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

Pairing: KaitoxShinichi

Warning: This chapter contains graphic content near the end.

Lure

Chapter 9 - Candles, Roses, and the Dance

Nakamori-keibu glared at the latest paper on his desk. It was an article announcing a jewelry exhibit that would be coming to town soon. Picture after picture of large, sparkling gemstones paraded before his eyes. And in each facet he could see the smirking face of a certain phantom thief. Growling under his breath, he tossed the papers back on the table and picked up his mug of tea.

This kind of exhibit was just the kind that KID loved. It was overflowing with targets and from a foreign country to boot. He should have sent a notice ages ago! Surely he was interested in the exhibit. So why was there no KID notice? There wasn't one in his mailbox or in his email. He hadn't gotten one texted to his phone, nor had it been placed mockingly on his desk when he came into work in the morning. It hadn't fluttered down around him from the air vents or been found pasted to the bottom of his shoe. None of the other officers in the task force had found it yet either.

That left two possibilities. One was that KID was, for some reason, passing up on the opportunity to get his sticky fingers on this exhibit of world-class gems galore. Nakamori really couldn't imagine that being the case. The other possibility was that the notice had been delivered to Kudo but not to the rest of them. That had happened before, much to the old inspector's ire, but usually the boy dutifully brought it down to the police station as soon as he found one.

Hold on, there was a third option wasn't there? KID could just be late. He did occasionally send out notices with very short notice, but much shorter notice and he was going to miss the exhibit altogether.

Maybe he should go ahead and start planning how to catch KID at the exhibit anyway? They wouldn't have any clues to go on, but it beat doing nothing, and if he had options prepared he could then choose the best plan for the situation when it inevitably came. And if KID really didn't hold a heist, well, they could always use the plans later. Yeah. That was it. It was about time they stopped waiting for the thief to set the stage, forcing them to dance to his tune. After all, that old Jirokichi fellow tended to come closer—reluctant as Nakamori was to admit it—to catching KID than the police because he was the one who laid the groundwork for everything from location on up. Well, that and he had a whole load of cash to throw at his projects and do things like reserve whole buildings for his personal use, but that was beside the point.

Er, speaking of plans… He supposed he still owed the Kudo brat an apology. He really had no idea how his men had managed to let the thief walk out of the building with the boy in tow, but it had been an honest mistake. Of course it had. But it had been a damned good thing that Kudo had come back unharmed or they'd probably all be looking at a seriously uncomfortable inquiry and possibly early retirement.

Now that he thought about it, it had been pretty stupid to have only one person shadowing Kudo. It made it far too easy for KID to replace the shadow.

He sighed.

They certainly wouldn't be using that strategy again.

The theory behind it was still sound though, he decided. They just needed to be a bit more creative. So…how did you go about becoming creative?

-0-

They had been working in the library of the Kudo Manor. Shinichi was mostly doing research for a paper he had to write for one of his classes. Kaito had brought a mess of diagrams and plans, saying something about planning for his next show. It was only the third time they had met up like this, but they both had the feeling that it was going to become a routine. Even when they were both busy with their respective work, there was just something comfortable about being there together. It lent the atmosphere a quality of warmth that Shinichi hadn't realized had been missing until he'd found it.

Closing the book he'd been reading and jotting down a last note for his essay, he stood up and stretched. Letting out a contented sigh, he turned to find Kaito watching him. "What would you like for dinner?"

"Actually, I took the liberty of providing dinner for tonight."

Shinichi blinked, suddenly feeling nervous. Kaito had offered to help him in the kitchen the first time he'd come over for one of these quiet evenings and Shinichi had sworn never to let him do so again. "Do I want to know what it is?"

Kaito laughed as he vanished his papers and stood. "Don't look so scared. I didn't make it." Crossing the distance between them in three long strides, he offered the detective his hand. "Shall we?"

"What are you up to?" Shinichi asked, though he accepted the proffered hand and let Kaito lead him out of the library and towards the living room.

The thief answered with an enigmatic smile. "You should know better than to ask me that by now."

A few minutes later, they turned the corner into the living room and stopped.

Shinichi could only stare.

The spacious room that had once been his living room had completely vanished. In its place was an elegant chamber wreathed in the warm, golden glow of candlelight. A table had been set up to one side. Across it was spread a miniature feast. Shinichi had no idea where all that food had come from or how Kaito had spirited it into his house without his knowledge, but it was there all the same. The other side of the room was clear of all furniture, leaving a polished stretch of floor. A dance floor, Shinichi concluded. To finish off the scene, soft music was playing in the background.

When he'd managed to recollect himself enough to speak, he turned to the thief waiting expectantly beside him. "What did you do with my furniture?"

Kaito blinked then put on a mock wounded expression. "I set all this up and that's all you have to say?"

Shinichi blushed. "No, no. I mean, it really is amazing. I don't know when you found the time. But some of that furniture was really old, and my mom is going to throw a fit if she comes back and it's damaged in any way…" He offered the magician an apologetic smile.

Kaito laughed and wrapped an arm around his waist to begin propelling him towards the table. "In that case, don't worry about it. I'll put everything back to the way it was tomorrow. She'll never even know any of it was moved. Now I want you to forget about all that. Tonight is just about us." He swept an arm out to indicate the living room in all its transformed glory. "I thought about going out tonight, but considering our track record thus far, I figured this was a much more practical route to take if we actually wished to have an uninterrupted date."

Shinichi had to laugh. "That's very likely true. Although there's always a chance that someone might show up at the door with a case."

"Don't jinx it, Shin-chan."

They took their seats and settled in for what promised to be a very pleasant evening. Half of Shinichi kept expecting the doorbell to ring or his phone to go off heralding panicking policemen or some uninvited guest, but none came. It was almost surreal. Not that he was going to complain. Little did he know that KID had set up a couple precautions against such intrusions in the yard and around the gates. Not that Kaito wanted to interfere if some truly urgent case came up. But he figured that if the situation was bad enough, the messenger would find a way to make him or herself known. Scream really loudly for instance. Barring such an incident, however, he was determined that the house be an island tonight.

At one point, conversation drifted to their earlier encounters.

"You never did tell me how you ended up as a little kid," the thief remarked.

The detective grimaced. "It was a poison."

"Really? That's new. I would think there're people out there who'd kill for a poison that would make them younger." A shadow passed over Kaito's face. "In fact, I can name some."

"I was lucky. The percentage of people it doesn't just kill is almost zero." In a few words, Shinichi outlined the events of that fateful night at the amusement park. It wasn't something he liked thinking about, but he would be lying if he said it didn't still haunt him on some somber nights.

By the end of the tale, Kaito was frowning at him. "You seriously need to be more careful."

"I know, I know. But what about you? I know you succeeded your father to that cape and monocle, but what are you looking for?"

A sardonic smile flickered across the thief's face. "Many things, my dear detective. But perhaps it would be best to start at the beginning."

It was a grim tale that followed. Shinichi listened intently, keeping quiet until the very end and letting Kaito decide how much he wanted to elaborate.

"And that's about the shape of it," Kaito concluded. "You're the first person I've ever told the whole story to, you know."

Shinichi met his gaze, his own expression solemn. "Thank you."

Kaito smiled then, a small quirk of the lips that hinted at his usual humor. "To be honest, it's a bit of a relief."

"A gem to grant eternal life," Shinichi murmured, his thoughts spinning back to his own years going back through elementary school. So that was what Kaito had meant when he'd said he knew people who would kill for a shrinking poison. He'd always wondered if what had happened to him and Haibara had been at all related to what the poison had been intended to do. A way to cheat death. He shivered at the thought. "Do you…really believe that such a stone exists?"

The magician was silent for a long moment, watching the flames dance upon their wicks. "I don't really know," he said finally, voice quiet but serious. "But it doesn't matter. There are people who believe it is. People who will kill for it. As long as that fact holds true, my quest is a valid one."

Shinichi nodded slowly. He could understand that kind of drive. In some ways, he supposed, the two of them were trying to do the same thing—to right some of the wrongs in the world the best ways that they knew how. It was just that they approached the issue from opposite sides.

"I'd say that's enough of that," Kaito announced abruptly, shattering the silence. Rising to his feet, he snapped his fingers. Instantly, the music rose in volume from its former background whisper to a more audible level. Then he stepped over to stand beside Shinichi's chair where he bowed and held out his hand. "Will you honor me with this dance?"

Torn between rolling his eyes and blushing at the overdramatic gesture that was so characteristic of the thief, Shinichi placed his hand on Kaito's and nodded. "Of course."

-0-

Kaito wondered sometimes what his father would think about him choosing to pursue a detective. They were, after all, a family of thieves. They lived with caution or not at all.

Tightening his hold on the detective, he spun Shinichi into a dip, grinning at the gasp of surprise the gesture elicited. Leaning down, he placed a quick peck on Shinichi's lips before pulling him up and back into the dance.

When Shinichi looked at him, he didn't see just KID or Kaito but everything—all the faces that Kuroba Kaito had worn and the person who remained behind them all. Perhaps they did not yet know everything there was to know about one another, but that would come with time. The important thing was that here was someone who could understand him, believe in him, and care about him not despite but because of the many roles he played, both the good and the bad. Someone who could accept you for everything that you were with all your flaws and your virtues was a treasure worth more than any amount of gold and jewels.

And he decided that his father would have understood.

Besides, what greater accomplishment could there be for a phantom thief than to steal the heart of the country's most brilliant young detective?

He smiled down into the aforementioned detective's face—his detective's face, noting the curiosity gleaming in those blue, blue eyes that were more beautiful in both color and clarity than any gemstone could ever be.

"What are you thinking?" Shinichi asked, head tilting slightly to one side as he continued to observe his companion's face.

Kaito's smile widened. "That you're beautiful," he replied, nothing but sincerity in his words.

Shinichi blushed. He couldn't take his eyes off Kaito either. The angular lines of his face, the unusual indigo shade of his eyes as they glinted with reflected firelight, and the ever so slightly wicked curve at the corner of his mouth. His heart was pounding a little too fast in his chest to be normal.

"Do you remember that speech you gave me at the carnival?" he asked softly.

"Of course."

"You said I reminded you of the good things."

"I did. And you didn't believe me."

Shinichi flushed. "It's not that I didn't believe you. It was just that… I suppose I was thinking that it was kind of ironic. You see, I… Your heists…" Shinichi let out a frustrated huff, gaze shifting to some point in the distance as he tried to articulate the thoughts buzzing in his head. "I see a lot of…unpleasant things in my work. It's…hard sometimes not to feel like that's all people can be. And then I wonder what the point is in what I do if nothing ever changes. But you—your shows, the magic, the way everyone acts at your heists… I guess what I mean is that you remind me that it isn't all dark out there."

Part of Kaito wanted to crack a joke about a detective essentially admitting outright that he liked a thief's heists, but the more sensible part of his brain squashed the impulse. Instead, he offered Shinichi a warm smile. "I'm glad."

The music was coming gradually to an end. By now they weren't so much dancing anymore as simply swaying to the last notes of the song as they held each other close. Their bodies fit together perfectly.

"What now?" Shinichi murmured, voice a little breathless.

Kaito's breath was hot in his ear when he replied in tones just as soft. "Well, normally this would be the point where I take you home. But since we're already in your home, we get to skip that part, as well as the part when you invite me in for coffee and cookies. That leaves us free to go straight to the grand finale."

"And what might that be?"

"Why speak of it? It would be much more expedient—and enjoyable—if I simply show you." That said, Kaito scooped the startled detective up into his arms and headed for the stairs, rather pleased at the way Shinichi clung to him in his surprise.

Shinichi considered complaining about the lack of warning, but he knew it would be pointless. So instead he rested his head against the magician's shoulder and let himself enjoy the closeness.

It seemed his bedroom too had undergone a drastic change. Once again, Kaito had forgone any electric lights in favor of the more old fashioned candles and lanterns interspersed to create a miasmic glow punctuated by stars of firelight. The bed itself was a rich expanse of cream and crimson silk. He considered asking Kaito what the magician had done with his original bed (this one was too big to be his) but decided it could wait. Besides, he had the feeling that bringing it up would annoy Kaito. In a moment of mischief, he thought perhaps he should bring it up then just to see what the thief would do. But the thoughts flew from his mind as Kaito dropped him on the bed and leaned down to capture his lips in a heated kiss. Tongues met and clashed. Soft moans escaped into the air.

It was a dance, but a dance of a different kind from the one they had enacted downstairs. Hands wandered and caressed, drawing each other closer and closer as clothes were removed and tossed aside so that all that was left was skin. Each touch burned and spread, and if there was no music to be heard aloud it was only that the song was in their souls—a rousing symphony with all the gold of sunset and the pent up power of a volcano waking from centuries of slumber. In the face of that melody of fire, all else crumbled into nothingness.

Mouths met in a heated kiss. Limbs twined and bodies came together. The dance sped up as the music reached a crescendo. There were no thoughts anymore, only passion.

Shinichi tossed his head back, soft cries and gasps falling from kiss-swollen lips as Kaito thrust inside him. Their fingers twined together as though determined to hang on to the moment. It was an all consuming rhythm, quick and deep, in and out—Then Kaito's mouth was on his again, hot and hungry in that way that made Shinichi tingle with heat. Breaking apart, the detective turned his head to the side, gasping for breath. Kaito trailed butterfly kisses along his jaw then down to a spot near the base of his neck where he bit down hard enough to make Shinichi yelp.

Unable to withstand the stimulation any longer, Shinichi came with a loud cry.

Kaito followed a moment later, releasing himself deep inside his lover's heated body before collapsing on top of him.

Shinichi moaned and squirmed under him at the sensation, lost in a haze of post coital bliss.

It was a few minutes before Kaito managed to gather himself and pull out of his detective. Shinichi let out a quiet whimper and shuddered at the movement. He muttered something incoherent.

"What was that?" Kaito asked, lying down beside him and pulling the covers over them both.

Shinichi sighed, cracking open one blue eye. "We should take a shower."

The thief pulled him closer. "It can wait."

Shinichi considered protesting, but he was too comfortable to move. "At least put out the candles," he mumbled instead. "They're a fire hazard."

Kaito laughed. "Ever the practical Shin-chan."

-TBC-