Disclaimer: I don't own DCMK
Rating: T
Genre: Romance/Humor
Pairing: KaiShin [KaitoxShinichi]
Summary: For some people, the most memorable Valentine's Days are characterized by confessions and grand, romantic gestures. Shinichi's Valentines, however, are memorable for less conventional reasons.
A.N: This is another of those stories I've had lying around for a long time and only recently got around to finishing. I hope you enjoy it!
All Our Valentines
By Alaena F. D.
First
Their first Valentine's was not very romantic. This was only to be expected because they weren't actually together at the time. They had ended up spending the day together purely by chance. If anyone was to blame, it was Lady Kotako.
The lady in question owned a pink diamond ring. A ring that, according to legend, would change color in the presence of the person destined to be the wearer's true love on Valentine's Day.
It wasn't hard to guess what happened.
The lady threw a fancy ball on Valentine's in the hopes of finding the man of her dreams. And, naturally, KID had sent a notice. After all, it was the only time the diamond in question would be out in public.
Shinichi, who had still been Conan at the time, had concluded upon observing the young Lady Kotako that she was secretly hoping that Kaitou KID would turn out to be her true love. Somehow, he wasn't surprised. The Sonoko virus really was terrifyingly prevalent.
As it was, Shinichi couldn't help but think that his and the police's presence at this particular heist was pretty pointless. They were just the unnecessary minor characters in a fanciful young woman's daydream about being swept off of her feet by the infamous gentleman thief. The lady had made no secret that she didn't want the police there. But her father had had different ideas, and so here they all were.
After observing the father and daughter in question, Shinichi had decided that said father was just as worried that a certain thief might carry off his daughter as said daughter was hoping to be carried off. The jewel was only a second thought (as was perhaps to be expected from a doting father, but still…). Listening to the two bicker before the party, Shinichi hadn't been able to decide whether to roll his eyes or laugh. He might even have chosen to go home then if he'd had any choice in the matter. But, unfortunately, that wasn't his decision to make.
Being the only child at a Valentine's ball was a little awkward, but Shinichi had long since gotten used to such things. At least the food was good. The music wasn't bad either even if the repertoire contained far too many sappy love songs for Shinichi's tastes. It could have been worse, being Valentine's and all.
Being a child had certain advantages too, Shinichi decided. It meant no one expected him to dance, and he could sit in the corner and enjoy the admittedly scrumptious, coffee flavored cream puffs in peace.
When the heist finally began, it did so in a storm of pink, paper butterflies and dazzling lights. When everyone could see again, it was to find the Kaitou KID and Lady Kotako standing alone on a circular platform that looked very much like a piece of the ballroom floor levitating a good dozen feet above the heads of the rest of the party guests. Alone in the spotlight, surrounded by darkness, the pair and their stage appeared to be suspended there without support. And, as the audience gazed on in stunned wonder, the thief bowed low to the blushing (and clearly delighted) young woman.
"May I have this dance?" he asked, offering her his gloved hand.
"O—of course," she stammered, taking said proffered hand as her face all but glowed.
On cue, the music that had gone silent moments ago struck up again, and the thief swept Lady Kotako into a graceful waltz on their private dance floor.
That was about when Nakamori-keibu snapped out of his shock at the incredible sight and began bellowing for his men to find a way up to the floating platform. Great confusion ensued as no one had thought to prepare long ladders at the venue, and most of the party guests wanted to watch the spectacle a great deal more than they wanted to make room for the police officers.
Shinichi could only shake his head at the spectacle of the police floundering through the uncooperative crowd as, overhead, the thief and the young lady danced as though neither had a care in the world. Somehow, he'd just known it would turn out like this.
The dance ended well before the police could get their hands on a ladder. And there before everyone's eyes, Lady Kotako shyly presented her dance partner with what Shinichi strongly suspected was a box of Valentine's chocolates.
Cameras flashed. By tomorrow, Lady Kotako would no doubt be the envy of every Sonoko out there.
At that point, Shinichi could only shake his head in half amazed, half exasperated wonder at the preposterousness of the entire evening. Having already decided that tonight was a waste of time, he hopped off his corner chair and slipped out of the ballroom to go in search of a restroom. And really, he wouldn't have crossed paths with the thief at all that night if he hadn't happened to spot a white cape whipping around a corner on his way back to the ballroom.
In all honesty, Shinichi had not originally intended to participate in the heist that night. But instinct kicked in when he saw the cape, and his feet were moving before he'd consciously made the decision to chase after the thief. Later, he would have more than enough time to regret his decision. It wasn't like he'd had a plan. And only a complete fool would go anywhere near the Kaitou KID without a plan (preferably no less than three, at least one of which should be a plan of escape should the thief appear too pleased to see you). As things stood, Shinichi had, at best, a vague notion of ascertaining the thief's immediate destination and relaying it to the police—which really wasn't a plan at all.
But alas, as they said, hindsight was twenty-twenty.
He understood that he had made a mistake the instant he skidded through a doorway and realized that the room he had just run into had no exits other than the one behind him, but by then it was already too late. He pivoted straight into a cloud of pink smoke, and that was that.
He woke sometime later lying on something soft in an entirely different room—one full of folded linens and towels of all sizes. It was obviously a storage closet—one large enough to accommodate the spare and backup linens and towels of an extensive mansion. It was at this point that he realized that he could only see any of this because there was a dim glow coming from somewhere off to his left. But he could see an unlit light fixture in the ceiling overhead. That meant the light source he was seeing most likely wasn't built into this closet.
It was with a certain amount of trepidation that he sat up, careful not to move too quickly as he was still feeling slightly disoriented from the knockout gas. He wasn't sure if he was relieved or dismayed to find KID sitting on the floor less than four feet away from the pile of comforters he was now sitting on. There was a small, collapsible lamp of some kind on the floor next to the thief. It lit his face from below and turned the lens of his monocle into a shining, opaque disc, stark against the inky shadows that hid the top half of his face. Frankly, the overall effect was more than a little creepy, especially since Shinichi could see his own phone, shoes, belt, and watch piled neatly on the thief's other side, way out of reach. Without his gadgets, he was physically outmatched in every way. On the other hand, he knew that KID wouldn't hurt him, so there wasn't any need to panic. What he didn't understand was why they were here at all.
"You're awake," the thief said before Shinichi could open his mouth to ask about their current location. "We're still in Lady Kotako's mansion. Fourth floor linen closet, to be precise. Oh, and it's been two hours since you were out."
Was the thief reading minds now? Somewhat disgruntled, Shinichi shuffled to the edge of his pile of comforters so that he could dangle his sock-clad feet over the side.
"I would have thought you'd be long gone by now."
The thief flashed that insufferable smirk of his and lounged back against the towel racks for all the world like someone out for a lazy afternoon at the park.
"Well, I was going to take the window from the lady's bedroom—that's on this floor too, you know. But apparently her father's decided to camp out in her room. He got there before I did because I had to take a detour to take care of you. So I'm afraid you're stuck with me until the rest of the party guests and police take their leave. I do apologize for the inconvenience," the thief informed him with a cheerful and blatantly unapologetic grin. "Now, you may be considering trying to call for help, but, if you do, I must warn you that I will take drastic measures. It would save us both a lot of trouble if you would just wait quietly. The decision is yours."
Shinichi allowed himself a groan and flopped back onto the pile of comforters.
"I'll wait," he grumbled. He did not want to find out what kind of drastic measures KID had in mind.
"Good." There was a rustling of cloth before the thief spoke again. "I have cards. Want to play?"
Shinichi sat up again to level the magician with an incredulous stare. "With you?"
KID made a show of looking around the linen closet. "Well, I don't see anyone else here." Then he held up the cards again. "Well?"
Shinichi sighed. "Fine."
Five consecutive losses later, he was definitely regretting his choice. Games of chance had never agreed with him, but clearly they more than agreed with KID. He briefly debated asking if the thief might have a handy chess set hidden away somewhere that they could play instead but decided it would be too embarrassing. As it was, he could have cried with relief when the thief suddenly stopped in mid shuffle, head cocked to one side, then announced that they could go now. He didn't even mind the blast of sleeping gas in his face. Anything to just get the night over with.
Civilian
Their first sort-of-but-not-quite official Valentine's (certainly their first Valentine's meeting as civilians rather than as thief and detective) together was…embarrassing. Or at least Shinichi thought so (Kaito later told him that he found the whole thing very entertaining). And it was all Sonoko's fault.
It began when Sonoko barged into his house followed by a somewhat apologetic Ran just as Shinichi was starting the coffeemaker. Still half asleep, he was completely unprepared to fight back as he was bundled out of the house and into the car waiting outside. By the time he realized what was happening, he was already sitting on a chair in Sonoko's insanely large room at the Suzuki mansion as the two girls discussed a variety of dresses.
"Eh, wha…?" he mumbled through a yawn. A knock came at the door then, and then in walked Sonoko's butler. With him came a waft of coffee-scented air that instantly made him the center of Shinichi's attention. The old man handed the mug he'd been carrying to Shinichi, nodded politely to the girls, then excused himself. Shinichi settled immediately into happy communion with his coffee. It was really good coffee, and he was actually feeling quite charitable towards Sonoko until she came to loom over his seat with a wicked grin.
"Okay. Now it's your turn."
He blinked at her. "My…turn?"
"To get dressed," she clarified, confusing him further. His confusion did not diminish when she snatched his empty mug and dumped a dress into his arms. "There's a Valentine's mixer today, and we're all going," she explained. "I've already RSVPed for us, so don't think you can get out of it."
Shinichi gingerly lifted the dress on his lap, stared at it like it might turn into something else if he looked hard enough, then turned his incredulous gaze on Sonoko. "And what's this?"
She rolled her eyes. "Your outfit, duh. Oh, I guess you'll need these too." She bustled to her wardrobe and whipped out a wig and some…padding. She shoved these into his arms as well. "Well? Are you going to go put these on or do you want us to do it for you?"
Shinichi looked helplessly from the garments he'd been given to Sonoko to Ran (who only smiled encouragingly at him) and back to Sonoko again. "Why am I going as a girl?"
"Because there're too many guys on the guest list and not enough girls," Sonoko replied, grinning at him like the devil she was. "And this way you can't scare off any of Ran's potential boyfriends."
"But—"
"It's not like we're expecting you to do anything," the petit girl motored on. "Just sit there and look pretty so we can round out the numbers. You can leave the actual socializing to the rest of us. Now hurry up and go dress already. I still have to do your makeup."
Realizing that there was no way he was getting out of this, Shinichi reluctantly retreated into the bathroom with the dress.
Half an hour later, a sullen and blushing Shinichi sat in the backseat of the car penned between Ran and Sonoko so he couldn't make a run for it when they reached their destination. Not, he noted silently to himself, that he could do much running in this outfit. He'd won the argument over his footwear because he simply couldn't walk in the ridiculous heels Sonoko had tried to force on him, but he'd lost the argument over whether he should be allowed something with a longer skirt because, according to Sonoko, "You've got nice legs. You have to show them off". When he had complained that her logic made no sense, she had threatened him with a different dress that, while it covered more, was made of a material that would no doubt cling to him everywhere he didn't want it to. He had chosen the lesser of two evils and wondered what awful thing he had done in a past life to be cursed with a friend like this.
"Cheer up," Ran told him, smiling reassuringly. "You look nice. And it's only one afternoon."
Shinichi didn't actually care if he looked nice or not, but he nodded because he knew Ran meant well. All he really wanted, however, was for no one to recognize him.
The car pulled up outside a large and very fancy looking restaurant that turned out to be owned by the Suzuki family. The manager himself met them at the door, bowed graciously to Sonoko, then led them upstairs to a massive, private room where nearly forty college students were already searching for seats at a series of long tables (girls on one side of each table and boys on the other).
Shinichi scanned the faces of the attendees in trepidation as Ran and Sonoko dragged him to one of the tables that had yet to be filled. They all sat down on the girls' side of the table, and Sonoko immediately set about introducing them. Shinichi was dismayed to see that one of the boys seated across from them was a former classmate he had once worked on a project with. Worse still, he saw at least five other people he shared university classes with scattered about the room, and…and…
He stared.
No way. Was that Kaitou KID over there seated across from that Ran lookalike?! The sheer horror of the idea of Kaitou KID seeing him dressed up like this and attending a mixer had all the blood draining out of Shinichi's face.
He felt faint.
"Shin—uh, Shinko?" Ran nudged him with her elbow. "Are you okay? You look pale."
"It—it's nothing," Shinichi stammered hastily. "I just wasn't expecting to see so many people I knew."
Ran looked like she wanted to be amused but couldn't decide if it would be rude. "Well, I doubt anyone will recognize you," she said eventually. "Just relax."
Easy for her to say, he thought a bit grumpily. But, since he had no choice, he tried to do as she'd advised.
This was easier said than done as the boy across from him began trying to make conversation. Not wanting to be rude, Shinichi answered his questions politely and nibbled at his food as he silently willed time to move faster. He thought he was doing a good job of being politely uninteresting and uninterested until the boy asked him whether he wanted to go to the university orchestra's performance the following Friday together.
Caught completely off guard, Shinichi stuttered, mind blanking on a good excuse.
"You did say you liked classical music, right?" the boy pressed on eagerly. "Our orchestra is amazing. I'm sure you'd enjoy it. I already have tickets since my cousin's in the orchestra, but most of my other friends don't care for classical music."
"O—oh, uh, that's very kind of you," Shinichi stammered. "But I…" He tried desperately to think of a good reason to turn down going to the event which, admittedly, he had originally been seriously considering attending—a fact that didn't seem to want to leave his thoughts long enough to make room for good excuses. He eventually landed on, "I have work."
Which, while a lie, could become true at any moment, considering his track record with tripping over murder cases around every corner. The not-exactly-a-lie caused the boy's face to fall in a way that made Shinichi feel uncomfortably guilty before the boy rallied.
"That's too bad. Maybe we could go another time?"
"Uh…maybe," Shinichi said weakly, beginning to feel really guilty. The guy sure was persistent, and he seemed so hopeful too.
Shinichi silently cursed Sonoko and her harebrained schemes.
It was around that point that Shinichi's day got even weirder because that was when a certain young man joined their table (people had begun moving around a few minutes ago while Shinichi had been floundering through his conversation. Sonoko had migrated to another table entirely, much to the detective's relief (though he found himself wondering at her enthusiasm for the vent, considering she technically already had someone, even if he was currently out of the country. Then again, that was Sonoko for you), and Ran was now engaged in a lively conversation with another newcomer to their table who Shinichi mentally made a note to research the moment he got home).
This latest newcomer was the last person Shinichi had wanted to see at his table. He was tall, definitely athletic, and wearing an easy, friendly grin that instantly put everyone around him at ease (well, everyone except Shinichi, who felt like a cornered rabbit staring at the hawk about to sink its talons into him. Talk about out of the frying pan and into the fire. Really, he should have run for it the moment he'd laid eyes on Sonoko that morning).
"Hey there," the newcomer said, all sunny good cheer. "I don't think we've been introduced. My name is Kuroba Kaito." He flicked his wrist, producing a perfect red rose out of thin air to several gasps. He offered said rose to Shinichi with a charming smile that had the detective blushing despite himself. "I'm a sophomore, and I'm double majoring in physics and computer science. What about you?"
KID had just told him his real name.
Shinichi fought not to gape like a fish—or have a heart attack.
Was it remotely possible that the thief hadn't recognized him? It was difficult to imagine that the master of disguise could have failed to see right through him. On the other hand, hope sprang eternal. Maybe, just maybe, he could get through this without tipping the thief off. Then he could move on and forget this entire fiasco had ever happened along with the name he hadn't meant to hear.
Realizing the KID—er, Kaito was still waiting for a response, he cleared his throat.
"I'm a freshman," he said, managing a smile that he hoped didn't look as strained as it felt. He endeavored to channel a polite but distant young woman just here to accompany her friends. The smile KID was aiming at him made him think he must be failing miserably, but at least the thief didn't appear to have recognized him (if he had, Shinichi was sure he'd be smirking if not snickering outright).
Shinichi was saved from having to figure out whether to lie about what he was studying by the girl to his other side leaning forward to ask Kaito about the rose he'd pulled from thin air. Apparently, she loved magic shows, and she nearly had a heart attack when she realized that the messy-haired young man sitting before her was, in fact, the Kuroba Kaito that everyone in the Tokyo entertainment industry had been in an uproar about after the spectacular show he had given as part of the city's last New Year's celebration (which had starred several up and coming local performers from a variety of disciplines).
"You were incredible!" the new girl gushed, eyes bright with honest, open wonder.
KID—Kaito—beamed right back at her, preening at her obvious admiration.
Shinichi fought the urge to roll his eyes.
"I especially loved the bit with the sledge hammer and the glass apple," the girl continued.
"Wait, a sledgehammer and a glass apple?" the classmate Shinichi had been talking to asked, interest clearly piqued by the admittedly bizarre combination. "What kind of show was that?"
The ensuing discussion about the New Year's performances, stage magic, and modern entertainment expanded rapidly to include everyone at their end of the table. Other students drifted over to join them, and Shinichi soon found himself in the middle of a small and very lively crowd, half of whom seemed to want KID's—Kaito's—autograph. The other half wanted the latest gossip on the various other entertainers who had participated in the New Year's show, at least one of whom was a musician already famous throughout Japan who was, everyone was sure, well on her way to becoming an international sensation.
With so many eager voices chattering away, Shinichi found he no longer had to contribute to the conversation to keep it alive. All he had to do was sit back, relax and listen. Every now and then, someone would aim a comment his way, and he would simply nod and smile. This comfortable state of affairs lasted until someone announced that it was time to start the dance music.
Tables and chairs were moved to clear a space for the dance floor.
Having at this point been abandoned by both Sonoko and Ran and not entirely sure what to do with himself, Shinichi acquired a cup of coffee to keep his hands occupied and stashed himself in a corner of the room. From his position, he could see everyone headed in his direction. It was a habit he had developed during his time in hiding and the mild paranoia it had left ingrained in him, but it also seemed to suit his current situation perfectly. Everyone here was a potential danger to his flimsy, last-minute fake identity. Best just not to draw any attention and wait until Sonoko got tired and decided they could leave.
Why, the detective found himself musing, did he let Sonoko of all people keep on dragging him to these functions? If she didn't want him scaring off Ran's potential mates, she could have just left him out of her schemes, but no, here he was because she'd insisted that they needed more people. A weak excuse if ever he'd heard one, Shinichi thought, but it was Sonoko.
The girl had always believed that everyone needed to find that perfect someone and that, once you found that someone, you would both be happy forever after in the way of fairytales.
Shinichi was still pondering the mysterious machinations of Sonoko's mind when a hand appeared in front of his face. The hand had long, calloused fingers and a very strong grip. It belonged to none other than the Kuroba Kaito—also, Shinichi was sure, known to himself as the Kaitou KID.
"Would you like to dance?" the magician asked, all bright and earnest like he was just an interested young man asking out a girl he fancied and definitely did not see as a potential threat.
Not sure how to respond but not wishing to blow his cover now, Shinichi opted to smile and accept the proffered hand. One dance couldn't hurt. Once he got it over with, he could excuse himself without being rude—maybe make an excuse to find Ran.
Shinichi wasn't surprised that Kaito was a good dancer. He'd seen the thief dancing with Lady Kotako after all, and frankly dancing just seemed like the sort of skill KID would have decided to master on principle.
What did surprise Shinichi was that he sort of, maybe just a little, enjoyed dancing with the thief.
Clearly, this was because of the aforementioned skill at dancing possessed by said thief—or so he told himself.
This reasoning, however, did not explain why he didn't freak out when the music changed to something slow and sappy, and Kaito pulled him into a much more intimate position to suit the more intimate mood of the dance. In fact, Shinichi had been so busy trying to tell himself that he was not enjoying himself that he ended up leaning instinctively into Kaito's embrace. Then Shinichi's mind finally caught up to the moment, and he blushed and pulled hastily away.
"What's wrong?" Kaito asked, sounding so honestly concerned that Shinichi was momentarily lost for words. The truth was that what was wrong was just how not wrong all of this was feeling, but that sounded ridiculous and confusing even in his own head. And besides, he couldn't even attempt to explain it without giving away the fact that he was lying about his identity.
"I'm sorry," he blurted out instead. "I just remembered I have to be going. I have a doctor's appointment at," he cast a quick glance at the clock on the wall to pick an appropriate time, "four. I'll have to leave now if I'm going to make it."
"Will you be driving?" the thief asked.
Puzzled by the question and already distracted as he scanned the room for Ran, Shinichi replied, "I came in a friend's car. I doubt she'll want to leave yet, so I'll be taking the bus."
"Then why don't you let me drive you instead?"
Caught off guard, Shinichi opened his mouth then closed it again.
"B—but the mixer," he stammered. "There are more events planned for later."
Kaito shrugged. "I know. But I only came because my friend Aoko asked me to. Since it looks like she's busy," he nodded to where the Ran lookalike was dancing with a blond boy that Shinichi would swear was Hakuba Saguru. "I think my job here is done. So, how about it? We could stop for coffee on the way. We'll have the time if you're not using the bus."
He had Shinichi at coffee, though the detective doubted that the thief knew that (it wasn't until much later that he learned that the Kaitou KID knew all).
The look on Ran's face when Shinichi told her that Kaito would be giving her a ride to see Haibara had been a peculiar mixture of surprise and speculation. And Shinichi suspected that she would be showing up at his house one ay soon to interrogate him. But fortunately the mention of Haibara's name prevented her from starting her questioning here and now because she knew that Haibara was, despite being a child, Shinichi's doctor. And if he was going to see her, it could be serious.
Or it could just be an excuse to escape the mixer, but Ran would let that slide for now.
Five minutes later, Shinichi was seated across a small coffee table from the Kaitou KID in civilian clothes, wondering what temporary insanity had led him to believe that accepting the thief's offer of coffee and a ride would be a good idea.
And yet contrary to all expectations, they actually had a very pleasant conversation about how Shinichi was adjusting to life as a college student. Kaito shared some of his own early college stories, and they both laughed and wondered as their smiles grew more genuine and the responses more open.
So it was that Shinichi thought nothing of asking Kaito to drop him off at the small clinic that Agasa and Ai had set up in the back of his house. The place was very small, but it had started taking local patients with mild maladies this past summer.
"You've got an interesting place here," Kaito noted. "I'd love to see more, but I suspect I'd only be in the way, so I'd better make myself scarce."
"It was nice meeting you," Shinichi said, meaning every word. "Thank you for the ride. I…" He trailed off. He had been about to say 'hope we meet again', but then he'd remembered that he was in disguise, and it just didn't seem right then to say such a thing. It felt too much like making false promises. "I hope you have a safe trip back."
Kaito smiled at him, and Shinichi saw in that smile a glint that made him wonder if the thief somehow knew or guessed the things he had not said.
Then the thief took his hand and lifted it to his lips to brush a light kiss across the back of Shinichi's knuckles.
"You're welcome," he said. "Oh, and Tantei-kun," he added, smile never wavering. "I like the dress. It matches your eyes."
With that, he turned and vanished before the flabbergasted detective could respond.
Shinichi would like very much to just die now.
Official
Their first official Valentine's together was…memorable—but most definitely not in the way people like Sonoko dreamed about.
They'd been in their third year of university. Shinichi wouldn't have paid the date much attention at all seeing as he didn't much care for what he considered a ridiculous, over-commercialized and overly hyped up holiday that provided far too many people with fodder for arguments and, in some cases he knew far too well, murder, but the thing about having Suzuki Sonoko as a friend was that she would never allow anyone to forget Valentine's. She'd even dragged him along with Ran and Aoko to multiple special Valentine's sales. And since he was there anyway (and strongly suspected that Sonoko would badger him about it if he didn't), he picked up a gift for Kaito (something simple though. He would rather die than buy one of those gaudy, frilly pink monstrosities that seemed weirdly popular at these times).
They'd both had classes, and Shinichi had been called in by the police for a rather messy case involving a three-timing douche bag, his newly widowed wife, and his exes. The entire affair left Shinichi feeling somewhere between exasperated, sad, and perhaps a little angry too. The victim had been a lousy excuse for a human being, which, in his opinion, made him an equally lousy reason for someone (an overprotective and understandably angry brother, as it turned out) to be going to prison. But the case had very little to do with what made the day memorable.
Kaito had had a show that night. Shinichi had agreed to attend after making Kaito swear on Kuroba Toichi's name not to pull Shinichi into the performance in any way, shape or form. Fairly certain that Kaito would keep his word, Shinichi allowed himself to relax and just enjoy the magic.
Kaito had always been and would, Shinichi thought, always be the only magician who could make him believe in magic for even a moment. In a sentimental moment, he had admitted this to Kaito. He had fully expected the magician to tease him, but, instead, Kaito had smiled—soft yet ecstatic and completely, heartwarmingly genuine.
Shinichi smiled at the memory, feeling rather warm and fuzzy inside.
Of course, Kaito had also done some gloating later on, but frankly Shinichi would have been worried if he hadn't. It would probably have meant he was sick.
In any case, the show that evening was spectacular (as was to be expected), and Shinichi was very glad that he had had the foresight to insist on that promise from Kaito because the show was also fairytale themed. Multiple couples were pulled out of the audience to participate in the show, and Shinichi was decidedly relieved not to have been among the 'chosen'.
That relief, unfortunately, was also why he'd had his guard down when Kaito ambushed him just as he stepped out of the theater and into the venue's fancy lobby.
When he woke, he was lying on a soft, plush surface that felt an awful lot like velvet cushions. As his mind cleared, he found that he had been correct, and he was indeed lying on a large, blue velvet sofa gazing up at an unfamiliar ceiling wreathed in flickering shadows. That soft, ever-so-slightly wavering quality to the light spoke to him of firelight. When he turned his head, he found that this hypothesis too had been correct. There, standing in a pool of soft radiance like a stage set, was a table dressed in a pristine, white tablecloth. A flock of candles scattered tiny stars across covered plates and silverware.
Still groggy, Shinichi stared. It was beautiful, Shinichi supposed, but here in this unfamiliar if elegant room steeped in shadows, it looked like the setting for a horror movie. It was the kind of scene where you expected to see a vampire step out of the shadows to invite you to dinner with a smile.
Instead, what stepped out of the shadows was the Kaitou KID.
"I see you're finally awake," said the thief.
Shinichi leveled him with a flat look. "That's what villains say to people they've kidnapped."
KID blinked. "Er, sorry…?"
Sighing, Shinichi sat up and had to close his eyes for a moment as the world spun. The next time he opened his eyes, it was to the sight of a white-gloved hand and a grin.
"Shall we?" asked the owner of said hand and grin. Said grin only grew at Shinichi's supremely unimpressed expression.
Shinichi deflated with a sigh.
"What is all this about anyway?" he grumbled, letting the thief pull him to his feet. The change in elevation made his head swim, and he ended up hanging onto Kaito for support more than he wanted to admit. His initial impulse was to straighten the moment he was steady, but then he recalled that they were alone, and he had, after all, recently been gassed. So instead he allowed himself to lean slightly more on the magician than he strictly needed to.
"We're having dinner," Kaito replied, sounding far too amused. "Can't you tell?"
"And you couldn't have just picked me up like a normal person?"
"Ah, but today is a special occasion," Kaito admonished. "Besides, I don't do normal."
"…I'm not sure that's something to be proud of."
The magician only laughed and guided Shinichi to a seat. "Thank you for the chocolate, by the way."
Shinichi wondered what it said about his life that he was not at all surprised to see the box of chocolates he had not, in fact, yet given to Kaito sitting on the table at the magician's seat. He still felt a blush creeping up into his face though, and he blessed the dim lighting.
"You're welcome," he mumbled then hastily changed the subject. "So where exactly are we?"
"It's an office building," Kaito replied as he took his own seat. "Construction was only recently completed. They're still working on final installations."
"But there's furniture," Shinichi noted, glancing first at the dining table before him then at the enormous, plush couch he had woken up on. He was pretty sure Kaito didn't own anything remotely like it, and he had a hard time imagining why even Kaito would buy such a gaudy thing just to haul it up a tall building for no greater purpose than to be a soft surface to lay an unconscious person on.
"The couch was here already," Kaito said as though he'd read Shinichi's mind. "This particular office has already been spoken for by the man who bought the penthouse above us. The guy's a real bigwig, and he wanted to make sure this was the office he wanted before he put his name down for it. He was also considering the one on the other side of the building. He had his favorite couch brought in so he could spend the night here, see the nightscape and experience the ambience and all that."
"That…seems a bit excessive."
Kaito shrugged. "Nothing wrong with being a careful shopper, especially when it comes to the big decisions."
"Well that's true," Shinichi conceded. "So was he satisfied with the locale?"
"Very much so. That's why the couch is still here. He's been supervising the furnishing of the penthouse. When things run late, he just sleeps here. But he's at a hot spring hotel with his wife and kids right now," the thief added as an afterthought. "So you don't have to worry about him showing up tonight."
Which was definitely good, Shinichi thought, because having the owner of a building you'd just been carried into by a boyfriend who had literally kidnapped you from a performance hall arrive in the middle of the romantic dinner said crazy boyfriend had kidnapped you to set the stage for would definitely make the rest of the evening awkward.
Instead, Kaito lifted covers off of a series of scrumptious entrées, salads and soups and even dessert in the form of a cake shaped like a pair of chocolate doves leaning happily against one another.
Everything was elegant, just the way Kaito planned it, but the food was simple but good the way Shinichi preferred. Best of all was the carafe of black coffee freshly brewed from freshly ground beans that sent Shinichi's mind into a temporary haze of caffeinated bliss.
It was, Shinichi had to admit, nice—once you got over the extremely unconventional nature of the entire situation. The nightscape beyond the office's great windows was breathtaking, and the food was good, as was only to be expected of a meal arranged by Kaito. The magician had always been something of a connoisseur.
As such, Shinichi was actually feeling quite relaxed when Kaito suddenly stopped in mid-conversation to frown, head cocked to one side.
"Do you hear that?"
Shinichi started to ask what he was referring to but stopped because he did hear it.
There were voices approaching from somewhere beyond this room. Voices and the tread of heavy feet.
"Security guards?" Shinichi asked in a whisper, ears straining.
Kaito's indigo eyes narrowed in thought. "No. This place is empty. They just check it all from top to bottom at the end of the day then lock it up."
Shinichi frowned. "So probably not thieves either."
This comment earned him a wry grin.
"Not unless they're exceptionally incompetent."
They both stopped talking as they heard the sound of a door in the near distance opening. The noise was followed by the murmur of muffled voices. No words could be distinguished, but the tone and timber of the voices was another matter.
"There are at least four of them," Shinichi guessed.
The sound of footsteps joined the voices. Both were growing louder.
Kaito stood up. "We'd better make ourselves scarce."
Shinichi rose as well, eyes flitting from the closed door to the dishes spread across the table and back again. They had basically finished their food, but anyone could see at a glance that the tableware had seen recent use.
"Just leave it," Kaito instructed. He leaned over and blew out the candles, plunging the room into darkness.
Shinichi stood perfectly still, willing his eyes to adjust quickly.
The footsteps drew up just outside their door.
A gloved hand closed around Shinichi's wrist and tugged gently, guiding him towards the window and the distant twinkle of city lights.
The next two minutes passed like an eternity. There was nothing like being forced to climb out a window dozens of stories above ground level then having to edge along the narrow ledge outside it until you were out of sight of said window to make the seconds last. Shinichi was sure that, at any moment, the office door was going to open, and they would be caught in this precarious situation, but somehow they managed to ease out along the aforementioned ledge just far enough by the time the owners of those footsteps entered the room.
"What is all this?" a surprised voice asked. It was a male voice, young, and clearly not concerned about being overheard.
"You find the couch?" an older, gruffer voice asked.
"I found way more than that. Look."
A pause.
"Looks like someone had a nice dinner," a third voice, this one female, remarked. "I thought no one was supposed to be here?"
"No one is," the first man replied.
"Check under the tablecloth," the gruff man instructed. "Maybe they heard us coming and hid. I'll look behind the couch."
"I'll go tell Mura we might have an uninvited guest," the woman said. Her declaration was accompanied by the sound of receding steps.
"Do you feel a breeze?" the younger man asked.
"Check the window."
"Oh, hey, it's open a bit."
"Is there a balcony?"
"No."
"Then it doesn't matter. Get the tools."
"Right. Here you go. Hey, can I do one of them this time? There are, like, six different sockets in this room."
"Fine. Do this one. Remember, you want it to be discreet."
Outside, Kaito and Shinichi traded looks with raised eyebrows.
"Is this really happening?" Shinichi mouthed silently.
"I do believe it is," Kaito mouthed back, equally bemused.
And so the thief and the detective spent the next hour listening to the band of four intruders installing various pieces of spyware throughout the rooms that were soon to be a certain billionaire's offices. They had big plans, these four. It seemed they believed that they could use the information they gathered to play the stock market. They were also hopeful that they might find a few juicy company secrets and other potentially useful tidbits.
On and on, they talked as they worked and the nonplussed duo outside eavesdropped. Soon, said duo outside had the names of all four members of the band and even an address and a favorite bar.
That was about when the woman remarked that she was cold, and so they shut the window.
Shinichi groaned. "I can't believe this is happening."
"I can," Kaito countered with a wholly inappropriate chuckle. "Since it's us and all. You may want to relax, by the way. Being tense just makes it easier to fall."
Shinichi twitched. "Can we not talk about falling right now?"
"I was talking about not falling, but suit yourself."
"That's easy for you to say. You have a glider built into your cape."
Kaito chuckled. "True. But that should be as much a comfort to you as it is to me. After all, you know I'll catch you when you fall."
"…Did you just say when I fall?"
"I meant if," the magician assured him.
The wind, ever present and swift at such heights, whistled around them, tugging playfully at their clothes and hair. Its chilly fingers ran across their faces. Shinichi could feel his entire body going slowly numb from the cold, starting with his fingertips. He really wasn't dressed for this. He was already shivering. If they stayed where they were much longer, he really would fall.
"I've changed my mind," said Kaito.
Shinichi, whose thoughts were going numb with the cold right along with the rest of him, frowned. "About what?"
"Falling," the magician explained. "It seems to me that our uninvited guests may be a while about their business. We could try to wait them out, but it would be far more expedient if we simply jump. As long as we time our jumps together and position ourselves properly, it should be easy for me to deploy my glider and catch you. Then it'll just be a matter of finding a good place to land where we won't attract too much attention. I believe there is a roof not far from here that would be suitable. I can come back in a few hours to collect our affects before the workmen come in to work on the building in the morning."
Shinichi glanced involuntarily down towards the distant street below and immediately wished he hadn't. The sight of his own toes sticking out past the ledge upon which he was standing had given him the horrible, disorienting feeling that he was about to tip forward and right into thin air. He very much did not want that. Unfortunately, Kaito was making a valid point.
He took in a deep breath and braced himself. "All right. Let's get this over with."
Favorite
Shinichi's favorite Valentine's was a cold and windy one. The week leading up to that particular day had been one of fearsome storms with brief intermissions characterized by slate gray skies. The unwelcoming weather meant that most people who could stay home did so.
For Shinichi, however, the weather had had little affect on that day—unless it was responsible for the unusual lack of murders that demanded his attention (which, perhaps, it was). In any case, his day had been pleasantly clear of crimes and other problems, which meant that he had been able to stay home, and there were few better places to be in the midst of terrible weather than in a warm, bright home with a book and hot coffee.
He had spent a lazy morning immersed in caffeine and literature then spent the afternoon in the kitchen with a variety of cookbooks. It was as he carefully smoothed chocolate icing over the cake he had baked for the occasion that he realized that this was exactly where he wanted to be—not frosting the cake specifically, but here where he had arrived after the numerous trials and tribulations of his life. For all its ups and downs, and despite everything that hadn't gone the way he had once believed they would or should, he had found both a place for himself and people he cherished: friends, colleagues, and even family.
And Kaito.
He finished frosting the cake with a faint smile on his lips and a sense of deep contentment that, he knew, he would now always have somewhere inside him. It was the knowledge that he was, despite all evidence to the contrary, quite lucky.
Kaito appeared on the doorstep of the Kudo Manor that evening bearing a suitcase and a bouquet of red roses. He had just gotten back from a quick trip out of town to perform at a wealthy heiress's wedding. They had offered to let him stay the night at their grand estate, but he had declined, taking instead their offer to fly him back to Tokyo via private jet.
Shinichi accepted the proffered roses with a faint blush and a slightly exasperated comment about how the whole house was starting to smell like a flower shop.
"You should get a shower and warm up," he added, taking the magician's wet coat and hanging it up. "You don't want to catch a cold."
"Sounds good. Care to join me?"
Shinichi's blush grew to match the roses, and he turned towards the kitchen. "I put fresh towels in your usual bathroom already. Try not to take too long. Dinner will be ready soon."
Kaito watched his detective bustle away with a soft, genuine smile that went all the way to his eyes, making them glimmer with warmth and a deep, tranquil contentment rarely seen in him. He could see that Shinichi was relaxed and happy, and he couldn't help but feel the same.
So he headed upstairs to get cleaned up as Shinichi had asked and made a mental note to get his Shin-chan into the shower with him later when there would be no risk of something on the stove catching fire.
The dinner itself was a simple affair just the way Shinichi preferred it. His homemade cuisines couldn't compare to that of fancy restaurants or even to more naturally talented cooks like Ran, but his culinary skills had improved enough over the years that he now believed his friends weren't just humoring him when they told him that they enjoyed his cooking. This night, he had put together a menu that he knew his magician would like and ended it with a masterpiece of a chocolate cake—his first foray into artistic pastries which he would never have even thought about trying just a scant handful of years ago. Its appearance now was a testament to the fact that his life had settled down enough that he now regularly had free time. The cake had been frosted to resemble a blooming rose, and a pair of white chocolate butterflies had been placed atop the swirl of petals.
"You made this?" Kaito asked, wonder and amazement clear in his eyes. "It's incredible."
Shinichi shrugged, but he was smiling. He couldn't help it. "I made a few practice ones first. Not all of those came out well. But I finally got it the way I wanted it."
He set down a pair of plates and forks next to the cake before picking up the cake knife. "Do you want a butterfly on your piece?"
"Wait," Kaito said, placing a hand on Shinichi's wrist to keep him from slicing into the dessert. "We should take a picture first."
And so they did.
Later, they sat together on the couch in the living room with a fire dancing in the hearth and two large mugs of hot chocolate steaming on the table before them. Kaito had one arm looped around the smaller boy's waist. Shinichi was leaning into the embrace, head resting comfortably on Kaito's shoulder. If a moment could be perfect, Shinichi thought, then this was it.
"Kai?"
Kaito paused in the midst of recounting some of the highlights from his trip. "Yes?"
"I'm really happy."
The magician smiled, indigo eyes soft. Shifting slightly, he used his free hand to tilt Shinichi's chin up so he could catch the detective's gaze.
"Me too," he said before closing the distance between their lips.
The kiss was soft and sweet and faintly chocolate-flavored.
The truth was, Shinichi mused, that the ingredients for the perfect Valentine's—or any other holiday for that matter—did not have to include gifts, fancy foods, or exotic locations. Those could certainly, for better or worse, make a day stand out. But where you were and what you did didn't actually matter. In the end, all you really needed was to be wherever it was you were, doing whatever it was you were doing, with someone that you loved.
Epilogue
"We should do something really spectacular next year."
"Like what?"
"I don't know. Go to the moon maybe? What do you think?"
Shinichi felt his blood run cold. "…You're kidding, right? Please tell me you're kidding."
Kaito only laughed.
-Owari-