Kuroba Kaito was a genius. He preened as he watched mayhem happen below him. It was always amazing how a flash bomb here, some sleeping gas there, and add in a tiny bit of sleight of hand and even the most well thought out plans turned into utter chaos. He had the touch for it.

Of course he had an opposite too, a force of order to rival his destructive talents. Kudo Shinichi was the logic to his nonsensical, the balance to his randomly tossed weight on the scale of life. He grinned at the rapidly growing list of metaphors he was raking up. It was a night for metaphors it seemed. That was why he had taken the pleasure of taking the 'chicken with its head cut off' metaphor for the task force to the next level by putting them in chicken suits. All except for Shinichi who saw through the panic to its source. Did he have some sort of Kid detector or something? He always seemed to spot him before anyone else did.

Kaito shook his head. Well, it was just about time he got out of there. Much longer and his faithful detective would be attempting to dart him again. It was funny that he had kept the stun watch after his return to teenage-dom, but it did make things more challenging. Dodging kicked items and anesthetic darts was almost as fun as dodging the detective himself. Almost. Actually, he kind of liked letting him get close and slipping away with their bodies just brushing before he leapt into freefall…or other such escape tactics.

Without further ado, he turned and moved into a—if he did say so himself—decidedly graceful back flip, landing down beyond where the police officers were staggering around trying to get feathers out of their eyes.

He had just reached the stairs and was proceeding to run down them when the unthinkable happened. His faithful detective, who had been doggedly following him decided to prove yet again how bizarrely unlucky he could be and he tripped. Ordinarily, Kaito reflected, this wouldn't be a problem. Shinichi would just pick himself up and throw himself into the fray all over again. This time however, he had stumbled into an inconveniently placed, mostly forgotten about trap. Of the rope, netting, and knock out gas variety.

Kaito groaned, already knowing he was going to do something stupid. If Shinichi fell into the trap like he was doing, he would get hurt—and no one got hurt at a Kid heist. No one. Especially not adorably annoying detectives. In the split second it took for Shinichi's face to look surprised and for Kaito to make the decision to dash up the stairs and tackle into the detective, the trap exploded colorfully into existence, ropes circling, nets falling, and bright pink gas seeping into the spaces in between. The momentum from Kaito's tackle took them over the railing in a tangle of rope and limbs before they came to a jarring stop.

Shinichi had breathed in with surprise when he'd fallen, and even Kaito knocking the breath from his body hadn't been enough to keep him completely unaffected by the gas. His vision wavered and his arm, trapped between their two bodies managed to reach his watch and press the trigger before he passed out. Kaito had a split second to wonder what had just happened before he joined him. Outside the stairwell, no one thought to check if the thief was still in the building. After all, his dummy had already been spotted flying away…

Kaito's first thought when he woke up was that Shinichi had actually darted him. His second was a bewildered moment where he wondered why he was in midair rather than behind bars. His third was that there was a very heavy detective currently on top of him, digging his back further into uncomfortable ropes. "What the hell?" he groaned, trying to move. It seemed he couldn't. He looked wryly at where a rope had trapped his wrist in a tangle of netting roughly a few centimeters above Shinichi's head. His other hand seemed to be trapped somewhere near his side, immovable due to the current amount of pressure on it from the weight of the man above him.

Oh. Shit, Shinichi was on top of him, wasn't he? For someone who flirted regularly with anything that moved and had teased aforementioned detective often about attraction to him; and for someone who was a very tactile person, Kuroba Kaito could not help feeling extremely awkward about his current situation. It wasn't entirely unpleasant. Sure, his arm was falling asleep and he had a feeling that if he tried to free his wrist he'd send them plummeting five stories down a stairwell, but the detective wasn't exactly a bad weight on his chest. Actually, he was more of a very warm, softly breathing, starting to wake up weight that would likely be very unamused when he woke up.

Kaito watched nervously as Shinichi's eyelids flickered and his breathing patter changed. There was a soft groan, then a twitch as he tried to move the arm that was trapped under him. The sensation drew a very unwanted amount of attention to the fact that Shinichi's hand was on his chest. Kaito swallowed heavily. Well this was interesting. He hadn't expected to find the realization quite as arousing as he was. Either his mind was as much in the gutter as Aoko said it was, or there had been more going on with his near brushes with the detective than he had previously admitted to himself.

Confused blue eyes looked up into monocled violet. They blinked and a small frown formed on the other's face before becoming more pronounced. "Why aren't we in the police station?" came a befuddled question.

"Er…" Kaito said articulately. "I don't think they found us."

"Why are we still tied up?"

"Because I can't exactly move without possibly causing you harm in your less than conscious state." He glanced at his wrist that seemed to be acting as an anchor. There really was the question as to why it wasn't causing more strain, but the net probably was to blame. "And I can't move my hand," the thief added conversationally. "You realize that this is your fault."

An indignant expression crossed the detective's face as he regained more of his mental capacity. "How is it my fault? It's your damn trap that put us in this situation. Why the heck did you tackle me anyway?"

Kaito coughed uncomfortably. "Eh, that trap wasn't meant to be activated at neck level if you get my meaning. You tripping kind of made it a safety hazard, and I wasn't going to let you potentially asphyxiate in front of me if I could help it."

Shinichi groaned. "I hate you. You realize you made things worse by sending us over the stair railing? We could have died from the fall."

"I was counting on the netting. Not to mention that it was meant to dangle over the edge. Maybe not quite so far," the thief conceded, "but it turned out okay. If you hadn't darted me I'd have gotten us out of this mess already."

"If you hadn't gassed me, we'd be down and you'd be in handcuffs," the detective retorted.

Kaito frowned. "I thought our little encounters meant more to you," he said with only mostly feigned hurt. They certainly meant more to him.

"Kid, you're a pest," Shinichi said heavily. After a moment, he tried moving again making the hanging tangle rock like a hammock. He managed to get one hand tangled in rope enough to pull his torso off Kid's.

Kaito, for his part, stayed very still. Breathing was suddenly much harder despite the weight crushing his lungs being shifted away. "You know," he said as much to distract himself as to fill the silence, "you're lucky I didn't have any doves on me. Or that that didn't set off any of my traps."

Shinichi scowled. "Great. That's just the image I needed, squished doves. Or something exploding. I doubt any of your traps are easy to set off or they'd be affected by your gymnastics." He winced as feeling started coming back into the arm that had been trapped. "Can you see any way to get out of this?"

"Hmm?" Kaito wasn't really listening, having a rather interesting view of the underside of the detective's jaw and exposed collar bone. He was so screwed, wasn't he?

One Kudo Shinichi looked down to snap something about short attention spanned thieves only to notice the oddly unfocused look on Kaito's face. "Kid?"

"Yes?" a strained voice answered in the same oddly detached way it had answered a few seconds ago.

"What exactly are you doing?"

"Looking."

"I can see that. Why."

Kaito blinked, finally registering that he was answering on autopilot. He met Shinichi's too-blue eyes. His throat suddenly felt much drier than it already was. He was surprised to find himself remarkably off guard. He was having trouble fixing his usual masks into place as the detective stared at him with growing concern. There was too much weight on his hips. He wished he could have been in some other situation when he discovered that he had a thing for a certain persistent detective. Preferably one where the object of this realization wasn't on top of him threatening to lead to a rather unavoidable bodily reaction. "I doubt you actually want me to answer that," Kaito said honestly, finally pulling some sort of neutral mask over the bewildering tumult of emotion plaguing him.

Shinichi frowned, licked his lips as he tried to ease the pressure on his arm from holding himself half seated only to pause as he noticed Kid's eyes flicker to follow the motion. His brows drew steadily together as he added the pieces together. "Are you serious?"

"No, I'm Kid," was the automatic response from the other man's mouth. Kaito clamped his teeth shut with an audible clack. He hated how his mouth ran when he was nervous. "But just in case you might not want to move quite so much," he added in a much smaller voice, a blush threatening to impose on his poker face.

"You know, of all the theories Hakuba has put forward, I never thought he'd be right on the gay one," the detective commented casually. He was decidedly calm about the whole thing making Kaito even more embarrassed.

"I'm not gay! I think…" Did a long standing crush on Aoko count? Because there was the damning proof that he might just swing the other way sitting in his lap.

Shinichi reached down lazily, running a hand along Kid's face. His hand hovered over the monocle thoughtfully, causing Kaito's face to go completely blank.

"Aren't you going to unmask me?" Kaito said in a cool voice as the hand remained tracing the metal edges.

"I don't think that would be fair to either of us," Shinichi said with a sigh that showed his regret. "I always hoped it would be when I finally beat you, but as you apparently—or so you say—saved my life, it wouldn't really be fair to unmask you." He leaned closer, weight on Kaito's hips shifting just enough to make his face twitch. "So you like me?"

"I can't possibly fathom why, Tantei-kun," he said wryly. Kaito raised an eyebrow, fighting for self control as he noticed how close Shinichi was. "Perhaps I like the…challenge…of our little arrangement."

"So you don't want anything more?" There was an annoying smirk forming on Shinichi's face that was starting to tick him off.

Kaito gave him a frosty look. "I was under the impression that you were in a relationship."

"You don't want to steal me?"

"I don't enjoy causing heartbreak to the lovely ladies in the world. Especially not one particular woman who could likely take my head off with a well aimed kick."

"It never stopped you provoking anyone before." Amusement was definitely in the detective's eyes. Was Kaito imagining things or was he actually shifting purposely like that? The thief squirmed slightly in a decidedly unprofessional manner.

"I'm glad I'm proving to be such wonderful entertainment for your sadistic sense of humor," Kaito groused. He definitely couldn't stop his body from reacting any longer. There was a tiny blush of shame on his cheeks as he twitched up toward the warmth grinding above him. "Either stop teasing or do something," he growled.

"I don't know…" Shinichi leaned even closer. "I think I like having the tables turned. Now you're the one being driven crazy." He could definitely feel the erection starting to grow under his hips. He let his hand trail down a column of exposed throat. "Oh, and I'm not currently in a relationship. Ran isn't all that happy with me. I'm sure I'll be forgiven eventually…"

"Oh, so I'm a replacement?" Kaito hated how he sounded breathless. The fingers on his throat were toying with his tie.

"I wouldn't say that…" Shinichi grinned as he ground down again, feeling his own body feeling slightly aroused by the response below him.

"Oh for fuck's sake!" Kid growled, moving his arm that had been freed from his side in the shifting to drag the detective down on top of him. He sought his lips hungrily and was pleased to feel the detective respond just as eagerly. The next few minutes were blissfully silent and full of sharp breathing and the wet sound of lips and tongues experimenting to figure out just what worked best.

"You know," Shinichi panted, pulling back a few inches, "for a guy who flirts with every woman he meets I would have expected you to be a more experienced kisser."

"Not everyone has had the benefit of having a girlfriend, Tantei-kun," Kaito gasped feeling dazed that Shinichi was a good kisser.

"Hakuba was right about another thing," Shinichi whispered sensually. "You're a lot younger than everyone thinks. About…" His lips dipped lower until he was breathing in Kaito's ear. "My age?"

Kaito groaned and tried to do the impossible and move closer, which only served to rock the netting more. "For once in your life quit running through the clues and just react, Shinichi," he snapped, not bothering to use his pet name for the detective. He was almost painfully aroused now.

"Hmm, first name basis?" Shinichi chuckled, licking the ear before going for Kaito's neck.

Kaito wished they were in a situation where it would be physically possible to make out properly. They wouldn't even be able to take off their clothes in this space. But it couldn't be helped. He grabbed a handful of surprisingly muscular buttocks and pulled his hips up with force as he pulled down. He wasn't the only one groaning with the contact. As he squeezed his palmful, he supposed he should be grateful for once that the man was a soccer player.

The net rocked back and forth as Shinichi met his clumsy thrusts and somehow managed to get his hand up Kaito's shirt. "Not fair!" the thief gasped. He didn't have a free hand to reciprocate as one was helping his gain leverage for thrust and the other was still trapped in rope.

Shinichi chuckled breathily and nipped his jaw before giving him another all consuming kiss. Neither was really restraining the noises they made as they tried to drive the other over the edge first. Kaito's pants felt too tight and almost painful, but every bit of friction from the body above him made him almost growl with desire. He bit lips lightly to get revenge for the way he jumped every time Shinichi touched his nipples. It wasn't his fault he was ticklish there.

Dazedly Kaito thought as Shinichi drew him near desperation that he liked the sound of the detective's laugh. It was warm and just devilish enough to remind him of his own insane cackle. He was enjoying driving the thief out of control a bit too much. It was all Kaito could do to keep him equally distracted, but even then Kaito had the feeling he had lost this particular battle to the other man.

A soft, quickly muffled cry split the air as, to Kaito's mortification, he came first. It was inevitable really, with the extra stimulation, but he was slightly miffed at the smug look that crossed Shinichi's face when he regained awareness and realized that he was still rocking in an erratic desperate motion above him.

Kaito looked him in the eyes and with his most evil grin slipped the hand he was no longer using to grip the detective's ass down said detective's pants. Shinichi's eyes widened comically before he bit Kaito suddenly to muffle the scream that accompanied his release. The sound still echoed, and, as Kaito withdrew a sticky hand, he though he rather liked the sound. Although he wasn't pleased that he now had teeth shaped bruises on his shoulder. He had school the next day. Makeup would cover it, but with Hakuba watching… He put aside thought, letting himself be boneless and relaxed.

Finally Shinichi stirred. "That was fun," he said far too pleased with himself. "What do you say to a date next Thursday?"

"Tantei-kun, you do realize you're propositioning a wanted criminal," Kid pointed out lazily. "Doesn't this go against your code of honor?"

"You're only a thief during the heists," Shinichi said with a smirk. "You likely have a nice, boring life outside of your night job."

"I wouldn't call it boring," Kaito muttered under his breath. "So you're proposing an open relationship with my civilian…persona?"

"No, I'm proposing a date with you, not Kid, the thief, not Kid the student. Just Kid the person. I won't even require you tell me your name."

"Tempting," Kaito said honestly. "This isn't a ploy to arrest me?"

"I think I can separate trying to catch you at heists and a private life with you."

"You've tried to catch me outside heists before."

"I thought you were up to no good. Can you blame me?" There was an amused confidence in the way Shinichi was looking at him. Kaito decided he didn't mind it.

"No." He chuckled. "Fine. But I choose the time and place." He shifted, feeling the mess in his pants chafe uncomfortably. He grimaced. "I think we should probably get down now."

"I thought we couldn't."

"While you're unconscious I couldn't." Kaito rolled his eyes. "Big difference. Now hold onto the rope to your…" he made a quick calculation "far left." He watched as Shinichi did so hesitantly. "Hold tight." He surveyed his trapped wrist before reaching up with his other hand and tugging a few choice strands. Immediately the rope supporting the netting went slack and dropped them about three feet before unraveling and falling down the stairwell. The thief and detective were left dangling close together on two entangled ropes that seemed to be a bit better tied. "Well. Good thing I didn't move my arm earlier, huh?"

Shinichi looked a bit pale as he stared where the netting had fallen. "Next time you create a trap, make sure it's not potentially fatal," he said in a deceptively mild voice.

Kaito winced. "That I will. Now I think we should start climbing before someone remembers that there is a stairwell and a detective missing."

Shinichi laughed. "Sure. And I'll see you Thursday." He grinned. "And to think you never noticed anything."

"Noticed what?" Kaito frowned as the detective kept laughing. "What?" he asked.

"You're cute when you're not being annoying."

"Shinichi," the thief growled.

"Race you to the top," he said and took off like a monkey up the rope.

Kid dangled, frowning. "What on earth did I miss?"