And then this chapter remained half-written for a while... Special shout out to my lovely reviewers, who kind of make me think I should keep going! Which I definitely plan to do!

XXXXX

It was the calm before the storm: the slow ticking by of the time leading up to lunch rush. Like any bored teenager, Kaito decided to screw around on his phone. He unlocked it and stared at the same screen that had sat there since he'd started work that morning. He still couldn't resolve his dilemma. Kaito sighed and pressed for home. He wanted to text Tantei-kun sooo bad, but he didn't think he was supposed to have his number, and Tantei-kun hadn't fully accepted his company. Yet. Perhaps not at all, but Shinichi's state had forced his hand into an ill-thought-out plan it was too late to take back, so he was determined to press on with it until he couldn't doubt it. How hard could it be? They both had secrets to hide, so Kaito made the perfect confidant. Plus he was charming and charismatic, so eventually, anyone would have to relent. They'd shaken hands and everything.

He would just have to wait and go back to Beika. Text conversations weren't the same. He preferred to watch people's reactions in incessant detail, mentally noting their habits and preferences. It was so much more entertaining to see the real thing over letting his imagination run wild.

That was why the following Wednesday, he strolled into the Beika district feeling naked and vulnerable without a disguise. One couldn't expect to gain a detective's trust by hiding, now could they? He had no need for such vanities; Tantei-kun had already seen his face.

Target spotted, he told himself with a small grin. It looked like Tantei-kun had finished getting ready before everyone else and was waiting. Perfect. Kaito continued on with such a perfectly casual posture, even Tantei-kun wouldn't know he was questioning his decisions in life. He would work with what he was given, but it was going to be hard if Tantei-kun kept asking things like Why are you here? and Are you an idiot? - perfectly reasonable though they were. He could see shiny blues widen as they caught sight of him. The grin on his face only widened. "All ready to go?"

Shinichi considered saying no, causing a fuss, and getting the security to gather. It would serve the idiot right. How ironic it would be for the famous Kaitou Kid to be arrested for something that wouldn't even make the papers. But he was not that vindictive. Shinichi shrugged and started walking with his idiot in stride. "You shouldn't be so careless. My friends were coming any minute you know."

Kaito barely held back a Cheshire grin. Tantei-kun wasn't overly friendly with him, but seemed to accept his presence nonetheless. "Not a problem. We'll just say we're cousins or something. They'd buy it."

Shinichi gave him a glare.

Kaito reached down and mussed up Shinichi's hair. "There you go. Now we look a lot more alike."

Frowning, Shinichi smoothed down his locks, the usual cowlick still popping up when he was finished. "If that's your idea of a disguise, you've gone off the deep end."

Kaito just snickered; he'd already snapped a photo of Shinichi's much better makeover. "Who needs a disguise? You're always hanging around teenagers anyway."

Shinichi couldn't argue with that. He would only have a problem if Ran saw him - or worse, the Shounen Tantei-dan. KID would just love telling them whatever he could make up on the spot. "So? Where are we going?"

"I'm so glad you asked! I planned something very special," he said, winking at the boy who was glaring in annoyance and slight fear. "We're going to the place we first met as rivals, to commemorate us meeting as friends. Doesn't that sound exciting?"

"The clock tower?" Shinichi questioned. His eye lit up with recognition; ah, yes, he remembered. Sighing, Shinichi shoved his hands in his pockets and threw Kaito an accusatory stare. "You mean to look at the emerald that's moving to that museum up north next month?"

Having only one day off did create horrid scheduling conflicts. "An emerald? You don't say." Kaito made a mental note to wait until its next move to hit it. His main goal had been to get an updated high view of Beika, however. He could skip the emerald to prove a point. Sweetening his voice, he replied, "I'll keep her in mind. Thanks for the suggestion, Tantei-kun."

XXXXX

Kaito and Shinichi did not look out of place at the clock tower during the day. In fact, Shinichi felt too in place - it was filled with kids with their grandparents. Shinichi was beginning to wonder if Kuroba had only taken him there to tease him, but he doubted that since the only one embarrassing himself was Kaito.

"Conan-kun, you sure you don't want another scoop?" Kaito asked (or almost insisted, really), his voice a few pitches too high with excitement.

Which one of us is nine, now? "Ha... No thanks..." Shinichi took small bites of his single-scoop cone, marveling out how Kuroba's... well, tower managed to stay upright.

Kaito stuck his tongue out. "Aw come on, you can have a few of mine, can't you? Look, I won't miss them!" He waved a hand at the massive stack of ice cream. "Live a little, Tantei-kun."

"Uh... Kuroba," Shinichi raised an eyebrow, wondering... "You're not just asking because you got too many, are you?"

"What?" Kaito looked at his stack of swiftly melting ice cream that was about to start pouring down the cone because the licked-at bits were being weight down by the awaiting chocolate-on-top. "No way, I was just being nice! Fine then, I won't be so considerate to you next time," he huffed and began devouring the melting chocolate with all the more voracity (before it could spill down his hand).

Shinichi couldn't help but laugh a little. "Next time, huh? We'll see about that."

There was a winning glint in Kaito's eye. "We definitely will."

XXXXX

In the end, there was no contest for Kaito: the Conan phone was the obvious one to leave his mark on. He imagined it was Tantei-kun's main these days and that meant he was going to notice a lot faster. The question was what he would notice first. Kaito had prepared an extra special SD card and added all sorts of fun things to Conan's phone, one being an extra special new contact. Kaito dragged out his routine getting ready for bed that night because he needed to get his response first. And in the middle of his slow-motion tooth brushing, his phone made that bleep that made everything worthwhile.

Don't come back.

Kaito could only grin from ear to ear.

See you next week, Conan-kun~