Detective Conan and Magic Kaito characters, settings, and ideas do not belong to me but to Aoyama Gōshō.

TMPD Antics

By Taliya

XLV: Kudou and Kuroba

The sharp yells of the tournament participants were faintly heard over the roar of the crowd. Shinichi sat with Ran, Kaito, Aoko, and Kazuha in the stands, watching as Heiji scored his last hit against Okita Daisuke in the finals to cement his position as the reigning national champion. The homicide detective was fairly twitching in his seat, as Kaito and Ran had decided to team up and harass him with whatever small but annoying pranks the theft detective dreamed up. Aoko had long since given up trying to stop them, and Kazuha was too interested in the goings on of the tournament to aid him in his plight.

It was with no small amount of relief that they left the stands to meet up with Heiji outside the locker rooms. Kazuha had immediately hugged him with a smile on her lips, and the two couples had congratulated him heartily.

"So, dinner?" Heiji asked. It was now nearing six, and they had previously decided to find a restaurant somewhere in Beika. Shinichi and Ran lived in the Kudou Manor, and so had plenty of rooms to spare for both the Hattoris or Kurobas to spend the night rather than travel back to their homes when the hour became too late. It was the reason both couples had packed overnight bags. They jumped on the rail at Shiodome Station, making their way to Beika. They settled on Poirot Café, a small eatery that brought back many memories for Shinichi.

Once they had been seated, their drinks—non alcoholic, as none of them had any desire to return to work the following day hung over—arrived and they all toasted Heiji for his win. Kaito popping noisemakers filled with confetti made the event more boisterous. Shinichi would not have minded so much had Kaito not gone and stuffed a handful of the confetti down the back of his shirt. Ran, his disloyal wife, only observed his flailing with giggles as she propped herself up by hanging off of a grinning Kaito. Even Aoko and Kazuha were chuckling, and Heiji—the traitor—merely crossed his arms over his chest and smirked.

"Oi, Kudou," he remarked as Shinichi gingerly unbuckled his belt, unbuttoned—but not unzipped—his trousers, pulled out his shirt, and shook out the rather itchy confetti from his back. "Should I write you up with a warning for public indecency?" he asked as Kaito gave out a loud whistle. Ran all but collapsed in laughter against the Division Three officer.

Shinichi sent Heiji a dirty scowl as he flushed a bright red. "You're not helping, Hattori," he growled, reluctantly tucking his shirt back into his pants before buttoning his pants and buckling his belt.

Heiji shrugged. "I won, we're celebrating, and if I decide that you're going to be tonight's entertainment, who's going to stop me?" A shared conspiratorial glance and grin with both Kaito and Ran had Shinichi sorely resisting the urge to bang his head on the table. It was going to be a long, long night.

Author's Note: Shinichi embarrassment all around. And I'm so, so pleased that Ran was relaxed enough about the situation to join in on the fun! I feel for Shinichi—between those three, he's going to be wishing he had ordered something alcoholic before the night is over. I hope you enjoyed it.

Completed: 18.11.2015