Detective Conan/Magic Kaito - How To Catch A Kid - Shinichi/Ran/Kaito (1/1)

[askerian]

This is technically fic five in Swingersverse (the one where p much all the main characters in Shinichi's age group are banging open-relationship style), but fic Four (first time Kaitou Kid/Ran) has been stuck for the better part of three fucking years and I am sick and tired of sitting on the next one in the series.

So. Here it is, and maybe the Kid/Ran one will magically unstick itself. Maybe not. Whatevs.

(In the last episode, Shinichi and Heiji double-teamed Hakuba Saguru who was in Osaka for a heist, just before the heist, only for Ran to email Shinichi a picture of her naked legs with Kid's hat on it.

What happened was that she noticed Kid thanks to his resemblance to Shinichi and chased him around across the rooftops and he was delighted by her tenacity and daredevil karateka stunts and they end up fricking somehow.)

Heads up, it's way more angsty and melodramatic than the previous fics in this series who were all fairly upbeat porn.


1.

'Humor me, Meitantei,' he'd whispered. 'For my peace of mind, if nothing else.'

Shinichi stood motionless at the end of the corridor. In front of him Kid waited, jaw offered, eyes half closed.

'One shot, free of charges,' he'd said, and it hadn't even surprised Shinichi much. The great Kaitou Kid had spent all heist jumping like a scalded cat the second he caught sight of him, missing several easy shots at the gem in his haste to get away. Shinichi had found it immensely amusing, in a really messed up way. This wasn't how he'd planned to get the better of the thief.

"You do know that if Ran wanted you punched for daring to get your hands on her she'd have done it herself?" he said dryly. "She's not exactly one of your easily impressed groupies."

"That she isn't," said the thief, undisguised appreciation laced with a thread of wistfulness.

It made Shinichi feel weird, a strange tangle of pride and gladness on Ran's behalf, a touch of... something less altruistic, less comfortable. A prickle of disquiet.

"It's with you that I need to square things, Meitantei. I know she wouldn't have if it would hurt you, but I still didn't clear it with you."

For such a shameless scoundrel, Kid could be considerate at the oddest times, in the oddest ways. Shinichi took a step forward, and a second. Kid didn't move from his spot, but his shoulders and spine deliberately loosened, to absorb more of the impact.

"One shot," Shinichi said. "That's fair."

"One shot," Kid confirmed, and closed his eyes.

So he wouldn't be tempted to dodge, Shinichi thought. He smiled even as he leaned in, head tilted to duck under the brim of his top hat, and stole a kiss.

Kid didn't react, but for the eyes snapping open. No protest, no leaning back.

No kissing back, either. Shinichi lingered for a couple of seconds, and then drew back, still smiling faintly. Well, that answered that.

"There. Now we're even."

He turned his back, hands deep in his pockets. He could smell Ran on Kid's skin.

"I'd give you one minute for a head start, but if you needed that long I'd have to question whether you're losing your edge."

Kid was gone when he turned around, the corridor empty. He checked the staircase and the roof beyond anyway, perfunctorily. There was not a trace left.

--

2.

At the next heist Kid didn't even prank him once. Ran hugged him when he walked out of the museum.

--

0.

"... Seriously, Kitteneko-Rainbow's Mika-chan?"

Laughter, embarrassed and entertained at once. Ran hid her blushing face against his shoulder. "Yes, seriously."

"But in a purely aesthetic, 'I can appreciate the artistic value' way, right?"

" Shinichi... Celebrity crushes. Not Celebrities We'd Like To Hang Out With. You were the one saying you thought she was cute a second ago!"

"Well yes, but I have to admit, I didn't expect you to say 'me too'."

She squirmed. "... Do you think it's weird?"

Shinichi flopped on his back on the couch, bringing her along, kissed her behind the ear. "Honest answer? That's the second sexiest thing you've ever said to me."

She giggled. "The first being?"

Shinichi took her left hand in his and kissed her ring finger, still bare -- for now. "Yes."

Ran hugged him and burrowed against his side, though her face was slow to lose its excessive warmth.

He didn't want her to be alone in her embarrassment. "To be honest, um."

"Um? The Great Detective of the East says um?"

"I... kind of... have a crush like that, too."

Ran pushed herself up on her hands to stare down at her boyfriend. He started to reconsider the wisdom of mentioning that little tidbit. Maybe it should have been, in an ideal world -- but they weren't living in an ideal world and it wasn't the same for a girl and for a boy to admit to same-sex, uh... curiosity.

He didn't like hiding things from Ran, though, he'd done enough of that for a lifetime, so in the end he gave a wry shrug and said it. "Though by celebrity I mean mostly a widely-known annoyance, so I'm not sure it fits the parame--"

"Kid?!"

"Er. Well." He gave a helpless grimace, scratched his cheek. "... Yeah. He's just -- well. Irritating, actually."

"Infuriating," she rectified, laughing with him.

Shinichi chuckled, low and rough, and then his smile fell a little. "Intriguing."

"... troubling..."

"... Mmh." He stared at the ceiling, as if there might be a guide to this particular topic's pitfalls written up there. Which, with his mother being how she was, wouldn't even have surprised him too much. "I swear I have no idea where that came from. One second I'm Conan and somewhat grateful that he can be so helpful for a guy on the wrong side of the law... somewhat wondering what the hell is going on in his weird twisty mind... somewhat having way too much fun at those ridiculous productions he calls heists... The next I'm Shinichi again, and I guess my hormones caught up at a run, because..."

"Yes?"

He lifted his hand over their heads, unfolded his fingers in a half-hearted imitation of a magician's flourish. "Gloves. Couldn't stop staring at his silly gloves, wondering how well they'd come off if I pulled with my teeth. You now owe me one fantasy of your choice with Mika-chan," he added drolly.

Ran made a strangled little sound and hid her face in his shoulder. "I'll trade you for a fantasy of you. And him." A breathless whisper. "Mirror images. Identical. Opposites."

He had to strain to catch the end.

"Surrounding me."

Shinichi sucked in a slow, deep breath between his teeth.

"Okay. I was wrong. This is the second sexiest thing you've ever told me."

--

3.

"How long are you going to give him the cold shoulder?"

Ran hadn't somehow become an adept at tracking down Kid and planning his next moves, just because they'd slept together once. She simply knew that if she sneaked off to this isolated area, and he didn't follow her, she would hunt him down for real. He thought Shinichi was stubborn, but for Shinichi she could become a real bulldog, the kind that would only let go of its pound of flesh if you used a crowbar, and even then you'd need to break its jaw.

It hurt to see Shinichi hurt.

When she turned around Kid was standing there, all in pristine white from hat to shoes and affably unreadable, as usual. There was something to the line of his shoulders that she noticed as off, though.

"Mouri-san."

Kid's usual polished smile was, for once, utterly absent. He didn't pretend not to know what she was talking about, either.

"I'm a gentleman thief -- I steal hearts. I don't break them. I... must admit I find myself at a loss."

It hurt to see Shinichi hurt, but it didn't feel good either to hear Kid's measured, sanded-down words as the 'oh god, what a mess, please someone help me fix this' they really were. Ran bit her lip. She wished she could hold onto her offense, her protective wrath -- she knew what to do with it. It didn't work when suddenly she wished she could protect Kid too. It just made her feel sick to her stomach.

"Are you angry at him?"

Before his answer came, she had already relaxed, because there was no way he could fake the startled look that flashed in his eyes.

"No! ... No. I simply... Mouri-san--"

"Ran," she retorted without thought.

Kid watched her for a little moment -- a heartbeat, three. "... Ran-san."

He took a slow step forward. She didn't move, waiting, watching his cape flutter and come to rest around his legs.

"The thing is..." He sighed. "I do love to flirt. It's enjoyable, be it with women, men, intersexed elderlies, nongendered beauties of uncertain age, or eldritch horrors the likes we cannot classify."

The halfhearted quip pulled a matching smile out of her.

"You're not attracted to him," she concluded.

"To his mind, yes." Which she knew meant, well, no. "He is... fascinating. Going up against him is an amazing challenge, going against common enemies together -- it almost makes me regret the Kaitou Kid just doesn't work with a partner. We would be unstoppable.

"And if someone ever k-- ever hurt him," he breathed, with the quiet intensity of a massive understatement, "I would be very put out."

Ran nodded slowly, eyes lowered. He reached his hand out; she tilted her cheek into it, feeling his glove brush against her skin.

"So you see," he said, taking in a slightly too deep breath, though his expression didn't change from its pleasant blankness. "I find myself very much attracted to you." He reached up to brush a lock of her away from her eyes. "But I don't want to..."

"Hurt him," she finished.

"...Yes."

She thought of reminding him that she and Shinichi had an open relationship, that it would be perfectly within the rules. She only thought it for a brief second, and then she felt horrible.

Having outside lovers was fine, so long as she held Shinichi in her heart, as long as he was present if only in her acknowledgment of his existence, her respect of their bond. But keeping on seeing Kid... She didn't want to keep bringing it up, 'today I slept with Kid (and you didn't),' but the only other alternative to hurting him repeatedly was to lie to him, about where she was, who she was with, to shut him out of that part of her life, and that was worse. That, she would consider cheating.

"It's already unfair enough to him..."

Ran shook her head no. Kid's voice was neutral, but a thin thread of something like guilt still filtered through. "Don't think like that. It's not ... fair, or unfair, it can't be measured like that."

"Taking -- ah. Borrowing his lady-love, when he could only have, steal one short kiss?" He shook his head, unconvinced. "I didn't even kiss back."

Ran winced, then frowned. Kid seemed to be thinking he should have, dutifully, if he had been informed this was the price for sleeping with her. Idiot.

"It's not truly fair if in order to be fair to him you have to be unfair to yourself." She looked up, frowned. "And I'm not sure I'd encourage it anyway, if you honestly thought he could be happy with the situation if you weren't."

"... No, I know he's not like that. He or you." He smiled faintly. "I rather like it."

Heh. She managed a smile. "You know, you're much more attractive when you're --"

Oh. Oh, damn.

When he was sincere, when he wasn't putting on an overblown, teasing act, when he looked into her eyes with such quiet fondness.

With such real regret.

He waved it off, flicking his hand with one of his elegant flourishes, produced a flirty smile from somewhere she couldn't figure out. The teasing, fake intimacy of it felt like running smack into a wall where she hadn't seen any, stealing her breath. "Ah well, as they say there are more creatures in the sea. Soon I shall be naught to you but a brief -- though, granted, glorious -- memory."

Her fist had landed on his shoulder before she could think. "I like you, you idiot! And not because you prance around in silly white costumes and pull ridiculous jokes all day!"

"-- Hey, my jokes are not ridiculous."

Ran glared. "Yes, they really are."

"And my costume is fine."

He was glaring back at her now, maybe even pouting, ever so slightly. She chuckled, half amusement and half nerves, and then she sobered up. This petulant breach of character only proved it to her.

"It's... it's not the personage I'm attracted to."

His hand rose to his own face, mock-irritation turning into something else she didn't like -- disbelief, as if she'd suddenly slapped him across the face for no reason. It took her a second to get where it even came from.

"--No! Not because you look like Shinichi. You don't!"

"I have it on rather good authority that I do, actually," Kid replied drolly.

"No you don't! You don't smile the same way and you don't laugh the same way, and he's -- and you're a scoundrel and a brat, and I like you, alright? I like you for you."

At some point she had started beating her fist on his chest, so she wouldn't think about her prickling eyes. He stood there and allowed it. She froze in mid-gesture, opened her hand, slowly brought it flat against his chest.

She let him pull her into his arms, buried her face against his collar. He smelled, of all things, like ozone and cotton candy.

"It'd be stupid to kiss you now, huh," he whispered in her hair. It wasn't the tone, the words she would have expected of the Phantom Thief. Not formal, not distant enough. She tilted her head up, cheek brushing against his chin.

"Ah... Yes, it would be."

They stared at each other for another handful of seconds, almost nose to nose. It would only take another couple of inches to bridge the gap, to kiss anyway.

But...

"Shinichi," she whispered with regret.

"Meitantei," he said at the same time, not at all the same way, and he froze in her arms. Ran blinked and turned her head, and sure enough Shinichi was standing there by the door, watching them.

For a moment she really felt as if she had been caught cheating -- horror and dread, curdling in her stomach.

She didn't even have time to decide whether to pull away from Kid; he moved before she did, slipping free of her arms around his neck so fast he had taken three steps back before she could look back from Shinichi to him.

Shinichi's eyes went from Ran to Kid and then back, and then he gave a long, tired sigh, and rolled his eyes, and took a few steps closer. He didn't join either of them, though, kept the same distance to both, out of arm's reach.

"For god's sake, it's only a silly crush, not the end of the world."

"Meitantei--"

"You're not ravaging my heart and throwing it into a pit of blackest despair if you say no thanks, idiot. You don't want to sleep with me -- so? That's fine." He stared at Kid for a moment, threw Ran a quick, reassuring little smile, shrugged uncaringly. "I miss hunting you down properly more than I'd miss... other things, and it's getting ridiculous watching you run from me, so just pretend it didn't happen and let's--"

"No."

Kid unclenched his hands slowly, smoothed down a nonexistent wrinkle on his pants. Ran stared in fascination at that uncharacteristic loss of temper. "Um. Kid-san?"

Shinichi had gone tense, she could see the subtle signs in his face, bracing himself for pain.

"Pretending it doesn't exist is entirely out of the question."

"What else is there to do? Do you --" Shinichi's fists clenched in turn; he stuffed them in his pockets. "Do you want me to stop coming to heists?"

Kid stared at him, eyes a little wide at first, a little shocked, and then for that second he truly looked like Shinichi -- almost the same penetrating, sharp look.

Ran realized she was biting her lip and it was starting to hurt. She licked at the sore spot, nervously.

"You would," the thief said, slow with realization, "if I asked."

Shinichi stuffed his fists deeper in his pockets, jaw set at a mulish angle. "Yes."

"I want you," Kid said, deliberately slow, "to tell me the truth. What do you want from me, Meitantei? Don't say nothing."

"I'm not demanding anything, you don't owe me a thing. I don't want you to be so uncomfortable you jump out of your skin when I come near. I don't want Ran to get hurt, I don't want--"

"What do you want?!"

Shinichi had his mouth open to yell something back, and Ran wanted to tell them to stop, stop arguing or the police would come and they would never finish this, but then Shinichi stopped himself all on his own. Stared.

"... That wasn't a 'back off, don't dream.' You want to know so you can decide if you could give it to me," he breathed out.

Kid's shoulders tensed up and his weight shifted back on his heels, but he didn't move away, didn't escape like the minute movement had hinted he wished to. "That I could isn't what I'd call likely," he replied, jaw clenched.

He didn't deny it, though. Ran felt tears welling up. Stupid boys, Shinichi thinking Kid meant 'back off and never come near me again' at all, Kid -- Kid considering, even though he didn't even like men that way...

"Only what you want to give." Shinichi took in a deep breath, released it slowly, pinning Kid with his gaze when Kid started to scowl. "But everything you want to give."

Kid made an irritated noise in the back of his throat. "Beg you pardon, Meitantei. How the hell does that even work?"

"However you want!" Shinichi threw his hands in the air. "Do you want take her out on a date? You'll show her a great time, and I'll be glad she had fun. Do you want to let me watch? Alright, it's been driving me crazy trying to imagine it. Do you want to kidnap Ran from work, have clandestine rendezvous? Do you want to watch?"

Kid blinked slowly, head tilting a little; the hat emphasized it. Ran thought he looked tense all over, uneasy and embarrassed enough to run, only his pride wouldn't let him.

"Let you -- watch?"

Sighing, Shinichi let his challenging glare subside. "If it's what I can get, yes. I want it. But not if you feel you have to, that would just be sordid. I don't do sordid, and if you think Ran does then get away from her."

Kid snorted, started pacing, cape fluttering, every movement uncharacteristically sharp and angry. "You're after some kind of cuckold fantasy, and you tell me that?"

Ran flinched. Shinichi's gaze steeled over. "... Fine."

He took a step closer, threatening, challenging.

"I want to go toe-to-toe against you at a heist and have you talk me to orgasm while still riding the adrenaline high. I want to kiss you in freefall, I want to take off your gloves with my teeth, I want to pick your brain and figure out what makes you tick, I want to never figure it out, I want -- to be... friends, or rivals, or. Whatever.

"I don't want to take, it's worthless if it's taken."

Quiet now, calm voice, low and a little sad, because he could see just as Ran did that Kid's eyes were getting wider, scared even more by Shinichi's openness with his feelings than by the previous purely sexual fantasies.

"I want anything you want to give. Everything you want to give."

Kid flinched, visibly. Even when people shot at him he didn't do that. He stared at Ran as if hoping she would reassure him, tell him it was just crazy talk, something he could just go ahead and forget. She wetted her dry lips, bit them, nodded her agreement with Shinichi. She wished she knew what to say to fix everything, move everyone onto the same page.

"I--"

A group of people -- policemen, most likely -- approached the door at a trot and he was leaping to the window the next second, jerking away on pure spinal reflex. He gave the two of them a last wild-eyed look and was gone.

--

4.

Ran had kept the top hat that had graced her bare thighs after that first heist -- Kid had left it there ("a fairly-won trophy") and produced a spare out of one of his bottomless pockets. She kept it on the bedroom dresser, and sometimes grinned smugly at Shinichi when he gave it half-longing, half-annoyed looks.

When they came home that night she picked it up, turning it over in her hands, and went to put it in the closet.

"I miscalculated," Shinichi said. He watched her from the doorway, her hands, the hat. He couldn't get over how wrong the whole thing had gone, so quickly, just because he'd missed something, misread it. "I assumed that even if he wasn't interested, he'd... I didn't think he'd take it so seriously."

"You didn't think he'd notice you were serious, you mean," Ran corrected quietly, and looked up at him with eyes so sad he flinched.

"It's just a crush, it's not..."

"Yes, it is."

Oh, damn it. He sighed, shoulders drooping. "It wasn't supposed to be."

Ran closed the closet door and went to him, touched his arm to get him to look at her face. He met her eyes and --

And, the way Kid had held her, allowed her to hold on, the peculiar shade of his voice...

"-- No, that's ... That's not what I miscalculated, that's not why..."

He gave her arm an absent pat and started pacing in the bedroom, back and forth, brain suddenly whirling.

"Shinichi?"

"His psychological profile doesn't hint at homophobia, or any kind of social phobia at all for that matter, he's abnormally tolerant about a lot of weird personal quirks and -- and I know he's got male groupies, and they're just as grabby as the female ones, and it never bothered him; so even if he doesn't personally like men, I assumed he'd just... laugh it off, or tell me he's sorry like he does with them and that'd be the end of it."

"But it was personal," Ran said, eyebrow scrunched up. "Not about the, the man thing, I mean, but -- you. It wasn't like you're... just anyone..."

She was better at feelings than he was in a lot of ways. If Ran could see it too, then... Shinichi sank on the edge of their bed, put a hand over his eyes. "Damn it. Damn it. It wasn't the sex, he liked you, he got along with you, he wished he could do it more..."

Ran bit her lip, bowed her head. "I... liked him too, and I told him so, and he was still alright. But then you did, and... And he's not like Heiji-kun that way, he's not even like Hakuba-san; that doesn't make it easier, that makes it worse."

Shinichi nodded absently, eyes going unfocused. "Letting someone get too close, that's dangerous -- but with you, it was okay -- would have been okay -- because you're not a detective, you can't find him when he doesn't want to be found."

"Also because I already proved I wouldn't push," Ran said pointedly. He winced, raised a hand in surrender. Yeah, okay, there was no way on Earth Shinichi could not be pushy, even if he tried in good faith; it just wasn't in him to let things go.

"Yeah, you're right. Besides you have me and he knows we're solid. It's okay if one day he just stops meeting you, you wouldn't be all alone, and that's why he could stay a while."

Ran sighed, playing with her hair absently, for comfort. "That's kind of messed up. And really sad, when you think about it."

Shinichi nodded again, slowly. Yeah, it was. "You like him because, I don't know, he's fun, or he's a good person. Both. But me -- I think he's interesting, and I want to go digging. I'm dangerous. He should avoid me, or at best play just out of reach, because as long as he does heists I'll keep popping up. But then I go and I like him, and that means he can't avoid me without hurting me. And at the same time it's not just, it's not just an affair you're having, just sex and superficial pleasantries as he pretends to be charming at you, it's us as a couple and him as a person, and we're both seeing through him and we're both coming after him. It's not harmless flirting anymore, it's not even pleasantly meaningless hooks-up, it's..."

"Too much. Scary."

"Yeah." A sigh. "He'd have been fine if we just wanted a threesome in bed. He might even have gone with it just for the novelty, even if he doesn't date guys. But..." Aw, shit. Just... shit.

"But he doesn't break hearts," Ran said softly, and leaned her head against his, staring blankly at nothing.

They sat in silence on the edge of their bed.

"He seems so lonely."

Shinichi winced. He should have seen it sooner. He'd been too busy thinking about what he wanted from Kid. "Almost certainly."

He let it unspool, analyzing, profiling out loud, with all those little details and shades of expression he'd accumulated, just under the conscious threshold.

"It's... not just a job for him, it's a personal crusade. It's important. It's huge. But at best he has one helper, maybe two; at worst he does it all alone. It's really not likely that many people from his civilian life have the slightest idea about his other life, so even if they like him, they like someone who's lying to them about who he is, what makes him feel alive, what he spends his evenings on.

"Out of the people he's not lying to, the police force are adversaries, the snipers are mortal enemies, the fans are an audience. The only people he can relate to as equals, who know him -- who at least know that he's hiding things, instead of having zero clue -- are the detective trying to unmask and catch him. And that's -- we're not even entirely his choice. But here we are, at least... And then one of his detectives goes and... what, basically blackmails him into either giving more than he safely can or ruining what he already has."

Ran sighed, and then knocked the back of his skull with her knuckles, pitching him forward with the impact.

"--Ow!" Shinichi gave her a bewildered look. "Ran?"

"Don't make it sound like that. He's not a homeless waif, he doesn't take hand-me-downs because he can't find better on his own. If he didn't like you, you'd have known it a long time ago."

"Ran--"

"Besides, he told me so," she said primly, and gave him a teasing smile, but one that was sad at the edges, knowing.

"... heh, I'm sorry. I'm sure you can't be happy about things either and here I am making it all about me."

She rolled her eyes fondly and elbowed him. Ow. "Just a bit. But... I think you're right. No strings attached sex would be fine, but you're a clingy guy."

"Oi."

"Seriously, you wouldn't be happy until you've unwrapped him all the way down. And he's... he's really all about his layers, isn't he. I bet when he packs up presents you'd start with one big box and end up with a pile of smaller boxes and wrapping paper and a pocket-sized gift."

"Heh."

They sat together in silence on the edge of their bed for a minute, and then Shinichi sighed and let himself fall on his back, and tried to convince himself it hadn't been an asshole move to even ask.

"Bottom line, we're too much of a risk."

He flipped on his side, gave Ran a tired smile, opening his arms for her to come nest into.

"Ah well, it was a nice fantasy."

--

5.

They were curled together under the blankets, spooning, Tantei-kun's face pressed against the back of Mouri-san's neck. He had some of her hair in his mouth. The only part of her that emerged was the top of a bare shoulder. It looked cozy, especially when watching from the crisp air outside their window.

Kid could still leave before they woke up.

Mouri-san stirred first, eyes blinking sleepily open. Kudo-kun must have felt her shift in his arms -- or perhaps it was just that peculiar kind of awareness, when another human being was so close inside your personal space, something below the measurable threshold. He cracked an eye open in turn.

Even then Kid could still leave. Perhaps they'd even tell themselves they had dreamed it.

He could still leave even as Kudo-kun's eyes cleared and found Kid's and he went utterly still, he could still leave as Mouri-san's widened. A look wasn't a leash, a handcuff, it didn't hold him, it couldn't reel him in. He could end this ridiculous, too-risky bout of madness and leave anytime he wanted.

They were so still, moonlight and streetlamps on their faces, when his own was lost in shadows. As if they were scared they'd spook the strange man watching them sleep.

The window cracked open with barely a sound, the whispering leaves of a nearby tree flowing in the bedroom along with a gust of colder air. Flowing inside with it took almost no conscious thought.

It was windy outside so he closed it behind him, without turning to look at what his hands were doing. His cape swirled around him a last time and then fell limp.

They still weren't saying anything. Just watching him. He couldn't find anything to say either. Hello? Don't mind me, just walking by? Sorry, I was leaving?

She lifted the edge of the blanket before her.

(Don't you want to get in? Here, a space for you.)

He could still leave, the window would take all of two seconds to open again and he could even break through the glass if he wished to be gone faster than that.

He glided closer on silent feet. He looked down at them, who hadn't moved an inch, who were craning their necks to see him. They were still spooning under the blankets, the shapes of their bodies suggested more than seen.

He perched at the very edge of the mattress, cautiously.

(Only what you want to give, they'd told him.)

Her lips were parted, though no sound came out. His eyes were, as always, intense, drinking in Kid's every movement, but the rest of him was so still it was a wonder he still breathed.

Kid slipped a finger in his tie and tugged the knot undone. It slithered free of his collar in his hand; he took off his top hat and dropped the length of silk in. The quiet whisper of sound was like a signal. Mouri-san -- Ran-san, she'd asked that of him and he didn't mind, wanted to -- Ran-san sat up, the blankets sliding off her shoulders, her bare breasts. She didn't attempt to cover herself, she reached her hands for the buttons of his jacket, pausing just before she touched him, as if asking if that was alright. Kid watched the way Kudo-kun's arm fell away from her waist, the way he shifted back to lean against the wall. The bed wasn't huge, he was still close enough he could have -- but the message was clear; he wasn't going to touch.

It -- stung, itched, sympathetic pain when Shinichi met his eyes and (Yeah, that's fine. Go ahead) smiled, just a barely-there, pleased thing, edged with melancholy. Not as much of that as Kid would have expected, though.

(Only what you want to give.)

Ran unbuttoned his jacket and then his shirt, button after button. He sat still, let her free the tail ends from his pants and push it off his shoulders, follow a shallow, years-old scar on his chest. Careful, as if it might still hurt. She was careful when she slipped a hand behind his neck, too, when she tugged him forward against her, guided him down on top of her.

Ran pulled the blanket up to his shoulder blades, the cloth warm and soft as it brushed along his bare back, enfolded him. He leaned in and kissed her, a simple press of lips on lips, and then a longer, deeper one.

He'd been right, it was nice under there. Cozy and warm. Her body so soft against his.

In their bed, not on it. The difference was something so huge he couldn't put it in words.

When he broke the kiss and turned his head Shinichi was still watching, still smiling, but it was the kind of smile Kid knew from the inside.

(See this? Isn't it gorgeous? You can't have it.)

He pushed himself up on one hand. Pressed his other hand to Shinichi's collarbone, pinned him to the wall, as if Shinichi was the one who was a flight risk there, what a joke -- kissed Shinichi, too, short and rough and he didn't know what he was doing, surely boy or girl it couldn't be that different.

Kid broke away and stared at him, breathing too fast, his little mantra doing a last lap around his mind (he could still leave), but he wouldn't have been half as scared if that were true.

(Only what you want to give.)

(Everything you want to give.)

Shinichi released a long breath. Kid flinched away, burrowed in Ran's neck. She smelled so good, feminine and warm and sweet from sleep. He kissed her throat, shoulders stiff with tension.

Nothing happened but her hands rising to caress his back in long soothing arcs. He felt blindly to the side -- Shinichi's waist. His arm. Kid tugged that arm closer, goddamnit take the hint already, take the --

Fingers gliding down his back. Not Ran's, a little too large, not as soft. Not even quite the same degree of warmth, though he didn't know whether that was even supposed to be measurable with human senses, whether he was imagining it.

He breathed out against Ran's neck, tension ebbing in long shudders. He shifted down a little, kissed the top of her breasts, brought up a hand to cup one -- where Shinichi could see, he wanted Shinichi to see, it would be selfish not to. She made a little noise of approval, arched her back under him. Her fingers raked through his hair in gentle encouragement. Shinichi's hand was still caressing his back in long slow strokes. He felt like a skittish animal they'd just found abandoned, something hurt and scared.

It was ridiculous. He was Kid the Phantom Thief, who laughed as bullets rained, who relished freefall, who reveled in the fascination he inspired from the masses.

Every touch of their hands left his nerves raw.

He tangled his fingers in Ran's long locks, breathed in. It already smelled familiar, reassuring. Her legs tangled with his; her hips rocked slowly once or twice, a question.

Kid's hand followed hers down his own side, guided it to his fly. The blanket shifted down, baring a little more of his back, nowhere close to his waist but it still felt like exposing himself. He could feel Shinichi's gaze on him, like a heavy weight on the line of his shoulders, the nape of his neck.

He didn't have the patience to let Ran figure out his pants. He shoved them down and his underwear with it, kicked.

Pants and shoes off. Cool air down to the small of his back, one hip. Bare. Still covered, shielded by the blanket, but naked underneath.

Shinichi's hand slid down to the lowest curve of his spine. It settled there, light, like a question. Kid bit his lip to smother a groan, goosebumps prickling over his whole body.

Ran moved under him until he was between her legs, and then it was so easy to slip inside her, to slide deep and rock with her, so warm wet soft, so easy to kiss her. The prickle of her nails on his shoulders made him shiver again, add a little more of his weight to his thrusts.

It made Shinichi's hand shift on his skin, just barely, made his skin tingle in nerves and anticipation but Shinichi didn't -- didn't move, didn't caress again, not anywhere else, just rested his hand there and felt the way he rocked.

Head bowed, mouth still pressed to Ran's -- breathing with her -- he leaned to the side, nudged Shinichi's chest with his elbow. A second's pause, two, and then lips brushed the back of his neck, careful. A pause. (That okay?)

He pushed himself deep inside her -- she grunted, deep and rough -- rounded his back into Shinichi's chest like a cat, and it wasn't going to be enough, he could tell that, it wasn't blatant enough and who the hell dared to call himself a detective again? He broke the kiss, looked up at Shinichi from behind his messy, finger-tangled bangs, lips parted and still damp from Ran's kiss. She made a strangled little gasp under him, shocked revelation, but Kid didn't look at her, only looked up at Shinichi, because it seemed Shinichi had needed Ran to get it first today.

Slowly, seemingly half-certain he was getting it wrong after all, Shinichi leaned closer, flat belly pressed against his hip, hand inching under the edge of the blanket. Once again, a telling, waiting pause.

Body language was too slow for this. Kid slipped a hand in Shinichi's hair, tugged him close. He breathed in his ear.

"Yes."

Ran moaned under him, a long, breathy sound, pure tortured need. Kid felt her tighten around him and he rolled his hips against hers, and laughed a little. Her eyes had gone all glazed with desire. He kept staring into them as Shinichi's body slid against his, behind. She was gorgeous like this and how could he be afraid?

Fingers slipped between his legs, teasing the inside of his thighs. Ran slid her arms around his shoulders and held on, guided his face against her neck and he realized he was shaking again.

When Shinichi stopped moving, Kid kicked him, his heel impacting quite nicely with Shinichi's side.

There was a surprised hesitation, and then Ran giggled. Laughing with her, Shinichi dropped an apologetic kiss on his shoulder blade. Kid let out a haughty snort, vindicated. He kept smiling against her neck, even when Shinichi's fingers started exploring him again.

It wasn't as scary somehow when they laughed. It was strange, and ticklish and a bit too much sensation at times but it didn't hurt, Shinichi was being too careful for it to possibly hurt at all.

When Shinichi guided himself inside him in a slow, endless push, Kaito started shaking anyway, at least until Ran pulled the blankets up over the three of them.

Cocoon. Safe and dark and warm. Skin pressing against his skin from both sides, and he had never realized how much he'd craved simple human touch, missed it, until there it was and he was getting drunk on it, barely needing any genitals involved.

He drew in a deep shuddering breath when Shinichi was all the way inside him. It was -- oh god it was strange. Full, stretched almost to the edge of discomfort. Parts of his body that ought to have been safely out of reach nudged from the inside. Was it how it felt for Ran? He blinked the haze out of his eyes, looked at her. She was tense under him, utterly unmoving. Patient, waiting for him to adapt, but so, so wet. Her inner walls twitching around his cock, so close to the edge.

Shinichi's lips on his neck, Ran's on his temple.

He began rocking. He didn't have a lot of space, but it was just a matter of starting it. They found their pace with familiar ease, moving together without even a need for direct contact.

Ran and Shinichi knew each other, their rhythms, their telltales. Even now with someone else in their bed they still had that. Kaito watched Shinichi's hand find Ran's, pin it to the mattress, palm to palm, fingers interlaced, and tried to keep alive that prickle of guilt and worry at the soft, soft kisses to his own mouth, the male hands catching on his hips, the light bites to his shoulders, but he couldn't anymore. He couldn't come between them -- not in the non-physical way, at least, just in the literal one. Even now it wasn't Kaito-and-Ran plus Kaito-and-Shinichi, Kaito like a wall between them, the accidentally-mutual target of two selfish needs; it was Shinichi-and-Ran enjoying Kaito together, like a present to each other.

He arched his back, thrust into Ran (so warm, so good), felt Shinichi pull almost all the way out to plunge back in and shifted back to meet him. He wanted more -- slow was alright, but he wanted it harder, wanted to feel the impact of them both traveling all the way through his body. He grabbed back for Shinichi's hip, to pull him closer, pressed his own hips down on Ran's.

Their hands were everywhere on his burning skin. He kissed Ran, wet and deep, cupped her breast, feeling the weight of it, rolled her nipple between his fingers. He couldn't touch Shinichi, not without twisting his arm back and putting too much weight on Ran, and it was uncomfortable; he broke the kiss with Ran, turned his head as much as he could, but the angle was wrong and he only managed to feel Shinichi's lips against his temple.

Ran brought Shinichi's hand to Kaito's lips, the one she'd been holding. He shivered a little, staring straight into her eyes as he kissed it, the palm, the base of his thumb, drawing a long needy moan out of her. Over him Shinichi's breath hitched.

Kaito took one of his fingers in his mouth and sucked. He had no idea if he'd ever be willing to do the act he was mimicking but that didn't stop him wrapping his tongue around it, setting a hungry rhythm, eyes half-closed, purring, because the most important thing was the tortured whine coming from Shinichi's throat, the shocked whimper in Ran's.

Shinichi mouthed the back of his neck, nuzzled through the short hair there, and bit him. Kaito grunted, smiled smugly against his fingers, making Ran laugh and Shinichi nip him again. It was scarily good like this, being clung to, wrapped up in them.

Being an escape artist would be of no help. The thought had his heartbeat kick up. He wriggled around a bit, to test their hold, and only managed to make Ran lift her legs, hook her feet behind Shinichi's knees, trapping him some more. It made her inner walls shift and tighten around him, made him forget escape for a moment. Shinichi changed angles on his next thrust and Kaito could only grunt in surprise and try not to moan.

Being penetrated -- it hadn't been bad, it'd been alright, even though Kaito accepted it for the abstract sense of connection (for Shinichi's solid weight draped on his back, bare skin to skin) more than the sensation itself, that weird sense of pressure inside; it hadn't been that arousing on the receiving end. But from this angle Shinichi brushed against something inside that made his toes curl.

He spared a vague thought for the revenge he would take if Shinichi was being smug right now, (for the escape he wasn't making, he couldn't leave, they'd trapped him, he couldn't leave,) and then he let himself sink into them, into the feelings and their hands and their touch and their breaths.

(Everything you want to give.)

(He tried not to wonder about what he'd do if they didn't want to give it back.)

--

Afterwards Shinichi tipped to the side and accidentally brought him along, dragging him half off Ran. Which was okay, they'd been flattening her and Kaito didn't feel up to moving under his own power yet. She used her toes and an elegantly arched leg to bring up the blanket, which was nice to watch through the haze of his lowered eyelashes, and she cocooned them again and then tucked her head under Kaito's chin and hugged them both together. Shinichi's elbow rested on Kaito's shoulder, his hand in Ran's hair. Their legs were a tangle of epic proportions and he was a bit too warm and kind of sweaty and did not want to move.

He did not want to move. Their hands glided lazily on his damp skin and he wanted to shift into their touch, purr like a cat and demand more. He wanted to let it all go and sleep here. He wanted...

"Heh." He gave a little wriggle, mostly to illustrate his point. "Looks like you caught the Kaitou Kid."

There was a second of stillness and then Shinichi lifted his arm off him without a word. Kaito froze, closed his eyes tight, already feeling guilty for the words, so strangely flippant, bitter.

"You can leave anytime you want," Shinichi said, and even though Kaito had broken the silence first it still felt weird to hear his voice. "We won't try to hold you back."

It would have been one thing if he sounded hurt or annoyed, but mostly he sounded reserved, controlled, as if he'd thought this might happen, this -- lashing out, this taking back. Kaito let out a little humorless laugh. Of course Kudo Shinichi would predict him better than he could predict himself. So he could act like an ass and that would be alright, it would be nothing that wasn't expected. Aw, hell.

Ran leaned back so she could see his face, and gave him a knowing, sad smile. "If you want to go, then -- that's alright." She let go of her own hold on the both of them, touched his cheek lightly, with just her fingertips. "As long as you remember you can always come back."

It was cheesy; it should have made him laugh, or embarrassed him, or made him give a polite, 'you don't really mean that but it's nice of you to say' nod. It made his sight blur a little instead. Slowly, silently, Kaito felt behind him, pulled Shinichi's arm back around his waist, tightened its hold on him, fingers clenched on Shinichi's wrist.

Ran slipped her arms around his neck without any prompting. He'd always thought she was the smartest of the two.

He didn't say anything else, just let them cling to him, wrap him up in them. He'd stay a little bit longer, until they fell asleep, and then he'd go. Just a little bit longer.

--

Dawn marked the end of that strange in-between time. Their arms had loosened during the night; still, slipping out without disturbing them gave even the master escape artist he was a workout. He held still near the bed as they gravitated sleepily toward each other, face to face, attempting to fill the cold space he had left in the middle.

They settled down again. He cautiously pulled his pants out from under Ran's leg and went about getting back in costume. Underwear and pants, shoes, buttoning up his shirt, slipping his arms in his jacket -- ah, tie first...

Ran's head was tilted back on the pillow, and she watched him with sleepy eyes. He stopped moving, tie looped undone around his neck, heart thumping in his chest for a brief instant. Caught red-handed again.

She smiled fuzzily, shuffled around on her other side to face him. "Mm. Have a safe trip."

Kid tipped his hat at her before settling it back on his head, guilty and grateful.

"I'd remind you that our door's never locked for you," said Shinichi around a yawn, "but... You being you, it seems a little redundant."

Kid laughed, surprised that he didn't need to fake it. "Also there's the fact that I prefer the window."

"Pff." Shinichi rolled his eyes, though there was a pleased smirk floating on his lips that wouldn't budge. Ran giggled a little, wriggled back into Shinichi so he would spoon her, and went still, her eyes already drifting closed again.

Kid only lingered another second or three, and then he ghosted out, feeling Shinichi's eyes on him all the way.

It was a good thing he hadn't brought any roses along tonight. He didn't yet know which color to leave for them.

--

6.

There was no heist for a while after that. No night visits either. The heist that followed, Kid was back to normal, putting people into dresses, showering them in weirdly shaped confetti, turning random rooms into ball pits.

Shinichi ended with his face in a pie twice in a row; Kid licked some off him and pronounced it delicious. Ran received a romantic hand kiss in full view of the whole enraged Task Force, and had her panties mysteriously vaporize right through her pants. When Kid dropped by that night he was still snickering. Shinichi chased him around the apartment for a total of five whole circuits before Ran joined in and Kid allowed himself to be cornered. He never did give back Ran's panties.

He left while they were asleep.

After that, it was a pattern. A heist, a visit that ended before dawn, then no news for a little bit. Flirting with Ran, teasing Shinichi, and then he was gone again. Sometimes he would put on music and twirl Ran around the room. Sometimes he would say, "Too bad, Tantei-kun, if only you'd been six steps to the right, you ... still wouldn't have caught me, actually, but maybe you'd have gotten away with my left shoe." He'd hit on them while disguised as a grandpa or a stern school mistress, or weirder, and half those nights ended up with him roleplaying right into the bedroom, eyes sparkling with Kid-mischief.

He didn't come the night a gem owner stabbed him with, of all things, a barbecue fork, but he came two nights later, bandaged tight and waving their concerns about his 'little graze' away. He fell asleep, too pale, in the middle of a bout of sex he'd managed to talk them into against their best judgment. It was the only time he was ever asleep in their bed. When he woke he was so tense and uncomfortable Ran and Shinichi had to pretend an errand to run to allow him to escape the apartment without risking the window.

It was a great deal of fun whenever he was around. When he wasn't, Shinichi and Ran's life went on. They visited Osaka monthly; Shinichi had struck an old-fashioned pen-and-paper correspondence with Hakuba-kun, which amused them both; there were Ran's parents to dine with, Shinichi's to phone; Ran went shopping with Sonoko. There were Ran's University studies, Shinichi's -- now often remunerated -- investigations.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, Kid would say when they casually mentioned he didn't need to wait for a heist to visit, and mean it the other way around, that they'd get tired -- bored -- of him if he was around too often. But telling him too insistently that he was wrong would have been too close to emotional blackmail, an attempt to force him into more visits, and that was the one thing they absolutely weren't going to do. Kid's tacit rule for them, or theirs for Kid, no difference. The Kaitou Kid would keep coming and going through their life exactly when he wanted to come and go. That was just the way it had to be.

--

7.

He would have told himself he didn't know what he was doing there today, but he wasn't great at lying to himself. (Everyone else, yes. And wasn't that a great accomplishment.)

He knew why he was there, on that windowsill, waiting, even though they weren't home, even though being out so late in the evening likely meant they'd gone somewhere together -- a restaurant, the theater -- something romantic and just for the two of them. It wasn't like they'd been expecting him. You're welcome anytime, they'd said, but who meant that?

It would have been something else if they'd been watching TV or the like, not really an interruption. Tonight they would come back tired but happy, the two of them, all entertained out. They weren't in need of more of that.

He wasn't going to bother them. He wasn't even going to let them notice he'd been there, not even by the displaced leaves on the tree by the window. He would just...

He wanted to see them. Even if they wouldn't see him.

Ah, and there was the taxi, coming to a stop, and Shinichi holding Ran's door open.

He watched from above as they walked the few steps to the entrance and disappeared. He should end the stalker act and leave before they climbed the stairs and came into the apartment--

Something was wrong.

He'd only seen them for a couple of seconds, but his gut instinct held him on the windowsill when he should have fled, kept him waiting until the key turned in the lock and Shinichi walked in.

He froze when he saw Kid outside, expression shifting into alarm, and then recognition. Not fast enough, though. There had been a too-long moment before Shinichi noticed his guest, and that confirmed it. Something was wrong, wrong, wrong.

Kid was sliding the window open and stepping inside the room in the next instant.

Ran came in next, and almost walked into Shinichi's back. "Who --"

Ah. Yes, the black clothes he wore for recon work were a bit different from his usual getup. He tilted the bill of his cap up, let the light flash off a monocle he hadn't been wearing a second ago. "Ran-san."

"--Oh."

"My apologies for intruding," he said smoothly, on automatic, as he scanned them both. Shinichi's features looked strained, exhausted. Ran's unusual lack of spatial awareness aside... Her eyes were puffy.

"... Kid-san. Hello. Ah. Have you had dinner yet? We haven't, so..."

"Ran-san." He forced himself away from the window, the escape route he wasn't going to take.

"You're welcome to -- yes?"

His hand rose to touch Ran's shoulder. She was still trying to smile. Her eyes were welling up. He looked at Shinichi for an explanation. The detective shrugged, stuffed his hands in his pockets.

"The case." Ah. "Children."

...Ah.

The three of them stood in silence as the weight of those three little words filled the room.

He didn't need to know more details. Shinichi consulted on so many cases and murder was never easy, but those with children involved -- children as victims, he wasn't going to play coy -- they tended to hit harder, push the horror farther. There was a vindication, a sort of triumph, a rush of (sometimes-bitter) justice and pride that usually came when closing a case, which he suspected was how Shinichi hadn't gone crazy yet from such a soul-crushing job, but when children were involved that rush seemed to be utterly absent.

"Go sit down," he said quietly, giving her shoulder a squeeze, and sent Shinichi a long, sober look. "I'll cook you something."

Shinichi watched him back for a second, and then nodded, weary. "Thank you."

They didn't bother with the living room table, instead burrowing in the corner table in the small kitchen as Kid investigated the contents of their cupboards. Ran tucked herself in the far angle, shoulders pressed to the walls; when Kid leaned over the table so he could set the plates he saw her and Shinichi's linked hands resting on the bench between them, knuckles gone white.

Kid turned his back, busied himself with the pans and the fridge. He'd only turned on the lights over the working area and not the ceiling lights, so the kitchen was dimly lit, and the noises of food cooking only underlined the silence.

"Long story short," Shinichi said as Kid was poking at the pasta with a wooden spoon. His voice was utterly, forcefully blank. "Pedophile. Didn't want them to talk."

Kid paused for a second with his spoon in hand, staring into the pan. Behind him Ran's breath hitched.

"I see," he said, as neutrally as he could. "I'm glad that's over."

"Aa," Shinichi replied in subdued agreement. Ran rubbed at her face with her sleeve.

Food was ready. He brought it to the table, turned back to the sink to fill a water pitcher.

"You forgot a plate," Ran said, a little bemused. "Aren't you eating with us?"

Kid shrugged without turning back, and felt selfish for the little burst of relief, pleasure. He wasn't so self-centered as to make them feel that they had to welcome him into their life and bed after a day like the one they'd had. "I'm not going to impose on you, Ran-san. You should eat and then go to bed. I'll visit another day."

"No, please--"

"Stay the night," Shinichi said, and it came out nowhere close to politely halfhearted.

Kid froze. Water bubbled out of the pitcher, splashed over his hands.

"If you can," Shinichi added -- quieter, more like... "Stay, please."

He stared down into the sink for another second or three. Wiped his hands on a towel, got a third plate, turned to place it on the table.

Beside Ran, not across. Tiny space, they'd likely elbow each other, bump knees.

He could lie to others, but not to himself. He hadn't come to them because of the recreational intercourse they might offer, fun as it was. He was lonely, and that was a motive like any other for sex, if not as good as 'because I want you'. Letting them have him in return -- that was fine, he didn't mind, he didn't care -- so long as he could stay a little while. It was warm in their bed.

He doubted they were thinking about sex right now. Which meant...

He slipped his cap off his hair and swiped a hand in front of his face as he sat down, pocketed them. He looked at them -- through two eyes, not one eye and a monocle. He'd taken it off the very first time, all those months ago, but in the dark, and not with even half as much intent. They stared back, Ran a little surprised, Shinichi like he could tell exactly what was about to come out of Kid's mouth and knew the weight of it.

"You should call me Kaito."

Ran leaned into his shoulder, head bowed. He wrapped an arm around her, moved the few inches left over to press against her side. He could feel her fighting back sobs. He rubbed her back slowly, his shirt growing damp against his skin.

"Sorry. Should probably have saved that for later, huh."

"No, it's fine. It's good. Thank you." She didn't lift her head to look at him, fingers knotting in his shirt.

Shinichi shifted closer as well and wrapped an arm around Ran's waist from behind; their eyes met over her bowed head.

Shinichi didn't try to touch Kaito, cautious even with the arm around Ran's waist not to brush against Kaito's hip. He was just moving to sandwich Ran, comfort her, like she was the only one who hurt. Like she was the only one Kaito wanted to hold onto.

He supposed he hadn't been very physical with Shinichi outside of the bedroom, huh. It was just easier with Ran, the way she curved into his hold so naturally, the way her scent got to him at a primal level, her body -- the way she just, well, wasn't as fun to needle and tease (wasn't as threatening to let in, was just all around safe and warm and soothing and lovely) -- but now it seemed his detective had come to the wrong conclusion.

Perhaps it had been the right one, too, for a while. He gave Shinichi a faint smirk and leaned in to steal a kiss, just a short brush of lips.

"--Kid?"

"If you're calling me Kid, I'm calling you Meitantei," he warned. Shinichi let out a little chuff of laughter, more air than sound.

"Maybe later."

"Yeah, maybe. It's a good name, for other places." He kissed Ran's head too, shifted around, bringing up a knee to put in the hollow between Ran and the wall, and moved his arm off her shoulders so he could slip it behind Shinichi's, sort of hold them both.

"We'll have to practice," Ran said, and it sounded like she was smiling a little bit. "Kaito... san?"

"Nope."

"Kaito-kun?"

"Bzzt, wrong."

She ducked her head under his chin. Shinichi gave a thoughtful nod and leaned his cheek against the back of her head. "... Kaito," he said.

Kaito closed the distance and dropped a teasing peck on the tip of his nose. "That's a good boy."

"Oi, oi." But Shinichi didn't even bother to glare much, lips quirking into a faint rueful smile.

"You'll have to call me Ran," she muttered, muffled against his collarbone. "If... It's only fair like that." Shinichi nodded his agreement.

He considered it. 'Meitantei' and 'Mouri-san' he would still get to use at heists -- outside of their home. But inside no more Ran-san or Kudo-kun, respectful politeness and restrain and distance.

You're welcome here anytime.

"I can do that."

It wasn't going to be hard, he'd just have to stop censoring himself, just go ahead and use the way he called them in his mind -- and really, that should have been a clue.

Nothing more than what you want to give, Shinichi had told him. But nothing less, either.

"Yeah. I can do that."

------

∞.

All things considered it wasn't strange to cross paths with Hakuba Saguru at a Holmes convention. Shinichi had had several very nice discussions on the topic with him, more than enough to know they were both about the same level of fannishly obsessed. What made him pause, Ran's arm linked with his, was the way Hakuba's expression shifted upon seeing them in turn. Faint surprise to see them : expected; a hand rising in greeting, a mouth curving in understated pleasure : also expected.

A blink and that flash in his eyes that Shinichi was starting to recognize as a 'aha! Mystery solved', that was a little more confusing.

"Whoaaa, doppelganger!"

... And now it wasn't.

The face that popped over Hakuba's shoulder was instantly recognizable... As his own. Which was why Shinichi didn't bother trying to find an excuse for Ran's little squeak of surprise and the way she pressed her hands over her mouth.

It was surprisingly hard to keep from smiling at Kaito. He made himself arch an eyebrow and say a little "Huh" instead.

"You're ... Kuro, Kumo ... Ah, Kudo, right? Hakuba-kun told me there was this guy he knew who looked like me -- wait, unless there's three of us?"

Kaito turned to Ran and bowed over her hand, kissing it. Behind him, Hakuba didn't even bother pretending to be taken in by the performance.

"And you, miss... Oi, Hakuba-kun, introduce us already."

Hakuba gave him a long, 'why do I even put up with you' look. Shinichi bit his lip to keep from smiling.

"Mouri-san, Kudo-kun," he said dutifully, "this is Kuroba Kaito, who was my classmate in high school. Kuroba-kun, Mouri Ran and fellow detective Kudo Shinichi..." Shinichi could read the rest on his face; '...but I'm sure you already knew that.'

Kaito straightened up from his bow and grinned at them, eyes gleaming. He let go of Ran's hand and started to circle around Shinichi, scrutinizing his face from every angle. "Oh, all the fun we could have with this."

Hakuba muttered something that sounded vaguely like 'the world is doomed'.

The next second, Shinichi's hair had been ruffled into a total mess and the convention center was whirling around him. When things came to a stop he was standing in between Ran and Hakuba, and Kaito was the one holding Ran's arm in the crook of his elbow.

Shinichi looked down at himself. His jacket was now on Kaito's shoulders. His blue polo shirt had been unbuttoned at the collar, while Kaito's green was buttoned and tucked in neatly. The disguises weren't complete, but mixed up enough -- alright, and why was he wearing one loafer and one tennis shoe?

Ran's eyes went from one to the other, a hand still on her mouth to stifle her laughter. "Oh no, now how will I know which one of you is my boyfriend?"

(Shinichi made a note to tell her later never to take up acting.)

Kaito looked at her with a perfect Shinichi-frown on his face, just the right amount of quizzical and unconvinced, and his voice came out with Shinichi's inflexions. "Don't tell me you can't recognize me through such a flimsy disguise, Ran."

Ran apologized, still fighting not to laugh. Kaito gave her a very realistic jaundiced look.

"I did wonder why Kuroba-kun suddenly wanted to spend time with me so much he was willing to brave a Holmes convention," Hakuba told Shinichi sotto voce, as they watched Ran give Kaito's arm a squeeze and draw closer, blushing and visibly enchanted, Kaito huff in mock-offense but allow it with falsely solemn eyes.

Shinichi stared at them for another moment -- then he grinned his widest grin and threw a much-too-friendly arm around Hakuba's neck with absolutely no warning. "Aw, c'mon, Hakuba-kun, giving me weird ulterior motives again? You're gonna break my heart."

Kaito's Shinichi-expression cracked first, with sheer surprise and then hilarity. Shinichi kept up the manic grin for another moment, just long enough for Hakuba to send him a totally horrified look, and then mercifully let go of the other detective's neck and gave him his personal space back.

"Sorry," he said, not sorry at all. "Couldn't resist."

Kaito was staring at him, and grinning, griiiinning. He danced up to Shinichi, hooked his arm with the one that wasn't still holding onto Ran's, beamed. "Ohoho. I do believe this is the start of a beautiful friendship."

"If you say so," Shinichi replied as coolly as he could, though he couldn't get rid of the smirk floating at the corner of his mouth.

"I say so," Kaito retorted imperiously, and started dragging them toward the next exhibit. "It's decided, you can't escape, I have your scent. Now onward, onward, Holmes shall not wait!"

"Onward!" Ran chorused, still hanging from Kaito's other arm and giggling. Shinichi let out a long mock-sigh and allowed their combined enthusiasm to drag him along.

"Doomed," Hakuba was muttering under his breath as he trailed after them. "Doomed."

It was a strangely appealing sort of doom, Shinichi had to say.

--------------------------------------------

Coda:

It was strange and somewhat unexpected, but ever since sleeping together he and Kudo-kun had become pretty good friends, as Saguru counted those things.

He wasn't surprised, on second thought, that Kudo-kun had said nothing to him regarding his ... their new lover, his and Mouri-san's. (That this was exactly what Kuroba-kun was to them would have been blindingly obvious even to one who hadn't spent the last six or so years studying a certain Kuroba Kaito under every available angle. They couldn't stop touching each other.) What Kudo-kun and Saguru had was something casual, based more on their common interests in crime and investigation and books related to such than on their interest in each other especially. Even discounting all the secrets inherent in knowing Kuroba-kun's alternate identity, colleagues and friendly acquaintances had no claim to intimate information.

Nevertheless...

"Do you mind?" Kudo-kun asked him later that afternoon, as they ambled through the dealer's area after Mouri-san and Kuroba-kun.

"Why would I?" he replied, and knew that Kudo-kun would know it was not a no.

But both were true. He should not have minded, it wasn't his place.

It sat oddly nevertheless.

"Well. One does not spend several years obsessively researching and following someone without a certain level of... interest."

"Interest?" Saguru asked, wry and amused, though it stung a little underneath.

"Obsession," Kudo-kun amended, sending him a challenging look right back, but one strangely without teeth.

Saguru inclined his head; yes, point. They kept walking in silence, trailing Kudo-kun's two laughing lovers as they explored the stalls. Saguru had to admit they looked very nice together; Kuroba-kun wasn't being smooth and charming -- wasn't throwing his Kid persona at her, merely laughing with his eyes bright, finding their discussion -- whatever it was about -- honestly hilarious. Mouri-san half-heartedly pretended to be offended, though she couldn't stop giggling, cheeks a fetching pink. The way they leaned against each other...

The way they regularly threw little looks backward, warm little 'there you are; we haven't lost you' smiles. He wasn't deluding himself; none of that was for him.

"Are you jealous?" Kudo-kun asked quietly, and speared him with one of his penetrating stares.

Saguru could have deflected, or even lied to him -- Kudo-kun would have known, but he would have accepted it as the 'this is off-limits' it was and pretended to believe Saguru.

Just thinking about that kind of escape route, even if he didn't want to take it ... "Yes, I believe so."

"Ah." Kudo-kun bit his lip slightly as they made their way through another knot of people. He stared ahead, lost in thought; Saguru waited. "... I don't know how appropriate it would be, but we could ask if he --"

Saguru was shaking his head before he was even done speaking. "No, Kudo-kun, thank you -- but no."

Kudo-kun merely watched him, an eyebrow arched prompting him for more -- but not out loud, not too hard. Saguru could pretend it had been nothing -- nothing had been said anyway. He could pretend he hadn't understood the offer to intercede with Kuroba-kun, to ... introduce them to each other, as sexual partners.

The thought flustered him, and embarrassed him -- and ached, a bit. It wasn't even remotely a possibility, not even something to daydream about, and not even based merely on Kudo-kun's faint reluctance, the hint in his voice that this -- sharing Kuroba-kun with Saguru -- might be uncomfortable as compromises went, might cost him a little.

The offer itself had cost him; it deserved something in return. An explanation -- a reassurance. Saguru wasn't going to take him up on this offer, ever.

Not only because, if Kuroba-kun had been interested -- in Saguru himself or men in general -- surely he would have shown it before then. Saguru had been watching. There had been no hint at all. Being flamboyant didn't count, not when it was so clearly all a game, a misdirection. As for the cross-dressing tendencies, a great percentage of non-professional cross-dressers were in fact perfectly straight and not remotely transgender men.

"The appeal of the chase is in the chase itself. When I catch him, I will not shirk my duty. ... Granted it's doubtful his stay in prison would last long." He frowned a little, the thought unpleasant. "Nevertheless, that's the end of the game."

"Aha. His greatest appeal is in being just out of reach."

"Your psych analysis is, as always, stellar," Saguru commented idly, vaguely sarcastic.

"Am I wrong?"

"No."

He walked, thinking about how best to phrase it. Kudo-kun waited.

"As my father's son -- a policeman's son -- I wouldn't, as you would, be satisfied with merely winning. Of course," he admitted, "I would be even less satisfied by him agreeing to stay in prison and then promptly getting himself killed. I think -- the best case scenario would be if the Kaitou Kid disappeared off the streets, even if he continued his work in the background, in secret."

"You take his grandstanding more personally than the thefts. That's interesting."

Kudo-kun smirked at him. Vaguely annoyed, Saguru sighed. "Maybe a little."

"Maybe, Saguru-kun?"

Saguru grumbled, then sighed again and flicked him a tiny smile. It felt a little startling to hear his first name from Kudo-kun -- a little nice. Not like a liberty taken against his will, not trespassing; more like a surprise visit, I was in the neighborhood and wanted to see you. Nice, even if it was meant as teasing. "Maybe a lot. I do tend to identify as a member of the Force he so likes to humiliate, even if I haven't yet graduated from the Academy."

Kudo-kun didn't identify with the police. He was on a side all his own; in his world the police were allies (subordinates, really), but he played his own game, detective against the criminals. It had proved a source of much needling and teasing between them. One cop rule-bound to the inside of his box versus one arrogant borderline-vigilante.

... ah. In a way -- just on the other side of that line Kudo-kun kept dancing up to, just on the other side of the law -- that was what Kid was, too. A vigilante. Only he had a single, very personal crusade where Kudo-kun had plenty he picked up at a whim.

They were both rather arrogant as well. Heh.

"How's that going, by the way? The Academy, I mean."

"Oh, pretty well."

Kudo-kun's knowing smirk had Saguru glaring at him, pretending he wasn't reddening just a little.

He hadn't wanted to go to the Academy in the district his father was Police Chief; too much risk of rumors of nepotism and other awkwardness. Osaka had a good reputation; Saguru wouldn't have chosen it otherwise.

He had to admit that the presence of someone he knew and was on friendly terms with in the area had counted when it came to choose between the best Academies. Of course that meant Kudo-kun kept teasing him about Hattori-kun.

Ahead Mouri-san and Kuroba-kun had slowed down, were looking back at them, questioning. Kuroba-kun's hand rested on her back, a little too low down her spine to be quite proper.

Kudo-kun flicked them a 'it's alright, keep going, we'll follow' little wave. Saguru was a little surprised; he'd thought the conversation ended.

"Kudo-kun?"

"I don't want it to ruin you guys' friendship. Is there anything that could help?"

"It won't." He shook his head. "... I know our relationship wouldn't count even as a friendship to a lot of people. Kuroba-kun bothers and nags me, I threaten to unmask his secrets..."

"I do think he likes you."

"I know he does, in his own way. The same way he likes Nakamori-keibu -- we're fun to tease. Amusing reactions. Like you would make a puppy dance, holding a treat just out of their reach."

"Are you angry at him?"

He couldn't help snorting at that. "I might as well be angry at Watson for flying, or for leaving half-eaten mice on my pillow."

He knew he was smiling, faint and rueful and baring too much, but the only one who was looking was Kudo-kun, who already knew.

"I've spent a long time training myself not to see him in such a way." He gave a slightly amused, vaguely sad chuckle, looked away. "I'm not planning to let it all go to waste now. It was merely -- startling, I suppose, that one of the obstacles I thought were there... wasn't. The other reasons still exist."

It did make a few moments of wishful thinking not so wishful, to know that Kuroba-kun could, and had, compromised with his heterosexuality for the right person.

But the right person wasn't Saguru, and it didn't even matter because Kuroba-kun was still a thief and a criminal, which Saguru absolutely could not give him a pass on; and he was still much better to pursue than to catch, because then it would all be over anyway, and while a friendship would endure, Saguru was not having a relationship -- not even an affair -- with someone he planned to arrest.

And Kudo-kun was still walking right beside him -- not jogging after the new boyfriend he was infatuated with, the fiancée he loved, but here with Saguru.

Kuroba-kun would have shoved a tulip down his pants by now. Saguru chuckled a little, flicked his companion a smile. The trade-off wasn't bad.

"Ah well. Thanks for listening. I think I'm over it now."

Kudo-kun tilted his head, eyes narrowed to scrutinize his face. "Yeah?"

"Better you than me," Saguru threw, eyes hooded in amusement. "He's rather, what do you call it... high maintenance."

Kudo-kun elbowed him in the side in revenge, and subsided, watching him with a peculiar look Saguru couldn't pinpoint straight away.

"I suspect," Kudo-kun mused, "no matter how much I want to right now, it would be counterproductive to go ahead and give you a public display of affection."

"... Yes it would be."

Shinichi-kun smirked, but didn't do anything -- either anything obvious, or hidden but clear, like discreetly touching his hand, but he walked a little closer anyway, where Saguru could feel their shoulders brush together sometimes when the crowd moved them that way.

It was nice. He liked it. It wasn't too much -- it was just there, steady, waiting -- no pressure. No invasion.

When they left the dealers' room for the exhibits, in between the two pairs of fire-doors, he caught Shinichi's sleeve and stopped him. For an instant the doors all swung shut together and no one could see them; he briefly leaned against Shinichi's back and hugged him across the chest -- just one second, and then his hands were falling away again and he was pushing the second set of doors open and nudging Kudo-kun through them.

When he made his goodbyes he thought Kuroba-kun seemed about to apologize for using him as an excuse for their official, civilian meeting, for a cover story, if only he could figure out how without admitting openly that he was the Kaitou Kid; but Saguru smiled at him and left before he could.

It was okay like this. It was good enough.

It wouldn't be enough forever, but for now it was.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Yes! More of this verse!
I wish I could leave a coherent review so you could know how much I love all the little, and not so little, details and perspectives you weave in your stories. But that is beyond me.