Chapter 5

By the way, I may update regularly, but when I was writing this it was extremely erotic…err, erratic. Haha. My left hand is sprained while I type this :( Sucks since I'm left-handed :P

The author's note at the end is kind of ish important to the plot sort of so read it pleeeease? I didn't want to put it at the beginning cause it's super long.

Today I don't have school even though it's Monday so I got all confused with the days...agh. But oh well :P

Hope you enjoy :D

Shinichi walked into the café with Ran at his side, looking around to find Kaito and Aoko. Ran had spent entirely too long getting ready for this little outing, so they arrived late. Before Shinichi even had a chance to finish his visual scan of the place, he heard Kaito excitedly calling his name out. Shinichi sighed, grabbed Ran's hand, and dragged her toward their table.

"Hey, Kaito-kun," he said as he sat down. "Hello, Nakamori-san."

"Hey Kudou-kun, Ran-chan!" Aoko replied, smiling.

"Shinichi-kun, Shinichi-kun!" Kaito exclaimed. "Did you see the amazing thing Kaitou Kid did last night at his heist? It was absolutely amazing, wasn't it? He's such a good magician! Oh, and you don't have to order, I already ordered for you, see? Here it comes now! Your takoyaki, broccoli, and rice. Oh, your coffee already arrived too. It might not be hot by now, and I added some sugar for you, since it tastes awful. That's what happens when you're late, Shinichi-kun!" He winked and popped out a white rose to Shinichi. Shinichi knew that the best thing to do would be to just take the damn thing, so he did. Ran nudged him subtly. She whispered, "Shinchi, he's such a good friend, isn't he? He gave you a rose! And he knows you love coffee—"

"Secrets don't make friends," Kaito yelled cheerfully. "Let me in on it, huh? What is it? Is it about the way Aoko's skirt makes her look like a square gorilla? Her underwear choice doesn't help matters either!"

Aoko gaped at him. "BaKaito!" she roared. "Firstly, you do NOT insult my clothing! Ever! Secondly, why the hell were you looking at my damn underwear?"

While the two battled in their seats, Shinichi took a bite of takoyaki and turned to Ran. "Let me just straighten this up for you, Ran. Kaito gives everyone roses. And I'm pretty sure everyone knows I love coffee. It's practically all that runs through my veins!"

"Sure, sure…" Ran said, obviously only agreeing to assuage Shinichi.

"Shinichi-kun!" Kaito, somehow, always made Shinichi's name sound bright and bubbly. "I wanted to tell you that—"

"Excuse me, kids," a man said. The teens all turned to the man. "You're all being quite a bit too loud, so I'm going to have to ask you to leave after you've paid for your meal."

"But we barely started!" Kaito whined.

"Kaito, idiot, this is your fault anyway!" Aoko accused.

"Yes, sir, of course. We're sorry to have burdened you and any customers we may have bothered." Shinichi and Ran bowed their heads, and Shinichi handed over the payment for the meal. The man looked genuinely surprised that Shinichi was such a polite boy after all the screaming that Kaito and Aoko had done.

"Idiot!" Shinichi reprimanded once they were out on the street. "I cannot believe that you just got us kicked out of that place!"

Kaito ignored him and looked at Shinichi's empty hands. "Shinichi-kun, where's the flower I gave you?"

"Huh? Oh, I left it on the table. It doesn't matter though, really. Let's just…go, okay, Ran?" But Ran was already walking away with Aoko, toward a clothing shop. She turned around, hearing her name being called. "You go on with Kaito-kun, okay, Shinichi? I'll go home later!"

"Shinichi-kun…" Kaito said. He says my name way too much, Shinichi thought. When he looked at the other boy, however, he saw the tears welling up in those violet eyes. It occurred to Shinichi that they were probably fake, but it sent a twinge through his body nonetheless. "You…don't care about my gift? It was special…"

Shinichi sighed. He really wasn't in the mood. Was he ever? "Look, Kaito-kun, it's just a rose. You give them out all the time! It's not big deal to lose one, right?"

"Shinichi-kun! I gave you that rose because I care about you! Idiot!" Kaito ran back into the restaurant.

"Kudou-kun, what did you do to him?"

Shinichi turned around. "Ah, Nakamori-san. Kaito-kun just threw a fit because I didn't bring the stupid flower he gave me out of the restaurant. Dunno what the big deal was."

"I'm sorry to say this, Kudou-kun, but you really are stupid. You don't realize, I guess…Kaito doesn't have any really good friends like you. He has me and Hakuba-kun, but as for others…they just sort of treat him like a source of entertainment, or a distant classmate. People don't open up to him, or let him open up to them. They don't care enough to yell at him for being an idiot or comfort him when he's sad. He told me that you're the best guy friend he's ever had. He really cares about you. So when he gives you roses, it's a symbol of your friendship. He's trying to give you a return gift for being such a great friend to him."

Shinichi was quiet for a few moments, and just as Aoko thought he was beginning to understand, he said, "But should you really read so much into it? How can you take such a deep meaning from a freakin' flower?"

"Ugh! There must be nothing but book smarts in that head of yours, Kudou-kun! It's Kaito we're talking about! He doesn't go around giving guys flowers. I don't know if you've noticed, but he usually only gives out red ones. That's why it means something. He gives you white roses as a sign of friendship…Oh, right! The reason I came back out here was because Ran-chan told me to ask you if you wanted to go to Tropical Land next Sunday."

Shinichi blushed. He had hoped it'd never come to this. He didn't think of Ran that way anymore. She was more like a sister. Specifically an older sister, since Conan. "Um, I…I don't think that's the best idea…I mean, we're just friends, Ran and I, and I don't—"

"Oh! No, silly. Kaito and I will go too. It's not like a date."

"Well...okay then, sounds fun." Shinichi was relieved that it wasn't what he had thought. While he watched Aoko return to Ran and thought about how awkward it would be to have to reject the latter, a white rose appeared in front of his face.

"Shinichi-kun, I found it!" Kaito announced happily. "So, what should we do now?"

Shinichi stared at him for a moment. Then, thinking about what Aoko had said about how important his friendship was to Kaito, he took the rose and motioned for Kaito to follow him. "C'mon, let's do something fun."

Short chapter, I guess? Sorry. I just thought that was a good place to end it…And yeah, it's a random, plotless filler. Ah, well. It helps build up to the more important stuff in the story, see?

And long thing: I wrote this before all those Magic Kaito specials came out and in those they totally steal my white rose idea, but whatever. Sticking to just where he appears in DC, I know it's customary for Kaito to give red roses, but I feel like it's more personal to change colors according to who he's giving it to. I always had some sort of romantic idea with Shinichi and him...I'll probably add that into the story, just a little side-plot or whatever. White roses, by the way, are symbols of innocence, honor, reverence, and secrecy. Of course, there are others, but those are the themes I wanted to convey with the white rose in this story. Now, I'm not a crazy symbolic person, but I thought that since Kaito would give roses out anyway, I might as well play with it to my advantage, make it a part of the story. My point to it is that they're friends straightaway and that Kaito respects Shinichi's intelligence and whatnot, and that he has a secret from Shinichi. (Obviously that he's Kid.) And as it goes on, I want it to seem like…I dunno how to explain. Like their bonds gets stronger as they become better friends and whatnot? And yeah, they're not gonna be in love with each other right off, although it's pretty hard to resist that temptation xD I know there are already hints and stuff, but I don't want to make it so straightforward. Maybe just Kaito has a little thing for him right now that even he barely understands.

Thanks for reading! Please review cause it makes authors happy and inspired? :D