ch2: i'm a child at heart

It's raining by the time I solve the case. I promise the Inspector I'll write up my report and send it to him tomorrow morning then head out the door. It's 4:46pm and I'm late. That's nothing new, really, but I was hoping to make a good first impression. Too late for that, I suppose.

I crash into someone as I walk out of the boutique and stumble backwards into the doorway. A hand (attached to a man about my age and height) steadies me. "Kudo Shinichi?" I nod, and it's difficult to tell because of how hard it's raining but I think he's smiling. "I'm Kuroba Kaito. Wrong number guy. Nice to actually meet you in person."

My eyes are slowly adjusting to the lack of visibility but I still can't make out any distinct features. "Hi. Uh, Kudo Shinichi. Your emergency boyfriend. I guess." He grabs my elbow and steers me down the street.

"Hello, Shinichi! Can I call you that? It'd be weird not to, considering we're supposed to be dating."

"Sure, I guess."

"You say 'I guess' a lot."

"I guess I do."

"So we should probably get our stories straight. Gay. Whatever. So. I'm thinking we met at the park and my birds got very attached you you. Did I mention that I'm a magician? I have doves. They're lovely, very smart. You'll meet them later." He—Kaito—is talking a mile a minute, making wild hand gestures I can just barely make out. I'm beginning to regret this. "We've been dating two weeks, I think."

I ask dryly, "Anything else I should know?" Is he trying to tell me his whole life story in five minutes?

"Aoko will tell you that I'm also a shameless flirt. Here." He pulls a red rose out of thin air and hands it to me. I consider it for a moment then tuck it into my breast pocket and hope it doesn't get crushed. "What about you? Anything I should know about?"

"There isn't really much to say. I'm a freelance detective, I consult with Division One in Beika."

"C'mon, you gotta give me more than that. Hobbies? Favorite color? Weird kinks?"

"My job is my hobby. When I'm bored, I solve cold cases. I like the color blue." He looks expectant, so I school my expression into something as neutral as possible before I answer, "Bondage."

He sounds utterly delighted as he asks, "Really? Awesome. We're gonna get along just fine." I'm not sure he realizes that I was joking.

"If you say so." The restaurant is just up ahead so I step a bit closer and hold his hand. "Is that okay?"

He squeezes my hand gently in response and pulls me inside. It's not raining in here, I like it already. The host directs us to a table at the back. There are three people already sitting down: a woman that looks startlingly similar to Ran, another woman whose hair is an alarming shade of red, and Hakuba. Hakuba looks surprised to see me. Which is fair, since I'm still sort of surprised that I'm here.

The first woman squeaks out, "Kudo Shinichi?!"

"Uh, yes? Nice to meet you..?"

"BaKaito! You can't just casually introduce some minor celebrity as your boyfriend!"

"You didn't actually give me a chance to introduce him," Kaito points out.

"You didn't have to," she exclaims, "his face is plastered all over the news! He's Kudo Shinichi! Y'know, the saviour of the Japanese police, the modern Holmes, the detective of the East."

"She's right, you know," I say mildly. "You probably should have warned them." Though judging by his face, I'm not sure he knew about it until just now. His cover up is surprisingly good, I'm not sure I would've noticed if I wasn't looking for it. Dad would say he has a good poker face.

Kaito turns to me, his tone plaintive, and asks, "Aren't you supposed to be on my side?"

"You should know by now that I'm always on the side of logic."

"Somedays I think you love logic more than you love me."

"I do." If I didn't know any better, I'd say he was genuinely hurt. I roll my eyes. "Relax, I'm kidding. You're stuck with me for the foreseeable future. Unless you commit murder, then you're on your own."

"Ooh, are you going to put me in handcuffs?"

His smirk makes it blatantly obvious that he's referring to my earlier comment. I reply blandly, "You wish."

"Maybe. Either way, you already know all about my childish pursuits and you haven't arrested me yet. I'm not too worried." It takes a few seconds for me to connect the dots. Hakuba grasps it instantly and starts staring in my direction, looking shocked and a bit appalled. Kaito smiles innocently. "Something you want to say, Haku-chan?"

"You know," he whispers. It sounds more like a question.

I merely raise an eyebrow. "Know what?"

"Kuroba is Kid."

"Is he? I don't think that's what he said."

Kaito grins and Hakuba leans back in his chair, looking aggravated. Both women seem exasperated but resigned, like this is perfectly normal. Something tells me that dinner is going to be interesting.

1. hakuba isn't exactly trying to catch kid anymore, but he's still kinda mad that he can't prove anything.

2. akako and aoko are def dating. the 'let's rent an apartment together and make hot chocolate at 3am and watch stupid movies together as an excuse to cuddle' kind of dating. it's sort of sickeningly cute. sometimes, in the middle of the night, akako wakes up and worries that everything was a dream. worries that she'll wake up alone. she never does.

3. shinichi completely forgot to snapchat sonoko and she's probs gonna make him go shopping w/ her and carry her bags as punishment. he'll deny it if ever asked, but shinichi actually doesn't mind shopping w/ sonoko. she's good company.