Kikonote: Completely accidental pun in the chapter name. That must be a good omen!

Kaito crossed his arms with a childish huff. "I already told you, I'm not Kaitou KID." As fast as it had reared his head, the annoyance melted from the magician's frame, his arms falling to his side. "I'm flattered you would compare me to KID-sama, though, gaki."

Shinichi rolled his eyes. "I already told you I'm not gonna turn you in - I don't have any proof anyway."

Kaito stifled a sigh. This was a losing battle, just like trying to get Hakuba off his back. The difference was that he wanted Tantei-kun to know. They shared the sticky situation of having secret identities and potentially, some common enemies. Moreover, Kaito knew he could take the detective's word; he had seen the detective be serious and making false negotiations wasn't something he would probably do. That little girl, though...

As if reading his mind, Shinichi added, "Haibara won't either; I explained that you're more useful to us free than imprisoned."

Kaito made a mental note that the creepy girl's name was Haibara and that she was entirely as creepy as she looked.

"Anyway..." Shinichi looked up to his visitor with a questioning gaze. "What are you doing here?"

Kaito ran a hand through his hair. It had been a week since the attempted kidnapping. He'd gotten away, but not without the detective deducing quite a lot about him, so he thought he should try to smooth it over. He also wanted to feel the detective out - maybe that the most. The police weren't going to take a nine year old who thought he knew who Kaitou KID was seriously, but he knew Tantei-kun would find a way if he was determined. The scariest thing was that Tantei-kun was likely a better detective than Hakuba and probably could be able to find some way to lock him up if he really wanted to.

Kaito was glad he had come, since he was now confident the little detective wasn't going to screw up his night job. The smoothing over was going terribly though, and so now Kaito was stuck with the kid until he could figure out a plan to get away without being suspicious. What better a plan than to be himself? Kaito gasped, a hand laid weakly over his heart. "What do you mean? You forgot our date?"

You've got to be kidding me, said Shinichi's deadpan expression. "But Kaito-niichan, I'm nine..." he whined in his childish voice, pretending to be confused.

Kaito forced an indignant frown over his amusement. "I thought that sounded cooler than taking the train here to spend time with a nine-year old." It was what he had told everyone at work too. He couldn't say he would have minded if it weren't a total lie, however. Of course he thought Kudo Shinichi was attractive - he was a well-known narcissist after all. The brain didn't hurt either. Though the being nine did, a bit. "So, otouto, where do you want to go?"

Shinichi restrained a yelp as his hand was pulled up, and looked up at Kaito's huge grin. This guy... Shinichi couldn't believe he'd gotten himself into this situation. Kuroba was worse than Hattori! In his normal voice, he suggested, "There's a new cafe that opened a few weeks ago. How about that? They're supposed to have great coffee." He'd been wanting to try it for a while, but he usually had to go to Agasa's to have coffee. Getting coffee in public as a nine year old was a bit tough if he didn't want to draw attention to himself and cause his legal guardians to be judged. He wanted to get something out of this arrangement. Plus, cafes carried bitter and sweet things, so even if that guy had a sugar dependency like his crazy smile kind of suggested he did...

"Yay! Chocolate cake!" he yelled, beaming and squeezing Shinichi's hand.

Shinichi was not pleased. Thought so... He tried to pull his hand out of the thief's grip, but it was no use. His exasperation did not lighten when he noticed that despite not giving instructions, they were going the right way. What's with this guy...

In the cafe, the two made their orders (though the waitress looked at him funny when he excitedly gave her specifics on his coffee order). Kaito had the money on the desk before Shinichi could even reach his pocket. Great, he thought, now I owe him. He couldn't help but smile some once the waitress brought their order over, however.

Kaito shoved a big bite of fluffy chocolate cake in his mouth, looking over his date with satisfaction. Such an easy date. He gulped down his cake to ask, "Is it good?"

Shinichi nodded enthusiastically. "Un! The newspaper critic was praising it for its kokuto sugar blend. It's a little sweet, but definitely rich."

The boy who knew nothing of coffee hummed. He nabbed the mug to take a sip, swishing the coffee around in his mouth. He was no impressed. It was so bitter! He puffed his cheeks out and forced the hot liquid to go down before he gave into instinct and spat it out.

Shinichi stared at the mug as it was put back down. "Of course it won't taste sweet with cake." He swiveled the mug around a bit, trying to decide if he should drink more. It was awful good, and it wasn't like sharing a drink was a big deal or anything. Kaito was a strange kind of person, so he probably just did it without thinking about it. Shinichi swallowed his pride and took another sip of the delicious concoction.

"Oh! Indirect kiss!"

Shinichi covered his mouth to keep from spitting it out. It had been a set-up!

Kaito just smiled and held out a piece of cake on his fork. "I can't believe we're already at this point in our relationship. First names, indirect kisses. Here!"

Before the disbelieving boy could run away, the fork pulled his mouth open and ultra-sweet chocolate was placed inside. Cringing, Shinichi chugged it down with some of his coffee. It wasn't actually that bad, but... "You're insane! You came here just to bother me!?"

Kaito wanted to laugh at the chocolate mustache hanging above the kid's lip, but he stopped; Tantei-kun looked genuinely pissed. "Sorry, I just got carried away. I was trying to be friendly, honest."

Shinichi downed the rest of his coffee and leaned back with arms crossed. "Fine, but why are you really here? If it was just to make sure I wouldn't cause trouble, I already gave you my word I wouldn't. Though if that is the case, you're just making it worse for yourself by doing all this - in fact, why were you here in the first place?"

Kaito had been hoping not to explain why he had been following him. Tantei-kun was right: he had put himself in a bad situation, so he saw no harm in telling the truth now. Treading carefully, he said, "It's just, after our last meeting, I was kind of worried."

Shinichi frowned. "Why? I wasn't the one getting shot at," he mumbled quietly so that no one would hear.

"Actually, you were too, but that's not what I mean. You seemed off your game. Can't have that now, can we?" The smirk was back as he leaned in.

Shinichi must have been screwed if even KID had noticed. He didn't particularly want to discuss that with KID, though. "What did you expect, coming back here?" KID must have believed him the first time he said he wouldn't turn him in since he'd just made it easy to do that.

Kaito was beaming with victory. He totally had his in and he was going to make Tantei-kun like him whether he wanted to or not. "I don't know," he said, trying to sound nonchalant, "I just thought it might be nice to spend some time with my favorite detective. I can't promise never to treat you like a kid, but I apologize ahead of time for being a jerk. And I'll treat you, so friendly truce?" he asked, holding out a hand.

Shinichi didn't understand how the thief could be smiling so bright at the person who'd been chasing his tail for years. He didn't understand how a criminal could admit to caring about his potential captors and show himself for that potential captor's sake. He didn't get it, but somehow, it didn't seem out of place in the circus that had become his life. It was nice to be acknowledged. KID had always given him that much. "I... guess..." Still looking unsure, his hand met Kaito's and they shook. He stared into the brilliant smile. It was strange to so openly see the person he had begrudgingly partnered with before, who he'd nearly killed himself chasing, who had that maddening smirk and obnoxious, but harmless, traps ready at all times.

Kaito wiped the chocolate off Tantei-kun's mouth. "Should I get another coffee then? It wasn't too bad."

Shinichi blinked in confusion, a small blush rising to his face as he realized he'd had that entire conversation like that - or KID was trying to psych him out. Grateful for the peace offering regardless, Shinichi nodded and stayed at the table while Kaito got up to order. His eyes followed the strange thief for a moment, contemplating his new friendship. He was annoying, sure, but there was something welcoming about the way he talked. When Shinichi looked back to the table, he found laying before him a bright pink rose. He took it by its thornless stem and twirled it in his hand. So KID was as eccentric in everyday life as he was in his heists. He couldn't say he was surprised.

Incoming: Aaaaaangst.