Warnings: (Inexplicit) attempted rape (not as horrifying as it sounds, I swear. Or at least, I think), yaoi, etc. Y'know, the usual things found in my fics.

Anyway.

No, no I'm not sorry.

...Well, I am kinda sorry. This is a pretty substandard fic in my opinion, but I feel pretty damn guilty for my lack of updates so I wanted to post something. I'm frantically trying to finish my Christmas fic before, y'know, Christmas.

But I digress. Without further ado, enjoy. – Luna

Protection

"I didn't ask for you to save me," huffed Kuroba Kaito as he slammed the car door closed, spinning on his heel to glare at the man emerging from the driver's seat. "I had that under control."

The man tilted his face up – moonlight gleamed off his azure eyes – and cracked a thoroughly mocking smile. "I seem to recall that you were tied up, at the time. Literally."

Kaito glared heatedly, feeling embarrassment course through his veins as well as the sudden urge to jump off a cliff. "It was your choice to save me," he muttered hotly, averting his gaze from Shinichi's unreadable one.

"And they were your rabid stalkers," Kudou Shinichi countered wryly, spinning his car keys around his finger calmly. "And, apparently, fans of BDSM."

"…Technicalities," grumbled Kaito. "I still had it under control."

"So according to you, 'under control' equates to being blindfolded, tied up, shirtless, and surrounded by people of the male gender, all of whom had well-functioning salivary glands that were being put to use?"

"…What?"

Shinichi sighed, tucking the car keys into the pocket of his jeans. "They were drooling. At you."

"…Oh." Kaito paused. "You still didn't need to save me." He twitched and had to stave off an embarrassed flush by clenching his teeth hard.

Of all the people to walk in on that wonderfully awkward spectacle, it had to be tantei-kun. The guy he sort of admired, hated, and was ridiculously in love with.

If it wasn't so pathetic, Kaito might've managed to laugh.

"Of course I did," scoffed Shinichi, rolling his eyes as he rounded the car. "I've been aware that you've been following me ever since I returned –"

"Have not," denied Kaito as the detective drew closer. "Today was a coincidence. How was I supposed to know you were going to be at the museum tonight too? And with that girlfriend of yours, too."

He hoped and prayed Shinichi didn't hear the hint of bitterness in his voice, because damn, if he did, Kaito would probably implode of mortification.

"Ran is not my girlfriend," groaned Shinichi tiredly. "She's doing long distance with some guy. I took her to the museum today because he wasn't around to do it himself."

"Hm," Kaito hummed noncommittally, making Shinichi cast him an exasperated look.

"Look, I've been getting the 'Ran is your girlfriend' from pretty much everyone, so I'd appreciate it if I didn't get it from you, Kid," he announced, raking back his bangs one-handed. "And anyway, I had to save you. Who knows what those guys would've done."

"For the love of all things holy, tantei-kun, I'm Kaitou Kid. I've got sufficient tricks up my sleeve to get out of situations like that," replied Kaito with a sigh.

A muted laugh from beside him. "Again, if I recall correctly, you weren't wearing sleeves."

"…" Kaito let out a frustrated breath, releasing a puff of white into the air. Today was so not his day. First, he went to the museum to see if some high-class jewel being displayed there was worth his time (it wasn't) and then he'd gotten spotted by tantei-kun, who, upon seeing him, had instantly deduced that he was Kid and approached him.

Kaito had then proceeded to run and hide, but unfortunately was caught off guard by a group of… er… people (fine, men) who claimed that he looked like Kid (well, yes, he did, for fairly obvious reasons, but that was not the point) and then promptly tied him up, blindfolded him, and tossed him into a storeroom.

And, well, tantei-kun was right. Who knows what they would've done to him if Shinichi hadn't pounded down the door and done – uh – whatever he'd done. Kaito wasn't particularly sure what had happened, considering that tantei-kun hadn't removed his blindfold until they were both safely out of the room.

Then the detective had said farewell to a very confused Mouri Ran, dragged Kaito off to his car, strapped him in, and drove Kaito to some unknown location.

Which now led to the question of what exactly had Shinichi done to the… people?

"Hey, tantei-kun, what did you do to the guys?" Kaito asked, brow furrowing as he peered over at the detective.

Shinichi coughed at the sudden question. "I might've damaged their… reproductive organs to some extent," he answered timidly after a second. "Possibly given them a few concussions… broken limbs, perhaps… maybe carpet burn…"

"Carpet burn?" Kaito lifted an eyebrow. He could sort of understand the rest of the injuries, but carpet burn?

"From their faces rubbing against the floor," Shinichi explained. "It's only a maybe, though. I don't know if I pressed hard enough."

"…That seems a bit violent, tantei-kun." Wasn't that a bit out of character for the "murder is evil, don't you even think about it" detective?

…Then again, this was the same guy who kicked soccer balls at him. With roughly enough force to decapitate a rhinoceros.

"It wasn't that bad," protested Shinichi. "I mean, they were going to… y'know. And the person they were going to do it to was you." He blew out a breath, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "I think they got off easy."

Hm? Startled, Kaito looked over at Shinichi, who was staring at the ground by his feet in mild discomfort. Did he just say, or rather, imply, that because they had attacked Kaito in particular they deserved an especially harsh punishment…?

Well… it was a bit odd to decode, but in a fairly roundabout way, it meant that tantei-kun felt particularly strongly for him, didn't it?

The thought filled Kaito with a surprising amount of warmth.

In order to take his mind off the fact that his heart was sort of dying or something (nobody's heart beats this fast if they're not dying), Kaito glanced around, observing their surroundings as if for the first time.

Shinichi had parked outside a tall gate stretched between two walls. Upon closer inspection, it appeared that one of them was set with a "Kudou" nameplate. A few meters behind the gate loomed a large mansion – tall, shadowy, and imposing in the night stillness.

"You took me to your house?" asked Kaito incredulously. This was perhaps the last place he'd expect. "I thought you'd turn me in."

"Why would I do that?" Shinichi looked momentarily confused, confusing Kaito in turn. Without waiting for an answer, he strode towards the gate, beckoning for Kaito to follow.

Because obviously, Kaito was going to follow the detective into his lair like an idiot. Right.

"Are you coming?" asked Shinichi, softly, gently, and Kaito chose that moment to meet his eyes. The deep azure was somehow quiet and peaceful, not at all calculating and cold as Kaito had expected.

…Well, it couldn't really hurt to follow him.

Nodding wordlessly, Kaito trudged after the detective, once Shinichi had keyed in the passcode and stepped through the gate. Honestly, what was tantei-kun thinking? What would change once they went into his house?

Shinichi rummaged around for his key before opening his front door. He offered Kaito a half-smile. "Traumatized first," he explained, and Kaito rolled his eyes before stalking past him.

The entry of Shinichi's house was fairly spacious, which was only to be expected, considering the size of the place. Kaito stood awkwardly to one side, taking off his shoes, as Shinichi closed the door… and locked it.

That was certainly one way to make Kaito feel imprisoned.

Turning, Shinichi gave Kaito a faint smirk that had the magician's heart skipping a beat. "Shall we?" he asked, toeing off his shoes and starting towards the staircase pressed against the wall to their left.

Nodding wordlessly, Kaito trailed after him, feeling out of place amongst the detective's possessions. It felt strange to be shown firsthand that Shinichi wasn't just that guy popped up and made heists more difficult – he was a person, a person who lived and ate and slept in a big, lonely house.

Kaito was examining a picture hanging in the hallway when he almost bumped into Shinichi, who had stopped at a partially ajar door. "Hey, what's up?" he wondered, taking a step back.

"This is my room," Shinichi replied, raising an eyebrow as he swept the door open and walked in, leaving Kaito gaping.

…So they were going to his room? Despite all the implications of that and, you know, the awkwardness factor?

God, tantei-kun was really oblivious. What if Kaito snapped and pushed him down? The thought made Kaito flinch. He couldn't ruin the delicate balance of friendship, rivalry, and whatever else their relationship was by giving in to the fact that Shinichi was easily the best thing he'd ever known. Or seen, for that matter.

Continuing his mental debate internally, Kaito went into Shinichi's room. He was startled by the simplicity of it – somehow he'd expected more than a bed, a desk, and a bookshelf. Though the bookshelf was completely swamped and the desk was covered in what appeared to be towers of manila folders.

The bed, however, was pristine, with neatly creased sheets draped perfectly over the rectangular frame. Kaito could only imagine that the innocent white pillow smelled like its owner….

…It was official. Kaito had it bad.

Oblivious to Kaito's inner turmoil, Shinichi stopped by the bed and glanced back at Kaito. "Sit down."

"What? On the bed?" Kaito squirmed as Shinichi nodded.

"There better be a good reason for this," the gentleman thief conceded, dropping down onto Shinichi's bed in a sitting position. He stared at Shinichi unblinkingly. "I'm waiting to hear it now."

A smile pulled Shinichi's lips for a fraction of a second. "Of course. As you know, earlier this evening I saved your ass – quite literally – from some… people."

"Your point being?" Kaito scowled and crossed his arms, the bed creaking slightly underneath him. "Are you just going to gloat?"

"Of course not," Shinichi said, sounding mildly affronted at the suggestion.

Oh. A good sign. Maybe he was just going to give Kaito a lecture on self-preservation and send him on his way before he managed to give Kaito yet another reason to jump him?

"I'm going to ask for something in return."

No such luck, clearly.

"Is this something going to be embarrassing?" Kaito questioned warily, eyeing Shinichi cautiously.

His only response was another scandalized look.

"…Right." With a sigh, Kaito pressed his fingers to his temples. "Fine. Whatever you say goes, tantei-kun."

Shinichi appeared to deliberate for a moment before leaning forward conspiratorially. Kaito tried to ignore the fact that he was now mere centimeters away, with those azure eyes and the sweep of his bangs across his forehead and the pale skin and those damn soft lips, which parted just the slightest bit –

"Clothes."

"…What?" was the only comprehensible word that Kaito got out.

The lips flashed into a predatory smile. "Whatever I say…" Shinichi breathed, his eyes narrowed just the tiniest bit, "goes, right?"

It took Kaito a second to realize what exactly he meant by that (whatthehell?!), and by the time he had, there was a hand on his cheek and slender fingers trailing down his chest, lightly sliding across his collarbone as they hooked the neckline of his t-shirt.

"I don't know what they did to you before they got there," Shinichi explained, eyes darkening, "and I don't think I want to, really. Next time, I don't know if I'll be able to get to you in time, so I'm going to need to make sure everyone knows you're mine."

"Tantei-kun?!" squeaked Kaito, and a look of horrified disappointment flashed across Shinichi's.

"Oh, wait… Sorry, you don't…?" he asked softly, retracting his hand hesitantly, and Kaito grabbed his wrist. Shinichi frowned at him.

"Well, I suppose 'everyone' includes Mouri-chan… so it might be good for her to know before she gets a little too friendly," Kaito explained, his usual boldness restored. A decidedly Kid grin tugged on his lips. "After all, if you're going to claim me, then I'm sure as hell going to claim you."

"I told you, she's got a boyfriend," Shinichi reminded him, though he smirked as he moved in and pressed his lips hard against Kaito's.

There was something sweet about kissing Shinichi, Kaito decided, something that made his stomach tie itself in knots – something that made him reach up and grasp the back of Shinichi's head, guiding the man farther into the kiss.

Shinichi removed his lips from Kaito's a second later to press them against the magician's ear.

"Yes, indeed," Shinichi whispered, and Kaito tried to remember how to breathe, "the clothes have to go."

Still getting closer to that lemon. Damn.

And no, I will never write one of those because it would suck (in multiple ways). Trust me, you wouldn't want to read 1,000+ words of me struggling to comprehend the male anatomy of two fictional characters while simultaneously writing something mildly fun/interesting/er/uh/sexy I guess/whatever.

With any luck, I'll finish my Christmas fic before Christmas. Until then, I wouldn't be waiting for any updates if I were you. *sigh*

Hope you enjoyed & consider dropping me a review, k? Mwah! - Luna