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

Pairing: KaitoxShinichi


Lure

Chapter 20 - Phase Two

Hakuba didn't get it. Shinichi had also been at the resort. Kuroba knew this. Hakuba had made sure of it. So then why hadn't Kuroba approached him? Or had he done so in secret?

Of course, Kuroba could just be being cautious. The thief was a meticulously careful person. But the blond would have expected the thief to jump at the chance to have his civilian identity introduced to the object of his affections.

In any case, life resumed after their little vacation as though nothing at all had changed.

Although maybe that shouldn't be surprising. The thief was a cautious man despite his sometimes impulsive behavior. If he weren't, he would have been caught long ago. So perhaps he was avoiding an introduction on purpose. But Hakuba doubted that Kuroba would be able to resist the temptation forever. The thief was nothing if not persistent when it came to pursuing something he wanted.

He would make a move sooner or later. And, when he did, Hakuba would be ready to grab the evidence he needed to prove Kuroba Kaito was the Kaitou KID.

-0-

Ran looked around the shopping center. It was full of people. That was to be expected because it was the weekend. Everyone was out trying to relax and have fun after a week's hard work.

Well, almost everyone. A certain detective friend of hers was no doubt holed up somewhere with a mountain of case files and several cups of coffee. Seriously, she really worried about Shinichi sometimes. He spent almost no time at all with other people their own age, and he was always putting himself in danger, running after killers with the police. She knew it was what he wanted to do, and he was good at it, no doubt about that. Society would be losing a lot if he ever stopped being a detective. But that didn't mean Ran approved of his lifestyle. It wasn't healthy, and, as a friend, she had every right to worry.

She'd tried to get him to come out with her today too, but he'd refused. There had been an armed robbery last night, and Shinichi was in a hurry to get to the scene and investigate it for clues before too much time passed. He didn't want to risk the chance of time-sensitive clues disappearing before anyone noticed that they were there.

Ran sighed in exasperation at the thought. With the way Shinichi insisted on looking into every case that came his way, you'd think they didn't have any police. It wasn't like the police were inadequate either. Officers like Satou and Takagi had proven themselves to be excellent detectives. Takagi in particular had grown a lot over the past few years. So why couldn't Shinichi just let them do their jobs once in a while? Ran didn't understand it at all.

Shaking her head, Ran went back to searching the crowd. She was now at the food court. Aoko had said they'd meet here, but she hadn't said where exactly, and the food court in this shopping center was quite large.

"Hey there, Mouri-san."

Ran jumped in surprise at the voice suddenly speaking up from right behind her. She spun around to see a grinning young man with a mop of dark, brown hair and sharp, indigo eyes.

"Kuroba-san!" she exclaimed. "When did you get here?"

"Just now," he replied. "And please, just call me Kaito."

"Only if you call me Ran," she replied with her own smile. Then she looked around behind him. Not seeing anyone, she frowned. "Where's Aoko? Didn't she come with you?"

"Nope. She said she and the stick in the mud would meet us here." It was the magician's turn to turn and scan the surrounding faces. "Jeez, and here she kept nagging me about making sure I'm not late. But here she's nowhere to be seen."

"Maybe we should call them?" Ran suggested. "They could be stuck in traffic or lost."

"Let's find out." Kaito flicked his wrist, making a cell phone appear apparently out of nowhere. He dialed Aoko's number from memory. It rang three times before she picked up. "Hey Ahoko," he said immediately. "You're late."

"What are you talking about?" she huffed. "I told you already, Saguru and I scored a pair of tickets to that new movie. You know, the one I wanted to see that you said sounded stupid. So we're not going today."

"What? You never told me that."

"I sent you a text fifteen minutes ago."

"Fifteen minutes?" Pulling his phone from his ear, Kaito quickly checked his text messages. There was indeed a text from Aoko explaining that she and Hakuba had had a change of plans. "That's awful short notice, Ahoko. If you'd said something earlier, we could have rescheduled. I mean seriously, this whole outing was your idea."

"I know, I'm sorry." The girl's tone suddenly became chipper. "Apologize to Ran for me, will you?"

"Fine, whatever." After hanging up, the magician turned to Ran. "Aoko says sorry, she and the idiot got special tickets to some movie or other. So they're ditching us."

"Oh." Ran sighed. "That's all right. But I thought we had a reservation. Did she cancel it?"

"She didn't say." Kaito glanced at his watch. "Well. The reservation is for twelve. That's in ten minutes. Why don't we head over there now and ask if it was canceled or not?"

"Sure."

The two university students made their way across the crowded food court and around the corner to the Italian restaurant that Aoko had made a reservation at. It was, the inspector's daughter had said, a really awesome restaurant with surprisingly reasonable prices and great desserts. Kaito hadn't been to the place before, so he didn't know if that was true, but anywhere purported to have delicious desserts was worth trying at least once in his opinion.

Arriving at the restaurant, they approached the young woman at the counter. She smiled at them.

"Excuse me. We were supposed to meet some friends here," Kaito explained. "But they bailed on us. We were wondering if you could check whether our reservation was canceled. It should have been for four. Name should have been Nakamori Aoko."

"Do you know what time it was supposed to be?"

"Twelve."

"Please wait a moment." The girl turned to the little computer on the counter. "There is a Nakamori Aoko at twelve, but this says the reservation is for two. It's possible your friends changed it already. The table is ready now. Do you two want to go ahead and come in?"

Kaito and Ran traded glances then nodded to the woman. She picked up two menus from the stack on the corner of the desk and led them inside.

"I think it's safe to say that Aoko intended to leave the two of us here all along," Kaito said, looking across the table at Ran. "She's trying to set us up."

The girl looked somewhat embarrassed. "It seems that way."

Kaito met her gaze, expression serious. "I just thought I should let you know that I'm not looking for a romantic partner right now."

Ran blinked then laughed, face turning faintly pink. "That's okay. I wasn't really thinking about that either." Although she supposed the notion might have flashed across her mind for a moment there. Kaito was just an easy person to like. But she'd only known him for a little while, so she hadn't thought too much about it. She wasn't the kind of person who'd consider pursuing a romantic relationship with someone she'd just met. Smiling, she held out her hand. "Friends?"

He laughed and shook her hand. "Of course."

-0-

"I heard you had lunch with Ran today."

There was a chuckle from the other end of the line. "Indeed I did. It was supposed to be with Aoko and the idiot too, but they bailed on us. It was probably a setup. Actually, scratch that. It was definitely a setup. I do believe Ran-san found the situation a little awkward when she realized what Aoko was up to, but I cleared things up for her."

Shinichi arched an eyebrow even though he knew Kaito couldn't see it. He leaned back in his desk chair, the homework he'd been working on temporarily forgotten. "So how'd it go?"

"Well, the food was good, although I wouldn't say it was quite as awesome as Aoko said it would be. Ran-san and I had quite a good talk too."

"What did you talk about?" Shinichi asked, honestly curious.

"Oh, this and that. She was curious about what it was like being a professional magician while still being a student at the same time. Told me all about a few magicians she's had the pleasure to be acquainted with. Seems she's met several famous names already. I do believe she was very impressed by my skills and dedication, not to mention my astounding record and sense of humor."

Shinichi snorted, though he was smiling. "Ran's always been easy to impress."

"Aww, come on. Admit it. You think I'm amazing too~."

"…What amazes me is your ability to shamelessly praise yourself."

Kaito laughed heartily. "I do believe it's one of my virtues."

"What, narcissism?"

"It's called confidence, my dear. Confidence."

"I don't think bragging is generally considered to be part of that."

"It just goes to show what an honest person I am."

"…I have nothing to say to that."

He could practically hear Kaito's smirk.

"Anyway, we also talked about you."

"Me?" Shinichi shifted his phone to his other hand so he could pick up his coffee mug. "Do I want to know what you talked about?"

"Oh, she told me all sorts of interesting things~."

Shinichi twitched. A thread of trepidation wormed its way into his head. He coughed lightly. "Like what?"

"I can't tell you."

Shinichi allowed himself a pout because no one was around to see it. "Why not?"

"I promised Ran-san not to say anything to anyone. It would be most ungentlemanly of me to break a promise like that."

Shinichi rolled his eyes, comforting himself with the knowledge that Ran wouldn't go spreading anything too embarrassing around about him to someone she'd only just met. Probably.. Although he knew from experience that Kaito was superhumanly good at charming information out of people. The detective gulped, suddenly feeling extremely uneasy. Suddenly, a whole host of embarrassing, childhood moments flooded through his mind (most of which, for some reason, involved his mother). And Ran knew most of them.

While he was sure by now that he did indeed love Kaito, there were some things he really, really didn't want the magician to know. Ever.

He made a mental note to hide some of the photo albums from his earlier years. Unfortunately, his mother would kill him if he burned them.

"Why were you guys talking about me anyway?" he grumbled. "I thought you were planning to avoid showing overt signs of interest in meeting up."

"Now, now. Remember who you're talking to here. I was just letting the conversation take its natural course. Ran-san just got to talking about you because she mentioned that she invited you." Kaito's tone shifted to something more serious. "She worries about you, you know. She thinks you need to make more friends."

Blue eyes softened. "I…" he started then stopped. He wasn't sure what to say. He knew Ran worried, and he felt guilty for making her worry. But there wasn't really anything he could do about it. And he personally felt that her worries were unfounded, but, for Ran, that just proved her point.

"Cheer up, Shin-chan. It's not as bad as I'm sure you're making it out to be in your head. Worrying just what people do when they care."

"I guess you're right."

"Of course I am."

Shinichi laughed. Then he glanced at the clock and winced. "Sorry Kai, I have to get back to my homework."

"Yeah. I have some preparations to finish as well. By the by, will you be coming to my next show? The invitation should have been in your mailbox."

"I haven't read it yet."

"I spent extra time writing this one. Consider it a gift."

"I look forward to it then."

Kaito hummed in agreement. "I suppose I shall have to wish you a good night then."

"Good night to you too."

There was a pause. Neither of them moved to hang up.

The silence was broken by a chuckle from Kaito's end of the line. "I'll see you soon. Promise."

A faint blush colored Shinichi's face. "I'll restock the hot chocolate."

"That's my Shin-chan~."


-To be Continued-