-Love of Four-

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

Warning: KaiShin relationship.

A/N: I've been wondering, is fem!Shinichi (that is Shiina) considered as an OC?


07: Accidents happen, and not all are good...

Shiina should have known better than to refuse Ran's company for sitting alone inside the big mansion with the memories of the crime scene running through her mind is giving her nightmare fuels.

"It wasn't like this with Shinichi though…" She said to the empty space of the library. "We've never had trouble with compartmentalising before…" She let her hands run through the page of the opened book, eyes not really paying much attention to the words but instead staring at the black text with no amount of comprehension.

She wondered what changed and how much had changed since they split into three different personas. It was difficult to imagine herself as anything but Shinichi before their split as she retains all of those memories as well.

But before she could venture further into memory lane, the front doorbell buzzed and immediately, Shiina rose from her seat. It could be Ran who forgot something at the house, a regular occurrence that Shinichi, and by extension Shiina, was not surprised she would return.

"Coming." She called out, knowing full well it could not be heard beyond the doors. She hurried her steps towards the front porch. With her hand on the knob, she slowly opened the door with her mouth opened and words tumbling out of her mouth. "What did you-..." However, she did not finish her sentence for the person in front of her was not Ran. Rather, it was a certain messy-haired magician in a gakuran.

"Well, this is a nice surprise." His eyes roamed over Shiina and she felt slightly exposed. She hid behind the door, making sure to tuck her legs away. The Teitan skirt was slightly too short for her liking, even though many of her peers thought it was no problem.

"K-" She was not sure how to address him, she thinks of the magician in front of her as Kuroba-kun but Shinichi addresses him as Kaito now that they were officially together.

"What's the occasion?" The magician invited himself into the house, gently closing the door behind him once passed the threshold. "Not that I don't appreciate you normally but surely something must have come up for you to be, in all things, the female school uniform."

"Um…" It seems that many other traits were copied over as well as Shiina finds herself tongue-tied and unable to come up with a decent lie.

"Anyways, seeing as you're quite dressed, why don't we go on a date? It's been some time since we last hung out together. You've been quite busy lately haven't you?" Without much warning, he produced a flower and tucked it behind her ears. She blushed slightly at the warm touch.

"Uh…" She glanced over at the clock. Shinichi is bound to come back anytime now, it usually takes two hours to wrap up the case on site, even if the paperwork that followed can take up to a few days to sort through and fully filled.

"Good." He took her lack of response as affirmation and puffed her school jacket to existence, which she clearly remembered it to have been left in the dining room, and draped it over her shoulders. "We're all set to go." He extended out an arm, face full of expectation and a joyous gleam in his eyes. Those glittering violets could talk a tortoise out of his shell and Shiina quickly wrapped her hand around the extended arm. There really was no reason to decline, after all it was just moments ago when she wished for some form of distraction away from the memories of death. It was times like these when she wished they did not have perfect recall as an ability.

The magician quickly dragged Shiina away from the house, towards the shopping street district. It was a comfortable silent walk, one that made Shiina acutely aware of their closeness and the warmth of skin underneath the black gakuran. She could not help but blush again when the magician looked at her with adoration, asking where they should go and whether there was anywhere in particular she wanted to visit. She shook her head, suddenly feeling very guilty at spending time with the magician.

'Although, it is quite nice…' she admitted to herself as they window-shopped. The small antique shop displayed a variety of goods on offer. The magician was currently enraptured by the small selection of antique jewelry on display, no doubt critically evaluating their worth. She could not help but feel her eyes were constantly drawn to the magician's form, how he would crease his brow slightly as he bent over to try to take a better look at one of the pendants, or how his shoulders would slump when he realised the flaw in the craftsmanship of work.

"Nothing catching your fancy?" She asked, eyeing the same piece the magician had seemingly been attracted to.

"No, the only thing catching my fancy is standing next to me." She must admit she had walked right into that one. The magician wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her close so their hips were touching. "Hm…"

"Is something wrong?" She tensed, pushing away slightly. There was a moment of silence as he looked critically at her face. She could not help but suddenly want to hide away from the intense look.

"..." His eyes were focused on her own, as though it could bore into her soul. She bit her lower lips in nervousness.

"Um…" She glanced sideways, hoping for any form of distraction as a means of escape.

"Nope." He smiled, beaming and bright as his eyes soften once more. "Nothing's wrong." Still, his hands were on her hips. It seemed that the hand tightened fractionally, as though gripping into her. She had to wonder if, on the off-chance, whether the magician had noticed that she was not Shinichi. Even so, his actions towards her had not changed. Rather, he dragged her to a nearby cafe with enthusiasm.

Looking at the cafe's interior, her mind screamed 'too much pastel' as the cream coloured walls were artistically painted with splotches of pastel yellow, pink, blue, and green. The white painted chairs sliding underneath the sky-blue desk complimented the emerald green flooring, making the area feel as though it was a scene from a park picnic.

"A table for two." His voice snapped her out of her observation of the surroundings. The waitress guiding them had this knowing look on her face as she explained the menu, pointing out the seasonal special and commenting on how they have a couples special. "We'll forgo the couple's special, instead I'll have a chocolate waffle set with hot chocolate, extra whipped cream, and she'll have a cake set, the lemon cheesecake with black coffee." He took the liberty of ordering for her, not that she would choose otherwise. Her quick glance at the menu revealed too many types of sugary confection.

"You'll have cavities before you turn twenty by this rate." She commented the moment the waitress left.

"But that won't be because of consumption. My need for a dentist is because I'm constantly exposed to your sweetness." He rested his head on his hand, looking lovingly at her as she tipped his head slightly to the side. He reached out, brushing away one of the stray strands of hair when she tries to duck down with embarrassment. "You don't need to hold back your sweetness on my account though." His hand rested on her cheeks, guiding her face so she would be facing him. "Is there anything you wish to say to me?"

"..." She bit her lips again, this time her upper lip. Internally, she debated the merits of telling the truth, that she was not Shinichi and is temporarily her own person. But with the way he was looking at her, she felt that by saying the truth would make him act distant to her.

The waitress returned with water and their cutlery just as the silence between them had thickened. It saved Shiina from having to answer as the atmosphere was broken with the setting of the table. The knowing look from the waitress returned when she saw how the magician hesitantly retracted his hand. She gave Shiina a sly smile before heading away to collect other orders.

The conversation between them changed, most likely because the magician in front of her must have sensed something odd. The focus of the conversation turned to how he pranked his class and complaints about a certain blond dating his childhood friend. There was very little focus on Shiina, mostly it was him narrating his various thoughts and plans for future pranks.

After the food, the magician escorted her back to the house. It was late and there was a light coming from the house. She feared the magician might have suspected something, as his brows furrowed.

"Must be my parents or something…" She offered quickly, turning his attention from the house back to her. "They like to surprise me like that."

"Oh course." He nodded, taking her hand into his and holding it up to his face. "It's been lovely this afternoon." He placed a quick kiss on the back of her hand. She felt her cheeks heat up at the action. Out of the corner of her eyes, she thought she saw movement from one of the upstairs window, a fluttering of shadow. Immediately, her blush cooled down at a rapid rate as ice filled her veins.

'It's not supposed to be like this.' She quickly retracted her hand, holding it tight against her chest and rubbing the back as though she was cold.

"Thanks for walking me back." She added in a whispery voice, turning her back towards the magician as she hurried back inside. "I'll...I'll call you next time or something. You don't have to deliberately make the trip over. It must be tiring."

"It's never tiring to have the opportunity to spend time with you." The way he stressed the words, it was as though he knew. But she doubted it very much as his actions were no different from how he acted towards Shinichi. At least from her current point of view. However, she felt her point of view was slowly becoming rose tainted. During the afternoon together, she felt extremely reluctant to let go of the supporting arm, how she felt the need to lean into the magician for warmth even though it was not a particularly cold day. She felt her gaze constantly gravitating towards the magician's face, having to turn away abruptly once the magician noticed.

'This was not supposed to happen.' She paused in front of the large doors, still feeling the intense gaze on her back as she fumbled for her keys. She suddenly remembered she never had keys to the house to begin with, it was Ran who had the spare keys and let them into the house. All other times, she had been with Shinichi and there was no need for her to have keys.

"Um...you don't really need to wait for me to enter…" She said hesitantly, there was no way she would be ringing the doorbell with him standing at the gates. He would notice, especially since she was sure it would be Shinichi who would answer the door.

"I want you to be safe." He encouraged. "And I won't leave until I see you're safely indoors." There was just something in his smile that says he would not take no for an answer.

There was a small click coming from the other side of the door and she thanked her lucky stars that Shinichi must have noticed her dilemma. Slowly, she raised her hand to the knob and turned it gently, just in case the sound was a figment of her imagination.

"Um…I guess I'll be seeing you later then?" She added hesitantly, turning halfway but with her hand still on the knob.

"You can be certain of that." The beaming smile made Shiina nervous once more, not really knowing how to act in front of the magician she opened the door just enough for her to slip inside.

"Welcome back." Conan looked up from his seated spot on the steps leading up to the second floor. "How was your date?"

"It's not a date." She growled out. "It will never be a date between Kuroba-kun and myself."

"Theoretically, he's in love with Shinichi, who at one time had been you." Conan brushed his pants as he stood up to approach her, "so it would not be a surprise if he actually does like you."

"Shinichi does not need me to cause him further worry you know. He's already questioning how far Kuroba-kun likes him." She pulled off the black shoes, stepping into the slipper Conan put in front of her. "Where is he?"

"Upstairs. He's the one who told me to open the front door."

Shiina winced, she had thought the wavering of curtains had been a figment of her imagination but apparently Shinichi saw the whole thing.

"Is he…?"

"Pacing around the room. Or should I say prowling around? He certainly looked as though he was constipated or something." Conan shrugged. "I'm going to start washing the vegetables, hopefully I won't have to be the one slouching over the stove tonight…" Conan walked off as though he was not the least concern but Shiina could detect the hint of worry underneath the nonchalant shrug. Both of them, borne from Shinichi, were quite aware of his feeling towards the magician, knowing how he felt insignificant because of how they met. Shinichi had always compared his feelings against how the magician felt for him, always thinking the reason the magician stayed was because of how he met with Shiina first. Shinichi even compared his relationship with the magician with KID's relationship with Conan, because he knew KID is Kuroba Kaito and KID knew Conan first.

"Why is it so hard for him to accept that Kuroba-kun sees Shinichi as his own person and loves him unconditionally, even if the meetings so far had been unconventional…" She sighed, readying herself for the confrontation. When she said she has no designs on Kuroba Kaito, she was telling the truth.

"Shinichi?" She knocked on the door, though there was no response. She listened through the doors, hoping that Shinichi would approach and open, but there were no indications that he even heard the knock. Knowing she must be the first to take action, she eased open the door and peek inside.

Shinichi stood, staring out of the sliver between the curtain, looking at the now empty street towards the location where she had been standing just minutes ago.

"Shinichi?" She tried again, walking closer to her male counterpart.

"You know," his eyes never left the single spot by the gate, "I think he feels easier when dealing with Shiina than with Shinichi."

She hugged Shinichi from behind, keeping silent as she listened to his rant.

"He's never looked like that when he was with me. Like I was...I don't know, delicate? Precious?" He shook his head. "Maybe, it's best if you stayed...And…"

"Shinichi." She forcibly turned him around so she could bore her eyes into his. She knew how frightening their blue eyes were, how they hold so much conviction and strength behind the colour. "You're not the type to give in so easily." She tightened the grip on his shoulders. "Kuroba-kun loves Kudo Shinichi. Not Irie Shiina, and certainly no Edogawa Conan. He confronted you, confessed to you. Not either of us."

"But…" He turned his gaze away to look at the side wall but Shiina was quick to correct the move so they looked at each other again.

"No 'Buts'. I repeat, Kuroba Kaito Loves Kudo Shinichi. The only reason he and I went out is because I was negligent and he managed to surprise me. Otherwise I wouldn't have answered the door." She pulled Shinichi into her body, wrapping her arms around him in a comforting hug. "Stop being so unsure about what he feels. You know how you feel and that should be enough."

Shinichi sank into her hug and Shiina worried. She feels that the longer they stayed separate, the more insecure Shinichi might feel about his relationship. And she really want the relationship to work. Mentally, she made a note to talk with Conan about this newest development.

-TBC-