Work Text:
~Friday: Showtime~
Shinichi had a plan, a great plan. Go in, be polite, then figure out a suitable excuse and get a way before his parents can stop him. All he really had to do was attend and meet the guy his mother insists he talk to and then he could go home and forget the whole thing. Easy. Yeah… forget the whole thing.
It all started two days ago…
~Wednesday: Two days earlier~
“Shin-chan! Hurry up or we’ll be late!”
“Late for what? All you told me was, ‘let’s go,’ and then you walked off. What am I getting ready for?” Despite being reluctant to follow, Shinichi was indeed getting ready and in the middle of slipping on his tennis shoes. He stopped to look up at his mother for an answer.
“Late for your suit fitting!”
“My what?!?” Shinichi spluttered. “Suit fitting? What suit fitting??”
His mother looked down at him and stomped her foot like a child, “Shinichi I told you yesterday!”
~Tuesday: Three days earlier~
“Shin-chan...blah blah blah…Shin-chan! (Insert more words and his name called at least nine more times).
“Yes, mom.” (Of course, Shinichi was too busy reading Sherlock Holmes to listen).
~Wednesday: Some minutes later~
“…” Shinichi was now sitting on the floor, his shoelace completely abandoned. “Oh.”
“You wouldn’t have ignored your dear mother, would you?” she asked in a threatening tone.
“I didn’t ignore you per-say, I just—yes, mom.” Chastised like the child he was not so long ago, Shinichi finished tying his shoes and was ready to meet his doom. At least his mother forgave him enough to tell him what it was she told him last Tuesday… again.
~Friday:Evening~
The suit fitting was… something else. The fitting itself was rather painless, with the only thing s needed being some last minute measurements; knowing him, his mother had already picked out the colors for the suit, given his approximate measurements, and had it made. Unfortunately, the conversation was much more painful than he could have imagined. He just couldn’t believe his mother; ‘betrothed’ was thrown around several times in the conversation. What was this? Feudal Japan? Was he a maiden to be given away?? How had he missed the whole one-sided conversation???
According to his mother, they were the best of friends as children (before Ran and preschool) until their families had became distant with the death of the other boy’s father. Apparently, as children they had decided to marry each other and— their mothers being the agents of chaos that they were and are— their parents all agreed. Over ten years later, his mother reunited with her friend, and they decided now was the time for their plan to come to fruition. This ‘Kai-chan’ was single and an up-and-coming magician who would be attending some gala their parents were forcing them to meet at.
Shinichi just couldn’t quite get pas t the whole idea that he ignored the entire conversation in the first place . Oh, how could Holmes betray him so .
Now; Shinichi was entering some elaborate gala for some cause or another, on his way to meet ‘Kai-chan’. He didn’t pay much attention to what the gala was about seeing as he was a bit distracted, but he did get the general idea that it was something to do with magic and underprivileged kids. Maybe.
Shinichi was to meet his ‘betrothed’ by the entrance stairway; his parents were coming later seeing as they needed to be fashionably late. By then he was to have met his beloved, fallen in love all over again, and be ready to apologize to his mother for ever doubting her.
Yeah right. He’d apologize for the waste of a good suit.
(Even he could admit the suit was one of the best, perfectly suited to his body type, eye color, and complexion. The midnight sky blue of his vest was eye catching.) Apparently, the suit was also made to match the one he was to meet, so that would be one clue to who he was meeting.
Taking the steps slowly in order to take in the crowd and hopefully (or not so hopefully?) find his childhood friend, Shinichi kept an eye out for a man in a similar suit to his. With a violet vest of course. It was just as he reached the lower half of the staircase that the crowds parted, and he spotted a man in a black suit with a violet vest, looking perfectly in place with a crowd of children around him.
He was, unfortunately, very handsome.
Well, shit.
Regardless , that meant nothing if he wasn’t a decent person; he could be cruel or rude or despise kid s— the man was surrounded by children and looked genuinely happy to be there. They might just have nothing in common o r— whatever; there is no such thing as love at first sight anyway.
***
Kaito was nervous, and, when he was nervous, he did magic. Luck il y for him, there was a whole crowd of children to entertain. He was at the annual Magician’s gala held to raise money for orphanages around the city.
It was something his father had started back when Kaito had been born; he wanted to do something for children in the name of his own first born son. His father managed to gather a few dozen magicians from around the world who were willing to donate some time for a cause and set up the whole thing. Since his death, Kaito and his mother had kept the project going in his father’s name. Every year, several orphanages were invited to bring their children for a night of fun and magic, and a substantial donation of the profits after tickets were sold. Since he was young, Kaito had performed for the crowds of children at every gala.
This year, however, was the first year he was actually nervous to be there. The reason being the great detective of the East and his very own best critic: Kudo Shinichi.
In a video call with his mother, Kaito learned that not only would the detective be in attendance, he was ‘Shin-chan’ from long ago; the boy he called his first love. A cute boy he used to love playing with and was his own motivation for learning more magic from his father. The first time he met Conan he was shocked by more than just the fireworks. There in front of him was a boy identical to his first love. It brought back a lot of old memories of roses and doves and a boy with amazement and love in his eyes.
After discovering Edogawa Conan and Kudo Shinichi were one and the same, he fell in love again with the boy from his childhood (not that he knew they were one and the same at the time), and he was gone over Shinichi; there was very little he wouldn’t do for the boy who had stole n his heart. Which, of course, brought about all sorts of near disasters for KID.
Now, there he was, waiting for his detective to show and hoping it went well when Shinichi realized just who he was meeting. He didn’t think Shinichi would arrest him, but it wouldn’t go well if Shinichi just suddenly yelled, ‘KID’ into the crowd.
Speak of the devil.
As Kaito finished up his show for the kids around him with a rain of small prizes and candies, he looked up only to lock eyes with his favorite detective… who was blushing?
“Ahh, you must be Kai-chan—I mean, I’m sorry, my mother didn’t tell me your actual name.”
All Kaito could think was, ‘ C ute .’ “Yes, I’m Kuroba Kaito. N ice to meet you again, M eitantei.” Kaito’s eyes widened for a moment before he appeared relaxed once again; the only tell that the nickname was unintentional.
Blushing even more, Shinichi gasped and stared with his mouth open in shock.
‘The cat’s out of the bag now.’ Kaito did the first think he could think of to prevent his own worst possible outcome; he magicked a small bouquet of blue roses matching the detective’s eyes. “I don’t suppose you could ignore the nickname for now until we have a moment to talk in private, could you?”
“…” Shinichi was still in shock (who wouldn’t be given the situation) so Kaito gave him a moment to sort his thoughts. “I— yes, of course. And umm its nice to meet you again…. I… umm… I’m sorry I don’t actually remember much of when we were children.”
Fake gasping, Kaito responded, “Are you telling me I’m forgettable, Shin-chan?!” Kaito smiled to show he wasn’t actually offended.
“Forgettable? I suppose it depends on which version of ‘you’ we’re talking about.” Shinichi smirked, appearing more confident with the bantering.
“I’ll show you forgettable, Meitantei.”
The rest of the evening consisted of Kaito doing spontaneous magic while Shinichi attempted to dissect each trick. They still had a lot to talk about and work through, but, maybe, just maybe, Shinichi would be giving that apology to his mother.