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

When the Fox Comes Calling

Chapter 12 - Like a Moth

Letting his breath out in a long sigh of satisfaction, Shinichi rose and stretched. All around him, other students were doing the same as they packed up and prepared to leave. Like him, this was the last final exam of the semester for most of them, and everyone was more than pleased to be looking ahead at the glorious expanse of their summer vacations.

For his part, Shinichi had never really minded schoolwork, but he too was relieved—if for different reasons. In his case, his relief at the advent of a long vacation was because it would give him some much needed time to devote to solving the problem of Sylva and his mysterious organization.

He sobered quickly at the thought.

Satou-keiji had called him that morning to update him on what she and her partner had uncovered.

It hadn't been good news.

"We're pretty sure we located the right building," the ursine officer had told him. "But there wasn't much left of it to examine. It was completely burned out. We spoke with the fire department about it. Apparently, the fire was called in shortly after you left the premises. But the fire spread fast, and there seemed to have been a gas leak that caused a series of explosions. Those didn't help. By the time the fire fighters were able to get the blaze under control, the building and everything in it was pretty much a lost cause."

"So there was no sign of what might have been going on inside?" he'd asked.

A hum. "Technically, that would be correct."

Shinichi's ears perked up. "Technically?"

"Well, the place was abnormally clean. There are a lot of things you'd expect to find in any building in use that shouldn't just go up in smoke without a trace."

"Which means, if that was the right building, then someone cleaned up and moved stuff out before letting the fire have the rest of what was left," Shinichi concluded. "And they must have been really fast about it."

Satou made a noise of agreement. "I'd wager they've had practice and plenty of it."

"You're sure it was the correct building?"

"Fairly certain. We checked into it, and the building was recently sold to a man who, as it turns out, doesn't currently exist."

"What do you mean by currently?" Shinichi asked, perplexed.

"Well, his information is attached to a real person, but he passed away in a remote little village some fifteen years ago. There was a coroner's report, but the official records weren't properly updated. That, or they were tampered with. As far as we were able to determine, he was a fairly ordinary man. No criminal record to speak of. He was never married and never borrowed money. He established and ran a bar in the village he moved to after graduating college with a degree in art history and passed away from a stroke at the age of fifty two. He has—had—no known relatives."

"That's…" Shinichi trailed off, shaking his head. "I wasn't expecting that."

Satou snorted. "Neither were we. But it proves something fishy was going on in that building."

Well that was certainly true, the rabbit thought. Upstanding citizens didn't purchase buildings using the identities of long deceased men. On that note though, he'd suggested that the police check to see if said dead man had purchased any other property post mortem. If they were lucky, their culprits might have used the convenient identity more than once, thus giving them at least a fragment of a clue to work with.

Stopping outside the building where his last exam had taken place to turn his cell phone back on, Shinichi discovered that he had a text message from Kaito.

See you at 6.

He smiled and texted back an affirmative.

The fox's last exam was today as well, though it was scheduled slightly later than Shinichi's. Once he was done, they would both officially be on vacation. They had planned to celebrate together that evening.

Kaito had said he would bring dinner, so Shinichi had volunteered to provide dessert. They'd both agreed to keep it simple. With that in mind, Shinichi had decided that he was going to bake brownies.

Shinichi had found over the years that he sort of enjoyed cooking. At first, he had learned out of necessity.

His parents had been a footloose pair for pretty much as long as he could remember. When he'd been younger, they'd managed to limit their travels, but the older he'd gotten, the less restrained they'd become. It had probably helped (if that was the right word) that he had learned early on to be as self sufficient as possible. By the time he'd started middle school, his parents had decided that he was independent and responsible enough to be left to his own supervision and gone off globetrotting (or so Shinichi preferred to think of it. He knew that people like Ran had seen the situation very differently. She had, however, always been too polite to tell him to his face that she thought his parents were being horribly irresponsible).

When Ran had realized just how much time Shinichi was alone at home, she'd taken it upon herself to teach him to cook. As she'd said, she couldn't help him remember to eat, but she could make sure he could make something better than toast when he did remember.

Nowadays, Shinichi was proud to say that he was at least a passable cook. And though he wouldn't want to do it every day, he did find the activity therapeutic. As a homicide detective, he saw so much loss and death on a regular basis that it was a relief to be able to spend some time doing something productive—to be able to create something positive and helpful to the world, even if it was only in some small way.

He'd looked up a brownie recipe the night before, so he stopped by a grocery store on the way home to purchase the ingredients he'd need. He was standing in line to check out when he thought he felt eyes on him.

Shinichi stiffened. Quickly, he scanned the grocery store's other patrons, searching for anyone suspicious, but no one stood out.

And the feeling had gone.

Had he imagined it?

Distracted and suddenly in a rush to get home, he paid for his purchases and bolted out the door—to crash straight into a familiar feline.

Sonoko let out a shriek of surprise as Shinichi bowled her over, sending the both of them sprawling across the sidewalk.

Shinichi apologized hastily and helped her up.

"What is wrong with you?" she complained as she brushed herself off. "You should watch where you're going. You could have knocked us both into the street!"

He sighed. "I said I'm sorry. I was just in a bit of a hurry."

"It's all right," Ran said, moving to help him collect his spilled groceries. "No one was hurt. Though you really should be more careful. By the way, are you making brownies?"

Seeing no reason to deny it, Shinichi nodded. "Yeah. I found a recipe I wanted to try out."

The brunette smiled. "Would you like some help?"

"Thanks for the offer, but I can manage."

"Why are you making brownies anyway?" Sonoko asked. "You've never had a sweet tooth before."

Shinichi fought valiantly not to blush and to instead portray a calm, casual expression. "I just figured it would be a nice change of pace. You know, to unwind since my exams are over."

The cat hybrid gave him this long, considering look that screamed disbelief. "Really?"

Beneath her scrutiny, Shinichi could feel himself losing the battle to the blush. He knew it would be a terrible mistake, but he couldn't help it. "So what?"

Sonoko stared at him for a moment longer then gasped suddenly. "Don't tell me. You met someone, didn't you?!"

Shinichi choked on thin air. "What? No! What are you talking about?"

His hasty denial was rendered even less effective by the way he immediately blushed bright red, but he wasn't about to let that stop him from claiming ignorance.

"Oh my god, you did!" the cat girl shrieked.

"You're crazy! That's not it at all," Shinichi spluttered. "I'm just making a thank you present," he invented. "I ran into a difficult case the other day, and this guy lent me a hand."

"Oh really?" Sonoko drawled, clearly unimpressed.

"Really," Shinichi insisted.

"Just a thank you present."

"Exactly."

"For a guy who helped you at a case."

"…That's right."

The cat's lips curling into a sly grin. "Is he hot?"

Shinichi thought of depthless indigo eyes and a wicked, razor-edged grin that never failed to make his heart skip a beat and blushed harder.

What he said, however, was, "How would I know?"

He couldn't blame Sonoko for her disbelieving look. He wouldn't have believed him either.

Sonoko leaned forward like a shark scenting blood in the water, and Shinichi turned desperate, pleading eyes on Ran.

The brunette rabbit hybrid coughed into her hand in a manner that looked suspiciously like she was hiding a laugh. "We should probably get going if we want to make it to the club before the party starts," she said, tugging gently on Sonoko's arm. "Some of the girls in our fashion history elective are throwing a birthday party for the class TA," she added to Shinichi. "Anyway, I hope those brownies turn out well."

"Thanks," Shinichi said, though his gratitude was directed more at her rescuing him from Sonoko than at her well wishes.

But of course Sonoko, being Sonoko, had to have the last word.

"Don't forget to get his number!"

Shinichi rolled his eyes and set off for home, having completely forgotten about the sensation of being watched.

-0-

"What is this?" Shinichi demanded, holding up the outfit Sonoko had shoved into his arms. "You never said anything about costumes."

"This celebration is being thrown by the Student Cultural Association," the petit girl shot back. "And we're doing foods from a variety of cultures. It's only natural that the people serving each cultural food should be dressed for the part."

"But I never agreed to this," the bunny detective complained.

"Ran's not complaining about hers," Sonoko pointed out, gesturing to Ran, who had already changed into her Shinto priestess outfit and was already turning heads.

Shinichi just scowled harder. "That's because you told her, and she agreed. Don't think I didn't notice that she wasn't surprised when you pulled out her costume."

Sonoko rolled her eyes. "It's just a kimono! It's not like it's inappropriate. Honestly, you'd think I was asking you to wear slinky lingerie in public!"

"That's not the problem and you know it," Shinichi argued, not willing to give in yet.

In truth, Sonoko was right. There was nothing technically indecent about the outfit she was trying to force on him. There was just one problem with it, and that was the fact that the outfit was one of the variations on traditional Japanese garb that had been developed after the Advent to show off a hybrid's tail.

Tail etiquette among hybrids was complicated and varied greatly from animal type to animal type. The fact was that tails and ears were among each hybrid type's most distinguishing features. The fashion industry had thus naturally latched onto them—as had pretty much every other form of self expression. Quite a lot of people enjoyed showing off their tails. Looking at someone's tail, therefore, was nothing unusual. For hybrids with short tails like bears and rabbits, however, fashions that showed off their tails quite naturally showed off certain other anatomical aspects as well.

Say what you like, but Shinichi had never been—and would never be—comfortable with or thrilled at parading around in clothes meant to make people look at his butt.

In his daily life, he tended to wear jackets and shirts that were long enough in the back to cover his tail, and he avoided the showier fashions like the plague despite all attempts by his mother to enhance his wardrobe. It was a habit he'd developed to try and stave off unwanted attention. It had been an unpleasant shock to him in the past just how often people (likely laboring under that loathsome belief that rabbit hybrids were easy) had tried to come onto him by touching his tail despite the fact that it was commonly considered rudely intimate with short-tailed hybrids to touch said appendages without permission (it was, after all, one short step away from grabbing their backsides. Things were very different for hybrids with long tails, where said appendages were generally treated more like additional limbs. Indeed, it was second nature for long-tailed hybrids with dexterous tails like monkeys to use said tails like extra hands).

The first time Shinichi had been on the receiving end of such an unwanted advance, he'd only been in middle school, and he'd been so shocked that he hadn't reacted right away. The presumptuous upperclassman had mistaken his lack of response for consent and attempted to kiss him—at which point Shinichi had snapped back to his senses and kneed said upperclassman so hard in the groin that he'd had to be carried to the school infirmary (where he'd had to stay for the remaining hours of the school day).

Sonoko shook the outfit at him again, clearly having no intentions of letting him off the hook.

"I know you don't like showing off your tail, but you're going to be behind the counter," she said impatiently. "No one's going to see. Although seriously, maybe it's time you start showing off that nice figure of yours a little more. You won't find your perfect college romance if you don't put in a little effort to look good."

"And when exactly did I say I was looking for a college romance?" Shinichi retorted, folding his arms stubbornly.

"Get moving, people!" someone at the front of the classroom that the association had reserved for use by the staff during the event called out. "We want everything to go live at ten!"

Sonoko cast a quick look at the clock on the wall, which announced that it was twenty minutes to opening, scowled and pushed the bundle of clothes into Shinichi's arms.

"You have two choices," she said sweetly. "Put these on or swap costumes with Mako-chan and run the crape stall. You two are about the same size. So her costume should fit you perfectly and vice versa."

Shinichi blanched. If they were being dressed in costumes people associated with the cultures connected to their foods then he had a pretty good idea what Mako-chan's outfit probably was. Just to be sure though, he turned and peeked across the room to where the Sheba hybrid was double checking the flavors written out on the menu sign for the crape stall. As he'd predicted, the girl was wearing a hybrid-adaptation of a frilly, French maid outfit embellished with a tiara that complimented her ears and thigh-high stockings.

"So?" Sonoko said slyly. "Would you like to switch with her? That bow on the back of her dress would hide that tail you're so touchy about."

For a moment, Shinichi imagined how embarrassing it would be if KID arrived at the event to see the bunny detective serving crapes in a maid outfit. Admittedly, Shinichi had the sneaking suspicion that the fox would enjoy that very much (and a traitorous little part of him kind of wanted to try it just to see what would happen—maybe even tease the thief a little. His imagination seized on the scenario without his permission and raced gleefully away with it).

Realizing that he was beginning to grow rather warm, Shinichi hastily squashed that train of thought. This was not the time.

"I'll wear the kimono," he relented with a sigh and took the bundle of clothes to the bathrooms across the hall to change.

Fifteen minutes later, as students and faculty members alike poured onto the open athletics field that had been transformed into the site of the day's celebration, Shinichi found himself standing behind the counter of a small vendor's booth offering mochi. There were red bean ones, fruity ones, and peanut ones, each sold in little, artistically decorated boxes provided by one of the school's arts and crafts clubs.

Shinichi couldn't help but notice the giant, cardboard rabbit someone had set up as his stall's sign. It even had a little expository placard reviewing the myth of the rabbit on the moon (along with a note reminding visitors that all proceeds from the day's events would be donated to local museums and their educational programs).

So it seemed he hadn't been recruited last minute for this position after all, he thought. Sonoko had planned this booth with either him or Ran in mind. Go figure.

Though, deep down, he had to admit that the integration of their hybrid species with the foods they were selling and the myths related to them was quite a good move.

He had a feeling that Sonoko might have a talent for marketing if she ever chose to walk that route.

"You can eat some of the mochi if you want," she told him as she helped him stack his inventory boxes behind the counter. "Just don't overdo it."

"What's Ran selling?" he asked, glancing at the next stall over where Ran was also busy setting up. Her station appeared to be equipped with actual cooking equipment.

"She's in charge of the takoyaki since they have to be cooked on the spot to be really good. She made a test batch the other day, and everyone on the planning committee agreed they were awesome."

"I guess that makes sense."

Shinichi double checked that the register was working, made sure all the boxes of mochi were in order, then settled onto the stool behind his designated counter (he would have to stand while actually operating the booth, but someone had been thoughtful enough to provide the seat for lulls in activity).

Sonoko did her own review of the booth then clapped her hands together. "We open in five minutes. Remember to smile. And don't find any dead people. Got it?"

"I have no control over that," he pointed out, deadpan, only to quail under her stormy glower. "But I'll do my best."

"You better." Parting shot had, the cat hybrid moved on to check in with Ran.

Left alone, Shinichi took a moment to simply breathe and bask in what he was sure was going to be the last few moments of peace he had for at least the next few hours. Sonoko had signed him up to run the mochi stall for the first and last shifts of the day.

He wondered idly if the other volunteers who would be staffing this stall would be rabbit hybrids too. He made a mental note to check later. If they were, he would have to find a way to warn them as he had Ran to be especially vigilant for the foreseeable future. The police had issued a press release on the matter, but not everyone paid attention to those.

He should probably start planning how he might do so. He wouldn't want to sound like some random, paranoid crazy person. Hopefully, his fame as a detective would help with that.

Gradually, the air began to fill with the murmur of cheerful voices, and he knew that the visitors were starting to trickle in.

The thought sent a thrill of answering excitement up his spine. His anticipation, however had nothing to do with the event and everything to do with a certain fox who had promised that he would be coming.

Had Kaito arrived yet?

Shinichi was on his feet and scanning the thickening crowds before he'd consciously decided to move. He knew he shouldn't let his eagerness show. He wasn't supposed to be expecting anyone. But he couldn't help himself.

Fortunately—or unfortunately, depending on perspective—his movement caught the attention of a pair of passing squirrel hybrids, both of whom light up at the sight of the sign promising mochi from the Hanazuki Sweets shop. Their excited chatter informed Shinichi that said shop was recently featured by a major culinary magazine. This news and the two girls' animated discussion of it almost immediately began to draw a crowd.

The next thing Shinichi knew, a line was growing rapidly in front of his stall.

The rush of customers soon pushed all other thoughts to the back of his mind. He'd never realized mochi was so popular. They were all but flying off his metaphorical shelves, and he went from wondering if Sonoko had ordered too much stock to worrying that she'd ordered too little. Lucky for him, neither possibility was strictly his problem. He just had to keep the mochi flowing over the counters and counting the money coming the other way.

It was easy but hectic, fast-paced work that left little to no time for extraneous thoughts. And because of it, he was caught entirely off guard when the next customer stepped up to the counter and asked for one box of original red bean mochi and one box of strawberry mochi in a smooth, masculine voice that sent shivers racing up and down Shinichi's spine and made his ears stand up.

Shinichi had ducked down to move some of the boxes stacked in the crates on the ground up to fill the empty spaces on the counter, but the sound of that voice had him jerking upright so fast that he nearly hit his head on the underside of said counter.

He missed though and emerged only mildly less embarrassed than he might have been had he actually hit his head.

And there, standing on the other side of the counter and smiling at him, was the man he'd been waiting for (and dreaming about every night since his rescue).

His trickster knight, all tall and lightly tan, with a wild mop of windswept hair that should have looked like a ridiculous mess but instead looked ridiculously stylish, the perfect compliment to his mischievous, slightly crooked grin. He was every inch the charming rogue, eyes gleaming with the promise of thrilling adventures and long, romantic nights.

For a moment, Shinichi couldn't breathe.

It was strange. He had seen the thief's real face several times now—spent hours with him talking over meals and books like they'd known each other much longer than they had. And yet, somehow, seeing him here now felt completely different.

It was only now that they were here that Shinichi realized that perhaps part of him still hadn't quite believed that this—that they—were real.

But now they were here, standing on their university campus with the sun shining bright overhead, surrounded by other people.

And suddenly it was real.

Shinichi felt like he had woken up from a beautiful daydream to the breathtaking discovery that it hadn't been a daydream at all but an amazing, incredible reality.

It was only now that it truly struck him that KID—Kaito—was now an actual part of his life.

And that he just might be here to stay.

It was a dizzying realization—wonderful and terrifying and utterly unbelievable except that it was right in front of him.

It was only when spots began dancing in front of his eyes that Shinichi realized his lightheadedness was due at least in part to the fact that he had actually stopped breathing.

"O—oh, uh, one red bean, one strawberry, right?" he half gasped, half stammered.

Kaito smiled, and Shinichi could feel himself flushing pink. "That's right."

Shinichi swallowed and busied himself locating the correct mochi boxes as he ordered himself to get a grip. He placed two boxes of mochi on the counter and rattled off the price on autopilot.

Kaito already had the money ready. Their hands touched when when he passed it over, and the fox lingered, letting his fingertips trail lightly over Shinichi's hand before withdrawing. It sent another shiver up Shinichi's spine, and the blush he'd just managed to quash returns.

"Hey, sorry if I'm wrong, but are you Kudo Shinichi?" Kaito asked, somehow managing to make the question sound genuine.

"You're not wrong," Shinichi replied.

The fox beamed. "Cool. I've never met a real detective before."

Shinichi just barely managed to swallow a snort of laughter at that outrageous lie. Before he could come up with a suitable comment that also wouldn't blow their cover, however, the fox hybrid had swept up the mochi boxes, tucked them under one arm, and extended his other arm to offer Shinichi a single, crimson rose that popped seemingly out of nowhere.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," he said with a charming smile that made Shinichi's knees go weak. "I'm Kuroba Kaito, by the way. Feel free to call me Kaito."

Shinichi accepted the rose (though not without a certain amount of nervous looking around to see if anyone was watching). "It's nice to meet you too. I…take it you're also a student here?"

"Sophomore engineering and computer science major with a minor in chemistry," Kaito supplied. Before he could say more though, the person in line behind him let out a loud and very pointed cough.

"Sorry. I guess I'd better move. Wouldn't want to hold up business." The fox made to step aside but hesitated. "By the by, will you be here all day?"

Shinichi blinked. Kaito was going off script. He was supposed to say "See you around" then take his leave.

"Only for the first and last shift."

"So your first shift would end at…?"

"My first shift ends at noon," the detective said cautiously. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, if you don't have any other plans, I was hoping you'd have lunch with me."

Oh. So that was what the fox was up to. Shinichi really shouldn't be surprised, but he was nonetheless. Some warning would have been nice, but, well, if they were going to move their relationship into the daylight, it had to start somewhere. This was faster than the detective had expected—but maybe not faster than he was ready for.

Shinichi cleared his throat as he reminded himself not to look too eager (it would be unnatural). "I'll think about it."

Kaito's smile broadened, and there was laughter and warmth in his eyes. "I'll be back at noon then."

-To Be Continued-