Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan/Case Closed.

Pairing: KaitoxShinichi

Rating: T

Genre: Romance/Humor

Chapter: 1/4

Summary: Kaito and Shinichi interrupt what appears to be a burglary only to find that things are not as they appear.

Note: This series uses my version of the ABO setup.

Chronology: This series has too many installments now to list. This one is set somewhere in the span of time after "It's About Communication" but before Kaito and Shinichi officially bond.

A Case of Wishes

[Nature of Love series]

Part 1

Hectic was, more often than not, the perfect word for describing the lives led by both Kudo Shinichi and Kuroba Kaito. As a detective who not only excelled at his work but also had an uncanny ability to trip over crime and criminals at every turn, Shinichi rarely had the chance to see a vacation through to the end without something getting in the way. Kaito too regularly handled a workload that would make most people's hair stand on end. It was inevitable, since he was juggling a skyrocketing career as a professional magician, his university education (where he was double-majoring in chemistry and computer science and tossing in some physics classes on the side), and a night job as one of the—no, THE—world's best phantom thief. And he was handling all these things while courting the world's prickliest omega (whom he wouldn't change for anything but whose trouble-magnet tendencies were more than enough to keep this diligent kaitou very busy indeed).

Hectic as their lives tended to be though, there were times, every once in a while, where everything would be, quite suddenly and inexplicably, perfect. Those moments of perfection were never made. Their lives were too unpredictable for that. Rather, they were born when a collection of factors fell into place just so, and suddenly they would be together, free from any responsibilities for the moment with nowhere they had to go and no one they had to be except themselves.

This was one of those days—a day more rare than any precious jewel, Kaito thought as he and Shinichi made their way through the garden hand in hand. His detective was still more than a little skittish about public displays of affection, even such innocuous ones as holding hands, but they were holding hands now, and, despite a tendency to blush and duck his head whenever another visitor to the garden passed by, he made no move to pull his hand away. And, Kaito thought, he appeared happier for the resolve.

This particular garden was privately owned but open to the public. It also happened to host a small but elegant, open-air theater. Kaito had just given a performance at that theater the night before. Having closed a major case the morning prior, Shinichi had made it to the show, and the two of them had been treated to a lovely dinner by the owners. They had been offered rooms at the adjoining bed and breakfast which had been converted from an old country house afterwards, and they had accepted, neither in any hurry to get back to their aforementioned hectic lives.

Refreshed from their night alone together (not all of which had been spent sleeping), they had found their way out to the garden. The quiet serenity and beauty of the place was soothing to the soul. They would no doubt have to leave it soon, but, for now, they were allowing themselves this time to just relax and breathe.

They stopped beside an elegant, stone fountain with a rectangular basin upon which stone lily pads bearing stone blossoms sent little jets of water arching down to send ripples over the otherwise still surface. Shinichi closed his eyes and took in a deep breath before letting it out again slowly. The sound of the water tickled his ears, blending with the soft whisper of the leaves into a soothing, natural melody that sang of peace and the promise of spring and the sunrise that would always come upon the ending of the night.

He had needed this, he mused. This sense of stillness and balance within himself that he had only recently learned to find with Kaito's help. In these moments of peace with the man he loved by his side, he felt centered and balanced and ready. New storms would come. They always did. But, with a breath of fresh air, a moment to brace himself, and the support of his love, all storms could be overcome.

"You know, they say that the natures of alphas and omegas are unbalanced," Kaito said, words soft and musing as though he weren't talking to Shinichi so much as he was talking to himself. "And that's why we're drawn to each other. Because we need to find the person who can make us whole."

Shinichi snorted. "I never liked that theory."

"Oh?" Kaito's lips quirked into an amused smile. "I do believe a large portion of the population find it romantic."

"Well I don't," the detective said firmly. "I'm sure every happy couple feels like they've found they're other halves. So I'd say the theory is just an excuse. It gives people something to blame when they do something stupid."

Kaito chuckled. "You would see it that way wouldn't you."

"I see it every day," Shinichi replied with a resigned sigh. It was amazing—and not in a good way—just how often he heard suspects try to blame their behavior on their or other people's hormones.

"Oi, no gloomy thoughts," Kaito chided, nipping Shinichi lightly on the ear and grinning when the detective squeaked. "We're here to relax, so relax."

Shinichi grumbled something about how some things were easy to tell other people to do but not so easy to actually put into practice yourself, but Kaito could hear the smile in his voice. An answering smile tugged at the corners of his lips, and he buried his nose in Shinichi's hair, pulling him just a little closer. He couldn't resist a pleased hum. Really, perfect was simply the only word for some moments in life. And this, he felt, was one of them.

Distracted as he was by his very adorable armful of detective, it took Kaito a moment longer than it should have to take note of the sounds he was hearing. This was embarrassing to someone who prided himself on being alert, but, in his defense, the sound was pretty indistinguishable.

His head shot up suddenly, indigo eyes alert. "Did you hear that?"

"It came from the other side of that wall of bushes," Shinichi replied because yes, he too had heard the muffled thump and cut off curse. The two traded glances then, as one, moved around the fountain and towards the leafy wall in question.

This particular wall was one of the outermost of this garden, and it stood between the garden and the side of a rather grand-looking mansion whose walls were covered in hanging vines. As Kaito and Shinichi peered through a break in the bushy barricade, they spotted a young man sitting at the foot of those vine-dressed walls and cursing the rock he'd landed on when his foot had slipped, and he'd fallen to the ground.

Further inspection by both thief and detective found that there were distinct signs that the young man in question had been attempting to climb those vines just minutes ago—most likely to get into the window on the second floor situated directly above where he had fallen.

"First timer," Kaito concluded after a cursory look at the young man's too black clothes and uncovered face.

As they watched, the amateur thief cursed under his breath as he clambered to his feet and started dusting himself off. Then he probably realized that he should be trying to stay quiet and froze, shutting up. At that point, he glanced around surreptitiously, completely failing to notice the much more professional thief and the detective observing him through the break in the bushes. Granted, they were keeping out of sight, but the fact that he barely glanced at the bushy barricade they were hiding behind said a lot about his actual level of alertness. Apparently satisfied that he had not been discovered, the would-be-thief finished dusting himself off then moved back to the vine-covered mansion wall.

After some contemplation, he started climbing again.

Shinichi grabbed Kaito's arm and pulled him away from the hole in the bushes and towards a small, locked gate some distance along the bushy wall. "Come on. Open the gate for me. We can catch him before he gets inside."

"If he gets inside, you mean," Kaito said, but he obliged and dealt with the lock on the gate. It turned out to be a very well-oiled gate that barely squeaked at all as it let them through. Kaito locked the gate again behind them.

They arrived back at the mansion wall just in time to watch as the would-be-thief slipped and fell again. He had, however, made it slightly further up the wall this time. On the other hand, he probably wished he hadn't.

"I highly recommend that you find a different line of work," Kaito told the would-be-thief. "This one won't work out well for you."

The would-be-thief jerked like he had been electrocuted and half scrambled, half leapt to his feet even as he tried to swing around to face them. The result was that he nearly fell right back down again, but he managed to avoid this fate by catching hold of a vine. So there he stood, white-faced and gaping at them like a man seeing a pair of ghosts.

With his mouth hanging wide open in horrified shock, they could see that he didn't have the slightly longer, sharper canines characteristic of an alpha. Nor was he wearing a scent masker—which was sloppy, Kaito noted. There were several standard scent maskers commonly used by everyone, so using such a scent masker would have greatly reduced the chance that the man could be profiled via any scent traces he might accidentally leave. As it was, they could already determine that the man was a beta in his early twenties who was too well groomed and dressed to be from the street. His would-be-burglar outfit appeared to be brand new if not terribly high end—probably purchased just for today, Shinichi thought with some exasperation.

"Wha—what are you talking about?" the amateur burglar demanded, apparently having finally found his voice.

Kaito quirked an eyebrow at the man. Really? Did the guy actually believe he was going to get away with the whole 'I don't know what you mean' excuse?

"We saw you trying to climb up to the window," Shinichi said dryly.

"And please," Kaito added, "don't try to claim you lost your keys."

Understanding finally dawned on the would-be-thief's face, and he flushed a dark crimson. "I'm not a thief!"

"You were trying to climb into someone else's house through a side window," Shinichi pointed out. "People don't do that when they've been invited."

Unless they were Kaito, he amended to himself, but he'd like to believe that the magician was a special case.

"I—have a reason," the self-proclaimed not-a-thief insisted.

Kaito raised an eyebrow at him. "And that would be…?"

"It's none of your business!"

The magician and his detective traded looks, but, before either of them could respond, a car drove past the far end of the alley they were in. Kaito and Shinichi barely took note of it, but the young man they had cornered cursed loudly.

"Great. Now he's back! You made me waste all my time!" he snarled at them, clearly incensed. "Now how am I supposed to save Minako?!"

There was a beat of pensive silence before Shinichi cleared his throat.

"You know, if you're willing to tell us your story, we may be able to help you," he said carefully. "I'm a detective. And I have plenty of connections with the police. So if someone needs saving, I'm sure we could find a better way than breaking and entering."

-To Be Continued-