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To Kounosuke Jii, former assistant to the late Kuroba Toichi, also known to some as the first Kaitou KID, and current assistant to the man's successor, Kuroba Kaito had always been like the grandson he didn't have. And as was often the case with children and grandchildren, Jii worried constantly over whether the boy—now grown man—was making the right decisions. Frankly, more often than he would like to admit, Jii felt that the young Master Kuroba took far too many risks. But, as was also often the case with doting grandparents, Jii had never been able to actually say no to Kaito when the boy wanted something. Instead, all he could do was remind the boy over and over again to be careful and remember his father's teachings.
Even so, Jii felt that his old master's son had turned out remarkably well. He was perhaps still a little too brash and a little too in love with showing off, but those were minor problems all considered. Considering his love for causing trouble, he could have turned out much worse.
Much, much worse.
But Jii would rather not go there.
The point was that he had grown up well, and Jii was proud of him.
He still worried though. But he supposed that was just part of having children.
The many things Jii worried about when it came to his surrogate grandson, however, had not heretofore included who the boy might be dating. This was largely because Jii had always sort of expected along with everyone else that the aspiring magician would end up with his friend Aoko. He had been slightly concerned about how Kaito would deal with the girl's deep-seated dislike for KID, but Jii was confident that Kaito would manage. The boy had inherited all his father's charm and then some.
But then Aoko had started seeing that Hakuba boy, and Jii had felt a pang of concern. Alphas weren't exactly known for their level-headedness when it came to the people they loved. This was doubly true for teenaged alphas, and double that again when issues pertained to a romantic interest.
And Jii could tell that Kaito was upset. The boy didn't say as much, but he didn't have to. Jii had watched him grow up after all. He could tell. But he could also see the grim resolve in his surrogate grandson's eyes when he said that he was all right with things the way they'd turned out because he'd made his decisions, and there were things—like his father's mantle—that he could not and would not yet give up. And, if ever given the chance, Kaito declared that he would make the same decisions all over again. So really, he had no right to begrudge Aoko her choices or that nuisance for stepping in (although if Hakuba ever hurt Aoko, Kaito would make his life a living hell).
Jii wondered then if perhaps Kaito's feelings for Aoko hadn't been quite what he'd believed. After all, there was simply no way that Kaito would have let go that easily if he'd really been in love. But perhaps that was to be expected. There were too many secrets between them, too many things that couldn't be shared, and you simply couldn't build a real, healthy life partnership with someone if you couldn't share everything you were with them. Deep down, both Kaito and Aoko must have sensed that there were parts of themselves that they would never share. And so they were each moving on in their own way.
Despite the epiphany, Jii also knew that moving on was never easy. And so he was very relieved when Kaito began taking a greater and greater interest in his ongoing contest of wits with that extremely strange child detective. The competition was a good distraction for the magician's ever active mind, and it also had a visibly positive impact on Kaito's moods.
But then the child had disappeared. Jii's concerns returned, but they were short lived as Kaito's blacker moods didn't return with the boy's departure. Satisfied that the boy had well and truly moved on, Jii too let the matter slip from his mind.
Now Kaito was in college and well on his way to becoming an even greater magician than the late Kuroba Toichi, and Jii couldn't have been more proud.
He had also, or so he had been hinting to Jii with that mischievous glint in his eyes that the old man knew so well, started dating someone. Jii had been happy to hear that, but he had to admit that something about that glint had worried him just a little. That was a look he knew well after all—one that meant Kaito was up to something. On the other hand, Kaito was always up to something, and worrying about what that something was had never done anyone any good. Just ask Nakamori Ginzo.
So here he was on Halloween, decorating the Blue Parrot in preparation for the Halloween party he would be hosting there that evening for both his regulars and Kaito's friends and classmates. There wasn't too much to do because he had started putting up the decorations near the start of the month, and Kaito had been dropping by to help out whenever his schedule would allow.
Kaito had mentioned in passing on one of those evenings over that he had invited the omega he was courting. This had struck Jii as only natural, and he'd told Kaito with all honesty that he was looking forward to meeting the lucky girl (to which Kaito had looked amused, but Jii hadn't really noticed).
But then Jii looked up from arranging trays of pumpkin and bat-shaped sugar cookies out on one of the tables at the sound of the Blue Parrot's door opening to see Kudo Shinichi walking in, and suddenly several things had fallen into place.
Jii nearly had a heart attack then and there.
In retrospect, the old man probably should have seen it coming. In Jii's defense, however, he had been picturing someone like Aoko because she was the only reference he had as to what kind of person Kaito might be attracted to. But even so… It wasn't as though he hadn't noticed Kaito's interest in the news that Japan's most famous young detective had returned to the land of the living (apparently not having been murdered as so many people had been starting to say). Jii had noticed too how Kaito's heist performances had been getting progressively more elaborate whenever Shinichi was expected to attend—not to mention how he could tell that Kaito looked forward to those particular heists rather more than he did any others.
Jii had always chalked up that increase in excitement and energy to the thrill of the challenge offered by a mind every bit as sharp as Kaito's own, and he supposed that he hadn't been entirely wrong. He was sure that that was where the attraction had started. He had simply failed to fully consider—or maybe he had willfully ignored—the fact that A, this was the first and only time Kaito had encountered a mind that could challenge and connect with and, indeed, understand his own at such a level, and B, Kudo Shinichi happened to be an unmated omega (albeit one who had made it clear that he did not ascribe to the common presumption that an omega had to find a mate to be happy).
The first fact alone would have drawn Kaito to the younger boy. Add the second and, well, like Jii was thinking now, he really should have seen this coming.
That did not mean that there was nothing to worry about. Oh no, quite the opposite. After all, many a terrible idea—and many an ill-chosen relationship—had been born of such attraction. In fact, alphas and omegas alike were rather notorious for doing unwise things when their instincts overrode their common sense—which, unfortunately, happened more often than anyone would like. There was a reason that, though alphas and omegas combined made up about only forty percent of the population, their relationships and antics were featured in nearly eighty percent of dramas both fictional and otherwise.
And courting a detective when you were the heir to a family of thieves was obviously one of those terrible ideas (not to mention a bigger risk than any Kaito had thus far taken in his rather eventful life), Jii thought with a certain degree of panic. What was Kaito thinking? Was he thinking?
Maybe Jii was jumping to conclusions though. After all, he didn't actually know for sure that Kudo Shinichi was the person Kaito had been courting. The boy could just be passing by. Or he could simply be another classmate here for the party. He was a whole hour early, but that didn't mean anything other than that he was early. It wasn't like the party invites had said you couldn't show up before the party.
Jii spent a full ten seconds trying to convince himself that he must be mistaken, but, deep down, he knew he was kidding himself. He knew Kaito too well. Therefore he knew, now that he was allowing himself to see it, that Kudo Shinichi was (even based on what little Jii knew of him) just the sort of mate Kaito would be interested in—highly intelligent and dedicated but also mentally flexible and kind. Jii could remember watching the boy chaperoning those little children the Conan boy used to run around with once while waiting for the start of a heist and thinking how it was heartwarming to see a teenager being so patient with the silly antics of children.
A good person or not though, Kudo Shinichi was still a detective—a really famous, really skilled detective with connections not only all over Japan but also with the FBI in the United States and who knew what else?! A rational kaitou should be hightailing it the other way!
The problem was that Jii suspected that Kaito was not thinking rationally. He was thinking like an alpha who'd found an omega he wanted, and that meant he'd already booted common sense (if he'd ever had any to begin with) out the window.
Realizing abruptly that the very detective he was fretting about was making his way across the pool hall towards him, Jii hastily straightened and put on what he hoped was a natural, welcoming expression. "Good afternoon. How can I help you?"
-0-
Kudo Shinichi studied the old man before him with interest. So this was the Kaitou KID's assistant.
That was probably why the man had been staring at him like a deer in headlights when he'd walked into the building. He thought with more than a little exasperation that Kaito could have warned the poor man that he had invited Shinichi to their Halloween party. As it was, Shinichi wasn't sure what to do or say lest he inadvertently send the man into cardiac arrest.
Saying he'd come to see Kaito would probably do just that.
In the end, he settled for simply saying, "I'm here for the party. I'm sorry if I'm too early. Would it be better if I come back later? I don't want to get in your way."
For a moment, Shinichi thought the old man might actually say that yes, he would very much prefer it if Shinichi came back later, but the old man pulled himself together with a visible effort.
"No, that's quite all right," he said instead. "I'm just about done setting up. Can I get you something to drink?"
"Do you have coffee?" Shinichi asked.
"We do. One moment."
The old man moved behind the bar counter and set about making coffee. Shinichi took a seat on one of the tall stools to wait. Something squeaked when he pulled the stool out, making him jump. Confused, he bent over and saw that there was a small, stuffed bat plush hanging upside down from the bottom of said stool as though it were sleeping down there. When jostled, it squeaked. Half amused and half embarrassed, he checked and found a similar bat under every stool.
He also noted with some amusement that the pumpkin sitting on the end of the counter was wearing a plastic monocle and a white top hat with an orange ribbon around it. It was wearing an all too familiar smirk.
It was as he was contemplating the pumpkin caricature of KID's smirking face that the door opened to admit the very person he had been thinking about.
"Hey Jii-chan. And Shinichi, you're here!"
Speak of the Devil, Shinichi thought, turning to return the greeting. Then he really looked at what Kaito was wearing and blanched.
The alpha magician grinned and struck a pose, showing off his police officer's uniform. "What do you think?"
Shinichi wasn't sure whether to laugh or groan. "That's just not right…"
"Aww, admit it, I look cool."
"…" Shinichi thought he might rather die than admit that.
Laughing, Kaito strode across the room and leaned down to steal a kiss before Shinichi could stop him. Turning bright red, the detective snuck a look towards the old man behind the counter out of the corner of his eye just in time to see said old man catch the glass he'd just dropped before it could hit the ground. But Shinichi wasn't given any time to contemplate the issue as Kaito looked him up and down and frowned.
"Where's your costume?"
"I didn't bring one."
"But this is a costume party."
Shinichi frowned. "You only said it was a Halloween party. You never said anything about costumes."
"That's because it goes without saying," Kaito admonished. "Everyone knows Halloween parties are all about costumes. Come on. We gotta fix this before everyone else gets here."
"But I don't want to dress up," Shinichi protested, clutching his coffee like he thought it could protect him from certain people's holiday fervor.
It didn't.
Before he knew it, he was being ushered out the door as Kaito called back to the old man, "We'll be right back!"
-0-
Jii watched the two go and wondered what to make of it all. Judging from Shinichi's reaction to Kaito's choice of Halloween costume, the boy clearly either knew or strongly suspected Kaito's connection to the Kaitou KID. In the same token, Kaito's behavior too suggested that he knew that the detective knew this. And yet their interactions had been…well, comfortable, Jii supposed was the best way to put it. But it was more than that too.
Their was a familiarity between them that Jii had a difficult time believing could have been developed in the scant handful of months they had been dating.
…Oh god, they were dating.
The Kaitou KID was dating the country's most famous detective.
Jii sank onto the stool behind the bar counter. He was getting way too old for this.
On the other hand, he had to admit that he hadn't seen Kaito so happy in a long time.
He was still pondering this when the guests started trickling in, and Kaito returned dragging a pretty young woman in a snow white kimono embroidered with a white on white pattern of snowflakes. The girl was blushing and glaring daggers at Kaito. It was that glare that finally clued Jii in, and he nearly dropped the glass of cider he'd been about to hand over to another guest. The young woman in the yuki onna costume was Kudo Shinichi. His wig was hiding that distinctive cowlick, but Jii had spent enough time around disguise specialists to see past the frills. Kaito had applied a little padding and makeup to help him fit his costume, but those changes had been minimal. He'd only needed a little touching up to highlight and enhance the more delicate features Shinichi had inherited from his mother. Combine that with the relatively simple but elegant outfit and the blush and Kudo Shinichi looked less like a snow demon and more like a snow princess. Albeit one who was not very happy with her knight.
On the other hand, the fact that he had allowed himself to be dragged back to the Blue Parrot in that getup at all (and the fact that he apparently intended to stay for the party in said costume) also said a lot. As did the way his eyes softened when Kaito leaned in and whispered something to him (even if he rolled them too).
At that point, the number of guests reached the bustling point, and Jii was momentarily swamped with people asking for special orders at the bar or regulars stopping by to simply chat. The night spun by in a whirl of music, laughter, snacks, dancing, and, quite naturally, a pool tournament and a costume contest. For Kaito, Jii suspected, one of the highlights was definitely the gob smacked expression that blossomed on Hakuba's face when he realized that the pretty young woman he was talking to was actually Kudo Shinichi. Even Jii found the way the blonde blanched and spluttered quite funny. The merriment was everything a party host could ask for.
Every time there was a lull, however, Jii's eyes would automatically move to search out Kaito and Shinichi. He watched the way they watched each other and marveled at the easy way they interacted. They…fit. And he found himself thinking that maybe, just maybe, this wasn't the terrible mistake he had first thought it was.
So it was that, when Kaito left Shinichi deep in a conversation with Aoko and Hakuba as the crowd was thinning for the night to have a private word with Jii, the old man was honestly able to congratulate him on finally finding someone.
Kaito smiled one of rare, truly genuine smiles. "Thanks. I'll introduce you two properly when we have more time."
"I look forward to it."
Kaito raised a knowing eyebrow at that. "Really?"
"He's…not what I expected," Jii admitted. In more ways than one, he added to himself, though he suspected that Kaito heard the words he hadn't spoken anyway. "But I think he may be good for you."
Kaito laughed and raised the mug of hot chocolate he was holding in a toast. "Glad you approve."
"I do wish you had warned me though," the old man added.
Kaito looked amused. "Shin-chan said the same thing. He was afraid we'd accidentally give you a heart attack."
It was Jii's turn to chuckle. "Sounds to me like he gives good advice. You should consider listening sometime."