila folder on his knees and several sheaves of paper dangling off his hands. He looked like a bird of prey, with his eyes at an intensive focus on the writings on the white piece of paper. Knowing startling his detective could have grievous repercussions, Kaito stepped towards the ladder with loud footsteps. Not that it drew Shinichi's attention away from the words. His focus was still as intense as ever, eyes only moving across the sentences without any regards for the surroundings. Kaito had to wonder how long his detective had sat up there.

Not knowing what else to do, Kaito went to grab a second ladder from the shelves across from them and set it up next to the one Shinichi was currently sitting on. He climbed up, peered over to see what had his detective so engrossed. It was a standard report filled immaculately by blocky handwriting, most likely written some odd years ago. Realising his detective has yet to notice his presence, Kaito looked around to see the environment he could work with. His mind began calculating the various lengths and distances for him to enact a certain cinematic scene. Sure, they were lacking in the rain department, they weren't in an alley some slight distance of where a crime took place, but they were in a dark basement with tall shelves, one of them a vigilante (a term used very loosely in this scenario) and the other a law-abiding citizen, both locked together in a dimly lit corridor with no outsider interference or surveillance. It does not get any more dramatic than this.

Silently, Kaito strung up tensile wire across the shelves, re-positioned the ladder, the proceeded to climb and dangle himself upside-down in front of Shinichi. Blue eyes startled and widened as a yelp was beginning to form. Kaito was quick to place a finger across the pink lips to halt any sound.

"Now, I believe this is the part where you give me a kiss?" Kaito smirked as he joked.

"Kaito!" Shinichi hissed out as he lifted the folder in his laps to try and hit the prankster-magician. "You'll give me a heart attack!"

"But I couldn't resist." The smirk widened into a toothy grin. Kaito leaned in closer, hands outstretched to cup his detective's face. "Besides, in this setting...What would you expect from me?"

"Not hanging like some deranged spider, that's what." A short huff and Shinichi gave in to press in closer towards Kaito, just a breath away from the lips. "And I'm not about to fall for you like some love-eyed maiden."

"That's because you already have." Kaito took the initiative to press their lips before releasing himself from his mid-air stunt. He flipped gracefully and silently landed on the balls of his feet.

"I thought you said you had something to do." Shinichi replaced the folder back into its position and climbed down, legs seemingly stiff though expected given his sitting position.

"Do you even know what time it is?" Kaito looked at him incredulously before shaking his head in slight despair. "It's nearing midnight, you've been here for the whole afternoon and evening."

"What?!" A quick glance at his watch and Shinichi realised the hands had stopped at 4:15. "Eh-he…"

"Don't you eh-he me Mister." Kaito grabbed onto Shinichi's arm and pulled his detective away from the room. "You haven't called back and do you know how worried I was?"

"I would promise that I wouldn't do it again but I know you won't believe me."

"Maybe I really should stick a tracker on you every time you leave the house. That way I know where you are. Maybe enlist the Professor's help as well, to make some sort of a health monitor…"

"Now that's really not necessary." Shinichi took lead as soon as they entered the corridor, pressing the button for the elevator.

"With you, everything is necessary. I would go above and beyond just to make sure you're alive and in one piece."

"Oh? Not to make sure that I'm safe? That's new." Amusement flickered in sapphire orbs as Kaito huffed and crossed his hands.

"I trust you to be able to keep yourself safe, but whether or not you'll be healthy and uninjured is another problem altogether. Like those safety line and harnesses, they keep you alive but they can injure you in the process if incorrectly attached to the body. I'm sure you had plenty of close calls with those safety devices." Kaito himself had learned that safety devices were meant to keep you alive and not really keep you away from injury, safety lines in particular keeps the person from falling down splat but can cause dislocation when the force becomes too large. He remembered a particularly nasty shoulder dislocation that one time when he began as KID, he used the wrong type of knotting. It kept him from dying but the resulting jerk from when he dropped off was large enough to pull the shoulder out of his socket. Thankfully, it was only a test run at that time so he was not at too much risk. On the actual heist, however, he got everything right.

"You would know won't you." Shinichi muttered, determined not to look at Kaito.

"Well, that said and done, I'm guessing you haven't eaten anything since…" Kaito had to think back whether they had lunch together. Unfortunately, his mind came up blank which must mean the last meal would be "breakfast."

"I had something throughout the day, and after the lectures."

"Coffee does not count." Kaito knew his detective would just grab a cup of coffee on the go instead of actually sitting down for a sandwich or something.

Shinichi turned away, the only indication that Kaito was correct in his assumptions. Sighing, he reached out towards Shinichi to pull him back to his side.

"There's a ramen place not far away, opens 'til late. We can go there and eat. I haven't had anything myself."

Patiently, they waited for the elevator to arrive. Shinichi had tried to squirm out of Kaito's hold but the magician was determined to keep the detective at his side. When the metallic doors opened, it revealed a uniformed officer standing inside. The woman, in her early 30's, had impeccably straight uniform and stood rather relaxed inside the elevator.

"Oh. I wasn't expecting anyone here at this hour." Startled, she moved into the corridor. Kaito was quick and pulled Shinichi away with him, jumping back several steps, before whipping out his card gun.

"Who are you?" Pointing the card gun at the woman's chest, he pushed Shinichi to stand behind him. His detective was definitely confused and too shocked to react, being so complacent about Kaito's manhandling.

The officer did not even look shock, only standing there in complete stillness but not offering any sort of explanation or tried to pull out the gun.

"You're not an officer, that much I know." Kaito growled out. Now Shinichi stiffen at his back as he tries to hold Kaito back by the shoulders. Kaito spared a moment to answer the question that seems to be on the tip of Shinichi's tongue. "I memorised all the night shift officers for this building, knowing you'd always make your way here."

"That's no small number."

"It's easy enough once you know the trick." Kaito brushed the act off as though it was nothing, which in this case it really wasn't. Remembering information had been a specialty of his, it helped him plan heist and tricks. He was used to memorising large amounts of data, names, personal information, blueprints, and it just comes easily for him. He suspects Shinichi would be the same, only his memory was wired slightly different so he could not recall as fast as Kaito (where Kaito would focus on the person's outlook, he suspects Shinichi to focus more on the person's behaviour to catch them out of disguise).

"Aren't you a clever little Dove." The woman decided to drop her act, leaning casually on the wall next to the elevator.

"Vermouth." Shinichi hissed through the gap of his teeth. "What are you doing here?"

"Why, on an assignment of course. Unlike a certain thief, I do not really like to spend that much time within the confines of the police headquarters. Though to be fair, he had more motivation than I do." She glanced between Kaito and Shinichi with a smirk lingering on her face. "However, now would not be a good time, or place, to discuss such trivial matters." She gracefully removed herself from the wall and walked purposefully towards the pair. Kaito and Shinichi kept their stance, eyes hardened against the woman in front of them. Even though they had a pretty good idea of who the woman is working for, there is still not strong evidence to hint to them that the woman was truly on their side.

"What are you here for?" Shinichi gripped tightened onto Kaito's shoulder, an indication of the tension running through his detective's body. Kaito itched to put a calming hand over Shinichi's but he did not dare to take too much of his attention away from the oncoming woman.

"I'm here to carry out an order of course." Her reply was as though it was the most natural thing to do. She waved her hands as though to shoo them away, "I would suggest the two of you to move away and probably to wherever you were supposed to go, preferably away from this building."

"Are you planning to bring down the building, much like how you brought down the other office building?" Even Kaito had tensed up at the mention of the incident. His mind worked quickly to plot the most efficient escape route out of the building and into safety. He was internally relieved that Vermouth had focused her attention on his detective to allow him time to plan, but at the same time he felt ruffled as he had been dismissed so easily in the conversation.

"Oh, but that wasn't my doing." Her voice had not sounded too surprised to realise the pair knew about The Organisation's involvement in that particular incident. Though there was a definite edge to it bordering on surprise. "That was something outside of my control at that time. I'm sure you can take a guess at who instigated it. You were given ample evidence as it is."

"Then at least tell me what you're here for. I want to be able to evacuate the building in case you miscalculated." Shinichi stressed on the final word as though to mock her skills, not that she would, but he wanted to vent his frustration at finding her here somehow.

"Dear Silver Bullet, you have so little faith in me." She mocked back with a shake of her head, not taking offence in the slightest. "However, if you must know, I'm only here to make sure certain pieces of information would never see the light of day again."

"You're going to destroy the evidence." He glanced back down the corridor, eyes lingering in the filing room he had been in for the past 6 hours. "The missing person's files."

"Correct you are my lovely Bullet. It wouldn't do for the police, or any other agencies for that matter, to find what lurks in those particular files. This time, I'm taking the minor role as the clean up crew." She seemed quite certain that Shinichi have yet to find the said information and Shinichi was not about to correct her assumptions. Though he dearly hoped that the actual information would not be destroyed so easily, there were thousands of case files in a single storage room and as long as she is not bringing the whole building down, there are always methods to salvage the information.

"You? Minor? Don't make me laugh." Kaito commented unconsciously, drawing her attention back to him. "You're an actress, you've acted in many movies landing yourself in the main role. Being a minor, or support, isn't your style. So something must have happened."

Vermouth seemed to grit her teeth but her facial expression remained cold. Shinichi somehow sensed the change and pushed further.

"Something else happened within The Organisation structure, something you haven't prepared for. Which is why you're here now, to take care of something so trivial." His mind worked quickly, information flew through his head as he sorted through the current situation, correlating that with the message he had been given. A smirk slowly formed on Shinichi's lips. "There's some new power play going inside isn't there? More than before."

Vermouth stiffen and both Shinichi and Kaito knew he hit the mark.

"It's gone far beyond searching for Zeus' key hasn't it? It's now a matter of using the key to gain access to the highest seat in The Organisation, or at least using it as a leverage against someone or something. That could only be the reason why a building belonging to The Organisation had to be dismantled in such a way. If it were only to take me out of the game, The Organisation would have employed some other method." The confidence within Shinichi's words gave him strength to step away from Kaito. "Who is your handler now." He managed in a challenging tone. It was clear power has swapped hands, those who had power before might have lost whatever footing they had, those that had no power had for some reason managed to have the upper hand. Such a change is, no doubt, the crack Shinichi was looking for to bring down The Organisation.

"Silver Bullet. Now is not the time to speculate but to run along. You know the rules of the game, not our game mind you, but the larger game. Find the key. That was your quest." She ignored their looks as she brushed past them. "This larger game, you might find yourself to be at a dilemma on how to deal with it. You should remember to weigh everything against the scale of reality."

Both sapphire and amethyst orbs stared after the retreating back before coming to their senses a minute later. They forgone the elevator and headed up using the stairs, running several steps at a time, stopping at the reception to see if there were any other anomaly. It would not be unusual for The Organisation to post more than one agent in a cleanup assignment. And true to their speculations, Bourbon, or Amuro as it was his facade at the moment, was sitting at the visitor's seat.

"Kudo-kun, why are you here so late?" He stood to walk towards them, hands in pocket, in a relaxing manner.

"I could ask the same for you Amuro-san." Shinichi greeted pleasantly enough for the pair of them. Kaito was still holding back with his interactions. He had an inherent dislike for the man ever since their first visit in Poirot and knowing about the man. Sure, Kaito knew Amuro is supposedly a 'good guy' but the way he does things without a thought for other's safety clashes with Kaito's own morals. "What are you doing here at such an hour? Did you land yourself into another crime scene?"

Kaito held back a scoff, practically everyone in Shinichi's proximity would undoubtedly land themselves in a crime of some sort, whether they be a part of it or whether they were witnesses. He often wondered if there any chance of people being normal around Shinichi.

"I'm here with a friend who's been called as a witness. Nothing too big, only purse snatching." He shrugged as though it was a normal thing to do.

Under normal circumstances, his story would be believable. But couple that with the presence of Vermouth, both Shinichi and Kaito would be taking his words with a grain of salt.

"So you're acting as a support then?" Shinichi asked, implying a second meaning towards his words. He needed to know whether the man was acting a support for Vermouth or not before trying to make contact to the other officers and start an evacuation (that is if they believed his story. He should probably try Division One first to see if they can lend a hand).

"More like I'm just here to keep an eye on things. Make sure it wouldn't be so bad."

To both the detective and magician, it sounded more like he was only here because he has a reason, not that he would be helping. Shinichi wondered whether he could read it as his presence here was to ensure everything would be kept under the radar and no loss of life.

"By so bad, do you mean your friend would not be convicted?" Kaito was the one to voice out Shinichi's suspicions. He had a feeling the friend term implied information rather than an actual person, which would mean he wasn't here with Vermouth.

"My friend has an adequate alibi and wouldn't need me to vouch in their honour."

Both breathed a sigh of relief to know he wasn't here on the orders of The Organisation, though it did disturb them that he was here on the orders of PSB, by what was being implied through the message. Bourbon was not an assistant and most like, Vermouth did not even know he was here. But then it raises the question of why Amuro would be here. Could it be as simple as an actual purse snatching?

The man chuckled at the perplexity streaming across Shinichi's expression.

"Don't look so deep into it Kudo-kun." He slouched back into his previously vacated seat. "The two of you should head back home, students like yourselves should not be out so late unless you are partying."

Knowing it would be the end of the conversation, and knowing full well there was nothing much they can do (raising a warning of any sort could result in Amuro turning into Bourbon just to stop them from interfering). Though they might still be able to leave some sort of a message with Division One officers on duty, just to have them check the data down at the basement. Leaving a short note with the reception to tell them they should probably have someone head downstairs as Shinichi might have misplaced a file or two (not very likely and by the looks of the reception's face, neither did they believe it) the pair headed out into the darkness of the night.

"So, what are you thinking?" Kaito voiced out once they were far enough away from the police headquarters.

"That they're there to remove some old, suspected, missing persons files. Probably ones that had once been lodged but quickly retracted."

"Was that what you were looking at?" Kaito glanced back towards the looming white building as they crossed the intersection. "Looking at retracted cases? And I thought you were just too engrossed in a current case to have called me."

It seems to Shinichi that Kaito has not let go of the grudge. Though it was understandable that the magician would be worried. The lull of peace was grinding at them once more so Kaito's concern was not unfounded.

"I just forgot the time." He shrugged, hoping to end the conversation.

"I could have helped you know." Kaito poked at Shinichi's side, as though to drive in the point. "You don't have to take everything in by yourself. I might not be a detective but I am good at information gathering, given my alternative profession. You should rely a bit more on me."

"I'm learning that…" Shinichi hoped his mutterings were not heard, though Kaito's face actually beamed that showed he heard.

"Good. Good." Kaito was extremely satisfied that his detective was finally learning.

Dinner passed with little fanfare, conversation shared between a bowl of steaming ramen and fried dumplings. There were very few customers in the shop, those that were present (and perhaps lucid) paid little attention to the detective and the magician even as out of place as they were at late night in a bar district. For their own part, they kept their conversations light in topic, sticking the what happened between their friends.

"Aoko was really frustrated that one time Hakuba suddenly upped and left in the middle of their romantic dinner." Kaito took one of the dumplings and began nibbling on it, careful of the heat and steam rising from the little morsel.

"I'm sure Hakuba has his reason." Shinichi ignored the shared plate in favour of his own bowl.

"That's what I told Aoko, that you detectives tend to do the whole sudden disappearing act." Swallowing the rest of the dumpling he turned towards the condiments laid out on their table, selecting the hot chilli flakes and letting it sprinkle into the soup.

"Are you implying that I would have done the same?" Shinichi looked in wonder as the red flakes snowed down and sink into the soup, Kaito raised an eyebrow as though to challenge Shinichi to say something. The accusation did not phase Shinichi one bit but the magician's taste in the extreme did surprise him.

"Of course not Dear. Though I know you do run off the moment there's a scream." Replacing the wooden holder back into the condiments tray, Kaito sighed. He speaks the truth and had been told, by Ran, that Shinichi had ran off numerous times in the middle of their outings just because someone screamed (and not always in 'bloody murder' fashion. Though there was that one time someone screamed and it turned out to be a cockroach).

"I take that as a complaint then." Shinichi huffed and slurped his noodles to ignore the possible arguments that would follow. He paid a little too much attention to his food and nearly missed Kaito's reply.

"I'm sure you won't leave the bill for me when you leave at least." Kaito turned towards his own bowl and finally, they ate in a companionable silence.

"So she was complaining not because Hakuba left, but because she was tasked with paying for dinner?" When all the noodles had been eaten, the soup slurped, and dumplings devoured, Shinichi turned back to their previous conversation.

"If it were, I would have pranked Hakuba until not a single strand hair was left on his skull. Aoko was frustrated but what happened afterwards. Apparently, Hakuba saw something from the window that spooked him, went out to investigate but never came back. Only later did Aoko find he was injured, and that was by pure luck she found out." Kaito took the transparent glass, swirling its content for a while, before making it change into a fluorescent orange colour.

"Did you find out why Hakuba was spooked?"

"Of the whole story, that's why you're focusing on?" Kaito sighed, this time his breath changed the cup of water to a mossy green.

"Well, it was either that or…" Shinichi's eyes trailed down to the water, now in a strange pale lavender. "Is that still water?"

"Do you want to try?" Kaito offered his cup towards Shinichi, who shook his head vehemently. Kaito shrugged and took a sip under the watchful and anticipating eyes of his detective.

"You just drank...that."

"It's only water." Replacing the cup back onto the table, the liquid inside turned back to its transparent form. "Anyways, Hakuba didn't say what spooked him, at least not with Aoko to my knowledge."

"Hm…" A thoughtful expression appeared on Shinichi's face, one that spoke of future interrogation.

"Mind if I join?" Kaito asked, prompting Shinichi out of whatever plotting he was doing inside his head.

"What?" Startled out of his thoughts, Shinichi looked questioningly at Kaito with wide blue eyes.

"Join your interrogation of Hakuba. I have a couple of tricks up my sleeves that will no doubt convince the stubborn blond to talk." The smirk adorned on Kaito's face had morphed from a gleeful prankster to a downright sadistic grin.

"You mean you'll blackmail him or something." Shaking his head with a smile, Shinichi grabbed the receipt from the table to make the payment.

Outside, the air was cool and Kaito noticed his detective's lack of a jacket. A small shiver ran through Shinichi as he tries to conserve what body head he has. Kaito quickly took off his own jacket and placed it onto Shinichi's shoulders before wrapping his own arms around said slim shoulders.

"You'll catch a cold like that, always forgetting your own physical needs." Kaito rubbed his hands along the arms to restore some heat.

"And you won't?" Blue eyes peered shyly at Kaito, a blush was starting to form. Kaito knew it was because of his gentlemanly acts that had caused such a reaction.

"You always say I'm an idiot and I've been told idiots do not catch a cold." Kaito found his detective to be suddenly too cute, all wrapped up in his coat, and decided to do a little snuggling. "And if I do have a cold, I'm sure you won't leave me by my lonesome and nurse me back to health."

"I'm sure Haibara wouldn't mind me borrowing her syringe again." Shinichi attempts, feebly, to move away but his body betrayed his heart.

"You, my Dearest detective, are purely evil." His voice held a strange sense of fondness in his tone. "I guess it would be up to this gentlemanly magician to teach you the ways of the good then." Kaito tightened his hold, manhandling and nearly lifting Shinichi in the air, just so he could drag his detective to back to the (relative) safety of their apartment with the intent to teach all the goodness of the world.

-TBC-


-OMAKE: Screams-

It was one of those special afternoons where neither Shinichi nor Kaito had lessons, so it was only natural that they went to do some actual dating activities. Before exiting the campus, the pair debated on where to go. Shinichi had inclinations towards the local soccer game down at the stadium and Kaito was thinking about the art gallery with an exhibit on medieval jewelry. However, in the end, they decided to go to the exhibit on feudal Japan at the museum instead. After their brief visit, which both made a running commentary on the various artfacts (when they passed by the artistic scrolls, Kaito would talk about the history in much more detail than the plaque, when they come up towards some of the architectural models and the more historical display, Shinichi would spout some random information that Kaito always question further), they decided to grab a drink at the museum's coffee shop before heading for grocery shopping for the night's dinner.

"You know, you should take up a teaching duty or something." Kaito commented as he stirred the straw in his cup. "You know way too much than the average student on one too many subjects. It's just not normal and a waste of your intelligence."

"I have a part-time placement with the police, I don't think adding extra responsibilities to my time is a good idea." Shinichi looked up from his cup. "Besides, aren't you always the one who told me to take it easy?"

"I mean you should quit what you're doing with the police. Heaven knows it's bringing you more harm than good, what with the constant phone ringing and shouting and screaming..."

And as though summoned by Kaito's comment, there was a shrill scream coming from the kitchens area of the cafe. Within seconds, Shinichi was out of his seat and halfway across the room.

"See? Stress! Paranoia! That's what the job's causing you." Kaito shouted at Shinichi as he stood up from his own seat, just in case his detective needed some backup. "What now this time? Someone stashed a body in the freezer? Missing body parts suddenly inside food crates?" Kaito began listing off the common reasons one would scream within Shinichi's proximity. Then came a second scream this one more shrill and comes with a yelp and more crashes.

Halfway through his own crossing of the room, Kaito saw Shinichi turning back out of the kitchen area and strode directly into Kaito. He dragged the magician by the arm, cast a distasteful look at their table laden with two cups of drinks still to be drunk and the untouched piece of chocolate cake, before making his way to the cashier.

"What? Shinichi?"

"We're leaving" Shinichi slammed down a bill with several coins then proceeded to exit the cafe.

"Hey! At least tell me what's wrong! You can't drag me away from chocolate cake without a reasonable explanation!"

Shinichi's face scrunched up as though he ate a particularly bitter lemon as he turned to face Kaito. "I'll buy you another. No, better yet, I'll make you one this weekend."

"OK, but you still have to tell me what spooked you."

"There's a reason why we only heard two waitress screaming." Shinichi sighed when he saw the incomprehensible look on Kaito's face which soon morphed into a knowing smirk.

"Oh? So you're admitting you can't differentiate between screams then?" Kaito nudged at Shinichi. The innuendo was not lost on the detective as his face flared up.

"Stop implying things!" Shinichi turned away and stared at the traffic lights with a bit too much concentration. "It's not like that! They were scream because of a cockroach! Nothing indecent!"

"You're the one with indecent thoughts Love, not little old me." Kaito wrapped his arm around Shinichi's waist before whispering into his ear. "Or perhaps you're just hinting at me? I'd be much oblige to do you bidding you know."

Shinichi forcefully elbowed Kaito before stomping across the pedestrian crossing with a full-blown blush on his face.

-OMAKE END-