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Mouri Ran strolled - one might even call it skipping - along the street, humming happily under her nose, infecting those passing her by with her good mood, adding to the already buzzing and alight shop expositions and decorations on the street.
Why such a merry predisposition, you may ask?
The reason was really simple, actually.
Her best friend finally returned from god knew where and stayed. Properly stayed, not dashing off as soon as her gaze left him. Which prompted her to where she was now.
Strolling happily to pick him, along with Subaru-san up and take them both to Professor Agasa’s place for a Christmas party involving the Detective Boys, Mouris and few detectives from the police force. Of course, one could never forget a certain Suzuki heiress, as well as a tomboyish high school girl.
She was glad and most of all relieved to spend some time with him, to celebrate such an occasion and simply reminiscence about old times. As friends, mind you, no more no less than that.
They had ‘that conversation’ a few days after Shinichi returned and settled down. She got over him.
And he, currently slumped against the wall two streets away from his house, admitted to having a crush on someone else.
Wait, what?
“Shinichi?” Ran called softly, but the body barely even moved in recognition to her voice, breathing short and labored, slouching more and more in on himself on his way to the pavement.
“Shinichi!” Ran’s synapses finally processed the image and she ran up to the sleuth in time to stop his descent, effortlessly pulling him up and pressing against the wall.
It was obvious, by the glazed and unfocused look in his eyes that Shinichi was most definitely not right. The question hanging on the tip of her tongue - what were you doing out in such a condition? - got pushed back by the worry for her best friend when he slumped forward, nestling his face in the crook of her neck, his burning forehead pressing right against her cheek.
“Home,” his hoarse voice managed to croak out between gasps for air.
“I know, come on let’s go,” She hauled his arm over her shoulders and supported his waist in a hug with her free hand, “What were you even thinking, going out like that?” She murmured, chastising him all through the short way home, adjusting her grip every few steps.
Ringing the doorbell, she was relieved, when the door to the house opened only seconds later, but froze immediately upon noticing the person walking down to the front gate.
“Shinichi?” Ran asked in shock, doing a double take when he pushed open one side of the gate to let her in, only then noticing the additional weight at her side.
“Who’s that?” Shinichi asked, stepping to the other side of the mysterious person to ease the burden on Ran’s slightly numb arms.
“It’s you,” The girl answered dumbly, but clarified upon the dumbfounded look she received, “Well, it’s supposed to be you. I thought it was you? I don’t know anymore,” She finished with an embarrassed blush dusting her cheeks, just as they stumbled into the living room. Ran more than gladly loosened her grip when they neared the couch, letting Shinichi drape the person and adjust him on the soft cushion.
“Shouldn’t we call a doctor or take him to the hospital?” Her question was met with a brief silence, when Shinichi proceeded to do a quick check-up on the sleuth.
“It’s just a fever. I’m sure medicine and a good night’s sleep is just what he needs,” Shinichi murmured, brushing the fringe sticking to the sweaty forehead away.
The closed lids fluttered open for a moment, revealing a pair of galaxy indigo shrouded in confusion, before they settled on his face. Shinichi’s hand slid from the man’s forehead at the sudden feeling of sheer familiarity emanating from those eyes.
He saw them before, somewhere.
He knew the exact shade of those eyes.
And when the chapped lips parted and uttered a single, broken word, Shinichi realized from where.
“Shinichi?” Ran asked cautiously when his whole body suddenly stiffened, eyes wide and boring into the - now asleep - man.
“Are we going?” Subaru’s voice drifted from the hall and few seconds later the man himself walked in, unaware of the commotion as he looked upon the old clock hanging on the wall.
“We should, but…” Ran trailed off, pointing at the unexpected guest. Subaru’s green eyes looked to the couch, then back to the boy, still stuck standing rigid.
And he smirked slyly.
“As an owner, I suppose it’s only appropriate for Kudou-kun to take care of his guest, however uninvited he may be,” His gaze leveled with azure, and the smirk only widened further, “Then again, it is Christmas Eve. I suppose it’s only natural to expect the unexpected,”
“But maybe I should-” Ran started, trying to come up with an excuse to stay with Shinichi and help him, but Subaru cut her off.
“There’s no reason for you to ruin your evening. I know Kudou-kun agreed to go only because you, and I quote ‘wouldn’t stop pestering him about going’,”
“Shinichi!”
Said young detective shrunk in on himself a bit, expecting a blow of retribution, but luckily Ran was lenient in her punishment, simply sending him a sharp, judging glare. With a huff and a small ‘let’s go, then’, the girl grabbed the older man’s hand and nearly stormed out of the house, leaving one, very confused sleuth alone with his problem.
‘And what a problem it is, indeed’ , Shinichi mused, looking down at the sleeping embodiment of his… frustration?
Because how else would you call finding an unconscious man you’ve been crushing about for over a year now, literally at your doorsteps?
Part of the reason - aside from wanting his life back - he decided to wrap up the whole Black Organization problem was precisely the man before him. He knew he had to get over him. For months a stone had been sitting on his heart. He’d shed a few tears over him, lost a lot of sleep, eaten even less than usually. Somehow, he had to move on. Life would be hell if he didn't shake loose from the grip he had on his heart.
Shinichi most definitely didn't want to keep feeling this way, alone in a love affair meant for two. Even if he'd felt like The One. Even if he always knew they'd never end up together. Even if, despite all that, he still had a choke chain on his heart.
So he decided to purge those feelings away from his heart, leave Conan persona and all the feelings involved with him behind, and move on.
Yet, lo and behold, his worries, feelings, regrets and hopes all came back to him in a single package.
“What did I do to deserve it,” Shinichi murmured, but his frustration flew out the window the moment the person groaned and turned, his face scrunched up in a frown.
As if remembering his condition, Shinichi quickly stepped to the kitchen to gather the medicine and water. Trying to recall what Ran used to do to treat Conan’s fevers, he walked to the bathroom and filled a bowl with cold water. With his hands full, he was on his way back, but stopped by his bedroom to retrieve two of his blankets. His guest needed to sweat the fever out, not get even more chilled by it.
With everything prepared, he returned to the living room to find his guest trashing in his sleep, mumbling incomprehensible things.
Fever talking, Shinichi concluded, wrapping the blanket tightly around the man, paying special attention to his feet, where most of the warmth escaped from the body. It pleased him to notice that the jarred movement subsided, but there was another problem ahead of him. How to make the man swallow the pills?
“Hey,” Shinichi whispered, gently shaking the resting body, “I need you to wake up to take the medicine,” He tried it a few more times and almost gave up when the eyes fluttered, briefly revealing the indigo hidden behind them.
“That’s it. Now open your mouth. The sooner you do it, the quicker you can go back to sleep,” Surprisingly, the man complied, managing to part his lips enough for Shinichi to pass the pill one at a time and help the man swallow them with water by massaging his throat.
“All done. Now rest,” He soaked the small towel in the bowl and put it on the burning forehead as a finishing touch.
“Don’t go,” The man managed to utter hoarsely, lightly grabbing on the cuff of Shinichi’s dress shirt.
The detective himself froze, not one to encourage physical contact with other people. Yet, somehow, he couldn’t bring himself to pull away. Was it the guilt at his own previous thoughts? Or perhaps the desperate expression on the man’s face? He couldn’t tell. All he could do, was watch with rapture as his guest pulled up the blanket right under his nose with his free hand and finally settled down, with a whisper of ‘Tantei-kun’ on his lips as he fell back into the embrace of sleep.
Utterly ignorant of the blush spreading across a certain detective’s cheeks.
✿✿✿✿✿✿
Kaito roused slowly, unwilling to let go of the remnants of his most pleasant dream. He was in his KID attire, but for once, instead of running away, he was the one giving chase. Dashing after that small silhouette with unmistakable cowlick at the back of the head, feeling the scent of his prey the closer he got to him. And just when his fingers brushed the fabric of the blue jacket, just as his hand nearly closed around that small wrist -
“Tantei-kun!” Kaito called, shooting up into a sitting position with wide eyes.
Only to groan at the vertigo that swam his vision and flop his head back on the pillow.
“Finally awake?” A voice asked to his right and Kaito swore his heart flipped over in his chest when he saw the back of the head, marred with that unique clump of hair.
“Mind letting go of me, then?” The stranger muttered, a slight irritation in his voice as he moved his arm and pointed at the hand wrapped around the other’s wrist, “I’ve been sitting on the floor for the past ten hours,” The implications of being unable to eat, sleep, or use the toilet remained unsaid.
“Sorry,” Kaito answered, quite embarrassed, and released the man, who rubbed his rather sore wrist as he stood up and ventured further into the house, disappearing from view.
He waited about twenty minutes before he returned, and nearly swallowed his tongue when the face of the man registered immediately as that of one Kudou Shinichi, a very famous, recently returned from a big case high school detective.
How did he get in this predicament, again?
Last thing he could remember was walking aimlessly back from the Haido Hotel, after spending quite an amount of time just standing on top of the roof there and being stopped by Aoko. Everything after that was a swirl of unconsciousness and Tantei-kun.
Looking at the detective that stopped before him, talking about something he couldn’t hear due to the blood pumping in his ears, Kaito counted himself screwed.
Even Lady Luck won’t manage to dig him out of this grave.
“Do you think you can stomach a bit of broth to swallow ? Ran brought some earlier,” Shinichi said again when there was no answer after the first attempt.
Kaito swallowed, his throat felt mostly fine, ignoring few additional pricks, so he nodded, not trusting his voice at the moment.
Shinichi patiently brought a spoon to his mouth and Kaito swallowed the liquid, glad for its lukewarm temperature. He ate in silence as they repeated the motions, stopping only when Kaito shook his head, feeling fed enough and warmed from the inside.
“Why are you being so nice to me?” The magician finally asked, unable to keep the confusion from lacing in his voice.
Instead of answering, Shinichi picked the pills and, as the night before, pressed them one by one to Kaito’s lips.
“Isn’t it normal? Being kind to sick people?” The detective murmured back and Kaito was ready to jump out of bed and argue, if not for another wave of dizziness that fell on him.
“But you don’t even know me. I could be a serial killer or-”
“I know enough about you to trust you with my life,” The words slipped out without Shinichi’s notice, admitting out loud what he knew deep down in his heart for a long time now.
Okay, so his cover was officially blown, hidden identity right there in the open, just as Kaito expected. But why would Shinichi say he knew him? They’ve never met, either as KID or himself.
“Don’t bother trying to figure it out. Just rest. You can think on it later,” Shinichi whispered, once again brushing the bangs away, only this time letting his hand linger on the forehead longer.
Kaito was about to argue, there was a bundle of questions swarming his fevered mind, but the touch of a cool hand eased the storm brewing within, and he let himself calm and drift off into oblivion.
“Stupid thief,” Shinichi muttered fondly, replacing his hand with a freshly dipped towel, before sitting comfortably with a book in the armchair next to the sofa.
In all the chaos, he only now realized that he ought to move the both of them to one of the bedrooms, both for comfort and functionality.
Brilliant detective, his arse.
Thus he stayed, reading one of his favorite books and throwing occasional glances to check upon the sleeping magician, relishing in the comfortable silence. For once, he was glad that Ran listened to him and ceased her storm of both texts and calls, letting the other rest peacefully. And Kaito’s breathing regulated, too. His inhales deeper and steadier than before. His body shivering, uncovered by the blanket tossed off of hi-
“Damn it,” Shinichi cursed under his breath, silently reprimanding himself for getting caught up in watching KID’s face, not the whole of him.
Swiftly, he covered the shivering body and waited for it to settle, but nothing of the sort was happening. If anything, the trembling got even worse and when Shinichi pressed his palm flat against the other’s forehead, he understood why. The fever got worse.
“Come on, KID, don’t do this to me,” The detective nearly growled, scared to admit to himself that he knew next to nothing what to do in a situation like this. All he knew, though, was that he needed to warm him up, and fast, too. Going upstairs and running a hot bath would take too long, not counting the time it’d take him to drag the other there.
Putting additional blankets and heater on seemed plausible, but again, time consuming.
So, with a dreadful realization, Shinichi shed his jacket, put one knee on the edge of the couch and slowly, carefully, slid underneath the - luckily - still sleeping magician. It resulted in a double human layered wrap.
Nesting KID’s head in the crook of his neck, the detective started to rub slow circles on the sleeping man’s back, mindful of the blanket covering them.
“Conan…” Kaito whispered sleepily, brushing the side of Shinichi’s neck with the tip of his nose as his arms wrapped securely around the detective’s slim, but lithe form. Said man’s fingers ceased, frozen at the not heard in a while name coming from the magician’s lips.
“Don’t leave me... again…” The last part was whimpered quietly and something inside Shinichi’s chest squeezed at the sadness oozing from that unintended admission.
“Don’t worry, I won’t…” He answered unconsciously, pressing his lips to the sweaty forehead and letting them linger there. And if his arms squeezed just that bit tighter around the magician, he pretended not to notice.
✿✿✿✿✿✿
The next time Kaito woke up, it was to the feeling of safety he hadn’t experience in many years. His body, his senses, all of him was lulled into a comforting level of just simply being wrapped in warmth, care and security.
His nose buried into something soft and with each inhale, he breathed in the familiar scent that always brought him confidence, mischievous ideas and mentioned previously safety.
His eyes opened lazily this time, content to remain closed, yet curious to gaze upon that which brought forth such unfamiliar feelings in him. It should surprise him more, he concur, when his gaze rested upon the relaxed, sleeping face of one Kudou Shinichi.
He really looked different than during his waking hours, with that insufferable smirk stretching those plump lips, that sharp look in his azure eyes whenever he was trying to solve a riddle, or that quirked brow when he found something amusing.
Kaito blinked, and then blinked again.
How come he knew those things about the man currently substituting as his heater slash pillow?
He never met Shinichi, nor saw any clips of him on the internet. Heck, he had no idea if the detective’s eyes were azure or no.
But still… when gazing at that face… something familiar… something-
“Are you done thinking yet?” Shinichi murmured and let his eyes fall open, swallowing Kaito into a sea of the oh so familiar indigo.
He was sold.
“Yeah. Yeah, I am,” The magician answered and laughed, his first, proper hearty laugh ever since his little favorite critique disappeared.
Shinichi simply quirked a brow and smirked, only fueling Kaito’s laughter, and he let him laugh it all out until the mop of wild hair, after calming down, nestled back into the crook of his neck with a happy sigh.
“Tantei-kun,” Kaito murmured and squeezed the sleuth, grinning widely, something Shinichi felt against his neck as he answered with a ‘what, stupid thief?’.
“I caught you~” The magician sang, feeling both giddy and light, thanking his favorite Lady Luck for breaking his fever. And for giving it to him in the first place. Otherwise he’d never wound up laying flat on his favorite person ever.
Okay, so maybe Lady Luck was his second one.
“As if I’d let myself be caught by anyone else,” Shinichi answered, mimicking KID’s trademark expression.
“Truer words had never been spoken,”
They lay there silently for a while, each one deep in their respective thoughts, wondering about what ifs, reasons, questions.
The road ahead of them was long and very complicated, but for now, they’d take what they could get, content with the present, not expecting anything els-
“I never asked… What is your name?”
“Why don’t you figure me out, Meitantei?”
Shinichi smirked. Yes, the thief magician certainly knew how to keep him entertained and coming back for more.
“Merry Christmas, KID-san,”
“Merry Christmas to you, too, Tantei-kun,”