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

Pairing(s): Kaito x Shinichi

WARNINGS: Shounan ai (boy/boy pairing), you have been warned

House of Cards

By V. Shalyr

6. Full House

Those few days leading up to Christmas Eve were among the most relaxing Shinichi had had in, quite honestly, years. For one thing, nobody had been murdered in his near vicinity, which was more than a little shocking—but in a good way. For another, living with Kaito meant that very few people recognized or expected anything from him. He knew he had to go back home to Beika eventually and try to find a place again in the world he'd left behind for so long, but for now, he allowed himself not to think about that.

There were a few times, however, when he couldn't help it and he found himself staring at his own hands, marveling at how they were his hands again—not Conan's childish hands or the wings of a white bird. He'd remember all those times he'd thought about being "Shinichi" again, and then he'd wonder if he'd ever really be able to get back to being Shinichi at all. Because really, it felt a little disorienting too. He kept expecting to wake up the next morning and discover that it had all been a dream and he was still Conan staying in his small room at the Mouri Detective Agency.

What would have happened if he'd never chased after those men in black at the amusement park?

"There are some things that we just aren't meant to know," Kaito said philosophically when Shinichi wondered this aloud one morning. The magician had then grinned and reached to clasp one of Shinichi's hands in his before raising it to his lips and brushing a kiss across the back. "I keep telling you, some mysteries are best left as just that. Mysteries."

The detective yanked his hand away, embarrassed and confused. "What did you do that for?"

All the question earned him was an amused smirk.

The magician often did little things like that—opening a door for him, draping a jacket over Shinichi's shoulders when they were out and it got cold, a kiss on the back of the detective's hand—little things that Shinichi wasn't sure what to make of. Most of it, Shinichi put up to Kaito either being thoughtful or being weird, but some of it—like that last one—was harder to ignore. He knew Kaito didn't act like that around his other friends. Well, maybe he did a little bit around the female ones, but around that point, Shinichi's brain would stall and refuse to try and process the greater implications of this.

"I feel like I should get a Christmas present for Haibara," Shinichi said, setting the red rose Kaito had just given him to one side so he could focus on his nice and not at all confusing cup of coffee. "I mean, I do owe her a lot."

Unperturbed by his lack of obvious reaction to the flower, Kaito lounged back in his chair, perfectly at home in the casual elegance of the restaurant he had brought them to. "She's a scientist, yes? I'd imagine that should provide lots of space for gift giving. We can visit that mall I brought you to—the one with the bakery. I said I'd bring you back when you were human to try the lemon pie."

"You don't have to," Shinichi protested, but Kaito waved him off.

"Hey, you need to buy gifts anyway. And a gentleman always keeps his promises."

And so they went to the mall. Shinichi tried the lemon pie, and made a stop in several different stores, including one supermarket across the street from the massive shopping complex.

Haibara wasn't the only person he owed.

"Do you need anything from your house?" Kaito asked, hefting the grocery bags in his arms and eyeing their contents. "We don't have all the same cookware that you do."

"I can make do," Shinichi answered, then added with a slightly perturbed tone, "Do I even want to know how many times you've been in my house?"

"I don't know. Do you?"

"You know what? No, I don't."

"Well then, I won't tell you."

"Please don't sneak into my house again without telling me."

"But if I told you, it wouldn't be sneaking."

"That's the whole point."

The magician heaved a dramatic sigh. "Fine, fine, I'll give you a heads up if I intend to visit... When I can."

Shinichi didn't miss that last part, but let it go. It wasn't that important. If there had to be someone sneaking around his house without his knowledge, he would definitely rather it was Kaito than anyone else.

They didn't make it home until that evening, and Shinichi set about searching for the bowls, pans, and other kitchen implements he would need. Kaito put away most of the groceries then sat on one of the tall, kitchen stools to watch him.

"What are you making?" he finally asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

Shinichi picked up the measuring cup to double check the amount of sugar before adding it to the mixture in a large, glass bowl. "I'm making a cake. You like chocolate, right?"

"You mean it's for me?"

The detective looked away, faintly embarrassed. "I guess it's a thank you for looking after me... and everything."

Kaito grinned. His mother used to make chocolate cake for him now and then, though these days, they were both so busy with their own things.

"I'm not exactly an expert, you know," Shinichi said, feeling oddly self conscious under his scrutiny. "And I've never made chocolate cake before."

"I'm sure it'll taste great. You can be sure at least that it'll be better than anything I try to bake."

Kaito had made one attempt and then been banned from the use of the oven. The problem with him and food was that he'd never been great at following other people's directions, and a love of experimentation didn't work on food when you didn't know anything about edible cooking to begin with.

"Besides," the magician added, "they say it's the thought that counts, right?"

Luckily for the both of them, Shinichi's baking skills turned out to be more than adequate to a simple chocolate cake, and soon, the kitchen was filled with the wonderful aroma of baking. The detective had looked up the recipe online, and as they waited for the cake to be done, he set about mixing the icing—which Kaito decided to turn blue. Well, it was certainly going to be an interesting looking cake. Kaito might have been a terrible cook, but he was a master at appearances. And by the time they'd finished putting the cake together, it looked like a real masterpiece in shades of dark brown, tan and icy blue.

"It almost looks too good to eat," Shinichi said, sitting back to look over their creation.

"Nothing's ever too good to eat," Kaito corrected him, grabbing two plates and a handful of utensils from the cupboards. "That's the whole point. Let's see, where to cut so as not to ruin the artwork..."

Kaito made it so easy to have fun and not think about things or worry about the future. It definitely made for a pleasant few days—the vacation Shinichi hadn't known he'd really needed until then.

And then Kaito's mother came home, and boy were the both of them shocked at the identities of the "good friends" she brought with her.

.

"Kaito!" Shinichi half shrieked, half squeaked as he bolted away from the magician's desk where he had been reading. The window was open and he'd just chanced to glance through it only to see, to his horror—"What are my parents doing here?"

"Your parents?" Kaito glanced up with interest from his bed where he was browsing what looked suspiciously like the blueprints to some building. "I was just expecting Mom and her friends."

"Her friends," Shinichi said flatly, the pieces clicking together in his head, "who were traveling a lot in foreign countries?"

"Yeah... Your parents, I assume?"

It certainly appeared so.

Kudou Yukiko greeted her son with a delighted squeal, throwing her arms around him. "Shin-chan! So you are the new friend that's been staying with Kaito-kun. This is such a wonderful coincidence."

That depended on whose point of view it was, Shinichi thought.

Kaito watched the scene play out rather calmly, wearing that inscrutable smile of his where he stood at the foot of the stairs. When Yukiko was done squeezing the air from her son's lungs, she moved on to greet Kaito, her eyes sparkling.

"You really do take after your father," she told him, smiling warmly. "I do so miss Toichi-sensei at times. It's hard to believe how long it's been. He was a wonderful teacher and an amazing actor."

Soon after, everyone migrated into the Kuroba living room and Kaito's mother set about brewing a fresh pot of tea. Kaito placed several platters of snacks on the table along with a handful of extra plates.

It turned out that their families had been friends for years, although they hadn't been good about keeping in touch since Kuroba Toichi's death. Shinichi and Kaito themselves had never been introduced as children. There had never been a real opportunity.

While they listened to their parents tell stories of when Yukiko had still been studying with Kaito's father, Kaito shredded two seedcakes and spread the crumbs across several plates, which he set out for his doves. A third seedcake he put on a smaller plate and passed to Shinichi. As far as they could tell, the only lasting side effect of Shinichi's time as a dove was a certain residual fondness for seedcake. But of course, the parents didn't know that, and the Kudous stared a little all considered—to their knowledge—their son had never been a huge fan of cake.

"So then," Yuusaku said, adjusting his glasses, "I have to admit that I'm rather curious to hear how the two of you met."

The magician and the detective exchanged looks.

"Well," Kaito drawled, "it's a funny story. It all started a couple weeks ago..."

.

Sonoko was beside herself with glee, and had been ever since it first started to snow. Snow was the final thing she needed to make this Christmas party unforgettable. And of course, it was just so romantic.

Ran laughed as her friend gushed about how amazing this party was going to be. "You're always so excited about these things," she pointed out, though when she finally laid eyes on the new hotel in question, she had to admit that "amazing" was right on the mark this time.

"Wow, Sonoko, your family really outdid itself this time," she gasped, awestruck at the virtual wonderland of glittering, white and silver-draped gardens, all culminating in a magnificent, giant Christmas tree. The hotel itself nestled amidst all the glamour, a castle wreathed in Christmas lights and dusted white with snow.

"And wait until you see the guest list," Sonoko told her, clasping her hands in front of her. "Practically everyone who's anyone is going to be there."

Ran had to smile at her friend's enthusiasm. "You'll have to introduce me to them all."

Sonoko floundered for a moment, startled, then her grin widened and she launched into an introduction of some of the more notable guests. Ran wasn't usually so ready to take part in her never-ending hunt for the perfect, eligible young man and she would take full advantage of it. Ran listened patiently, and waved when she spotted Nakamouri Aoko and Hakuba Saguru waiting for them by the front entrance.

She'd had so much on her mind lately, it was nice to get out and away for awhile. Shinichi was probably going to be there too since he and his parents fell into that list of "everybody who was anybody", but that was all right. And both her own parents would be following her to the party as well, which was an added bonus. She had high hopes that this year would be the year they finally made up.

Yes, a fresh start seemed like just the thing to put a cap on this last, hectic year.

.

"Hey, fancy meeting you again here of all places. I thought you said you were from Osaka."

Hattori glanced around at the greeting to find Kuroba Kaito making his way through the other party guests towards them. "Oh, hey. I am, but Kazuha's good friends with a friend of Suzuki Sonoko. I'm just here accompanying her. You got invited too?"

"Sure seems like it, doesn't it?" Kaito answered cheerfully. "Though it feels like half the city's been invited to this party. The Suzuki family never does anything halfway, does it?"

"That's one way to look at it." Hattori accepted a pastry that a server offered to him, but paused before biting into it when a thought struck him. "Oh, right, you said you wanted to meet Kudou right? Come on, I'll introduce you. He's here too. Apparently, he didn't want to come but his parents forced him to."

Kaito permitted himself an amused grin at the recollection. Shinichi's parents were really something else. He'd never seen such a strange and dysfunctional relationship between parents and child. Actually, Kaito was only here at this party because of Shinichi. The detective had all but begged him to do something so that he wouldn't be stuck at this party all night. Kaito had been happy to comply, especially seeing as he'd had plans of his own.

The fact that he'd run into Hattori Heiji was an unexpected bonus. And he hadn't even had to remind the Osaka detective of his promise.

They found Shinichi lurking next to a potted plant, nursing a mug of coffee and looking suspiciously like he was trying to use said potted plant as a cover from all the people who would otherwise have wanted to meet him. He wasn't trying to avoid Ran and Sonoko—honestly, he wasn't. But it would have been nice for them not to notice him. He could only imagine what Sonoko would have to say to him, especially assuming that Ran would have told her of their non-relationship.

"Hey, Kudou!" Hattori greeted him loudly, making him jump. "I've got someone here who wants to meet you. Kazuha and I ran into him a couple days ago, and I swear you two look like you could be related."

"We're not though," Kaito assured him. He'd checked both their family trees quite thoroughly and confirmed this fact. Catching Shinichi's startled gaze, the magician held out his hand and gave him one of his winning smiles, as though they'd never met before—which they technically hadn't. "Hi, I'm Kuroba Kaito, magician extraordinaire of Ekoda. It's a pleasure to meet you. I've read a lot about you in the papers."

"So has everyone else," Shinichi sighed, though he accepted the hand and shook it gingerly. Honestly, it sort of bothered him—a lot more now than it used to, certainly. Being Conan had made him more than a little paranoid and skittish when it came to excessive attention. It was one of the main reasons he hadn't wanted to come to this party, aside from the fact that he just wasn't a huge fan of parties to begin with.

Kaito smirked. "Don't like having everyone's eyes on you?"

"Not really," Shinichi said. "Although I suppose a magician might find that hard to understand."

"I do love attention," Kaito agreed, slinging an arm companionably about the detective's slim shoulders. "But I think I can understand. Sometimes, it's nice to just slip by unnoticed."

Hattori raised an eyebrow at their oddly easy interaction. It felt like he was missing something here, but he shook it off after some consideration. That wrongness seemed to linger around Kuroba as a general rule, and Kazuha had chastised him several times about being too suspicious of such things. And Kuroba seemed like a decent enough sort.

"So where have you been exactly?" Hattori asked instead, turning to Shinichi once more. "You had us all worried when you just up and disappeared."

"I was just... at a friend's."

The dark-skinned detective frowned at the evasive reply, but before he could pry further, a live band struck up at the other end of the vast hall and Kazuha made her way through the party goers to grab his hand. "You promised me that we'd have fun, Heiji. But you've barely spoken to me yet since we got here."

"That's not my fault," he protested. "You started talking with Ran and her friends the moment we got here. I'm the one who should be complaining."

As they bickered and drifted towards the dance floor, Kaito discreetly maneuvered Shinichi and himself along the edges of the party and, finally, out onto the spacious, hotel veranda.

"This is some Christmas party," he mused. "Not all that unbearable though. At least the food is excellent."

Shinichi breathed in the cool, night air and let out a deep sigh. It was nice to be outside and away from the clamor.

Kaito watched the tension drain out of him with satisfaction before saying, "You ready to go then? We're on a bit of a schedule."

"We are?" Shinichi asked, surprised.

"Hey, it's Christmas! You didn't think I wouldn't have plans, did you?"

Moonlight gleamed in sharp, indigo eyes and a shiver ran down Shinichi's spine. Out here in the cool night with the moon bright above them and the shadows all around them, it was easy to see KID in Kaito's fierce gaze and shark's grin.

The detective's voice sounded slightly breathless in his own ears when he asked, "So where are we going?"

Kaito caught his hand and pressed a kiss to the back. Shinichi blushed but didn't pull away.

"I hope you haven't eaten much, because I thought we'd start with dinner. There's a lovely restaurant downtown, and our reservation's in twenty minutes."

.

All in all, it was safe to say that it was one of the best Christmases Shinichi had ever had.

Years later, photographs from that first Christmas would be joined by countless other photographs from other Christmases and birthdays—and other days that were special all on their own.

/ Special? / Mimi asked, confused.

Aka made a shrugging motion with his wings, perched beside the newest addition to their flock.

/ It's hard to explain. Humans have a lot of special days for different things. For example, the day two people meet can be considered "special", or the day when two humans officially mate. Such things are important, apparently, and certain actions have to be observed. /

/ Humans have strange mating rituals, / Mimi mused, turning her head back to examine one of the pictures framed on the mantelpiece. This one had been taken at something called an amusement park.

Aka and all the other doves bobbed in agreement. Humans were incredibly picky about their mates for one thing, and such a big fuss was made sometimes. The males had to give the females gifts for one thing, and then there was whether the female like the gifts or not. Shin-chan didn't always like Master's gifts, but then it didn't seem to necessarily be because he didn't like them—it was complicated like that. Then there was how humans had to go to different places together to see if they still liked one another's company in different environments, and how actual mating gestures were reserved for private places where other humans couldn't watch—or doves, apparently. Master's mate had lined all the doves up and lectured them about it while Master watched with obvious amusement.

/ But it works for them, / Aka concluded,

And it all made a good story. At least the doves thought so, and as far as they were concerned, they had pretty good taste.

END

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