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After the whole Conan fiasco, in which Shinichi had to pretend to be a small husky pup, his relations with his friends – his pack, had gotten so strained that he decided to transfer to another high school. Ran had been furious, and rightly so. He had lied to her for years, after all. In her eyes he had committed a grievous betrayal, and Shinichi understood why Ran had basically shut the door on his apologies.
And with Ran’s clear rejection, Sonoko had sided with her honey bear best friend, shunning him like an outcast. Shinichi had originally thought his ex-soccer teammates would side with him, but two years’ worth of absence couldn’t be easily mended. His friends had grown without him, and the place he formerly occupied in his pack dynamics had been closed. They no more had place for him.
So he decided to transfer to another high school. The fact that Teitan High had refused to let him catch up with his missed schoolwork and let him graduate in time also played a factor in his decision. His former classmates would graduate without him anyway, he would be left behind to retake the entire high school, starting with sophomore year. And Shinichi had had enough of repeated education. He knew he had the appropriate knowledge to succeed in his chosen profession, his intellect was enough for him to be in his rightful class. He had applied to Ekoda High, and the school had let him take a placement test and decided he could be on senior year. And that was it.
Still, it was hard, to be a lone wolf. Wolves were social creatures at heart. He needed a pack. As he entered his new classroom on his first day, observing how students were all chatting with each other, clear friend groups already formed, he could only hope he could integrate himself well enough to last him until graduation. At least, even though he had no pack here, he wouldn’t be treated like a pariah in Ekoda.
There was an empty seat near the back of the class, right by the window. Shinichi made his way to the desk and sat down, looking out the window. If he was bored in class, he thought, then at least he could enjoy the view.
The class slowly filled with more students. They threw glances at him, whispering amongst themselves, no doubt gossiping about the new addition to their class. Shinichi flushed, self-conscious. It was never fun, being the new guy transferring so late. These people had no doubt grew up together, probably even friends since they were children. Shinichi knew he had two choices here. Either he could put in more work to socialize and hopefully he could integrate himself into their circle, which admitedly made his introvert self balk, or he could stay in his comfort zone and keep his space, resulting in him being the lone wolf for eight months until school ended, which made his wolf instrincts whine.
“Excuse me. Excuse me!”
Long, slender fingers snapped under his nose, startling him out of his thoughts. He looked up, and came face to face with a furious bunny, long white ears quivering and a cute button nose twitching. Shinichi raised one eyebrow and pointed at himself in a ‘who, me?’ gesture.
The bunny rolled his eyes. “Yes, you. You’re sitting in my seat.”
Shinichi wasn’t one to believe in stereotypes, but he couldn’t deny that he was surprised by this bunny’s attitude. He was an Alaskan wolf, a large, wild breed. People around him had often commented that Shinichi had a presence about him, which basically meant that he was intimidating and hard to approach. He was eternally thankful that the APTX 4869 toxin made him small enough, basically a runt, he could pretend to be a husky to further differentiate Edogawa Conan and Kudou Shinichi.
Still, he was taken aback that this bunny would confront him head-on like that. Bunnies were generally a timid and easily startled prey, after all. The bunny’s demeanor, coupled with his terrible mood, made Shinichi’s hackles rise.
He raised an eyebrow and made a show of looking around. "I don't see your name on it."
The bunny huffed. “Seriously, man. I know you’re new and all, but please move. That table is special.”
Well, at least he said please. But Shinichi still scoffed. “What could be so special about this particular table? Is this a sacred, lucky seat or something?”
Blue eyes glinting, a menacing grin bloomed across the bunny’s face. Shinichi blinked. He could’ve sworn the grin showed fangs.
But he couldn’t dwell on it too long. Green smoke exploded around him, so thick it obscured even the bright sunlight streaming in from the window right beside his seat. Coughing, Shinichi waved his hand around, trying to disperse the smoke. When the smoke dissipated, he had somehow been moved to the seat next to his original seat, which was now occupied by a smugly lounging bunny.
Shinichi was grudgingly impressed. He was not light. It must’ve had taken considerable arm strength and skill to move him, much less without him feeling anything.
This bunny was definitely not like others he’d ever met before.
Now, Shinichi wasn’t one to fall prey to stereotypes. He’d encountered gentle tigers, murderous horses, speedy sloths, and had proven that humanity was so much more nuanced and complex that it couldn’t be put in arbitary boxes.
But still, he was very impressed with this particular bunny.
He was brave, strong, resourceful, and seemed to be playful too. He was… glaring.
“Don’t stare, it’s rude,” the bunny chided. “What? Surprised not all bunnies are meek, whimpery prey in front of big, bad predators? Well news flash buddy…”
“No! It’s not that!” Shinichi quickly interjected, stopping what was sure to be a well-practiced speech. The bunny was way too defensive over his staring. Shinichi was sure people undermined the other boy a lot, and he was tired of it.
Shinichi should reticify that.
“It’s just… you’re impressive,” he smiled, trying be as genuine as he could.
He needed to work on his people skills, because the bunny just scoffed. “Yeah, right. Impressive that a bunny like me can stand up to wolves like you?”
“No, no, not at all!” Shinichi raised eyebrows. “For someone who doesn’t want to be judged based on your species, you’re awfully fixated on the bunny thing. I was just impressed on your arm strength. I didn’t feel anything.”
“Oh.” The bunny was startled, but he quickly covered up his expression and gave Shinichi a contemplative look. “Well, thank you. I exercise a lot.” Suddenly he grinned and offered his hands. “Kuroba Kaito.”
“Kudou Shinichi.” Shinichi shook Kuroba’s hand, and noted the calluses. “Do you do bar work?”
Kuroba’s eyebrows rose. “I do, actually. How do you know?”
The wolf shrugged. “I felt your calluses. Is it weight lifting?”
“Observant, aren’t you,” Kuroba laughed. “As expected of the Great Detective of the East. But no, I do gymnastics, actually.”
Shinichi flushed. “Ah, please don’t call me that.”
As a young teen, when the media showered him attention and bestowed flattering nicknames on him, he had eaten it up. But his experience as Conan had taught him a lot about of humilty as well as how to rely on other people. Now, the nicknames bother him and made him feel uncomfortable. Like it was a too-big, artificial image of him. He had learned that there was more to him than just being a detective.
Kuroba simply accepted it. “Okay. Kudou then.”
“Thank you. So, what’s up with the table?”
Kuroba laughed. “Well, that’s for me to know and for you to find out, Kudou!”
Shinichi rose an eyebrow. That being said, his love of mysteries would never fade.
It would be an interesting school year, for sure.
~*:*:*:*~
Two years later…
“Excuse me? You’re seating in my seat.”
Kaito was smirking at him. He looked stunning in a dark blue shirt, dark suit casually unbuttoned. His skin was glowing amidst the warm candle glow, his ears pristine white and his normally fuzzy tail was freshly brushed that it looked so fluffy. . Shinichi had ordered a special decorating company to fill their table with fresh flowers and aromatic candles, creating the perfect atmosphere.
Shinichi laughed. “Well, I don’t see your name on it.”
A familiar, mischievous glint, accompanied with a playful smirk. “Oh, really?”
A green smoke erupted, and Shinichi just laughed, closed his eyes and waited it out. A light touch ghosted his cheek. When he opened his eyes again, Kaito was holding a mirror, showing the black, bold KAITO written neatly across his right cheek.
“You’re slipping, I felt that,” Shinichi smugly informed him.
The bunny huffed, plopped right down on his lap, and proceeded to kiss him.
It was, Shinichi acknowledged, a very successful tactic to shut him up.
“Happy anniversary, love.”
~*:*:*:*~
Omake:
Kaito stared unblinking, transfixed at the shiny, gleaming gold. In that regard, Shinichi thought, Kaito was more like a magpie than a bunny.
“Your horns had grown,” Shinichi said as a greeting.
“Well, I am still in puberty.” His words were modest, but Heiji was preening. Heiji’s horns were gleaming in the sun, and Shinichi had no doubt that he had polished his horns before going to Tokyo, just to show them off.