Declaimer: I don't own Detective Conan

The dinner had been quite nice, it had been a while since he ate such a good homemade meal. Since his mother couldn't cook to save her life, and dad wasn't much better, Shinichi only ate home-made meals when his babysitter stayed for the night. Of course he didn't eat convenience store food every day either, nor fast food. His parents usually requested food from a restaurant to be brought home, or hired a part-time cook if they stayed home longer than a month. And the food was always good, Shinichi quite liked it, but it paled in comparison to Chikage-san's food (the woman had been rather insistent he use her name).

Getting ready for the night, brushing his teeth carefully not wanting to end up with caries, Shinichi was already looking forward to the lunch. Chikage-san promised to make some lemon pie for dessert after finding out it was his favourite. It was quite nice of her, especially since he knew there were no lemons in the house, not after Kaito's disastrous attempt at juggling. Making sure his teeth were clean, the child nodded to himself, returning to Kaito's room.

"You can have the bed if you want." His friend stated as he walked in, sitting on the floor where the futon had been carefully placed.

"No, no, I'm fine with the futon." Actually, Shinichi was kind of looking forward to it, having never slept on one before. Despite everything, it did seem to be quite comfortable, certainly much better than just using a sleeping bag.

Kaito looked ready to argue, pout prepared to be used, but his plans were put on hold with the arrival of his mother.

"Come on boys, time to go to sleep." Smiling as the children hurried to climb into their beds, Chikage resisted the urge to give them a good night hug, aware Toichi had to be watching. "Have nice dreams."

"You too, mom."

"Good night, Chikage-san."

Smiling once again, the woman turned off the lights, closing the door as she walked out, since Kaito didn't like sleeping with it open. Moving to her room, Toichi already waiting for her with a thoughtful expression, she took a deep breath. Tomorrow couldn't come soon enough.

.

"Kaito?" Shinichi called quietly, staring at the dark ceiling where small stars shone dimly. He remembered once wondering why it happened, reading the complex chemistry books about radiation, only to realize he was looking into the wrong subject. Confusing radiative and radioactive was rather easy after all. Still, there was something about the glimmer that made him feel calmer, even if his thoughts were all over the place.

Tomorrow, he was going to leave. While Shinichi was looking forward to seeing his parents, he couldn't help but feel sad that he was going to leave his friend. The last week had been one of the best of his small life, filled with fun, laughter and excitement. Exploring the city with Kaito had been funnier than staying in his room reading, he found that he quite liked having company. And while his babysitter was nice, in no way she could compare to Kaito.

"Yes?" Startled, Shinichi hadn't expected his friend to be still awake. "Why are you still awake?"

The small detective could have asked the same thing, but as he looked at the fake stars once again, his true thoughts slipped free.

"I don't want tomorrow to come."

Silence followed his confession, to the point that Shinichi actually thought Kaito had fallen asleep, he did take a while to answer after all. Just as he was about to give up and try to sleep, he felt something move next to him, covers being lifted up. Alarmed, not quite understanding what was happening, he was about to hit the intruder by instinct.

"It's me, it's me." Blinking, Shinichi came face to face with the grinning magician.

"Wha- how? I didn't hear you move!"

"I have a lot of experience sneaking out of my room." Kaito answered simply, getting comfortable under the covers. Good thing his father had chosen the bigger futon, there was enough space for both of them. "Why don't you want tomorrow to come?"

So Kaito had heard him. Giving his friend a side glance, the child sighed, focusing on the starts. "I am leaving tomorrow and... I don't know if we'll see each other again."

"Why wouldn't we? You said your parents are always travelling right?" As if they would never meet again! Finally Kaito had met someone interesting and capable of following his train of thoughts, no way he was losing him.

"Yes but... Usually they either take me with them or leave me with a babysitter. The only reason I was sent to Hakase is because none of my usual babysitters could make it. I'm not sure my parents are willing to buy me a ticket to Japan every time they leave..."

Hm... that was quite a problem, the little magician mumbled to himself. However, it was nothing persuasion could solve! "I'm sure they wouldn't mind sending you to Japan from time to time if you asked. If they have enough money and time to travel the world as you say, buying you a ticket once in two months doesn't seem too much."

"You are... right..." His parents spend money like candy, perhaps he could ask for the trips instead of the usual, and honestly wasteful, Christmas presents. Why his mother insisted on buying him clothes like there was no tomorrow he didn't understand.

"Of course I am! And while you are in Japan, you can stay with me! I'm sure my parents won't mind, mom adores you." Shinichi had to blush at that, remembering how kind Chikage-san had been to him. "So stop worrying! We are friend for life, in no way are you getting rid of me so easily."

Kaito was magical, Shinichi thought as he struggled to contain his laughter. Somehow, his friend always knew what to say to make him feel better, without fail. He would miss him a lot, the child realized with a start, unconsciously edging closer to him.

"We'll talk to your parents tomorrow. And if it doesn't work out, there's still internet. Video chat is mostly free now. Or we can exchange letters like in the old times, practice your written Japanese. Oh, but it will take a while, so maybe..."

"I get it, I get it." Shinichi stopped him before Kaito had the chance to go into a rant, not wanting to wake up his parents. "Thank you, for everything."

Grinning, Kaito half hugged his friend, feeling so much better. "We're friends right? Friends always help each other. Now, time to sleep, we still have a lot to do tomorrow!"

.

Toichi had woken up early, by his wife's order, to buy some lemons. Careful not to wake her up, he made his way to the entrance. It was by whim that he stopped next to Kaito's room, wondering if the children were still asleep. Kaito has always been quite the early riser, not needing as much sleep as most children. What he saw as he opened the door, however, had surprised him.

The boys were sleeping together on the floor, their hands held together tightly.

Not thinking, Toichi hurried to take out his phone, thankful for the first time that Chikage had bought him a phone with a good camera. Snatching few pictures, the man hurried to leave, least he woke up the children. With a big grin, and a warm hear, Toichi hurried to the store, sending his wife the pictures. Oh, she was going to be so angry he hadn't woken. Ha, her fault for not going to the store.

A/N: A wild update has reappeared! Wild writer has come out of the summer hibernation! (Which in my defense was not voluntary - my parents are involved). Anyway, another installment of fluff! Enjoy.

Thank you for reading.

Wild Kaggami-chan runs away.