Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan/Case Closed.
Heart of a Spell
Chapter 3 – Early Observations
Observation number one, Kuroba Kaito was a thoughtful person who wasn't above helping out his employees. Well, helping out his way anyway.
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"We're going to get you some new clothes," Kaito announced as he breezed into the dining room and began wolfing down his breakfast.
Shinichi gave him a blank look over the mugs he was pouring coffee into. "What?"
"New clothes. For you," the sorcerer reiterated, pointing his fork across the table at Shinichi—or, more precisely, at the young man's black suit. "If you're going to be working for me, you can't continue going around looking like you're headed to a funeral."
Shinichi looked down at himself, not entirely sure what to say to that. He'd only brought the two suits and a pair of pajamas when he'd moved because he'd been expecting to have to be in uniform for work most of the time. He'd chosen black even though it wasn't his favorite color because it was the only color acceptable at all occasions from celebrations to, yes, funerals. Now that his situation had changed, he supposed it only made sense that he would need a few more outfits—certainly a few casual things would be nice. Why this meant he had to go shopping with his new employer though was a mystery. He was perfectly capable of getting new clothes on his own. He decided to say so.
"You don't really have to take time out of your schedule just to help me with that."
Kaito waved him away. "It's no biggie. Besides, you're new here, right? I can show you around a bit while we're at it. Help you get to know our fair city."
"…Oh. Uh, thank you."
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Observation number two, Kuroba Kaito didn't understand the concept of personal space the way normal people did.
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"So? Does it fit?"
"Well… I…guess, yeah, but…" Standing inside the changing room stall, Shinichi eyed his own reflection like it was a stranger. He certainly felt like it was.
This was not what he had expected when Kaito had said he needed a new wardrobe. He'd expected to pick up a few less somber but still formal outfits and maybe a set of casual clothes or two. He had not expected to be told to try on these—party clothes. Well, he didn't really know if that was what they were, but they were definitely not normal clothes. Not his idea of normal anyway. They looked like they should be worn on stage.
Wait, hold on. He just remembered. Kaito, in addition to his other work, was still a practitioner of performance magic. Did this mean he was actually expecting Shinichi to go on stage with him? He hadn't mentioned that in the briefing!
"Hello in there," Kaito's voice called from outside, beginning to sound impatient. "You didn't finish your sentence. But what? I mean, it either fits or it doesn't."
"Huh? Oh, uh, it's not that it doesn't fit," he started again, fighting down the heat rising in his face—or trying to anyway. The thing fit alright. Too well. "I was just wondering if it was really necessary for me to get clothes like this?"
"What do you mean like this? Is there something strange about the clothes?"
"They're kind of—bright."
"Well yeah. That's the whole point. You're going to be accompanying me to a lot of social functions. You'd ruin the mood showing up in funerary colors. And insult a lot of people to boot. Dressing well is a form of respect for your hosts and fellow guests."
"Oh." He supposed that was sensible too.
"So how's it look?"
"What?"
"Honestly, it's like you've never gone shopping for clothes before. I'll just come look myself."
"What? No-!" But the bolt in the door shot sideways as though moved by an invisible hand and the door opened. Shinichi blushed and tried to slam the door on the intruder, but he wasn't fast enough. The sorcerer was already inside and giving him a funny look for the way he was plastered to the door. Indigo eyes swept over Shinichi from top to bottom and back again.
He hummed in approval. "Looks good. Now try this one."
Shinichi took the proffered outfit then pointedly opened the door. Much to his dismay, the sorcerer did not appear to get the message.
"Come on, hurry up. We don't have all day you know."
"Can you get out then?" he asked, trying to keep the exasperation out of his voice.
"But you take too long by yourself."
"Well I can't change with you in here," he pointed out, wondering what was so hard to grasp about the concept. It wasn't like the stall was meant for more than one. It was too small.
"Don't be ridiculous. There's no need to be shy."
Shinichi spluttered. He considered arguing that it wasn't about being shy, it was about not wanting to rub elbows with his new boss while trying on clothes. But he could recognize a lost cause when he saw one. So instead, he marched into the next stall over and locked the door.
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Observation number three, not only did Kuroba Kaito not understand personal space, but he also had a mischievous streak a mile wide and no sense of shame.
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Already holding an armful of clothes that Kaito had tossed at him as he trailed after the sorcerer in a bit of a daze at just how quickly the taller man was sorting through the store inventory (was he using magic? Surely no one should be able to accurately assess the appearance and size of clothes just by glancing at them once…?), it took the undercover detective several seconds to register what his eyes were telling him had just been added to the top of the heap. When the sight finally did register, he stopped dead in his tracks.
"Wait, you made a mistake," he called after the sorcerer.
Kaito returned to peer critically at the last article he'd tossed on the pile. "Looks fine to me. What's the problem?"
"…" Shinichi looked hard at the man, trying to detect any hint of a jest. "Uh, it's a dress."
"In the exact shade of blue as your eyes," Kaito agreed, looking rather pleased with himself. "It's a perfect match, and it's just your size."
Shinichi spluttered. "You can't possibly expect me to wear that!"
"I think it would look lovely on you~."
"Just because you're paying me doesn't mean I'm going to dress up for your entertainment!"
Shinichi froze as his ears caught up with his own exclamation. He snuck a glance around the store. Those other customers close enough to hear him had stopped talking and were giving them strange looks. Shinichi flushed bright red. His own words played back through his head and he turned redder. Oh no, that had sounded really… Argh, what must they be thinking?!
He took a peek at Kaito next, hoping the man would say something to break the awkwardness. To his disappointment, far from looking embarrassed like a normal person, Kaito actually seemed to be amused.
Indigo eyes danced as the sorcerer sidled over and wrapped an arm around his middle. "Have I ever told you how cute you are when you're blushing?"
Shinichi didn't really think he could be blamed for stamping on his new boss's foot and running out of the shop, leaving the clothes he'd been carrying in a messy heap on the floor behind him.
If only the ground would swallow him whole, Shinichi thought. That would be nice. The next best thing would be if he could just pass out and forget this whole conversation ever happened. Was it possible to will yourself to faint? Maybe if he wished hard enough he could at least get a temporary case of amnesia.
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Observation number four, Kuroba Kaito could be…kind of sweet—when he wanted to be.
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"There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you."
Shinichi looked up from where he was seated on a park bench. He glowered at the taller man, willing him to go away. He didn't. Instead, Kaito sat down on the bench beside him.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
"I'm fine," Shinichi grumbled.
"I'm sensing some hostility."
"What did you want?"
"You're still upset about the dress, aren't you?" Kaito stated more than asked.
Shinichi snorted but didn't dignify the question with an answer. It was obvious anyway.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean for my little jest to make you so uncomfortable."
"…"
"Here, let me make it up to you." Not waiting for an answer, he took Shinichi's hand and dragged him off the bench and out of the park.
"H—hey!" Shinichi protested, but his protests fell on deaf ears. Confused, he resigned himself to being dragged off to who knew where.
Their destination turned out to be a quaint little bakery on the top floor of a building that gave it a splendid view of the park they had just left. They had been seated out on the terrace. Now they each had a plate and a mug before them: a mocha and a slice of chocolate cake for Kaito and a coffee and slice of lemon pie for Shinichi.
"So how is it?" the sorcerer asked.
Shinichi blinked. "Oh, uh, it's…it's good."
Kaito beamed. "Great. I'm glad you like it. So," he added, offering Shinichi his best charming smile. "Forgive me for earlier?"
Shinichi felt a blush creeping up into his face, and he ducked his head. "I…I guess." It was impossible to stay mad in the face of that smile. It was a strange feeling. Kind of disconcerting. He would bet that when the sorcerer was little, he was the kind of kid who would get into trouble then charm his way out of being scolded.
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Observation number five, being Kuroba Kaito's assistant required a large variety of skills. It was not unlike being a cook, a secretary, a groundskeeper, a valet, and a maid all rolled into one.
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Shinichi tried not to gape at Jii. "You're…going to teach me how to cook?"
The old man nodded, smiling all the while. "It is impractical to get our food from restaurants all the time, and nutrition is very important."
Which, Shinichi thought, really didn't explain why he was supposed to be responsible for their meals. Couldn't they hire a cook or something? But he had to do the best he could, and it didn't hurt to learn how to cook more things. It was a good survival skill.
The prospect was made a little daunting however by the fact that his list of responsibilities already expanded by several items since his briefing from Kaito. He'd found that he had to clean up (couldn't sorcerers use magic for something that like? Or was it considered a waste of time and energy. Well, whatever the reason, Shinichi now knew the names and uses of more cleaning tools than he'd even known existed), brush up on his knowledge of botany and landscaping (it turned out that it was his responsibility to supervise the gardener who came each week), memorize all of Kaito's regular contacts (their names, faces, and other necessary information about them), and so on and so forth. And the first week wasn't even over yet!
"And this is the cold storage room," the old man continued detailing how the kitchen and pantry were organized. Shinichi, however, had momentarily stopped listening to gape. One entire wall of the cold storage room was occupied by boxes upon boxes of chocolate cake. There were big ones and small ones, round ones and square ones—just about any kind of chocolate cake or chocolate cake-like dessert you could name.
"As you can see, the young master likes his chocolate," Jii said amiably like this was perfectly normal. "We special order these from four of the major bakeries around the city. The spells on this particular shelf create a limited, temporal freeze that prevents food from moving forward in time, keeping them fresh as the moment you put them on the shelf. The freeze wears off of a particular item after exactly two months, so that's about how much I stock for at a time."
"You mean this is only two months worth of chocolate?!"
"That's right."
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Observation number six, Kuroba Kaito was just insane.
-TBC-
