Disclaimer: I disclaim any ownership of Detective Conan or Magic Kaito.
Just as Shinichi was beginning to give up on pondering about the events of the previous day (he had tried hard too, even calling his, *gasp*, equally clueless father for potential missed clues), a new insane mystery had emerged...
...the case of the scent of delicious breakfast now wafting through the great detective's home.
For no clear reason, someone had decided to force him away from his go-eat-leftovers-at-Agase's-house-for-morning-meals routine. Even more striking was that Shinichi already managed to narrow his focus down to a single suspect - a particular person who had caused him particular anxiety the previous night.
Sure enough, in the kitchen was Kuroba Kaito, an intricate lace apron (Shinichi was not going to even bother to ask) over his school uniform. There were a few new bandages on his hand, and Shinichi wondered if he had gotten those wounds cooking. The most puzzling detail, however, was that off-beat, dazzling smile on his kohai's face.
Shinichi was stuck on the image of a white cape and a gem of a smirk when his kohai's words interrupted his thoughts.
"Good morning, sempai! Breakfast is served!"
"...Kuroba-kohai... why in the name of John Watson...?"
"Ah... well... I though I'd express my emotions better this way... is it that bad?"
"Oh no, I'm just rather surprised."
"That's good... I haven't exactly spent my life interacting a lot in ordinary ways so it's a bit awkward sometimes. Ah, the omelette's ready! How is it?"
Kuroba fed the detective a bite of the breakfast item, and honestly Shinichi though his taste buds were dreaming. It was better than any other breakfast he'd had in at least the last few years!
"It's delicious! How do you manage to cook so well?"
Shinichi saw his kohai's smile widen even more at the compliment. For a second it looked like Kuroba's usual smile.
"I just used a recipe you had lying around... it wasn't much..."
"That's incredible though. When I cook, I usually end up getting distracted by a mystery novel or something, and then everything gets burnt."
"Sempai... I don't think you're supposed to read while you cook...!"
On their way to school, Shinichi talked to Kuroba about his own taste in mystery novels, pleasantly surprised to find another high school student who had heard of them. For some reason, his kohai had stuck around him all day, at any chance he got. Was this something related to the events of yesterday?
Still, something almost felt off. After walking his kohai to his house, Shinichi returned home wondering about those flickers of unease he almost saw in Kuroba's eyes. Something was off, but what was it?
Another quick call to his parents revealed another bit of ignorance on both male members of Shinichi family, as well as something the female member seemed to know to the point of frustration at the two males' antics.
And roses shivered in the air, drooping the slightest bit as the moon paled behind them and a cold wind began to blow.
AN: I should really start doing these sooner, rather than literally moonlighting as an online author. Dawn-lighting is probably better for my health, overall. On a less nitpicking note... please review? They're the roses to my endings!