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

Pairing(s): Kuroba Kaito x Kudo Shinichi

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

AN: This is a companion piece to "Beneath the Gingko Trees" and takes place in the same universe. You don't have to read that story first. However, it may help to note that in this world, Ai was unable to create a cure, so Shinichi was stuck growing up again as Conan.

Before the Morning

By V. Shalyr

It was silly to dislike a time of day, but Shinichi couldn't help it.

The young detective lay awake in bed with his eyes closed, listening to the silence of the apartment—or what passed for silence in modern apartments. There was the hum of the refrigerator in the background and the occasional clunk of the icemaker that always made him start. Then there was the distant rumble of the city streets and the patter of footsteps as someone passed by in the hallway outside on his or her way to one of the apartment building's other residences.

Kaito had offered to soundproof their bedroom like he soundproofed his own workroom, but Shinichi had declined. He could only imagine how much more eerie it would be to lie in the dark and listen to true, unmitigated silence.

Nothing good ever happened between 2:00 a.m. and five in the morning.

Those two drunk driving accidents last week had happened at 3:00 a.m., and the week before that, that woman had been stabbed by her ex at four. The estimated time of death for the victim of his current case was just past two, and the recent string of burglaries had all happened in the darkness before dawn.

Honestly, it wasn't surprising that these dark hours of the day encouraged people to commit crimes. It was easy for people to believe that the night would hide their actions and keep their secrets, however untrue that turned out to be. Sometimes, Shinichi thought also that the darkness made it easier for those criminals to hide from themselves.

Then there were the other things.

Like the talk with Ran just before she started college while he'd still been staying with her and her father.

"Conan, are you awake? I... need to tell you something."

Even though she knew the truth now, she couldn't seem to bring herself to call him Shinichi anymore. Sometimes, this bothered him, but at other times, he accepted that for both of them, it was a kind of moving on.

"I've made up my mind," she continued slowly, "about studying abroad. So... I'll be leaving for England during the summer."

"Oh... Um, that's great. I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun."

"Conan..." Was that guilt in her eyes? "I'm sorry, I know it's kind of sudden."

Shinichi shook his head. "You don't have to be sorry. I'll be fine. It's not like we won't talk anymore."

"That's true. And... it doesn't mean you can't still stay here."

Shinichi made a face at that. "I don't know."

"He doesn't really show it, but Dad does actually care about you. I think he's gotten used to thinking about you as part of the family."

"If you say so."

"I'm serious. He's not going to kick you out just because I'm leaving for awhile."

Ran had been right in the end, but lying in the dark that night after she'd left listening to a slightly drunk Mouri Kogoro's snores where he'd fallen asleep on the living room couch, Shinichi hadn't been so sure.

Shinichi rolled onto his other side on the bed, the blankets rustling around him.

Why wasn't Kaito home yet?

Someone walked past the apartment door, the footsteps pausing for a moment just outside before moving on. The detective knew it wasn't the person he was waiting for though. If it was Kaito, he wouldn't hear any footsteps.

Shinichi's second time in his first year of high school, Mitsuhiko had been shot in the shoulder. Kogoro had gotten the phone call at 3:15 a.m. and woken him so they could drive over to the hospital.

"What were you doing out at this hour?"

Mitsuhiko had, like all the rest of the Shounen Tantei, grown up a great deal. They were in high school now after all, but to Shinichi, they would always look young.

"I was studying late at the library," the other boy said. His face was very pale, but his voice was steady. "I heard people arguing on my way home. Is that man all right?"

Shinichi sank back in the chair by the hospital bed. "He is, thanks to you. But that was still too reckless. If the other man's aim had been better, you could have been killed."

"I know. I'm sorry. I'll be more careful next time."

Next time. Shinichi wanted to yell at him, but couldn't. Of course there would be a next time. Solving crimes and pursuing criminals had become much more than a hobby for the other children. They, like Shinichi, understood how precious people's lives were, and Shinichi couldn't fault them for that.

That didn't mean he didn't blame himself for getting them involved in so many cases though. If he hadn't come along and if they hadn't been exposed to so many real criminal cases, perhaps their lives would have gone in a very different direction.

"Mitsuhiko!" Ayumi rushed into the hospital room. "Are you okay? They told me you were shot!"

"It's just my shoulder. The doctors said I'll need to do physical therapy once it's healed, but there shouldn't be any lasting damage."

The girl burst into relieved tears just as Genta barreled through the doorway.

Shinichi hadn't gotten any more sleep that night with talking to the doctors and then the police. When those conversations were over, he'd stood in the hallway outside of Mitsuhiko's room, feeling dazed and tired and a little depressed until Ai had stepped up beside him.

"You're feeling guilty."

"What? No, I... okay, maybe a little. They're too young to be doing these things."

"You're forgetting that you were their age when you started doing detective work."

"I know, and I was stupid."

Ai raised one thin, elegant eyebrow. "What a strange thing to hear you say."

"I thought I knew everything. I was overconfident."

"Huh, sounds like you've grown up."

"I was also lucky. They might not be so lucky."

"Hmmm. I'd say that they're doing pretty well in terms of luck. After all, they have you."

"If it weren't for me, they wouldn't have gotten into so much trouble. They wouldn't be involved with so many murder cases."

"They believe in the value of justice and the law, and they know how important life and the truth are. Is that bad?"

"Well, no..."

Ai shrugged and walked past him to join the others, leaving him to mull over her words.

Something heavy hit the floor above and Shinichi sat bolt upright in bed, nerves jangling. The thud was followed by running footsteps, but when a minute ticked by and nobody screamed, he forced himself to lie back down.

Ugh, why had Kaito chosen to live in such a busy apartment complex? Sure, this place was close to the university Shinichi was attending as well as several of the places where Kaito often held his magic shows, but it couldn't be the only apartment complex in a convenient location. Granted, it had been Shinichi's decision to move in with his boyfriend rather than live in the dorms when he'd started college. The idea of living in a college dormitory with a bunch of teenagers enjoying their newfound freedom from parental rule had not been pleasant, and anyway, Shinichi preferred to stick close to the people who were important to him. Years of fighting the Black Organization had made him paranoid, and he wanted to be the first to know if anything happened to anyone.

And before Shinichi had asked to move in, Kaito had lived alone. Yes, Shinichi understood that being a magician thief meant that living alone was more sensible. But... the detective couldn't forget or ignore the fact that if Kaito didn't make it home one day, nobody would know. Plus, with the irregular hours that Kaito kept, it was entirely possible that nobody would even notice if he disappeared—not until it was far too late for anyone to do anything about it.

"It's nice to know you worry about me, Tantei-kun, but you do realize that I'm a master thief, magician, and escape artist, right? There's really no reason for you to lose sleep over me. Sleep is important to your health."

"You never know. Anything could happen, and you do a lot of dangerous things."

"Touché."

"But I'm not a criminal. I don't have to hide what I'm doing from everyone, so usually, at least one person knows where I am or what I was up to."

"I suppose you have a point there."

It didn't matter that Kaito had given up being KID after the fall of the Black Organization. He still went out to check various jewels for Pandora. Just because he did it a lot more quietly now didn't mean it was safe work.

Besides, unexpected—and bad—things could happen to unexpected people.

Like when Genta had been kidnapped shortly before high school graduation.

"Mitsuhiko, it's four in the morning. Why are you calling me?"

"I got a phone call. They—they said they have Genta!"

"...Genta? Really? Are you sure that's what the caller said? Why would anyone kidnap Genta?"

Mitsuhiko's reply was high and thin with anxiety, "They said they want us to find something for them, and to stop the police from searching for them. They said they'll send the treasure map to the Mouri Detective Agency."

"When?"

"In the morning. And Conan... I think they might be the ones who killed that old man the police found yesterday."

"What?"

Why the two criminals had chosen to kidnap Genta was beyond him. The rather rotund child had become a tall, broad-shouldered, and very sturdily built young man. Shinichi wondered how long it had taken them to move Genta into their car after they'd accosted him with the chloroform. It must have been very hard work.

Especially for two people as skinny as the criminals had turned out to be when the Shounen Tantei eventually caught them.

Come to think of it, that tearful phone call from Ayumi their second year in high school had been around four in the morning too.

"Conan, it's terrible. It's Nanako. She's—" Ayumi broke off in a sob.

Shinichi was immediately wide awake. Nanako, that was the new transfer student to Ayumi's class.

"What happened? Is she all right?"

Is she dead?

"She's—she's still breathing, but she won't wake up. I thought she was acting strange in school today, and I know she's been having trouble fitting in. I saw her walking home alone after class, and—and I should have followed her. I should have asked her what was wrong. I should have tried harder to make friends with her. I should have—"

"Ayumi, I need you to tell me what happened."

"I couldn't stop thinking about her, and I had this nightmare. When I woke up, I saw her pass my house on her bike, so I followed her, and—and—and she jumped into the river before I could stop her."

"What?"

"I jumped in and got her out, and I remembered when that lifeguard showed us how to help someone breathe—but I'm not sure I did everything right, and—"

"Have you called an ambulance?"

Ayumi sniffled. "I did. I can hear the sirens now."

"Good." Shinichi pictured the area around Ayumi's house in his head, trying to locate the nearest hospital.

"Conan?"

"What?"

"Did I... forget anything?"

"No, you did really well. I'll call her parents."

"Okay. Thank you."

Shinichi wondered why she had thanked him then. She was the one who had just saved a person's life. Nanako was one of her best friends now, and all the members of the Shounen Tantei had taken an official course in CPR.

Shinichi sighed and flopped onto his back, opening his eyes to stare at the ceiling. Why was his lie so full of—of crimes and death and criminals? Other homicide detectives didn't have cases practically falling on them out of the sky. Like last summer when he'd arrived at that new shopping center to meet up with Kaito and that man had dropped to his death on the pavement right in front of him. Who else had that sort of thing happening to them? Well, okay, the other two dozen people on the street at the time had seen it too, but still.

There was a soft click from out in the living room.

Shinichi held his breath. He heard no footsteps, but there was the soft swish of the door being opened then closed.

The detective sat up just as the bedroom door, which he'd left ajar, swung open to admit a familiar figured dressed all in shades of black and gray that made him look like a part of the shadows.

"You were supposed to be back an hour ago," he said, squinting through the darkness. Had the magician been hurt?

"I'm fine," Kaito assured him, changing out of his "I'm just dropping by to check if this nice, shiny gemstone is Pandora" clothes. "The lady returned home unexpectedly, so I had to hide out in her ceiling for awhile. Sorry I couldn't let you know."

Kaito paused by the bed and leaned down to give him a kiss before walking around to his side to get under the covers.

"It's okay," Shinichi mumbled, lying back down. All the tension in him had vanished, and he felt suddenly very, very tired. "I wasn't waiting up for you. I was just... thinking."

"You know," Kaito murmured in his ear, sounding a bit too amused for this unholy hour, "the real problem with the dark hours of the night is that they make certain people think too much."

But the detective was already asleep.

Kaito pulled the smaller boy into his arms, listening to his soft, even breathing, and smiled. Personally, he quite liked the dark. It was in these early hours before dawn that he had first met his detective, after all, and there was nothing quite like the gleam of moonlight in excited, sapphire eyes.

END

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