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Kaito shivered as another gust of icy wind blew around him, chilling him to the bone while threatening to steal the cap off his head. Today wasn’t supposed to be this cold, which was exactly why he’d chosen it to do a little reconnaissance for his next heist, but then a winter storm had blown in from seemingly nowhere. And unfortunately, big puffy parkas and warm knit hats weren’t exactly great for stealth, so he was a bit underdressed for the weather in his black sweater and dark jacket.
A tiny white speck drifted down from the sky, and his eyes went a little crossed to track it as it landed on his nose. It melted the moment it made contact with his skin, making his poor, red nose sting.
Great. Now it was snowing.
He sighed and decided to call it. Hopefully he’d have time to come back before the heist, but if it was a choice between being fully prepared but performing with a cold, or improvising but being fully healthy, he’d take being healthy any day. Besides, while preparation was a phantom thief's bread and butter, any magician that was worth their salt should be able to improvise.
He’d originally planned on using his glider to get home, but that was before the windchill held threats of hypothermia, so he elected to take the stairs. At least the station wasn’t that far.
Once he made it to street level, he walked as fast as he could without drawing attention to himself. He rounded a corner, and was taken by surprise when he spotted a small figure with a familiar cowlick walking down the path ahead of him.
“Hey, boy,” he called out to Tantei-kun. Because who else could it be with that ridiculous murder-detecting antenna?
The boy paused and looked back at him over his shoulder, his cheeks flushed red from the cold. His look of curiosity morphed to one of disdain as soon as they made eye contact.
“What do you want, KID?”
“KID?” he repeated as if confused, “Wait, do you mean Kaitou KID? I’m afraid I don’t—”
“If you don’t have anything important to say, I’m leaving,” Conan replied before facing front again and resuming his walk.
“Wait!” On impulse, he ran to close the distance between them, reaching out for the boy in front of him. Conan stopped again as he laid a hand on his shoulder, gaze flicking down to the hand, then back up to Kaito. “What are you doing out here?”
Conan frowned, looking annoyed. “Can’t I just go for a walk?”
“At this hour?”
Conan bristled. “You know I’m not as young as I look. We might even be the same age.”
“But only one of us actually looks our age. Are you trying to get yourself kidnapped?” he shot back.
Conan huffed and looked away. “I just… I needed to clear my head.”
Kaito waited, but Conan didn’t say more. “Alright, well come on. I’ll walk you home.”
“Fine,” the little gremlin sighed, as if he was doing Kaito a favor. Then, seemingly out of habit, he reached for Kaito’s hand.
Kaito startled in surprise, and Conan snatched his hand away in mortification, or rather he tried, but Kaito didn’t let go. “Where are your gloves!? Aren’t you cold?” Kaito demanded.
“It wasn’t supposed to be this cold today!” he shot back defensively, “I wasn’t prepared! Same as you, if I had to guess!”
“Hmm, well if we’re both cold, that gives me an idea. Come here.”
“What are you–Hey!” he shouted as Kaito picked him up by the back of his jacket.
He squirmed like an angry cat, which Kaito ignored as he unzipped his own jacket with one hand. Then he hugged Conan against him and zipped it back up over the two of them. It was a bit of a tight fit, but luckily his jacket was stretchy and Conan was about the size of three apples stacked on top of each other.
“That’s already so much better,” Kaito said with a sigh of relief. “Kids really are like little heaters. Comfy?”
Conan grumbled, “I can’t believe this is happening to me again. At least when Hattori stuffed me inside his coat, it was a lot bigger.”
“I’ll keep your criticisms in mind next time I’m saving us both from freezing to death,” he replied airily, then yelped when tiny ice cold fingers were pressed underneath his sweater onto his collar. “What was that for?”
“I’m warming up. Isn’t that why you stuffed me in your jacket? To share body heat?” he asked with an innocent look that Kaito wasn’t buying for a second.
Kaito gave him an unimpressed look before he resumed walking. “My jacket is going to be stretched out to ruin, and this is the thanks I get.”
Conan grumbled something but otherwise didn’t respond. Silence fell between them.
After a couple blocks, Kaito asked, “So, want to talk about it?”
Conan didn’t immediately reply, and Kaito thought he was going to ignore his question. Then he answered in a low tone that Kaito wouldn’t have heard if not for their close proximity. “Everything is in place to move in on them.”
He obviously meant the group that was responsible for his shrinking problem. Kaito continued walking, waiting patiently.
“It’s going to be dangerous, and I can’t do it alone. A lot of people will be joining in the operation, following my plan. If something were to happen to them…” he trailed off, then continued, his voice even smaller so Kaito had to strain to hear before the wind carried off his words, “Sometimes I wonder if I’m making the right choice. I worry that I’m being selfish, risking the lives of others for my own gain. Would it be better to give up?”
“No.” The word came out more forcefully than he’d intended, something Conan seemed to sense as well as he’d gone quite still, listening closely. Good. “Wouldn’t the selfish thing be to quit? You aren’t the only one to be hurt by them, and if they aren’t stopped, they’ll go on to ruin more lives.”
“You’re right, of course. I know that. But…” Conan trailed off.
“I understand,” Kaito answered. “If they hurt someone, it’s their fault. But if one of yours gets injured following your plan, then it’s ‘your fault.' That’s what you’re thinking, right?”
Another strong gust of wind blew. Kaito ducked his head to save his cap, his arms instinctually gripping tighter around the smaller boy as if to shield him. Conan shivered and buried his nose in Kaito’s front, trying to protect his exposed face from the biting cold. Kaito knew the Detective Agency wasn’t far, but he considered hailing a cab anyway. He looked up and down the street, but there didn’t seem to be any around. He sped up his pace.
“If I don’t stop them when I have the chance, then I’m partially responsible for anyone else they may hurt,” Conan resumed once the wind had died down again. Kaito wasn’t sure he agreed, but he understood why he felt that way, so he stayed silent. “But mostly… I’m doing this for myself. I want my life back. Aren’t I doing it for the wrong reasons?”
Kaito thought of his own quest for revenge. The world would certainly be a better place without Snake running free. But that wasn’t why he was doing this, was it? “Does it really matter if the results are the same? So what if your motives aren’t altruistic? No matter how you look at it, stopping them is the right thing to do. It doesn’t make it any less so just because you benefit from it as well. And none of the people that are following you would be doing so if they didn’t also want these guys gone.”
Conan didn’t reply, but the silence had less weight to it this time than it had at the start of the conversation. Kaito left him alone to his thoughts.
Snow continued to fall, but the wind mercifully didn’t blow anymore. The rest of the walk was, perhaps not comfortable, but at least less miserable than it had been when he’d left the scouting location. He wished he’d at least worn warmer socks. Tantei-kun, on the other hand, seemed downright cozy in his jacket, and he caught him yawning more than once.
They finally arrived at the Detective Agency. Kaito unzipped his jacket and lowered Conan down, already missing the little furnace’s warmth. “Well Meitantei, until next time.”
“KID…” He paused, waiting for Conan to continue. “Thanks.”
0-0-0-0-0
“KID, RELEASE US THIS INSTANT!”
KID let out a joyfilled laugh as he surveyed his work. Even though outside it was rather warm for the season, the inside of the museum had been turned into a winter wonderland. The ‘snow’ was actually made from dehydrated potato flakes, ensuring it wouldn’t melt and damage any of the art or exhibitions, while also looking like the real deal. Nakamori and his men were currently all encased in hardened plaster that made them look like snowmen with only their faces left exposed. “Sorry inspector, but I’m afraid I haven’t the time to stick around and play. You guys have fun!”
“KID!”
But KID ignored him as he bounded up the stairs.
The heist had been perfect, everything going off without a hitch. Well… almost perfect. Someone was missing. Where was Tantei-kun? Though knowing his rival, he was probably waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike.
He threw open the door to the roof, and it was only years of tightly honed reflexes that helped him spring away from the soccer ball rocketing towards him.
“I thought you were against murder!” He shouted across the rooftop at the pint-sized terror. “That ball had enough force behind it to kill me!”
Conan arched a brow as if he’d said something particularly nonsensical. “I know. That’s why I missed.”
“You didn’t miss, I jumped out of the way.”
“And I knew you would jump out of the way, but didn’t adjust my aim.”
KID narrowed his eyes, but chose to move on. “So, any particular reason you’re feeling bloodthirsty tonight?”
Are you okay?
“Well…” Conan shoved his hands into his pockets and kicked the ground a few times. “I suppose I wanted to give you one last challenge before I say goodbye.”
It wasn’t the response he’d expected.
“I don’t understand. Are you in trouble? I thought those men in black were gone.”
Conan shook his head, his lips turned up into a small smile. “No, you already know the Organization is gone. You played a part in their capture, after all.”
“It seemed like everyone else you knew was involved; I couldn’t be left out of the fun.”
Conan snorted. “If you’d told me you intended to help, I could’ve planned better.”
KID answered with a grin. “And yet, somehow, despite not knowing my intentions, you seemed able to adapt your plans quite well, almost as if you’d already accounted for me.”
Conan gave a small shrug. “I had noticed your spy doves watching me weeks ago; I figured there would be a strong possibility of you joining.”
KID nodded. “So if it’s not because of them, then why would you say goodbye?”
Conan’s smile remained in place, but his eyes looked pained. He removed his fist from his pocket and opened his hand for KID to see the small capsule in his palm. “Tomorrow, Edogawa Conan will be leaving, and Kudou Shinichi will make his return.”
“That’s great news, I offer my congratulations. But I must confess, I still don’t understand why this means you’re saying good bye.”
“Kudou Shinichi was never interested in thieves,” Conan answered, as if that explained everything.
KID crossed his arms and brought a hand to his chin thoughtfully. “Perhaps not, but you are interested in my heists.”
“Think highly of yourself, don’t you?”
“No deflecting just because you hate to admit I’m right. Do you expect that after you take that pill, everything’s going to go back to how it was before?” Conan frowned at him, but remained silent. The look on his face said that none of this was new information to him. KID continued, “Nobody expects Kudou Shinichi to return and be the same person he was when he left. Your experiences have changed you. I know sometimes change can hurt, and you’d probably rather Conan had never happened, but change isn’t always a bad thing. You enjoy my heists. You shouldn’t stop coming just because it’s not something you used to do.”
Conan listened, his face impassive. “What about you?”
Do you want me here too?
“You’re my rival, it’s your job to catch me, isn’t it?”
Of course I want you here.
Conan’s eyes lowered, but his lips curled into a small smile. He looked like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. “Yeah, it is,” his gaze met KID’s again, sparkling with challenge, “You better be ready, KID. The next time you see me, I’ll be just as tall as you, and I’ll catch you for sure.”
KID returned the challenging look with a grin. “Let’s see if you can.”
0-0-0-0-0
KID threw open the roof door, only to spring back a second later as a soccer ball rocketed past him.
“Meitantei! I am getting a strange sense of déjà vu! Let me guess; you missed on purpose, right?”
As KID spoke, his eyes adjusted from the brightness of the museum behind him to the lower lighted area in front of him. Kudou Shinichi stepped forward from the shadows, a confident grin on his face that made KID’s heart race with excitement. He was wearing a long, dark, heavy-looking coat, deep burgundy gloves, and a blue scarf that brought out the color of his eyes. He looked like he’d stepped off the runway before coming here. ‘Especially with those long legs,’ KID thought, while looking respectfully.
“Well, I still owed you for your help in taking down the organization, but I couldn’t let you go completely unchallenged,” Kudou replied with a cheeky grin.
“Ah, so you only tried to murder me a little,” KID replied sarcastically.
“‘Murder?’” Kudou repeated, giving him wide innocent eyes, and that look should be illegal, “It was just a soccer ball, it wouldn’t have killed you. I don’t even have my power-up shoes anymore.”
“‘Just a soccer ball’ he says, as if those legs don’t turn any kickable object into a dangerous weapon,” KID said with a laugh. He stepped forward out of the doorway onto the roof, his steps crunching as they compacted the snow under his feet. Thankfully it was no longer snowing, though it was still cold. KID stopped once they were about an arm’s length from each other and made a show of looking Kudou up and down. “I seem to recall you also promising that the next time we saw each other, you’d be just as tall as me. So did the antidote not fully work? Or…”
“S-shut up!” he stammered with a glare, “We are the same height, it’s your dumb hat that’s making you look taller.”
“Hmm, is this a ploy to get me to remove my hat and give you another clue to my identity? Very clever, but I’m afraid it won’t work,” KID said, causing Kudou to roll his eyes. “But as much as I’ve enjoyed this conversation, I really must be going before I catch my death and truly become a phantom.” As if on queue, a cold gust of wind blew across the rooftop, and it took all of his mental strength to keep his knees from knocking together in a full body shiver.
“Wait!” Kudou called as he turned to leave. He took a step toward him, and KID tensed, ready to run at the slightest sign of a trap. Kudou noticed and paused before holding up his empty hands. “I already said I owed you one, right? I’m not going to do anything, so just trust me.”
Kudou took a hesitant step forward, moving slowly and projecting his movements clearly, but he needn’t have worried. KID found it was rather easy to remain still and allow Kudou to approach. ‘I do trust him,’ he realized, the revelation coming as a mild surprise.
Kudou stopped only once there was half a step between them. This close, KID noticed how long his eyelashes were. He stared, transfixed, watching the way they veiled Kudou's eyes every time he blinked.
“You know, I still owe you for that other time as well,” Kudou said, speaking low as if sharing a secret. “You must be cold in only that suit. Let me help you warm up a little.”
Under his fringe and hat, KID’s eyebrows crinkled in confusion, but he held still and waited. Kudou reached up and removed the scarf from around his neck, and KID blinked as it was wrapped around his own. It was rather long; Kudou diligently wrapped it around his neck twice, the thick material covering the bottom of his chin. It was warm from Kudou wearing it.
“There, hopefully that’s a little better,” Kudou murmured. His eye caught on some wrinkle KID couldn’t see, and he reached up and smoothed one of the ends of the scarf over KID’s shoulder and down his chest. KID’s face felt warm, and he cleared his throat before he lost his grip on his poker face completely. The noise made Kudou realize he’d been basically stroking KID’s chest, and he sprang back, his face flushed scarlet. “I’m just loaning it to you, though, so make sure you return it later.”
KID smiled. “Of course. And this is for you.” He clapped his hands, and a small puff of smoke appeared in front of the detective. Kudou reacted on reflex and caught the jewel and rose as it fell into his open hands. “See you next time, Meitantei!”
Hours later back at home, Kaito sat near the window in the doves’ room, the moon his only source of light. All of his doves were fed and given fresh water, and most of them were now asleep on their perches. Lucky was sitting on his finger while he pet her with his other hand. He’d changed out of the suit long ago, but he still wore the scarf around his neck. He tucked his chin into the soft material and inhaled. It still held Kudou’s scent.
“Well, Lucky, I think he finally succeeded in catching me. Do you think he’s realized?”
Lucky cooed at him happily.
0-0-0-0-0
The day following the heist, Kaito adjusted the scarf around his neck as he walked through the snowy streets, cutting through an alley as a shortcut to a new dessert cafe. He was supposed to be going with Aoko, but she cancelled after her father caught a cold at the heist last night.
‘What’s that old man thinking? He shouldn’t have stood outside for so long yelling at reporters.’
He knew Aoko agreed and had already given the man an earful, but he still felt exasperated and a little guilty. It was his fault that the inspector had been outside in the first place. Well, at least partially.
Still, he’d been looking forward to this trip all weekend, and now he had a craving for sugar that wouldn’t be satisfied with his chocolate stash at home, so he decided to go to the cafe on his own. Maybe he could also bring back a slice of cake or box of donuts for Aoko and her dad while he was at it.
He turned down a side street when he heard a chorus of familiar voices, and looking up ahead, a few familiar faces as well.
“What about here? Would this spot work, Shinichi-oniisan?” Ayumi asked.
Kudou looked at the spot she indicated and nodded his head, “Sure. Let’s put one there.”
“Alright!” Genta cheered before hurrying forward, dragging a wagon behind him. The wagon held a couple stacks of plastic storage containers in two different sizes, some styrofoam, and a couple bales of straw. Kaito stared, but for the life of him, he couldn’t figure out what it all was for. He curiously drew closer before he realized what he was doing.
He stopped and considered turning back. On the one hand, he wasn’t wearing any kind of disguise, but on the other, he was just some guy passing through, right? He hadn’t done anything suspicious to earn Tantei-kun’s scrutiny.
‘Still, better safe than sorry. I should never underestimate—’
He’d only just taken a step to turn around when Kudou’s gaze shot up, freezing him in place. Their eyes met, and Kaito could practically see the calculations, the deductions, the conclusions Kudou was coming to. Finally, deliberately, Kudou’s eyes rested on the scarf Kaito was wearing, before traveling up to meet his gaze again.
Oh no.
He was wearing the scarf. Kudou’s scarf.
He hadn’t meant to wear it! It had just been sitting there, and it was cold out, so he’d just put it on. Kaito mentally groaned.
Kudou smirked, and Kaito knew he was screwed. “Oh hey,” he called out to Kaito, drawing the kids’ attention to him as well, “Would you like to join us?”
Kaito chewed the inside of his cheek as he thought it over.
“Shinichi-san, who’s that?” Mitsuhiko asked.
Kudou’s eyes didn’t leave him as he answered. “He’s a friend.”
Kaito held his gaze for another moment, then mentally shrugged and approached the group. “The name is Kaito, nice to meet you.”
The kids smiled at him in welcome.
“Kaito-san, you look a little bit like Shinichi-oniisan. Are you two related?” Ayumi asked.
“Not that I’m aware of, but who knows? Maybe we’re long lost cousins,” Kaito said with a laugh.
Kudou snorted. “Oh please. There’s multiple people that look like me, I can’t be related to all of them.”
“What are you doing anyway?” Kaito asked as he glanced at the wagon again.
“We’re building shelters for stray cats!” Genta answered excitedly.
“They spotted a couple stray cats the other day, so here we are,” Kudou explained with a what-can-you-do smile.
“Ai-chan was worried because it’s been snowing so much lately, so Shinichi-oniisan came up with the idea!” Ayumi proclaimed proudly, while the small scientist turned away looking embarrassed.
Kaito gave Kudou a smile who also turned away, a faint blush coloring his cheeks. “I can’t take all the credit, I found the directions online,” Kudou muttered.
“How do you build one?” Kaito asked.
“It’s simple, really,” Kudou answered while approaching the wagon. He grabbed one larger and one smaller size storage bin. He turned them so Kaito could see the hole that had been cut into the side of each. “We prepared these in advance. The cats can enter through the holes. You put the small bin inside of the larger one, and line the space in between them with styrofoam, and lay down straw inside the smaller one. The straw and styrofoam act as insulation for warmth.”
“Okay, sounds easy enough,” Kaito said with a nod and grabbed some styrofoam, lining Kudou’s bin with it. Kudou added the smaller bin, and the kids threw in fistfuls of straw. Once it was finished, Kudou snapped both lids on and set the shelter behind a dumpster where it was shielded from view. “There, one cat shelter. This seems like a good spot for a couple more. What do you think? Shall we build them?”
Kudou nodded, and the kids cheered and eagerly got to work. While they were occupied, Kudou turned back to Kaito and spoke in a lower voice only the two of them could hear. “Sorry, you were probably on your way somewhere and I interrupted you. Do you… need to get going?”
Kaito studied him for a moment. The dessert cafe somehow seemed less enticing now. “I think I would like to stay.”
Kudou’s answering smile was so warm and soft, and Kaito had to turn away before he offered to cover the rest of Tokyo with cat shelters. He loosened the scarf around his neck, suddenly feeling hot, when he remembered whose scarf it was. “By the way, thanks for the loan, Kudou.”
He’d had deniability before, a simple misunderstanding that hadn’t been corrected, but no longer. Now he’d basically confirmed that he was KID, all while giving the detective his face. And yet… he couldn’t bring himself to be concerned.
“Call me Shinichi.” At Kaito’s look, he averted his eyes with a small blush. “Well it only seems fair, if I’m to call you Kaito. And you’re welcome.”
‘Dammit, how can he be so cute?’
“Hey, boys,” Haibara said impatiently, “Are you going to stand there and flirt with each other all day, or are you going to help us?”
Shinichi started sputtering denials while Kaito laughed.
0-0-0-0-0
Kaito’s steps crunched in the snow as he walked to the station, a bag of bird seed safely tucked into his backpack. That particular pet supply shop he’d just visited was a bit out of the way, but his doves loved their variety of seed best and, well, he wanted to spoil them a little since it had been too cold for them to fly much recently.
He didn’t understand how it could be snowing again when usually Tokyo only got one to two days of snow a year. He liked snow, but hadn’t they had enough? His poor doves wanted to stretch their wings!
He was drawn from his grumbling by a small crowd ahead. Curious, he entered in among the crowd. At its center was Kudou Shinichi. And someone was holding a knife to his throat.
Kaito nearly stumbled in shock. Shinichi, on the other hand, stared forward in stony-faced silence. The man holding a knife to his neck was someone Kaito didn’t recognize, and he had a frantic look to him. Two officers stood nearby on either side of them, but too far away to help and clearly wary of startling the man by getting too close, ooking greatly concerned. One of the officers addressed the man, “Harukawa-san, put the knife down. It’s over.”
The man’s hand trembled, knife coming dangerously close to the detective’s neck. “This isn’t my fault. None of this was my fault! If he hadn’t—”
“Your business partner didn’t make you murder him,” Shinichi cut him off, “You committed a crime, and now you have to face justice. The fault is entirely your own.”
Kaito mentally groaned. Don’t antagonize him, Meitantei.
“That’s a little harsh, don’t you think?” Kaito called out, drawing everyone’s attention. The crowd parted for him.
“W-who are you?” the man demanded.
Kaito shrugged, nonchalant. “Just someone passing by, and I couldn’t help but overhear. And I think the detective is wrong. Your business partner had it coming.”
The man blinked in surprise, and his arm lowered by a fraction, bringing a little distance between the knife and Shinichi’s throat. “You really think so?”
Shinichi, on the other hand, scowled. “That’s a lie.”
Kaito was going to strangle him. As soon as he’d finished saving the detective’s ass, he was going to strangle him. “Now, now; his business partner must have done something truly heinous, don’t you think?”
Shinichi’s frown deepened. “It doesn’t matter what he did: murder is never the answer.”
Kaito took a few steps closer, challenging, “One should use caution when speaking in absolutes or risk making false overgeneralizations.”
Shinichi rolled his eyes, “Sure, except when we are discussing murder.”
Kaito threw his arms wide, taking another few steps forward, “All I’m saying is we should hear him out!”
“The judge and jury can hear him out; my job is to solve the case.”
“Shut up, both of you!” the man with the knife yelled.
“Wait, do you smell that?” Kaito asked.
“Smell what?” the man asked.
Shinichi took a big gulp of air and held his breath just a second before Kaito sprayed a can of sleeping gas in the man’s face. The man slumped, Shinichi carefully pushed the knife arm away from him, and the police swarmed forward.
Once the culprit was safely handcuffed and loaded into the back of a squad car, the officers questioned Kaito, mostly wanting to know about his canister of sleeping gas. He wasn’t sure how he would’ve answered, but then Shinichi said a few words to them and they left him alone. They congratulated Shinichi on solving the case, then left. Now without a spectacle to watch, the crowd quickly dispersed as well. A few officers remained, taking pictures and presumably gathering evidence, but otherwise they were alone.
“Well that was… eventful,” Kaito said more to himself.
“That wasn’t even one of my top 50 cases. Kinda boring actually, relatively easy to solve,” Shinichi replied as he began to walk in the direction of the station.
Kaito fell into step with him. “And what about the threat on your life?”
Shinichi snorted. “That one didn’t even make it into my top 100.”
Kaito laughed, he couldn’t help it. “Man, I knew you were a bit unhinged, you almost have to be to be my rival, but still. Do you actually have a top 100 list?”
Shinichi rolled his eyes. “Of course not. I’m not even sure I’ve had 100 threats on my life,” he paused and squinted his eyes in thought, “Well, not direct threats, anyway.”
That was something at least. “You’re welcome, by the way.” At Shinichi’s questioning look, he continued as if it should be obvious, “For saving your life?”
Shinichi gave him a dismissive wave. “I had it handled.”
“Had it hand— You were practically begging that guy to stab you!”
“I had the situation perfectly under control.”
‘Alright, that’s it.’
Kaito stopped walking and stared at him. Shinichi stopped as well and looked back, raising a questioning brow. “What?”
Kaito didn’t answer, instead slowly walking towards the detective.
“What are you doing?” Shinichi asked.
Again, Kaito didn’t answer. He only stopped once he was close enough to embrace the other. Shinichi’s cheeks were beginning to turn pink.
“I asked you what you’re— Hey!” Shinichi yelped as Kaito picked him and threw him over his shoulder. “Kaito, put me down!”
Kaito ignored him and resumed walking again. He made a beeline for an area where the snow had gathered in a particularly deep pile, and dropped the detective into the snow. He stood back with his hands on his hips and surveyed his work. Shinichi was sputtering, his face flushed with anger. “I thought the cold snow could help your swelled head,” Kaito said with a grin. He laughed at his own joke, only to get smacked in the face with a snowball. He wiped his face, his grin growing wider. “Oh, it is on.”
But before he could scoop up any snow himself, Shinichi tackled him, and they both went tumbling back into the snow together. Shinichi straddled his chest and began to scoop armfuls of snow onto his face. Kaito flipped them and began doing the same. They continued to tumble together, both laughing, Shinichi’s cheeks beautifully flushed, and Kaito couldn’t take it anymore. He grabbed Shinichi by the front of his coat and dragged him down, crashing their lips together.
Shinichi had been caught by surprise, but he recovered quickly, and to Kaito’s elation he began to kiss back. The snow was cold on his back, but Shinichi was so warm against him, he wouldn’t have been surprised if they melted all of the snow around them.
They parted, and Kaito already wanted to kiss him again. ‘Later,’ he promised himself. He shot Shinichi a hopeful smile and said, “I would like to take you out to dinner, and then I want to kiss you again.”
Shinichi hummed, seeming to think it over. “Does it have to be in that order?”
In answer, Kaito pulled him back down into another kiss. Or at least he tried to, but a hand covered his lips. His eyes slid into a pout.
“Don’t look at me like that, I didn’t mean right now. We should stop kissing in a public park before someone sees us,” Shinichi answered while standing up and brushing snow off his clothes.
“It’s not like anyone else is around anyway,” Kaito continued to pout while standing as well.
Shinichi looked around, then gave Kaito a quick kiss on the cheek, making Kaito’s face feel very warm as he completely forgot silly things like the cold and the snow. He turned around and began walking again. “Come on, I’m freezing, no thanks to you. I’ll let you buy me a hot coffee as an apology.”
Kaito held a hand to his tingling cheek, beaming. “Okay!”
0-0-0-0-0
“You have got to be kidding me,” Shinichi said with a groan, “Is my luck really that bad?”
“We’re very sorry, sir!” The front desk clerk said with a bow, “We sent out an email to all of our reservations two days ago to alert everyone of the weather conditions.”
Shinichi sighed as he brought a hand to his temples. “The reservation was created by my mother as an anniversary gift, it would’ve been under her email.”
“It’s our one year anniversary,” Kaito offered with a grin while he began to rub Shinichi’s back, trying to cheer him up, “It snowed quite a bit when we first started dating, so we thought we might go skiing to commemorate.”
“How romantic! Congratulations,” the receptionist told them with a bright smile before it wilted, “Usually this time of year would be a great time to go skiing, but the weather has been rather dry lately and we haven’t gotten much snow at all, certainly not enough to safely ski on… but there are plenty of other activities offered at the lodge and in the area!”
Shinichi turned and looked at Kaito. “What do you think, do you want to stay? We packed for skiing, and we didn’t really plan alternatives,” he said with drawn together brows.
Kaito gave his shoulder a squeeze and kept his arm around him. “I don’t really care what we do so long as we’re together. I have a whole week of you all to myself, what more could I ask for?”
Shinichi blushed, smiling and looking relieved as he replied, “You’re such a sap. I don’t know how you say such things with a straight face.”
Kaito took his hand and placed a kiss on the back of it. “It’s easy to say romantic things to the one you love.”
Shinichi looked embarrassed but pleased, then he seemed to remember their audience as his eyes darted to the front desk and he turned tomato red.
“Oh please, don’t mind me,” she said, watching them with rapt attention.
‘Perhaps a fujoshi?’ Kaito wondered idly. “You said there were other activities, do you have any suggestions?”
She brightened, looking happy to offer assistance, “While our lodge offers some great food, I must insist you go into town for dinner at least once. Most of the restaurants in this area have the best seafood.”
Kaito paled and heard Shinichi next to him cough into his fist. “Thank you for the suggestion,” Shinichi told her, “for now we’re feeling a bit tired and would like to retire to our room.”
“Of course!” she hurriedly said while turning back to her computer and furiously typing. She set two key cards on the counter. “Here’s your room keys. It looks like your reservation is for the Superior Suite with the mountain view. The elevator is to your left, and your room is on the third floor.”
They said their thanks before heading to their room.
Kaito kicked off his shoes and nudged them near the door before striding into the suite, looking around. “Shinichi, look! Our room has a private hot spring bath.” He shot Shinichi a leering grin over his shoulder, “I know what we’ll be doing later.”
Shinichi, who was scrolling on his phone, didn’t appear to have heard. “It looks like there’s hiking trails we could check out. The scenery won’t be as pretty as it would be in the spring or the fall, but it could still be fun. And even if there’s no snow, it’s still below freezing. We could go ice skating? I know you can’t skate, but maybe if you held my hand? And it looks like there’s an old bookstore in town we could check out. Not that I’m suggesting we spend the entire trip reading, but—”
“Shinichi, Shinichi,” Kaito said soothingly while raising the detective’s chin until their eyes met, “You don’t need to worry. I already told you, I don’t mind what we do as long as we’re together.”
Shinichi smiled and the tension left his shoulders. “Happy anniversary, Kaito.”
“Happy anniversary, Shinichi,” Kaito said in return before stealing a kiss. He’d meant for it to be quick, but when he tried to pull back, Shinichi pulled him back down for more, and Kaito was more than happy to oblige.
They parted, but Shinichi kept his arms looped loosely around Kaito’s neck, Kaito’s arms around his waist. “So, we still have a few hours until dinner,” Shinichi began, lips curving up into a boyish grin, “want to try out our room’s hot spring?”
Kaito could feel that his own smile was a bit more devilish when he answered, “My love, this trip is going to be amazing.”