December 31

"Hey, everyone!" Ran called, smiling. "It's only five minutes now!"

The partygoers all turned their excited heads toward the sound of the girl's voice, crowding around in the media room of Sonoko's gargantuan house. The television was lit up with the time, counting down to the new year.

Kaito and Shinichi looked at each other and smiled. "Over all, it was a pretty good year," Shinichi mused.

Kaito laughed. "Just pretty good? My year was amazing. I found what I was looking for..." he trailed off, undoubtedly thinking of his father and Pandora. "I'm glad I have you, Shinichi."

Shinichi blinked. "M-me? That's what you meant?"

Kaito nodded. "You're the best thing that's ever happened to me, and I'm glad that we're together. It's so fun and I really love you."

Shinichi smiled fondly, ruffling Kaito's hair, further messing it up. They both looked back at the countdown. Less than a minute left.

"We did so much together this year," Shinichi remembered. "I loved every moment of being with you, you know?" He laced his fingers with Kaito's and squeezed tight, waiting with the rest of the party for the final countdown to begin.

And then, with a sudden stifling excitement, everyone shouted simultaneously, "Ten!"

Shinichi looked at Kaito's face, lit up with a grin.

"Nine!"

Kaito looked back at Shinichi and, with a poof, handed Shinichi a beautiful red rose.

"Eight!"

"Last magic trick of the year," Kaito murmured in Shinichi's ear.

"Seven!"

Shinichi tucked the stem of the rose into his pants pocket.

"Six!"

Shinichi glanced around at everyone else-Sonoko, Ran, friends from school, other acquaintances, and then back at Kaito.

"Five!"

It had been a really eventful year. He'd met so many new people, and a lot of them were at the party that night.

"Four!"

Kaito stared intently at Shinichi, squeezing his hand.

"Three!"

"I love you," he whispered, barely audibly.

"Two!"

"I love you too," Shinichi replied just as quietly, leaning in closer.

"One!"

Shinichi pressed his lips to Kaito's. Kaito wrapped his arms tightly around Shinichi's shoulders.

"Happy New Year!"

Last chapter! :D It was a lot of fun, and it helped me kind of get in the habit of understanding deadlines and whatnot, haha. I'm really bad at updating fics!

Happy new year, guys! Thanks for reading this fic! I'm pretty sure that in Japan they have different New Years customs. It's a bit more formal, and they often go to shrines and whatnot. But hey! I wanted this cause they got to kiss (haha). I did have a different idea in mind, but I went with this.

And on a personal note: I spent today washing my car and dying my hair...I'm ringing in the New Year with new dark red hair! Woot!

Thank you all so much for reading throughout the month. It was (usually) fun to write! Please review, for the last time ever! If you enjoyed it, go ahead and look for my other stories :)

Bye!