Chapter 1
Notes:
Just in case anyone isn’t aware, a wet willy is a prank children play on each other where they lick their finger and stick it in another kid’s ear. I’m sure it won’t come up at all though. It’s not like Kaito is a little shit or anything.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Shinichi sat on the floor in his father’s library, trying and failing to concentrate on his book. Try as he might to focus, his attention kept getting drawn to the boy sitting beside him. The boy in question, Kaito, was the son of his mother’s teacher.
When they had first been introduced a year ago, Shinichi had immediately noticed how similar Kaito looked to him. It wasn’t uncommon for them to be mistaken as brothers by strangers. The biggest difference in their appearance was their hair: Kaito’s being wild and unruly while Shinichi’s was much more neat except for a small bit that stuck up in the back. But while their appearance was similar, their personalities were anything but. Kaito was always bursting with energy and unable to keep still. Shinichi, on the other hand, tended to save his energy for the soccer field. It made playing with the other boy difficult sometimes. Sure, Shinichi loved playing tag as much as the next kid, but sometimes he just wanted to sit and read. What was wrong with that? They’d tried to compromise and play soccer, but Shinichi had given up when Kaito refused to follow the rules and kept touching the ball with his hands. In the end, Shinichi had resigned himself to the fact that when his friend came over, he wasn’t going to get any reading done that day.
Today was no different. Kaito was over, so of course he wasn’t making any progress in his book. Except this time it wasn’t because Kaito was demanding his attention.
Actually, today the opposite was the problem.
After watching him for several minutes in silence, Shinichi finally spoke up, “Kaito, what are you doing?”
Kaito glanced at him over his shoulder, “Ah, sorry Shin-chan. Am I being too loud?”
Shinichi puffed out his cheeks in a pout. “Kai, I told you to stop calling me that! I’m 7 years old already. I’m getting too old to be called Shin-chan.”
“No fair! Your mom still calls you Shin-chan,” Kaito whined.
“I told her to stop too but she just does what she wants!”
“Well I’m older than you, so that makes me your elder, meaning you have to listen to me. And I want to keep calling you Shin-chan,” Kaito declared with satisfaction, as if he had just won.
“You’re only a year older than me! You can’t use that to win every time!”
“Can too!”
Their argument quickly devolved as both boys ended up wrestling on the floor together. It wasn’t long before Kaito was sitting on top of Shinichi, giving the other boy a large grin that spelled trouble.
“Say I win and I’ll let you up,” Kaito taunted.
Shinichi kicked his legs in an attempt to throw the other boy off him, his arms not much use as they were pinned at his sides and under Kaito’s legs, but Kaito barely moved.
Kaito’s grin grew and he stuck one of his fingers in his mouth before holding the wet finger up for Shinichi to see. “Say it, or you get the wet willy.”
The pinned boy shrieked and doubled his efforts to throw Kaito off. Kaito in turn brought his saliva-coated finger closer to Shinichi’s ear and wagged it threateningly. Shinichi shot him a glare, but seeing no way out of it, he said through gritted teeth, “Fine! You win.”
“And?”
“And you can keep calling me Shin-chan. Now get off me!”
Kaito grinned in victory, calling out, “No take-backsies!” and ruffling the other boy’s hair before he got up. “So Shin-chan , you were saying?”
“Oh, right,” Shinichi answered while smoothing his hair. He‘d forgotten about his original question. “I was just wondering what you were doing?”
“I’m trying to do this magic trick my dad showed me. It’s where I make a flower appear out of nowhere!” Kaito said while throwing his arms up in the air.
“Oh,” Shinichi said with a blink, surprised at what had been keeping his friend so quiet for so long. “Can I see?”
“Sure!” Kaito said with a broad grin before he screwed up his face in concentration. He gave his wrist a clumsy twist and a small pink daisy appeared. His grin returned and he gave Shinichi an expectant look.
Shinichi himself looked unimpressed, “It was in your sleeve.”
“Hold on, I wasn’t ready yet! I’m still practicing! I’m going to keep practicing until you can’t see how I do it,” Kaito declared before he turned his attention back to the flower, deeply focused.
Shinichi watched his friend for a moment longer before he shrugged and went back to his book, but he smiled to himself thinking about his and Kaito’s new game.
0-0-0-0-0
“What about you, Shinichi?”
“Huh?” The boy looked up from his book in confusion to Sonoko, who was staring at him expectantly.
“Stop reading that stupid book and talk with us! Sensei said since we finished our work early we could use the last few minutes of class to do whatever we want!” The girl reprimanded.
Shinichi’s expression slipped into a deadpan, “Yeah, whatever we want. And I want to read this book I took from my dad’s library.”
“What are you reading?” Ran peered over curiously.
He turned to his friend with a smile, happy someone was taking an interest, “It’s a book about a detective named Sherlock Holmes.”
“Bor~ring,” Sonoko said in ridicule, but was promptly ignored. She scowled and tried to bring the attention back to herself again. “What’s so great about that book anyway? He’s just a detective.”
Little did she know, she had just said the perfect phrase to bait Shinichi into talking to her again. He turned to her with a scowl, “ Just a detective? My dad said he’s considered the best detective!”
“So that’s why your dad gave you the book? Because you’ve been interested in detective stuff recently?” Ran asked.
“Well, he didn’t actually give me the book. He said I was too young to read it and might not understand it very well. He said I should try reading it maybe when I’m 10,” Shinichi grumbled.
“But that’s only a few years away. We’re already 7 years old,” Ran said patiently.
“I can already understand stuff that older kids read! I’m super smart!” Shinichi argued.
“And so humble,” Sonoko said with an eye roll.
Shinichi continued on as if she hadn’t said anything, “And my dad doesn’t think I can do it, which isn’t fair at all! I’ll show him that I can read these books. And someday I’ll be an even better detective than Sherlock Holmes!”
“Well I think that answers that: you’re definitely going to be an alpha,” Sonoko proclaimed.
“Eh?” Shinichi asked, confused by the sudden change in topic.
“That’s what Ran and I were discussing while you were reading your dumb book!” Sonoko explained, “We were talking about what we thought everyone might be when they grow up. And I bet you’re going to be an alpha.”
Shinichi raised an eyebrow, “There’s no way you can know that. We aren’t going to present our secondary genders until we’re much older.”
“Yeah, but this magazine I read said that alphas are stubborn, confident, and aggressive, and they don’t back down from a challenge! That proves you’re going to be an alpha,” Sonoko said with a little nod, as if she had just proved her point. She then seemed to realize something and turned back to Ran, “Oh, so that means you’re going to have to be an omega if you want to marry Shinichi. Because alphas marry omegas.”
“Sonoko, I don’t want to marry Shinichi. He’s just my friend,” Ran said with a frown, this clearly not being the first time they’d had this discussion.
“But you two have been friends since you were in preschool, and you’re always together!” Sonoko argued.
“Shinichi has been friends with Kaito almost as long, and they’re always together too! The only reason I see Shinichi more is because Kaito doesn’t go to school with us. But that doesn’t mean Shinichi wants to marry Kaito!” Ran countered.
For some reason, Ran’s statement made Shinichi blush, though he wasn’t sure why. ‘I wonder if Kaito is going to be an alpha, beta, or omega?’ he thought to himself. Then he realized what he’d just thought and shook his head, wondering why he cared. He didn’t notice Ran watching him.
“Anyway Shinichi, when you present as an alpha, you better protect Ran. Because it’s an alpha’s job to protect the ones they love,” Sonoko continued, choosing to ignore Ran’s denial.
Shinichi snorted. “Ran can protect herself. She’s amazing at karate and super strong.”
Ran beamed at the praise, but Sonoko rolled her eyes. “I swear, you don’t have a romantic bone in your body. I feel sorry for whatever omega you end up with someday.”
‘So does she want me and Ran to marry each other or not?’ Shinichi thought but wisely didn’t ask. He didn’t want to encourage Sonoko to ship them even more than she already did. He and Ran both had already explained to her many times that they were just friends, but the young heiress never listened. Worse, with how loud she was, some of the other kids in the class were starting to take notice and also thought they liked each other.
Shinichi’s thoughts circled back to Sonoko’s previous statement, that alphas marry omegas. Originally he hadn’t paid it much attention, focusing instead on the rest of her declaration, but he thought back to it now.
He still was thinking about it even hours later.
“Hello! Earth to Shin-chan,” Kaito said while waving his hand in front of Shinichi’s face.
“Ah! Sorry Kai, I think I spaced out for a moment there.”
Kaito flopped down next to him on the couch and took out some juggling balls. He began to toss them into the air, but immediately dropped one. Not at all discouraged, he picked it up and tried again, able to juggle them for a couple minutes this time before dropping one. Every time one fell, he would pick it up and try again. Shinichi watched out of the corner of his eye, secretly impressed. Kaito’s skills were already better than they’d been last week; his friend had obviously been practicing a lot. He felt a swell of pride for him.
Kaito shot him a grin, clearly not oblivious to Shinichi watching him. He stopped juggling and asked, “So what do you think?”
“You’ve gotten better, but you still need to practice a lot more,” Shinichi answered honestly.
Kaito just chuckled, “Still as harsh a critic as ever. Someday, I’m going to become so good, even you will be impressed by me!”
Shinichi cocked a grin in return, “I look forward to it.”
“So now are you going to tell me what you were thinking about?” Kaito asked.
“Huh? Oh, that. It’s just something Sonoko said,” Shinichi answered.
“Did she say something about you and Ran-chan getting married again?” Kaito asked, looking a little grumpy.
“She did, despite us both telling her again that we’re just friends, but that’s not what I was thinking about.”
“Oh. So what was it?” He asked, his mood suddenly improved.
“Well, it’s just… do you believe alphas can only marry omegas?” Shinichi asked a little self consciously.
Kaito snorted.
“Hey! Don’t laugh!” Shinichi protested.
“Sorry, it’s just, that’s what you’ve been worried about? My dad said that anyone can marry whomever they want. Doesn’t matter if they’re an alpha, beta, or omega. Alphas don’t have to marry omegas, and my parents are proof. My mom’s an omega, but dad is a beta,” Kaito said.
Shinichi blinked, “I didn’t know your dad was a beta. Both of my parents are betas too.”
“Yep! So why were you thinking about it so much anyway?”
“N-no reason!” Shinichi said hurriedly and buried his face back into his book.
0-0-0-0-0
Shinichi stood next to the grave, listening to Kaito’s open sobs while tears trailed down his own cheeks. Kaito was squeezing his hand so hard it hurt, but he didn’t say a word of complaint. He would gladly let Kaito break his hand if he thought it would bring his friend any comfort.
After some time, hand holding no longer seemed to be enough, and Kaito pulled Shinichi against him and threw his arms around him. He rested his head on Shinichi’s shoulder and continued to sob, soon leaving Shinichi’s shoulder soaked with tears.
Shinichi wrapped his own arms around Kaito, holding the young magician just as tightly. He vowed at that moment that from now on, he would always protect his friend. He wasn’t sure if that indeed made him an alpha, but at that moment, he really didn’t care.
Notes:
Thank you to my beta readers, the wonderful NobodyInParticular123456 and Ephyna. They were both helpful not just beta reading, but also helping me anytime my brain stuck and I needed to talk a scene out. Also my numerous brain farts, like when I forgot the word for “vending machine.” You were both a great help.
Thanks for reading! Please consider leaving a comment, they always make my day!
Chapter Text
Shinichi waited in line at the cafe, mentally repeating everyone’s drink orders in his head. Sonoko would throw a fit if he got her order wrong again. ‘Though if she doesn’t want me to mess it up, she could try ordering something a little simpler,’ he mentally grumbled.
He finally made it to the front of the line and ordered his and Ran’s drinks first before he requested, “I would also like a Venti, half-caf, triple-shot, caramel, mocha, soy, no foam, extra whip, extra hot, upside-down, caramel drizzle, with seven pumps of caramel syrup and seven pumps of mocha syrup, double-blended Frappuccino.”
The barista blinked at him a few times before asking, “Sorry, your first two orders were so simple; I wasn’t prepared for such a complicated one. Could you repeat that?”
Shinichi mentally sighed and repeated the ridiculous beverage again, hoping he hadn’t messed anything up. Once he’d paid, he wandered over to the pickup area to wait, and let his eyes scan the small cafe to see if Ran and Sonoko had found seats yet.
He spotted them sitting in the deep cushioned chairs in the corner. He was pretty sure that when they’d entered, another group of girls had been eyeing that same spot, but he wasn’t surprised Sonoko had gotten her way.
He was pulled from his thoughts when he heard someone not so quietly whisper, “Hey, see those girls over there? They’re pretty cute, right?”
Someone else responded, “Huh? Oh, the ones in the corner? Yeah, they’re super cute. I think the one on the left is totally my type.”
The voices belonged to two teens to Shinichi’s side. He followed their gaze and saw that of course they were talking about Ran and Sonoko, with Ran being the one on left that the second guy had called ‘his type’.
“Ah, wait! I think I recognize that girl now. Isn’t she always hanging out with Kudo Shinichi?” The first one spoke up again.
“Who?” friend two asked.
“Seriously? You haven’t heard of Kudo Shinichi? He’s that teen detective that’s started appearing in the newspapers recently. He solved some cases that even the police couldn’t figure out!” friend one answered. Shinichi smirked to himself at the praise.
“Oh, that guy! He was in the paper last week for figuring out that supposedly unsolvable locked room murder. But what does he have to do with anything?” friend two asked.
“That girl is his girlfriend, dude! And apparently Kudo’s an alpha, so we don’t want to get caught hitting on his girl,” friend one said.
Friend two sounded skeptical when he asked, “An alpha? Didn’t the papers say Kudo was only 14 years old? Did he already present?”
“Well, no,” friend one admitted, but then continued more firmly, “But everyone knows he’s going to be an alpha. The papers always say so. Everyone who knows him says that he behaves just like an alpha.”
Shinichi scoffed to himself and began playing on his phone, wishing the two teens would learn how to actually whisper so that he could ignore them more easily. If they were going to have such a boring conversation, the least they could do was talk quieter so those around them wouldn’t have to be subjected to such a dull topic.
“Wait, isn’t that Kudo Shinichi over there? Oh shit, you don’t think he heard us do you?” friend one asked, sounding scared.
“Shh, I don’t think so. Actually, he might be glaring at us. He’s totally glaring at us. Forget the drinks, let’s just go,” friend two answered before leaving, the other close behind him.
Shinichi rolled his eyes and watched them walk out. The barista finally finished his order and handed it to him with a small apology for the wait, which he waved off with an apology of his own for the complicated order. Then he took the drinks in the cup carrier and made his way to the girls.
“Finally! Took you long enough,” Sonoko complained while reaching for her drink.
“If you don’t want it to take so long, you shouldn’t order something so complicated.” Shinichi retorted.
Sonoko gave a little shrug and changed tactics, “Well you better have gotten my order right this time.”
“If you’re just going to complain, you can order it yourself next time instead of making me always do it,” Shinichi shot back.
“Uh, there you go acting like such an alpha again, fighting with me about the drink order!”
Shinichi’s eyebrow twitched, “Why is everyone so obsessed with my secondary gender? We don’t even know if I’m going to be an alpha.”
Sonoko snorted, “Yeah, as if you could be anything else. You fit the criteria for an alpha almost perfectly.”
Ran made a noise as if she was going to comment, then decided against it.
“You don’t agree?” Sonoko asked her friend in surprise.
“Well, I mean, I admit Shinichi has a lot of alpha traits, but I think he has traits of an omega too,” Ran offered.
Shinichi raised his eyebrows in surprise. This was the first time someone had said he acted like anything other than an alpha. “Really? Like what?”
“Well, some might argue that it’s submissive behavior to always get our drinks when Sonoko asks,” Ran started.
“That’s just a good alpha taking care of his pack,” Sonoko interrupted.
“Maybe,” Ran conceded before continuing, “but he’s also very patient. He’ll let Kaito show him the same magic trick over and over until he does it perfectly.”
“Yeah, but isn’t an omega also supposed to be sensitive to other people’s feelings? He’s always so blunt with Kaito when he’s explaining how he figured out his tricks,” Sonoko argued.
“Hmm, but somehow I don’t think that Kaito minds? In fact, I think it’s part of the fun for him. I think he likes the challenge,” Ran said.
“Maybe Kaito doesn’t mind, but the detective geek is pretty emotionally dense with everyone else too, not just Kaito.”
Ran chuckled, “I guess that’s true.”
“Could you guys please stop talking about me as if I’m not here?” Shinichi grumbled.
“Is all this talk about you being an omega upsetting your alpha pride?” Sonoko teased.
“No, I’m just tired of this conversation,” Shinichi answered.
Honestly, he was really starting to get tired of everyone’s obsession with his status as a supposed alpha. His increased appearance in the media due to his detective work had only made the problem worse. And he hadn’t even presented yet!
“Maybe we shouldn’t try to put labels on people based on assumptions from surface-level personality traits,” Shinichi grumbled.
“Shinichi, do you even want to be an alpha?” Ran asked curiously.
The question made him pause. Ever since he was a child, it seemed like everyone had always told him he was going to be an alpha, so much so that he had never thought about being anything else. He knew that they didn’t really know, a fact he was constantly reminding Sonoko of, but hearing someone ask him this for the first time made him realize that he might have started to believe it too.
Before he could answer, Sonoko interrupted. “Of course he wants to be an alpha. Every guy wants to be an alpha, and they want to meet and fall in love with a cute omega.” She gave Ran a meaningful look, telling Shinichi that she very much still believed he and Ran would get together.
Ran turned to him and directly asked, “Is that true?”
Shinichi, finding he wasn’t sure how to answer, could only shrug.
“Ugh, he’s totally useless. Let’s talk about something other than the detective geek,” Sonoko said with a large sigh.
“Please, by all means,” Shinichi grumbled, “ Please talk about something other than my secondary gender.”
Still, even as he tried to focus on the rest of the conversation, he found his mind kept drifting back to their previous one. Even days later, his thoughts kept circling back to it.
0-0-0-0-0
“So?” Kaito pressed.
“Huh? Oh, the ace of spades was hidden in your left shoe the entire time,” Shinichi answered distractedly.
“Actually, it was in my right shoe,” Kaito said triumphantly.
“Oh, my mistake,” Shinichi said with a shrug.
Kaito quirked a brow in surprise at his nonchalant answer, “Everything okay?”
Shinichi gave another shrug, looking indifferent, “Left shoe, right shoe, it doesn’t make that much of a difference. I still basically got it right.”
Kaito narrowed his eyes before turning and giving Shinichi his full attention, “Shin-chan, tell me what’s wrong.”
“Nothing is wrong, except you still keep insisting on calling me by that silly nickname.”
“Well too bad. You told me I could keep calling you Shin-chan; no take-backsies.”
“That was when we were kids! And you weren’t playing fair!” Shinichi said in disbelief.
“Doesn’t matter, you still said it,” Kaito said and stuck his tongue out at him.
“Ugh, you are unbelievable,” Shinichi huffed, though honestly he was complaining more on principle. He didn’t actually care if Kaito called him Shin-chan. Maybe he used to when he was a lot younger and was going through that phase all kids go through when they’re in a hurry to grow up, but those feelings of annoyance were long gone.
Not that he would tell Kaito that.
He was pretty sure his friend knew how he felt anyway. Kaito liked to tease and pull pranks, but he never hurt feelings.
“So…?” Kaito prompted when Shinichi remained quiet.
“Nothing is wrong, Kaito,” Shinichi insisted.
Kaito stared at him for a moment, giving Shinichi a feeling of dread. He started to wonder if he should slowly back away from his friend, but it was too late. Kaito pounced on him, and Shinichi let out a very undignified squeak that he would deny later. In the next moment, Kaito was on top of him, tickling him mercilessly while Shinichi shrieked with giggles. He tried struggling, nearly throwing both of them off the couch in the process, but his efforts worked about as well as when they were children.
“Alright, fine! I give up! I give up!” Shinichi finally cried out between fits of laughter. Thankfully, those dastardly fingers retreated, and he took a moment to just catch his breath, eyes closed while he collected himself.
He opened his eyes and saw Kaito leaning over him, staring at him intently. Strangely, even though Shinichi had been the one subjected to Kaito’s tickle torture, Kaito’s face also appeared flushed. The sight of Kaito above him like that… they’d wrestled like this too many times to count in the past. Just boys being boys.
So why did it make him feel strange now?
“I said I give up. You can get off me now,” and he was proud of how he managed to keep his voice even, but also wondered why he was so nervous.
“Right,” Kaito said, but made no move to get off of him.
Shinichi watched him closely, wary of another prank. Kaito’s eyes flicked down, looking at his chin? No, it was higher than that. His lips. The attention made him realize how dry his mouth felt after their rather one-sided tussle, causing him to lick his lips. For some reason, this made Kaito flush more.
“Kai?” Shinichi finally asked in confusion.
Hearing his name seemed to finally break whatever spell he had been under, and Kaito climbed off him. He scooted over on the couch, giving Shinichi room to sit up.
“So what’s wrong?” Kaito asked.
Shinichi wasn’t sure how to answer at first. After a moment, he said, “I’ve been thinking about the second gender thing a lot lately. We’re going to be presenting soon, if we’re going to be anything other than a beta.”
Kaito leaned against the couch and let his head fall back, looking up at the ceiling in thought. “I guess it is coming up soon. Ran and Sonoko could present next year, since girls normally go through puberty earlier than boys. I also might present next year, since I’m older than you. But you probably have another two years, so why worry about it now?”
Shinichi shrugged, “It’s kinda hard not to think about it when everyone else seems so obsessed with it.”
Kaito winced in sympathy, “I did notice how often the newspapers like to label you an alpha.”
Shinichi nodded, “Right. I guess I just want them to not see me as Kudo Shinichi the alpha, but as Kudo Shinichi the detective.”
“I can understand that,” Kaito said with a nod, then he grinned mischievously, “I still think of you as Kudo Shinichi, the boy that made his entire third grade class cry when he explained his deductions on why Santa isn’t real.”
Shinichi turned away with a pout, “Ugh, Ran never should’ve told you that story. It’s not my fault all the other kids were pestering me on why I didn’t believe in Santa! I didn’t want to lie to them! But I do regret making them cry.”
His answer only made Kaito laugh. Shinichi pouted for a moment longer before he couldn’t help but join in, and then they were both laughing together. As he laughed and his worries seemed more distant, he couldn’t help but feel a swell of gratitude towards his friend.
0-0-0-0-0
Shinichi noticed a change between him and Kaito after that day. Well, that wasn’t completely true. Kaito was still the same. What he noticed was a change in himself whenever he was around Kaito.
He became aware of it first when he noticed a new feeling when Kaito would touch him. When they sat together and their knees brushed. When Kaito would throw an arm around his shoulder. When he would hold his hand so that they didn’t get separated in a crowd. Every touch between them would send little sparks of electricity tingling on his skin. Or sometimes instead of electricity, it was more like a warmth that spread through him. It made him feel strange, but not in a bad way. On the contrary, he found himself wanting Kaito to touch him more.
With the touching came the next thing he noticed, which was how often his face would heat up when he was around Kaito. It always seemed to happen at the strangest times too. His face always seemed to heat when Kaito would touch him, making him wonder if it was something to do with his friend’s body heat warming him up. But it also happened at other random times, like if Kaito smiled at him or praised him.
Things came to a head when one day Kaito hugged him before leaving. The hug itself wasn’t unusual. Kaito had always been a physically affectionate person. They didn’t hug every time they parted, but it happened often enough. Shinichi should be very used to it. But that day, when Kaito hugged him, a feeling of warmth spread through him, giving him a great feeling of comfort, and to his embarrassment, he found he’d all but melted into the embrace without realizing it.
Kaito chuckled and asked with a teasing grin, “Are you going to miss me that much? Don’t worry, you’ll see me again this weekend.”
Shinichi blurted out, “This weekend? What about tomorrow?”
“Can’t tomorrow. I promised Aoko I would go with her to get ice cream.”
“Oh right, I forgot,” Shinichi answered, trying not to let his disappointment show.
Kaito reached forward and ruffled his hair. He ignored the glare Shinichi shot him while smoothing his hair back into place. “Aw, don’t be jealous. I have to spend time with Aoko too, otherwise I wouldn’t be a good friend, would I?”
“I’m not jealous,” Shinichi lied. It was another change he had noticed when he was around Kaito, these new feelings of jealousy.
“Sure you aren’t,” Kaito said, seeing right through him. “Well, I’m off. See you, Shinichi! Try not to miss me too much!” As he walked towards the door, he blew Shinichi a kiss, causing his face to heat in what he was going to call anger at his friend’s mocking behavior.
“Bye Ran, see you next time,” Kaito said with a little wave before closing the door behind him.
Shinichi jolted in surprise. He’d completely forgotten about Ran.
He turned and saw his friend watching him with interest. She’d obviously witnessed the hug and everything that came after, to Shinichi’s embarrassment. After Kaito left, she gathered her books in silence, putting away the homework the three of them had been working on together. Shinichi put his own books away as well, hoping that Ran wouldn’t bring up the hug but also knowing he was never that lucky. He was proven correct when Ran spoke up a moment later.
“Shinichi, are you in love with Kaito?” she asked him.
Shinichi, who had wandered into the kitchen to refill his coffee cup, almost dropped his mug in surprise. He turned and gave Ran wide eyes. He opened and closed his mouth several times, unsure how to respond. Him? In love with Kaito? But the more he thought about it…
“I’m not sure,” he lied.
He could tell she didn't believe him. She opened her mouth and he mentally braced himself.
“Okay,” she simply said, her voice soft.
Some of the tension left his shoulders. Was that it?
“Okay?”
She nodded. “Just remember I’m always here for you if you want someone to talk to.”
He felt himself relax more and gave her a small smile. “Okay.”
She let the subject drop after that, but before she left, she pulled him into a hug. He squeezed her back. He wasn’t sure if he would take her up on her offer, and he wasn’t even sure what there was to talk about, but it made him feel better knowing that he could always go to her if he wanted.
0-0-0-0-0
Shinichi stood in his doorway with the door cracked open, looking at the person on his doorstep in annoyance. “Where’s Ran?” he finally asked.
Sonoko gave him an equally annoyed look and shoved past him, heading inside. It was unusual to see the girl at his house by herself. Usually she and Ran walked from the Mouri detective agency to Shinichi’s house before they all walked to school together. “She texted me that she was running a little late this morning and to meet her here,” the young heiress replied.
“Is it something to do with her dad? Maybe he was up all night drinking again.”
“You already know as much as I do. Now get over here, I know how to pass the time while we wait for her to arrive,” Sonoko said while taking a seat at his table. She pulled from her bag what looked like a magazine, the cover being one Shinichi recognized from how often she read it. It was the type of magazine aimed at teen girls.
“What’s that?” he asked, sitting across from her, curious despite himself.
“It’s a personality test to determine if you’re going to be an alpha or omega!” she proclaimed excitedly.
“What about betas?” Shinichi asked.
Sonoko snorted at him, “Of course betas aren’t included. That would be boring!”
Shinichi rolled his eyes but decided not to argue. “I don’t suppose this is a quiz you plan on taking yourself while we wait for Ran?”
“Obviously the quiz is for you,” Sonoko answered while giving him a look like he was slow.
“Right, how silly of me,” Shinichi responded blandly.
“Alright, first question: you’re walking down the street when you see a purse snatcher in front of you. Do you, A) beat them to a pulp, B) look around for someone else to help while crying, C) ignore it, it’s not your problem, or D) wait for the robber to leave, then go and console the person that was robbed,” Sonoko asked.
Shinichi gave her an incredulous look, “None of those? I would instruct the nearest person to call the police, then chase after the purse snatcher so they don’t get away. Once I caught them, I would put them in handcuffs and hold them until the police arrived.”
Sonoko gave him a look before sighing, “I’m just going to circle A. On to question two: which of these emojis do you most frequently use?”
Shinichi didn’t even bother looking at the options, “I don’t use emojis.”
“Oh right, I guess you don’t. Hmm, I’ll just pick this one because it's the face you make the most in real life. Oh look, you’re making it right now!” She said in delight while circling something on the page. Shinichi couldn’t see which emoji she’d selected, and he wasn’t sure what his face looked like right now, but he was pretty sure he should feel insulted.
The other twenty three questions went similarly. Once Shinichi answered all of them, Sonoko began to total up the score. After she was done, she let out a triumphant, “Ah-ha! See, I told you you were an alpha.”
She shoved the magazine in his face, causing him to go cross-eyed trying to look. He leaned back in his chair so he could properly see the results. “These results say I’m 55% alpha, 45% omega. That doesn’t exactly sound like an inarguable conclusion. Not to mention that this quiz doesn’t even include betas.”
Sonoko shrugged, “Well the percentages are going to be a little off because someone kept making up their own answers and forcing me to pick the option that was most similar. But still, this proves that I was right and you’re totally an alpha.”
Shinichi never got a chance to reply because at that moment, they heard the front door open and Ran’s voice call out, “Guys! I’m here! Stop whatever argument you’re having so we can get to school, or we’re going to be late!”
They both jumped up from the table and moved to join her, but stopped once she was in sight. There was something different about her. Was she wearing a new perfume?
“Oh my god, Ran ! Are you an alpha?” Sonoko shouted in disbelief.
Ran scratched her cheek, looking embarrassed, “I guess I am. I presented this morning.”
“But, but…” for once Sonoko was at a complete loss for words.
Shinichi offered his friend a smile, “Congrats, Ran. I’m happy for you. So, shall we get going?”
Ran returned his smile and the three of them exited his house and began to walk to school together. They had the same conversations they always had; nothing was different between them. Ran complained about her father drinking too much, Shinichi told her about the latest case he’d run into while walking home the other day, and Sonoko gossiped about who was dating whom at school.
The only thing that had changed was that Sonoko didn’t make any more comments shipping Ran and Shinichi.
0-0-0-0-0
After Ran presented as an alpha, Sonoko wasn’t the only one who stopped taking interest in their relationship.
“Excuse me, Kudo-kun?” a boy asked timidly.
“Yes?” Shinichi looked up and recognized him as someone from his class, Reiji, he thinks. It was lunch period, and Ran and Sonoko had gone to the cafeteria to get them something to eat while Shinichi had been tasked with getting their drinks. He’d already gone to the vending machine and come back, and now he was waiting in the classroom at his desk for the girls to return.
“I was wondering, well… since you and Mouri-san are no longer dating, if you would mind if I asked her out?” When Shinichi just stared at him in confusion, he continued, “I’m going to be a beta, you see. But I’ve always had an attraction to strong women. And now that Mouri-san has presented as an alpha, well… I guess I’ve started to see her in a new light?”
Shinichi frowned, “Ran has always been strong. Her presenting as an alpha has nothing to do with that. She placed second in her karate championship just last week, and she hadn’t even presented as an alpha then.”
“Right! Right, it’s just that now that she’s an alpha, everyone knows she’s strong. I think people would think she makes a good match for a beta like me,” Possibly-Reiji explained.
Shinichi’s frown shifted into a glare and he stood up, resting his weight on the palms of his hands on the desk between them. Possibly-Reiji gulped. “I think Ran deserves to be with someone who likes her for who she is, not for her status as an alpha. So if this conversation is supposed to be asking for my permission for you to date her, my first answer is that Ran can date whoever she wants without needing my permission. My second answer is, like hell would I let someone like you ever date her.”
Possibly-Reiji yelped and scrambled away, yelling something about “alpha Kudo being possessive of his ex-girlfriend.”
“And for the record, we were never even dating!” Shinichi yelled after him.
He noticed people staring at him and realized he’d made a scene. He hurriedly sat back down and suddenly became very interested in his book.
“Hey detective geek, we’re back! You better have gotten me the peach soda, not the strawberry,” Sonoko called out with Ran following behind her.
Shinichi’s eyes flicked to the two strawberry sodas sitting next to his coffee. It wasn’t his fault the vending machine was out, but he knew that she wouldn’t accept that answer. Maybe he could distract her. “Hey Sonoko, remember that bag you had the other day? I overheard Sakura-chan admiring it. I think she wanted to know where you bought it.”
“Really? I better go find her and tell her! And maybe she can tell me where she bought her nail polish. I adore that color she’s wearing! Ran, I’ll be right back,” Sonoko said with a little wave.
Ran watched her walk away before taking a seat across from Shinichi, turning her chair so that they were sharing his desk as a table between them. She opened her strawberry soda and shot Shinichi a look that said he hadn’t fooled her. But instead of commenting, she asked, “So, are you hanging out with Kaito today?”
Shinichi’s face instantly brightened, and he nodded, “He said he has a new trick he wants to show me. He seemed pretty confident I won’t figure it out, but we’ll see.”
“Shinichi,” Ran said softly, as if he was a stray cat who she didn’t want to scare off, “I wanted to let you do things on your own time, but it’s been months, and you’ve only become even more obvious. When are you going to admit your feelings to him?”
Shinichi flinched, then hurriedly told her, “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about. Kaito’s just my friend!”
“No, Shinichi, I’m just your friend. Sonoko, even if neither of you will admit it, is your friend. But Kaito is the person you love,” Ran said, her tone soft yet firm, leaving no room for argument.
Shinichi’s shoulders drooped, “It’s just… what if he doesn’t like me back? And then things get all weird between us, and I ruin our friendship, and the awkwardness grows between us until we can’t take it anymore and I move somewhere far away like Liverpool.”
“Shinichi, breathe. You’re spiraling,” Ran said in concern. Then she seemed to process what he’d said and asked, “Wait, why Liverpool? I would have expected you to say London at least. You know, for Holmes and all.”
Shinichi shrugged, “Liverpool is considered the soccer capital of the world, and it’s close enough to London that I could visit whenever I wanted. Or maybe I’ll get a flat in both London and Liverpool and split my time between them. That’s not the point!”
Ran nodded solemnly, “No, you’re right. But don’t you think you might be catastrophizing a bit? I’m pretty sure Kaito would never be happy with you moving away, even if he didn’t return your feelings. Which I’m pretty sure he does, by the way.”
Shinichi looked away, “You don’t know that for sure.”
Ran sighed. She reached across the desk and rested her hand on top of his, trying to give him some comfort. Shinichi mentally noted that her hand felt nice, warm and not clammy at all, but it didn’t provide the same jolt of excitement or the same comfort that Kaito’s hands brought him. “Just think about it, okay?”
Shinichi swallowed thickly and nodded.
0-0-0-0-0
True to his word, Shinichi thought it over. At first, he tried to imagine what might happen if he confessed to Kaito, but he gave up on that pretty quickly. Theorizing wouldn’t get him anywhere. He was a detective, he should be looking for evidence.
Except what kind of evidence should he be looking for?
“I told Sakura-chan that Tsubaki-kun was obviously in love with her, and she should just confess to him already. And you know what? She did! And now they’ve been going out for three solid weeks. All thanks to yours truly! Are you listening to me, detective otaku?” Sonoko asked in annoyance.
“Unfortunately, I was actually,” Shinichi responded dryly, then his eyes widened as an idea came to him. A terrible idea. One he should discard immediately.
But he was desperate.
He was going to ask Sonoko for advice.
It was one of the few times that he and Sonoko were alone together, both waiting for Ran while she was out on an errand for one of their teachers. If he was going to ask, now was the time to do it.
“Say Sonoko, how can you tell when someone is in love with someone else?” He made his tone as light and nonchalant as he could.
Sonoko’s eyes glinted, “Oh ho? Is the genius detective actually admitting I know something he doesn’t?”
“Forget it, this was a mistake.”
“Nuh-uh, I’m not letting you out of this one, not when you’re finally speaking my language. But I’ll share a little secret with you, detective. Everything I’ve learned, I owe to this,” she said, holding up a magazine.
Shinichi raised an eyebrow skeptically, “Another magazine?” Memories of the last time she had pulled out one of her magazines and the quiz he’d subsequently been subjected to, came back to him. He really had made a mistake asking her for help. What had he been thinking?
“ Yes , another magazine. You might have your doubts now, but you’ll see. So who do you think is in love with you?” Sonoko asked, eager for gossip.
“Nobody. I’m asking about a case,” Shinichi lied, thinking quickly.
“Psh, that’s boring. I should’ve guessed,” the girl answered while flipping through the pages, “Now this quiz is much simpler than the last one: you answer either true or false. Now where was it? Ah, found it. First question: they have fun with you, even if the task is not fun, per se.”
Sonoko looked at him expectantly, and Shinichi thought it over. It was a hard question to answer because Kaito was a master at creating his own fun. Even something as simple as house chores Kaito could make interesting. He remembered the last time he’d done any cleaning, and Kaito had joined him to help. Shinichi had been leery to accept at first; usually when Kaito tried to help, his help constituted ridiculous acrobatic stunts like walking on his hands while using his feet to clean, or performing magic tricks like making the furniture levitate while vacuuming under it. But against his better judgment, Shinichi had accepted the amateur magician’s offered help. Then Kaito summoned his doves, and to Shinichi’s amazement, they’d flown around the library with dusters and cleaning cloths, making short work of the dusting. It must’ve taken Kaito weeks to train them, and some would argue it would’ve been a better use of his time to train them to do something else. But Shinichi couldn’t help but be secretly glad Kaito had trained his doves for such a mundane task. It was amazing to watch them.
After the doves finished, the room was free of dust but was also littered with stray feathers. Kaito had trained his birds to dust the room but not to clean up after themselves, so in the end, both boys still had to clean the room anyway. Realizing this, Kaito had cried exaggerated tears of disappointment, and Shinichi had laughed so hard his sides hurt. Kaito, always quick to smile again, had soon joined in, and both boys had laughed together while cleaning up the feathers.
Did it really count if Kaito was entertaining himself? Presumably Kaito would have done the same thing if he’d been cleaning with someone else instead. For some reason, that thought made Shinichi feel a little sad.
Shinichi shrugged in lieu of answering.
Sonoko raised an eyebrow at him, “Okay, not exactly helpful. We’ll just skip that one for now, but I’m going to need true or false answers for the rest of these if you actually want an answer. Next question: they often show off in front of you.”
Shinichi snorted. Kaito was always showing off, but it wasn’t exclusive to when he and Shinichi were together. Since it wasn’t special behavior reserved just for him, “False,” he answered.
“They message you often,” Sonoko continued.
Kaito was always messaging him, but it was mostly memes Shinichi barely followed or maybe a riddle if he was lucky.
“True?”
Sonoko rolled her eyes, “No need to sound so certain.”
“I’m answering the best I can,” Shinichi huffed.
The quiz continued until finally they made it to the end. Sonoko tallied up his score then told him, “Well, according to the results, the person from your case does not appear to be in love.”
Shinichi tried not to feel disappointed, questioning the validity of a quiz found in a teen girl magazine, but it was hard. But what was worse was when Shinichi mentally tallied up his own answers and realized he’d answered true to most of the questions.
It was one thing to admit to himself that he was in love with Kaito; it was another to have the quiz rub in his face just how far gone he was for his friend.
“Oh but there’s one last thing, and it’s pretty important. Honestly, I’m surprised the magazine didn’t lead with this,” Sonoko said.
“What’s that?” Shinichi asked.
“How compatible their secondary genders are. People can date and marry whoever they want, but there’s no question that omega/omega and alpha/alpha relationships are the exception, not the norm,” Sonoko explained, “It’s not uncommon for alphas to simply not be attracted to other alphas, and the same can be true for omegas. Or maybe an omega will only date alphas but have no interest in betas. The importance of secondary gender compatibility cannot be overlooked! So the two people in question from your case, are their secondary genders compatible?”
And with that, Shinichi realized he’d never put much thought into Kaito’s secondary gender.
“I have no idea.”
0-0-0-0-0
Kaito’s 17th birthday had already passed a few months prior. If he was going to present as anything other than a beta, it would happen soon. That was Shinich’s justification for why he should put on hold any thoughts about telling Kaito how he felt. Ran could accuse him of stalling all she wanted, but really it only made sense to wait.
It finally happened one day after Shinichi got home from school. He was about 2 hours late, as per his usual, so Kaito was already waiting for him in the library.
“Shin-chan! You’re home, welcome back!” Kaito said while throwing his arms around Shinichi and hugging him from behind. He asked without letting go, “Any trouble with today’s case?”
Shinichi, who was trying his best not to think too much about how good it felt to be in Kaito’s arms, was thankfully distracted by his friend’s question. “How did you know there was a case?”
“Why else would you be late getting home from school? Well, it was either that or the soccer club begged you to sub for them again, but usually you remember to send me a text when that happens. No text meant it was a case,” Kaito explained.
Shinichi winced, “Sorry, I’ll try to remember to text you in the future. The case went well. And it was only an attempted murder this time. I was able to figure out what the culprit used for their poison, so we were able to counteract it in time to save the victim’s life.”
“That’s my Shin-chan,” Kaito praised while nuzzling Shinichi’s hair with his cheek.
Shinichi’s face warmed at his friend’s words and actions. Feeling his friend holding him like this also emphasized the new height difference between them. For nearly their whole childhood, the two of them had looked very similar, almost identical even. This included their height as well. But over the past year, Kaito seemed to have hit a growth spurt, shooting up past Shinichi. As Kaito held him, he noticed yet another change. Kaito wasn’t just taller, he was bigger too, his shoulders more broad. The young detective was suddenly overcome with the urge to turn around and burrow himself into his friend’s chest.
He mentally shook off the feeling while chastising himself.
He should pull himself out of Kaito’s arms. Being held by his friend like this was beginning to fog up his brain. But before he could take action, he was once again distracted by the taller man.
“Kaito, are you… rumbling?”
“Hmm? Oh, I suppose I am,” Kaito answered.
“But only alphas rumble like that,” Shinichi pointed out. It was one of the first things taught during sex ed class. Omegas purred, and alphas made a deeper, more rumbling noise when they were happy. It was an action they had little control over, some more or less than others.
Kaito didn’t answer at first, seeming content to continue holding him and rubbing his cheek into Shinichi’s hair. Almost like he was scent marking him. Shinichi was suddenly thankful he couldn’t do any purring or rumbling of his own.
“Well, I suppose I can do that now because I presented as an alpha this morning,” Kaito said.
Even though he’d known it from the moment Kaito started rumbling, hearing Kaito say it still caught him off guard. And now that he was looking for it, he thought he could faintly smell the spicy scent that alphas emitted, though the smell didn’t come across as strong as it would be if he were an alpha or omega. Kaito’s smelled a bit like mahogany and teakwood with a bit of a citrusy note, like oranges.
Shinichi pulled himself out of Kaito’s arms, “I’m surprised you didn’t tell me right away. Why do you sound so disinterested?”
Kaito shrugged, “It doesn’t change anything. I’m still me.”
“It changes…” Shinichi started to argue, then cut himself off. Kaito was still Kaito. He was still his best friend. “It changes nothing, you’re absolutely right.”
And Kaito would always be his friend. Shinichi didn’t need to tell him about his feelings. Because nothing would change between them.
Because compatibility between an alpha/alpha relationship was the exception, not the rule.
Notes:
Sonoko’s order just came from googling “complicated Starbucks order meme” because I’m lazy. It was the first result listed.
The part with the personality quiz when Sonoko said that betas aren’t included because they are boring, that’s to poke a little fun at how in most a/b/o fanfics, none of the interesting characters are ever betas. It’s just a little joke.
Thank you to my beta readers, the wonderful NobodyInParticular123456 and Ephyna. They were both helpful not just beta reading, but also helping me anytime my brain stuck and I needed to talk a scene out. Also my numerous brain farts, like when I forgot the word for “vending machine.” You were both a great help.
Thanks for reading! Please consider leaving a comment, they always make my day!
Chapter Text
Shinichi listened to the drone of the helicopter, his mind elsewhere. His heart was still racing. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had so much fun. He couldn’t even find it in himself to be upset that the criminal had gotten away.
‘At least he’s just a thief and not a murderer,’ Shinichi told himself.
The thief had been interesting, to say the least. Everything from his strange outfit, a white suit of all things, to his tricks and how he managed to slip through the police’s grasp every time. And then there was the riddle Shinichi had solved on the clocktower’s face. Of course Shinichi had decided to keep the riddle’s answer to himself. He had his own personal reasons for wanting that clock tower to not be demolished.
Well, maybe the clock tower wasn’t special to him directly, but he knew Kaito would’ve been devastated if the clocktower was gone. That clocktower was where Kaito and Aoko had first met. It was the first time Kaito had successfully pulled off the flower trick after he’d finally gotten good enough that Shinichi couldn’t see him pulling it out of his sleeve. After that day, Aoko had become one of Kaito’s closest friends, the two of them quickly growing close in a way that mirrored his friendship with Ran.
Speaking of Kaito, he couldn’t wait to tell his friend about the strange thief. He just knew his friend would enjoy hearing about it, though he had the sneaking suspicion that he would probably root for the thief rather than the police.
He pulled out his phone with a grin, intending to fire off a text message since he doubted Kaito would be able to hear a call over the sound of the helicopter, but paused when he saw what time it was. He winced. When had it gotten that late? Kaito would probably be asleep by now.
He didn’t want to risk waking him with a text. Kaito had been really busy lately, so much so that they had barely seen each other in the past few months. He knew Aoko had volunteered him for the cultural festival committee which took up a lot of the amateur magician’s free time. Shinichi had been a little surprised at how early Kaito’s school was already working on their cultural festival; the festival was still many months away, but Kaito had just shrugged and said they wanted to get a head start this year. Shinichi himself had never joined the festival planning committee, so he really had no idea how much work went into it. He guessed it wasn’t completely unreasonable. Still, even though they were getting a head start on planning, it was unfortunate how much they worked, forcing Kaito to get home late every day and not giving them much time to hang out together.
It was a little unfair of Aoko to volunteer Kaito for something he didn’t want to do in the first place, especially if it was going to be so demanding of his time. When Shinichi said as much, Kaito begged him not to mention anything about it to Aoko, asking him to not even bring up the word cultural festival. Apparently Kaito had been loudly complaining already and Aoko felt guilty. But when Aoko felt guilty (or angry, or embarrassed, or upset), her way of dealing with her emotions was to attack Kaito with a mop. (Shinichi supposed he couldn’t complain about her being violent, considering it wasn’t too dissimilar to Ran’s habit of karate punching telephone poles and other inanimate objects when she was upset.) So when Kaito had pleaded for him not to say anything to Aoko to save him from another mop attack, Shinichi couldn’t help but comply.
He put his phone back into his pocket. He could tell Kaito about the weird thief another time. After all, it wasn’t like it would be all that long before he got to see his friend again.
0-0-0-0-0
It was only in hindsight that Shinichi was able to recognize the signs for what they were. He’d started wearing baggier sweaters over his usually neat school uniform, desiring the comfort they brought him. He found himself piling extra blankets and pillows on his bed, arranging everything until it was just right. Also he had been eating a lot more over the past couple of days. Typically, he would grab something small in the morning along with his coffee, if he didn’t forgo breakfast completely. Lunch came from the school’s cafeteria, and if Ran or Kaito were unavailable to cook him dinner, he usually got something quick and simple from the convenience store… if he remembered to eat at all. But the past few days, he didn’t skip a single meal and found himself eating more than he usually would on a good day. What should have been the biggest sign was when Kaito accidentally left his hoodie over at Shinichi’s house. After the amateur magician left and Shinichi spotted it, he immediately squirreled it away, wearing it while he was at home every chance he got, only taking it off when he had to go to class and leaving it behind on his bed with the rest of his pillows and blankets. The school couldn’t complain about his baggy sweaters being against the uniform, but they could take Kaito’s hoodie away from him, something Shinichi wasn’t willing to allow. So behind it stayed.
And now as he lay in bed, or more accurately his nest, he realized what must have been going on. Those were pre-heat signs for an omega about to go into heat.
Still, he couldn’t fully be blamed for missing the signs. For almost as long as he could remember, everyone had told him that he was going to be an alpha. They said it with so much conviction that he’d started to believe it himself. Sure, he’d always tried to argue that they had no way of actually knowing, but when he heard it over and over from his friends, his classmates, and even the reporters who almost stalked him at this point, he couldn’t help but believe it a little himself.
Another thing: he was an early bloomer. He was still over 6 months away from his 17th birthday. Ran had presented when she was 16, but girls usually matured earlier than boys. It wasn’t even on his mind to look for signs of a young teen about to present their secondary gender.
It was something he was regretting now as he lay in his bed, shivering as he pulled the blankets around himself tighter and curling around his cramping stomach, trying to ease some of the discomfort. As he shivered, Shinichi wondered who exactly it was that had decided to call it a “heat” because he felt anything but. If omegas felt hot during their heats, why would they have the instinctual urge to bring so many blankets into their nest? And okay, maybe the heat was actually in reference to an omega’s warmer, more feverish body temperature, but he still felt like the name was misleading. He also belatedly realized why he’d been eating more as his stomach cramped once again and the thought of food made him feel a little nauseous.
He pulled his Kaito’s hoodie over his chin up to his nose, inhaling deeply.
Alpha, something in him demanded.
He squeezed his eyes shut, glad that he’d left his phone across the room on his desk to charge overnight. If his phone had been more easily reached, he couldn’t guarantee he wouldn’t text Kaito asking him to come over.
Kaito.
He’d just started to let his feelings for his friend go. After all, Kaito was an alpha, and so was he, or at least he was supposed to be. But if he was actually an omega, did that mean he had a chance with Kaito? He felt something like hope welling up inside of him.
“…still in bed?” Shinichi faintly heard a feminine voice from downstairs ask.
“He better not be! That detective geek is hopeless!” Another voice, this one much louder, answered.
Ran and Sonoko must be here. He glanced at his phone plugged in to its charger, completely out of reach, and realized that he hadn’t texted them. He thought about calling out to them, but couldn’t seem to muster up the energy to do so. That was another thing he hadn’t expected: the lethargy brought about by his heat.
“…feels sick?” he heard Ran ask, both her voice and the sound of her steps growing stronger as she drew closer to the stairs. “Wait, what’s that smell?”
“Hmm? I don’t smell anything,” Sonoko replied.
“It’s a little familiar, like something I’ve smelled before but never this strongly. Hmm, I can’t place it,” Ran answered, now coming up the steps.
There was a pause before Sonoko answered, “Still not smelling anything.”
“It smells like…. omega.”
A particularly strong cramp caused Shinichi to groan, and he squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the wave of pain to pass. He was distracted enough that he didn’t hear his bedroom door open, but he did feel the mattress dip as someone crawled onto the bed.
Alpha?
He opened his eyes and saw Ran kneeling in front of him.
“Omega in need. Let me help,” Ran said, sounding strange.
No, not my alpha.
Suddenly Sonoko was there, pulling Ran away. Sonoko looked angry and a little scared while Ran blinked, looking a little dazed. “Ran, we have to get you out of here. Come on,” she said, nearly dragging the other girl off the bed and out of the bedroom. Ran followed somewhat reluctantly, occasionally turning around to look at Shinichi, confusion evident on her face. Sonoko firmly closed the door behind them when she left.
Shinichi wasn’t sure how long they were gone before Sonoko came back. The mattress dipped again as she sat on the edge. “So, you’ve gone into heat, huh?” she asked, her voice a little quieter than how she usually spoke.
He groaned in response, not even caring how pitiful he sounded at the moment.
“Sounds rough. I always thought I wanted to be an omega, but you’re starting to make me thankful I’m a beta,” the young heiress replied while patting his shoulder a couple of times. The hand withdrew and she rustled around in her backpack before she removed a few items and put them on the edge of the bed within Shinichi’s reach. “I brought you a couple water bottles, some snacks that don’t need to be refrigerated or heated, some pain killers, pocket warmers and heating pads, and one of your Holmes books. I wasn’t sure which one you might want so I just grabbed the first one I saw, and you better not complain. I’ll tell your teachers that you went into heat and pick up your school work for you.”
Shinichi cracked his eyes open and looked at her. “How do you know how to take care of an omega in heat?”
“Duh!” Sonoko answered, then winced at her volume and lowered her voice again, “All of those magazines I read! I swear, maybe if you read something other than than mystery novels, you might pick up something useful too.”
“Right. So do your magazines tell you how long I’m going to be like this?” Shinichi asked.
“Usually heats last 3 to 5 days. How do you not even know that? It’s basic omega knowledge,” Sonoko admonished.
“Well I didn’t read up a lot on omegas because, as I’ll remind you, everyone kept telling me I was going to be an alpha,” Shinichi answered dryly.
“That’s no excuse. You should’ve been reading about how to take care of your omega mate! Ugh, I’m so glad you and Ran didn’t end up together; she deserves better.”
He snorted, “Can’t argue there. So even though Ran is an alpha and I’m an omega, you aren’t going to try to get us together again?”
Sonoko shrugged, “Nah, I guess you two work better as friends. I’m sorry if me trying to push you together in the past made things awkward for you.”
Shinichi gave her a small smile, “Don’t worry about it. So what about heat suppressants?”
“Oh no. No no no. You stay far away from heat suppressants, Kudo Shinichi,” Sonoko told him firmly, surprising him with her strong tone, “Heat suppressants are only to be used when absolutely necessary, like if you have something planned that you can’t reschedule. Your body is supposed to go through heat. It’s natural and healthy! If you abuse suppressants, that’s how you end up going through a super-heat, and before you know it, you’ll be knocked up by some unknown alpha.”
Shinichi paled, “Are you serious? Are they really that dangerous?”
“Only if they aren’t used safely,” Sonoko clarified, “But this is you we’re talking about. I could see you taking a suppressant so that your heat doesn’t get in the way of some dumb case and calling it an ‘emergency.’ Your best bet is to stay far away from suppressants.”
“Hey, I wouldn’t take a suppressant for just any case. If I did, it would actually be important!” he argued.
Sonoko snorted, “Shinichi, you once collapsed because you tried to go multiple days without eating or sleeping because you were reading a mystery novel.”
“That was different! It was on loan from the library, and the due date was coming up because that serial killer case took up most of my reading time,” Shinichi defended.
“So why didn’t you just check it out again? Or buy a copy yourself?” Sonoko asked.
“It had a waiting list, and it’s been out of print for years, so it’s hard to find!” Shinichi answered.
“So then you move to the back of the waitlist line and borrow it again, idiot detective! Better that than jeopardize your health! For someone so brilliant, you can be so hopeless sometimes. You really had everyone worried. While we were waiting for you to wake up, Ran did so much nervous baking that the corner store ran out of sugar. And I’ve never seen Kuroba-kun that worried outside of the times a case landed you in the hospital,” Sonoko replied.
Shinichi winced as he remembered the verbal thrashing both Ran and Kaito had given him once he’d recovered. For days after that, Kaito demanded he send selfies with his food and send good night texts so that he could make sure Shinichi was eating and sleeping. “Alright, but that was one time, and I learned my lesson.”
Sonoko raised a carefully manicured eyebrow, “Need I remind you of the time you almost collapsed again because you were obsessing over that locked room murder?” Shinichi opened his mouth, but she cut him off, “You know the one, that cold case ?”
Shinichi closed his mouth, unable to argue. After that one, Kaito had stayed at his house for a week, cooking him meals and making sure he got enough rest. At one point, Shinichi had gotten fed up with his friend’s overprotectiveness and refused to go to sleep, but Kaito had simply thrown him over his shoulder and carried Shinichi to bed. Shinichi, still feeling rebellious, had half considered reading by flashlight under the covers. He threw out that idea, concerned that if he was caught, Kaito would take it upon himself to sleep in his bed, something he didn’t think he could handle.
“Fine, no suppressants,” Shinichi grumbled.
Sonoko nodded, satisfied with his answer, “But mini-pills are relatively safe. They still allow you to have a heat, but they’ll shorten the duration of it, help control the release of your pheromones, and relieve some of your symptoms. But you’re supposed to take them during your preheat, so I’m afraid they won’t work for you this time.”
Shinichi let out a small exhale in disappointment, “Right, got it. Anything else?”
“Tons more, but I really need to get to class. Our first period teacher will give me a break if I tell her I was taking care of you during your first heat, but I don’t think our second period teacher will be so forgiving. I’ll bring you your classwork after school,” Sonoko offered.
“You really don’t have to go out of your way like that,” Shinichi offered, “Ran lives closer. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind doing it.”
“Um, hello? Did you already forget what happened this morning when Ran nearly bit you? Ran’s an alpha; you can’t let her anywhere near you while you’re in heat. Not until you learn to control the release of your pheromones and you take your mini-pills.”
“Right, I wasn’t thinking clearly,” Shinichi answered, mentally berating himself for forgetting something so obvious.
Sonoko patted his shoulder again, “Don’t beat yourself up too much. It’s hard to focus when you’re running a fever. At least you don’t seem to have the total brain fog that some omegas get.”
“Thank god,” Shinichi agreed, then remembered something. “What did you mean when you said control the release of my pheromones?”
“So alphas and omegas have a strong sense of smell compared to betas, right? And they can actually smell elements of someone’s emotions in their scent, particularly strong emotions. Many alphas and omegas can learn to hide the scent of their emotions to a varying degree, just like people can mask their facial expressions. When an omega goes into heat or an alpha into a rut, they leak pheromones, subconsciously trying to attract a mate. I’ve heard that if you concentrate, you can control how much pheromones you release, like opening or closing a tap on a faucet, uh, except I guess you can never fully turn off the tap?” Sonoko explained.
“Right,” Shinichi answered, then let out a yawn.
“Well, you need to rest and I need to get to class. Don’t forget to text Kuroba-kun and warn him not to come over. He is an alpha too, after all,” Sonoko told him as she got up and made her way to his door.
“Fine. And hey, Sonoko?” Shinichi called out to her. The young heiress paused at the door and waited for him to continue. “Thanks for all the help.”
She gave him a rare sincere smile. Shinichi knew that neither of them would speak of this moment ever again, but he felt a swelling of gratitude to his friend.
0-0-0-0-0
Shinichi never did text Kaito telling him not to come over, but it ended up not being an issue. He woke up from his nap, took a few sips from a water bottle and finished a granola bar, then forced himself out of bed to check his phone.
He winced when he saw how many messages he had. There were a couple from both his mom and the professor. Apparently when he didn’t show up to class, the school had called both his parents and professor Agasa, who was listed as an emergency contact. Sonoko had obviously missed first period but made it to second and informed the school what happened, because the messages shifted from being worried about him missing school, to concern if he needed anything during his first heat. He fired off a quick text to both parties assuring them that he was fine.
Then there were a couple messages from Ran, first apologizing for her behavior that morning before asking if he was okay. He checked the time and noted Ran should be on lunch break right now, so he decided to reply.
“The last time my stomach hurt this much was when that murderer stabbed me after I destroyed his alibi.”
Ran responded almost at once, obviously waiting for him to message her, “Do you think you might be exaggerating a little bit?”
“You’re right, I only poked a couple holes in it, and his guilty conscience did the rest.”
“Ha-ha. But seriously, are you okay? Do you need anything? If you need something, I can have Sonoko bring it after school along with your schoolwork.”
“I’m fine, just ready for this to be over.”
She sent a thumbs up emoji. When she didn’t write more and he didn’t have anything else to say himself, he checked his other messages. The last one was from Kaito.
“Going to be helping w/ the cultural festival planning committee the rest of the week. Probs going to be super busy. Won’t be able to come over for a bit.” The message was followed by a series of emojis, some of which Shinichi couldn’t even figure out how they related to the conversation. He was half convinced some of them were used for the sole reason that they were emojis Kaito had just found and wanted an excuse to try out.
Kaito was busy enough with his own stuff. If Shinichi told him that he was in heat, he would surely worry. He decided not to mention it for now and instead just sent a message back wishing him luck and to get plenty of rest.
Alpha.
Where he had previously felt a little chilled, he now felt warm. He realized with mortification that he could feel something wet leaking between his legs. Great, so that was obviously something he had to deal with now. He felt his face heat up even though there was no one around to witness his embarrassment. He immediately flopped back down onto the bed and opened the magazine Sonoko had left him. He was going to have to learn as much as he could as fast as possible. He made a mental note to himself to check out a sex ed book from the library as soon as his heat passed. He refused to leave his education on his secondary gender solely to Sonoko’s teen magazines. But this would do for now. He would just take everything he read with a heavy grain of salt.
0-0-0-0-0
Four days later, Shinichi’s heat finally ended, and he was able to go back to school. He wasn’t surprised that a few people were staring and whispering as he passed. Word had obviously gotten around about the reason for his absence, and considering how obsessed so many of them had been with his secondary gender before, for him to present as an omega against everyone's predictions would only cause that interest to increase. He ignored all of them as best as he could.
It was when he was finally seated at his desk waiting for the teacher to arrive and start class that he heard it for the first time.
“Psst hey, look. He’s back. His heat must have ended,” he heard a girl whisper behind him.
“You’re right. I can actually smell his omega scent a little, so I guess that confirms he really is an omega,” another girl replied.
The tips of Shinichi’s ears pinked when he heard the second girl. He knew he was no longer leaking pheromones, so the smell in question was just his natural omega smell, but it was still a little embarrassing.
Girl one whispered back, “Oh yeah, since you’re an omega, you can smell him. I haven’t presented yet, so I guess I’m a beta. What does Kudo-kun smell like?”
Girl two responded, “Sweet, but not as sweet as you would expect for an omega. A bit like a dessert coffee, like maybe a coffee with whipped cream and a chocolate drizzle.”
Girl one snorted, “So he doesn’t smell like a proper omega? I guess that’s not surprising. He would’ve made the perfect alpha, but I guess instead he’ll just be a bad omega.”
Shinichi mentally rolled his eyes. He hoped that once everyone got used to him being an omega, they’d find something else to talk about. Thankfully, the teacher entered soon after that and started class, putting the girls’ conversation from his mind.
A similar trend continued the rest of the week. People staring at him, whispering, a few of the more bold ones outright pointing at him while whispering. The latter earned themselves a glare which would cause them to scatter.
One day in particular, while he was in PE class, he lost his patience.
The instructor had divided them up, letting the class choose what physical activity they did. Shinichi and a few of his classmates were kicking a soccer ball around, not really playing a game, just passing to each other. Shinichi would have preferred a game, even if they only had enough players for a 3x3 match, but his classmates were always reluctant to play against him, so he was willing to compromise.
A couple of boys were slacking off nearby, hidden from the instructor’s gaze by a row of hedges. Suddenly the wind shifted, carrying their chatter to Shinichi’s ears. From their conversation, they seemed to be ranking the girls based on how hot they thought they were.
“Now as for Suzuki Sonoko,” he heard one of the boys say, “She loses a couple points for being a beta, but easily makes up for it by being rich. Wish her chest was bigger though.”
The guy grunted as all the air was forced from his lungs when a soccer ball suddenly smacked into his back.
“Oops! Sorry about that; my aim must have been off. Could you kick the ball back?” Shinichi called to them with an innocent smile.
“Kudo!” one of the boys yelled back. “There’s no way that was an accident—”
Before he could say more, he was interrupted by the instructor, who had finally noticed them trying to hide to get out of PE. She verbally reprimanded them and shooed them away to walk the track. Before they left, Shinichi heard them grumbling.
“He’s not submissive at all! Him, an omega? What a joke.”
0-0-0-0-0
Shinichi closed the door behind him and slipped off his shoes with a sigh. Today’s case had been relatively simple; he probably should’ve just left it to the police to solve so that he could’ve made it home at a more decent hour. Still, it was always hard for him to walk away from a case. It wasn’t just that he enjoyed solving the mystery, though that was certainly part of it. It was the sense of responsibility he felt, not just to the victim and their loved ones, but to the police as well. He’d been going to crime scenes for years now, first following his dad then solving them on his own as a young teenager. Many of the officers he knew by name at this point, and the news media had taken to calling him “the savior of the police force.” He knew how hard the police worked. If he could help them solve the case that much faster, then they could make it home to their families that much sooner.
Case solving had become much more annoying now that he’d presented as an omega. Not the cases themselves; being an omega didn’t really affect that too much except he now had a heightened sense of smell which occasionally came in handy. No, it was the reporters that were making things more difficult for him.
He’d long grown tired of his secondary gender being the topic of discussion for everyone at school. He knew if his status as an omega was discovered by a reporter, it would be all the media would talk about. He wouldn’t be able to hide it forever, but at least for now, he decided he would keep it a secret.
With his new mission, the first thing he did was check out all the omega health books he could find. Luckily, it seemed that nothing Sonoko or her magazines had taught him about being an omega was wrong, but the books provided more details and also discussed things the magazines overlooked. Most omegas had heats every 3-4 months. All the text books he read backed up Sonoko’s warning about using suppressants and corroborated her advice for using mini-pills instead. He already had a bottle stored in his nightstand drawer ready for when he started showing signs of a preheat again.
The next thing he did was immediately begin working on hiding his scent as much as possible. He couldn’t completely suppress it, Sonoko had been right about that as well, but as long as he kept his distance from any alpha or omega reporters and used scent blockers, they shouldn’t be able to identify him. And that was the final part of his plan. No more talking to reporters.
It was easy enough to avoid them. The police were all too happy to keep nosy reporters away from their crime scenes. At first they’d tried waiting for him, circling around like hungry sharks waiting for their prey, used to using their favorite teenage detective for an easy story. He wasn’t sure how to get away without talking to them, and he must have released some distress hormones because the next thing he knew, Sato was chasing them away while Takagi was sneaking him off to his car for a ride home. After that, the police helped him avoid the journalists and reporters, even if they weren’t exactly sure why the teen detective was suddenly avoiding getting interviewed, something he couldn’t be more grateful for.
And that was how somehow, against all odds, it had been 6 months, and he still hadn’t been outed publicly as an omega. The only people who knew were his parents, the professor, the police he worked with, and his classmates. Nobody else knew, including one very important person.
His phone rang, pulling him from his musings. He checked the ID before answering, “ Hey Ran, what’s up?”
“Just checking to see that we’re still on for this weekend. You remembered, right?”
“Of course I remembered,” Shinichi answered while quickly checking his wall calendar, “I’m taking you to Tropical Land, just like I promised since you won your karate tournament.”
“Yep! And while you’re standing in front of your calendar, can you put down 11:00? That’s the time I want you to pick me up,” Ran answered.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I’ll write it down next time I’m at my calendar,” Shinichi answered while writing the time on the day in question and circling it twice.
“Good. And Shinichi, it’s still not too late to invite Kaito, you know.”
He winced. “I don’t know, when I talked to him on the phone yesterday, he seemed really tired. He could probably use the rest.”
Ran sighed, “Shinichi, I know you’re scared to tell Kaito that you’re an omega, but you can’t avoid him forever. He’s your best friend.”
“I’m not avoiding him,” he said, sounding defensive even to his own ears, “He’s just really busy preparing for his school’s cultural festival and I’ve been busy too. We still text each other all the time, and we talk on the phone almost every night.”
“Shinichi,” Ran said carefully, “I know what this is really about. It’s the same reason you’ve been avoiding reporters: you don’t want Kaito finding out you’re an omega.”
Shinichi shifted guiltily, trying and failing to sound nonchalant when he responded, “What? Nooo. It doesn’t matter to me if Kaito finds out I’m an omega. It wouldn’t change anything between us. Kaito would still be my friend. Just my friend. Always my friend.” And nothing more.
“Shinichi, tell me what’s wrong,” Ran said, her tone soft.
It was Shinichi’s turn to sigh. “It’s just that when he presented as an alpha, and everyone was convinced I would be an alpha too, I finally convinced myself to give up on my feelings for him. Then I presented as an omega, meaning that maybe I do have a shot after all? But from the very moment I presented, all anyone says is that I’m a terrible omega and I should’ve been an alpha.”
“Oh, Shinichi,” Ran says full of pity, “you aren’t a terrible omega.”
“Even the police officer I was talking to yesterday said I am.”
“What?” Ran shouted, causing Shinichi to pull the phone from his ear, “Who said that? What did they say? Tell me who it was.”
Shinichi rushed to calm her, hearing the anger in her voice and worried about whatever telephone pole Ran might decide to take that anger out on, “I didn’t catch his name. It was some older officer, on his way to retirement I think. Normally he does desk work these days, is my understanding.”
“What did he say?” Ran said, her tone telling him that she wouldn’t allow him not to answer.
Shinichi exhaled in defeat before replying, “He said ‘too bad about your detective career.’ I didn’t immediately understand what he meant, so he clarified that it was too bad such a promising young detective would end up being an omega.”
“What?” Ran shrieked again. Was that a car alarm he heard going off? He hoped she hadn’t punched a car. “Wait, so omegas can’t be detectives?”
“Yeah I said something similar, but he said he meant when I have kids,” Shinichi answered. Ran snorted so he continued, “I know, right? Completely ridiculous. I mean, I’m only 17, I don’t even know if I want kids yet!”
“Right, it’s way too early to start thinking about that,” Ran agreed.
“Except when I told him that, I heard him mutter that he felt sorry for whatever alpha I ended up with.” He still wasn’t sure if the officer had intended for Shinichi to hear him or not.
“Shinichi, you can’t listen to some old half-retired officer that’s still living in the past. Things aren’t like they were for his generation anymore. Everyone knows that omegas can have the same jobs as betas and alphas. The only people who still see omegas as baby factories are the older generation, like him. Just because you’re undecided on children doesn’t mean you’re a terrible omega.”
“I know, it’s just,” Shinichi pulled the phone from his ear for a moment while he slipped on Kaito’s hoodie. It had lost Kaito’s scent long ago, but the knowledge that it was Kaito’s still gave him comfort. “It’s just that it’s not only him saying those things, you know? And I can ignore one or two comments, but it’s not just one or two. And what if Kaito thinks I’m a terrible omega too? And I don’t even know if he wants an omega in the first place.”
“What makes you say that?” Ran asked in surprise.
“While we were talking on the phone last week, he said as much, basically.”
“What did he say exactly ?” Ran asked, sounding like she didn’t believe him.
“I said that now that he’s an alpha, he would of course be looking for an omega. He didn’t answer me at first, and when he finally did, he said ‘not necessarily.’ And his voice sounded weird when he said it. Maybe he thinks omegas are a turn off?”
“Shinichi, for someone so smart, you can be such an idiot. That proves absolutely nothing! You need to talk to him. You aren’t going to avoid him forever, are you? Don’t you miss him?”
His shoulders slumped and he unconsciously pressed his fist to his chest, trying to ease the ache he felt. “Yeah, I do miss him. You’re right, I need to tell him. But not this weekend, okay? This weekend is to celebrate you winning at the tournament, and I don’t want to risk ruining it for you if things get weird between me and Kaito.”
“I highly doubt things will go badly. Are you sure you don’t want to bring him?” Ran argued.
“I think I would feel more comfortable telling Kaito in private when it’s just the two of us,” Shinichi answered. Ran was quiet, still not convinced, so he continued, “Ran, please?”
Ran exhaled loudly in defeat, “Fine. But you need to tell him soon.”
“I will,” Shinichi promised. “Oh Ran? I gotta go, Kaito’s actually calling me now. I’ll see you this weekend.”
“Right, 11:00! Don’t forget! See you this weekend, and stop avoiding Kaito!” Ran rushed out before hanging up.
Shinichi accepted the call from Kaito, not realizing until it was too late that it was actually a video call.
“Shin-chan!” Kaito called in greeting with his usual smiling face.
He couldn’t help but return it with one of his own; Kaito’s smile was contagious. “Kaito, hey! How was your day?”
“Busy as usual,” Kaito replied, sounding chipper despite his answer.
“Yeah, I can see the bags under your eyes. Are you getting enough rest? You’ve been working on the cultural festival for a long time now. I don’t think most schools put that much work into it. Can’t you ask them for a break?”
Kaito looked away for a moment, his smile fading, “I can’t yet. This is too important.”
Shinichi’s eyebrows furrowed. Since when was the cultural festival that important to Kaito? Did he maybe not want to let down the other planning committee members? Maybe… maybe there was someone on the planning committee that he liked, and he was trying to impress them.
Kaito looked back at the camera, his smile stronger again, “But I’ve been working hard these past few months, and I think I’m finally at a place where I’m happy enough with my progress that I can slow down a little.”
“O-oh, that’s great,” Shinichi answered. Did Kaito mean the person on the planning committee was starting to take notice of him and their relationship was progressing? No, he didn’t even know if there was another person. He couldn’t jump to conclusions without evidence.
“Is that my hoodie—”
“Did you meet someone?” Shinichi blurted at the same time as Kaito. He mentally kicked himself. So much for not jumping to conclusions without evidence.
“What?” Kaito asked.
“Nothing, what were you saying?”
“I just noticed the hoodie you’re wearing. Isn’t that mine? I’ve been looking for it for months,” Kaito answered.
Shinichi’s entire face heated at being caught. He’d forgotten he was wearing it. “Oh, right. I just found it, and it’s a little chilly in my house today, so I guess I just slipped it on.”
Kaito was smiling at him again, “I don’t mind. I think you look good in my clothes.”
Shinichi’s blush darkened and he sputtered, making Kaito laugh.
Kaito’s laughter slowed to small chuckles, and he gave Shinichi a warm smile, “Man, this video call is nice, but it’s not as good as the real thing, is it? I really miss seeing you, Shinichi.”
Shinichi’s heart skipped a beat, and he smiled softly. “I have something I need to tell you.”
Kaito’s smile weakened, “Yeah, I have something to tell you too. How about this Saturday?”
Shinichi almost agreed before he remembered, “Can’t. I’m taking Ran to Tropical Land this weekend. Sunday?”
Kaito nodded, “Sunday it is, after Tropical Land.”
0-0-0-0-0
Shinichi’s head was pounding. It was hard to think, hard to focus on anything other than breathing and the pain he felt in his skull. Someone gripped his hair and lifted his head, and he felt something shoved into his mouth followed by some water, causing him to swallow on reflex. He heard them talk about the untraceable poison they had just given him, and he didn’t even have time to wonder if it would work before he felt his body begin to heat.
He would have screamed had he been able. He could see steam coming off of his body. Was he melting? The pain from the blow to the back of his hand was nothing compared to this. He could feel his consciousness slipping away, offering mercy from the pain.
As his vision faded, his final thought was that he wished he could’ve seen Kaito just one last time.
Notes:
Thank you to my beta readers, the wonderful NobodyInParticular123456 and Ephyna. They were both helpful not just beta reading, but also helping me anytime my brain stuck and I needed to talk a scene out. Also my numerous brain farts, like when I forgot the word for “vending machine.” You were both a great help.
Thanks for reading! Please consider leaving a comment, they always make my day!
Chapter Text
“Conan-kun!”
“In the kitchen, Ran-neechan,” Conan answered while hurriedly hiding the mystery novel he had been reading. He was supposed to be doing his homework, though in reality he’d already finished it. It would attract too much attention if he finished too fast, even if he was supposed to be “rather smart for his age.”
Ran entered the kitchen and gave him a smile when she saw him working, “You almost done?”
Conan mentally paused, wondering why she was rushing him. Did Ojisan have a case? He nodded to her, “Almost, just finishing up.”
Ran nodded in return, “Oh, good. I have a friend coming over, and I was worried we might distract you from your homework.”
“A friend?” Conan asked, cocking his head in confusion. He wondered who it could be. It obviously wasn’t Sonoko; Ran would have referred to her by name. It had to be someone “Conan” hadn’t met before.
Ran’s smile faded a little, “Yeah, someone I haven’t seen in a while, and I’m a little worried about them. I think they’re going through a rough time right now. I invited them over to try to cheer them up. So make sure you’re on your best behavior, okay?”
He gave her his most reassuring smile and chirped, “Okay, Ran-neechan!”
She returned his smile and ruffled his hair. They were interrupted by the sound of the doorbell. “Oh, he’s here already.”
He?
Ran went to answer the door. Conan moved to follow her, but Ran stopped him, “Conan, if you’re finished, could you clear away your homework first?”
He put his books back in his bag while Ran answered the door. He nearly dropped his books in shock when he heard Ran’s greeting.
“Kaito, please come in.”
Kaito was here? That’s the friend she was referring to? He was glad that nobody was around because he had no idea what kind of expression he was making. He put a hand to his chest and took a shaky breath, trying to compose himself. Then he plastered on his best Conan-smile and entered the living room.
If he hadn’t been given that moment to brace himself, his cover surely would have been blown by now. He only just managed to keep the smile fixed on his face, though inside it felt like his heart was breaking. Kaito was standing right there, chatting with Ran. He could see him, talk to him, touch him, but he had to pretend like they were strangers.
Kaito had been saying something to Ran, but all conversation died when he finally noticed Conan. His eyes widened in shock. He moved slowly until he was standing in front of Conan, then crouched down until they were eye level. Then he pulled Conan into a hug.
Conan returned the hug immediately. He didn’t even have to think about it; his body knew what to do. He wrapped his small arms around Kaito, hugging back as best as he could. Kaito tightened his grip, though was careful not to hurt him.
“Oh, Kaito,” Ran said, full of pity.
Conan thought he heard Kaito sniffle, but when he pulled away, his eyes were dry. “Sorry, I’m sorry. It’s just… you warned me, but he looks so much like him. I just…”
Ran placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, “I know. I miss him too.”
Kaito inhaled once, then exhaled, then turned to Conan with a bright grin. “You must be Conan-kun! Ran’s told me about you. Nice to meet’cha! I’m Kuroba Kaito, magician extraordinaire.” He clapped his hands together, and when they parted, confetti seemed to explode from thin air.
Conan blinked in surprise. When had Kaito learned to do that so smoothly?
Kaito seemed to notice his reaction, and it was all the encouragement he needed to put on a little impromptu magic show for him. Conan’s eyes widened and his jaw slacked.
When had Kaito gotten this good?
Kaito had always been good at magic. Even when they were young, it was apparent that Kaito was naturally talented, and he only further elevated that skill with hard work. But this, this was on a whole other level. And Kaito was only using whatever he found in his pockets!
The little magic show ended with Kaito giving him a half eaten chocolate bar, something he had obviously been snacking on on the train ride here. Now that it was safe to interrupt, Ran came up behind Conan and put her hands on his shoulders. “Kaito and I will be in the kitchen catching up. Why don’t you go and watch TV?”
Conan allowed himself to be steered to the couch. “Okay, Ran-neechan!” He climbed onto the sofa and flipped on the TV, giving her his most innocent smile. Ran smiled back, then ushered Kaito to follow her into the kitchen. Conan watched them go, then when they were out of sight, he slid off the couch and tip-toed closer until he could hear them.
“How are you doing?” he heard Ran ask softly.
Kaito gave a shaky exhale. “Sorry about all that earlier, I hope I didn’t scare the kid. You warned me, but I still wasn’t prepared. He really does look just like Shinichi did at that age, only with glasses of course. Oh and Shin-chan was never so openly impressed by my magic,” he finished with a chuckle.
Conan heard the sounds of Ran moving about the kitchen, probably preparing tea. Then she asked, “So you don’t know where he is either?”
“Only the same thing that he told you, that he’s working on some big, important case and he can’t tell me anything about it,” Kaito answered, sounding worried.
“Yeah, that’s what he told me too. I’m just concerned. He’s been gone for a while now—”
“Four months,” Kaito interrupted, “He’s been gone for four months. That in addition to the six months before that when I hadn’t seen him. Ran, I miss him so much.”
Conan put a hand to his chest and looked at his toes. His heart was all but screaming at him to tell Kaito he was right there, that he was okay, but he couldn’t do it. He couldn’t endanger his friend like that; he’d promised himself long ago that he would protect Kaito.
He made his way back to the couch and climbed onto it before flopping down, not wanting to hear any more of Ran and Kaito’s conversation. He stared at the TV without seeing it. Four months already, and not a single lead on finding the men that had done this to him or getting his body back. How much longer was this going to take? He listened to the murmur of his two friends’ voices, knowing how much they were hurting, and hoped something would change soon.
0-0-0-0-0
“Tantei-kun, you’ve finally arrived~” a certain no good thief teased, “I was waiting so long, I was beginning to think you might’ve gone home to go to bed. I know it must be far past your bedtime.”
Conan stood with his hands braced on his knees, trying to catch his breath. “You wouldn’t have to wait so long if you didn’t always head for the roof! Your legs are a lot longer than mine; of course I would have trouble keeping up!”
“Children have a never-ending supply of energy; you’ll be fine,” KID said with a dismissive wave, “It was only ten flights of stairs.”
“Well maybe I wouldn’t have had to take the stairs if someone hadn’t disabled the elevator. Asshole,” he retorted.
KID gasped and put a hand to his chest dramatically, “Language, Tantei-kun. Don’t force me to have a talk with that guardian of yours.”
Conan snorted, “This is rich, getting lectured by a thief for saying one little curse word.”
As they bantered, Conan wondered in the back of his mind when their relationship had developed from enemies, to rivals, to something almost like friends. Turning into Conan had been a very dark time for him, and that darkness had only grown once he met Haibara and realized the full scope of the organization he was up against. But in that darkness, there had been moments of light which made it easier to keep going.
The Detective Boys had been his first friends as Conan. They might only be children, but they were smart, sometimes too smart for their own good. Still, they helped him camouflage into his new life as an elementary student, giving him examples for behavior he could model to help keep his secrets. Plus, he had to admit they were just fun to be around. He enjoyed the adventures they dragged him on and teaching them how to be better detectives.
Then there was the Osakan detective, Hattori Heiji. He was the first to figure out his identity on his own, something that had at first been a cause for panic, but now he was grateful that Hattori knew the truth. Having someone in his life who knew the real him and treated him as himself was paramount to keeping his spirits up. It sometimes made him consider telling Ran and Kaito his secrets too.
You promised you would protect him.
But no, he could never do that. One look at Haibara’s haunted face whenever the organization was brought up convinced him otherwise.
Haibara, who initially had been a constant reminder of the dangers he was up against, but had become a powerful ally and an important friend. She was also possibly the only one who could truly understand what he was going through. She could obviously relate to his shrinking issues, but more than that, she understood better than anyone else what they were up against, how dangerous their situation was.
Then there was KID.
KID tossed the jewel back to him, Conan catching it easily. “Here, give this back to the rightful owner, would you? I don’t need it anymore.”
“Not what you’re looking for?” he couldn’t help but ask.
“Ah, ah, ah,” KID admonished while wagging his finger, “No breaking the rules. I told you before, you don’t look into my secrets, and I won’t look into yours.”
“What secrets?” Conan asked while cocking his head to the side in a display of faux innocence.
KID snorted in amusement, “You aren’t going to fool me with that one. I know you’re hiding something, and I don’t think you want me to figure it out.”
Conan sighed. It was true, though something made him think that if KID found out his secrets, he would be more than capable of taking care of himself. Still, it was better not to get him involved. “You can’t blame me for being curious. I am a detective, after all.”
Something in KID seemed to change, but Conan couldn’t really tell what it was. What little of KID’s face he could see gave away nothing. Still, something told him that the thief was feeling a bit melancholy.
“Very true, Tantei-kun. I shouldn’t let myself forget how you detectives love to investigate a good mystery,” his voice dropped a little lower, as if the next thing he said was more for himself than for Conan, “you often remind me a lot of someone else I know.”
Conan blinked, noting KID’s wistful tone. He wondered who KID was thinking about, and why thinking about them made him sad. He didn’t like it. He wanted to reach out and offer some comfort to the thief, but he wasn’t sure how, or if his efforts would even be welcome. If it had been someone else, he might have leaned into the little kid act and hugged their pant leg while giving them a bright smile full of childish joy, but that probably would have freaked KID out instead of comforting him. Conan had never bothered to pretend around the thief.
Well, if he had never pretended in front of KID before, there was no reason to start now. Maybe KID would feel better if he talked about it? “It sounds like this person is someone important to you,” Conan said hesitantly. He didn’t want KID to think he was trying to pry into his identity. If KID brushed him off, he would let it go.
KID sighed, a rare moment of vulnerability. He turned to face the moon, giving Conan his profile, the moonlight gleaming off his monocle. “They are,” he answered, “They’re a detective, just like you. You remind me a lot of them in many ways.”
“Are they… gone?” Conan asked.
“No,” KID said so firmly, it startled the smaller boy. “They aren’t dead. It’s just been a while since I last saw them.”
Conan nodded, unsure what to say now. He’d wanted to try to make KID feel better (the irony of him worrying about a criminal’s feelings was not lost on him) but he had a feeling he’d only made things worse. Maybe he should have thrown himself at KID’s legs for a hug after all? At least KID freaking out would be an improvement over KID being sad.
KID gave him a small smile and crossed the distance between them. He reached down and ruffled Conan’s hair, his smile growing at the way Conan yelped and bristled like an angry cat. “It’s okay, I’ll be fine. I miss them, but I know I’ll see them again. Thank you for worrying about this humble thief.”
Conan frowned at him while he fixed his hair, though more for show rather than real anger. “Yeah well, seeing you unhappy just isn’t right. The only time I want to see you frown is when I’m throwing you in jail.”
KID laughed, “As if you’re actually trying.”
Conan scoffed, “Of course I’m trying, I just let you off on occasion because I owe you from all the times you’ve helped me.”
“So as long as I continue to help you, you’ll continue to be in my debt and will have to let me go?” KID asked with a bright smile, looking like he didn’t for a moment believe him.
Conan crossed his arms in front of his chest. “That’s right. So you’ll just have to keep being a morally good thief that helps out detectives on occasion, or I’ll be forced to catch you.”
KID laughed, and Conan was relieved that it didn’t sound forced, “I guess I don’t have much choice in that case! Ah, but it’s getting late, and children need their sleep if they want to grow. From the looks of things, I would say you could use all the sleep you can get. Ta-ta for now, Tantei-kun!” Then he jumped from the roof.
Conan watched the white glider getting smaller and smaller, feeling a small smile on his face. As if he would actually try to catch a friend. KID had become another one of his lights that helped keep the darkness at bay.
0-0-0-0-0
“So I’ve been thinking,” Sonoko started, “it’s been way too long since we sang karaoke. We should go after school tomorrow!”
Ran looked ready to agree before she seemed to remember something. She cast Conan a guilty look, then hurriedly looked away when she caught him looking at her, “I don’t know, I’m not really in the mood.”
Conan mentally frowned. It was obviously a lie, but why tell it in the first place? And why had she looked at him before answering? Wait, she hadn’t declined because of him, had she?
Sonoko seemed to come to the same conclusion, “Don’t say no just because chibi-chan here can’t sing. He can come and watch!”
Conan nodded, part of him unable to believe he was actually agreeing with her, “I don’t mind, Ran-neechan.”
Ran frowned at him, “But won’t you get bored, Conan-kun?”
Conan gave her a bright smile and chirped, “Nope, I can always bring a mystery book to read.”
“But won’t it be hard to concentrate with all of the music?” Ran asked. Conan shrugged, which didn’t seem to satisfy her. He hoped she didn’t suggest leaving him at home with her dad. He would much rather try to read over the noise Ran and Sonoko created rather than that drunken fool yelling at the TV. But she came up with another idea. “I know, how about I see if Kaito would be available to babysit?”
Conan froze for a moment. He’d seen Kaito a few times since their first meeting, and all of their interactions always gave him… mixed feelings to say the least. He loved getting to see his friend, spend time with him. But it also hurt.
Ran noticed his hesitation. “What’s wrong, don’t you like Kaito? You guys always seem to get along when he comes over. I thought you two were friends.”
“Of course we’re friends!” Conan hurriedly said. “I wanna see Kaito-niisan!” He mentally cringed at the nickname.
Ran smiled, looking relieved, “Good! I’ll call him later and see if he can watch you!”
“Great!” Sonoko chimed in, “And when you see him tomorrow, give him this.”
Ran took a small, pink envelope from her, looking at it curiously, “What’s this?”
“An invitation to my birthday party next week. Tell him attendance is mandatory!” Sonoko answered.
Ran gave her a placating smile, “Sonoko, I can’t tell him that. What if he’s busy? Besides, I didn’t realize you and Kaito were that close.”
Sonoko frowned and looked away. She looked strangely self-conscious, a look Conan wasn’t used to seeing on her, “I mean, we aren’t really. But the last few times I’ve seen him, he looks so sad that that detective geek isn’t here, and I feel bad for the guy. Maybe this will cheer him up? Besides, he isn’t the only one who misses the detective otaku… maybe it will make him feel better if he’s around all of Shinichi’s friends?”
Conan blinked at her, touched by her words. He hadn’t realized how much she missed Shinichi.
Ran’s smile was genuine now, though also a little sad, “Alright, I’ll tell him.”
0-0-0-0-0
“You can’t hide forever…”
Conan scooted back farther under the bed as quietly as possible. He hoped that the small space between the bed and floor would lead it to be overlooked as a hiding spot. He listened carefully for the sounds of anyone approaching.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are…”
He heard the taunt before he saw a pair of socked feet approaching the bed. He held his breath. For a moment, all he could hear was the pounding of his own heart and the sound of the soft footsteps slowly coming closer. They stopped in front of the bed. Conan could feel his heart beating faster, fluttering like a trapped bird trying to escape his chest. Then, slowly, the feet turned as their owner moved on. Once he was sure it was safe, Conan let out a sigh of relief.
“Gotcha!”
Suddenly, Kaito’s grinning face appeared upside down peeking under the bed. Conan shrieked in surprise as Kaito’s face was replaced by his reaching arm. The arm gripped Conan’s ankle and dragged him out from under the bed. The hand released him and he landed with a flop on top of the bed, nearly in Kaito’s lap. Kaito loomed over him, his smile sharpening, and Conan’s instincts cultivated from years of history told him to run. He tried to scramble away, but Kaito was faster.
Kaito pulled Conan back and flipped him onto his back. Then before he could stop him, Kaito pulled up his shirt exposing Conan’s belly.
“Don’t you dare—” he was interrupted by Kaito blowing the longest, loudest raspberry on his stomach. Conan erupted into a fit of laughter, trying and failing to push Kaito away from him. He might be giggling on the outside, but inside he was dying of mortification. He couldn’t believe he was here, with the person he liked, and that person was blowing raspberries on his tummy, treating him like the 7-year-old Kaito thought he was. How had this become his life?
An eternity later, Kaito finally released him. “Remind me to never play hide and seek with you ever again,” Conan said while catching his breath.
“Aw, and here I thought you were having so much fun!” Kaito teased.
Conan scowled, “It would be more fun if you weren’t such a sore winner.”
“You don’t need to be upset just because you lost. You picked some great hiding spots! That last one took me ages to find. The only reason I found you at all was because I remembered that was where Shinichi always used to hide when we were kids. I never thought to look there because I couldn’t fit, but Shinichi was tiny when he was younger. Practically bug-sized,” Kaito said with a snicker.
“Hey!” Conan exclaimed without thinking. He mentally slapped himself when Kaito gave him a confused look, wondering why he was offended on Shinichi’s behalf. His thoughts raced trying to find an explanation. “I fit under there too, which means you’re also calling me small.”
Kaito covered his mouth, trying to stifle his laughter, “I guess I did. Whoops! Well, what should we do next? Want to go get ice cream?”
“I’m lactose intolerant,” Conan hurriedly lied. He wanted to avoid leaving the house with Kaito as much as possible. He couldn’t risk running into a case while they were out together. Kaito was too observant and would surely notice him crawling around and investigating behind the police’s back. And who would he dart? Kaito? Best case scenario, it worked and he felt awful for darting his friend. Worst case, it didn’t work and Kaito figured out who he was like Hattori did. It was too risky.
His reluctance had nothing to do with the fact that anytime they were out in public, Kaito insisted on holding his hand for safety. Or the fact that he could never keep the blush off his face.
Kaito frowned, “You are? I could’ve sworn the last time I was at Ran’s place, you were drinking milk tea.”
“Uh, I was! But later my stomach hurt, and Ran-neechan said I was probably lactose intolerant, so I haven’t had any milk just to be careful!” Conan replied.
Kaito ruffled his hair, “I see. Well that could have been a coincidence, but I wouldn’t want you to get an upset stomach while I babysit you, so let’s not risk it. Anything else you want to do?”
“We could read a book?” Conan suggested.
Kaito waved his suggestion away, “That’s boring. But you want something more mentally stimulating, do you? I know, how about I teach you how to play chess!”
Conan looked at Kaito’s excited face and found himself nodding, “Okay, sure.”
45 minutes later and Conan was regretting his decision.
Kaito was good at many things; in fact, it was easier to name things he wasn’t good at, ice skating being the only thing Conan could immediately think of. Well, apparently now he could add another thing to the list.
Kaito could not teach someone how to play chess.
It really was strange because Conan knew Kaito was good at the game. He and Shinichi had played against each other many times, both of them tied in wins and losses minus the times Kaito cheated. But apparently that skill did not translate over to actually explaining the rules to someone else. It was frustrating too because he wanted to win, but how was he supposed to do that if Kaito couldn’t even explain things to him?
“Too bad, Co-chan. That makes it 2-0. If you’d gotten your pawn to the other side of the board, you could’ve exchanged it for a big piece, and then you might’ve stood a better chance,” Kaito told him after toppling his king.
Conan gave him a strained smile. “I didn’t know that because you didn’t tell me, Kaito-niisan ,” he gritted out.
Kaito paused for the briefest moment. It was only because Conan knew him so well that he even noticed it. “I’ve never had anyone call me Niisan before, and I’ll admit it’s a little odd coming from someone who looks so much like… well never mind that. How about you just call me Kaito-san?”
Conan’s shoulders relaxed a bit, “Okay!”
“How about another game?” Kaito asked him.
Conan nodded and both boys reset the board. They were interrupted by the sound of flapping wings. Conan looked up just in time to see a dove heading right for him. The dove swooped down and landed on his shoulder. It nuzzled against his cheek affectionately before settling and going to sleep.
Kaito looked at him in surprise. “That’s Lucky, my oldest dove. She used to belong to my dad. She’s usually not so social, at least not as much as when she was younger. She really only likes me and Shinichi.”
Conan smiled at the sleeping dove on his shoulder, stroking her feathers gently. He wasn’t as good at telling the doves apart as Kaito himself of course, but he could always recognize Lucky.
“She’s always liked your cousin, I sometimes joke that she has a little crush on him. But she usually doesn’t like anyone else. She can even be cold to Aoko,” Kaito said while studying him.
“Maybe she confused me for Shinichi-niisan?” Conan said with a nervous laughter.
“Maybe,” Kaito conceded, though he didn’t look entirely convinced.
“Can we play another game of chess now?” Conan asked as sweetly as he could, laying on the kid act a bit heavier than he normally would.
“Sure, sure,” Kaito agreed.
Kaito started by moving his king pawn two spaces. It was a popular opening move, giving him immediate control of the center while also opening a path for his queen and his bishop. Conan smiled to himself. Kaito might think he was a kid, but he wasn’t going easy on him either. It really, really made him want to win.
They exchanged a few more moves before Conan finally slipped up.
Kaito raised a brow, “You just castled.”
“It was a completely legal move,” Conan said defensively.
“I know,” Kaito said with a nod, “It’s just I forgot to teach it to you.”
Conan froze, his mind racing. How was he supposed to explain this? He should have told Kaito at the beginning that he already knew how to play chess, but Kaito had looked so excited to teach him, he’d just gone along with it.
“Do you already know how to play chess?” Kaito asked him, not looking upset, only confused.
Conan looked down guiltily, then looked back up at Kaito. He drew upon every lesson his mom had tried to teach him about acting, happy for once that as much as he had tried to stubbornly ignore her, she had just as stubbornly persisted in her teachings. His bottom lip trembled and he sniffled a little, though his eyes were dry. He blinked his eyes a couple times to make it look like he was holding back tears. Kaito’s confused look turned to one of panic.
“I’m s-sorry I tricked you, Kaito-san. The truth is Shinichi-niisan already taught me how to play chess. But I’m not very good and I was embarrassed, so I pretended I didn’t know how to play,” Conan said with a tremble to his voice. He thought his mother would be proud.
Lucky woke up from her nap and turned a beady little eye to Kaito to give him a fierce glare. The message was clear. This was entirely his fault and now he had to fix it.
Kaito waved his arms while he rushed out, “No, it’s fine! I’m not mad, really! Common, Co-chan, don’t cry.”
Now that he had successfully distracted from his slip-up, Conan decided it should be safe to end his little act, but before he had the chance, Kaito stood up from the small table they’d been kneeling at for their game and walked around to Conan’s side. He picked Conan up from the ground as if he barely weighed more than a bunch of grapes, startling Lucky and causing her to take flight. He cradled Conan to his chest, and all Conan could smell was Kaito.
Conan felt himself relax as Kaito’s smell surrounded him. His omega instincts were dormant now that he was in the body of a child, but he didn’t need them to take comfort in Kaito’s scent. Omega or not, Kaito would always smell like home.
Too bad Kaito had to ruin it.
He’d just started to relax when Kaito started to bounce him.
It was absolutely mortifying. What the hell was he doing? Conan’s face was on fire. Was it actually possible to die of embarrassment? It was a theory that was being strongly tested now.
Conan put his hands on Kaito’s chest and pushed away from him like a grumpy cat. “Just what the he—eck are you doing?” He yelled, barely stopping himself from cursing.
Kaito blinked at him in surprise. “Comforting you?”
“I’m seven, not a baby!” Conan complained, “That’s not how you comfort a seven-year-old.”
Realization dawned on Kaito’s face, “Oh, yeah I guess you’re right. Jeez, usually I’m better with kids than this.” The last part was said lower, as if Kaito was speaking to himself. Then he gave a shameless grin, “Well, at least it seemed to work.”
Conan glared at him for a moment longer. Then the absurdity of the situation hit him, and he couldn’t stop himself from giggling. Kaito gave him a relieved smile.
“How about this, Co-chan? Ran told me you enjoy soccer, how about we go and play in the backyard?” Kaito offered.
Conan grinned.
Kaito fetched them a ball and led them to his backyard. He put a couple of sticks in the ground as a makeshift goal. “Lucky, you’re referee. And no cheating! I’ll notice if you favor Co-chan!”
The dove was currently preening her feathers but stopped to give Kaito an innocent look that had Conan snickering.
Kaito set the ball between them, and the game was on. Conan was smiling so widely he felt like his grin was going to split his face. Playing against Kaito was fun, no question about it. They seemed to be pretty evenly matched. Where Kaito lacked in skill, he more than made up for with his natural athletic ability. And while Conan was much slower with his shorter legs, his footwork gave him mastery of the ball, allowing him to simply juggle it away from Kaito. Kaito might’ve had more of an edge, but for some strange reason, whenever Conan kicked the ball toward the goal, Kaito would duck if it came anywhere close to him.
Conan retrieved the ball from where it had rolled under some bushes. “That makes it 3-1. You would make a terrible goalie, Kaito-san. You aren’t supposed to dodge the ball, you’re supposed to stop it,” Conan reproached. Mentally he was wondering about his friend’s new behavior.
“Right, how silly of me,” Kaito replied, oblivious to his musings. “I need a break. I don’t have an endless supply of energy, unlike you, Co-chan. How about I go get us some lemonades?”
Conan nodded and Kaito went inside after yelling a quick “You’re in charge!” to a sleeping Lucky. Conan dropped the ball he was holding and began to juggle it with his feet while he waited for Kaito, letting his mind drift. It was nice to see Kaito again, but sometimes he thought he could see a deep sadness in his friend’s eyes. It wasn’t hard to figure out why. He knew he sometimes “reminded” him of Shinichi. He wished once again that he could just tell him everything.
Better off missing you than being targeted by Them.
Right, it was better this way. He just had to continue for a little bit longer. Haibara thought she was close to finding the cure, and he trusted her. Once he had the cure, he could go after the Black Organization without fear of risking Ran and her dad. Then, once the Organization was no longer an issue, he would tell Kaito everything.
He turned only to find Kaito watching him, his expression wistful. It was only due to years of knowing him that Conan could tell Kaito was holding back tears. His heart clenched.
He dropped the ball and hurried over to his friend. “What’s wrong, Kaito-san?”
Kaito smiled and blinked at him in confusion, “Nothing’s wrong, Co-chan.”
He frowned, “But you look sad.”
A flash of genuine surprise, then a rueful smile. Kaito crouched to Conan’s level and put a hand on his head. “Can’t get anything past you, can I Conan-kun?” He said with a sigh, “I just thought you looked a lot like Shinichi while you were juggling that ball. It’s something he always used to do. I miss him.”
It hurt to see him like this. Kaito gave a lazy grin, an effort to distract from the pain in his eyes, and it probably would’ve worked on most people. But Conan could read him like an open book.
Kaito was still crouched down, making it easy for Conan to wrap his small arms around Kaito’s neck. He wished more than ever that he was big again so that he could hold Kaito properly. Kaito returned the hug automatically; he always was the more openly affectionate one between the two of them. His long arms easily wrapped around him, burying Conan in his chest. He felt so warm and safe. Conan thought how unfair it was that Kaito was the one that needed the comfort yet was also the one better able to give it.
“Thank you, Co-chan. I just wish I could see him again, even just for a moment. I miss him.”
Conan held him tighter. It was all he could do.
Or… maybe it wasn’t?
0-0-0-0-0
“Haibara—”
“No,” she cut him off, “I’m not going to do it.
“Haibara please, this is important,” Conan pleaded.
Haibara crossed her arms over her chest and gave him a stern look. “I fail to see how your friend’s birthday party could be so important. Don’t you understand how risky it is every time you take a temporary antidote? I keep warning you that you’re going to build up a resistance. What’s going to happen if there’s a real emergency and the temporary antidote doesn’t work? Or worse, what if it affects the success rate of the permanent antidote? Not to mention that we still don’t know what kind of effects it could have on a young omega going through puberty. Kudo, I know you miss your friends, but I am going to remind you once again that I’m close. Really close. Once I finish the permanent cure and you take down the Black Org, you can attend all the parties you want! So just be patient.”
He looked down, biting his lip. He knew she was right; it was risky. But remembering Kaito’s sad eyes, he couldn’t help but think that it was worth it. And not just Kaito either: this party would be the perfect excuse to see Ran and Sonoko as well. He could see all of his friends at the same time and assure them that he was okay and would be home soon. How soon, he wasn’t sure. Haibara would only give him vague timelines involving words like “soon” and “just a little more time” and “I’ll be done when I’m done, so stop bothering me about it.”
Of course, if he was being honest, his reasons weren’t purely selfless. He wanted to see his friends as himself as well. If it was only for selfish reasons, he could’ve accepted Haibara’s answer and moved on. But he wasn’t doing this just for himself.
He gathered his resolve and met her eyes again. “One last time. After this, I will wait patiently, no matter how long it takes you to create the permanent antidote. I just need to see hi—to see them. Give me this last time, and I won’t ask you for a temporary cure again.”
Haibara held his gaze, but Conan refused to look away. Finally, her shoulders slumped in defeat as she sighed, “Fine. I’ll let you attend your little party. But this is the last time.”
Conan relaxed in relief, glad he had been able to convince her. He gave her a smile. “Thank you, Haibara.”
Haibara returned his smile with a frown of her own, obviously still unhappy, but she decided to let the topic drop. “I’ll have the professor call Ran Saturday morning to invite Conan to sleep over. That way we can use his Beetle to drop you off at the party. I don’t want you riding the train. The fewer people that see Kudo Shinichi, the better. Call us when the party is done and we’ll pick you up again, and you can wait out the antidote until it wears off here.”
Conan was about to reply but was interrupted by Professor Agasa, who had just entered looking excited. “Shinichi-kun, have you seen the news yet? It’s that thief you like to chase after.”
“KID’s on TV?” Conan asked.
“Well, not exactly. Come watch,” he said while leading the way back to the living room. He adjusted the volume on the TV, but shouted over it anyway, “It looks like Suzuki Jirokichi is challenging Kaitou KID to steal another one of his jewels.”
Conan tried to listen to the news anchor over Agasa’s shouting, “Did he say when the heist would be?”
Agasa nodded, “He did! He issued the challenge for this Saturday. Something about catching KID as a present for his niece’s birthday.”
Conan snorted, pushing down his disappointment. “As if he’ll succeed. Too bad I’m going to miss it.”
“You aren’t going to the heist? Jirokichi-san put out a special invite to the KID Killer as well, asking for your assistance,” Agasa asked in surprise.
“Kudo-kun has decided he’s going to be reckless and take a temporary antidote against my recommendation, all so he can attend Suzuki Sonoko’s birthday party,” Haibara answered from behind them.
A look of understanding crossed the professor’s face, “Ah, I see. Well, we all do foolish things from time to time, especially when those we care about are involved. I expect that Kaito-kun will also be attending?”
Conan fought down a blush, picking up on what the professor was implying but technically unable to argue. “He will be,” he answered.
“Well, I suppose Kaitou KID will have to wait so you can see your alpha again,” the professor replied cheerfully.
He failed to keep the blush down this time as he grumbled, “He’s not my alpha.”
Agasa chuckled, “Oh right, sure, sure.”
0-0-0-0-0
“Shinichi!!!”
He barely had time to brace himself before he was nearly knocked over by the force of his friend’s hug.
“Ran, I’ve missed you too,” he managed to squeeze out with the last of the air in his lungs. He would’ve hugged her back if his arms weren’t pinned to his sides. “Do you think you could loosen your grip a little? I think you might be crushing my ribs.”
“You detective geek!” Sonoko yelled while running towards them, somehow sounding both accusatory and fond at the same time.
She leaped at him for a hug as well, almost knocking the three of them over. Thank you to all of those hours of soccer practice, Shinichi thought silently, his legs just managing to hold him up. He didn’t want Sonoko to fall on the floor and dirty her clothes at her own party.
“We didn’t know you were coming!” Ran said.
Shinichi gave them both a crooked smile, “Surprise?”
Once they settled and had a chance to chat, Sonoko eagerly suggested giving Shinichi a tour of the venue, because of course Suzuki Sonoko’s birthday party couldn’t just be at her house. “My parents bought this property with plans to turn it into a party rental venue. It has 5 floors, with each floor offering different activities. Guests can reserve one of the floors, or multiple if they prefer. The first floor, where we are now, offers a DJ booth and dance floor, but speakers are placed in strategic locations so the music’s volume doesn’t have to be too loud and guests can easily move to certain spots if they want to have a conversation with each other without shouting. Just like we are now!”
Shinichi nodded, a little impressed. “What’s on the other floors?”
“The second floor has a bunch of different arcade games. They’re all free to play for whomever has reserved that floor. The other floors aren’t designed yet though. My parents let me use the venue today to test out the first two floors, but we aren’t anywhere near ready to open to the public yet,” Sonoko explained.
“She said her parents are taking suggestions on how to theme the other floors, if you have any ideas. I was thinking one of the floors could be used for indoor mini-golf,” Ran told him.
“Oh really?” Shinichi asked her curiously. They both knew that Sonoko’s parents were planning something , but she had wanted to keep it a surprise and had been rather tight-lipped about any details around Ran and Conan.
“Yes, really. And you would have already known this if you hadn’t arrived 20 minutes late,” Sonoko berated.
“I got a little lost coming here,” he said defensively, “This building has two north entrances, and Professor Agasa dropped me off at the wrong one. I had to walk for quite a while to reach the other entrance.”
“Hmm, I guess that could be a little confusing,” Sonoko conceded, “I’ll make a note to my parents that we need a better way to differentiate the entrances to guests. Look! Your feedback is already helpful!”
“Glad I could be useful to you,” Shinichi said with an eye roll, but he was smiling. It felt so good to actually be talking to his friends face-to-face and not hiding in the other room while he spoke through the voice changer on his bow tie. It was like he was breathing fresh air for the first time after being trapped in a cramped little box. He just wished he didn’t have to go back into that box once this night was over. He would just have to make the most of it and spend time with his friends while he was still able to.
Speaking of which, Shinichi had of course noticed the absence of one friend in particular.
“When’s Kaito supposed to arrive?” Shinichi asked while his eyes scanned the crowd, as if hoping that Kaito would spring out at any moment with a wide smile on his face.
Ran’s smile faded, “We aren’t sure if he’s coming.”
Shinichi’s expression wilted, “He’s not?”
“That magician geek said something about getting dragged to tonight’s KID heist. Something about giving his opinion as a magic expert to the police since the KID Killer wasn’t available? He said depending on what time the heist ended, he might be able to come by, but he wasn’t sure,” Sonoko told him.
“You didn’t tell Kaito-kun you would be here tonight?” Ran asked.
He gave her a weak smile, “I was going to surprise him as well.”
How ironic that the reason Kaito wasn’t here tonight was because he, the KID Killer, had declined to go to the heist.
“Well how long are you in town for? Surely this big secret case you’re working on can spare you for a couple days,” Sonoko argued.
Shinichi’s shoulders slumped, “I’m afraid I have to leave early tomorrow. And… this is going to be the last time you guys see me for a while. At least until I finish this case for good.”
“How long will that take?” Ran asked, looking crushed.
He shook his head, “I’m not exactly sure.”
“I’m messaging Kaito now, but it doesn’t look like he’s read any of my messages today,” Sonoko said while glaring angrily at her phone. “I’ll try calling him… ah, no good. I think he turned his phone off. The heist must’ve already started.”
“Um, Shinichi,” Ran said tentatively while bringing her sleeve up to her nose, “I know you’re upset, but you might want to get a handle on your distress pheromones. You’re going to have every alpha in here coming to help you in a moment if you don’t ease up.”
Shinichi looked at her in confusion, “But I am controlling my pheromones.” Even though it had been a while since he had been back in his teenage omega body, Haibara wouldn’t let him leave the house until he had practiced controlling his scent. Luckily it seemed like learning how to control his pheromone output was a lot like learning how to ride a bike. Difficult to learn initially, but once learned, easy to return to even with long gaps in practice.
“Even I’m starting to be able to smell you, and I’m a beta,” Sonoko chimed in before offering a suggestion, “Here, there’s a private room this way. We can hang out there until you’ve calmed down.”
She led the way to a smaller area that was currently empty. It seemed like the sort of place guests could go if they needed to rest, the area offering an assortment of plush chairs and sofas. Shinichi sank down into one, the girls sitting across from him.
“Thanks, sorry about all of that. Sonoko, it’s still your birthday, why don’t you go back to your party?” Shinichi offered, feeling a little guilty.
Sonoko shook her head, “I don’t think it would be such a good idea to leave right now while you’re in this condition. Just hurry up and calm down, and then we can all go have fun again.”
Ran gave her friend an exasperated smile, “Sonoko won’t admit it, but she’s worried about you.”
“Hmph,” Sonoko said, but otherwise didn’t argue.
Shinichi felt another small stab of guilt. Tonight was about easing his friends’ concerns for him, not making them worse. “Is my scent any better?” he asked.
“No, in fact, I think it’s stronger,” Ran said.
“You used to be so good at this; how did you hide your status from reporters for so long?” Sonoko questioned.
Shinichi shivered, feeling a small chill, “I’m not sure. Maybe it’s because my stomach hurts a little bit?” He wondered if maybe he was getting sick.
“Maybe some food will help. I’ll get you some finger sandwiches from the catering table,” Ran offered before standing up and leaving.
Shinichi watched her go. His stomach twisted painfully at the thought of food, but he didn’t stop her. He knew she would feel better if she at least tried. He shivered again.
“Sonoko, I think you should also tell your parents that they need to check the drafts in here. Guests won’t feel comfortable if they’re cold,” Shinichi said to fill the silence.
“It’s not cold in here,” Sonoko said while staring at him, her gaze full of suspicion.
He shivered harder and pulled his jacket around himself tighter, “Well maybe you aren’t cold, but I’m freezing.”
She studied him for a moment longer before a look of realization dawned on her. “I think I know what this is! And I thought you were supposed to be the detective; haven’t you figured it out yet?”
Shinichi toyed with the idea of pulling his feet up with him onto the sofa and curling up into a ball in an effort to warm himself, then decided he didn’t want to risk someone else finding him in such an unprofessional manner. He longed for the comfort of one of the blankets back at the Mouri residence, or better yet, his pile of blankets back at his own home, at the Kudo manor. “No, I haven’t figured it out. Maybe you could enlighten me,” he answered dryly.
“You’re going into heat, but you’re skipping the pre-heat period,” Sonoko explained before she suddenly gasped, “You’re going into super-heat! Kudo Shinichi, have you been abusing heat suppressants while you’ve been gone?”
“What? No,” Shinichi denied, but something made him falter. The apoptoxin and the temporary antidotes… could they have messed with his heats?
“You can’t lie to me, Kudo Shinichi. What else could be sending you into a super-heat like this?” Sonoko argued.
“I didn’t take any suppressants, and stop saying my full name. I feel like I’m being lectured by my mom,” Shinichi argued back.
“Well someone needs to lecture you, and I seem to be the only one here fit for the job!” Sonoko yelled back.
They probably would have devolved into a full shouting match if they hadn’t been interrupted by Ran’s return.
“Omega in need.”
She was holding a plate full of finger foods but seemed to have completely forgotten about it. She was approaching Shinichi slowly, staring at him intently. Her alpha scent washed over him, sending his omega instincts into a state of confusion.
Alpha. Submit, part of his instincts seemed to tell him.
Not my alpha, another part of him said firmly.
His warring instincts rendered him motionless as he watched her slow approach.
“Ran!” Sonoko yelled while grabbing onto her friend’s arm.
Ran blinked and turned to Sonoko. She looked confused for a moment, then seemed to notice the plate she was holding. She looked at the plate for a moment, then back at Shinichi, before coming to a conclusion. She continued to approach Shinichi, causing Sonoko to make a small sound of protest, but she ignored her. She set the plate down on the cushion next to the detective before backing away quickly, covering her nose with her sleeve.
Once she was a good distance away, she took a few deep breaths through her sleeve, looking like she was collecting herself. “Shinichi, I’m really glad I got to see you, and I’m sorry you didn’t get to see Kaito-kun, but you need to leave. Your scent is overwhelming,” Ran told him, looking regretful.
Shinichi nodded numbly, “I’ll have Agasa come and pick me up.”
Ran looked somewhat relieved, “Good. I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can wait with you until he arrives. Call me when you get home safe?”
Shinichi gave her a weak smile. “Of course.”
“It really was good to see you again. Come home soon, okay?” She cast him one last look over her shoulder before leaving.
Shinichi contacted Agasa right away who agreed to pick him up immediately, but not without giving Shinichi a stern warning to wait for him inside. He didn’t need to be told twice and promised to wait until he had received Agasa’s text before going to meet him.
Sonoko waited with him. They didn’t talk much; they almost didn’t know how to talk to each other when they weren’t arguing, but he was immensely grateful that she kept him company. It kept him from falling into despair over what a failure this night had been.
Once Agasa’s text arrived, he gave her a wave. She just rolled her eyes before pulling him into a hug. “This is from Ran and Kaito-kun too. Now make sure you come home soon!” She gave him an extra hard slap on the back before finally releasing him.
“It’s… a little bit out of my control, but I’ll do my best,” he answered. Then with one final wave, he exited the building to meet Agasa outside.
The door clicked shut behind him and he heard the lock automatically slide into place. For safety reasons, most of the doors were exit-only and could not be opened again from the outside. With the door shut, he could barely even hear the noise of the party inside. He looked around but didn’t see the professor’s yellow Beetle anywhere.
Maybe Agasa sent the text a little early and would be here any minute now?
He leaned against the side of the building, looking up and down the road for his friend. The only people he saw were a group of four guys who were chatting while smoking, looking like they’d wandered over from the nearby bar. Otherwise he was alone.
Deciding he’d waited long enough, he pulled out his phone and called the professor. “Professor Agasa? I’m outside, where are you?”
“Eh? But I’m outside the doors, and I don’t see you,” came Agasa’s reply.
“What? But I don’t see you either. I’m standing just outside the entrance,” Shinichi explained.
“Are you behind the ugly sculpture?”
“Ugly sculpture?” Shinichi said in confusion looking around. He didn’t see anything resembling a sculpture. “I’m not sure what sculpture you’re referring to… wait, I think I know what’s going on. I think we’re at two different entrances.”
“Did I go to the wrong one? I thought you said the west entrance,” Agasa said, sounding confused.
Shinichi rubbed at his temples. He couldn’t believe he’d made the same mistake twice. “I did, but there’s probably multiple west entrances.”
“Well stay where you are, and I’ll be there in a moment. Oh dear, that wasn’t the right way. I seem to be getting back on the highway. I’ll turn around and be there in just a moment, Shinichi-kun,” the professor said before hanging up.
He slipped the phone back in his pocket. A particularly strong gust of wind caused him to shiver. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and peaked through the windows of the door behind him, but Sonoko was long gone, so it looked like he wouldn’t be able to get back inside.
“I told you he smelled like an omega.”
Shinichi turned away from the door and saw that the guys who’d been smoking were now approaching him.
“Wait a second, I recognize him. That’s Kudo Shinichi,” one of them said.
“Kudo Shinichi is an omega? But the newspapers were always calling him an alpha!”
“Probably a rumor he started because it’s what he was hoping for. Well, karma can be a bitch. He started rumors that he was an alpha, and he turned out to be a weak omega instead! Say, Hideki, isn’t he the detective who implicated your brother in that arson case? That’s even more embarrassing that your brother was caught by an omega,” one snickered.
“Shut up, Nishimura,” the fourth one, probably Hideki, spat before giving Shinichi a look that made him feel uneasy. “So the famous detective is an omega, and he’s out here all alone. I have to say, you smell pretty good. I’ll forgive you for what you did to my brother if you get on your knees and beg for my forgiveness.”
Shinichi and his omega instincts were in agreement; he would not get on his knees for this man, alpha or not. “I don’t know who you are, but if I named your brother in a case, that means he was a criminal. So why don’t you and your friends go back to your smoke break and stop harassing me?”
“Harassing? This is just talking,” Hideki answered, “But if you want to see what harassment looks like, we can show you.”
0-0-0-0-0
Red.
All he saw was red.
He couldn’t remember how he’d gotten here. Hadn’t he been at the heist?
No, that wasn’t right, he’d finished the heist.
Omega in trouble.
Their scent was a bit different than what he was used to, but he still recognized it instantly.
The men wanted to hurt the omega.
He wouldn’t allow it.
As soon as he’d smelled the distress pheromones, his world turned red.
He heard shouting but ignored it. The words were meaningless to him. Gradually the shouting quieted down until there was only one voice left.
Still, there was only red.
Then the omega’s sweet scent washed over him. It beckoned him, called to him, demanded his attention. He answered the call willingly.
He pulled them into his arms, rumbling to reassure them. He buried his nose in their neck and inhaled deeply. The omega moved their head to the side, offering their neck in submission. The gesture pleased him.
He bit down, claiming the omega as his own.
The omega let out a small gasp, then began to purr as the bond began to flow between them, weak due to its incomplete nature. Well, not for much longer.
He brought the omega to his own neck. The omega brought the tip of their nose to his skin, nuzzling into it. He rumbled encouragingly.
But the omega was pulling away.
He looked at them confused. Why were they leaving the bond unfinished? They were his, did they not want him to be theirs as well?
They gave him a sad smile, then leaned in for a kiss. It was just a quick press of lips against his own, and it was over before he even had time to respond. Then they pulled something from their pocket.
It was small, the shape familiar. It brought to mind a pair of sharp blue eyes hidden behind black frames, and a red bow tie. It also brought a memory of feelings of excitement and danger.
Then he felt the prick of the needle before all went black.
Notes:
Thank you to my beta readers, the wonderful NobodyInParticular123456 and Ephyna. They were both helpful not just beta reading, but also helping me anytime my brain stuck and I needed to talk a scene out. Also my numerous brain farts, like when I forgot the word for “vending machine.” You were both a great help.
Thanks for reading! Please consider leaving a comment, they always make my day!
Chapter Text
“Kuroba-kun is back at his house, sleeping away on the sofa. The professor left him a short note explaining that he found him passed out outside of the venue and brought him home,” Haibara told him.
Conan nodded but didn’t look up. He was sitting on a large armchair in the professor’s sitting room with his knees drawn to his chest. He stared unseeing at the floor in front of him.
“We had to sedate him again while we were driving him to his house. He was beginning to wake up when you started to shrink again, even though the sleeping dart shouldn’t have worn off yet,” Haibara elaborated.
Conan flinched, bringing one hand up to his neck, before he realized what he was doing and aborted the gesture. Haibara saw it anyway.
“I had my suspicions, but… you bonded, didn’t you?” she asked, though he could tell she already knew the answer.
Conan pressed his lips together in a firm line and nodded. He still wouldn’t look at her.
Haibara seemed unsure how to proceed. She was a good friend, but conversations about feelings weren’t one of her strong suits. After a moment she replied, “I’m sorry, Kudo-kun. I’ve read about the significance of a bond between an alpha and an omega. To have that bond forced on you…”
“He didn’t,” Conan couldn’t stop himself from saying.
“Sorry?”
“I’m saying that Kaito was the one who was forced into a bond,” Conan said, finally looking at her, his eyes filled with anger and unshed tears, “ I wasn’t the one that was forced into a bond, he was. I made Kaito bite me.”
Haibara’s eyes widened, “But… I don’t understand.”
“My heat, it was different from previous ones. Something was wrong—”
Something like understanding dawned on Haibara’s face, “The apoptoxin and the temporary antidotes. Your omega status was put into dormancy when your body shrank, and every time you turned back to Shinichi, it came back. Going back and forth like that must have confused your body, causing a hyperestrosis, or a super-heat.”
Conan nodded. “I got locked outside by myself, and some guys found me. I guess they already held a grudge against me—apparently I identified one of their brothers as the culprit in a crime—but my pheromones seemed to be making them behave worse. The longer they were around me, the more aggressive they became. That was when…” he trailed off, not wanting to continue.
“Then Kuroba-kun found you, and as an alpha, he was influenced by your pheromones too,” Haibara stated.
“He was trying to protect me, but I think my pheromones made him go feral. I was afraid he was going to take it too far, that he wasn’t going to stop,” Conan said while shivering at the memory. “If Kaito had been in control, he would’ve never hurt anybody. I couldn’t let him do something he would regret. So I released all of my pheromones.”
“You were trying to protect him,” Haibara offered.
Conan laughed without humor, “I was being selfish. If I wanted to stop Kaito, I could’ve used a tranquilizer dart. I should ’ve used a dart. But I convinced myself that it was the only way, and I acted without thinking.”
“You weren’t in a rational mind yourself at the time. Don’t forget, you were also being affected by your hyperestrosis. It’s easy in hindsight to say you should’ve used a dart, but who knows if that even would’ve worked without calming Kuroba first? One dart might not have been enough with all the adrenaline in his system,” Haibara stated, voice neutral.
Conan felt a rush of gratitude for how she was handling the situation. He didn’t think he could cope with sympathy at the moment, but Haibara’s cold objectivity was exactly what he needed right now. She didn’t tell him that it wasn’t his fault or that everything was going to be okay, she just stated facts, something he could appreciate as a detective. But even if she was right, it didn't change anything. He was still to blame for forcing the bond on Kaito.
But none of that mattered right now. His actions would have consequences, and it was time to find out what those were.
“So what does this mean for both of us, now that we’re bonded?” Conan forced himself to ask. He needed information so that he could know what he was dealing with.
Haibara mulled the question over for a moment before answering, “While you’re Conan, I don’t think it will mean much of anything.”
Conan looked over at her in surprise, “What do you mean?”
“It’s just like your omega status going dormant when you’re Conan; I believe it will be the same for your bond. This is, of course, just a theory: we don’t exactly have any similar cases to use as a precedent,” Haibara explained, “Once your omega status is no longer dormant, the bond should come back as well.”
“But I still have the bite on my neck even though I’m Conan,” he pointed out.
“It’s just like any other scar or wound you get as Shinichi that’s still present when you shrink. The physical mark will remain, but the effects of the bond are dormant,” Haibara said.
Conan nodded. “We need to find a way to cover it. Children can’t have bonding marks since their secondary gender doesn’t present until years later. Luckily the mark is low enough on my neck that the collars of most of my shirts will naturally hide it, but I still need something just in case.”
“We can get you some mark hiding skins; there’s plenty of options on the market,” Haibara said in agreement. “Plenty of models and actors use them to hide their marks.”
“Good, that will take care of that.”
“Kudo-kun, there’s one more thing we need to go over. Your bond might be dormant and we can hide your mark, but there’s still Kuroba. He might not have been in his right state of mind, but there’s no reason why he should forget the events from tonight. He’s going to wake up tomorrow and remember that he bonded with you. So what are you going to do?” Haibara asked him.
Conan returned his gaze to the floor. “As far as anyone knows, Kudo Shinichi is gone on a long case and can’t come home right now. He returned briefly tonight for Sonoko’s party but had to catch an early flight in the morning to leave for the case again. Due to the nature of the case, it’s hard to reach him by phone.”
“Meaning you aren’t going to do anything until you’re Shinichi again,” Haibara stated.
“I can’t do anything until I’m Shinichi again,” Conan snapped, correcting her.
Haibara didn’t argue. “I’ll get you the permanent antidote as soon as I can.”
He didn’t reply.
He wasn’t even sure if he wanted it anymore.
0-0-0-0-0
Conan closed the door of the detective agency behind him and kicked off his shoes. He scratched absentmindedly at the fake skin on his neck. It concealed his mark well enough that nobody should be able to tell it was there without looking really closely, but it also irritated his skin a bit. Still, he refused to take it off except when bathing.
He heard soft voices coming from the kitchen and made his way to the door, but he stopped short before entering. He was close enough that he could hear who the voices belonged to now. One was Ran, as he had suspected, but the other was Kaito.
“So you really haven’t heard from him since the night of the party?” Kaito asked.
“Only that group text he sent to all of us saying that he was going to be really busy with that case for a while and that his phone would be shut off, but not to worry about him,” Ran answered.
Kaito sighed and Conan winced. He sounded so dejected. “I just…” Kaito trailed off, and Conan wondered how much Kaito had told Ran. Ran hadn’t said anything to him about their bonding, but then again, he wasn’t sure she would when she thought he was just a kid. Forced bonding wasn’t exactly a topic that was appropriate for someone his (apparent) age. “I really need to talk to him,” Kaito finally finished.
Ran didn’t respond immediately. “You don’t have to tell me what happened, but just know I’m always here for both of you.”
So he hadn’t told her.
“Thank you, Ran. I just want to talk to Shinichi first,” Kaito answered.
“It sounds like something really big, but I’m sure whatever happened, you can both overcome it together,” Ran reassured him.
Silence. Then, “I’m not so sure this time, Ran-chan.”
Conan immediately moved away from the kitchen entrance, not wanting to hear any more. In his haste, he backed into the sitting room table, making a noise.
“Conan-kun, is that you?” Ran called out from the other room.
He silently cursed before yelling back to her, “Yes, Ran-neechan! I just came back to grab my soccer ball. I’m going to go play at the park with my friends.” He hurried back to the front entrance and slipped his shoes back on, not pausing long enough to tie the laces. He didn’t want to see either of them right now.
“Okay, don’t stay out too late,” he heard her call back before the door closed behind him.
Once he was out on the sidewalk, he paused to fix his shoes, then began walking with no particular destination in mind. It had been almost a week since Kaito had marked him. The morning after the party, he’d sent out the group text Ran had mentioned, then shut off his Shinichi phone. He knew he was acting cowardly, but he couldn’t face Kaito right now. He hadn’t expected to come home and find Kaito there, but he should have seen it coming. After a week of being unable to reach him, it made sense that Kaito would go to Ran next.
What had Kaito meant? Was he so upset over what had happened that he wasn’t sure if he and Shinichi could continue being friends?
Conan stopped walking and clutched his chest tightly. It felt like his heart was breaking into pieces.
His phone rang, and he answered it.
“Oi, Kudo!”
Conan frowned, “Hattori- niisan , you have to call me Conan. Nobody is supposed to be able to contact Shinichi right now, so if Kazuha heard you talking to me and told Ran, it would be very bad for me.”
“Sure, sure, sorry about that, Ku— I mean Conan-kun” Hattori responded flippantly, “But what’s this I hear abou—”
“No, Hattori,” he said, cutting him off, “I really mean it this time. If you keep calling me Kudo, I’m not going to answer your calls anymore. We’ll communicate only through text.”
That stopped Hattori short. “You’re serious?”
“I am,” Conan responded.
The alpha growled in frustration. Conan stayed silent and waited. Finally Hattori replied, “Alright, fine. I’ll be more careful. Now could you tell me what’s going on? What was up with the text that… that your cousin sent out?”
Conan mentally sighed. He hadn’t sent the text to Hattori, and Kazuha had no reason to text Shinichi, but Ran must have told her about it. He should’ve anticipated this.
“Haibara’s getting close to a permanent antidote, and we just want to make sure that the Black Org doesn’t find out that I’m still alive before we’re ready. It could be a matter of life and death,” Conan answered. He hadn’t told Hattori about his bonding with Kaito yet. The Osakan detective was sharp, and he knew he wouldn’t be able to keep it from him forever, but he wanted to put it off as long as he could.
“I know that can’t be all of it,” Hattori said, his suspicion clear through the phone’s tiny speaker, “What aren’t ya telling me?”
Conan wanted to groan in frustration at his nosy friend. So this is what it felt like being friends with a detective. Then he immediately felt guilty for his irritation. Hattori was just worried about him. He was a good friend, and was one of the few people in his life that knew his secret. He shouldn’t push him away. Still, he wasn’t ready to tell anyone else what had happened either.
“As you probably heard, I took a temporary antidote for Sonoko’s party last weekend, and Kaito and I… had a little bit of a fight. Now I’m kinda avoiding him,” Conan said.
Hattori let out a low whistle. “Must’ve been one hell of a fight,” he said sympathetically.
“Yeah, it… it was,” Conan responded, sounding a little distant.
Hattori’s sharp ears picked up on it. “He didn’t, like, hurt you or nothing, did he?”
“No,” Conan said firmly, then in a smaller voice, “In fact, I was actually the one who hurt him.”
Hattori was silent for a moment. Conan silently begged him not to ask for more information, while also desperately wanting his friend to support him, though he knew he didn’t deserve it. But Hattori wasn’t his friend for nothing.
“I’m gonna visit ya this weekend. We can go to the KID heist together,” Hattori offered.
Conan blinked in surprise. “There’s a KID heist this weekend? But he just had a heist. Why is he holding another one so soon?” He asked.
“You didn’t see the news today?”
“I haven’t really been home yet,” Conan answered.
“He only just announced it. His target is a jewel that belongs to some foreign actress who’s only here for a short time for filming. She flies back home after this weekend,” Hattori explained.
“So if he wants to cross this gem off his list, he’ll have to do it this weekend,” Conan mused out loud.
“Huh? What list?” Hattori asked.
“Just a theory I have. I think he’s looking for something,” Conan answered.
“Well you would know better than I would. You’ve gotten closer to catchin’ him than anyone else, and ya’ve talked to him a lot more too. If he wasn’t a criminal, I think ya guys would be friends,” Hattori said.
We sorta already are.
But Conan kept that to himself.
“I’ll come by Saturday and we can get somethin’ ta eat before goin’ to the heist,” Hattori told him.
“Sounds good,” Conan replied.
“Alright. Well, I’ll see you Saturday Ku—Conan-kun,” Hattori hurriedly corrected.
“Hattori,” Conan warned.
“Yeah, yeah, I know, I know. I’ll work on it, I promise,” Hattori huffed before hanging up.
Conan slipped the phone back into his pocket then looked up. Of course his feet had carried him back home. Not the Mouri detective agency, his actual home. He briefly looked at the Professor’s house next door but decided he wanted to be alone right now.
He silently slipped inside and used his watch flashlight to walk through the house and upstairs to his bedroom. He didn’t want to turn on any lights and risk drawing attention to the fact that he was here. Upstairs in his room, the windows let in enough natural light that he could see without assistance. He pulled himself up onto the bed and crawled to the hoodie he’d left at the foot of it. Kaito’s hoodie.
He slipped it on over his head. Even as a teenager, the hoodie was already too large for him. As a child, it was practically a tent. He didn’t care; in fact, he found it even more comforting now.
Kaito was really upset with him for forcing the bond on him.
Well, of course he was: nobody should be forced into a bond without their consent. Kaito obviously only saw him as a friend, and he didn’t even like omegas. Now they were permanently tied together. In many cultures, they would already be considered married. And while there was no law in Japan that said bonded pairs had to stay together, it wasn’t common for them to separate. A bond could only be created once, and once created, would draw the pair together. It was difficult to resist the pull of a bond, though not entirely impossible. Usually, if a bonded pair chose to separate, they had to distance themselves from each other. It often resulted in one of the pair leaving the country entirely.
Maybe… maybe Kaito would be better off if he left.
Once he had the thought, an idea started to take root.
Kaito had bitten him, but he hadn’t bitten Kaito in return. Meaning the bond was weak, only half formed. As an omega, he was tied to Kaito, but Kaito wasn’t necessarily tied to him.
Maybe he should give up on the permanent antidote and grow up as Conan? He could go live with his parents in America. If he grew up as Conan, it would be 10 years before he presented as an omega again. During that time, Kaito could find someone else, and by the time the bond resurfaced, Kaito would’ve already moved on.
His stomach felt sick.
Giving up on his life as Shinichi would be hard, especially if he also left for America, giving up the life he had made as Conan as well. But it would be nothing compared to leaving Kaito. Leaving Kaito, that would hurt.
It didn’t matter. He would do it for Kaito. He’d promised to protect him.
Even if that meant protecting him from Shinichi himself.
Conan flopped over onto his side, staring at the wall without really seeing it. He didn’t have to make a decision right now. He was upset, and he wasn’t thinking logically. Maybe he and Kaito just needed more time. Maybe they could still get through this.
Maybe he hadn’t completely ruined everything.
0-0-0-0-0
Two days before the heist, his luck with avoiding Kaito ran out.
He exited school one day only to find the magician waiting for him at the front gate. “Kaito-san? What are you doing here?”
“Hey, Co-chan! Ran-chan asked me to pick you up from school today,” Kaito explained.
Conan frowned in confusion, “She did? But she usually doesn’t mind if I walk home with the Detective Boys.”
It was Kaito’s turn to frown. “She doesn’t? But then why would she… ah, she was probably worried about m— I mean she was probably worried about you. Lots of weirdos out there, you know. Can’t be too careful.”
Conan took a moment to really look at his friend. His skin was a little too smooth, a little too perfect, especially under his eyes. He was wearing makeup. The makeup had been expertly applied; Kaito must’ve gotten really good at his disguises lately.
When Kaito’s father was alive, Kaito was always very excited to learn all he could about magic from him, but makeup and disguises he was not quite as enthusiastic about. He saw them as useful for a few tricks and pranks but preferred to focus his attention elsewhere. After his father passed, Shinichi’s mom had taken to teaching him. Yukiko saw it as a way to honor her teacher’s memory by passing on all she had learned to her teacher’s son, and Kaito had seen it as a way to get closer to his father.
What was Kaito hiding from him under the makeup? How deep were the bags under his eyes? How pale was his complexion? How much was Kaito suffering because of Conan’s mistake?
Ran had probably been looking for a way to cheer Kaito up and thought spending time with Conan could help. She would sometimes talk about how she missed Shinichi but having Conan around made the ache a little better.
“Kaito-san! We haven’t seen you in forever! Have you come to play with us today?” Ayumi squealed excitedly while coming up behind Conan, Genta and Mitsuhiko following behind her.
Well, if her plan wasn’t for Conan to cheer Kaito up, then it was probably that the Detective Boys would wear him out a little bit. Maybe she thought Kaito would be too exhausted to be sad after trying to keep up with the Detective Boys, which honestly wasn’t a bad plan.
Kaito took it all in stride. He gave the kids a wide grin before announcing, “I sure have! Come on, I’m taking you guys to the park. Let’s go play!”
“Yay!” the kids cheered.
Conan mentally sighed, seeing that he had no choice but to follow along.
“Let’s go, Kaito-san!” Genta cried.
“Hang on, aren’t we waiting for one more? Isn’t there usually another one of you?” Kaito asked.
Mitsuhiko answered, “Haibara-san hasn’t been at school for the past couple of days. She’s been out sick!”
Another pang of guilt. Haibara wasn’t actually sick: she was working on the permanent antidote for him. He’d gone over to the professor’s after the first day she’d missed, and she told him that she’d made some great strides in her research and felt like she was making too much progress to stop. After the second day of missed school, he’d tried to convince her that she could slow down and didn’t need to rush it, but she’d dismissed him saying, “This isn’t just for you, it’s for me as well. I need to see this through to the end, and I feel like I can’t stop now.”
He’d given her a half grin in return and replied, “Now you know what it feels like to be a detective. I’ll remember that the next time you accuse me of obsessing over a case.” He’d received a glare in return before she went back to ignoring him in favor of her research.
Still, he hadn’t expected her to miss so much school. He wasn’t worried about her falling behind, but he hoped she wasn’t overworking herself. At least she had the professor. He would make sure she stopped for sleep and meals… when he wasn’t too engrossed in his own work, at least.
He wondered if he should tell her he wasn’t even sure he wanted the permanent antidote anymore.
He shook the thought away. He hadn’t made his decision yet, so there was no need to start a conversation that may not even be necessary. Besides, he wanted to make the decision himself, without influence from anyone else. If he talked to her about it, she would surely have opinions.
Once at the park, Kaito put on a magic show for the kids, but Conan could tell his heart wasn’t in it. Oh, the tricks were amazing, and Kaito’s smile was as wide as ever, and the kids probably didn’t notice a thing, but Conan could tell. It made his heart ache. Kaito loved performing more than anything. He was obviously really hurting.
“EEEE! Kaito-san, look out! There’s a giant beetle on your back!” Ayumi called.
“What? Where?” Kaito began throwing his head side to side looking around everywhere except his back. He even lifted one foot and checked the bottom of his shoe.
Mitsuhiko plucked the large insect off Kaito’s shirt and held it up triumphantly. “Right here! But it’s obviously fake, Ayumi. No way would a beetle get this large; not even rhinoceros beetles grow that big!”
“Are you sure about that?” Kaito asked with a trickster’s grin.
The beetle’s legs began to squirm, surprising Mitsuhiko into dropping it. The beetle’s back opened up, revealing its wings, and it flew high up into a nearby tree.
“Woah! I had no idea beetles could get that big!” Genta said excitedly.
“If it lives here in this park, there might be other big ones too,” Ayumi said, “We should see if we can find one even bigger!”
“Sounds like fun! How about this, you guys have 30 minutes to search, and if you can find a beetle bigger than mine, then you win! But you aren’t allowed to leave the park. And no cheating! My doves will be watching, and if they catch you leaving the park, they’ll tell me, and you will automatically be disqualified,” Kaito said firmly, though with a smile to soften it.
“What will you be doing?” Ayumi asked.
“I’ll be climbing that tree trying to catch that really big beetle, of course! We’ll need it again to compare your beetle against mine,” Kaito explained. Then he clapped his hands in front of him, “Now, better get searching! Your 30 minutes starts now!”
The kids quickly disappeared, not even noticing that they were one member short in their excitement.
“Not going with them, Co-chan? Have you already given up?” Kaito asked.
“I can’t really give up if there never was any competition in the first place, can I? That beetle was mechanical. I would guess some kind of toy, but it’s too realistic. Any toy of that quality would be too expensive. So I’m guessing it’s homemade, though I’m not sure where you got it from,” Conan admitted.
Even though Kaito often made his own props, such as his smoke balls, the beetle went beyond that. There was no way Kaito could have made it himself, not while also keeping up with his magic practice and his work with Aoko for the cultural festival. He simply wouldn’t have the time to learn to build something that sophisticated.
“Right you are, chibi-detective,” Kaito said with a chuckle. He pulled a small remote from his pocket and pressed a button, and the beetle flew back down from the tree and into Kaito’s waiting palm. He held it up for Conan to inspect. “An acquaintance made this for me. They make some of my gadgets sometimes.”
Other gadgets? He’d never seen Kaito use anything but his own homemade stuff. “What else have they made you?”
Kaito waved his hand dismissively, “Oh, just this and that. Nothing that’s really appropriate for an impromptu magic show at the park. Let’s just say the items they made for me are… for a different kind of audience.”
He must have been talking about when he became a professional magician, Conan guessed, though he wasn’t sure why Kaito didn’t just say that.
“Is that a camera?” Conan asked while leaning in for a closer look.
Kaito laughed nervously, “Probably shouldn’t have let you look that closely at it, but you are correct. Sometimes as a magician, I need to gather certain information beforehand… to really make sure I can impress people, of course. This thing can come in handy for that, for times I can’t use my doves.”
Conan mentally frowned. Why was Kaito acting so suspicious?
Once he had the thought, something in the back of his mind started to tease him. Something that said this wasn’t the first time Kaito had said something strange. He tried to follow the trail of thought, but once he tried to consciously think about it, he couldn’t quite figure out what else Kaito had said that was suspicious.
“Hey Conan-kun,” Kaito said, interrupting his thought, “I think you have something on your neck.”
Kaito was pointing to his own neck and Conan realized with a small jolt of panic that Kaito was pointing to the spot where the patch was. He slapped a hand over the spot and felt that a small corner of the adhesive was peeling back, drawing attention to it. “It’s a bandaid!” he hurriedly explained, “A cat scratched me.”
“It didn’t look like a bandaid,” Kaito replied, looking a little confused. “Well, it looks like it’s coming off. I have another one, so let’s take that one off, and we can reapply it.”
Conan backed away from him, making Kaito look more confused. “I just remembered! I’m supposed to take Haibara her missed work from school! I better go, bye!”
“Wait!” Kaito called after him, but Conan didn’t listen.
He waited until he was out of eyesight before slowing down. Kaito shouldn’t be able to follow him since he couldn’t leave the Detective Boys. Still, Conan should at least continue walking to the professor’s house just in case.
Once he got to the Professor’s, he couldn’t quite bring himself to go inside. He didn’t want to see Haibara, afraid of how tired she might look. She could say she wasn’t overworking herself for his sake all she wanted, but he knew that at least part of the reason she was doing it was for him.
His feet carried him to his own house instead. Through the front door, up the stairs, into his room, until he slipped on Kaito’s hoodie once again. He laid on his back, staring up at the ceiling. How much longer was he going to keep hurting the ones he cared about?
What he really needed was someone he could talk to. But who would that be? Anyone who didn’t know Conan’s secret was easily disqualified. That left Haibara, Hattori, Agasa, and his parents, he supposed. He cared about them all dearly, but he didn’t think he could go to any of them about this.
He thought about stories he’d heard of people opening up to complete strangers during long flights and train rides. There was a degree of freedom talking to an impartial stranger and knowing you would never see them again. But he couldn’t exactly talk to a stranger while in the body of a child. If only there was another option, something in-between.
Then he had a thought. Maybe he could talk to KID?
He tried to shake the idea off as ludicrous, but the more he thought about it, the more attractive it became. KID was someone he trusted, and while he wasn’t really a stranger, their strange relationship made them sort of friendly-strangers. There still was the issue that he couldn’t exactly talk to KID about himself, a supposed child, being bonded. But maybe if he was just careful what he said…
Well, it was an idea at least, and he was feeling a little desperate. If he actually got an opportunity to talk to KID this weekend, maybe he should take it.
0-0-0-0-0
Conan and Hattori stood in the hotel’s large event room, waiting for the heist to start. The silence between them was a bit awkward, but Conan for the life of him couldn’t think of anything to say. He knew his friend was concerned about him, and a concerned detective was a nosey detective. But he couldn’t muster up the energy to pretend to be alright.
He hadn’t been sleeping well. Ran had started to take notice that something was wrong with him and tried cheering him up in her own way, cooking him all of his favorite meals and being especially nurturing. It only made his guilt worse. Ran already had enough on her plate worrying about Kaito and her own life; he didn’t need to add more onto it. When Hattori arrived to take him to the KID heist, Ran had looked relieved, hoping the Osakan would be able to cheer him up.
He made up his mind in that moment. He had to talk to someone, and while he knew Hattori was the obvious choice, being both his friend and someone who was in on his secret, he would take the coward’s route and speak with KID. If Hattori reacted poorly to him forcing a bond, he didn’t think he would be able to handle losing their friendship. So he would talk to KID, and tomorrow, he told himself he would smile and play the role of a happy seven-year-old without a care in the world, and he would stop worrying Ran.
“Hey, Hattori.”
He immediately had his friend’s attention. “What do ya need, C-Conan-kun?” It only sounded slightly forced when Hattori called him Conan. He really was making an effort.
“I need to talk to KID. Do you think you could buy us a little time before the police catch up to us?” Conan asked.
“Count on it,” Hattori readily agreed, eager to help however he could. “So uh, I guess we aren’t tryin’ to catch him tonight in that case, are we?”
Conan shook his head. “Does that bother you?”
Hattori crossed his arms over his chest, looking a little disappointed. “It’s not really my style to just let a criminal go,” he said before shrugging, “but I guess that weirdo barely even qualifies.”
Conan gave a half smile. “Thanks, Hattori.”
He had a feeling a certain thief had been listening in on their conversation, so with Hattori helping him, he was almost guaranteed an opportunity to talk to KID.
The rest of the wait was uneventful, if perhaps less dreary. At the designated time, the lights all went out and the police fumbled around for a moment. When the lights came back on, KID appeared. He swiftly dodged the attempted dogpile, held up his stolen prize for everyone to see, then ran for the stairs, cackling madly all the while.
Hattori and Conan were hot on his heels, being the first to run after him since they hadn’t attempted to join in the pile-up, but the rest of the task force wasn’t far behind. When they made it to the staircase KID had just run up, Hattori growled out, “Ya better appreciate this, Conan.” Then he proceeded to “trip” right into a glue trap.
The rest of the task force, following too closely to suddenly change course, tripped right along with him, resulting in a cascade of additional traps being triggered. Conan noticed a lack of silly string, glitter, embarrassing outfits, and other prank-like traps, which he thought was a bit strange. Maybe KID was feeling a little off as well? Either way, it was the task force’s lucky day, or at least not as un lucky as it could have been for them.
Conan continued to the roof alone. Once he rounded the first staircase landing and was out of sight of the trapped officers, he found KID waiting for him a few steps above.
“KID.”
The thief didn’t wait for him to finish. Conan found himself being scooped up, then KID was running up to the roof again, Conan tucked under one arm like a football. Conan let out an indignant yelp. “KID, put me down!”
“You wanted to speak with me, didn’t you? I’m afraid those traps won’t hold my task force for long. When I was preparing for tonight, I didn’t realize that I would need to buy more time. It will be faster if I carry you,” KID explained.
Conan grumbled on principle but couldn’t argue with the thief’s logic. Once they made it to the roof, KID set him down again. Conan stopped himself from taking a gulp of fresh air now that he was out of the thief’s hold. He really hated the way KID smelled. The thief didn’t smell right. He didn’t smell like an alpha or an omega, but he obviously wasn’t a beta either. Conan could make out the chemically smell of scent blockers on him, and a beta wouldn’t have need for a scent blocker. He doubted anyone else knew KID wore scent blockers: someone would have to get really close to be able to smell them, and nobody had ever gotten as close as Conan. And by the time he’d gotten close enough to be able to pick up the artificial scent on the thief, he hadn’t even thought to go to the police with the information that KID must be either an alpha or an omega.
“What was it you wished to speak with me about, Tantei-kun?” the thief asked.
“I…” now faced with it, he wasn’t sure what to say. He knew the clock was ticking, though. He imagined he could hear the task force untangling themselves even now. He took in a deep breath, then exhaled slowly before asking, “KID, have you ever tried to protect someone, but you ended up hurting them instead?”
KID seemed taken aback by his question and didn’t answer. As always, the brim from his hat cast his face into shadow, partially hiding his expression, but even though he’d never been able to see the thief’s face, he’d gotten pretty good at reading the other man. He hadn’t thought the question would surprise KID that much.
“Sorry, I know this is strange, a detective asking a thief for advice. I guess I was desperate for someone to talk to, but I couldn’t go to any of my friends about this…” Conan said, trailing off.
“It’s okay, I understand,” KID finally replied, to Conan’s relief. KID sat down cross-legged, allowing himself to be a little vulnerable for a moment. “‘Hurt someone you were trying to protect,’ huh? That sure is a mature problem for someone your age. Are you sure you’re only seven years old? But to answer your question, I have.”
Conan felt a rush of gratitude and relief that KID was not only taking him seriously and speaking with him, but also that he was willing to share such personal information. “And what did you do after that?”
“Nothing,” KID answered to Conan’s great disappointment, but then he continued, “Or at least, nothing yet. I haven’t actually had a chance to speak with them. But once I do get that chance, I plan to apologize.”
“That’s it?”
KID shrugged, “It’s a start. I know that apologizing won’t undo the harm I caused, but if you do something wrong, you should apologize. After that, I will see what I can do to make it up to them.”
“But what if the thing you did was really bad? What if you might’ve completely ruined your friendship?” Conan said, speaking softly.
“You said that you were trying to protect this person, didn’t you? If your heart was in the right place, then they might be upset for a little while, but I’m sure with time they’ll find it in themselves to forgive you. But you won’t know until you try. And even if they don’t forgive you, apologizing is still the right thing to do.”
Conan bit his lip. Could he really say his heart had been in the right place? Haibara said that he also hadn’t been in his rational mind that night, but that didn’t excuse his actions. Besides, as much as he could try to deny it, there had been part of him that had reveled in Kaito biting him, in the knowledge that Kaito was claiming him as his. Afterwards, he’d felt almost drunk from the endorphins that the bond released. He’d wanted more than anything to bite Kaito in return, to complete the bond, but somehow he’d managed to stop himself. He still wasn’t fully sure how he’d done it.
“Say, Tantei-kun,” KID suddenly asked. Conan turned and found KID was staring intently at his watch. He wasn’t aiming it at him, so he wondered why it’d caught KID’s interest. “I never did ask; a watch like that could be pretty useful in my line of work. Where did you get it from?”
Conan frowned at him, “You don’t need any more tricks, thief. And I’m afraid this watch was made specifically for me. See how the watch strap wouldn’t fit an adult? Besides, it’s one of a kind.”
“I see,” was all KID said, voice sounding far away in thought.
After that, they fell into silence. Conan wasn’t sure what to do. Talking with KID had made him feel mildly better in that way that finally talking to someone could, but he still felt anxious. But KID did have a point; he should at least apologize. He owed Kaito at least that much. He couldn’t help but wonder though if KID’s answer would change if he knew what Conan had done.
“Say KID, I ran into this case the other day,” Conan started, hoping he sounded casual.
“Pretty typical for you,” KID teased on reflex, though he still seemed half distracted.
“Yeah,” Conan replied, forcing a grin, “Uh, but this case was a little strange. The victim was forced into a bond.”
Suddenly KID snapped. “That’s absolutely unforgivable!” He said it with so much ferocity that Conan stumbled back in surprise.
Conan stared at him wide-eyed. He’d never heard KID sound so venomous. And he’d said it was unforgivable.
Was he unforgivable?
He felt despair growing inside him. His eyes stung with unshed tears. Behind him, he heard the thunderous sound of the task force charging up the stairs. Without waiting for them, he turned and ran for the roof door. The door was forced open wide, slamming into the wall, and the task force poured out.
In the confusion, none of them noticed the small child slip between their legs going back inside and down the stairs.
Notes:
Hyperestrosis is of course a made up word but does use real medical terminology to create it. Root word estrus meaning a period of fertility, or heat, prefix hyper meaning above, and suffix -osis referring to the state/condition of, or to be affected by something or refer to an increase.
Thank you to my beta readers, the wonderful NobodyInParticular123456 and Ephyna. They were both helpful not just beta reading, but also helping me anytime my brain stuck and I needed to talk a scene out. Also my numerous brain farts, like when I forgot the word for “vending machine.” You were both a great help.
Thanks for reading! Please consider leaving a comment, they always make my day!
Chapter Text
Conan sat on his bed in the Kudo manor, still sniffling on occasion, though his tears had mostly dried by now. Kaito’s hoodie sat on the corner of the bed, but he dared not put it on. He didn’t deserve the comfort it would bring him.
KID said he was unforgivable. KID, the man who always seemed to be laughing and joking around. He’d seen KID get serious when the situation called for it, usually on cases they’d worked on together in the past, but he’d never seen KID like… like that.
Unforgivable.
Conan held himself tighter, trying to curl into an even smaller ball.
He heard the noise of the front door opening downstairs, then someone making their way up the stairs. He recognized the sound of the steps instantly, so he wasn’t surprised when Ran poked her head around his door.
“Conan?” Ran spotted him immediately on his bed. “Hattori called me. He said you left the heist early, and he couldn’t find you. Conan, are you okay?”
Conan choked back a sob, feeling like something was breaking inside of him. His tears started flowing again. He felt like he couldn’t take it anymore.
“Ran, please. It’s me, Ran. Please, see me,” he pleaded.
“Conan? I don’t understand.” The mattress dipped as Ran sat next to him.
He looked up at her, silently begging. Ran paused, furrowing her brow while studying him. She slowly reached forward to remove his glasses. He didn’t move to stop her. She set them aside, and they looked at each other in silence. Finally, she asked almost hesitantly, “Shinichi?”
“Ran!” he cried before he threw himself into her arms.
“Shinichi, you’re safe! We were all so worried,” she said while holding him tightly, crying as well.
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” Conan sobbed, the shoulder of her sweater growing damp with his tears while she rubbed his back.
They stayed like that for a while until Conan’s tears had truly run out this time. Then, Conan told her his story. And he told her everything. About getting poisoned, his reasons for hiding, his attempts to find the antidote, taking the temporary antidote, and of course Kaito biting him.
She waited patiently while he talked, her expression changing appropriately, but never once interrupting. When he finally finished she said, “Wow, that’s really a lot, Conan. Or… I guess I should call you Shinichi.”
He shook his head, “You should still call me Conan. You shouldn’t even think of me as Shinichi, if possible. If you slip up and it gets back to the wrong people that Kudo Shinichi is still alive, your life could be in danger. It’s why I avoided telling you for so long.”
Ran nodded. “I’ll do my best, but at least for tonight, you’re Shinichi.”
Conan smiled, though his eyes looked pained. “After tonight, I think it’s time Conan went to live with his family in America and Shinichi finally disappeared for good.”
Ran looked shocked. “Shinichi, what are you saying? You can’t leave! What about Kaito?”
Conan looked away from her, unable to meet her eyes. “It’s because of Kaito that I need to leave. I forced him into a bond, but as long as I’m a child and still unpresented, he can live as if he’s unbonded. If I leave and grow up as Conan,” he took a breath, and forced himself to push through the pain, “he could forget about me.”
“What if that’s not what Kaito wants?” Ran asked him.
“How could he not?” Conan asked, “What I did to him was…”
Unforgivable.
Ran sat in silence for a long time, clearly thinking everything over. She eventually said, “I’m not sure Kaito was as unwilling as you think he was.”
Conan frowned at her. “Ran, you remember how strong my pheromones were that night. Kaito went into a feral rage. He wasn’t aware of anything he was doing.”
“Yes, but I was around you that night too, and I didn’t bite you,” Ran pointed out.
Conan shook his head. “You weren’t around me long enough, or when my pheromones were at their peak. Remember the first time I presented as an omega, and I experienced my first heat? You almost bit me that time.”
Ran looked surprised, “Shinichi, I didn’t almost bite you that day.”
Conan frowned in confusion. “You did. Sonoko had to stop you. Don’t you remember?”
She looked even more surprised by his answer. “Shinichi, I’m a lot stronger than Sonoko. If I had really wanted to get to you, she wouldn’t have been able to hold me back. When alphas are affected by omega pheromones, it’s true that our sense of logic and reason gets clouded, and sometimes in more extreme cases we might be more susceptible to our base emotions and instincts, like when an alpha goes feral. But it’s not like we become completely mindless. If Kaito bit you, there must have been a part of him that wanted it too.”
Conan was speechless. Could what she said be true? He wanted to believe her, but if he dared to allow himself to hope and she was wrong, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to take it.
He wasn’t sure what his expression was showing, but Ran seemed to follow his thoughts easily. “I know you’re afraid, but I’m sure I’m right about this. Kaito wanted to bond with you as well. I’m sure if he hadn’t been affected by your pheromones, he probably would have gone about it in a different way. But you couldn’t have forced him into something he didn’t want.”
He wanted to believe her, he really did. But… “Then why has he looked like such a wreck recently?”
Ran gave him a small smile and asked him patiently, “Do you think it has anything to do with the fact that the omega he bonded with suddenly disappeared and he can’t get ahold of them? He probably thinks you’re mad at him. Especially since you didn’t complete the bond.”
“Oh.”
Ran seemed to think for a moment. “Actually, how does the bond work when you’re like this?” She gestured at his child’s body.
“It basically goes dormant,” he explained.
Ran gasped, “Shinichi, that’s even worse! How do you think he felt when he woke up after bonding with you and couldn’t feel the bond! His mind must be going in circles trying to figure out why he could no longer feel you. No wonder he looks like such a wreck!”
Conan’s eyes widened in realization. “Oh.”
Ran took a deep breath and let it out. “Really, Shinichi, for someone so smart, you can be so dense to the most obvious things sometimes.”
‘Haibara didn’t think about that either,’ he thought to himself defensively, but didn’t say out loud. The only thing he left out when he’d told Ran the truth was about Haibara. Her secret was her own to choose to sharel. But he was sure Haibara hadn’t thought about it either, otherwise she would’ve said something.
“You have to talk to Kaito-kun. He deserves an explanation,” Ran encouraged.
Conan bit his lip and nodded. Ran was right, Kaito deserved the truth. And even if she was wrong about him wanting the bond, even if Kaito was upset with him, he still deserved a proper apology.
“You’re right. I’ll talk to him. But I want to do it as myself, as Shinichi.” Conan stated.
“Then you don’t have to wait any longer,” a new voice suddenly said while slowly pushing open his door, “Because I’ve just completed the antidote.”
“Ai-chan?” Ran said in surprise.
The little girl nodded. “I saw the lights on from next door and thought I would come check on you. I heard enough to get an understanding of the situation. And as I said, I’ve just completed the antidote.”
Ran looked confused, “You completed the antidote?”
A look of understanding crossed Haibara’s face. “He didn’t tell you about me. I should’ve guessed.”
Conan shrugged, “It wasn’t my secret to tell.”
Ran spoke again, “It’s okay, neither of you have to tell me. The important thing is you finished the antidote. Shinichi, now you can take it and talk to Kaito!”
Conan didn’t answer immediately.
“Why are you still hesitating?” Haibara asked.
“One more temporary antidote,” Conan told her. He quickly continued when he saw the murderous look on her face, “This will be the last one. But Kaito should get a chance to choose. If he rejects our bond, then I’ll grow up as Conan, and Kaito can move on.”
Neither Ran nor Haibara answered for a moment before Haibara finally sighed. “Fine, have it your way. I’ll hold onto the permanent antidote and you can take it when you’re ready.”
“What about you? Are you going to take it?” Conan asked her. Ran shifted next to him, only mildly surprised at this point that Haibara might also have a need to take the permanent antidote.
Haibara shook her head. “I don’t have a life to go back to. I’m going to grow up as Haibara Ai. I’ve already talked it over with the professor, and he’s agreed to allow me to continue living with him.”
Conan felt the corners of his lips turn up in a small smile, “That’s great, Haibara.” Though she was too prickly to admit it out loud, he was sure Haibara had begun thinking of Professor Agasa as a surrogate grandfather, and he knew the professor felt the same.
The three talked for a little longer, and at some point, Ran remembered to text Hattori back that she had found Conan. The next several minutes were spent with Ran’s phone blowing up from notifications of messages from the Osakan detective expressing first his annoyance that she had taken so long to get back to him, then his relief that Conan was okay, and finally his regrets that what should’ve been a fun evening had turned into such a disaster.
Then Conan’s phone rang with an incoming call. He answered it.
“Ku-Conan!” Hattori’s voice rang loud enough for everyone in the room to hear it, even without him being on speaker phone. Conan yelped in surprise and jerked the phone away from his ear. “Are ya alright?”
Conan lowered the volume on his phone before hesitantly bringing it back to his ear. “I’m fine, Hattori. Sorry for worrying you.”
Hattori let out an exasperated sigh. “Don’ worry about it. Where are ya? I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“No, you should catch the last train home like you planned. You promised to take Kazuha out tomorrow, remember? To make it up to her since she couldn’t come to Tokyo with you this time?”
“Well, yeah, but I can’t just leave ya alone now. Ya obviously aren’t alright.”
“It’s okay, I’m not alone. Haibara and Ran are here with me. And I told Ran, Hattori. I told her everything. And tomorrow, I’m going to talk to Kaito, and I’m going to apologize for hurting him,” Conan answered. Then he set his shoulders firmly in preparation for what he was about to say. “Hattori, you should confess to Kazuha tomorrow.”
Hattori’s reaction was immediate as he began sputtering denials.
Conan cut him off, “Everyone can tell you’re both crazy about each other, except for the two of you, apparently. You shouldn’t keep her waiting any longer, otherwise someone else might come along and she might move on.”
Hattori growled, some alpha possessiveness leaking into his tone, “I won’t let anyone take my Kazuha.”
Conan smirked, “Your Kazuha, huh?”
Hattori went silent.
Conan continued in a softer tone, “You and Kazuha have a chance to actually be happy together. You should take it. You don’t want to lose her before you even get a chance to tell her how you feel.”
Hattori grumbled before he stubbornly answered, “I’ll think about it.” Then he hung up.
Conan tucked his phone back into his pocket while Ran asked, “So you’re going to talk to Kaito tomorrow?”
Conan nodded. “I’ll take the temporary antidote and ask him to meet me here so that we can talk.”
“Do you want me to be here while you talk to him?” Ran asked.
He shook his head, “No, I should do this alone.”
Ran put a supportive hand on his shoulder. “Okay, but try not to worry so much. I know it’s going to be okay. Now let’s get home before dad starts to wonder where we are.”
Conan hoped she was right.
0-0-0-0-0
Consciousness came back slowly.
The first thing he registered was the pounding of his head. He started to bring his hands up to hold his skull together before it split open, but he paused when found his wrists were bound together.
Then he remembered.
He’d taken the temporary antidote after messaging Kaito. Then, while waiting, he’d decided to take a quick walk to clear his head. He’d still been weak from the transformation, so he hadn’t noticed he was being followed until it was too late.
He wasn’t exactly sure why they’d kidnapped him though. He didn’t have enough information. He knew there had been four of them, and they’d smelled like a mixed group of alphas and betas. But otherwise he didn’t know anything else; he hadn’t even gotten a look at their faces.
Maybe it was some kind of revenge plot related to a recently solved case. Or maybe they wanted to try to ransom him for his parents’ money.
‘Like hell I’ll let that happen,’ he thought, ‘I’ll have to escape before they can even make the ransom call. Otherwise dad won’t let me live it down for the rest of my life.’
He took in his surroundings. He seemed to be in an office in an abandoned building, and he could hear the sounds of city life outside. So he was probably still in Tokyo. He was also still in his teenage body, meaning he couldn’t have been unconscious for long. He was currently alone, leaning against a wall, and his hands were zip tied in his lap.
Well, at least they hadn’t made it too difficult for him.
He didn’t know where his captors were, but he didn’t intend to wait for them to come back. He opened and closed his fists a few times, taking a couple of breaths and trying to mentally gather himself. He pulled from his memory times Ran had talked about mentally centering herself before practicing karate. He raised both of his fists, paused for a breath, then quickly and forcefully pulled his arms down, shooting his elbows past his rib cage.
Two things happened at once: a sharp moment of pain, and the zip tie broke at its weakest point, the locking mechanism.
He clenched his teeth to keep from making a sound, then he rubbed his aching wrists. He’d scraped off a couple layers of skin, but not enough to cause any bleeding. He checked his pockets, not expecting to find much, but to his surprise, his phone was still there.
Okay, now he was really embarrassed. He’d somehow gotten kidnapped by the most amateur group of criminals ever. A little voice in his head that sounded suspiciously like Haibara nagged him that it was his own fault for going for a walk so soon after taking the temporary antidote. He made to unlock his phone until he heard the sounds of someone about to enter the office. He shoved his phone back into his pocket and put his wrists back together in his lap. Thankfully the sleeves of his jacket mostly hid that the zip tie was no longer present.
The door to the office swung open, and Shinichi got a look at one of his captors. “So it was for revenge,” he said dryly. Of course he recognized the face of the man as one of the four who had been there the night of Sonoko’s party.
The man, one of the alphas, gave him a smile that was anything but friendly. “That’s right, Kudo. You and your alpha are going to pay for that night.”
Shinichi tensed at the mention of “his alpha.” Was Kaito here too somewhere? He didn’t have to wonder for long before his question was answered.
“We left a note for your alpha, and when he comes to rescue you, well… let’s just say we plan to repay everything he handed out to us, with interest of course.”
Shinichi relaxed marginally. So Kaito wasn’t here, yet. He had no idea how much time had passed, if Kaito had already found the note, or if he was even on his way now. Hopefully Kaito wouldn’t rush here blindly and would call the police.
Except that wouldn’t be ideal either. The police would mean going back to the station, making a statement, filling out reports, and generally wasting time that he didn’t have. He couldn’t risk the temporary antidote wearing off while he was in the police station. So escaping on his own really was the only option, and he needed to do it fast before he ran out of time.
“So if he isn’t here yet,” he couldn’t bring himself to call Kaito his alpha , “what are you doing talking to me? Here just to gloat?”
The alpha threw his head back and laughed, looking a bit like a cliche movie villain. He was clearly enjoying this. “Oh no, I’m not here just to talk. The guys and I were talking and we thought the best way to hurt that alpha would be to rough you up a little first. We’ll promise not to hurt you more if he surrenders, then we’ll beat the shit out of him. Then when he’s broken and barely conscious, we’ll beat you some more.”
While his kidnapper talked, Shinichi’s eyes flicked around the room, checking his surroundings. All he had on him was his phone, which wouldn’t do him much good. The office he was in was small and mostly cleaned out. Against one wall was a leather sofa with ripped upholstery and some of the cushioning exposed. In the center was a desk with a lonely keyboard missing some keys, and nothing else. A couple paces away from him was an end table holding a vase with some long-dead flowers. The vase looked to be made of plastic and had a bulbous shape at the bottom. It would have to do.
The alpha turned his back to Shinichi and began to set up a camera. “Now the guys and I are pretty confident that your alpha will come, but just in case he needs some extra motivation, I’m going to film it too. And if he does come, well then, we’ll just have the video footage for some enjoyment late—GAH!”
Shinichi winced as the man slumped down unconscious. The plastic vase wasn’t that heavy and he was pretty good at controlling the strength of his kicks, but the guy was sure to wake up with a pounding headache. Well, it was self-defense… plus, the asshole deserved it.
Now to get out of here.
Unfortunately he hadn’t made it far when the office door swung open again. One of the other four entered, most likely coming either to check on or join his friend. His eyes locked on Shinichi and for a moment both froze. The man in surprise, and Shinichi trying to think of a plan. He’d left the vase behind. Could he get to it fast enough?
Suddenly the man was surrounded by pink smoke. Shinichi could hear him coughing, then when the smoke cleared, the man was on the floor unconscious. Behind him stood the last person he’d expected to see.
“Kaitou KID? What are you doing here?” he asked in confusion.
KID gave him a friendly little wave, “I just happened to be in the area. When I noticed the KID Killer’s cousin was in trouble, I just had to step in and help. ”
Shinichi frowned, not believing him for a second, but also knowing he probably wasn’t going to get a real answer. “There should be two more around here somewhere.”
“I’m afraid those two are about to become more very fast. It seems your unsavory friends have even more unsavory friends, and they have invited them here. We need to get out of here, now.”
Shinichi nodded and pulled out his phone. “Right, first let me just contact a friend of mine. I want to make sure he isn’t on his way here.”
KID crossed the distance between them in seconds and snatched the phone from his hand before slipping it back into Shinichi’s jacket pocket. His head bowed low so that the brim of his hat covered his face. “That won’t be necessary. I’ve already spoken to your friend, and he’s waiting for your safe return back at home.”
Shinichi’s brow furrowed. “You spoke with Kaito? When? How?”
KID circled around him and placed his hands on Shinichi’s shoulders, leading him out of the office and in the direction of the stairs. “So many questions, detective, but now isn’t the time.”
Shinichi noticed they were going up the stairs rather than down. “Isn’t this the wrong way?”
He saw from the corner of his eye KID shake his head behind him. “I don’t want to risk your ‘friends’ showing up while we’re making our escape. So we’ll take my preferred exit instead and use my glider.”
Shinichi had flown with KID as Conan numerous times already, usually under pretty tense circumstances, but he couldn’t help but enjoy it. But that was while he was Conan. “Will your glider hold the weight of two adults?”
He could hear the grin in KID’s answer, “Don’t worry about that. I recently finished making a larger glider. It’s not very maneuverable, which will make it harder to fly between the skyscrapers of the city, but it makes up for it by staying in the air longer, making it better for long distances. Or in this case, it should be more than capable of carrying two adults.”
It didn’t sound like KID had actually tested it with two people, but Shinichi wasn’t worried. KID may not recognize him in his teenage body, but he still trusted KID not to let him get hurt. He tried to turn around to face KID, but KID’s firm grip on his shoulders kept him facing forward. “What about those guys? I can’t just let them go knowing what they were intending to do,” Shinichi asked.
KID answered, “Right about now, the police should have received my anonymous tip, and I imagine they’ll be here soon.”
“You talked to Kaito and sent an anonymous tip to the police? When did you find the time to do that? Especially since you just ‘happened to be in the area?’” Shinichi asked, voice full of doubt.
“Well, Meitantei, I would love to tell you, but you know. A magician never reveals his secrets and all that~” KID answered.
“I see.”
They made it to the roof and both walked to the edge, Shinichi in front and KID behind him. Once he was at the edge, he started to turn and ask KID, “Now what?”
He’d barely finished his question before KID scooped him up in his arms and jumped off the roof. Shinichi yelped, more in surprise than from real fear, but KID had already buckled a support strap around his waist. Shinichi’s face was buried in the crook of KID’s neck. He tried to pull away, but KID’s hand came up to rest on the back of his head, applying gentle but firm pressure to keep him in place.
“Stay there. Better for the aerodynamics and stuff,” KID said in his ear.
Shinichi stayed where he was. He realized this close he could just barely smell KID. The thief must not have properly applied his scent blockers. He smelled like alpha. There was something very familiar about the scent as well. Something very comforting.
The flight back to the Kudo manor passed in silence. They landed safely on the roof, then KID helped him down onto the second story balcony. KID had his back to the manor, the backlighting from inside casting him in deep shadow.
“You better get inside; you have someone waiting for you and he’s very worried. Take care, Meitantei,” KID said before he turned to go.
“Leaving already, Kaito? I thought we were going to talk.”
KID froze for a moment before turning back around. “How did you know?”
Shinichi let out a sigh in relief. He knew he was right, but he was glad KID, or rather Kaito, wasn’t trying to deny it. “To be honest, I only just figured it out in the middle of you rescuing me, but it’s pretty obvious in retrospect. I guess before, I’d been a little preoccupied with… my own stuff to figure out your mystery.”
KID raised his hand up to his monocle. “I should’ve known I couldn’t hide—”
“Wait! Stop, idiot! What are you doing?!” Shinichi said while opening his balcony door with one hand and shoving KID inside with the other, “Don’t remove that outside where anyone can see you!”
Shinichi closed the door behind him and drew the curtains. He sighed with relief. Then two arms suddenly wrapped around his waist and pulled him back into a firm chest. Shinichi’s heart began to race.
“Kaito?” he asked when his friend didn’t move.
Kaito’s breath tickled his ear when he spoke. “I’m sorry, it’s just all a little too much for me right now. I can feel you again, through the bond. I couldn’t before, but now you’re here. And then you were kidnapped , and I go to rescue you, and of course you’ve already taken out one of the guys by yourself, because you’re incredible. And I tried so hard not to reveal my identity to you, but somehow you knew anyway, and the first thing you do is worry about me exposing my identity. I can tell through the bond that you aren’t even mad!”
Shinichi huffed impatiently. “Of course I’m not mad. But I do want to know your reason behind it.”
“Of course, whatever you want to know,” Kaito answered without releasing him. “So, what gave me away?”
He was giving Shinichi an opportunity to explain how he’d figured it out, something familiar and grounding, giving them both a moment to collect themselves. He felt a rush of affection towards his friend. The arms that were still wrapped around him tightened, and Shinichi remembered with a blush that Kaito could feel him through the bond now. He wasn’t sure how much Kaito was getting since the bond was currently one-sided and therefore weak, but he was obviously able to feel something through it.
“Of course I didn’t buy for a moment the ‘just happened to be in the area’ excuse. And you prevented me from calling Kaito with my phone. I’m guessing you had your civilian phone on you and, while rushing, forgot to silence it before coming to rescue me. Then you didn’t want me to look at you for too long. You kept facing me away from you, even preventing me from looking at you while we were gliding together. You were worried that even with the hat and monocle, I would still be close enough to recognize you. I was growing suspicious, but ironically, you refusing to let me put some distance between us while flying was what confirmed it. In addition to forgetting to silence your phone, you also didn’t thoroughly hide your scent, and being so close, I was just able to smell your alpha scent. A scent I’ve smelled as an omega only once before, but was still able to recognize,” Shinichi explained. He didn’t mention any of the times he was Conan, but thinking back now, there were mountains of evidence. He really should’ve figured it out sooner.
He could feel Kaito’s chest shaking as he chuckled. “Can’t get anything past a detective as smart and observant as you.”
Shinichi inwardly preened at the praise coming from the alpha, then quickly tried to stamp the feelings down before Kaito could feel them. That would be too embarrassing. He wasn’t sure how successful he was. This one-way bond was rather troublesome. Speaking of which, maybe it was time he and Kaito finally talked about that.
The thought made Shinichi’s mouth go dry. He licked his lips nervously, trying to remoisten them. It was so nice being held in Kaito’s arms like this, his friend not furious with him, only relieved that he was safe. Did he really have to ruin that?
Kaito shifted behind him. “Shinichi? What’s wrong?”
No, they had to talk about it. He couldn’t continue hurting Kaito.
He gently pulled himself out of Kaito’s embrace. Kaito released him, almost seeming reluctant. He turned and faced his friend. Kaito had removed the hat and monocle but otherwise was still in the KID suit. Shinichi paused for a moment, taking in his friend’s appearance. He’d known it was true, but it still was a surprise to see it for himself. All this time, he’d been keeping a secret from Kaito, and Kaito had a secret of his own. It made even more sense now why he’d trusted KID so easily. Of course he would always trust his friend, even when he didn’t realize it was him.
Unforgivable.
Shinichi put a hand to his chest.
“Shinichi, please. Talk to me. I can feel a little bit of what you’re feeling right now, and… I know you’re upset. Is there anything I can do?” Kaito asked, hesitantly reaching out.
Shinichi took a step back and tried to ignore the hurt look that flashed across Kaito’s face. He took in a shaky breath before he stated, “We need to talk about that night.”
Kaito’s shoulders tensed, and a look of understanding came across his face. “You mean the night I bonded with you.”
Shinichi nodded and opened his mouth to continue, only to cut himself off with an aborted cry. The hand at his chest fisted his shirt.
“Shinichi!? What’s wrong?” Kaito cried out.
He couldn’t answer even if he wanted to. All his focus was directed at not screaming.
‘No, no, no! I took too long, and now the temporary antidote is wearing off. I just needed a little more time!’
“Shinichi, what’s going on? I can feel through the bond… is that steam coming off you?”
Shit. He was officially out of time. He was nearly doubled over, clutching at his chest. With great effort, he forced himself to say, “Sorry, I’m not feeling well. I’m going to turn in early. Let’s actually talk tomorrow over the phone instead.”
He turned on shaky legs and made for the direction of his bedroom, but a hand gripping his shoulder stopped him.
“You’ve lost your mind if you think I’m going to leave you alone right now.”
“Please, just go!” he shouted, almost begging.
“Are you getting smaller?” Kaito asked, making him freeze.
Another pulse of pain brought him to his knees. He couldn’t suppress a small cry, and then Kaito was there. He gathered Shinichi into his arms, bringing Shinichi’s head to his chest.
“It’s okay, I’ve got you. I’ve got you,” Kaito told him.
He cried out, and then as if the flood gates had been opened, he couldn’t stop. He fisted Kaito’s suit jacket, squeezing so tight his knuckles turned as white as the fabric he was clutching. Kaito held him tighter, his grip adjusting as necessary as Shinichi’s body shrank. Shinichi screamed and screamed, burying his face in Kaito’s shoulder as his body melted.
Finally, after what felt like hours, the pain faded away, and Shinichi was once again in the body of a child. He lay slumped against Kaito’s chest, all of his energy depleted. He distantly noted that Kaito seemed to be shaking.
He tried to push himself away from Kaito’s chest. Kaito, realizing what he was doing, turned him around so that they could properly see each other, still holding him.
“Shinichi, I can’t feel you anymore. The bond, it’s gone again,” Kaito said, his voice wavering.
Shinichi shook his head. He tried to speak, but his voice broke. He cleared his throat and tried again, his voice raspy, “Not gone, just dormant since this body isn’t an omega yet.”
“Right, dormant. That makes sense,” Kaito said with a hint of sarcasm, though his voice still shook.
Shinichi let out a laugh that turned into a short coughing fit. “You know, despite the sarcasm, you’re taking this whole thing,” Shinichi gestured weakly at his body with one arm, “rather well.” He was currently only in his shirt, which now fit him more like a dress, his bare feet barely poking out. His pants lay in a crumpled heap off to the side where they’d fallen after he no longer fit in them.
Kaito gave him a crooked grin, “Well you aren’t the only one who figured out the other’s secret identity, Tantei-kun .”
Shinichi blinked in surprise. “How did you figure it out?”
Kaito looked up in thought. “I had a nagging suspicion that something was off with Conan for a while; I just wasn’t sure what it was. In the end, there were two things that really pushed me in the right direction. The first was the ‘bandage’ you had on your neck that day in the park. That was to cover up your bond mark, wasn’t it? The other was that night you talked to me on the roof, when you were Conan and I was KID. I noticed your watch, and it triggered a memory of seeing it the night of Sonoko-chan’s party. After that, I eventually put it together.”
Shinichi nodded in understanding. Then he pulled himself out of Kaito’s lap. “I should go get changed.” He padded on bare feet in the direction of his bedroom, Kaito following behind him carrying his pants and shoes.
Kaito tossed the clothes into the hamper, then momentarily disappeared to put Shinichi’s shoes downstairs while Shinichi changed into a spare set of his Conan clothes. When Kaito returned, he saw his friend had changed as well. He was out of his KID suit and was instead wearing his regular street clothes, most likely the clothes he’d been planning to change into after KID dropped him off and Kaito took his place.
Shinichi adjusted his shirt, then turned to face Kaito. Kaito paused, looking surprised. “What?” he asked a little self-consciously.
“You aren’t wearing your glasses,” Kaito answered.
He shrugged. “You know I actually don’t need them, right? And there’s no reason to continue to disguise myself in front of you.”
“Right, it’s just a little odd to see you in that body without them. You know?”
“Probably about as odd as it was to see you in the KID suit without the hat and monocle,” Shinichi answered.
“Yeah. So while I do know that you were Conan the whole time, I don’t really know the how,” Kaito said.
Shinichi sighed, “It’s a bit of a long story, and we have a lot we need to discuss.”
Kaito nodded, then plucked Shinichi off the ground. “Guess we better get started then.” He threw himself backwards and landed on Shinichi’s bed with a small bounce, bringing Shinichi with him. He scooted back until he was leaning against the headboard, and settled Shinichi down beside him. “Now how exactly did you shrink?”
So Shinichi told him about that night at Tropical Land, telling him everything just like he’d done for Ran, though this time he included Haibara and her role. It was easier telling the story again. He wasn’t sure if that was because he’d already told it before, or because it was Kaito he was talking to. When he finished, Kaito was holding his hand.
“I didn’t realize the growing and shrinking was so painful for you.” He tightened his grip for a moment, though he was careful not to crush Shinichi’s too small hand with his own much larger one. “I want you to promise me you won’t take any more temporary antidotes. I don’t want you to go through that pain again.”
He gave him a small, reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, I’m done with the temporary antidotes. Haibara has managed to create the permanent antidote, so the next time I take it, if I choose to take it, will be the last.”
“What do you mean ‘if you choose to take it?’ Why wouldn’t you take the permanent antidote?” Kaito asked.
“Because I wanted to give you the choice,” Shinichi answered, suddenly unable to meet Kaito’s eye.
“Why?” Kaito asked, sounding more confused.
Shinichi squirmed uncomfortably. “I think… we should resume our talk about the night of Sonoko’s party.”
Kaito looked momentarily thrown by the topic switch. “Right, that discussion is a bit… overdue.”
Shinichi bit his lip, then continued, “I know you said that I was… unforgivable.”
“What!?” Kaito said while snapping his neck around so fast that Shinichi was afraid he’d injured it. “No! I never said that about you! I was referring to people who force bonds onto others. I was talking about me!”
Shinichi looked at him confused. “But I was the one who forced the bond that night. With my heat pheromones.”
“But I was the one who went feral and bit you!” Kaito argued.
Shinichi looked at him in shock. “Kaito, I don’t blame you for that.”
Kaito’s worry gave way to relief. “You don’t? All this time… after I bit you, and then I woke up and you were gone, and I knew something was wrong with the bond, I thought maybe I was being punished somehow. And you were gone, and I couldn’t get ahold of you. I thought you hated me,” the last part came out as barely more than a whisper.
Shinichi blinked and realized his eyes were filling with unshed tears. His voice wobbled a little when he said, “Of course I didn’t hate you. I thought you hated me. I released my heat pheromones to stop you from hurting those men, which made you bite me.”
He was pulled into Kaito’s lap and into a hug. “I don’t blame you either. I don’t hate you, I could never hate you. I’m glad you stopped me from hurting those men. I was in such a rage that night, I don’t know how far I might’ve gone. I could’ve really hurt them. Thank you for stopping me.”
Shinichi sniffled, and a couple tears escaped. But he gave Kaito a small smile. “Well at least one good thing came from my kidnapping today: we got to see those guys again, and they looked fine. You didn’t do any kind of lasting damage or anything.”
Kaito returned the smile, “Only you would say that something good came from getting kidnapped, but I suppose you’re right. So now that we’ve established that neither of us blames the other for what happened, what did you mean when you said you wanted to give me a choice?”
Shinichi climbed out of Kaito’s lap and sat next to him again, sitting so close that he could feel the warmth from Kaito’s body heat. “Well, it’s because of the bond. I didn’t bite you back, so it’s only one way. And with me in the body of a child, it’s dormant. So that means for you, nothing has really changed, at least not until I become an omega again. If I don’t take the permanent antidote, I’ll have to grow up and go through puberty again. That will take 10 years. During that time, you could…” he couldn’t bring himself to say ‘move on and find the person you actually want to be with,’ so he pivoted, “And I could leave, if you wanted me to. Go live with my parents in America, grow up as Conan. That way, when I do eventually go through puberty again and become an omega, I’m not around to—”
“No,” Kaito said, firmly cutting him off, “No, I don’t want that. I don’t want you to leave. We can figure this bond thing out together, but please, I want you in my life. Please don’t leave again.”
Shinichi sniffled, but no more tears fell. “Are you sure?”
Kaito smiled at him reassuringly, “It should be your choice whether or not you take the permanent antidote, but if I were to have a say, I do want you to take it. And I never want you to leave me again.”
Shinichi wiped the tears from his eyes and gave a small smile in return. “Okay.”
0-0-0-0-0
Eventually the conversation moved back to Kaito again, and he told his story of how he became KID.
“Wait, so all that time, you weren’t preparing for your school’s cultural festival?” Shinichi asked, feeling a bit silly for falling for such an obvious lie.
Kaito snickered. “Nope! I was spending all my time not in school learning how to be KID. You know, learning to fly the glider, practicing with the card gun, designing more tricks.”
Shinichi shook his head in disbelief, then his expression became more somber. “I’m sorry about your dad.”
Kaito nodded his thanks. “I almost told you numerous times after I found out. But I was afraid of getting you involved. I didn’t want you to get hurt.”
Shinichi shook his head. “Idiot. So you were going about it all alone? I don’t want you to get hurt either. I could’ve helped you, watched your back for you.”
Kaito poked him hard in the forehead, pushing him back until Shinichi smacked his hand away. “Are you really in any position to lecture me right now? You, Mr ‘I was poisoned and left for dead by a major crime syndicate’? You didn’t tell me your secret either.”
Shinichi huffed but couldn’t argue.
“Besides, I guess I was also a little worried…” Kaito admitted.
Shinichi noted Kaito’s expression. “You didn’t think I was going to turn you in or something, did you?”
Kaito shook his head. “No, that was never even a thought really. I thought you would be disappointed in me. You realize when I find Pandora, I can’t give it back, right? I plan to shatter it right in front of Snake.”
“I know,” Shinichi replied softly, “and I understand. I still want to help you find it, and to take down your dad’s murderers.”
Kaito’s frown deepened. “No can do, it’s too dangerous.”
Shinichi’s eyebrow twitched, then he gave an innocent smile. “Well, if you insist. I won’t help. I’ll just focus solely on my own organization. You know, the one that already tried to kill me once and will definitely try again if they ever find out they failed? I mean, I thought it would be smarter for us to work together, but I guess if you don’t want to get me involved, even though I’m already in danger—”
“I get it, I get it,” Kaito growled. “Is it just me, or are you more of a brat now than you were when you were actually seven?”
“You’ve finally rubbed off on me,” Shinichi replied.
“How dare you, I’m an angel,” Kaito said, mock offended.
“Yeah? So was Satan, and I think plenty of people would agree you’re a bit of a devil.”
“The only people who would say that are liars and should not be trusted. Just don’t ask Aoko. Or my classmates. Or the KID task force. Or Hakuba,” Kaito listed off.
“Hakuba?” Shinichi asked, “That British detective who’s sometimes at KID heists?”
“Yeah, I never told you, but he’s a classmate of mine. He’s constantly accusing me of being KID, even though he doesn’t have any evidence. But I couldn’t complain about him to you without risking putting the idea in your head that I might be KID,” Kaito answered.
Shinichi snickered. “I can’t decide if your luck is good like everyone says, or if it’s actually bad. I mean, you have Hakuba in your class, and Aoko-chan’s dad is the head of the KID task force?”
Kaito laughed with him. Then he asked, “So you’re really going to let me help you? With your organization?”
Shinichi shrugged. “I know you. Now that you know what I’m up against, I doubt I’d be able to stop you from helping me. And we’ve teamed up together before, as KID and Conan, and we worked great together. I’m simply skipping ahead to the part where we both agree to help each other. Besides, now that I know you’re KID, I know you’re more than capable of taking care of yourself.”
Kaito hesitated. “I still don’t like the idea of you putting yourself in danger for me though.”
Shinichi bristled. “Stop listening to your protective alpha instincts. You’ve seen me at your heists, you know what I can do.”
Kaito chuckled, then gave a nostalgic sigh, “I swear, you’ve almost taken my head off a few times with one of your soccer balls. Those were fun times. Are you still going to chase me now that you know I’m KID?”
Shinichi looked down at his lap with a wistful smile to himself. “Well, I did always enjoy your heists, but Kudo Shinichi has never attended a KID heist before. Besides, I don’t think I could give you the challenge you want now that I know it’s you.”
Kaito raised an eyebrow. “Are you saying you were actually trying before? I think you’ve let me go a few too many times for either of us to believe that.”
Shinichi opened his mouth, then closed it, looking a little disgruntled at being called out.
Kaito took his hand again. “I want you to come. I always enjoyed having you at my heists. It wouldn’t be the same without you.”
Shinichi swallowed and looked away, but he knew he could never say no to his friend. “Alright, fine. I’ll come. But don’t complain when I’m better able to keep up once my legs are longer.”
Kaito laughed. “Looking forward to it!”
0-0-0-0-0
Shinichi didn’t remember falling asleep, but suddenly he was waking up with morning sunlight streaming in through the windows. He was curled up against Kaito’s side, and Kaito’s jacket was wrapped around him like a makeshift blanket. Kaito had scooted down the bed at some point so that he was no longer leaning against the headboard, one arm curled around Shinichi’s smaller form.
Shinichi slid off the bed onto the floor as quietly as he could and tiptoed down the steps. He put his arms through the jacket sleeves, wearing it properly, or at least as best he could when it was clearly way too large for him. He went into the kitchen and started the coffee pot.
The coffee was halfway done when he heard a shout from upstairs, followed by Kaito almost flying down the steps. “Shinichi?! Where are you?”
“Kaito? What’s wrong?” Shinichi called back in alarm.
Then Kaito was there, and Shinichi yelped as his feet left the ground and he was pulled into Kaito’s arms.
“Kaito?” he tried asking again.
Kaito sighed and loosened his grip but didn’t put him down yet. “I was just afraid that I might’ve dreamed last night and you would be gone again.”
Shinichi nodded in understanding. He’d known how much his disappearance had hurt Kaito, but he hadn’t realized that the wound wouldn’t heal immediately just because Kaito now knew where he was.
Once he set him down, Shinichi poured himself his coffee while Kaito searched the pantry for something edible. Shinichi could tell by the rustling that Kaito was growing more and more frustrated the longer he looked.
“Shin-chan, how am I supposed to make you a delicious breakfast when you have nothing to eat?” Kaito complained.
Shinichi inwardly smiled. He’d actually missed Kaito calling him Shin-chan. Not that he would ever admit that to his friend. “Of course there wouldn’t be anything to eat; this house is supposed to be empty, remember?”
“That didn’t stop you from keeping the coffee fully stocked,” Kaito grumbled to himself but shut the pantry door.
Shinichi ignored him. “If I stay over here, usually I go to the professor’s in the morning for breakfast. I was planning on doing that this morning too. I need to talk to Haibara anyway about taking the permanent antidote.”
Kaito perked up. “Can I come too?” When Shinichi hesitated, he continued, “It’s just that I only just got you back last night; I’m not ready to let you go yet. I feel like if I let you out of my sight, you might disappear again.”
He considered it before answering, “You can come. But let me text Haibara that we’re both coming. She needs to know that I’ve told you everything.”
Kaito nodded and Shinichi pulled out his phone, sending a quick text to Haibara. The reply back was almost immediate.
‘Fine, but no acting like a lovey couple and being disgustingly cute while you’re both over here. It’s too early for that.’
Shinichi mentally winced before texting back. ‘We’ve decided to work it out and stay friends.’
The reply took longer this time before Haibara finally sent back, ‘Did you tell Kuroba how you feel?’
Shinichi didn’t immediately respond, trying to think of what to say. He took long enough that Haibara must’ve inferred his answer because she sent another reply that just read, ‘Idiot.’
Shinichi slipped his phone back into his pocket. He finished off his coffee, then he and Kaito made their way next door. Haibara greeted them and led them to the kitchen where the professor was already seated, digging into his own breakfast.
“Kaito-kun! Wonderful to see you again! I’m glad Shinichi-kun finally told you about his little shrinking problem; I’ve missed talking shop with you,” Agasa said brightly.
“He didn’t tell me as much as he just shrank in front of me,” Kaito corrected with a grin.
“How did you waste so much time that you shrank in front of him?” Haibara asked while shooting Shinichi a disapproving look, “That temporary antidote should’ve lasted you hours.”
“I wasn’t wasting time!” Shinichi said defensively, then paused when he realized he would have to tell Haibara what actually happened. “I… was kidnapped. By the time I escaped, my time was up.”
Haibara blinked at him before putting her face in her hands. “You can’t be left alone for even a moment, can you?”
“He really can’t,” Kaito snickered while ruffling Shinichi’s hair. “I guess I’ll just have to keep him in my sight from now on.”
Shinichi grumbled but pulled himself into a seat at the table. Plates were already set for him and Kaito. Haibara took her own seat across from him while Kaito sat to his right.
“So when do you think I’ll be ready to take the true antidote?” Shinichi asked.
Haibara thought it over before answering. “Since you just took a temporary antidote, you’ll have to give your body a rest before taking the permanent one. Otherwise the shock could kill you.”
Kaito nearly choked.
“Don’t worry, I’m not going to let that happen. I’ll make sure your omega doesn’t die,” Haibara said.
Shinichi shot her a warning look, not missing that she’d called him Kaito’s omega. She ignored him. At least Kaito seemed to have missed it, focusing only on Haibara’s reassurance.
“A few days should be enough, but let’s make it a full week just to be sure,” Haibara offered.
“That will also give Conan enough time to say goodbye to everyone,” Shinichi agreed.
“I guess I better start planning now, in that case! I just know the Detective Boys are going to ask me to help throw Conan the biggest surprise farewell party ever,” Kaito said with a dramatic sigh that wasn’t fooling Shinichi for a second.
Shinichi rolled his eyes, but he was smiling. Things were resolved between him and Kaito, and maybe he hadn’t been able to confess his feelings like he’d hoped, but at least he hadn’t lost Kaito’s friendship. For the first time in a long time, he felt like he could breathe again.
Notes:
Thank you to my beta readers, the wonderful NobodyInParticular123456 and Ephyna. They were both helpful not just beta reading, but also helping me anytime my brain stuck and I needed to talk a scene out. Also my numerous brain farts, like when I forgot the word for “vending machine.” You were both a great help.
Thanks for reading! Please consider leaving a comment, they always make my day!
Chapter Text
“Bye! Thanks for coming!”
Conan stood beside Ran, waving to the Detective Boys, almost the last guests to leave the party. They’d wanted to stay the night and go with him to the airport in the morning, but Haibara had talked them out of it by pointing out that Ran was losing her surrogate little brother and they shouldn’t intrude on Conan’s last night with the Mouris.
Kogoro had been the biggest surprise during the party. He’d always seemed to tolerate Conan at best, but now faced with him leaving, the older man seemed like he would actually miss him. He’d loudly proclaimed during the party that he would use the drive to the airport tomorrow as a final opportunity to “pass on all of his knowledge as a detective to the little brat,” and Conan had feared he wasn’t going to get out of an actual trip to the airport, but luckily Kogoro drunk himself into a stupor, and with concern for the hangover he was sure to have in the morning, the professor kindly offered to take Conan instead. Of course there would be no ‘trip to the airport’, and when Agasa picked him up, it would be to take him back to his house for the permanent antidote.
“Was that the last of them?” Kaito asked from behind them.
“Just you and me left, Kaito-kun,” Sonoko said, joining the small group.
Ran smiled, “It was a very successful party. You really have a lot of friends that are going to miss you, Conan-kun.”
Conan smiled in agreement. The party had been a reminder to him that his time as Conan hadn’t been all bad. He hoped that as Shinichi he would be able to reform at least some of those friendships. Maybe once the Black Org was finally taken down, he would tell the Detective Boys the truth. Or more likely he would allow them to figure it out for themselves.
“Thanks again for providing the entertainment, Kaito-kun. That magic show you put on was spectacular! I can’t believe how good you’ve gotten recently. I feel like you could’ve performed that show on a professional stage somewhere!” Ran said cheerfully.
“Yeah! You were almost as good as KID-sama. I was impressed!” Sonoko gushed.
“Why thank you! You both flatter me~ But Ran, I seem to have made a bit of a mess of your living room,” Kaito said while looking around at all the confetti scattered about, “Could you show me where you keep your broom?”
“I’ll go get some extra trash bags. Come on, pip-squeak, you’re coming too,” Sonoko announced while scooping Conan up and holding him so that his back was against her chest.
Conan glanced up at her questioningly. While he was pretty used to being manhandled in this body by nearly everyone, Sonoko wasn’t usually one to casually pick him up. A sense of foreboding crept up his spine, and the feeling intensified when he realized they were not heading to the kitchen where the spare trash bags were kept, but instead to Ran’s bedroom.
He opened his mouth to question her, but Sonoko covered his mouth with her hand. She entered Ran’s bedroom and closed the door behind her. “So. I think you and I have something we need to discuss, Shinichi. ”
Conan’s eyes widened in shock, then fight or flight took over, and he began struggling, trying to get away from her.
“Oh no you don’t!” Sonoko scolded before she threw him onto the bed, where he landed with a bounce. The action caught him off guard, freezing him in place. Sonoko took the opportunity to quickly wrap him in a blanket burrito, effectively putting an end to his escape attempts.
Conan squirmed a little more, but the blankets wouldn’t budge. He sighed in defeat before turning his attention to the young heiress, who looked entirely too smug. “So, Ran told you.”
Sonoko snorted. “Of course she told me; we tell each other everything. Besides, it’s not like it’ll cause any harm, not when ‘Conan’ is leaving tomorrow and ‘Shinichi’ will soon be returning.”
Conan frowned. “She still shouldn’t have told you; it could be dangerous. The people that did this to me are still out there. You can’t tell anyone else about this.”
Sonoko put her hands on her hips. “And who exactly would I tell? Ran? Oh wait, she already knows,” she said, full of sarcasm.
“What about Makoto-san?”
Sonoko waved off his concern. “Currently away for a big karate tournament, but you don’t need to worry about him anyway. While my wonderful Makoto-san is great at many things, gossiping with the girls is not one of them. I don’t think I need to share this with him.”
Conan relaxed a little. “So are you going to lecture me about not telling you I was Shinichi the whole time?”
To his surprise, she shook her head. “Don’t get me wrong, I do think you’re a bit of a jerk for not telling us when we were all so worried, but I guess I can understand that you were just trying to protect us. No, we need to discuss something much more important. And that’s you and Kaito!” She pointed at him dramatically in a pose that was vaguely familiar for some reason.
“W-what about us?” Conan asked nervously.
“He bonded with you, and you still haven’t confessed to him yet?”
To hell with dignity, he was not having this conversation. Conan struggled with all his might, but only succeeded in falling onto his side. He had an idea born of desperation to try inch-worming away, but Sonoko acted before he could even try.
“You aren’t going anywhere,” Sonoko said while lifting him by grabbing the back of his shirt through the blanket like he was a misbehaving cat. “I don’t care if you still look like a toddler, you and I are going to have an adult conversation about this.”
“I don’t look like a toddler, I look like a grade-schooler,” Conan argued.
“Whatever, ankle-biter. Quit trying to avoid the subject. So Kaito bonded with you. What are you going to do?”
“Geez, she even told you about that? She’s worse than Hattori,” Conan complained. When Sonoko fixed him with a glare demanding an answer, he sighed before continuing. “Look, I don’t know, okay? I didn’t bite him back, so the bond should be weak, right? Maybe if I’m lucky, he won’t notice anything, and nothing will change for us,” he finished, sounding bitter.
Sonoko’s glare softened as her face turned momentarily sad. She sat down on the bed next to him and helped him sit up again. “None of my magazines really mention partial bonds, so I don’t know how they work exactly. You haven’t asked Kaito?”
“I did ask, it’s just that I haven’t really been an omega long enough for him to fully figure it out. He said when I was an omega, he could feel my presence in the back of his mind, and he could also sometimes feel my emotions, but not very well. He described it like a static tv that occasionally showed him a blurry picture. We think the stronger my emotions are, the better chance he has of feeling them, but I haven’t been Shinichi long enough to test it.”
Sonoko nodded at his explanation. “Strong emotions, huh? You mean like when you’re in heat and your body is aching for your alpha?”
Conan’s face reddened. “S-Sonoko!?”
She shrugged shamelessly. “All I’m saying is I think it’s wishful thinking that you’ll be able to keep your feelings from him. You should just confess.”
He was saved from answering by Ran entering the room. She closed the door behind her with a soft click.
“Ran! I can’t believe you told Sonoko. Now she’s gone crazy,” he paused when he noted that Ran didn’t seem at all surprised that he was currently being restrained by way of blanket, “Aaand you’re in on it. I should have known. Where’s Kaito?”
“Taking the trash to the cans outside. We probably only have another minute or so before he comes back. Any progress, Sonoko?” Ran asked.
Sonoko groaned. “This detective geek is so stubborn. Listen, Thumbelina—” Conan’s noise of protest at the nickname went ignored “Just think about it, okay? I don’t know what you’re so afraid of anyway. I’m pretty sure Kaito-kun likes you too, and I consider myself a bit of an expert in these matters.”
He was again saved from answering by a knock on the door. “Ran-chan, Sonoko-chan, Conan-kun, are you guys in there?”
“You can come in, Kaito,” Ran called back.
Kaito opened the door and poked his head in. “I helped your dad to bed and put a water bottle and some aspirin for him on his table… what’s going on here?”
Sonoko gave an innocent grin. “You can call him Shinichi if Mouri-san is snoring away. Ran already filled me in on everything. We were just getting a little revenge on the chibi-detective for not telling us his identity for so long and letting us worry about him.”
“Ooo, let me get in on this too,” Kaito said with an almost KID-like grin of his own. He plopped down on the bed on Conan’s other side before picking him and setting him in his lap. Kaito settled one hand on his shoulder to steady him, and the other hand came up to rest on his head. Then Kaito was giving him a noogie.
Conan yelped in surprise and began kicking his feet, though the movement was stifled by the blanket. “I already said I was sorry for making you worry! I had to do it to protect you guys!”
Kaito stopped. Conan could feel his hair standing up and knew that if he looked in the mirror, it would rival Kaito’s worst bedhead.
Kaito’s arms looped around him, hugging him close. “Yeah, we know.”
Ran plopped down on the bed on Kaito’s other side, putting Conan between her and Sonoko. She leaned in and hugged him as well. “But you did still make us worry, so we have to tease you at least a little bit.”
Sonoko joined in on the group hug. “We get why you did what you did, that’s why we’re letting you off easy. You’re lucky you have such great friends like us!”
“Yeah, I really am,” Conan admitted with a small smile.
0-0-0-0-0
The next morning, Conan sat on the sofa in Haibara’s makeshift lab, Kaito sitting next to him and Haibara across from them both. Kaito had asked to be present, and Conan had found he couldn’t say no to his friend. Besides, there was a selfish part of him that was glad Kaito was going to be there. He knew the innocent-looking capsule in front of him would bring some of the worst pain he’d ever felt in his life, even worse than the initial apoptoxin and the temporary antidotes, as it purged the poison from his body and his body rapidly grew to his true age. He couldn’t help but feel a little nervous, but Kaito’s presence made him feel better.
“Are you ready, Kudo-kun?” Haibara asked him.
Conan gave a determined nod. “I am.”
Haibara turned her attention to Kaito, who sat up a little straighter under her stern gaze. “Kuroba-kun, as I have already explained, the antidote is going to be very painful for Kudo-kun, and he’s going to be very weak afterwards. Once his omega instincts are no longer dormant, his emotions and pheromones are going to instinctively reach out to you, his bonded alpha, for support. I will not have you going feral in my lab. At the first hint that you are losing control, I won’t hesitate to sedate you. Are we clear?”
Kaito nodded.
“Good. Kudo-kun, you can go change and begin whenever you’re ready.”
Conan slipped off the couch and went behind the privacy screen she’d set up for him, changing into a simple robe. It was far too big for him now, but that wouldn’t remain true for much longer. He made his way back to his seat, holding up the extra robe material so he wouldn’t trip, and climbed back onto the sofa with Kaito’s help. Kaito gave him an encouraging grin. Without any more hesitation, he popped the capsule in his mouth and swallowed.
It only took a few moments for the heat to start, followed by his body steaming. He clutched at his chest, feeling it throb painfully. He grit his teeth, squeezing his eyes shut.
He felt someone take his free hand, giving it a firm squeeze. “I’m here. I’ve got you.”
He cried out as another wave of pain rolled over him. A distant part of his mind noted that his voice was already changing. It was working. Then the pain became too much, and it was all he knew.
He could no longer see, no longer hear, no longer feel. The pain had exploded through him until it was all that mattered, all he could comprehend. Time seemed to stagnate, leaving him to feel this pain for the rest of eternity.
Then, slowly, the pain receded, leaving an almost numbness in its wake. His senses came back to him gradually. The first thing he noticed was the warmth that surrounded him. The excessive heat caused by the rapid growth of his body had left him, leaving his body feeling somehow both chilled and feverish. He shivered and curled into the heat. A pair of arms wrapped around him tighter, cradling him into a strong chest. A familiar comforting scent washed over him. His breathing slowed as he calmed. He nuzzled into the scent.
For a moment, he allowed himself to drift and simply bask in the comfort of the arms holding him and the scent surrounding him.
As the fog brought by the pain cleared from his head, he called out weakly, “Kaito?” It was a question, but one he already knew the answer to. Of course he recognized the person holding him.
“I’ve got you. I’m here. I’m never going to let you go again, my Shinichi, my mate,” Kaito answered, his voice thick with emotion.
Shinichi’s inner omega all but purred at Kaito calling him his. He told himself not to read too much into it. Kaito’s alpha was likely instinctively responding to his previous distress, just as Haibara had predicted.
Haibara cleared her throat, reminding them both that she was there and causing Shinichi to blush. “Kuroba-kun, I understand the two of you are having a moment, but I have a patient I need to attend to.”
“Of course, please don’t let me stop you,” Kaito answered with a charming smile, though he didn’t let Shinichi go.
Haibara gave him a deadpan look but didn’t protest against Kaito holding him. She started with taking Shinichi’s temperature and noting it down. She then opened his robe and went to slip her stethoscope onto his chest, but was stopped when Kaito tugged it closed again, covering him. She fixed him with a glare. “Kuroba-kun,” she said in warning.
“Sorry,” Kaito quickly apologized and allowed her to open Shinichi’s robe again. He did however let out a low growl when she next pulled out a needle and syringe.
“I will sedate you,” Haibara warned.
“Kaito, it’s okay, she just needs to take a blood sample,” Shinichi reassured him.
Kaito glared back at Haibara, and for a moment, Shinichi thought Haibara might actually have to sedate him, but then he gave a curt nod. Once she received the okay, Haibara didn’t hesitate. Kaito flinched on Shinichi’s behalf when the needle poked him, but Shinichi barely even felt it after all the pain he’d just been through.
Haibara busied herself in her lab setting up his blood samples. She called back to them, clearly distracted, “It’ll take a while for the tests to finish running. Kuroba-kun, I assume you’re planning to stay with Kudo-kun? You can take him home now. Make sure he drinks plenty of fluids, but don’t offer him any food for at least an hour to give his stomach a chance to settle, then he should eat a small, light meal. Call me immediately if there are any changes to his condition. I’ll come by later once I get the results from these tests.”
Kaito nodded and stood, lifting Shinichi easily in his arms. Shinichi weakly protested against being carried, though truth be told, he wasn’t sure his legs would support him yet anyway. Kaito ignored him and carried him out of the lab, pausing for a moment to say his goodbyes to a cheerful Agasa, who congratulated Shinichi on getting his body back, then took him back home to the Kudo manor.
Shinichi saw him heading for the stairs. “Wait, Kaito. I don’t want to go to bed yet.”
Kaito frowned at him. “You should be resting.”
Shinichi shook his head. “My mind is too awake right now, and I feel a little gross. I want to wash off.”
“Fine, but I’m running you a bath, and I’m keeping the water level low. I’m not going to risk you drowning in the tub.”
Shinichi huffed. “I’m not so weak right now that that would happen.”
“Humor me."
Kaito got the bath ready for him, then once he was satisfied that the water was warm without being too hot, he went to assist Shinichi again. Shinichi, however, wasn’t having it. He kicked Kaito out of the bathroom, undressed, and lowered himself on shaky legs into the tub by himself. He sighed happily as he sank into the warm water, feeling his muscles loosen up.
He heard a knock on the door a moment later. Kaito called from the other side, “Shinichi? Can I come in? I brought you a change of clothes, but I’d like to leave them more easily in your reach.”
Shinichi pulled the shower curtain until all but his head was covered, then told Kaito he could enter.
“I also brought you another clean robe in case your body is still too weak to put on anything more than that. Or you can always call for me, and I’d be happy to help~” Kaito offered with a teasing grin while setting the clothes on the back of the toilet for him.
Shinichi frowned as he felt his face heat. “Thanks, but I’ll manage.”
Kaito leaned back against the sink, seemingly not in a hurry to leave. Shinichi found he didn’t mind. Kaito looked at him with a warm smile. “I can feel you again. Through the bond. Before, when you were Conan, there was this feeling of wrongness, like something was missing. Even though the bond is weak, it feels infinitely better than when I couldn’t feel you at all.”
Shinichi looked down, unsure how to respond. Kaito had said he wanted him in his life, but shouldn’t he still be at least a little upset about the bond? He reminded himself that Kaito had mastered his poker face. He could be hiding his feelings in order to not make him feel guilty.
Kaito pushed himself off the sink and stood back up. “I’m going to go make us some lunch, per the little scientist’s instructions. Call me if you need anything.”
Once he was gone, Shinichi spent another few minutes simply relaxing in the warm water. He raised his hand, admiring the long, slender fingers. His legs were long enough that his knees had to bend for him to fit in the tub. He’d finally done it: he’d gotten his body back.
He grabbed a sponge and began washing himself, bringing the sponge first from his wrist, up his arm, to his shoulder, then across his chest. He thought about calling Kaito to come in to scrub his back for him. He thought about those strong, skilled hands holding him, gliding over his body. Kaito in the tub with him, pulling him to lean back against his firm chest, those hands continuing to wander and explore every inch of him.
A sudden knock. “Shinichi? Did you need something? I thought I felt you calling me through the bond, but I wasn’t sure.”
Shinichi slapped his hands to his flaming cheeks and sank down lower in the tub. “No! No, I’m good,” he called back. His voice was a touch unnaturally high, but it was the best he could manage.
Kaito waited to see if he was going to say anything else before calling back, sounding a little confused, “Okay, I’ll be in the kitchen. Just yell if you need me.”
Shinichi listened to his retreating footsteps and relaxed once he was sure Kaito was gone. Stupid teenage hormones. His expression became more sullen. He’d hadn’t even had his body back for an hour yet. He thought back to what Sonoko had said, about it being wishful thinking that he would be able to keep his feelings from Kaito. He had to get himself under control.
Once he finished washing up, he drained the water and dried off. He paused when he saw the clothes Kaito had grabbed for him. Aside from the robe, there was a simple pair of sweatpants, a soft cotton shirt, and Kaito’s hoodie. Not the one he’d left here all those months ago, but the one he’d been wearing today. Shinichi picked it up, then couldn’t resist burying his nose in it and breathing in Kaito’s scent. He’d originally planned to wear the robe, his body still feeling fatigued, but instead he shakily dragged on the clothes before pulling the hoodie over his head. Of course it was a size or two too big for him, but it was comfortable, and his inner omega liked being surrounded by his the alpha’s scent.
He made his way to the kitchen downstairs, using the wall for support. Kaito heard him coming and met him at the bottom of the stairs. “Shin-chan! You should have called for me. What if you’d fallen down the stairs?”
Kaito wrapped an arm around Shinichi’s waist and helped him walk to the kitchen. “It’s fine, I didn’t fall.” Kaito helped him into a seat at the table, and slid a bowl his way. Shinichi sighed with relief when he saw it was just a bowl of rice with a fried egg and a couple slices of avocado. He’d been a little worried when Kaito said he was going to make them lunch. Chikage had banned Kaito from the kitchen for good reason.
“Hey, hey! I don’t even need the bond to see the relief on your face! I’ll have you know that I’ve gotten a bit better at cooking lately. My schedule became a bit weird once I became KID, meaning I couldn’t always have dinner with Aoko and her dad, so I had to learn. I can cook dishes way beyond this now, but the little scientist’s orders were clear.”
“Sounds like a convenient excuse,” Shinichi said with a teasing smile.
“I’ll prove it to you,” Kaito announced confidently, “Tomorrow I’ll cook you dinner and wow you.”
Shinichi chuckled at his friend’s enthusiasm, feeling a little warm at the thought of Kaito cooking for him. “Fine, but you aren’t cooking anything else until I track down my fire extinguisher. And I think I’ll call the local fire department and warn them, just in case.”
Kaito pretended to pout, making Shinichi laugh more. After a moment, Kaito couldn’t seem to stop himself from smiling as well. He looked genuinely happy to be in Shinichi’s company. Shinichi’s breath caught in his throat.
‘ He looks so handsome when he smiles like that. ’
He pushed the thought away, hoping to get rid of it before Kaito felt anything suspicious. He hurried to distract himself and stabbed at his egg, letting the yolk soak into the rice before digging in. If Kaito felt anything or found his sudden shift of attention to his food strange, he didn’t comment.
After lunch, Shinichi felt like some of his strength was returning. He helped Kaito clean their few dishes, refusing to let Kaito do everything himself despite the alpha’s protests. Then he announced that he was going to the manor's library.
“It’s been forever since I was in my own library without it being a secret that I was there. Sometimes when I needed time to myself, I would tell Ran I was staying at the professor’s but I would come here instead. But I always had to be careful, and I couldn’t let anyone outside see the lights on,” Shinichi explained while leading the way.
Kaito laughed behind him, “I’m sure you’re eager to make up for lost reading time. Am I going to have to have the professor place a lock on the door so that you sleep at night?”
“Try it, and I’ll have Agasa make me a new pair of power enhanced shoes.”
“But your soccer balls are already scary enough when you’re this size,” Kaito whined.
Shinichi chose to ignore him as he’d just entered the library. His eyes automatically found his favorite books, the complete Holmes collection, on one of the lower shelves so that he could always reach them no matter at what age. He kneeled before them and hugged the shelf. “Did you guys miss me? It’s okay, I’m home now. And nobody ,” he gave a pointed look at Kaito over his shoulder, “is going to stop me from reading each of you.”
Kaito pulled out his phone and snapped a picture, causing Shinichi to glare. “Ran-chan and Sonoko-chan both asked me to give them an update on how you were doing. I think this will answer their question.”
Shinichi chose to ignore him again and pulled The Sign of Four from the shelf. He made to stand, but a sudden wave of vertigo caused him to sway. He would’ve fallen if Kaito hadn’t caught him. Once again, he found himself buried in Kaito’s chest. Kaito’s scent enveloped him, stronger than the hoodie he was wearing. His inner omega was in bliss. He hummed happily and nuzzled in deeper, tucking his head under Kaito’s chin. One of Kaito’s hands cupped the back of his head and the other circled his waist, holding him like he was precious. He sighed in content.
His eyes flew open once he realized what he was doing. He shoved Kaito away from him, falling back against the shelves and leaning on them for support. Dammit, he’d gone too far. Kaito was sure to have felt his emotions through the bond that time.
Maybe Sonoko was right.
“Shinichi?”
“I’m sorry, I— Kaito, I don’t think I can do this.”
Kaito’s eyes widened, fear flashing over his face. “What do you mean?”
“I can’t go back to the way things were. I don’t think I can hide it from you anymore,” he paused, telling himself he needed to keep going. He felt his eyes begin to sting. “I’m in love with you.”
There, he’d said it. But he wasn’t done. His eyes were brimming with tears, but he refused to let them fall. He had to finish. “I think I need you to reject me so that I can move on. So that I can let you go.”
Kaito closed the distance between them again and crashed their lips together.
The kiss caught him by surprise, causing him to stumble and lean against the shelves again. Kaito chased after him, not letting their lips part. Shinichi found himself responding, kissing back eagerly before his mind had fully caught up with the events. He felt a soft tongue lick across the seam of his lips, and he opened earnestly allowing it access. He moaned when he felt that tongue brush featherlight against his own. Kaito placed a hand on his chin and gently angled his face just so. Shinichi’s hands fisted Kaito’s shirt, pulling him closer. Kaito’s tongue became more bold, wrapping around his own, encouraging more small noises from him. He knew that kissing could be pleasant, but he hadn’t known that it could feel like this, hadn’t thought about all the tiny nerves in the tongue and how they could feel such pleasure. He wanted to kiss Kaito forever. He knew he was instantly addicted.
They parted, both breathing heavily despite the breaths they’d taken through their noses. “Kai, wha?” Shinichi asked, his face flushed.
“I won’t,” Kaito said with a startling firmness, “I won’t reject you. I will never reject you. I won’t let you move on and I’ll never let you go. So please don’t let me go either.”
Shinichi’s eyes widened.
“I love you too,” Kaito said more softly, but no less seriously.
“You do?” Shinichi asked, hardly able to believe his ears.
Kaito smiled at him before placing another, more chaste kiss on his lips, one hand cupping his cheek. He pulled back, but didn’t remove his hand, his thumb brushing the soft skin. “Yeah, I do.”
Shinichi swallowed before asking, “Is it because of the bond?”
The question wasn’t even fully out of his mouth before Kaito was already shaking his head. “I’ve loved you since long before that. I’m not sure when my feelings for you changed from friendship into something more; one day I just realized that I was in love with you. I was going to wait until you were 18 to court you properly.”
“You were going to court me?” Shinichi said, voice full of equal parts disbelief and hope.
Kaito gently took one of his hands in his own. “I would still like to, though I suppose there’s no longer a reason to wait until you turn 18. Just because I already bonded with you doesn’t mean you don’t deserve to be courted properly.” He placed a kiss on the back of his hand.
A soft, pink blush colored his cheeks. He tried to distract from it. “Why wait until I turned 18 though?”
Kaito gave a little shrug and a boyish smile. “I was trying to be a gentleman.”
He snorted. “The way you flip between shameless prankster to suave gentleman will never cease to amaze me.”
Kaito’s answering grin was a touch devilish. “At least you’ll never get bored of me.”
Shinichi’s smile weakened. “But I mean, are you sure? Since I presented, everyone’s said I wasn’t submissive enough to be an omega, and that I should’ve been an alpha. Are you sure you wouldn’t be happier with a better omega? Or maybe that’s why you like me, since you said you don’t like omegas.”
Kaito frowned in confusion. “I never said that.”
“That time on the phone, when I asked if you were going to look for an omega since you’re an alpha,” Shinichi argued, then he paused. What was it that Kaito actually said at the time? Kaito had said he wasn’t necessarily going to look for an omega.
Kaito smiled at him and shook his head. “Alpha, beta, omega, it never mattered to me what you were when your secondary gender presented. I just wanted you. I don’t care if you’re an omega that sometimes acts more like an alpha. I fell in love with you for you.”
The answer made him feel dizzy with happiness; it was almost too much for him. He buried his face in Kaito’s shoulder, hiding his burning face. If he looked up at that moment, he would’ve seen Kaito smiling down at him in adoration. Pressed against him like this, Shinichi could hear Kaito’s heart racing. ‘Even though he’s still acting cool, he’s probably just as nervous as I am,’ Shinichi realized. The thought made him smile.
“You know, after I presented as an alpha, everyone told me I should’ve been a beta,” Kaito confessed.
Shinichi raised his head in surprise. “They did? Why?”
“They said I wasn’t aggressive or dominant enough,” he said with a shrug, but Shinichi could see a hint of vulnerability in his eyes. He wanted to chase that look away and comfort him, the same way Kaito had done for him.
He leaned up and gently held Kaito’s face in his hands before giving him a soft kiss. He moved his lips slowly, trying to mentally push his feelings through the bond, wanting to voice his feelings in a way stronger than words, hoping Kaito would feel them and understand.
Kaito’s grip on him tightened. They slowly parted. Kaito looked at him with his eyes shining. “Wow,” he said breathlessly.
“Ahem.”
Shinichi jumped and turned, seeing Haibara standing in the doorway.
“Haibara! Why didn’t you—”
“Call first? Announce my arrival? Knock? I did all of those things, but you both were too lip-locked to notice,” Haibara deadpanned.
“Sorry,” Kaito said with a grin, not looking the least bit sorry, “I guess I was too distracted by my adorable boyfriend.”
Haibara sighed, but allowed herself a small smile. “Glad to see you’ve both stopped acting like idiots. I was beginning to wonder if I was going to have to make an aphrodisiac and lock you both in a closet together.”
“Haibara!” Shinichi exclaimed.
“Not that I would’ve done that; it was only a thought,” she answered with a shrug and a secretive smile.
“Right. I’m guessing you’re here to discuss the results of my blood tests. Would you like something to drink?” Shinichi asked while mentally going through his fridge and cabinets. They had partially restocked his kitchen prior to him taking the antidote, but he couldn’t actually remember if they’d bought tea. Ran had been there during their shopping trip. She would’ve gotten it, wouldn’t she?
“No thanks, this won’t take long, and I don’t want to watch you two shoot each other not-so-secretive romantic looks when you think I’m not looking.”
“We wouldn’t do that,” Shinichi protested.
Kaito grinned. “I would~”
“Have a seat,” Haibara instructed. Both boys sat on the couch, Kaito immediately taking Shinichi’s hand and rubbing his thumb over the omega’s knuckles, the gesture meant to comfort both of them. Haibara sat across from them. “You don’t have to look so nervous, everything came back pretty good.”
“Really?” Shinichi asked in surprise. “No strange side effects or health complications?”
“You are a bit anemic, nothing I’m overly concerned about though. But I want you to start taking a prenatal vitamin daily,” she answered
Kaito choked on nothing while Shinichi sputtered.
“Relax, both of you. The main difference between a multivitamin and a prenatal vitamin is the large amount of folic acid and iron present in prenatals. Folic acid and iron supplementation is the treatment for mild anemia. The reason pregnant people take prenatal vitamins is to prevent anemia, which can be caused by pregnancy. In this case, it will work for you as well. In addition to the vitamins, I want you to get plenty of rest.”
Shinichi nodded. “Okay, I will.”
Haibara looked at him for a moment, before turning her gaze to Kaito. “Kuroba-kun, make sure he does.”
Kaito slipped an arm around Shinichi’s waist. “Don’t worry: as his alpha, it’s my job to take care of him. I’ll see that he doesn’t neglect his health.”
“I can take care of myself, you know,” Shinichi grumbled.
Haibara nodded, satisfied for now. “I’ll want to test another blood sample in a week, and daily check-ups until your anemia is resolved,” she said while standing.
Shinichi stood as well. “Is that all?” he asked while walking her out.
Haibara seemed to consider something. “Not quite, actually. Come here,” she gestured for him to come closer.
Shinichi leaned down curiously.
Haibara whispered so only he could hear, “No sex until your anemia is resolved.”
Shinichi sputtered, his face on fire.
“Aww, no fair! I want to know what you said to him,” Kaito complained.
“I’ll see myself out. Call me if there’s any change in your condition, and don’t forget to rest,” Haibara told them as she exited, closing the library door behind her.
0-0-0-0-0
After she left, Shinichi felt a little awkward. He and Kaito had just confessed to each other, but it still didn’t feel real. That made them boyfriends, didn’t it? Kaito had already referred to him as his boyfriend, so he obviously thought so. It should save them from the awkward “what are we” conversation that every couple had to have at some point, except for one glaring problem.
The bond.
Did Kaito want him to complete the bond? That was a very big step for both of them. He knew he was already bonded to Kaito, but the bond was weak, lessening the impact a little. Did he want to complete the bond? He knew he loved Kaito, but he wasn’t sure he was ready.
Kaito took his hand and laced their fingers together. “Are you alright?”
“Are you picking something up through the bond?” Shinichi asked curiously.
Kaito shook his head. “Not really, just some vague sense that you’re thinking about something. I just know you well enough to be able to read you, and you seem troubled.”
Maybe it was time he stopped running away and had a real, adult conversation. Sonoko’s magazines always said the most important part of any relationship was communication. He groaned inwardly. He could never tell her that he’d taken advice from one of her magazines.
“I was thinking about the bond and wondering if you wanted me to complete it,” Shinichi asked hesitantly.
Kaito considered him for a moment. He gave Shinichi’s hand a squeeze. “I want us to take that next step in our relationship together someday, but I don’t think either of us are ready right now. I understand that doesn’t put us on equal footing, with the one-way partial bond we currently have, but I’d like to wait. For now, I want to take things slow, and I’d like to take you on a date this Friday, if that’s alright with you.” He raised Shinichi’s hand to his lips, pressing a kiss to the back of it.
Relief bubbled up inside of him. “I feel the same way,” he said, unable to stop himself from smiling.
“And you’ll go on that date with me?” Kaito asked, his grin growing. He tugged on Shinichi’s hand, pulling him closer until he could wrap his arms around him. It was like the alpha couldn’t get enough of holding him. Shinichi found that the feeling was mutual.
Shinichi slipped his arms around Kaito’s neck. “Is the date part of your plan to court me? Am I to expect lots of gentlemanly behavior such as flowers and you offering me your arm when we walk?” he asked with a teasing smile.
“Of course,” Kaito answered, “then once you’re completely charmed by me, I’ll kiss you until you can’t think of anything but me.”
“In that case, I look forward to it,” Shinichi answered, leaning closer until their lips almost touched, “But does that mean I have to wait until Friday for the kissing part?”
Kaito’s smile turned predatory, causing Shinichi to shiver in excitement. If he’d been expecting some kind of witty reply reminiscent of their rooftop banter as Conan and KID, he was surprised when the alpha let his actions speak for themselves as he pulled Shinichi into a kiss.
Notes:
Hyperestrosis is of course a made up word but does use real medical terminology to create it. Root word estrus meaning a period of fertility, or heat, prefix hyper meaning above, and suffix -osis referring to the state/condition of, or to be affected by something or refer to an increase.
I have no idea if prenatal vitamins could actually be used to treat anemia. Not a doctor, don’t take medical advice from fanfiction.
Confused why I decided to make omegas feel cold when they are in heat? The science answer is because it’s like how a person feels cold when they are running a fever. The non-science answer is because I liked the idea of Shinichi burrowing under blankets, and why would he do that if he’s hot? Also it’s an excuse in the future for Shinichi to be clingy to Kaito while he’s in heat, because he wants the warmth from Kaito’s body heat. It ended up not coming up in this fic, but it will in a future one.
Did I say future fic? Yep, I currently have plans for 2 sequels, maybe more in this universe. After all, Shinichi needs to complete the bond at some point. And how can you write a fanfic in an a/b/o universe and not write some steamy NSFW content?
Thank you to my beta readers, the wonderful NobodyInParticular123456 and Ephyna. They were both helpful not just beta reading, but also helping me anytime my brain stuck and I needed to talk a scene out. Also my numerous brain farts, like when I forgot the word for “vending machine.” You were both a great help.
Thanks for reading! Please consider leaving a comment, they always make my day!
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