Chapter Text
It hits him once Akuhei leaves. As soon as the man turns around and begins to walk away from the property, Kaito shuts the door harder than necessary and locks it before grabbing Shinichi by the wrist and dragging him over the kitchen. Taking advantage of his detective’s surprise, he pushes him into a chair.
He’s been waiting for this after all the shock had worn off.
“K-Kaito! What—”
“Neck,” he says simply, slamming a first aid kit down on the table. He opens it and finds a cotton ball that he proceeds to douse in disinfectant. Taking a seat in front of him, Kaito begins to stab at the cut and pointedly ignores Shinichi’s yelp and grumbling about how unnecessary this is.
Eventually, Kaito is satisfied and tosses the cotton ball over his shoulder. Shinichi squawks in protest and tells him that he better pick it up. He pointedly ignores that too. He takes a plaster and peels off the thin sheets meant to preserve its stickiness. He turns back to Shinichi and applies it over the cut. Kaito lets the sheets flutter to the ground. As expected, Shinichi kicks his ankle. He doesn’t even bother trying to dodge.
“Ran and I literally cleaned the place last weekend,” Shinichi grouses following a drawn-out sigh. “She threatened to burn my books because I forgot to dust.”
“Good,” Kaito scoffs. “Maybe then you’d learn to take care of yourself if you weren’t too busy reading.”
Shinichi makes a betrayed sound in the back of his throat and Kaito pushes the kit off to the side while setting a mental reminder to put it away the following morning. There are more important things to do! Or rather, to say. But where to start…?
Maybe about how reckless it was to go inside when there was an intruder—even if said intruder wasn’t so bad? Or about how terrifying it was to see him, trapped, and with a knife against his throat? Or how that old lady from the train and girl from the bookstore just might be right? About how he might actually have feelings for him that go beyond just friends?
“Kaito?”
He looks into Shinichi’s eyes unflinchingly and is met with a confused look. Kaito swallows, feeling his mouth go dry. Words failing him, he simply leans forward and takes Shinichi into his arms. His detective tenses but makes no move to pull away. He buries himself in Shinichi’s shoulder and murmurs, “You scared me.”
His words are met with silence. And then—
“What?”
“Did you know: I was so fucking—” and, oh, look, he’s actually cursing now “—terrified and I didn’t know what to do. And that’s not even the scariest part.” He tightens his hold. “The scariest part was the fact that I could have gone home and you would have come back by yourself and who knows what would’ve happened? Or what if he did more than make you bleed? What if you—if you…”
“I—”
“Let me finish,” he stresses. He wants to pull away so he can gauge Shinichi’s reaction when he says what he’s about to say, but something stops him. Privately, he wonders if the thundering of his heart is too loud. “You know, twice today someone’s told me that I—”
How does he go about saying this? He likes Shinichi. He likes Shinichi more than he thought he liked Aoko. Or maybe he never liked Aoko like that. But how does he tell him? Maybe he should just say it. Just come out and say it. Come on!
“I like you,” he whispers. He feels Shinichi’s breath hitch. Still, Kaito continues. “I like you,” he says again. “I like you a lot.” And, well, shit, that’s still not right but he’s just so scared and—!
“Please go out with me!” he shouts, pulling away and holding Shinichi at arm’s length. Kaito stares into his eyes, determined and scared all over again. “I promise that as long as you’re with me, I’m never going to let you get hurt ever again!” His chest heaves and he swallows. “Please.”
Shinichi continues to stare at him, completely floored. Kaito wonders if this was a mistake. Maybe he could play it off as a prank?
But before he can even plaster on his poker face and force a laugh, Shinichi says a quiet, “Okay.”
“What?”
His detective sucks in a breath and then says, “You heard me.”
~bonus~
“Can I sleep with you?”
Shinichi looks at him as his cheeks turn pink for the hundredth time. He remains silent and unmoving. Unnerved by the silence, Kaito repeats his question while Shinichi continues to gape at him. Then, slowly, his detective closes his mouth and then asks, “Why?”
“I just want to make sure that this is real,” Kaito says, feeling his own cheeks going warm. He clenches and unclenches his fists as his stomach twists in ways it shouldn’t. With a small laugh, he meets Shinichi’s eyes and whispers, “I also just really wanna hold you.” He pauses and wets his lips. Maybe he’s asking for too much. “Is that okay?”
Without a word, Shinichi picks up the corner of his quilted blanket and shifts over some. Kaito, not needing words to know it’s an invitation, climbs under the covers as Shinichi slowly lays down with his body turned to face him. Kaito switches off the bedside lamp and then settles down beside him.
“Hey,” whispers Shinichi.
Equally as quiet, he says, “Hey yourself.”
Shinichi blinks at him. Then, slowly but surely, he moves closer, nestling his head under Kaito’s chin. Startled, he looks down, only able to see the top of his head and the unmistakable cowlick. He swallows and asks what this is all about. Maybe he had already fallen asleep and is in the middle of a nice dream? Like, a really nice dream?
“You said you wanted to hold me, right?”
Wordlessly, he slips an arm around Shinichi and pulls him closer.