Shinichi smiled, watching Kaito get more and more flustered as their date continued. Well, Shinichi knew it was a date. Kaito might still be under the mistaken impression that it wasn't yet. He'd been trying to give him something for the last hour, but Shinichi had other plans.

When they stopped in pretty locations on their walk, Shinichi made sure to ruin the moment in some way. His gift wouldn't be ready until about 6 p.m., so he had to keep Kaito distracted until then. He was going to give his gift first and that was that.

Every time Shinichi ruined the moment, though, Kaito looked more and more frustrated. Shinchi felt a little bad, but he had to put it off a little longer. Just until 6.

At 5:30, Shinichi said, "Kaito, I heard about this restaurant that opened a little while ago, do you want to go with me?"

"Yeah, sure, that sounds fun," Kaito agreed, no doubt planning to give his own gift when they got there. Shinichi smiled and took his hand. Kaito's face went red, but he didn't pull away.


Kaito froze outside the restuaurant. "No way. You did not get us a reservation here. It's impossible."

"I solved a murder here the weekend after they opened." Shinichi shrugged. "Paolo asked to let him know if there was any way he could repay me, so I asked him for a reservation on Valentine's Day."

"He drives a hard bargain," Paolo said, holding the door for them. "But if he hadn't been walking by, who knows if I'd even be open today. This man saved my livelihood."

Kaito smiled. "Okay, so he's pretty great."

"He asked one other thing of me," Paolo said, leading them to their table. "You see, I've been looking for something to draw crowds on off nights and I've decided to use local performers."

Kaito froze and shot Shinichi a startled look.

"Would you care to audition for me? If I like your show, I'd want to have you in here every other Wednesday, I think."

"I'd love to audition! I–name the time and place and I'll be there!"

Paolo beamed. "Excellent! Then come by here, say, tomorrow around 5?"

"I'll be here! Thank you!"

"Now, I think I'll leave you with your menus. Your waitress will be here to take your orders shortly," Paolo said, smiling at them both. "I hope everything is to your liking."

"Thank you, Paolo." When he left, Shinichi turned back to Kaito. He blushed at the awestruck look on Kaito's face. "Happy Valentine's Day, Kaito."

Kaito froze again, narrowing his eyes. "You… Oh my God, you jerk! I thought this whole time you wanted us to be just friends, but you just wanted to give your gift first! Unbelievable!"

"I like to make grand gestures," Shinichi said, feeling a little defensive. "I'm not really good at the every day things, but…"

"You make an excellent grand gesture, Shinichi." Kaito sighed, pulling a small flat box out of his pocket. "Makes my small gesture look very small."

Shinichi pulled the box over, frowning at him. When he pulled the lid off, several things became clear at once. One, Kaito made the chocolate by hand. Two, the bandaids on his fingers were not from a magic show. Three, Shinichi had never been happier to receive chocolate in his life.

"It's uh, it has espresso powder in it. Since you like your chocolate kind of bitter, and you like coffee…"

"Yes. Yes, I'll be your Valentine, Kaito."

"Shouldn't that be my line, Mr. Grand Gesture?"

"Nope. This is suitably grand for me," Shinichi said loftily, placing the lid back on and setting it aside with a last warm glance. "Thank you. I know it must have been hard to make."

Kaito blushed, turning his face away. "It was nothing, really. I, uh, had my mom teach me."

"I love it."


After dinner, Kaito insisted on walking Shinichi home, taking his hand with a determined look. Shinichi laughed at him and swung their hands a little.

"I'm not going anywhere, I promise. You're the one who likes to disappear, you know."

"Not tonight. I'm off duty." Kaito bumped their shoulders together.

They walked in comfortable silence for several blocks, eyes trailing over the other couples on the street with them.

"Does this mean we're dating?" Kaito asked.

"I certainly hope so. Otherwise, inviting you up to my apartment would seem a bit presumptuous."

Kaito's face went red. Shinichi grinned.

Kaito pressed his free hand over his eyes. "You can't say things like that! It's embarrassing."

"Am I allowed to tell you I want to kiss you?"

Kaito peeked at him from between his fingers. "I suppose so."

Shinichi turned to face him. "Am I allowed to kiss you?"

Kaito sighed, dropping his hand. "If you must."

Shinichi laughed, cupping his cheek and pressing a soft kiss to his lips. They kissed like that for a while, standing in front of Shinichi's apartment building. When Shinichi pulled away, he retook Kaito's hand and tugged him in the door.

Once they were in his apartment, Kaito tugged Shinichi into another kiss and another. And another.

Shinichi was already looking forward to next Valentine's Day.