for the prompt: "I can't believe you talked me into this.", Kaito and Saguru.

"Kuroba-kun," says Saguru after school ends one day, "may I talk to you for a moment?"

Kaito looks up from the triple integration question he and Aoko had been arguing over for the past half hour, trying to figure out if he ought to be suspicious or not –

At which point Saguru adds, with the barest thrum of tension in his voice under his customary politeness, "Privately, if you would?"

– yes, Kaito decides, he really should be.

.

Which was true, as it turned out, but…

"I cannot believe," says Kaito in lightly accented English, "that you actually talked me into this."

Beside him, Saguru grimaces. "And I for one was always expecting this conversation to happen in reverse, but if wishes were horses…"

"A little advice, Saguru-kun – next time you try writing home about a certain special someone, make sure you find a person to fill the role first." Kaito pauses to sip at his glass of juice, frowning at the stain of lip gloss on the rim. "Also, just so you know, I'm restraining myself from making several rather well-deserved puns about horses right this moment."

"Your herculean efforts are sincerely appreciated," says Saguru, a hint of amusement in his otherwise dry voice. "I confess that I didn't think it would come to this – it's rare enough for my parents to even be on the same continent, and during the Christmas season no less… I owe you one for helping me out."

"Just make sure we don't get accidentally manoeuvred under any mistletoe and we're even," Kaito answers. "And no using this as evidence for me being Kid."

There's a slight edge of sharpness in Saguru's reply. "I already promised you that I wouldn't, the last three times you asked. Do you really think I'd break my word?"

"No, you wouldn't." Kaito sighs, shifting his weight a little. "Sorry, must be the nerves."

"It's affecting both of us, I think," Saguru says wryly as he sets down his drink, taking a plate of mouth-watering cake from a passing waiter. "Would some dessert help?"

"Ooh, chocolate! You ought to ask me out more often, Saguru-kun," Kaito adds between small forkfuls of cake, which really does taste as good as it looks – he'd be sorely tempted to wolf it down and ask for seconds if it wouldn't be entirely at odds with his current persona.

Saguru chuckles softly as he picks up his glass again. "I'm not planning on making a habit of this, just so you know. Though you do look excellent tonight."

"Thank you," Kaito says graciously, because it's true. The dress he's wearing isn't even half as expensive as Kid's disguise clothes – not a single yen more than what a high school student could easily afford – but it complements both his colouring and the dark auburn wig he's wearing.

(Not to mention, it is nice to be the taller one for once, thank goodness for whoever invented three-inch heels.)

"I think so too," he adds next, because it's fun to watch Saguru valiantly attempt not to choke on his own drink.

"I retract my compliment," Saguru retorts once he regains his voice, predictably enough. "You're the worst date I've ever had. Ever."

Kaito stifles his own laugh in another bite of cake, but before he can reply a relative of Saguru's walks up to them – one of his aunts living in London, Kaito learns from the requisite round of introductions, though she'd flown over to Tokyo several days before the Christmas party.

It's going to be a repeat of every conversation they've had with various members of the Hakuba extended family since arriving here, Kaito can already tell – Saguru politely answering a litany of questions while Kaito contributes at appropriate intervals.

(Kaito's glad that his family's parties were never like this – no one's even asked about Saguru's detective work yet.)

.

Heavenly chocolate cake aside, Kaito is glad when Saguru excuses both of them early from the party, citing school tomorrow.

(Which is a perfectly legitimate reason, of course, since the rest of the household doesn't know that Kaito can do perfectly fine on three hours of sleep a night.)

They walk together to the front door, but just as Kaito is about to bid him farewell, Saguru says, "Wait, I'll ask Baaya to drive you home."

"In case it's escaped your notice…" Kaito raises an eyebrow, allowing his voice to drop a register as he slips back into Japanese. "I'm not actually a girl, Hakuba."

Saguru's own expression suggests that he has not, in fact, forgotten this. "All the same, I'd prefer to see you home myself."

"Besides," he adds a moment later, "Baaya would skin me alive if she heard I let a lady take the bus home."

(Well, even Kaito has to concede that Saguru's housekeeper is one scary lady when crossed, so there's that.)

.

They get into the backseat of the car, and when Baaya asks "Where to, bocchama?" Kaito is fully prepared to silence Saguru by any means possible.

Thankfully, he remains silent, allowing Kaito to give the address of a respectable apartment complex one block away from his house – he's used it (or at least its roof access) for hangglider landings often enough that he knows the building access codes by heart.

They're almost halfway there when Kaito decides to ask the question that's been niggling at the back of his mind.

"So what were you expecting me to talk you into?" Kaito is genuinely curious, but he also can't help the hint of coyness that's creeping into his voice. "Should I be flattered?"

Saguru takes a moment to react, and – Kaito can't really tell in the dim flashes of passing streetlamps, but he thinks Saguru might actually be blushing.

"No comment," he says in an excessively prim and proper voice.

Kaito stares at him unblinkingly for several minutes.

Then several more, until Saguru gives in and mutters something about "stupid nightly endeavours" under his breath.

Kaito can't help the evil cackle that escapes him, really.

.

"This is the first Christmas party I recall enjoying," Saguru says as he walks Kaito to the main door of the apartment complex. "Thank you for your company."

Kaito quirks a mischievous grin at the detective. "So will we be staging a massive, tearful breakup after this?"

"Much as I imagine you would enjoy that, I'm afraid you're stuck with me for good." Saguru slows to a stop just outside the door. "Merry Christmas, Kuroba-kun."

"And a Happy New Year," Kaito finishes before pausing. "See you tomorrow, then?"

And Saguru nods wordlessly, bright fluorescent lights illuminating a small smile on his face.

.

.

END

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written as platonic, but read however you like – also, no offence intended to Saguru, but he does seem like someone who might make implications about having a significant other to his family to avoid disappointing them, but wouldn't want to ask out Aoko or Akako because it wouldn't be very gentlemanly behaviour.

also I swear this was gonna feature Saguru asking Kaito to do something outright borderline illegal (bc the other way around would've been way too obvious, duh) but couldn't think of anything and then suddenly this happened? idk.