Prompt: "Kaishin/Shinkai pairing, Shinichi talking to Hakuba (Kaito's best male friend) about Sherlock, Agatha Christie, ways to annoy Kaito, and other stuff. Kaito would probably get annoyed just by listening to them rambling about Holmes though. Possibly some Kaito being pranked or driven more insane by their Holmes talk could be included :) Any rating"

Requestor: GeekyGenius

Pairing: established Kaito x Shinichi / Shinichi x Kaito

Note(s): Er… somehow, jealous!Kaito snuck its way in. I apologize.

Best Friend

Logically speaking, Kaito shouldn't have been surprised that his friend/enemy and his boyfriend would get along. They were both detectives and both obsessed with Sherlock Holmes.

But still, he thought as he slumped in his chair, he hadn't expected them to get along this well.

At Kaito's side, Shinichi was waving his hands around frantically, telling the story of some case he'd solved with Hattori. Across the table, Hakuba was grinning, making little comments that elicited smirks from Shinichi.

"And so Hattori grabbed the victim's jacket and started shaking her –"

"What an idiot," Hakuba cut in, rolling his eyes fondly.

"I know, right?" Shinichi's smile was luminous. "And so his dad just came out of nowhere and hit him in the face and told him to stop screwing around or something like that. I mean, I felt bad for Hattori, of course, but mostly it was just really awkward because everyone was staring and Hattori was totally pissed."

"I can imagine." Hakuba leaned forward, resting his chin on one hand. "What happened after that?"

"It turned out to be a tactic Hattori's dad was employing in order to use Hattori as bait to lure out both the murderers and the gang."

"Wait, so how did the murderer do it?"

"Well, do you remember the part about the dry spot on the roof…"

As Shinichi launched into a conversation about rigged flashlights and Hakuba gasped in all the right places, Kaito rubbed his eyes. He couldn't help but feel a little out of place in this conversation.

Taking a sip of his tea, Kaito balanced his face in his hands, watching as Shinichi beamed at Hakuba and Hakuba beamed back. Times like this reminded him of how different he really was from Shinichi, how their interests and personalities varied.

"I heard from Kuroba-kun that you like Sherlock Holmes?" he overheard Hakuba ask once Shinichi had reached the conclusion of the retelling of his case.

"Of course I do," Shinichi agreed, scandalized. "He's the best. He'd the reason I even became a detective."

"Really?" The elation in Hakuba's voice was unmatched. Kaito had never heard him sound so excited. "You too?"

"Wait, you like Sherlock Holmes too?"

"Definitely! I even have the deerstalker and inverness!"

"Seriously? Can I see?"

"Sure."

"So, then, what's your favorite case?"

"Mm… I don't know, they're all so good. But maybe The Sign of Four?"

"No way, that's my favorite, too!"

"Really?"

Kaito held back a sigh. Yes, he was definitely different from Shinichi. He eyed Shinichi's profile, marveling at how enthusiastic he was. Shinichi rarely showed this much eagerness about anything, really. At least, not to Kaito.

The thought was rather discouraging. Was he really not that good of a fit for Shinichi? They did get along, and Kaito was pretty sure he, at least, was head over heels for Shinichi. But at the same time, Kaito wondered, would someone like Hakuba, someone who could engage Shinichi in conversations like this, be better for him, in the end?

As if hearing his thoughts, Shinichi glanced over at Kaito. His eyebrows bunched together. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm totally great. I love overhearing conversations that I can take no part in," Kaito said before he could filter himself. He suddenly had the urge to smack his head against the table and hopefully knock himself out as Shinichi's eyebrows lifted in confusion.

However, Shinichi instantly gained a gleam to his eyes that made Kaito flinch involuntarily and almost spill tea all over himself.

"So, Hakuba-kun, you've known Kaito for a long time, haven't you?" There was something like a – a dangerous smirk, Kaito would call it, on his face.

Hakuba blinked and nodded, clearly startled by the change in subject. "Yes. We were classmates in high school, so… maybe three years?"

"Really? Then… do you know any good ways to corral him? You know, when he's getting annoying?" Shinichi hummed, and yes, that was a dangerous smirk on his face.

His expression becoming knowing, Hakuba nodded. "Oh, do I ever." He bent forward, ignoring the fact that Kaito was trying to burn a hole through his cheek as he did so. Lowering his voice to a stage whisper, he said, "Aoko-kun told me that he's scared of fish, actually. He flips out even at the mention of it."

"Oh, really?" Shinichi cast Kaito a smug look. "Is that why you were insistent that we didn't go that sushi restaurant that one time?"

Kaito glared. "Hakuba, I can – and will – murder you in your sleep."

"No, you can't," Hakuba laughed airily. "Not when Kudou-kun is your boyfriend."

Shinichi grinned. "Which I hope to be for a long, long time, so you'll be safe for a while, Hakuba-kun."

While Kaito appreciated the sentiment, he still glared at Shinichi. "I can withhold sex, you know."

"Uh, no, you can't."

"What are you trying to say -"

"Oh, nothing." Shinichi flashed him a low-lidded smirk, and Kaito desperately wanted to punch himself in the face as his brain immediately went, Damn that's sexy.

Smirk turning less provocative, Shinichi turned back to Hakuba. "What else is there?" he prompted, and Hakuba paused to think.

"Right! He can't ice skate."

"Hakuba."

"Seriously?" Shinichi's eyebrows nearly touched his hairline. "Kaito can't? He's like – he can do everything else, but he can't ice skate?"

"That's right." Hakuba's grin was shit-eating as he enjoyed the venomous stare Kaito had focused on him. "He can snowboard, he can ski, he can do pretty much everything, but he can't ice skate."

"Really?" Something in the raised-eyebrows, slight-smile expression that Shinichi had directed at him was amused beyond belief.

"It's hard, okay?" Kaito snapped, looking away.

"Don't worry, I think it's adorable." There was suddenly a hand on Kaito's arm, pulling him gently so their eyes met. Shinichi grinned boyishly at him. "And I think I'll have a lot of fun teaching you."

Hakuba watched them with a grin before he began, "I think he's also really obsessed with chocolate ice cream, so you can bribe him with that…"

Kaito scowled. "Shut up, it's really good."

"But is it good enough to eat three gallons in one day is the real question."

"Three gallons?"

"I was having a bad day, okay?"

"Riiiiiiight."

Only later did it occur to Kaito that Shinichi had stealthily found a way to involve him in the conversation.

Um. Yeah. *shrugs*

Anyway, I'm suuuper tired right now, so let's leave it at that. Hope you enjoyed, GeekyGenius, and I'll be back soon with a - er... darker sort of fic. Till then! - Luna