AEC1990 is in no way associated with Aoyama Gosho, Shōnen Sunday, TMS Entertainment, Funimation, Viz Media or any other owner of the anime series Detective Conan/Case Closed.
First Snow
At six, Kudo Shinichi had never seen snow. Most of his life young life had been in the America, and his parents had often taken him to places where it could snow, but by some twist of fate, the Night Baron and his Baroness never had winter business outside of the tropics. Shortly before his seventh birthday, however, the Kudo couple returned to Tokyo to enroll their son in a local elementary school. It was during this year that Shinichi first met Kuroba Kaito.
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The rambunctious Kuroba child had inherited his father's charisma. Once the boy decided another was his friend, there was no escaping him. Shinichi and Kaito, living in different districts of Tokyo, only saw each other when their parents got together, and Shinichi was more than capable of entertaining himself with Doyle novels. The little magician, however insisted upon friendship, and the two often ended up roughhousing or playing games of chase or occasionally playing a board or card game.
Late November found the boys in the Kuroba garden. Shinichi had been trying to finish an assignment on the front porch when Kaito had swooped by, snagging the boy's book as he darted away from the house. The Kudo boy, with a yelp of righteous indignation, shortly took chase.
Somehow, during the course of the afternoon, predator became prey and Kaito had Shinichi pinned and was tickling him mercilessly. As the smaller boy screamed and struggled under his friend's fingers, the first snow of the season began to fall. To the two boys, the snow remained unnoticed until a flake landed between the Kudo boy's eyes, causing him to still despite his friends continued attack.
Kaito did not take well to the loss of reaction. He sat back, pouting, and whined, "Shin-i-chi~! You're doing it wro~ong!"
A murmured "wet" was the boy's only response before Kaito's indigo eyes widened, finally noticing the dancing flurries.
Leaping off his friend and into a mad dance around the yard, the magician's son let out a shriek.
"SNOW!!"
His friend however, sitting up, repeated the word hesitantly, and murmured, "I've never seen snow before…"
Upon perceiving these words, Kaito nearly teleported across the yard.
"You haven't? But snow's so much fun!"
The younger boy then dragging the detective-to-be around in a childish dance among the falling flakes, chattering all the while about the wonders of the small, white, dancing crystals.
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Several centimeters of snow had collected on the Kuroba lawn by dinner-time, and the snow only fell faster as the evening approached. The sun began to paint the scenery several shades of red and gold as Kuroba Kaito turned to his friend, a solemn expression playing across his seven-year-old features.
"Ne, Shinichi, promise me something," the boy said slowly, as if measuring his words carefully.
The smaller child blinked up at his friend, an undignified "huh" escaping his throat.
"Promise me we'll be best friends forever."
The smaller boy's eyes lit up as he hooked pinkies with Kuroba and replied with a lilting "mochiron."
And, thus, two boys made a promise in the sunset of the season's first snow.
-
Years came and went, the boys' promise lost to time and long since broken. Friendships closer to home took precedence, and with the death of Kuroba Toichi came the boys' last visit. Their next meeting found the boys on opposite sides of the law and separated by a decade, neither recognizing the other.
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Twenty-five-year-old Kudo Shinichi sat, nursing a mug of coffee, in the window seat of his second-floor bedroom at the Kudo Mansion. He took a drag of the warm liquid as he heard the sound of the back door opening. It took a few moments, but Shinichi soon felt strong arms wrap around his waist and a murmured "tadaima" at his shoulder. Leaning into his lover's embrace, Shinichi returned the greeting.
"It's snowing," the younger man commented idly, content to just sit with his lover.
"Aa, the first of the season."
"Rather late, but also a little romantic."
"Aa."
They sat together a while longer, Shinichi moving to accommodate his lover and the man joining him in the large seat before the window. Soon, the setting sun began to colour the horizon, and Shinichi broke their comfortable silence.
"I just remembered… We made a promise, years ago, on a day like this," the man trailed off, lost in thought.
The taller man exhaled, thinking a moment, then supplied, "best friends forever."
"A broken promise."
"Perhaps… But we're closer now than best friends could ever be."
Shinichi smiled. "Merry Christmas, Kaito."
"You too, Shinichi," the man replied, burying his nose in the junction of his lover's neck and shoulders.
For the December Challenge (forum. fanfiction .net/topic/68721/20551108/1/) at Mirror Complex (forum. fanfiction .net/forum/Mirror_Complex_Forum/68721/).