Man-Made will do.
When Kaito was little, he wished he had wings.
He had always loved heights to the point where his mother used to tease him of being a monkey for how often he climbed trees or furniture or could spend ages staring out a high window. Kaito distinctly remembered one of his fifth birthday gifts being a trip to Tokyo Tower just so he could see the city from its top.
That love never went away, though it changed after his father died. Kaito still loved heights, but instead of wanting wings so he could fly and see the world up above, he wished he could fly because bids looked so free and happy. And he was stuck on the ground in reality, a dead dad and a grieving mother and no idea how to process any of it.
The doves were about as close as Kaito could get to having wings as a kid. They could fly for him, and there was always a complicated mix of joy and jealousy when he watched their wings beat through the air.
After Kid, he had gliding. It wasn't wings, but it was the next best thing.
*o*
When Saguru was little, he wished he had wings.
When he didn't fit with his classmates or was too foreign for Tokyo and for London, Saguru would picture himself with wings flying up, up, up, away from everything in his life. Away from his father who was constantly busy with work. Away from his mother who gave him affection but not her attention. Away, and maybe turn into a bird in truth, something that had flocks so he could finally fit somewhere.
Of course he set aside those sorts of fantasies as he got older. At ten, he devoted himself to focusing more on logic than wild flights of fancy. If he wanted to fly, there were planes for that, and if he liked birds, he could have one for a pet.
He never truly stopped wanting to escape somewhere, but he knew better than to think that running—or flying in this case—away from his problems wouldn't make things any better.
*o*
It had been an offhanded comment. A wistful reminiscence of wishing he could fly as a child to Kaito as they spent an hour exercising Watson. For Saguru, it wasn't meant to be anything more than sharing a bit more of himself with his boyfriend. Sharing something that he thought Kaito could empathize with since he spent a good deal of time in the air as Kid.
Kaito must have seen something more to that exchange because not even two weeks later Saguru found himself, inexplicably, standing in a glider school just outside Tokyo with Baaya signing a permission form and Kaito digging through protective gear for a helmet that would fit Saguru.
"That was a sentiment from the past," Saguru said as Kaito pressed a helmet into his hands before going back to find a harness. "You didn't need to take me here."
"One, that was a very sad sort of sentiment that in no way convinced me you don't still want to fly," Kaito said holding up a harness before dismissing it for a size larger. "Two, you keep saying we should try each other's hobbies. I know you meant me reading Holmes novellas or joining you on a case, but this is one of my hobbies and you'll probably like it a lot more than me trying to teach you magic tricks or, you know, anything less legal."
It was all entirely legal, as Kaito had put forward while convincing Saguru to come. He could have, as Saguru well knew, just taken Saguru on a flight illegally. Instead, he'd taken the time to jump through all the hoops that this sort of thing required of two minors. Even if one minor had glider pilot certification.
"Alright, that's all your gear, and I already have mine," Kaito said clapping his hands. "You just have to sign the waiver and we're golden for doing a tandem flight. You'll like the glider I have here. It's blue with a white dove sewn into it."
Saguru let himself get tugged to the counter to sign the waiver. Baaya patted him on the shoulder, amusement dancing in her eyes as Kaito chattered on about wind currents and past flight experiences. Saguru wasn't afraid of heights. He didn't have a fear of flying either, although his experiences with flying were more on the inside of vehicles, not dangling in a harness from what was essentially a glorified kite. That said, being on a plane or helicopter or, well, even a dirigible was a lot different than hang gliding. Saguru couldn't help a bit of apprehension about the idea.
Kaito was thrilled though as they loaded up their gear and glider with other certified gliders. He laced their fingers together and smiled the whole perilous drive up a narrow switchback road to the launch point most of the way up a mountain. He had a bounce in his step as they worked together unloading everyone's gear.
Saguru almost backed down when he looked out at the expanse of land they'd be gliding over. It was beautiful. It was terrifying. But there was Kaito, still at his side, pulling him in for a quick side-hug before helping him into the harness. Saguru couldn't do anything to dim that smile.
The knot of anxiety twisted tighter, almost to breaking as they launched. But it fell loose when they caught the first updraft and Kaito laughed, joyous and free.
The world fell away beneath them, wind rushing past their faces, and the peculiar feeling of being supported in the air made Saguru's stomach swoop.
Kaito flashed him a grin that was more often found on his alter ego's face. "This," he called over the rush of air around them, "is as close as you can get to being a bird!" The sheer joy on his face made Saguru's heart skip a beat.
Saguru looked at Kaito's open glee and the peace that sat behind it that was so often missing. His breath steadied. Fear lost its grip. Below them spread kilometers of forest and mountain. There were farms and houses and city in the distance. Below there were birds flitting from tree to tree, having no need to go up as high as the glider. They were only gliding, but it felt like they could fly on forever. Fly away together.
Saguru laughed softly, a bubble of awe rising in his chest. This, this moment here, was as close as a man could get to having wings.
"Like it?" Kaito asked, grinning as he clearly knew the answer.
"I love it," Saguru said.
"We'll have to do this again then. As often as you like."
For the moment Saguru let go of it all, let the wind blow away any current worries and sweep away all the past from him like it couldn't cling to him up so high. For the moment, Saguru flew.