Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

Shinichi was finding that having Kaito living at the mansion was by far the most tempting thing he could've ever suggested.

It was one thing to be able to eat edible home-cooked food for once. It was one thing to be able to step out of the house without fearing that there wouldn't be a house to come home to. It was one thing to learn that Kaito was a twenty-three-year-old (only two years younger than Shinichi) university student majoring in physics and minoring in business who liked chocolate ice cream more than Shinichi had previously believed to be humanly possible.

It was another thing to constantly be bombarded with the way Kaito tucked his messy, slightly overgrown hair behind his ears. It was another thing to not be able to stop staring whenever Kaito addressed Ayumi or the boys with "love" or "sweetheart" or "darling" (Shinichi had no idea when the pet names had become a thing, but he wasn't particularly opposed to it, although there was a part of him that wished they were directed towards him). It was another thing to run into Kaito in the bathroom between baths and see that wow, for a starving college kid, Kaito was in possession of a very nice body.

He'd promised the kids, though. He'd promised he wouldn't get involved with Kaito. That had been long since established. But all the same, it was getting harder and harder not to wish he hadn't made that promise.

Unsurprisingly, Haibara had long since picked up on how revoltingly besotted Shinichi was, if the suggestive smiles she kept sending in his direction were any indication. Shinichi felt rather disturbingly like a very clear window whenever she slanted a knowing smirk at him.

Aside from the achy longing Shinichi shoved to the back of his mind, though, the days were peaceful, halcyon. Shinichi liked driving Kaito to Touto after dropping off the children, because they had a little time to just talk, the two of them. And he liked spending time with both his children and Kaito, sitting around the dinner table together every time. He especially liked the magic shows Kaito had started to perform every Friday night, presenting tricks that even Shinichi couldn't figure out fully.

And then, just as soon as they'd settled into some semblance of a normal routine, everything went to shit.

"I'm really sorry about this, Shinichi," Ran apologized for possibly the eighteenth time in as many minutes, setting her teacup down on the saucer in front of her. She tossed a bit of her hair over one shoulder.

Rubbing his eyes, Shinichi shook his head. "Don't worry, I understand. It's not your fault that the pipes exploded." Privately, he remembered that he'd cautioned Ran against moving into that rickety apartment complex – he'd spotted the water damage creeping up her walls the moment he'd set foot in the place – but telling Ran "I told you so" was pretty much signing your own death warrant, so he held off.

As Ran opened her mouth, probably about to apologize yet again, Shinichi reached out to pick up her hand in a (probably futile) attempt to head her off. Ran was best shut up with sentimentality, after all.

Just as he began to speak, there was a light tap on the door to the library and Kaito poked his head in. "Hey, Kudou-san, I heard the door open, what's…"

He trailed off, though, upon spotting Ran. His eyes widened visibly, and for a split-second Shinichi felt pure panic (was it love at first sight shit what would he do if it was), but then Kaito's expression shuttered and he took a few steps into the library.

"You must be Mouri Ran," he greeted, bowing slightly. His hair fell across his forehead, obscuring his face.

"And you must be Kuroba Kaito," Ran purred in response. From the dangerous glint in her eyes, she was sizing him up. A smirk Shinichi knew all too well grew on her lips, one that meant she was seeing something she liked, and Shinichi immediately swatted at her. "Stop, Ran. Don't even think about it." He's mine, he tried to communicate with glares. Which was and always would be a lie, of course, and Ran knew it, but. Not the point.

Ran's smirk seemed to call him out on that (I don't see your name on him, Shinichi, are you sure he's yours?), but she did tip her head back and relax against the sofa.

Kaito, who had straightened, stiffened noticeably at that. "Am I interrupting? I'm sorry," he mumbled uncomfortably.

"No, no, not at all," Ran assured him, sliding out of her armchair to drape herself across Shinichi's. Inwardly, Shinichi scowled with confusion – what was she doing? – but didn't comment. Messing with Ran, especially a Ran who would be staying at his house for a few days, ended in "accidental" fires and three a.m. calls to the police department. He spoke from personal experience.

"So," Ran said cheerfully, and Good Lord, was she running a hand through his hair? Shinichi felt mildly nauseous. He decided he was going to give Ran a pamphlet on personal space once this whole thing was over. "Tell me about yourself, Kuroba-kun. I mean," insert bubbly airhead laugh that had Shinichi craning to gawk at her, "I've heard so much about you from Shinichi, but I'd like to hear it all from you."

The expression on Kaito's face was hard to define. If Shinichi had to choose an adjective, he might have chosen frosty or standoffish or maybe Haibara-esque. "I'm a third year at Touto University," he informed her in a tone that was substantially frigid. Shinichi frowned a little. Kaito was usually much warmer, despite his weird sense of humor at times.

"Oh? What are you majoring in?" Now Ran was pawing at Shinichi's face, running her fingers over his jawline. If she hadn't been his best friend and beyond belts in several kinds of martial arts, he might've been tempted to try to bite her hand. As it was, he was a little concerned she had gone completely insane, which called for a psychiatrist rather than violence.

"Physics. And I'm minoring in business."

"How nice," Ran simpered – oh God, she actually simpered. Mouri Ran had never simpered in her entire life. Shinichi was seriously considering the psychiatrist thing.

"Right." Kaito's face had long bypassed cold. He was an ice statue. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go see to the children."

Shinichi blinked – weren't they watching Masked Yaiba right now? – but Kaito had turned on his heel and stomped out of the room before he could even unglue his lips and open his mouth.

Staring after him, Shinichi rounded on Ran. "What the hell was that all about?" He rubbed at his face, feeling mildly dirty.

Ran grinned at him, hopping elegantly off her perch. "That, my dear Shinichi, was me making your precious Kuroba-kun jealous. I have to admit, you picked an adorable one."

"What?" Shinichi grimaced, scrubbing at his face harder. "God, I need hand sanitizer. Or a shower."

Smacking him calmly on the head and ignoring his shriek of pain, Ran serenely continued, "You're completely blind if you haven't realized just how much Kuroba-kun likes you."

"Last time I checked, Ran, you were single, which doesn't exactly give me the confidence to believe that you're a reliable source on relationship advice."

This earned him another slap, harder. Shinichi dazedly wondered how many brain cells he'd lost.

"Seriously, Shinichi," Ran told him, and she was serious, now, as she eyed him with concern. "I know you love the kids – don't get me wrong, I do, too – but if their opinion is the only thing stopping you from pursuing a relationship with Kuroba-kun, who's clearly in love with you and whom you're desperately enamored of, that's wrong. They adore him enough to let him live here, don't they? You might as well be married."

Shinichi looked at her askance. "Ran, you don't understand. These kids – their parents have gone through so much. They'd had to see and know things that they shouldn't ever have to. I don't want to do anything that would make them uncomfortable."

Ran shook her head. Her earrings tapped her cheeks. "You're just afraid, Shinichi. You're scared that he doesn't actually care about you as much as you care about him, because you're neck-deep in love with him and you don't think there's any way he's just as shipwrecked as you are. You keep trying to rationalize it, thinking that since you two have only known each other for, like, half a year, it's impossible for him to reciprocate your feelings. And you're using the children as an excuse to hide behind."

Not entirely sure what to say to that – arguing with the truth was like trying to light a match underwater – Shinichi just groaned. "Why are you so damn observant? You should've gone into detective work."

"I'm just good at understanding you," Ran shrugged, her tone impossibly fond before it grew a razorblade edge. "But hey, want to have some fun while I'm here?"

Cracking open an eye, Shinichi stared at her. "What?"

"Since you're so convinced Kuroba-kun doesn't love you," she grinned, and there was a sparkle to her eye that promised death and destruction, "why don't we test him?"

"…What?"

Ran rolled her eyes, placing her hands on her hips. "We're going to make him jealous, you imbecile," she said, wickedly, and Shinichi got a sinking feeling in his stomach.

Kaito didn't know why, but he was unreasonably irritable.

In the kitchen, Ran was humming as she swept about, preparing yakisoba for dinner. She had knoted her hair back into a complicated braided bun, and even with the sleeves of her cashmere sweater rolled up, she fairly radiated grace.

She had been hanging around the mansion for nearly two days, now, and Kaito was near storming out of the place. Not because Ran was a horrible person, or anything – on the contrary, she was sweet, if not a little saccharine at times, never saying so much as a harsh word to Kaito. And she was a work of art, with her fine features and silk hair and morning dew smile.

What Kaito couldn't stand about her was the casual way she touched Shinichi, nonchalantly carding through his hair with her dainty fingers or patting his chest whenever he made one of his snarky comments or clinging to his side when Kaito gave his weekly magic shows. She touched him thoughtlessly, as if flaunting the privilege. As if she knew she had something painfully unattainable.

"Kaito-oniisan?"

Blinking, Kaito tore his gaze away from Ran's cheerful cooking about to meet Ayumi's frown. He set down the deck of cards he had been holding. "Yes, love?"

Mouth twisting, Ayumi began, "Well… you don't seem to like Ran-oneesan very much, you know." She was staring at him with something not entirely dissimilar to trepidation. "And…" She glanced over at Haibara, who was sitting in a chair in the corner, flipping through some book on neuroscience she'd found in the library. "Haibara-san said it was because you were jealous of her. Because she's so close to Shinichi-oniisan."

Glaring at Haibara and immediately noticing the little upwards curl of her lips as she smirked, Kaito growled, "I'm not jealous. I already know you don't want me to think about Kudou-san that way, so I won't. I mean, I don't."

Ayumi regarded him carefully, her eyebrows drawing together. She opened her mouth, about to say something, paused, then stammered, uncharacteristically uneasy, "A-Actually, Kaito-oniisan, we… we being Genta-kun and Mitsuhiko-kun and I, I mean… we think that maybe… maybe you should…" She inhaled, gaze searching his face. "If you like Shinichi-oniisan, we think you should… you know… go for it."

For a moment, Kaito just stared, openmouthed, and then he grinned at her. "Are you telling me I've got your blessing, Ayumi-chan?"

Blushing a little, Ayumi gave a demure shrug. "I guess. But we all really like you, Kaito-oniisan, and I love Shinichi-oniisan, so I just want both of you to be happy. And Shinichi-oniisan seems to like you a lot." She wrinkled her nose contemplatively. "I think he likes you more than he likes Ran-oneesan."

"Does he, now?" Kaito asked, fondly.

He wasn't expecting Ayumi to break into a series of rapid nods. "He does! Whenever you're not looking at him, he's always looking at you! I think you make him really happy, Kaito-oniisan."

"Oh?" Kaito felt a disturbing flush crawling up his neck at the thought, his mouth curving without his consent. "Do you really think that?" He sounded nonsensically faint, even to his own ears. Ayumi just giggled and nodded. In the corner, Kaito caught a glimpse of Haibara smiling to herself.

It was hard to remember Ayumi's claim after dinner, when Ran threw herself across Shinichi's lap as they sat down to watch Kaito's weekly magic show. Especially when Shinichi kept shaking his head at her with enough fond exasperation to drown several continents.

Swallowing down the strange cocktail of annoyance (at Ran) and longing (for Shinichi) and hope (from Ayumi) that had gathered at the back of his throat, Kaito smiled widely. "Welcome to my show," he announced, to Genta, Mitsuhiko, and Ayumi's simultaneous cheers. On the couch, Ran fit herself against Shinichi's torso like a piece of a puzzle.

After the show, during which Kaito tried not to wince every time Ran leaned a little too close to Shinichi, Kaito helped Shinichi and Ran bundle the children off to bed. It wasn't easy – Genta had apparently eaten three bowls of ice cream without anyone noticing, and Mitsuhiko was frantically trying to figure out Kaito's last levitation trick – but between the three of them, they managed to get the lights turned out by nine forty.

Kaito exited the boys' room, closing the door on his fervently promises to Mitsuhiko that he'd tell him how the trick worked in the morning, when he turned to find Ran striding towards him. Evidently, she had just finished tucking in Ayumi and Haibara. Shinichi was nowhere to be seen – he had gone to clean up the kitchen after he had convinced Mitsuhiko into pajamas.

Setting his jaw, Kaito smiled as genially as he could at Ran as she approached. "They're quite a handful, aren't they, Mouri-san?" He tried his absolute hardest not to attempt to telepathically convince her that they were too much work and she should get out while she still could (by which he meant he frantically tried to brainwash her. No one ever said Kaito wasn't childish).

Unfortunately, Kaito had never quite mastered the art of hypnosis, and Ran laughed musically as she drew to a stop in front of him. "They're really such sweethearts, you know. All of them."

"Right." Kaito looked away.

A heavy silence descended, during which Kaito uncomfortably shuffled a bit and Ran smiled at him blandly.

"You know," Ran said pensively, causing Kaito to look up at her with eyebrows raised, "you're in love with Shinichi, don't you?"

Something froze in Kaito's chest. "What?"

Brushing a bit of hair behind her ears, Ran leveled him with a slight smile. "Am I wrong?"

"I don't see how it's any of your business," Kaito returned carefully. He tried to keep his features in a neutral expression.

Shrugging her cashmere-clad shoulders gracefully, Ran tilted her head appraisingly at him. There was a slant to her mouth that Kaito didn't know how to read. "I think we both know it really is."

"How so? What I feel for Kudou-san –" dammit he accidentally affirmed that he felt something for Shinichi, "– is between him and me. You're not a part of it."

Ran's eyes narrowed to slits of purple-blue. Her mouth softened into a line. "Wow," she muttered under her breath, quietly enough that Kaito had to strain to catch it. "He picked a possessive one."

Gritting his teeth to keep from fuming, Kaito ground out, as politely as he could manage, "Is this conversation over? I think it's over. Good night, Mouri-san." He was about to spin on his heel and head for his room to throw himself angrily at his Masked Yaiba bedspread (apparently Haibara had rejected her set of sheets from the four-pack Shinichi had bought, and it was the only spare set in the house), but Ran's voice cut in, stopping him in his tracks.

"Just a little warning, Kuroba-kun," Ran called, and though her voice was airy and calm, there was an underlying thread of steel. "I don't have faith in your ability to make Shinichi happy."

Jaw tightening, Kaito whirled, ready to demand to know what the hell that was supposed to mean, but Ran was already disappearing around a far corner, her footsteps rustling against the plush carpeting.

Speechless, Kaito was left incensed in the middle of the hallway, glaring at blank walls and fluffy carpet. He felt utterly ridiculous – everything about this situation (being confronted by the subject of his unrequited love's almost-fiancée) screamed bad daytime drama – but it didn't do anything to make him feel any less peeved at Ran and her stupid patronizing attitude. Was being in love with an attractive twenty-five-year-old former socialiate-turned-police-detective with four adopted children supposed to be this hard?

…Okay, bad wording. But.

At that moment, when Kaito was sincerely considering having a good, long nervous breakdown, Shinichi padded up behind him and dropped an offhand, "Hey."

Thirty seconds later, after Kaito had finished having his mini panic attack, he found Shinichi staring at him with worry. "Sorry about that, but… Kaito-kun, are you all right? You look…" He paused, probably trying to select the least offensive adjective.

"Pissed off?" Kaito offered sardonically.

Shinichi shrugged. "I was going to say 'like a cat that was just thrown into a pool,' but I suppose 'pissed off' works."

With a sigh, Kaito pinched the bridge of his nose. He didn't look directly at Shinichi. "It's nothing. Your fiancée confronted me about – some things."

When Shinichi didn't say anything, Kaito hazarded a look at him. He was startled to find that Shinichi's jaw was hanging open.

"My." Cough. "Fiancée." This was said with a lot of blinking, swallowing, and strangled sounds. Kaito found it more endearing that he probably should have, considering that Shinichi was acting rather like a fish out of water.

Once Shinichi looked as if he had regurgitated his tongue and restored it to its proper place, Kaito slanted his head at him questioningly. "I mean Mouri-san. Your fiancée."

Making a strained, dying-cat sound, Shinichi cleared his throat. "Oh. God, no. Ran is not – okay, no. Wow." He was wearing an expression that reminded Kaito of someone who was going through cardiac arrest. Shinichi exhaled harshly. "Ran is not – never has been, never will – my fiancée."

"Girlfriend?" Kaito ventured. He didn't know if he should feel relieved or concerned as Shinichi shook his head frantically.

"Try 'manipulative brat.'" Shinichi sighed. "Or 'that one girl I had the misfortune of knowing as a kid, and as a result is my best friend.'" A wry smile tugged at one corner of his mouth. "I don't think I'd ever be able to think of her as anything other than an older sister."

"Maybe you should tell her that," Kaito advised sulkily. He shifted awkwardly from foot to foot as Shinichi's azure eyes instantly snapped to his face.

"What are you trying to say?"

"Nothing, she just…" Trailing off as he watched Shinichi's expression turn cloudy, Kaito rubbed at the back of his neck. In front of Shinichi, the little argument – if their exchange could even be called that – that he'd had with Ran seemed trivial and stupid. Especially since Shinichi had just told him that there was nothing romantic between them. "She just said some… harsh things that I wasn't expecting. It's nothing serious. It's not as if I'd… I don't know, pack up and leave over what she said."

Shinichi exhaled slowly, obscenely pink lips relaxing into a slight smile. "Good, that's… good." He angled a probably-not-supposed-to-be-seductive-but-really-really-seductive glance at Kaito through his eyelashes. His voice was soft and a little unsteady as he said, "I don't know what I'd do if you left, to be honest." And then he flushed a little, grinned, and walked past Kaito, brushing his shoulder against Kaito's.

For the second time in one evening, Kaito was left stunned in the middle of the hallway.

This time, though, he couldn't stop smiling.

Kaito probably shouldn't have been surprised when Valentine's Day rolled around a week later and Ayumi instantly demanded that he teach her how to make chocolates. He complied, but only because anyone who tried to function under Ayumi's puppy eyes for over three minutes spontaneously combusted, and Kaito was almost done with his thesis, so spontaneous combustion wouldn't be particularly helpful.

Haibara consented to join them in the kitchen. She kept several magazines on hand, though, most likely to pretend she didn't find Kaito and Ayumi's conversation interesting. Mitsuhiko and Genta, of course, made a grand production of pretending to be completely disinterested in whom Ayumi wanted to give chocolates to. Kaito wasn't all too sure whether it was because they both had crushes on her or because they had fierce protective instincts.

Shinichi had been clearly amused at their antics before he had left for work. He had ruffled Ayumi's hair, smirked at Haibara, and patted his sons on the head before smiling softly at Kaito.

"See you later," he had said, almost shy, and if Kaito hadn't already been a mess of longing for him, that smile probably would've done him in.

After the incident in the hall, Ran had returned to her apartment – apparently they'd gotten the water pipes fixed – and life had returned to normal

Well, normal with the addition of little smiles Shinichi kept angling at him and the brush of Shinichi's fingers against Kaito's shoulder whenever he passed and the quiet way he said Kaito-kun. Had Kaito never noticed those scattered bits of affection before? He doubted it.

The sound of a falling spoon startled from Kaito from his reverie. He scowled over at Haibara as she innocently bent to pick it up.

"That was on purpose, wasn't it."

"I don't know," she sang. She was probably the worst sadist Kaito had ever known.

As Kaito turned back to his almost-finished chocolate heart and debated what frosting color to use for the scalloped border, Ayumi asked glibly, "So, is that for Shinichi-oniisan?"

Kaito nearly overturned the table as he jumped. Several spoons clattered to the floor. Haibara beamed, but Kaito was too busy blinking at Ayumi to glare at her. "What? For Kudou-san?" he stammered, fairly certain he had gone cerise.

Ayumi lifted an eyebrow at him as if he was the insane one. "Of course. Who else?" She narrowed her eyes, suddenly all suspicion. "Wait, don't tell me, you've been playing with his heart this whole time?"

"No! No," Kaito hurried to assure him in an attempt to head off the lecture that was sure to come if he didn't. His periphery, Kaito could see that Haibara was watching them over the top of her magazine. He flinched under her scrutiny. "Well, I don't know. Do you think he'd want this from me?"

He was met with enthusiastic nodding from Ayumi and an enigmatic smile from Haibara.

Well, Kaito thought, and reached for a tube of frosting. What the hell.

Shinichi had just parked his car and was walking up the driveway when the front door open and his children poured out onto the path, giggling and laughing loudly. Kaito's voice called after them; there was a responding sound from the four kids before the door shut.

"Oh? And where are you going?" Shinichi asked once they had reached the foot of the path. He raised his eyebrows down at them, then cast a pointed glance at the bag Ayumi was clutching. "And with such nice-looking chocolate, too."

Giggling, Ayumi reached into the bag and pulled out a cellophane-wrapped chocolate heart, edges a little lopsided and frosting a little smeared. It was clearly her handiwork. "This is for you, Shinichi-oniisan!"

Gasping, Shinichi gingerly took the package from her, cradling it in his palms to inspect the writing on it. It read Shinichi-oniisan in shaky kanji, painstakingly written, and he smiled down at it. The effort was plainly visible. "This is the prettiest chocolate I've ever seen." He swooped down to place a kiss on Ayumi's cheek. "Thank you, Ayumi."

"We're going to Poirot," Genta announced from behind Mitsuhiko, once Ayumi had stopped blushing. "Azusa-neechan said she had chocolates for us. And then we're going to stay at Professor Agasa's house."

Protectiveness immediately surfaced in Shinichi's mind. "Should I go with you?" he offered, already tucking his house keys into his pocket, but Haibara waved him off.

"We're certainly capable," she scoffed at him, and Shinichi's mouth opened, intent on bringing up the last time he'd let them loose without adult supervision (he was lucky the police officers around here knew and respected him, otherwise he would've had to discover how to pay bail for six-year-olds), but Haibara just rolled her eyes.

"Go inside, we'll be fine. I promise I won't let them light firecrackers this time," she promised, and while it wasn't the most reassuring thing she could've said (dynamite and C4 were still options?), Shinichi relented.

He took turns hugging each of them, although he hesitated when it was Haibara's turn. (Hugging Haibara was like trying to hug a refrigerator.) Once he was done, Shinichi took a step back to beam at them. "Stay safe. Don't hesitate to call me if someone dies or you see someone getting kidnapped. Under no circumstances are you to follow the kidnappers, am I clear?" He shot them all a stern look.

"That was only one time," Mitsuhiko grumbled, but he nodded along with the rest of them, and soon all four were strolling down the sidewalk outside the mansion's gates.

Sighing, Shinichi turned and headed for the front door. After he discarded his coat and shoes in the entry, he wandered into the kitchen to find Kaito sitting at the kitchen table, halfway through a cup of earl gray tea.

Kaito looked up at his entrance. His eyes crinkled with a smile upon seeing him. "Welcome home."

Shinichi felt a familiar, uncomfortable warmth filling his chest as he set Ayumi's chocolate on the counter. He felt like a preteen girl with a crush every time he looked at Kaito, and he couldn't decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Probably a bad thing, but it was impossible to hate anything related to Kaito, so.

"How was your day?" he asked, tapping his fingers lightly against the countertop.

Downing the last of his tea, Kaito gave a shrug. "It was fine, I suppose. We finished making the chocolates an hour or so ago."

As he spoke, Shinichi headed for the refrigerator, intent on finding something to drink. Pulling the door open, he scanned the fridge's contents. There was some leftover rice and a carton of milk, and on the center rack, there was –

Behind him, Shinichi felt Kaito froze as Shinichi stared blankly at the large chocolate sitting casually on a plate. It was neatly shaped, a perfect heart, and white frosting formed a curly border around the edges. There were a few more frosting adornments done in varying shades of pink – a surprisingly intricate rose coiled around the bottom V of the heart, and a bow covered the upper left curve of the heart – but what Shinichi couldn't tear his eyes away from was the large For Shinichi written in script across the center. And in smaller lettering, From Kaito underneath that.

Heartbeat thudding in his ears, Shinichi turned to find Kaito standing by the kitchen table, wearing a stricken expression. "Shit, I wasn't – I didn't think –" he stammered, flushing, when Shinichi's gaze landed on him.

Ignoring Kaito's spluttering, Shinichi carefully picked up the chocolate to look at it closely. Even up close, he was impressed by Kaito's artistry. There were barely any irregularities in the border or the writing.

"Is this a love confession?" he asked, trying not to sound as if his heart was crawling up his throat. Which it was.

For a moment, Kaito struggled for words. He tugged at the sleeves of his threadbare sweater, delicate mouth opening and closing and long, dark eyelashes quivering over indigo irises, and then he seemed to steel himself as he locked eyes with Shinichi. He had beautiful eyes, Shinichi absently noted for not the first time, not even the eighth, though possibly the six hundredth.

"If it is?" he responded, and Shinichi arched an eyebrow at him.

"That's not an answer."

"I can't – you're so –" Kaito pressed his hands to his face. Shinichi could still see the pink of his cheeks through the gaps in his fingers. "Okay, fine. Yes. It's a love confession. What are you going to do about it?"

Considering, Shinichi stared down at the chocolate, apologized to it beforehand, and then took a bite out of the side.

Unsurprisingly, it was good (Kaito had made it, after all). The chocolate was smooth and sweet, although the frosting was a little sticky, and Shinichi thoroughly enjoyed it. He thoroughly enjoyed the adorable wide-eyed look on Kaito's face as well – Kaito wore surprise like a three-piece suit.

"It's good," Shinichi remarked, once he had swallowed. He grinned as Kaito's eyes widened even further – there was some satisfaction in knowing he could get this kind of reaction out of Kaito. Casting a musing look down at the chocolate, now with one corner bitten off, Shinichi sighed sadly. "I doubt I'll make anything half this good when White Day comes."

He had barely looked up from the chocolate when Kaito's hands were on his face, warm and gentle as they turned his face towards Kaito's. Shinichi inhaled once more, and then Kaito was kissing him, in the middle of the kitchen with fluorescent lights glaring down on their heads, tasting of bergamot and chocolate, and it was just perfect enough to leave Shinichi breathless when Kaito pulled back.

Kaito's expression was heartrendingly adoring as he stared at Shinichi. "You don't know how long I've wanted to do that," he murmured, voice a little raspy, and Shinichi couldn't help but give him a shit-eating grin.

"Not long as I have," he sing-songed, and Kaito sighed dramatically.

"Thank you for ruining a perfectly romantic moment."

"You're welcome." Still, Shinichi drew a little closer to him, hands sliding down to clasp his hips. He dropped his head on Kaito's shoulder, humming tunelessly. Judging from the way Kaito winced, Shinichi's humming was on par with his singing, but Kaito didn't comment. Aloud, at least.

Instead, he murmured hesitantly, "The kids said they wouldn't mind us being together. If you… you know. You're... you'd consider that."

"And so did Ran," Shinichi said into his neck, pressing a kiss to his pulse point. He drew back to smirk at Kaito. "We've got all the important blessings, so I think we're free to get married, now. My mom's always wanted to plan a June wedding."

He worried that he had gone too far when Kaito's eyebrows disappeared behind his bangs, but all Kaito told him was, "I want to graduate first," and Shinichi's heart swelled. He clutched at the waistband of Kaito's jeans, burrowing into his neck.

"Hey," Kaito muttered, and Shinichi felt the word rattle through his chest underneath his ear. He lifted his face, about to ask what was wrong, but Kaito kissed him again, and he forgot all about that in favor of exploring every corner of Kaito's mouth.

"Happy Valentine's Day," Shinichi breathed against Kaito's lips once he had constructed a fairly accurate map of the roof of Kaito's mouth, and Kaito grinned back at him, despite how his cheeks had flushed a deep pink.

"Happy Valentine's Day," he replied softly, urging Shinichi back toward him with a push of his fingers to the nape of Shinichi's neck, and Shinichi went willingly.

So this was love.

When the children came back the next morning to find Kaito wearing one of Shinichi's shirts and Shinichi with very visible marks along his collarbones, Haibara had the audacity to ask if they should start calling Kaito "Mom" now. Shinichi glared, Kaito flushed, and Ayumi, Genta, and Mitsuhiko blinked in confusion.

SO. I hope that was - cute, I guess. Despite how weird the pacing was.

Well, I've got to go now. Please consider leaving me a review if you found this fic even a little entertaining! Hope you're all having a fabulous Valentine's Day, and I'll see you soon! - Luna