Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan/Case Closed.

Pairing: KaitoxShinichi

Rating: T

Genre: Romance/Humor

Summary: Before they all got used to Shinichi's crazy boyfriend, there were many strange misunderstandings at the police station.

Notes: This is part of the "Little Steps" series. Each installation will have its own theme or running plot, and ratings will vary. Enjoy!

Little Steps: The Importance of Double Checking

Part 1 - Carried Away

Phone

"Oh hey Kudo-kun, your class just let out, right? Will you be coming over right away?"

"Yes, I will. I was just calling to see if there are any crime scenes I should head over to or if I should just go straight to the station."

"Why don't you come to the station first?"

Megure-keibu had just settled down to read the stack of reports he was supposed to be reviewing when his phone rang again. When he answered it, he was surprised to find that it was Shinichi calling again. Had the boy run into a case again? He winced inwardly. Poor kid attracted enough trouble for multiple lifetimes.

"What happened?" he asked, expecting to be told about some murder or other. What he heard instead, however, was completely different.

"It's not that. I actually just remembered that I have a few urgent errands I need to run. So I won't be able to go to the station today. I'll also be a bit busy the rest of the week."

Megure-keibu blinked, startled. "Oh, well, that's perfectly fine. Just don't go doing anything dangerous," he added as an afterthought.

There was a laugh. "Oh, I won't."

When they'd hung up, Megure found himself frowning. Shinichi wouldn't normally have laughed at something like that. The laugh itself had sounded a bit different too, but he couldn't quite put his finger on why. The voice had definitely been Shinichi's. So… Maybe he was just tired. He hadn't gotten much sleep last night due to a late night stakeout that hadn't led anywhere. Shrugging off the slight sense of uncertainty, he returned to the reports.

Sight

"Kudo-kun's been kidnapped!"

Everyone in the station looked up as Takagi came bursting through the doors in a wide-eyed panic.

There was an instant uproar as everyone in the station crowded around him, asking questions.

"I was on my way back from interviewing that robbery witness," the frazzled policeman explained. "The route I was taking passes by Kudo-kun's university. I was waiting at an intersection when I saw him heading down the sidewalk in the direction of the station. I was about to call out a hello to him when I think he must have seen something in one of the side streets because he stopped, looked around, and turned off the main road into the side street at a run. I was worried, so I hurried over to see if I could help. It took a moment because I was on the other side of the street, so I didn't see exactly what happened. But when I got there, I saw a man disappear around the opposite corner carrying someone. And there was no sign of Kudo-kun anywhere! I ran after them of course, but by then there was no sign of either of them!"

"What did the kidnapper look like?"

"I—I didn't get a good look, though I'm sure it was a man. Whoever it was though, he could move really fast."

"Where did this happen?"

"When did it happen?"

There was an instant ruckus. Megure-keibu ordered a team of officers to head out and start examining the scene and asking around. Another team began calling his friends and acquaintances to see if anyone had heard anything. It didn't take long for them to discover that no one had any idea where the Heisei Holmes had disappeared to. They also heard that he had, in fact, been headed for the station after all.

"But he told me that he wouldn't be coming today," Megure muttered to himself, confused. But he was positive that that had been Kduo-kun's voice. He'd known the boy since he was a child. He couldn't have mistaken it. It was possible though that Shinichi hadn't told anyone else about his sudden change in plans. It didn't really matter anyway. All that mattered was that the boy was really missing, and no one could reach him.

Soon a full scale search had been organized and launched. It was a good thing there weren't any other urgent cases at the moment.

Criminal

Elsewhere in Japan, one Kudo Shinichi was not at all confused by the peculiar events of the day. Yes, he had been knocked out on his way to the police station, and yes, he had been carried off by his assailant. But no, he didn't need to be rescued from the clutches of some criminal with evil intentions (the culprit was a criminal, but his intentions weren't evil—although the culprit himself would freely admit that they weren't very pure either. In fact, many of his intentions were quite—indecent, but considering his relationship to his 'victim', he rather thought he was acting within his rights).

"Did you have to grab me off the street?" Shinichi grumbled at his captor, who also happened to be his boyfriend and an internationally wanted thief. They were seated side by side on the edge of a bed in what appeared to be a comfortable apartment. Shinichi couldn't help but notice that the apartment had no doors. The windows too were the kind that didn't open, and the glass was patterned and textured so that he couldn't really get a good look through them. It was probably one of Kaito's secret hideouts. "Couldn't you have just asked like a normal person?"

"But if I'd asked, you could've said no, and I already had everything planned out. It would have been a terrible waste of a good vacation," the magician thief reasoned (rather unreasonably, in Shinichi's opinion, but apparently his opinion was not important). "Besides, this was more fun."

"Your idea of fun is seriously warped."

"But you love me, so you must not mind~."

Shinichi groaned, covering his face with his hands. "Someone kill me now."

"I have a better idea."

The detective let out a startled squeak as he suddenly found himself pinned to the bed flat on his back.

"Kaito!"

Face

Shinichi didn't realize the problems his involuntary vacation had caused until two days later. Kaito had disappeared to get them some groceries—or so he'd claimed. Shinichi had no idea how the magician was getting in and out of the apartment. He'd tried looking, but he couldn't find the door. He couldn't find his phone either, but he'd expected that. So he'd decided to watch some TV and enjoy a nice cup of coffee.

He gaped.

That was when he heard the sound of grocery bags being set down coming from the kitchen.

"Kaito! Why is my face on the news as a missing person?!"

Kaito glanced over at the television screen from where he was making grocery bags appear out of thin air. "Hmmm, that's strange. I'm pretty sure I called Megure-keibu for you." He thought for a moment as Shinichi continued to stare at the newscaster in mounting mortification. "Now that I think about it, I think Takagi-keiji might have caught a brief glimpse of us leaving."

"…"

"Shin-chan? Are you okay?"

"…"

Excuses

Takagi-keiji, being the one who had actually witnessed the kidnapping, had a hard time believing that it was the simple misunderstanding that everyone else had agreed it was after Kudo-kun had called and explained that he'd gone out of town. Because of that, he found himself watching Shinichi very carefully when the detective returned from his so-called vacation to who knew where with who knew who. Shinichi certainly didn't act like someone who had just come back from being kidnapped. He seemed perfectly normal, except…

"Excuse me, Kudo-kun?"

"Yes?"

"You…aren't hurt, are you?"

Shinichi looked back at him blankly. The expression looked honest. "I'm fine, really."

"But you were limping," the policeman pointed out uncertainly.

For some reason, Shinichi blushed. "No I wasn't. You must have been imagining things."

Takagi didn't respond immediately. Was it just him or had that denial been a little bit too emphatic? Would Kudo-kun try to hide it if he was hurt? Yes, Takagi thought, he would. The young detective was just that kind of person. But on the other hand, even Shinichi wouldn't be stubborn enough to leave any bad injuries untended. So whatever it was, it was probably minor. Well, he'd keep an eye out just in case. But he supposed that he couldn't really do anything about it if Kudo-kun didn't want to divulge anything.

His curiosity wouldn't let him go though, so he decided to try a different angle.

"So where did you go for your vacation?"

Shinichi's mind raced. "It was a little place in the mountains."

"That sounds nice. Was it fun?"

"I—I guess." Shinichi's blush darkened. He hastily changed the subject. "The connection was bad up there though, which is why I didn't answer anyone's calls. Then I saw the news, so I headed down to the nearest town to call Megure-keibu and clear things up. I'm really sorry about the trouble it caused."

Takagi laughed a bit sheepishly, scratching at the back of his head. "I kind of have to apologize for that too. It was partly my fault. I was just so sure that I saw someone carrying you off…" He trailed off, giving the younger man a questioning look.

Shinichi pretended not to notice. "Anyway, I have to get going. I promise I'll remember to let you guys know before I go on any long trips next time." As he walked away before Takagi could call him back, Shinichi cursed the real culprit behind the fiasco in his head. The least Kaito could do if he was going to spring something like that was help Shinichi come up with a few good excuses to give his colleagues. The stupid thief was so sleeping on the couch tonight.

-End of Part 1-

Notes: This one's going to have multiple parts based around different incidents.