Disclaimer: I don't own MK or DC, or any other manga/anime to be exact. I just like to let my imagination run loose :D

This story is the work of mine and madelita :D

Special thanks to Sin-Shira who helped me a bit with it too :D

It's just a little story made to be funny and cute. Started writing this as a relief from kinda heavy atmosphere of my main work, so I'll be updating this less often ;) Hope you'll like it nonetheless :)

So without further delay

Please enjoy and review! :)

Chapter 1: An impossible meeting

The human world changes so fast, it's just a blink of an eye for some. And today the gods of yesterday are long forgotten. Kinti was a small, but very old village. Unfortunately over the years the stream, that flowed nearby, changed into a river and recently it started changing its course dramatically. Authorities decided that the best solution would be to move the whole village, since saving it would cost too much. Not many spared a thought for an old shrine. It's been decades now since people experienced its god's wrath.

The shrine held a priceless statue holding a perfectly round, blue gem. There once was a story about the jewel, but by now people only remembered that it told about something sinister and that's why it should always be held in the god's possession, so he would keep it sealed. But it's human nature to bury the scary parts and build up more fascinating ones. And now the belief that the gem would bring wealth, happiness and youth to its owner was stronger than the sinister shadow.

The shrine was supposed to be moved with the village, but this world is ruled by money and power, and recently a museum in Tokyo was looking for a new attraction. And so it happened that a custodian from it heard about the statue and the tale connected to it. He decided it would be a nice addition to the new cultural exhibition. It wasn't hard for him to bribe the workers responsible for moving the shrine to 'misplace' an old, white stone. And that's how the statue ended up in a truck driving to Tokyo.

He slept well, although he wouldn't mind a few more years… He was still tired of all the work he has done. And nobody could say he didn't earn his rest! But why was the world jumping around so much now? And what's with the racket? He grumped annoyed and tried to get up, but he couldn't. He opened his eyes, but it was dark around. That made him even more annoyed. It seemed he had to teach those ungrateful peasants a lesson! There was a small burst of blue light in the back of the truck and the rope was burned through. He left only a small flame hovering above the tip of his tail. He looked around in confusion. There were multiple wooden boxes around him and the floor was rocking. He hummed, figuring they were on some sort of a wagon. Did the villagers decide to move? He scratched behind his ear. Oh well, he'll just have to ask them later. Still they could have woken him up in a more pleasant way. It was worse that there was no tribute around and he was hungry. He huffed with even more annoyance.

"I'll look around dad. Be right back!" He chirped towards the statue he emerged from.

Hopping around, he started investigating his surroundings, looking for an exit. He was wondering how he should punish his followers when he put his paws on a tarpaulin. It burst open under his weight. Startled he fell out of the riding truck, falling on a hard, dark ground and saw a monster with brightly glowing eyes moving right at him! With a shocked yelp he jumped to the side, just to notice more of those monsters! What in the world happened while he slept?! Was there another war and demons won it? While he was running, he lost his flame and managed to hide in a dark defile. Its walls were made of grey perfectly vertical rock. Ground under his feet was grey as well. He took a peek out of the corner and saw the monsters that attacked him earlier, running there and back on the black ground. They didn't seem to notice him, so he exhaled with relief, only to gasp, remembering something. His dad! They got separated! This was bad… so bad…

Shinichi was on his way home, cutting his way through an alley. He was tired. Right after school he stumbled on yet another murder scene and had to solve it. Of course, soon after he finished, he heard a cry for help and ended up chasing a pickpocket. He grumbled annoyed taking out a cereal bar when he heard a quiet whimper. He looked around and saw a frightened fox cub watching the street before him with huge eyes. He felt sorry for the small animal, so he crouched a few steps away from it, holding the bar towards it.

"Hi there little guy" Shinichi spoke with a soft voice, not willing to scare the poor creature any more "You're lost, huh? Hungry?" He waved the candy slowly, so the smell would reach the fox better. Absently he was wondering where it could have come from.

The animal snapped its head towards the human and blinked a few times. Shinichi saw its nose move as it was sniffing the food. Its round eyes had an odd, gently glowing, nearly violet color. The fox crooked its head with a puzzled expression. Can an animal have a facial expression? Shinichi wondered, as the cub approached him, clearly not scared at all. It sniffed the offered food once it was close enough. Then he sat on its hind legs, grabbing the bar with its forelegs. The teen's jaw dropped as he watched the fox consuming the candy with small bites, holding it with its paw like a human would.

"Mm~ That was good! Thank you human~!" It spoke with a childlike voice and Shinichi jerked backwards, falling on the ground.

"W-whaa -! And you can talk! H-how?!" He demanded watching the bizarre creature before him with wide eyes and his mind racing for a logical explanation.

"Well of course I can talk! Why would that be strange…" The fox crossed his forepaws on its chest and huffed annoyed "Wait a minute… You can understand me? That's great! You can be my seer." He cheered and started walking towards the teen on his hint legs.

"Wa-wait! What exactly are you? And what's a seer?" Shinichi backed off a bit, not sure what he should do. His mind was still unable to provide him with an answer the phenomena before his eyes.

"Well I'm a god of course. What else?" The fox rolled its eyes and grinned "And a seer is a human who takes care of me. But more importantly, tell me, why are there so many demon-wagons there?" He pointed to the street "Did we lose a war? Why you don't look enslaved then?" He crooked his head narrowing his eyes suspiciously.

"God..? Aren't you a… kitsune..?" The teen blinked a few times eyeing the creature before him, figuring he must be just hallucinating for some reason.

The fox smirked and spoke with a mocking voice, waving its tail slowly "Oh? And what gave me away? The reddish fur, the ears, or the tail?"

Shinichi felt his eyebrow twitch. It was just great, his own imagination was mocking him. The water he drank after the case had to have something in it, probably some kind of an hallucinogen. Or a psychedelic drug… Or maybe somebody sprayed a gas like that on him, without him noticing it? The detective started wondering who could have a motive to put him in a state like this. Should he go to a hospital and get tested for drugs..? Probably not the best idea, since it could damage his career… Shinichi rubbed his temples and spared a look at the hallucination before him. He sighed. Maybe he was just seeing this because he lacked sleep? Yeah, that sounded reasonable. More than somebody drugging him at least.

With a sigh he got up, dusting off his pants, deciding it was high time to go to bed "Riiight. I'll be on my way. I should remember to sleep more…" He mumbled to himself. He decided he should look up in a book what it meant to have a dream about talking to a fox, once he woke up.

"Wait!" The fox jumped to him and grabbed his leg "Please… don't leave me… Tell me what is going on here. I'm… I lost my dad and the world is so strange now…" He looked away, ashamed by his own helplessness…

"Your dad?" Shinichi stopped and looked down at the cub. It didn't make sense… It was just a hallucination, he should leave it. But it looked so desperate… Maybe it was a child and his mind was just playing a trick on him, making him see a fox instead of a person? With a sigh he turned around and crouched again to be able to look the fox in its eyes "Please tell me I'm just imagining you being a fox…"

The animal huffed in annoyance. "Why would you say that? Is it your first time seeing a kitsune?" He crooked his head, clearly surprised.

Shinichi closed his eyes for a moment, catching his mind being drawn to all the stories he's ever heard about those mythical creatures. He recalled hearing a song about a kitsune before that day, sang by some children. Probably that caused this course of this phenomena now. He pinched his nose bridge "You can't be real. I know it. It is just some stupid dream I'm having now or a hallucination…"

"That's rude you know. You're not hallucinating. And I can bite you to prove it, if you want." The fox proposed flashing his sharp teeth.

"Um… sorry? And no thanks…" Shinichi winced ruffling his hair and sighed "Alright, I'll play along for now. So what happened to your dad?" It couldn't hurt to solve a case in his dreams, right? "And how does he look like?" He added warily, remembering something scary about the kitsune legends.

The fox sighed and lowered its gaze "I went to sleep with my dad when I finished all my work, and when I woke up, we were on a wagon of sorts. I freed myself from a rope that we were tied up with and fell out. Then I was attacked by those demon-wagons, but I managed to escape." He sighed again finishing his explanation and offered a proud smile to the human before him "Dad is the best! He is all white and shiny!" He said with pride, wagging his tail happily.

Shinichi felt a cold shiver through his body. He knew it was just a hallucination, but… if by any chance this was not a dream then… oh boy. "Ehm… Tell me little guy… Does your dad have nine tails?"

"How rude! Dad in not evil! He never was! He was always nice and good, and he was a hero during the war! He saved lots and lots of you guys back then, so you should be grateful! And I'm not 'little guy', human." He huffed in annoyance crossing his paws again.

Well, that was a relief. At least until the fox-dad notices his cub is missing and ends up on a rampage. It could end up as a catastrophe, if the stories had any truth in them… And considering he was now talking to a kitsune, it was a good guess they had. He raised his arms to calm down the creature before him. "Sorry, I didn't mean to be rude. I'm very grateful to you and your dad. I didn't introduce myself either, right? Sorry, my name is Kudo Shinichi."

"Oh right… People use names like that…" He frowned pondering over that matter when a passing car beeped on the street.

The fur on his back bristled as he yelped with fear and the teen saw him get covered by white smoke. When it cleared, the fox was gone. He cursed under his breath and started looking around, calling for him.

"Hey, come out. You don't have to be scared! Those are cars! Machines made by human, not monsters! They are… ugh… a kind of self-powered wagons." As he was talking, he noticed a crate move by itself. He wanted to pick it up when eyes popped out from it. The crate blinked at him a couple of times, before it spoke with the fox's startled voice.

"Y-you're sure?"

Shinichi was staring at the object for a moment before he managed to recover "Why are you a box..?" This was getting more surreal with every minute.

The crate huffed and jumped. It made a flip and while doing so, it turned back into a grinning fox "Surprised?" As Shinichi gave a nod, the kitsune clapped its paws "Ah~! That gives me an idea~" He jumped towards the teen, and placed a clover on his head. There was a second puff of smoke and once it cleared, Shinichi's jaw fell to the floor. He was staring at… himself, with unruly hair. And the other him was naked… The fox-turned-human admired himself and hummed happily "Now the demons and their slaves won't recognize me~"

"Whaa-! You're me! And you're naked! Clothes! Get something on!" Shinichi hissed blushing and taking off his jacket to cover up his other self.

"Huh?" The fox crooked his head giving a puzzled expression "Oh yeah I remember… People are sensitive about stuff like that, right? Well sorry, it's new moon and even if it wasn't, it would be a bother to conjure something big as that. And you can call me Kaito. Some people gave me that name, so it should be fine." He grinned and looked at the other teen covering his lower parts.

"But I can't have you running around with my face naked! Change back!" He hissed, shooting looks around and trying to hide Kaito behind himself, from anyone who might be passing on the street.

The kitsune crossed his arms and huffed "No. I can't have people and demons seeing me as me and I like this form. And it will be easier to find my dad like this. I don't want him to be worried about me…" He added concerned.

Shinichi tried to calm down to find a way to convince the fox before he humiliated him. He blinked, noticing that the other teen's face wasn't as identical to his as he thought at first. It wasn't obvious, but the kitsune's face had more delicate features, his nose was bit longer and slimmer, and eyes were rounder, with indigo, instead of blue color. At least now they were not glowing anymore. The detective crooked his head, focused on observing the boy before him.

"W-what?" Kaito asked with distress, clapping his hand on his head for some reason.

"Um, sorry. I just noticed that you don't look exactly like me."

"Well excuse me…" The fox grimaced annoyed "Just give me a few nights and it will be perfect. It's hard, you know, to make a big form on a night like this."

"No, don't! I'd rather you don't take on my form at all! Please change back, I'll help you find your dad." He promised trying to convince the fox.

"You will?" Kaito asked hopefully, but threw a wary look at the street, backing out a bit "But…" He bit his lip.

Shinichi looked back at the passing cars behind him and sighed offering a comforting smile to the other teen "Hey… You said it yourself that I'm your seer, right? Just change back and I'll hide you under my jacket. I'll carry you to my house, we'll find some clothes for you there and think of something to help you." He huffed softly, remembering how eagerly the fox ate his cereal "And you must be hungry? I'll feed you once we're there. I won't let you get hurt. Just trust me on this…"

Kaito looked him in the eyes, like he was judging his sincerity. Finally he gave a small smile and a nod. There was again a puff of smoke and Shinichi saw he was a fox again, wrapped up in his jacket. The detective picked up his belongings and put it back on. He crouched then, leaving the zipper open enough for the kitsune to hide. His fur was soft and warm, smelling nice and sweet.

The fox wiggled a bit to find a comfy position. When he managed that, he looked up with his gently glowing eyes and whispered softly "Thank you".

Shinichi smiled warmly at that and got up carefully "Don't mention it" He whispered back and started heading home.

Was he really considering that this whole… case could be real? He felt the additional weight under his jacket and sighed. This was all so surreal… But in the end he decided to play along, so what could it hurt, to take it seriously? Walking through the streets with the cub hidden under his jacket, Shinichi started wondering where the elder kitsune could have been taken to and who did this in the first place. Maybe the zoo? An enormous white fox would probably make a nice addition, but then again it wasn't legal to catch wild animals like that without permission. Maybe some science project? No... that was all wrong. Kaito didn't say anything about a cage. Considering the cub ran away so easily, the one who did it probably had no idea what he was dealing with... Shinichi started wondering, if maybe a sleeping kitsune looked somehow different and didn't resemble a regular fox at all. That would explain a lot and could help in finding the elder one before he woke up. He would have to question Kaito about it, but he wasn't going to start talking to his jacket in the middle of a street. Another important question was when the white fox will wake up.

His thoughts trailed to the possible threat that a rampaging nine-tails was said to bring. He sincerely hoped those legends were highly exaggerated, but it was hard to rule out the possibility completely. He wondered if he shouldn't warn somebody about the probable danger. But then again... who would believe him? Maybe he could convince Kaito to prove before others who he was, but... He slightly opened the jacket and took a peek inside. His eyes met the gently glowing indigo ones, staring at him with interest. The rejected the idea. That could only put this little guy in danger and he couldn't honestly believe that nobody would hurt him if they knew. There could be those who would want to experiment on a phenomenal creature like him and there was no way Shinichi would allow that to happen. The kitsune was just a lost child and an intelligent being. Above all he trusted Shinichi and he wasn't going to disappoint him. In the end it wasn't Kaito's nor his father's fault that somebody kidnapped them.

It was strange how the little guy didn't know about cars. Shinichi wondered where he could have lived before. From what he said, it seemed that he was in contact with humans. But even most traditional rural areas these days had at least a few cars. Maybe he was from abroad? But he didn't seem to have any problem understanding or speaking Japanese. More so he was speaking it perfectly fine and fluently… Or maybe he was able to speak any language he heard? Shinichi didn't remember any references to that in legends he's read.

"We're home, you can come out now." Shinichi whispered, opening his jacket carefully to not drop the cub if he has fallen asleep.

Kaito proved that he was awake by jumping outside with a spin. In mid-air he turned into a human again and Shinichi closed the door fast, flipping the lights on. The kitsune flinched, taking a defensive stance when the shadows were gone and a blue flame appeared over his palm.

"Whoa there!" Shinichi raised his arms in an attempt to calm the fox down before he put something on fire "It's alright, no need to panic. You can put the flame down..."

Kaito blinked a few times and snorted in annoyance. He crossed his hands on his chest and the flame flew up hovering now above his head. To his surprise Shinichi noticed that there were fox ears sticking out on the other's teen head.

"Who's panicking? I was just surprised to see that you can do magic. It's not a common thing, you know..." After the explanation he seemed less nervous and started looking around curiously.

"Uhm... Kaito." Shinichi sighed, not sure where to start "First of all it's not magic, it's electricity and -"

"Ele... what?" The fox cut in with curiosity radiating from him and the flame made a loop over his head.

"Could you please put out the flame first and please don't use it inside. And -"

"Why?" The kitsune cut in again with perplexed expression. It seemed that he didn't understand the problem at all.

The teen huffed in annoyance. "Because it is dangerous. Secondly..."

"No it's not~!" Kaito laughed at him and the flame flew fast towards Shinichi who jerked back with a yelp.

The foxfire was moving fast and making impossible turns so it quickly managed to hit Shinichi's face. He closed his eyes on reflex, but nothing hurt him. In fact, he was feeling warm and secure. Warily, he opened his eyes, only to notice the flame was dancing on his hands without burning him. The detective admired it in awe for a moment and discovered that it was actually indigo, just like the fox's eyes. Kaito shook his head, smiling.

"You don't have to be scared. It won't burn anything unless I want it too." He snapped his fingers and the flame vanished "I'm hungry. Could we eat now?" He started looking around, probably in search for food.

Shinichi grabbed the naked teen, placing hands on his shoulders to get his attention "First, you need to get dressed."

"But I'm hungry! And it's not like there is anybody here… I don't want to put on any clothes…" He whined and slipped out of his grip.

"Oh no you don't!" Shinichi managed to catch his hand and pulled the turned-fox back.

He didn't expect the kitsune to be this light and since he used too much force, he made Kaito bump with himself. It seemed that the other teen didn't weight more than he did in his fox form.

"Huh? How come you're still so light? Didn't your mass change?" The detective asked in shock but didn't lessen his grip.

"Ouch... Why would it? I'm still me after all. And you're hurting me..." Kaito whined.

Shinichi rolled his eyes and started walking towards the stairs, pulling the stubborn fox with him. "No I'm not. Now come and get dressed. I'll feed you after this." He said, hoping that this would convince him.

"... You promise?" He asked carefully eyeing his tormentor.

"Yes. And by the way. Do your ears always stick out like that? I didn't notice it back in the alley..."

Kaito clapped his free hand on his head, flattening his ears "Ugh... no they don't. They sometimes pop out when I'm distracted..." He started willingly following the human with an abashed expression.

Shinichi hummed, watching the fox from the corner of his eye. The ears were gone now and it was more obvious to the detective why kitsune preferred such an unruly hair style. He let Kaito go once they entered his room and to his contentment he noticed that the fox didn't try to run. He twitched again, surprised when Shinichi turned the lights on and was now busy inspecting the switch. The detective smirked and started picking out clothes for the other teen, prepared for the lights to go off. It didn't take long for that to happen. Kaito gasped in amazement and flipped the switch again. Shinichi sighed tiredly when the fox started playing with the light, turning it on and off again a couple of times.

"Could you stop for a moment and get dressed?"

"It's not magic! What is it?" He asked, amused, clearly ignoring the plead.

"Get dressed. Then I'll feed you and answer any questions you might have." Shinichi stated with a strong voice, hoping to make the overjoyed fox obey.

Kaito grimaced and looked at the offered clothes. The detective placed them in his arms before he managed to get distracted again. The fox grumbled, annoyed, inspecting the material and sniffing it. Shinichi rolled his eyes at this view and decided to rush him.

"Well… put them on. You know how, don't you?"

"Of course I do…" Kaito mumbled, stretching the underwear in his hands "But I don't like them. They are ugly, they smell funny and I'm sure they will itch me if I put them on…" He whined and dropped the clothes, crossing his arms.

"Hey! Don't act like a brat and put them on. We'll find you something else tomorrow."

Hearing the insult made his ears pop out again and the fox laid them back, clearly annoyed. He threw Shinichi an evaluating glance and grinned.

"I have a better idea~…" He snapped his fingers and both teens got covered with smoke. When it cleared Shinichi noticed that now he was naked and Kaito was wearing his clothes. He was admiring them on himself with a pleased smile "Not really to my taste, but I'll manage…"

The detective wanted to say something, but closed his mouth and palmed his face. This imaginary fox was going to turn him crazy. Shinichi could only be glad that he didn't do this back in the alley. He definitely had to be wary around this guy…

And then they both heard a doorbell.

Kaito's ears pointed up, showing excitement "Oh~ What's that sound~?" And he jolted towards the stairs.

At reflex Shinichi wanted to follow to stop him, but then he remembered he was still naked, so he started hastily dressing up in the scattered clothes yelling "Kaito, your ears! And don't open the door!"

To his distress he only heard "Open the door? Alright~!"

Kaito pressed the door handle and smiled cheerfully at the guest "Oh~! Hello~ You look pretty~" The girl before him blushed, shocked but pleased to hear those words. She smiled in return, but stiffened as the teen leaned embracing her and burying his face in her hair "Mmm~ And you smell soooo good~…" He added with a dreamy voice.

Her cheeks were burning hot, as her brain tried to process what was happening "Shi-Shinichi?!" Her mouth managed to let out only a startled yelp calling out the name of a boy she thought was holding her.

"What do you think you're doing?!" The detective shrieked pulling the fox away by his tail.

"Ouch! That hurt!" The kitsune yelled rubbing his behind as the tail vanished instantly when the teen let it go "Shin-chan, why did you do that?!" He demanded with a hurt expression.

The girl with eyes wide open looked between the two teens noticing the differences between them and recognizing that the one who just embraced her was not the one she thought it was. Her blush deepened even further "Shinichi! Who is that guy?!" She demanded pointing her finger on the imposter.

The detective smiled dryly, figuring he could not tell her the truth. At least not all of it. He huffed raising his arms to calm his friend down "I'm sorry Ran, calm down please. This guy was lost and I promised him to help and find his dad. His name is…" He cut himself remembering that the kitsune didn't give him any surname. He probably didn't have any. Shinichi's mind raced to find one and he remembered the clover he put on his forehead. Where did that go anyway? "Kuroba. His name is Kuroba Kaito."

The fox smiled gently at the confused female and conjured a flower "I'm sorry if I was rude. I'm new here and sometimes I might misbehave. I was just stunned with your beauty. I must say, Shinichi is very lucky to have you visiting him. It's a pleasure to meet you, miss..?"

Both humans blushed at those words, averting their gazes. The girl took the flower "I-it's alright. S-sorry I yelled like that. My name is Mouri Ran. I'm pleased to meet you." She added bowing and clenching her fingers around the flower stem.

Kaito chuckled, slowly shaking his head "Like I said, Ran-san, the pleasure is all mine. I assure you. Oh…" He gasped and shot a look at both of them "Should I leave you alone? I wouldn't want to intr -"

"Kaito… what are you impl -" Shinichi started, but Ran cut him off.

"No! It's nothing like that. It's fine, really! I-I just wanted to ask Shinichi what are his plans for tomorrow, but as he will be helping you it's fine! Just… um… good luck and take care." She said with distress in her voice and practically ran away.

Shinichi sighed, closing his eyes and Kaito chuckled, closing the doors. He smiled slyly at his host "Sooo~… She's your mate~?" He asked with a wink.

The detective blushed again, waving his arms before him "No! It's nothing like that! Don't go making assumptions like that!"

"Oh? Strange… But in that case, you don't mind if I take her~?"

"What?! No, you can't! And why would you..? No, I definitely won't allow you. Aren't you a kid anyway? And no, no… NO!"

"Hum..~? So you do like her~?" He asked, amused as he noticed Shinichi's blush deepen "You know… You should take her before somebody snatches her away."

"Hey… Don't even think -" Shinichi growled angrily.

"Oh, don't worry. I don't plan to steal her from you." The fox raised his arms defensively and sighed dreamily "But it sure would be nice to be cuddled by her. She was so soft and warm. I only wished she would just stroke my fur, putting me to sleep…"

"You wanted her to pet you..? Nothing more?" The teen asked carefully, reminding himself that the person before him was a fox and not human. But then there were legends indicating something more… Then again this guy was probably just a child. But it seemed he was referring to something more about the two of them…

Kaito yawned stretching "Of course… What else would I need a human female for? Anyway, I'm hungry and you promised to feed me when I get dressed." He reminded with a displeased expression.

Shinichi sighed, dropping the uncomfortable subject "Right, follow me to the kitchen." He turned around and started walking, without noticing a sly smile that bloomed of fox's face "By the way is there something you don't like, or shouldn't eat? And how much would you like?" The detective asked as he approached the fridge.

Kitsune just shrugged "Anything that is tasty and not cursed is fine. But I like sweets best." He admitted with a grin and yawned again, rubbing his eyes "Just a snack is fine. I'm tired anyway…"

Shinichi hummed, looking into the fridge. He'd gladly just eat something fast and go to sleep, especially considering his guest was sharing this idea. He noticed a few sausages "Do you mind to eat those raw, or do you want me to cook them?" He asked as he was taking them out.

"Huh?" Kaito pushed his way to the open fridge and placed a hand inside "It's cold inside! How come?" He took out his palm watching it with amazement.

The detective sighed "It's a machine made to keep cold inside, so the food will stay fresh longer." He had no intention explaining how a refrigerator worked "Kaito, focus please. This is a smoked sausage. Meat. Do you want it cooked?" He waved the said item before the fox's eyes.

The kitsune blinked at the offered food and took it. He sniffed it and took a small bite out of it. He was munching with a thoughtful expression on his face for a while, when suddenly the sausage was covered with the indigo flame. Shinichi blinked surprised feeling the heat from it. The fox did mention he can make his fire burn something. The flame died out fast and Kaito took another bite from his sausage. He smiled more pleased with the taste now. And threw a glance at the detective taking out his free hand "Want me to warm up yours?"

"Um… Yeah, thanks." Shinichi figured that way was faster than using a pot and he wondered if it would taste differently.

He watched in awe as the flame covered the meat in fox's hand, feeling the heat again. He hissed as kitsune passed him the prepared sausage. He blew at it to cool it down. Kaito threw him a worried look "Oh, sorry I forgot. You're not hurt, are you?" He asked with an apologetic voice.

Shinichi shook his head "No, it's fine. I just didn't suspect it would be this hot since you held it. Doesn't the heat bother you at all?" He asked taking a bite out of steaming food. It tasted somewhat like it was prepared over a bonfire.

"As long as it's from my flame, it doesn't. It'd be strange if it would, don't you think?" He smirked, munching on his food.

"If you say so. I honestly never met anybody capable of creating his own fire. But it's still surprising that something heated by it doesn't hurt you."

Kaito just shrugged "Well, I guess it could if I let it go and tried to grab it again. But I honestly never did. That was good by the way. Thank you~" He said licking his greased fingers.

"You can wash your hands here. See?" Shinichi explained, turning on the water at the sink and washing his own hands "This is soap, it will help you clean them better." He added pressing a bottle to extract some of the liquid.

Kaito hummed with interest, showing that it was something new for him as well. The detective wanted to start with his questions, but figured it can wait till morning. He covered his mouth yawning. It was definitely time to sleep. He went up to the bathroom and noticed that the fox followed him. He wanted to ask him to leave, but when he noticed the puzzled expression on his face, as he was examining everything inside, so he decided against it. Instead he patiently explained him the content of each bottle. The fox was listening, absorbing every bit of information. At the end he hummed happily.

"So that's why your breath doesn't smell so bad~" He summed up "So, where we'll be sleeping?"

"You don't want to take a shower, or anything?"

Kaito shook his head tiredly "I'll try this tomorrow. It's not like I need it anyway. If I get dirty I can just…" His whole body got covered in flames, hot enough to make Shinichi move away, when they died out fox's clothes were steaming hot, but weren't charred at all. He himself just rubbed his eyes tiredly. "So unless I get covered in mud, or something like that it's fine. But man… Now I really wanna sleep…" He yawned widely enough for the detective to notice his sharp fangs.

The teen guided his guest to a room, flicking the lights on "You can sleep here. Using your flame tires you that much, huh?" He added, seeing the ears and the tail stick out as well.

Kaito hummed, confirming it and went to the bed. He sighed, cheerfully burying himself under the cover, while still in clothes. "So soft~… Huh? Where are you going, Shin-chan?" He asked, perplexed, seeing the other teen leaving the room.

The nickname irked him, but he only sighed at that. He decided to leave it for tomorrow to talk about as well "I'm going to take a shower and then I'll sleep in my own bed. See you in the morning…"

"But… I want to sleep with you!" He whined, getting up.

Shinichi shot him a flat look "No. I'm not letting another guy to my bed."

Kaito sighed and threw him his best puppy-eyes look he could manage "And if I'm in my fox form? Please?"

The teen wanted to decline, but then he saw the look kitsune was giving him and he sighed, defeated. Despite the looks it was just a baby fox, he reminded himself, figuring he was probably afraid to sleep alone in an unfamiliar place, separated from his relatives. And there would be nothing wrong if a fox just curled on the bed next to him "Alright, let's have it your way. Come on, I'll show you to my room." He mumbled.

Kaito jumped out of the bed with a puff of smoke and ran towards him on his four legs. Shinichi wondered idly guiding him if it was more natural for him to walk on all four or just his hint legs while in his animal body. Not that it mattered, but still it made him think.

When he returned after the shower, he noticed kitsune sleeping, curled on the side of his bed. Shinichi smiled warmly and gently stroked his soft fur. The fox turned his head and the teen scratched him behind his ear. He purred, pleased, making the detective chuckle softly. "Goodnight Kaito…" He murmured, getting under the quilt and hoping that in the morning everything would be back to normal.

So… did you guys like it? xD

Hope to see you next chapter