Disclaimer: I don't own DCMK

A.N: I'm back! Er, to be honest, I think this story still ends better at the end of the actual last chapter (I like how it begins and ends with a heist, but the situations have become totally different. Kind of like going full circle I suppose), but since I said I'd write an epilogue, here it is! It was a lot harder to write than I thought it would be and didn't quite turn out the way I envisioned ^.^U. It's also three times as long as I thought it would be. Ah well… Oh, I'm also putting a list of people and powers at the end for reference.

Midnight White

Epilogue

Shinichi let out a sigh of relief as he stepped out of the Teitan High campus gates. It was the last day of his considerably extended testing schedule. It felt like forever since he'd last emerged into the light of day since he'd spent what felt like every waking moment in the past few days either testing, studying, or sleeping. The sudden ending of it all felt almost…surreal, frankly.

He let out a yelp as someone grabbed him just outside the gates and spun him around. "Shin-chan! You're alive!"

Shinichi flailed around, trying to get his feet back on the ground. "Kaito!"

The magician set him down and stepped back, giving him a careful once over as though he hadn't seen Shinichi in years when really he'd seen him just the other day when he'd come by to make sure his detective remembered that eating and sleeping were just as helpful—if not more so—than studying. "So you're free now right?"

"You make it sound like I was in jail or something," Shinichi huffed, straightening out his clothes. "But yes, I'm free."

"Great! Then let's go." Looping an arm through Shinichi's, the magician set off at a brisk pace, forcing Shinichi to run to keep up.

"Where are we going?"

"On vacation," Kaito replied in a tone that suggested he thought Shinichi should have known the answer already. "Don't worry, I've already arranged everything. Our train leaves in half an hour."

"Train?" the detective repeated, somewhat taken aback. "But I don't have anything with me."

"I packed for you."

"Oh…um, thanks. I guess I should have known huh?"

"Anytime. And yes, you should have."

Shinichi thought vaguely that he should probably be annoyed that the thief had broken into his house—again!—but by now he just couldn't be bothered. It was clearly a lost cause. And, well, it was Kaito.

X

The train raced along its tracks as the surrounding world slipped past in silent streams of color. Shinichi leaned comfortably against Kaito's shoulder, half dozing as he listened to the rhythmic rumble of the train around them. All the anxious tension of the last few days of exams had drained away by now, leaving behind it a boneless weariness that dragged at his eyelids and his thoughts.

As he drifted in and out of sleep, the line between reality and dreams blurred. At times he was on the train, wondering fuzzily at how no one had screamed about dead people yet and that Kaito wasn't wreaking havoc on their fellow passengers. At other times he was in the Kuroba house just before exams had begun when the magician had decided it was time his detective was officially introduced to his mother.

"Hi Mom, this is my detective! His name is Kudo Shinichi, I'm sure you've seen him in the papers before. Shin-chan, this is my mom. She's amazing and the best cook in the world!"

He had liked Kaito's mother. She was calm, cheerful and kind and she really was every bit the fantastic cook that Kaito said she was. Of course, Shinichi had already eaten her cooking before, so he knew that long before he'd ever met her.

It was a relief beyond words for him that she had welcomed him. He hadn't told Kaito (not, he suspected, that the magician needed telling) how nervous the idea of actually meeting Kuroba Chikage had made him. He'd had no idea what she was expecting and all he'd been able to think about was how often he'd been told that he was too blunt or just socially inept. Sonoko still reminded him of it every chance she got (although mostly it was when she was complaining about not understanding why KID-sama had spent so much time working with him during the Imazaki fiasco but had barely said anything at all to her. And what was this she'd heard about her KID-sama carrying Shinichi out of the building in his arms? Okay, so it was a life and death situation, but still! Life was so unfair. At which point Shinichi would tune her out and thank all the powers that be that she didn't know—and would never know, mind you—of his real relationship with the thief. She'd probably want to kill him).

He remembered being introduced to the portrait of Kuroba Toichi and being pushed through it without warning into a room filled with all the evidence the KID task force and Hakuba were itching to get their collective hands on. Kaito even had an entire collection of newspaper and news video clippings about himself complete with dates and photographs that had to have been taken by the thief himself. Some of those photos would probably have sent Nakamori right through the roof if he'd seen them. The only thing in there, however, that had really surprised Shinichi was the car. The idea of Kaitou KID generation one all decked out in costume and driving around in the equally white vehicle was…well, kind of funny in a kind of horrifying way. Talk about no regard for law enforcement. He wondered if Kaito had ever taken it out for a spin but in the rush of everything the magician wanted to show him it had completely slipped his mind to ask.

"He's just like his father, you know," Chikage laughed, watching as her son juggled the dishes he was collecting from the table for washing.

He dreamed of being carried up an invisible flight of stairs by Kaito, who was saying something about wanting to show him what the stars looked like up close. He'd pointed out that there wasn't any oxygen up there, but the magician had only laughed and promised he would bring some.

"Oh, well, I guess that's all right then," he'd relented. It didn't occur to him to wonder how Kaito was going to do that.

"Shin-chan, it's time to get up," a familiar voice announced as the shoulder he'd been sleeping on shifted.

He grumbled an incoherent protest but swayed groggily back into an upright position. Kaito said something else then but the words turned into a fuzzy buzz of syllables in the detective's sleep-befuddled mind. He covered a yawn and blinked rapidly in an attempt to force the cobwebs away. Then something warm was pressed into his hands and the familiar aroma of hot coffee filled his senses. He didn't need to be awake to know what that meant.

A few happy minutes of coffee heaven later, he lowered his cup with a contented sigh and looked up. Kaito was watching him with a distinctly amused expression that made Shinichi's face heat up.

"I haven't gotten much sleep recently," he grumbled in his defense.

The magician laughed. "I know. But frankly you're like that even when you do. You should be careful though," he added as an afterthought. "You never know what could happen when you're still in lala land. You could be kidnapped and you wouldn't even notice until it was too late."

Shinichi rolled his eyes. "Kidnapped by who? You? The only person who's ever in my house that early is you."

"I'm just saying. Anyways, I presume that you are awake enough to get going now?"

Fighting the urge to turn red in embarrassment, Shinichi nodded and let Kaito pull him to his feet. That, however, was when he noticed the dark lines on the back of his right hand. Confused, he tugged said hand out of the magician's grasp and stared at it. Then he stared at it some more.

"Kaito," he said slowly. "Why is there a KID caricature drawing on my hand?"

"Really?" Kaito leaned in to look with what would look—to anyone who didn't know better—like honest curiosity. "What do you know, there is! Now how did that get there?"

Shinichi was not impressed. "Did you really have nothing better to do?"

"Like draw it somewhere else?" the magician suggested with a cheeky grin and a wink that had Shinichi making a mental note to check himself in the next reflective surface he came across.

"Just—let me go find some soap and water. Then you can tell me where we are."

X

It turned out Kaito had brought them to a hot spring resort. They—or rather Kaito, since he was the only person who knew where it all was—deposited their belongings in their room before declaring that their first order of business would be to get some food. The life of the whole town was centered around the area's many springs, but the particular hotel Kaito had found for them was known for a restaurant with a spectacular view of the place's sprawling garden. Gravel paths wove intricate patterns through the flowerbeds. Visitors wandered along these paths in ones and twos, enjoying the garden's quiet splendor and each other's company.

The restaurant itself was mostly open to the sky. Tables and chairs sat spread across a spacious patio. It was bright and the atmosphere was cheerful. It was also crowded.

"I think I see an empty table over there," Shinichi exclaimed, pointing to the far corner of the dining area to a small, round table right beside the patio rails. It was the first open table they'd seen in their last ten minutes of searching despite it being still too early for most people's dinnertimes.

"Better hurry before we lose it! Hold on tight, Shin-chan."

Shinichi didn't have time to answer. There was a puff of smoke, the sensation of a strong arm wrapped tight around him, and a bewildering rush of motion. It felt a bit like flying and a bit like being spun around really fast. Afterward, Shinichi couldn't really describe what had happened, except that one moment he was standing there and the next he was all the way across the room beside the empty table. Dizzy and disoriented, he sat down hard in the empty chair beside him.

"Why can't you ever warn me before you do things like that?" he grumbled. "I know I've asked—several times."

"And every time I remind you, where would the fun be in that? Besides, it's cute the way you cling to me when you're surprised~." He laughed then yelped as Shinichi stepped on his foot.

"I do not cling," the detective huffed, picking up a menu and burying his face in it. He was actually pretty hungry, though he hadn't noticed until now. He'd been too tired earlier to think about such trivial things. The nap he'd had on the train had helped a lot though, and now everything on the menu looked good.

"Take your time," Kaito advised, smiling faintly at the focused expression on Shinichi's face. His detective rarely showed that much interest in edible substances unless it was caffeinated and came in a cup. "I'll go get us something to drink."

Refreshments at this particular venue were all self-served. They had been arrayed on a long counter along one wall beneath a scroll depicting misty, mountain peaks. He noted with amused delight that they had five different brands of hot chocolate. Now which one to try first… A few minutes later, he had two brimming mugs and was heading back to his table when he was interrupted by a surprised gasp.

"Kaito?"

Turning at the sound of his name, he found the girl seated at the table behind him looking up with a bewildered and slightly incredulous expression on her all too familiar face.

"Aoko?" he exclaimed in surprise. "What in the world are you doing here?"

She blinked at him, just as shocked to see him as he was to see her. "Me? Saguru and I came with my dad. This place currently has a special promotion for law enforcement officers because of some case the Tokyo PD helped them out with recently. I don't know the details, but they gave out a lot of free and discounted packages. But what about you? What are you doing here?"

"Well, obviously I'm here on holiday. It is, after all, our last bit of free time before college."

Aoko nodded then glanced at the two cups in his hands. "Are you here with someone?"

Kaito had a quick debate with himself on whether he should be honest. On the one hand, Aoko was one of the few people he tried not to lie to when he didn't have a reason (because there were oh so many reasons all the time), but she was here with Hakuba, and, despite their differences, Hakuba and Shinichi could go on forever about Holmes (with great enjoyment at that). It was the one topic that reliably came up every time the two met. While Kaito could understand the delight of having someone with whom you could discuss a shared interest, he had arranged this whole venture so he and Shinichi could finally have some time to themselves. No cases, no villains, no mysterious people with suspicious agendas, and definitely no nosy acquaintances. Aoko, however, was the daughter of a police inspector, had a detective for a boyfriend, and was planning to join the police in the future. Therefore, she had naturally immediately begun to scan the area for other familiar faces. And of course his Shin-chan's rather peculiar hairstyle was easy enough to spot.

"Oh, that's Kudo-kun, isn't it? Did you two come together?"

Well, no point hiding it anymore. "That's right. He only finished his exams this morning."

"Whoa, really? That's…kind of extreme, isn't it?"

Kaito shrugged. "Yeah, but he did miss a lot of school while he was away. As far as I can tell, he's grateful they let him do all that makeup work and take the extra exams so he could graduate this year."

Aoko considered this piece of news then shook her head. "I guess that makes sense… But really, all that and he was still working cases? It's no wonder he always looks tired."

She didn't know the half of it, he mused. Drilling it into Shinichi that he didn't have to solve every single case that showed up on his radar was an ongoing project in which Kaito had to admit, with chagrin, that he was only just beginning to make headway. It was a delicate balance, seeing as Kaito had to agree that killers had to be put behind bars, he just didn't think Shinichi should be responsible for solving every murder case in Tokyo. The police existed for a reason after all, and several of them were pretty smart if just given the chance (and they weren't going to improve if his Tantei-kun did all their work for them).

"So where're your dad and Hakuba?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Oh, Dad's gone hiking with some of his friends from the precinct. Saguru's supposed to meet me here once he's done feeding Watson."

"He brought his bird?"

"Well, apparently she said she wanted to come along." Aoko giggled a little at her own statement before turning raised eyebrows on Kaito. "I don't see why you sound so incredulous. I mean, you bring your birds to all sorts of places all the time. At least Saguru doesn't use his to play pranks on people."

The magician rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just tell Hakuba to keep his long nose to himself while we're here or I won't be held responsible for what happens." Because he was going to have a good time and no one was going to get in the way of it! Although, hopefully, the fact that Aoko was here too should be helpful in that regard.

"Oh grow up," the girl retorted. "Honestly, everyone here is here to relax. Don't go starting any fights just because you think everything's always about you."

"I do not start fights," he shot back, drawing himself up in indignation. "Violence is for the artless. Now, if you'll excuse me, I don't want these drinks to get cold."

"See you later then. Say hi to Kudo-kun for me."

"I will. Later."

Leaving Aoko, he wove his way through the tables, carefully stepping around several children who appeared to be playing some kind of game of tag amidst the crowd of table, chair, and human legs alike. He had almost reached his table when he spotted yet another familiar figure. This one, however, was far less welcome—and it was sitting at his table! Wasn't he supposed to be feeding his bird? Or looking for Aoko?

But no. Not only was Hakuba sitting at his table, but he was sitting there wearing that ridiculous Holmes outfit that Kaito had always thought made him look even more like a twit than he already was. And that wasn't an easy feat. But he digressed. The point was that Hakuba had no right sitting in his chair!

There was a flash and a thud and several startled yells. When people could see again, they looked around for the source only to find a neon pink hawk beating a hasty retreat as an equally bright pink, teenage boy picked himself up off the floor. Said teen was staring down at his now blazing pink hands and clothes. There was a moment of silence. Then he burst out with a, "Kuroba!" even before he looked up at the culprit now occupying the chair he'd been pushed out of.

The magician glanced at him and blinked in the perfect facsimile of surprise. "Oh, Hakuba, didn't see you there. Nice color, by the way. You'd be great at helping the old ladies cross the streets safely at night."

The blonde opened and closed his mouth then spun on his heels and marched away, muttering something about not giving certain thieves the satisfaction of getting under his skin.

"Why did you do that?" Shinichi asked in mild exasperation as they watched Hakuba storm off.

"He stole my chair," the thief replied as though that explained everything—which, in his mind, it did. Master thieves did not get stolen from.

"He was just saying hello," the detective felt obliged to point out, even though he knew it wouldn't make a difference. "He's here with the Nakamoris."

Kaito made a noncommittal noise and changed the subject by handing Shinichi his coffee.

X

Looking back later, Kaito had to wonder if he should have taken that first meeting as an omen and found them somewhere else to spend the rest of their vacation (like maybe another country).

It started when he'd coaxed Shinichi into going to the hot springs with him—"It's therapeutic!"—only to find it full of policement-literally. Not only were half the KID task force there, but Megure, Shiratori, and the rest of Division One. Instead of relaxing, they spent the entire evening listening to Megure and Nakamori-keibu arguing about the jurisdiction of old cases they'd worked together. This shouldn't have been any of their business, but Shinichi practically worked for Megure these days and Nakamori saw Kaito as a sort of surrogate son. Therefore, the two inspectors decided that it was fair game in their debate to drag the two teens in as "witnesses" (regardless of the fact that neither knew anything about the cases in question—some of which had taken place before they'd been born). By the time they'd escaped, Shinichi could barely keep his eyes open. He didn't even remember getting back to their room.

The following day they ran into Ran and Yamada at breakfast. From there, they were swept along to a meeting with Sonoko and a group of other new high school graduates intent on recruiting everyone they could lay their hands on for a ping pong tournament.

They were halfway through said ping pong tournament when a man at the other end of the recreation hall let out a gargled scream and collapsed.

No, it wasn't murder. The man had simply had a heart attack (a natural one, uninspired by any malicious outsiders). They even managed to rush him to the hospital in time to save his life. But there went most of the afternoon, especially since his dear detective had to be one hundred percent sure that it had been an accident.

"Come on Shin-chan, we don't want to miss the fireworks!"

"We still have half an hour," Shinichi pointed out between gasps for breath as he was hauled along the street. "There's no reason to run."

"But we want good seats," the thief shot back. He'd been watching the clock like a cat watching a mouse throughout the heart attack incident before he'd decided enough was enough and proceeded to half carry, half drag Shinichi away from the scene.

"Couldn't you just, you know, make us our own seats like last time?"

"I could, but then we wouldn't get the special deserts they're passing out during the fireworks tonight."

Kaito was an expert at slipping into difficult places, and that included through a milling crowd. Due to his sharp eyes and quick footwork, the two teens managed to snag some of the best seats in the open-air dining area where it seemed everyone in town had gathered to watch the fireworks.

It was Shinichi who spotted them first. It was Satou-keiji sitting two tables away from them. With her sat Takagi-keiji.

And, of course, if Takagi and Satou were here…

He looked around. It wasn't hard to spot the clusters of disguised policemen—especially when they were all watching the pair with scheming, envious eyes.

"Shin-chan? What're you looking at?"

Wordlessly, Shinichi pointed out the officers in question. Even as he did so, they saw several of the officers stand up. Two acquired large cups of fruit juice from a waiter while the others circled around. Then the two groups started towards each other on a path that coincidentally—or rather intentionally—would have them meeting beside Takagi and Satou-keiji's table.

"They're going to run into each other and spill those drinks, aren't they?" Kaito observed.

"Looks that way," Shinichi sighed. "I don't understand why they can't just leave them alone already. It's been years."

"Ah, the human need to struggle against the inevitable."

"You could stop them, you know. I think those two deserve a break."

Well, it wasn't every day Shin-chan practically asked him to pull a prank—on policemen, no less.

The scene that followed would have been right at home in a slapstick comedy.

It started when the two men carrying drinks rebounded off of something—no one knew what—and went flying backwards like they'd been released from a slingshot. Both cups of juice went flying as well, spilling their contents in a colorful spray across several unsuspecting heads. The first officer crash-landed on a table, tipping it over and spilling its contents into the laps of its occupants. The table itself hit the ground with a thud, just so happening to smash one man's toes. He let out a pained yell and lurched backwards. His chair toppled over and he landed on the next table over to similar effects. The second officer swept two consecutive tables clean with his back before bringing down a waitress. She let out a cry of surprise and no little pain as her tray of drinks spun away and her shoulder caught the edge of yet another table. In moments, the entire dining area was in chaos.

Kaito blinked as Shinichi dropped his face into his hands. "That…wasn't what I had in mind."

If anyone had taken a survey of the people gathered in the area, they would have found that only four people had actually watched the fireworks that night.

They tried hiking the day after that. The weather was beautiful and the air crisp and clean. It was the ideal weather for an outdoors adventure. No one could have asked for better.

Which was probably why the trails were currently cluttered with what felt an awful lot like highway traffic on legs.

"Oi! Kudo! Kuroba! I didn't realize you two would be here," Hattori Heiji remarked as he came to a stop before them. "Did you come with the Tokyo PD?"

Kaito twitched behind his Poker Face.

Seriously, this was ridiculous! So not only was everyone from Tokyo and their PET here, the people from Osaka were too?!

X

"You're annoyed, aren't you," Shinichi stated more than asked. He and Kaito had only just left Hattori and Kazuha's company and sat down in a promising-looking restaurant. The place was packed though, like just about every other dining venue in town, and they had been told they would have to share a table with another party. Said other party had left temporarily to say hello to their own old friends.

Kaito snorted. "Let's see. Here I am, thinking we were finally going to be able to spend some quality time together, only lo and behold, half the city had the same idea!"

"You can't punish them for deciding to go on vacation at the same place as you," Shinichi reminded him as understanding dawned regarding that ominous sense of foreboding. "It isn't very fair."

"It would make me feel better."

"It's not that bad. This might be the last time everyone gets to spend free time together for a while. We are starting university soon after all," the detective persisted in an attempt to assuage his companion's irritation before something unfortunate happened to their blissfully oblivious acquaintances only to pause as his gaze landed on two people who had just walked into the dining room. He froze, blue eyes going wide with mixed shock and horror. "Um, forget what I just said."

"What is it?" Kaito followed his gaze to the door. It took him a moment but he eventually placed where he had seen those people before. There were photos of them in Shinichi's house and he vaguely remembered meeting the woman before.

"Aren't those your parents?" he asked just to be sure.

Shinichi's head dropped onto the table with a thunk and a groan. "Yes, yes they are." What were they doing here of all places? Hell, he hadn't even known they were in the country!

Maybe he could quietly slide under the table before they saw him. Then he could crawl through the table legs until he reached the back door. Surely there had to be one. But alas, it was too late.

While Shinichi had been trying to find an escape route, his mother's gaze had found him. Her face lit up and she turned to say something to the bespectacled man beside her. Then they were both making their way through the restaurant towards them. The woman pounced on Shinichi the moment she was close enough.

"Shin-chan! Oh, it's been so long! Come here and give mummy a hug!"

"Mom," Shinichi protested, face turning bright red. "I'm not a little kid anymore!"

His complaint fell on deaf ears as the former actress continued to half strangle her son with excitement. His father only stood back and watched.

Kaito observed the reunion with mixed amusement and trepidation. Of course he'd known that he would have to meet Shinichi's parents eventually, but this…wasn't how he had imagined said meeting to come to pass. To be honest, he wasn't sure what to think about the elder Kudos. On the one hand, it was only natural to want to make a good impression (the memory of that angry father with the balloon sword flashed through his mind. Not the kind of reaction he wanted to elicit from his own significant other's family members, even if it did have certain humorous points to it). After all, if Shinichi's parents disapproved, it could be problematic. Or at least rather uncomfortable for Shinichi, and Kaito didn't want that. On the other hand, he still couldn't understand why the novelist and actress lived in a foreign country, leaving their son to fend for himself years before most normal parents would even consider the idea. It complicated things a little that Shinichi seemed to prefer that his parents be anywhere but where he was, but still…

While he'd been waiting for the actress to release his detective, said detective's father had pulled out one of the empty chairs at the table and sat down, waving to a waiter and asking for a pot of tea.

"There's already someone sitting there," Kaito informed him dutifully. He could see said seat-owners out of the corner of his eye, still chattering away with their friends for the time being.

"We can move when they come back," the writer replied amiably. "Would you like some tea? I see your pot seems to have cooled."

"Sure, why not."

The steaming tea gurgled as it filled up the magician's mostly empty cup. Soft wisps of steam curled in the air over amber depths. Through them, the magician caught the author's gaze as they both studied the other.

It was Yuusaku who spoke first. "I don't believe we've met. My name is Kudo Yuusaku. And you are?"

"Kuroba Kaito," the thief replied, slipping on a casual smile. "I'm from Ekoda."

"Ah, so you're Kuroba Toichi's son then. I thought so."

Kaito blinked, though he wasn't so much surprised as bemused. He wondered what else the man had thought when he'd seen them. "Did you know my dad?" he asked, though he already knew the answer.

Yuusaku nodded, his expression growing somber. "He was a good man. And a great magician."

"The best." Feeling abruptly more somber himself, Kaito took a long sip of his tea.

By now, Yukiko had stopped trying to strangle her son and taken another empty seat. Turning her smile on the magician, she leaned forward slightly. "Kaito-kun! It's been so long! How have you been?"

It was time to put his unparalleled social skills to good use. Putting on his most charming smile, he set about the task of engaging in small talk. Whether or not they ended up telling Shinichi's parents about their relationship this time around, he might as well aim for a good impression. And the more he could learn about them the better for any future dealings.

It turned out the elder Kudos had decided to come to Japan to escape Kudo Yuusaku's editors, who were worried about several deadlines he had coming up. Judging from Shinichi's exasperated look, this was something his parents—or at least his father—did quite often. The reason they had ended up here was because Yukiko had declared that it had been a long time since she'd last been able to enjoy a hot spring. They had been planning to swing by Shinichi's place afterward. But, of course, now they had been saved the trouble.

"There does seem to be a lot of familiar faces around," Yuusaku had commented at one point.

"I guess everyone needs to unwind after what happened," Shinichi mused. He could understand the feeling. It was like finally being able to breathe freely again after holding your breath for a really long time.

Yukiko's eyes lit up with interest. News about the bizarre fiasco that had befallen Tokyo had spread across Japan then proceeded to travel overseas, but no one who hadn't seen anything with their own two eyes was sure which bits were true and which bits were exaggeration or plain old fanciful thinking.

The rest of dinner was spent telling the two elder Kudos about what had really happened (with some edits in detail in regards to certain thieves anyway). When the original owners of the other chairs at the table returned, they were more than excited to share table space with the famous writer and his wife. All in all, Shinichi reflected with no little relief, it was an incredibly normal kind of dinner—just like how you'd expect dinner to go when you introduced your parents to your friends. Though he'd be lying if he said he wasn't on tender hooks through the whole ordeal. His parents could be nutty and embarrassing in the way only parents could be and then some, but it seemed he was lucky today. That was one good thing that had come of so much happening recently. Just catching up on it all could occupy days if need be.

It wasn't until they were leaving that Shinichi got wind of something being up.

"Can we talk to you alone for a moment, Shinichi?" his father inquired. The night air was warm around them as they made their way through town. As it turned out, his parents were staying at the same hotel. Go figure. With his luck, they'd be right next door.

"I'll just step in here for a moment," Kaito replied with an easy grin before disappearing into the souvenir shop they were currently standing in front of.

The moment he was gone, Yukiko rounded on her son with a squeal. "Why didn't you tell me you were seeing someone? You're supposed to tell your mother these things!"

Shinichi drew back, looking like a doe in headlights. This was not what he had been expecting. "I—how did—what do you—"

"Now, now," his father admonished with that infuriatingly knowing smile of his. "Don't pretend you don't know what we're talking about."

"I—didn't really have time—"

He was interrupted again, this time by his mother. "I want to know everything! How long has it been? Where did you meet? When did he ask you out? Have you kissed?"

The detective flushed dark red. "Mom!"

"Oh, and I want pictures!"

Shinichi blanched. "Mom!"

From his spot hidden by a shelf of painted lanterns, Kaito watched through the shop window as his partner's face bounce between fiery red and snow white with fascination. He'd never seen anyone's face change color so many times in so few seconds. He could read Shinichi's lips, but all that told him was that the poor detective was sputtering. What didn't he have time for? Too bad the elder Kudos both had their backs to the window.

X

"What did your parents say?"

Shinichi blushed and looked away. "Um, well…they wanted to know more about—about us."

Kaito cast a glance back over his shoulder in the direction the elder Kudos had gone. His detective sounded more embarrassed than bothered, but… "Is there a problem?"

"What? Oh, no, nothing like that. It was just them being them."

"I see." They turned down the hall that led to their room. "So…did they say anything about me?"

"Well, Mom said "He's Toichi-sensei's son. I'm sure he'll take good care of my little Shin-chan" or something like that." She'd said a couple other things too, but he wasn't feeling up to feeding Kaito's ego at the moment. Yukiko had obviously taken quite a shine to the magician. "But really, I don't know why she thinks I need taking care of," he added in a huff. Honestly, he wasn't a little kid anymore.

Kaito blinked then grinned, slinging an arm around Shinichi's waist. "But she's right~."

"Huh? About what?"

"Why, about how I'm going to take good care of little Shin-chan, of course."

"Don't call me that," Shinichi grumbled, but his blush was back (he could swear it was developing a life of its own).

X

"Shinichi?"

There was a sleepy, "Hmm?"

"Well, we'll both be starting university soon."

"Mm hmm?"

"And we basically have the thumbs up from your parents." Though he supposed he would have to actually talk to them about it personally some time.

"Mmmmm."

"So I've been meaning to tell you, I found an apartment right by campus. There's only one room but it's pretty spacious and its got a balcony and everything."

"Mmmm…"

"I was wondering if you'd like to come live with me."

Silence.

"Shin-chan?"

Only quiet breathing answered. It seemed his detective had fallen asleep.

Smiling faintly in fond exasperation, Kaito brushed his fingers lightly through the slumbering detective's bangs. He trailed his fingertips down the side of Shinichi's face to his chin and gently turned the boy's face towards him. Leaning in, he placed a chaste kiss upon Shinichi's forehead. Then he tucked the detective's head under his chin and closed his eyes. The corners of his mouth quirked up into a sly grin.

"I'll just take that as a yes then."

So his plans had been…well, thwarted at every turn was probably a little too extreme of a description, but things certainly hadn't gone the way he would have liked. But hey, they had the rest of their lives ahead of them. That was more than enough time for a million other, better plans.

Owari

Character and Ability List:

Aizawa Erika—Elastic Pull (She has to touch the object first)

Chu—Ability to charge things he touches with energy, turning them into bombs

Hakuba Saguru—Understanding the speech of birds (However, how much the birds understand him depends on the birds themselves)

Hattori Heiji—Summoning Fire (However, this does not render him immune to it)

Imazaki Hiko—Hypnotist

Ishimoto Sakura—Acid Touch

Kimura Genichirou—Walking through things

Kudo Shinichi—Climate Control (In other words, control over temperature. However, this extends to the climate connected to the times during which these temperatures are experienced—think seasons. He has to be at the middle as it radiates out from his position.)

Kuroba Kaito—Boundaries/Force Fields (Includes the ability to dictate the properties of these boundaries such as elasticity, color, density, etc)

Mia Salinger—Generating and manipulating electricity

Mitsuki Soujiro—Speed

Nakamori Aoko—Hyper voice (Er, not the best way to put it, but suffice to say she can break things with her voice. It is dependant on her state of mind. Of course, most of the time a person is likely to raise her voice, she isn't thrilled, but should she ever truly scream for joy, nothing should happen)

Takagi Wataru—Phasing in and out of existence (That is why the more invisible he becomes, the less he is able to affect the physical world as he is changing how much the world acknowledges his existence)

Toyama Kazuha—Wind Control (Yes, she can fly, but I had to remove the scene where she fully realizes this. Maybe if I ever write more in this universe)

Satou Miwako—Empathy (I know this was never clearly stated, but those moments when she mentions sensing how Takagi was feeling, etc, were not just a figure of speech)

Sukino—Clairvoyant

Suzuki Sonoko—Weight Control

Uchimura Yui—Teleportation

Yamada Koji—Night Vision

Yamaki Nazuri—Numbing Touch

Yamaki Ryo—Water Manipulation

Unnamed Characters:

Copycat/Shape Shifter (Can copy the appearance and powers of someone she touches, but it only lasts for a limited amount of time)

Metal Manipulator

Tree Monster Maker (This one was probably the weirdest. So what he does is he can take a tree and convert it from a plant into a walking creature that obeys his will. He can also change them back)

A.N: Now it's officially over. Thank you to everyone for reading and reviewing. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it, hehe. This makes DCMK fic number 17 to be completed. Well, bye for now. Oh, and on a side note, I mentioned this in Path but I'll mention it here too—I made a DCMK music video a few weeks ago that I find pretty amusing. If you're interested in that kind of thing, the link is on my profile or fill in the one below:

(YouTube URL)/watch?V=86hEVGzABYc

Take care!