Notes:

Hello please have another fanfic. I love Shinichi. Poor baby with his 'curse' though.

Oh, and KaiShin. I love them. Seriously. My precious otp.

WARNINGS: OOCness maybe, grammatical errors because no time to proofread much, plot holes, etc.

I hope you enjoy!

-Riko

Can't Even Have Coffee

0-0-0

Shinichi was weary.

His day had been bad. Really bad. No, he didn't count encountering a dead body as bad; it happened too often−more like a daily thing−to even be considered as an event anymore. No, he was talking about the little things that seemed to pile up throughout the day.

0-0-0

When he woke up to the screeching sound of his cellphone, Shinichi was unsurprised to see Takagi's number flashing on the screen. A murder was found and the police were stumped yet again. He got up, had a quick shower, and dressed with the first things he grabbed in his closet. He decided to get coffee from the café near the crime scene.

Takagi was texting him the details as he ordered. The victim was a fine arts college student named Inui Momo. She was murdered at a restaurant, and forensics said that the cause of death was cyanide poisoning. The police had three suspects; the man who was with Inui, and two other girls in the restaurant who seemed to know the victim. Takagi also told him of the oddities they found in the area.

Shinichi's thoughts were already wrapped around the case when he received his black coffee from the barista.

When the detective reached the sidewalk, his mind was already turning its gears and running a kilometer per second. That was where the causes of his irritation started to appear.

He had been ready to take a sip of his drink−one that he considered as a gift from the gods that morphed into his daily fuel−when suddenly, a man dressed in a questionable and inconspicuous clothing came whizzing by in a blur, accidentally knocking him hard on his right shoulder, followed closely by a police officer, who was hollering curses loud enough to rival a man with a megaphone.

Shinichi would have probably followed the two if not for the scalding hot sensation that he felt. Looking down on his clothes, he saw that his front shirt was drenched in coffee; apparently the barista wasn't able to secure the cup lid well enough to prevent it from flying off. Shinichi groaned; he had been looking forward to drinking his first coffee for the day. Now he wasn't sure if he can perform in top shape for the investigation.

Glaring back at the direction where the man and the officer had ran off to, the detective sighed and decided that one, the police guy can probably handle it; two, he will need to buy a new cup of coffee soon; and three, he needed to change his shirt.

With an impassive face, although mentally mourning his loss, Shinichi picked up the lid off the ground and tossed it with the cup carelessly in a nearby trash can.

As soon as he arrived in the crime scene, Takagi and Satou approached him, and Megure gave him a smile. Shinichi glanced at the body slumped on one of the restaurant's seats. He had figured out the trick and the identity of the killer from just the details that was texted to him before, and all that's left was finding evidence.

After some minutes of poking around, Shinichi noticed a pint-sized detail, and his lips curled into a smirk. "Megure-keibu," he started. "Please call everyone."

He held his usual deduction show. Shinichi frowned as the police finally cuffed the culprit−one of the girls that had been the victim's friend−who was reduced to tears; the reason had yet again been petty and could have probably been solved with talking. He wondered if humanity had really degraded, or if he was just unlucky to regularly see the dark side of people.

"Shinichi-kun, thanks for always helping out," Megure said, beaming, and behind him, Satou and Takagi were wearing similar expressions. "We'll take care of the report, so you don't have to stop by the station," Satou added. "By the way, what happened to your shirt?"

Shinichi briefly glared at the large stain before shrugging. "Accident." Satou raised an eyebrow but nodded.

Soon, the area was cleared out.

Shinichi checked his watch and saw that it was almost lunch-time. He went back to the café to buy himself another cup of coffee. While waiting, he felt a nagging feeling at the back of his mind that was telling him that he was forgetting something important. The answer came when his narrowed gaze landed on the calendar posted on the wall.

His eyes widened. Shit! He bit his lower lip and resisted the urge to facepalm. That day was the day the new Detective Samonji book came out! And he completely forgot.

The barista handed him his coffee, and he took it absentmindedly and exited the café on autopilot.

Sucking in a breath and letting it out in a heavy sigh, Shinichi tried to compose himself and made a plan. He would go to the shopping district, head to the bookstore to buy the book, go home and read it in one night, and then possibly make a review in his head−

Suddenly, he was aware of the lost weight on his hand and the familiar scalding hot feeling he had just that morning. With trepidation, he glanced down and saw that the coffee was yet again splashed on his shirt.

The cup lay empty on the ground.

What. The. Hell.

He was once again bumped into and he didn't even notice until he dropped his cup! Turning around, he looked at the figure running away. He noticed the familiar inconspicuous clothes as he squinted. That was the man from this morning!

He still wasn't caught?

Growling, Shinichi set off and sprinted towards the man. He had no trouble catching up to the troublemaker; he wasn't a soccer star for nothing.

Yanking on the man's collar, Shinichi forced the stranger to turn around. He saw a small, pink purse being carried−a snatcher, then−and to his quiet surprise, a knife. The man swung his weapon at Shinichi, and the latter dodged with ease. The detective glowered at the man and, in one swift move, delivered a strong kick to the stomach, sending the man on the ground and unconscious.

"That was for ruining my coffee. Twice," he muttered bitterly.

A few seconds later, he heard someone yelling. It was the officer chasing the snatcher. He was out of breath and panting when he reached Shinichi.

"T-thanks. This guy's pretty fast," the officer said, breathing heavily and smiling sheepishly, although he cast the detective a weird look when he noticed the state the snatcher was in.

"No problem," Shinichi said, and promptly turned around to the direction of the shopping district. He was getting jittery. The later he went, the more chances of the book getting sold out.

0-0-0

Shinichi weaved through the thick crowd. He especially struggled to get through a group of high school girls who recognized him and proceeded to surround him and fire away question after question, all the while giggling.

He was grateful when he finally broke through the human barrier of girls, although he really couldn't remember how he did it except for smiling awkwardly and pushing to get away.

Briskly walking ahead, his eyes lit up as he spotted the bookstore a few meters away. He intended to walk faster but suddenly, a hand enclosed his arm and he was roughly forced to turn around by someone.

That someone turned out to be Ran. He noted that she was dolled up and wore a stylish dress. "Shinichi!" she exclaimed happily, although he could sense the subtle troubled tone.

"H-hey Ran," he said weakly, wanting to break away to go to the bookstore but chose to stay lest he incur her wrath. "What's up?"

"Oh, nothing!" she giggled, then in a lower voice, she hissed at him. "Help me, Shinichi!"

"Huh? What's wrong?" he asked in the same low volume. Ran didn't reply to his question, but she simply looked at a man with blond-dyed hair sitting on a chair outside a restaurant across from where they were standing. The blond man was watching them intently.

"You're on a date?" Shinichi asked. They were still speaking in hushed voices even though the other guy probably couldn't hear them above the noise of the place.

"Yes. Sonoko set me up on a blind date," the girl replied flatly.

"What's wrong then? Aside from the fact that Sonoko set you up on a blind date."

Ran gave him an amused look before stepping closer to him. Her expression turned foul.

"He said he really likes me. I thought maybe he was interesting and that I might actually like him too but then when I asked his opinion on karate he spoke ill of it and even emphasized that it was a violent thing and then started to bash on martial artists and said that they're violent monkeys and he laughed and he said it was such a waste that some girls liked to do it and he said that he suddenly remembered that I looked like one of those martial artists and I just know that the girl he's talking about is me but he didn't know it was me and he said he was sure it wasn't me because apparently I look too 'delicate' for karate and oh my god Shinichi he pisses me off so much−"

Shinichi abruptly put his hands on her shoulders. "Breathe, Ran. Breathe."

Ran gulped and let out a heavy sigh. "Shinichi. Help me. I'm trying to get away without punching him."

The detective sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "Alright. Alright. I'll help you." Better make this quick, he thought.

The two approached the blond man. Ran was seemingly smiling her usual sunny smile, but Shinichi knew that dangerous thoughts lurked behind that expression.

"Hey, um, Naoto-kun? This is...Ranpo Doyle," Ran said, opting to use a fake moniker because she didn't want to sully Shinichi's name if things turned bad and sour. She ignored her friend's discreet glare at her from her choice of name.

"He's my...um..." Ran trailed off, looking at her best friend shyly. Shinichi could almost feel her mentally shouting at him to say something.

The detective cleared his throat. "I'm Ran's, er, suitor. Her suitor, yeah." He made a show of narrowing his eyes at Naoto, as if sizing him up, although he was actually doing is usual habit of observing people and deducing things about them. A rich boy, Shinichi thought. No surprise there, since the guy was acquainted with Sonoko. Also a playboy, from the way he held himself. Does tennis, from marks on hand and shape of biceps.

Naoto smirked haughtily. "Oh? Is that so?" the guy leaned in. "How long have you been courting her?"

Shinichi faltered inside. He hadn't really prepared a cover story, and impromptu acting had never been his strongest forte. "Um. A year?"

Naoto just laughed; the prat laughed at him like he was some kind of loser. Ran and Shinichi glanced at each other with flat expressions. "A year!" Naoto wiped an imaginary tear from his eye. "And she still hasn't answered you. The fact that she's also willing to go on blind dates is also there. Says a lot about you, Ranpo-san."

Shinichi glared at the man, wanting nothing but to wipe away that smug look. Maybe he should have let Ran punch this guy.

Ran cut in. "That's mean, Naoto-kun. Doyle is very nice."

Naoto rolled his eyes. "Right. Guess that's the only thing good about him."

Shinichi's eye twitched. The nerve of this bastard. And the fact that Naoto the jerk was taking his time being a jackass was also grating on his nerves. He wanted to go to the bookstore already!

Oh god. His book was waiting for him. He felt something snap inside.

Casting Naoto a venomous look, Shinichi stepped closer to the blond man. "Can you shut up? Your insensitive opinions are unneeded. And your silly hate for karate is stupid. I know a lot of people doing martial arts and they would be glad to kick your ass, or I can do it myself. And don't say you like Ran, you don't know her. Also, she's mine." He put an arm around his best friend's waist and led her away, leaving her and Naoto stunned.

When they were far enough, Shinichi let go of his childhood friend and let out a sigh. "Ugh, what have I done..?"

Ran shook herself out of her stupor and grinned. "Shinichi! That was awesome! I knew you had a spine." He glared at her. She continued, "But seriously. That was really cool, though it's not like you to snap at strangers like that so easily. Did you actually get angry at his comments?"

He shrugged. "Not really, but, well, annoying stuff happened earlier and he was kinda stalling me from−"

"SHINICHI-KUN!"

The two looked at the source of the voice and saw an angry Sonoko stomping towards them. "Why did you ruin the date?! And what was that about Ran being yours? I thought you guys weren't like that!"

Ran huffed. "You were stalking us? And Sonoko, didn't you hear Naoto bashing karate? He was pissing me off!"

Sonoko feigned a cough. "Um. Well, I only heard Shinichi-kun because he was being loud. Is Naoto-kun really that bad?"

"YES," Shinichi and Ran said simultaneously.

Sonoko grumbled. "Anyways..! You, Holmes-freak! You didn't answer my question! You said Ran was yours! I knew it!"

Shinichi rolled his eyes. "We were acting."

Ran nodded. She grinned and hugged Shinichi. "He's like my little brother. Right?" Her eyes twinkled mischievously at him. Shinichi scoffed, trying to ignore the heat rushing to his cheeks from embarrassment.

The inside joke was lost on Sonoko.

Ran sniffed. "You smell like coffee." She let go of him and eyed the big stain on his shirt. "What happened to you?"

Shinichi sighed. "The fault of a purse-snatcher."

Ran frowned. "You weren't hurt, were you?"

"I got splashed by hot coffee twice and probably got first degree burns. Otherwise, I'm fine."

"Good."

After Ran lectured Sonoko about bad dates, the Suzuki heiress invited Ran to go shopping to relieve the karate girl's frazzled nerves. Ran turned to Shinichi and gave him a wide smile. "We'll be going now. Oh, by the way, you'll need to help me plan another 'Bring Parents Back Together Operation' soon, got it? Mom's birthday is around the corner." She waved her hand. "See you later!"

0-0-0

As soon as Ran and Sonoko took off, Shinichi sprinted towards the bookstore. When he reached the place, he looked around for his target book. Not finding it in the 'Newly Released' nor the 'Mystery' section, he approached the cashier. His eyes landed on the item being paid for by a bespectacled middle school kid; it was his target. The kid happily took the book and clutched it to his chest before hurriedly exiting the place−the teen was probably too excited to read.

Turning to the cashier person with hopeful eyes, Shinichi asked, "Excuse me, where are the newly released Detective Samonji books?"

The woman on the counter gave him a regretful smile. "I'm sorry, young man. That was the last one."

His eyes widened. "Eh? Um. What about stocks? When will new stocks arrive?"

The woman had a pensive look before she answered. "It will come next week."

"Oh." Shinichi felt himself deflate. "Oh. Okay. Thank you." He took a reluctant step back and bit back an agonizing sigh.

Shinichi was in the middle of cursing himself and wondering just how much bad luck he had as he left the bookstore. It was only a little past noon! How can the book get sold out that fast?

Well, it is a good book. He briefly thought that it was probably because the latest installment had preceded an intense cliffhanger.

He felt his phone vibrate. Fishing it out of his pocket, he took a look at the caller ID before answering. "Hello?"

"Yo, Kudou!"

"What is it, Hattori?"

"Just wanted ta say hi?" Shinichi detected a sheepish tone in Osakan's voice, and he sighed.

"Really, what is it? You don't sound like you just wanted a casual chat."

"Well…"

0-0-0

Hattori was grinning at his East counterpart. Beside him, Kazuha facepalmed. Shinichi gave the two of them a flat look. "You should have told me sooner that you're going to be in Tokyo."

"Sorry, Kudou-kun." Kazuha smiled apologetically. "We hope we aren't imposin' too much. And this ahou−" she pointed at the tan-skinned detective and ignored his squawk of protest "−wanted to 'surprise' ya."

"It's alright, Toyama-san." Shinichi smiled at the Aikido girl faintly. "Are we going to my house now?"

Hattori had told him go to Beika Park to meet both the Osakans. Shinichi had already expected the two to stay a few days−no doubt because of a case.

"Ahh, no, not yet," the Western detective quickly cut in. "Was s'pposed ta meet the client fer quick introductions today. Maybe we can go there first."

"Oh, sure," Shinichi agreed, but as soon as he uttered those words, his face flushed deep red; his stomach had growled. He remembered that he hadn't had anything to eat yet. That earned him a chuckle from Hattori and a giggle from Kazuha.

"Or maybe we should go to a restaurant first. I don't want ya collapsin' from hunger, Kudou." There was a snicker.

"Shut up, Hattori."

When they arrived at a restaurant that Shinichi had randomly picked out−Hattori and Kazuha had engaged in a loud argument that involved a lot of shrieking and yelling and name calling over where to eat, so he'd been forced to spew out a restaurant name just to placate the two temper bombs−, the Eastern detective immediately spotted a familiar face seated at a booth in a corner. It was Hakuba. Shinichi knew what ensues when his best friend and his fellow Sherlockian meet; he could already feel a migraine coming and taunting him.

Hakuba saw Shinichi enter the place, and the half-Brit clearly brightened as he raised his hand to wave at his fellow detective and ushered him to come, but his face contorted into a mildly annoyed expression when he saw Hattori trailing behind the Heisei Holmes.

Shinichi wondered if he should ignore Hakuba for the sake of some peace from an inevitable squabble between his colleagues.

Too late for that. Hattori's face knotted into a grimace when he noticed Hakuba; the Osakan trotted to the half-Brit and glared. "Hakuba," he said curtly.

The blond raised an eyebrow. "Why, if it isn't the Great Detective of the West. Pleasure to see you here," he said, sarcasm dripping from his voice. Kazuha and Shinichi glanced at each other and sighed.

"What're ya doin' here?" Hattori asked, his eyes taking a sharp look with irritation.

Hakuba rolled his eyes. "I'm going to eat, obviously. This is a restaurant, is it not? Or is that fact too much for you to process?" he asked cynically, successfully riling up the Osakan even further. Hakuba's sneer melted into a smile as he glanced at Shinichi. "Hello, Kudou-kun. Please, join me. I haven't ordered yet, so we can eat together."

"Um…okay?" Shinichi glanced at Hattori uneasily before he reluctantly slid down on the cushion across Hakuba. This was a bad idea, he knew. A really bad idea.

Hattori grumbled and sat next to Shinichi, but he paused when he saw Kazuha sit beside Hakuba. Wanting to tell her to switch with him so she wouldn't have to sit next to the boojee fart face, but feeling too prideful to say anything about it, he opted to click his tongue in aggravation.

A waitress soon approached them with the menu. After they ordered, the girl left for the kitchen, but not before sending Shinichi a flirty smile which the detective promptly ignored, or, as Hattori suspected, was oblivious to.

Their lunch talk revolved around cases and dead bodies, much to Kazuha's chagrin. Shinichi had been comfortable with the topic until Hattori and Hakuba started trying to one up each other as they recalled their past cases.

"Hmph. Bet ya haven't seen cases as extraordinary as I have. Some nasties made it all look like the work of the supernatural; like ghosts, vampires, demon dogs and kamaitachi."

Shinichi chuckled in his mind; those cases were ones he solved with the Detective of the West during his time as Conan.

Hakuba huffed. "And I would conclude that you charged in to the scenes rashly again. Being hotheaded can cloud your judgment. You should try to stay cool and calm sometimes."

Hattori's vein throbbed in irritation. "What was that?!"

Shinichi quickly grabbed his friend's arm to prevent him from standing up and socking Hakuba in the face. "Hattori, calm down!"

Kazuha gave Hakuba a small glare. "Hakuba-kun, was that really necessary? You should already know that Heiji's temper is explosive around you."

"Kazuha, not you too!"

"Oh, sorry, sorry," Hakuba apologized, not sound sorry at all as he gazed impassively at the raging Osakan.

Shinichi facepalmed.

0-0-0

Fortunately, the group avoided any more ruckus other than the small spat session between Hattori and Hakuba, though that earned them a couple of looks and disapproving glares. Shinichi and Kazuha were immensely grateful for the larger chaos that didn't ensue.

After lunch, the half-Brit parted ways with the three, much to Hattori's delight. The two detectives and the Aikido practitioner headed to a bus stop and had a five-minute trip before they got off and walked some blocks to a rather fancy-looking house.

Hattori rang the doorbell, and a maid ushered them into the living room where the master of the house was waiting.

It turned out that the client was a rich lady named Nishitani Hana, whose husband had been murdered two weeks ago. The woman received a threat letter that if they reported it to the police, she would be killed next. Scared of the threat, Nishitani kept her husband's murder a secret, buried the body herself with the assistance of her maids and a few relatives who lived in the house, and called for a private eye. She said that she didn't call for Kudou Shinichi because he was too near and too involved with the TMPD, so she opted for someone else, namely, Hattori Heiji.

"Ah, Kudou still came along though…" Hattori grinned sheepishly at the woman, who sighed in resignation.

The two sleuths, however, thought that it didn't matter who the lady called if the murderer was actually someone who lived in the big house.

After an hour of questioning, Hattori looked around the crime scene−the house's bathroom on the first floor−and the whole house, with Shinichi offering his assistance.

By four forty five in the afternoon, Kazuha called the police when Hattori and Shinichi told her that they completed their deduction. Megure and a few more officers came and everyone in the house was called to the living room. The two detectives explained the situation and revealed Nishitani's brother to be the culprit. It turned out that the brother had witnessed the lady's husband having an affair with another woman, and overheard the plans to get rid of his sister.

Nishitani broke down in tears and told her brother that it wasn't necessary to kill, and that she could have filed divorce and get away. The sibling collapsed in a heap of grief on the floor, sobbing that, no, he didn't mean it; no, he only planned to confront the man committing adultery; and no, his threat to his sister wasn't real, and that he only wanted to avoid landing in prison.

As Takagi crouched down to put the culprit in handcuffs, they all witnessed a turn of emotions in the brother's eyes; grief turned into something manic.

A few people in the room quickly deduced that the man had a case of split personality when he cackled madly and pushed Takagi away, taking the officer's gun and grabbing the next nearest person and pointing the weapon to the hostage's temple.

The hostage turned out to be Shinichi.

The Detective of the East almost groaned out loud. What luck.

"Let go of Kudou!" Hattori gritted out.

"S-step away! Don't move or I'll kill him!" the man yelled, looking fervent and distraught as he backed away, still having a strong hold on the teen detective.

Shinichi breathed in and tried not to focus on the cool metal pressing on his head in lieu of thinking of ways to throw off the man.

Slowly reaching for his watch, Shinichi pressed the side button in a hope to use the tranquilizer dart. He glowered at the gadget when the cover refused to open. What the hell? When did this thing get broken?

Hattori growled and glanced around for anything that can serve as a weapon and one that he can grab without rousing the culprit's attention on him. His hand felt the television remote on the shelf near him and he grasped the item; unfortunately, the man seemed to notice.

"I said don't move!"

"SHUT UP!" Hattori snarled and hurled the remote on the man's head. It was a bull's eye, and Shinichi had the chance to escape the man's grip when the guy moved to clutch his head. The detective knocked away the gun from the offender's hand and tried to step back, but in quick movements, the man grabbed his arm and pulled out a pocket knife and slashed at him.

Shinichi hissed as he felt a sharp pain on his arm. The man moved to strike him again, but Hattori quickly interfered and punched the guy on the cheek.

"Kudou-kun!" Kazuha exclaimed as she lunged in to pull him away from the madman. Satou and Takagi charged in to apprehend and cuff the culprit.

The murderer was escorted to a police car. As they heard the siren wail to take the man to the station, Megure turned to his men and barked at them to give the injured detective first aid.

"Shinichi-kun, are you okay?" Megure asked worriedly as a police officer nursed and bandaged Shinichi's slightly deep cut. The teen was like his son, and seeing the boy get hurt did not sit well with him, or anyone else in the room, for that matter.

"Yeah. Thanks, keibu." Shinichi tried to smile, but it came out looking tired.

Hattori patted him on the back gently. "After ya get treated, go home first, Kudou. Kazuha 'n I will take care of the statements."

"Yeah, y'a need to take a breather, Kudou-kun," Kazuha said. "Also I need ta tell Ran-chan of this incident."

Shinichi let out a deep sigh. "Yeah. Okay. Thanks, guys."

"Also, we'll bring take outs fer dinner, so jus' relax 'n wait for us at home, man." The Osakan detective grinned.

"Maybe some Chinese?" Kazuha suggested.

Shinichi chuckled. "Sure, sounds good."

0-0-0

His trip home was silent. He was alone; no one else was walking through the street. As he passed by a house, a large dog barked at him, but he was too tired to acknowledge it.

Shinichi was weary.

He didn't know why, but his luck seemed to be worse than usual. He wondered why he was so unloved by Lady Luck; but then again, if she had completely abandoned him, he would already be six feet underground. He laughed quietly at the irony.

Shinichi paused in this step. He just felt a presence. He glanced around, but no one else was in view. Still, he was pretty sure that someone was watching him; his paranoia for the Black Organization was being put to work, making him become sensitive and hyper-aware of eyes on him.

"Who's there?" he said, taking a firm tone.

A few seconds passed with no response, before a chubby man wearing ragged clothes appeared from behind the wall. The man smirked and brandished a baseball bat.

Oh, great. A mugger.

Shinichi fought the urge to hit his head on the nearest wall. Facepalm just won't do it anymore.

"You. Money," the man's said, still wearing a smug countenance. The man advanced on him, and on instinct, Shinichi stepped back, and felt the wall behind him. The stranger seemed pleased at Shinichi's response, thinking that he got the boy cornered.

The man advanced more towards Shinichi, and noticed the detective's piercing azure eyes. "Oh wow. You look good, pretty boy. Maybe I can get more than just money from you."

Shinichi kept a blank face even as he fought the urge to groan.

Not just a mugger, but a molester too?

The man reached out to touch him but Shinichi quickly slapped the limb away and pulled the baseball bat from the man's other hand. Side stepping, Shinichi avoided a punch from the enraged guy.

The guy tried to grab the bat from him but Shinichi threw it to the side. The sleuth glared at the stranger and kicked him on the gut, making the guy keel over in pain, but he didn't get knocked out as Shinichi had hoped.

The guy stood back up, panting, with rage filling his eyes. "You damn bastard!" Shinichi clicked his tongue in annoyance and raised his watch to the man out of reflex.

A soft whish sounded, and the man was on the ground, unconscious.

Shinichi let out a breath. He cast his watch a flat look. Now it works? Not that he wasn't glad that it did, but why didn't it work earlier?

He quickly dialed to call a local police officer to take the man in custody. Yawning, Shinichi resumed trudging to his home, not waiting for the police officer to show up and trusting that the direction he gave were understood.

It wasn't long before he reached the Kudou Mansion. Shinichi pushed open the gate and dug in his pocket for the door key. He fumbled with the knob for a moment before he opened the mahogany doors and closed it behind him weakly, not bothering to lock it.

Shinichi didn't know how, given how tired and deadbeat he felt, but he somehow managed to drag himself on the couch. His body felt heavy, his eyelids felt heavy, and his breathing slowed. He closed his eyes and succumbed to slumber.

0-0-0

The sound of the front door creaking open roused him from his sleep. Shinichi sat up and yawned as he rubbed at his eyes drowsily. Was that Hattori and Kazuha? How long had he been asleep? It felt like he just closed his eyes a second ago.

Shinichi heard a rolling sound; a suitcase, he deduced. Huh, did the Osakan pair really bring that much luggage with them? Or…

"…Shinichi?"

The detective's eyes widened at the voice. The Heisei Holmes quickly stood up−he fought a sudden attack of vertigo from the movement−and exited the living room, turning down to the hallways leading to the front door.

Shinichi paused as he saw the figure by the entryway.

Kuroba Kaito was standing there, one hand on the handle of his suitcase, and the other holding a paper cup holder with two take outs from Starbucks. The magician beamed as he saw Shinichi.

"Kaito!" the detective exclaimed. "You're home!"

The other teen smirked. "Yes. I'm home. Now, don't just gape there. Where's my hug?"

Shinichi shook himself out of his stupor and grinned. He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Kaito's waist. "I missed you," he murmured, before leaning in and burying his face on the magician's shoulder.

Kaito smiled. "I missed you too, Tantei-kun."

The two teens went to the living room, and Kaito plopped down on the lush sofa after dragging his suitcase to a corner and putting the Starbucks takeout on the coffee table. Shinichi sat beside him, and Kaito automatically scooted closer to wrap an arm around the detective.

The magician smiled as Shinichi took the coffee takeout from the cup holder. The detective took a tentative sip, and Kaito chuckled when Shinichi's face brightened with clear appreciation, although the indigo-eyed boy recognized that as the look that appears on his detective's face mostly every morning.

"Are you really that happy to get a takeout from Starbucks?"

Shinichi turned to him, looking grave. "Yes. It's my first coffee of the day."

Kaito's eyebrows shot up. "Huh? Seriously? I thought you can't go on throughout the day without your motor oil, and it's already evening. How are you functioning?"

Shinichi grumbled and took another sip. "Shut up, don't call it motor oil. And a lot happened. Today was a rough day."

Kaito frowned as he eyed the bandage on the sapphire-eyed detective's arm. "Do tell. And don't forget to tell me how you got injured."

Shinichi sighed and took a long sip of his coffee before he set the cup down on the table and started recalling and telling the magician his share of today's 'adventures'. Kaito sighed and pulled Shinichi closer. The wild-haired teen leaned in and planted a soft kiss on the other's cheek. "Rough day, Shinichi? Sounds to me like you pissed off Lady Luck. Well…it could be worse, I guess. I'm just glad that you're okay."

Shinichi rolled his eyes and snorted. "Yeah. At least there weren't any bombings or terrorists or whatever. But on second thought…two cups of coffee were wasted. Today was horrible."

"That's what you're worried about?" Kaito said incredulously, albeit his voice was laced with mirth. "And at least you knocked out that mugger before he can molest you. I won't be able to forgive that guy, you know. No one touches my boyfriend but me." Kaito smiled, but Shinichi could sense a promise of pain lurking behind the expression.

The detective huffed. "Kaitou KID sure is possessive," he muttered as he poked the magician's cheek playfully.

"Of course. Thieves, in general, are possessive. And you're KID's priceless and most treasured gem." Kaito grinned and cupped Shinichi's face to press his lips on the detective's in a lingering kiss.

When they parted, Shinichi's cheeks were flushed red. "Don't compare me to a rock," he deadpanned, making the magician laugh.

"If you say so. Then I'll just consider you as the most beautiful flower in my garden."

"Beautiful flowers get picked from the ground, Kaito. I'll die."

"Then I'll pick you, plant you in a pot, and take you home with me so I can see you all the time."

"…not sure if I find that creepy or sweet."

"Admit that you're a closet romantic, Tantei-kun."

"Stupid..! I am not!"

Kaito chuckled and nuzzled Shinichi's hair. The detective made a poor attempt of getting out of the other's grip, before he let out another sigh and leaned against the indigo-eyed boy. Shinichi gave the other a sidelong glance.

"Kaito, not that I'm not glad, but I thought you weren't going to be home for another week."

The magician made an affirmative noise. Two weeks ago, Kaito went to Las Vegas to visit his mother and perform magic shows, and wasn't scheduled to go home for one more week, so Shinichi hadn't been expecting his early return.

"Yeah, well, the rest of my performance schedule was cancelled." Kaito murmured in Shinichi's ear. "Care to guess why?"

The detective let out a sigh. "Your client was murdered?"

"Bingo, we have a winner."

Shinichi gave his boyfriend an apologetic look. "Sorry. My bad luck seems to be rubbing off on you."

Kaito scoffed. "Not your fault, Shinichi. And I've always been one of the Lady's favorites. It just happened that she may have looked after someone else at that moment, and it was by chance that I was in the area when the culprit decided to off my client."

Shinichi smiled. Leave it to Kaito to make him feel better about his supposed 'curse'.

"Kaito."

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

The magician blinked in surprise; it wasn't every day that he would hear Shinichi say those words. Kaito grinned as he stared at his boyfriend's pink face. "I love you too, Shinichi."

The detective leaned in and kissed Kaito.

0-0-0

Omake

"Heiji!" Kazuha shrieked, looking annoyed and flushed. She moved to swing the plastic bag she was holding at the male Osakan, but he quickly grabbed her wrist.

"Oi! Ya ahou! Don't swing that around, that's dinner!"

"Argh! You're the ahou! Le'go of me!" She jerked her hand away and glared hard.

"You're so noisy! Stop kickin' up a fuss!"

"As if ya ain't being a loudmouth too!"

The two continued to bicker until they reached the Kudou Mansion. The door was left unlocked, so the two trotted into the house freely. Kazuha and Hattori, still engaged in a spat, reached the living room with thunderous steps.

"Kazuha I swear, you are so−um…" Hattori's voice trailed off as he saw the sight on the couch. The Osakan girl, ready to shoot off a heated response, paused in curiosity at her childhood friend's suddenly tomato-colored face. Glancing at the direction he was looking at, she let out a loud squeak, accompanied by her face burning red with embarrassment.

Kaito was holding Shinichi in an intimate hug; the two pulled away slightly when the two Osakans started to imitate gaping statues, albeit with red faces.

Kaito shot them an irritated look. "Can you be any louder?"

"K-kuroba!" Hattori stuttered. "Y-you−what are you−uh…" the dark-skinned detective felt his face go hotter−something he thought wouldn't be possible anymore−at the sight of Shinichi looking at him with flat eyes, and though the detective of the East had an impassive expression, his flushed cheeks and rumpled clothes and hair screamed a lot about his previous activities with the magician holding his waist.

It seemed like Kazuha noticed the disheveled looks the other two sported as well, because she let out a high-pitched apology before dragging a spluttering Hattori to the kitchen.

Kazuha dropped bag of Chinese takeout on the counter and buried her face in her hands. "Oh my god…oh my god…" she started to murmur.

Hattori stalked off to the sink and splashed his face with cool water. "Oh my god a'right." He said. "I know those two are in a relationship, but I've never seen them in that kind of…situation…before. Argh! I'm gonna get nightmares!"

Kazuha made no coherent reply, instead making incomprehensible sounds that were muffled by her palms.

"Well, at least I have a comrade. It's never fun to imagine your friends makin' out or somethin'. Too weird 'n creepy," Hattori snickered.

The pony-tailed girl glanced up from her hands and rolled her eyes at him. "What're ya talkin' about, Heiji?" The girl fidgeted, another blush blooming, and let out a small squeal. "I think it's kinda hot…Kudou-kun and Kuroba-kun kissin' and makin' out…so cute!"

Hattori's face paled.

"HA?!?"

Notes:

What am I doing. /digs a hole and crawls in

Ahhhh I wanna start the multi-chaptered fic soon! But school is here so…can't focus on it yet. But only a few weeks left. Then, summer vacation! I can type KaiShin to my heart's content :3 (I have this urge to write another fem!Shin tho)

I hope you enjoyed somehow! Thank you for reading! ^ q ^

-Riko