Archive of Our Own

Kaito pouted at the front page of the Tokyo Gazette. There was a big picture of Suzuki Jirokichi front and center with an article talking about the gala the night before. The article continued onto page two, which Kaito read through, looking for any mention of himself.

He found it, three paragraphs from the bottom and only a sentence long.

“What’s got you glaring so early this morning?” Aoko asked as she peered over his shoulder. She frowned at what she saw. “You got front page on all the others. Shouldn’t you be satisfied with that?”

“But I wanted to be on the front page of all of them!” Kaito whined and splayed himself over the kitchen table. His ribs gave an angry twinge, but he ignored it.

“Well, maybe you’ll think next time before enraging reporters.” Aoko sniffed and pulled a muffin out of her breakfast bag. “But I can’t exactly blame you. I saw footage of the whole thing last night. Re-runs are on this morning.”

Kaito continued to glare at the newspaper in his hand.

“And your gamble with that small time journalist worked. Once a fan saw her article about your book release, several stores were stormed. It seems riddles and word of mouth are just as powerful as always. All of the stores in Tokyo are currently sold out.”

Kaito continued to glare at Jirokichi’s smug face.

Aoko frowned before her face turned sly. “And it looks like you and Shinichi are the top trending celebrity couple”

That got his attention.

Kaito looked up, wide-eyed, then dropped the paper to reach for his phone. A few quick swipes brought him to his social media.

It was true.

There were photos of the two of them from last night, holding hands and talking to others. There was one video of him turning down the young lady who asked for a dance and his and Shinichi’s muted conversation after. There were many of the reporter bash and even some thrown in from when Kaito had first made the announcement of their project at Shinichi’s book signing.

There was a lot of fanfare over them.

What did Shinichi think about this?

Kaito bit his lip in uncertainty and pulled up the messenger app.

Have you seen the social media storm form last night?

Not really. I try to avoid social media as much as I can. Why, anything interesting?

Should Kaito tell him? He’s sure Shinichi wouldn’t want to be blind-sided but at the same time, what if Shinichi got uncomfortable around Kaito or brushed it all off like a joke? Could Kaito handle that?

Not too much. A lot about me showing up to the event and the announcement during the gala. All copies of our book have sold out in Tokyo.

Wow. Sonoko will like those numbers.

Kaito frowned. Shinichi sounded… weird. Distant? Unlike himself.

Everything okay? You sound off.

Yeah, just got a lot of work.

Too much to head out this weekend? I wanted to see the new art exhibit they put out two weeks ago. Now that my ribs are pretty well healed, Aoko will let me out of the house again.

Shinichi didn’t immediately reply. Kaito frowned and decided to prod him.

You up for it?

*             *             *             *             *

You up for it?

The simple question stared back at Shinichi from his phone, sending his heart into overdrive.

Why was this so hard?! Last night, he’d eagerly anticipated meeting up with Kaito again –had even been the one to ask that they do something that weekend. Now…

Now, he was sure he would mess something up.

He was a disaster on a good day. He had far too much coffee and far too little sleep and forgot to eat sometimes and let cases take priority over things he really couldn’t afford not to do and he wasn’t a good person for Kaito to date and what if Kaito didn’t like him like that?!

What if Shinichi was building this whole thing up in his head and it turned out that Kaito only wanted to be friends and felt uncomfortable with Shinichi since he tried to —what? Take it to the next level? Then Kaito wouldn’t want to hang out with him and Shinichi would lose someone who had quickly become a best friend and he didn’t want that!

What should he do?!

“Kudou-kun, I have a case for—?” Megure paused at his desk, taking in the maniac look in Shinichi’s eyes when the detective turned his attention to him. Uneasily, Megure took a step back. “I~ see you have a lot on your mind right now, so maybe I should ask someone else—?”

“No!” Shinichi jumped from his seat, nearly knocking over his chair. “I’ll take it!”

Megure reared back, examining his employee with worry. “Are you sure?”

“Yes!” Shinichi said, before clearing his throat and smoothing his jacket. “Yes. I can take it.”

“Okay…” Megure offered the folder hesitantly. “If you have too much work…”

“Nope! I have a clean plate! A lot of the cases I was working on were solved while I was away on vacation.” Shinichi took the folder and sat down with it, opening it to read. “I could afford a few more cases if you’ve got any others that are proving difficult.”

“Hmm…” Megure eyed the young rookie, but couldn’t see anything particularly out of place. Shrugging to himself, Megure agreed. “I’ll send them your way, Kudou-kun.”

“Thanks, Megure-keibu.” Shinichi smiled gratefully as Megure walked away, then sighed. His eyes fell onto his phone, awaiting a reply.

It probably wasn’t the most adult response, but he couldn’t help it. He didn’t want to lose Kaito’s friendship and he couldn’t trust himself not to say or do something weird. Until he could act normally around Kaito, he’d have to stay away.

Swallowing the pain in his heart (that he now knew was emotion, not heart burn), he picked up his phone to answer.

*             *             *             *             *

Sorry, a big case just came in. I might be able to finish it by Saturday, but I don’t want to get your hopes up. Raincheck?

Kaito tried to ignore the way his heart sank at the reply, but he couldn’t quite managed. He knew that Shinichi had a job and life outside of writing and Kaito, but he’d hoped that they could keep the weekend plans at the very least.

“What’s wrong?” Aoko asked as she balled up her muffin wrapper. “You look sad.”

“Shinichi got a big case and can’t make it to the art museum this weekend,” Kaito said with a sigh. “And I really wanted to go!”

“Cheer up.” Aoko patted his arm. “Maybe you can’t go this weekend, but there’s always next weekend, right? No case can last forever.”

*             *             *             *             *

She was wrong.

The case went on for three weeks. Or maybe it was multiple cases. Either way, the result was the same. Shinichi couldn’t meet up.

Then it was his book that he had to write. Three books in six months, Kaito knew it was hard. Even if the normal Elementary Conan books were only half the length of their cross-over, it still took a lot of creative effort to come up with plot and character arc. Kaito understood that Shinichi had to get his book done.

It still felt like Shinichi was distancing himself from Kaito and he couldn’t figure out why.

Yeah, he still replied avidly to Kaito’s texts and sometimes managed a break long enough to answer a call, but it was nothing like they’d been before the gala. Had Kaito misread things? Had he made Shinichi uncomfortable with his flirting?

Had Shinichi only been nice to him for the cross-over?

Was it all an act?

Kaito didn’t want to believe that. He wanted to believe that Shinichi was an honestly kind person, but he only knew the other for a little over two months. Studies have shown people could pretend to be anyone for up to six months before things started to fall apart. It was well within the realm of possibility.

Was that all Kaito was to him? A tool to write a book and then throw away?

“This is ridiculous!” Aoko slammed her hands onto the kitchen table and stood. Her gaze cut to where Kaito was lying, face-down on the floor in the living room. “He can’t just start avoiding you once the book is done! He can’t make nice and then drop you when something new comes along!”

“What do you expect me to do about it?” Kaito asked, lifting his head from the floor so his words weren’t muffled. “If he doesn’t want to meet up. I can’t exactly force him.”

Aoko glared for a long second before reaching for her phone. “I’m going to call and give him a piece of my mind!”

“Aoko, wait—!”

“Hello?” The voice that answered was not Kudou. It was a voice she recognized though.

“Sonoko-chan?” Aoko started sternly. “Where’s Kudou-kun?”

“Currently buried knee deep in notes for his next novel.” Sonoko sounded concerned. “What’s up? You need me to pass along a message?”

“Just a question… actually, you might know the answer.” Aoko narrowed her eyes at the other end of the table. “Do you want to tell me why your client has refused to see Kaito ever since they published their book?”

There was a long pause before Sonoko answered with more questions. “He won’t see him? Like in person or over video-chat or at all? Do they still text?”

“He’ll respond to texts and some calls, but he has refused to see Kaito past that. The first few times, it was a case, then his book, but Sonoko-chan! It’s been a month and a half!” Aoko couldn’t help the way her voice turned concerned. “They were practically joined at the hip before that!”

“To be fair, he has been working several locked room murder cases recently and his book really does need to be finished soon.” Sonoko sighed. “But I can’t say I didn’t expect this to happen sooner or later.”

Feeling Kaito’s eyes on her, Aoko turned and walked into another room, trying to keep her protective anger in check. “Oh? And why is that?”

“Promise not to tease him about this?” Sonoko didn’t wait for Aoko to respond. “Shinichi is not the most socially adept person. He lays down deductions without thinking of other people’s feelings and talks about homicide like it’s polite party conversations. In middle school, he figured out he had a crush on Ran and decided the best course of action was to avoid her until either his feelings went away or he knew for sure she liked him back. Wouldn’t see her, wouldn’t talk to her, would only leave notes in her locker if something was important.”

“Okay, cool history lesson, but how does that…” Aoko stopped and compared what Sonoko had just told her with the way Kudou was acting with Kaito right then. “Oh.”

“Yeah, ‘oh’ is right,” Sonoko said. “I had hoped he wouldn’t revert to his middle school years when he realized what he and Kaito had was more than just ‘friend’s, but I have sorely overestimated his ability to be an adult.”

“This is good though, isn’t it?” Aoko frowned. “Because Kaito feels the same, so I don’t see why there’s a problem.”

“I’ve told him that, but he doesn’t believe me.” Sonoko sounded like she was at the end of her rope. “I just can’t get it through his thick skull!”

“So what do we do?” Aoko leaned against the wall, chewing on her cheek in concern. “Wait for him to get a grip?”

“That’ll work, if you want to wait months and have him decide not to pursue Kaito at all,” Sonoko said. “I know you don’t really like Shinichi…”

“But he makes Kaito smile, so I can’t really protest.” Aoko sighed. “So what else is there?”

“I think I have an idea,” Sonoko said, voice turning excited. “Here’s my plan.”

*             *             *             *             *

“Why am I here again?” Shinichi asked through a yawn. It was eight in the morning in Kyoto and he’d just gotten four hours of sleep after a very late flight. He clutched his coffee to his chest, fearing that someone would swipe it right out of his hands. It was irrational and he knew it, but it didn’t keep his hands from clenching around the Styrofoam cup.

“I told you! You’re going a Q&A panel about Elementary Conan,” Sonoko said, fixing the shirt and jacket that Shinichi had thrown on that morning. “Your next release is coming up soon and we want to make sure sales are high. What better way is there than a Q&A with the author?”

“Maybe letting me sleep?” Shinichi tried hopefully.

Sonoko scowled. “I told you about this two weeks ago! I told you very specifically, not to pick up a case that would keep you up for days before the flight! The rest of the department can afford to handle some cases, Shinichi!”

Shinichi remembered her saying that. He also remembered going to Megure immediately to ask for any hard cases he might have gotten in. It was spiteful, yes, but he did have a life outside of writing.

He was kind of regretting it now though.

Sonoko sighed. “You only have this Q&A. No other events or book signings. After this, you can go back to the hotel and sleep or I can get the private jet over here to take you home.”

“No private jet. It’s an inefficient use of fuel to fly one person back and forth to places,” Shinichi said by rote. It was an argument they had a lot. Sonoko just rolled her eyes.

“You’re in Convention Hall 7,” she said, waving a small brochure map around. “You know where that is?”

“Unless it has moved since last time.” Shinichi sipped his coffee. ‘Last time’… he really hoped this convention wouldn’t be like last time. He wasn’t sure he could handle that today.

“Then get going! You need to be there in twenty minutes!” Sonoko pushed him out the door.

Shinichi took his time getting to the room. He got himself another cup of coffee after he finished his first and hit the restroom so he wouldn’t have to leave in the middle of the panel. It was scheduled to be an hour long, but he had nothing scheduled after and the room was free once it was done. Whenever that happened, panels tended to run long.

Being a few minutes late wouldn’t hurt anything. After all, they couldn’t exactly start without him.

“Shinichi?”

The call of his name made him freeze.

 That voice… he knew that voice. He’d been avoiding the owner of that voice, unable to face them until he’d gotten his unruly emotions under control.

He looked back, just to make sure he wasn’t imagining things, but no, Kaito was there, dressed as a very accurate Makanori Aohime. The only reason Shinichi could pick him out was because Aoko was standing right next to him, a guarded expression on her face.

Why did he have to meet him here? Why now?

Kaito took a step forward.

Shinichi ran.

*             *             *             *             *

Aoko stayed back when Kaito called out to Shinichi. She knew the other author would be here. It was Sonoko’s plan. But she still hadn’t been sold on the whole ‘avoiding his crush’ thing. It seemed like a good story, but not something someone in real life would do.

And then she caught the expression on Shinichi’s face before he ran off. Fear of being seen, guilt for the avoidance, a red dusting across his cheeks at just seeing Kaito, whether he was cross-dressing or not. That wasn’t the look of someone emotionally detached.

If he wanted nothing to do with Kaito, he’d have brushed them off. If he was done with them, but wanted to keep amiable relations, he may have come over for some small talk, or waited for Kaito to catch up to him and walked to the panel together.

Instead, he’d acted exactly as Sonoko had described.

There was the possibility that she’d told him to act that way to dispel suspicions, but Aoko was doubtful. The surprise had been too plain on his face, every emotion had. With Kaito’s Poker Face, Aoko had always been good at picking out real emotions from fake and Shinichi’s couldn’t have been more real.

She came to these conclusions in the amount of time it took for Shinichi to disappear into the crowd and for Kaito to turn to her, tears glistening in his mascara.

“He hates me,” Kaito said, blinking rapidly to keep the tears from falling and ruining his make-up. Her heart hurt for him.

“He doesn’t hate you.” She put a hand on his shoulder. “Quite the opposite.”

He made a noise of question. She patted his shoulder and steered him to the room they needed to be in five minute ago. “Trust me. Go to the panel. I’ll explain everything.”

Kaito still looked unsure, but he nodded and started forward.

Aoko smiled as Sonoko’s plan started to fall into place.

*             *             *             *             *

Shinichi stopped running just outside the doors to the panel, panting slightly. He took a deep breath to settle his heart and leaned against the wall by the door.

Wheew, escaped, he thought to himself… then sank down to hide his head between his legs.

He shouldn’t be acting like this! Kuroba was his friend! And he wanted to keep it that way! Running from the sight of him couldn’t be more suspicious!

Why couldn’t Shinichi be normal?!

“Uh, Kudou-san?” A voice from overhead caught his attention. He looked up to see one of the convention workers leaning over him. She had the official T-shirt of the convention on, along with a headset and clipboard in hand. “Do you… need a minute?”

“No. I’m fine.” He stood and dusted himself off. He was grateful his coffee had survived the brief sprint as he badly needed the caffeine. “Just contemplating the hardships of existence.”

The worker looked like she really wanted to ask, but her watch gave a beep instead. “We’re over time on getting started. Let me show you to your seat.”

“Thank you.” Shinichi followed her lead. When he entered the room, the sizable crowd started cheering and clapping. It startled him. He was used to similar reactions, but from a much smaller crowd and even then, they didn’t use air horns and poppers. Must have been some of Kaito’s fans that read the crossover.

The MC managed to calm the crowd down as Shinichi made it to the front and took a seat. He set his coffee to the side to finish throughout panel.

“Water?” The worker asked, holding out a bottle.

“Thanks.” Shinichi flashed them a grateful smile and hid the bottle under his chair for the moment. As he looked up, the crowd started cheering again, louder this time.

What was going on? He was already there. Why were they…?

He broke into a sweat when he saw a familiar figure stalking down the same route he’d taken to the front. The Aohime cosplayer was even more convincing as he got closer to the stage. His eyes locked with Shinichi’s.

Why was Kaito here? Had he followed him to the panel? Was he about to give Shinichi a lecture here, in front of all these people?

Shinichi was starting to have flashbacks to the last panel he’d been a part of.

Kaito got closer and closer, ratcheting up Shinichi’s heartbeat. He made it to the stage, so close they could have touched… then he walked right past Shinichi.

Wait, what?

Shinichi blinked.

“Welcome ladies and gentlemen!” the MC called out after he’d quieted the crowd. “To our Thief and Detective Q&A!”

Thief and Detective? Oh no… Shinichi swallowed thickly. Sonoko!

“We have with us the latest hot topics of the writing world!” the MC gestured to him and Kaito. “Known for their world famous novels, their crossover really hit it out of the park! Please welcome Kudou Shinichi and Kuroba Kaito!”

The crowd went wild all over again.

Shinichi gave a wane smile and waved to the crowd. He glanced over to see Kaito enthusiastically greeting the crowd, not paying Shinichi any attention. Shinichi’s smile fell.

“Now, many of you know the rules, but let’s go over them one more time!” the MC said. “There will be two microphones here in the center aisle. If you have a question, form a neat, orderly line behind the mikes. If you cut in line or push or shove, you will be escorted out! And, in deference to our guest speakers, if they say a topic is closed, it is closed. No badgering or starting riots or, again, you will be escorted out.”

Shinichi felt his cheeks heat in embarrassment. The new rule was likely due to the last panel he’d spoke at. It had… gotten out of hand.

“With rules and intros out of the way, let’s get started!”

The MC put his microphone on the empty stand next to the other, then joined the other workers over at the wall. Immediately at his cue, two lines formed. Many of the fans were female, but Shinichi could pick out some fans he’d seen at his book signings. It seemed Kaito was the big draw at this panel and Shinichi surprisingly found himself okay with this.

It meant less talking and interacting for him. Less chances for him to mess something up.

“My question is for Kuroba-sensei,” the first girl said into the mike. “The end of the cross-over book made it seem like there could be a sequel in the near future. But KID’s mere presence in Kudou-sensei’s books appears to result in the book ‘verse collapsing in on itself. We know it is outside of KID’s character to put innocents in danger, so is it really wise to have KID cross over again?”

“Ah, this is something my agent pointed out to me,” Kaito said, voice smoothly female. “The thing with this particular gem is that it pulls universes closer to each other. I don’t want to spoil the book for those who haven’t read it, but in the beginning, before KID picked up the gem, he and Conan’s worlds had already touched. Because of this, I believe he would be able to interact with Conan without causing a universal collapse.”

“Isn’t he worried he’ll get stuck again?” the second girl asked, the first having used up her question.

“Oh, not at all. After all, what kind of magician would he be if KID didn’t have a backup plan?” Kaito giggled and pressed a finger to his lips. “And before you waste a question, I can’t reveal just what it is. After all, a magician…?”

“Never reveals his secrets!” the crowd chimed in creepy sequence. Shinichi looked around, a little wide-eyed. Was that a planned thing? That couldn’t be natural…

“My question is for Kudou-sensei,” the next in line said. Shinichi blinked and straightened. He hadn’t expected to get a question so soon, not with Kaito there with him. “After reading the cross-over, I was curious about your series and read through all of Elementary Conan. I’m not really one for murder mysteries, but one question is really bugging me. Do you think women are dumb?”

Shinichi’s eyebrows rose in surprise. That was a very blatantly question.

“Pardon my rudeness, but that’s the impression I got form reading Elementary Conan,” the questioner continued. “That Hakori Hanaji, a person who knew Conan for less than 24 hours, could figure out his identity, but Rei, a person who had known Conan since he was actually six, can’t? It seems like you’re pointing some very accusing fingers.”

Ah, this kind of question.

Shinichi had received it a couple times before, from Sonoko too, as she beta-read. So he explained as he always did. “Rei is not at all dumb. She is based off a very close friend of mine. To think poorly of her is to think poorly of my friend. Which is also asking for a round-house kick to the face —my friend is a karate champion for those who didn’t know.”

A round of snickers fluttered through the audience as Shinichi gave a self-deprecating smirk.

“What you see here isn’t a lower intelligence; it is a refusal to believe. Humans all experience this at some point or another: denial so strong that it fundamentally changes the way they look at the world.” Shinichi gestured with his hand. “In Rei’s case, she is denying the fact that her friend could be shrunken from a 16-year-old to a 6-year-old —something that is, by all rights, impossible. Several times in the series, she comes close to the truth, but Conan is able to persuade her off, not because he’s some quick talker or she is mentally lesser, but because she doesn’t want it to be the truth. Humans like it when things make sense, even if the facts point differently.”

“What about Hakori then?” the person next to the questioner asked. “Why does he figure it out?”

“Partly because he has a different viewpoint from Rei as an outsider looking in. Partly because he has been surrounded by the impossible since day one.” Shinichi folded his hands. “I get into it more in the cross-over than any of my other novels, but in his original character design, Hakori can see spirits that supposedly don’t exist. If he sees a child and teen with similar features and characteristics, suffering in the same way when he meets them, he knows they are linked if not more. Instead of stopping where Rei does, he goes to the impossible conclusion and uncovers Conan’s double life.”

The questioners bowed and went to the end of the line. Two more stepped up.

“Will Conan ever tell Rei about his double life?” the next asked.

“By the end of the series, yes, he will,” Shinichi confirmed. “Not doing so would be a disservice to Rei. How their relationship will turn out, I don’t know yet. It’s still up in the air.”

“They won’t end up together?”

“I will admit, a lot of Rei and Conan’s relationship is based on my own with my friend.” Shinichi looked at his hands. “We ended it by breaking up, but that doesn’t necessarily mean Rei and Conan can’t have a happy ending. At the same time, much of their relationship is built on a lie. Very few relationships can survive something like that, even if it’s to the benefit of one of the people involved.”

The questioners seemed to take his answer under thought as the next one stepped up. “This question is for Kuroba-sensei.”

“Yay!” Kaito cheered. “I was worried Kudou-sensei had stolen the spotlight!”

Shinichi winced at the change in name. Where did ‘Shinichi’ or ‘Meitantei’ go?”

“I noticed while reading the cross-over a fifth time through, that you made a misspelling at the end of chapter 4. At first, I thought it was just an error missed by the editor, but now I’m starting to think it’s deliberate.” The questioner adjusted their glasses. “Is KID’s first name Kaito?”

“Mm… could be.” Kaito grinned cheekily. “Honestly, it was supposed to be a joke, but then Kudou-kun here incorporated it into the story and it worked, so I left it.”

“How was I supposed to know it was a joke?” Shinichi grumbled and hid his reddening cheeks with a hand. “We had only known each other for two weeks at the time!”

“Aw, no need to get embarrassed, Shin-chan!” Kaito laughed and patted his shoulder. “After all, I got to name your character! So it’s all good!”

“Um…” The next questioner fiddled with their sleeves. “Wh-what d-do you mean ‘n-name’? D-Doesn’t C-Conan h-have a name?”

“Indeed he does! But it’s only his alias.” Kaito’s grin broadened. “Shin-chan here forgot to give his actual identity a name.”

“I had notes!” Shinichi protested, dropping his hand to face Kaito. “And it was only supposed to be a place holder! I was gonna come up with something else!”

“But you didn’t! And Sonoko-chan sent it off to the printing press!” Kaito waved a finger. “So, I win!”

“Aw, it’s really cute to see you interact with each other.”

Shinichi froze at the voice. He recognized it. It had featured in a few of his nightmares after that incident in the café. He knew she was here, had seen her with Kaito just twenty minutes earlier. He just didn’t know she’d be here. Looking up, he saw not just Nakamori Aoko at the mic, but also his own agent, Suzuki Sonoko.

He realized with sudden clarity: this was a set up.

By the look on Kaito’s face, he was just as surprised to see Aoko in line as Shinichi was.

That did not spell good news.

“But that’s so weird!” Aoko put a finger to her chin in childish pondering. “Wasn’t Shinichi-sensei avoiding Kaito-kun for the past two months?”

Shinichi felt his blood leave his face. The fans around him had started glaring. This was turning out exactly like last panel.

“Oh, oh! I know the answer to this!” Sonoko waved her hand like she had been in a high school classroom. “He was! He was avoiding him!”

Sonoko… Shinichi wanted to whine aloud.

“But! But! Did you know?” Sonoko leaned over like she was telling a secret despite being in full range of the microphone. “I heard it’s not because he despises him. Quite the opposite, you know?”

“Whaaaat?” No way!” Aoko reacted theatrically even as Shinichi’s stomach dropped to his toes.

No! What was Sonoko doing? She was going to ruin everything!

Shinichi sought out one of the workers and found a group of them near the doors. They were arguing amongst themselves. Some waved frantically at the two girls at the microphone, obviously wanting to drag them off. Others were shrugging and looking perplexed. Sonoko must have explained who they were—the agents of Kudou Shinichi and Kuroba Kaito themselves.

Shinichi wouldn’t find any help from them.

“Yes, way!” Sonoko giggled obnoxiously. “He’s like a little kid, running away from his crush.”

“How immature!” Aoko laughed.

She was cut off from anymore remarks by a sharp —“Aoko!”

The familiar voice rang out through the room, amplified by the speaker system. Besides him Kaito had stood, hands braced on the table. Anger was plain on his face in his moment of rage, he had relapsed to his real voice rather than the convincing falsetto he’d been using. His eyes burned with a righteous fire. “That is enough.”

“It really isn’t.” Sonoko was the one who answered. She crossed her arms and canted her hip. “Look, Shinichi is super smart when it comes to a lot of things, but when it comes to people, he’s clueless. He has to have everything spelled out for him or he won’t get it.”

Kaito’s anger turned to confusion as his gaze landed on Aoko, then Shinichi, but he had no answer for him.

“Oh, but I guess the avoidance isn’t all his fault,” Sonoko said theatrically falling into character again.

“No?” Aoko didn’t sound as sure about continuing like Sonoko was, but she still went along with it. Shinichi knew that the two of them were friends, but he really hoped Aoko would stop letting Sonoko drag her into things. Sonoko doing that to Ran was enough already.

“If I hadn’t had pointed out that Shinichi and Kaito-kun were practically married already, Shinichi would have never freaked out.” Surprisingly, Sonoko did actually look remorseful. Maybe there was more to this than Shinichi first thought… “Then Kaito could have continued covertly dating Shinichi with no one the wiser!”

Now, it was Kaito’s turn to pale as Shinichi whipped around to stare at him, wide-eyed.

“Aw, no! You noticed?” Aoko’s expressions walked a thin line between apologetic and not at all. “And he thought he was being so subtle! What with the ‘friendly’ outings and dropping in for random visits or cajoling Shinichi-kun to come visit him when he was on house arrest…”

“Wait.” Shinichi found the words tumbling out before he could stop them. “Isn’t that things that friends do? That’s something that friends do.”

“They go out to romantic places with just two of them? They show up to your work or call in for lunch dates? They want you over at their house twenty-four/seven?” Sonoko’s eyes narrowed. “And you don’t even think to argue, even though it’s in the middle of a case?”

Shinichi opened his mouth to reply with ‘of course not’, but then he actually thought about all the things Sonoko had said and couldn’t help but realize he was an idiot.

“Kaito.” Shinichi turned on the other, eyes wide. “Are we dating? Have we already been dating?”

He saw the way Kaito’s body language turned evasive. “Well, technically, neither of us asked or agreed to start dating, so… no?”

“But you want to date me?” Shinichi pressed, needing clarification. Kaito squirmed under his gaze, trying to find a way around a straight answer before deflating and giving a short nod. Shinichi nearly collapsed with relief. “This makes everything so much easier!”

Kaito looked up, surprised, but hopeful.

“After this…” Shinichi made a face. “I’m probably going to pass out for eight hours, but after that, want to go somewhere? I mean, we’re in Kyoto. It’d be a shame to not to some sight-seeing.”

“Only if we leave the meddlesome agents behind.” Kaito grinned broadly.

“My father outruns his editors all the time.” Shinichi matched his grin. “I can truthfully say, I’ve learned from the best.”

They shared happy, relieved grins for several seconds until the sound of the cheering crowd managed to pop their bubble. Shinichi cast an embarrassed look over the crowd, but Kaito wasn’t letting the publicity dampen his grin.

Sonoko and Aoko waved before walking to the side of the room and taking a seat next to the panel workers. The volunteers didn’t look like they knew what to do, but motion on the next round of questioners.

“Um, so…” The next girl adjusted her scarf. “The first question referenced the fact that the cross-over left room for possible sequels, but… are you planning to make a sequel?”

Kaito and Shinichi exchanged looks.

“Only if Shinichi wants to,” Kaito said, holding out his hand beneath the table.

Shinichi felt his lips twitch up as he folded his hand around the other’s. “Let’s bring the world to its knees.”

Kaito’s answering grin was worth all the embarrassment their agents had put them through.

*             *             *             *             *

Sonoko watched as Shinichi and Kaito answered question after question. The awkward, tense air they’d had at the beginning was gone. It was subtle, but they were leaned towards each other, their arms slightly parted from their sides. Kaito didn’t use the hand closest to Shinichi, even as he gestured frantically and Shinichi didn’t use the one closest to Kaito, even if it was his dominant hand. Sure, he was a self-taught ambidextrous, but still.

Anyone with half a brain could tell they were holding hands. They weren’t being sneaky at all.

Sonoko knew she was a major cause of this mess, almost as much as Shinichi’s instinctual avoidance.

She knew she wasn’t a great friend, even though she and Shinichi had grown close over the years. She was too selfish and abrasive and when she got an idea in her head, she went for it, regardless of who stood in her way. Sometimes, she was a driving force Shinichi needed. Other times, she was the exact opposite, which was why she was glad she was able to do this one thing for him.

It may not have been the right way to go about it, but she figured the ends justified the means in this case.

With the smile on Shinichi’s face, she would bet he agreed.

But she knew that there was still one more thing she could do for him.

She knew she wasn’t the best agent. Though she had been the one to start up the Suzuki Writing Agency and had helped many authors get their start over the years, she had never held a consistent client in anyone by Shinichi. Many of the others worked with her for one book, then asked for a transfer. She always agreed. But Shinichi had never asked, had always let her do as she wished and put up with her sometimes impossible demands.

Yes, Sonoko knew she wasn’t the best, but she knew how to fix it.

Which was why, after the end of the Q&A came about and Shinichi and Kaito disappeared —Shinichi to the hotel room and Kaito to grace the floor with his presence— Sonoko snagged Aoko before she could trail after her client and friend.

“Hey, Aoko-chan?” Sonoko started hesitantly. Her heart trembled at what she was about to do, but she set her shoulders in commitment. “I have a proposal for you.”

“Oh?” Aoko looked to her, then to the area they were in. She spied a nearly empty room off to the side they could speak in. “Over here.”

Sonoko let her friend lead her out of the public area. She must have sensed the sensitive nature of Sonoko’s request.

“What is it?” Aoko asked when they were safely outside the earshot of most of the convention goers. “Is something wrong?”

“No, just doing something I should have done a long time ago.” Sonoko sighed and tried to shake off the tension in her shoulders. “I don’t have a good way of saying this, so I’m just going to put it out there: I want you to take Shinichi on as your client.”

“Wh-What?” Aoko’s eyes went wide. “What do you mean? What about you?”

“I mean that I want you to take care of him like you do Kaito-kun. Maybe not the same way. I know that you and Kaito-kun have been friends since forever and I know you won’t get that same way with Shinichi, but…” Sonoko worried the corner of her mouth. “Thing is, I am a Suzuki. I am an heir to the Suzuki franchise, to everything my parents and their parents and their parents worked for. They were fine letting me run around as an agent for a few years after high school, but now they want me to take a more active part. They want me to take over as heir to the company.”

“Second oldest though.” Aoko pointed out. “You have an older sister, don’t you?”

“Yes, but she’s married into another family. She made that choice earlier on and they respected that.” Sonoko couldn’t help an eye-roll. “She never had a head for business. Both my parents and she knew that. That’s why they let her win that fight. Me on the other hand? I’ve started a new division under the Suzuki umbrella that has brought more fame to the name that we’ve seen in the last decade or so. I can’t really talk my way out of that one.”

“So you won’t be able to stay as an agent anymore?” Aoko looked sad at the fact. Probably for the same reason Sonoko was. She was scared that she would lose a friend when they weren’t able to keep in touch the same as they have been. After all, it was unseemly for a lowly agent to speak with the head of a division, let alone the CEO of the entire company.

But Sonoko didn’t want that to happen.

“I won’t be, but that doesn’t mean we can’t still meet up for coffee!” Sonoko assured her quickly. “Just like I still meet up with Ran when I want to go shopping or any of my other friends when I want to do something fun! We don’t have to let this change anything for us.”

“I’m glad.” Aoko’s smile was filled with relief.

“Me too.” Sonoko returned the smile before sighing. “But it would leave Shinichi-kun in an uncomfortable place without an agent. I don’t want him to just to go anyone, you know? We might not get along, but I still count him as a friend. I want him to be taken care of and I can’t trust anyone with this more than I do you. So please? Will you promise me you’ll take him?”

Aoko frowned and gave serious thought to the matter before she answered. “I can promise that I will try. If he refuses to work with me, I won’t force him. I treasure you as a friend, but I don’t want to make someone do something they don’t want to do.”

“And that’s fine.” Sonoko smiled as she felt a weight lift from her shoulders. “He can be grumpy at times and stubborn at others, but I’m sure you two will work out just fine. Plus, you have Kaito on your side. Shinichi will do just about anything he asks of him.”

“I am not treating my friend as a weapon against my client,” Aoko deadpanned.

“You say that now, but you don’t know Shinichi like I do.” Sonoko gave her a cheeky grin before wrestling her friend into an over-enthusiastic hug. “Thank you so much, Aoko-chan! You’re the best!”

“I just hope Shinichi thinks the same,” Aoko admitted, a tad less eagerly.

*             *             *             *             *

“I quit.”

Aoko stared at Kudou, mouth agape. She had just finished telling him about his transfer into her clientele and those were the first words out of her mouth. She didn’t know how to handle this. “I’m sorry?”

“Oh, it’s nothing to do with you,” he said, quite pleasantly with all due respect. He didn’t appear to be angry with her in any regard. He actually seemed quite pleased. “I’ve wanted to quit since Sonoko first became an agent. I just stuck around because she was having a lot of fun with it and it ended up paying pretty well in the meantime. Now that she’s out, I want to quit.”

“But…” Aoko’s jaw worked a few times before more sounds followed. She had anticipated him asking for a different agent, not quitting out right. “What about Elementary Conan? Are you just going to leave the series unfinished?”

“Not at all.” Kudou bent to fish around in a drawer in his desk. When he straightened, it was with a stack of papers that were about twice as thick as any book Kaito had written. “This is the final book for Elementary Conan. I’ve had this on hand, just waiting for Sonoko to let me end it. It’ll need some revising of course, but I can stick around that long.”

Aoko stared at the manuscript. “… How long have you had that?”

“Since the first book of Elementary Conan came out,” Kudou said, almost cheerfully.

Aoko stared for a long moment before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. When she opened them, she was in business mode. “Okay, for starters, we’ll probably have to cut it into many books. The size of you manuscripts right now are much smaller than this. I’m not sure your fans will be all too happy having every loose end shoved together into one final book.”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine.” Kudou waved her off. “You don’t even read my stuff. Why should you care anyway?”

“Be that as it may…” Aoko kept her breathing steady. “I think Kaito would be very sad to see his favorite series rushed to an ending just because you got eager to finish it.”

She hated using her friend as a playing piece, but it did make Kudou turn more thoughtful than flippant.

“I’m not saying you have to change anything that you have here.” She gestured to the manuscript. “After all, I haven’t read it yet and can’t offer any opinions, but I think just sectioning it off into two or three books would be a better use of time. Since the majority of the writing is done, all we have to do is edit. Then you can go about your business as I spread out the first printings. I won’t even make you do book signings or other events if you don’t want to.”

“Aren’t I supposed to do those to promote my books though?” He gave a light grimace. He hated such public events, Aoko knew. From what she learned from Sonoko and Kaito, Kudou Shinichi was a very private person. To his friends, he was friendly, but to strangers, he was a blank wall of indifference. Having to make nice with so many strangers was probably torture for him.

“I believe that you have enough claim to fame for the books to promote themselves,” Aoko reasoned. “As long as we make sure people know about the next release, it should be fine to do less self-promotion than you’ve done in the past.”

“Plus, we’ve got a brand new crowd with the printing of Detective and Thief: Twisted Reflections,” Kudou noted. “Basically, my fan base and Kaito’s have merged into some behemoth that, honestly terrifies me a little. I don’t think I’ll have to do much promoting for a while with that swing in popularity.”

“I don’t see a reason to,” Aoko agreed. “Though that does bring up another question. You and Kaito had mentioned doing another cross-over at some point. I don’t know how many you were thinking, but if you want to wrap up Elementary Conan, how do you see that working out? Are you going to forego any more cross-overs? Or are you going to tie them into the post-Conan timeline?”

Kudou’s eyes dropped to his desk, as he scratched at his chin. He took a few moments to mull it over before returning his gaze to her. “I… liked doing the cross-over with Kaito. It was… to be honest, it was the first time I had fun writing, in a very long time. I want to do those again. I don’t want to give that up.”

Aoko’s eyebrows rose. This was a little more emotional than she had been expecting from him.

“I want Elementary Conan to end because I feel like it’s just another thing that I’m tasked with, but… I wouldn’t mind writing more with Kaito. I’m sure we can figure out a timeline that works, either after the end or weaving in some adventures that Conan doesn’t talk about in the main storyline.” Kudou’s thoughtful look turned mischievous, a faint echo of the look she recognized from Kaito. “Or, like Kaito had suggested, we could go all in and have a branching, alternate universe that has a different end than the original time line. I think he would be happy with that.”

Oh yeah, Sonoko was right. With as smitten as Kudou was, Kaito could get this man to do anything.

“Whatever it is, I’m sure we’ll be able to figure it out.” Kudou ultimately shrugged, as if it was an insignificant footnote in the grand scheme of life. “I want to finish Elementary Conan and I don’t want to start another series. I am happy with writing with Kaito though, any time he wants.”

Aoko couldn’t mask a smile at that. Looks like Kaito’s charms were as potent as ever. Nodding in confirmation, she took his manuscript from the desk and stood. “Then I’ll give this a read and we’ll figure out good beginning and end points for the next few books. After that, feel free to forget about it. I’ll take care of sending it to the printing block and making sure your fans know the release date.”

“… You are a lot nicer than Sonoko is,” Kudou said, almost suspiciously.

Aoko shrugged. “It doesn’t make sense to force you to do something you don’t want to. While you might be okay with Sonoko doing that, you and I don’t know each other well. And we can’t exactly go ranting to Kaito when we make each other mad.”

Kudou nodded solemnly. “Yeah, that would make him sad.”

“Very.” She grinned and winked. “And neither of us want that.”

“No, we don’t,” Kudou said with a conspirator grin on his face. “So I don’t have to start a new series? Or keep up a schedule?”

“Nothing more than what you and Kaito decide to write on your own,” she promised.

“That, I think I can do.” He beamed.

*             *             *             *             *

Detective and Thief: Twisted Reflections ended up being the first in the Detective and Thief series that spanned all genres and subject matters the fiction world over. The timeline ended up diverging from both Elementary Conan and Moonlight Magician and was filled with dozens more cross-overs with characters and authors the world over. With KID finding a better power source for the Looking Glass Quartz, he and Conan were able to hop between multiple universes within hours, leading to all kinds of adventures that left fans raving.

It was nominated for the Specsavers National Book Award, Nobel Prize in Literature, Booker Prize and Pulitzer Prize along with numerous others —and won many, for multiple years straight.

“You know, when I said ‘let’s bring the world to its knees’, I hadn’t been imagining this.” Looking away from the article he was reading, Kaito grinned over at Shinichi. “And to think, you almost said ‘no’.”

Shinichi shoved a hand into the other’s face, to both muffle that grin and to hide the fact that his own face was bright red. “Shut up.”

Kaito laughed and kissed the ring on the other’s finger.